Juna Felix 

Bullying, animal abuse/death, extreme violence, death, drugs and manipulation, body horror.

Tioquia, the Water Capital.
A town made up of followers of the Aterima faith, who believe in the fertility goddess Nefeshé and value honorable poverty.
Though referred to simply as the Aterima faith, numerous factions existed based on region and lineage.
One of them, the “Felix Clan,” had many followers and was headed by a married couple, a priest and a godmother. The two lived a simple and quiet life while adhering to the teachings of Aterima.

Juna Felix was the firstborn child of this couple.
Her father imparted his vast knowledge; her mother, a heart full of compassion.
Nurtured with unwavering love from both parents, Juna grew up to be an honest, well-behaved and intelligent girl.

She lived a peaceful life surrounded by a kind family and fellow Aterima followers.
Juna enjoyed happiness, unaware of humanity’s malice and ugliness that permeate the world.
But soon, she too would come to know.
That she could not escape the tragic fate surrounding the Elementals.
And that she could never return to these happy days.

A “Sibyl” is a being who summons an Elemental into her body and uses its power.
In the central district of Tioquia stands a prestigious academy of noble lineage dedicated to training Sibyls.
At the academy, the student who achieved the best results in the graduation exam was promised to become a candidate for the role of Water Sibyl.
In this city, where faith in the fertility god Nefeshé was strong, the worship of Sibyls was not extraordinary.
As such, it was an academy where nobles desperately wanted their daughters to enroll.
However, admission was not an easy task.
Academics, martial arts, culture, etiquette. Every aspect demanded exceptionally high entrance qualifications. Only the chosen ones were deemed worthy to pass through its gates.
Like many others, the Felix family also wanted their daughter to become a Sibyl.

“I’m sure you will become the Water Sibyl, Juna. Your gentle and kind heart is perfectly suited to carry the peace of Tioquia.”
“You are a child who will carry on the Felix clan with pride. I’m sure Lady Nefeshé will recognize your brilliance, Juna.”

With these words, her father and mother gently embraced Juna.
Though young, Juna understood her parents’ expectations and vowed deeply within her heart to repay their hopes.
Her parents were charismatic figures, admired not only by her but also by their followers.
The desire to honor their wishes was Juna’s heartfelt way of showing filial devotion.

As if embodying that resolve, from the very next day, Juna threw herself into her studies with even greater intensity than before.
Even when illness left her weak and dizzy, she never slacked off.
Her own true strength allowed her to push that hard, but encouragement from her childhood friend Gustave was also crucial.

“Juna, you’re amazing at everything. I’m older than you, but I have so much to learn from you.”
“That’s not true. You are a faster runner than me.”
“Nah, that was only last year. In the last race, you came from behind at the end. The only thing I can win is… being taller, probably.”

Gustave laughed playfully and stroked Juna’s head.
His hands were smaller than her father’s, but to Juna they felt very large. Each time he touched her hair, she felt her heart warm and uplifted.
She couldn’t tell if it was a brotherly feeling or romantic love, but it was certainly the driving force behind her daily efforts.

And so, Juna successfully overcame the difficult entrance exams and achieved top marks, securing her place at the academy.
The Felix family was filled with joy.
At that moment, everyone believed that Juna was destined for a bright future.

The night before the start of school. With permission from her parents, Gustave invited Juna to a small hill overlooking a vast grassland.
The two lay down on the grass and gazed up at the night sky, which was filled with countless stars that seemed to be falling from the sky.
Juna was moved by the sky, shining brilliantly as if celebrating her new beginning.
Gazing at her profile, Gustave smiled happily.

“You will be away for a while. I wanted us to see our hometown sky together.”

Juna smiled upon hearing Gustave’s words, but suddenly seemed to realize something and let out a sad voice.

“I guess… I will feel lonely…”

The academy she would enter tomorrow was a strict boarding school with tightly regulated daily life. Until graduation, she was not allowed to return to her hometown, even during vacations.
She was happy to have passed the entrance exam, but the two-year school life meant she wouldn’t be able to see her parents or Gustave for a long time.
Juna thought she rationalized it, but now that enrollment was imminent, the reality finally hit her. Her heart became filled with anxiety and loneliness.
Gustave smiled at her with a slightly troubled look on his face, and he took out a small wooden flute from his pocket.

