The blade of the ice sword, thin as glass and cruel as the maker's intent, had passed within millimetres of her cheek. She felt the vibration of the torn air, the slight numbness in her skin from the sudden cold... and something else. Something warm running slowly down her legs.
Blood.
He did not shout.
Not because I didn't want to.
But because his mind had not yet processed it.
He tried to open his eyes, mustering what little willpower he had left despite his fear. And what he found there shocked him.
The impact was not physical. It was mental. Psychological. Existential.
That thin touch communicated something much deeper than a simple threat: you're on the brink. And not just of pain... but of despair.
-Kyaaa...! -There was a very audible scream and a girl running as if she was running away from something dangerous, but he didn't care. No, to put it more concretely, he didn't even hear it.
Charlotte was the second to break the silence. The first was haruka who still looked a little scared.
Then Charlotte stepped forward. Not in alarm. Not with fury. But with a murmur filled with something worse: satisfaction.
-Oh... you did it, Liz," he said with an audible smile. You really have some interesting ideas.
Haruka did not speak.
He just observed.
The sound of melting ice, of drops falling to the ground, was the only thing that stood between absolute silence and collapse.
-This... this is much better than just killing him," Charlotte added, and walked a little further. The crunch of her boots was almost theatrical. Every second he breathes with that fear in his body... is an eternity that we take away from him in return.
Yoshi remained motionless. Eyes open. Pupils dilated. Breathing trembling. His whole body screamed without sound.
Charlotte looked down at an indistinct figure on the floor, and clicked her tongue.
-Although... -His voice became almost contemptuous. This symbol is really disgusting. As if the world needed any more proof of how rotten it is.
He snapped his fingers.
A spark of fire ignited in his hand.
And in a second, whatever had fallen was consumed by violet flames. There was no smoke left. Only ashes. And these, when touched by his magic, disappeared as well.
Charlotte didn't look away from Yoshi as she did so. There was a calmness in her expression, a serenity that shouldn't be there. Not after what they'd done. Not with a face so beautiful, so delicate.
-I guess we'll just have to make do with things as they are," he muttered, as if talking about a badly prepared dessert. But it's not bad. Not bad at all.
Liz said nothing. Her face was like the ice she summoned: hard, emotionless. Her eyes only followed the line of blood on Yoshi's face as if measuring his courage. As if waiting for their prey to do something... just to justify the inevitable.
Yoshi could take no more.
The scream was not human.
It was not a cry of pain.
It was the roar of a broken soul, the howl of something that was torn apart inside, of a psyche dragged out of its own boundary.
A sound that filled the room like an unholy echo, and caused even Charlotte to raise her eyebrows slightly.
And then, with no more strength, no more will, Yoshi fell.
Not forward. Not backwards.
It simply fell into itself.
His body convulsed briefly. A spasm. And then, foam.
His conscience was extinguished.
The room returned to silence.
The three girls were unfazed.
Charlotte was the first to speak again, with surprising calm.
-Is he alive?
Liz nodded, not looking at the body.
-I made sure to cauterise after cutting it. The wound should have closed. The pain was at most... superficial. Just a reminder.
Haruka crossed her arms.
-I didn't think you would do that," he murmured, not judging. Just noting.
-Neither did I," said Liz coolly. But he deserved it.
Charlotte spun on her heels. Her hair waved gracefully, as if nothing had happened. As if it were an ordinary afternoon.
-Well... then let's talk. What are we going to do now?
-Now? -Liz repeated.
-Yes. We've left it at that. He won't die... but he won't go back to who he was either. What's next for us?
Haruka, still motionless, looked at the unconscious boy pinned to the wall. His breathing was ragged. Weak. But he was still there.
-I suppose we should..." he started to say, but then a voice broke the air.
He was not weak.
It was not a whisper.
It was an explosion of rage.
A voice torn, broken, but alive.
-FUCKING BITCHES!!!!
All three turned in unison.
And there it was.
Yoshi.
Still nailed.
But awake.
His body was trembling. Sweat and blood covered his face. The foam had disappeared.
His eyes were open.
And they were red.
A red that none of the three had ever seen before.
Not because of the colour.
But because of hatred.
The kind of hatred that is born not from the desire for revenge, but from the instinct for annihilation. A hatred without tears. Without humanity.
A hatred that did not seek justice.
Only destruction.
-THEY HAVE CROSSED A BOUNDARY THEY SHOULD NEVER HAVE CROSSED! -he shouted, and the echo rattled the glass in the hall.
The girls did not move.
They just looked at it.
Surprised.
Terrified.
And perhaps, for the first time, with a spark of regret.