Volume II

Chapter 10

Atonement

“Deita, a word if you will.”

The beautiful and alluring Deita smiled with a bubbling persona, batting her eyelashes as she nodded and followed Avaramix into the corridor upon exiting her room. Once they were alone, he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a warm grin.

“I have splendid news, I have finally located the most talented and special woman akin to you, my dearest ally.”

“Oh? Was I not enough?” Deita cooed. “Well go on, then. Tell me, who is she?”

“Her name is Jinshin, and while her English is very poor, I believe she will be a vital asset to our personal mission. Please, this way, I want to introduce you to her. My hope is you can come to think of her as family, maybe the sister you never had, should it work out that way.”

As Avaramix led the way down the hall, Deita followed him with the utmost curiosity. Since the dawn of the organization, and the start of the experimental research to cure his condition and so much more, she had felt herself to be in a role of superiority and unthinkable influence and power. While she appeared to be a sexual deviant, exhibiting an allurement unlike any man could dream to possess, Deita was also madly ingenious. The sole reason she had been chosen by him all those years ago, was because of her acute intellect in superhuman genetic alteration.

Having been hired straight from GenetiCo, owned by a man named Auron Karn, brother of O’Dias Karn; Deita had proven to be Avaramix’ most valuable asset in his endeavor to not only cure his genetic dispositions, but create a super serum that could effectively alter the human genome and advance the next step of superior evolution to encounter an unprecedented age of superior mankind.

As they approached another room, Avaramix did not let his smile falter as he opened the door and escorted Deita inside. Upon entering the room, Deita gleamed at the sight of a much younger woman than herself. During this period of time, Deita was in late twenties. However, this woman seemed to be hardly an adult, hardly appearing to be eighteen years of age during this time.

“So young…” Deita was surprised.

“Perhaps, she is only seventeen years old,” Avaramix informed her, as Jinshin remained silent and nervous as she peered up at the two.

“Her past is traumatic,” Avaramix revealed. “Enslaved into sexual deviancy her entire life, she snapped when I had found her. Killing over three dozen armed men and women, on her own, Jinshin only used an Odachi samurai sword. There wasn’t a single bullet wound either, it was a slaughter.”

“No fucking way,” Deita couldn’t begin to comprehend the strength of will it must have taken to accomplish such a feat. Stepping towards the Japanese girl, she sat across from her and reached a hand out to touch the girl’s hand.

“My name is Deita, it’s a pleasure to meet you!”

Jinshin swallowed anxiously, a look of uncertainty in her eyes as she forced a smile. “I am… Jinshin… Nice, meet you…”

“You seem to struggle with English don’t you?” Deita cooed, and Jinshin nodded with embarrassment. Shaking her head teasingly, Deita patted the girl’s hand. “No worries, we can work together to fix that. I’ll have you speaking perfect English within a year, you’ll see!”

“While her purpose is yet to be established, I want you to spend as much time with her as possible,” Avaramix inserted. “Train her, mentor her, and give her any support she needs to settle into her new purpose here with us.”

“Is she allowed to leave this place?” Deita inquired. “Perhaps getting some fresh air would do her some good.”

“Within the premises of the surrounding land, I have no qualms with it,” Avaramix answered. “Until she is ready, however, it would be best to keep her from the public. She is not accustomed to the real world, this is the most freedom she has received since the dawn of her memory, from what I have gathered.”

Turning back to Jinshin, Deita squeezed her hand gently and gave her a big smile.

“I know you are afraid and uncertain, but I want you to think of me as a sister,” Deita told her.

Jinshin looked surprised, leaning forward a little with enthusiasm as a slight and subtle smile formed upon her lips. “S… S-sister?”

“That’s right hon’!” Deita said with joy. “You and me! Would you like to go for a walk around this place? You can see the mountains from the south side of the establishment! Have you ever seen the mountains before?”

Jinshin shook her head sheepishly, but her smile grew as she started to become comfortable thanks to Deita’s efforts.

