The chronicles of embodiment

Chapter 20

Suddenly, Ruhe heard the sound of someone falling, accompanied by a piercing scream coming from inside the room. He turned back to see Achel desperately trying to wake up an unconscious Alasito. Priestess Masuolga smiled and held out her hand. However, in that moment, the walls of the room collapsed, revealing Achel.

Achel looked up at the priestess, her expression filled with horror. "Wait," she trembled, her voice shaking. "That's Visto's magic! Stop this, right now!" she shouted.

"Silence," demanded Priestess Masuolga.

"No!" Achel yelled. "What are you doing? Why are you doing this? To Alasito, to my classmates, to our family!" Achel's voice broke as she began to sob. "She isn't even responding!" she screamed.

The priestess looked into her niece's eyes and sneered, "You're such a pathetic child. At the age of ten, and you're already talking back to your elders. You should be ashamed," she scoffed, causing Achel to fall silent.

"You've forced my underling's hand, but it doesn't matter. She has been punished. I will now release my control over your classmates and designate you as her replacement. She's going to die anyway." She then turned her gaze to Ruhe and said, "Put on your mask again, child. I must erase what you've witnessed from your mind."

Ruhe clenched his fist, feeling anger welling up inside him. "No!" he shouted.

The priestess looked at him with a blank expression. "Oh, what did you say?" she asked, tilting her head.

"I said no," Ruhe replied firmly. "Everyone who lives here places their trust in you, and yet you expect to use them for your own purposes. You believe you can harm people however you please. I despise people like you! You make me sick to my stomach. I won't stand by and allow myself to forget your actions, nor will I let you harm Achel."

The priestess merely gave him a cold smile. "Oh, my? I'm sorry, but I must ask this. Who-" She was cut off by Ruhe.

"You shouldn't talk, Your Heinous. You're a person who only displays fakeness and no genuine emotion! In fact, you're the worst person I've ever met!" Ruhe told her.

The priestess shrugged. "Don't disrespect your elders, boy. Now let me continue what I was saying. Who cares?" She turned to Alasito. "Use your pathetic body for what it should be used for. With your last breaths, place that mask on my niece."

Alasito slowly reached down and picked up the mask that Achel had worn before. Blood spilled from her mouth as she did so. Suddenly, she stopped, her ability to speak now severely limited due to the loss of her tongue. With great effort, she managed to utter one simple word, "No."

The priestess was taken aback. She began to shout, "What do you mean, no!? You shouldn't be able to do that. I made sure your body couldn't resist my magic, no matter what!"

Though Alasito's eyes were closed, she gave a weak smile. "Yeah," she said, nodding in agreement.

"So why!?" the priestess yelled. "Why can you disobey me?" Her eyes suddenly widened, realizing that the bottom half of Alasito's mask had been detached. This likely meant the mask could no longer contain the amount of magic needed to maintain long-term control over the wearer. She looked at her niece. "Did you crack her mask, Achel dearie?" she asked, tilting her head.

Achel nodded and broke her silence to speak. "Yeah, what significance does it play?" She then gave a taunting smile to her aunt. "Is your magic flawed without a perfect vessel, my dear auntie? Perfect in your eyes, at least. I think I finally understand the significance of the mask. In your eyes, perfection is someone who can't show flawed emotions. So why show emotion at all? Though you believe none of your emotions are flawed. That's why your personal mask is filled with color and design that expresses you. You want everyone to walk in and come out perfect."