[Third-person POV]
[Day 4|August 5th][Round 1: 3:18 AM]
Nicandro on the surface was throwing up into a trash can as the three referees were watching him with expressions that ranged from amusement to pity, and unreadability.
"You alright kid?" Jaxon called out to the throwing-up Nicandro.
Nicandro pulling his head out of the trash can gave a thumbs-up as he spat out the plastic wrap he kept around his tongue. "I'm good." He rasped as he walked to the referee.
"I have a question to ask." Nicandro panted. "About Isaac specifically."
"If you want a file on Isaac, you'll have to pay 45,000 Requiems for it." Astra put it bluntly.
Nicandro looked at Astra with bewilderment, blinking a lot due to the fact that it was not the question he was going to ask.
"That wasn't what I was going to ask…" Nicandro said, still in his bloodlust mode but is keeping it on a string since he is not fighting. "I wanted to ask during those electrical surges, or what I like to call the wrath of hell, what Isaac's heart rate was once activated during those surges?"
Jaxon and Astra looked at Ye as Ye shrugged and gently took the tablet away from Astra.
Ye began speaking softly. "Given that you all were already at the near bottom. You all experienced the voltage of seven-thousand-five-hundred at the bottom for fifty seconds and that is counted by the standard lethal threshold of one-thousand-five-hundred voltage with it doubling every ten feet deep along with the duration along with the modified stimuli that gives the effect of extreme, limb-tearing, molten-lava-level agony that is survivable only because the system is engineered to keep you alive while making you feel like you're dying. And for Isaac Mahoka's BPM was at a constant sixty-two heartbeats throughout the beginning and throughout the electrical surges."
Nicandro stared at Ye after hearing her analysis. "That is extremely terrifying…"
As that was happening, in the water, Isaac and Lina were at a temporary impasse as both were ten feet away from each other as the tarot cards under them that were for Isaac were just waiting for him to pick them up.
Despite Lina disregarding the memory of moments ago, she still cannot shake it off.
If anything, it grew increasingly more than she wanted it to. If Isaac is… She thought as she looked at the boy getting his cards.
She watched as Isaac finally used his air compressed pistol, but what confused her was that Isaac didn't point the air-compressed pistol at her or anyone else, but at the anchors that were holding down the tarot cards.
Why would he—? Lina thought as he shot five rounds out at the five tarot cards as he grabbed them.
Lina checked her secret earbud she was also wearing to hear the voice tell her which cards Isaac grabbed but it didn't say anything which made her quickly check it as she opened it and saw it was empty but there was a small note with cursive writing in it and she quickly read it before the paper got ruined as it said:
Your instincts are right.
Reading those words, Lina's mind instantly went to the thought of Isaac's eyes as she no longer couldn't bother repressing the possibility, even if she could it would be futile since she had systematically conditioned herself that her god's will goes above her own will.
Is it really?!
Her thoughts once always calm under any inhumane possible situation, have now been crumbling under fanaticism and religious ecstasy.
She bolts at him at a speed that renders her previous speed feats useless as she goes beyond, her expression changes to a childlike hopeful expression mixed with her religious ecstasy.
She held two fingers out to poke his eyes, or rather, his two colored contacts.
Isaac seeing this threw his air-compressed pistol away and turned sideways for her to miss but before she could make it, Isaac began to take out his colored contact lens but he angled himself where the camera screen could not see his eyes nor could Abellona and Matthias see his eyes, only Lina could.
Once Lina missed, she slowly turned to look at his serene smile expression and saw his eyes as she widened hers as her smile widened. God… God… GOD!!!!
Isaac watches this with his expression now officially unreadable to everyone by his design.
Religious ecstasy, Isaac thought, his own internal monologue warm, empathetic, and devoid of any coldness. A dissociative state that is portrayed by overwhelming euphoria, loss of self-awareness, and altered perception of time and space that is triggered by a perceived encounter with the divine, in Miss. Runerth's eyes at least. To her, this is not a metaphor. She is seeing her God in the same water as her, looking at her. Her brain is currently flooded with dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin as her breathing becomes irregular.
