Noctis Noir - Chapter 96 Still Family

“Sorry! I’m sorry! Aah! Sorry! Oh crud. Sorry!”

Wen, Alice, Li Yuan, and Ileanna were running away on the back of Kimmy the giant cat from a hoard of sentries that suddenly appeared to ambush them. Those enemies that went in front of them met their cruel fate underneath Kimmy’s merciless toe beans.

“Alice, you don’t need to apologize to every enemy Kimmy flattens,” Ileanna said after firing a few shots.

“Sorry! It’s just a habit,” Alice replied.

“You don’t need to apologize to me either.”

“Sorry! Oh oops.”

Wen, Ileanna, and Li Yuan were busy shooting at the sentries to lower their number.

“Alice! We need more ammo!” Ileanna shouted.

Alice hurriedly crafted more bullets for them out of the raw materials they packed, saying ‘oh crud’ every time the crafting ended up as a failure.

Ileanna laughed whenever she got a headshot. “This is actually pretty fun. Reminds me of Outerstrike.”

“Y-You just killed him!” Alice was horrified by the slaughter.

“Relax, Alice. They’re not real players. They’re NPCs who are trying to kill us. It’s self defense.” She did another headshot and laughed. “That’s 37 for me.”

Wen also did a headshot. “That’s 40 for me.”

They exchanged competitive glances at each other.

“Bring it on,” Ileanna reloaded her gun.

“Heh. Good luck,” Wen said with a smirk.

“Calm down, you guys!” Alice was worried.

Li Yuan raised his hand. “I’d also like to participate.”

“Eh!?”

***

Sphinx ran through the halls as fast as he could despite the pain all over his body. The adrenaline made him disregard the pain. Frisk’s club music provided an even bigger distraction. It’s not every day a person gets to run through a dark hallway with a risk of dying and club music playing in the background.

He had no idea where he was going or where the poet was even located. That was until the messenger bird flew right on his face. He spit out the stray feathers that entered his mouth.

“It’s you!” He recognized the bird.

The bird flew towards a certain direction, as if leading him. He decided to follow it.

Upon reaching a certain door, he heard music and singing. It was the sound of a lute and a female voice. He moved closer and noticed that the door was locked from the outside. He unlocked it and entered the room.

The music stopped. There was a person in the dark corner of the room.

“Are you the poet?” Sphinx asked.

“Are you are my hero?” she asked.

The person stepped closer to where the light was. Then both of them froze for a moment upon seeing each other face-to-face.

“Anna!?” Sphinx was shocked.

“Sphinx!?” Anna’s jaw dropped. “I didn’t know you write poetry!”

“Neither did I. Let’s get out of here.” He grabbed her wrist and made a run for it.

“I was hoping it was a cute girl,” Anna said tearfully.

“Well, sorry but you’re stuck with me,” Sphinx replied as they ran.

When they turned at a corner which led to a new hallway, they saw a person lying on the floor. Upon drawing nearer, they realized it was Christina. She had scratches and cuts all over her body. There were small pools of blood beside her.

“Christina!” Sphinx shouted and ran to his sister. He held her in his arms without considering the risk of falling into a trap.

“Brother…” Christina said weakly before falling unconscious. He knew those were her last moments. She was already dead.

“I’m sorry…” Sphinx couldn’t help but shed tears for his little sister. They had a terrible relationship, but she was still family. She still had a place in his heart.

If he hadn’t left her alone in that house, would things have been different?

“I’m sorry, Christina,” he repeated, even if he knew she could no longer hear him. She would never accept his apology anyway.

Anna was a bit hesitant to interrupt his moment, but he didn’t seem to want to move after some minutes passed. She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Sphinx, we have to hurry before we’re spotted by enemies.”

Sphinx stood up slowly and wiped his tears. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

“I’m sorry about your sister,” said Anna.

“It’s alright. This was bound to happen eventually.” His throat hurt when he spoke. “Let’s catch up with the others.”

“Sphinx! Anna!” Luna shouted from afar.

“Luna!” Anna was ecstatic to see the warrior beauty. She ran to give her a hug.

Luna noticed the terrible state Sphinx was in. His eyes told her that he had been crying. “I’m so sorry, Sphinx. I didn’t intend to end her life. I swear.”

Sphinx shook his head. “No, Luna. You did what you had to do. It was the only way at the moment to keep everyone safe. I won’t hold it against you.”

Still, Luna couldn’t help but feel guilty. “I’ll find a way to make it up to you.”

“If you can help me get everyone out here safely, that would be enough.”

“Gotcha.”

***

“Sorry! Aah!” Alice continued to apologize as she helped shoot down enemies.

“Over there!” Li Yuan pointed at Jas and Potato who were both chased by sentries.

The gunners on top of Kimmy took down all the enemies after their two companions. Once they were all wiped out, Jas and Potato stopped to catch their breaths.

“Thanks guys,” said Jas.

“Where are Sphinx and Luna?” Wen asked.

“They were in a battle with Christina,” replied Potato.

“Lead the way. Let’s back them up.”

Jas and Potato climbed on top of Kimmy. They took off and ran to the spot where Jas last saw Sphinx and Luna. Upon reaching the place, they found their companions.

“Are you guys alright?” Jasmine climbed down Kimmy.

“Yeah,” Luna replied.

“What happened to Christina?”

“She’s dead,” Sphinx answered with a grim look on his face.

“I’m sorry, Sphinx.” Jasmine gave her friend a hug. “Hang in there.”

“Anyway, I’m glad to see all of you alive,” said Wen. “We just need to find the other prisoners and break them out. Then we can leave.”

“I see Yaya on the roof,” Jas said when she looked out the hallway window.

“Let’s head there. We can’t let her get away.”