Inequality

Chapter 4 – Revelations

Five of them left to gather people, information, anything that would help them for the upcoming future. Leaving our dear heroine with the bubbly one called Chen. Akari sighed as she followed Chen down the streets; cutting through alleys in the center. Many civilians looked at Akari in fear, it seemed after all these years, her reputation and notoriety still haunted her.

She tried not to drag her feet, but in the end she felt it, the whispers, the looks of hate. Akari closed her eyes and tried to block it all out, but she couldn't.

Curse being 'blessed' with better hearing, sight, senses, I hate it all. Akari shook her head furiously as she attempted to calm herself down. It worked, until someone threw a rock that almost hit her temple. But thankfully, or unfortunately, it had kicked in, that ability that she hated so much, yet Clovis adored to an extent of an obsession. The same ability that had allowed her to survive up until this day.

As if Akari's body had sensed it before she even realized it, the rock was cut in half by the metal flash of a small needle that had formed and stopped the rock. She looked down as the gasps and whispers increased into a large crash of shouting and screaming.

“Monster! Murderer! How many of your own people have you killed?!” a relatively elder man shouted at her. Akari looked away and shut her eyes. Do you think I wanted to do that!?

Chen stopped in his tracks before glancing at Akari and he announced, “If you guys are going to act like this, remember that she is also a victim just like we all are. She's on the same side as us now!”

The sudden outburst from Chen shocked her. Why would this boy, who hasn't even known her for more than a couple of minutes stand up for her of all people?

Akari looked up in shock and disbelief. Chen had defended Akari, in fact, he even looked a bit irritated that they were acting like this. And it wouldn't be far from the truth if anyone had assumed that. Chen couldn't believe it. How could they judge her as a monster when they don't even know what she's gone through?!

He sighed and he mumbled, “Come here.”

Akari hesitated, but her feet shuffled over to him. The duo walked shoulder to shoulder and he sighed. I don't even know her that well either, but I can't even bear to imagine the pain she went through because of Clovis..

As soon as they arrived at a certain building just on the outside of the north perimeter of the center, Chen motioned for her to sit down. However, she stood there frozen at the door and mumbled, “Thank you.”

Chen looked at Akari in surprise and a soft smile played at his lips and he said, “No prob. You're probably still adjusting anyways.”

She nodded slightly and looked up. Chen was taken aback about how timid she looked, the fear in her eyes were evident, even if the expression was fleeting and he only caught a glimpse of it, he knew. She's as human as the rest of us.

Akari didn't smile, instead she blankly stared at him and mumbled, “I... I knew something like this would happen.”

Unconsciously, Akari wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to comfort and stabilize her raging feelings and she shook her head softly and a dry laugh was heard. He continued standing there, in little ways in front of Akari and she mumbled, “I don't belong anywhere. Only Dongjun understood me.”

And now he's gone. And Clovis probably already got to him.. and he's probably abusing him for information about me.

Chen hesitated before gently placing a hand on her shoulder. Akari flinched and backed away. Chen held his hand hand up in defeat and he softly smiled, although he was a bit taken aback by her response, and said, “You'll fit in eventually.. Everyone's just wary about a newcomer. We always are.”

I'm a newcomer that was on the enemy side since I was born. I don't even know my parents, my origin. I don't even know what ethnicity I am. I was labeled as J-37 for the longest time. I didn't even receive a name until I met Dongjun.

Akari looked away and Chen gave her another small smile – the boy didn't seem to know how to give up – and he walked away to another room. However, he called back to Akari, “Go rest in the living room, or you could explore around the house. No one else will come here, so don't worry about intrusions or things like that. This is my area anyways.”

Akari nodded, although she know he didn't see it. She continued padding around the living room in the straitjacket, and slumped onto the floor, leaning against the couch. She still felt constricted, the chains and shackles were still binding her wrists and ankle and she sighed. Akari reached up and touched the collar and she wondered, Does Dongjun have a tracking device on this thing?!

Akari's eyes shot wide open and she panicked as she ran through a variety of consequences that could be inflicted upon them.

