"i don't want you to end up with kirari, or ririka for all that matters. i know i've said that before, but you should know that i don't repeat phrases not worth repeating." midari declared, halfheartedly stepping over the thorny plants that surrounded their wake.
the moon shone in the distance, a beautiful white glow lighting up the path. f/n was pale with disbelief.
'my life needs a restart,' her subconscious begged, 'mary is broken, runa is gone. the twins, those who are supposed to look after me, they're deranged. if this is what it means to be immortal, permanent death doesn't sound so bad anymore.'
"now that's no way to talk about us."
a domineering voice whispered menacingly from behind midari, a wide smile stretching across the twin's face as she watched the shaken ravenette jump sideways in shock.
f/n also turned around in surprise, when she looked straight into ririka's eyes. it seemed almost as if the introverted twin knew what she was thinking, with just the notable hint of pity and scorn in her aura. or maybe she was imagining so.
she wasn't. in fact, ririka was a bit annoyed that her love would think in such a way. after all she had done to protect her love, she had wished for an escape, which was handed to her on a silver platter; but f/n was yet to realize the horrors of the world beyond their clouded home.
'my dearest, if only if you knew, the harsh truth would be unable to harm you if you had stayed with me, safe from the terrors that will only break you. bad experiences make you stronger, they say, but what if you're unable to recover? many people that believed so did just that, and they exist to be weaker than ever before. you're in a predicament, f/n. but of course, i'll be your hero once again.'
"go on, i'd like to hear more about your opinions. what is it about them that make you think they're equivalent to truth?" said the colder twin, her counterpart standing silently next to her (still peering into f/n's eyes like there was no tomorrow).
"i don't need to say any more than the truth: you are DERANGED, kirari. i'm sure f/n thinks so too, she just isn't saying that out loud. you sure expect a lot from someone you tortured! you shaped her life to begin full of hope only for an inevitable end in misery. your ultimate plan was to do this on purpose, to break her so you could fix her again, be her 'savior.' you're a monster! you, of all people, should know, that as much as you break someone the harder it becomes for the pain to be forgotten.
f/n is not some useless life hack experiment you can do that to!" midari voiced, laughing in disbelief shortly afterwards.
"do you need to end up the same way as them to understand why i'm really doing this?" kirari threatened.
her counterpart shook like a leaf.
savior? kirari was far from a savior. it was her doing that had brought them all to be in this complicated, miserable situation. there would be no conflict if she hadn't placed f/n in that cottage. she had started the plan with good intentions to end the plan with bad ones. how cunning.
"i already understand. it's that disgusting excuse, you 'love' her. no you don't. don't you understand this is wrong?" midari cried out.
"and this is why you're so lowly ranked in hell. it sucks to be you, to be too cruel for heaven, too nice for hell, but not quite so neutrally balanced enough to be anywhere else, and here you are taking out your anger on me because of your remorse of not belonging. how cute."
kirari snickered, mocking a sympathetic look in midari's direction.
midari froze in shock. she didn't want to break down, not now. even if she was to disappear like runa had, she wanted to leave knowing she had did her all in defending f/n.
after all... it had been runa's dying wish.
— and it was the least she could do for f/n... before she regretted the events that were to approach the
s/c immortal.
"...at least, i'm trusted by the people around me. including f/n, if you please. this isn't about me, neither is it quite about you. this is about F/N. and it doesn't matter if you belong somewhere, it matters that there are people around you that make you feel like you belong! you expect f/n to fill in that void for you, but do nothing to deserve it. there isn't denying that now."
"fine." professed kirari, completely unaffected. after all, what was there to be so surprised about the truth? she hated to admit so, but she wasn't that delusional.
"i guess you're right. but i don't knew what has happened to me either. f/n might be my victim, but that's what brings charm to our relationship. by being my victim, she also became my forever friend, the one and only illuminating light of my life. she knew of my intentions from the beginning, and she accepted it, she believed in me, that i was just that much unloved if all i wanted was power, thinking the exhilaration and ownership of power would replace love. for the first time she made me realize that, i felt ashamed and... strangely enlightened, i suppose."
with that speech, kirari slowly faced f/n properly.
