(Unedited)
The phantom beauty's lips curved upwards.
Her figure, unblemished and graceful, curtsied. But the mere possibility that she may have sensed her unwillingness to perish and her faint alacrity to accept her proposal only made her swallow a nervous patch.
Who is she?
Why does she look like my current body?
Victoria was left staring dazedly at the immaculate and otherworldly figure in front of her.
Just then, the girl's golden eyes lowered, and her lips parted...
"May I state the terms of our pact?"
Victoria blinked. Maybe it was her, or maybe it was the sudden emergence of— what she could only describe as a scroll ringed by golden flames before the phantom-girl's outstretched hand, but she had the sinking feeling that nothing good would come out of this partnership.
Without waiting for an answer from her, she continued.
"I vow to protect my contractee with nine lives."
"Should my contractee lose all nine lives..."
"I, the contractor, will have full autonomy of the body and will be allowed to possess its shell."
"Will you accept the terms?
Victoria's pupils constricted at the obnoxious terms. She hoped that her face wouldn't leak her instinctive hesitation, but sure enough, the silver-haired look-alike shook her head.
"At this moment, your life is no longer in peril. But that is only due to my scarce magical reserves holding off the threat."
"Should I happen to run out~."
Victoria's lips pressed tight as a show of being caught in a dilemma. Luckily, her face didn't so much as betray her internal grumbling.
A threat? Seriously?
Why me..?
She looked at the girl's golden eyes. In return, she received the smirk of triumph from a victorious Valkyrie.
"Tic tac~."
Victoria felt a slight breeze. Cold and fleeting. Just like the girl's mimicry of a ticking clock. If she didn't choose now, then it would only be a matter of time and reaction, which she wasn't optimistic about, before the reaper's scythe reached her neck!
To die now or to sign a pact with... the devil?
"Fine, I accept this deal."
With a resolute sigh, she made the choice most likely to keep her alive. With this, the ethereal, silver-haired figure reached out her hand...
"Great! Now hold my hand, dearest companion~."
...And said words that nearly caused Victoria to choke.
Instinctively reaching out her most mobile hand, while averting eye contact, she felt a warm touch, then her hand was firmly grasped before she could pull back.
Dazed, Victoria returned her gaze to her smiling look-alike in white and gold.
As she watched the golden flames circling the scroll converge towards it and burn it into cinders, she felt the hand that had locked hers tighten its grip. Then came a force pulling her forward, causing her to almost stumble.
"There, there~ You're probably still confused, aren't you?"
"No worries. The pact is complete, so you'll be fine now~"
Hearing sweet words coming out of this devil of a look-alike, Victoria couldn't stop herself from showing a pessimistic face. The kind that did not see hope for the future, nor would bother to try.
"..."
Just then, Victoria realized she had fallen into the girl's embrace as well. A direct result of getting pulled, while she could not muster strength in her legs.
This is embarrassing...
"Hum... you can let me go now, no?", she pleaded.
Victoria could not forgive herself for letting her emotions be played with by not just the strange interface from earlier, but her current body's look-alike as well!
To this, the golden-eyed beauty merely grinned.
"Contractee, if I were to let you go, would you be able to stand on your own?~"
"N..not yet..."
"I thought so too!~."
As the silver-haired girl beamed, Victoria averted her gaze in frustration.
Dammit. Why me?!
And who IS she anyway?
Also...
[Self-destruction will no longer resume.]
[Host no longer presents any errors.]
[Initiating System reboot.]
As she was still being held by her look-alike of white and gold, Victoria's eyes were once more greeted by the obnoxious panel. The strange interface had nearly taken her second life a few moments ago. But with just one piece of paper scroll from the silver-haired girl, it had decided that she was 'fixed'?
Victoria couldn't believe it for a second.
Just then, she felt strength flowing through her feet. It was akin to a handicapped patient suddenly recovering the same day they had been deemed disabled.
As if sensing it, the phantom look-alike gently let go of her hold over her body.
"Hehe. Too bad I couldn't cradle you for a bit longer~."
Victoria shot her a cautious glare.
"Well, it won't happen again."
Jumping at the opportunity of escaping her contracted captor, Victoria pressed her bare feet harder over the cold floor.
It's good that I can walk, but... I can't leave here barefoot, can I?
Victoria's ink pupils traveled the dungeon chamber. Upon a closer look, she realized that the yellow fabrics looked more like cloaks than anything. Some even showed slight bumps.
Maybe I can find something under these cloaks.
But first...
Having practically signed a contract with a possible devil, wouldn't it be impolite not to know her devil's name? Thinking so, Victoria's eyes made a beeline towards the golden-eyed figure.
The girl stood a foot away from her, hands behind her back, and head propped forward. She looked as leisurely as one could get.
"Will you... Finally, tell me who you are?"
She gazed deeply at the languid girl.
"Oh?"
"You mean moi?"
"Well, I am the only original soul that lived in your body before you, dearest contractee.~"
Victoria's lips froze, and she stared at the girl with scrutiny. She believed it. After all, all sorts of crazy things were probably true in this place she was in... Wherever she really was.
If anything, everything that had happened to her so far had done a satisfying job at acclimatizing her for crazier situations.
"So you're..."
However, this could only make things awkward for Victoria.
If this girl really was the previous owner of her current body, then why did she save her?
Why didn't she let me die and claim her body back?
Another question was left unanswered. And Victoria couldn't stop herself from wanting to ask more.