It was the very first day Shirou met with Ayanokouji in this Nightmare. After talking with him, he went into the forest and kept running with a sad expression.
Rustle. Rustle. Rustle.
Countless Vowalkers began to follow him, but none of them screamed even for a second; they just trailed closely behind.
A small body of water appeared in front of him. He stopped running and looked down into it at his own tired reflection. He began to stir the water with his hand and slowly sat down, then closed his eyes and tilted his face up toward the sky with the same sad expression.
What could he have possibly figured out?
...
Just then, his surroundings were lost in the smell of blood. Everywhere he looked, Vowalkers came into sight one after another until there were thousands in one place.
Yet no one came close to him.
After a few minutes, he finally got up and began to walk toward the village. All the Vowalkers in his path slowly gave way, lowering their heads.
Shirou put his hand on their shoulders as he kept walking toward the village, and whomever he touched began to shake.
***
Shirou made it back into the village and began to walk toward the girl. He expected her to test Ayanokouji in her own way, and Ayanokouji was probably by Matsuo's son right now, so this was the ideal timing.
Shirou found the girl sitting by the well with sweat covering her face as she took slow breaths. She saw Shirou approaching her and stood up.
"Wow, look at you, catching your own breath after letting your grip on Luna and Luzi's hands purposely falter and sacrificing them to save yourself."
The girl looked toward the storage where Ayanokouji had gone and wiped away her sweat before she replied.
In reality, after she indirectly killed her friends, she got a Memory called Forbidden Love.
"They had become a liability anyway, just clinging close to you instead of pulling their weight. It was the better choice for me to save myself than to let them live."
Slowly, the girl's eyes began to sharpen.
"Honestly, I was really beginning to doubt if just the two of us could pull it off, but now that we have Ayanokouji... I feel like our chances have gone up quite a lot."
Shirou had actually been staring at nothing all this time, but finally, he stared directly toward the girl and decided to break her dreams... His voice was almost humorous.
"Yeah, that would be it in a dream, but sadly we are in a Nightmare."
Hearing the change in tone, the girl began to pay more attention toward Shirou but didn't interrupt him.
"He cannot hear our names, but he could hear Luna and Luzi's. You know what, Perla? Do me a favor and rearrange the first letters of our names, starting with mine, then yours, then Eichiro, then those two."
Slowly, the light began to disappear from Perla's face and horror began to bloom as she understood what Shirou was talking about...
S. P. E. L. L.
Ayanokouji had learned Luna and Luzi's names only because they were dead.
Shirou didn't stop giving her clues.
"He doesn't even know his own Aspects, and I am pretty sure that Memory term was a snipe by him. Perla, he can't even listen to our oral explanations of our runes. We are the keys for him to finally be able to read this story. It's either we kill him, or get killed."
Perla's hopeful expression had completely vanished, and in its place was now the expression of a survivor.
She must have had many questions, like why them, and why were they the ones to die and not the other way around? But she buried them deep within her mind. Crying about it won't change anything.
She questioned.
"If you are already aware of everything, why did you let me show him my ability? Why are we entertaining him at all? Why don't we just kill him right now?"
Perla made sure that her voice was calm and not loud. Ayanokouji was just a few broken houses away in a storage building.
Shirou kneeled to the ground and began to put some dirt on his clothes.
"You remember my talk with him, right? If we try to attack him right now and he manages to escape, it wouldn't really be a good scenario for us. Actually, if he manages to escape, that would be the worst-case scenario for us."
Shirou stood up from the ground and began to wash his hands in a nearby puddle.
"So, what I am telling you to do is simple. Eat as much as you can and sleep every night. I won't sleep, and watching me, he won't dare to sleep either. Neither he nor I are going to eat anything anyway. It will put at least some difficulties on him. He will wait until he figures out my Memory, and only after that will he strike. So, in the meantime, I want you to get as much rest and information about him as possible. Even though it's not his bod-"
Shirou stopped talking and began to walk away with a small smile. Perla listened to it all. She didn't decline anything, as they were only alive because of Shirou's plans so far, but still, she heard something she perhaps shouldn't have.
"What did you mean, 'not his bod'-"
Before she could finish, Shirou turned his back just enough to show her his face. He brought his fingers near his lips and pressed them firmly.
"I didn't mean to talk about it, someone just forced me to. Don't worry, I will talk to that someone and get it erased from your mind. Us normal humans shouldn't meddle in the business of gods."
Shirou began to walk away as Perla's eyes became unfocused for a second, and she forgot the last sentence of what Shirou said when he told her his plan.
Shirou thought while walking toward the storage.
'Let's begin the last dance.'
***
"_ saw through you from the very beginning."
She stood on the very next tree in front of me, saying that with a mocking smile.
I didn't say anything. I just stared at her and slowly changed my posture, raising a leg and shifting my body. To reach the village, she had to go past me.
