The Choice Of Fate || The Promised Neverland

Chapter 2: Pet or Death?

Sistine's POV:

His eyes are wide open, but dull and lifeless. His decrepit body holds no life anymore, for his blood has been consumed by the bright red flower. Francis is here no more. He has gone to his family. He has gone home.

I could barely hear the words being said by those around me, for I only focused on him. I feel my grasp break free from the book in my hands, feeling myself take one step after another, until his head is merely inches away from my knee.

I stare back at his dead, hollow eyes, finding no reflection at all. He is, without a doubt, gone, eliminated from this world. "So, this is what you meant by going home, huh, Mama?" I ask, turning to meet her gaze. My vision is blurred by tears, but it doesn't matter. "When you said he's going to his family, you mean his family in the heavens, didn't you?"

Only then, could I hear the masked creature of my book. "We must eliminate 82194 immediately," he says, turning to my mother. "If not, this plantation will be at stake."

I wipe my tears, murmuring, "Sorry, Masked Mister, Sir. I didn't mean to interrupt your business with my crying."

He looks at my mother again, asking, "One of the premium goods, I assume?"

"Yes," Mama bluntly replies, staring soberly at the masked creature. Ah, so they know each other...

I walk over to the masked creature and get rid of my tears entirely, genuinely requesting, "Please take good care of Francis."

"Sistine, he's dead," Mama tells me, but I already knew that. Rather hard to accept at first, but what happens happens.

I reach up to pet or touch him, but since I'm too short, I can barely reach the towering figure. "Did you kill him?" I ask, refusing to tear my eyes from the creature. I didn't say it with an angry tone, but more of a curious one. Who knew that an interesting creature such as this one could be so civilized...

He stares at me blankly, thinking of me as stupid perhaps. I could barely tell his emotions from his expression, but his chuckles are enough to tell. "Why, yes," he answers, crouching down to my level and giving me better access to his mask. His tone changes as he threatens, "And I would be doing the same to you pretty soon if you don't stop that."

"Go ahead, then." He flinches at my statement, unable to think of a response. "You said you would kill me, so go ahead. I just wanna pet you, so stop resisting. Either let me pet you or kill me. Choose one."

"You..." the creature trails off, irritated by my blunt, reckless response.

"What?" I ask, raising a brow at him. "All I'm asking is that you make your quick decision." I put my right hand down and replace it with my left. "Here. My ring finger. One bite, and I would probably die from blood loss." I wave my hand at his face, trying to get him to react.

"You're crazy," he scowls. "Isabella, is this really a premium quality child?" I turn to Mama, who only nods her head. The creature glances back at me, commenting, "She sounds stupid."

"Hey!" I yell, pouting at his insult.

"You barely sound like a four-year old!"

"Then that means I'm not stupid!" I shoot back, making him slap his mask with his palm.

"You're lucky you're too young to be shipped out," he grumbles lowly, though I wasn't really supposed to hear that. Upon removing his clawed hand, he nudges his head towards the cart, saying, "You forgot that I killed your little friend over here."

"Oh, I didn't forget," I reply, proceeding to pet him. "You killed him, but by doing that, you sent him home. That's alright. His body holds no life anymore, and it doesn't hold his good memories either. Just blood. You can do what you want with his carcass. It won't hurt him."

"So, you aren't plotting revenge?" the beast questions, and I nod my head.

"He's dead," I answer dismissively. "There's nothing I can do about it. I know you're much stronger than me, so resisting isn't an option. At least he died seeing you."

"And what in the world do you mean by that?" he snarls.

"Give me a moment," I say, running out of the gate to fetch the book I brought with me. Upon returning, I flip to the page with the picture of a creature similar to him. I face the picture to him, saying, "I found it in Mama's secret room."

"S-Sistine!" she shrieks, snatching the book away from me. "Why didn't you tell me that came from there!? How did you even-!"

"You left the door open," I reply, blunt as usual.

The creature glances at me amusedly, asking, "So you know of our existence?"

"Apparently." I reach up to pet his mask again, saying, "Francis said you look like a demon, but I don't really think so."

"And what made you say that?" he asks.

I grab his mask and pull it off with my tiny hands, answering, "You look absolutely amazing. A demon wouldn't look anywhere like that."

Immediately, he takes his mask from my hands and puts it back on. "You shouldn't be doing that."

"Why not?" I whine. "You look so cool!"

"Just don't."

"Sistine, let's go home," Mama says, taking my hand and pulling me away from the creature. "And don't speak anything about this to any of your siblings or I will kill you."

I look over my shoulder and wave the creature goodbye. "Let's meet again, okay?" I tell him, smiling widely. He remains silent, not bothering to answer me. Doesn't matter. I don't need him to.

I glance at Francis and the red flower one last time before he is taken away. Upon his departure, I follow Mama back home. Darkness covers the other side of the gate the moment we leave. "Mama?" I ask, looking up at her. "Why didn't he kill me?"

She sighs, saying in her usual, sweet tone, "You're meant to be eaten by somebody special, not just by any random demon."

"Oh... I'll be waiting for that day, then," I reply, skipping by her side.

"And how so?" she asks.

"I'm curious to see the other side," I answer. "Not just the other side of the gate, but the other side of life. That's the only way I would see it. Francis is pretty lucky that he saw the other side so early."

"So you want to die?" she queries, raising a brow at me.

"Not exactly." I look up and see the House in the distance. "I just want to learn to accept what's ahead of me, whatever it may be." She goes silent for a few seconds, staring into the distance as well. "But, Mama, I have another question."

"What is it, dear?"

"Do you have santan flowers?"

She flinches at my weird, sudden request. "Uh, what?"

"Santan flowers," I repeat. "I want to plant them somewhere in the forest for Francis. They look similar to the flower stabbed in his chest."

"If somebody finds that-!"

"Mama," I cut off, making her turn to me. "No ordinary child would find out that easily just by that flower. It's okay."

Once again, she sighs in defeat and smiles at me, saying, "Alright. I'll give you some seeds for those, and you can plant them."

"Yay!" I hug her tightly, thanking her repeatedly. My smile widens in excitement and happiness.

That moment, when I met and spoke to the masked creature at the gate, I forgot all of the sorrow in my heart. It made me realize a lot of things. I barely even felt the pain of my best friend's death. Not exactly numb, but... happy.

Yes, Francis is dead. But, he is in a better place now, with a wonderful family up in the heavens. He no longer needs to face pain, resistance, and difficulty. Nothing can hurt him anymore.

And knowing that is enough to make me happy.