Flux: "P–please… don't hurt others. If you want… torture me all you want… just please—"
Hikari (smirking): "Hmm… okay… but this policy only applies to your best friend and your mom. Your girlfriend? That's the one thing that can really torture you… right?"
Flux (eyes wide): "W–what does that mean?!"
Hikari: "You'll find out soon enough."
---
[A Dark Chamber]
Hikari: "Alright… come in."
Piko enters, bowing slightly, his voice uneasy.
Piko: "Y–yes, Lord?"
Hikari: "Are you and the others ready?"
Piko (forcing a grin): "Hehe… yes, Lord."
Hikari: "Good. Levitation."
Flux's body jerks upward, wrists burning against invisible binds, legs kicking helplessly as he's dragged midair.
Piko (thinking): Now I see why everyone calls my Lord insane…
The chamber doors creak open. Flux is carried inside, suspended.
Pitch black. Silence.
Hikari: "Light… on."
A servant flips the switch.
Flux's pupils contract instantly. His voice breaks.
Flux: "…Mineko…"
She hangs against the wall, wrists shackled above her, clothes tattered, body covered in bruises. Her hair clings to her tear-stained cheeks. Her knees tremble, barely holding her up.
Flux: "What did you do to her?!"
Hikari (calmly stepping forward): "Relax. I don't hide behind cowardice… No, I prefer to break the people you love right in front of you. To watch you rot inside while you can't do a thing."
Mineko flinches as Hikari's shadow falls over her.
Flux thrashes violently, wrists bleeding from the strain.
Hikari (grinning): "Shall we begin… the Core Dismantling?"
---
[The Ritual]
Nine masked figures emerge from the shadows, forming a circle around Mineko.
Flux: "No… NO, don't you dare—"
His scream is drowned out by the chamber's echo—chains rattling, boots stomping, and the cold scrape of metal against stone.
Then—
A sharp cry.
Flux: "MINEKO!!"
Her voice breaks into hoarse gasps, choked sobs slipping through, each sound ripping deeper into Flux's chest.
He thrashes harder, veins bulging, vision blurring, every cry hammering into his skull.
Time becomes meaningless.
The cries grow weaker… softer… until they're nothing but a frail whimper.
Hikari crouches before Mineko, tilting her chin with cruel gentleness.
Hikari: "Still conscious? Good. We're not done."
Flux: "STOP! PLEASE—"
Hikari (snarling): "No. You'll watch. And you'll remember."
---
[The Last Glimpse]
Mineko lifts her head, trembling, blood at the corner of her lips. Her eyes meet Flux's.
Mineko (weakly): "S–sorry… I… l-love you… even after—"
Her words dissolve into a cough.
Flux: "Mineko… no, don't close your eyes… please, please—"
She gives him the faintest smile… before her head slumps forward.
Silence.
Hikari straightens, dusting off his hands like an artist admiring his finished work.
Hikari: "To remind you, Flux… some futures should never be interrupted."