Fidgeting with his fingers, the hands turned lighter as he threw the keys away, steadily heading for his face and grasping on the helmet before slowly raising it.

  Dropping it promptly to the ground, the piece of metal bounced a few times as his hair fell flat on the shoulders. Something churned inside him, seeing the girl’s widened eyes. Yet, as soon as her lips pried away, it all died off, a brisk realization settling within.

  “R-raphael?” With a raspy, shattered almost voice, the girl asked, the chains rattling at the shallow moves. Sheila moved herself up slightly, trying to see his face better, alas, the more she stared at the dejected, purple pupils, the more her face petrified.

  ‘She never was my friend, was she?’ Lutiel asked himself whilst glancing down, slowly flowing up to stare at the girl’s faintly perplexed face.

  “No, you aren’t Raphael,” she said, soon turning the indifference around her into growing ire. “Who are you?” The saintess asked with a growly voice, staring fervently into his violet shades.

  “Why?” He suddenly asked, making her eyebrows twitch briefly before furrowing them deeper. With tense hands, Lutiel slowly clenched them into tight fists, the metal grinding against each other as he did. Despite that, the girl only focused around his face, seeing him slowly unravel the clouded expression. “Why did you lie, Sheila?”

  Once again, he asked, but the girl couldn’t understand any of it. “What are you talking about? I asked who you are,” she said, only for the man to lightly shake his head.

  “No…,” he uttered below his breath, her eyes squinting. “Answer me. Why did you lie to me?”

  The question rumbled through the space, dissipating into the girl’s ears before her eyes briskly awakened. Opening them fully, the blue gems shook unutterably as his image described itself in her pupils. “... Lutiel…” She spoke after a hefty pause, letting the fuddle linger in her whilst slowly glancing down at the floor.

  Even wider than before, despite already being on the brink, her eyes couldn’t believe the words she had spouted out. “No, there’s no way. He killed all of you back then,” her voice quickly flew across the space, the head shaking away.

  “Sheila, tell me the truth,” he pressed on, her chains slowly growing in rattles as she tightened her arms. “Why did you lie?”

  Shaking slightly, the saintess raised her face abruptly, an eerie grin resting on her face before she broke out into a cheery laughter. Immediately, Lutiel’s face frowned away, however, he continued to watch her chuckle.

  With fully widened eyes, she laughed in his face, as though mocking him. Only to fall back to the ground. Staring at the stones making up the floor, she finally spoke up as the giggles diminished. “Out of all of them, you came back alive? It’s not fair,” Sheila muttered dejectedly, raising her rabid face right after. “IT’S NOT FAIR!”

  The man simply stood there as her shout washed over him, his mien kept intact whilst watching the girl gradually break down. From the rage she exuded straight at him, she fell back to the ground, sobbing away faint droplets.

  “It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s all gone to shit anyway,” she whispered, flowing back at him with the reddened eyes smiling. “You asked why I lied? What lie did I ever utter?” The saintess asked, blossoming lightly before seeing him clench the fists tighter.

  “Tell me, please tell me all of it. How much of my life is a lie?” Lutiel asked, tensing his muscles whilst seeing her burst into giggles once again.

  “Ah, that? I see…” she spoke after calming a bit, only to glance decisively into his eyes. “When did you realize?” Smiling slightly when the question left her mouth, Sheila watched his teeth grind slightly, the jaw tensing up.

  “Please… just answer me,” he pleaded with a strained voice, finally letting go of the tension around him. “Since when? When did you stop being the sheila I used to know?” Lutiel raised his voice a little, albeit, the girl stared at him with a continuous smirk.

  Still, she stopped the amicable expression after a few breaths of silence, pondering quietly with a slightly tilted head. “... Lutiel… you poor thing. You still don’t know anything, do you?” She asked through pitiful brows, only making him contort in confusion.

  “Wha?” He uttered absentmindedly, promptly shut as the girl spoke anew.