“Yes… Yes very much…” Jinshin murmured.

“Just you and me then,” Deita chirped as she gave the girl a wink. “We’re going to have so much fun together! Just you and me, sister!”

A tear trickling down her cheek, Jinshin opened her eyes as she approached the room of her door. With a racing heart, she burst into the room, closing the door gently behind her so as to not alert unwanted attention. Standing in place, she shifted her gaze over to the dresser. The small chest where Benjamin was returned and sealed was still shut. Having reinforced the hinges, any escape now would have been impossible.

Approaching the chest, Jinshin reached out and unlatched the lock, opening the lid and letting it fall backwards wide open. Benjamin was sitting with his legs crossed, hands on his thighs, before looking up slowly with an expression of complacency. Upon seeing the tear on her cheek dripping down to her chin, Ben let out an audible and forced sigh.

“I can see it written all over your face,” Ben said. “You only have yourself to blame. You should have killed me when I first attempted to escape you.”

“If I had,” Jinshin responded curtly, “perhaps I wouldn’t be in this predicament to begin with. Maybe you are right, perhaps you were always right, about everything, about me…”

Ben grew confused, furrowing his brow as he leaned forward and studied her face. At first he mistook her expression as regret and sadness, thinking she was upset for most likely being forced to kill him for his daring escape attempt. However, he questioned this assumption, as Jinshin’s expression began to change to that of anger.

“You said that everything I suffered, that I was only becoming the very thing that oppressed me, my past, the story I told you in an effort to get you accustomed to this new life,” Jinshin mentioned.

“Yeah? What of it?” Ben asked, wondering what was happening in this very instant.

“I was not forthcoming with you,” Jinshin revealed. “The truth is, I’ve had my doubts ever since I became a part of this organization, a servant to Avaramix. You see, Ben, the reason I grew fond of you and couldn’t come to kill you, is because you reminded me of someone I deeply cared about all those years ago.”

Turning around, Jinshin began to pace across the room. Ben did not speak, only listening, as he watched her approach the bedside.

“I never actually knew my family,” Jinshin admitted. “I only imagined why they would have dumped me in such a vile place. I wondered what I had done to earn their abandonment. You see, ever since I can remember, I was always a slave to evil men and their perverse desires. I came to accept it, deciding that it was the life I had to live. But that all changed, when I met a young boy.”

Benjamin grew shocked, having heard this tale before, he was starting to notice the differences in her story. To have never even known your parents, to have been abandoned so young that you cannot even remember them, that was a fate far too cruel for Benjamin to grip.

“I used to think I deserved it,” Jinshin spoke as she walked up to her wall mounted Odachi blade, in its sheath on the wall. “I thought perhaps I was unworthy to be a daughter, a sister, a human being that could possess freedom. I believed I had to atone for some sins of a previous life, and that is what kept me alive for all of those years.”

Reaching out, Jinshin took the Odachi sword from the wall. Holding it both of her palms, she studied the artistic detail of the sheath of the sword.

“But when I saw that boy,” Jinshin continued. “I began to question my beliefs. When they held the gun to his head, that is when I realized that I had only fooled myself. When they pulled the trigger, and his lifeless body struck the floor, is when I finally came to realize that the boy had never done a damned thing in this world, not one damn thing, to have deserved such a cruel and unfair end. His entire life, an entire possibility, gone in an instant. When I came to this realization, a fire had lit within my spirit, a rage and wrathful vengeance took over my soul, and with this very blade, I cut them all down, every last one, who had been responsible for my suffering; and the death of that boy, whose name was Benjamin…”

“Oh…” Ben whispered, his eyes wide with disbelief. It all made sense now, Jinshin’s nature, her actions and kindness towards him, and above all, her reluctance to kill him.

Turning back to face him, Jinshin lowered the sword and tied it to her utility belt. With a firm knot, it was holstered at her side before turning her gaze back to Benjamin on the dresser.

