Mutagen-Chapter 1190: Resolving Issues, The Amnesiac and The Childless Mother
Day 379 - 5:39 PM - Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon
After spending a few hours preparing Feng Zhiruo’s [Cultivation Formation] and another half an hour playing with Chiyo, which Amihan and Azra also joined, Mark and the latter two left the subspace of the Night Everred Pure Spirit Tree. Well, Azra returned inside Mark’s body to sleep while Amihan nestled on his right shoulder as per usual.
THUMP!
A strong but careful impact, followed by a pair of arms wrapping around his waist, immediately greeted him.
Ruffling the head of the person without looking, Mark turned his gaze to another person outside.
"Did you two wait for me here?"
Mark asked Mei, who stood with a basket of snacks in her hand, and finally looked at Elise, who was hugging him.
"Hmm, hmm," Mei shook her head. "You said you’re done with work earlier and were playing with Chiyo, so we whipped up some snacks first. We had just arrived."
"Good timing then. All the work earlier made me a little peckish."
Mark said as he stopped ruffling Elise’s head, and she also let go at the same time.
The two Demons, one Human, and one [Sylph] sat at the bench nearby. The area surrounding the Night Everred Spirit Tree and the artificial lake around it was not only the central area. Since the location was also properly landscaped, it was not wrong to turn it into a leisure area at the same time. As such, they installed benches around the place for people who wanted to rest.
Mei opened the basket for Mark to see. Sure enough, he was surprised.
"Sandwiches?"
Mark could not help but ask.
The flour manufactured before the apocalypse had already expired by now. Properly stored flour should still be usable, but finding that would be harder than finding a random Level 5 [Mutated Infected].
As for manufacturing, it was more unlikely. The climate in the Philippines was not suitable for cultivating wheat. It was possible that it could be grown now, since the overall temperature around the world has started to decline. Unfortunately, Mark never thought of getting seedlings, nor had the time to find them.
Taking out a sandwich, Mark noticed that the bread was different. It was drier and flatter. It was also heavier than regular bread, he remembered. The color of the bread he remembered sure was not black, either. However, the bread in his hand did not seem burnt. It was its natural color.
"Rice flour?"
Mark realized. The black color surely came from the mutated rice they received and cultivated here.
"Yup," Mei nodded. "Some of our residents are craving bread, but there’s no flour, so they tried making these instead. Luckily, there’s enough stock in storage to experiment with."
"It seems they succeeded."
Mark said as he took a bite. The color might be unappealing, but they had already gotten used to eating the mutated rice, which was black in color.
And the taste was actually better than Mark would have thought, even though the filling of the sandwich was only some fruit jam.
"It’s actually better than expected," Mei said, also taking a sandwich from the basket. "The mutated rice worked better as flour. Bread made from normal rice flour was flatter, drier, and denser, they said."
"I see."
Mark nodded as he took another bite.
Elise also began eating in silence while sitting on Mark’s left side, while Amihan also had a tiny cut of the sandwich and ate while sitting on the bench’s backrest.
After eating a few and finishing talking with Mei, Mark decided to address one thing.
"Hey, Elise."
"?"
Elise, who was silently eating her food, was confused when she got called all of a sudden.
"Your memories have returned, right?"
Mark dropped the bomb.
Of course, Elise froze while Mei and Amihan were surprised. No one really noticed any change with Elise. All this time, she behaved as she did after the events in New Jersey.
The only person who knew would be Spera. It was because of the things Elise said back in Indonesia. However, Spera did not seem to reveal it to anyone. While Spera’s emotions and expressions were now all over the place, she was not a blabbermouth.
Elise sighed. She had no intention of lying or making excuses. In the first place, she knew that if there was someone who would know, it would be Mark. In fact, she was already wondering why he never seemed to bring it up. She wanted to tell, but she lacked the courage to do so, afraid of the possible changes.
But while lost in thoughts due to her confusion, Elise suddenly felt a hand gently patting her head.
"What are you afraid of? You didn’t lie. You only didn’t speak to anyone. Besides, you did nothing wrong. You wanted to use this excuse to keep running away from your family, right? I won’t tell you to reconcile with them or anything. If anything, I’ll be the person to be the last to have the right to say that."
Mark shrugged as he patted his head. One reason he never rejected Elise and her antics as his self-proclaimed younger sister was that they had similarities in this regard. Just like Elise, he was also running away from his family. The reasons were different, but the results were pretty much the same.
Wounds could be treated so that scars would not form, or if they did, the marks left behind would be as minuscule as possible.
However, large wounds left untreated would deform into large scars. Scars that were always noticeable, always hurting, and could never be treated.
Elise’s scars were too large and deep. It was far too late to treat them.
"If you won’t tell me to make up with my family, why did you bring it up?"
With teary eyes, Elise looked up at Mark and asked.
"Well, isn’t it suffocating, hiding from everyone?" Mark smiled. "Since we knew, then there’s no need to hide if it’s just us around."
"Right, Mei’er? Amihan, too."
Mark turned to Mei and Amihan.
"It’s fine, isn’t it?"
Mei smiled.
"True! True!"
Amihan also chimed in.
At this point, Elise’s tears burst forth as she hugged and cried in Mark’s arms.
It took Elise some time to calm down. Afterwards, she also gave Mei a grateful embrace and shook Amihan’s hands with a tearful smile. A heavy weight had been lifted from her heart. Even though she would still have to pretend to be Amnesiac in front of everyone, in front of these people, she could be her true self.
In any case, the difference would not be that much. Elise’s memories returned fragment after fragment. It was not all in one instant. As such, her behavior and personality after losing her memories had already overshadowed her past gloomy self. And it sure was a better result.
