The crowd chatted in euphoria and anxiety in front of the huge stage, illuminated by spotlights that produced blue lights, lighting up the entire room.
Those people, restless and anxious, fell silent when a piano sound began to echo. The notes carried a melody covered in pain. With each key it was possible to feel the melancholy that was to come.
Through the curtains that resided behind the stage, a girl appeared. Her hair, white as the coldest snow, was illuminated by the spotlights, which focused all their light on the young woman.
She stood in front of the microphone, breathing deeply, her eyes closed as she concentrated on the words she was about to speak to the crowd.
The people there did not know, but the girl's body was about to collapse. The pain was incessant, and it seemed that all her bones were broken, but she needed to hide her pain and do her job of entertaining them. She had taken several medications to mitigate the pain, even covering the scar she had just gotten with makeup.
Even in pain, even with her legs wobbly, about to give up, the girl opened her eyes. Oh, what beautiful eyes... They shone in a more than perfect blue, purer than the blue of the sky and carried a look more aggressive than the most violent animals.
Taking a last deep breath, the girl opened her mouth, her angelic voice filling the entire place, allowing her opera to reach every member of that crowd — reaching the ears of even the most important nobles who were residing in the rooms above the crowd.
Even at that moment, even singing her feelings, pouring out her emotions, her mind was still trapped, taken by the memories of what had happened hours ago.
〘6 hours ago〙
In a place hidden from the eyes of most, below the structure where the reparar concert would take place, something dangerous was about to occur.
The place — which was a huge corridor — covered by marble statues and large columns that held up the ceiling covered in fine art, had a strange, suffocating energy, as if something dangerous was residing there.
And in that place she was, with her shiny white hair, wearing a blue dress that perfectly complemented the nature of her cold eyes. With determination, she held in one of her hands her most faithful companion: A silver rapier, with a blade so thin that it would look like a needle in someone else's eyes. Right after its handle — interconnecting with the blade — was a structure similar to the cylinders of a revolver, each chamber loaded with a bullet of a different color.
All her training, all the nights she stayed awake in search of proving her worth had been for that moment. The final test, the moment she would gain her freedom. However, now... Facing her enemy — the gateway to her freedom — her body trembled.
A suit of armor—large enough to be three meters shone in front of the girl, illuminated by the moonlight that passed through the glass dome that covered part of the ceiling. In its hands, a huge sword with ancient scriptures. The statue seemed to hold that sword with the same confidence with which the young woman held hers.
The girl could feel an anguished anticipation running through her entire body.
— Concentrate! — In the distance, a female voice shouted. The owner of the voice was too far away to be illuminated by the lamps in the hallway, watching the young woman from a balcony above the place. — If you let fear dominate you, everything will be in vain!
Hearing the words coming from this distant person, the young woman just took a deep breath, placing her hand on her chest and gripping her rapier tighter.
She could feel the heavy air there, as well as the instinctive feeling of escape.
— Ready!? — The woman shouted once more. The young woman just nodded, without saying a single word. — Good.
At that moment, the air became even heavier, as if something had been freed from a slumber that should never be disturbed. The environment shook, as if an earthquake had erupted.
In front of the girl, the vision that would haunt her dreams in the future: The armor began to move, leaving its pedestal, holding it's sword with extreme strength, they brandished it vertically, cutting the air in front of them, as if it was recovering their lost senses.
Just this slight movement caused all the lamps in the place to go out completely, making the only light in the place be that of the moon.
Observing what had just happened, the young woman made a decision: to attack before she was attacked.
Holding her rapier, she moved it slightly diagonally forward, causing several symbols to appear on the ground, forming a path towards her enemy.
In this way, without thinking twice, she ran towards the enemy. While using the energy of the symbols to fill her body with energy and agility, she was able to reach the armor in the blink of an eye.
Following all her years of training, she quickly aimed at the shoulder joints of the hand that held the sword, piercing that arm easily, cutting through the metal as if it were nothing more than paper. The severed arm fell to the ground, causing dust to rise and a sound of metal to echo through the darkness.
Taking advantage of the momentum, she launched another attack, moving her weapon towards the creature's chest, forming a huge lateral cut.
But her confidence and anxiety ended up preventing her from seeing the attack that was coming.
The creature, trying to break away from the barrage of attacks, raised its other arm and punched the young woman directly in the face, throwing her more than twelve meters away.
Her body crashed against the ground, which broke parts of the floor, These parts penetrated the girl's pale skin.
— Ugh! — A groan of pain escaped her lips as she tried to get back up. The blow to her face caused a large wound to form above her eye, staining her vision with blood.
As if the damage received was not enough, the girl witnessed something even more frightening.
The armor slowly crouched down, picking up the arm that had been cut off, and — with a quick movement — put it back in place, securing it back to its rightful place.
As if mocking the young woman, the creature did not make the effort to pick up the sword again, instead, it began to run towards the girl.
