Mánagarmr

tw: water, blood, leg/arm trauma, impalement

Commencing execution…

                            【 DANSE SUR GLACE MACABRE 】

     [ ♪♫♩♫♪ ]

Tooru is dragged away from the main group by forces unseen and placed on a frozen lake. A glittering cloud of ice wraps around her boots and when it dissipates, Tooru stands on ice skates. The cloud forms again a short distance away from the girl, creating the illusion of what appears to be a young man, also in skates. He looks familiar, but you can’t quite place his name and the way his form shimmers in and out of existence like a ghost makes it difficult to make out his face clearly. Tooru, who is much closer, looks horrified for a brief second of recognition and then switches to an accepting smile in contrast to her pained eyes.

Music starts up from a location unseen and Tooru starts to skate. The illusion joins Tooru and you realize that they’re performing a routine to the music. Rather than just skating, they’re dancing on the ice. The dance itself is beautiful, truly the work of a professional, but you can’t help but feel apprehensive. There’s a grim aura surrounding the dancers and every second that passes feels like a countdown to when something will inevitably go wrong. Each lift, spin, and twizzle could be the last. Still, the soft smile does not leave Tooru’s face.

The song gets closer to the end and the illusion brings Tooru up for one last curved lift. It’s the picture of perfection, that is,until he sets Tooru down awkwardly, sending her spinning away to try to regain her balance. She momentarily looks panicked; mistakes like this aren’t normal for her. In her moment of confusion, a spear of ice shoots up from the lake, leaving a thin trail of blood behind on Tooru’s leg.The blood drops down onto the ice, staining the clear surface with color.

The smile is gone.

The song restarts.

When Tooru looks up to see where the illusion of her dance partner is, he’s nowhere to be seen. That is, until he materializes right in front of Tooru, holding the spear of ice that injured her leg. He thrusts it forward, catching Tooru’s arm and sending more blood splattering down onto the ice. The pain spurs Tooru into action and she pushes the illusion away and tries to skate back to where everyone else stands. No longer following the beat of the music, she makes a desperate rush to escape.

Tooru goes about two feet before the skates on her boots change shape, enveloping her feet in ice. She kicks her legs, trying to break the ice in vain. The ice does not give way and instead travels further up her legs, making escape even more impossible. All attempts at professionalism are gone out the window; tears streak down Tooru’s face and she screams in terror. In fact, she screams hard enough that after only a few minutes she goes silent, having made her throat raw.

The illusion circles Tooru, keeping in beat with the music. As the final note plays, he skates close to Tooru, holds her hand up in the air…and impales her with the spear. With one final flourish, he fades away with the music, leaving Tooru alone.

The ice around Tooru’s feet melts, allowing her limp body to fall down onto the ice, where it lies for a moment that felt far too long. The ice on the lake, having served its purpose melts, and Tooru’s body sinks down into the water.

Tooru Hanabusa, the wolfskin Super High-School Level Ice Dancer, has been executed.

This was it. This was exactly what she was afraid of.

Tooru released her death grip from the podium to take the vulnerary from Rowan’s hands. She mustered up a weak smile. If someone had to do her wound check, she was glad it was him. She wasn’t going to use the vulnerary, but it was nice to hold it in her hand. At least this way she could explain the truth of what happened.

“Thank you, Ro-kun. It won’t really help, but thank you.”

Tooru patted his head. She’d thought so from the beginning, but he really was a very kind boy. She was going to miss him when she inevitably got executed.

The other voice beside Tooru was considerably less kind, but Tooru listened to Emiko quietly.

“E-Emiko-san…Yes, I know how to use it. Thank you for your offer, though. Really, I should be apologizing to you for leaving you all alone in Hall D. Maybe you can ask Catherine-san if you can move to a different hall?”

She hadn’t expected much sympathy from her remaining retainer, so her offer caught Tooru a little of guard. Emiko didn’t really have any reason to help her; it wasn’t like they were close and Emiko didn’t owe her anything. 

“Allow me to explain what happened. Micchan and I met up to discuss our secrets. I’m the person mentioned in their card, after all. We tried talking, but then it turned into an argument. They thought I was being too reckless and that I should just let them protect me, but I thought they were being ridiculous. I’m not a child anymore; I didn’t need the person I used to idolize for being better than me treating me like a fragile doll. I got fed up and tried to leave the mess hall, but Micchan threw their shuriken at me.”

