Chiharu
Legacy Name: Knightly

Chiharu Magtanggol Matsuda

Filipino-Japanese. Medical doctor. Knight Templar.

"A Templar Knight is truly a fearless knight, and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armour of faith, just as his body is protected by the armour of steel. He is thus doubly armed, and need fear neither demons nor men."

Bernard de Clairvaux, 1135, De Laude Novae Militae

It was time to leave Wray Heights.

I have no direction, if I stay here.

It was inevitable for the Creed to die out. The other fellows have given up and joined the ranks of the undead, or decided to fight only for themselves. What happened to the oath that we took upon graduating from the MCM? Did we not swear to serve and protect the citizens of Malton? Were we not the agents of and for life? And what happened to the vows that my Sisters have taken?

I fall to rise again. Tomorrow may be the day that will never come. The quarantine may never be lifted. There is no Escape.

That's it. I don't want to escape.

This is my home. I belong here, and because I owe my life to Malton, I must do my duty. I am ever as determined to stay alive. I will protect the city that took care of me. My life is now for Malton.

I bid goodbye to St. Polycarp's Church, my home for close to five years now. Before, I used to have many companions - medical students, NecroTech employees like me. There were undead and the living, mostly living in the church in peace.

The last five years went by without making much of an impression on me, and I may have been more dead than a live, but now, I am much stronger, much wiser. It has been three years since I last looked into a mirror. My hair was more than just a mess; straight locks twined together in unruly twists. My arms felt firmer yet heavier, and I was more agile. The lanky frame I once knew now held more shape than it previously did.

If I have truly fallen asleep for this long, then how could this have happened? What if my dreams were actually the subconscious re-imagining of my reality?

I'm very sure I was alive, those years, even if I would die more than I live. You can't be a fresh medical student one day, have a coma for the next 3 or 4 years, then awake as a medical intern, right? Of course, that didn't happen. My days as a medical student were a blur, having been close to interception due to the "Malton Incident".

If anything, it was the opportune time to be a scientist. You had so many questions to solve, and so much experience to gain! This was apparently a very unique case, only having been reported in Malton at the time.

By the time I graduated from medical school, similar outbreaks were reported in Monroeville and Borehamwood. Unlike Malton, they have no NecroTech facilities, so accruing the virus was a permanent manner. You can say you can only live twice. Die once you are in your second life through a shot to the head, and you were dead for good.

Reports show 1 or 2 survivors remain in both cities, this is the status quo.

I was not deployed to either city, and I am ever thankful for that. Even possessing necessary NecroTech credentials, my efforts will have been in vain without any NecroTech offices. I would have been doomed to staying away from hospitals, living in fear of losing my life.

I thank the Lord for having kept me safe within the premises of St. Polycarp's Church for the last 3 years, in the time I spent a monastic and hermetic life. Having been ill with The Disease for most of 2010 proved to be the most difficult part of the residency. I had to be prepared for the role-reversal, citizens killing me -- though I understood that those with bad intentions were rare, compared to those who acted in good faith. Eventually, I was dismissed from residency at St. Seraphim's Hospital, resigned to being a nun not long afterward.

Who even knew that the kids now called this place as St. Poopcrap's Crutch? Amusing, albeit slightly offensive.

And suddenly, I was impelled to head back to Kempsterbank. It was not far off from where I was in Wray Heights, after all.

Was it the answer I long awaited for my prayers? The fulfillment of a new chapter of my life, perhaps?

I set out the familiar streets, plazas, and buildings of this suburb with great haste. There was only one name I could remember, and I was certain he would know naught of me -- the perpetual drunk he appeared to be.

"Stan the Chopper." That was the man who saved my life at least twice, back when I had been wandering the streets, seeking my purpose.

I've made up my mind. I've been weary of being a social recluse. I've been weary of being a lone straggler. I wish to serve the people of Malton with renewed purpose.

I will live to serve the Knights Templar.

-- Chiharu Matsuda, 2013-04-22

Art by mei

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Chiharu Matsuda belongs to Pax M. (pax of Subeta)