Ch.143Act 1: Ch.9 – The King Sleeps in Carcosa (final)

Understanding becomes misunderstanding. Love becomes hate. At this moment when life crosses into the threshold of death, one woman lives, while another is about to pass on her flame of life.

With the song of sorrow, the reservoir grew calmer. Grief is like an anchor of the heart. It continues to sink until it reaches the bottom. Only after finally settling at the bottom does it look around.

The reservoir’s fury gradually subsided. The ring of flames circling overhead finally opened a gateway to Hyperborea.

“I am the guide who leads you. O lonely one, lost and sad. Hear my plea. You who have lost everything. Give yourself to me. You whose ears are closed and mouth is sealed. Sing for me and listen so you may sing.”

At Emma’s words, the reservoir seemed to tilt, and finally, it rose up. Like a snake raising its head.

Small whirlpools began to form in the reservoir, one by one. What had been small water columns transformed into massive pillars, then were sucked into the gaping portal to Hyperborea that had opened in the air. Emma’s naked body, engulfed in flames, performed her final dance in the center.

It was slow and static.

It was a dance like the color black that absorbs light, like a pause that captures attention, like a silence that commands everyone’s focus.

But even her dance movements began to fade, as the flames of her body were dying out. Emma smiled toward Catherine.

“You’ll be able to see me when you look in the mirror. We are the same, aren’t we?”

“Where… where are you going?”

Even the calm and composed Catherine stammered. Emma closed her eyes.

“A place where you don’t need to come just yet…”

Catherine covered her mouth, as if afraid that her carelessly spoken words might become reality.

“Forgive yourself, Catherine. My sister, I love you.”

Flames enveloped Emma’s body. Her body gradually began to disappear. From a distance, it looked as if a piece of paper was being folded up bit by bit from the bottom diagonal. Eventually, her body vanished completely.

Then, the water column being sucked into Hyperborea grew thicker. The entire reservoir was being drawn in.

Catherine staggered toward the reservoir. I held her back. The priestess of Hyperborea would be gone now. That place would be closed, not open. I knew the end of one world was approaching.

Invisible to anyone’s eyes. To a closed world that no one knows. The last priestess of Hyperborea had decided to close her world to protect this one.

The last water column was sucked upward. Catherine fell to her knees and wailed.

“Emma… Emma…! What’s happening? What kind of lie is all this! Why… why is this… why…!”

“Indeed, why?”

Suddenly. As if appearing out of nowhere. A man in a suit revealed himself.

“Drugstore?”

Yes, it was unmistakably Drugstore. He seemed not to have heard my foolish utterance. He went straight to Catherine.

“Your sister is quite remarkable.”

Catherine knew that his words carried mockery. She already had her gun pointed at him.

“Federal Bureau of Investigation, Special Agent Catherine Scully. State your name.”

“Hmm…” Drugstore scratched the back of his head as if perplexed.

“Dandy? No, that’s not it. Hmm… Ah, how about this? Hydrologist. Someone who studies the circulation of water. That would be more fitting in the current situation.”

Drugstore snapped his fingers.

There was a sound of something tearing. Like the belly of a massive beast being ripped open. The place where the gate to Hyperborea had just closed.

It tore wide open.

CRASH!

Water gushed out from the tear. It was incomparably more violent than before. But that wasn’t all. The corruption that Hyperborea had been containing. The beast sealed within. The malice it had swallowed since the beginning of time was now dissolving into the reservoir’s water and pouring down.

Catherine Scully fired her gun. With soft pops, bullets lodged in Drugstore’s body. Yet not a drop of blood came from his body.

“Why am I doing this, you ask? Well… I really hate losing to that fellow. But since we haven’t had our formal confrontation yet, I need to set things up in my favor. It would be embarrassing to lose when it’s being broadcast worldwide, wouldn’t it? It would be convenient if I could use cheat keys like this.”

“What are you? What’s your true identity?”

“Ask Crayfield about that. Tell him to go fuck himself. Haha! How vulgar. I’m really not suited for cursing.”

The reservoir water overflowed. Behind Drugstore, it split into two streams and flowed past me and Catherine.

“These tears must flow. They will attract Hastur from the night sky. It should be quite a spectacle. Crayfield will be busier now. I don’t know what tricks he’s used to survive so far, but let’s see how well he responds to this variable.”

Before we could say anything, he vanished. I pulled Catherine toward the Buick.

“I’ll drive!”

I reversed the Buick. A massive wave was already surging from the front. The entrance to Hyperborea was literally vomiting everything out. With malice and terror dissolved in the water, it engulfed the forest.

* * * * *

July 13, 1929. 1:12 PM

Corridor outside the general ward, Arkham City Hospital

Arkham

The radio at the reception desk squeaked like a mouse. When the nurse reached for the radio, I felt relieved, but my relief was premature. Instead of turning it off, she adjusted the frequency.

“We have news that the Arkham West Reservoir, which was engulfed in fire, is now overflowing. The cause is believed to be groundwater eruption due to mild earthquakes over the past few days, though the scientific community maintains that a cautious approach is necessary.

