Jian was face-down on the ground. I fell to my knees when I saw the blood pooling around her head and chest, where a long wooden pole now resided.
"J-jian?" I asked, somehow expecting a response.
Kayla threw up, with Markus trying to comfort her from the horrid sight.
Byul was staring at Jian, his eyes wide. His face purple and pale. He seemed to take a few steps forward before falling to his knees and then onto the ground.
I tried to shake him, but he didn't wake up.
Pika was crying, and I felt tears making their way down my cheeks. Jian didn't deserve this...
Miko stopped himself from leaving and felt for a pulse, when there was none, he closed her eyes. He pulled the wooden pole out of her chest and picked her up. He put her on the horse as well and began for Kioka City once again.
***
The entire ride there was silent.
Nobody else had died, but... Jian.
Jian was so optimistic, sometimes lazy, and her information wasn't the best, especially when being relayed, but her comedic attitude and amazing music made up for that quickly.
We were forced to say goodbye way sooner than I expected.
Jian was amazing, pure, and talented with music...
***
At camp, Jian's body was taken away deeper into the city. Everyone was told her body was being taken to the cemetery next to the burnt church.
***
Days would pass before we learned of Nato's fate.
Imode spared him and had him locked in a jail, and would have him chained and locked up so he had no chance of escaping. She would question him and torture him until the war would be canceled from his end, as it seemed it hadn't yet, even after we took their President.
"Cal. Eat." The voice in my head said.
"Why did you not kill Nato? Why did you let him live? You changed your mind... my mind when you were going to stab him?" I asked like I have been for these past few days now.
"Fine, you want the answer? I'm a Pathogen, the Pathogenic Side of you, right? Why would I kill an Intelligent Pathogen, when humans are the real problem?"
It seemed my Pathogenic Side hated humans as much as I hated Pathogens.
I went to go eat because the voice kept complaining of being hungry.
He made me eat much more food than I could hold, and I felt sick.
"More than half of the nutrients go to your body to keep you alive, while the rest go to helping me grow. You need to eat more for every meal, or I'll never grow." It tried to make an excuse.
I believed it of course, but I still disliked his attitude.
***
"Hey Cal." I heard a familiar voice as I was lifting a box filled with bullets.
I put the box down and turned around to see Imode.
"Imode!" I yelled, hugging her closely. Kayla and Byul also joined in, while Markus stayed a little distance away.
"Remember what I told you about the traitors here. Don't forget to keep an eye out." She whispered. "Hey, would you like to visit Nato and get some answers for me?" She asked, seemingly changing the topic on purpose.
"I guess... just as long as he doesn't somehow break free and kill me," I said, laughing a little, before painfully remembering Jian's death.
***
When we got there, I was the only one let into the room. There was a huge thick slate of glass, a window with small holes to talk through.
"Oh, so they sent the half-half?" Nato said, his messy hair still being... well messy.
"Do you know what your attack did to my friend?" I asked, serious.
"I heard I killed one. The girl deserved it for sneaking in like that, you all should have died." He said, smiling.
I slammed my hand on the glass and yelled.
"Shut up! You killed Jian! Don't speak badly about her!" I kept pounding on the glass, but he just smiled.
I breathed heavily. I had to compose myself and ask the questions Imode gave me.
"How did you become the President if you are only 18?"
He sat silently but sighed and spoke.
"I made my way up the ranks. It's easy like that when your opponents just... mysteriously die."
I sighed. I wrote down what he said on the notepad. I clicked the pen.
"You're nervous? How come?" He asked.
"Not nervous. Impatient." I replied.
"Why did you wage war on us?" I asked, knowing the answer he'd give.
"As I said, Andreo has assassinated-"
"Bullshit. You wouldn't have played around like that if it were the case." I interrupted, giving him a glare of hate.
He smiled and seemed to be losing patience as well.
"I wanted more land and power. So I knew I could easily take it with my ability. I didn't know they'd send a Pathogenic Human after me. I didn't even know they had one." He said.
I wrote it down and looked at the surveillance camera, it was flashing blue, so I knew Imode was watching. Time for the ultimate question.
"Would you rather be publicly executed, or live your life in this cell?"
He took a moment and replied. "Execute me." with a smile of course.
"Thanks for your answer. Enjoy the rest of your life in your cell." I said as I stood up and began for the door.
"What?! You just asked me-!" I closed the door behind me, silencing his yelling.
I laughed to myself, he got tricked by a trick question. If he chose life in that cell, he would be executed, and vice versa. It was so he didn't get what he wanted for once.
I handed the notes to Imode, who was watching Nato crying and screaming in his cell.
"Pathetic. The President of Savito is a crybaby." She pressed the stop button and the recording of the live feed stopped. She downloaded it to a device that looked like the watch I got from Markus, which I had forgotten at camp...
She sent the recording out to the Main City of Savito, Morichi City.
Morichi City was much more advanced than that of Kioka City's structures and transportation, but the video should reach them soon enough.
When it does, I hope they surrender, or just have peace with us.
***
I left the building and headed to the cemetery, where Kayla, Markus, Byul, and Pika were waiting. We all walked up to a grave where fresh dirt covered a casket.
"Rest easy Jian..." Pika said, smiling very weakly.
We all said what we had to, but it was finally my turn.
"Hey. Jian. Remember Cressa? She... she's okay. I knew you were feeling bad for her "dying" but she is fine! She survived! You saved her with your medical skill! I'm proud of you..." I whispered, feeling my eyes grow watery.
Thank you... Jian.