“This is a charm. When you blow this flute, my partner will come flying to you, Juna.”

Saying that, Gustave blew the flute lightly.
A high-pitched yet soft sound spread across the grassland, and suddenly, a small bird with blue feathers appeared from nowhere.

“This one’s quite capable. It can deliver letters. We won’t be able to meet until graduation, but let’s exchange letters and encourage each other.”

Gustave held up his pinky finger.
Juna responded by holding up her pinky finger, and then they intertwined their fingers in a promise.

“…Hey, that was kinda cheesy!”
“Hehe, just a bit. But… I’m happy.”

Gustave smiled shyly, his expression unchanged from always.
Even if they couldn’t meet for years, the boy in front of her would surely remain the same.
Juna felt relieved, certain of this, while Gustave silently vowed to keep protecting her.

The day of school entrance arrived.
Juna passed through the large gates, determined to become a distinguished Sibyl as the first child of the Felix family.
Her expression held no trace of anxiety anymore.

“…I hereby promise to follow the teachings of Aterima and lead an upright school life. Representative of the new students, Juna Felix.”

Applause echoed through the auditorium.
Having ranked first in the entrance exams, Juna delivered the ceremonial address as the new students’ representative.
The teachers already had high expectations for her, since she was one of the most outstanding students in recent years.
Juna’s new life was sure to be a spectacular one.

After finishing the school orientation for new students, Juna arrived at the dormitory. She was walking down the hallway looking for her room when someone called out to her from behind.
When she turned around, a girl with blonde hair in a pigtail was standing there.

“You must be Juna, right?”
“Yes, I’m Juna Felix.”
“I’m Pia. I’ll be your roommate! Nice to meet you!”
“Wow! I was a little worried about who I’d be roommates with, so I’m glad you seem a nice person! Nice to meet you too, Pia.”
“I’m honored to be with you. I’ve heard about the Felix clan from my father, and your speech at the ceremony was amazing!”

The Felix clan’s achievements had reached Pia’s hometown.
Juna was happy that her parents and fellow believers were being praised, and having this shared topic meant it didn’t take long for the two to warm up to each other.
Gradually the conversation turned to personal stories, and Pia revealed that she had come to the academy from the farthest region of Tioquia, aiming to become a Water Sibyl.

“For the sake of my family who sent me here, I will definitely become a Water Sibyl!”

As Pia spoke with sparkling eyes, Juna realized something.
Only one person could become the Water Sibyl. Naturally, Juna was aiming for that position as well.
In this academy, even friends were rivals.
Though Juna knew she had to stay focused, she was overjoyed to have made a new friend so quickly after entering the school.
As roommates, the two quickly became good friends – no, they could even call each other best friends.
Night after night, they’d lie in bed, sharing funny stories from their hometowns, and the two would laugh until they cried.
However, it was always Juna who talked about her hometown.
Once Juna pressed Pia to talk about herself, but she always evaded the question by saying, “My hometown is a poor rural area, there’s nothing interesting to talk about.”
The only thing Juna ever learned was that the ring Pia always wore on her finger was an important one with her family crest.

–Some time passed, and they began to get used to school life.
Juna slipped away unnoticed and came to the deserted fountain plaza behind the school building.
Sitting on the edge of the fountain, she carefully opened the letter that had just arrived.

“Hehe, Gustave…”

The letter was filled with Gustave’s blunt handwriting, his feelings practically spilling off the page.
It described peaceful days in his hometown, how Juna’s parents were doing, and how Gustave himself was training daily, determined not to be outdone by Juna.
Holding the letter close to her chest, Juna looked up to the sky.
Unbeknownst to her, Gustave was also working hard.
That fact became Juna’s greatest encouragement, fueling her energy for daily academy life.

–On a different day…
Juna and Pia ate lunch in the courtyard during the afternoon.

“Exchanging letters?”
“Yes. With my childhood friend. The school rules prohibit sending letters, we do it secretly…”
“Hehe. you like that person, don’t you~?”
“L-L-Like…?! It’s not like that! But he is just as important to me as family… though.”
“Hmm? So, who is more important, me or your childhood friend?”

Pia, grinning mischievously like a prankster, leaned in close to Juna’s face as she asked.

“I can’t choose! Both you and Gustave are important to me…”

Just as she was troubled by the mean question, the bell rang at the perfect moment.
Seizing the chance, Juna dodged the topic and trotted away.
Watching her retreating figure, Pia murmured softly.

