Part 24: ENDING A - "Descent (to freedom)"

ENDING A "Descent"
To freedom


I finally arrived at the deepest level of the otherworld.

Inside the door it is wide, and the floor is a metal grating. It is filled
with an evil atmosphere.
Additionally, it is accompanied by a strong power that I have not felt before.

The ceiling is too high for me to see.
This is a giant space, so large that I cannot tell if I am outside or not.

I carefully walk into the large space, one step at a time.
All the answers I seek are probably in this room.

Cybil has arrived here before me, and has her gun readied.

There are two people off in the direction that her gun is pointed at.


Dahlia and Alessa.
It is definitely those two.

"I was shocked to realize the talisman of Metraton was being used.
In spite of the lost soul returning at last. Just a little longer and all
would have been for naught.


It's all because of that man.
We must be thankful to him.
Even though Alessa has been stopped, his little girl has to go. What a pity..."

"Freeze!"

Cybil yelled out loudly, and her trembling finger pulled the trigger.
An explosion resounds, and the bullet starts toward the two women.

However, the bullet smashes into an invisible barrier just before it can hit
Dahlia, and it shatters into pieces.
Dahlia smiles as if she is saying "but of course".

"What in the devil's name...!"

Dahlia's demeanor becomes serious and at the same time I think I see something
flash in front of Cybil. In the next moment Cybil's body flies in an arc
through the air, and she lands near where I am standing.

Dahlia still has not noticed me.
I boldly walk toward Dahlia, and I scream at her.

"Stop this! Dahlia!"

Dahlia shows no compunction or surprise, and turns to face me with a calm
expression on her face.

"Well, well, well. To think you'd make it this far."

"Where's Cheryl!? What have you done to her!?"

"What are you talking about?
You've seen her many times?
Restored to her former self."

"I'm in no mood for jokes."

I didn't understand what she was saying.

"Don't you see? She's right there."

Right there?
Only Alessa, draped in her blue clothing, is where Dahlia is pointing.

"That's absurd."

"You are the only one who thinks so."

"Why? Why are you doing this?"

"It's been a long seven years...
For the seven years since that terrible day, Alessa has been kept alive,
suffering a fate worse than death.

Alessa has been trapped in an endless nightmare from which she never
awakens.
He has been nurtured by that nightmare.
Waiting for the day to be born.
That day has finally come.
The time is neigh.

Everyone will be released, from pain and suffering.
Our salvation is at hand. This is the day of reckoning.
When all our sorrows will be washed away.
When we return to the true paradise!
My daughter will be the mother of God!"


At about the exact time I began to speak another voice drowned mine out.

"Quit screwing around! Return things to how they were before!"

"Kaufmann!"


Doctor Michael Kaufmann stood there out of breath, as if he had just arrived
in time.


"Did I ask for this!
Nobody uses me!
You won't get away with this!"

"Your role is over.
We don't need you anymore.
What do you think you can accomplish by coming here?"

A smile appears on Kaufmann's face and he reaches into his pocket.

"My, aren't we getting cocky?
Bet you can't see this and keep your cool."

The item that Kaufmann pulled out of his pocket...
It is definitely the small bottle that I found in the gas tank of the
motorcycle that was in that garage somewhere.

"Aglaophotis! I thought I got rid of that!"

"All I had to do was plant it somewhere for you to find. You, all, well, it
kept you busy.
Ha! You're easy! And there's more where this came from!"

"Stop it!!"

Kaufmann throws the small bottle at Alessa.
All four of us watch the bottle fly in a beautiful parabola, our eyes
fixed on the sacred liquid within.

There is tension.
Although she is normally calm and composed, that drug is enough to frighten
Dahlia.
That small bottle hit a part of Alessa's body, shattered into pieces, and
soaked Alessa uncomfortably with the red liquid that was inside.


Dahlia looks completely emaciated as she watches the whole thing.
However, not me, nor anyone could have predicted the situation that came out
of that event.



Alessa's back splits open, and a giant creature the likes of which I have
never seen before tears through the cloth of the one piece dress Alessa is
wearing. It looks like an insect breaking out of its cocoon as it is being
born.


It has large wings and a head like a bull, and with its green muscles
swelling it rose up and out of its mother's body, Alessa. And then it let
out an earthshakingly brutal evil cry, and looked down at us.

