Chapter 98: Waiting

Chapter 98: Chapter 98: Waiting

Acheron Deep — Monday, 11:35 AM

Liora sat on the edge of her cot, staring at the little boy sitting beside her.

Leo stared right back. His tiny legs swung back and forth over the floor. In his chubby hands, he rolled a small plastic toy truck that an Association guard had dug up from a storage bin.

Neither of them knew what to say.

Liora had stood toe-to-toe with A-rank beasts without flinching. She had fought alongside Felix against an SS-rank abomination that would have made veteran hunters turn and run.

A three-year-old kid was somehow more terrifying.

Leo glanced toward the thick metal door.

"Where Unca Felix?"

"He’ll be back later," Liora said softly.

"When?"

"Soon."

"When is soon?"

Liora opened her mouth, then shut it. How do I even answer that?

Felix hadn’t given her a timeline. He had only told her an emergency had broken out and asked her to keep the boy safe and distracted until he returned. She had agreed on the spot, but now she realized babysitting took a completely different set of skills.

"I don’t know the exact time, buddy," she admitted honestly. "But he promised he’d come back for you."

Leo looked down at his toy, pushing it across the bedsheet. "Vroom, vroom."

Liora watched him for a second. Then her eyes landed on the black game console and two controllers sitting on her desk. An idea clicked.

"Hey, Leo. Do you like video games?"

Leo’s head snapped up. "Games?"

"Yeah. Lots of them."

"Lots?"

Liora grabbed the remote and turned on the wall screen. The display lit up with bright colors. Leo dropped the plastic truck instantly and scrambled across the mattress, his eyes sparkling.

"Wow!"

Good. This I can do, Liora thought, loading up a colorful kart racer and handing him the second controller. "Alright. This green button makes your car speed up, and this little stick turns your wheels."

Leo nodded very seriously, gripping the controller with both hands. The race started and he mashed every single button at the same time.

His kart instantly spun in three tight donuts and smashed head-first into a wooden fence.

Leo gasped.

Liora slapped a hand over her mouth, trying her hardest not to laugh. But the deadpan shock on his tiny face was too much, and a high giggle slipped out.

Leo turned, his cheeks puffing out. "You laugh!"

"N-no! I didn’t laugh at you!"

"You did! Bad laugh!"

"I’m sorry!" Liora grinned, wiping a tear from her eye.

Leo looked back at the screen, pointing a finger at her sleek racing kart. "Your car fast."

"Then let’s have a real race," she challenged with a grin. She picked a slower, heavy-duty monster truck for his character to give him better steering.

Three. Two. One. GO!

Her car zipped off the starting line. Leo’s truck rolled forward three feet, veered hard to the left, hit a tire barrier, and flipped onto its side.

"Turn left, Leo! Left!"

Leo pushed the stick all the way to the right.

"No, your other left!"

CRASH.

Straight into a stone wall.

Liora doubled over, laughing so hard her stomach ached. Leo crossed his arms, looking deeply offended for two seconds, before he broke out into loud giggles too.

"Again! Do it again!"

"Alright, rematch."

They ran another race, then another. By round four, Leo had figured out how to keep his truck on the asphalt for more than five seconds.

By round six, he accidentally discovered the item button and realized he could fire red shells to knock other racers off the track.

Specifically, her.

BAM.

A red shell hit Liora’s bumper, sending her kart spinning into the dirt.

"Hey! Stop hitting me!"

Leo clapped his hands, squealing. "Hit! Hit Liora car!"

"You’re supposed to reach the finish line, not hunt me down!"

"Hit you!" he shouted proudly, launching another shell.

He’s turning into a little monster already, Liora thought, staring at his gleeful smile. She couldn’t even pretend to be annoyed.

She picked a new track and leaned forward. "Fine. Gloves are off Leo."

"Me too!"

The next race ended with both of their karts colliding into the exact same corner barrier, exploding into digital smoke.

Watching Leo roll on the bed laughing, Liora felt the knot of anxiety in her chest loosen up. When Felix had called earlier, the raw dread in his voice had terrified her.

But right now, in this small room, all of that fear faded away.

---

*12:10 PM*

After four more chaotic races, Leo dropped the controller onto the blanket. "I want food."

"Hungry?"

Leo patted his stomach. "My tummy is empty."

"Good timing."

Liora walked to the small table and grabbed the food tray the guards had brought in earlier. She set it between them on the table. Leo scrambled up onto the chair, staring at the warm rice, sliced chicken, and steamed greens.

"Can I eat this?"

"All of it," Liora smiled.

Leo scooped up a spoonful of rice, and Liora began eating her own portion. For a few minutes, the only sound was the clatter of spoons against plastic plates.

"Liora?"

Liora nearly dropped her fork. Her heart did a tiny flip. He remembered my name.

"Y-yeah, Leo?"

"Where you live?"

Liora glanced around the bare concrete walls, the heavy electronic door, the single window with reinforced glass. "Here. In this room."

Leo looked around too, taking in the plain metal desk and the security cameras blinking in the corners. "Here?"

"Yeah."

"All the time?"

"All the time."

Leo chewed his rice slowly, thinking hard. "You have no house?"

Liora lowered her fork. It was a simple question, but answering it to a three-year-old felt surprisingly heavy.

"I have a place to sleep," she said gently, trying to keep her voice light. "And all my things are safe here."

Leo looked back at the TV screen. "Games too?"

A soft smile touched her face. "Yeah. Games too."

Satisfied with that answer, Leo picked up a slice of cooked chicken and held it out across the table toward her plate. "Here."

"That’s your food, Leo. You should eat it."

"Share," he insisted, pushing his little arm forward. "Papa says always share."

