No More

Chapter 78: Clockwork Part 3

"Two days." Explained Jesse, much to Petra's shock. "According to the survivors, that cloaked guy has been more ruthless if you compare the reports to the other survivors of the earlier-destroyed villages." Jesse's face had an expression of guilt. "Although, this might actually be my fault."

"How is it your fault?" Asked a disbelief Petra, standing up to confront him. "You didn't destroy the villages!"

"Of course I didn't, but us fooling him, saving Bailey, just made him more aggressive. He just..." Jesse paused, trying to fight the right word. "Blew up the towns, Petra, only a few people actually escaped before turning those last two villages into craters! He didn't care about who died."

"Jesse, he's insane!" Argued Petra. "Are trying to find a pattern to an unpredictable psychopath?!"

"But remember what he said earlier?" Asked Jesse, looking at her. "He said he is only after the soldiers under the command of the Clockwork Fortress."

"Do you remember how many he killed that were not soldiers?" Petra countered. "What about that? He personally hunted down the people trying to escape!"

"But he only went after the soldiers," retorted Jesse. "If he was killing everyone, then why did Chai survive?"

"What does she have to with anything?" Petra growled, still angry with her.

"Obviously, her body covered in that black stuff means that she fought the cloaked man," Observed Jesse. "But, the cloaked man didn't hunt her down afterwards, he let her escape."

Jesse continued. "When I tried to transport the injured soldiers, he only killed them and not me," He recalled. "He easily could have, but he didn't after I provoked him."

"That's because Jess told him not to kill you," Petra countered again. "You're only alive because he's afraid of your sister."

"Then why did he made the offer?" Countered Jesse. "Why did he offer to spare all of us in exchange for Bailey? He could have just let me go."

"Again, that's because of you sister!" Petra yelled.

"But he restricted himself from doing so." Jesse concluded. "Like it or not, he didn't hurt us. He offered to let us go, and he kept his word when we tricked him into thinking that we let Bailey go."

"Fine, you proved the cloaked psychopath... is a sophisticated psychopath!" Petra admitted sarcastically. "But I can't understand why you're blaming yourself, you're not responsible for all of the destruction! If we're doing the blame-game, then it's my fault because I used the spell!"

"But I'm the one who made you use it." Reminded Jesse. "I may have not wiped out those last two villages, but I'm not completely innocent."

Jesse just stared at the map, one of the few things that prove that there were villages instead of ruins. "No good deed goes unpunished, Petra," Whispered Jesse. "My mom always told me that."

"You've been talking about them a lot." Petra stated softly, concern in her voice because Jesse rarely talks about his mothers. The few times Jesse does mention them, the tears leak out... like right now. "Are you okay?"

"It's been hard this past month Petra." Sighed Jesse. "We have to overwork ourselves just to get basic needs, but at the same time we are hurting others."

"How do I get over that guilt?" He asked his friend. "How do I sleep in a bed, knowing that everyone else outside the inner walls are crying in the snow?"

"Jesse... I can't answer that." Petra admitted, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "The situation we're in, it's beyond complicated, but I know that accepting what you did wrong is the first step."