PUZZLE 3: THE DEADLY PENDULUMS - ACT 4
I walk into the hospital's ground floor reception and head toward the cave's opening, as guarded by two armed Hell Police officers.
Well, it's not such a secret entrance anymore.
Third stole a pickaxe from the gardener and smashed up the floor just before the reception desk.
There's no eloquence to his damage. He just kept hammering one part until the marble flooring and wood underneath collapsed to reveal a shaft.
I go under the police tape surrounding the opening, and climb down a wooden ladder in the mid-sized hole.
I then reach the stone corridor, follow along the row of mid-sized lights on the walls, and finally reach the open cave which houses the puzzle.
In there, Third stands on a stone in the center of the analemma, with four officers pointing their laser mounted rifles at him.
Yaeko sits on the ground, tapping the butt of her pistol in her right hand on her knee, and resting her bored face on her left fist.
I walk up to Yaeko's side. I eye the two large stones at either side of the puzzle, and the pendulum bobs remain inside them. One side of my mouth tenses at the sight of Third sheepishly smiling at us.
"This is against Hell Police protocol," I calmly say. "Next thing you know, you'll be beating me up for lunch money… and I need my lunch money."
After looking away for a moment, Yaeko sighs in annoyance. "Fine. How exactly do we activate this puzzle?"
"Someone has to spill blood on the stones," I answer.
Yaeko blinks and moves her head closer to me. "What did you just say? Blood? How much blood?"
"Asaya lost around five pints when he was attacked by a black bear, so that's what the solver should lose as well."
Her jaw remains dropped for a moment. "Are you kidding me? Please tell me you're kidding me!"
"Put the gun away."
She tosses it aside. "So let me get this straight. Someone stands on the stone, bleeds out, and hopefully they won't pass out and become sliced up salami?"
"Yeah," I respond with a nod. "Asaya had to get from a forest to civilization while bleeding out," I explain. "He never fainted once on his long journey, as he knew that collapsing before getting help would be his curtain call."
The detective stares at me, her mouth trembling for a moment, before going over to her pistol, picking it up, and holstering it.
"Don't worry, sister. I'll do it."
"Like hell you will!" Yaeko snaps at me before turning to the officers. "Take him off the stones and jail him!"
One of them fires a stun dart at Third's thigh. He soon passes out and collapses onto the ground behind him. The officers pick him up by his wrists and ankles, then carry him out of the cave.
"You're not the only one willing to bleed," she remarks.
I look at her with unease. "Yaeko, you don't need to prove a thing."
"Oh? And what if I do?" she responds loudly. "Wouldn't that motivate me to the moon?"
I guess I shouldn't answer that.
She's still sour after what happened to Maiden.
Trying to change her mind… would be a waste of time.
⧗⧗⧗
For our research, Yaeko and I enter the Ajisai's blood donation room, which consists of various large plastic chairs that tilt back. Most of them have donors lying on them, with tubes needled in the folds of one elbow, moving blood into a see-through bag hanging from a table at their side. The blood bags are nestled in a small plastic basket, which sways side to side like a pendulum as the donating takes place.
For the donors who've finished and their needles have been taken out, Yaeko and I bring over baskets of snacks which help them recharge their blood sugar levels.
"Hi, how do you feel?" I ask a middle-aged man with short hair and baggy clothes.
He takes a biscuit from my tray. "Thanks. I feel fine. But I always walk home slowly after donating. Moving fast after a session makes me feel like I'm having a heart attack!"
I don't think he's kidding. Even with a relatively small amount of blood loss, the body would need to avoid anything strenuous. Yeako must stay completely still while she's bleeding out.
As we casually speak to the blood donors, we get a sense of what it's like to lose blood, and our imagination magnifies the impact of losing lots of it.
That night, Yaeko drives me home in her car through the city. We sit in dark silence for a while.
"It's not fair," she suddenly says out of the blue.
I turn to her, and see her solemn face glow in and out with the passing street lights.
"I showed weakness in front of Maiden," she quietly admits. "So much weakness… I won't ever do that again!"
I sit in silence as I take in her words.
Perhaps… her motivation really is strong enough to push her through the puzzle.
⧗⧗⧗
I insist on joining Yaeko in her daily exercise.
She has to be in peak physical condition before she bleeds out. Any lapse in her health quality could be fatal.
She doesn't say so, but I believe she's glad I join her on her runs, gym sessions and yoga routines every day.
