⌏▫☆ Hwang Eunha◆▫. ¸

Would you believe me if I told you that I had a friend who had lived the future? A future where humanity perished, and the demonica won?

A future where I joined the other side, and became a demon myself?

She prevented many disasters with her foresight. Stray Cloud Hives that had been overlooked were discovered before they grew too large. The mass defensive movement of the second and third stratum never happened as Horyuji Island never fell.

And most pivotal in my own life, she prevented the death of my father who should’ve died four years ago.

Through various exploits from the information she knew in her past life, she was able to network and bring together the right people to advance humanity’s movement in an absolute war.

From colonizing the fourth stratum to the invention of new technology which would soon revolutionize the way we fight.

For her contributions, she was likely to be remembered as a key historical figure for decades to come.

My best friend and rival.

“EunHa, marry Kenji and never step foot in the military ever again.”

You see, in the future she lived, I became a Lieutenant Commander in place of my father.

As Lieutenant Commander, I led my future people to victory through countless battles.

Triumph and glory blinded the world from the dangerous truth.

I had become inhuman.

A demon.

A world where I ended humanity.

A world where I killed Kenji with my own hands.

It didn’t matter how well I performed. In the most crucial of moments, I was always the one to screw the world over.

It has been proven countless times.

This curse of mine.

She knew the leading events at the end of mankind.

The many horrible things I did to her, Kenji, and the world, sitting on top of my throne bathed in blood.

The end of the world which I had caused, and still refused to admit that I was at fault.

She gave me so many chances, too many to call it generous.

So I couldn’t take it.

The happiness she wanted me to experience in this life… marry Kenji and be a mother.

After all, in a world where people are dying every day, children are our future.

She knew the future, so it must be reasonable to think that humanity would be saved if I just listened to her.

Create a family.

Produce a lot of children.

And watch them grow up.

Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

The love I threw away?

Do I regret my decision now?

No.

I don’t really.

I’ve always known myself to be a mentally unstable person. Even if I did it for Kenji, I know the marriage would bring nothing but problems.

It would never end.

I can’t stand the thought that I would bring eternal pain to the person I love the most.

What if my children were born with the same curse as me? What if they grow up a broken person because of my inability to be a mother? What if getting married never did anything to stop humanity’s demise?

I can’t possibly let Kenji go through any of this.

The brief pain of loss would be better than eternal regret.

I know he can do well.

I know he can do even better without me.

He will grieve, regret, and remorse.

The thought of it, agonizing; a sight I wish to never see.

But, for such an amazing person like himself, he will surely move on after my death.

It’s enough to know that I will forever remain a memory in his heart.

I shall be the catalyst that lights his flame.

I will no longer tie him down with my tears.

All for you Kenji.

For I am such a cruel person.

A curse born to destroy the world.

Sorry.

◜\⌝▫◆▫.

Do you believe in fate?

Some people refuse to acknowledge the question, others dismiss it as something irrelevant to their life.

As for myself?

Yes.

I believe there is such a thing as fate.

Only recently did I come to accept something so amorphous.

When I was younger, I denied all notions of a fixed destiny.

Refute and disprove.

My whole life had been a mission to prove that fate couldn’t bind me.

I thought that believing in fate was for the weak. An excuse for the irresponsible.

If things went wrong, it was fate’s fault. If things went right, it was thanks to their effort.

Isn’t this how people view the world?

After all, why would anyone admit their whole existence to being a puppet to the puppeteer known as fate?

Whereby all good and bad was not an outcome effort, but by external circumstance?

No one would believe such bullshit.

People did not die because of the demonica.

They died because we hadn’t sufficiently prepared.

Humanity was still standing not because of chance.

We were still standing because of our tenacity to survive.

Humanity would end because I’m alive.

Hence I should just die.

After all the searching and sacrifice, the answer to achieving my life’s purpose turned out to be so simple.

So certain, so obvious, anyone could’ve thought of it.

If I just disappear alongside that fate.

People would stop suffering.

Kenji would survive and live happily.

And humanity would live on.

It was truly ironic that XiaoLe refused this suggestion until I showed her how serious I was about saving the world.

I was the fool in my own story.

Become a hero and save the world?

Shut up.

All I ever did was a desperate act to save myself from reality.

My efforts were futile to begin with.

To save the people I o’ so desired.

I just had to die.

It was that simple.

Snap.

Cinnamon’s biting sound took me out of my mind.

I woke up lost in thought, having realized that I was staring at the finger where our engagement ring used to be.

