Christmas came. In a red package, they were. Skates. Red, crimson, so red, they seemed to bleed into the air. Drowning out the surrounding color.

  “You should thank your maid.” Mother said, her nose in the air. “She assured us that if you had a… hobby, you would perform better in your lessons. Do not disappoint us.”

  “I won’t mother! Thank you!” I cried out. The woman hmphed, while hiding her face behind her fan.

  “But of course. Now, go.” She said with a wave of her hand, effectively dismissing me. Without a second thought, I ran out to the lake. The world bleeding and blending into itself until I was outside, throwing off my shoes and putting those skates on.

  Over my usual outfit, was a hastily worn jacket. Behind me, out of breath, the maid followed.

  “Young master, I know your excited, but there is no need to be in such a hurry.” She spoke, trying to keep her voice level, but I ignored that.

  In a matter of seconds, I laced up the boots and I was gone.

  The moment I hit the ice… I fell.

  “Young Master!’ I heard a shout. I ignored it. I struggled back up with grit teeth. I slipped. Fell. Again and again. Until eventually, I had my feet under me… however…

  “Young Master, it is getting dark. We should head inside.”

  I was cold and shivering. Covered in scratches and bruises.

  “My word!” Mother yelled on seeing my appearance. “You look like a mess!” She fussed, demanding I wash up before even setting foot in the dining room.

  So, it went. Day in, day out. My legs wobbling like a newborn fawn, I somehow managed at some point. From standing to moving.

  I improved in my lessons in equal measure. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was actually getting somewhere, achieving something…

  So, it continued and continued… When the lake thawed, I begged to be allowed to continue. Ice rinks were rented out, for me alone, so that I wouldn’t disgrace the family with my poor performance. So, I continued. Throwing myself into it.

  On the ice I felt free, untethered. Unbothered. A moment of peace in what was a constant demand for perfection and excellence in all things. A few years passed… and…

  It was just any other winter, or so I thought. The lake was frozen over. Snow had fallen.

  “Is the lake safe for skating?” I asked my personal maid, not for the first time this season. Her smile widened, exposing fangs.

  “Today, the ice absolutely perfect, Young Master.”

  So, I went. Maid in tow, to the lakeside. I skated. Like I always did, but today, I had a mission. A maneuver I wanted to try. I built up momentum, to kick off the ice. Throwing myself into the air with a slight spin. Each time, I hit the ice hard. I could almost feel the world shift with each hit. My body, began to ache before long, but I could barely feel it. Determined as I was.

  Again… Again… Never noticing as the sky darkened. As the ever-present figure of the maid vanished. Then it happened. A loud pop, a spin in the air, once, twice, and… I landed. My foot slammed into the ice. For a brief moment, exhilaration took hold, My heart hammered, I felt so lightheaded, I felt like I had truly just flown…

  Then the world gave way.

  From heaven to hell. I plunged into darkness. All direction, gone. Faded away. I tried to fight. To claw my way somewhere, anywhere, but… I was tired from skating all day, the frigid water took my breath away, stole what warmth I had…

  In the endless nothing… I felt nothing. Heard nothing. Yet… As the cold settled. As my mind was forced to slow down…

  I couldn’t help but think…

  How nice this was.

  I was alone. Even the cold felt so blessedly warm. I could feel the darkness pressing in, embracing me. It was so inviting. So… unlike everything I knew.

  My eyes fluttered shut. Just to enjoy the moment. I’d free myself later, or so I promised myself. I could try in a bit. I could enjoy this, for but a moment longer.

  My body began to burn. The heat scorching. I felt a pain in my chest. A powerful thump that wracked my frame. A whisper. A voice broke through the darkness.

  “Don’t die!” A voice cried out. A hazy figure. Desperately hovered over my dying frame. “You can’t die!” They cried. Again, continuing to press on my chest. “Don’t you have anything to live for!? Something you want to accomplish!?”

  No… I didn’t. What could I possibly have to live for? I was unwanted and some part of me knew, that after today, I would never be allowed to skate again.

  To my parents, I was no more than a tool. Something to be used and discarded at their convenience. It was such a cold existence, an empty one. Why would I choose to go back? Not when it was so warm, so calm, so nice to be in that darkness. If I could… I would choose to die. To embrace that feeling for all eternity.

  Once again, I felt myself drift away, or try too, but… they wouldn’t stop. The hazy figure above me. Beating my chest, forcing their breath into my frozen, filled lungs.

