Part 3
“I swear, I’m going to kill that child!”
Claire Kagenou puffs up her cheeks in her bedroom in the girls’ dorm.
“How many promises do you break before you’re happy, Cid? We were supposed to go home together over winter break…”
The lamplight illuminates her profile. She looks deeply peeved, and for some inexplicable reason, she’s carrying a metal collar.
“I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill him. You’re coming back with me over spring break if I have to drag you kicking and screaming.”
The collar rattles as she turns it over in her hands. After making sure that its lock is on tight, she smiles.
“You’re not getting away next time.”
Then she winces.
“ ”
The collar falls to the floor with a heavy thump.
“My right hand… It’s throbbing…”
She grimaces and squeezes her hand.
“But why? It’s been so calm lately…”
Ever since the day the magic circle appeared on it, her hand’s been aching every so often. Recently, though, it’s largely stopped.
“What’s going on? I want answers, Aurora.”
She keeps asking questions, but Aurora has never once responded since that first day. Claire sometimes wonders if she just dreamed the whole thing up, but she’s seen the magic circle engraved beneath the bandages on her hand.
She opens her desk drawer and splays a series of papers across the table.
“I’ve been doing my research. This magic circle on my hand shows up in documents about the demon Diablos.”
Sure enough, the circle that appears in the papers is a spitting image of the one on her right hand.
“What does it mean? What connection is there between me and Diablos? What’s happening to me? Please, you have to tell me…”
Suddenly, she thinks she hears something. She looks around.
“Wait, what was that?”
“…un…”
“Aurora?! Aurora, is that you?”
The voice feels like it’s coming from directly inside her head.
“…un… It’s dan…”
Little by little, she starts being able to make out the words.
“Run… It’s dangerous…”
“Huh? Run?”
Right as a look of bewilderment crosses Claire’s face, she hears the sound of something cracking.
“What was that?!”
Her field of view shatters as the world collapses like a broken mirror. She tries to grab at her desk, but it splinters into pieces, too.
A new world emerges from behind the cracks.
“This is…my room, right?”
She’s in her room. That much she’s sure of. However, there’s a strange white mist wafting through the air. All external noises sound distant, and all she can hear is the sound of her own breathing.
No, wait—she hears the faint rustling of clothes coming from behind her.
“Nice try.”
She acts fast, whirling around and elbowing her would-be assailant in the jaw in a single motion.
“Hurgh!”
The attacker’s knees give out, but he just barely manages to remain upright. However, he soon wishes he hadn’t. His face is at the perfect height for Claire to smash her knee into, and she does exactly that.
“I stole that little trick from Cid.”
Her uniform’s skirt flutters from the movement.
The man faints and collapses to the floor. Claire doesn’t recognize him.
“Who is this guy?”
Claire crouches and tries to search the man. The moment she does, though, his body shatters into pieces.
“What the…? This again?!”
The man is gone without a trace.
“What’s going on? Hello?! Is anyone there?!”
Claire heads out into the hallway and opens the door to the next room over. However, her classmate is nowhere to be seen. She tries the next door down, then the next one, but comes up empty each time. There’s no one there.
The only person left in the world is Claire.
“I don’t get it… Hey, Aurora, I know you’re there!”
“No, I’m not,” comes the annoyed response.
“Yes, you are. This is no time to be cracking jokes.”
“I told you to run, you know.”
“Hey, don’t put this on me. You didn’t give enough of a warning.”
“I didn’t want to say anything.”
“Excuse me?! I’m in peril!”
“Well, I’ve got circumstances of my own I’m dealing with.”
“Circumstances like what?”
“Like how I didn’t want to get you involved.”
“Well, maybe you should have thought of that before you put this thing on me!” Claire cries, glaring at the magic circle on her hand.
“That was to protect you.”
“I know that, but…you could at least explain why you did it.”
“I was planning to. But then I couldn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s protecting you.”
“Who…?”
“He wants to protect you, to keep you away from danger. That’s why I can’t tell you anything.”
“I asked you this last time, but who is this mystery guy you keep talking about? The way I see it, there’s no one protecting me.”
“That’s not true at all. He’s been protecting you this entire time. He always has been, and he always will. As a matter of fact, it makes me a bit jealous.”
“I’m going to say this one more time,” Claire tells Aurora, getting audibly angry. “I don’t know who it is you’re talking about, but I have no intention of letting anyone protect me.”
“And that’s fine. You can stay ignorant, just so long as you’re safe. I’m sure that’s exactly what he would wish for—”
“Enough with that junk! I never asked for that!”
There’s a hint of displeasure in Aurora’s voice. “I’m afraid I really can’t say any more. I owe him a great debt.”
“I swear, I’m going to make you talk.”
“And how do you intend on doing that?”
“Um…”
Claire lapses into silence. What can she do to threaten someone who exists only as a voice in her head?
“Uhhh… Well, I’ll scream at the top of my lungs until you tell me what I want to know.”
“Knock yourself out.”
“I’ll stop talking to you forever.”
“Be my guest.”
“I’ll…spread nasty rumors about you.”
“So what?”
Claire bites her lip and sulks.
“Are you quite finished yet?”
“Oh, I haven’t even started getting frustrated with you.”
“Don’t worry. What I will tell you is how to get out of here.”
“What even is ‘here’?”
“That’s a secret.”
“Oh, bite me.”
“For starters, you need to go straight ahead.”
“No.”
“If you don’t, you’ll be trapped here for the rest of your life.”
“All right, all right, fine. I’m going.”
“Good, exactly like that. Now spin three times.”
“I’m sorry, what?!”
“I’m joking.”
“One of these days, I’m going to murder you.”
The dark-haired girl strides forth into the world of mist. Behind her, the image of a violet-eyed woman overlapping her is faintly visible.
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