— Damn... — Catching her breath, the girl moved her rapier, causing a trail of symbols to appear again, this time they were dark, having a different effect than the previous symbols.
With each step the armor took, it stepped on a new symbol, causing its body to slow down.
The creature soon found itself completely trapped, unable to move. However, that tactic proved itself fallible as the armour slowly regained it's movements. It was using their brute force to slowly break the spell.
Without missing her chance, she prepared the rapier once more, this time the cylinder of the rapier moved, stopping in a yellow-colored chamber.
The blade was quickly covered in golden sparks, which generated electric sounds.
The girl's knee bent slightly as the young woman's hand moved gracefully, placing her rapier in front of her, pointing the blade directly at the creature.
The creature in front of her would not die with simple blows or even amputations. A fatal and accurate blow was needed.
Her thoughts soon focused on the torso of the armor and the wound that her rapier had caused. Unlike its arm, the creature seemed unable to regenerate its chest.
— Ha... — The icy air escaped her mouth as her eyes closed. Everything would happen in a brief moment and she only had one chance.
A huge bang sounded again as the creature broke free from the spell placed on the ground. Without preparation or doubt, the large armor began to run again, its only goal being to reach the young woman in front of it.
Even with the noise of her enemy's footsteps, the young woman kept her eyes closed. Her concentration did not waver even for a single millisecond.
With each step of the armor, her breathing seemed to become colder and her mind sharper.
The exact moment the creature was two meters away, her eyes opened. Her sword and her body — for a brief moment — became one single being. Thrusting forward, her rapier shining in the moonlight, echoing the electrifying noise of thunder.
Perhaps by instinct, the armor quickly stopped its advance, placing its arms in front of its chest, in a defensive position.
— Too late... — The young woman murmured as she reached the creature, her rapier piercing through its arms and the tip of its blade touching its torso. The second the rapier reached the torso, a powerful, golden bolt of lightning erupted from its tip, piercing the chest and exiting through her enemy's back.
The creature took small steps back, its body slowly losing balance as it fell backwards onto the ground, lifting up dust.
Light shone down the now destroyed corridor, shining on the armor — which reflected the girl's face.
Her face had just been marked by a large scar, and her body was probably covered in equally large scars.
Feeling her breath taken away, the platinum-haired girl fell to her knees.
"Ah..." A smile appeared on her face. Even in the midst of so much pain and suffering, she felt something in her chest that she had never felt before. A new and inexplicable feeling for her. "... I did it!"
Tears escaped her eyes. For the first time, they were not tears of loneliness or sadness, but pure joy.
For the first time in her life she felt a hint of freedom...
While the young girl shed tears of pure happiness, two people were watching her in the distance.
The woman — with hair as white as the young girl's below, as well as equally blue eyes, shined slightly in the darkness — smiled sincerely as she observed the younger girl.
— Why did you do that? — A boy asked. The boy had the same characteristics as both girls, being a few years younger than both of them.
— I don't understand your question. — Shee said ironically as she leaned against the balcony.
— Don't mess with me! In addition to dropping the sword and completely abandoning regeneration, you made the armor only attack physically! — The young man exclaimed.
— ... — A sigh escaped the lips of the woman, her gaze filled with pity. — You know why... —
His older sister's gaze saddened the boy, who only clenched his fists tightly.
— Fath... No, Jacques made this stupid condition for one reason only... He knew that Weiss couldn't beat me... She doesn't even know how to use her Glyphs properly. — The woman explained. — But... Even so... she needs to go out into the world, enjoy good and bad experiences, grow up away from this cage.
The woman's face was covered in loneliness as she continued her explanation.
— Even with the limitations I put on myself... She was able to defeat one of my summons, I'm pretty sure it qualifies her enough to go to the outside world. — Said the woman, taking a few steps back from the balcony and turned around, facing her little brother.
— Father will see the recordings and realize what you did... — The boy murmured.
The woman just walked towards the younger one, giving a light stroke to his hair.
— I trust that my little brother will be able to edit the recordings very well. — Said the older one, a genuine smile on her face. — Weiss can't continue to suffer in this cage...
With that murmur, she moved away from the boy, masking her concern and fear with another smile.
— I trust you, Whitley. — She said as she walked towards the exit, leaving the younger one behind.
— Damn, Winter... — His hands hurt as he released their grip. — ... You're the one who's suffering the most in this place...
As she looked at her other sister, Weiss, crying in comfort and self-pride, Whitley couldn't help but feel slightly happy... At the same time as lonely.
— I hope everything works out...
〘Currently〙
The music slowly stopped, as the young woman on stage slightly lowered her knee, bowing towards the audience — Her hands holding the end of her skirt in a way that was beyond graceful.
The applause and praise took over both the middle class and the nobles who watched her from above.
Her gaze scanned the audience, a smile formed on her lips, and a feeling of euphoria took over her body.
Her last show, her last moment as a puppet in this prison.
As the curtains closed and the lights went out, Weiss believed that this would be the beginning of her new life.