Back on the surface as Nicandro was lying on the ground finally out of his state and in exhaustion, however the referees were paying attention to the tablet.
"What the…?" Ye murmured looking at the tablet.
"What's got you worrying?" Jaxon asked her as he and Astra looked at the tablet. "What the fuck…?"
They were looking at Lina's BPM as it increased from 65 to 90 to 190 finally to 290.
"Holy shit! She's gonna die!" Jaxon involuntarily yelled.
Nicandro, still laying, turned his head to them. "Who's dying?" he slurred and yawned a bit.
"None of your concern." Astra said bluntly as Nicandro nodded and continued lying down.
Back in the water, Isaac grabbed his cards quickly and kicked five of the tarot cards anchors, still keeping his gaze on Lina's.
Lina's body began to stop swimming and began seizing as bubbles came out of her mouth.
And now, Isaac's thoughts continued, still keeping that warmth. Now the ecstasy overwhelms her body in an environment that punishes any loss of control. Which results in her going into cardiac arrest and experiencing Takotsubo cardiomyopathy which can be triggered by intense emotional shock. The heart's left ventricle balloons and weakens, leading to arrhythmia or arrest. And given the combination of: -100°F water which will cause severe vasoconstriction, increased cardiac workload, physical exhaustion from over fifteen minutes of fighting, oxygen deprivation from breath-holding, and electrical surges from the pool. This results in a sympathetic nervous system flooded with catecholamines. Her heart cannot handle the overload. She goes into ventricular fibrillation.
Isaac then went to Lina and gently grabbed her to swim her up as he felt her heartbeat increasing and her mouth was still open.
Isaac pressed his mouth against her ear to speak. "Miss. Runerth, when they question you about your razor's, you will tell them nothing but the truth. And make sure to admit it was Araxie's contingency regarding what you did to Mr. Parmenius." and then he kissed Lina on the lips and made sure the cameras made it look like he was giving her oxygen to survive a little longer and it was to make sure that Lina had enough strength of life left before she dies to make sure to carry on the message.
Of course my God… Lina thought as her eyes looked at him and felt herself orgasming by Isaac's command and kiss.
Isaac has successfully created a perfect martyr so she didn't die a meaningless death. And Isaac has been far more aware of Lina than he let on, he just needed to curate and manipulate his own thoughts to make sure no one recognized the recognition in Isaac's expression when he met Lina. He prepared a contingency if Araxie had brought in Lina, then he would enact the contingency, which had been enacted.
The contingency is essentially he bought an earbud and emptied it out in order to put that note in since Isaac had already anticipated Araxie using an earbud method strategy, and when Lina saw that one impact frame of Isaac's eyes, that was intentional by Isaac's design to make the memories and theory of Lina's grow higher and higher till she acted upon them. Isaac truly anticipated the need for this contingency was when Araxie brought the match-up request to Isaac.
Isaac knew Lina for quite a few years and gambled on her coming to the International Requiem Academy since she cultivated herself to be the strongest member of the Church of the Moon and due to her becoming a fanatic, he knew that information will be received by the Moonlight Society and sent an unknown proxy to get Lina to enroll at the academy, and this helped confirm to Isaac that not only are the Moonlight Society tracking him but also already confirming that an unknown branch amongst the Moonlight Society has already assimilated within the student body of the academy. Which is also why he already suspected that this unknown branch's members, or at least one of them, were behind the King of Trash campaign. And due to the unknown branch being novel to Isaac, he already suspects they only take orders from the Main Heads themselves, hence why he did not bother to ask Nicodem about them.
As he was swimming back, the referee, who was on the surface, felt slight relief when seeing Isaac bringing Lina up to the surface.
"That's the best approach…" Ye commented, seeing Isaac bringing Lina up to the surface.
"Which means we can assess Lina's state," Astra said as Jaxon finished with a call with Patrick Braun, the referee who was keeping the class C students on the sub-zero floor.
"Well I just got off the phone with Patrick," Jaxon drawled. "The students down there are concerned about Lina and Nicandro but Patrick was able to calm them down and I told him I'll update him if anything goes wrong, which I am certain something will."
