Chapter Seventy-Two

Chapter Seventy-Two

The fire cracked and snapped, slowly dying. Hanna still had not returned. DJ’s gaze turned to the mirror. The reflection of flames danced across the dark glass, making it impossible to see the other side of it. He assumed Lui was still asleep. How far the three of them had come from where they started. So far and yet not so very far at all. “One more question,” DJ said, turning back to the frozen block of ice with a hint of a smile and raised brows. “What in the world made you think you could beat a lance with a sword?” 

“Two swords,” EDJ corrected. “Two should have given me advantage.”  

The Original’s smile widened. “That’s not how swords work.”

“That’s totally how swords work.” The Evil Other smirked. “But I see your point. Next time, I’ll bring an axe. Or a lancereaver.” 

“There won’t be a next time,” DJ said in confident amusement. “Not with your technique. Don’t think I didn’t notice you switch to reverse grip midfight. You know that doesn’t work.”

EDJ attempted to shrug, which was useless when his shoulders were frozen. “Habit. It looks good on camera.”

The Original laughed a little. “Reverse grip never looks good!” 

“False,” the Other countered. “I can make anything look good when it’s choreographed.”

The Original stared back at him. “You choreo-”

“Don’t question me!” EDJ instantly interrupted. “It almost makes sense.” 

DJ sighed with a chuckle and shook his head. “Is there anything real about you anymore?” 

“The castle was real…” his EO mumbled with a scowl. “Until you blew it up.”

“That was an accident,” DJ said with an apologetic frown.

“Whatevs.” EDJ rolled his eyes. “Even if I can’t feel it, I still bleed when I’m cut.” 

Bleed charisma? The Original tilted his head curiously. He was about to continue the conversation before Hanna rejoined the group, dumping an armload of branches on the ground. He blinked at the new pile of sticks, his previous thought interrupted. “Did you walk all the way back to the tree line for those?” 

“Maybe,” she answered, sitting down and moving the fuel into the fire. “...I was angry...” DJ popped his brows and bobbed his head to the side in agreement, but refrained from saying anything out loud. The fire grew to a reasonable size again, though DJ was the only one who could appreciate it. Hanna moved to the mirror and gently adjusted its placement, more for personal reassurance than anything. She then dragged the frozen EO away from the campfire to keep him from melting. She briefly returned to the fire to throw a bigger chunk of wood into the flames now that the rest of the fuel settled. “You should really get some sleep,” she told her friend. “I’ll watch out for the weirdos and keep an eye on EDJ. I’ll wake you if there’s trouble.” She didn’t wait for an answer. 

DJ watched her walk out of the little shelter and sit with a plop into the snow near his Evil Other. She did so without any hint of being bothered by the cold. Must be nice being immune to the weather, he thought with an inward chuckle. Thanks, Hanna.

Hanna sat with her back to the fire and her friends. Where she was sitting, she could see if anyone approached, but could also guard EDJ. It was dark, silent, and peaceful, but not for long. “That’s how a lot of people freeze, you know,” EDJ said quietly. “They fall asleep and don’t wake up.” The cold wind continued to bite and gnaw at him, though he could no longer feel it. 

“I wouldn't move my mouth very much if I were you,” Hanna warned, agitation in her low voice. “You forget I have the advantage here.”

He ignored her. “There are worse ways to go,” he added apathetically. 

“No one asked for your opinion,” Hanna snapped at him. “Besides…” She twisted around. DJ was lying on the ground near the fire. He was already out, overwhelmed with exhaustion. Hanna debated adding more fuel to the flames, but decided to wait. She turned around to face the night. “I’d never let that happen to him,” she finished. 

“The same way you’d never let anything happen to Lui?” 

Hanna’s sword was out of its scabbard and at EDJ’s throat before he even realized she moved. He blinked at the blade. “Peace, woman,” he said in a bored voice. “It was a question, not an insult. Put that away. I meant no ill will.” Not this time. 

Hanna slowly sheathed her sword. “...grateful,” she muttered under her breath. 

EDJ narrowed his eyes. “What was that now?” 

“I said you should be grateful,” she repeated a little louder, though refusing to look at him. “The only reason you’re still among the living is because DJ had the heart to stay behind and pull you out of the castle before it exploded.” 

“Is that so?” EDJ gave his Original a cursory glance out of the corner of his eye. “And I suppose you would have left me to die?” 

