yuki.

therapist, through gritted teeth: and once again, that's the end of your time. please put that 20 dollar bill away. i already told you you can't extend the meter. it doesn't work like parking.

me: i PROMISE i'm almost at the part where i intend to harm myself or others

『Abyssal Axe: Restraint』

it slashes at your chest, before going for a jab at your gut. it springs back, and is sweating. it needs time. time to recover. it screams out into the air:

“Dearest sister, i am here.”

I take a deep breath, readying myself. A single point of light appears above my head, circling itself into a halo. It then shatters itself, leaving a layer of dark miasma in its place.

“Partial Release. Enhance.”

“metamorphosis: claws”

I take a sharp breath in, visibly annoyed by her persistence, as well as from my words seemingly being ignored. The blows aren't too difficult to block, especially considering the sheer size difference, but they are getting to be quite an annoyance. Placed on the back foot, i give off a quick gaze over at my little sister. The freshly cut wound now bandaged, still being clutched. In pain, no doubt. And then back at the bug, on a mad rampage.

“Enough. Fourth Sin: ███████, Partial.”

I speak in a sound unable to be processed by one's ears. Eye now glowing purple, staring down at the bug. The lower back of my outfit bursts open, a thick, long tail grows out of it. Holding the same properties as my enlarged arm. It darts between my legs, wrapping itself around the bug's wrists and squeezing tight.

“I shall end this childish tantrum now.”

the twisted greatsword is caught on the edge of the hero's blade, a single arm extended, rotted and wicked metal grinding against eternity itself, held up with the strength of convictions fused into the very core of its being, an earth shaking cleave being moved with the power of a sole being's unbreakable will

with piercing eyes and a cocky smile she stares down the knight "you will do no harm to those i protect until you have put me in the ground yourself!"

“motherfffucker....”

it looks to its sides, spotting the princess and the fallen about to engage eachother, she knows they have fought many times before, and though the princess has lost much the hero has faith she will not damage her former rival more than is necessary to show it its truth, she instead turns her attention again to the knight, the far more unpredictable opponent

they had dueled before, it knows how she fights, relatively simple attacks but backed by unnatural and devastating strength. though it could deflect the first it wouldn't be able to block many more before they began to pierce its peerless guard, but it did have an advantage, it could outpace her, stay nimble on its feet long enough to wear her down, long enough for them to complete their mission, to save its princess

i stand up, the last remnants of the sludge dripping off of me. gazing at the heros back, turned to shield our own battle. i turn my head back towards it, restraint scraping along the ground, finding its place in my grip yet again. it seems ready now, more than before. different, somehow.

fuck that.

it pounces at you, dropping its weapon mid air, knocking restraint out of your hand. our weapons land on the ground together. it is noticeablely stronger than usual, even accounting for the now bandaged gash in its shoulder. it knocks you to the floor, grabbing onto your wrists, digging its nails into your skin. blood starts to seep from your new wounds.

as you are restrained, it goes for a near fatal blow, pressing its horns into your soft squishy skin, on the right shoulder, pushing them down. harder. harder. it breaks past your skin, its small horns digging into your flesh. it then drags them diagonally, ripping into more and more skin, flesh, and now muscle before getting to your ribcage. it tears its head away from your chest. its horns are coated in and dripping with your blood, a little of it trickling down its forehead and onto its nose. it has a massive grin on its face as it looks upon its beautiful creation. a cruel laceration which reaches into your muscle and is bleeding profusely.

i didnt expect this to happen so soon. my right hand twitches in a feeble attempt to resist. my eyes are wide open but my vision blurs. i scream as it digs into my flesh. air is pushed out of my lungs until theyre empty. air rushes in.

it hurts-

i feel its fingers brush against an exposed rib, and my voice breaks. i tense up, legs trying desperately to crawl away, but its no use.

it hurts-

i can feel it digging around inside me. the pieces of my mind that are still working drag my sight towards it. though blurry, i can see its expression. it is terrifying. beautiful. in that moment, its the most beautiful thing ive ever laid eyes on.

something inside me burns. a blazing spark escapes the depths of my right eye. i raise my right hand in a sudden burst of energy, grabbing hold of its head and slamming it against my own. as it recoils, i drag my legs out from under it and drive both of them into its gut, sending it flying backwards. i push myself onto my knee, then stand up, hunched over and swaying.

“hhh… hhah… hah… hhaha…”

i grab the soul-chain of restraint and yank it towards me, planting my foot firmly on the handle. the shackle, bound on my right wrist, glows brightly along with the chain, pulled taut by my left hand. i place my teeth along the links, breathing heavily, fangs exposed. crack. restraint earned its name for a reason. crack. it is there to ensure i dont stray too far from what the populace expects from a princess. i pull harder. crack. but those fools know nothing. crack. nothing, of the fire that burns within me.

crack.

