Dinorah, Dinorah

“I should’ve known…I should’ve KNOWN…” Agon repeated in his mind. “I should’ve known that he would do something like this…Olagna...Why…? Why did I let my guard down…? Why did I get comfortable?!? WHY?!?” Agon spiraled down a tube of self-deprecation, pacing back and forth. Fury built up inside him, and reason flew out of his mind.

“I’m going after them…!!!” He exclaimed. As he took his first step, he heard a familiar voice echo in the night sky.

“So…you’ll go back for him…but not for me…?” Agon stopped. His heart began to pound in his chest. A trail of shattered glass descended from the sky and piled up in front of Agon. It reformed to reveal Dinorah, standing proudly in her new hybrid form.

“D-Dinorah…?”

“Agon.”

He tried to step closer to her and reach his arms out in a hug, but she summoned a sharp piece of glass, pointing it right at his chest. He lowered his arms and softened his face.

“Dinorah?”

“What significance does that man have that I do not?” She asked.

“W…what…?” Without warning, she shot the shard of glass at him. He barely stepped out of the way, letting the glass graze his shoulder.

“The man who was captured. Why are you going back for him?”

“M-Mars…? Be-becuase…he’s in trouble!” Agon explained while holding his hand to his bleeding shoulder.

“I was in trouble, too.” She retorted. He froze. He knew exactly what she was talking about. It never left his mind. The betrayal. In a panic, he tried to change the subject.

“Y-you look different. What h-happened…?”

“This is the power of Poirot.”

“P-Poirot…?”

“The last Elbrus. The one you killed while I was unconscious." Her voice grew darker, yet her face appeared still and calm. She summoned two more shards of glass from her palm, keeping her aim on Agon.

“D-Dinorah, wait…” Agon tried to find the strength he had before. That courage to tell off Strauss, he needed that same courage now to tell Dinorah the truth. But before he could even utter a syllable, she interrupted him.

“I saw you, Agon. I watched you crush the core. I confided in you with my biggest dream, a dream that I was so often ridiculed for. It was ambitious, but I sought it out, nevertheless. I was elated when you offered to help me make my dream a reality. When I was chained up, I put my trust in you, depended on you. And you left.”

“Dinorah, please…It might seem crazy, what I'm about to say, but I promise you there is a good reason I did what I did.”

I’m not interested in your lies anymore. I’ve already suffered more than I ever cared to. I now have the weight of countless deaths upon my shoulders; of both the Elbrus and the humans.”

“The humans…?”

“Louger.” Agon's breath shot out of his mouth in a quick gasp. “Y-you…”

“I did not kill her, yet her death still plagues me. Rage and the lust for perfection consumed her mind and her blade. I acted only in self-defense.”

“What do you want from me, Dinorah…?” At that question, she fired the two shards of glass at his body, causing him to bleed even further. In their place, she summoned five more.

“Agh…I’m TRYING to explain things to you, but you won’t let me…!”

“Are you blaming me for your own betrayal?” The glass shards fired and lodged in his skin. The number of glass shards continued to grow each time.

“This is bigger than you or me…I’m a pawn…! I’m a useless puppet being strung along in this world. But I’m trying to do good!” Another barrage of glass burrowed into his body.

“P-puh…please…! I need to help him…!”

“Why didn’t you help me…? Why…?

Tears began to roll down his cheek. He couldn’t come up with any good reason. All he could do was sit there and bleed and cry. “You’re right…I-I’m sorry….s-sorry…I…I should’ve come back for you…” The tears became more pronounced. “I had no other choice…I don’t even wanna do this…every minute that goes by…I hurt…”

Dinorah watched his tears hit the floor. It oddly reminded her of when they first met. The strange blob she saw above water, crying into the pond, was now vividly clear, in the same distress. She readied another round of glass shards, but halted as she saw Agon spread his arms wide open. He patted his left chest.

“Hit me. Do it.”

She paused and tilted her head.

“Do it, Dinorah. Please. I’m tired of this game. I don’t wanna play anymore.” His sniffles and snorts made his words nearly incomprehensible. “If you’re gonna kill me, then do it now. I don’t wanna spend another minute in this messed-up fantasy. I wanna go home, and I…I don’t even know where that is anymore…I’m tired of being in pain. I’m tired of messing things up. I’m sick of being scared. So please…”

“Silence filled the air. Dinorah couldn’t help but see the boy crying in the pond every time she looked at him. She lifted her arm and shot the glass shards…right past his body.

“Whuh…?” He looked behind him to see all the shards that were originally meant to kill him.

“Agon,” he turned around to see Dinorah crouched down in front of him. She stared at him blankly, then hugged him tightly. The shards of glass that were in his body dissolved all at once.

“D-Dinorah…”

“I’m tired as well. I’m tired of this cycle of pain and anger. Even though my blood boils with hatred for what you did, my heart aches to see you like this. I can’t stand to watch one more thing fade away, all at the hands of hatred. I don’t want to see another soul lost to needless violence. This senseless killing…the back and forth…” She stopped speaking as she felt Agon hug her tightly. She was caught off guard.

“Dinorah…please…help me…help me put an end to one of the greatest plagues of this world. This cycle of hatred...please.”

Tears began to well up in her own eyes as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. She opened her lips in a small whisper.

“Okay…”