In Kaguya’s mind world, after falling under Priscilla’s charms.
She was trapped inside the illusion; she was experiencing the same thing repeatedly. She was on her knees, apologizing over and over again.
She might appear stronger than most teenagers, but she was still a living being who could make mistakes and feel guilty. No matter how strong one mental strength is, if you believe that you are guilty of something, you’re persuaded of that and refuse to forgive yourself for this mistake, you’ll be trapped in your illusion forever like an infinite loop; it would become your hell.
It was exactly what was happening to her; she was persuaded that it was her fault if Mikasa was dead; she felt guilty; she was asking Mikasa to forgive her, not knowing that she should forgive herself first. She couldn’t forgive herself as she was the one who suggested going out that day.
Mikasa was her best friend, almost like a sister; they went to play in a forest near a waterfall even when their mothers forbade them from going there. Kaguya, as the rebellious one, persuaded Mikasa, and as a result, she fell from the cliff and broke her neck, dying on the spot. She was ten that year.
Kaguya blamed herself even when she was not the one who pushed her; she fell on her own. Kaguya changed since that day; she became cold; she tried to forget it by sealing these memories deeper inside her mind; however, Priscilla easily broke through her barrier and brought back memories she was afraid of. Now she was trapped here, in this hell.
Suddenly, the dead Mikasa spoke.
”Why do you come?”
”Why didn’t you try catching my hand?”
”It’s all your fault. I shouldn’t have followed you. Because of you, I died; she suffered; because of you, my mother suffered and stopped smiling.”
Each Mikasa’s venomous words pierced Kaguya’s heart like a hot iron bar; her willpower dwindled with each word, her will to live was disappearing as well, and her eyes were becoming lifeless like she was accepting her fate, accepting any punishment that would befall her.
Mikasa became happy seeing this; her face twisted as she grinned wickedly,
”You should stay here forever, listen to my every need, and stay here forever.”
”Stay.. stay here forever, stay here forever.”
Kaguya muttered absentmindedly, as though she was in the process of being hypnotized.
”Yes, you should stay with me here forever; you should play with me. Stay with me. I’m feeling lonely; you’ll stay with me, to keep me company forever.” Mikasa declared while grinning.
Truth be told, Kaguya was tempted to accept if it could help Mikasa. Because she was feeling guilty about her death.
Now that Mikasa was asking her to stay forever with her, she was happy; however, her conscious was telling her not to accept; if she did it, she would regret it. Kaguya started struggling; when Mikasa saw the struggling Kaguya, her expression turned vicious,
”If you accept and say these things I said earlier, I’m ready to forgive you, Mio.”
Kaguya’s body was trembling as if she had been electrocuted; the thing she wanted the most was here; she couldn’t miss this chance. Kaguya’s internal struggles stopped, and she accepted Mikasa’s offer.
”I’ll stay with you forever; I’ll let you have control of-”
”Ah! Stop it, that’s enough.”
A sudden voice could be heard interrupting Kaguya’s declaration.
Soon, a figure appears, a black-haired boy with crimson eyes; naturally, it was Orpheus.
”Tsk!”
Mikasa clicked her tongue and tried to escape.
Orpheus smirked, looking at the escaping Mikasa.
*Flick
With the flick of his fingers, a barrier appeared and sealed Mikasa inside it; she was struggling, trying to escape to no avail.
”Wait patiently there; I’ll be back soon.”
Orpheus said before disappearing and reappearing in front of Kaguya, who seemed lost; she was searching left and right for Mikasa, who had suddenly disappeared.
”You are looking for something?” Orpheus asked with amusement.
Finally, lifting her head and seeing someone that shouldn’t be there, she lost her rationality and became violent; she clutched Orpheus’s collar strongly and started shaking him.
”Where is she?”
”Where is she?”
Kaguya asked hysterically; Orpheus smiled, not bothered by Kaguya’s rudeness.
”She was already dead; you should forgive yourself.”
Kaguya’s body trembled; she let’s go of his collar before slumping down on the ground and started wailing,
”It’s all your fault, she was going to forgive me, and you came and took her away, bring her back.”
Suddenly, Orpheus burst into laughter. Kaguya stared blankly at him, not knowing why he was laughing.
Finally, he stopped laughing; he stared at her and smiled,
”Who would have to that the dignified girl who didn’t seem afraid of anything, the future empress could throw a tantrum. I wonder how people who think highly of you would react if they saw you like this? Is this all you amount to?”