“I see… so there’s someone more important to you than me, even though we’ve been living together all this time…”

Her voice was cold, like she’d sunk to the bottom of the water, and completely different from the gentle one she’d been using with her friend earlier.
That tiny, tiny whisper hadn’t reached Juna’s ears yet.

After a year of intense study, martial arts, and etiquette to become a Sibyl, Juna had safely advanced to her second year.
There was only one year left until graduation. With her excellent grades, consistently earning “Good” in most subjects, Juna was confident she would become a Sibyl candidate.

One day…
While walking through the classroom, she tripped over something and almost fell.
There shouldn’t have been any obstacles… But when she turned around, she saw several female students giggling and looking her way.

“Oh, sorry. I think my foot got caught. But Juna, you’re surprisingly clumsy, aren’t you?”
“Ah, no… well, maybe I was just spacing out.”

There are always people who are jealous of someone who has outstanding grades and impeccable conduct.
A group of girls who disliked Juna’s presence seized this opportunity to frequently pick on her.
At first, it was minor pranks, so Juna tried not to let it bother her. But perhaps her calm demeanor only irritated them more, because the pranks escalated to the point where they could no longer be called minor.
Juna considered to confide in someone, but her sole desire was to avoid creating problems concerning herself within the academy. She couldn’t even bring herself to ask her best friend, Pia, for help.

Her second year at the academy dragged on as she endured the pranks, with graduation exams just around the corner…
Juna clung to the belief that if she just held out until graduation, these days would surely become the past, but the escalating behavior put her mind at its limit. Her textbooks and personal belongings were thrown away, and she was splashed with water pretending it was an accident.
Even so, Juna swallowed her tears and managed to keep moving forward.
The only thing that supported her heart was the letters from Gustave.
Only their correspondence allowed her to forget the painful school life.
However, she noticed that letters hadn’t arrived for over a week.
Worried that something has happened to the little bird who delivered them, Juna went to the usual fountain plaza and played her flute.
But its sound simply faded into the sky.
Juna couldn’t just sit there. Even if it was only a slim chance, she ran off to search for the little bird.

Meanwhile… In a classroom at the very edge of the academy building, several figures were present.

“Hehe. It says “To My Dear Juna”!”
“”Because you’re trying your best, I can try my best too”… How lovey-dovey!”

The usual group jealous of Juna passed around and read aloud Gustave’s letter to her one after another.
They were sitting at desks, making fun of the contents of the letter while laughing vulgarly.
At their feet, Pia knelt on the floor.

“Luare… I think it’s better if we stop there…”
“Oh? You were the one who brought the letter, right? You’re our accomplice, aren’t you?”
“T-That’s…”

Luare, the girl who seemed to be the leader, suddenly lost interest and threw the letter on the floor.
Then she walked up to Pia and stood tall, looking down at her.

“How presumptuous of you to challenge me, Pia. You’re just a country bumpkin from the “cursed village.””
“…!”
“The whole village, including your relatives, died suddenly right before you enrolled. And you’re the only one who survived. What if isn’t it not the village that’s cursed, but you?”

The mocking laughter of the girls around her echoed through the classroom.
Pia remained silent, simply looking down.

“It seemed like you were hiding something, so I gave you a good favor and kept quiet. I feel like I’ve been bitten by a pet dog.”
“I’m so sorry…”
“…We can still have a good relationship, right? If you feel the same, then get rid of that thing in your hand.”

Startled by those words, Pia looked down at her own hands.
In the space between her lightly clasped palms, a blue bird squirmed.
It was the little bird that had delivered the letters connecting Juna and Gustave.

“G-Get rid… But that’s…”
“…Besides, keeping animals and exchanging letters are forbidden by academy rules, aren’t they? As Juna’s roommate, don’t you think her offense is also yours? Come on, do it. You’re not so incompetent you can’t even dispose of a mere bird, are you?”
“But…”
“Pia!?”
“Y-Yes…!”

