“Stop it,” she said, backing up. Her heel hit a rock. She stumbled. Fell backward.
It was a room. A perfect sphere of polished obsidian. And in the center, a single, still pool of water. No—not water. Quicksilver. It reflected everything with cruel, liquid clarity.
But the cave would not let her. The walls of obsidian reflected her from every angle. A thousand Koishis, all with the same hollow eyes. A thousand forgotten girls.
“I’m scared,” she whispered into Satori’s shoulder. -ENG- Koishi Komeiji-s defeat- Cave Adventure -...
And for the first time in years, Koishi Komeiji let herself cry.
It showed a girl with tears streaming down her face. A girl clutching her knees in the dark, whispering, “Why won’t anyone look at me?”
And defeat, sometimes, was the only way to win. “Stop it,” she said, backing up
The pool rippled. The image changed. Now it showed her standing in the middle of the Human Village, waving at strangers. Walking right through them. A child passed through her chest and shivered, saying, “It got cold all of a sudden.”
Deeper she went. The air grew cold. The phosphorescent glow faded, replaced by absolute dark. She didn’t need light. She was the absence of something. She walked on, her footsteps silent, her presence a hole in the world’s perception.
Koishi.
“That’s not me,” Koishi said. But her voice cracked. The smile on her face twitched.
“You found me,” Koishi whispered.
“I don’t want to feel that,” Koishi whispered. The smile was gone. Her face was naked, raw, eleven years old and terrified. “That’s why I closed it. That’s why I threw it away.” Fell backward
The cave shuddered. The silver pool cracked. Light—real light, painful and golden—poured from the fissures.