"This is a disaster for the first official matchup," Astra muttered, pinching the bridge.
"First official matchup for the 'inaugural' year," Jaxon corrected, keeping his voice low. "Since the current student body of this year doesn't know the little secret we have been keeping from them."
Before he could tell any more extra information, a referee walked into the building along with two of the academy's best nurses.
"Alright, you shit-stained pathetic excuse of future slaves! Every referee's favorite rich asshole! Levi Bismington!"
Levi Bismington is a referee and an inspector amongst the referees. Meaning that it's his job to inspect the aquatic centers and common room square to which he also collects rent. And he is known as the biggest asshole amongst the referees.
He has slicked-back black hair, a black mustache, and blue eyes.
As the saying goes, he is the most corrupt piece of shit that exists.
"What took you so long to get here?" Astra demanded. "You were supposed to be here over twenty minutes ago."
"I was asleep bitch, don't get your pussy hair all twisted," Levi said, sighing. "And. I had to get these two here," He pointed at the two nurses behind him. "To make sure no one gets physically hurt due to the extreme measures of this matchup."
"Whoa whoa no need to call my daughter a bitch please," Jaxon said. "Anyways what I was trying to say was—"
Levi interrupted with his loud sniffing. "And why the fuck does the aroma in here smell like blood and poor people spasming?!"
They all turned to the source of that aroma and it was from Nicandro who was indeed bleeding out of his mouth and spasming.
What the fuck is happening to me?! Nicandro thought, coughing up blood and spasming. I was doing fine moments ago–?!
He began to remember when Lina and he were fighting Isaac with killing intent as he realized when the electrical surges were happening, two razor-sharp nails shaped in front of him as one entered his mouth and the other he didn't know where it hit.
The realization hit him.
The razor weapons that Lina put on the back of her nails… Nicandro thought, trying to laugh but it came out as a gargle because the larynx and trachea were being cut by the razor-nail shape being the exact measurement to cut the insides of someone's neck, and due to Nicandro's speed the razor also hit his heart cutting directly onto it.
The reason why Lina had razors is that a few days ago Araxie had told Lina in secret to put razors under her nails to use against Isaac to give him a slow death so that even if Isaac did win the match-up, Araxie could still record his death.
But it seems fate had other plans… or was it by design by the hands of the eucharistic marionettist himself?
Nicandro wanted to believe Isaac did this but he looked back at the memories over fifty times in the span of four seconds and could only see Lina's hands doing it.
I'm gonna die… Nicandro thought, tears running down. Haha haha haha!!!! I'm gonna die and I can't even say Lina did it or else Araxie would lose this match-up….
And then he died.
Nicandro's last minute suspicions of Isaac doing it were right, and Isaac during the electrical surges removed Lina's razor nails to hit two particular areas on Nicandro which were the inside of his mouth and his wrist which hit a vein. And Isaac utilized the angle Nicandro and Lina were in at the last minute to make it appear that Lina purposely allowed those to hit Nicandro.
And even if Nicandro did perceive Isaac and was to be alive to tell the referees that Isaac was the one. Isaac already prepared a self-loop trap because of Nicandro exposing that Lina had weapons which would ultimately force Araxie to admit that she was indeed planning a slow death for Isaac to record him, which would give Isaac rights of self-defense for what he did. And if that were to happen Araxie, Lina, Abellona, Matthias, and Nicandro would get into serious trouble for conspiracy and premeditated murder against Isaac Mahoka.
One of the nurses went to check on Nicandro if he could be saved. "He's already in the post-mortem stage…" the nurse said softly, her serene expression unchanged. "I'll announce his death at 3:26 A.M." and the nurse saw a razor stuck in Nicandro's wrist. "Strange…"
The other nurse went to look at it. "The shape suggests that this razor was going to be used as a weapon and it looks like you can fit it under a fingernail."
Ye heard this immediately since she recalled glimpsing at Lina's fingernails and saw the same razor. "I recalled seeing that under Lina's fingernail."
The second nurse nodded. "It appears to be true given there is residue of adhesive glue on it." Examining the razor.
