Bloodstains

The flowers were dead, and the sky was gray. A girl sat upon the edge of darkness overlooking a broken and barren world. Her deathly pale skin clung to her bones like the suffocating sensation that enveloped her throat. Thoughts flooded into her like the rippling river of miasma she watched rise to the surface. It at‌e at the landscape like bugs to a rotten corpse.Through violet eyes, she viewed the chaos in front of her, yet remained expressionless like a doll — a shell of what it meant to be human. “I will forever mourn this—cursed—broken world. You trapped me here and made it my prison. My own personal hell.”The words left her like a blade to slice at her surroundings, and for a moment, her form disfigured into a beast’s. Uncanny and twisted.“There’s no worth in this world,” the girl said.She stood atop the darkness. Resolve bled into her expression before she took a single step forward. The chaos and miasma grew, dripping from her eye like a cursed tear as she endured, her body becoming polluted from within. In a world like this, purity is a lie. No one can escape it, or resist its call, nor change what is simply our nature.The girl opened her mouth to speak, and another voice accompanied her’s; distorted and broken. “This world—is hell.”Her body descended into the chaos below, leaving her silver hair to trail behind her like a single light in an endless darkness. Undisturbed by the world around it, laid a garden of white roses. Spring sunbeams shined above it, and the roses dined on the sunlight like hungry beasts feasting on flesh. They starved for more with every bite. The roses received their wish in the form of burning energy. Golden reiju, like the sun, crashed down into the garden below.“I almost think I’ve finally got this whole transmission ritual thing down, Nabi.”Smoke rose from the earth, giving way to Guisei's and Nabi’s forms. Reiju dripped from their bodies like liquid metal, slowly seeping into the symbol beneath their feet. Seven snakes arose from a prism with an eye at its center. To know all things. To master all things. A perfect representation of the symbol of pride and the academy that embraced such beliefs without question. Nabi took a shaky step forward. Guisei’s words hadn’t registered fully in her mind. Despite her worry, he avoided splitting their bodies across six other countries in some twisted form of limbo. Like any other emotion she held, Nabi kept it concealed like the hands carefully in the pockets of her hoodie. “You’re…getting better, I’ll give you that much, Greed,” she muttered loud enough for him to hear. Unlike Invid, the skies of Superbia were bright, yet sustained. The only thing restraining the hot spring sun from engulfing the country was a powerful barrier that surrounded it from all sides. Nabi walked through the gardens, with Guisei following behind. Her eyes scanned the trees, using them both as a guide, but also searching for unwatchful eyes.“Do you even know where we’re going?” Guisei asked.“Obviously. C:A shouldn’t be too far from that transmission point.”Guisei cocked a brow at the odd pronunciation.“So you’ve been here before?”Nabi continued walking, not caring whether Guisei dropped it or wasted more time asking things that barely mattered in such a situation. A nagging feeling to answer captured her, bringing forth a response. “A few times, never as a student,” she said. An invisible wall stood between the two while they walked. Unlike in the past, Guisei was silent, battling against the same sensations he felt in the hospital room. The spring light before him melted into a dull gray, and the stone courtyard the two walked upon was replaced with dirt and the trees towering above, leaving the sight of a crimson temple in front of him. It was familiar, yet distant in his mind. His body felt like it was on autopilot, and what took minutes felt like hours to Guisei. With a single blink, he returned to his own reality and the cold tension lingering in the air. Guisei’s tired gaze fell upon the castle of pure crimson. It stood 15 stories high with the symbol of pride at its peak, too tall in Guisei’s eyes. He lowered them to the sight of the guards. “You know this would be perfect if only it was a bit smaller,” Guisei noted before advancing up the stairs“Don’t get too enamored. The walls are painted with blood,” Nabi replied dryly. “Wait, what?” Nabi’s expression went stone cold. Guards saluted them and many other students that entered, but Nabi focused on the unnatural state of a tree in the distance. It was like a hazy cloud of vapor surrounded them, but even through it, Nabi could make out something—someone watching the two of them.