“Cinnamon is bored. He says he wants to take a walk after this.”

Two days have passed since that battle.

I was told that not many people died, only a few came out injured.

For the most part, the subjugation of the Category 2 Cloud Hive was successful.

But.

There was bound to be a bigger disaster.

One that would… reap more lives.

Before that happens…

“Can I join?”

I asked.

“Of course.”

The Black Siren answered promptly.

 

.- ▫☆\*: .｡ _ ▫.｡.:*☆▫.-⌎

 

Cinnamon is Rize-chan’s pet sky turtle.

She introduced me to him just yesterday. And ever since then, I’ve seen it staring at me with those sparkling eyes more frequently than I check my own appearance.

Is my hair off somewhere? Why was it looking at me like that?

I have no idea how Rize-chan was able to form a bond with a creature like this. A few snaps were all it took for her to interpret his words, and it wasn’t random guessing either.

She could ask him questions for me and receive answers. When I asked if Cinnamon could do tricks, it showed off a spin.

With chains that bound my arms, like a pet, I was being yanked along the passageway by Rize-chan.

The sight of a young girl walking an adult must make for quite the joke.

I heard things like:

‘The Black Siren has gone completely batshit crazy. Be careful.’

‘Careful not to get too close, you might be her next target.’

‘Who is that girl? How pitiful.’

It was a great contrast to the respect Rize-chan received when she first brought me in. What the hell happened for people to suddenly see her so differently?

“Ms. EunHa, do you want to check out the garden?”

“I think I’ve gone there once before.”

“Really?”

Yes. I went there Ms. Chu.

“Let’s go again.”

With no right to refuse, I joined her at the coral garden for a second time.

On the way, I saw the field of battle which took place two days ago. There was not a single speck of blood anywhere on the platform.

The efficiency of protocols set in handling the aftermath of the battle was… astounding.

So this is the might of humanity’s Last Bastion.

“This way Ms. EunHa.”

“Ow.”

Snap.

Cinnamon’s fin grazed my ear as he went on ahead of us.

He jumped at the seaweed patch up ahead and started biting.

It was a silly sight to see him tuck in and out of his shell, struggling to wring the green piece of vegetable off the stalk.

Rize-chan shook her head.

“He tries too hard sometimes.”

Those words felt like they were meant for someone else.

She reached over and broke seaweed into smaller pieces. She invited Cinnamon over.

The sky turtle refused to accept, stubbornly holding onto the invulnerable seaweed

“Cinnamon! I have some here!”

Rize-chan complained.

The turtle continued in its struggle.

“Ah, figured.”

She gave up persuading the turtle and let the seaweed piece in her hand scatter. They caught the wind and drifted higher and higher into the sky.

I realised that she was destroying public property. I remember seeing a sign earlier saying no breaking the coral plants.

“What’s your favourite coral?”

Rize-chan asked.

“I never thought of it.”

“Me neither.”

Then why did you even ask?

“But if you were to pick one, which would you?”

“Maybe… this one.”

I don’t know what species of Staghorn Coral this was, with bright blue calcium stems and a pale yellow tip.

It was a random pick, the one which caught my eye at the moment.

“…You didn’t even put effort into that did you?”

“…I said I don’t know what coral I like.”

“So you arbitrarily lied. Boo—”

So what? Why does it matter if I lied or not? As long as it prevents someone from getting hurt.

“Trivia, coral is an animal!”

“I know that.”

“I didn’t either!”

The hell. She’s basically musing herself a bunch of bullshit.

She kept throwing me nonsensical questions like how the city in the third stratum looked like, and what kind of food I preferred.

“Next question! Why can you fly?”

“That’s because… I’m a mutant.”

“Say what?!”

As I’ve mentioned before. I was born with a special constitution.

And part of this special constitution is why I attract demonica.

In the future, I would also become one of them.

But I don’t know what happened for that change to occur. XiaoLe didn’t know either.

From receiving direct wounds to accidentally ingesting their blood–so far, no change in my biology had been seen after so many close contacts.

“Show me!”

“If I do that, I’ll become a magnet for demonica.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. Because they think of me as fish when I fly.”

“Oh~ so was that why there were so many of them on your tail that day? I almost died from a heart attack, you know?”

As if she could.

“But there is no one around. So just quickly please?”

I rolled my eyes.

The veins near the surface of my skin glowed with the appearance of a wing-like halo behind me.

“Wwwoooooowww!!”

It is really cool to be the only human able to fly.