…

a steady flame sways in my eye, turned to my rival. the shackle fades away, its remains scattering like dust in the wind, reflecting the light of the setting sun. my frayed, blood-splattered dress smolders slightly. i open my mouth to speak:

“i thought it might remember. but i think i need to drive it in more... if its still under its delusions, then i need to beat them out of it by force.”

i place a hand underneath the gash, wiping up my blood and tasting it with a lick. a grin spreads across my face.

“besides… i have to return this favor, dont i?”

it stares at the battleaxe as you speak, stepping back a little. recomposing itself. its eyes dart between restraint and your deep, bloody wound. it expected a fight. and this? it was going to truly enjoy this.

as you talk of its delusions, and it needing to remember, it thinks: 'theyve both been calling it a princess.. princess? what princess? if it was such a princess then why is it in this black and white dress? .. no matter.'

the axe is sent spinning towards it. it flinches. and then the real attack lands - a clean punch to the face. blood is scattered across its face as the punch connects and it is sent hurtling to the ground by the sheer velocity of the attack.

on its way down it catches itself, scraping its palm in the dirt, which it then uses to throw itself aside. grabbing ahold of its sabre. it touches its cheek. it stings a lot.

for a moment, the flame intensifies, flaring out from my eye. its wide open. once again, a flash of color extends from my back, a blur too fast to see clearly. in an instant, i close the distance, fingers spread and claws pointed, driving right into its stomach. i pull it forwards, dragging it along before throwing it into the crater, blood trailing behind it.

i stare, anger showing through in my expression. its blood drips from my claws.

when the flame in your eye intensifies, it attempts to spring back, but it is no use, as you are just too fast for it. your claws pierce its skin and drive into its flesh. it screams as its dragged, the burning pain in its gut almost too much for it to handle as its finally released, getting tossed into the crater and landing with a limp THUD.

it lays there in the crater for some time, it is quite wounded. but breathing. it stands shakily, swaying from side to side as it holds its stomach. it seems like its about to-

"o-oh god-"

it pukes. all over the ground. blood drips from the five wounds in its stomach and vomit drips from its chin. it seems that the focused attacks on its gut really did a number on it.

“is it done already?”

something in its mind breaks. it screams out in immense pain, it then pukes. blood. you can see the beautiful crimson trailing down the side of its face to join the larger pool on the floor.

as restraint fades away, it lays there motionless. it is grabbed, and made out with. motionless. it does not react as you disappear, a flash of colour briefly enveloping one half of its vision. it knows you have not left. you wouldnt.

it swallows most of the blood in its mouth, and as if to oblige with your order, it slowly stands. its vision blurry. it looks down at its trembling hands. and then stares at the blurry insect princess. it knows what comes next. it has seen it countless times with its big sister. it isnt ready for the pain. it isnt ready for the mental torment. it isnt ready.

"you- you want to see more? itll.. show you more-"

it straightens its back. it breathes shakily. and then, its back arches.

《Sixth Sin: Resolution》

it groans as it feels the six tentacles of resolution press through and stretch at its skin. then, in an instant, they tear through. a searing pain. it screams as chunks of its flesh explode outwards and join the blood and puke scattered in the crater. the six massive tentacles, jet black goopy miasma with sharp pointed tips, blitz towards you with unparalleled speed. its body is flung from the centre of the crater as the lower two dart under the land youre standing on, only to erupt under you, firing you into the air.

as youre airborne, the lower two rip out of the ground, pelting itself with debris. its tentacles speed at the floor, closing the distance between us. it circles you with a spider like motion, each tentacle taking a turn stabbing into your body, intentionally missing vitals. your right arm. your upper back. the back of your left leg. the front of your right leg. the four tentacles that are squirming and digging into your flesh wrap your body tight as it finishes circling. it lowers itself down with the remaining two, hoisting you infront of it. it grins at you, its teeth covered in your blood, and tears streaming down its face.

"it- Resolution- it hurts-"

for a second, i black out, but im woken up by stinging pain as the tentacles dig into me. i try to break free, but its hold on me is already too strong. i feel hot blood trailing down my back and along my limbs. as im brought face to face with it, i glare at it defiantly.