"my dearest, i'm not myself when i'm with you, that's how much you've changed me. i knew we were meant for each other since i started visiting you in your dreams.
will you choose me, f/n?"
"...just letting you know, breaking a promise will not take you beautiful places. if you know what i mean."
the albino female's voice sounded forced, but still dripping with honey as she vocalized her offer, the offer f/n couldn't refuse.
immortal promises were sacred, whoever, wherever, whatever.
so she couldn't decline, but she could run away.
grabbing midari's wrist, she pulled her away from the scene, afraid to look back.
and so they escaped.
~
"we played that off well." said kirari.
"was going so far as to provoke midari necessary?" ririka replied timidly.
"yes, it was. you wouldn't understand why even if i were to tell you."
"is it going to hurt f/n?"
"of course not."
ririka glared at her sister, hesitating to believe her.
kirari shifted her feet.
"maybe, actually," kirari said this next line quickly, "but it's most certainly likely she'll stay safe. don't be paranoid about it, or you won't be able to enjoy anything."
"people that think like you get themselves in trouble they can't escape from." ririka stated.
in reaction, kirari stopped to think, processing her sisters outspoken observation.
"you're right," she said with a smile, "but i've gained as much as i lost. everything is a risk, and i'm sure you understand that far."
"what's going to happen to her exactly?"
"my dear sister, as i'll rephrase for you so the whole plan doesn't sound as manipulative as it is, you'll see."
"please stop with your fancy wording. that gives me more of a headache than whatever hidden meanings you're giving me."
"you don't appreciate my poetic speeches? okay, well, you're talking as if our conversation isn't an evil plot. what will the high court think of this?"
"they don't care, you did mention this was for her sake. evil done for good isn't really evil, is it?"
"the last person to think that way and go all out with such beliefs, is currently in the strange realm between heaven and hell. no shade however, he was quite the genius before death."
~
"f/n, i can't stay with you anymore. this might as well be the last time we meet."
midari dropped f/n's hand, who was holding it tightly before. she looked down to the floor, trying her best to ward off her anxious emotions.
"no, please. are you going to leave me, so soon?"
f/n begged. the sun was rising now, but the sunlights reflection on their surroundings made everything look more sinister than it was.
"i know where to take you, f/n. one last place you'll stay, until something else will happen."
"where- wait what will happen?"
midari sighed, looking up from the ground and into f/n's melancholy e/c eyes, which were brimmed slightly with tears.
"don't worry, i know a close friend i'll leave you to," midari swallowed nervously, looking away from f/n's gaze, "you'll... like her. i'm sure."
"what will happen when my time with her is over then?"
midari forced another smile, this time entirely facing away from f/n, knowing she was no longer able to hide her expression. she stayed quiet.
f/n shrugged off the missing answer, assuming midari was just too tired to answer or didn't know any more than what she already knew.
unfortunately, midari had kept silent because she did know what was going to happen after the given time.
the ravenette remembered something runa had loved to say, "as they say, the less you know the better you sleep."
perhaps this would be the case for f/n, was what she repeated in her mind, poorly attempting self comfort. the context most certainly didn't match runa's quote, but the h/girl was mostly comforted by the fact thag she remembered the bright, happy-go-lucky blonde.
before they knew it, they had arrived. here they were, in a dark realm full of black velvet furniture. for such dull color schemes, something about the twisting interior and the height of the tower possessing these touches brought fulfillment to the new environment.
and coming out of another dark room with the delicate swing of a rosewood door, appeared a pale, attractive woman with shiny black hair tied back in a hasty ponytail.
"i've been expecting you, f/n."
she looked in midari's direction, nodding in approval as midari turned around to leave.
but not before she delicately wrapped her arms around the h/c female, her warm embrace turning chilling as her face grew paler with every passing second.
"i'm sorry," the green eyed immortal whispered, "i want you to remember me as someone who was able to help you, and this is the farthest i can take you. someday, you'll understand, that i didn't have a choice either."
and just like that, f/n was left alone with another mysterious ravenette.