My eyelids flew open. My limbs were tied to a chair, covered in sweat. The whiteness, along with the occasional flowers, was gone. I could faintly see my breath, a friendly reminder that I was still alive.

I knew what must be done. Getting out of here was a priority. Even if I had to crawl out with three limbs, it didn’t matter as long as I was out. But being tied to a chair cut my odds. My breathing became heavier than before. Settle into calmness. Clear out the mind. Now, what could I do? Think. Think…

***FLASHBACK***

"Randy! Untie me!"

"You disrespected the scrimmage far too many times. I must go to these lengths for your unnecessary behavior."

Harley pouted. Sitting down, her right wrist was tied to the legs of the table by a rope.

"What's disrespectful is how Lex and Alexious are fighting. It's like watching two amateurs play--fight because they're too scared of getting injured. Hey, Lex, can you get stabbed already? Make this interesting!"

I looked at my feet, trying to contain my laughter. If Randy saw me like this, he would give me the same treatment as Harley.

"Harley, must I seal your mouth?" Randy remarked, watching the fight without glancing at Harley.

"No need. Hey Jill, check this out." Her free hand covered the other. "Ready?" She took a deep breath and grunted louder than the clashing swords. Her hand slipped through the rope. She fiddled with her thumb and grunted again.

Randy looked back and rolled his eyes. He cracked a small smile. Even he was amazed.

My eyes lit up. "What did you do?"

"Dislocated my thumb to free my hand. It's a handy trick if you have a high pain tolerance."

After that, she showed me how to dislocate my thumbs at will. I needed to be cautious about doing it too often, as it could cause lasting harm.

***END OF FLASHBACK***

With my head down, I knew what I needed to do.

The wound on my hand wasn't deep but wasn't surface level. Dislocating my thumbs was tolerable, but I wasn't sure how bad it would be.

What other choice did I have?

I had nothing. I had to do this no matter how bad the pain was.

I deeply inhaled, almost as if I were going underwater. Then I did it.

Just like that, I dislocated my thumbs, tugging my hands a few times until they slipped from the ropes. Once my hands were freed, I snapped my thumbs back into place and raced to untie my legs. I was then up on my feet, liberated like a butterfly.

I checked my hand. My breath became staggered as I winced the pain through the gaps of my teeth. A sharp sensation circled my palms and even shot up to my fingers. I had trouble opening and closing my wounded hand.

Whatever. There was no time to focus on that.

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Just as I started heading to the bars, the tapping of my heels bounced off the walls. It was easily recognizable who those footsteps belonged to.

“Jill, I’m back! The guards are all gone, so it’s just us two! I can’t wait to—oh, my, my, what a surprise.” Her squeaky, enthusiastic voice faded into seriousness. Her expression was a mixture of surprise and joy. The corners of her mouth kept tugging for a smirk.

She wasn’t going to let me freely walk. I had to push past her to get to Roger and find Tim and Owen. I had to get past her peacefully and in peace with the people I adored.

She entered the cell, drew her sword from her hip, and tossed it outside the cell, closing the gate behind.

“If this is what we’re going to do, I want it to be fair to eliminate any excuses during your final breath.” She spun around in one spot with her hands twirling in the air.

I still wasn’t a hundred percent. My hand would limit my punches. There was no time for excuses, though. Death didn’t take excuses.

A death battle between the two of us. She needed to kill me for an unknown reason. I needed to kill her for mine.

I stretched my arms above my head. “Just warning you, I will not show mercy.”

A satanic laugh bounced off the inner walls of the room, jiggling her entire body with twisted joy. “My, my, just perfect! Now I can finally go all out!”

With a yell, she kicked off the ground and charged straight at me. I quickly lowered my stance, eyes attached to her oncoming chest. I roared a cry of my own.

I had to be careful of my hand. I could parry with my arm and attack with that elbow, but no matter what, I could not use my left hand. No punches, grabs, slaps, nothing.

My right arm swung full force at an unavoidable speed. This was it. I was going to land the first strike. But my fist swung through nothingness, and I was the one who was hit. I stumbled, my body still up. Sylvia disappeared in front of me. A yell appeared from the side.

The enemy charged at me again, but she was too fast for me to react. She crouched down by my right side, punched my ribs, causing me to bend over, and kicked me in the face with her speed-of-light legs.

My body flew, landing on my backside. Her kicks felt like getting crushed by a toppled building. Did my head pop loose? It’s been so long since I’ve encountered someone who could send me flying. How far was I in the air? My ribs killed even more. Her punch was strong enough to burst whatever lies there.

“My, my, please don’t disappoint me. I’ve been waiting too long for this!”

Her footsteps were coming closer and closer. I strained myself to find whatever strength I had to get up. She closed in, swinging the same barbaric punch.

At this point, I knew she was much stronger than me. But that didn’t matter. It just meant I had to be smarter and quicker with my moves. My eyes refused to move away from the enemy closing in. Be smarter and faster. That’s what I had to do!

My heart banged inside my ears, and everything else felt like nothing. If a volcano erupted, I probably wouldn’t notice.

Why should I care that my heart was banging its blood out? It didn’t matter. As long as my heart was beating at the end of this, it didn’t matter.

I protected my head, giving my arm the blow instead. I counted with some punches of my own. She dodged and parried with ease while her attacks landed cleanly. I took a few more critical shots to the body and one to the face.

“Is this really all you got?” Extremely disappointing.” Her voice dimmed into the seriousness from earlier.

My shoulder leaned against the wall. Everything turned white. I couldn’t think. It even hurts to think. It wasn’t looking good for me. I shook my head, blinking a few times. My vision slowly revived.

Her fists came at full–force. I dodged. Her fists cracked the wall, and I swung. She evaded it once again and uppercut me in the stomach. Blood coughed on the floor. Ignoring the liquid and pain, I swiftly turned around, throwing another punch.

Did I even hit her once? Had she felt any pain at all? I didn’t know. But I had to hit this one. I had to—

All I hit was thin air. Once again, my stomach and chin were met by her fists. Like a violent child handling a toy doll, I crashed into the chair, completely destroying it. Those two attacks hurt the most. If my body could cry from the pain, it would’ve already. She was beating me with pure hatred.

I couldn’t get up. A piece of wood, no thicker than a sword, stabbed my leg. There was no way for me to win this. I’ve been told that my pain tolerance was much higher than usual. Then how come her hands were enough to destroy my interior self? I’d never felt this defeated before. It hurts so much. More than my beaten body could handle. This was the end. Sooner or later, my body wouldn’t be able to bear the beating. With no hope, I shut my eyes.

“So you’re done? Well, at least I enjoyed it a bit. Now, I’ll crush your head and showcase it for your friends to see.”

I half-opened them. Her legs approached close by the second.

I’m done.