  They wouldn’t stop… No, if anything, they grew more frantic. Only, as it went… They began to sob. “You can’t die!” They spoke again, for the first time, they slowed… However, the feeling of hot tears falling on my face, made me stir, only just…

  “I’ve been watching you, ever since you first started!” They said. “You would fall and get back up again, over and over! You never stopped!” They continued. “Do you even know what that meant to me!?”

  I felt it. Their words. Made something stir inside me. The figure stiffened and began to work. Beating at my chest again. Doing all they can to revive me.

  “There has to be something you have to live for!”

  Those words stuck.

  “Has to be something you want to accomplish!”

  Again, they hammered in.

  “Something, that if you gave up, right this moment, you know you would regret!”

  Regret?

  All at once… No… it happened with a shift. A crackle, like ice falling away. The figure faded. In its place, a woman stood, no, a magical girl, bloodied with a wide grin. Still talking about… something.

  I blinked. My eyes refocusing. The girl didn’t even notice I had drifted off. Nor did she notice my thumping heart, that her spears had missed. For a magical girl, the head and heart were vital. Neither of mine were even damaged.

  She had gained the upper hand with those coins, but… she had been hasty. The spears were all in non-vital areas. Or, mostly non-vital areas. With a wet cough, I hacked up thick, syrup-like blood. She barely even glanced over as she spoke. Instead, her attention seemed elsewhere.

  I could feel my blood boiling. My heart thumped and beat. What rattling breaths I took were hot and tinged with ice. The spears, impaling me, were covered in frost. Where my blood touched, it began to hiss and crackle. Cracking under the strain.

  Taking a moment, I reflected on that moment. I didn’t remember that, or rather, all I remember was falling through the ice and being back in my room. Months of recovery followed. Stuck to my house, banned from skating, and yet…

  I was never more alive. I took to my lessons with a newfound zeal. I was essentially reborn, to the point where my parents couldn’t find a single fault with my performance, if anything…

  “Truly… this boy has turned around, hasn’t he?” Mother had said.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Indeed, quite shocking really.” Father had replied back.

  This was after a demonstration of what I had learned, a culmination of all my lessons.

  “The boy is no longer a mark on the family, admittedly.” The woman hummed. “In fact, it makes me think…” She said, before trailing off. With hardly a word, she walked off. Leaving me to be dismissed by my father.

  At the time, I thought nothing of it. If anything, I had thought, perhaps my dream was coming to fruition, to be officially recognized. As time continued to pass though, one day, I was brought into Father’s office. There… he sat me down.

  “Son.” He said, perhaps for the first time. His hands before him, on his desk. My back straight, looking ever forward. “You have truly proved yourself worthy of this family. Which is why, I have good news for you.”

  My ears had perked up. Every part of my being ready for the next few words.

  “We have decided, going forward, that you will directly assist your newborn sister, when she takes control of the family.”

  Those words…

  It made me laugh. For the first time, garnering the magical girl’s attention. My body felt like it was on fire.

  It started to chuckle low, and built into something raucous, it made my wounds worsen, even as the spears cracked and broke.

  Not that she noticed.

  “Finding this funny?” The magical girl said, “Well, no matter, I suppose it is funny. Typical of you rabbits to leave each other to die.” She said, almost offhandedly. “I had hoped they would take the bait, but… well, not that it matters. My mission is just to take control of the ley line here, nothing more.” She moved, adjusting her spear.

  “I’d say it was fun, but… it really wasn’t.” She said and thrust. At the same time, I moved. The spears broke. Her strike went wide, smashing into the side of my face, slicing skin and flesh, but doing no lasting harm.

  My hand snapped out, grabbing her outstretched arm and pulled her towards me. I felt her magic stir, spears shot out of the earth, stabbing into me, but… I was undeterred.

  Her flesh hissed under my touch. A yelp left her lips as I lunged out, my fist slamming into her gut. I felt her magic waver, her wound hiss, her breath leave her lungs. I didn’t pause, I stepped in even closer, cracking my forehead into her nose, shattering it in a single go.

  She fell back, I followed her to the ground. In my new position, I was straddling her, one hand pinned her spear, the other shot to her throat. My free hand wrapped around her throat. Ice crackled, the fire burning in my veins gave me enough strength that I felt her throat crinkle in my grip.