Levi snorted. "Well I guess we can assume this Lina bitch murdered this poor Greek chimp." Lightly kicking the dead body.
"What the fuck?" Jaxon said, backing Levi away from Nicandro's body. "Why are you kicking a dead kid's body?"
"I kick the bodies of dead kids all the time!" Levi protested, clearly not caring about social etiquette. "When I moved my real estate and construction enterprise five years ago to Mexico, I used all the child labor available to make a shit ton of money and I lost about four hundred eighty-seven in the process, but hey! At least they made good ground beef to sell to southern American countries that can't tell what any meat looks like because they're so fucking stupid."
The referees were really getting pissed off about Levi. "Levi," Jaxon sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just have you and one of the nurses bring Nicandro's damn body to the infirmary so we can begin the process of sending the body to the Parmenius family…"
"You're asking me to do a whole lot of ball touching Jaxon," Levi said, crossing his arms. "You're gonna pay me 300,000 Requiems for it."
"I'm not paying you that much!"
"I'll throw in buying your daughter as a sex slave then!"
Astra sighed, not bothering to hide her disgust. "Dad… just pay the man…"
Before Jaxon could agree, Isaac finally emerged from the water with Lina in his arms as he gently put her onto the floor and got himself out of the water, his usual serene smile shifting to a serene concern that reached his eyes. "I gave her some oxygen as much as I could when bringing her up here."
Araxie, Matthias, and Abellona also came out of the water, and Araxie had her cards as her dazed expression was unchanged.
Abellona, who was concerned about Lina, went to her. "Is she gonna be alright?!"
"Hardly," Ye replied, already moving to Lina to examine her fingernails just to see razors underneath them. "But unfortunately she's gonna be in a lot of trouble, if she lives…"
Araxie saw Nicandro's dead body. "Oh, He's dead…" She softly pointed out to Matthias and Abellona. "He looks like a fish that was flapping around on the surface. Did you know that snakeheads and walking catfishes have special organs that let them breathe atmospheric air?"
Matthias saw the body, and his eyes widened. "What," he said flatly.
Abellona also looked and her body went rigid, her face pale with shock and horror. "N-Nicandro…? He's dead..?"
Levi spoke."Yes Godzilla, can't you see he's in a post-mortem state?"
Abellona went to Nicandro's body, but Ye effortlessly stopped her despite her small frame by pressing her small hand against her torso. "I'm afraid you can't go near the body. A standard procedure."
"What happened to him?!" Abellona cried. "Just at least tell me that much…"
One of the nurses looked at Abellona and spoke softly. "Based on the injuries and blood… we believe a razor went into his mouth and sliced his larynx, trachea, and then punctured his heart. This resulted in his death."
Matthias hearing this spoke. "Razor? How did Nicandro get killed by razors? None of us even had them."
"I wouldn't be too sure," Isaac said softly, showing Lina's fingernails.
Astra saw that Lina was still breathing, barely, and her eyes were somewhat open, and went to her. "How many fingers am I holding?"
"Three…" Lina whispered, coughing up some water.
Astra nodded. "I have a question to ask, your razors hit Nicandro's wrist and another went through his mouth and injured the insides of his neck and punctured his heart, resulting in his death. What were the razors intended for and was Nicandro's death intentional?"
Lina answered with zero hesitation. "Araxie and I planned it… she wanted to record Isaac's slow death if he wins or loses, Araxie wanted me to use razors to puncture certain parts of Isaac's body to give him a slow death… and no, Nicandro's death was merely accidental…" Lina smiled with all the energy she had left. "Thank you Isaac Mahoka," She looked at Isaac and smiled at him as tears ran down her eyes as her body went rigid and cold, indicating she was now dead.
The room was silent, with the exception of Abellona's tears as the nurse stood near Lina's body. "The time of Lina Runerth's death is 3:31 A.M."
Levi, completely unbothered, glided to Araxie. "It seems your friend outed you for conspiracy against Isaac."
