IBTRFL Chapter 26

"Ah, ah? Ah? Here? Here, here? Here?"

A voice came from the entrance. Aer immediately folded the paper and tucked it into her pocket.

Viola, having run the length of the corridor, glanced around nervously.

Unlike the settled air within the bars, an artificial calm now sat over Aer's face.

"Ah, ah, f-found, found, found it."

"...Sorry, there was something I needed to check."

"F-fine. Fine, fine, f-fine."

Viola flailed her hands, unsure what to do with herself. Behind the bandages, her black eyes—lacking any white—wavered gently.

Aer's mouth went bitter. There was no malice to be found anywhere in her.

Swallowing that bitterness, Aer asked, as though nothing were wrong.

"Where's the cat?"

"Ah, ah, my friend, my, my, friend?"

"Yes."

Viola pressed her two hands together and mimed resting her cheek against them.

"Sleep, sleep—snore-sleeps. Cu-cute thing. So, so cute."

"I see."

"But, but, but."

Viola pointed at the flame hovering in the air and went on.

Her black eyes, bright with deep curiosity, showed no sign of looking away.

"Th-this, this, warm, warm and, warm, warm and bright thing. Bright thing. Fi-fire? Fire? Fire?"

Aer looked at Viola and made herself smile.

"Ah, ah, ah, ah."

"Would you hold out your hand?"

"Hm? Y-yes. Yes."

Viola held out one hand, movement endlessly careful, as though wary her claws might so much as brush against her.

Aer tapped the tip of her finger against Viola's palm. A soft flame bloomed there without a sound.

Viola jolted, her whole body flinching, then settled again. A gentle, warm heat spread across her palm.

"This, this, n-not, not hot, hot, no. Not hot. Warm thing good, sun, sun good."

"It's fire made by magic."

"M-magic! Magic! Magic? Magic!"

The elated cheer echoed through the cellar. Viola toyed with the flame in her hand like an innocent child playing with mud.

The fire scattered under her heavy-handed touch, only to gather itself back into its original shape.

"Amazing! Amazing! So, amazing, amazing! So then, so then, you, you, a mage? Mage? A mage?"

"I suppose so?"

"Th-that's great, gre-eat. Mages, strong. Strong. Mages. Heard it. Strong, they said. Strong—strong, they said."

Viola looked at Aer with eyes full of admiration and went on.

"M-mage. Favor, a favor, there is. A favor, a favor, there—"

"Viola?"

The black eyes clouded over, murky. From between lips trailing endless drool came a breath that rasped like scraping metal.

Viola's head dropped; she lost her footing and swayed.

The hand holding the fire flailed through empty air, then caught the floor, and the flame, driven down against the stone, scattered, spent and lifeless.

A bleak, monstrous shriek—the sound of a dying animal—rang through the cellar.

Aer frowned and called out.

"Viola!"

No answer came. Viola's whole body jerked as every joint in it cracked, one after another.

Before long, the movement stopped. The horrible shriek that had been gouging at her eardrums cut off, as if it had never happened.

Aer stepped back and drew her sword.

The neck that had lolled like seaweed straightened, rigid. The black eyes, a moment ago without a shred of malice, gleamed with menace.

Killing intent brushed the back of her neck. Aer threw herself sideways at once.

The stone floor, where her claw drove down, was smashed to horrific ruin. Having torn her own claw free, Viola came on, her face spinning round and round.

Her eyes, dazed and glassy, contracted and dilated again and again—still, unmistakably, locked on her prey.

Has she lost her mind completely? Aer steadied her breathing and set her stance.

There was no way for a human turned Chaos Beast to come back.

For the safety of the city's people, and for the sake of the Viola who had fought so desperately to hold on this long, death was, without question, unavoidable and necessary.

At the least, without pain. The moment Aer's resolve settled—

Viola began twisting her neck this way and that, thrashing.

A pained scream, threaded with sobbing, echoed. From her unfocused eyes, dark red tears sprayed in every direction.

Stabbing her own torso with her claws, raving, Viola drove her head into the floor.

Again and again. Without end. Like a sinner begging forgiveness from a god.

A wet, heavy sound rang out, and the ground shook. The bandages wrapped around her face came loose, revealing hideous skin covered in fur and scales.

"Ah, ah! Ah!"

"...Viola."

"No! No! Please! Please, stop! Stop! Don't want it! Don't—I said don't want it!"

Sticky, dark green blood spread across the stone floor.

Viola, howling like a beast, collapsed to one side. Beneath her ragged breath, a wretched sobbing dissolved.

