Collide Gamer

Chapter 204 – Season 2 Arc 1 Finale – Just a Spoon of Soup, a Blanket, and Sunlight

Whatever furious greeting Lydia had for John and Rave was silenced when they entered the living room with Thana. “What happened to your suit? Who is that?” she asked, her tone still carrying anger alongside concern.

John carefully placed the still unconscious, naked woman on the couch. “That is Thana,” he answered.

Lydia raised one of her eyebrows and focused on the newcomer. The second eyebrow shot up as well, when she saw her aura. The vast, thick, crimson energy floated around the deceptively small woman like a sphere of blood in water. “Tell me everything,” the princess demanded.

John did. From the moment he had realized who Herman actually was up to the present and all the implications that followed.

“I am so sorry that I told you that you could trust Herman, John,” Aclysia apologized suddenly, after he ended his explanations. The artificial guardian had not uttered a single word since they had left the scene of the crime. Now she stared at her feet, her mood almost as depressed as John’s own.

“We were both less experienced in the Abyss,” John answered and gently put his hand on her white head. “There is nothing to be sorry about. We live, we learn, we move on.”

“Now ya thinking like a Hollmey,” Rave said and squeezed his hand.

He gave her a confident smile but inside doubts still stirred. Despite what Herman turned out to be, despite all he had done, John couldn’t help but feel that he would miss him. It had all been a lie, constructed to lull John into a sense of security where he would never have seen the Betrayer of All for who he was. It had worked well and now John had a gap in his social life and his trust. He knew how to fill the former, but the latter…

“Are you for fucking real?” he heard the sudden curse coming from the couch. Thana sat up, and looked over the backrest of her couch. Everyone went on high-alert. There was no telling what she could do. “Calm the fuck down, I heard everything, I am not going to rip off your heads… I think,” the blood mage said and then broke out into insane laughter.

There was something strangely calming about hearing her completely violate every sense of common decency with a series of shrill noises as she fell back on to the couch. It wasn’t the pain-struck, blood coughing laugh John had heard before, but a laughter free of shackles and torment. The laughter of someone who was actually in a good mood, insanely so. “AHAHAAHAHAAAAAA,” she screamed out, “I am back to fucking life. This is retarded! This is such a dumbass reality!” They all jumped when they heard something break. “Those fucking things are still here though…”

The people at the dinner table went over to check what she meant. They only found the split dinner table.

“If you are staying on my property, you are going to respect my property,” Lydia told her.

“Shut up,” Thana returned instantly. “Those facefucked, fuckface faces are currently annoying me. You haven’t found out who the fuck Eliza is by chance?” she asked and raised her foot from the table.

 “No…you are taking this whole ‘coming back to life thing’ rather well,” John commented.

“Well?!” Thana burst out laughing, “bitch, I am having a fucking panic attack. If dying doesn’t kill me, what the hell will?”

“How was the afterlife?” Rave wanted to know.

“How would I know, gum crotch?! I died, then I suddenly woke up on this couch! No longer in pain but able to feel, but you bastards were already talking so I just listened to the story,” Thana shot back.

“So, you still have all of your memories?” John probed.

“You mean years upon years of torment? Oh yeah, I fucking remember,” Thana answered and finally stood up, “and I REALLY could live without it. Why?”

Rave looked at her and joined Lydia in the club of angry people present. “You tortured me until my hair went white!” “And I was tortured until my hair went blue!” Thana said and grabbed her now overly long hair, waving with the tips, “You will manage!” She got a load of her own hair onto her face. “This is fucking annoying by the way. Why is it so long?!”

“You also ripped out my heart,” Aclysia commented.

“I had all of my organs rearranged several times, I guarantee that missing your heart is NOT the most unpleasant experience,” Thana shot down that complaint.

“Y-you killed all of us,” Gnome, speaking for the elementals, said after appearing. She didn’t dare say that to Thana’s face, instead hiding behind her summoner.

“And just like me, you are still here. Stop being such sissies, you pansies.”

John felt the accepting mood everyone had for the bundle of insanity he had brought home rapidly decreasing. He had to calm everyone down, especially Thana, who was twitching continuously. Her eyes moved around, her muscles seemed undecided between being utterly tense and totally relaxed. She was at the border of hyperventilation. For all her quick responses, she was not in the right state of mind. “How about we eat something. Aclysia? Do you have something you can prepare in a few minutes?”

“There is some canned soup,” she suggested.

“Great, do that. Why don’t we all sit down for a moment?” he pointed at the dinner table.

They were a weird assembly. Lydia in her military outfit, Rave in her skimpy clothes, Momo (still reading) in her poncho, Gnome in her yellow dress, John in his ravaged suit and Thana naked. They sat around the wooden table in strained silence.

“Shut up,” Thana mumbled and slammed her hand on the table. This time it only creaked. “See? I can respect your property… once I get used to having an actually working body!” she triumphantly declared. A moment later Aclysia put plates in front of everyone. When Thana raised her hand to make room for it she revealed a hand sized dent in the wood.

“The fuck am I supposed to do with this?” Thana asked and pointed at the plate.

“Eat it?” John suggested.