“I have felt lost my entire life,” Jinshin murmured. “I began to see Avaramix as a father, and felt that through Deita I had obtained a sister. With these two beliefs, I blocked out everything else. Nothing else mattered to me, only them. However, and I am not sure how, my brief time with you has begun to break down the fabric of my false reality. I buried my past so deep that I failed to realize that I had become a monster. A terrible, vile monster…”

Closing her eyes, more tears began to trickle down her face. Clutching the hilt of her sword, she bowed her head and let out a faint sigh. With a shocking smile forming on her face, she looked back towards Ben, who was unable to think of a single word to say.

“I may not be worthy of atonement, or redemption… But I failed to protect that boy all of those years ago. Benjamin, I will not make the same mistake twice.”

Swallowing anxiously, Benjamin finally stood to his feet.

“What… What are you saying, Jinshin?”

“We are leaving this place,” Jinshin revealed, walking up to him and looking down at him with an expression of solidarity. “Right now. Both of us. We are leaving, and never coming back.”

“I see,” Benjamin couldn’t believe it, and in most scenarios he would be elated to hear this. However, he gave Jinshin a grim look, and shook his head. “I appreciate you, I knew you weren’t truly the same as these other bastards. But I cannot go with you, not when that girl is still in danger…”

“You mean Deita’s pet…” Jinshin came to a cruel realization, and she cringed at the thought of it. “I’m sorry Ben… But she is likely no longer with us… There is nothing we can do for her now.”

“I understand,” Ben sighed, “but look at me? I’m a bloody mouse! What life do I have to live anymore? Like this? No… I can’t… Not unless I can believe the impossible can be done. So please, if you wish to save me, Jinshin… You’ll have to save her also.”

“Benjamin…” Jinshin tried to speak, but Ben interrupted her.

“I believe you are redeemed, I believe you can still be atoned,” Benjamin exclaimed. “This is your chance. Saving me is not atonement, but saving that woman… Liz… Now that would be true redemption. If I am to believe what you have told me, Jinshin, then you would do this for me. Prove to me that you can be different! It’s the only way, I won’t go with you otherwise.”

“Benjamin,” Jinshin spoke with a more stern tone, and the small man remained silent to listen. “If you would let me finish,” Jinshin smiled at him, “I would be able to tell you. I will do it, Ben.”

“You… You will!?” Benjamin felt immense relief, the sound of a prayer being answered ringing in his ears.

“You are right,” Jinshin spoke, placing her hand down and allowing Benjamin to climb atop her palm. “Not only to prove to you, but to myself as well.”

Lifting Benjamin into the air, she dropped him comfortably into her cleavage, as he wedged in until his waist was swallowed up by her bosom. Turning towards the door of her room, Jinshin made an expression of confidence, as she felt her racing heart begin to calm itself.

“I’m done being manipulated,” Jinshin declared. “I’m done being any man’s tool, a weapon… I may not survive, but mark my words, until my dying breath I will do everything in my power to ensure that you and that poor woman are spared from the very fate that I suffered. I promise you.”

Feeling a sense of hope returning to his spirit, Ben too began to tear up. Closing his eyes and bowing his own head, he began to laugh with tears of joy as he realized his greatest dream had come true.

“I knew it…” Benjamin whispered with relief. “I knew you weren’t like them… God… Thank you…”

“Finally, at long last… Just the two of us, and my ravenous desire to eat you alive!”

Deita began to cackle maniacally, doing her best to get over the harsh ridicule of her master, Avaramix, and discontent with her troubled and emotional cohort and sister, Jinshin. It had angered her beyond reason, that Jinshin would jeopardize their position within the organization because of a lack of will to constrain that nuisance Benjamin. It disgusted her, how Jinshin was so weak when he was involved, oh how she hated that insect.

“You know, I bet you Jinshin won’t be able to do it,” Deita spoke, as she dangled Liz by her legs and swung her body like a pendulum, the poor woman distraught and disoriented as she struggled in her captor’s grip.