  She croaked, she cried out for help. Her free hand reached for my hand on her throat, the other wildly waved.

  “Help me you idiot! GET HER OFF ME!” She screamed. Her magic stirred again, more spears punched into me, but lacked the power to push me off.

  I could feel my chest vibrating. My heart thundered in my chest. Every beat wracked my frame, cracked the ice keeping me together. I felt ready to fall apart, to give in. Above all, my jaws began to hurt. That, and the fire coursing through my veins. Burning me alive.

  Was I still laughing? Or was that just an echo?

  I remember. Something inside me broke that day. Like my heart had cracked, and something had slipped inside. Feasting on what was inside. Growing, incubating. Now… Now I could feel it trying to hatch. It was so close. Just on the cusp. It just needed a catalyst.

  Unfortunately, this wasn’t quite it. This wasn’t enough.

  Holding the magical girl down, my magic contesting her own. Her eyes, focused on me, solely on me sent shivers down my spine. The fear, the terror, the recognition. She cried out, her voice barely a croak.

  She was exhausted, I could feel it. Her magic was flagging. Her own uniform began to crackle and spark, motes of it vanishing. She grew even more panicked when she realized that. More spears jutted out, none hitting the mark as her panic grew. My hand was like a vice, but… this wouldn’t be enough. She wouldn’t die like this.

  Already, the burning heat was fading. The fire in my veins cooling. So, I took a chance. Not like I had anything to lose. I let go of her arm, the one holding the spear. Magic swirled, slowly, but surely as something came into being.

  The moment I let go, she tried to maneuver her spear, tried to position it in a way that would allow her to thrust it into my heart. But between her all-consuming terror, her mind freezing up as my cold made itself home in her body. Making her magic sluggish.

  Between all that, in the end, she failed. Failed to do anything as the blade firmly formed in my hand.

  The moment she saw it, she screamed. “HELP ME! YOU IDIOT, HELP ME!”

  I paused, froze as I felt eyes on me. Glancing up, I saw a familiar face. A girl in a cloak, crossbow at her side. She looked at me, the blade in my hand, and the girl under me. Then, she looked up, towards the central district. I couldn’t see it from here, but I could imagine what she was seeing.

  That wire net, the countless bats, the corpses and swaying cocoons. Something straight out of a nightmare.

  Which is why, when she looked back at me, at the girl under me, she decided, simply to walk away.

  In that moment, I could feel it. As I looked down at the girl in my hand, I could see it. Not just normal fear or terror, no, but the realization that she was going to die. And all at once, she broke into tears. The strength left her body.

  “F-forgive me!” She cried out. “I, I didn’t mean to kill your familiar!” Tears in her eyes began to bead and frost as they fell. “Please! Don’t kill me, I didn’t have any other choice!” She begged.

  Another round of raucous laughter left my lips. Her tears, her fear, only feeding that part of me that resided in the depths, that piece of me that was now awake, simply awaiting my call.

  “Don’t worry, I forgive you. After all…” I said, between hacking up bloody chunks of ice. “You’re going to be replacing him.” I said and tightened my grip. Her eyes widened as she realized what she meant. A gargled scream left her lips, her face twisted as fear gave into unbridled rage. A final hurrah rushed through her body, as the spears in my body began to expand out.

  Slowly invading my body. Perforating my very being…

  Then… it stopped. She stopped as my blade slid into her heart. She shook, her magic, stopped. Her eyes drifted to the hilt sticking out of her chest, to me. And with a final twist, something shattered. Her uniform broke into motes of dust, revealing a young woman. Petite, small, pitiful, wearing only a tattered sack for a cloth. Her eyes dull, empty, tears at the corner of her eyes.

  With her death, her spears began to fade away. Slowly, at first, they broke apart into motes of light, until none were left.

  As the last spear faded away, so too did my last support. I slumped over. The world began to pull away. The powerful heat pulsing through my body rapidly began to cool. Leaving me shivering and alone.

  I could feel the darkness closing in. An endless expanse of nothing…

  It felt like home…

  I shut my eyes…

  A hand slapped into my back. Heat pulsed into my body.

  “Don’t die!” A voice? No, I knew this voice. Wearily, I opened my eyes, and saw Joan, with Liche standing nearby. “You need to relax! I can’t heal you like this!” It took me a moment to process those words. The exact time it took for my heart, to slowly, pump thrice.

