Shivering and sniffling, I step over the threshold and onto the wet grass. Rain lightly pelts my shoulders and drenches my hair. It sticks to my back as I follow Eric away from the house and towards the cliffs.
Waves crash against the shore and smother the beach, covering up all traces of what happened just this morning. Well, maybe it's already yesterday. Moons sit strangely in the clouds and are reflected in the turbulent sea ahead of us.
He stands at the very tip of the cliff looking out onto the ocean. Waves crash harder against the rocks, sending freezing cold droplets straight towards us. Silver, delicate curly strands whip around me and leave goosebumps whenever they lash at my skin.
Intense deja vu hits me as I stare out into the beautiful chaos of it all. Of life's mess.
"..."
His shadow looms over me, and I try to step out of it. He turns back to face me, and the moons shine brightly behind him. His hair flickers in the wind like a golden flame, and his eyes give off a hypnotic glow.
Before, they seemed like fireflies. Now, all I can see is fire. Burning inside, he looks at me with a face made of marble. Without blinking, I stare back and find myself losing some of the nervousness, anxiety, and fight building in me. Waves of calm wash over me and bring me under.
Blue sand curls around the depressions my feet are making as my entire figure relaxes. Breaths become even and measured. Eyes become vacant and lifeless. Hands unclench and fall to my sides as I await my orders.
Golden locks whip in the wind and frame the moon shining down on me.
"What is going on, Ria? Don't tell me about a growth spurt or I don't know. You can deceive Niathe and the rest of them, but you can't lie to me."
"..."
His mouth falls open and closes as he tries to calm down. Restless, he walks up to me, and the intensity of the waves increases.
He croons to me while holding my chin up so that our staring contest can continue. Contest? What contest? Why would I—
"Why are you so tall now?"
"Evolution."
Penguin sits up at the dining table and expands the blue screen. Frantically, he opens the mic and demands Miseria to stop.
[Ria! Do not tell him anything that has to do with us! You are violating your contract…]
Silky drawling lifts in volume as he thinks of a wave of calm. Like that feeling when you first wake up. Everything's new. Unblemished. Perfect."Is someone threatening you?"
"Yes."
[Ria!]
Notifications open up, but they're in the corner of my vision. Too far. Everything else is so far away. Eric and I are the only ones here. I'm safe here and I always will be.
Slender fingers keep my chin elevated as he continues to inch closer to the truth. In the back of my mind…I can hear voices. Distant echoes of something from the past. Telling me how it's all my fault. How I ruin everything. So much blame and self-loathing...I'd rather listen to this sweet lullaby.
"Do you have a mind link with this person?"
I open my mouth to say something, and a blue screen pops up in front of me. Blocking my vision of Eric and blinding me.
[Warning: Breach of confidentiality will result in death and the immediate…]
"I'm…Not…I don't know how to tell you. No. Wait—" I stutter over my words as more screens block my vision, each with a warning of what they might do to me. Rationality slowly creeps back into my mind, and a headache slowly starts brewing. What the hell did I just do?
My eyes dart between each one. Hot tears stream down my cheeks, and I swallow the buildup of mucus. I just completely blew my cover. I just told him. Not everything, but a lot. What did I just do? Why did I do that?
No.
"Brother…"
I look up at him again and focus on his hair instead of his eyes. He tries to catch my eyes again and I suck in a breath. "You…You—"
"What, Ria?"
Completely unbothered by how he just manipulated me with his damn eyes to tell the truth he asks me nonchalantly. Trembling, I rip my chin out of his grasp, and he follows me. His dark shadow swallowed mine up as the storm builds to a fever pitch. The sky holds its breath again.
"What did you just do to me?" My lip quivers as I refuse to look his way. He just…He just betrayed me. I didn't even feel it. I couldn't feel anything. My hands draw up to my chest, and I clutch my throat, which seems to be closing up.
"You. How could you do that? I shouldn't have told you anything. You don't understand what you've just—How could you do that?!" My voice is thick with betrayal and shrill as I scream at him.
His eyes blazed with fury, and I could feel it without even looking at him."Why should I trust and choose to believe someone who's lying to me? How long has it been, Ria? What are you keeping to yourself? Is someone threatening you? Did someone hurt you?" I flinched and stepped back. He advanced and continued badgering me.
"You refused to tell me! I am your brother. I am your brother! It is my job to protect you! To worry! About an unseen threat that is…changing you. I have gotten more unfiltered truth out of you in this single conversation than in the last few days. No. Perhaps months. How long has this been going on? How did they sneak in? Ria!"
He steps closer to me, but I can't see anything. The messages are flooding my senses, and I feel like I'm about to have an aneurysm. It's too much. Oh god. They're so upset. It's over. It's all over. He just screwed me over.
I think he stands in front of me because his smell is so much closer. "What? Why do you look like that? What's happening to your eyes?"
Swallowing a thick wad of mucus, I get it out before he can try to pull me under again. "I can't say anything. It's like…It's like one of the contracts that mom made me sign! From that temple? Remember when I told you. The one for promises."
[Breach has been detected]
"Someone made you sign a contract! When were you going to tell me?"
Oh god. Oh my god. "Brother…I might have to go soon, okay."
"..."
"No. Ria, what is going on? Who is doing this? Who is Penguin? Is he a part of the staff? How did they slip past our defences?"
[15…]
[14…]
I mutter blankly as it counts down. "I tried so hard. I just wanted you to—It's all over. I never should've—" My voice breaks. How did it all even happen? Am I about to die again? All because of him. He was just trying to…Why couldn't he just trust me? Why?
No. It's all...It was a mistake from the beginning and I should've known better. This is my fault. I got too close. Too attached. This was my fault. Somewhere deep inside me, a vault closes its doors. The hinges squeak, and I push harder as the panic fades to calm resignation.
Don't forget that this time you tried to have a real family. It's all your fault. It wasn't my fault last time. Families. We're just not meant to have one.
Snow swirls around me in an endless blizzard. Cold crunches underneath me as her sarcastic voice taunts me.
"Look at you~ Back again so fast?"
She circles me, and I hunch into myself. This isn't happening, this can't be happening.
"Miseria, what's happening?!"
[3…]
[2…]
The space around me folded and folded again. Saturated orbs of light overtook my vision and blinded me. An excruciating headache turned into a scarlet fever that ravaged me completely until there was nothing left to devour. My body was consumed first. Turned into dust and then blown away.
Then my mind was crushed. Shattered into glass. Fine shards of glass exploded at the depressions where my feet should have been.
[You've been punished for attempting to intentionally violate your contract….]
[System Administrator 700: Has she made previous attempts?]
[System Administrator 706: No previous attempts on her record. Please vote on her punishment.]
[System Administrator 707: Instant death?]
[Tally is being made…]
[Twenty-two for and Twenty-eight against. Please come to a unanimous decision.]
[...]
[Timestop and Immediate Dungeon Run?]
[Tally is being made…Votes are being collected…]
[Fifty for…A unanimous decision has been made. Punishment will be doled out…Please stand by…]
[Enter The Artificial Dungeon or Forfeit Your Life]
[Yes] [No]
"..."