The nurse teaches us how to safely inject a needle with a tube that will allow blood to leave Yaeko's arm.
I hate needles, but Yaeko seems engaged and fearless as she's being taught.
We're educated by a doctor on the various stages of blood loss.
Jeez… it's unnerving learning about how the body deteriorates during this process!
⧗⧗⧗
It's now the sixth of this month. Yaeko and I sit in the cafeteria opposite each other. She quietly eats a bowl of berries and chia seeds, and drinks green tea.
These are the foods Asaya ate regularly, which contributed to his healthy blood flow, and enabled him to survive the black bear attack.
Her face stays blank, but I feel her concern.
"Sister, I'll be right there with you," I say.
"You'd better be," she quietly responds, staring into her food.
⧗⧗⧗
In the cave, Yaeko stands before the puzzle with her eyes closed. She takes slow, deep breaths.
A nurse, Gaku and I stand at a distance.
Rin finishes setting up small boxes on the stones, each above the slats. He turns on their switches, and the boxes shoot a thin red laser forward, indicating where the bobs are going to swing.
Around the puzzle are various cameras, all recording the scene.
Yaeko takes off her leather jacket and tosses it into the floor, revealing a blanket of various flower tattoos on her arms from her white vest.
She turns her head to us behind her. "Whatever happens, good or bad, stay far, far away."
We all nod to her icy voice.
She turns around and steps forward.
"Urgh!"
Suddenly, she drops to one knee, and hugs her torso tight. "Huh? What… the hell?"
"Sister!" I race over to her side, kneel beside her, and place my hand on her back.
Yaeko suddenly vomits onto the ground, and coughs violently.
"Nurse!" I call.
She rushes over and kneels beside her." Did she eat something strange?" the nurse asks.
"Just fruit and tea," I answer. "Has she… been poisoned?"
"Indeed she has. She has only 24 hours left to live, unless she receives the antidote from Third."
I quickly stand up and move back. Gaku appears behind the nurse, cocks his pistol, and holds it to the back of her head.
My breathing quickens as I watch the nurse's now deadened eyes stare at me.
"Only Third has her antidote," she states. "He'll only give it to you if you step on the stone. Better make it quick, or your friend here will die a very painful death indeed."
My brow furrows with suspicion, and I crouch down to the nurse's level. "You're part of Third's network, aren't you? Just… how big is it?"
"Better make it quick. Better make it quick. Better make it-"
A fist enters my view, punching the nurse to the ground. I face the sweating Yaeko, her eyes glaring sternly at the now unconscious woman.
"Jerk! I'm not so easy to… urgh!"
She tries to stand up, but her stomach unleashes another round of pain which floors her and her face becomes pale.
"Rin, call the Doctor!" commands Gaku.
"Yes, sir!" says Rin as he rips out his phone.
"A… Akemi…"
I lean closer to the detective's weakened voice.
"Don't do it... No one can stand upright for long… with that amount of blood loss!"
"Sister…"
She faints.
"Yaeko!" I shout.
Unbelievable!
She volunteered thinking the task was impossible?
Was she really willing to go that far to show strength, no matter the cost?
As for this poisoning… Third knew she had doubts. He had to stop her as her inner beliefs wouldn't match her outer goals!
A doctor enters the cave, rushes over to us, and kneels by the detective's side.
I stand up and take a few steps back. I feel my adrenaline spike. My breathing is heavy, and my heart palpitates like a relentless drum.
What is this? Why am I feeling like this?
Am I… afraid of losing Yaeko? I hardly know her…
"We must get her to the theatre," the doctor announces.
"Rin, carry our sister with the doctor," Gaku orders. "I will carry the nurse."
"Yes, sir!"
Rin and the doctor obey, and the sergeant picks up the nurse in his arms.
Just before he leaves, he stops and turns his head to face me. I exchange a determined look with him, and I nod. He nods back, then exits the cave.
I'm now on my own here. It's just me and the puzzle, and I feel it beckon me as my eyes lock onto the stones.
I then look to the ground. I see that Gaku had taken the medical equipment out of Yaeko's pocket and left them there.
My eyes become relaxed and focused. Any expression on my face disappears.
I know what I must do.
I start walking forwards, taking off my velvet blazer, and scooping up the medical items along my way.
I stand on the sixth stone with my shoulders facing the stones, and check the lasers to ensure I'm only blocking one of them.
