Stagnant

“Hey boss!” The dracoling called as he rounded the corner.

“Shaw, what are you doing?”

“Well boss, there was something I meant to tell you…”

“And you thought this was the best place?” Absalon looked at Shaw as if he were a rat.

Shaw peered over at Hiiro, then the crying Manako.

“Does it matter?” A crazed expression spread across his face.

“Just get it over with,” Absalon says, coming his hair with his hand.

“Well, the girl I mentioned before, that evil eyed girl.”

Absalon motioned for him to continue.

“She was… but she came back just as I disconnected the carts.” Shaw explained.

“And you didn't stop her?” Absalon’s voice lowered.

“No, no,no,no, I did. I stopped her from boarding but then she…” Shaw quickly explained.

“What?”

“She jumped! She jumped toward the cart!”

Absalon, for the first time Hiiro had seen, looked surprised. Manako, from the corner, jolted at the mention of the girl.

“What?” Absalon now seemed shaken. I felt like I knew her from somewhere… It's like it's on the tip of my tongue… like an itch I can't quite reach. “What happened to that girl?”

“She fell onto the tracks, that fall definitely killed her at that speed.”

“Wha?” Manako muttered from the back corner. Her voice portrayed exactly what she was thinking. She’s given up.

Hiiro’s head falls to the ground, unable to believe what he had just heard.

“Demon. I have one final question for you,” Absalon says, turning to Hiiro.

“What?” Hiiro did not lift his head from facing the floor.

“That girl, the one with the scary eyes, what's her name?” Absalon stared down at Hiiro with eyes that peered straight through him.

“... Neia Sampsa.” Hiiro answered.

A few moments went by as Absalon stared down Hiiro.

“Neia… Hah, well… It truly doesn't matter, since she's dead.” Absalon turned towards where he had entered and began to walk away. “Shaw, come.”

With Shaw following him, Absalon was about to turn the corner, when-

“Hold on, I still have a question.” Hiiro Says, with his head still facing the ground.

“Hm? Fine, that was our deal.”

“Why did you attack the train?”

“We had several reasons,” Absalon says. “ The first was to obtain the cargo being transferred by the school, the next to obtain the Noble blood of the Orlaiths, and the third was for you.”

“For me… Why? What do you want with me?! Didn't you just say I shouldn't be in this world?!” Hiiro cried out.

“That would be another question, to which I am under no obligation to answer. However, as a parting gift to you, i'll tell you…”Absalon turned back to look at Hiiro and said “Your gonna become our protection, a being similar to that of the Spectre Kings.”

With a smile, Absalon and Shaw turned the corner and left.

The only sound in the room being the quiet sobs of someone in mourning.

–

Manako had barely known the Sanpaku-eyed girl.

One would be hard-pressed to even call them friends, despite what they may have said.

“Hk, Hk” Her cries echoed in the gray chamber she had woken up in.

She had moved in front of Eris Tinea to stop her from being captured. Now, she was locked up, unaware if she had even helped.

In the cell was one other person. A boy who’d tried to calm her down.

To be honest, she didn't like him.

She didn't think that was only because he was a man.

Simply, he seemed like he'd say kind things just to seem kind, as an obligation.

She hated liars. Although childish, it was an absolute fact that she despised those who lie and cheat and scam.

It was an absolute fact that her late mother had told her to trust.

Almost like a curse, that talk with her mother kept getting her betrayed, scammed, and hurt.

These people had lied to her and kidnapped her.

These people were going to kill her.

And she couldn't do anything.

Because she was scared.

Because she was weak.

Because she hadn’t changed.

Because she trusted.

She was going to die.

Her mothers words played in her mind.

She had lied.

The words of the girl she didn't know the name of ran through her mind.

“I'll look out for you over the next few days.”

She had lied, she had said that she would protect her.

Now she was gone.

Manako was all alone.

She was dead.

“Dont worry,” the boy says from across the room. “Il protect you…”

Spouting idealistic crap, the boy says that to Manako.

Manako ignores it.

She ignored it all.

“How am I supposed to trust that, huh!”

She wanted to ignore it, but…

She was just so angry.

“You say that, but you've done nothing but fail! Get off your high horse!” Manako Says.

“I..”

She was angry at him.

She was angry at the people who had tricked her.

She was angry at the man who had said he believed her about her home's tragedy, then abandoned her.

She was angry at the amethyst-haired woman who had told her to attend Saionia, that it would help her move on.

She was angry at the girl, the girl who had promised to protect her.

She was angry at herself for being so fucking useless. For being unable to change, unable to move on. For relying on that girl.

“That's what I thought!” The boy didn’t reply.

She couldn't trust anybody.

Ever since those men tore apart and burned her life.

She couldn't trust anyone.

Even herself.

“Even she died.”

And I’m all alone.