Catgirls And Dungeons (Yuri)

Haiz…

I sigh quietly inside my mind.

"Honestly, Alter… what were you thinking? Why would you do that?"

There's no response.

Not right away.

She just buries her head in her arm, curling into herself, sulking, avoiding.

I don't push her. Not yet. I give her time, let her sit with it, et her breathe.

And then, finally, her voice comes, low and tired.

"You already know the answer," she says. "Why did you even have to ask?"

"What?"

"There's no more hope for us, Felicia. For Morvena and me… we've already lost."

The moment she says it, something cracks inside me.

It hurts.

Gods, it hurts.

My chest tightens, my heart throbs like something sharp has been jammed inside.

And I know Alter feels it too, because our body is shared.

"I already tried," she whispers, her voice is shaking. "I tried, Felicia… I really did."

Her words catch in her throat. She's choking on them.

"In my past life, I searched for so many years. I wandered through every country, crossed every plane, went beyond the stars, begged the angels for help. I even dared to walk through the great demonic dimensions, asking even the cruelest beings if they knew a way…"

She pauses, trying to breathe.

"But in the end, I found nothing. Nothing. No answer. No cure."

"What…?" I whisper back, stunned. The pain in my chest grows heavier.

"There really is… no way?"

"Well… if it's the early stages. If the corruption is still weak, still new. Then maybe, just maybe, there's a way to reverse it. So don't worry, Felicia. I'll help you. I'll make sure you're saved."

"But Morvena…" she continues, the words cracking again. "She's too far gone. She's been like this for too long. Fighting against the demonic corruption now is like trying to hold back an ocean with your bare hands."

"And even if I found something…" her breath catches. "What can I do now? I'm trapped inside this broken body! I can't even stay awake for more than a couple hours without needing a week of rest. Meanwhile… her corruption keeps growing. Every day, every second, it eats away at her. And I can't stop it.

"In the end… it was just my selfish wish.

"I wanted her to live. I kept her alive. I sealed her in this place and told myself I was protecting her.

"But the truth is… I only chained her. I left her in a hell made of silence and pain, for centuries. I tortured her, with a false promise, a false hope of something that doesn't exist.

"If she could speak to me now, she'd probably say she hates me. And she'd be right.

"After all… no one—no sane person—would ever do something this cruel to someone they love.

"So please… just let me do it.

"Let me end it. Let me free her…"

…

My heart aches.

More than it ever has.

Alter falls silent again, her hands limp at her sides.

"Perhaps, this is my punishment," she says finally, barely a whisper. "For all the pain I've caused her. For all the centuries she's suffered… because of me."

—————————-

Ah…

After hearing that… after hearing Alter pour her heart out like that…

I don't know what to think anymore.

I feel conflicted. So terribly, painfully conflicted.

My mind spirals, drowning in a storm of emotion.

What the hell should I do?

Because Alter…

As cruel as the idea of killing Morvena is…

She has a point, she really does.

If Morvena has to keep living like this—in this suspended hell of silence and pain—

If her soul is truly beyond saving…

If the chance of her ever returning to the girl she once was is as close to zero as Alter says…

Then… isn't the choice obvious?

A swift strike through the neck.

A quick, clean strike, that would be the most merciful thing, wouldn't it?

Especially given the fact that it will also probably be better for the world too.

Because… if Morvena gets out, if the demonic version of her has a chance to unleash its wrath against the world… everyone would be doomed. Thousands, millions of lives would be lost. And all of those future disasters… they would be on our hands…

So… once again…

The choice is obvious, isn't it?

…

Suddenly…

Before I can say anything, Alter speaks again.

"Felicia," she calls softly, her voice carries a bitter laugh, low and tired. "Do you… believe in fate? In destiny?"

"Huh?" Her question catches me off guard. "What fate? What destiny? What does that have to do with this?"

Honestly, what is she talking about now?

Alter then lets out a dry laugh, one that holds no real humor.

"People call it fate," she murmurs. "Others call it the heavenly will. But I've been thinking… how did all this even happen?"

She pauses, then continues.

"I should be dead. My soul was shattered. I shouldn't even exist like this — wandering, broken, clinging to someone else's body… And yet I'm still here… And then somehow… somehow, we found this dungeon. Out of all the places in the world, in all the shattered dimensions scattered across time and space… it was this one. It had to be this one, right at this time…

"Felciia, don't you think that's a little too perfect to be coincidence?"

…

Right…

Now that I really think about it…

It is too much of a coincidence.

Too perfect. Too precise.

It's like—

"It's like someone's been arranging this for me, isn't it?" Alter murmurs quietly. "My life. My death. My fractured soul, my reincarnation… Everything. Lining it all up."

She lets out a breath. It sounds so tired.

"But even if fate has been cruel to us… I don't blame it. If anything… I'm grateful. Because I got to meet her, the love of my life. I got to live with her, laugh with her, love her, fight along side her till the very end…"

"…Right," I reply. "But still… I don't get it. How does any of that matter now?"

Why is she bringing up fate?

Why talk about destiny, when everything is falling apart?

"What are you trying to say?" I press.

However, Alter doesn't answer right away.

She breaths out. And then, her voice is quiet when it finally returns.

"Have you ever wondered… why we crossed paths? Why you and I ended up here, of all places?" she asks.

"I-I don't know…. Why?"

"Because of fate."

"Huh????"

"That's right," Alter nods, closing her eyes. "Before I died, when everything was ending and my soul was shattering, I made a wish. I didn't even know if anyone was listening. But I begged. I begged the heavens, the stars, the void, the heavenly will—whatever there was. I begged to see her again, just once more. I begged to be allowed back. Not to start over… but to end it. To release her from pain, to free us both."

Then she stops. Her words hang in the silence like a final breath.

"…And now," she says at last, "my wish has been granted. So thank you, Felicia?"

…

…

"What….?"

Hearing that, I'm stunned, frozen.

Honestly…

What the hell was that????

Because suddenly…

I feel like I've been scammed.

"Wait a minute… Alter…" I'm shaking. "So… you have been planning this all along? You wanted to kill Morvena even before you entered this dungeon? All the talk about sealing her again… was just a stupid lie? And not to mention.. the reason… the reason why you taught me sword skills… because you wanted to end yourself with her? Because you just want to pass down your legacy?"

And at this point, Alter doesn't deny it.

She only smiles.

A twisted, broken smile.

And then she laughs.

"Haha… yes… YES!" That manic, unhinged laughter spills from her throat, echoing through the silence like shattering glass. "You did great, Felicia. Really, thank you!"

"After this, the body is yours," she says calmly. "You'll have my sword skills. My knowledge, everything I left behind. I'll take all the corruption into myself and vanish with it. That's the deal. And you…

"You and Eris… you'll be free. You'll live happily. That's what you deserve."

….

"What…?"

I can't believe it…

The truth… the confession.

I've been tricked.

The disbelief turns to rage.

And now, my blood is boiling!

I'm furious!

"ALTER! DON'T YOU FUCKING MESS WITH ME!!!"