Liora looked at the small piece of meat, then at his bright, innocent eyes. Warmth bloomed behind her ribs.

She leaned forward and took it. "Thank you, Leo."

Leo gave a huge, proud grin and went right back to stuffing his cheeks with rice.

---

*12:32 PM*

Once lunch was finished, Liora took a warm, damp cloth and started wiping the sticky rice and sauce off his hands and chin.

Leo immediately squirmed like an eel. "Cold!"

"Hold still, you’re almost done."

"Cold!"

"I know, buddy. One more second." She gave his nose a quick dab. "There. All clean."

Leo rubbed his cheeks, inspected his clean hands, and beamed. "Thank you!"

"You’re welcome."

Leo hopped off the chair, ran straight back to the bed, and grabbed his controller. "Game!"

"Again? Your food didn’t even settle yet."

"Game!" he chanted, bouncing on his heels.

Liora laughed and gave in. "Fine, fine."

She swapped the disc, booting up a cooperative island adventure game. "Let’s try this one. We work together on this island, collect supplies, and build things. No hitting cars."

"Okay!"

The game started on a sunny beach. "This blue button makes your guy jump," Liora explained.

Leo hit it. His little character leaped into the air. "Jump!"

"Good. And this yellow button picks up items."

Leo mashed the yellow button. His character swung a wooden stick instead, smacking a bright pink flower into dust.

"Hit!" Leo cheered.

Liora blinked at the screen. "Leo, no. We aren’t fighting. We’re supposed to gather those flowers for a quest."

Leo walked his character over to another bush, paused, and swung the stick again.

Poof.

"Flower gone!" he announced proudly.

Liora buried her face in her free hand. "Why did you destroy the flower?"

Leo looked up at her with a sweet, innocent smile. "Hit flower!"

"You are unbelievable," she chuckled, shaking her head. "Alright, let’s keep moving."

This time, Leo managed to gather two seashells before walking his character straight off a rocky cliff. The little digital explorer fell into the ocean with a splash and vanished. A second later, the character respawned back at the beach tent with a cheerful chime.

Leo gasped, his eyes going wide. "I died!"

"Yeah, but you came right back. See?"

Leo stared at the screen, then turned his head slowly to look at Liora.

"Like Unca Felix?"

Liora’s fingers froze against the controller. "...What?"

"Unca Felix makes hurt people better," Leo said in a matter-of-fact tone, swinging his legs. "He fixes them."

The simple words hit Liora right in the chest. She remembered how Felix had looked at her when her darkness affinity had nearly eaten her alive. How he had stood between her and death without backing away.

"Yeah," Liora murmured, her voice softening.

"He does."

Leo nodded, satisfied that they agreed on such an obvious truth. Then he pointed at the screen.

"Make me better too!"

"You aren’t hurt, Leo."

"My guy fell in the water! He dead!"

Liora let out a bright laugh. "Oh, your character!"

"Make him better!"

Liora took his controller, walked his character out of the respawn zone, and handed it back.

"There. Fully healed."

"Yay!"

"Now please stop jumping off cliffs."

"Okay!"

Ten seconds later, Leo’s character swung his stick at another flower. Liora just leaned back and laughed with him.

---

*1:03 PM*

The early afternoon flew by faster than Liora could believe.

They moved from adventure games to puzzle levels, and Leo never stopped talking. He wanted to know why water was blue, why monkeys liked bananas, and why the bad guys in the game looked so grumpy.

Liora answered every single question. Sometimes she gave real explanations; sometimes she made up ridiculous stories just to hear him laugh.

When he asked why the knight character carried a giant shield, she told him the knight was terrified of flying broccoli, and Leo laughed so hard he fell sideways into the pillows.

Looking after him wasn’t scary at all. He was loud, messy, and slightly chaotic, but he was completely pure-hearted.

Around one in the afternoon, Leo’s hands slowed down. He paused the game, turned his head toward the reinforced door, and went quiet.

"Unca Felix come now?"

Liora looked at the wall clock. "Not yet, buddy."

Leo’s shoulders dropped. He set the controller down in his lap. "I want Unca Felix."

"Do you miss him?"

Leo nodded slowly. "Mm-hmm."

"He’s helping people at the hospital right now," Liora said gently, sliding closer to him on the mattress. "Some people got hurt very badly, so he had to go make them better."

A small wrinkle formed between Leo’s brows.

"Is Unca Felix hurt too?"

Liora’s heart ached. She remembered the sheer exhaustion and panic in Felix’s voice over the phone. She had no idea what was happening outside these walls, but she knew Felix wouldn’t call her unless the world was burning.

"No," Liora said, keeping her tone steady and sure. "He isn’t hurt. He’s very strong."

Leo stared at his little fingers, his voice barely a whisper. "Want him to come back."

Liora reached out, gently patting his shoulder. She understood that exact hollow feeling. For months, she had sat in this exact cell, staring at that exact door, counting down the hours until Felix would walk in to check on her.

"He will come back, Leo."

Leo looked up, his big brown eyes glistening.

"Promise?"

Liora couldn’t promise what she couldn’t control. But she could give him the truth that mattered.

"Unca Felix made you a promise before he left, right? He told you he’d come get you."

"Mm-hmm."

"Felix never breaks a promise," Liora said with absolute certainty. "So let’s trust him, okay?"

Leo thought about that for a long moment, then gave a firm nod. "Okay."

"Good boy." Liora picked up the controller again. "Now... do you want to build a house in the game?"

Leo’s eyes instantly caught fire again. "Big house!"

"Super big!"

Leo cheered, throwing his little arms up in the air. The heavy gloom vanished in a heartbeat, replaced by excited chatter as they started placing virtual bricks and filling their pretend house with absurd amounts of giant furniture.

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