V.I.R.A.L - Chapter 258

Percy found himself on the roof of the school. He stood idly by allowing himself to get drenched. He dropped his bag and phone as he walked over to the roof edge. Standing on the side, he bit his lip. He hesitated for a short moment before stepping off the roof. As he began to fall, he felt something grip him, stopping his fall. He jerked back, looking up, seeing the same girl he had bumped into holding on for dear life as she held Percy in one hand while she held the railing. “Help me here!”

“What… what are you doing?”

“What does it look like?! Saving your life, idiot.”

Percy noticed the girl’s hand was slipping as the two were close to falling. “Let me go! You’ll fall too.” He tried breaking free, looking up in horror. “Please! Just let me go. I’m not worth it…”

“Don’t let go! If you fall, we fall together!”

****

All of the bloody blades were frozen in the air. Riley turned around, stepping up to the fight. “Are you happy now? Making a girl cry, you’re just evil. I won’t let you continue.”

Throwing all the blades back, Percy snapped his fingers, turning them all back into feathers floating around him. Landing back on the floor, he held his hand out, tugging it back as crows swarmed Riley cutting and scraping by. Blowing the swarm up, Riley held her hand forward. Turning to Zinnia, she gritted her teeth, frustrated by how easily she would fall victim to his manipulation. One crow returned to Percy with a drop of Riley’s blood in hand. Smudging it against his blade, he held it up high, mocking the girl. “I don’t know who you are, but I have no time to waste with pretenders. Fall before my pain.” Stabbing himself in the chest, Riley fell to her knee, holding her own chest in pain. Although she was unharmed, the pain was unlike anything she had experienced; pulling the blade out, he kept stabbing himself over and over until the clone faded. Riley screamed out, falling onto her back, losing all train of thought as her mind was tricked into believing she was being injured. Another clone appeared as Percy walked towards Zinnia, scoffing. “Weaklings like you should know their place. I have no quarry with you; Zinnia is my prize.”

Zinnia kept staring down at the floor in horror, mumbling to herself. “This is wrong…”

“What’s that? I couldn’t quite hear you. Speak up.”

Zinnia clutched her fists, whispering. “Percy would never do anything like this. He wouldn’t hurt others out of rage and anger. He’d fight this monster and win. That’s the Percy I know, the hero Truthseeker!”

Jolting up, Zinnia gripped Percy’s head, dragging him into a deep sleep. He smirked, not resisting. “Then allow me to show you the truth.”

****

Zinnia woke, finding herself somewhere she hadn’t seen in years. She was sitting at her school desk dozing off to her history class again. Her book was open with not a single note but serval scribbles and doddles as well as her dribble from sleeping. Slightly taken back, she jumped, hearing the bell go off and all the other students rush out to their freedom. Slowly packing her bag, Zinnia was one of the last to leave; she took a bit longer, noticing something in the corner of her eye. Turning to see what it was, the sight vanished before her very eye. Left confused, she rubbed her eyes, marking it up to sleep. Stepping out into the corridor, she knew what was to come next. Percy brushed past her in a rush and that empty feeling of dread and hopelessness. Percy rushed up the stairs heading towards the roof. Zinnia was soon to follow, chasing the boy to save him. It began to rain as Zinnia made it to the roof. As she cranked the door, open Percy was already at the edge, ready to jump. Scrambling over, she grappled over the side, gripping his arm, refusing to let go. Percy’s head pivoted up in shock. “What… What are you doing?!”

“Can’t you see? I’m saving your life, no matter what you’ve become. The Garden may corrupt you and steal your free will, but I still know Percy is there deep down. The boy who wanted to save everyone and gave his life to stop evil. The true hero of Team Rhapsody. Truthseeker, Vanguardian. Percy Misharp is there, and I will save him!”

Percy noticed Zinnia’s hand slipping as he looked down, troubled. “Let me go; you’ll fall too!”

“Don’t let go! If you fall, we fall together.”

Percy fell silent for a short moment looking down. The rain began to slow down as Zinnia saw to her horror the rain had changed to that of blood. “If that is what you want. It’s your funeral.” Zinnia looked down in shock as Percy had changed to his garden form, cracked face and yellow eyes. Holding a blade made from the blood, he stabbed it into Zinnia’s arm, causing her to snap in pain, falling over the edge into the endless abyss. Screams from her past came back to taunt her with all her mistakes appearing at once. The people she’d lost, the battles she couldn’t overcome. The regrets she had made all stumbled back, being the grim reminder she tried flushing out.

