>>5952

Idk what time zone you're in, so maybe it still is July 2nd for you (if you're in the US, it should, but for me it's not anymore by like 1½ hours), so maybe the present is in time, and if not it's just slightly late *shrug* I was away for most of the day and I'm kind of tired by now, so I hope my writing didn't suffer from it too much.

Well, regardless, here you go:

Forsaken [Gundam Seed Destiny, suicide, hanging, (semi-)con]

The wind was howling across the barren wasteland.

“Luna, I'm hungry.”

“I know. So am I. But there's a city that way, I'm sure we can reach it before the night, and there's bound to be some food there somewhere.” At least Lunamaria really, really hoped there was, because if not, she and Meyrin would be in some deep shit. “You know, it's really not that far, I can carry you.”

The younger girl was about to protest, but just in that moment she staggered and Lunamaria just barely caught her before she could fall. “Well, okay. But I don't want you wasting all your energy either.” “I'll be fine. Up you go.” As Lunamaria took Meyrin on her shoulders she was alarmed at how light her younger sister was. Growing up in microgravity, neither of them had either been particularly massive, but by now Meyrin seemed to consist only of skin and bone. Not that Lunamaria was in a much better shape, but there was no way she'd ever admit that, especially not as long as her sister needed food even more, hopefully they'd find something to eat once they reached the city.

“Dammit! Dammit, dammit, dammit!” Lunamaria kept hammering her fist against the wall, not caring she was tearing open her skin on the rough concrete. How the fuck could they not find any food in this whole godforsaken ghost town? She and Meyrin had split up to scavenge for anything edible, searching deep into the night, but found literally nothing. Every single house that wasn't a pile of rubble was either burned out or had been completely emptied, the best they saw were some charred remains of packages. But no food whatsoever. With a cry Lunamaria sank to her knees, shouting her rage and frustration against the uncaring black sky and howling winds.

“Come on, Luna.” Meyrin placed her hand on her sister's shoulder. “I'll be fine for the night-” Just at that moment she was cut off by a cough that had been steadily worsening the last few days, belying her claims, but she quickly continued “and I'm sure tomorrow when there's light again we'll find something we missed. Let's look for a place to rest.” Lunamaria didn't really believe that, but taking a break for a few hours would still be better than fumbling around in the dark. “Well, okay.”

As usual they searched out the highest spot they could find, this time the tenth or so floor of a ruined apartment building, to get a good vantage point, just in case there were any other humans around – even though they hadn't seen anyone so far, but hardly any bodies either. As Lunamaria made a small fire she noticed their supplies for that were getting low too, but it was not like it'd even matter if they didn't find food soon. “Alright, go to sleep Meyrin, I'll take first watch.” “Okay. And don't worry sis, I'm sure we'll find something to eat tomorrow. Good night.” “Night.”

Ultimately Lunamaria dozed off too, only to be awoken by Meyrin's voice. She quickly looked around, gripping for the iron crowbar she had appropriated as an improvised weapon, finding nothing out of the ordinary, and her sister still sleeping. But even in her sleep Meyrin was whimpering in pain, clutching her stomach and her face an expression of pure misery.

With a determined expression Lunamaria stood up. She was not going to let her little sister suffer like that, she would find something to end their hunger. One way or the other.

“Morning, Luna.” Meyrin woke up, calling Lunamaria from her half-sleep as well. “Huh, why didn't you wake me for my watch?” “Because-” Lunamaria was interrupted by a yawn “you needed the rest a lot more than I did. Come with me.”

“Hm?” Meyrin looked confused, but she followed Lunamaria into what had probably once been a living room, with a pair of nooses, one made from red rope – maybe once, in another lifetime a skipping rope – and the other from thinner plastic like a clothesline, suspended from the ceiling above two tall stacks of stones. “Luna, what is this about?”

Lunamaria took a deep breath. “Listen, Meyrin. I spent almost the whole night searching the city. And wanna know what I found? Nothing. Not only no food, but no bodies either, no wood, hardly any clothing. Only concrete, glass, metal and plastic. In other words, nothing organic, period. And you know what that means, don't you?”

“Devourer Swarms. But aren't they forbidden by the Alliance?” They indeed were. Swarms of airborne nanites carrying a hyper-potent oxidant that would attach to any organic matter and completely break it down. Their effects on a living human were imaginably harrowing, and so just like the nuclear bomb, they were unanimously banned on an international level after just a single use in a war. But apparently that had done little to stop their use this time around, just like the nuclear bomb.

“So what? You can bet they dumped them on the Alliance headquarters first. These things are the reason half of the town we were in before was completely empty, it was on the edge of the radius. I should've noticed sooner, now where right in the middle of it. That's- That's why... we should just end it now.”

“But, Luna-” “Meyrin, there's no way we're making it back out of the radius of the Devourers without any food. Much less find anything edible then. Look, if they used Devourer Swarms here, they probably used them all over the world, on top of all those nukes. Whatever so-called civilization we had is completely destroyed. We may in fact be the last humans left on this whole fucking planet. So, we are going to die either way. The question is just if we do it now, on our terms, or after days more of pain and hunger, weakly crawling towards something we'll never reach.”

“You... I guess you're right. And I think part of me felt this was how it was going to end for a while now. But still, isn't hanging like super painful?”

“No... Yes... Maybe. But only for a few minutes at most, and it's absolutely reliable. We don't really have many options. We could try jumping, but I don't think this building is high enough to be certain, and if the fall doesn't kill you I imagine it's gonna be really painful.”