***
"By the way, Elise," Mark spoke to Elise, whose eyes turned puffy due to crying. "It’s out of the blue, but I need your help with the next thing I want to do."
"I’ll help! What is it?"
Elise eagerly replied.
"It will just be an attempt, but we will give someone’s child back."
Mark declared to the confusion of the three.
***
Once Elise properly fixed her appearance, the group left for the intended location.
It was a house built the same way as the others. A structure constructed combining wood, stone, and [Blood Metal]. However, it was also unique compared to the others, specifically because of its doors being taller than normal.
"Isn’t this Aimee’s house?"
Mei spoke out.
What did Mark intend to do here?
But then, the three remembered what Mark said earlier. He wanted to bring someone’s child back. It was a clear description of Aimee’s situation.
Aimee became a giant [Mutated Infected], yet she retained her consciousness because of her bloodline. It all happened while she was pregnant. However, after she became an [Infected], her pregnancy disappeared with only a black, egg-like stone as a clue.
That black stone was always unresponsive. There was also no trace of mental fluctuation coming from it, no matter how weak it was. It was safe to conclude that it was just a mere stone, despite its strangeness.
But Aimee knew. She always knew. The black stone was the child that was supposed to be in her womb when she turned.
"Sir Mark, Miss Mei?? I felt your group standing outside. Do you need something?" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
Before the group could knock, Aimee had already opened the door.
With that cue, Mark told Aimee about attempting to bring forth her child from the stone.
"The result would be uncertain, but I don’t think giving it a try would hur-... Huh?"
Mark continued explaining, but as he felt Aimee agreeing to the attempt, it was he who felt uncertain.
Without warning, Mark looked around. Aimee, Mei, Amihan, and Elise looked fine. But then, his eyes turned to the residents passing by, then towards the giant tree at the center of the base.
"Gege?"
It was not just Mei. The others also noticed Mark behaving oddly. It was when they glanced at his eyes, releasing a faint gray light.
"Let’s not do it here in the base," Mark said with a smile. "Most of the people in the base will die if we do it here."
"Wa-wait! Wait!" Elise was flustered. "If people were going to die, why are you smiling?!"
That was right. Mark was behaving oddly.
"Well..." Mark snickered. "If the effects were that devastating, then it means there’s hope for the little guy, isn’t it?"
Hearing those words, Aimee’s expression lit up. There was no way she would not feel happy about any hope for her child.
***
With Spera’s help, the group reached a more suitable place. It was a flat grassland to the far southwest. In the past, it was where Mark and Mei had a date. Now, there was no trace of the town, nor the people living here. All of them might have perished long ago, or maybe they left and were living somewhere else by now.
"Is it fine for me to be here?"
Spera, who got dragged into the mess, asked after learning of the danger.
"It’s fine," Mark shrugged. "All of us here present should be fine. The people who would be in danger would be the ones not in close vicinity. So, stay and enjoy the show."
"You’re call..."
Spera sighed as her eyes fell on Elise. It seemed that she noticed something a little different with her now. Seeing that, Spera smiled a little.
"Let’s begin."
Mark said, urging everyone to move in place.
At the center, Aimee stood while holding the black stone with both hands. In front of her was Elise, with both hands stretched towards the stone and her palms touching it gently.
Behind Elise, Mark stood with his hands grasping her shoulders.
Lastly, Mei, Amihan, and Spera stood far behind Mark as spectators.
"3."
Mark counted down.
"2."
Everyone took a deep breath.
"1."
Their heartbeats began to synchronize.
And here, red light overflowed from Mark’s eyes. His [Empath] ability, [Emotion Induction], surged at full throttle. And the target? It was Elise.
Receiving the strong stimulus of emotions from Mark, Elise’s heart felt beating strongly.
"What is this feeling?"
Elise thought as her eyes glowed with a golden color. An aura of the same color also began enveloping her body.
The feeling felt familiar to Elise. However, she could not tell why. It was the first time she had felt this way, yet she couldn’t shake away the familiarity.
No... Was it really the first time? When had she felt this emotion? Elise could not remember.
"It is the cry of the soul of an infant during their birth."
Mark’s voice softly whispered into Elise’s ear, even though he was not anywhere near her ear. Disregarding her reaction, the voice continued.
"An infant’s soul within the womb cries to be born. It was not just the mother who was in pain. The child was the same. Yet, while some mothers might give up, the child would not. They wanted to be born, even if the future they would face in the world outside might not suit them."
"A feeling of wanting to be born..."
Elise’s lips curled into a smile. That was why the emotion felt familiar even though she couldn’t remember.
Then, the child within the stone... The soul within it... Might have lacked this feeling...
BOOOM!!!
As Elise understood the meaning of the emotion overflowing in her, the golden aura began to flow onto the stone, enveloping it.
It was followed by a shockwave. Oddly enough, everyone near the stone barely felt anything. Yet, the grass and trees in the further distance began swaying violently.
Ripples of energy continued outwards. Soon, the swaying grass and trees were snapped and torn, getting thrown away to oblivion.
The sky began to darken and swirl as if another apocalypse was about to descend.
But in the middle of it all, the group stood their ground.
Aimee held the stone tightly. All her hopes poured into it at the moment.
Then, Mark felt some figures arrive.
Magwayen suddenly appeared, standing beside Mei. Thirteenth also appeared standing in front of them.
It was already odd that the absent Thirteenth, who should be helping Luna in Indonesia, appeared without warning.
Yet, it was not only Thirteenth.
Surrounding the center at the same radius where Thirteenth stood, twenty-five figures of various ages and genders appeared out of nowhere. Yet, despite their differences, they all had one thing in common.
They all had eyes more than the pair that most mortals had.
