[center][img]https://i.postimg.cc/d1kBtrm3/Shatterscape-Banner.png[/img][/center] Fury replaced the blood in Hotaru’s veins. She had told everyone. She had told them that light girls were not to be trusted and yet they did not listen! Those whores almost killed Chiaki! Fuck, if it weren’t for the warrior’s intervention, they [i]would[/i] have killed Chiaki! And now they were back at it again with the help of their mole, the one she had to tolerate because of the foolishness of Sylvia and Ember. No more. She would not suffer at the hands of these-so-called warriors of justice. They had to go; evicted from the city, injured beyond recovery or dead. She did not notice the hypocrisy of her own thoughts, nor did she notice the shield impacting the leg of Shuuko’s body, snapping the shin with a loud crack. The spike of pain did little to distract her from her targets, the blow swallowed by Sylvia in the back of their shared consciousness. In fact, it only caused her vision to tunnel even more as memories of past atrocities returned in flashes. The sneers. The grins. The mocking tone. The looks that Chiaki did not notice. The jokes that went over an innocent child’s head, who thought of light girls as friends because she did not know better. And worst of all, the pretend ignorance when these supposed ‘friends’ saw the bruises on Chiaki’s skin. [color=#D8CD9F][i]”I know you remember too!”[/i][/color] She shouted at the top of her lungs. Her voice echoed in their shared space, reverberating in the skull they called home. [color=#D8CD9F][i]”So why aren’t you taking my side? We could kick their asses if we worked together!”[/i][/color] Her voice snapped like a whip and lashed across the protector, who whimpered, pulling her legs to her chest in an attempt to protect herself. [color=red][i]”It is blindingly obvious, ‘Ru,”[/i][/color] responded Ember as she walked closer to Sylvia with a frown, her lips pursed. She lowered herself in an attempt to meet the shivering girl’s eyes, but only a strangled noise escaped from the protector when she pulled her legs even tighter, curling up into a ball. [color=red][i]”It is thoroughly unhelpful to direct your anger at the wrong people and you are only hurting us by doing so. I am also furious at the-”[/i][/color] [color=#D8CD9F][i]”You don’t sound angry to me.”[/i][/color] Hotaru’s eyes narrowed as she interrupted Ember. [color=#D8CD9F][i]”You know what you’re like? You’re exactly like those light bitches. All those niceties, all those words, Ember… they’re nothing. You’re hollow. Like a damned robot.”[/i][/color] Ember looked at the warrior without as much as a twitch in her expression. [color=red][i]”I will not allow you to talk to me like that.”[/i][/color] She straightened up to face Hotaru head on, their gazes meeting with the silent noise of steel on steel. [color=red][i]”Especially not because I happen to hold an opinion that differs from yours. I demand that you speak to me like a human being.”[/i][/color] [color=#D8CD9F][i]”You and what army?”[/i][/color] grinned Hotaru. [color=#D8CD9F][i]”You can’t get rid of me. And you can’t undo Sylvia’s wounds either.”[/i][/color] Her hands tightened as she spoke and she too, stepped closer to the protector. [color=red][i]”You speak as if your words and your tone were not something that affects her, ‘Ru. She’s terrified of you.”[/i][/color] [color=#D8CD9F][i]”Only because you filled her head with lies.”[/i][/color] Hotaru sneered. [color=#D8CD9F][i]”What did you say to her that she now wants to be friends with those assholes?”[/i][/color] Though she tried to keep her voice level, it once again struck as though it were thunder, causing Sylvia to let out another whimper. [color=teal][i]”Please… please stop… don’t… like Grandma…”[/i][/color] She spoke barely above a whisper. [color=#D8CD9F][i]”See? You’re turning her against me, because it’s convenient for you!”[/i][/color] [color=red][i]”If you listened to her closely enough and really cared about her, you would hear the wish in her heart, ‘Ru.”[/i][/color] Ember folded her hands, her eyes becoming colder than before as she regarded the warrior. [color=red][i]”We are res-”[/i][/color] [color=#D8CD9F][i]”No. You’re the reason she’s like this.”[/i][/color] Hotaru slammed her hands together and the echo of flesh on flesh made Sylvia flinch again. [color=red][i]”Listen to me, ‘Ru. If for nothing else, then for the sake of Chiaki and Sylvia. They have done nothing to deserve this sort of treatment. I do admit my fault-”[/i][/color] [color=#D8CD9F][i]”The hell you do! Just listen to yourself, talking at me, looking down from your high horse!”[/i][/color] [color=red][i]”So spoketh the one with the mind of a mule.”