  “Right…” I said. The ice began to peel back. Little by little. With it came pain. Excruciating pain. I took it without a word. Joan was sweating. Her hands red and raw, burned by the ice clinging to my frame all the while she kept going. Without a thought, she popped a coin in her mouth. Her energy surged and on she went.

  How many had she eaten? I wasn’t sure. I drifted in and out, but by the end of it… well… I didn’t feel very alive, but I was.

  Joan nearly collapsed with my healing done, but she didn’t leave my side. Instead, she kept poking and prodding me, making sure nothing was wrong.

  “Had us worried their boss.” Liche said, once she was sure I’d live. A bit too nonchalantly, but I could see it. In her stance, in how she stood. She was afraid. So very afraid.

  “I don’t die so easily.” I say, more as a joke. But it came out terse, raw.

  She shuddered. Her eyes drifted from me to the girl I was still atop. “I… can see that.”

  I let out a short laugh. One that had me aching.

  “Careful, I don’t know how solid my healing is, not with how much damage you took.” Joan said, seemingly, no, completely unconcerned by everything.

  Liche looked like she was about to break down. Her eyes constantly moving from me to the corpse. Each time, growing more worried.

  “You doing alright?” I asked, less a smile, more a grimace on my face.

  My words jolted Liche. “Y-yeah, perfectly fine boss. Nothing to see here…” She said but trailed off near the end.

  “I… about earlier…” She says after a moment.

  “Don’t worry about it.” I say back. “I didn’t expect much anyway.” My words, almost like a whip crack to her face. Making her flinch and take a step back. “Not against her.” I follow up with, but I could tell, the damage was done.

  Liche went quiet, and Joan took the cue to check her over. Leaving me alone with the corpse. I took the moment to look myself over, to check my state. After all, I had a place to be.

  I was healed, but… the flesh felt wrong. Like paper, so fragile. The patches of new grown skin looked off as well. The oddest bit was, my hair. The tips of my hair had a frosted tint to it now. One that didn’t just rub off like usual.

  Liche didn’t comment if she noticed. Not that I expected that of her, not now, not after everything.

  With a sigh, I stood or tried too. My legs nearly gave way. My organs, my entire body shifted uneasily. Just before I fell, a hand appeared before me, catching me. Glancing up, I saw an unwelcome sight…

  “You survived then.” I said, a bit too caustically. Before me, alive and well, though, injured, were the two knights. Both of them lowered their heads at my admonishment. “You had a task, you were created for a singular purpose.” I continued, venting my emotions. “To assist Cobalt, my first and most loyal knight.”

  They did not move, yet… I could feel my words piercing their young souls. Unbothered, I used the offered hand to prop myself up.

  “From here on out, I will not tolerate another failure.” I stated and adjusted myself… well… as well as I could. My clothing was a mess. Miraculously, it clung to key areas, keeping me from being naked but just barely. My fanny pack was done for, its contents scattered about.

  “Liche.” I called out. “You wouldn’t happen to have a silver coin on you?” I ask. She jolted at my shout. Like a whipped dog hearing their abusive master.

  “Yeah… I do. Here.” I take it without a word and pop it into my mouth. Energy floods my frame, but… I also felt even more exhausted somehow. “I’m heading over to the police station. Hold the fort.”

  “Sure thing. I can do that.” She aid, lacking any and all energy. Joan looked between us, but I felt no ill emotions. Nothing like Liche.

  “Good…” I started to walk away but paused right before I could step out. My mind churned, but… even if it was too late, I had to try. I turned to Liche, Joan.

  “Good work tonight.” I said, neither seemed to react to my words, but it was the best I could do.

  With that done, I stormed out. Knights in tow. I didn’t bother finding the keys to my van. I just ripped open the door and jammed a spike of ice into the ignition, just enough to force it to go. The storm had not done the van any favors, the windows were blown out from the explosion, the whole truck was covered in worrying cuts and gashes, and the wheels… well, they’d roll.

  The knights loaded up into the back. I flexed my fingers on the steering wheel.

  “Usagi. I have a question.”

  “What’s the question, Pyon!?” A voice broke through the silence. Sitting beside me, fur like moonlight from a full moon, pushing back against the red of the crimson moon above.

  I worked my jaw. Formulating my question.

  “Tell me about uniforms.” I said, and at the same time, I shifted the gear into drive. And as Usagi spoke, something in the depths stirred.