“Huff… huff… huff…” Selene panted, finally pulling her ice spear from the last wyvern’s chest, its body collapsing heavily to the ground. She glanced over at Aria, who was already watching her, arms crossed and a satisfied smirk on her face.
“I already finished,” Aria announced smugly.
Selene’s lips twitched with irritation. “Only because you’re using that bow! Otherwise, I would’ve—”
“Whine all you want, but you lost, girl.” Aria’s smirk widened.
Selene huffed, stepping closer, annoyance flashing in her eyes as she locked gazes with Aria.
The air between them grew thick with unspoken tension, both of them standing their ground, neither willing to back down.
After a beat of silence, Selene’s voice broke through, “I love him more than you ever could.”
Aria’s expression darkened, her voice low and unwavering. “I would die for him.”
Selene’s eyes gleamed with an intense, almost dangerous glint. “I’d kill the whole world for him.”
“….”
For a moment, neither said a word, a charged silence filling the air, sparking with an almost electric intensity as if they were seconds away from attacking each oth—
Ssshh!
Stab!
Chuck!
Chucckk!
Without a word, Aria’s arrow shot past Selene, striking a monster that had appeared silently behind her. At the same moment, Selene’s spear found its mark in another creature lurking behind Aria.
“Heh…”
“Heh…”
They shared an eerie, unsettling chuckle, sending a shiver through the darkened atmosphere, their laughter carrying an uncanny harmony.
Finally, Aria smirked. “Not bad.”
Selene matched her smirk. “Not bad at all…”
For the first time, a strange understanding seemed to spark between them, they had not talked and yet… they could feel each other as if… they were the same, and they wondered why….
“I like you,” Aria murmured.
“I like you,” Selene echoed.
A brief smile played on their lips with a small surprise… before both expressions turned sour and pissed off,
“That’s why I hate you, sister.”
“That’s why I hate you, sister.”
The simultaneous outburst startled them both. They exchanged incredulous looks just as—
SSSSsssssshhhhhhhhhh!
A red sword slashed between them, embedding itself in the ground and narrowly missing the monsters that had tried to sneak up once again.
Both of them flinched and glanced at the source… only to find.
“W-What are you two doing?” Lia’s voice broke the moment, her face a mix of shock and disbelief.
She’d been watching them, baffled by their strange interactions, ‘Like each other? what the heck is going on?’ she thought and “Seriously, what is going on here?” she muttered, barely able to process the absurdity of what she’d just seen.
Selene and Aria blinked, cheeks slightly flushed as they coughed and stepped back, putting a bit of distance between them.
“Well… hi, Lia!” Selene greeted awkwardly.
“Lia, how are you doing? ” Aria gave a quick nod.
Lia eyed them suspiciously, feeling like she’d interrupted some bizarre bonding ritual, but she let out a sigh and took a deep breath…. Her cheeks turned pink, and her gaze lowered. “A-Anyway… I needed to tell you something important… something about… well, about both of you.” She fidgeted, struggling to find the right words, “I think… I’ve learned the truth about you two, and I—”
Ssssshhhhhh!
Sssssshhhhh!
Two projectiles—a gleaming ice spear and a sharp arrow—whizzed past Lia, barely grazing her cheeks on either side.
She froze, her mind scrambling to process what just happened as she looked up and saw Aria and Selene both watching her with dangerous smiles.
Her body tensed, instinct screaming at her to run!!!
“W-What… what are you two doing?” Lia stammered, heart pounding.
“Hehehe… just look at her. Our little maiden in love.” Selene sneered, conjuring a fresh ice spear with a flick of her hand.
“Heheheh….. Indeed” Aria’s eyes narrowed as she nodded in agreement, her expression equally unsettling, “I know that look… We know exactly what that expression means.”
Lia took a shaky step back, utterly confused and more than a little unnerved. “What… are you talking about? S-Sel? A-Aria?” She felt something wrong with those two as if something dangerous possessed them.
“Shall we… teach her?” Selene’s eyes glinted dangerously, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Of course.” Aria’s smile turned downright wicked, “Let’s show her what it really means to be sisters.”
“W-Wait… what are youuuuuuuuu… no, please! K-KYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!”
….
…..