Her eyes were scanning the forest and she saw a path to the village, but I shifted my feet just a little, cutting that entire path off.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
My heart was beating relentlessly, my body was sweating, and I was on the verge of tears. This body just didn't want to kill her. Good. Once I am done with her, this body's consciousness will die too.
After seeing my positioning, she tilted her head and began to flex her fingers.
"Don't tell me you think you will be able to keep up with me. I was always good at parkour, and to top it all off with my Memory, you cannot stop me."
I just heard her. Yeah, stopping her from getting to the village will be hard, but not impossible. I said something, but it wasn't really for her, but for the body I was in.
"I will make it painless."
She didn't let me finish and began to parkour toward the side. I turned around too and began to follow her before giving some final words to this body.
"She chose this way."
My body flinched and became harder to move. I didn't care for it.
Her boots slammed into the ground, and she began running through the tree branches with terrifying agility.
She jumped over a boulder, rolling into a crouch, and jumped once again to grab the tree branches to make the momentum carry her forward.
Not a single forest could be a hindrance to her. She kept using it for herself, parkouring over a lot of trees and using vines to glide.
She landed onto the ground, looked behind her, and widened her eyes.
I was already behind her.
I was no match for her when it came to parkour, but I had a large edge when it came to mental ability. Her destination was the village, and when we were coming to this part of the forest, I memorized every single boulder, tree, and vine.
Just by looking at the way she moves and the momentum she generates, by using the theory of Inertia, I can effectively predict her entire path as to how she is gonna go and where she is gonna go, and take shortcuts myself to get there. I was weaker when it came to parkour, but it didn't mean I couldn't parkour.
"Your momentum makes it easier for me to predict your path, and your landings use way too much energy."
This was a desperate move by me. I was psychologically attacking her, but in reality, it was way more disadvantageous for me. I was already using way too much stamina, and by talking while doing so, I was also ruining my breathing, but to be free from this second consciousness, I had to make it die.
She didn't look back even after I called her. She just launched herself sideways off a tree's trunk into a downhill slope, rolling herself to absorb the impact and gain momentum before sprinting again. None of the natural traps of the forest affected her.
My body is gradually getting tired and harder to move. I wiped the tears from my eyes.
Her hand caught a vine mid-sprint. She swung around a tree and used that spin to propel herself into a double-step off two stacked rocks.
Even after I told her that momentum makes it easier to predict her movement, she didn't really have a choice. You have to follow the law of Inertia, after all. It must be eating her up, thinking she is predictable.
I saw her movement become a little comfortable, just for a second, and I decided to strike.
"I had only read about this in books. Persistent hunting is this technique's name. In the old times, before weapons, humans just used to follow the target, not letting it rest even for a second, until the target just."
I didn't tell her the ending and let her go to her own conclusion. My body is shaking and I am feeling anxious. Good, keep on feeling this way.
She went through a curved tree.
I can't talk for long. This mess of a breathing rhythm is becoming harder to endure.
I saw her grit her teeth and her breath falter. My words were taking effect on her.
"These are not trees. They are the audience reading the ending of your story."
She jumped through branches. Her right leg met one branch of the tree, and her left leg was already on the next tree.
I was on the ground now. I couldn't replicate that movement with this body.
"Your technique has gotten better, but you are nearing your stamina's end."
I purposely kept my position in a way that stopped her from running toward the village.
I tried to open my mouth and tell her about how she killed her friends only to die just three days later. That will be the final key to stop her.
...
My mouth didn't move, no matter how much I tried.
"Alright, I won't say that."
Huff.
I am also nearing my limit.
***
I could see her hand shaking now as her fingers scraped three trunks and swung off another branch, carrying herself using momentum.
"This is why I always admired zoos for keeping dogs in them. African wild dogs always hunted using this technique."
Finally, a reply came from her, but that was the mistake.
"You yap too much."
That reply, I could see just how tired she had gotten.
She was desperate and expected a reply. I refused to give her that.
She spun off a high branch, ricocheted off two trunks, and sprinted up a hill so steep she had to use her hands. She jumped and twisted her heel, barely caught a vine, and yanked herself forward, stepping into a ravine.
I ran faster, building momentum, and climbed up.
I jumped down, ending just behind her. There was no need for me to focus on my movements. I was already good enough to move instinctively through this forest.
"You have grown tired."
She began to sprint faster and I saw it, her body cutting movements, and she leaned in even more. She is nearing her limits.
The village is far, and my position is still perfect, cutting her off from it.
She stumbled slightly but managed to catch herself with a roll, but I saw blood on the ground just below her. Good, make mistakes.
Tears began to escape my eyes.
"You should give up. You know I won't let you reach the village. What's the point of struggling?"
She roared, spun mid-air, and sprinted through more trees and through thorns, but that didn't stop her. She probably wanted to yell at me and curse my name, but that would make her tired faster.
