Time slowed - but before the metal could even pierce Y/N's skin, Nayeon suddenly lurched back, wrenching the blade from Y/N's grip and slicing open Y/N's palm in the process.
Y/N's eyes flew open in surprise at the sensation. Blood dripped from her hand in thick droplets of crimson, echoing as it splattered against the hard marble floor.
Nayeon was breathing hard, her cheeks flushed.
Y/N stared at her in disbelief, "You... What-" she did not get to finish. The deafening ring of a blade cut her off, followed by a thick silence.
Nayeon's eyes widened and she looked down. Y/N followed and felt her breath lodge in her throat.
A blade protruded from the center of Nayeon's chest, shining in the dim light of the night.
Cracks began to splinter Nayeon's body from the stab wound like shattered porcelain, crawling up her neck and branching across her face in thin lines.
Nayeon's eyes were bright as she met Y/N's gaze.
"Nayeon." Y/N gasped, stumbling forward with one hand outstretched.
Nayeon lifted her arm to meet Y/N's, and briefly, their fingertips brushed - an infinitesimal collision lasting for only a single moment.
Nayeon didn't get to respond. She burst into dust around the empty blade, and a single black feather drifted to the ground.
Y/N halted, her breath strangled. She silently fell to her knees and stared at the solitary feather, her vision blurred with dazed tears.
Sandled feet appeared in Y/N's view and the person slowly lifted the feather from the floor.
"Finally." Mina's voice came, Y/N forced herself to look up and meet her eyes.
"I've waited five-hundred-years for that brat to break her contract," Mina smiled, straightening, "I was almost worried that she wouldn't hurt you. Human sentiment is so... unpredictable."
Suddenly, Y/N was reminded of her first meeting with Sana. Until Nayeon's contract is terminated, she is forbidden from harming a human or pure spirit.
Y/N looked at her wounded hand. Blood still leaked from the cut that Nayeon had inadvertently made by wrenching her sword from Y/N's grip.
"You wanted for this to happen," Y/N realised, a terrible feeling settling in her stomach, "You were waiting for a chance to get rid of her."
Mina smirked, "Yes. I even let Housen roam free and give Nayeon the perfect opportunity to kill your sister, all so that she would break her contract."
Mina raised Nayeon's feather to her eye level, admiring it in the weak light of the moon shining from the balcony, "But then, you stopped her. Even worse, you were on the verge of unlocking your past memories. I couldn't have you explain your side of the story and give Nayeon the chance to forgive you before she hurt you; so, I held a minute of your life."
Y/N felt like ice was crawling up her lungs, "You traded your scissors with me back then on the off chance that I would throw myself from a cliff?"
YOU ARE READING
Hotel del Luna
FanfictionWhen Y/N suddenly gets invited to manage a hotel for dead souls, she also gets to know the establishment's ancient owner and her strange world. The hotel is run by a beautiful, centuries-old hostess named Nayeon. Adaptation and inspired by the South...
