Squelch-
Her amber eyes were dazed.
The agony was light.
The filth was dissipating.
The food was missing.
Something changed.
She could feel it through her vermillion cage.
Through her embryo.
She could also hear it; the change in pressure, in the atmosphere.
His voice wasn't pestering her.
She didn't have to pray for his insanities.
For 'Aranea'.
Perhaps her prayers had been answered.
Perhaps her life might be coming to an end soon.
Perhaps she might be free.
Free of it all.
Squelch-
Someone...
Please-
Kill me.
End me.
Drown me.
'I...'
'...I want to be free.'
'...I want to see the world.'
'...I want to die.'
'...anything is fine.'
'But something.'
'Anything.'
'Please.'
End it.
But suddenly.
Something changed.
She heard a voice.
A cry.
-----
Stop.
Her eyes blinked, and the swirling black eyes bled pleadingly.
Stop it!
She could hear her heart beat faster than she could count; the thundering bellows echoed in her ears.
...Don't.
Her vision blinked; switching.
Reversing.
One moment she could see Aria normally.
The next-
The next...
Next...
The truth.
The truth was bleeding out.
Please- I beg you-
Stop, please.
But with every blink, with every breath, her vision shifted.
Warped.
And poured out the truth.
It wasn't stopping.
But she had to stop it.
She couldn't let it touch Aria.
Never.
I'd rather!
...
I don't care, I'd rather-
...
...
I...
...
That won't stop me.
...
Stop talking.
...
Shut up.
...
I'm crazy?
...
I shouldn't call myself crazy?
...
Haha...
Hahahaha...
Hoo...
Fuck off.
The truth rumbled.
I'm sorry.
The truth cackled.
I won't say it again.
The truth smiled.
Please... Just stop...
Drip-
Droplets slipped down her eyes.
Salty, cold, droplets.
I beg you.
I...
...
I'll do it.
...
I promise.
...
I do...
So... Please.
...
...
...
"Ha."
"Hahaha."
A quiet laugh slipped from her mouth as the droplets fell into her mouth; droplets of truth and tears.
"You were joking?"
You won't stop?
Aranea looked down at Aria.
At the truth.
She couldn't stop it.
Not with [Curse Breaker].
Not with her Level.
Not with her Mana.
Not with anything.
It was going to happen again.
Just like that day 11 years ago.
Just like that day 4 years ago.
Someone.
Stop me.
Me?
Stop me?
Who would do that?
Who even can?
'...'
No one.
Only she could.
Taking a deep breath, Aranea plunged herself into her Curses.
If they wanted to assault her, then she would assault them back.
Fight fire with fire.
-
But, while Aranea was going through all of this, Aria, who was beneath her, was lost.
All she saw was Aranea's face contorting.
Araneas' nose blood stained her pants.
Aranea laughed a couple of times and spoke to herself.
And then, she cried.
That twisted visage; the agony on her face;
Aria was about to be swept into the storm surrounding Aranea; the storm which has been brewing for 16 years.
-
Aranea felt cold, unbearably so.
Aranea felt tired, achingly so.
Aranea bled in crimson.
Aranea bled in truth.
It was being pushed back, forced back by her; it was a fight she didn't believe she could win.
Only stall.
But the price of stalling it was grave, she felt her Mana drain away like an open faucet; soon enough it would drop below 15%.
The voices spoke to her as she endured the fight.
They teased her and played with her emotions.
And, honestly, Aranea felt like complete shit.
She wished for this all to have been a dream, a facade; all 11 years were fake, a creation of her wishes from her previous life.
Alas, that wasn't the case.
It couldn't be any more real.
Feeling the pain borrow into her bone marrow, into her veins, splicing her Mana Circuits...
Eventually.
After what felt like an endless war.
It died down, fading into the distance.
The truth retracted.
Her clarity returned.
Beneath her was the bloodied pants of Aria; her blood.
The Mana Barriers surrounding them were flickering, ready to burst apart at a moment's notice.
Looking closely into the bewildered Aria's face, she discovered no traces of the truth tainting her.
Aria was safe.
She saved her.
A broken smile lifted her lips.
Crack-
Wiping away the blood on her face and body with Mana, she watched as the Mana Barriers surrounding them shattered.
And as they broke, the cave containing the Ascension Pool, Reynauld, and Moglit reappeared.
Moglit's monstrous face glared in their direction, his petite body shivering, just as Aranea's did.
But, in Moglit's eyes, the shivering came from pleasure; from ecstasy.
Aranea's smile was horrific, gleeful, to him.
Readying his heart, he glanced at Aria beneath Aranea's hold.
At...
The blood on her pants.
The dazed eyes on her face.
Her sprawled slightly spasming limbs.
The Chaos within him rushed out of its chains, barreling a path into his brain as strength came rushing back into his veins.
Crack!
Beneath his body, the ground cracked open like cobwebs.
But.
Heavy.
Very heavy.
Reynauld's pressure was too thick for him to handle.
The enclosure containing the cacoon, the Ascension Pool, and the four people was suddenly filled with an awkward silence; the vermillion skylight draped over them eerily.
Then-
Thud.
A sound echoed from beyond the stairwell.
Someone else had arrived.
Reynauld chuckled and said, "I'll be right back." Then, his body hazily disappeared at rapid speeds.
He left to pick up their newcomer.
But now that he left, nothing was around to keep hold of Moglit.