Tooru gripped her shoulder and winced at the remaining pain. Just remembering the feeling of searing pain and betrayal was bad enough, but now she was telling everyone else about it.

“Before you yell at me for not running away, please consider my situation a little more. Say I did run away. Micchan could have attacked me again. They were faster than me and able to attack from behind, so it would’ve been entirely possible. And why bother letting me live after attacking me in the first place? By wounding me, they became a dangerous person and what would they do if I brought up that fact to someone else? Their vision of being this perfect hero would be shattered and they’d become the scapegoat if we couldn’t figure out a killer. What I’m saying is…there is no option I could take in which both of us would leave that mess hall alive. I either killed them or they killed me. It’s unfair, right, forcing me to fight my childhood friend for my life? It’s really fucking unfair!”

Tooru’s voice lost all composure for a moment. If there was a moment for her to swear, it was now.

“So I fought back. Unfortunately for both of us, it wasn’t a quick fight. It wasn’t so much "taking a chance for a kill” as much as…trying not to die. By the end, I was just barely hanging on. Had Micchan hit me just a little harder, I would be the one dead. Honestly, if not for the vulnerary I used, we might both be dead.“

On the bright side, it would have been a whole heck of a lot easier to investigate that way.

It was a joke? It’s joke? Tooru couldn’t say that it was in good taste, but she did feel a little guilty for immediately jumping on Junpei for it.

(Just a little.)

“…I’m sorry, Junpei-san, I know I’m was harsh. I just…please give me a moment to gather myself. Please.”

Tooru took a couple shaky breaths and closed her eyes. She wasn’t going to get anywhere just yowling at anyone who talked to her. Calm down and breathe. 

When Tooru’s breathing was slightly calmer than before, she opened her eyes shared her thoughts on the whole “what was the real weapon” conversation.

“I can’t use swords, lances, or even shurikens, but I don’t really think that’s all that helpful, considering that it looks more likely that none of those was the murder weapon. They’re all red herrings. If the wounds were as jagged as you say, it seems unlikely that they’d come from a shuriken. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t really matter how tall the rotisserie was, either. Going by what everyone said, the fight took place inside the mess hall. Even if Micchan could hit a person from inside the mess hall, that would mean that the culprit could also hit them from a distance, which is pretty unlikely, given the nature of the wounds. Wouldn’t it make more sense if they placed the shuriken there after the fact? That’s just what I think, though.”

Thank god other people had investigated, because she wouldn’t have noticed any of that by herself.

When Lowell brought up the cards again, Tooru gave him a strained smile. She really had dug herself into a hole by not having her card on her and the more people talked, the deeper the hole became.

“The card at the crime scene is also dangerous, huh… My card-”

That hole was more like a bottomless abyss now.

All she had to do was tell them what was on her card and she’d be cleared! It was an easy enough concept in theory, but in reality? It was just a couple sentences, easily said enough in one breath.

It should have been simple.

Tooru ducked her head.

“My card- It- Um. No, I’m sorry, but I still can’t say it. Even now, I still can’t do it. Please forgive me, but it’s impossible. I can’t do it!”

Tooru’s hands gripped her podium, turning her knuckles white underneath her gloves. She knew she wasn’t helping her case by getting all emotional, she knew that, but she couldn’t stop the tears from pricking her eyes. So much for calming down, because she felt even worse than before. She couldn’t really complain, seeing how she did it to herself.

She barely lifted her head, but it was unclear who she was speaking to this time.

“You can check me for wounds, if you must. Everyone already knows what you’ll find, though.”

Tooru looked about as miserable as she felt. As everyone filed into the trial room, she kept her gaze fixed at some point in the distance and did not offer anyone even the tiniest of smiles. And why should she? She’d kept lighthearted in the past, but this- this was just too much. Lowell told her earlier that she had every right to be upset and she was cashing in that right now.

She hadn’t really investigated; the sight of Mirai’s body up on the throne was too much for her to handle and she didn’t want to leave just to find more of their blood scattered around. In fact, she didn’t intend to get involved at all, but Lowell’s suggestion evoked a very strong reaction in Tooru.

“About sharing cards…I refuse. I absolutely refuse.”

For someone who hadn’t spoken very much, if at all, in the last few trials, Tooru suddenly raised her voice. She looked momentarily surprised by her own outburst and then cleared her throat.