Aer looked down at the sword in her hand, then sheathed it again. Her face set, she approached Viola.

"...Ah, ah, again, again it happened. That's, that's, that's not supposed to happen."

Tears thick as blood soaked into the floor. Aer, unable to find words, laid a hand on Viola's back.

The trembling of pure terror came through, unmistakably. Aer's hand patted the shrunken, cowering back, clumsy but present.

"Hurt, hurt so much. Cold, and cold, c-cold, dark, and dark, and hungry, strange thing, strange thing—to me. Hurt so much. Really, really, hurt so much."

"..."

"I'm, a mo-monster. A monster. Not a person. Everyone's scared of just me, they, they hate me. The old landlady too, the night watch too, always, always, people, they hate me. Fear me."

Aer said nothing.

"My wh-whole life, whole life, hid, hidden away, lived. Try, tryin' to hold onto myself. Don't work. Don't work right. Just now, ju-grust now, tried to eat, eat you, I did."

"Viola."

"...That's right, that's right, that's true, right, I'm, I'm Viola. Vi-Viola."

Having collapsed, Viola pulled herself unsteadily upright.

"I, I, said I had a favor. You, you're a mage. Strong. You can, you can grant it."

Her clear black eyes shone with a resolve tinged with sorrow. A calm sentence followed.

"Kill me. While I'm—I'm still me."

Aer dropped her head and bit her lip.

Her fist tightened. Her nails dug into her own flesh, leaving a sharp, aching pain.

Viola twisted her shoulder slightly, as if it took effort. Her dark, barely visible pupils contracted and dilated rapidly, again and again.

The wicked force she had barely managed to push back was already seizing her mind once more. This time, she truly might not come back.

Viola looked at Aer, her face full of longing.

Aer let out a breath heavy with grief and straightened her head. Her hand, gone cold, moved toward the sword at her waist.

Viola's face brightened.

"Th-thank you."

"Your name."

"..."

"Aer."

Viola's eyes creased at the corners as she smiled, wide and bright.

"Th-thank you, Aer."

Aer drew her sword and cut Viola's neck through in a single stroke.

Dark green blood surged up like a fountain and sprayed in every direction. The severed head rolled across the floor, and the massive body simply collapsed.

The sword, slipping from her hand, hit the stone with a sharp clang and rolled away.

She couldn't quite draw a breath. Her heart beat heavily, as though something were pressing down on it.

It was, probably, because one name—a name she would never forget—had been carved into her.

Her violet eyes, gone still as settled sediment, held one person's ending inside them. A dazzling flame rose and, with quiet reverence, covered the body as its warmth faded.

Sorrow, pain—all of it burns away in the fire. A good person who had lived a hard life became a handful of ash and departed, forever.

Nothing remained. Nothing at all.

Aer, her face gone pale, lowered her head. A groaning sound, like a stifled sob, scattered like mist. Faced alone, the air here is too cold, and too lonely.

In the heavy stillness, Aer lifted her head. She swept the dark space once more, then gathered her sword and started to move.

Climbing the stairs and stepping outside, she found the small cat, roused from sleep, pacing restlessly through the house.

Crying plaintively, wandering here and there, it seemed to be searching for its friend.

Aer bent her knees to meet the cat at eye level.

"There's no one left here now."

Had it understood? The cat let out a mournful cry. Aer scooped it up.

The small, furry creature kicked its legs and fought back, spitting and fierce. Even so, it kept stretching its neck back toward the bundle of cloth where it had been sleeping.

Sensing something was off, Aer set the cat down and searched through the cloth. The cat, which had been so resistant a moment ago, sat and watched.

Amid the damp cloth, a metallic gleam caught her eye.

An old silver necklace, engraved with Viola's name.

"Is this what you meant?"

The cat purred and licked at its own paw.

Wearing a bitter expression, Aer took the necklace and tucked the cat into her arms. This time, it stayed still without resistance.

Aer left the house without looking back.

Before long, an ear-splitting blast rang out, and flames shot up from the cellar entrance.

The fire, climbing along the wood, swallowed the whole house.

A few people, startled by the explosion, came out of their homes.

Aer, having hidden herself in the alley, leapt up onto the roof of a nearby building. The gathered crowd was already throwing water and dirt at the blaze.

It would burn out on its own soon enough, without their effort, but there was no way to tell them that.

"..."

The cat's ears twitched. Aer, her voice a little softer now, said:

"Remember Viola. She was your friend, wasn't she."

The cat mewed, swishing its tail. Aer lightly scratched under the cat's chin with a finger.

"I'll take you home. Let's go."