Lisa's mouth opened and closed, struggling to find the words; Her eyes contracting and dilating, creating a harmony between them. She didn't answer, even after arriving at her room; no sound came out until she stopped altogether and sighed.
"I'll think about it. There's a lot on my plate right now; it'd be wise if I finish them all first."
"Take all the time you need, the offer is always open to you whenever. And please, stop moving too much. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call the nurses; it won't hurt anyone to get help. I'll return in a few to do some tests. I need to do something first."
Colin then grabbed a clipboard on the desk nearby, placing it neatly on his forearm before leaving the room entirely.
"Okay, doctor." Lisa giggled.
Ena only stared and watched Lisa, and despite being heavily injured and having an almost neutral expression, Ena could see her delighted expression through that numb face; Ena thought of the opportunity given to Lisa. Many scenes flashed into her head in that instant, her face darkening and eyes slightly flickering.
That was until Lisa directed her glance at Ena, giving her a soft smile. Ena also smiled back until she saw her whole arm raised. Lisa would then continue to rub her knuckles on Ena's head.
"Ow! What! Why!?"
"What are you even doing here!? If your father finds out that you visited me, I might die for real!"
"I had to make sure I didn't kill you! How'd you even realize I was in the hospital!?"
Lisa sighed, raising her knuckles away from her crown and replaced it with a gentle pat caressing her head. "I overheard some nurses talking about a 'Cute kid who looks like a doll' in the reception, visiting someone all alone. Why did you go alone anyway? It's not like you to be so reckless and impulsive."
"I just wanted to see you," Ena said, giving her a meaningless glare.
"Isn't there someone else you should be worried about? You know, Edith doesn't have anyone to hold on to, no parents to comfort her; you should check up on her."
Ena stepped back, pulling her head away. A sting entered the corner of her head, growing and spreading onto her entire crown; a leech wriggled deep into her brain, though it wasn't true or real, the sensation was somewhat akin to what Ena was feeling. With it came screams, a familiarity that she had forgotten; those two terrorized her head, slowly making her succumb to a wrathful pain.
Her eyes flickered once again, and a tight but quiet groan escaped Ena's lips, fighting hard to endure the throb. She closed her eyes, her vision darkening, and with her closing them, the pain eased, slowly calming her.
After finding comfort, she steadily opened her eyes, only to be met with an immense darkness surrounding her. The sight wasn't unfamiliar; she had experienced the same darkness swallowing her just yesterday. Sweat dropped down on her, her face turning pale.
She ran, and kept running. Hoping that she might find an escape, but to no avail, there was none.
"Lisa! Where are you!" Ena cried out, hoping that she might save her, but no response or even an echo came back. She was trapped in the same place; who else was there to save her now? Herself? What's a child going to do in a void? Then again, was there really anything Lisa could do in this situation?
Of course, there was, even if it was just something small, at least she wouldn't be alone and trapped in isolation. She hated being alone; now that she was, she could only cry out for help.
After futile attempts, she gave up; there was nothing else she could do. That was when she saw a figure in the distance, a figure that smiled at her. The figure was close, but it felt distant in a way; Ena couldn't see her proportions, but she estimated it to be something like a child's, like hers.
Hope flashed into Ena's eyes. She walked before transitioning into a sprint; each step felt more distant in some way. Even though the figure was close, she couldn't reach her, and each step felt wrong. Without knowing, she stopped.
There she faced the figure; it was ironic that she had run and barely gotten anywhere near it, yet just when she stopped, she was just two feet away from it.
Both faced each other, like an uncanny reflection. Their eyes met—it was unusual to say the least. The figure hadn't moved, nor had it spoken, only stood in the looming darkness. As time passed, Ena became skeptical; she couldn't tell whether she was a human, but at the same time, maybe she already knew that the figure wasn't human and had only come to her to fix her Isolation.
Despite her skepticism, she didn't avoid her gaze but felt more compelled to do so. As they continued to stand still, a nearly silent whisper rang inside Ena's ear, growing louder each second. When she turned to look in the direction it came from, there was nothing, only the same background throughout.
She returned her gaze toward the figure, only this time, it was gone. Everything was gone, even the darkness. Ena noticed Lisa holding her, shouting in her ear.
"Lady Ena!"
"Lisa...?"
"Why did you start to scream in pain, and then go static all of a sudden!?"
"I..."
Large footsteps trailed to Lisa's room, getting louder with each second, revealing themselves to be Colin. His face was covered in cold sweat. His breath was focused, but out of rhythm. He watched the room, his eyes darting all around the room; everything was organized, no unusual or misplaced things anywhere.
And yet all he saw was Lisa out of her bed—Again—And a messy bed with some parts of it with blood. He leaned on the doorframe, resting slightly.
"I heard screaming. What happened? There was also a huge spike in mana energy in this part of the hospital. I thought something had happened."
Ena ran away from the room and made her way to the exit. She took a massive breath, looking behind her, looking deeply into the hospital before continuing her run.
***
Tiny droplets of water dropped from the sky, soaking Ena's clothes in the cold rain. Despite that, she remained stern and continued running.
Until finally she had arrived at a playground, in the distance, she saw Edith, cradling herself on a seesaw. Ena's expression lightened as she saw her. Ena quickly made her way toward Edith.