In theory, that one bob, indicated by the laser pointing at my shoulder's side, is the one that will not swing today.
My arms are easily accessible in my white, sleeveless vest. I wrap the velcroed cuff tight around my left bicep, and squeeze my left fist to feel the light pressure on my arm's blood circulation.
I then rip the small sachet, take out its sterilizer pad, and wipe the bend in my elbow.
I toss the wipe and the sachet, and take off the cover on the needle. I push the sharp point into my vein in my elbow's fold and feel a slight sting. There's a sticky, tiny flat pad attached to the tube just under the needle—I press this onto my skin, and it holds the needle in place there.
Then, my blood begins moving through the small tube connected to the needle, and it reaches the end of it in my palm.
My blood drips from my hand and onto the rectangular stone beneath me, then, as expected, a red light begins to emanate from beneath all of the stones.
My gaze then moves to the gears above me, and they also begin to glow red.
CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
The gears slowly begin to move with each other, and the six pendulums begin to shudder.
I face the slat in line with the laser which I'm blocking. My focus on it is tight, as the gears screech louder and louder.
I can't help but hasten my breathing.
My fists instinctively close in tension. This pumps the blood from the tube faster into my palm and out through my fingers.
SHING!
The bobs emerge from the slats and hurl toward me, including the one directly in front of me.
I shut my eyes hard. All I can hear are the pendulums swinging side to side.
Hmm… Am I dead?
I open my eyes and I spot a bob frozen a mere few inches next to my face. I stare at its circumference, and am haunted by how sharp its diamond-tipping is before me.
I was right. Those things would cut through me like butter.
As my heart is now pumping from my anxiety, more and more blood rapidly leaves my closed fist.
"Dammit!"
At this rate, I'm gonna pass out! I'll have to lower my heartbeat before too much blood leaves my body!
I gently close my eyes, and begin taking deep breaths.
In… Out… In… Out…
I try my hardest to ignore the sounds and waves of wind from the other pendulums. The other bobs feel like multiple swords swinging at my face, just missing me by a few millimeters!
After a few minutes, I feel my heart palpitations decrease, and the blood leaks from my fist at a slower pace once again.
Good… I should be all right for now.
Although, I already start to feel queasy, not from the blood loss, but from all the dangerous objects swinging around me.
I can't move.
I can't run away.
I'll just have to bleed and bleed and bleed… and hope my theory was correct.
⧗⧗⧗
I think a pint has left my body. Or perhaps… it's more than that. I feel my heart starting to beat a little faster. That's to be expected at this stage.
I look at my hands, and they're starting to look a little pale. I guess my blood vessels are narrowing. They're both cold, but I feel no loss in temperature.
I look at what's beneath my hands, and I see the scarlet puddle growing beneath my boots.
I've never seen so much blood before. All of the red… is making me feel… angry.
I'm so mad right now, and I have no idea why. I'm drunk on rage. My brow is tense, and my head is shaking. It's like multiple people just rubbed me the wrong way, and I can't take my revenge on them.
But of course, it's the work of a ghost. This red mist is just my body's attempt… at keeping me alive.
That's funny. I can't hear the swinging of the pendulums anymore.
I've gotten used to them.
⧗⧗⧗
I can't see clearly now. Everything's a blur, and I feel my eyes starting to roll into the back of my head.
I also feel a kick drum inside me beating at a hundred miles an hour.
My legs start to shake, and my torso begins to sway forward.
No! Stay still! I can't get my face sliced off now!
I use what little energy I have left to stand up straight again, but it's a serious struggle.
How much blood have I lost now? Probably three pints. I've… definitely lost lots. My boots are soaked through in red, but the bobs are continuing to swing.
I hope I'm almost there. I can barely feel my legs now, and all I hear is my thundering heartbeat.
My chest expands and depresses rapidly as I hyperventilate. It's uncontrollable. I don't even feel like my quickened breaths are taking in any oxygen.
I really am about to collapse!
A lot of sweat pours down my freezing-cold face, and some end up in my mouth. Good thing, too. I'm so thirsty right now, I could drink a river!
I force myself to keep my eyes open. Can't fall asleep now, or else I'll never wake up again!
To be honest, I don't really wanna die like this, underground and all alone.
The sight of the sharp bobs should motivate me to stand upright, but that motivation is rapidly waning.
I feel my body begin to sway.