Immediately she panicked, if they did, this place would be in danger. Akari stood up, knocking into the table and fumbled a bit before stabilizing her balance. She glanced around frantically before taking in a deep breath and closed her eyes as she reached out mentally, expanding her range as far as she could to sense the surroundings. Despite her extreme hatred towards that area, she felt the familiar darkness as she mentally probed around for Dongjun and you finally made a connection.

D-Dongjun?

Yo,he responded. He was sitting, chained to the same dungeon our dear Akari was previously residing in, except the chains were useless on him as his ability negated them. But just to make them feel better - and to mock them – but mostly to prevent himself from being mistreated any further, he stayed put.

Did you.. encode these?

If he would laugh at her adorable timidness if he could and he sighed mentally and replied, Nah. I don't have the ability to do that. Anyways, thanks to you I'm chained up in the exact same place you were. Except I don't have a cute or handsome surveillance officer to watch over me.

Akari felt a pang of pity for him and she mumbled, Sorry.

Dongjun smiled and he said, It's fine. Break me out if you can with those group of guys yeah? I hate Clovis and his stupidity. Does he seriously think he can hold me down in here?

Apparently so if you're still there. She teased. Akari lazily opened one eye and she felt the connection grow static-y for a moment and Chen still wasn't back. She sat down on the couch and she asked, Can you spy for me then?

If it helps you get me out of here, sure. Dongjun paused and he said, If I ever reject your attempts to reach me, that means something bad has happened, okay?

Do-

Sh, I'll talk to you later ___-ah. And remember, don't ever forget who you are or where you came from. Your past is just as important as your future.

Akari nodded and she felt him cut the connection. The familiar yet uncomfortable feeling of being pulled back to reality was always unsettling to her as she shook her head softly to get rid of the feeling. She sighed and looked up to see Chen looking at her strangely and he asked, “Do you mind if I ask?”

“Hm?” Akari asked, confused. Unconsciously, she adorably tilted her head, and Chen was taken aback by how cute she looked. That shouldn't be possible right? She looks super cute. What the heck?

He sat down in front of her and continued, “Who were you talking to?”

“Dongjun,” Akari mumbled. She had nothing to hide from them, and Chen makes a small sound of approval and he said, “We should've broken both of you out, but we weren't sure if Dongjun was on our side or not.”

“Dongjun's always on my side,” she mumbled. There was a hint of wistfulness behind her words and Chen raises an eyebrow and she continued, “We've only had each other all these years. He's never left my side... just like how I never left his. As much as we both hate Clovis and the king.. we were willing to serve them as long as we weren't separated.”

“Why?” Chen asked before he placed a change of clothes in front of her. She look at them blankly and she continued in a soft voice, “Dongjun... saved me from being consumed.”

Chen looked at her in horror. Consumption was something taboo, never to be spoken of, and he couldn't believe it. It was told that Clovis had banned Consumption in Area 15, heck, almost all the Areas had banned it. You saw the horror and you mumbled, “The King... he...” you shook your head and continued, “Consumption happens in two ways, air borne or liquid. I think he knew it was pointless against Dongjun, so he tried to get rid of me after I failed him... and after he failed to extract my absorption ability.” She paused as the memories resurfaced and she shuddered, but she continued, “He locked me in a dungeon, smaller than the one you broke me out of, and he gassed it, and I almost was consumed by it, but Dongjun found out, broke in, and he had to stop the process otherwise the Consumers would have spread out.”

“What exactly are they.. the consumers?” Chen asked. His mouth felt dry as he tried to picture it, but he couldn't. Consumers were just unimaginable and she replied in a small voice, “They're... They're the souls of the ones that have died from the experiments. Clovis was the one that had developed a way to turn them into... those things.”

Chen wanted to reach out to Akari, to comfort her, heck, he wanted to hold her in his arms for some reason, but he had no words. Nothing he could say would make her feel better about her past. And nothing Akari could do will make the past any easier to accept.

[2014.04.13] So I was a dummy and forgot to click un-hide on the chapter. And here I was wondering why I only had 3 out of the 13 up. .__.