What's happening... Where am I...?
Have I fallen into my own memories...?
No, it seems like Solana's memories. Wait, that's not right either. Am I not Solana...?
I feel like the boundaries are starting to blur.
Looking up, I find myself surrounded by pitch-black darkness. There is no light, as if even the light itself has been swallowed by those things.
Looking down, strange runes seem to be carved into my skin, restricting my movements and seemingly sealing my abilities.
“Sister...”
The voice suddenly echoing in my ear startles me.
“Are you still here...?”
My body moves beyond my control. My lips part instinctively:
“I'm... here...”
“Sister Solana... when can we go back...?”
“It's so dark here, so scary... I don't want to stay here anymore...”
“Ah... those pitch-black figures will be back soon. They're going to make me eat those things again...”
As she speaks, her voice begins to tremble, tinged with a hint of crying:
“Sister... I'm so scared, so scared...”
“...I feel like I'm starting to stop being myself... Last time, after eating them... when I woke up, I found myself smiling as I swallowed those stones. But I was clearly crying at the time...”
The innocent, rambling voice of a child rings in my ear, yet it feels as though it comes from somewhere far, far away.
Uncontrollably, I try to reach out toward the voice, wanting to comfort her, but my hand grasps only empty air.
The girl doesn't seem to notice my presence either, merely talking to herself:
“Today, they made me eat two more. I... I secretly hid one under my tongue, but they found out. They started using that smoke to slowly eat away at my body... That feeling... it hurt so much...”
...
Suddenly, the illusion before me begins to shift once more. Though the surroundings remain unchanged, I feel as if something has shifted.
The girl's voice rings out again:
“Hehehe, Sister... I'm getting stronger and stronger... The black smoke listens to me now... With just a wave of my hand, it comes and wraps around my body...”
“Some sturdy scales are growing on my body too... It's like wearing armor. It doesn't even hurt when I bump into rocks!”
“But... I feel like... something is getting more and more wrong with me...”
Her voice grows quiet, but she instantly cheers up again.
“No, no... I feel great... I've never felt better...”
“I can do so many things with this black smoke. I can go to so many cities... see so many beautiful sights... kill so many people...”
“And then... by eating their despair... I can get even stronger...”
The innocent child's voice grows cheerful, eventually twisting into something morbid:
“Hehehe, they're coming to get me again...”
“I wonder if... I can eat a little more this time~”
The voice cuts off abruptly.
I only feel that the voice is both familiar and foreign, intimate yet absurd.
I have absolutely no idea what she went through or why she became like that.
But after the girl left, she never returned, leaving me all alone here once more.
I feel a hint of fear creeping in...
In this eerie mist that feels as if it could swallow me at any moment...
I just wait and wait, wait and wait. I don't know how much time passes, but my consciousness shifts from clear to hazy, and from hazy to numb. Even the black mist shrouding this place seems on the verge of dispersing.
And then, I see those pitch-black figures too.
I can't make out their faces, but I know that I might turn into that as well.
Yet, looking at them, a spark of rage involuntarily rises from the depths of my heart.
In this moment, more fragmented images flood in: a burning village on a wasteland, fallen corpses, a shattered divine statue. I want to burn, to incinerate everything, but those strange runes suddenly flare up, suppressing me completely.
The tiny spark that had just ignited on my body is snuffed out once more.
In the end, they force me into a basement.
Inside, I hear people struggling and wailing. I see those figures dragging pitch-black corpses out of dark rooms, most of their faces twisted, yet with the corners of their mouths curled upward.
I don't know what is going on. Is it that I don't want to know, or do I truly not know? I don't know...
After that, those black figures inject me with potions, paralyzing my body until I can't even move a finger. Yet my consciousness remains clear, watching helplessly as they shove countless magic stones into my mouth...
Until even I can no longer tell what is real and what is illusion.
Yet for some reason, I seem to start liking these magic stones, because they allow me to temporarily forget the past and make me feel an unprecedented sense of freedom.
At the edge of my fading consciousness, I see a figure approach. He leans down and whispers in my ear:
“You're finally back, Solana.”
...
When I wake up again, I feel my entire body trembling uncontrollably. Those fragmented memories flood back, continuously triggering the fear deep within my heart.
Right then, I feel a sudden, sharp pain in my chest.
I look down. Without my realizing it, blood has begun to seep from there as well...
What is going on...?
“Quick, take those magic stones! What are you doing?!” Theresa shouts again.
Theresa's voice snaps me back to reality instantly.
Right... I still need to... I need to take these magic stones...
I take a step forward, then another, but a sudden doubt arises in my mind.
But why can't I just keep them all for myself...?
Yeah... why not...?
Those magic stones look so delicious...
And so, under Theresa's astonished gaze, I run to the stone altar without hesitation, grab the magic stones, and stuff them into my mouth one by one.
I feel flames starting to ignite on my body. Black eerie fire leaps around me, as if celebrating in a grand carnival.
“Eat them! Eat them! Eat them!” a voice in my head repeatedly urges.
Shut up, all of you shut up...
Though annoyed by the interruption, I still manipulate the flames, wrapping them around the pile of magic stones.
Finding their delicious feast, the flames begin to burn and devour frantically.
I feel myself instantly advance from Rank One to Rank Two, and then leap again from Rank Two to Rank Three, with a faint tendency to climb even higher!
The pain in my chest gradually fades away.
My entire body gradually becomes enveloped in a layer of black mist.
“Hehehe!”
As I eat, I can't help but let out a giggle.
This feeling of being completely unfettered is so wonderful...
Why did I have to keep suppressing myself before...?
Yeah... why...?
In my pride, I even turn my head with great interest, catching the astonished expressions on the faces of Theresa and the black-robed man.
They probably still don't know my true identity, wondering why a girl would suddenly start devouring these things.
That is truly hilarious... so hilarious...
Consuming them continuously, I am already too excited to control myself, my heartbeat accelerating rapidly.
Thump! Thump-thump! Thump-thump-thump!
Gradually, I can no longer hold back my amusement and burst into wild laughter!
My silvery laughter echoes through the entire secret chamber, making the atmosphere feel even more eerie.
But I don't care anymore... I don't care...
Soon, black smoke begins to spread frantically within the secret chamber, submerging the place in a black ocean in less than an instant.
Rate on N.U.