“That dumb Jap and I used to be so fucking close! We are sisters, our bond beyond the realm of familial ties! I trained her! Mentored her! Everything she has become is because of me! Now we have to work so damn hard to gain back the trust of our master… And it’s all because of that fucking bastard, Benjamin! Gah! Ick! Hmph! Well after I dispose of you, perhaps I’ll go to Jinshin’s room and off the fuck myself, assuming she yet again fails to do so herself!”

Letting out a sigh, Deita lifted Liz even higher and held her in front of her face. With her eyes gazing at the mute woman, Liz shook and fought, trying to break free, now knowing to the fullest extent of what was about to happen. With a sadistic grin, Deita began to lick her lips only an inch from Liz. The massive tongue swept across her plush lips, as Liz began to sob at the sight of it.

“Mmmm,” Deita moaned. “You must be terrified, wondering what kind of experience it’ll be once you reach my stomach. Admittedly, I have the same curiosity, but I won’t ever be in your position, so I’ll just have to use my imagination I guess.”

Bringing Liz’s naked body closer to her lips, the giantess stuck out her tongue and pressed the tip of it into her slave’s tits. Savoring the sensation of her tiny nipples rubbing against her taste buds, Deita moved her tongue down Liz’s body and began to press into her crotch. Despite the size of the younger woman, Deita still tasted a hint of saltiness to the cunt of her pet. Moaning even more, Deita leaned back in her chair as she smiled pleasantly to herself.

“To think I kept you around so long because I feared resentment from Jacob,” Deita said with disgust towards herself. “Now I couldn’t hate you more than I already do! Despite Avaramix ordering me to kill you, I already planned on doing it, I’ve just been so awfully busy! But now it’s you and me, darling, and you have a one way ticket straight to the pit of my belly! I just hope you struggle, violently and in vain, with tears evaporating from the heat within my body… Yes, that sounds most appealing to me.”

These words haunted Liz, as she shook her head furiously and struggled even more. Previously her spirit had waned, her mind and body broken entirely, but since that visit from Jacob, the words he said to her, his twisted perspective on her situation, it had reignited her spirit. Unable to come to terms with the fate that was in store for her, Liz pleaded in her mind that somehow she could be spared from this cruel and twisted fate. To be devoured by this sadistic and evil woman, would that truly be what her entire life would amount to? Some morsel of enjoyment for a woman’s perverse and disgusting fetish?

“I would apologize for doing this to you,” Deita cooed, “but to be honest, I’m not. You are meaningless to me, and I’ve had my fun, but there is no further use in keeping you around. Goodbye little girl, you mute and degenerate nobody, so fight to your heart's content, it’ll only fuel the orgasm I have upon digesting you.”

Lifting Liz above her mouth, Deita tilted her head back and began to part her lips. Lowering her tongue to the bottom of her mouth, her gullet was entirely in view as the light of the room above lit up her maw for Liz to take in fully. Goopy and thick strands of saliva fell from the roof of the giantess’ mouth, her white teeth sharp as ice, the uvula in the back of her throat vibrating as the giant woman felt giddy in anticipation of this cruel and final act of torment upon her little toy.

As Deita began to lower Liz towards her gaping mouth, the little woman fought harder than she ever had, but unintentionally broke free of Deita’s grip and plummeted straight towards her open mouth. As the maw of Deita grew closer while she fell towards it, Liz began to have her entire life flash before her eyes. As the wet and sickening tongue of this vile monster touched her naked form, she recalled her father, Josiah Sanchez, as tears filled her eyes at the thought of never seeing him again. Her father would never know her true fate, and this realization killed her spirit all over again.