Araxie, as dazed as ever, tapped her chin six times. "Lina was in a state of desperation and delusion… her words really hold no merit unless–"
"Unless someone has video~"
That feminine voice came from the locker room entrance as it was none other than Alexandra Dolfuss, who had a cat-like smile, and behind her was Leonidas Maximiliano and Aurelian Falk. All three were in their school uniforms.
The three have been hiding in the locker room since twelve at midnight due to Isaac requesting them to be there and he had specifically asked Alexandra to record the female locker room if she sees Lina and Araxie discussing privately.
Alexandra with no hesitation agreed, since she herself will always align herself to what Isaac is planning even if her own methods are entirely unconventional.
She tipped her toes to Jaxon and played the recording which lasted five minutes and it was very damning. "So~ can we finish up the first round since this matchup is clearly cancelled but we can determine the winner right?"
"The green gremlin is right, Astra start taking their cards and get this shit done!" Levi ordered, and Astra just nodded.
Astra went to Araxie first and then to Isaac to collect their tarot cards and get their answer.
While Astra was finalizing results, Isaac went to Abellona, who was still shaking and crying. "I'm very sorry for what happened to Miss. Runerth and Mr. Parmenius." His expression is apologetic.
"I-it's alright Isaac," she said, trying to stop crying and trying to force a smile. "I know it's not your fault… Matthias and I were watching and saw you did no harm at all…"
Matthias nodded, agreeing with Abellona's comment. "And she and I were not aware of Araxie and Lina's conspiracy to kill you."
It was true, both of them were very much unaware of Araxie's true intentions of killing Isaac.
And Isaac with certainty knew Matthias and Abellona had no involvement in it, and how Isaac knew of Araxie's intentions before even he told Alexandra to record, is because he had already hypothesized it based on her stalking and concealment skills yesterday when she was following him for five hours straight, and along the creativity of the Poseidon Tarot Match up given him the best conclusion that she is a snuff filmer.
And due to that conclusion, Isaac figured that she would try to appeal to his empathy to manipulate him and deceive him by being connected with him to make him match with her frequency in order to pull off her secret kill contingency.
But Isaac was not offended by Araxie's approach to appeal to his empathy, even if trying to exploit it, is because Araxie truly tried to engage with him, even if it meant killing him.
Like he said, he likes being at a disadvantage since it breeds creative innovation.
"But still," Isaac said, placing a hand of comfort to Abellona's hand. "It hasn't even been a week of going to this academy and two deaths have already occurred… I can only imagine it pains you both and is doing damage to your psyches…"
Abellona nodded. "Yeah… It is devastating to me…"
Isaac looked her in the eyes. "I can tell," he said softly. "But I believe they would want you two to push through and persevere even in these dark times so you two could be happy."
Leonidas walked to them still wearing an archaic smile. "If I may chime in," he said. "He is right, processing grief is the way through it if you want to make Lina and Nicandro proud even in death. You would have to process your grief and channel it into your perseverance to make sure it brings both of you up and not make you stay down."
Abellona heard this, whispered. "Thank you two…"
"It's no problem, Miss. Morena." Isaac said softly.
Astra cleared her throat. "It is time to announce the end of round one, and since the unfortunate events of two casualties, this will be the final round which means whoever wins this first round wins the entire matchup," She announced. "For Araxie Ermengarde, she has guessed Isaac's tarot cards to be: The Moon, The Tower, Seven of Swords, Three of Cups, and Knight of Wands."
She allowed silence for a few seconds. "Her guesses were incorrect on all five accounts as the cards Isaac had chosen were: the six of wands, the wheel of fortune, two of pentacles, nine of cups, and the judgement. Meaning she gets zero points in the round."
Araxie stared, her eyes widening a bit. "What...?"
Astra continued. "And as for Isaac Mahoka, he has guessed for Araxie: The Moon and the Seven of Swords. Due to Isaac only putting those two guesses and leaving the three blanks, we can only count the two cards. Isaac has correctly guessed the Moon and the Seven of Swords from Araxie's choices. Meaning he has earned two points out of five in this round… Declaring Isaac Mahoka the winner of this matchup and he earns his winning conditions from the set bet that was created between Araxie and him."
[To be continued]