Chapter 498: The Eerie Child |
Erie Childe.
That was her name.
A 'half.' That was what she was called while growing up. Not Asian enough to hang out with the other Asian kids. Not white enough to avoid being bullied and blend in with the 'normal' crowd.
But even so, she did her best. Smiling through it all, she endured the names and bullying. She went through all the family gatherings getting side-eyed and made fun of by her relatives for not looking like them. She went through school being ridiculed and made fun of for being too Chinese.
It was a mess. It was terrible.
But she made her way through it.
Anime helped. Music too.
For a while, she could pretend to be someone else. And watching the magical girl anime where the main character transformed into a competent defense against evil, who had magic powers and were liked... who could beat all the bad guys.
It gave her courage.
And her dream came true.
Variant Hue accepted her into their corporation. Gave her an avatar. Let her livestream and perform.
But...
'Liars. All of them.'
...It was just an illusion.
Contracts that chained her life to their whims, forcing her to fly back and forth to Asia to perform. Red tape upon red tape stopping her from creating anything that she wanted to do. Forced livestreams that she had to do for whatever game the company wanted to sponsor.
Erie hated it.
She hated it, but she bit her lips and continued.
Because it was her dream. And because she had fans who were cheering for her. Who were inspired by her to chase their own dreams.
So she swallowed her protests, endured that harsh restrictions, ran herself ragged.
And then they pulled it out from under her.
Said she wasn't performing well enough. Wasn't earning enough money.
And like that, it was over. The dream she carried, the ideal she bore on her back, the EVERYTHING she suffered to bring joy and hope to the ones watching her as Meryl Kodomo...!
===
The sound of birds chirping. The soft sunlight filtering through the nearby window.
Erie blinked, seeing the sterile hospital bed come back into focus. "...Oh. That's right." Her weak voice echoed in the empty room. "I lived."
Spoiler
Her world fell apart around her.
She let down her fans.
The life she built was ripped out from underneath her along with her heart and dreams. So she decided to let go of it all.
But it seemed like someone else, something else didn't let her.
And so she was here. Recovering.
Still alive. As if her heart refused to let her give up on it.
Erie let out a bitter laugh and ran a hand through her dark red hair, the unnatural mix that she inherited from her father and mother. A ginger and a beauty with black hair.
And what made people tease her all throughout high school about not having a soul.
"...Whatever." Erie sighed and leaned back in her bed.
It still hurt.
Since she fell from the roof and broke most of the bones in her body, Erie was still recovering even though it had been a couple of months.
...Though the fact that she was still even mobile was a miracle in itself.
The doctors said that it was because she was lucky enough to hit a bunch of branches on the way down. That the tree by her apartment balcony broke her fall enough to bruise and crack her bones, but not kill her.
Erie just thought it was bad luck.
A part of her was tempted to look through her phone. To search up her name and see what people thought. To see how that damned black company was doing and if it was pulled under yet.
But she couldn't do that.
Doctor's orders.
They were worried that it would trigger her and make her choose a rash decision.
...Which, to be honest, was fair.
Erie sighed and leaned back, staring at the ceiling. "...What even is the date?"
It had been more of the same since the incident.
Although an attorney had been kind enough to guide her through things and handled her legal affairs... someone who she couldn't believe was actually sincere and not a moneygrabbing soulsucker.
Then again, the guy's name WAS Apollon Justice...
But either way, it had been radio silence.
Just Erie, alone in the hospital room, recovering with Doctor Iyasu coming in every now and then to check on her.
"...I should have asked them to give me an MP3 player or something. Or at least some movies."
Maybe it was because they were worried she would try something rash... No. It was DEFINITELY because they were worried she would try something rash.
But the room was padded. White walls. Nothing that could be used as a weapon or to harm herself. And there wasn't any connection to the outside world either. No laptop, no TV, no phone.
It was enough to drive a girl crazy.
...But it seemed like they knew Erie better than she knew herself.
Because while she was restless and left with just her thoughts... she was calm.
...It was just her, after all.
Her parents were gone a long time ago. She didn't have any relatives. Friends... she only had casual acquaintances.
And Variant Hue knew that. They KNEW that.
...And it was probably why they hired her.
Because a girl like her... Someone like Erie could fall through the cracks, disappear, and no one would care.
Her fans would make a ruckus, people would wonder... but there wouldn't be anyone who remembered her. At least, not the real her.
But the world seemed to refuse it.
Erie had written out her tragedy, but the world denied her ending.
Which left her here, in a pseudopurgatory with a body recovering from wounds meant to kill it, and with her thoughts spiraling again and again, forcing her to confront the fact that she had been an idiot for believing that a company would ever really care about her.