“ngh.. tthats bett- GHK!!”

im interrupted by the fifth tentacle coiling around my throat. i can barely breathe. i only have a moment to react to the sixth one before it slams into my chest, piercing into me. i gag, and cough weakly, blood spilling out along my chin. resisting is no use - its all i can muster just to squeeze air into my lungs, but with its grip tightening around my throat, i wont be able to for long. my vision fades in and out. i can barely hear the weak, choked noises that escape my throat through the pounding of my heart.

at the moment she was winning, a series of slashes aimed at the sword arm of her liege's keeper struck true in the time it took for her to recoil from a near-miss swing and a boot to the face gave her just enough time to observe her surroundings, the first chance she has since she begun.

whipping around she spotted it, her princess, bound in tendrils of corruption, with her former rival ripping into her chest with its bare hands, she was on the brink of death. she had never considered it could be powerful, or heartless, enough to do this. she knew what she had to do.

in an instant she disengaged from the knight and rushed to the insect's crater faster than she had ever moved before, carrying with her a gust of wind strong enough to send what few guards remained flying into the nearby forest.

「Duelist's Arts, Second Form: Corruption Rending Slash」

after what felt like an eternity of desecrating her beautiful chest, it finds her heart. wet, beating, she is still alive. it curls its fingers around it, it never wants to let go of this invaluable organ. this is a monument to its accomplishments. it stares. enamoured. gripping it ever so tightly as it softly beats. it would remember this day for the rest of its li-

the heros blade strikes.

it screams. the other five tentacles recoil into the air. quickly unwrapping the princess from the mess of Resolution. it clutches the heart even harder. it cant let go. the hero grabs the princess' desecrated body. it does not want to let go. the hero pulls with an incredible force on the body. it will not let go. it grips the heart with all of its strength.

the heart rips from the body, a beautiful scattering of blood in the sky.

the princess is dead.

its screams continue. it looks down. the princess' heart was crushed by the sheer force of its grip. its hand soaked and dripping with blood but the pain of losing the trophy is nothing compared to the excruciation of getting one of Resolution's tentacles sliced off.

it stumbles back, its screams turning into groans. tears stream down its cheeks. its vision, blurry, but still enough to make out the tentacle disgracefully laid on the floor. it then shakily shifts its attention to the very one who cut the tentacle. the hero.

it lunges itself at the hero using Resolution to fling itself towards her with a blazing speed. it knows she is fast. maybe even faster than it. and it can feel its body giving out. it is unable to maintain this form for much longer. it needs to make this quick.

there isn't time to process that, there is something lunging at her, something dangerous, acting purely on instinct she moves her blade in an upwards arc to catch the two tentacles aimed at her shoulders. a stinging pain in her stomach, she had missed the third attack.

An equivalent amount of energy finds itself straight on the hero's lower jaw, delivered by a miasma-enhanced fist. It rips through the skin and shatters bones. Had it landed a few seconds earlier, on a hero that hadn't embraced her curse, only an unrecognisable carcass would remain. Her lower face was enough to absorb the damage, the body being shot with enough force to pass through an entire castle.

I look down at the writhing mess my dearest sister has been reduced to. Both by its own Resolve and the battering it received. Hatred claws at my heart. How could she do this. How dare she. Hurt. Bleeding. Damaged. The bug's fate had completely escaped my mind upon the sight. That was my poor little sister lying there. They both attacked it out of nowhere. They both hurt it. They had to pay. ...I clenched my fist and took a deep breath in. There was time for that later. After all, a big sister is bound to her duties.

“It's okay, it's okay. I'm here.”

I kneel down to its level, gently helping it lift itself up. Still crying. Barely held together. How could she.

“It doesn't need to cry anymore. It must've hurt, didn't it? I remember when i first had to deal with all of... this. It was hell to go through back then.”

I lift its chin up a little, enough for its teary eyes to fall on mine. I wipe them off softly, before leaning a little forward and kissing it on the forehead. It's face was covered in blood, a mixture of its own and of the bug's. How dare she.

“But it doesn't have to deal with it alone now, does it? Let big sis take care of things here... I'll help it with controlling it as well, later. After we've washed off.”

I hold it close as it clings to me, crying. Its violent Resolution has calmed down, both due to the pain and the sight of me. Its tentacles embrace me in place of its arms. It cant even move them. She will pay. I whisper under my breath. Eyes burning with a mixture of love and hate.

“Sixth Sin. Revelation. Clad.”

I cling onto it tight. It does too. Miasma wisps off of my skin, like embers of a flame. Its tentacles respond. They take it in. Growing, expanding, engulfing.

“Rest well. I'll get its revenge.”

Both of us are completely covered under their darkness. It compresses itself and takes form, shape and texture. Armour, black, all encompassing armour. Resolution is arranged around the lower waist, almost skirt-like in shape, with an opening in the front. A black helmet is in place of a head, the slits leading to unending darkness. I look down at the hands, stretching the claw-ended fingers. It's a temporary form, and somewhat forces my own abilities to be held back, but still. This will do. It was for my little sister's sake, after all.