Meyrin winced at the mere though of lying at the bottom of a skyscraper with her bones shattered and organs crushed, unable to move and every second filled with unimaginable pain, waiting for death to claim her. “That sounds even worse.”

“Exactly. But there's really nothing else here, so unless you think caving own or each others' skulls in with a concrete brick sounds less painful, hanging it is.”

After a short pause Meyrin nodded. “That's it, then. Now what?”

“We just do it. There's nothing to gain from waiting, is there? You go first, I'll help you.” Lunamaria took Meyrin's hand, leading the slightly hesitant girl to the thicker rope. She vaguely recalled reading somewhere that a thicker rope was better for a hanging because it hopefully would make everything end quicker, she didn't want her sister suffering any more.

As Lunamaria helped her onto the stack of stones and prepared to put the noose around her neck, Meyrin started crying. “Luna, I- I'm scared!”

“Ssshhh, it's okay. It'll all be over soon.” Lunamaria tried to comfort her sister as put the noose in place and pulled it tight.

“Let me down, Luna! I don't want to die! I-” Lunamaria abruptly pushed Meyrin forward, cutting short her pleas, then quickly kicked down the stones too just to be sure. As she walked around and stood in front of her sister, the hanging girl's face reflected equal parts pain and betrayal. I'm really sorry it had to be this way, sis. But everything will be over soon.

After a few moments, the pain seemed to take over and Meyrin began struggling, her legs thrashing around while her arms ineffectually tried to somehow loosen the noose around her neck. But of course there was no escape. Lunamaria stepped closer to her sister, catching one of her hands with her own and placing the other on the kicking girl's cheek. “I'm here, it's okay. Just give in and let it happen.”

Apparently Meyrin was still able to hear her, as she seemed to force down her movements and momentarily hung almost still, but then the pain grew too strong and she resumed fighting, even harder than before, breaking away from Lunamaria's hand and forcing her to step back, lest she get struck in the face.

Meyrin's face was contorted with pain and slowly turning blue, her tongue lolling out, and Lunamaria started to feel a twinge of doubt, but she knew this was still better than any alternative. Seeing her sister like this was almost physically painful for Lunamaria, but at least she could take solace in the fact that her suffering would end very soon, so the least she could do was force herself to not look away from Meyrin's increasingly violent struggle, so as to make sure the last thing she saw was her older sister being there for her.

It took several more minutes for Meyrin's movements to start to weaken, all the while producing desperate, hacking gasps, but Lunamaria endured the sight, even knowing she was next.

As Meyrin's struggles died down safe for minor twitches, Lunamaria approached her again and clasped both of her sister's hands into hers, forcing a smile even though she was tearing up at the same time. “You made it, sis. It's gonna be over any second now. See you on the other side.” If there was another side, and they even ended up in the same place.

Almost as if on cue with a final sigh Meyrin went completely limp, her eyes vacant and a dark, wet spot staining her skirt. It was over.

Lunamaria tore her gaze of her sister's lifeless form and slowly stepped onto the other pile of stones. Part of her was afraid of what was about to happen, Meyrin had looked like she'd been in massive pain at the end, but the larger part had already given up days ago, and now after seeing her little sister die right in front of her just wanted everything to end.

She placed the noose around her neck, but then paused when she looked out of the hole that had been the side wall and saw a truly stunning sunrise. The fiery orb seemed to fill the horizon, dyeing the whole sky and flooding the ruins and the wasteland below her in red light, casting infinitely long, jagged shadows.
Lunamaria couldn't even recall the last time she had seen the sun. After the war began, the sky had first been covered in ships and gunfire and smoke, but in the end only a cover of everlasting bleak clouds had been left, casting a perpetual twilight. So maybe it was just too fitting for her to end her suffering now, after getting to see the sun one final time.

Lunamaria took one last deep breath, then braced herself and kicked down the stones holding her weight.

As soon as her fall stopped, the thin rope cut deep into her skin, but Lunamaria's cry of pain was cut off by it constricting around her throat, leaving only a strangled gasp. She knew there was no way to stop the inevitable, so Lunamaria did her best to ignore the pain in her neck as well as the growing throbbing in her head and tried to relax her body.

Her willpower lasted about a minute before she got overwhelmed by the pain and her feet started reaching for the ground that wasn't there, while her hands began clawing at the rope, digging her nails into her neck and tearing open the skin. Lunamaria just hoped the thicker noose had been less painful for Meyrin, because this was a torture worse than anything she'd ever imagined.

And it kept getting worse. Lunamaria hadn't even thought that possible, but it did. The rational part of her brain knew it was futile, but the rest was just screaming for air, thrashing and fighting for every split second of reprieve, yet achieving nothing.

Slowly a burning sensation started building in Lunamaria's chest as the edges of her vision began to fade and the sound of her heartbeat filled her head. She hadn't payed close attention to how long Meyrin had lasted, but it didn't seem like it mattered, because every single second was a small eternity of pain.

As the hours of minutes dragged on, Lunamaria's head, lungs and neck were on fire, while everything else slowly went numb, and by the time her body run out of energy to fight, she barely felt her arms and legs stop moving.

Ultimately her vision darkened and her sensations faded, and Lunamaria had one final clear thought. Finally. Wherever you are now, Meyrin, wait for me, I'll be right with you.

And as her consciousness dimmed for good, the last thing Lunamaria saw the beautiful, yet ultimately uncaring burning eye of the rising sun.

Outside the wind was howling across the barren wasteland.