The loud snap echoed in the room. Jin didn't move a muscle and Illya's body was frozen in place. Then came the sound of bones cracking and healing themselves. Her neck snapped back into place but she kept her head down. Jin began to cry once more.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I'M SO SORRY ILLYA I DIDN'T MEAN IT!" He wailed.
Illya brought her hand to her neck and rubbed it. She seemed stunned for a moment, like her brain was doing it's best to break through the foggy haze that was the brief unconsciousness that overtook her. Unable to speak for a moment, she let the burts of pain sink in, reminding herself that she was still very much in the land of the living. It wasn't until Jin's wails finally registered that she remembered that this was all an illusion and she had long since killed the man in front of her. She shut her eyes and searched her mind for the conformation she needed. A blurry memory of her standing above his mangled body in the snow, a recollection of a personal execution and a feeling of relief filled her.
She raised her head and glared at him. Without a word, she shoved her fist through his heart and ripped it out. She threw it do the ground and stomped on it until it was nothing but a pulpy mess beneath her feet, the blood stained her legs as she all but danced through the mess she made. He watched it happen with wide, bloodshot eyes. When his body began to disintegrated back into the darkness that started to disappear from the room, the disembodied voice from before returned.
The runes vanished, allowing her into the corridor to the next room. The voice followed her. It was a female's voice, one she recognized as Henaer's. "Fool. You could have had a fresh start, free of everything that tetheres you to this world...when scaring you into submission didn't work I thought I could force you right into the trap of your own mind again but that too seems to have proven futile..."
Illya walked angrily down the corridor. She was walking slowly but it was clear that she was as pissed as could be. "I'm done with this bullshit Henaer. You're not going to trap me here. I'm coming for my daughter. If she's hurt...I promise you, you won't want to be stuck here with me."
The more time she spent dawdling, the more the chances of Astrid and Tobi getting hurt increased. Henaer's voice vanished and Illya entered the next room, now with her head back in the game, she was ready for a fight.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Nikiro listened to Sin ramble on about how useless he felt. How as first Prince, he wasn't even able to help his missing sister, how it was always like this, him never being able to do anything of significant with despite it constantly being expected of someone of his status. Nikiro sighed.
"Well the way I see it, there are other ways to help other than being on the front lines. When she gets back you'll be here waiting for her. I'm sure she'll be happy to see her brother again after being whisked away so suddenly. Besides, you're clearly strong. The issue doesn't seem to be you not being able to do anything, but rather your frustration at only being able to do one thing. I know this doesn't really offer you much comfort but Rome wasn't built in a day. You're only twenty one. Dragon's live for a pretty long time yeah? I'm sure there's a lot you still have to learn."
Sin listened quietly with his head buried in his arms on the bar. It was silent for a while, causing Nikiro to wonder if he had fallen asleep. Sin abruptly sat up and brought his hands to his cheeks, giving it a good slap.
"Okay. I'm better. Thanks for listening to my whining." He smiled and patted Nikiro's shoulder as he got up. "We should probably get out of here. They're supposed to be closed today haha!" He laughed nonchalantly.
"You broke in?" Nikiro questioned.
"Weeeell that's one was to put it." Sin chuckled.
Nikiro grinned. "You know, if this were Myahm Agana I'd have to arrest you."
Sin looked back at Nikiro. "What? You a solider or something?"
"Not exactly. Ever heard of Myahm Agana's guardian angel?"
Sin gasped and pointed dramatically. "That's you?"
Nikiro smiled. "The one and only. We don't have a formal army. I mean we we have some foot soldiers. Although the few soldiers we have are skilled, it would never be enough to hold off an invasion. That's where I come in. I'm the strongest one there what with my dad being a martial arts instructor and my mom having strong telekinetic abilities."
"Oh yeah! Mom did tell me about her little brawl with your mom. She did mention they were pretty strong...I mean for humans that is." Sin taunted as they exited.
Nikiro rose a brow. "Oh please. This human could definitely give you a run for your money." He fired back, jutting his thumb towards himself.
Sin smiled. "Oh yeah? Well then we'll have to spar once this whole missing sister ordeal is over. Then we'll see who's the stronger one."
"Don't forget then."
Sin smiled. "I won't. Now let's go to another pub, preferably one serving food. I'm not gonna make it back to the palace with just alcohol in my stomach."
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Illya finally arrived at the next room. This on seemed to be the last as it had a considerable amount of pillars and would have been pitch black if it weren't for the luminescent runes and mist. Everything about the room screamed Henaer.
She was always "fine" in the dark. Never had a problem seeing in it. To some extent she found comfort in the darkness. When demons from the past came creeping up and began to war in her head, her habit was to charge into the darkness where they would be consumed. Her darkness was so vast that when it touched her demons they sank into it's depths and allowed her mind a moment of stillness.
It took a while before she was able to adjust to the light. Having lived her life in the darkness, the light's warmth was so foreign, she felt scared to let it touch her. While her eyes never had a problem seeing in the dark or under the sun, years of being devoid of light made it unbearable. She had to learn how to walk in the light with her demons constantly pulling on her chains. It took time for her to grow stronger than them. It took time for her to be able to walk in the light and drag them along with her. The many years she spent with the frustration of being powerless, the pain of the many betrayals and tragedies that plagued her life all began to fade away over the years of struggling to break free. She wasn't about to let all that hard work and time go to waste.
She stepped onto the platform fully prepared. On the opposite platform a body began to form. It was distorted, almost mangled. It's bones cracked and it made indescribable sounds as it materialized. It wasn't long before she was staring at her own reflection. The mangled body, the result of her time being trapped by Jin.
"HeElLo IlLyA."
The distorted voice that escaped the figure's mutilated lips was undoubtedly hers. It was quiet. It came out in a painfully harsh sound as the reflection's damaged vocal chords strained to produce the sound, almost as if the horrid sound was being ripped from her throat against it's will.
"Fuck...." Illya breathed.
"WhaAtS THe maTteR? YoU're nOT hApPy tO sEE mE?"
Illya groaned and brought her hand to her face. "Look. I need you to not piss me off right now. I'm in a bad mood."
"Oh I KNoW. I HeARd JiN'S scReAms. YoU KnoW...iF it WerEN't FoR hIm, yOu wOulDn'T haVe tO facE....THiS." The figure gestured to her grotesque body.
The figure's lone eye that hung from it's socket bore a seething hole into Illya's skull. Illya spent some time taking in the figure's grotesque features. It belonged to herself after all. She had never seen the damage the way she was seeing it now. When she couldn't bare to look at it anymore she shut her eyes.
"Alright." Illya shifted, cracking her neck and rolling her shoulders. "Let's do this." She got into a fighting stance and glared at the figure.
"Let's see if I can outwit the Master of Games."