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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 : 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐕𝐄
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Good news: Nobody had to sacrifice their heart.
Bad news: I'm still turning to stone.
Even worse news: Yui just found out.
It was bound to happen, but I thought maybe I would have some time to throw together a bouquet of her favorite flowers and maybe bake a cake with 'sorry I'm turning to stone' written in frosted letters.
But the universe had to speed things up, didn't it?
Yui very quickly noticed my stiff movements while trying to operate what felt like an iron pole replacing my spine. After a poorly-thought-out bend to pick up the riddle, and the very long and awkward recline back, she narrowed her eyes at me and demanded I turn around.
"Sayaka, turn around now." She ordered, crossing her arms. "I'm not asking again."
I gulped, shaking my head. "Um, I fear that may not be possible at this exact moment-"
She immediately bolted to run behind me, to which I started running as well. On the first rushed step, I felt the pain seeping back like ink in my veins, but at this point, I think this will be lesser of a suffering than whatever wrath Yui had in store for me.
"Yui, stop!" I panted out, missing the edge of the cave pool by a few millimeters. "I'll tell you everything later, let's just get the gun!"
"No!" She yelled out. "No more secrets!"
As one would expect, when one is turning to stone, you don't run as fast as you used to and Yui was quickly able to grab my cloak hood and yank me back, ending our ring-around-a-Burai earlier than I would've liked. She peered closely through the talon scratches on my clock and saw the stony exterior.
Let's just say, at first glance, she wasn't as angry as she was confused.
"You're turning into a rock?"
"Yeah... But it's not the worst thing that can happen-"
"That's why you were moving weird! I thought you just had scoliosis or something!"
"Aw, look at you two," Burai remarked, fondness in his eyes. "Lover's quarrel."
We both turned and shot him a glare.
"Wait—" Yui's eyes moved erratically before settling on a stray pebble on the ground. I grit my teeth as she begins to understand the fate that I've tampered with. Some horrid thought gripped her like a vice, so tightly that she couldn't move on, not moving, not blinking, not breathing.
