--- [Alex’s perspective]
I’m getting tired of running through these halls…
Back and fourth and back and fourth…
What’s next?
The twins show up agai-
“YOU!” – Miki
…
“You’re not getting away this time!” – Miki
“Yeah! You’re not getting away this time!” – Shiki
“Lett, could you take care of them? I’ll go check up on Illian.” – Alex
“Sure.” – Lett
“Just watch out for their specialties.” – Alex
“Hey! Wait, don’t tell her! That’s unfai-” – Miki
“The girl grows stronger each time she hits you. The boy grows stronger too, but he does it by eating. Anything non-living that he touches will turn into food. Also… He turns blue.” – Alex
“Blue?” – Lett
“Blue.” – Alex
“Blue… Ok…” – Lett
“Aaaanyways, I’ll meet up with you again soon. Don’t let them grow stronger.” – Alex
As I pick up the pace again, Miki interrupts.
“I thought I told you you’re not getting away this time!” – Miki
She and her brother both tries to block the hallway; they won’t let me pass.
“You said it was unfair for me to know your abilities? Well then, let me show you mine.” – Lett
She teleports right behind them, and pushes them both to the side.
I take the opportunity she’s given me to run past them.
“Thanks!” – Alex
--- [Cat’s perspective]
“You’ve got some skills; I’ll give you that. But don’t delude yourself into think that will be enough. A few minutes from now, you’ll be nothing but a pile of skin and bone.” – Cat
“Ooo! Scary!” – Illian
This kid…
He’s about to know what true pain feels like.
Oooooh!
I can’t wait!
I create two flails, one for each hand.
“Given up on knives already?” – Illian
“No, these are just more effective at breaking you. Don’t worry…” – Cat
I lean in and whisper…
“… You’ll get the knife later.” – Cat
I start swinging the flails around, picking up lots of speed.
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If I get a clean hit on him with these, he’s down.
He calmly walks towards me.
What’s his plan?
It doesn’t matter, I’ll just take him down in one hit!
I swing my flail, but he ducks under.
I immediately follow up with the other one, but he dodges that one too.
He tries to close the distance by launching himself towards me, but I counter with the first flail, forcing him to back off.
He’s fast…
I shouldn’t let this go on for too long, using my specialty drains a lot of stamina.
But there’s something I need to figure out…
His shadow…
It’s somehow connected to his specialty, but I don’t know how.
I can’t let him hide it any longer, if he gets a surprise attack off it could be bad for me.
I’ll force his hand, right here, right now!
The flails go faster and faster.
They’re swinging around so quickly and unpredictably that he can’t get past them.
I dash towards him while keeping up the momentum of the flails.
He tries to get behind me by hopping to the side, but I cut him off with one flail.
Thinking I’m not fast enough to counter, he takes the opportunity to rush straight towards me.
He quickly closes the distance between us, but then…
BAM!
I slam my other flail straight into his back, knocking him down to the ground.
He’s on the ground; not moving.
That attack probably broke his spine.
Is he dead?
I crouch down in front of him and pick his head up by his hair.
“Seems like you couldn’t beat me, the sin of envy, after all…” – Cat
I look into his dead eyes and spit in his face.
Well then, time to go find out what Lord Arthur wanted from m-
“GUAHH!!!” – Cat
What the hell?
He just uppercut me, but how?
I thought he was dead…
He should have at least been unconscious!
But more than that…
How is he standing up?!
It’s like he was never hit in the back in the first place!
Is this his specialty?
While I’m still on my knees, he kicks me in the head, knocking me into the wall.
He wipes the spit off his face and runs straight at me.
“Get the fuck away!” – Cat
I create a large, spiked shield.
I hide my entire body behind it, so he can’t get to me.
He can’t even touch it without getting pierced by the spikes!
My head is all fuzzy after those hits…
I can’t fight him in this state, I’ll have to hide here until I recover.
Just as I finish my thought, the shield caves in, and his fist pierces right through the shield.
“GehhAAh!” – Cat
I lose my grip, and he throws the shield away.
“What the…?!” – Cat
He’s not bleeding!
He hit the shield as hard as he could, but he somehow hasn’t been pierced by the spikes.
That’s impossible!
He returns the favor by picking me up by my hair.
“I couldn’t give away my ability when you were torturing me earlier. But now that I’m out, none of you motherfuckers are putting a single scratch on me.” – Illian
He lifts me up even higher, my feet are just above the ground.
My arms and legs are dangling lifelessly; unable to move.
“The world won’t miss scum like you.” – Illian
Wait, is he?!
“No, please! Please don’t kil-” – Cat
Before I get to finish my sentence, he slams my head down towards the ground at full speed.
Just before impact, I remember something…
Is this what they mean when they say your life flashes before your eyes when you’re about to die?
I thought it would be more…
Complete?
There’s only one memory.
It’s the memory of that day…
The day I met Lord Arthur for the first time…
---
It was about 15 years ago.
A monster had escaped from a nearby dungeon, but no one noticed before it was too late.
The monster ravaged through the town, killing anyone in sight…
Old and young.
Man and woman.
Good…
And bad.
It didn’t spare anyone.
Just as I was about to meet the same fate, he showed up.
He simply touched the monster, and it fell to the ground.
It was dead…
There were three others with him: Lady Alice, Edward, and Cinder.
Lady Alice reached for me.
I took her hand and got back up.
I’ve been with them ever since.
Despite my twisted nature, they accepted me for who I am.
I didn’t understand why at the time, but I didn’t really care either.
They became my new family.
---
I didn’t think this is how my story would end, but here we are.
Any second now, my head will get slammed into the ground, and there is nothing I can do to stop it.
I just hope Alex is the one…
The one who can save Lady Alice…
--- [Illian’s perspective]
“The world won’t miss scum like you.” – Illian
“No, please! Please don’t kil-” – Cat
I don’t like killing people, but she’s a lost cause.
She’s a psycho to the core, the world would be a better place without her.
I quickly slam her down into the ground as hard as I can.
“That’s enough.” – Edward
Or so I thought…
Just before her head touched the ground, Edward managed to stop me.
He just showed up out of nowhere and grabbed my arm!
He’s so strong…
I let go off her and quickly pull my hand back.
He catches her before she hits the ground, and safely puts her down.
“Rest. I’ll deal with him.” – Edward
“Ok…” – Cat
She passes out only seconds later.
Edward stands back up and looks right at me.
“You shouldn’t have done that.” – Edward