⁽⋅ ── ᶦ ˢᶜᵃᵗᵗᵉʳ

                                    Brilliant silver lights enveloped the sky; argent damnation widespread                                     across nearby creatures of despair, each individual red orb was                                     drawn to the bright display of abnormal illumination atop the tower.                                     A mighty screech ruptured the frigid atmosphere, the surprise of defeat                                     rippling throughout the rotten howl of vile ebony maw. Gradually,                                     silence coated the expanse of Vale, the only audible sound being that                                     of discernible grunts emitting from neighbouring Grimm.

                                    Atop the tower lay the gargantuan, wings sprawled down adjacent to                                     the once impenetrable fortress; stagnant claws clung to the ruined                                     architecture, the frozen, rigid form seemingly the only thing halting the                                     fall of the weighted, stale creature.                                     Though, this was not the only thing that lie in wake of the tower.

                                    Ink swam at the edges of the Maiden’s vision, her exhaustion and pain                                     sticking to the very marrow that lined her bones. Though it was night,                                     view remained illuminated from the previous display of power — the                                     feeling akin to being blind.                                     Blood leaked from the edges of her mouth, several tears having been                                     sprawled out along her tattered form; the wave of white light had sent                                     her flying, the crushing rubble and debris resulting in several wounds to                                     her now fragile frame.                                     Flames — the last of her aura — desperately licked at the bodily grief; in a                                     feeble, last attempt to recover some consciousness — some form of life,                                     but it was no use.

                                    Senses were rapidly decreasing, all coherent thoughts becoming transient,                                     fleeting from her mind entirely.                                     Eventually, the battle with her own mind had ceased; heavy eyelids                                     flickering to a close, flames dying into mere embers before dissipating into                                     nothing more than lingering ash.

“Get away from me!”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“Go. Just… go.”

“There’s so much blood.”

“They turned me into this.”

“I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”

“Traitor!”

“I just want to go home…”

“They’re — they’re gone! They left us and they’re gone!”

“If I don’t make it out of here…”

“I didn’t think it would hurt this much…”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“This is my fault.”

“Don’t close your eyes. Don’t leave me.”

“How could you do this?”

“I’m a monster. That’s all I ever have been.”

“Did you know all this time?”

“I can’t… I can’t… I can’t see.”

“I’m doing this for you.”

“Please don’t go.”

“You’re my best friend. I can’t leave you.”

“You… you were lying this entire time.”

“Everyone leaves in the end. They come, and they go. They all go…”

“You promised! You promised you’d stay!”

“You’re just going to give up?”

“Can you see me?”

“This is my responsibility.”

“I’m not just going to stand by while you destroy everything.”

“If one of us has to live, I’d rather it was you.”

“I’ve been lying to you.”

“I never want to see you again!”

“Trust me. One last time.”

“If we go down, we go together, okay?”

“I’m not going to abandon you! Not when you’re like this!”

“You’ve damned us all.”

“I… I have to go.”

“I can’t lose you again!”

“I’ve always known you would become a monster.”