[/i][/color] The venom in Ember’s voice surprised even herself, sounding much colder than she intended. However, instead of backing down, the warrior grinned and took another step forward, raising her hand as her fingers folded inward to form a fist. Her intention rung clear as day: to strike whom she believed to be the most hypocritical of them. [color=teal][i]”Don’t fight… please.”[/i][/color] The protector’s words repeated as she sobbed into her knees. But instead of sliding off the two like water off a duck’s back, something happened. On the outside, as Shatterscape’s body fell to the ground, the sound of shattering glass could be heard, seemingly coming from all directions. At the same time, fragments of mirrors came into existence all around her, scattering to the winds, each of them shattering further as they travelled, seeding her surroundings with magical shrapnel. The body fared little better. Whatever forces worked inside, they ravaged it from the inside-out and melted it as though it had been tossed onto a funeral pyre before separating into three streams of magical energy coloured the freezing cold of ice, the gentle embrace of a verdant forest, and the faded yellow of fire preserved in amber. Entwined as they were, the three appeared to want to head into different directions before they each dove into one of the mirror shards. Whatever happened, it left a barely recognisable body on the ground, its surroundings looking as though someone had assaulted them with a rake that had razors instead of tines. [hr] Whatever happened, it lead to Hotaru waking up in full control of Shuuko’s body, her senses scrambled but intact and very much capable of perceiving a flight of Mogalls crossing the air above her. They were arranged in a thick formation, which could only mean one thing in her mind: Evil Eye was in danger. Her heart squeezed. Never mind what happened, never mind her conflict with her comrades, if Evil Eye got hurt again- Her legs responded to the thought before she could finish the thought. She reached for her magic, not even noticing how she could only access a fraction of what she formerly could, then directed it towards her legs. She rushed in the same direction as the Mogalls did, leaving them behind even if it cost them the body in the end. After all, it was only one amongst many, was it not? [hr] Whatever happened, Sylvia woke up in full control of Shuuko’s body, without the familiar presence of Ember and Hotaru in her head, but with the feeling of a sharpened knife in her throat. It felt tight - so tight she could barely swallow - because “They” fought again. Like Grandma and Grandpa. And it was her fault… her fault! Filthy, stupid, useless girl. She should have never been born. Then Ember and Hotaru would be happy. “They” would not be fighting over nothing. “They” could live like a happy family. She knew reconciliation to be hopeless. “They” could never agree. Whatever the topic, it would repeat over and over again, because Sylvia was the one at fault. And “They” could never fix her. She could never fix herself either, because she was a bad girl. She would remain one no matter how much she tried, because her birth had been wrong. So she did the only thing she could. [color=teal]”I’m sorry… I know I’m a bad girl…”[/color] She apologised to empty air. [color=teal]”Please… don’t fight. And come back… please…"[/color] Such a foolish hope. Her words would never reach “Them.” [hr] Whatever happened, Ember woke up in full control of Shuuko’s body. Her head ached from the argument she had with Hotaru, a dissatisfied frown on her face as the conversation finished without an actual conclusion because… She did not know. She only knew that Shuuko’s magic - their magic? - did [i]something[/i] that left her without other voices in her head and a body that was… hers? Or at least it felt as though it belonged to her. As though it were a proper vessel instead of the shared body they constructed together, belonging to all of them, but not hers in a true sense. But it did not make sense. Sure, the control they had over their bodies had been getting better and the sudden appearance of a mansion of the mind had been strange, but there had been no signs- The schemer could not even finish the thought if she wanted to be honest with herself. She knew little about magic, but she certainly knew that it reacted to emotions. It also reacted to thoughts, which is why the three of them could direct it. Indeed, in hindsight, they had been quarreling with each other. Developing different desires. She even pushed Sylvia to make her first friend. A friend that the protector would do anything for. The schemer had been such a fool. The biggest fool of them all. [color=red]”Maybe I am the one with the mind of a mule,”[/color] she spoke out loud as she came to an inevitable conclusion: They had split. Not only in mind and soul, but also in body. And this time, it might be impossible to make them whole again.