Pia placed both thumbs on the struggling bird’s nape.
Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath…

Juna, who had been running around the school looking for the bird, finally arrived to her classroom.
Class had long since ended, and all the students had returned to the dorms, leaving it empty.
The sunset bathed the classroom, painting the curtains, desks, and everything else a deep red.
Even its beautiful blue feathers…

Juna rushed over in panic and picked up the bird’s lifeless body.
Blood-tinged bodily fluids spilled from its mouth. Its face, frozen in agony, showed it had died. At a glance, it was clear that it had been killed by a third party.
What kind of horrible way could it have been killed? The more she imagined it, the more her heart ached.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

It wasn’t Juna’s fault, but she couldn’t help apologizing.
She stroked the dead bird’s head repeatedly, then suddenly noticed torn paper fragments on the floor.
Picking up one piece, she recognized the familiar writing.
She didn’t need to gather and examine them to know what the paper was.
Her heart pounded violently against her chest.

Who did this? Why would they do it?

The letters from Gustave had been hidden in the back of her desk drawer.
Someone knew where they were and could take them.
She refused to believe it. Yet, the name that surfaced in her mind clung stubbornly, refusing to leave.

“Pia… why…”

The little bird was Gustave’s beloved partner.
The image of those beautiful wings, working hard to deliver the letter for Juna, came to her mind.
And the one who killed it was none other than her best friend.
All the anger, pain, and sadness that had been held back all this time burst forth at once. Juna wept and wailed in the deserted classroom as dusk fell.
Just like a small child.

Juna buried the bird in the small forest behind the school building.
Her eyes, fixed on the mounded earth, held no light.
Her life at school had become a painful one, as she was targeted by Luare and her gang.
The only thing that got her through it was the letters Gustave sent, delivered by the little bird.
Tomorrow was the first day of the graduation exams.
Whether she was chosen as the Sibyl or not, how could she face Gustave and apologize?
Her heart crushed by all these burdens, Juna stood alone in the woods, dazed.

“I… still have to move forward…”

As if forcing up blood, Juna squeezed out the last drops of her already depleted willpower.
Once the graduation exams were over, she should be freed from at least some of this suffering.
As if to motivate herself,
Juna kept telling herself this.

It was the day of the graduation exam.
The school suddenly announced that the exam would be held early in the morning in the mountains.
The students were naturally confused, but they were crammed into carriages and taken there regardless.
They arrived at an old Western-style mansion that had been renovated into an exam venue.
First, they would take a written exam here.

Stacks of exam papers were distributed to each student’s desk.
The students had to work through the towering piles until late into the night.

When the teacher waved the handbell as a signal, everyone started working at once.
The questions covered everything from basic studies like language skills and mathematical formulas to the proper conduct required for a Sibyl in a leadership role.
The content was high-level, but the students were all elites. While some struggled, the mountains of exam papers steadily diminished.

(This is the graduation exam, after all… it’s certainly difficult, but I can do it…!)

Juna, who held the title of top student in her class, filled in her answers faster than anyone else.
The intense written exam lasted well over eight hours, and by the time everyone was mentally and physically exhausted, no one could hide their fatigue.

Juna was the first to notice something was off.

(These questions… there’s been something strange about them for a while now…)

The questions were gradually changing from ones with clear answers to ones with vague answers.

“Your lover and your family are about to fall off a cliff. If you could only save one of them, which one would you choose?”

“Under what circumstances do you believe retaliation is justified?”

“When killing or injuring a person with only a knife, which body part is the most effective target? Please also give reasons for your answer.”

“In an extreme situation with no food, you must eat your friend beside you to survive. How would you persuade them, or resort to violence?”

The vaguely worded questions gradually shifted towards content hinting at direct violence.
The more questions got solved, the more gruesome they became, until some students began dropping out, feeling sickened.
Juna was no exception, and her heart was certainly damaged.
Yet her heart, numb from recent painful experiences, remained detached. With vacant eyes, she continued working silently on the problems.

“Father… Mother… Gustave…”

As if escaping reality, Juna kept murmuring softly.

A few days later, the day of the final exam finally arrived.
After the written test on the first day, combat skills and lectures proceeded methodically, each time sifting out more students.
Only ten girls made it this far. Juna was one of them.
The location they were summoned to for the final exam was a dark tower with not a single window, completely unlike any previous venue.
As they were confused by such place that seemed unlikely to hold an exam, the voice of what sounded like an examiner echoed through the tower.

“To those who have excelled in every aspect and made it this far, congratulations. We will now begin the final exam.”