"Huh? What the!?"

I yell out, not addressing anyone in particular.

"What on earth? That's not supposed to..."
Kaufmann just stands there in utter amazement, as the events
unfold unlike how he had expected.

"It's awakening!
It's awake!
Now no one can interfere!"
Dahlia, in a fit of insanity, had a feeling that could not be described
as pleasant or angry.

"Cheryl!!"

I call my daughter's name one more time.

"Give up!
That person no longer exists.
This is a God!
Descended among us to reach out and save us!"


I edge up to Alessa, the mother's body that has been cast off.
And there I see Cheryl, about to fade away as always.

"Thank you Daddy. Goodbye."

I am certain that is what she said to me.
"Cheryl?
Can't be?
You can't leave like this..."

Cheryl is already beginning to run away from me.

"This can't be happening? Cheryl! Cheryl!?"

I yell out.
The figure of my daughter, who I have been searching for, gradually dissolves
into the darkness just like the figure I saw when I first arrived in
Silent Hill.

"Cheryl!! Wait......"


Then electricity overflowed from the entire body of the creature that was
born from Alessa. It divided into several lighting bolts, which struck
above my head.

I run about trying to escape.
However, that band of electricity follows me, and constantly appears in front
of me.

I have began to sweat, and it is getting in my eyes.
If I keep running about like this I will be beaten.

I vaguely think, even if it means that Cheryl will not come back, by killing
this conceptually evil creature the situation will clearly improve for
the better.

I ready my weapon.
During the short time between the lighting strikes I fire many bullets
into the creature's body,

During that short time from when it spreads its large wings and becomes
ready to strike I do not even think about ceasing my attack.

Cheryl's smile flits through the back of my mind.
What was it that she wanted?
When we decided to travel to Silent Hill, you were the one to suggest it,
right Cheryl?

Were you called here, or did you wish to come here of your own will?

Cheryl, I loved you more than anyone, and I still do even now.
That is the truth.
However, I must bury this creature.

I must make up for the sins that Cheryl took from me.

And then, when the final bullet penetrated its body...

It lost the means to keep its body together, and finally the pieces
of its body fell apart and dissolved into the darkness...
It was completely gone.

The large space begins to shake heavily.
A loud horrifying noise rises up from the below, and with it my existence
is thrown from dimension to dimension, and I feel pain just being there.


Fire has broken out in various places in the area, and I can tell that this
space as well as the entire town are on the verge of collapsing.
Alessa lies on her stomach in the center of the space, and she shows no sign
of moving from there.

She is just protecting her entire body in a bird-like manner. She
desperately holds out the new life that is just below her abdomen towards me.

I run over to Alessa.

A pained expression rises on Alessa's face as she hands the newborn
baby to me.

The hell fires burn with force and spread around, and my life is threatened.
There is not enough time left to try and rescue Alessa from here.

I hold the baby she gave me tightly to my chest, and begin to run from this
twisting space in search of somewhere safe.

Cybil who was unconscious, regains consciousness, and begins to run behind me
to escape from the pit of this mad world.

I look back at Cybil.
And then...
I saw that the largest ball of flames up to this point was closing in behind
Cybil.

"Watch out!"

The great fireball, which was more that enough to completely burn both our
bodies stopped just above Cybil, as she stood holding her head in her hands.

Time has stopped.

The small sparks and bits of concrete debris were all frozen in midair. I
was at a loss for words.

Alessa holds both her hands high up into the air, as if she is
supporting the falling wreckage, and her face twists in agony.

Alessa and I gazed at each other for a moment.

A tear travels down her precious cheek in a single line.

(Hurry and escape...)

Exerting the last of her power, Alessa stopped time to save me, Cybil, and
the baby in my arms.

"Alessa..."

Understood, we won't let your volition go in vain.
I make a sign to Cybil with my eyes and then return my gaze forward.
And then I began to run with all my might.


I do not look back.
Why did Alessa entrust this small life born from her at the end to me?
I have no idea.

But I have a feeling that I am obligated to raise this child.


Behind me an explosion occurs.
I run.

All I can do is continue to run.

Without looking back I move forward towards the ray of light that I have a
faint glimpse of.


The End