“I don’t NEED to eat,” she reminded him. “My body only needs mana to sustain itself, which I produce by having blood in my system. I am pretty much perpetually self-sustaining, I could likely survive endlessly in a fucking vacuum.”

“Try it,” he urged her and took his own spoon, “you won’t lose anything, right?” The soup was still too hot to eat immediately, so he blew the steam off his spoon.

With a raised eyebrow, Thana picked up the spoon like a child would and then jammed it in there. Splatters of the hot liquid went everywhere. “Wrong, stupid girl,” she reprimanded herself, glanced at the way John did it, with her seven-dotted eyes, slowly rotating, and immediately corrected how she held the utensil.

With a bit more grace, albeit still very little, she brought the spoon upwards. Her head travelled the majority of the distance though. When she was about to eat, her hair got in the way. “Stupid fucking long ass shit,” she cursed and dropped the spoon back into the soup, causing even more drops to fly onto the table. “Who even gave me long hair?! Urgh, this sucks!”

That was it for Lydia. “Sit straight!” she commanded and got up.

“Or what?” Thana asked, “Are you going to threaten me with a spanking, anal queen?” That response caused raised eyebrows and wrinkled foreheads everywhere.

“Do you mean anal as in overly meticulous or because she would like it up the butt?” John carefully asked.

“Both! She’s a fucking slut for it!” Thana answered with confidence and then blinked in confusion, “Wait, how do I know that?”

“Probably my blood swimming around in that head of yours,” Rave said. “No problem by the way, I just love bleeding for ya,” she sarcastically added while eating a spoonful off her own plate.

Thana’s expression suddenly collapsed into a plain neutrality, “I am so sorry.”

“Ya what now?” Rave was genuinely surprised.

“I just… UGH FUCK THIS,” Thana grabbed the spoon in her soup and rammed the wide side into her hand. The blunt metal object sunk all the way through until the knocking sound of metal hitting wood rang through the room.

Thana took a controlled breath as she kept the spoon right where it was, even as her natural healing abilities tried to push it out. “I am sorry, okay,” she hissed, “I don’t fucking know what’s happening. I was DEAD. In one moment, I see your bitch ass boyfriend cry over me as I finally taste the sweet mercy of numbness and then I wake up and everything is fucking different! I don’t know what’s going on, I am freaking the fuck out. I DON’T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE PEOPLE THAT DON’T TRY TO STAB ME!”

She pulled out the spoon and rammed it in again a split-second later, enough time for the first wound to be healed. A mad giggle rose in her throat, the pain visibly causing her relief. “Fuck panic attacks, fuck this, fuck… How the shit am I supposed to handle you bastards?! You’re way too nice! I fucking tore you to shreds and all you want is an apology?! Are you for fucking real?! It killed over a hundred people to bring me back and now I have to live with that too or can I fucking die or do I even want to?! I’m sorry for all of that, BUT WHERE DO I EVEN FUCKING START!”

Thana ripped the spoon out of her hand and tossed it back on the plate. By the time the metal sunk into the liquid, her blood had entirely flowed back into the wound, which had closed a split second later.

 “And now I have fucking soup in my blood,” she said and threw her arms into the air.

“Pfft,” Rave giggled and then broke out laughing. John couldn’t help but giggle along. Aclysia also smiled while Lydia just stopped looking pissed and returned to a stern expression. “Okay, okay, I forgive ya,” the techno-lover said. “Just for that.”

 “Oh, how god-gracious of you, should I grovel before your perfect ass next?” Thana said in an amused tone.

“Now that you have screamed out all of your panic-“ Lydia began.

“Hah! All! Good one,” Thana interrupted.

“-how about you concentrate on table manners?” the princess finished her sentence, ignoring the blood mage’s constant backtalk.

“Or what?”

“Or I am throwing you out,” Lydia said. “Then you can search in that whole, unknown world for your own purpose. I am willing to help you, but only if you accept some responsibilities.”

“Like table manners?” Thana asked.

“And wearing clothes, for a start,” the princess added.

Their eyes met and then, slowly, Thana relented. “Fine,” she agreed in a tone that sounded surprisingly normal.

“Good, you like your hair that long?” Lydia asked.

“Fuck no,” Thana said back.

“Shame, you look cute with it,” John chimed back in. With furrowed eyebrows, Thana looked at him, her eyes reflecting complete confusion.

“How the fuck can you call me cute when I ripped open your chest?”

“Because you are?” John waved it off. “Look, I have been in and seen some major shit by now. I just got betrayed by, who I thought to be, my best friend. I might as well try to befriend who was once my most hated enemy.”

“Stop making me feel sorry by being nice, you jackass!” Thana grit her teeth.

“May I suggest you eat your soup before it gets cold, Thana,” Aclysia suggested and handed her back her spoon. Confused into silence, Thana took it.

“So, how short would you want it?” Lydia asked, positioning herself behind Thana. With a side-glance she said, “How long would you think is still cute, John?”

“Is that important?” he asked with a teasing smile.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP AND TELL ME!” Thana exploded, still not having eaten a single spoon of soup. “About the middle of your back I would say,” John gave in.