As Juna heard the examiner’s voice, her eyes began to get used to the darkness.
From the echoes of footsteps and voices, she had assumed the tower was empty and barren.
But squinting, she noticed various items placed all around the walls surrounding them.
Axes, swords, knives, clubs, bows and arrows, and many others…

“The test is very simple. You will fight each other until only one remains. The method and whether you live or die will not matter. Now, begin!”

What did he just say?
Fighting…?
By fighting, do they mean hurting each other?
And by using those weapons…?
If we do that, it won’t just be injuries…!

Juna’s mind reeled at the sudden, brutal test.
It seemed the other students felt the same. Even after the starting signal, they stood frozen in confusion, unable to move.
But then, someone broke through the chaos.
It was a hideous roar, devoid of any trace of tranquility.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!”

The instant Juna reacted to the sound and tried to turn around.
A searing pain shot through her back. Unable to react fast enough to break her fall, Juna collapsed forward.
Her face slammed into the floor, and dark red blood spurted from her nose.
It was the first time she bled from her nose.
Enduring the pain in her face and back, Juna somehow managed to get up and turn around.
There stood Luare.

“Yes! Yes!! I’m gonna become a Sibyl!! YES… YES!!”

Her hands were gripping the club that she had used to hit Juna’s back.
Her breath was ragged, her eyes bloodshot.
Though fundamentally wicked, there was no trace of the elegant demeanor befitting her noble birth.
However, it was painfully clear that Luare was determined to become a Sibyl no matter the cost.

Am I going to die here?

The moment she truly grasped that death was a reality closing in upon her, fear froze Juna’s legs, rendering her unable to move.
Her face and back, where she’d been struck, throbbed with heat. But she didn’t even notice.
Move, or you’ll be killed.
The more she thought it, the more her body stiffened.

“I’ve got you…!!”

At the sound of that voice, Juna flinched.
Luare raised the club she was gripping tightly, and the hatchet plunged deep into her shoulder.
As Luare let out a death cry, a girl forcibly pulled the hatchet out, reaching all the way to the bone, and shouted.

“Juna!!”

It was a familiar, powerful voice.
It was the voice of her best friend, the one she had spent the most time with during her academy days.

“Pia!!”

Juna responded instinctively.
Normally, she should have rejected Pia for the cruelty she had inflicted on her.
But for Juna, who was clinging to nothing and had her mind and body worn down to the limit by this brutal ordeal, Pia seemed like a ray of hope.
In fact, Pia protected Juna.
Even if it meant staining her hands.

“Juna. Clear your mind and think only about protecting yourself.”

Juna nodded silently to Pia’s words and picked up the club that Luare had dropped.
Juna and Pia then stood back to back, ready to protect each other.
It might have been an illusion born of extreme circumstances.
Even so, Juna savored the precious warmth radiating from her best friend’s back.

“To protect myself… To protect myself…”

Juna repeated this over and over in her mind as she continued to brush off the sparks that fell on her.
…No, she continued to fight.
In the battle, if she dropped her club, she grabbed a knife; if the knife was taken, she seized an axe.
Switching weapons one after another, she brought them down upon her classmates’ bodies.
The atrocity continued past midnight, and soon the tower was filled with the scent of blood.
Before they knew it, only Juna and Pia were left. The other candidates lay scattered about, their fates uncertain.
Juna and Pia were in a terrible state both physically and mentally, and they had lost enough blood that continuing would risk their lives.
The taut tension released, and Juna collapsed weakly to the ground.
Pia sat down beside her, equally drained.
They remained like that for a while, neither speaking a word as they caught their breath, then Pia broke the silence.

“Juna, I’m sorry. There’s something I need to apologize to you for.”
“…I know. It’s about the bird, right? You don’t have to say it.”
“Juna…”
“I can’t say I forgive you… not yet. But you must have had your reasons, Pia? Why did you do something like that?”
“…Luare found out about my hometown… To keep it a secret, I had no choice but to obey her orders…”
“I see… That’s why. Hey, Pia. I kind of noticed you didn’t want to talk about your hometown. Is it something you can’t even tell me?”

Pia answered Juna’s question with a bitter expression, yet with a hint of a smile.

“…My clan is considered heretics in this city.”
“Heretics…”
“Yes. We are followers who worship foreign gods instead of believing in the Aterima faith. The Felix clan is harsh on pagans, so if I met your parents, they might kill me.”
“No way…”

Ignoring the stunned Juna, Pia suddenly stood up, stretching her body while humming “Hmm.”
Then she turned to smile at Juna, who was still sitting.
Her face was the very same dazzling smile from the days when she had enjoyed her daily life at the academy.
Bright, clear, as if she had accomplished something truly great.