“I’m very sorry, but you have to understand that the words written on that card would endanger my life in not just this trial, but any trial. I know it’s unhelpful, but believe me, I would help in any other circumstance. Besides, I don’t carry my card on me anymore. It wasn’t the sort of thing I wanted to carry on me. There were…too many bad feelings attached to it.”

Tooru tugged at her hood. She really missed the snow from the first motive. For the rest of the time, all of her layers felt too hot and suffocating. Not that she would take off the hood, mind you. It completed the aesthetic of the outfit and who was she to ruin that? But fashion aside, all she wanted was to disappear into the red fabric and let the trial progress around her. It would be easy to just shut everything out, but she still had more to say.

“It’s possible that the culprit was friends with Micchan like Lowell said, but there’s also the possibility that Micchan somehow found out what was on the other card and cornered them. I have no idea what was on it, but if it was something dangerous…I think Micchan would’ve felt the need to say something. What kind of self-proclaimed hero doesn’t try to stop someone who could be considered dangerous? They were always going on about protecting people, so couldn’t that be connected to this?”

Tooru grimaced at having to refer to Mirai in past tense. It felt wrong, like she was accepting that they were gone.

“Lowell, you have a point, but as Micchan’s friend, I’d like to interject. This motive…it’s hard to imagine that someone would kill their friend over it. If you could assure your safety for one more week, wouldn’t you want your friend to be there with you? Why not attack a stranger, especially if there was a chance they’d fight back?”

Tooru turned to look at Junpei, displeasure clear as day on her face. Perhaps it was the nerves or the shock of Mirai’s death, but she was not interested in staying pleasant with him. Her patience ran thinner and thinner the longer she spoke, the longer she stayed in that godforsaken Astral Plane.

“Junpei-san. I assume you mean well, but if you can forgive me, I don’t want you running any checks. Rather than wasting time checking everyone, I’d be more beneficial if we try to narrow down people first. Frankly, we don’t have time for you to caress everyone’s arms. A shame, I know. How do you even know they were hit there, if at all? It could’ve hit their leg, you know.”

Was that a hint of irritation in her voice?

“I would also like to remind you that you nearly helped someone escape punishment because of your lie last trial. Pray tell, why anyone here should trust you, of all people?”

“Hm? Oh sure. You can even drop the suffix altogether. I don’t care either way. And well, I don’t buy into that Hoshido-Nohr bullcrap anyway, so… yeah, no need to worry about that as well.”

He shrugged. Not much else to say about that topic, really. The blacksmith wasn’t exactly known as polite anyway.

“Oh, you said it. Bastards think they’re being funny with that bullshit. Really wish we had something to turn the tables on them for once.”

Lowell huffed, clearly displeased by the powerlessness that they were currently faced with. It irritated him how he couldn’t do anything for so long… What was wrong with him? He should have normally found a way out by now! Jesus!

Good thing that Tooru continued to talk or else, he’d have lost himself with these unpleasant thoughts. However, his face fell a little, turning more somber when the loss of retainers was mentioned. Right, Kiyomasa had been in her squad… Both of them had only one retainer left.

“… Just because you’re not the only one who lost someone doesn’t mean that you can’t complain about it. ‘S natural.”

The more he spoke, the quieter he became, until he cleared his throat.

“A-Anyway. I think you can show more confidence in trials, ‘cuz you were a big help back in the first trial. So chin up.”

“Uh, doesn’t mean that you have to force yourself into anything. Just… letting y’know that I think you’re capable of more than you might think. O-Or something like that.”

“Is that right? If we aren’t going to stand on formalities, feel free to just call me Tooru, then.”

It was nice to be a little more casual than usual! It took the edge off of things and made it feel more like talking with a friend than talking with some scary lion (but not in the same way that she was a wolf) guy she just met.

“It’s a bit unfair, but if I remember right, we’re pretty much not allowed to touch them. I suppose someone could try to kill them, but I have a feeling it would do far more bad than good. If only we could get them to return to their usual selves for good! We could go back to living peacefully and no one else would have to die. They’re pretty decent when they aren’t being scary, so I’d feel a little bad if we couldn’t include them in our happy ending. At least, that’s the ending I’d wish for.”

It would be nice if there was an option where everyone could be alive, but Tooru wasn’t quite optimistic enough to dream of a scenario like that. It just wasn’t realistic to think like that. In any case, they were alive in her heart and that was enough for the time being.