  “No, don’t fret, I will explain it quickly,” she said with a fresh smirk, growing deeper on the seemingly dead eyes. “Your body and spirit, they're extremely special. And, it just so happened that we lucked out with finding you,” Sheila went on, the curve around her mouth parting into a tainted grin before she stopped for a brief while, basking in the widened eyes of his.

  “From your very birth, you belonged to us, Lutiel. The very last droplet of your blood was our possession, and I made sure to train you exceptionally well.”

  “W-what are you talking about? You…” he said with creased brows, slowly stopping as the girl’s face illuminated his sights before her eyebrows raised themselves curiously. “But you… you grew up with me,” his voice drowned in disbelief, scouring through the doubtful face and promptly locking around the dirty hairs, seeing something part through the sides.

  “Did I? Are you certain?” She asked softly, lowering her head before glancing up at the man, who could do nothing but stare through the strands, seeing the perky ears of hers clinging to the head, barely visible.

  “...You’re one of them,” he spoke away whilst pointing at the girl, his arm trembling before he abruptly dropped to his knees, catching himself by the face before looking through the sprawled fingers. ‘Zyponia? Did you lie to me as well? Are you with them?’ Lutiel asked inwardly, suddenly glancing back at the girl’s voice.

  “One of them? No, Lutiel, you’re one of us. Something deeper connects us. Or, it used to at least. You severed that connection as soon as you killed Raphael. You can die now for all I care, but first, please kill me like you did before,” she said, painting a somewhat somber face. Yet, it swiftly disappeared, turning pale beneath the man’s ground up rage.

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  “IT WASN’T ME!” He screamed, furious. “ I didn’t kill you! No, no, no, I know very well what happened now. IT WAS YOU!” He shouted, trying to get up before pointing his finger at the girl. “You used mana to control my body. You made it seem like it was me, didn’t you? Why? Why did you make me go through that?” He pointed repeatedly at her, eventually dropping to his knees again before clutching his head.

  Silence reverberated through the space, growing comfortable only to be broken apart by the splashing noise. Hiding his face away from the lady, staring at the ground, a droplet slid across his face, tearing off the skin before crashing against the stones. Sniffing slightly before glancing at the girl with tears blocking his sight, Lutiel parted his lips again. “Please, Sheila, answer me already.”

  Beneath his ugly, mellow sobs, the girl smirked, slowly moving her restricted hands to clasp one against the other. Through a brisk cadence, Sheila clapped to his puzzlement.

  “I guess I should reward you for answering correctly, no?” She asked, swiftly nodding her head. “Yes, I think so. Why do you think we did it to you?”

  ‘We?’ He caught the words, however, the question lingered on his mind more. Staring at her golden hair before smearing his eyes away, Lutiel still kneeled on the ground, unable to answer. “I don’t know,” he said amidst a quick sniff, making the girl shake her head with sigh.

  “We needed control over you,” she uttered softly.

  Immediately, his brows creased. Glaring at her smiling face however, he couldn’t find anything. “Control?” He repeated, once more making her shake her head.

  “You were never the brightest, huh? Of course, it was all to control you. You and your desire for growth, the one embedded deep inside your spirit from the moment you were born.”

  “Huh? What? AAARGHHH!!” He muttered, only to slam his head down, barely able to evade hitting the ground as the splitting headache announced itself. Growling from the pain whilst pulling on his strands, he listened to the girl as his eyes steadily grew wider.

  “Did you have fun killing us, Lutiel?” The voices spoke at the same time, coming right from the saintess’ mouth. Her face, a mixture of them all, promptly dissipated, together with the voices. Simultaneously, Lutiel’s heavy breath calmed down, his figure slowly bringing himself up.

  He gradually straightened his back up, continuing to stare down at the ground before hesitantly looking up at the girl’s proud face. “You did it to build fear of death into me,” Lutiel said solemnly, seeing Sheila’s face spark up.

  “Good job! I knew you could do it, even if it took you thirty years,” she added near the end, however, the man didn’t listen anymore. Clenching his fists tightly, he continued.

  “If you didn’t want me to kill, why did you send me into a battlefield full of demons?” Once again, her eyes looked at him with slight pity.

