Voile, the Illusionary Library

All she could feel was numbness.

She still felt a connection to the outside world, as loathsome as it was.

Muffled as it were, she could hear the concerned voices reaching out towards her.

Not that she deserved it, not after she failed.

Faces flashed before her and she did not dare to give a single one a glance.

She knew that she would only see the face of her sister, calling out for the help she couldn't-

---

Pale hands like hers were clawing at the her cage, torn talons dyed red from her own blood. Her face was layered in a film of tears and mucus, bawling as she was taken further away.

Despite how the sight gripped her heart like a vice, she could not look away.

"REMI!" Flandre cried. She wailed louder and louder, yet no one could hear her pleas. "REMI! HELP ME!"

Flandre fell to her knees, her fingers trailing lines of red as they descended. Her chest heaved rapidly, hyperventilating in fear.

Before the door had fully closed, Flandre had suddenly stopped shaking. Remilia felt soul-rendering chills as she saw her sister's eyes dilate in despair. She was going to be alone again. Shewasgoingtobealoneagain-

---

This was her atonement, she thought. The price of her hubris.

Her nagging conscience told her that she was accomplishing nothing from this; how this wouldn't save Flandre-

No. She had no right to use that name anymore.

She had no right to use her own name anymore.

Basil sighed as she looked down at her ward, frozen within a life support containment cell.

Remilia's withered bangs faded into a dull grey-blue, losing its vibrancy. Her eyes seemed to have sunken into her head, leaving two deep purple blotches in its place. Once fair skin now had numerous cracks and fractures, some even falling off in loose flakes.

Weak and shallow breaths occasionally fogged the oxygen mask attached to her nose and mouth. Heavily chapped and dry lips opened in an unusually deep breath, revealing yellowed teeth.

Basil could only see her head past the blue-tinted glass, the rest obscured by the machine.

The librarian numbly shook her head, cursing softly as she closed the door. She snapped her fingers and the warding crystals around the Medical Bay came buzzing to life.

At the age of thirty-two, Basil thought of herself too old for this.

Not soon after she had departed, one of the four crystals, each at a corner of the room, had begun to flicker. Its hum shifted into a shrill shriek, a hairline forming at its upper half, and whined into inactivity.

One after another, the other three shared its sibling's fate.

At first, Apollo was admittedly intimidated at the prospect of assaulting someone under Knowledge's protection. The woman was talented, skilled, and was rightfully paranoid.

Fortunately, she was reported to have been weakened from her bout a month prior and was still recovering. Having one's mindscape violated would do that.

Apollo respected the woman for even being sane; most would be left comatose.

Fitting, he lamented. How her greatest strength was also her greatest weakness.

He shook himself from that train of thought. He should've known better than to allow his mind to wander like that.

He was a professional, after all.

Allowing the veil of bent light to dissipate, Apollo looked down at his mark.

This was the reputed 'Scarlet Devil'? How pathetic. It seems like they would give just about anyone a self-absorbed title these days.

He steadily walked to the side of the machine, glancing at the bundle of cords that adorned it.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Which to choose from? Power seemed a bit overused, as did the IV drip.

The filter it was. Death by asphyxiation seemed appropriate enough; to have her choke within an impromptu coffin.

Apollo drew his dagger from its sheath and cut through a large hollow cord, one end hissing out air while the other deflated.

He could feel something at the edge of his senses and ducked to avoid a propelled shard of purple crystal. Several more followed after, a shower of gems shot in spray of violet. The assassin absent-mindedly heard something shattering and turned to where the barrage came. A lone crystal had briefly came to life, flickering with light and hovering. It wobbled in the air snd soon collapsed into a heap of rubble.

Strange, he thought. Apollo came over to the rogue ward and stared at it intently. He knew he had been thorough yet this one had a fluke.

As he examined the crystal, the Assini turned his back to the now broken cell.

A petite nose twitched. It took a silent sniff of the air, followed by another.

The nostrils flared as a pair of smoldering scarlet eyes opened for the first time in over a month.

Remilia gazed at the back-turned person before her. Her mouth open and gaping as she quietly licked at her fangs.

She does not recall the last time she had fed properly. All she could remember was brief respites of consciousness during her slumber and her self-imposed atonement.

Though none of that mattered now.

That smell was simply intoxicating.

It began as a hollow giggle at the depths of her throat and had shifted into hysterical cackling.

Whomever it was had turned around in time to catch a brief bit of eye contact.

The medical bay was then bombarded with a cacophony of wings and manic chittering.

He should've just pierced her heart.

He really should've killed her by now.

Apollo slashed at the horde of bats that swarmed the enclosed space, shrieking and nearly deafening him.

At his peripherals, he saw the bats that he had cut through had vanished and that there were more of them.

He could feel many somethings attempting to prick at his suit, some of the reinforced fabric even tearing at the fangs.

Shaking off as many as he could, the Assini dodge-rolled a flock of oncoming bats. He winced as one actually managed to break his skin and suck greedily at the punctured wound.

Apollo grabbed the pest and threw it away, only to have two more swoop in and take its place.

Screw it, there wasn't much point to subtlety at this point.

His suit glimmered before radiating an intense bout of concentrated light, illuminating the dim room. Several of the bats shrieked in pain and flopped to the floor in agony while several other took cover behind what obstacles they could. They watched intently with beady eyes, waiting with anticipation.

'And they're right to,' Apollo thought solemnly. 'Can't keep this up for much longer.'

He knew he couldn't hide; echolocation would likely make that pointless. So that left...

Redirecting what he could to his palm, the Assini dove for the door and blasted it into the hallway. Sprinting through the corridors, he blasted through wall after wall when he could not turn in time.

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In the industrial areas of the Southern District, an abandoned warehouse had one of its sides erupt into flames. From the fiery depths leapt a man dressed in an all-black body suit. He paused for no time and began sprinting the moment he touched the pavement.

Civilians ran in terror as they saw the horde of screeching death chasing after him.

Remilia Scarlet was exhilarated.

The moon was full tonight and she basked in its bountiful light.

And what a bounty it was.

She was outside of wherever she was and the thrill of the hunt had yet to leave her.

That one could wait, she already marked him anyways.

The overmind that was Remilia Scarlet knew her priorities.

And that was to feed.