Kaguya’s face turned red; for one second, she forgot about everything; the only emotion she felt at the moment was rage; she wanted to beat the shit out of this smiling asshole.
”You bastard.” She roared before leaping at Orpheus, intending to bite him, but he easily avoided before vanishing with a puff; before leaving, he whispered, ”Remember you have to forgive yourself.”
Kaguya’s body turned stiff; she didn’t understand what he meant; no, that’s an excuse; she knew perfectly was he was trying to convey. However, she was still feeling guilty, and Kaguya started struggling once more. Nobody blamed her for what happened, but after the ten years old, Kaguya at that time couldn’t forgive herself.
She would have to forgive herself to move forward, and above everything, she felt like she would lose if she were to fall here. She didn’t want that; that man would use it to get what he wanted. She couldn’t make things easy for him; she would have him work under her, it would be hard, but she could do it.
Meanwhile, when Kaguya had finally decided to forgive herself, Orpheus reappeared inside the sealed barrier he had created earlier to trap Mikasa’s soul; not to be more accurate, it was a part of that cunning fox Priscilla’s soul.
”What a cunning fox you are.” He spat out.
”Fufufu, I’m honored to be praised by the Vampire progenitor; you are powerful as he has said; no wonder I lost.” The now transparent Priscilla said.
Upon hearing her words, Orpheus’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and he glared at Priscilla; even in her soul form, Priscilla felt a suffocated; nevertheless, she grinned,
”Can the Vampire Progenitor forgive this lowly soul even after destroying my body and a part of my soul. I haven’t done anything excessive either. Can you please let me off?”
Priscilla said, acting coquettishly, but Orpheus paid her no heed; even if he wanted to know of whom she was talking about, he knew by experience that she would not say anything, and even if he were to try reading her soul, the other party would already put countermeasures against his probing.
Looking at the smiling Priscilla, Orpheus’s crimson eyes became colder.
”Nothing extreme, you say? Were you trying to break her and possess her body, aren’t you? Do you think I don’t know when I was sucking your soul, a part flew inside Kaguya’s body? You plotted to erase her soul and possess her body, and you are saying you did nothing excessive? This alone warrants your destruction. But don’t worry, I have the perfect punishment for you.”
Priscilla’s expression twisted; it became ugly; she shouted furiously.
”Who do you think you are to decide that?”
”The man stronger than you, the man who’s going to decide your fate,” Orpheus replied with a smile.
”Fuck you, you came into my house, I offered you everything, even myself, you refused and killed me, and now you’re saying what. What a cruel and selfish bastard you are.” Priscilla cursed him.
”Puhahahaha!”
Orpheus burst into laughter for a while before speaking.
”I’m selfish, so what?”
”I’ll take what I want and kill what I dislike, and you I dislike you. So, I’m going to punish you. You touched something you shouldn’t have touched.”
Orpheus added before performing a hands seal.
Instantly, Priscilla turned pale with fright; she knew that whatever he was doing, she didn’t like it, so she tried to escape to no avail desperately. Finally, a light coming from Orpheus’s hand engulfed her, and before Priscilla disappeared, she heard his voice.
”This punishment is perfect for you, your hell; I wonder what kind of guilt you’ll feel.”
”Curse you damn monster, the Lord will come to avenge me, he will save me and vanquish you, you damn-”
Priscilla couldn’t finish before disappearing; Orpheus used one of the Death Law’s spells and sent Priscilla’s soul to the Netherworld, a hell where she would suffer for eternity, feeling guilty for failing a task given to her by the one she called Lord. She could never escape because she would feel guilty about this failure, not knowing it was never meant to succeed in whatever she was planning.
Orpheus sighed and held his forehead, feeling the throbbing headaches when he thought about who this Lord was and his goals.
”I’ll know soon.” He mumbled before vanishing. Whoever this person is, he might have something to do with his past.
….
In another location, a figure sitting on a black chair could be seen looking at the white floating castle; this figure’s gaze pierced through all barriers, seeing everything that happened, even Priscilla’s first death and her second one where she was cursing.
This figure sighed,
”Ah! She fails as I was expecting, and that damned simpleton thought that I’d avenge her? What a fool. Why would I do that? Sigh! ***** I’m coming, well, you’re called Kyle now, I think.”
The figure said with a genderless voice before vanishing.