--An hour after the accident--

Damn, Arco thought as he limped back home. Why didn’t he kill me? It’d all be over if he did…

Hanson, in the end, despite all of his rage and fury, couldn’t kill his old friend. And Arco, ashamed of how even after everything, people wouldn’t let him go, slouched away.

‘I can’t promise I’ll kill you next time, but I can promise this.’

Even though Hanson couldn’t kill Arco, it didn’t mean he couldn’t maim him. Hanson gouged out one of Arco’s eyes and tore off his right arm. While Arco thought wounds like that would be instant death for him, they turned out to be very minor. His arm bled for a bit, but then the oil inside his body closed off the wound.

This was the type of punishment Arco could expect at the end. Half of his world had vanished; both from the missing eye and arm. He couldn’t see or interact with it. Like Seir had promised, he would have nothing but oblivion, so this was his preview of that eternity.

In a way, it was like Hanson half-killed him.

The emptiness was just as awful as he’d expect. Even walking was hard, though that might also have been because of how low on fuel he was. But if this was the type of suffering he deserved, what could he do about it?

“Yo.”

Arco turned slowly to the familiar voice and blinked his one good eye.

Standing in an alleyway, wearing a wide-brimmed hat far larger than her head, was Honey Fragat, holding an almost empty bottle of wine. She was smirking.

“I guess my lil’ bro left you pretty messed up, huh?” Honey said, not moving. “Totally thought he was gonna kill you. I just got here, so I didn’t hear what happened. What’d you say that made him change his mind?”

“Nothing,” Arco said. “I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t.”

“What, you just accepted death?”

Arco sighed.

“Was there anything else I could do? Was there anything I could say that would convince Hanson in a state like that?”

“Ha. Probably not.”

With his remaining arm, Arco made a shrugging gesture as if to say: ‘see what I mean?’

“Well, it seems like all your plans have crashed around you. That suitcase meant to be hostage money never found its way to your dumpster. The pampered rich girl gets to go home, literally without being any worse for wear. All the hard work you went ahead and did just ended up helping me get paid. I can’t imagine you killed Mr. Hercules, though, so I guess I don’t get to keep this cool hat, but otherwise, everything you did helped us out. So thanks.”

“You want me to say you’re welcome or something?”

“Nah, nothing like that,” Honey said. She tipped the hat slightly and tossed her bottle aside. “Did Hanson tell you to leave the city again?”

“He said the next time he saw me it’d be my other eye.”

“Wow, that’s some powerful sadism, but it sounds about right. In response to that, what do you plan on doing?”

…

He didn’t know.

“Maybe I’ll head north. Check out District 8. I hear there’s plenty of work for scumbags like me up there.”

“Oh? Are you truly a scumbag now?”

Arco flinched.

There were memories hidden deep within, shared only between Honey and himself that he never wanted to let out. He remembered their conversation, long ago, and the horrible thing they’d done. What couldn’t be let out.

“I thought you’d never stoop that low,” Honey said. “You didn’t do anything bad to that poor rich girl we don’t know about, did you?”

“No.”

“Then why don’t you come out with the truth? Nobody would believe you, obviously, but if I backed you up, then all your problems would be solved, right?”

Honey was living proof that devils existed in the real world. A memory floated into Arco’s mind.

***

“What the fuck are you doing!?”

Standing next to Luise’s unconscious body was Jay. He looked like a cornered animal.

If everything before was Arco’s shattered life, this just destroyed it ever further.

***

It was never him. One night, Jay tricked Arco into giving Luise some drugs, and after that, Jay was the one who attacked her. But out of the entire group, he was the only one without a dark past. Without a dark future. Arco killed him. Murdered his friend like a dog. At that time, Honey was the first to show up, and even though it looked terrible, she realized what happened.

That wasn’t the first time it had ever happened. Jay was a predator, and he gave Honey a majority of his share of their heist rewards to help him confuse women and have his way with them.

Of course, going after one of their own was a step too far.

But only she knew. To Hanson, Bee, and Luise, Jay was a fantastic guy who could do no wrong. He was strong and brave, and even though he was from a rich family and a different social class, he gave them all inspiration. With how much rancor the group would have towards the elite without him, he made it possible for this group of destitute orphans to adapt and survive in the real world. If he didn’t exist to balance the group out, they would have become terrorists, rather than regular criminals, and they would have all been killed. His mere existence was the only reason they survived.

But now, he was dead.

Because of the drugs, Luise wouldn’t remember what happened. The only people to see it were Arco and Jay, but Jay was dead. And nobody knew about Jay’s true nature except Honey.

The deal with the devil.

After Honey explained, Arco knew he had no choice. He would take the blame for what happened, and he would run away from the group. There wasn’t any evidence, except for the drugged drink, and people had seen Arco give it to Luise. He was a scapegoat, but if he did so, then his friends wouldn’t turn rotten. It was far too late for someone like Arco, though. From his very core, he knew that the elite were evil. While Jay had given him a glimmer of hope, it had all been dashed away at that moment. There was no longer any happiness in his future, from that point on.

But if he fell on the sword, it didn’t need to be that way for everyone.

Truth be told, Arco had been in love with Jay at that time. It was unrequited and twisted in its own way, but to Arco, Jay was the type of person who was truly good. An example of everything respectful and admirable in a human being. Even if all he could do was follow Jay around and serve him as a second in command, he would do it and be proud. But it was all wrong. Jay glowed, but only because he knew how. It was a fake light, meant to distract the filthiest scum from the dirtiest corners into doing what they wanted.

Jay knew how people worked, and he knew how to control them. That was how he betrayed Arco’s trust and forced him into doing something horrific. Forced him to dirty his soul.

Just like the people who sold him in his youth.

He needed to make things right.

***

So he did what Honey suggested. He begged for his life and ran. She spun the story, and told him her plans. Ultimately, in the end, she could see a light. After enough time went by, people would forget and forgive. She had the ability to release pheromones and spores in the air that altered people’s mental state, and by doing so, she could change their opinions over time.

Then, he could come out and tell them the truth. Or, if that didn’t seem like a good option, he could come out and beg for forgiveness. To her, it was a flawless plan.

This was just a stumble on the road.

***

“No,” Arco said, shaking his head. “I can’t.”

“Are you gonna tell me why? Or are you gonna keep it to yourself, and keep brooding, like usual?”

Arco didn’t answer.

“Well, if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me,” Honey said, stretching out and yawning. She started to walk over to where Lance was recovering. “Enjoy District 8, and congrats on surviving. None of us actually want you to die, even if you think you’re scum.”

And once again, as it should be, Arco was alone.