The Metropolis Series #2: Quinn Beyond Bounds
20. The Blame Game

CORRUPTION. Then obliteration.

A character already rejected by the Author cannot toss oneself into the Lethe with hopes of being reborn. That would just get them erased from this world; it was like a punishment for cheating death.

As the vision dissolved, I crumbled on the cold wooden floorboards and cried. For months, I had always thought that Cassandra was just a figure from my nightmares, but all of this was real. Why else would all those kids be assembling outside? Why else would they let their weapons graze their hands?

And why else would Harumi be gone?

Everything surrounded me in a black haze. I couldn’t breathe. This was all my fault. Cassandra wouldn’t have been so angry if it weren’t for me. Harumi was my friend. She didn’t deserve to be washed away by the Lethe.

I did…

Julio and Takahiro gathered in the middle of the foyer, where a chandelier dangled from above, and nobody said a word. Eventually, I wiped my tears and stood up. The dream had just shattered; it is time to wake up.

“I’m fighting,” I said.

“What?” Julio’s eyes widened. “You can’t be serious. You aren’t trained. And just what were you trying to do back there?”

I knew that he would confront me about the Tamara incident sooner or later. When we had arrived in the forest, he had specifically told me not to talk to any of those monsters, but I went against it. The thing was, I was tired of being so helpless. I might not be a fighter, but I could help on my own accord.

I could rewind time. I could fix everything.

It took a volleyball at gym class to surge me with so much confidence. I had actually been able to control my powers, and if the time came, I could actually put it to good use. Time manipulation might just have been a fancy way of running away from any progressing problem, but if there was one thing I’d learned, it was that I was good at running away.

“I only wanted to help,” I began, answering Julio’s question.

“How?” he then demanded. “You were deliberately putting your life in danger.”

“I can manipulate time, Julio,” I pressed. “Maybe if I weren’t so rudely interrupted—”

“I saved your life, Quinn—”

“Well, I didn’t need saving. Harumi… Tamara… they needed you more. Hell, maybe Cassandra did, too. But you left her.”

Looking back, Julio didn’t deserve all those things I had said to him, but the anguish of losing Harumi had turned into anger, and I was searching for someone to blame.

Julio was apparently taken aback by my statement; I had just pulled the wrong strings. “How are you sure that turning back time would fix everything?” he asked me. “You and Cassandra share the same ability. How do you know that you’re not going to make things worse?”

“Because I am not Cassandra,” I scoffed. “And like you said, I’m not trained, so I can’t fight, and that’s fine. I have my own strengths. Now, how are you so sure that going into this war would make things better?”

“Yeah, okay…” Takahiro waved his hands in front of us. He was the referee now. “I don’t know what all this time travel talk is about, but arguing isn’t going to make things better, either.” He glared at both of us. “This world is as screwed up as it is, and maybe we can’t always save everyone.”

At those words, Julio and I looked at each other penitently. It was foolish to fight, but we remained silent; neither of us had the humility to apologize.

“C’mon,” Julio murmured. “I’ll show you to your—”

Suddenly, all three of us had our eyes redirected to an expensive-looking vase at the far end of the room. I thought that I had seen it move, but seeing how my two companions had reacted to it, I knew that it wasn’t just in my mind.

“Did that vase just move?” Takahiro muttered.

The vase responded by the streaking the wooden floor for another few inches. It looked like it was headed for the veranda.

Julio rolled his eyes. “It did.”

The vase moved again, but this time, it wasn’t successful. It toppled over to its side and shattered, and a little Viviana hatched out of the decorative ceramic. She wore a dark shirt, shorts, and a camouflage bow on her head.

She gasped. We all did, too—except for Julio.

“Nice try, Viv,” he said blankly. “But you’re not fighting tonight.”

Viv groaned. “Kuya, I can do this. I have to. If Cassandra’s really out there, then—”

“You got hurt two times in a row. You’re relieved, remember?”

“Kuya—”

“Viv, please…” Julio knelt by his sister, bringing them eye to eye. “I cannot lose you, too…”

Viv sighed. “Okay…”

Julio patted his sister’s head and stood, gazing at the veranda. So far, nothing drastic had happened yet.

“I need to go,” he said, turning toward Viv. “May you direct these two to some of the vacant rooms we have? You remember Takahiro, right?”

“Hey, Viv,” Takahiro waved.

Viv stared him down. “Nice apron.”

He then consciously placed a hand over the happy coffee mug on his MacGuffin uniform.

Suddenly, an explosion sounded off at the veranda, rattling the foyer. The chandelier above us swung furiously as Mackenzie came dashing in. Her stormy blue eyes were filled with shock.

“Julio, we need you—quickly,” she said.

Something radiated in Julio’s eyes; it looked like fear. He turned towards Viv and sighed. “I’ll be back,” he said.

“I know you will,” Viv said softly.

Julio then took one last glance at Takahiro and me. He nodded as if he were telling us that he would see us later, and then followed Mackenzie into the war-torn veranda.