Rolling across the tongue upon landing on it, the sick squelching of the spit that covered her body rang in her ears. The squishy and textured surface disturbed her, as she looked out of Deita’s mouth and into the room she was just inside of. Slipping backwards, Liz felt her feet beginning to dip over the horizon and towards the abyss of her captor’s throat. Scratching and clawing to keep a grip, Liz opened her mouth in an attempt to plead for her life one last time, but was unable to speak since she did not have the ability to do so.

Never had she been so infuriated with her lack of ability to speak verbally. It had taken many years to grow accustomed to this fact, to accept it was a part of who she was. Now, however, Liz had wished more so than ever to be able to speak but a single word. Anything, at least one word, before she would be sent to the belly of this beast and digested alive in a cruel and unusual punishment for simply existing at all.

As Liz began to dip into Deita’s gullet, the woman began to close her mouth, preparing to swallow Liz whole and alive, until the tiny and distraught woman noticed something peculiar. In the distance, with the threat of being eaten by this giantess, Liz realized that somebody else had entered the room, and suddenly everything came to a screeching halt.

Before Deita could finish the act, she felt the sharp edge of a blade press up against her throat. With widened eyes, Deita froze, Liz barely hanging over her throat, and her eyes slowly shifted towards the wielder of this sword. With utter disbelief, Deita realized that it was indeed Jinshin who held the blade to her neck, and she wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it.

“Spit her out,” Jinshin commanded. “Now… Deita.”

Without having to be asked twice, and for the sake of being able to actually speak, Deita leveled her head and used her tongue to spit Liz back into her palm. The sword was released from her neck, but Jinshin kept the tip aimed towards her at all times as the Japanese woman gave her a stern expression. With Liz wiping the spit from her eyes, she turned to see this situation unfold, scared and confused as to what was happening. None of it made any sense, but then Liz realized that Jinshin wasn’t alone. In her bosom, the terrified woman saw that Benjamin was also present, and smiling at her. This seemed odd to her, why was he smiling?

“Jinshin, what the fuck are you doing?” Deita asked outright, unnerved by this sudden act of aggression from her own sister.

“Give me the girl,” Jinshin ordered, keeping her blade steady and still pointed at her sister.

This is when Deita noticed Benjamin, and she scowled upon seeing him. “Damn it… I should have known you couldn’t kill him. Is he the reason you’re doing this? Tell me, now!”

Benjamin swallowed nervously, but remained silent. There was no power to be held by him, he knew this. It was best to let Jinshin handle everything, including the talking as Ben didn’t want to make the situation more volatile than it already was.

“I don’t expect you to understand, sister.” Jinshin answered. “But I am leaving this place, and I’m taking Benjamin and Liz with me. After everything we have been through together, I do not wish to harm you, but understand I will not allow you to murder this woman. Please, Deita, hand her over…”

Suddenly, Liz found herself being clutched tightly in Deita’s grip. Turning to face Jinshin, Deita gave her an expression of betrayal, and confusion. Shaking her head, Deita glared down at Benjamin, then back up to Jinshin, before coming to an obvious realization.

“You fell in love with him, didn’t you?” Deita said matter of factly.

Benjamin was shocked, and looked up at Jinshin only to find that her expression did not condemn this possibility in any fashion. Realizing that he may have been a fool to notice, it appeared that perhaps Deita knew Jinshin far too well for him to have ever come to realize.

“Hand her over…” Jinshin repeated, avoiding the question.

Deita shook her head miserably. “Oh Jinshin, I pity you so much. You can’t possibly think you have a future with him, do you? And what does saving this girl from my own desires matter anyway? You think Avaramix will allow any of you three to leave this place alive? Of course not, so please, hand Benjamin over and I’ll do what you cannot. It’ll stay between us, the master doesn’t have to know about this transgression of yours…”

Ben swallowed anxiously, it seemed to be a tempting offer, but he misunderstood the will that Jinshin now possessed. Though it was completely by mistake, Benjamin had an influence on Jinshin far greater than anything she’d ever received. Nothing that her sister could say was going to change what was now imprinted in her soul.

