I climbed the stairs to the second floor with deliberately slow steps, brushing the cold railing with my fingertips, inexorably approaching my destination. The stifling heat trapped between the thick stone walls and the absolute silence enveloping the orphanage deeply unsettled me. It was an unnatural silence, too perfect for my liking, and my instincts screamed that something was off.
As I ascended, I knew Reinhardt was already waiting outside with the other children. All the preparations were ready, except for the most crucial element: Cassie. The thought of failing at this point, when we were so close to achieving our freedom, tormented me like a dagger twisting in my chest.
I held my breath, swallowing hard as I prayed the enemy hadn't unraveled our plan.
Upon reaching the landing, I paused, feeling nerves coil in my stomach like writhing snakes. I had no defined strategy for dealing with Emilia, a woman notorious for her impossible demeanor. How would I persuade her? How would I distract her enough to take Cassie? The options swirled in my mind, each more far-fetched than the last.
My hand hesitated on the doorknob. I let out a deep sigh — lately, it seemed I sighed more than I breathed — and finally pushed the door open. The creak of the hinges intertwined with the dull echo of my own heartbeat, creating an unsettling symphony that reverberated in my ears.
The room lay shrouded in shadows, illuminated only by the dim, flickering glow of a lamp filtering through a dust-covered window. To my surprise — and momentary relief — Emilia wasn't there. However, what I saw froze the blood in my veins.
My eyes fell on Cassie's motionless figure, lying on a bed against the wall. The shock of seeing her in such a state was like a punch to the stomach that left me breathless. Her face, always lit by a radiant smile and brimming with life, now looked pale and gaunt, like a flower wilting under a relentless sun.
— Cassie… — I whispered, approaching the bed with hesitant steps.
My trembling hand caressed her cheek, and the coldness of her skin startled me. Remorse hit me like a devastating wave threatening to drown me. She was in this state because of me. If I had been stronger, if I had found another way, she would never have had to resort to that ability that left her in such a deplorable condition.
With infinite care, I slid one arm under her knees and the other behind her back. As I lifted her, I was shocked by how light she had become, as if her essence were fading along with her weight. We needed to find something to save her, and soon.
As I descended the stairs with my precious burden, the oppressive silence of the orphanage began to weigh on me more and more. It was unnatural, as if the entire building were holding its breath, waiting for the perfect moment to unleash chaos. A pang of anxiety pierced my mind: something was definitely wrong. Everything was going too smoothly.
I ignored my instincts begging me to stop and continued toward the exit. The courtyard was steeped in near-total darkness, but years of surviving in the shadows had given us all vision adapted to the dimness. In the distance, I made out the silhouettes of my siblings, with Reinhardt in the center of the circle they had formed, all holding hands.
A fleeting smile of relief lit their faces as they saw me approaching with Cassie in my arms. Even Reinhardt managed a faint smile in response. For a fleeting moment, I felt we had succeeded.
How naive I was!
Just as Reinhardt pulled out the teleportation scroll — our ticket to freedom —, a shattering crash tore through the silence behind me.
A gunshot rang out like thunder in the stillness of the night, shattering the false calm that had enveloped us. My body turned involuntarily, and for an eternal second, everything seemed to move in slow motion.
I swallowed the bile that had risen to my throat; the bitter taste lingered in my mouth, but I ignored it to watch in horror as Cassie's lifeless body flew through the air before crashing onto the icy ground.
What the hell…?
The thought had barely formed when I felt something hit me with brutal force. Confusion overwhelmed me as I realized my foot had been caught in an invisible trap. The world began to spin dizzyingly, and my vision blurred with white spots dancing before my eyes.
The impact with the ground was devastating. My head hit first, and pain exploded like a supernova in my brain. I felt an inexplicable "void" in some region of my body, a void quickly filled with searing agony that stole my breath. Blood gushed from my mouth as I writhed like a worm impaled on a hook, yet I still tried to reach out with my trembling hand, desperately seeking Cassie.
— Argh… ah… — the groans escaping my throat barely sounded human.
The ground beneath my face had turned into a macabre canvas, stained with my blood and tears mingling in a grotesque pattern.
Through my blurred vision, I could make out the hooded silhouettes surrounding us like vultures stalking carrion. Their black attire made them look like living shadows, their faces hidden beneath hoods that revealed only impenetrable darkness. They moved with supernatural precision, closing the circle around us like predators cornering their helpless prey.
Among the children still in the circle, I could feel their terror as something physical and tangible in the air. Reinhardt held the scroll with trembling hands, trapped in an impossible dilemma. Sacrifice two to save the rest? Risk everything to rescue us? I could see the conflict tearing him apart like a wild animal.
My battered body collapsed, falling onto my back, writhing like a fish out of water. My agony was distinctly unlike any pain I had ever experienced before. It was as if my torment didn't come from outside but erupted from within my very core. I contorted as if something had spiraled out of control inside me, pressing directly against my heart until it threatened to stop.
That's when she appeared.
Susan emerged from the shadows with that chilling smile we knew all too well. Her short black hair framed a porcelain face, and her icy blue eyes gleamed with barely contained malice. Her skin, pristine as freshly fallen snow, contrasted violently with her presence, which made the air denser and colder, as if death itself walked among us.
I knew with certainty that I could never defeat this woman with my current strength. She was infinitely more powerful than that goblin I had faced before.
— Did you really think it would be that easy, brats? — her soft voice cut through the silence like a poisoned dagger.
She approached the group with measured steps, dominating the scene like a dark queen presiding over her court of shadows and terror. The children trembled visibly; some sobbed silently, paralyzed by primal fear.
— Children, stay calm! — she ordered with a tone meant to soothe but which only heightened our panic.
The four hooded figures moved as a single entity, their movements perfectly coordinated as they closed in on Cassie and me. One of them stepped forward and extended a skeletal hand toward my friend's motionless body.
I closed my eyes, consumed by devastating regret. We were lost. There was no way to overcome this crisis. All our meticulous plans, all our hopes… crumbled before my eyes like a sandcastle before an relentless tide.
And then, the impossible happened.
Bang! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The roar was so colossal that it erased everything, as if all had suddenly gone silent. I opened my eyes just in time to see the night sky tear apart, pierced by a golden glow that seemed to cleave the darkness itself.
— What is that? — the words slipped from Reinhardt's lips before he could hold them back.
Baaang!
A beam of golden light descended from the sky like the wrath of an ancient god. The earth shuddered under the devastating impact, and a shockwave swept through the area with such force that the cloaks of the hooded figures billowed violently, like banners in the midst of an unleashed hurricane.
At the epicenter of that blinding glow, a figure emerged that I recognized instantly. Her blonde hair shone like the sun amid the darkness, her presence as serene as it had always been intimidating. The Lady of Steel, Emilia, had burst onto the battlefield.