“How much weight can you hold in the air?”

“Basic equipment.”

“Then you can carry me! Uwa! I’ve always wanted to fly!”

She reached out her hand towards me.

I let my feet fall back to the ground.

Her expression cracked.

I felt as if I had just completed some huge achievement. The expression of utter disappointment on her face was surreal.

Cinnamon whizzed by and sat on my head.

Snap. Snap.

“No fair! Cinnamon, get off her head!”

“You know.”

“…What?”

“I have a question of my own.”

“What is it?”

“How did you send an orca flying with your fist?”

“Because I’m strong!”

“No way. Let me look at your arm.”

“N-No!”

She must be wearing some sort of special exoskeleton underneath. It didn’t seem impossible that support equipment like this, invented by Kenji’s engineering team, had reached soldiers on the first stratum.

A spark of flame suddenly coalesced.

“This is why I can punch the orca.”

A fireball about the size of a small clock.

It stood between us, floating in the air.

I doubted my eyes.

“Back then I used reinforcement magic combined with a little wind magic.”

The flame dissipated, replaced by a sphere of water.

“What…”

“What do you think? Cool right?”

The water sphere froze up into ice.

As far as I understood, there existed no such thing as magic. Thaumaturgy studies existed as a branch of science, but nothing about creating flames from thin air ever existed… or should have existed…

No.

It’s not far-fetched to believe that it does.

Meeting Kenji who came from Earth, befriending XiaoLe who was living her second life.

If those two had these kinds of experiences, there was no telling that there could be people with other, more tangible supernatural powers.

Magic could exist.

Rize-chan was no different from them in that regard.

 

-☆▫.-▫.｡.:* ▫⌎.☆\*: .｡ ▫.-

 

The day passed like that.

We went to a few other places. The engineering department, infirmary, exercise hall, and Fortress cockpit among other key facilities required in the operation of this massive vehicle.

We spent the afternoon playing cards. She also brought along a few of her favourite novels.

Of course, none of the activities really took my mind off imminent death.

The sun was soon to set on another day.

It was peaceful.

For humanity’s front lines, this place was beautiful.

To live off the grid like this.

And fending against demonica.

It sure is one hell of an interesting life.

“Why did you stab your husband?”

What kind of question…

“I’m guessing you had a good reason. Were you forced to marry someone you don’t like?”

“No. It’s nothing like that…”

“Then? The fact that you stabbed him means you don’t like him.”

“It’s not that I didn’t like him, okay?”

“Really? Then why did you stab him? Isn’t that a contradiction?”

True. Wasn’t that a contradiction?

Maybe for my sins, I have to deal with the conundrum this stupid girl was trying to put me through.

“It’s not something I can just explain.”

“Waaw! I don’t care. Just try to tell me, tell me!”

She tugged at my dress hard, begging as if an idiot would over candy.

“No.”

“I beseech you to tell me right now!”

She was really whiny for a brat.

My lips loosened.

“He won’t die from that.”

She stopped and listened.

“I made sure he would survive.”

He will survive.

He must survive.

I can’t imagine someone like him, who had been living for years with a cursed person like myself, dying from something like this.

“But why would you even hurt him, to begin with?”

“Because I loved him.”

You wouldn’t understand.

The kind of torture I had to endure to reach a conclusion like this.

An option that was much more foolproof than quitting the military and living the rest of my life in peace.

Death.

“…He would be better off without me.”

What the hell am I saying? Is there any reason to tell her my sob stories?

“So by stabbing him, you got yourself a death sentence.”

Yes.

It was my safest, most assured option to ensure my death.

Stabbing him during the wedding would leave the deepest impression on everyone. Except for my brother, nobody else wished for my death, as much of a necessity as it was.

I suddenly recalled XiaoLe’s expression.

Most probably because I was expecting her, of all people, to act ahead of everyone else.

It left the most lasting expression on me. The state of shock, remorse and…

Guilt she showed.

I wondered just how much compassion a person would have to feel guilt for a monster like myself.

Why, despite everything I did, would you not have just killed me?

Really.

You should know better having experienced life once.

Seriously…

“Ah. I can somehow relate to that.”

“…What?”

“Yup. I know that feeling, that feeling of, wouldn’t it be better if I didn’t exist?”

“…”

“But that was pretty long ago. I’ve gone through that period and stepped out the other side, so I know how painful that feels.”

Does she really now…

“And that’s why, I’m your best therapist! You can tell me anything if you need an ear.”

