Apocalypse Reset: My Crab Can Heal the World!

"So, Haima," Maria starts, closing the door behind her and steeling herself. "Let's have a quick talk."

Haima is already sitting down at the conference table, across from Maria. She eyes the Princess with mild interest.

"Of course, Princess Maria. I am happy to serve. What can I do for you?"

Maria takes a deep breath. She knew this wasn't going to be easy - Haima's innocent, helpful personality was the exact opposite of what one would expect from a killer. Still, Maria had a job to do here.

She sits down at the table directly opposite Haima, piecing together slowly how she wants to word her concerns.

"Haima, as you know, there was a man found dead some days ago, down on Castleton. I trust you heard about it?"

Haima tilts her head with a certain feigned curiosity. "Why, yes. I've been following the case quite closely."

"Is that right?"

Maria drums her fingers on the table. "You see, Haima…there have been some concerns that you might have had some involvement in the case."

"Oh?" Haima smiles. "Well, yes. I suppose I might have some information I haven't yet shared with the police."

Haima presents a wall to Maria - hard to read, hard to get an angle on. But in her inner thoughts, Haima was in chaos.

The fact that Maria is asking her questions about this directly means that the Princess is suspicious - she thinks that Haima might be the killer. And Haima could not let that be the case. Not right now. Not when she'd already resolved herself to leave Dimartino and get stronger.

"And what information is that?"

Haima continues to smile, forcing herself to look as happy and natural and pleasant as possible. In truth, it was eating her up, and it had been for a while.

"Well, Princess…It's been a little concerning for me, because I saw that man Underhill sneaking into my house one night. And shortly after, I found a strange dagger had appeared in my home. I was in a bit of a panic about it, actually - but then I heard the murder weapon was recovered and I didn't think much of it."

Maria's blood chills. "Are you saying that Underhill planted some sort of dagger in your home?"

"Yes," Haima confirms. "But I couldn't imagine why. I thought the worst, at first. Was he the killer? Was he marking me as his next victim? But he's not tried to do anything since. I also doubt someone like him could ever sneak up on me. His blood is far too erratic."

"This is a serious accusation you're making," Maria says. Stay connected via My Virtual Library Empire

"No accusations, just observations. Why? Did you believe something else to be the case?"

Maria stops herself. If the dagger didn't belong to Haima, and was actually Underhill's, that changed everything. Underhill just jumped from 'helpful police chief' to 'prime suspect' in Maria's eyes.

'Should I tell her?' Maria thinks. This murder investigation was quickly devolving into a 'he said, she said' situation. But Maria at least knows one thing as a result of this conversation - either Underhill or Haima are lying. That means one of them must be the killer.

'Screw it,' Maria decides. She'd spill the beans.

"You see, Underhill informed me that as a result of his investigation, YOU were actually the one whom he suspected as the killer, Haima."

For a split second, Maria sees something in Haima that she could never forget - a darkness. Piercing, angry, and callous. A crack in the mask so perfectly constructed.

And yet, in an instant, Haima's face quickly returns to the smiling, happy, endearing facade she always had.

"How very curious indeed. Why would I go around stabbing people? If I wanted someone dead, I could do it without even a single touch. I'm sure you're aware of my power - at least somewhat, Princess."

Haima raises an excellent point - Maria finds it hard to dismiss it. In fact, from what she knew about Haima, physical combat is something she tries to actively avoid, not being great at it.

"Is that all, Princess?"

Haima's eyes were full of darkness as she spoke - something she could not hide any longer. She knows the walls are closing in on her. Seems she'd have to be leaving Dimartino sooner than she thought, and under much different circumstances.

"I suppose…" Maria frowns. As she speaks, Haima rises from the table and quickly heads for the door.

"Then I shall see you around. Have a wonderful day, Princess Maria. Oh, sorry. Should I call you 'Former Princess'?"

The two women exchange a look. It's impossible to read either of them fully - Maria is far too calculating, and Haima far too guarded.

"Just Maria is fine, thanks."

Haima steps out of the room and closes the door quickly behind her. She lets her mask down for only a moment and exhales sharply, deeply. She needs to figure out a plan.

Why?

Because Haima is the killer.

She didn't plan on it - at least not at first. It was just a normal night at the cafeteria in Dimartino. She saw the man, late thirties, perhaps early forties. He was chatting up two much younger women. Making them uncomfortable. Touching them on the shoulder, whispering into their necks.

Haima sees things that most people don't - feelings, emotions. It's all visible from the flow of blood in one's body. And on that night, both women were deeply disturbed. And the man's blood reeked of negative intent.

So she approached him. Went home with him, freeing the two girls from the situation. She had him lay down in the bed and get ready for the night of his life…

A night that ended with her plunging a dagger into the predator's sternum. She even left the dagger there. If he'd been killed by a Secret Art of hers, it would have been far too obvious.

His body would have been positively ravaged by her bloody technique, especially with the rancor she'd been feeling in the moment.

It wasn't just about protecting those two girls, however. Haima has a practical need and desire to kill as well. She needs blood - a constant supply of it. The weakness of the Gore Family - none of them could survive without constant transfusions of foreign blood. It's how she derives her power.

At that point, monster activity in Dimartino was low, and it was before they'd fought off any vampires. Haima was running low on her blood supply at the time, but her ritualized killing of the man provided her with plenty. She purposely left a bloody mess of the corpse so that any investigators would not notice the pint of blood that was missing from the body.

Since then, she'd had plenty of gators, chickens, and vampires to gorge herself on. She'd quite the stock of blood, now.

But none of that mattered. Underhill is aware of her activities, and she wouldn't be able to stave off suspicion for much longer. And being imprisoned is something that simply cannot happen - she would be deprived of any way to receive more blood. Locked up, she'd wither and die.

As she spins her wheels about all of this and plans her escape, she bumps right into Barns.

"Oh, Haima!" Barns says, surprised. "Done with Maria already?"

She looks up at him. He's the exact last person she wants to see right now.

It'd be so easy to leave if she didn't have to have this conversation, but now that they're here, mere inches from each other, she supposes she owes him some answers.

"Barns, do you know what Maria wanted to talk to me about?" she asks quietly.

"Yeah, some bullshit. They think you had something to do with that guy who was killed. I tried to tell Underhill that you're not that kind of girl, but you know how annoying and intrusive he can be."

Haima looks up at him, letting her facade crumble down in his presence. She stares into his bright blue eyes, her own beginning to form light tears.

She takes hold of his hand and curls her fingers around his, moving close to him, and whispering into his shoulder.

"Barns, I don't expect you to understand, and if you never forgive me, so be it. But please, I need you to know that I would never do anything bad. Not unless I had to."

Barns wraps her other arm around Haima, pulling them into an embrace. "Of course, Haima," he says, some of her hair getting in his mouth.

She indulges the hug - for a short while. She hates to be touched, but today was somewhat of an exception. And Barns, too, is an exception.

"I want you to know the real reason why this is happening, Barns. It's because I'm weak. I couldn't stop that Sentinel, Donatella. My Secret Arts are too crude. I have a long way to go."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm leaving Dimartino, Barns. To get stronger. Strong enough to kill a Sentinel. And when I return, you can decide what becomes of me. But my destiny is not yet over. So please. Please try to understand."

"Wait, Haima, what are you - "

Barns crumples to the ground as Haima surges her power into him for only a moment - just enough for him to black out. He'd wake up in a few minutes.

"Goodbye, Barns."