“Mhm, are ya telling me I should let my hair grow, Johny?” Rave asked from the side-lines.

“No, your hair is a national treasure,” John quickly told her, “I have no idea how you pull off having that orderly a dishevelled look, but it's sexy as hell.”

“Correct answer, tiger,” Rave winked.

“Aclysia, could you get into the bathroom on this floor and bring me the black bag with the silver buttons?” Lydia requested.

“At once, your majesty,” Aclysia said and quickly stepped away. By the time she returned the princess had managed to get Thana into a sitting position that actually looked like an adult at a table.

‘Even if she is shorter than most teens,’ John allowed himself a humorous thought. After her outburst everyone seemed to accept Thana. The realization that they were dealing with a broken person trying her best had settled in. Whether that was going to be enough for long term acceptance remained to be seen, but they were at least going to give her a chance.

As she finally ate her first spoon of now halfway cold soup, Thana’s eyes became wet. Behind her, Lydia was brushing her hair, keeping it out of her face. Suddenly, Thana dropped the spoon and hid her eyes from everyone behind her hands. A soft quiver went through her body.

“Is it not good?” Aclysia asked, worried.

“It’s fucking great, I just…am not hungry…” a growling sound, of a stomach that now realized what food was for the first time in half a century, proved her wrong. Nobody commented on that, especially as the quivers continued.

“You have nice hair. After a bit of tending, the years of neglect will be nowhere to be seen,” Lydia commented. She put aside the brush and now took a finer comb out. After running it through her hair until there was not the slightest bit of resistance by small knots or tangles, she went for a scissor and started cutting it with professional movements. Thana sniffed.

“Ya can cry, ya know?” Rave softly spoke, “I know ya did it before, there is no shame in it.”

“You dumb bitch, I never cried before, ever,” Thana halfway choked on tears, halfway laughed. “Seriously, never…” Rave left the uncommented and just put her hand on Thana’s.

“You know, I was dead towards the end,” Sylph suddenly spawned, “but when I look back at John’s memories I remember this one sentence.”

“Y-yeah, you said that…” Gnome continued. “…that you were so insane…” Undine softly melodized.

With a grin Salamander finished the sentence, “…that you looped right back to being reasonable.”

“I understand that your life has broken you, I am just happy that you get a second attempt at a normal one,” John put a hand on her shoulder. He would have hugged her, but Lydia was still working on her hair, “and, if you want to, we can stick by you until you feel whole again.”

“Oh fuck off, you pieces of understanding bonemongling,” Thana, crying, cursed at them and lowered her hands. Her violet eyes were swollen from the tears, they rolled down her cheeks and dropped on the carpet in a steady stream. “You are not helping me with all of this niceness shit! You are not my enemies, you are not people I fight to feel, I don’t know what you are.”

“Try friends,” John suggested. “Not right now, but we could be.”

“Oh shut the fuck up,” Thana sniffed, “I am a monster. I don’t get friends.”

With a loud clap Momo closed her book and got up. She vanished upstairs. She came back just when Lydia had finished up the general touches of cutting Thana’s hair. Blue strands of hair lay piled up on the ground.

Momo threw the blanket over Thana. “Come with me,” the support said, after wrapping Thana in the warming cloth. Something about the support’s tone had the pretty little psycho pull along. She was just a crying head sticking out of a wrapped up, blue blanket, so long that it dragged over the ground as she waddled after Momo. Confused, everyone else also followed.

It clicked when Momo opened the door. It was a painful memory, one the elementals had probably only looked at once, one that Momo hadn’t been around to witness herself. With a firm tug, the supporter pulled Thana outside. “There,” Momo said and pointed at the heaven above, “now you can look at what John was so inept at describing.”

It wasn’t a particularly nice day, grey winter clouds rolled above, hours earlier it had snowed that watery snow that became a dirty mess quickly. But there was a gap between the clouds and even though it was cold, the sun shone radiantly in a pale blue frame.

Thana laughed insanely as she stared right at it. “That’s the fucking sun? It’s way too fucking bright,” she cackled as tears continued to rush down her face. “What kind of idiot thinks that that is beautiful? Ahahahahaha,” her knees gave in and she fell on her butt as she continued to laugh.

“I kind of do,” Rave mumbled.

“Then you are a massive dumbass,” Thana sniffed, “…would you be dumbass enough to be friends with a monster?”

“Sure,” Rave answered instantly.

“I will manage,” Lydia agreed.

“Uhm, I-I think as elementals we kind of qualify as monsters?” Gnome was confused and looked at her sisters.

“I do at the very least,” Siena said from John’s shadow.

“If you do well, you aren’t a monster,” Momo disagreed.

“Stay away from my kitchen,” Aclysia warned, “and don’t make Master sad again and I will be happy to call you a friend.”

“We all are dumbass enough,” John finished and extended his hand to help her up. With a smile too wide and something like joy in her amethyst eyes Thana took it. She wanted to say something, but her words were drowned in sobs too intense to speak through. This time, John did hug her. He pulled her back inside, where it was warm, where he always wanted her to be.

End of Arc 1 “Old Blood”