𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑺𝑬 𝑶𝑭 𝑺𝑶𝑹𝑹𝑶𝑾⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐕 - 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏 𝐈 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐈𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄

MIKAZUKI STRAIGHTENED HER BACK, swallowing down all of the anger and all of the sorrow that had been plaguing her mind. Niko was hurt, she was quite literally broken, because of her, because she couldn't keep the peace, not even with her sister's life on the line. This thought should have kept the anger burning, it should have made her shake with it, fury oozing off of her. Instead, a strange calmness spread throughout her whole body, the stillness resembling that of a slow-freezing lake.

Niko was hurt... and yet, all Mikazuki could think of, was how to use this to her advantage. It was a vile thing to think, and yet, it was exactly what she was planning to do. Like father, like monster. That small voice in the back of her head supplied, but Mikazuki was quick to swat it away along with any sense of guilt.

The sorceress had long wondered about this line – this very thin line that continued to stretch – between justice and vengeance. She wondered about what would be left at the end, about which side she'd turn towards. Except, if there ever was a line, she'd obliterated it the moment she was dragged away in chains, exiled from the only world she had known and branded a traitor.

There is no fucking line.

Her soul darkened with each step, each time she quelled her morals for the sake of her revenge.

Fortunately for Mikazuki, she didn't give a rat's ass whether her soul was black, white or fucking charcoal. Who needs a soul when you can have retaliation instead?

"My darling Mikazuki, my little nightmare..."

Asahi stood from his desk, hands clutching her face between his palms as he slowly stroked her cheeks with his thumb. Mikazuki felt bile rising in her throat, the touch of her father feeling like scorch marks across her face, yet she bore the brunt of it, swallowing it down and holding his gaze, hoping whatever he saw in her eyes was enough to convince him.

"You are the perfect weapon."

Mikazuki closed her eyes, a soft exhale leaving her lips as Asahi stepped back, his hands leaving her face as a chill set in across her skin. The sorceress fell a surge of power rushing in her veins, the Everlasting pulling at the cracks in her arms as it begged to pour out. She wanted to destroy him, to decimate him. The depth of her own emotions staggered her. Inhaling deeply, she tried to get it under control, keeping the gold inside of her as still as she could as he watched Asahi regain his seat behind his desk.

"...and, unlike the rest of idiots in this country, you are not bound to Léa.".

The sorceress tilted her head to the side, skin still crawling as understanding dawned on her. The unbreakable vow, the one whose words she had twisted just enough to not end under that woman's control. It was the oath every sorcerer was forced to make, words which forever bound them to Léa and The Magistrate.

"You finally understand, don't you, darling?"

Mikazuki crossed her arms over her chest, stance turning defensive as she eyed him warily.

"What exactly are you asking of me, father?"

"To do what no one else can." He answered simply that coy smile returning to his features as he played around with his reading glasses, the edge of the lens catching the sunlight before he put them back down. "It's a rather simple task, all you need to do is keep an eye on her and, when time is right..." Asahi pursed his lips. "...get rid of her. And anyone else who dares to oppose me, of course."

"Father, I'm not–"

A killer? An assassin? Both of those statements were right, which is probably why Mikazuki's words died in her throat. It didn't matter that the sorceress had been planning to kill Léa all along, or that this would certainly move up her plans. The issue was Asahi – and what he was asking of her. He wasn't just asking her to kill Léa. That would have been too easy, too simple for someone like her. No, what he was asking, was for her to take the blame afterwards.

Except, after such an offense, she wouldn't be exiled. Léa wasn't a nameless sorcerer from a random family. She wasn't one of the thirty-seven lowlifes she'd killed or one of the girls she butchered before that. She was the Head of the Magistrate, the highest authority in this world. Exile would be a gift compared to what they'd do to her for this. She'd be killed, torn to pieces and pulled apart, her heart ripped out from her chest. Like Kogane.

"What you're asking me– what you're asking of me..." She swallowed past the lump in her throat. "There is no coming back from this. I was already exiled once, what do you think will happen if I try to kill the Head of the Magistrate just to give you a political advantage? If I die, you won't have an heir, your bloodline will be put on hold until the twins reach majority."

"Which is why I'm not asking you to do it now." Asahi spoke, offended that she would think him foolish enough to do otherwise. "I'm not an idiot. This game is a long one, Léa has her pieces and I have mine. Be my queen, be my queen of nightmares and Niko will be safe."

"The only person Niko needs protection from is you." Mikazuki lashed out, her voice hot with anger as she kept her gold tight in her veins, ready to snap at any moment.

Asahi smiled, a glint of evil in those golden eyes of his as he looked down at her. He took in her dishevelled hair, her clothes coated in crimson blood. Crimson – because everything that made Niko a Kinzoku had been taken away from her, every ounce of gold in her blood painfully stripped.

"Is that so?" He tilted his head towards her blood-stained sleeve. "I might have been the one to break her, but you're the one who handed her to me on a silver platter. This is all on you, darling."

Mikazuki opened her mouth, ready to rebel with all of the gold in her blood, the Everlasting awaiting for its command. It didn't come. Instead, the sorceress lowered her hands, her expression falling as she realized he was right. This was all her fault – had been, from the start. She wanted to fight him, to crack his head against the desk, to scrape her nails across his gold-coloured eyes. Instead, when Asahi slowly passed by her side and left the room; she wept.

"Every move you make, every choice you dance around... it will all come down on her." He smiled, something rancid about the way his head tilted towards her, like a beast in human clothing. "Betray me? Niko dies. Disappoint me? Niko dies. Fail me... Niko dies." His eyes flashed, the restlessness of his golden irises betraying his true nature. "It's rather simple, darling. Lend me your strength and I'll hand you the keys to my empire. Everything you've ever wanted: wealth, influence, revenge... everything will be yours." Asahi caressed her cheek, the touch alien on her skin as Mikazuki internally recoiled. "Be my nightmare, Mikazuki, and I'll grant you the vengeance you so desperately have been seeking."