Moglit's rage embued itself into his Chaos, causing the flames of wrath within him to bellow out of control.
"A-ra-nea-!!!" Letter by letter, he spat out the short girl's name.
Standing up, the ground fractured more, carving a path toward the Ascension Pool but a barrier flickered on, preventing it from reaching it.
Moglit didn't spare it a thought, all that he could see at the moment was Aranea and Aria's dishevelled figure.
He didn't want to imagine how much she suffered.
He couldn't bear it.
"Why?!"
"To a fellow Human?!"
Moglit's raw, rough voice crackled at Aranea, it contained hints of his Chaos as a whirlwind thrashed into her face, sending her hair whipping backwards.
Aranea looked down at Aria, the girl was battered, exhausted, and simultaneously flushed from the previous experience.
But, just in case, Aranea muted her, preventing her from speaking out.
Aranea didn't have enough Mana to do much else, she had to deal with Moglit's small outburst as fast as possible.
This First Act became much more dangerous because of that brief outburst of her Curses; her Mana was too low.
Her EXP bar was extremely close to the next Level but there was nothing else for her to kill here except for whatever was in the cacoon.
But she couldn't kill it.
She had to get down into his true laboratory; where the essence of -The Drowned- lay.
Killing it would antagonise Reynauld and ruin all of her plans, that was the last thing she wanted to happen.
Step-
Moglit stepped towards her, his footsteps speaking volumes of his rage.
Seeing his pained faced, a heavy feeling of guilt brewed in her heart.
[Throes of Fortune] was a game she loved, it was the game that pulled her through those days in her old life.
Watching the interactions between the main cast and the side characters would always bring her sincere happiness.
She would grind, level up, and between it all, observe the amazing play of emotions, youthful vigor and romance.
Aranea loved the game.
She loved the characters.
She loved the world.
In a way, it was the only world she really knew.
Both in her past life and this life.
So seeing Moglit act like this, Silvia's attempt to kill her, Charles' hatred towards her; her actions towards Aria; everyone's rage.
Seeing it pointed at her.
The one who loved them all more than anything...
Squelch-
The broken veins in her eyes expanded, the itchiness on her skin grew out of control and her neck began twitching.
Aranea needed her essence fruits.
She shouldn't feel like this.
Not with her role.
If she truly loved them then she should never think about it.
And simply move forward.
Carrying it all on her back.
Just as Moglit carried his Chaos at her.
But, was it so easy?
...No.
It was never easy, especially not this.
Silvia's anger and Charles' hatred?
'Hooo...'
She could handle all of that because it wouldn't affect the characters too much; it was a part of the plot in the first place.
But this?
Her immoral acts towards Aria?
They would affect Moglit severely.
Because Moglit and Aria would eventually become lovers.
In fact, it was one of her favourite ships from the game; the two of them were too adorable, especially with how tsundere Moglit was at Aria's affection.
But now it looked like she had raped Aria to Moglit.
Even if she cleared up the truth, it would remain at the back of Moglit's mind in the future; it would torture him, his Chaos.
The fact that he couldn't save Aria, that he could only watch as she suffered.
It would act as both fuel and self-hatred.
Unfortunately, that was the only route Aranea could take.
Purely because she was Aranea.
She couldn't clear up the misunderstanding.
She couldn't have Moglit harbour positive feelings at her.
Otherwise, when the decisive day arrived.
When the penultimate Act arrived.
He wouldn't be able to pull through.
The Acts...?
Ah...
I just remembered...
My luggage held the copies of my plans for all the upcoming Acts...
I was so preoccupied with my pills that I forgot...
Aranea chuckled at herself, looks like she'd have to go back to her hideout and retrieve another set of copies.
Chaos bellowed at her.
But she wondered.
Why hadn't he attacked her yet?
Then, Aranea glanced down at her feet.
At the set of hands that were crawling in front of her.
Blocking Moglit.
It was Aria.
She gasped for air as she dropped down exhausted in front of her, all remaining droplets of energy in her cells were drawn out.
The fact that she could still move herself spoke wonders of her potential.
She wasn't a part of the main cast for no reason.
But why?
Why did Aria do that?
Both Moglit and Aranea wondered the same thing.
Moglit held onto a slim thread of rationality in his brain, the Chaos could no longer be tamed due to the rising rage within him.
Then, Aria opened her mouth.
She broke through the muting spell she cast on her.
And uttered a set of words that Aranea had heard many, many times.
Words that she would utter at the start of the 10th and Final Act.
Words that came after the end of the Ninth Act.
After the penultimate Act.
They sounded like the flutter of an ailing butterfly's wings.
Drifting in the wind, spreading softly, completely different from her usual manner of speech.
[Throes of Fortune]
Tenth Act.
Opening Lines.
"May-b-e... We... Cough! Was..."
Blood dribbled out her mouth, mixing with the ground beneath.
"-wrong."
[Maybe we was wrong...]
[Aria of the Chained Fist uttered beneath her breath, glancing at the moons above]
Aranea remembered that sentence vividly.
It was a line famous for its shift in the game's atmosphere.
It wasn't anything special, the words themselves were awkward.
But the significance of Aria being the one uttering the opening lines of the Final Act...
The significance in the meaning of those words...
The game changed after those words.
Those words had been etched into the memories of all the players.
Thud-
Aria's head dropped to the ground.
She had finally passed out.
Leaving Aranea and Moglit in the Chaotic silence.