Open the Bridge

What the hell is happening?! I can't keep up with it... and my head hurts!

It was like a migraine. I lost myself, whatever small ounce of personality I once had completely vanished and now here I was, lying down, with Illya standing right above me, looking down on me.

I was scanning the ground with my eyes wide open... but I don't know what I was looking for.

Illya's hand clasped around my throat and rose me up, letting the dust and pebbles fall from the indents of my tattered clothing. I heard it hit the ground and I was lifted, far enough off of my feet to have my brain start to worry even more.

While looking at Illya, I remembered so much about my childhood. I remembered Shike and Alexia, and when I looked at her now, all I could think about is how she took that from me.

It's obvious she has her own goals, as we all do, but knowing that her goals intersected with mine... left a sour taste in my mouth.

Her look was starting to change as if she wanted to say something. I hated her. I hated her with every fiber of my body, every ounce of my intellect, and every bit of my strength. I felt like this couldn't be matched by anybody else. The hate that exits within me... it's poison. It's a poison that I want to kill her... but I'll be lying if I said it didn't feel good.

My mind was imploding on itself. All parts of me, that I thought I used to have, vanished as soon as I realized this world was fake. Dying for this world seemed meaningless, and I was selfish, wanting to live a life someplace that mattered. Someplace with Sky, Shike, and Alexia. With everybody.

But no.

Illya took that from me, as she took everything from me. And she was here, holding me up, after taking more. How much more could you possibly want?

"Yeah... I hate you..." I mumbled.

"As if that wasn't obvious. With your friends dead or weakened to the point of organ failure, I must know... what is going on in your head?" Illya asked me.

…Head...?

"It's been so long since I've lost something important to me, and I'm so numb to it, I forgot what it's like. Tell me, Belle, what's the emotion you're feeling right now?" Illya asked me again.

…I'm forgetting something, aren't I?

I looked at Illya's forehead, watching the strands move beneath the surface of her skin.

Like tiny worms... but I knew, just as when Mitra hit her, that what lies ahead is what lies underneath her skin.

So close... it's right there...

The bridge!

Her head... I just had to hit Illya's head. I can open the bridge!

My arms were completely dead from exhaustion, and from being severed... but I still had my legs. I still had a chance...

"I feel... happy..." I muttered to Illya.

"Happy? Really? Why do you feel happy?" She asked again. Her fingertips adjusted themselves lightly around my neck and I smiled.

"You weren't there, not in my eyes at least. When Sky, Shike, Alexia, and I were all kids and playing with our toys, we talked about an evil supervillain that we all had to come together to fight. I think we named her... Olive? Something like that." I said. I adjusted myself in her grasp, but as I moved, she set me down on my feet to look at me at eye level.

"Olive, huh? Well, that's not quite my name." She said with a slight smile.

"Olive was pretty powerful, you know? She had these cool powers and she could fly when nobody else could. She had strength that accidentally broke the arm off Sky's toy. It was funny in the end, but he was pretty upset at the time. But I was the one to finish Olive off, at least to Shike. I struck Olive in the head and put a dent in the doll's head. It was funny." I said to Illya.

"I'm glad you're reminiscing before you die here," Illya said, shoving her saber into my chest.

"So many years... of playing together... all for it to come to an end after an outsider joined our group... I knew we shouldn't have accepted you... but you taught me a valuable lesson." I mentioned it to Illya.

I looked at her stance. Her hand was still on the handle, but I could easily push past it... I need to hit her in the head with something... can I lift my leg that high?

"Hello? What was the lesson I taught you, Belle?" Illya asked me. She didn't move... so I knew it. It was now, or never.

"You just can't beat a person who won't give up, " I told her.

Ice shot out of the ground and I felt my teeth freeze over, my eyes gloss from the cold, and my insides freeze as well. Illya was trapped, I was blinded, and we were both stuck in our positions.

I pushed into her saber, cutting my insides open and letting the hot blood turn the ice in my body to water, and I threw my head back, knowing Illya was afraid of what I would do.

And my head collided with hers.

This impact almost made me blackout, but the sound of it alone was the noise of skull-shattering force. I couldn't see anything, but feeling the chunks of bone come out of my own head felt... terrifying.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" Illya screamed out. I knew I was close to dying, but I was happy I made her mad, one last time.

I was content with dying in this moment, and even felt my body drift off... but I was brought back to reality by one more line of text in my eye.

[ACCESS GRANTED]

It said.