Erie closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. "...I should have known. There's a reason why the company behind Project MirAIs is called Myth Incorporated. A place like that is too good to be true..."
"Now, I would beg to differe, Miss Childe."
Erie flinched and quickly glanced over towards the door.
It was closed. Nobody had entered. But the sillouette of a man was standing on the other side. Politely waiting.
Erie tensed and said, "Who is it?"
That wasn't Mister Justice. And she didn't recognize that voice- No.
Wait.
She DID recognize that voice.
But...
It couldn't be.
Right?
"Well. My name is John Smith. And I have a business proposition for you if you're still interested in chasing your dreams?"
Erie froze.
John Smith.
A generic name.
A name that shouldn't mean anything.
But to her... No, to ANYONE who was in the VTuber industry, it meant the world.
"...You're lying." Erie stared at the door and pressed the button on her bed to shift her to a sitting position. "There's no way you're standing there outside my hospital room right now."
"Well. You DID send in an audition tape. Of course, if you're not interested, I can leave right now."
Erie froze.
The memory came back to her.
Right after she was awake following the incident. When she was barely lucid.
Desperation, prayers, begging anyone for a way out...
She had still been delirious, and that had been before the doctors took away her phone.
Erie had scoured the web to see if anyone realized what happened to her. And between the chaos, she saw someone say that Erie... That Meryl should quit and join Project MirAIs. That auditions were up for an English branch.
So she did.
Try for the audition, that is.
In her hospital room, at night after the doctors left, she recorded a single song.
An English cover of [The Reason I Wanted to Die] written by Hiromu Akita from amazarashi.
The lighting was terrible, barely showing her face. She had been covered in bandages. Her voice had been soft and cracked, barely audible.
Even so...
Erie was silent, still processing the fact that her hailmary, her random plea sent off into the void...
It wasn't just heard.
The wish she quietly- No, desperately sang about beneath the trembling voice. The song, the wish sent to the man who said he was looking for those who would be lost if he didn't find them.
Silence.
And then a faint shuffling on the other side of the door. After that, a soft and trembling voice echoed.
Hers.
*Both of us should know the reason I'd thought I'd die...*
*It was all because I saw those birds upon the shore.*
*Not a meaning in that sight, not a truth within that lie.*
*Calling out words washed away deep within the waves.*
They were makeshift lyrics. A crappy translation, if that. Half-remembered meanings painted over with her own suffering and emotions at the time. Something she sang just to vent and process her feelings.
Erie had forgotten about it.
But hearing the words played back to her, hearing her own voice sounding so devastated...
The soft piano. The lyrics and her voice continuing onwards.
Erie found herself entranced, hearing the unfiltered self that was screaming out in that one moment of vulnerability she had that late night alone in the hospital.
And then the main part of the song played.
*Both of us should know the reason I'd thought I'd die...*
*It was all because I just didn't know how to cry...*
*All the words and truths they said, I let them get to my head...*
*Even though I was wrapped with so much love and warmth in life.*
A confession from herself to herself. Words that she had forgotten in the confusion, anguish, and darkness.
Erie was quiet as she listened.
And then the final line played.
*I will try to hope again, just once more I'll try again.*
*So this world can be filled with just a bit more light.*
Silence.
Before Erie realized it, her vision had blurred with tears. She clenched her hands tight, balling up the white bedding beneath her. Her voice, cracked with emotion, whispered a response to the last line, to her past self. "...That's not fair."
A wish sent off without any expectation of being granted.
A plea not just to John, but to herself, who was still alive now.
"...Are you crying? Because if you are, I can give you a minute. But damn, if you are that means I lost a bet with Meggie. She said that the next girl I went to recruit would probably cry too since I have a habit of running into girls like that..."
Erie let out a choked laugh and then angrily wiped her tears away. "What the heck is that supposed to mean? No, what are you even doing here? Don't tell me that terrible cover was the reason why you're here?"
John chuckled and said, "Well... Seasons die one after another. Evne so, we have to go. Even with nothing, we have to go on living."
Erie burst out laughing again. "Oh my GOD. Are you quoting back song lyrics? Just because of that cover? Are you seriously answering my own words on a cover of a song by the original artist with another one of his songs?"
"Yep. Is it working?"
"...You're so goofy. You're ridiculous. Are you real?"
"You know, I think Hope asked me the same thing recently. I get that a lot, actually. So... can I come in?"
"Yeah." Erie wiped her tears away, the first real smile on her face in a long while. "...You can come in, Mister John."
The door opened.
John walked through. But the moment he did, he paused.
Erie noticed and tensed. "...Did I say something wrong?"
"No. But 'Mister John' huh? I seem to be getting that a lot these days... Must be the dad vibes. But anyway." John smiled and said, "Let's talk about your 'wish' shall we?"