Beneath The Surface

Act 19 - Your existence is really special.

Normal text
Thinking
Onomatopoeia

Astaroth's POV
The next afternoon.

Students gathered in the arena for Void lessons with the adorable rabbit instructor. But this time, there's a special event, not just the boring simulation training. Astaroth quietly blended into her class. While surrounded by the familiar chatter of over-excited human spawns, she carefully observed her surroundings. It wasn't just the first-years here. Even the upperclassmen were gathered. It was the largest cross-cohort event she had ever been to so one could imagine the racket of all 1,000 little horrors squawking at the same time. It was an utter nightmare here. While dealing with the onset of a headache, Astaroth's nerves were growing tauter by the minute, but she didn't let it show on her face. Just maintain the nice smile that everyone's accustomed to seeing on her face. While her gaze swept the arena, she spotted the two eye-catching beauties—her frivolous roommate and the strange senior who's recently paying more attention to her. It's hard to not notice them with that golden-blonde hair and well-defined facial features. In fact, Astaroth wasn't the only one who immediately noticed their presence. They were like flames to moths. Wherever they went, eyes always followed. Lecherous ones. With the odd sprinkle of jealousy into the clusterfuck of bad attention.

Why are they here?

Her line of sight finally landed on the brat she least wanted to see—the traitor. Astaroth could feel her once peaceful heart suddenly started beating erratically. It's obvious she still hadn't gotten over the paranoia on that day. Her head still buzzed dangerously loud in an attempt to goad her into tearing it off. Astaroth didn't feel like dealing with this migraine-inducing matter so she averted her eyes, ignoring the intense stares from the source of her mental breakdown.

"You good, Luna?"

Astaroth whipped around, coming face-to-face with the inquisitive little rabbit.

Forcing out a weak smile, she feigned an upbeat tone, "Sure~ Why would I not be?"

The woman looked at her quietly before muttering, "But there's no smile in your eyes..."

A flicker of doubt flashed in Astaroth's eyes as she faltered momentarily. There's smiles in her eyes??? That can't be right. What's there to be joyful about??? She hasn't even killed that Noxian fucker yet. So how could she be happy?! Astaroth hurriedly fixed her bewildered expression, covering up the brief out-of-character moment in the blink of an eye.

"Why are the seniors here? I thought it's only our cohort?" she blatantly tried to change topics.

Fortunately, the rabbit was sensible enough to play along, "The Void rift this time is Grade C. So there will be more unpredictability. The higher-ups have opened up the mission to the upper-years. They're more experienced in dealing with any potential... cock-ups during the trip."

This finally drew out a somewhat genuine curl of her lips. She could still remember the surprise event like it was yesterday. The debilitating tension in the air, along with the sense of urgency like no other. It was a thrill to be honest, dancing on the cusp of danger was an exhilarating experience, one that could make adrenaline course through Astaroth's dead heart. It's one of the only few circumstances that could actually make her feel something. Anything. Just so long as she could feel the preciousness of fleeting life again. Feel the fear of death. She had long lost any sense of existence and time. As well as the love for life. Just passing the days like a ticking the never-ending checklist she had to complete. This was the one thing that defied this mundane lifestyle. That and the appearance of her kryptonite—the insolent Kali.

But there's still something odd... Why was the fox vastaya here? The way Kaisa said it meant that this Void mission wasn't mandatory for the upper-years. It's up to their own volition to join in the death march. She could sort of understand why Evelynn was here. Astaroth was her one-of-a-kind buffet. So of course that gluttonous succubus wouldn't want her to die in some random corner. Or better yet, if she was destined to die today, at least the woman must be there to drink down the non-existent pain ripping through her soul. Whatever the case, there's a motive for joining. But what about Ahri's? What's her purpose for being here? That fox lady didn't strike Astaroth as someone who's concerned with the lives of others. After all, she's a vastaya, the race that's closest to the wild. So they probably abide by the laws of the jungle. Why would she care about weak human critters that had nothing to do with her?