  “They weren’t real. All you did was fight puppets that looked like them,” with the flowing answer, he lowered his face again.

  “My mom, was she even real? The heroes, were they real?” Furrowing into silence as the question left his mouth, Sheila sighed slightly.

  “No, your actual mother was killed the moment she gave birth to you. As for the heroes, yes, they were real, however, what do you think they were for?” She asked, making the man’s face squirm fiercer than before.

  ‘No, please. Please, just not them,’ Lutiel thought to himself, unaware of the stream of tears falling down his face.

  “It seems you know already. You never set yourself free after getting to the hero's party. The sword hero was this Empire’s crown prince,” she uttered, her voice resounding in his head whilst his eyes trembled into blurry visions.

  Giggling away as she lingered around his face, the man didn’t speak anything, only letting the laughter surround his ears as the thoughts ate through him. ‘Raphael? But you always told me you were from a family of fallen nobles…’ He asked with a parted mouth, promptly closing it shut as she added on.

  “Hahaha, but you know what’s the funniest about this story? How you used to run around after that brother of yours, despite not knowing your relations,” Sheila said in between the laughs, Lutiel’s face growing taut as he heard the words.

  “Brother?” Muttering out in disbelief, his nostrils flared up whilst staring at the girl.

  “Of course. He was your twin, how could you have not guessed it already? Did you not see your reflection? Well, I might have messed with your perception a bit, heeh,” she spouted, only to suddenly gasp for air, the man’s hand grasping her neck slightly. “Have you finally decided to show your true self, that monstrosity inside you?” Sheila pursed her lips, smiling away as his wrinkled nose illuminated her eyes.

  Sinking the fingers around her neck, Lutiel steadily tensed his right arm, pressing into the flesh. Struggling brightly, the saintess didn’t wriggle about however. Accepting the treatment she was receiving with smiles blossoming around her face, the girl barely let her tongue out.

  “We did it for you, Lutiel. We did it, because you were meant to show the light to the world. We wanted to bask in your radiance,” a whisper fell out, her face turning red, especially around the white scleras. Yet, even as she heard the cracking around her neck, Sheila followed on with the smile on her mouth. “However, you let the darkness consume you, Lutiel. You’re not our sun anymore. You’re nothing, but an empty spirit. GHA! ARGH!”

  Finally, right as her words ended, the gruesome features on his face settled, flowing down her figure to witness his unsheathed sword. Stuck in between the breasts, blood swiftly tainted the fabric before growing vehemently, Lutiel jerking the blade away.

  With a straight face, the man watched her struggle to breathe properly, staring down as she looked at the floor, crimson fluid starting to drip from her lips. Yet, despite death looming around her, Sheila promptly stared at him, with a crumpled grin on the verge of breaking apart.

  “I won’t forgive you. Not for what you did to him. Don’t think I won’t pay you back, human,” she muttered out weakly, soon closing her already lifeless eyes. Her heart no longer sang out, welcoming the cold walls around.

  Glancing down with a blank face, Lutiel watched her hang on the chains, promptly flinching at the mellow noise coming from below. ‘Huh?’ A thought pervaded through, feeling the dripping sensations. Opening his palms, he stared down at himself.

  In one hand, the cold pommel glistened slightly, droplets splashing against it before scattering out on the surface. Meanwhile, the right palm simply garnered the tears swiftly draining out from his eyes.

  Despite that, his face garnered no emotions. Incessantly cold, he went back and forth, between the dead friend of his that he had just killed, as well as his crying self. There was simply no reason for him anymore.

  He grasped tightly on the leathered hilt, making it squeak before the cold sensation tightened the skin on his neck. Faint droplets gathered around his throat as the acute edge cut him at the bare touch.

  With a slow breath, he closed his eyes, grasping the weapon even tighter. Another breath passed, yet, he was still there, his arms impeded by a sudden distraction.

  Something glowed ahead of him, opening his eyes again. The whole figure of the saintess shining, it made his skewed attention flow directly on the corpse.