My eyes dart down to monitor the blood loss, and all I see is a blurred lake of red. It's getting progressively more out of focus as the seconds slowly roll by.
I make out some of my hairs getting cut and floating down, as I'm so close to the swinging bob in front of me.
I let out a short grunt in between my hyperventilation, as I push myself away from the swinging bob before me.
Dammit, that took up way too much energy! Now I really am running on fumes!
I slowly tilt my white head back to look up at the blurry back above me. I hope with what little mental energy I have left to envision something that will keep me upright.
Mother! Give me strength!
A vision of her suddenly appears up there, holding strings attached to my shoulders. But this time, she's holding them too loosely.
Huh? What are you doing, mother? No, please don't let me go! I'd never let you go! You always taught me to use patience and resilience and confidence to get through hard times, and no time has ever been harder than this!
Please don't… let me die!
She disobeys, lets go of the strings, and I finally go into shock.
My body gives in, and I fall forward.
There's nothing I can do now. No strength exists in any part of my body. I'll simply fall down into doom.
I land on the stone in front of me, splashing into a puddle of red.
The impact doesn't hurt me. I've gone completely numb.
I see a pendulum's bob swing toward me, and I shut my eyes.
It's probably cut me in half by now, but I wouldn't know.
I'm curious…
I wonder what it's like to see the other half of my body… separated from me all the way over there.
I slowly open my eyes, only to be… disappointed.
All of the bobs have frozen, including the one that was inches away from chopping me up.
I guess I'd given… enough blood at last!
Suddenly, a red energy emerges from the stone blocks at either side of me, shining through their slats like spotlights. The ground begins to rumble, and Rin's laser boxes are shaken off the stones.
Cracks emerge across the blocks, and eventually, they split wide open. The red light strikes me, but I'm too weak to cover my eyes with my hands.
After a while, the light fades away. I look at one split open block, and see resting within it an old, oak coffin.
I then look at the other, and just about make out a large clock hand resting in its rubble. It's made of an old metal, probably copper, and it's shaped like an arrow. It has the look of feathers at its rear and a triangle for a head.
So, Asaya was buried here, all along. And that clock hand needs plugging into the hole in the inner plate of our Pomander.
I think I'm gonna… have a little rest now…
And I think I'm gonna be out cold… for quite a while.
⧗⧗⧗
A bright light. It shines on me, giving me a gentle warmth which I haven't felt in a very long time.
I try to remember what happened, but all I recall is a question flashing before my mind just before I died.
Will I see my mother again… in Heaven, or in Hell?
I guess that's the most important question I have right now.
Even if I save her, she'll pass away in time anyway, and I'll pass away too. I hope we both end up in the same place together… up there, somewhere…
I push myself to focus my eyes, and eventually the image of the sun appears, then I spot a rectangular frame surrounding it.
Huh? I'm inside a room?
I look around, and realize that I'm lying in a hospital bed, with a heartbeat monitor beeping away beside me.
A figure walks over to me, and eventually comes into my focus.
He leans over and smiles. "I must say, Miss Akemi, you look much better now."
"P-professor… how am I… alive?" I weakly ask.
"Why, I found you down thee and carried you back. It wasn't too much of a bother. You're quite light. It's a good thing you look after your health!"
I guess it was worth me staying in shape in the end.
"Th-thanks. And… Yaeko?"
"She's fine. We received the antidote in the hospital's mail, of all places. She'll recover in no time at all.
Kaisen sits down on the bed next to me.
"Now, Miss Akemi, I have a burning question, if I may?"
"Go ahead," I weakly respond.
"Thank you. Third made quite the effort to drag you down there alone. What did he say to you in private?" he kindly asks.
"Huh? He… didn't say anything."
"I shall repeat the question." He leans forward while retaining his friendly smile, yet he speaks with a slightly deepened voice. "What did he say to you in private?"
Hmm? What's he getting at?
Third just walked up to the puzzle and said…
"Um… he just made an off-hand comment about… the sun. He said it 'stops burning'."
The professor's smile suddenly vanishes, and his eyes quickly dart to the largest star out the window.
"What… what is it?"
The professor looks back at me and smiles again. "Let's worry about that some other time. Right now, Miss Akemi, you should get some well-deserved rest."
He stands up and heads toward the door.
"Professor."
He stops.
"I heard you and Yaeko talking. I know you're the liaison for the Hell Council. Please… I need to see the Book of the Damned. I need to know… if my mother's in Hell…"