She’s unbelievable.

“Impossible.”

“It’s not impossible. I can prove it to you!”

“You need to kill me.”

“…”

“You have to. Before you regret it.”

I thought she was messing with me.

Even now I can’t be completely certain she wasn’t.

But.

Having been with her the past three days, it made me realise something.

She probably had no intention of killing me.

If she had, I wouldn’t be sitting here like this.

And.

Just the vibe of the whole squad and company in charge of me didn’t exude any hostility.

Everyone was friendly, and kind.

At the worst time of my life.

I was receiving compassion.

Hold it in.

Just hold it in a little longer.

Everything will be over soon.

A few days more.

A little more and then it’ll be over.

I soothed myself.

If there’s anything I’ll regret before death.

It would be meeting this girl sitting in front of me.

 

¸☆▫.-⌎.- ▫☆\*: .｡ _ ▫.｡.:*

 

“EunHa. Has anyone told you how nice it is to touch your hair?”

Rize-chan asked as she ran a comb through my hair.

Pearl blonde, reminiscent of that of a glowing field of sand.

“Yes.”

There were two.

First was my personal aide, MinGyeo-unnie who did my hair whenever I had an important meeting I needed to attend.

Second was…

“Then I’m third!”

This lass should die.

I turned around, and my hair which she held between her fingers slipped onto the bed.

“Rize-chan, can I ask you a real question?”

“What question isn’t real?”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Then?”

We faced each other, the hem of the similar nightgown we wore overlapped as our knees almost touched.

Her raven black hair and clear aureate eyes created such a contrast.

Beguiling.

She easily ranked among the few most beautiful people I’ve met.

“You don’t wish to kill me. Right?”

Even so.

She had a promise she couldn’t fulfil.

“I never said that.”

She pouted.

“Then why aren’t you doing anything? Do you plan to make me regret death?”

“Of course not. I’d rather give someone a painless death than torment them like in some novels.”

“Then when are you going to give me that painless death you promised?”

She tilted her head. Her eyes glanced away before meeting mine once more.

“When I feel like it?”

I was left stupefied by such a bare response.

Staring deeper and deeper into her eyes, I felt my body relax as—

Her jewel-like eyes seemed to dazzle in a mysterious light.

I was fully convinced that I couldn’t die as long as I was by her side.

Not when she didn’t permit it.

It was insanity.

Just… what did she want from me?

◜\⌝▫◆▫.

Snap. Snap.

“Good night Cinnamon. Good night EunHa-san.”

“G-Good night…”

She slept in my room yesterday too. But I couldn’t get used to her presence.

Just as she did the first day, I lay on the bed while she slept in the sleeping bag on the floor.

I started to think perhaps everything had been a misunderstanding.

It wasn’t that she planned to torture me.

She had genuine intentions to spare my life.

And if put into that perspective then all her actions made sense.

She wasn’t trying to make me regret my decision for the sake of self-pleasure.

She was trying to make me regret to see.

That there was an alternative to death.

Selfishly.

She was telling me I could follow my desire to live.

But.

I gripped my dress and sat up.

I can’t give into her serenade.

The Black Siren’s compassion and mercy.

It was just like Kenji.

I had to kill myself somehow.

Before my will broke.

And the fear of death consumes me.

But how?

I carefully grabbed the curtains.

I wound the fabric around my neck and tied another end to the edge of the bed frame.

It was tight.

Using the weight of my own body as the vice, I leaned back as if falling. The fabric tightened until I couldn’t breathe.

I felt warm liquid slip down my cheeks.

The pain against my neck grew more intense as my body relaxed more and more.

I grabbed the fabric that clung tight around my neck with both hands.

I’m scared.

As all sounds disappeared, the only thing I could hear was my loudly thumping heart.

I’m scared.

I began to struggle as my lungs pleaded for oxygen.

Let go.

I writhed, the hands which kept the tension of the fabric constant trembled greatly.

Let go…

The world began to darken. My head felt incredibly light.

EunHa…

I dangled half lying as I waited for my time.

I don’t want to die…

Snap.

A shadow moved past me, and the curtain split into two.

I fell back onto the floor. Air I so desperately needed entered my lungs.

As I began to cough violently, she grabbed me by the shoulder and stroked my back.

Snot, spit and tears covered my eyes as unholy sounds left my orifices.

It was terrifying.

To think I would be capable of something like this…

I don’t want to die.

I want to live.

Because as long as there was someone out there who cared for me.

I couldn’t die.