playing with emerald
Sue and Chia were flying swiftly towards where Arcadio and the Solbon were currently fighting. As they got closer, they could see massive explosions appear in the distance, illuminating the sky with flashes of blinding light that contrasted with the darkness of the horizon. The air felt thick, charged with energy....
An ominous sound could be heard in the distance, resonating at a frequency so low and piercing that it rumbled directly into the brain. It was a constant, painful humming that seemed to pierce through flesh and bone, disrupting concentration and causing increasing discomfort. The noise was so annoying and unbearable that Chia, recognizing the danger it posed to her senses, acted quickly and created imperceptible barriers of energy around her and Sue's heads, partially blocking that torturing frequency.
Despite the protection, they could feel the intensity of the battle ahead. They knew they had to get there soon.
As they headed toward the epicenter of the battle, something unexpected caught their attention. Sue was the first to notice it, narrowed her eyes and pointed down urgently.
-Chia, wait... Do you see that?
Chia averted her gaze to where Sue was pointing, straining her eyes through the gloom and dust that still hung in the air.
In the distance, among the shadows and debris of the abandoned town, Sue and Chia managed to make out a small figure walking slowly through the alleys. It was a girl, apparently alone, moving with quiet, deliberate steps through that corrupt and desolate place.
Strangest of all was the eerie silence that reigned in the area. The grotesque monsters that had previously stalked them relentlessly during their escape from the village were simply not there. There was no trace of them, no sign of their presence, as if they had never existed. It was as if reality itself had been rewritten in that specific sector of town.
Sue and Chia exchanged looks of confusion, but decided to ignore that anomaly for the moment. Their attention was completely focused on the lone girl.
As they got closer and focused their vision better, they both froze for an instant. It was Esmeralda, the mysterious girl with whom they had played hide-and-seek and who had helped them find the object of law. Her pale face and dark eyes were unmistakable.
Although they still harbored doubts as to whether Esmeralda was really a flesh and blood girl or a ghost trapped in that cursed town, concern for her safety overcame any fear or uncertainty. Without a second thought, they began to descend quickly into the alleys.
-Emerald!
Sue shouted as she landed near her, with Chia following close behind.
-What are you doing here alone, it's dangerous!
The girl stopped and turned slowly towards them, with a serene but enigmatic expression on her childish face.
Esmeralda looked at them with bright eyes and a childish smile spread across her pale face.
-Did you come to play with me again?
she asked excitedly, jumping up and down a little.
-Are we going to play hide-and-seek again? This time the setting is all city!
Sue exchanged a worried glance with Chia before crouching down to be at the girl's level.
-No, Esmeralda, we didn't come here to play.
Sue said in a soft but firm voice.
-This place is very dangerous. You need to come with us, we will take you to a safe place.
Chia nodded, coming closer too.
-Yes, little one. There are bad things here. We must go now.
But Esmeralda only laughed a crystalline and innocent laugh, turning on her heels.
-Where to? But this is my home!
she exclaimed, stretching out her arms as if she were embracing the whole desolate town.
-Besides, they're playing with me, aren't they? It's part of the game! They have to catch me first.
Esmeralda stepped back with a mischievous smile, as if she had just announced the most important rule in the world. Her feet barely kicked up dust; she moved with a lightness unbecoming of that crumbling place.
Sue gritted her teeth. In another situation, she would use her powers directly. But in front of a girl... and a girl who, moreover, looked like a crack in reality... she couldn't afford even one mistake.
-Chia.
Sue muttered without taking her eyes off Esmeralda.
-No techniques. No pushing and shoving. We just took her by the hand and led her away.
Chia nodded, tense.
-If she gets scared, she'll run away... and if she runs away, I don't know what could happen here.
Esmeralda tilted her head to one side, listening to them as if listening to two adults talking about boring things.
-So... it's the game?
she crooned.
-Catch me!
Before Sue could react, Esmeralda spun on her heel and shot through the rubble.
Sue dove after her, but she didn't fly. In that narrow alley, with downed wires and broken walls, a misjudged impulse could bring half a building down on the girl. She ran flush to the ground, dodging rocks and dark puddles.
