Even if they tried to break into that room, they were unable to. Lucy's heart was pounding frantically, she crawled to a safe corner of the room. Alice, however, knelt, staring at the body of the woman who had just died.
The air was heavy, as if, even with the windows open, the cold wind mixed with rain entering the room, there was still a lack of air. Without ceremony, the horned figure walked to the window, its eyes landing on the two women, questioning whether it was worth risking being suspected of murder or following it.
They didn't have much of a choice, did they?
In the apartment, Skyler tried to access the microphones the two women had, but they were turned off. Frustrated and slightly worried, he walked to the door... he couldn't leave Flowey alone in the apartment.
When she opened her eyes, supported by Lucy, Alice was confused about where they were. It was a makeshift hut, very close to the Inférius barrier, which extended a few meters outside the city.
The horned woman introduced herself as Mariane Sybenkiosk. Lucy questioned whether she hadn't already died. She shrugged and, with a cold tone mixed with sarcasm, said she was very lucky to have lived for so many years in such a hostile place as Inférius.
Without wasting much time, along with an apology, she removed the blade that had injured Alice's arm. Inviting them to sit on her sofa.
Both did as she was asked.
Serving coffee, Mariane explained that Vector's situation was more complex than they themselves could imagine.
In fact, Lhariane Des Montes was just a puppet in a much larger corruption scheme...
In which even her own family was involved.
Biting her lip, Lucy, using a string of insults, questioned why a family would make their own son's life a living hell. Mariane claimed to have no answers, but that she would search, that she would go to the deepest abyss of NeonyRain to free not only her brother, but the entire city from the evil of an elite that had promised to protect them.
And, even unwillingly, she needed someone influential and with followers to help her in this mission. Skyler Fogue was the only viable option among many worse ones.
She said that the man was no angel and knew it better than anyone in that room. But that he was the only person who cared even minimally about "justice."
Alice, raising her head, asked how Mariane knew so much information.
She simply said, shrugging, that her master knew a lot about Skyler, but couldn't personally intervene.
That's why she, seeking redemption for her mistakes, offered to grant his wishes. After all, without her master, she could never have such an opportunity again.
And, looking back, she announced her arrival.
The door opened, and Skyler emerged from the darkness of that area, holding the child in her arms. Mariane questioned her location methods, Skyler refused to reveal them, only handing Flowey to Alice, who hugged her tightly, apologizing for causing such a headache.
When questioned, Mariane explained her objectives and invited Skyler to help her. Tilting his head, the man questioned how he could trust her. Without hesitation, bringing a glass of wine to the table, she cut her own wrist with the glass and poured her blood into the glass.
"We, the Renkyarians, make blood pacts to ensure that neither party breaks their promise. I offer you my blood to earn your trust, and you can offer me your blood so that I too can trust you."
Lucy stood up, saying it was an insane method. But Skyler ignored her and, using the claw of his mechanical hand, cut his wrist and poured the liquid into the goblet.
He agreed with the method, saying that Mariane's race probably has excellent relationships with each other.
Dividing the liquid into two glasses, Mariane offered Skyler a sip, he accepted, drinking the woman's blood, and she drank the man's blood, with Mariane confirming that it was easy to differentiate human blood from Renkyarian blood.
Alice and Lucy watched the two in silence, whispering to each other about the strange naturalness with which Skyler and Mariane dealt with extreme issues of trust and loyalty.
After all the agreement, the main part began: planning. Mariane requested that there was a large structure in NeonyRain that almost no one was interested in.
"THE HOTEL"
Despite its simple name, it was where all the elite organizations/families of the city met to plan their actions.
Mariane confirmed that her family was one of the largest. But with the supposed "death" of her daughter and the alleged accusation of "abuse" against her son, the parents, and leaders of the Sybenkiosk family, distanced themselves and made no statement, even after the first accusation Vector had suffered.
And, adding a question, she asked Skyler if he had ever had access to the place. The man shrugged, stating that he was completely uninterested in political matters, except when it affected him, of course.
Lucy, with her lack of filter, said she loved the possibility of "fuck up the life" of whoever made her friend suffer. However, Mariane says there was a big problem...
The Pillars of Libretãnhya were there, and they (The Elite) intended to put them on a suicide mission when the disaster predicted for NeonyRain in the coming days happens.
Alice was confused, after all, weren't the Pillars the most powerful forces in that world? How could they die on a mission?
In a serious voice, Mariane says that Alice was naive to believe that the power of the Pillars of Libretãnhya was enough...
Because she had to keep in mind that, in this world, unfortunately, humanity is just ants in the immensity that Inférius provided in places that the human race has not yet explored, either out of ignorance...
Or out of fear.
Intertwining her own fingers, Skyler asked how Mariane knew all this. She says that her master is the one who taught her everything she knows. The man chuckled, expressing his joy at the possibility of one day meeting Mariane's master.
After several hours of planning, everyone agreed to raid "The Hotel" the following day to seek the truth that not only Vector needed...
But the entire city.
In a distant prison, the man found himself alone in his solitary confinement cell, hungry, cold, and hopeless. He stared at the sky covered by the spiral through the small window, his hands reaching for the bars for support, fearful of the future that awaited him and confused by his sister's return.
He just wanted to hug her again, but why did everything have to be so fast? Why did he have to depend on people to save him?
He hated it, he didn't want to be a burden anymore. He wanted to free himself, to be worthy of freedom, not out of innocence, but because he was a strong man.
He wouldn't accept this anymore.
He wouldn't wait any longer.
With a wave of fury reaching the peak of his being, Vector gripped the large window bars and began to bend them. He screamed so loudly from the force he was using that the guards began to approach, yelling at him not to do anything foolish.
But the man was relentless and, with a single impulse, he shattered the window bars which, being connected to the concrete, caused the wall to crumble.
The prison guards entered the small room; Vector was on the edge of a large precipice. The men warned him to return to where he was, but Vector turned to face them.
"If I'm not allowed to prove my innocence, I'll conquer it by force."
He opened his arms and, without looking back, he threw himself from the prison. The guards tried to reach him, but it was too late. The man's body disappeared among the trees that protected the prison.
One of the men, adjusting his hat, commented:
"We may condemn him for his crimes, but we must congratulate him on his courage to prove his innocence... until then, declare this man wanted throughout NeonyRain."