Chapter 84: The Weight of the Truth
The first thing Ren felt was the cold. It wasn't the natural chill of a winter morning, but a stagnant, soul-crushing cold that seemed to seep out of the very stones of the cell. He groaned, his eyelids feeling like they were weighted with lead. As he tried to move, a heavy, metallic clanking echoed through the silence.
Ren's eyes snapped open. He was sitting on a damp stone floor. His wrists, ankles, and even his neck were bound by thick, black-iron chains that hummed with a faint, suppressive Vane energy. His left arm, shredded and bandaged poorly, throbbed with a feverish heat.
He looked around the cramped space. It was a high-security cell in Rollv 13, illuminated only by a thin sliver of moonlight filtering through a narrow, barred slit high up in the wall. In the corner, slumped against the jagged masonry, was a small, motionless figure.
"Hana?" Ren's voice was a ragged whisper.
He crawled across the floor, the chains dragging behind him with a deafening rattle. He reached the figure and gently pulled her into the pale beam of moonlight. It was her. Her face was pale, but the monstrous features—the horns, the fangs—were gone. She looked like his little sister again.
Ren pulled her into his chest, his chains clashing against her shoulders. He buried his face in her hair, tears of relief pricking his eyes. "Thank God... thank God you're okay. I was so scared that the corruption had reached your heart, but you're still here. Don't worry, Hana. I'll get us out of here. I promise."
Hana stirred in his arms, her breath shallow. "Ren... Ren..." she whimpered in her sleep.
Ren smiled through his pain. To wake her up and bring a bit of normalcy to this nightmare, he used his shackled fingers to gently tickle her stomach, just like he used to do when they were kids.
Hana's eyes flew open. She let out a small gasp and scrambled backward, her eyes wide with terror as she took in the dark cell and the shadowed figure in front of her.
"Stay away! Who are you?" she cried out.
"Hana, it's me! It's Ren!" he said, leaning into the light so she could see his face.
Hana stopped, her chest heaving. "Ren? Are... are we home? Where are we?" She looked down and noticed the heavy chains binding her brother. "Ren, why are you tied up? And your arm... oh my god, what happened to your arm?"
"It's nothing, Hana. Just a scratch," Ren lied, his voice trembling. "Just tell me, how do you feel? Do you hurt anywhere?"
Hana shook her head, trying to process her surroundings. "I don't know. I feel... heavy." She looked down at her legs, which were stretched out on the floor. "I need to stand up. Help me up, Ren."
Ren reached out to pull her up, but as Hana tried to push herself off the floor, she froze. Her face turned from confusion to pure, unadulterated horror. She tried to wiggle her toes. Nothing. She tried to bend her knees. The muscles didn't even twitch.
"Ren..." she whispered, her voice trembling. "I can't... I can't feel my legs."
Ren's heart skipped a beat. "What? No, try again. Maybe they're just asleep from the cold. Try to move your toes for me."
Hana stared at her feet, her forehead creasing with effort. But her legs remained like dead weight on the stone. She began to slap her thighs, harder and harder, but she felt no sensation. No pain, no touch—nothing.
"They won't move! Ren, why won't they move?" she screamed, her voice echoing off the prison walls. "I can't feel anything below my waist! Why am I like this?"
Ren felt a wave of nausea wash over him. He knew the biological toll of a Feral transformation was high, but he hadn't expected this. He crawled closer, his chains clanking miserably. "Hana, stay calm. It's okay. We'll find a doctor. Just tell me... what is the last thing you remember?"
Hana clutched her head, her eyes darting around the dark room. "I was at school. It was lunch break. Miku... she gave me a necklace. She said it would make me strong so I wouldn't be a burden to you anymore. It was beautiful, Ren. It was a yellow diamond..."
"I know," Ren said, his voice dropping. "And then?"
"And then... everything went black. It was like I was falling into a deep, dark well. I could hear voices, screaming, but I couldn't move. Ren, why are we in jail? Did I do something bad?"
Ren took a deep breath. He knew he couldn't hide the truth anymore. If they were going to survive Rollv 13, she had to know what she was up against.
"Hana, listen to me," Ren said, holding her hands tightly. "That necklace wasn't a gift. It was a cursed catalyst. It belonged to the Church of the God of Curses. The moment you put it on, the God took control of your mind and body. You didn't just go to school; you became a vessel for a monster."
Hana's eyes were wide with disbelief. "A... monster?"
"You went to their church. Adam—my friend from the Academy—and I followed you. There was a fight. By the time we reached you, the curse had fully taken over. You transformed, Hana. You became a creature of shadows and claws. You... you attacked Adam. And this injury on my arm..." He paused, looking at the mangled flesh. "You did this when you tried to eat me."
Hana recoiled as if she had been struck. "No... no, I would never... Ren, I love you! I would never hurt you!"
"I know you wouldn't," Ren said quickly, pulling her back into a hug. "It wasn't you. It was the curse. Adam managed to break the necklace at the last second, and you turned back. But the rules of the city are cruel, Hana. Anyone associated with the God of Curses is ordered to be executed on sight. I forced Adam to spare you, and I fought the authorities to keep you alive. That's why we're here. We're in Rollv 13 because I chose you over the law."
Hana began to sob, the sound muffled against Ren's shoulder. "I'm so sorry... it's all my fault. Your eye, your arm, and now you're in chains because of me. I just wanted to be independent. I just wanted to help you buy things... I didn't want to be a burden."
"You were never a burden," Ren whispered, his eyes hardening as he looked at the heavy steel door of their cell. "It was my mistake. I should have watched you more closely. I should have protected you from the people who call themselves your friends."
He looked down at her motionless legs. The paralysis was likely a side effect of the forced reversal of the transformation—her nervous system had been fried by the sudden exit of the curse.
"Don't worry about the legs, Hana," Ren said, though his heart was breaking. "I'll carry you. I'll be your legs until we find a way to fix this. But for now, we have to stay quiet. They're watching us."
Hana looked up at him, her face stained with tears. "Will they kill us, Ren?"
Ren looked at the camera in the corner of the room, its small red light blinking like a malevolent eye. He thought of the 50% Feral blood running through his veins and the "Magic Crow" pathway he had barely begun to master.
"Let them try," Ren said, his voice cold and sharp. "I've already given my arm and my freedom for you. I'll give the rest of the world if I have to. We're getting out of here, Hana. Even if I have to burn this prison to the ground."