Sylphid's Happiness Revisited

Chapter 10

...

Ryu kneeled in a world of desaturated hues, the grass surrounding her was a muted gray green. Her mind snapped to the last things she saw, the organs punctured, half the lung missing, the burning warmth from the pool of blood she kneeled in.

She wanted to scream to act out, but she couldn't move as red chains bound her. Only her head was free, she looked around and could see she was in a vast plain. Everything was desaturated; the trees in the distance had leaves of gray-orange, leaves that were wilting.

She couldn't hear anything, except a repetitive dripping sound. She twisted her head to find the sound, eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot. The chains were the cause, they dripped a consistently vibrant red liquid. Blood, she realized after a second of watching.

After a minute of watching the blood that continued to fall, her eyes followed them far into the distance. The chains were connected to a massive oak tree. One so tall she could only vaguely make out the blood-red leaves in the distance.

She could see scratched-out words that had been carved into the bark. She tried to focus but only a few were legible. At the bottom was Ardee Varma, she remembered how she had died. A bomb that had been attached to a child she was helping.

Many more names had been crossed out; Celty Srowa, Ryana Lietz, Asta Knox, Noin Unic, Maryuu Reage, Iska Bra, Neze Rankett. She forced her eyes away from the names, each recognition brought back the moment of their demise. Each a painful reminder, in an attempt to focus elsewhere she looks down.

Her hands were bloody and bound in the red chains, there was a wide pool of vibrant red liquid. She felt like she could make out the difference between each splotch that stained her delicate hands. Even in the pool that she was forced to kneel in, there was a subtle difference in each square foot.

She blinked and she was suddenly facing the massive oak, her eyes were forced open, so she had to read the names; Lyra, Gojouno Kaguya, Alise Lovell, Bell Cranel. Something in her heart shattered when she saw the last set of names.

Despite the dryness she felt in her sky-blue eyes, tears began to leak again. "Well, well, well, look what we have here. Another soul stained with the blood of her allies, so many innocent people have died to save your pathetic life."

A voice echoed out; another Ryu stood there in front of her leaning against the tree. "N... no." Ryu croaked out. The only difference was the eyes, cold... evil. Blood red instead of the normal sky blue, they blinked watching the chained elf try to deny her statement.

The red-eyed Ryu chuckled, "Really, you are denying it?" She snapped the fingers of her left hand and a rectangle appeared, one that was replaying a memory. One of the blind Lyra running towards the Juggernaut, only to be completely dismantled. Kaguya who had lost an arm pushing Ryu out of the way, as she charged only to follow the same fate. Alise, who had been stabbed through her gut then killed by Ryu's own magic. Bell, who had pushed her out of the way died in the process of eliminating the monster he saved her from.

Ryu cried out, "No... no... no... please..." She wanted to believe that somehow Bell could've survived that, just like how he survived his neck being snapped. But she knew it wouldn't be possible, there was no mermaid's blood, no magical fix-all solution.

She could remember the fading beats of his heart, how his lungs no longer pumped air. "I... I... can't..." she forced out in between violent pitiful sobs.

Again, the memories replayed; two times, five times, twenty times, fifty times. Ryu's very soul was starting to become numb, but there was a glimmer of strength, a memory of her creation that played not in the mirror but in her heart.