Tsubaki was willing to accept her fate. She was willing to die if that was the end of the path she had taken. The one thing Tsubaki was unwilling to do right now was let herself take other people down with her. Her eyes opened at the sound of fighting, seeing the girl who had rushed to help her crumpled in a heap on the ground, the man who had followed her attacking the monster that had followed her to them, and one long, fleshy tentacle reaching toward her.

Tsubaki let out an involuntary scream, somehow finding the strength to once again scrambled out of the way as the monster reached for her. Her back wound up pressed against the wall, sticky with dripping blood, and as she looked across at the people who had tried to help her without even knowing her, a voice resonated in her head, soft and sorrowful and cutting through the weight of this place.

[I]"Is this who you are? A meek little mouse who timidly accepts the path laid out for her?"[/i]