Chapter XVI: Doubts

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 "For the sake of a fair fight" , Honoka screamed, her opal eyes shining with malice. She sheathed her two swords, crossing them in front of her chest, forming the shiniest X one can have the pleasure of seeing. "Put down that fire, or you will not find the strength to survive this battle"

The demon hissed, then did as she was told. Noah, still on his hands and knees, looked back at the house. Just as he had expected, it was still intact, not a single spec of ash, not a single scratch on it.

"Noah" , Honoka whispered. "What are you waiting for? Go!" Despite the darkness around, the boy could still notice the shadow of fear on the girl's face. Without another thought, he stood up and took off running, away from a war he had already lost.

The front door of the Orphanage was open, and the inside of the house was as quiet as a graveyard. As if it was trying to conceal a girl's cries.

The rainbow-colored glass greeted him the moment he entered the hall leading to the spiral stairs, and he noticed for the first time the shapes drawn on it.

Humans.

Humans with horns and skeleton-made wings. With a floating circle on top of their head. Women and men, with smirking faces that seemed to look Noah directly in the eye, to laugh at his weakness, to make fun of his existence.

Why are you here ? Why are you risking your life for nobody?

Fool. You are nothing but a fool.

You shall never be the king you wish to be. You shall never find what you seek.

Shut up! Noah screamed inside his head. He forced himself to look away from the windows, and with one last sprint, he climbed the spiraling steps until he reached the long corridor that led to the orphans' rooms.

"Hitori!" , he called, but only the echo of his voice responded to him. He glanced left and right, searching for the door that would lead to Maya's room. One odd name after another, one more minute lost with each step he took. The wood creaked under his feet, matching the beating of his heart.

Finally, after the sixth room, he found a half-open door, on which was a name crossed with a dozen black lines, over and over again. The ink went in circles, then in straight lines, hiding every letter underneath, as if the one who did it had as much hatred for the name as for its owner.

Noah shuddered. The hairs on his back stood up, and he felt like they were inside the den of a monster, blinded by its own rage.

He pushed the door open. He didn't need to turn on the lights to see. His eyes often adjusted quickly to the Darkness.

He looked around the empty room, and before he knew it, his irises shifted to the floor.

What he saw inside the room made him regret ever coming in.

There was a person lying on the floor. If one can still call it a person. Noah had no idea if she was still alive or not. But it was far more than he had seen in his entire short existence. Even his parents didn't get this far with torturing humans. Even his parents wouldn't dare do this to a living being.

Noah felt his eyes turn ice cold. He knew their color now became a shade of blue. The same ocean that once graced Hitori's hair. He did not know why they kept taking on her colors, whenever he saw her. And he had no idea how to feel about any of this.

He took a step closer, then kneeled next to the frail little thing.

They were too late. What was left of Hitori's face was nothing but the flesh underneath it. Her nose was no more, replaced by a magma of ashes. Her once-gleaming honey-coated eyes were now closed, her long eyelashes burnt away, and her rose-tainted lips were pitch black, nearly exposing the teeth underneath. She was like a doll, thrown in the fire where wax and ashes mixed, creating a hideous corpse.

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