“I did leave you,” Hanna confirmed. “Without hesitation. You weren’t even worth a second thought.”  

“Wow. You sure don’t pull your punches.” EDJ smirked. I might have felt that one. “I expect nothing less from someone I almost made my apprentice.” He chuckled. “What a mistake that would have been.” 

Hanna scowled at the mention of her evil side and the memory of how close she’d actually come to letting Shard destroy everything. Even so, she withheld from immediately lashing out at him. “I was your apprentice…” she said in a reasonable tone, but could not completely hold back the bitterness. “For a very short period of time. I will do everything within my power to prevent that evil from getting out again.” The fire cracked behind her. Hanna turned to check on it, her paranoia prodding her. You never should have left that cabin. What are you doing out here waiting on people you don’t even trust? They’re going to freeze. She ignored the voice, turning back to EDJ. “You said someone hired you to turn me evil, right?” she recalled. “Who hired you?” 

“Don’t know,” he answered honestly. “As every self-respecting villain does, they used an alias. Couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to. Only that I was given the duty of converting you by a very high authority.” 

Hanna gave him a suspicious, sidelong look. EDJ glanced back, “What?” he asked. 

“You’re not still trying to secretly turn me evil, are you?” she asked hesitantly. 

EDJ rolled his eyes. “No. Just making conversation to kill time and relieve boredom. I don’t get to talk to a lot of people who don’t directly report to me, rival me, or otherwise try to murder me in some form or fashion. Though you could be lumped in with the latter at this point.” 

“I didn’t intend for things to turn out this way when I went after you,” Hanna said, choosing to glare into the distance. 

“Well, I wasn’t planning for my castle to get blown to smithereens, but here we are,” EDJ retorted with snark. “I had people in there, you know.” 

Hanna pulled up her knees and crossed her arms over them. “You don’t seem very broken up about it,” she commented coldly. 

EDJ tilted his head with an automatic attempt to shrug again even though he was still encased in ice. “I’m the villain, I don’t have to be broken up over it.” He watched her. “You, however, should at least be a little more remorseful about your actions.” 

Hanna frowned. Am I not remorseful enough? This weight is already more than I can carry. “There was an alarm. I’m sure they had plenty of time to get out,” she reasoned. 

“The living ones, I guess,” EDJ commented insensitively. He caught Hanna’s glare before he continued. “Here’s the truth of it, you don’t care about them. You don’t care about anyone except those closest to you. That’s why it was so easy to use your friends against you.”

Hanna’s anger turned away from him and back inward. “You keep talking like you know me, but you don’t. In the end, I still never pressed that button. I still chose good.” 

“Maybe,” EDJ said with a sly smirk. “If that’s what you want to call it… not choosing evil isn’t the same as choosing good. But I think I know you well enough to say you let your feelings call the shots,” he continued. “Your anger, your vengeance, your crippling need for external validation, your need for love.” He stopped himself there, but meandered in thought for a moment. 

Hanna could feel her eyes watering, but would not let the tears fall in front of him. “Maybe I do get emotional,” she said with as little feeling as possible. “Maybe I am quick to anger. Maybe my words do fly out before I stop them. That doesn’t mean I’m not still trying to do the right thing.” Even if half the time I don’t know what the right thing is. She raised her head to see the stars and took a breath. Don’t cry. Don’t you dare cry. Weak. Pathetic. 

“It’s human,” EDJ muttered distastefully. 

“You say that like being human is a bad thing.”

“It’s selfish,” he rephrased. “Heroes are supposed to be above that. Then again, we’ve already established you’re not a hero.” 

Hanna sniffed and cleared her throat, looking back down at the snow. “I’m not taking hero advice from someone who tried to wipe out humanity.”

“I wasn’t really going to,” EDJ said softly. He gave her a small smile. “I mean, yeah, it was a viable plan and it probably would have worked, but… I had faith someone would stop me.” He looked to the side. “I was counting on it.” 

She gave him a weird, disturbed look. “You’re a very strange and troubled individual. I don’t understand you at all.” 

“Have you tried?” he asked genuinely. Hanna did not answer. She let out a long sigh and turned away again, refusing to look at him. “Is it worth protecting?” EDJ asked. 

“Is what-”

“Humanity,” he clarified. “The good, the bad, the righteous, the deplorable, all of it. Everything humanity is capable of... Is it worth it?” Again, Hanna did not answer. Ignoring him, she stood up and tended to the fire. That’s what I thought.