[] You'll think about it.
You gave her a look and gave her your reply, "I'll think about it."
Ophelia didn't seem satisfied with that but relented and turned away. The two of you exchanged no more words then as she exited the room, shutting the door behind her.
Looking at the door, you glanced at the light which came from beneath it. Standing up, you weren't bound to the bed anymore. You were dressed in your dress shirt you usually wore beneath your suit and it revealed the hole Beowulf took out of you, wrapped in bandages.
Some manner of healing had been performed on you to keep you alive. But that wasn't important at the moment, not with how things were. You grimaced as you placed your hand on the walls and turned to see that the bedroom you were in had no windows.
You walked to the bathroom and opened the lights inside, giving you a view of the toilet and a single shower. Everything had been accounted for and it was complete with what you would need to keep yourself hygienic.
But there were no windows.
You turned away and moved out to the bedroom and felt your chest beating hard. You were starting to feel sensations of restlessness and panic. You grimaced as you moved to where your blazer was folded and reached within one of the pockets.
Taking out a piece of candy, you popped it in your mouth and savoured its sweetness. You tried to calm down as your kind began to slow, your composure returning as you took stock of your situation. No escape and bound to being unable to use your command seals.
Things were pretty dire as they were. You ended up seated on your bedside as you looked down at your armlet. If you tried summoning Assassin, you would end up dead from fast acting poison. You weren't going to try and doubt Ophelia given she was a thorough person on your short time as her friend.
You were lucky, had it been any other master, they would have killed you already. She had extended this much mercy on you already... And for what?
To make you give up?
"How stupid," you snarled as you grabbed the nearby a lamp and threw it hard against the wall.
The lamp shattered in a cascade of glass and steel, your arm burning hot with magical energy. You'll never give up. This feeling in your chest will never be extinguished. You'll never forgive your those people, people who took
her life for granted and used
her as a tool.
You've been fighting... For ten years. Who did that woman think she was..?
You crunched the candy in your mouth as you stepped towards the door. You opened it, and swung it to step beyond it.
You were... In a hallway. Beyond it, was an exit. You moved, your shoes echoing against the walls as you ran. You tried to escape and eventually made it to the end, only to find yourself in a void.
A white marble floor spanning eternity and a purple sky. It was a totally alien location that didn't remotely resemble the outside. This was... A Bounded Field? How could Ophelia make such a thing... Not unless it was something else?
Your wounds were real, your feelings and everything were real so why? Why were you here and what was this place?
You stood at the entrance of the hallway to find something in the distance. Something was floating in the air, massive in its size. Your eyes widened at the sight as a massive snake hurtled itself towards you. However before it could crush you, it smashed against an invisible barrier which kept it at bay.
It was a purple snake, baring it's crimson maw as it howled at you. You fell back on your rear before you were forced to retreat as another snake joined it, hissing, howling and smashing against your shelter.
There was no escape.
This was a cage Ophelia constructed not out of malice, but for your own safety until you give in to her. A compromise to acquire your talents and force you to surrender your dream. So you got up, and ran back to your room.
Your bum leg ached as you moved until you staggered into your room, you fell down, out of breath. Sweat ran down your cheek as you grit your teeth. There was no escape, not with this things waiting at your doorstep.
Snakes.
You closed your eyes to find yourself thinking about Assassin.
"I guess... I accumulated enough karma," you breathed as you knelt on the ground and looked at your hand. You did the same thing to someone in the past, trapping them in a bounded field to be killed over and over.
But you doubt that if you were killed here, you'd also come back.
"Dammit. Some Magus I am," you murmured as you slowly got up and sat in your bedside. You could be stubborn all you want but Ophelia wasn't going to let you out...
You were tired... You haven't fully recovered from your injuries yet. Today would be the first day before Miyu broadcasts again. You need to get out of here before then or else she'll be taken again.
Falling down your bed, you slowly closed your eyes. You... Began to dream.
.....
....
...
A woman cried out.
She was covered in blood, stained from the corpses she had made on the battlefield. She cried in pain, as if the world itself had become Hell itself. She was then surrounded by serpents.
They slithered and hissed, calling for her cursed blood as she knelt down and held her head. But no matter how much she cried or sobbed her pleas would not be heard.
The Bloody Moon hung low as the serpents assaulted her, twisting and coiling around her. They whispered her sins and the suffering she was about to endure.
There was no running, no escaping, nothing...
But even so she cried out...
"Save me... Forgive me... Someone."
.....
....
...
You opened your eyes and saw that you were still in this room. Imprisoned against your will as an armlet prevented you from using your command seals. The memories of your dream came back at you in full force and you felt bike rising up.
Staggering out of bed, you broke into the bathroom.
Kneeling before the toilet bowl, you started vomiting. The sensation of stomach acid burned your throat as you threw up everything, your eyes watering from the pain and at the memories of suffering.
"Assassin... I'm sorry," you gasped as you grunted and closed your eyes. You vomited some more before the feeling subsided.
The sound of flushing filled the bathroom as you dragged yourself on the sink. You looked horrible... You looked... More tired than usual.
You turned on the waters in the tap and poured some into a cup. You rinsed the taste of acid in your mouth before you felt your strength leave you again.
"Dammit..." You breathed before a chill came over you.
Trapped in a room, you were used to it. You were sent into these sorts of rooms when you were a child, back when you were being groomed to be the Luctworth heir. You were second rate, never the perfect Magus everyone sought after. You were nothing special, not even when you sought their approval.
Your parents never cared and your grandfather was obsessed with the family's goal... Recreating Pandora and gaining the Root through her box. The perfect Sculpture, opening the path to the Root. You never understood their obsession, their drive for something so meaningless.
No one cares save for her.
"Big Brother!"
"Celine..." You whispered as you looked into the mirror... Only to find Manaka smiling at you.
You blinked and you instead saw an eldritch eye looking at you through the mirror. You froze in place, you couldn't even move and you found it hard to breathe.
What was... This thing doing here?
Somehow, your hand began to rise and move towards the mirror's surface.
"Just how far are you willing to go down this path, Hans?"
Upon touching the mirror's surface, it slowly felt like the surface of water. One push... And you would just go right in. The eye looked at you, judging you and studying you...
Birdcage
[] Enter the mirror.
[] Pull back and stay away.