After emergency construction involving civil servants, police, and even the National Guard, the reservoir’s water is now flowing into the upper Miskatonic River. Senator Annette Cole and the Mayor of Arkham have promised thorough water quality testing, stating that while the water is safe to drink, they recommend boiling it as a precaution.

The Senator particularly emphasized that rapid civil engineering works will make the water from the West Reservoir available for drinking throughout eastern Massachusetts…”

Catherine Scully, who had been sitting in a daze, suddenly stood up. Ignoring attempts to stop her, she turned off the radio. The nurse looked at her in disbelief but kept quiet when Catherine showed her FBI badge.

“Catherine.”

She walked toward the emergency stairs without even looking at me. I had a feeling I shouldn’t leave her alone.

Last night, while escaping the overflowing water, I told her about Emma Scully. About Drugstore too. And about Crayfield. What I had seen and experienced. What I had heard. Catherine just listened silently to it all. Whether she let it go in one ear and out the other, or understood everything with her brilliant mind, or perhaps filed it away in her memory to examine later, I couldn’t tell.

But it was clear that she was grieving. My concern grew when I realized she was heading for the hospital roof.

The sky over Arkham was unusually clear. Flocks of birds flew about. Catherine was gripping the railing tightly, looking down at the street.

I stood beside her in silence. I had no desire to offer inadequate words of comfort. Perhaps Crayfield could, but I lacked such talent. I only wanted to know what scene she was looking at.

Toward the horizon, smoke was rising from the industrial district. Nearby, police cars were driving around with sirens blaring, and on the streets, all sorts of people were laughing, talking, and enjoying themselves.

Voices discussing the stock market’s instability were growing louder, but store signs still prominently featured securities companies and insurance firms. Even elderly women in bakeries were talking about stocks. Meanwhile, news about the forceful suppression of protests by veterans who hadn’t received their pensions properly was buried.

In other words, the world paid no attention to the sacrifice of Hyperborea’s priestess.

“My sister did it on purpose.”

Catherine’s voice was utterly dry.

“Taking my ID without permission. Disguising herself as me because we look similar… it was all to summon me. You can’t imagine how shocked I was when I heard the news in Washington. I thought I’d just lost it, but she even impersonated me.”

Catherine laughed with a snort.

“My sister was always a bit eccentric like that. She used to play such pranks often when we were young. Once, we both shaved our heads completely. I pretended to be Emma, and Emma pretended to be me to fool people. But our hair lengths didn’t match.

So we started cutting each other’s hair a bit, and ended up… shaving it all off. We got in huge trouble, but thanks to that, we managed to fool everyone.”

A couple of birds cut through the air. Catherine, reminiscing about old memories, looked happy.

“But my sister was really willful. She always put herself first. She was honest, which was good, but she was also stubborn because she was simple-minded. She was incredibly stubborn about the strangest things. If she had just yielded a little, everyone would have been comfortable, but no. What was it all for…

If she wanted to see me so badly. If she was protecting me all along. Why didn’t she say anything? I spent my life hating her, searching for her… what kind of terrible person does that make me? She didn’t want to make me into a hateful bitch, so she kept looking for me… and found me so easily when she had so little time left…”

Catherine gripped the railing. I remained silent. It was a time when silence was necessary.

“If she had so many grievances. She could have at least cursed me before leaving…”

Catherine tilted her head back. I could see her eyes reddening. I thought of the reservoir. That reservoir must have been looking up at the sky with such eyes. But now the reservoir is crying freely.

“Let’s go.”

“Let’s stay a bit longer…”

“No.” Catherine’s expression was resolute.

“If what you say is true, the water from that reservoir has the power to induce powerful hallucinations and delusions. I need to request a detailed chemical analysis. If the Miskatonic River is contaminated, every eastern city that draws drinking water from Arkham is in danger. Not to mention Pollard Island. Mourning can wait. First, let’s go down and…”

“Catherine.”

I don’t know what made me call out to her. But I was certain that she shouldn’t become like the reservoir. Isn’t grief something that doesn’t stop until it settles at the bottom?

“Alright. I understand. Let’s go somewhere for a moment.”

“What?”

I pulled her along. Though confused, she followed me. I took her to the bathroom. After entering the men’s room, I locked the door and leaned against it.

“What are you doing?”

Catherine’s words were full of displeasure. I noticed the gun at her waist but didn’t mind.

“Wash your face. It’s a mess.”

“How silly…”

Catherine’s face, which had been wearing a hollow smile, stiffened. There was a well-polished mirror in front of the sink. Catherine reached out to the mirror, as if trying to caress the face in it.

“Emma.”

Her outstretched hand, smiling, was blocked by the mirror. In the mirror, she was crying. Catherine turned on the water. It was too strong for washing her face.

I unlocked the door and silently stepped outside, standing guard. I thought I would tell anyone who came that it was under repair. From behind the closed door, only the sound of water, just the sound of water, only the fierce sound of water could be heard.