Rain fell in merciless sheets, drenching the mountainside as a lone girl forced her legs to keep moving. Mud splashed beneath her boots, stones slipped away underfoot, yet she ran on upward, always upward driven by a fear that clawed at her chest.
Hugh. hugh. hugh.
Each breath scorched her lungs, sharp and shallow, as though stopping even for a heartbeat would doom her forever. Her vision blurred, rain mingling with something warmer as her thoughts spiraled.
"Why would you do something like that… ****!"
The name echoed in her mind as thunder cracked overhead. She pushed herself harder, muscles screaming in protest, until at last the mountain yielded its peak.
A cliff stretched before her, jagged and unforgiving. Below, the sea churned
violently, waves crashing against stone as if trying to tear the earth apart.
Lightning split the sky, illuminating a single figure standing at the edge.
They were nothing more than a silhouette—motionless, soaked by the rain, gazing toward a distant horizon as if the world behind them no longer mattered.
"*****!"
Her voice broke as she called out, desperation ripping through the storm.
"…To think that," the figure murmured, their voice nearly swallowed by the wind, "you're still trying to find me… even after everything I've done."
They lowered their head, rain cascading down their frame, before slowly turning toward her.
"That's exactly why I had to find you," she shouted, fists clenched. "Why? Of all people, how could you do something like that?"
Silence answered her.
Yet the air itself seemed to change. A suffocating pressure crept outward from the figure, something heavy and unseen, as though a shadow was blooming around them wrapping, consuming, erasing.
"There was nothing I could do," they said at last, their voice tinged with quiet sorrow. "No matter what I chose, things would still end the same… if I kept walking blindly."
The wind howled, but they continued, steadier now.
"…That's why this time, I won't walk blindly again."
Though their face remained hidden, something unmistakable stirred within their words. Hope, sharp and resolute cut through the darkness as they raised a hand toward the storm-filled sky, fingers trembling not with fear, but with purpose.
The girl's hand shook where she stood. Slowly, her grip tightened around the hilt of her sword, knuckles whitening as doubt and resolve collided within her chest.
Sensing her hesitation, the figure lowered their hand, letting it fall back to their side.
"Don't worry," they said, their voice firm, unwavering. "The next time we meet… you won't hesitate to point your blade at me."
Before she could speak, the world warped.
Her vision twisted violently, colors bleeding into one another as if reality itself were unraveling reshaping around the promise they had just made.
And then—
Everything changed.