The Equestrian Odyssey - A Tale of Two Worlds

by Kamahido

Volume 28 - Epilogue

Later that day Hammer returns to her apartment. Grunting, she is helped inside by Stingray and Mio. Wincing with each step, the young woman is heavily bandaged and walks with a severe limp. Sitting down on her couch she leans back and grits her teeth. Mio is the first to speak.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come home with us?”

Hammer shakes her head. “Nah. I’ll be okay.”

Stingray looks over Hammer’s bruised and battered body. “I seriously doubt that you could even go to the toilet at this point without…”

“I SAID I’M FINE!!!”

Mio sighs. “Touchy.”

Stingray rolls her eyes. “Should we try and find something to make you feel better, Hammer?”

Mio turns to Stingray and grins. “What about Arc? I’m sure he’d LOVE to care for our sister while she recovers.”

Stingray shakes her head. “Nah. He’s gone for good.”

Hammer scoffs. “HA! Shows how much you two know!”

Mio sighs. “Hammer…”

“He’ll come back to me someday! I just know it!”

Stingray frowns. “And you’re going to wait for him patiently?”

“I am, yes!”

Mio giggles. “Oh? What for? So you two can go out on another date?”

Hammer grins wickedly. “Yeah. But after that, I’m going to bring him back here. Then we’re going to go all night long!”

Stingray sighs. “I’m sure you would… IF he really was planning on…”

“Shut up! Arc loves me, and I love him! Why can’t you just accept that?!”

Mio bows her head. “Because he dumped you.”

“NO, HE DIDN’T!!!”

Stingray motions to Mio as Hammer seethes. “Let’s leave Hammer to her thoughts.”

Mio nods as Stingray looks to her sister.

“Anything you want before we leave?”

“Just get out of here!”

Mio reaches out and puts a hand on Hammer’s shoulder. “You’ll understand this someday.”

Hammer glares at her. “I’ll understand WHAT?!”

Stingray clenches her fist. “That Arc was just using you for a paycheck. And when you were out of funds, he vanished.”

Mio shakes her head. “We’re sorry it happened, but… people like him are really quite common.”

Stingray nods. “Take it from your big sister. The sooner you understand that, the better off you’ll…”

Hammer seethes. “GET OUT NOW! BOTH OF YOU!”

Mio nods as she turns to leave. “Alright. But… I do want to say one thing before we go.”

“What’s that?!”

“That I’m really sorry this happened, Hammer.”

Stingray nods. “Me too. You deserve better than being treated like a meal ticket.”

Hammer bows her head and speaks softly. “Just… get out.”

The pair do so, closing the door behind them. As they return to their Jeep parked at the curb Mio turns to Stingray.

“She’s taking this pretty hard.”

“I’ll say. Who would’ve thought Hammer of all people could fall into such a blue funk over some guy.”

Mio shakes her head as Stingray starts the engine. “She’ll get over it.”

“Oh, I know that. But the pain of this loss will stick with her for quite some time.”

“So what are we supposed to do about it, Stingray?”

“No idea. But… I have to say, Hammer did much better than we did.”

Mio appears surprised. “Oh?”

Stingray nods. “Oh yes. After all, we haven’t been able to get the general to give either of us a second glance.

“That’s true.”

“It kills me to say this, but Arc and her really were a cute couple too, weren’t they, Mio?”

“Oh yes. He was pretty good looking as well.”

Stingray rolls her eyes. “You looking to track him down for yourself?”

Mio shakes her head. “No. But I wouldn’t be averse to finding him for Hammer’s sake.”

Stingray raises an eyebrow. “Why? He obviously dumped her.”

“To give her some cloture. We bring the two of them together, he’s forced to tell her the truth, she runs away crying, and we beat the stuffing out of him.”

“You don’t really think that’s what would happen, do you Mio?”

Mio shrugs. “Either that or she’d beat him up herself.”

Stingray chuckles. That’d be a sight to see.”

Meanwhile, Hammer reaches out and pulls the remote to her from across the room. She turns on the television and frowns.

“Stupid Stingray and Mio. They wouldn’t know love if it punched them in the face!”

Tuning in to the evening news, Hammer sees the footage Minerva took on every network. She groans.

“Great. Now everyone in the country saw us fail.”

She clenches her fist angrily.

“Stupid Hero! Why’d he have to show and mess everything up?!”

The scene where Arc catches Auriel plays out. Hammer frowns.

“We must’ve really done a number on his armor! He isn’t even wearing it in that shot!”

Hammer seethes as she watches The Equinox disappear into the portal as Wiseman pushes it through while holding the line alone.

“Where are all these so-called heroes coming from?! All of a sudden everyone wants to be a big shot!”

Turning off the television Hammer slowly gets to her feet. Shuffling toward the bedroom she leans on wall, eliciting a scream of pain as she grabs her wounds.

“ARGH! What was I THINKING with that stunt! This day just can’t get any worse!”

Hammer moves to pull back the sheets. However, they appear caught on something.

“What the…?”

Turning on the light, she spots her old tool box.

“Huh? How did this get here? I… gave it to Arc.”

Sitting down, she carefully pulls the box toward herself and opens it. Inside she finds the rolls of money with an envelope on top.

“What the…? When did Arc have time to bring this here?!”

Picking up the envelope, her eyes widen and a smile crosses her face.

“Maybe something came up and he wants me to meet him somewhere!”

Hammer tears open the envelope and pulls out a lone sheet of paper. A look of hope in her eyes, she begins to read.

Dear Hammer,

By the time you read this, I will have already departed the country. Whether that means by air or that I’m no longer alive, I can’t be sure. There were a few things I wanted to tell you the last time we saw each other. However I wasn’t able to do so due to… I guess extreme cowardice would be the reason. Sadly, this was the best way I could think of to make sure you knew the truth.