Chia went the other way, anticipating Esmeralda's move to block her path.
-Esmeralda, wait!
Sue called.
-We're not playing!
-That's what they always say!
The girl replied, without turning around.
-But they always play!
Sue sped up and came within a step of catching up. She reached out, aiming to grab the sleeve of the dress....
Esmeralda ducked in one swift, graceful movement, slipped between a gap under an overturned car and came out the other side with a crystalline giggle.
Sue stood with her hand in the air.
-How did she...?
Chia appeared around the corner, closing the passage with open arms, like a human barrier.
-Not this way.
She said, trying to sound friendly.
Esmeralda stopped in her tracks and looked at her as if she was evaluating a new piece on the board. Then he smiled, showing his little teeth.
-Ah, the door moves!
she declared, fascinated.
Instead of going backwards, Esmeralda ran straight for Chia.
Chia tensed, ready to catch her carefully. She crouched down to wrap her arms loosely around her, seeking to envelop her, to protect her....
But Esmeralda didn't crash into her.
She passed through.
Not through her like a ghost, no. It just... passed as if it had found the one exact angle where Chia's body left a space. It brushed Chia's side, pushed with a tiny shoulder and slipped through her arms before they could close.
Chia spun around with a choked exclamation.
-It can't be...!
Sue cursed under her breath. If Esmeralda was using her powers, she was doing it in such a subtle way that it seemed like just luck.
Or worse: as if the world was bending over backwards to let her win.
The chase took them toward a small square, where a dry fountain stood like an old bone amid cracked cobblestones. All around, half-open houses showed empty rooms, crooked beds, broken toys and dishes still on tables that no one would ever occupy again.
Sue caught a glimpse of a flash of white: Esmeralda jumped over the edge of the fountain, walked along the edge as if it were a tightrope and, noticing Sue approaching, stuck out her tongue.
-Almost! You almost got me!
Sue stopped short, holding back the urge to pounce.
-Emerald, listen to me!
She said, breathing hard.
-There's a monster nearby. There's...
-Shhh!
Esmeralda put a finger on his lips from afar, imitating an adult.
In hide-and-seek you don't talk. If you talk, you lose.
Sue clenched her fists. She felt the distant vibration of battle, like subterranean thunder. Every second that passed was danger.
Chia circled the fountain on the other side. With slow, almost ceremonial movements, she raised her hands for Esmeralda to see.
-We mean you no harm.
She said sincerely.
-Just come with us. I promise there's a place out there where you can play... without this.
Esmeralda tilted her head, curious for a moment.
-Out there?
she whispered.
-What does it look like? Does it have lights?
Sue saw a crack in her resolve and took a step.
-Yes. It has lights, food, people... and you don't have to be alone.
Esmeralda's eyes narrowed, as if she was trying to remember something that didn't quite fit.
-I... am not alone.
She said, and the smile came back suddenly, too quickly.
-I'm with my house!
Then he jumped back.
Sue reacted, ran, propelled herself up to the edge of the fountain....
And Esmeralda was no longer there.
Not missing.
She had simply gone down the wrong side, falling with an agility no little girl should have. She rolled between the cobblestones like a ball and picked herself up without even getting dirty.
Chia let out a frustrated exhale.
-It's like she knew exactly what we were going to do before we did it!
Esmeralda ran into a narrow, dark alley. As she entered, the shadows seemed to swallow her up. Sue felt a pang in her stomach.
-Don't lose her!
Sue ordered.
They ducked in after her. The alley was full of broken doors and glassless windows. There were black marks on the walls, like old burns. The air smelled musty and something else... metallic.
Sue saw Esmeralda's hair up ahead, bouncing as she ran. She was so close she could have sworn that, if she stretched a little further, she'd catch her.
She reached out her hand.
His fingers brushed the fabric.
Esmeralda let out a giggle and spun sharply, changing direction at an impossible angle. Sue reflexively followed...and almost hit a collapsed wall.
Chia pulled her by the arm in time.
-Sue!
