'Ugh!'
Carmilla's eyes shot open as she regained consciousness. She could feel the breeze on her face, lightly blowing the veil that covered it. In front of her eyes, clouds strode through the blue sky, albeit with abnormal movement.
"Huh? Where...am I?"
Her memories were rather hazy, filled with overlapping recollections and emotions that didn't make any sense. It felt like she had just woken up from one hell of a long, jumbled-up nightmare.
Oddly enough, she could feel something gently rubbing her entire back, comforting her like those massaging devices. A sense of memoria soaked her nose, persisting yet fragile as if it could all fall apart at any moment.
One thing was clear, she wasn't in her own home, but someone else's. Worse, it might be someone she knew...very well.
"Awake? How're you feeling, lil' brute?"
Instinctively, she swung her fist toward the direction of the voice, only to hear the futile sound of air rushing through.
"Calm down. If you act up, the side effects's gonna settle in ag-"
"Agh!"
A sharp pang pierced her brain, almost knocking her unconscious. Thankfully, her sheer will kept her afloat, just enough for her to not completely pass out.
"Said so." The voice commented, unsurprised. "Still, didn't think it would be as effective as it is, considering he never budged until recently."
"Bas...tard...!"
It was a voice belonging to her master's long-time nemesis, one that was completely accidental yet nevertheless frightening.
They were never the most noticeable, but if you know them, you will never be able to take your eyes off them.
They're that which looms over everything -*****.
"You know…master won't leave things be…right?"
"Oh, I don't doubt it. He probably will come to retrieve you."
Their voice carried an innocent confidence as if they did no wrong. For some reason, they seemed easier to read than ever.
"Then why? Don't you...desire peace above everything?"
Undoubtedly, it was them who put her in this situation. Surely, they don't believe touching another's emissary without proper reasoning would be...justifiable?
"What are you talking about? You were the one who barged in here."
Suddenly, her head stung again. Memories that seemed foreign flooded her head, confirming their words.
"Wha-"
Her consciousness was slipping again.
...
Having encountered them countless times, she could never shake off the thought that they were the strangest one, if not the most inexplicable out of those she met.
There were those who went on without a care, those who indulged in their trivial interests, and certainly those who fulfilled what they deemed their duty; but none was anything like them.
In all of them, only one clung to their feeble origin, striving and managing a pathetic, meaningless fabrication, always referring to themselves as "A human that is no longer one."
A ridiculous claim, one would call, considering [Human] was but an inadequate race, unfit for reaching such height with their natural limits.
However, anything can certainly happen.
There was such a case, or so she heard from her master. It's unknown whether that was actually them.
Nonetheless, with their increasing encounters over time, she started to learn more about them.
Apparently, they were chasing what one called a "heart", using their supposed "avatar" as a medium to culminate their old "self".
It is said that the "heart" is the privilege of the "living". Only the truly "alive" can enjoy and suffer what it brought upon them.
To those standing atop the pyramid, those who transcended concepts and existed beyond the unimaginable, the 'heart' is but redundant.
It's something they should have thrown away the moment they ascended.
Her master's words lingered on her mind.
"Why does one not obtain a 'heart', if one wishes to learn about it, you ask?
The answer is obvious.
To you and every living being out there, it is what one calls common sense.
But to us, who have never had such a thing, just one tiny dose is fatally effective.
What does it do?
It makes us irrational, enslaves us, chains us, destroy our values, and then turns us into puppets that move in accordance with illogical surges of [Desire] and [Emotion].
Just like how you always quickly turn to violence when things get irritating, or how P wrecks several planets just out of hunger, living beings are bound to whatever the "heart" desires.
Imagine if that had been us instead…
You may attempt to control it, to embrace it, to live with it in harmony, and yet that wouldn't change the fact that it will dictate "you" in one way or another.
Unlike a [Record] like [Ego], it is something fully capable of warping reality, of driving everything around one to [Death]…
…Such is the reason why we lack a 'heart', why we shall never obtain a heart-"
…
Odd.
Why did it feel like she just asked her master this question?
The more the scene played out, the more real it felt.
It's as if she went back in time-
"Ugh!"
The blue sky was back. The cloud floated seamlessly as little cracks formed on the tranquil palette, extending like cracked glass panes.
The sky was slowly drooping down.
Cracks?
"As crude as ever. I'm starting to think that trait of yours might have came from him instead."
A familiar energy wafted in the air.
…Chilling yet warm,
…Sinister yet kind,
…Uncaring yet passionate,
Truthful yet deceptive…
However, that was not the only thing she noticed.
Due to the unnaturally humongous amount of Divinity her body stored, she naturally gained a special constitution, one that is sensitive to things made up of this very energy - [God].
-Drip!
'Gulp!'
…
"What if you met a being such as one that managed to obtain a heart?
Hm, one doubts any would 'survive', let alone stay 'awake'…
But if they somehow managed to, one says…
…You're better off running."
She always believed such words were but unnecessary speculation.
After all, someone comparable to her master was hard to find, let alone have an interest in the heart like them.
At least, she hadn't met anyone like that at that point, yet.
Mixed into clashing waves of energies, an unquenchable sorrow slowly grew overwhelming.
Like a snake, it crept in and wrapped around her heart, gripping tightly as if to not let its prey escape.
The pressure...it was crushing her into mush.
An invisible force pressed onto her entire body, mashing it, forcing her into place like dough on a mould.
-Squelch!
Something felt ticklish.
-Squelch! Squelch! Squelch!
Something was crawling, wriggling, bulging.
-Gobbles! Gobbles!
Something was biting, tearing, ripping.
Something...seemed to enjoy the meal, very much so.
whirrrrrrrr
Echoes chimed in reverberation as ground sacks flowed like smoothies, wet and mushy, filling up her throat.
A reality befell her.
Before such power, she was no different than a speck of dust.
The agony...it was simply incomparable to anything she had ever felt before, paralyzing her while her mind faltered.
The presence was simply choking and yet it was only getting stronger.
A sense of vain overcame her.
Nevertheless, her eyes kept open with resolution, staring at the seemingly impossible situation unfolding before her.
"They" were tearing up in sorrow.
An undeniable proof belonging to only the "living".
It was simply frightening.