Redd took one last forlorn look at the dragon doctor, then peeled her aching claws out of the side of the building. This time she made no move to right herself as she fell forwards to meet the pavement several meters under her. She closed her eyes and spread her arms, feeling the wing lift her bloodied bandages and fill her coat, throwing it up as she surrendered herself to her fate.
Charybdis gasped, shocked out of her trance, and shot towards Redd. Her eyes glowed furiously, even through her tears, as she desperately activated her telekinetic powers just as Redd approached the hard concrete.
"I can't believe it," she sputtered as she caught Redd just in time. She shook with anxiety and fear, breathless. The rain beat down on both of their battered forms.
Like a mother putting her baby to sleep, Charybdis' gently lowered Redd to the ground. The wolf girl still made no attempt to right herself as she lay face flat on the wet and cold stone. Stray, muddy pebbles and grime stuck to her face.
"You've called the guards, haven't you? And my former colleagues," Redd muttered, finally finding the strength to lift herself up. Her voice was barely composed as she shakily stood up. She flexed her claws in and out – they had gone numb. They slowly retracted into Redd's very human hands. Her wolf features were gone, save for her ears, tail and grey skin.
"To capture you?"
"To kill me," Redd coughed up blood. She heaved and took a moment to regain her composure, bending over and placing her weary hands on her knees.
"I haven't. And I won't."
"Then what will you do?"
Charybdis landed on the pavement after a shaky descent. Her legs took a moment to right themselves, and Charybdis stumbled forwards towards the drenched grey girl.
"Do you want my help or not?" she asked earnestly. Redd gave her a cold stare.
"I'd rather die than accept your help," she wheezed. "If it's anything like the 'help' you gave me before."
"Then I'm not calling the guards," Charybdis sighed. "You won't have to live on the run anymore. I know you've been tainted beyond repair because of my actions… or inactions… and you'll never be able to live a normal life. But I know now how controlling I've been. I've done nothing but restrain you, I've used you like a tool and if I take you back again, I'll only repeat my mistakes. You don't deserve," her voice broke, "to be around someone like me. Someone who only watches and hides behind the petty façade of a neutral party. Someone who is too cowardly to do what she knows is right. Someone who hurts everyone around her because she's too weak… to even help… the people she loves most."
"If you're going to die, I'd rather you die free. I'd rather you die chasing happiness, with hope in your eyes. I want you to have the happiness that I robbed from you. Hold dreams that I squashed. Be more than a mindless, conditioned killing machine. That I made. Because I love you, Redd. I love you and every single one of the people I work with. Young scouts, people I've spent years with. People I've lost to humans. People I've lost to monsters. I never forget them. I pretend I don't care, I pretend to be professional, but in the end it hurts. It hurts so much. Every time I lose someone, I always think…"
"If only I was strong. If only I was brave. If only I had enough time. I have so much information, but I have no idea how to use it. I can't… I can't do anything but watch!" Charybdis was sobbing now, reaching her arms out to Redd, but Redd stepped back and refused to take her hand.
"I can't do anything but watch as… you walk away. As I lose you. Again! I've been so helpless…"
"But you're free now. Feel free to run away to another city, to another country. Grow up, find a husband. Or a wife. Marry, have kids, get a job, live your life. Spend the rest of your days watching the sunset and the stars. You can tell everyone about our secret operations. About the humans, about my project. You can sneak into PSEF and try and kill me. I won't…"
"I won't stop you. I can't. But there is one thing that I can do. It's the only thing I know how to do. I can remember you. I will remember you forever, all the happy memories, all the terrible memories, all the awful trauma Hydra and I and everyone put your poor soul through. I swear I will never forget a single second of it. And I will treasure and cherish it until I die. But as Charybdis, the master of knowledge, it's the only thing I have reign over. I can only watch you. What you do… what I've tried to immorally control…. that's up to you now. I have to let you go."
"Goodbye, Redd. I hope we see each other again someday. And when we do. I hope that you'd face me not with tears or anger or hate, but with a carefree smile."
The tortured Redd looked down at the ground, refusing to make eye contact. Her body was shaking, her shoulders tense and her fists balled. She bit her lip.
"Goodbye, Charybdis."
Without another word, Redd turned on the spot and bent down. She prepared for another supersonic jump. Charybdis realized what she was about to do and extended her arms out, hoping to grab one last glimpse of Redd's tormented eyes. One last time, so she could remember them. But before she could call out, a shockwave blew her back as Redd disappeared in a grey blur, streaking across the buildings and into the storm. With a sudden flash of lightning, she was gone from Charybdis' sight.
Charybdis took her rain-soaked lab coat sleeve and brought it to her drenched face to wipe away her tears. It only served to make it wetter and colder. Reaching up to the device still on her head, Charybdis pressed a button on its side and turned off her binoculars, so that Redd was truly, truly gone.
Suddenly, the device atop Charybdis head began to buzz gently. It shocked her out of her forlorn stupor and she hastily fumbled with it.
"Hello?"
"Hello, this is Charybdis. What can I do for you?" Charybdis enunciated over the rain. She edged backwards underneath the cover of the PSEF building, leaning against a pillar. She slumped down as the exhaustion hit her.
"This is Inspector Io from Sorreval," a young and gentle female voice replied. "Good news. There was an opening yesterday instead of next week, so I was able to make it across the border early. I'm staying in a hotel at Lucran right now, and I'll be at PSEF by tomorrow at 9 am to check up on our part of the deal. Capishe?"
Charybdis knew she recognized the strange, lilting accent. Of course it was the Sorreval inspector.
"I see. That's quite fortunate," Charybdis replied, trying to keep the stress out of her voice. She held her hand to her sore head, trying to alleviate the pressure. "Remind me again, the two humans you're buying are named Axel Ford and Evelynn Violet?"
"That's correct. Glad we're on the same page. Thank you for calling."
Charybdis hung up, letting out a tense sigh, her shoulders falling.
Such a predicament. What would the country of Sorreval think when it turned out that one of the humans that they were paying Leagionis billions for was infected with Lykanthropy? Not only that, but it happened to be the very human whose mysterious history Charybdis was the most interested in. A month was so little time to figure out Evelynn's past… why she had RimTech daggers on her, why she was so proficient with them, and why she was so oddly familiar to Charybdis. The memory was on the tip of her tongue. She had known Evelynn before, she was sure of it.
Charybdis tapped her device again, leaning off the pillar, her eyes shifting. They were already blurred with tears and rain, and it was already almost pitch black, but she wanted to make sure she was unseen.
Her invisibility cloak activated again, and she stood upright. She levitated off the ground and flew herself around, only a few meters off the wet road. Under the cover of darkness and shadow, she traversed the PSEF building and found a small enclave, hidden from sight from invasive windows and prying eyes. It was small enclave, barely noticeable. If one were to pass by it, they would see nothing abnormal about it. But for Charybdis, it was everything.
She landed, cloaked, in front of the enclave and put her weary hand out, seeking refuge. She let her magical signature flow into the wall, and suddenly, the ground beneath her began to shake. The grated floor she stood on began to shift as a barely audible mechanical whirring let Charybdis know she was safe, for now.
The grate retracted to the side, leaving a giant hole where it had been. It was a lethal drop, several meters straight down a narrow tunnel. Anybody but Charybdis would have fallen to their deaths. But Charybdis simply levitated downwards as the grate closed the hole shut once again, leaving her in comfortable pitch-black darkness.
Charybdis made her way through the secret tunnel back to her office. After such an ordeal, what she desperately needed a warm glass of coffee.