Tooru’s voice got softer and she turned away from Lowell to look up at the sky. While staying in Nohr, she hadn’t seen many, if any, sunsets. She’d almost forgotten how pretty they were.

“...You’re much kinder than you appear, Lowell. I did not expect to be comforted like this when I came out here, but...it’s nice. It’s nice to be reminded that I’m allowed to be sad.”

If only it didn’t come at the cost of other’s lives.

Tooru turned back and faced Lowell again.

“Thank you, Lowell. I mean it. I’ll keep your advice in mind.”

Lowell wasn’t surprised to see another student roaming around. After all, it was a new place that people tended to check out. Either because they also want to seek a way out or they just wanted to combat their boredom.

In Tooru’s case however, it seemed more like as if she’d be the former reason. Well, at least he figured as muh, given how she took a look at the pretty much useless bridge. And kicked a stone into the canyon which… didn’t seem to hit anywhere.

(Good god, how deep was this place?)

Now that he thought about it… They’ve been here for so long and he’d barely talked to the wolfskin. Even though she seemed nice and smart enough from the first trial.

(Wouldn’t hurt to… talk to her, right?)

“No dice, huh?”

The blacksmith threw a glance towards the bridge, before his sight was back on Tooru.

“I wonder if we could fly over to the other side, but… I kinda doubt that they put another invisible wall there, so no one can cheat or whatever. Still gives me a headache how they’re doing any of that crap to begin with…”

Instead of rambling like that, maybe you should greet the other actually properly?

(It probably helped that he didn’t immediately try anything like pushing her over the side of the canyon.)

“Oh? Hello, Lowell-san. Actually, would you mind if I just went with Lowell-kun? We may be in opposite factions, but that’s no reason to not make friends.”

He had a point there. Tooru forgot that some people had mounts that could fly. She was stuck on the ground, unfortunately, but that didn’t mean someone else couldn’t go check the other side. Given their current situation, it was unlikely that the result would be any different, but it was a nice thought.

“I hadn’t considered flying over it, but yes, I would assume they’d block off the other side with magic. Even if we did manage to get to the other side, we wouldn’t be able to move any further. In the end, it’s just another cruel glimpse of the freedom we can’t reach. Perhaps that’s the point, even. They seem to enjoy teasing us.”

The motives and the executions felt just like that: teases. They were seemingly designed to hurt in ways that mere coincidences couldn’t begin to explain. It wouldn’t exactly be a huge surprise if this new area was the same way. Besides, what if someone threw someone down there? It would be a bit of a challenge to investigate a body in what looked like to be a bottomless canyon.

“But thank you, I appreciate the concern. I...I’m alright. Hall D is a little more quiet than I’d prefer, but I’m still alive, so I don’t have much room to complain. I’m not the only person who lost their retainer, either.”

It wasn’t like Lowell was the first one to lose his retainer or anything.

Tooru was very quickly running out of distractions. There were only so many things she could do before her mind wandered to topics that she didn’t want to think about quite yet. She could go read in the Records Hall, but to be quite honest, reading was the last thing on her mind. This wasn’t school and she wasn’t one of the classes who could use tomes to fight, so they wouldn’t help if someone attacked her, either. So what should wolf girl do? Explore, that’s what! It was pretty gloomy to just stand around kicking dirt in Nohr, but at least there was the option of stretching her legs at the border.

The border itself wasn’t all that exciting, but at least it was somewhat different from Nohr. Tooru walked up to what she thought was the edge of the border and was surprised to find that she could continue forward.

“This must be one of the changes Akihiro-san mentioned. Maybe it’s a way o-”

Any excitement Tooru may have felt at this discovery instantly vanished when she realized that the new area opened up to a canyon, blocking any further travel. 

By the looks of it, there was no way to feasibly cross the canyon. The bridge (speaking loosely) was entirely useless and it was too wide to try jumping across. Dropping down and climbing up the other side looked pretty much impossible, even with a light. For all intents and purposes, it was bottomless.

Great.

As an experiment, Tooru kicked a rock over the side of the canyon and watched it fall down into the dark abyss. It didn’t take very long for it to completely disappear from her sight. Yeah, trying to climb down and explore would be a bad idea. A very bad idea.

“Hahh……I should’ve guessed.”