First off, I’m not really a detective. In all honesty, my friends and I have been staying at a house I inherited from my parents and living off the money my father left me. Truth be told, I had been studying to become one until… something in my life happened that turned everything upside- down. More on my real profession later.

Second, while I honestly do like you very much, I have to confess that I’ve been seeing others elsewhere for quite some time. At the mall when we met, I told you my former girlfriend had died. That was only partially true. The truth of the matter was that she wasn’t my girlfriend, but my fiancé. She was thrown off a balcony in an attempt to bring me out into the open, as I was the real target. I waited for her assailant to come for me, and when he did… I stabbed him through the heart. Holding my dying fiancé was the most painful event in my life. Even more so when my mother died. However, if I could turn back time I would have changed places with her in a heartbeat. It took a long time to even be able to look at anyone else again. Several confessed their feelings for me, but I turned them all down as my work kept me too busy for a wife. But one day an old friend invited me to dinner one evening out of the blue. I accepted and… things just kinda went from there. Even now she’s waiting for me to return anxiously.

Third, and this is the hardest one to admit to… the real reason I asked you all those questions on our dates wasn’t so much because I was interested. But because I was looking to pry sensitive information from you about your sisters and the base you work in. When you gave me a badge to gain access to the facility I used it to come see you, as per your instructions. However, that wasn’t all I did. While gathering information for you, as my “client”, I was also scouting the base and mapping it out for my real mission.

I used you… lied to you… and in the end betrayed your trust. For that, no amount of apologizing or rationalization will ever make that right. Nearly everything I told you during our time together was a lie. And even if it wasn’t, you have no reason to believe me now. But I feel as though I still need to say this. Hammer… I’m truly sorry for what I did to you. You’re an amazing young woman with a real zest for life and quite a spring in your step. Never let anyone take that away from you. Not me, not your sisters, and certainly not your base commander. Stingray and Mio may be head over heels in love with him, but he’s not worthy of any of you. Least of all you, Hammer. Never forget that.

Before this letter ends, I need to be honest with you about something else. My real profession started off as a Problem Solver in a faraway land. However, I was so good at it that I was promoted to a very special place in that land’s government. I came here to do a job, and with any luck, it’s done now and I’m back there. This country you and I shared was my birthplace, yes. But it’s no longer my home. That place is now a faraway land beyond the ocean, beyond the sky, and even beyond the stars. While I understand that you have no reason to believe me after all I’ve confessed to, I do want to say one more thing to you, Hammer. I honestly do care and want the best for you. You’re probably wondering why I didn’t want you to come with me. Well… the truth to that question lies at the bottom of this toolbox under all your money.

Again… I am so… SO sorry for what I did to you, Hammer. I’m not asking for your forgiveness. But I am asking you to move on with your life and forget you ever met me.

Take care…

-Arc

Hammer shakes her head, confused.

“Arc, he… what did he mean…?”

Shaking her head in an effort to clear it, Hammer grabs handfuls of money and tosses them aside. As the bottom of the toolbox comes into view she sees a large manilla envelope. Pulling it out she opens it and removes a large photograph. Her eyes grow wide.

“This… this is…!”

In her hands she holds a copy of the picture Arc and his squad took before the mission. Looking over it carefully for some time she eventually speaks.

“No… NO! This CAN’T be right!”

She continues to stare at the picture late into the night. Every so often muttering to herself how the picture couldn’t be real. Eventually she hangs her head and sighs.

“Arc… he… he was… IS… the Hero we’ve been fighting all this time?!”

Looking over the picture her gaze falls on the others.

“Max… Hugh… Xenos… Viktor… Ember… Sereb… Auriel… Rose…you, all of you…”

Hammer’s breathing quickens and her hands tremble.

“…all of you were so nice! How… how could you DO this to me?!”

Throwing the picture, Hammer lashes out at the toolbox, knocking it off the bed. Bills fly everywhere as she doubles over in pain again. Attempting to stand, her foot slips and she crashes to the floor. Lying there in agony from her wounds Hammer begins to quietly weep. Eventually she cries herself to sleep where she lies. The next morning she awakens to the buzzing sound of her alarm clock going off. Reaching out with her magic, she rips the cord out of the wall. Pulling the clock to herself she smashes it angrily. Gritting her teeth, Hammer slowly sits up and leans against her bed. Looking down she spots the picture on the floor. Carefully picking it up she muses to herself.

“Arc, he… he really… he’s trusting me with his secret identity! I can’t wait to show this to…!”

She stops talking as she looks at the picture again.

“No. I… I can’t say anything. They’d never believe me anyways. I’d have to physically bring Arc to them to prove something THIS nuts!”

Hammer thinks for a few moments.

“But is that really what I want? To turn him over to… someone.”

Sighing, Hammer shakes her head as she continues.

“It isn’t, no. What I really want… is for things to go back to the way they used to be. To have fun with Arc and his friends. To go on dates again. To spend days at the beach again. And… and to hold him in my arms as we lie on this bed.”

Grinning weakly, Hammer holds the picture to her heart.

“After all he did… I… I still love him. But at the same time, I really just want to find Arc and punch him in the mouth!”

Shaking her head, Hammer looks at the picture and gently touches Arc’s face.

“He has a lot to answer for. But he gave me a chance when I didn’t deserve it. Even when we fought as enemies… even then he wasn’t trying to hurt me. That time we clashed next to my truck... outside that farmhouse… at the Shard Base… and even yesterday at Damocles Base and the bridge… he wasn’t trying to kill us. All he wanted was to get past us. To… achieve his objective.”

Hammer sighs as she continues to stare at the photo.

“I have to find him. And I have to know the truth.”

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Come to The Pink Side, Hammer.. We have Cupcakes.

[Kamahido]

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