“L-Leon?” Kai’s voice wavered, his expression stricken with fear as he held Leon, whose body was covered in deep wounds, flesh scorched, and blood slowly transforming into lava, creeping with the curse.
Leon’s breaths came in weak gasps. “I… I’m…
cough, cough,
so sorry, Kai…” He looked over at Vesperine, his gaze softening. “I’m… sorry, Vesperine… I never should have… forced you. I… am truly… so sorry.”
“P-Please, don’t say that… don’t leave us like this,” Vesperine sobbed, gripping Leon’s hand tightly as if she could hold him back from the edge.
Her tears fell onto his blistered skin.
Kai’s face twisted in grief, his own tears welling up. “W-Why, Leon? Why did you do it?”
Leon’s mouth curled into a faint smile. “B-because… I loved her too, Kai… I loved her… too…”
Kai’s face crumpled as the words hit him, and Vesperine’s sobs grew louder, her fingers trembling against Leon’s as his breaths became slower.
Leon tried to sigh, his voice barely a whisper. “P-Please… don’t cry. I can’t… bear it…” With his remaining strength, he gently brushed her tears away, then turned his weakening gaze to Kai. “Take care… of her, Kai. Don’t… let her… be sad…” His eyes slowly closed, and his hand fell still.
“LEEOOONNNNN?” Vesperine’s expression turned to one of horror as she quickly shot a glance at Kai.
Kai could only stare in shock, barely able to process the death of his closest friend.
Kai knew what Leon was unforgivable But this… this was too much. Tears slipped down his cheeks as he choked out, “I-I’m sorry… I… if only I’d talked to him… maybe we…”
Seeing Kai’s grief-stricken breakdown, Vesperine inwardly grinned for a moment before she whispered tearfully, “I… I understand, Kai.”
“H-Huh?”
She leaned down, “Please forgive me, Kai…” as pressing a soft kiss to Leon’s cold lips.
SssssHHHH!
A bright light exploded around them, momentarily blinding everyone.
….
…….
“Waaaa… Waaaa…”
The faint sound of crying echoed through the dark silence.
“Hello? Is anybody there?” Raven’s voice called out, her ears pricked, moving cautiously toward the strange…. yet familiar crying.
“Hello?”
“…”
But there was no response. Suddenly, Everything around her seemed to sink deeper into a suffocating stillness.
Raven frowned, muttering to herself, “Is this some kind of game again?” She turned to share her suspicions with Thalia and Helena, “I think we should—” Her words faltered. Thalia and Helena were gone. “Where… did they go?” Raven whispered, her heart pounding as she scanned the darkness.
She readied herself for anything that might come next, her hand tightening around the hilt of her sword.
Thud!
Her body whipped toward the sound, her instincts on high alert, ready to strike. But then—
“Waaa… waa…”
A young girl was crouched…. under a dim spotlight?
Her small figure shivered as she sobbed, her form barely visible against the darkness around them.
Raven’s brow furrowed in suspicion. “Who are you?” Her voice was steady, but her grip on her sword didn’t waver.
“Waa…. Waaa….”
The girl didn’t answer, only continued to cry, her shoulders shaking with each tear.
Raven’s voice hardened, “I’m warning you—if this is some sort of game, I won’t hesitate. Tell me who you are!”
But still—
“Waa…. Waaaaa…..”
Raven’s frustration grew, her instincts screaming that this was a trap. ‘It must be another gake,’ she thought, steeling herself. She took a battle stance, ready to strike. Just as she raised her blade, preparing to end this—
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“Waa…. B-Big sis?”
Raven’s body froze, her eyes widening as the girl lifted her head, revealing her face…. A pang shot through her heart as she recognized her.
“N-Noirix?” Raven whispered, barely able to believe her own eyes.
It’s not just her…. At the same time, Helena stood frozen as well, her eyes locked on a different figure—a golden-haired woman sobbing quietly before her.
“M-Mother?” Helena’s voice quivered, disbelief filling her expression as the woman’s tearful gaze lifted, full of longing.
“M-my dear… you finally came for me?” The woman’s voice was soft, filled with both hope and sorrow.
Helena stood in shock, a thousand emotions crashing into her all at once.
Meanwhile, Thalia too stared at a figure that she knew all too well.
“Are you… fucking kidding me?” she whispered in a mixture of disbelief and anger.