Chapter 49

Ryu, still reeling from the revelation of Maria's marking, stepped forward, a slight frown creasing his forehead.

"Maria, you've got a lot of explaining to do," he said, his voice betraying his confusion and frustration.

Maria just smiled and gave him a playful wink. "Of course I do, Ryu. It's been years, after all. Where should I start? Should I explain how I managed to survive the fall of the academy? Or maybe why I've suddenly shown up here, in the middle of this abandoned police station?"

"Or perhaps," Maria continued, her voice taking on a more serious tone, "we should talk about why you and Kaida have those markings on your arms. They're not just tattoos, are they? They're something more."

Ryu's expression darkened as he glanced at Kaida, his mind racing. Maria was right; the markings weren't just decorations. They were something far more powerful, something that had changed their lives forever.

"Maria," he said, his voice low and serious, "how much do you know about these markings?"

"I know more than you might think," Maria replied, a hint of pride in her voice. "They're a symbol of a power that has been lost to time and history. And they're the reason I made sure I didn't die when the academy fell."

Ryu and Kaida exchanged perplexed glances. What did Maria mean? What power did these markings hold, and how did she know so much about them?

"What do you mean?" Kaida asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"When the yomigaeri attacked the academy," Maria began, her voice growing more intense with every word, "I saw something. Something that the rest of you didn't. I saw that the students and teachers who were turned into those monsters—they had to die first before they could be transformed. I saw them bleeding out on the ground, their lives fading away, only to rise again as those twisted creatures."

Ryu and Kaida listened in rapt silence, their eyes locked on Maria as she continued.

"As I lay on the ground, bleeding from the wounds inflicted by the yomigaeri," Maria explained, her voice growing quiet, "I could feel the transformation beginning. I could feel my body changing, my mind slipping away into something darker. But then, in that moment, it clicked in my mind. If the yomigaeri needed to die in order to transform, then maybe the opposite was also true—maybe I had to stay alive to resist the change."

Ryu and Kaida exchanged shocked glances, their minds reeling with the implications of Maria's revelation.

"I managed to stop the bleeding with a piece of my clothing," Maria said, her voice taking on a tone of grim determination. "And then, I began to crawl through the rubble, making my way towards the exit. It was slow, painful work, but I couldn't stop. Not until I was out of that hellhole.

"Once I reached a relatively safe area, I remembered something my grandfather had taught me when I was just a child—a breathing technique he said could slow a person's heartbeat and breathing to a near-hibernation state.

"I focused my mind on that technique, my hands trembling with pain and exhaustion," Maria continued. "Slowly, my heartbeat began to slow, my breathing steadied. For hours, I lay there in that abandoned alleyway, my body numb with pain, my mind fighting to stay alert.

"And then, finally, I heard the distant sound of footsteps. A group of people trying to find a safe haven. I knew then that I had succeeded in my gamble. By staying alive, I had managed to resist the transformation into a yomigaeri."

"When I was finally rescued," Maria said, her voice growing quiet and introspective, "I was taken to an abandoned hospital on the outskirts of town. It was there that I realized something was different about me. The markings on my arms, they were not present before. They were something else entirely.

"The people who saved me, they were scared. They didn't understand what I was, or what these markings meant. So they cast me out.

"I don't blame them for what they did," Maria said, her voice tinged with a mix of sadness and resignation. "They were scared, and I was scared too. It was the first time I had ever felt true fear in my life. But that fear also made me realize something: that I needed to find out more about these markings. I needed to find a way to control them, to understand them."

Ryu and Kaida listened with rapt attention, their eyes fixed on Maria as she continued her tale.

"And that's basically the story," Maria concluded, a sly grin spreading across her face. "Wasn't that a rollercoaster of emotions?"

Ryu and Kaida exchanged a glance of confusion. One moment, Maria had been recounting her harrowing tale with a tone of solemnity and gravity, the next, she was acting as if she had just finished telling a particularly outlandish bedtime story.

"You're... joking?" Kaida said, her brow furrowing in disbelief.

"Oh, don't be so serious," Maria replied, waving a hand dismissively.

Ryu let out a frustrated huff, his patience clearly wearing thin. "You didn't tell us anything, Maria!" he said, his voice a mixture of incredulity and irritation. "You told us how you got saved and how you got these markings, but you didn't explain why you're here now or how you knew about these markings in the first place. What are we supposed to do with that?"

Maria's smile grew wider, a twinkle in her eye. "Oh, Ryu, don't be so impatient. I'm getting to that," she said.

"Or maybe I won't," Maria teased, feigning a pout. "You know, Ryu, for someone who was so concerned about my well-being when I walked in, you're not showing much of a heart now, are you?"

Ryu rolled his eyes, his frustration quickly turning to amusement. "Oh, now you're just playing the victim, Maria. I was worried when you walked in, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you string us along with this story."

Maria giggled, shaking her head. "Oh, Ryu, you're so transparent," she said.