Huff. Huff.
Just like me.
"Do you feel tired yet?"
I kept following her, no matter how far she went. I was right there, cutting off her way to the village.
"I hear it in the way your breath shortens. One minute ago you were inhaling for two-point-four seconds. Now it's closer to one."
Just for a second, I sprinted faster, almost puking through exhaustion.
"You've still got time. But your mind is slipping. It's not your fault. We were never designed to outrun inevitability."
She grabbed a protruding branch overhead and used it to change direction mid-leap, flipping sideways into a wall-run against the bark of a crooked, diagonal tree, before springing off of it to vault over a rocky ledge.
Flawless landing, terrible outcome. I kept following.
Where she jumped, I stepped. Where she flipped, I redirected. She is making herself way too predictable.
She grit her teeth, sucking in breath through clenched jaws. Her lungs burned now. Her thighs trembled just slightly on impact.
Her palms were slick with sweat, her fingers just beginning to slip when she gripped bark.
She veered sharply into the thicker brush, twisting through tight gaps between trees where only someone of her frame could fit. Vines whipped at her arms. She took a corner hard, scraping her shoulder, but didn't slow.
She turned a corner.
She won't be able to see me for a second or two, and that would give her relief, but sadly for her, I have memorized that part of the forest too.
I ran, purposely making her hear my steps, and took a detour, pushing my body through its limit by parkouring through the trees and climbing them.
...
I dropped down from a branch in front of her.
"You're adapting slower than I thought."
My eyes have gone red.
She bolted back the way she came, leaping out of the stream onto a rock.
She began to pant now. I can only imagine what she is feeling. Her entire body is probably aching now.
Step.
Step.
"The animal always makes mistakes at this point. It thinks exhaustion is an error, but it's a feature. It's the countdown to inevitability."
She screamed, showing more fury than fear, and launched herself up the final ledge with the last of her strength.
She ran.
Yes, keep doubting yourself.
***
She kept running away and I could practically hear her desperate attempts at breath. While running, she almost fell down but didn't stop.
The village isn't that far now. Yes, keep hoping.
"You trained for speed. I trained to erase resistance."
We are two kilometers away from the village now.
She broke through a curtain of wet vines and caught a glimpse of it, a distant glimpse between the branches, past a field of uneven stones and flickering fog.
She caught herself, hissed through her teeth, and kept going.
"Running is noble, but even the noble rot when they run too long."
She broke left, making a quick climb into an outcropping of fallen trees, leaped to the top, turned, and kept going.
She probably knows by now that I am controlling her path. Still, she didn't stop and kept running.
"Why won't you shut up!?"
My body almost stopped, but I didn't let it and didn't reply to her at all.
The trees spun sometimes. Her feet no longer obeyed her instantly. The burns on her palms from bark friction pulsed with heat.
Yet she kept going. She kept running toward the village. She was almost there, but then I dropped in front of her.
She stopped running away and I saw despair on her face. Yeah, you are probably too tired to run away any longer.
She saw my tattered clothes but couldn't figure out I was more tired than her.
She began to take a stance.
I put my hand up fast, and she flinched.
"You're collapsing now. Twitch in the right leg, calf spasms from lateral stress. Your peripheral is lagging by half a second. You are already half dead. Do you realize it now? I made you run circles. The village had always been two kilometers away. I can see it in your eyes, your grip on reality has begun to slip."
Slowly, the despair began to disappear from her eyes as she had no choice but to fight me. I could still see her eyes shaking. She lunged toward me after she had nothing else to do.
It was a feral claw toward my throat. I didn't block; I shifted my head three centimeters left. Her palm missed. I slammed my hand into her elbow, locking the joint, while my foot swept her ankle. Her balance shattered.
Before she hit the ground, I caught her by the shoulder and drove my knee straight into her ribs.
I heard the sound of bones cracking. She hit the ground and began to puke blood, trying to get up just to fall back down.
I stepped forward.
I couldn't stop myself now. My eyes began to cry without stopping and my entire body began to shake.
She pulled the sharp stone from her sleeve and thrust it upward. I stepped inside her guard, clamped her wrist, and twisted until the joint popped. The stone dropped. In the same motion, I drove a rigid palm strike into her chest, right over her heart.
"Your brain is still calculating a path to the village. It refuses to accept its own cessation."
Her eyes lost their focus and she looked past me toward the distant fog and the village. I saw her hand vibrating, trying to crawl toward it. I saw tears appear in her eyes.
Her eyes slid back to mine, then down to her chest. There was no massive wound, just a slight indentation over her breastbone. But beneath the skin, the thumping had stopped.
Dread replaced the peace.
I tried to open my mouth, but no words came out.
The light in her eyes fractured. Her mouth twitched, trying to form a name.
And then, she stopped moving.
I began to walk away, but my body fell down and began to cry.
Still, goodbye Perla.
***
Rewritten.