Sue pulled herself together, breathing angrily.
-She's doing it on purpose.
-Of course she is!
Esmeralda's voice sang from somewhere.
-Otherwise, it's no fun.
Sue looked around. For a second, she didn't see her.
Just silence, dust and ruins.
-Esmeralda...
Sue called, lower now, holding back her anxiety.
-You don't have to hide. Come. We're asking you.
A little head peeked out from behind a fallen post, as if it were hiding badly on purpose. Its eyes shone with an almost painful enthusiasm.
-Cold!
He announced, as if he was leading them in the game.
-They're cold! But-
He smiled with a suddenly strange air.
-If they catch me... will they really take me?
Sue swallowed.
-Yes.
Chia took a step closer, very slowly.
-Together. Without hurting you.
Esmeralda watched them as if gauging whether that word meant anything.
And just when it seemed she was about to give in....
-Then catch me good!
She exclaimed, and ran off again, light as a leaf in the wind.
Sue felt her patience melting in her hands, but still she slowed down. She couldn't dash. She couldn't use her power. She couldn't risk a blow that, however minimal, would be too much.
Behind them, far away and yet too close, the roar shook the air again.
Sue clenched her jaw.
-Chia...we'll get her out of here if we have to carry her.
-If we can touch her at all.
Chia muttered.
And the two of them continued on, moving deeper and deeper into the bowels of the desolate town, while Esmeralda laughed and ran as if the end of the world could not catch up with her.
Sue felt her frustration growing.
-Esmeralda, please, this is not a game!
-Yes it is! It's all a game!
The girl insisted, beginning to walk away with light steps through the rubble.
Chia extended her hand, trying to stop her.
-Wait, listen to us.
At that moment, another deafening roar echoed in the distance, closer this time. The high-pitched, ominous hiss that accompanied it made the air itself vibrate with a sickening frequency.
Esmeralda stopped dead in her tracks.
Her gaze shifted from the void to where the roar had come from. Her eyes, until that moment full of playfulness and mischief, were shadowed with something Sue and Chia recognized immediately: fear.
-It's... it's the bad monster.
Esmeralda whispered, in a voice that for the first time sounded fragile and small.
Sue and Chia exchanged a quick glance. The girl had stopped moving. Her small hands clenched into trembling fists.
-My brother...
Esmeralda continued, looking at the ground.
-My brother told me that the bad monster would never hurt me if he couldn't find me. He told me to stay still. To play quietly.
She paused, as if the words were hard for her. His breathing became ragged.
-He was always with me in the day. Always. But when it got dark, he'd go...to get food. And I was left alone.
Sue felt a knot in her stomach.
-Emerald...
-But she always came back!
The girl interrupted, in a desperate tone.
-She always came back before the sun came up again. She promised me. He told me that no matter what, he would come back.
Then her eyes filled with tears, and something in her expression broke. As if a painful truth had been buried and now it was bursting out.
-But... but the sun stopped rising.
She said, her voice breaking.
-And he didn't come back.
Chia took a step toward her, holding back the impulse to hug her.
-Emerald...
-The bad monster...
The girl looked up at Sue and Chia, tears beginning to fall from her eyes.
-The bad monster must have caught him. Because my brother would never break his promise. He would never leave me alone on purpose.
Her voice shook even more.
-Please...
She whispered, and for the first time since they had seen her, she sounded like what she really was: a little girl, scared and lost.
-Please, help me. Help me find my brother.
Tears ran freely down her cheeks now, and her hands trembled as she stretched them out to them, as if she didn't know whether she should trust or not.
-I don't want to be alone. I don't want to play alone anymore. I just... I just want my brother back.
Sue felt something inside her clench tightly. She looked at Chia, who nodded silently.
Sue knelt down in front of Esmeralda, lowering herself to her height.
-We're going to help you.
Sue said firmly, but gently.
-I promise. We're going to find your brother.
Chia approached as well, holding out a hand carefully.
-But we need you to come with us, okay?
Esmeralda looked at them with flooded eyes, hesitating just a second longer... and then nodded, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
-All right.
