Chapter 93: The Silence of Death

My heart shattered as I stared into the big, innocent eyes of this small child. I wanted to say something, but a lump had lodged itself in my throat.

"She helped me and my brother when the beasts attacked." The child said, seemingly not noticing how much his words hurt me. "Can you save her too, mister?" He said, still tugging at my cloak.

I gulped to get rid of the lump in my throat, then knelt beside him. I could hear Rina trying to supress her crying behind me. She ran off – she probably didn't want the child to see her like that. After a moment's hesitation, I reached out and gently wiped the child's tears away.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly. "I wish I could help her."

He stared at me wordless for a few seconds before finally mumbling. "That's sad." He looked down, then at his sleeping brother. "I thought you would maybe save her if I asked nicely." With dropped shoulders and a saddened expression, he returned to his brother's side. He leaned on the bed, then shot me a glance. "Like you did for my brother." He mumbled, avoiding meeting my gaze.

I couldn't bear to look at him. Instead, I slowly turned around and headed to the door. After closing the door behind me, sat on the steps in the front of the building and turned my gaze to the sky. The sun had dawned a while ago.

A soft breeze blew my hair back. While I usually enjoyed fresh air, now it carried the smell of ash and blood with it.

"Kai?" Rina's voice sounded from behind me. I hadn't noticed her open the door at all. "Are you ok?" She asked after a moment.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I said after a moment's hesitation. "How about you, Rina? How are you holding up?" I asked, finally gathering the courage to look at her.

Her eyes were red and swollen, she seemed to be barely holding everything together. "I'm ok." She said with a voice that clearly showed she was not ok. "Alex, on the other hand…" Her voice faded.

"I wish I had come here sooner." I finally said as she sat besides me. "I wish there were something I could do to help – anything." I shook my head. "I'm so sorry, Rina."

She shook her head. "I couldn't do anything either. None of us could." She tightly grasped the cloth of her dress. "We weren't warned – there was no way for us to defend this place!" Her voice was but a whisper. "Kai, so many died. Both Ereth and players like us." A tear rolled down her cheek. "Why are we stuck here? Why can't we go home?" She held onto me and stared me in the eyes as she spoke. "Why did this happen to us? Kai, how do we leave?"

Dumbfounded, all I could do was shake my head. I didn't have the answers to her questions. I was just as much in the dark as she was. All I could do was to offer a hug, which she gladly accepted. We sat there for a while, Rina shivering and crying in my embrace.

Only after a while had passed did she pull herself back. "I'm sorry." She whispered, wiping her tears away. "Let's go check on Alex." She said with a sniff. I nodded. Every fibre of my being wanted to avoid stepping into that room – I didn't think I could bear to see Alex like that ever again, but that wasn't something I could tell Rina. So, I followed her back inside the building.

Alex was in the same position as when I left her. The younger girl besides her had fallen asleep while hugging her.

"Hey, Alex." Rina gently spoke as she knelt beside her friend. "Can I bring you some food? Or water?" She asked. Alex shook her head. While her eyes were as lifeless as before, I saw a glimmer of… something, when she turned her gaze on me.

"Kai." She said with a broken voice. "Did you… take her soul?"

I flinched. I hadn't even thought about it. I felt sick to my stomach as the thought of absorbing a real, actual human's soul suddenly became very real. I quickly shook my head. "No!" I almost shouted as my face went pale.

"Is she here?" Alex asked with a speck of hope in her voice. "Can you see her?"

I didn't need to look around for the answer. "No," I said as I avoided meeting her gaze. "I'm sorry, I can't help you Alex." It broke my heart to see her like this, yet I was once again powerless.

"It's ok." Alex said after a short while. "I just hoped that…" She glanced at Rina, then shook her head. "No, it's nothing."

Why had she decided to keep whatever it was she wanted to say to herself? I glanced at Rina as well. She was watching the younger girl with a bittersweet expression.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me, Alex." I finally said. If getting something off her chest was going to make her feel better, even if only for a moment, I would gladly listen.

She hesitated, then shot an apologetic look at Rina. "I just thought that… Since you're the Keeper, maybe you could…" Her voice faded. Each word seemingly made the next one much harder to say. "I thought… Maybe you could bring her back."

I flinched. That was just… wrong. Especially now, when I could feel hundreds of souls resting peacefully, I couldn't imagine interrupting that rest to bring them back to life. Ever fibre of my being screamed at me that this was very wrong.

"I can't do that, Alex." I said, trying my best to keep my expression calm. "I'm sorry."

Rina breathed a sigh of relief. Alex just looked down at the covered body of her sister.

"I'm sorry," She said. "I guess not even the legendary Keeper of Souls can break the silence of death."