Hanging on the wall like a monument while your life seeps out of you is not something anyone wants to experience.
My head feels lighter by the second. The bleeding has slowed, slow enough not to kill me immediately, and fast enough to empty my bank.
Fang’s laughter has faded to a whisper at the back of my mind.
The pain coursing through my body makes it impossible to focus a single thought.
A bead of perspiration drips from my forehead and slides between my eyes.
I force my eyes to remain open, to keep looking at Han. I don’t want the darkness to close in on me just yet.
My eyelids are drooping of their own accord.
Han slowly rises up from the ground, hunched over his knees.
When he looks up at me, I don’t see any tear tracks - he hadn’t been crying. But, I see raw and unsheathed pain. A pain that I can empathize with - but he doesn’t need my empathy, he wants my blood.
Had he been in love with her or were they bonded like... siblings?
He doesn’t reach for his sword, even now.
He stands erect and levels me with his gaze.
"I’ll show you mercy, just like she did, but-"
His head slides off his body and rolls to the ground before he can finish speaking.
There is a figure at the other end of the cafeteria.
"He talks too much, doesn’t he?" The person calls out. Thıs text ıs hosted at novel-fire.ɴet
I squint my eyes to get a better view.
Footsteps echo through the hollow room as the person walks towards me.
I see the soul first, before I see the body.
There’s no mistaking it, it’s her.
Fang turned her into a demon slave?
Her body is completely different. She no longer has a round innocent face, she looks like the black-haired and taller version of Fang. Her red glowing eyes only add to their mocking resemblance.
She is wearing a very fancy attire. Shiny leather with gold trimmings. The body of the suit trims down to a skirt with four flaps, two at the back, two at the front.
Her legs are visible beneath the flaps, clad in thigh-high leather boots to accentuate the look.
The previous Arigana always wore long robes and full body armour, but somehow, this other version strikes more fear than the real her ever came close to doing.
"Arigana?" I call in a parched and croaky voice.
Her eyes darken as she stops in front of me, resting her hand on the hilt of her sword.
I am finished. I wish they had a nun or a priest to say a prayer for my damned soul.
"My name is not Arigana. Arigana is dead. I’m Dove". She answers through gritted teeth.
Why would Fang name her Dove?
With a quick movement, she climbs up the metal bars until she is face to face with me.
I blink several times. Her eyes look like unquenched flames. Her face looks hard and merciless, but, there is still that kind look I associated with Arigana.
I try reaching out to her soul in the brief moment, before she breaks eye contact. All I can hear is silence. I can’t feel anything.
I sense a presence, though, but it’s completely out of my reach.
It’s the same with Fang. No matter how closely I look, I only encounter emptiness. Her essence is beyond my reach. Her mind always feels hollow and distant.
Dove pulls on the metal bar. The bone in my shoulder cracks and splits. The sound comes out like a dull crushing sound.
I hadn’t realized that my should had been pinned as well - I had been too busy worrying about the one pinning my abdomen.
She pulls it out completely and I grit my teeth to keep myself from screaming.
She breaks the bar off with her bare hands and tosses it to the ground. The metal lands on the floor with a loud sound, echoing through the silent hall.
My head droops even lower. I look at the floor in front of me.
The metal lies in the pool of blood covering a large area of the ground.
I look at Han’s headless body. I notice that his skin is bubbling. Something strange is happening to Han’s body.
The body begins to convulse as the skin juts out at irregular angles.
The head, which lies a good distance away, remains unmoved.
His arms stretch unnaturally, bulging with veins. His skin gradually begins to blacken. Claws shoot out of his fingertips, sharp and menacing.
Extra arms emerge from the sides if his body, resembling the first set of arms.
His spine cracks and starts poking out, making a creepy snapping noise as it progresses.
I look at Dove briefly, my mouth hanging open.
She jerks at another metal bar and rips it off.
It clatters to the floor as its predecessor had done.
She rips off the one pinning my abdomen and I groan in unbridled agony.
She bares white teeth as she watches me sink to the floor slowly.
She releases the metal bar she had been hanging on to and jumps to the ground, narrowly missing my splayed limbs. The vibration of her booted feet slamming into the ground pulse through me.
I turn my attention to what used-to-be Han.
His spine is sticking out creepily.
He keeps growing in size as each bone snaps. His legs are broader and longer, with claws sticking out at his feet.
His chest is muscular and chiseled. His entire skin is black and shiny.
He keeps transforming until he stands eight good feet above the ground.
I try gulping, but my mouth is too dry. My heartbeat has reduced to a dull thud against my ribcage.
The monster lets out a loud growl. The sound is so loud, my hearing thins for a few seconds as the echoes ring in my ears.
Dove leans on the wall beside my slumped one.
What exactly is happening?
This would be the perfect time for me to lose my conciousness.
The monster turns around slowly.
Three pairs of red eyes stare back at me.
An annihilator? Again?