*
"Hmm? Why is there such a big crack in the floor? Was it newly formed? Usually maintenance is quick and tile damage isn't this noticeable..."
We were in the lift with a few other students, we all donned our proud uniforms as we waited for it to travel up. But before that, an inconspicuous crack in the lift's smooth black tiling had caught my attention.
"Maybe they're just busy? We better get going, class is going to start soon. Did you still have to go for that jog? You didn't seem like you got much sleep..." (Myuu)
Everyone had a nonchalant expression as if they had heard nothing. Tile damage was a rare occurrence due to the abundance of resources allowing humanity to build efficient machines, machines that do nearly everything for us. From cleaning to fixing tiles to detecting intruders. As far back as I knew, I've never seen a broken tile in my life for the past 12 years. Especially not in a public space, it was as if the cleaning robots couldn't detect the damage and hence didn't send any signals for the repair bots to come.
"It happens, I'm just low energy today, maybe because I've been studying hard these few evenings."
In the end, it was merely broken flooring. Why did it catch my attentions this much? Even if it was an incredibly rare occurrence, it was ultimately insignificant in our lives. Everyone resumed their daily routine and went to their classes, countless people would have used this lift but nobody reported it. Are they simply leaving it for someone else to deal with? Or were they like the robots and can't see it?
Classes went by as normal, and naturally it faded from my mind like it did the rest of the students. It was a simple meagre thought after all.
"Hey." (?)
A familiar voice, one I couldn't quite put my finger on. For some odd reason I felt like it was addressed towards me. An unresistable urge to respond welled up. As if it was someone I've been waiting for for a very long time. I twisted my neck and body with unparalled vigour to face the back.
"Yes?"
Looking for the unknown voice, for some reason everyone stared coldly at me with shocked faces. Some with their jaws opened and others with confused furrowed brows. The one who sat directly behind me received the biggest shock as she bounced in her seat right after I spoke. Was the voice I heard just part of my imagination?
"Is that so?... Turning around doesn't mean I can't tell it was you! Then why don't you give us a demonstration! " (Teacher)
Mr. Zheng who was my teacher smiled with a smug grin while gritting his teeth, but his eyes weren't smiling at all. His deep voice was more menacing and booming than usual, why is he always especially mad at me? Did I do something to offend him in my past life?
" Ehh!?! Uhmm.... Then maybe this and this..."
Thankfully it was only math class, it was easy to treat it as a question encountered during exams and resolve it as I read it in a single try. I made quick work of it on the whiteboard in front of the class, I was worried that my hand writing was a little small so I erased everything while I was halfway through and redid it again. I could see his sneaky little grin in my peripherals, likely thinking I was at a lost and erased out of panic...
After I was done, I placed down the marker and went back to my seat. Facing the front again, I could see a sullen expression on his worn down cheeks. Why does he look so hurt?! Did he perhaps think I didn't read ahead? That's why I've been working so hard, you know? Well, I guess he wouldn't know... Putting everything aside, I continued to listen to class.
"Discard everything." (?)
There it is! The mysterious voice messing with me. But I'm not dumb enough to make a commotion in class again. What if it hurt Mr. Zheng's pride even more? This time it was even saying something strange. If I discard everything, do I discard my life too? Why would I do that? It makes no sense!
Gradually all the ambient noises blended together into an unrecognisable cacophony, the clicking of pens, the teachers footsteps, everyone's chatter and the air conditioner. My fingers move at the speed of light, writing every bit of detail down with fine accuracy and clarity.
I had no idea what I was writing, but I knew it was important.
The page ripped loudly with a booming tear that echoed across the classroom, I proceeded to fold it and kept it in my pocket. A few stares turned over, but most of them went back to what they were doing when they realised it was just me. Were they getting used to me being weird? Or was it me who was getting used to it? I no longer cared, my body felt like it was getting hotter. Love? Passion? Anger? Frustration? It was nothing like that. It was exhaustion.
Screams could be heard around the building as the crack in the lift spread throughout the building. It was as if everything was a single structure and it was crumbling down. Maybe it was at the back of all our hearts, fear. We would be going against the progenitor, who wouldn't be scared?
***(Myuu)
So we didn't go into it blindly. We would use everything we have and then more. (All)
Even if it ruins the entirety of the Sanctuary, if I could just fulfill her dream. That would be enough to satisfy me.
***(Paridia)
Tch, finally. The seams are beginning to break apart, it better after all my battering and smashing. That really took a lot out of me.
But this could also just be her time limit. The girl who received [Spirit constitution] from the progenitor. I suppose her brain broke down from the strain of holding up such a large and complex structure. The only way she could create a place powerful enough to hold all 4 of us for 3 days, would be to substitute a computer with her brain.
... If I was her, I would want to save even the one who made this mess... But now that she's not here...
***(Gerald)
... It was a dream after all... A happy family, how could I have one after everything that has happened? After all the precious subordinates I killed off, after all those who sacrificed themselves, and after everything precious to me that I threw away... It would be impossible to return to such a scene.
