"Shizuru, calm down!" Whether it had been screeched, or uttered, the Archmeister hadn't a clue. Still suspended within the air, she took no notice of the vermilion-redhead. Or in particular, no regards to life whatsoever.
With her element cast, she simply watched her once fellow Otome fall. Their GEMs failed before her; their broken bodies engulfing in dazzling emerald. She had felled them. Slaughtered them like cattle. But for what reason other than war? If her dead lover had been within their place, would she had done the same?
Why was she even within this hopeless battlefield?
"...Shizuru!"
With a smaller body smashing into her back, the Archmeister was sent sprawling in the air. She struggled, having found Mai's arms securely wrapped around her throat. Set in this chokehold, her whole form stiffened against the younger woman's.
"You're losing yourself!" The Zipangese Meister bit, never letting down. She hushed into the elder's ear further, as if expecting it to help their situation. It didn't. Instead the Archmeister grasped at Mai's forearms desperately.
Through loss, anger, or vengeance was beyond the two. Yet still Mai controlled their movement. It confused Shizuru; panicked her, and still Mai remained. Their bodies tightly pressed together-the Archmeister relented. "Why?" She forced, hands still tensely around Mai's forearms. "Why?! Why do you insist on doing this to me?!"
"You've done enough, Shizuru. Stop now, before it's too late…"
"Before what? The Otome's imminent downfall?" The Archmeister almost spat. Yet even within the chaos of her mind, she forbid the notion. Her grace was crumbling at the edges; tearing her apart. But here they were, two Otome clinging together as death spurred on around them.
"It's quiet now. Can't you hear it?"
Stretching her gaze throughout the battlefield, Shizuru paused.
The Black Valley was all but empty. Not a single Otome tower was in sight, let alone the flying warriors. Were they alone? Had they won, failed? Either way, Shizuru's heart sank.
A chill pitted against her gut, and she tore at Mai again.
"How does this make anything better?! The silence is what we fear! If I can not hear her, then..."
A/N: I'm trying something different here. I decided to make the chapters excessively short for faster uploads. What impact this will have remains a mystery for now.