Stop and stare...

[acorpseonthe_battlefield]

She went to bed with the wig. It's not exactly uncomfortable to wear compared to a helmet or a gas mask, and she's almost grown accustomed to its constant presence on her head. A soldier shouldn't grow too complacent with her surroundings anyway; she can't afford to take any chances, even if the locked door in front of her means that she's locked in her own world. No class mates, no Naegi...but Junko is always there. She doesn't need to look at the monitor. Even if its blank and showing nothing, it doesn't mean that it's switched off. And there are the hidden cameras all around, and her sister's presence continues to weigh on the room and on Mukuro's shoulders.

Their plan has so far gone without a hitch. She's played all her classmates, played her part well enough to fool all of them. There hasn't been a word of congratulations or gratitude from Junko, but that's OK. So long as Mukuro helps her sister accomplish her dream of spreading despair...that's good enough for Mukuro. It's all she wants, it's all she deserves.

But is it what Naegi deserves? That little voice inside her whispers.

A slight twitch of the corner of her mouth, a tiny rebellion of her heart against her desires that she couldn't clamp down on.

She's conquered battlefields and killed thousands. She's scorched and salted the earth, smashed buildings into rubble, coloured the sky with black smog and the ground with crimson blood, yet with all her power and strength the SHSL Soldier found herself unable to completely quash the mummers within her that pricked at her absolute confidence in her sister's plan.

Mukuro lies on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

Should she dare to ask her sister for mercy?

That's a question that bothers on blasphemy to SHSL Despair. Almost akin to treachery, and it could backfire terribly with consequences for Naegi. That's the last thing she wants.

Her eyes search the blackness above her, almost as if she's hoping for some writing to appear on the wall to tell her what to do. She doesn't have much time, the first execution should be coming up soon. What if it's Naegi who lands the unwanted role of the first victim? The thought made her stomach turn. His kindness that had won him Mukuro's loyalty and care would turn into his Achilles heel in this game of murder and betrayal. He wouldn't last; either he'll die at the hands of another or he'll die when the murderer gets away.

The ceiling stares back at her, no answers to give. Just a pitch black darkness-

-...Mukuro blinks. Did the darkness just, just move?

She doesn't even have time to react. Like the speed of a bullet, the blackness just...falls. It's not the ceiling exactly, she briefly muses right before the impact. It's more like an inky sheet of the ceiling that's hurtling itself down on her at a speed that she can't avoid.

A force slams into her and now she's being thrown up, up, up at a speed she can't control. There's no wind, no sound or light around her, but like a yoyo being snapped up to an unseen hand Mukuro's being...almost reeled, by a string that's attached to her body. The speed rips at her clothing, rips the wig to shreds and for an absurd moment she panics that she's been exposed, but all thoughts of her sister's wrath is temporarily put out of her mind as the break-neck speed starts to leave cuts on her body. She feels blood, she feels pain, and she feels skin and muscle stretched to their utmost limits. Like a rubber band, Mukuro is being pulled in different directions, and if this continued for much longer she is going to snap.

She should be scared, really. But that emotion had long been put to rest and all Mukuro feels apart from the pain is...relief. Selfish relief that she wouldn't have to make a hard decision.

Right before the breaking point is reached, Mukuro finally sees something else. That same dark ceiling. At the rate she's being flung at she's probably going to end up a bloody pile of broken bone and flesh. It's almost like she's been thrown off a building and is falling to her death but backwards. It's strange. She gazes at the fast approaching wall, forces her eyes open despite the stinging pressure on her eyeballs, because if she's dying she wants to die facing her death.

...and then abruptly she explodes into light. A reversal of gravity occurs as the shift between time and dimension ends and Mukuro falls from a different ceiling than that she had started with, crashing on the ground completely without a stitch on. There's blood streaming down her body from the slashes she had picked up from her journey, and the force that she lands with knocks her out before she manages to even catch a glimpse of her surroundings.]

Comments

[thirdarrow]

There are many things which other people do not expect, but strategists do. The shift in the tides of battle, the winds that stir clouds and mix weather, and the tipping of the hearts of men - instinct and prior knowledge lays them all out before the eyes of those with sufficient foresight. The flow of events become clearer, myriads of paths branching out with each decision made.

But no amount of prescience and instinct can prepare him for what happens next.

There wasn't even a single hint preceding its occurrence, no ominous stirring of foliage, no uncanny winds or resultant clouds that dash across the late afternoon sun. The peace of the study held, soft and silent, the air heavy with cogitation -

- then a sudden crack of splintered glass, and something flashes into existence a few feet above the ground.

No, someone. He rises from his seat reflexively and his spellbook flies to his hand - though there is no time to retrieve his sword from where it hangs on the wall. This could be an ambush - but for a ninja to make it this far into the keep would signal an adversary much more powerful than they expected. Is this Lord Kanbei's second backup plan? If that is the case, then it will mean that the flow has changed once again -

- no. The woman - it seems to be a woman - is badly injured. Even if she is a ninja, her safety is more important.

His hands do not leave his spellbook, but he does find a sheet to preserve her decency while he goes to call for help. A few retainers and pages arrive a while later - never mind their questioning gazes. He explains the situation to them the best he can, and hopefully they will believe him. For now, he keeps this mystery woman's identity vague - after all, only she could provide the answers they need. She's unconscious, which made the first aid process a little easier. One of the women is luckily well-versed in treatment, and after a while the new arrival's injuries have been cleaned and securely bandaged.

When Mukuro wakes up, she will find herself in a small room resting. A page has been assigned to guard her, and he is reading by the window.