But even then, I'm thankful. Even if it was just an ephemeral dream... I enjoyed it.
***(Kaori)
As everything faded to white, I trace my cheek to ascertain the reality of my tears. When did I... Did I really...? Have I really been living up until this point?
As I lose myself into my thoughts, 3 more individuals walked towards me in this eternally white space. They all had complexes expressions that seemed to show that they all also had something going on with them. The whiteness of this infinite space was simply light, it was like a blank canvas for the word and it simply faded away to reveal that we were back in that house. It was easier to understand things after we went through them.
The other 3 went to defend the mix of 8 year old and 16 year old maid magical girl. She was like a pulsating lump of flesh that was vaguely dressed in clothes, half her face was that of a child and the other half a teen. She sat on what resembled a plain square concrete throne. Countless lines of magical particles, circuits were connected to her skull.
She seemed to be affected by her own skill too, but her body slowly shifted back into a state resembling her magical girl form, though a bit of grotesque weirdness stuck out from here and there. Flesh growths clung to her ears and outside her clothes. It was as if they were connected to her, at the same time they could be detached from her.
"You have an explanation for this right? Don't worry, we'll protect you" (Myuu)
"Mhmm, what she said. We can't let you die just yet. Not until you explained properly to us what you did." (Paridia)
"... I can't let you die now." (Gerald)
They all stood at the ready even though Gerald was supposed to be a neutral party.
To ascertain, to prove. To investigate, to discover. My head is filled with so many questions, yet so much is standing in my way. I won't be so merciful this time round.
"I just want to ask a single question before we start. This may be the last time we talk after all."
A look of shock had spread across Myuu's face like a mask. But honestly, who wouldn't see it coming. We were fighting with beyond human prowess, an accidental death isn't unheard of at all. In fact it would be weirder if there weren't any.
"Out with it." (Paridia)
"Would the previous Kaori... Save her too? Would she stand in my way like this and give the enemy a chance to backstab her? Even if the enemy didn't hesitate? "
"..." (Paridia, Gerald)
"Yeah." (Myuu)
Without any more words, I jumped forth. This time the enemy has been severely weakened. That goes for all of them except for Paridia. Including myself, but I don't need power to take any of them down. In fact I don't need to kill any of them. I just need to reach the one hiding behind their backs, Amony the illusion magical girl.
The power of illusions usually feeds false information into the minds of the enemy. But she managed to falsify an entire utopia and background stories for everyone. She was truly terrifying, if not for her amateur limits, I may have gotten killed.
They all rushed in return as I adjusted my body to fly faster in the air. Twisting my entire body mid air into a C-shape, I knocked Myuu away with a right hook and spun higher into the air. Then I knocked the other 2 away with a powerful wind generated from my skill. I reached the other end in an instant. Amony was too busy trying to recover from her overclocked mind, so she couldn't react normally or use her skills.
I struck her heart and pulled it out to crush. Its dark crimson fluids spilled over the ground in a messy slop, dirtying the floor of this labyrinth. It even stuck to my fingers and dried on it.
"Now you should understand."
Her dying hands lifted a piece of paper, I picked it up.
' I'm sorry. I needed
a single kill to bring back
my own family.
In the end, the weight of life
was too heavy for
my own hands.
So I'll have to trouble
someone else with this burden. '
" ... Are you satisfied?" (Myuu)
I could feel their power flaring up violently behind me, getting ready for battle. Oddly enough, my mind was quite clear right now. At the same time, my slim fingers trembled and my throat shivered. The veins on my body pulsed actively as I took in the fresh air and killing intent around me. Was I feeling alive by killing?
I couldn't connect to others on a simple level like smell, taste or touch. I can't relate to others no matter how tasty they say the food is. I can't even tell what kind of texture the food had when I eat it because I don't have the sense of touch either. My entire body has been completely numbs since I woke up. So was killing the only way for me to feel alive now? No... My mind was now clearer not because I felt refreshed after sating my urge to kill. It was because I finally did my part.
I always feared for my life in battle not because of the pain because I couldn't feel any, not because of losing everything because I have nothing left to lose. I only feared dying in battle because I wanted to have something. Even with my memories completely gone and allowing me to realise what was happening in the enemy's illusion world faster, I wanted to safekeep what little experience and life I had. I want to live not because I don't want to die, I want to live because I lived. I want this... I want what meagre pathetic form of this present self to bloom...
And now my tiny amount of life experience had actually bloomed into an entire lifetime, or at least the amount I was suppose to have. Even if it wasn't real... Amony gave me a life in multiple ways... She used her illusion skill to feed false information into the minds of everyone in Central, she formed a small utopia because she was sick of the blood shed and didn't want to choose which one of us to kill. While an entire lifetime's worth of memories would make anyone forget their actual life, it didn't work too long on me.
In the end her simulation failed because her body couldn't handle it. She could have killed any of us when we were in her utopia, since we weren't aware or had turned on our magical girl powers then. But she didn't. Her will was too weak... Rightly so... She was only 8. She chose her own life in the end. That was why the piece of paper was prepared before hand.