Seeing that Jinshin was unwavering in her decision, a response was not necessary as Deita realized just how serious the woman was being with her. This was hard for her to accept, after all, this was her younger sister that she had built a bond with over the course of a decade.

“You really are being serious, aren’t you?” Deita realized, sighing with disappointment. “I know that look, it’s the same look when we first met. You’ll kill me if I try to stop you, won’t you?”

“I don’t want to…” Jinshin murmured. “I really don’t want to, sister… But this is something I have to do… This place, what we’ve done to the people of this world… I can no longer live with it, and I want out.”

“And abandon me in the process,” Deita noted. “I love how admirable you’re trying to be. It’s not something I ever expected from you, honestly, and I am a bit envious. I suppose I’m just too tainted with evil to ever be redeemed, but if this is really what you want sister, then perhaps we are much different after all. You always seemed disgusted by my personality, I guess I should have seen this coming.”

“I was never disgusted,” Jinshin corrected. “I just never understood. Don’t forget what I went through, the horrors I’ve been a victim of… Now all we do is ensure that evil continues. We’ve grown it, spread it… Allowed it to be a plague on this world! Avaramix never cared about us, I see that now, I just wish I wasn’t so blind to it before now.”

“That’s because you wanted a daddy,” Deita hissed. “Of course I knew Avaramix thought of us as expendable! But think of what he’s given us! The power! The control! That is all I ever wanted, Jinshin. I thought you did too, and we grew so close I loved you as a sister would, and now this!? You have the audacity to think you are worthy of redemption!? You’ve killed far more people than I ever laid a finger on, and you think you get to be the hero!?”

Deita scowled, her anger consuming her. In her eyes, this was a betrayal of the worst kind, by her own sister. Blood or not, this is what Jinshin had become to Deita. All those years of rehabilitation, mentoring Jinshin to overcome her trauma, and now that woman dared to put a blade to her throat? To threaten her? Never had Deita felt so betrayed, not by anyone.

“I never wanted to hurt you,” Jinshin promised, holding back the tears that sought freedom. “I will always love you for what you did for me back then… But I won’t falter in my belief, and there is no going back for me now. Please… I will not ask again… Hand her over…”

The anger and betrayal written on Deita’s face was staggering, as the room grew silent and Jinshin awaited her final response. The sword steady in her grip, it was a surprise to her when Deita finally relented and composed herself. With a sly grin spreading across her lips, the woman shrugged and nodded.

“Very well, then. Sister to sister, consider this my final act of love for you,” Deita declared, and to the surprise of the three others, held Liz out in her palm in front of Jinshin.

Reluctant, Jinshin slowly lowered her Odachi sword, using a free hand to reach and grab Liz from the grasp of Deita. Just as her fingers wrapped around the confused and nervous girl, Deita gripped Jinshin’s wrist firmly.

“However,” Deita revealed, “once you leave this room… Once the door closes and I am left alone here… I will be forced to sound the alarm, and help aid our forces to subdue or kill you for this betrayal. If you leave with these two in tow, there will be no forgiveness for you. This will be an act of permanent rebellion, so tell me, are you prepared to kill the very men and women you’ve called family for the last ten years?”

“They aren’t my family, only you are,” Jinshin declared, pulling her wrist free and holding Liz close to her chest.

“Very well, then are you prepared to kill your own sister?” Deita said somberly. “Because the moment that alarm sounds, you will be dead to me, and I will do whatever it takes to protect the sanctity of this facility and all of the work that Avaramix and I have accomplished together… Do you understand?”

“I do,” Jinshin answered. “I understand, it is your duty, just as this is my own. If you must kill me, then should the strongest sister win… But even if I get the chance, I will not kill you Deita, but I’ll do whatever it takes to get these two out of this place…”

“It’s a shame for the other hundred that Jacob shrank you never gave a fuck about them,” Deita mocked with a face of disgust. “Benjamin must be very special, for you to undo your entire livelihood for him. What a fucking disgrace…”

“I am sorry you feel that way,” Jinshin responded, tucking Liz into her cleavage and beside Benjamin. Ben quickly wrapped his arms around Liz, holding the girl close as she was shaking violently with terror. Had they been a second later to arrive, it would have been too late, she’d have been swallowed whole and sent to her death within the confines of Deita’s gut.

