Vérité

Sweat, dirt, and soot have ingrained themselves into her every nook and cranny, and her clothes are even more ruined than before. With things seeming to be more or less finished the grip on her word loosens and it fades away in a glimmer. It feels almost unnatural to let it go and the second she it's gone she feels like part of her body has gone missing. Still, she wasn't careless enough to use her powers without reason.

"Hey!"

A voice calls out. At first, Maud isn't sure it's directed at her and ignores it, but the successive calls and approaching footsteps break that illusion. She turns to see a fair-headed girl around her age, holding a phone and quickly closing the distance between them.

"Wait! I..." Something twinkles in the girl's eyes and her face shifts into an ecstatic grin as she inches closer to Maud.

"I know you!"

Those three little words cut through Maud like a knife. Her eyes go wide and her lips make an 'o' shape, the lie waiting to leave her tongue unable to form in her panic. One hand fruitlessly grasps for something that isn't there.

The cause for her panic seems completely unaware of Maud's desperation to escape the situation, taking even larger steps forward as she steps back.

"You're Reine, right? You look a little different, but I'm sure of it! I can't believe you came here to save us!"

If her previous words were a cut, those were a blow. The girl was she did look different. It was a wonder she recognized her so quickly, especially being a decent ways away from Brockton. Aside from having stripped her ruined outfit of its most iconic attributes, her brown locks were unkempt and went down to her shoulders instead of its usual short bob. Although unintentional it obscured her face a great deal. Alongside the general dirtiness of both her and her clothes, she could easily pass as just another vagrant.

But it was the girl's faith in her that truly hurt. She stops moving backward and clenches her fists as she tries to calm down. Her body ached for the comfort of a blade in her hand, but this was a time for words.

"I am known here? How nice." Maud offers the girl a warm smile as she lowers her mask. For a just moment, she's able to trick herself into believing everything's normal. It's not exactly a lie. under normal circumstances, it would be a pleasant surprise.

The girl grins sheepishly, "Heh, by me at least. I've been following you since..." She cringes and frantically gestures with her arms. " Not in a creepy way. Just the stuff on PHO. A-Anyway, you looked so cool!"

Maud giggles and waves a hand dismissively to try to keep the interaction from growing more uncomfortable than it already is. The enthusiasm might have been cause for concern, but she was more relieved that the girl seemed to be a special case in the area.

"Well, you seem to know plenty of me. Might I know you?" All she had to do was entertain her a bit, something she'd done hundreds of times over.

"Oh, I'm Charlie, but there's nothing interesting about me. Not compared to you." She'd heard similar sentiments before, but now more than ever such flattery made her sick. No, it was worse than flattery because they seemed to genuinely believe she was special.

Maud's eyes drift to the girl's phone. There was no question of whether she'd be recorded, only how she'd keep Charlie from sharing it. There was something more pressing, however. A nagging feeling she couldn't shake. A smaller PRT presence was understandable in what seemed to be a small town, but what wasn't was the lack of Heroes she'd come across while running about.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Charlie. It's a shame that it had to be under such conditions." There's still smoke wafting from buildings in the distance. "If I may ask, where are the local heroes?"

Charlie looks at Maud with a confused expression. "You don't know? I guess You must have been in too much of a rush when they sent you."

A cold sense of dread nests in Maud's stomach as Charlie speaks. "We only had a few to begin with, and after things got really bad...I think most of them ran. We probably would've been screwed if you didn't come!"

"I see." Her smile falters for a moment. It's difficult for her to fully comprehend what's been said. The idea that they would abandon their duty was foreign, yet hadn't she also the ran? Brockton's troubles hadn't ceased to exist when she left. With two Wards gone, they may have even festered. "At least it allowed us to meet. Apologies, but I need to be going now."

"Hey, is something wrong?" Charlie's gaze takes on curious and slightly concerned quality.

Of course something was wrong. All of this was wrong.

Maud freezes, any semblance of normalcy is shattered. Did her mask slip? "I am a bit tired, but it's nothing to worry over. I really should-"

"No, I mean you disappeared for a while, and you...well, you don't look okay." She gestures at Maud. Some of it could be explained by recent events, but not all. "I- A lot of people are worried."

Maud's cheeks burn with embarrassment as she struggles to maintain her smile. The desire to run creeps back up, her nails digging into her palms to keep it from consuming her mind. She didn't owe this girl an explanation, but the way she talks reminds her that there are people who she did.

The rest of the Wards must think she's a monster, and she'd find it difficult to convince them otherwise. Worse than a monster, she was a hypocrite. She had the gall to make a fuss over a broken leg only to kill one of their own.

Her smile finally drops and she lets out a sigh. "You must know I wasn't sent here. It was only luck." She didn't owe this girl an explanation, but it was wrong to let her believe a lie. "I- I made a mistake and ran from it. I did something unforgivable." After taking a deep breath, the truth comes out. "I am a Hero no longer."

Her body trembles with a kind of fear as she hugs her shoulders. She almost regretted saying anything, but deep down she knew she didn't deserve to be able to hide. She was just too much of a coward to tell the people she'd let down the most.

"You..." Charlie's voice carries a tremor of anger. When she approaches, Maud believes it's to hit her, but instead she has a phone shoved in her face. "You're wrong. I don't know why you're running, but it doesn't change this."

What's shown is a blurry video of her fighting. Whatever the girl's point, all she can see is a killer. She winces. "What do you mean?"

"You chose to save people. Why would you if you weren't a Hero?"