/~Jennifer~/
The sharp scent of antiseptic hung in the air as I stood over Contrario's hospital bed in the hospital room. Looking at him on that bed hurt my heart more than the wounds I was nursing on my body. His face, which was usually animated and sharp with confidence, was now pale and looking lifeless. Different patches of purple bruises painted his arms, and a faint trickle of dried blood was still on the edge of his lips. Lips that once looked succulent now looked whiter than the aprons the medics wore.
I watched the medics work. They were quiet professionals who had seen too many like him before but they had never really seen one quite like him, not after what he did.
The med-drone whirred above him, applying nano-regenerative agents to the burns on his chest. One nurse whispered to another, "That's the One-slot guy, right?" The other replied in awe, "No... that's the guy who fought the killer twins Kyra and Axel alone!."
They didn't say it loud enough, but I heard it, and I think everyone else did. The room held a tension between reverence and guilt from everyone in it, including myself. It was like we owed him more than what we could say but didn't know how to even say it.
His eyes twitched and he soon came back to life and tried to sit up.
"Don't try to sit up yet," I said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're still—"
"Jenn…" His voice cracked like old stone. "What is…..Today?"
"Today makes it three days since the raid Contrario"
"Renn?....everyone?" he asked staring directly into my eyes as if he wanted to draw the answer from my soul before I could even say it.
I took a deep breath, suppressing my emotions. I was a leader. "Renn is still in a coma, You and I are the only ones alive right now"
"The burial for our fallen comrades is today"
His gaze was fixed on the hospital wear he was putting on. "At the land of the dead?"
I nodded slowly. "In two hours."
"Let me come. No, I have to come" His eyes met mine, raw and pleading, more human than I'd ever seen them. "Please."
He didn't say it like a man trying to clear his name or prove himself. He said it like someone carrying the ghosts of his fallen teammates on his back.
I sighed, I really had no option. "Fine. But I can't have you walking out of this room with half a ribcage missing." I turned to the medics. "Patch him up and set him up for mobile support. He's coming with me."
They hesitated and gazed at each other but obeyed in the end. Who was going to argue with me now?
---
Two hours later, Contrario stood beside me in silence with one hand holding a portable healing bag. He had a glowing drone hovering above his head like a silent guardian still sending nano-regenerative agents to the wounds in his body. His steps were slow and uneven, but he held himself together. He didn't do it with his strength, he did it with the strength of those who he had seen fall at the hands of the killer twins.
The burial grounds were full. There were eleven caskets but only ten were filled. One was symbolic because what remained of Kross was never recovered.
Renn leaned on a cane nearby, his smile gone, his usual spark dimmed. His left eye was bandaged, and his arm was in a sling, but he nodded to us as we approached. I gave him a small nod back that said "We'd talk later."
One by one, the names were read out. Ages. Avatars used. Accomplishments. Laughs they'd shared and lovers they'd left behind.
I looked at each casket and felt my heart tighten in my chest. I was their leader. I briefed them. I told them it would be a simple raid. And they trusted me.
And they died, they died at my command.
After the final rites, as we made our way toward the gates, the clouds suddenly split with cries of grief.
"You!"
A blur of movement. Contrario didn't react in time.
The next thing we heard was a sharp sound as the slap landed on his face. That made everyone turn in his direction.
A woman, no older than twenty-three, trembling and flushed from tears, stood in front of him with her hand still raised.
"If you hadn't gone...if you hadn't been listed for that raid, Milo would still be alive!" she cried, with her fists clenched. "He was going to be a father. He had plans we spoke about nights before he left. He was going to propose to me next week!"
Her pain wasn't logical, her pain was raw, venomous and real. Contrario stood there, saying nothing, taking it all.
"You think being some one-slot underdog hero makes you worthy?" she spat. "You're still and would remain the reason he's dead. Live with it, I hope your conscience eats at you and you hear their voices when you sleep."
I stepped in, voice calm but cutting. "He died a hero. They all died as heroes. But if Contrario hadn't held off Kyra and Axel, we'd all be dead, myself included. And Irish Valley would've been taken over by Nova City. You would've all been made slaves.....Including Milo's child's future."
The woman didn't want to hear it. She turned and stumbled away, sobbing, leaving Contrario standing with his gaze locked on the dirt.
He didn't look at me. He didn't look at anyone. Just the ground. Like it held the name of everyone he'd ever let down.
It was hard to tell as it was raining but I think I saw him cry at that moment.
---
Later, back at base, Contrario stayed in the recovery lounge with his back against the wall and his drone humming above him. Players passed by and some of them were still wary, but others…... seemed different.
They nodded. A few gave him a look that said respect, not ridicule. Not all. But some. And I felt that was a start for him.
Renn rolled in on a wheelchair moments later and managed to get himself to sit in the chair beside him.
"My Besto friendo," he said with a wry grin. "Out here, back to ward seven, they're scared of you now."
Contrario didn't reply. He just leaned his head back and whispered, "That's not why I fought. I didn't fight to be feared."
"I know," I said from the doorway. "That's why you're still standing."
And for the first time, I saw it, for a brief moment, I saw what he could become.
Not just a player. Not just a survivor. The man in front of me, I saw him as the soul of Irish Valley.