Smacking to the floor, blood trickled down from her arm, blending into the ground. Holding her head in pain, Zinnia was baffled by how she lost control of her own powers. She had underestimated the Garden, and now it was in control of her dream mind. Lifting her head up, she saw a sight she tried her very best to forget—the hideout for the former followers of Vanguard. The room was broken down, walls caved in, and rubble everywhere at the end of the room. Percy lay as dead as before. Zinnia rose to her feet, holding her bloody arm walking towards the sight. A sick feeling in her stomach overwhelmed her like no other as she was forced to relive the moment again. Getting down on her knees, she ran her hand over Percy, whispering. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry I couldn’t save you, Percy.”

“Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. And now and always guilt.” Percy hissed, snapping to life, wrapping his hands around Zinnia, strangling her. Unable to fight back, she was pinned to the floor, overpowered indefinably. Percy’s face lit up with joy and excitement as he cackled, killing his old friend. “Set me free. Yes, set me free! Die for me, be the hero and die!”

Zinnia blacked out from the trauma of waking up to darkness. She was lying down, unable to move, and as everything was coming back to her, she discovered quickly she was trapped in a coffin. Smacking the top, she began screaming. “Let me out! Hey! Hey!”

Serval copies of Percy all began burying Zinnia as the real one stared on holding a dead flower. Throwing it on the coffin, he scoffed, wiping his bloody tear. “May you drown in your sorrows and accept your fate, false hero of Rhinefield. You couldn’t live with the failure you inflicted on yourself so let yourself be eaten away by the guilt and say no more.” The clones stopped burying the coffin, startled. Percy was left speechless as before him standing on Zinnia’s coffin was Bargaining. Staring up at each of them with his arms folded, a chill was sent down all their spines. “Impossible…”

“You dare get in the way of my contract with this weakling? Know your place, you faker.” Bargaining threatened, lifting a finger, each of the clones was all wiped out in a single moment. Percy stepped back as Bargaining rose from the grave towering over Percy. Leaning forward, he whispered in his ear. “I have no mercy for those who dare stand in the way of my goals. This is your final warning Misharp.”

Percy was ripped from Zinnia’s dream state as the world began to crumble apart. Bargaining turned back, pulling the coffin open. Zinnia soon came eye to eye with the stage of grief as he held his hand out. “You…”

“It’s been a while, child of the Phantom.”

Pulling herself out of the coffin, she rejected Bargaining’s help standing at the edge of her dream. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s in my best interest to protect my clients from dying. It would be quite bothersome if you were to kick the bucket now of all places.”

Zinnia stared at keeping her distance. “You still wish to manipulate me to your own goals?”

“No. You’ve already played your role; I’m just keeping you around as a safety net for my true goal.”

Zinnia looked down, troubled. “Alton.”

“Perhaps. Of course, you don’t know what he agreed to in the first place. He’s willing to throw everything away to save you, Zinnia. Perhaps you should thank him next time you see each other.” Bargaining teased. “Fake stages of grief make me sick to think that lapdog has the audacity to even attempt such a crime. If you wish to survive this turmoil, Zinnia, you must put the mutt down.”

“I can’t… Killing Percy here will make me feel like I’ve killed him again. I cannot go through with that.”

“Are you willing to die for that belief of yours? He won’t stop with you; surely you know that. I’m sure when he kills you, the others you called friends will share the same fate.”

“If I die… Your pact with Alton subsides, doesn’t it?”

“It does. Our terms were only met if you were alive. Dying would, in fact, break our contract.”

“He would be freed from your grasp.”

Bargaining snickered, shaking his head. “Who to say he was ever free in the first place. Of course, that plan of yours might just work. But why risk it? If you die, you’ll never know the fate of Alton or the others. Doing this could very well damn them all to the same fate. It would be much better if you lived for everyone’s sake.”

Zinnia looked down, conflicted. “You have a point. Although you could just be saying this to talk me out of it.”

“You won’t know until you take that leap of faith. Your friend won’t hold back at your current state. You couldn’t possibly win. However, if you are that pathetic, to be unable to kill him yourself. Bring him in here. I’ll happily put down the copycat for good.”

****

Zinnia woke up jumping away from Percy, who was left panting, taken back by his experience by Bargaining weakened heavily. “You tricked me… What the hell are you doing making a pact with the like of him?! You never cease to disappoint me, Zinnia.”

Holding her hand up, a bolt of lightning struck down, covering Zinnia in lightning. Holding her katana in hand, she moved her hand over her face forming her mask. Readying herself, she spoke firmly, ready for the fight. “I know what I must do. I will save you, Percy.”