“I don’t need your condolences,” Deita hissed. “Now get the fuck out of my sight… And once you’ve exhausted yourself slaughtering your own fucking kind… I’ll be there to put you down like the miserable puppy you are!”

This hurt Jinshin beyond measure, as a single tear began to trickle down her cheek. Benjamin grew furious, holding Liz tightly, he clenched his teeth and glared at Deita with a hatred unlike any other.

“The only miserable fuck here is you!” Ben shouted, as Deita glared at him instantly with disbelief at the gall this tiny man had. “There’s a special place in hell for you! Mark my words you vile witch… You’d best pray I never return to my normal size… Because if I do, I’ll beat you to death with my bare hands!”

“You little…!” Deita almost lunged at him, but Jinshin held her blade up and warded her off. Clenching her fists, Deita began grinding her teeth in a rage. “Go… You are no sister of mine… Go, and see how far you make it before you watch them die in vain… Because deep down that’s what you are, Jinshin. You’re a failure. You can’t save anybody, you only know how to end their life. That’s all you are, an executioner, not a hero like Ben has fooled you into thinking you are. Now get the fuck out!”

Jinshin backed up to the door, sheathing her sword and grasping the handle with a heavy heart. Looking back at her sister one last time, she forced out a smile.

“The one thing I always admired about you,” Jinshin said, “was being able to hide your true feelings. As harsh as your words are, I can see it in your eyes. I’ll always love you sister, and should the day come that you are able to free yourself from this place as well, know that I’ll be waiting for you…”

Deita closed her eyes, tears beginning to form. Turning her back to Jinshin, she crossed her arms.

“Get out!”

Without another word to say, Jinshin nodded and left the room. Closing the door behind her, Benjamin looked up at her and their gaze met.

“I shouldn’t have lashed out like that, forgive me…” Benjamin apologized.

“She had it coming,” Jinshin responded mercifully, “but this isn’t over yet… Let’s go, and keep that girl close, this is going to get messy very quickly…”

Nodding, Benjamin held Liz even tighter. Oddly enough, she began to smile as tears began raining from her eyes. Ben felt sorry for her, but was shocked to see that she almost appeared to be laughing, though her laughter sounded like wheezing since she couldn’t actually speak.

“Are you alright?” Benjamin asked with concern, as Liz lifted her head and smiled at him in a twisted sort of way.

Lifting her hands weakly, she began to sign to him, and Benjamin knew that she was trying to communicate, but he sweated anxiously upon realizing he had no clue what she was trying to convey.

“I’m sorry… I don’t understand sign language…” Benjamin said sorrowfully.

“She’s thanking you,” Jinshin inserted.

Liz smiled and nodded, putting her head against Benjamin’s chest and closing her eyes, still shaking slightly from the insanity of this entire situation.

“How do you know that? You read sign language?” Benjamin asked curiously.

“No, though I know a few signs, that’s not how I know,” Jinshin answered. “I could see it in her eyes. The relief… Trust me, Ben, she is very grateful to you.”

“To you,” Ben corrected. “We both are… Jinshin. Thank God for you! You’re the miracle I’ve been praying for… My prayers are finally answered…”

The sound of an alarm began to echo with a resounding strength, the sound traveling through the corridor and into the extending hallway. Coming to a halt, Jinshin turned to face the door to Deita’s room. Knowing that her sister had kept her promise, it became clear that this was far from over.

“Don’t thank God for me yet,” Jinshin said, gripping the hilt of her blade, still sheathed, as she turned forward and began to sprint down the corridor.

“You can thank me once I get us the hell out of here!”