Edith raised her head, seeing a soft silhouette running toward her. Spikes of blood appeared everywhere in her vision, Edith's eyes turned bloodshot, her skin turned sensitive as a sudden terror filled her up entirely, making her fall off the seesaw.
Mud splattered all around Edith's clothes, but she wasn't bothered by it whatsoever and only screamed as Ena got closer. Ena's eyes widened as she saw her only friend, so afraid and shivering at the sight, felt nauseous. Ena bit the side of her lip in frustration before stepping closer.
"Edith! What's wrong!"
"Get back! Please... don't hurt me!"
Though it was raining, Ena could see the tears welling up in her face; she was crying, but for what? Why? She turned around to look behind her, but there was no one, other than herself.
"W-what are you saying! You're not making any sense!"
Edith forced her whole body to turn, crawling away as fast as she could, stumbling once or twice due to the slippery ground.
"H-hey, where are you going!? Why are you running away!"
Ena followed right behind her, going to her side before reaching her hand out. Only for Edith, to smack it away while falling on the ground completely.
"I don't want to die, please!"
Tears began to form in Ena's eyes, harmonizing with the strong rain, and she reached out her hands once again, hoping this time her friend might recognize her.
"Monster!—"
A large spike of blood pierced through the rain and made its way into Edith's body, raising her off the ground. Her right arm disconnected itself from her body, dropping beside Ena.
The rain was replaced by blood, pouring down diligently across the playground, making its way out of Edith's body, pigmenting the surrounding area. Ena's mouth gaped open, staring at the gruesome sight. She couldn't move, even if she did, would she?
The spike retracted itself, slowly making Edith descend to the ground. There was no life in Edith's eye anymore; she had died by her own hands, her own best friend.
Falling to her knees, she pressed her hand on Edith's corpse, tugging her slightly. "Edith... Wake up."
She kept tugging and tugging, but there was no response. The body was warm, but at that moment, all she could feel was a lingering cold, biting into her. Each tug only made it worse, spreading through her entire body as if a cube of ice slid down her skin, before it covered her whole body.
Only when she realized Edith was truly gone did she stop trying to wake her up. Her body felt heavy, her arms, legs, they all felt useless and numb. Then, in the midst of the incident, she suddenly felt an itch down her neck, and she forced her hand to move, raising it to her neck before scratching it.
She relieved herself, but the urge never left; the itch only got stronger with each stroke. To get rid of it, she accelerated her movement, but the only thing she received from that was a rash and a stronger itch. She gritted her teeth and pushed her nails harder.
The rash only worsened, turning from a deep red before becoming purple; that's when blood began to leak from it. Her hand and fingers were coated with the same blood and were pigmented to a deep crimson color. She delved her finger until it tore into her muscles and tendons.
A rhythm of splashing water echoed in Ena's ear. She turned her head to see who it was. In the distance, a familiar figure was sprinting toward her. The figure had an umbrella along, fighting through the harsh weather, and kept a straight path.
It was Lisa, but how? She was in terrible condition, running in that state would only worsen it, especially while in the rain.
Lisa forced her body to move through the rain. In the distance, she saw who she was looking for, until she turned her head in her direction. Ruby-like eyes glowed through the heavy rain and pierced through her entire body; it was a gaze she wasn't familiar with, a haunting one.
She couldn't tell who it was anymore, a monster perhaps? No, it's a child who still clung to her innocence, yet she couldn't shake off that uneasy feeling—Shivering even.
Lisa gripped the handle of the umbrella as tightly as she could. How could she ever blame a child for being a monster? Especially Lady Ena, she was the purest child she knew, and yet she did so anyway. She felt shame for herself; just because she looked slightly different, she was instantly a monster?
She brought herself forward, limply continuing her path.
"Lady Ena, you'll get a cold if you..."
Lisa's face turned upside down, seeing the corpse of a child just beside Ena. Her hand gave out on its own, letting go of the umbrella from her grasp. It wasn't long before her knees did as well. She pressed her hands on her mouth as she took in the horrific sight.
The child's corpse had a similar injury to the one Lisa had, but on a larger scale. She was dead, and Ena killed her, her own best friend.
"It's not my fault, right? Lisa?"
Ena smiled—laughing even—as she stared directly at Lisa. "I didn't mean it... You said that accidents happen all the time, so it's not my fault, right?"
Lisa, instinctively, crawled backward away from Ena, letting her body take control. Ena's eyes contracted as she saw the scene, a familiar scene, the same one Edith had seen before she was killed; she didn't need to think twice to know that she was afraid.
"It's not my fault, right!? Please say it's not my fault... Sob, I didn't mean it, please believe me."
It was her fault, and she knew it was, but she just didn't want to admit it. She didn't want to accept that reality; she didn't want to change, she didn't want her ability, she wanted to go back to being innocent, back before the awakening ceremony, but it was impossible; this time... There was no hope she could use or cling to. It was impossible to change the past.
"Say something!!!"
Lisa only stared at Ena from above, and even more blood escaped through her body. It was ironic that she was struck by the same ability but survived only to be attacked by it again.
Lisa forced herself to tear her own body apart, quite easily too, since the spike only penetrated the side of her, and the only flesh and bone connecting both of them were already thin. With all the strength she had left, she crawled to Ena's side and hugged her tightly in her chest.
"It's not your fault..." Lisa had said before her body slid to Ena's side and fell to the ground. Her eyes were the same as Edith's.
She was dead, Lisa had died, in Ena's hand.