[25.1] Memories Unlocked

"...Ka…"

"Re…"

"Reika…"

"REIKA!"

I snapped out of my memories to see Zephyr beneath me, struggling to breathe. My hands clamped down around his throat, tightening with strength I shouldn't have.

I gasped and pulled my hands back, trembling as I stared at them in horror.

I forced out my voice while trying to stifle the assault of memories swirling in my head, "What… Happened…"

He sat up coughing violently and held his throat, "Corruption… You were under the influence of Corruption…"

My expression darkened as I muttered, "Why did you let me do that to you… "

"I knew if I fought back I would hurt you and-" He froze then looked away with a strange expression. He cleared his throat, "-I was about to! Five seconds later and I would have started fighting!!!"

I stared at the small hands in front of me, "I… I… I didn't mean to..."

"I know you didn't." He rubbed his throat, "Did the corruption show you anything?"

I clenched my hands into a fist.

My expression darkened as I muttered, "...I had a mother."

He narrowed his eyes, "Huh? What was that?"

"I had a mother."

This time my voice was firm without any hesitation.

Zephyr stared at me speechlessly for a moment, "...Was that ever in question? How else could you have been born?"

"I finally had a mother who loved me-" I gripped his shoulders tightly and spoke through a clenched jaw, "-Then I killed her."

He flinched, "You… What!?"

I stood up abruptly with a dark look cast over my face. Zephyr noticed the dangerous aura surrounding me and unconsciously crawled away from me.

I ignored him and looked up at the ceiling.

I took a deep breath and waited for the magic circles to appear from the smell.

A crazed smile crossed my face, "Good thing Uncle Patrick taught me about magic circles."

"Yup, yup. He was such a smart fellow." Zephyr nodded, then stopped. He raised an eyebrow, "Wait. Who?"

I summoned my ice chunk and hoisted myself up towards the ceiling. Zephyr realized I was leaving him behind and jumped on quickly to ride along. I couldn't care less about the uninvited guest and floated to the ceiling to inspect the magic symbols. With expertise, I altered the sequence and broke the magic circle.

The ceiling rumbled and started to move, revealing the hole we had fallen from before. As the ice chunk rose up through the hole, Zephyr stared at me hesitantly, "Reika… Are you feeling okay?"

I stared through the darkness, "I'm fine."

He gulped, "Because you seem… Kinda scary…"

Once we arrived at the empty room, I stepped off the ice chunk and walked past the book which waved its fork at me. Zephyr followed behind me like a lost cat, hissing at the book as he passed him. The book stabbed Zephyr with the fork and with a yelp, Zephyr quickly ran after me.

I walked out of the room to where Hazel was still looking around with a naive expression.

I looked over at her, "Hazel."

She turned to me with a bright smile, "Reika! Where did you go? I've been trying to find you-"

I stepped closer to her with ominous darkness in my eyes, "Hazel."

She gulped and took a few steps back, "D-Did you find the forbidden library?"

I caught her sleeve before she could leave my reach. I murmured in a low voice, "Do you have a vial on you?"

"Eh? A vial? Like this one?" She produced a small vial from her pocket with an innocent look on her face.

I glanced at it, then back at her. "...Exactly like that."

"Oh… Then yes!" She grinned, "I have one."

"Greaaat. Can I borrow it?"

"Oh, sure!"

As she handed over the vial, I took it and stared right back at her with a smile, "Can I see your hand?"

Hazel flushed and slowly held out her hand, "O-Oh… What do you intend to do-AH!"

Quickly, I pierced her hand with an ice shard to draw blood and promptly collected it into the vial.

Her eyes watered, "W-What are you doing?"

I grinned, "I need a virgin's blood or a saint's blood… I'm not too sure which one it is though. Either way, I'd say you are a safe bet for both."

Her face turned a deeper crimson, "V-Virgin- Ah! Wait! Why do you need my blood?!"

I ignored her and turned away. I quickly left her behind without leaving any explanation. Zephyr gave one pitiful glance at Hazel before running after me.

Hazel watched as we both walked away before looking down at her palm. Her eyes dulled as she stared at her bleeding palm. She murmured silently to herself, "It's been a while since someone has taken my blood..."

She slowly raised her palm to lick the wound.

A strange smile appeared as she stared in the direction I disappeared in.

She let out a giggle, "Well it's not like I care."