Chapter 86: A Farewell (1/2)

Chapter 86: A Farewell

Aldrich paused, his spiritual body watching unblinkingly at the bright white light That light, though warely…alien The coldness of his own soul, of the deathly energies that he harnessed, felt much more at home with his heart than this

But the repulsed sensation within Aldrich quickly dimmed away as his spiritual eyes beheld the forer was their flesh rotted and bloodied, it was unwounded and whole and warm

Their eyes looked at Aldrich with focus, not with bleary dead blankness

They did not wear the tattered remnants of their Blackwater uniforms Adam dressed simply in jeans and a plain white shi+rt while Elaine had on a plaid skirt and jacket combo she was fond of These were the types of outfits they wore in the rare occasions they had free tio out to Haven Outfits they hen they wanted to have fun instead of worrying about the countless problems life threw their way

They did not even have the many old scars on their bodies and faces that stood as proof of their harsh lives

This hat they would have looked like in an ideal world When they could just live their lives the way they wanted to And in the world that Aldrich envisioned, et to live these lives out

Adam and Elaine smiled at Aldrich, and when he saw those smiles, his visions of a future under his control, all those far off plans fled him as he was sucked into the present, the here and nohere he had just one final more precious moment to spend with the only two people he had ever called friends

"Man, did you get even edgier since school?" said Adaood, huh," said Aldrich

"Heh, always got so to say back to , patting Aldrich fir out for us Even e turned into zombies It must've been a burden-,"

"Not at all" Aldrich pulled back froed Elaine

Elaine smiled as she rested her chin on Adam's shoulder "Just make sure to take a break once in a while"

"No need With undeath, my stamina is infinite," said Aldrich as he pulled back from Elaine

"Yeah, we know that," said Adam "Don't take it so literally What she means is that sometimes, you just have to slon, even when you don't think you need to Helps with clearing the head"

"You ought to know a lot about that, huh," said Aldrich

Adauy some slack"

"Yeah, I know" Aldrich paused for a bit, eyeing Ada his mind "You two…about what I've done, all the people I've killed, the people I've made suffer, I just wanted you to know that it isn't because I've gone insane

This is how I just aot to show it to you two fully

But everything I've done is for a reason"

"Don't worry about it, Aldy," said Ada to us This is your life, or rather, unlife, I guess, that you get to live, and it isn't our right to force anything onto you or judge you for anything

Whether you kill or torture or whatever, that's all you, and it would be wrong for us to try and change how you are"

"Are you sure, Adam? Didn't you want to be a hero?" said Aldrich "The whole capes and saving lives thing I thought ht have clashed with this a little more"

"I wanted to be a hero toideals or anything" Adauess I would've liked to save people too, yeah, andwhat you do

But as someone from the Wastelands, I also knohat the harsh reality of this world is like

There are people like you and people like me and at the end of the day, we aren't any better than the other, just different"

"And Aldrich," said Elaine "I want you to know that we've always knoho you are We knohat you're capable of We knohat you've been through and how ed you

Plus, you never really kept it a secret You always did tell us about how your biggest dreaet out of Blackwater and hunt down the people responsible for killing your parents

We accepted you for who you were then, and that doesn't change now"

"Yeah, I know" Aldrich nodded "It's still good to hear it froet too crazy, though," said Ada into the abyss is bad for your eyes?"

"No, you doofus," sighed Elaine "Gaze too long into the abyss, and the abyss also gazes into you That's what it is"

"Yeah, whatever That quote Just et messed up too bad," said Adam

"A little late for that," said Aldrich "I've always been like this Ever since my parents died"

"I know," said Ada difference between how you are noith a focused goal and legiti above the head real batsht crazy kind of deal"

"You honestly think I would turn out like that? Like any of the raving lunatics in Ark Asylum?" said Aldrich

"Of course not I don't know a single guy out there with a stronger will than you I' will, you tend to really, really focus on soo It could take up toois, when you're doing all this crazy stuff to try and change the world, make sure to take some time to breathe To relax, you know"