“Let’s go,” Guisei muttered.He appeared to acknowledge the sight of them too, but he continued staring forward at the backs of each student, analyzing each one to see if they were a threat. The two entered an expansive entrance hall. Sunlight touched all around it with colored murals of stained glass depicting the images of students long past such a place like this. Guisei let his eyes fall onto symbols resembling the word “Exousia” among the images.Two shadowy figures observed the group. Their gaze lingered from above the rafters, like overseers to a larger scheme at play. Both wore cloaks to conceal themselves. Their eyes were like lasers analyzing the crowd of students. A light buzz came from the earpiece one of them wore, only for them to mutter something and shut it off. “I guess the rumors are true. The elusive daughter of Lord Wrath and Lord Greed’s watchdog are here. Looks like they’ve already taken their first step with this ‘Project’,” said one.An arc of light cascaded over the lenses of his glasses, and he adjusted the frames. His gaze drifted to the girl beside him. Her eyes pierced the sight of a young girl with brown hair and a peculiar metallic emblem on the edge of her dress. “Seems like someone from the Xestis Family is here as well. That’s ⸺ concerning,” the girl said. Her voice sounded wary and cold. She stared daggers at a brown-haired girl in the crowd. Her hands trembled with a feeling she couldn’t place, neither excitement nor fear, but instead both.“Deux, this isn’t your game to play. Just focus on Prota’s plan, and you’ll have your fun,” the young man said, disappearing into the darkness in a flash. Deux nodded in response and followed behind him. Her whispers lingered in the air to be unheard. “Bold of him to think games like this can’t have more players than just him to have some fun,” Deux said. Nabi had her sight on the sea of students in black uniforms, while a few stood out. Not much seemed different among them, yet what caught her eye was the sight of a large violet curtain masking the stage in front of them. The veil drifted apart like a crimson sea, giving sight to a young man. A smile grew on his face. He gazed out at the sea of black uniforms; his mind was fresh with the information of the four he was after. His excitement remained carefully underneath his casual demeanor. The violet of his eyes shimmered. The atmosphere shifted. His expression grew closer to that of nobility, cold and calculating. The room fell silent, compelled by his sudden shift in demeanor. An idle smirk fell upon his face. He looked for the other players in his game of cat and mouse, and with a light and charismatic voice, he addressed them. “Welcome to Curse Academy, I am Zephyr of House Clover.” He glared down at the students below him devilishly, breaking his gaze away for moments to look at a golden coin on the edge of the podium like it was a good luck charm. “Many of the Exousia before me had a saying among them: ‘To have power means nothing without wisdom to wield it and the fool who believes otherwise is simply prey in a world of predators’,” Zephyr said. “Unlike those outside of here, I couldn’t care less about the trivial things you and the nobility seem to hold. Familial ties mean nothing here. All that matters is your ability.” Zephyr glanced towards one student, noting the crimson hair and black sclera of his eyes, one born of demon blood. A chuckle escaped his lips. “Some think a simple social hierarchy can stop them from even reaching a level such as mine, but those are foolish thoughts and you were simply worthless from the beginning. If you wish for a fate unlike that…” Zephyr caught the gaze of the student, the silver of his eyes clashed against Zephyr’s unyielding violet. “Do whatever it takes, ride the coattails of the greater like House Akamon, manipulate the world into countless wars if you have to like House Kaze and Azamaku. Then, and only then, I can assure you are worthy of your power.” Zephyr reached out to the coin. Light wind swirled around the palm of his hand. He repeated a simple ritual he had done for so many years. A simple coin toss. Sunlight flooded into the room, the sun met its peak, and the coin went into the air. The atmosphere shifted. Energy, unlike reiju, filled the room. Time froze. Light shined off the coin with a clover engraved within. His lips parted to mutter something unheard by the frozen gazes around him. “Anima Series...” Time resumed, and the coin fell into his hand, bringing forth a confident smirk. Whether by luck or some other force, his gaze met Nabi’s peculiar crimson eyes. He found one. Zephyr’s smile grew at the result brought before him. He let his gaze wander for the other three who were to be there before he set the terms for his game, only to concede, unable to find them. He grew more intrigued by that fact. “I should clarify that there is a chance you all may have to achieve even greater heights than possible now. It appears as if the nobility have found it suitable to mock us by sending those with the potential to rival the Deadly Sins among us, and I have no intention of letting such a slight pass. So, if you can find them and kill them, you may just have enough merit to join the ranks of nobility.” Zephyr gave an innocent smile to Nabi. He set the terms of the game. Now all that he could do was to see their reactions to such conditions. His smirk faded, still unable to find the other three. “It seems the others just aren’t as sloppy as it seems,” Zephyr muttered under his breath, only to feel a deadly glare fire off his way. Like a well-timed bullet from a rifle, the golden eyes of Guisei shined, mirroring Zephyr’s excitement, catching his interest. What seemed like an hour of sharp looks being exchanged between Guisei and Zephyr only was a few seconds. Zephyr finished his speech. “But all that is to say. Welcome to Curse Academy. May the morning star shine upon you all. You are all dismissed.”