𝑫𝒀𝑵𝑨𝑺𝑻𝒀 𝑶𝑭 𝑺𝑶𝑼𝑳𝑺 ⇢ Gojo Satoru

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐗𝐗 - 𝐈'𝐌 𝐀 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐀 𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆

"ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? Has the truth set you free or do you feel the burden weighting you down?" Himari snarled, voice laced with hatred and although there was a terrible sadness in her hollow eyes, there was also pure rage and fury brimming in her gaze. "Are you satisfied now that the truth has been revealed?"

Mikazuki stood there in complete and utter shock, hands balled into fists at her sides as she slowly processed the information, cogs turning in her mind while the golden blood continued to pool in her open palm. The sorceress couldn't think clearly, not when she could feel the burden of her bloodline, the golden ghosts of her past stirring inside of her veins. She could hear the sound of a hundred screams bleeding into her thoughts, the souls of the people her ancestor condemned to eternal misery battling against her will.

Mikazuki's body was not her own, her golden blood revelling against her and fighting to be let free. The Kinzoku heiress closed her eyes, drawing in a breath and subduing the screams until complete silence reigned over her soul. But even with the screams gone, chaos still brewed inside like the thundering clouds of an oncoming storm.

The sorceress swallowed past the lump in her throat, a sickening feeling spreading through her insides, but that was not the only emotion currently flooding her system. Although the truth had carved a deep hole into her heart, Mikazuki felt lighter. Like a feather at the mercy of the hurricane winds of a storm. Himari watched her, a puzzled expression on her face as she saw the corners of Mikazuki's mouth twisting upwards, a small smile playing on her lips.

There was no longer any anger or outrage on her face – the time for those emotions had passed. Instead, the young sorceress seemed happy, at peace. There was something unnerving about that particular vision and so Himari stepped forward, the sudden urge to slap her granddaughter across the face overcoming the old woman. She wanted to scream at her, remind Mikazuki that no human would ever react in such a way – an unspeakable massacre had happened, and their ancestors were the architects behind its design. There was nothing peaceful about that.

And maybe Himari would have done it – reached out across the empty space between them with her palm open hoping to strike with enough force to make her precious child stumble backwards. She truly would have done it, were it not for a simple detail. There was something in the calm of Mikazuki's stare, something utterly unspeakable that caught her off-guard and managed to stop Himari, breath catching in her throat as she watched that placid expression shift into pure joy.

"You–" Himari began, stammering as she tried to find her voice. "Do you not feel any remorse? Any guilt for what our ancestors have done?"

Mikazuki remained silent, that smile still etched into her face. Because this truth – the same one that had been weighting Himari down for numerous decades, the same one that had buried uncountable generations of Kinzoku –, had set Kinzoku Mikazuki free. The calm in her eyes was nothing but the freedom she had been granted, and as her smile widened, her shoulders slacked in relief. Because this was it, this was the answer she had spent years – almost a decade, now – searching for.

Because if the Kinzoku were capable of such an atrocity, then they were not worth saving. And if they weren't worth saving, there was no reason to keep them alive.

The truth – the one Himari expected would turn into a pair of shackles that would drag on Mikazuki's morality, had turned into a pair of wings.

Mikazuki tipped her head back, a loud cackle echoing in the room. It was madness and Himari felt sick as she watched, but the woman couldn't fathom moving from the spot, like any disruption would turn Mikazuki's attention towards her. Like any disturbance would be enough to turn all the crazy and all the insanity into a well-sharpened blade.