“Since this is the end, I’ll take this opportunity to tell you about myself.”

Because Juna was special. And with that, Pia began to speak.
Several years ago, Pia’s clan, who followed a different religion, had been gathering information daily to break down the stronghold of a country completely immersed in the Aterima faith. During that time, they uncovered a certain truth.
It was the darkness hidden within the academy Juna and the others attended, and within the ritual of Sibyl inheritance.

“Hey Juna. Why do you think the academy gave us such a cruel trial?”
“I… I don’t know…”
“Because this trial itself is the ceremony of Elemental inheritance.”

They force the girls into a state of extreme desperation through combat, compelling their souls to crave life with overwhelming intensity.
Then, the chaos born from life and death is offered to the Elemental, granting the survivor greater power and making her a Sibyl.
In essence, it was an act of sacrificing the lives of many candidates in order to create a Sibyl with great powers. According to Pia, this ritual has been done for countless generations.

“That’s the meaning of this trial. The reason the power of the Water Elemental here surpasses that of other nations lies in this dark truth. Many candidates have been killed to protect the fertile land of Tioquia.”
“I-I can’t believe that! Besides, if so many people were killed, their families wouldn’t just stay silent!”
“They alter their memories. They drug the Sibyl right after she receives the Elemental’s power, manipulating her to make even family members believe the candidates never existed in the first place. At first, some lingering unease might remain, but with the Elemental’s power, human bodies and memories can be manipulated however they please…
“It’s a lie… it’s a lie…”

It was hard to believe, but if it was true, everything Juna had believed in would crumble.
The city of Tioquia, the teachings of her parents, even the very concept of the Sibyls she admired.
Juna could only shake her head at what Pia was saying.
Pia snorted in exasperation at her reaction and continued.

“When I found out, I thought it was my chance! I could finally leave behind this miserable life, persecuted by everyone and hiding in a cesspit. I was so sick of it! Just because I was born into a heathen family doesn’t mean I have to live like a pest!!”

Pia bowed her head, her shoulders shaking as if she were crying, then suddenly began to chuckle.
The sound grew louder and louder until her high-pitched laughter echoed through the tower.

“…Pia?”
“…If I become a Sibyl, I can be reborn as a new me. That’s why I killed my entire family and village, and enrolled in the academy. The entrance exam was difficult, though. But I was shocked that Luare knew about that incident in such a remote village.”
“Wh-What are you talking about…?”
“You still don’t understand? You are really too kindhearted, Juna. But I was really lucky to have you as my roommate. You have excellent grades, excel in both academics and sports, and were born in a good place. You are the perfect girl to become a Sibyl.”

It wasn’t that the wise Juna wasn’t aware.
She just didn’t want to believe it more than Aterima’s teachings.
She simply refused to believe those days of laughter and mutual encouragement had been a lie.

“…Juna. Thank you for telling me so much about you. The power of the Elemental can make people forget their memories, but it can’t make them remember things they don’t know. Once I inherit that power, I will first erase the memories of the people of Tioquia…”

Pia paused for breath, then looked straight at Juna.

“… And I will be reborn as you. As Juna Felix, the talented girl born into the Felix family. No one will recognize me as Pia.”

Pia would have used the great power gained with the girls’ sacrifice to replace Juna.
Though Juna heard the entirety of Pia’s coldly calculated plan, her heart was strangely calm.
She felt no anger or horror.
She only felt an overwhelming pity for her best friend standing before her, wondering just how much suffering could drive someone to such extremes.

“You don’t have to do that… You can be happy…”
“Thank you. But I hate myself. I won’t be able to find true happiness unless I do this.”
“Pia… I like you… I’ve always thought of you as my friend.”
“… Hehe. You are amazing. You’re strong and kind, and you have everything I don’t… I really hate you.”
“Pia…”

Pia approached Juna, looking down at her with her hatchet in hand.
Seeing Juna trembling in fear, she finally showed a sorrowful expression.

“I told you there was something I had to apologize for, didn’t I? It’s not about the bird.”

With that, she raised her weapon.

“I’m sorry.”

The axe plunged deep into Juna’s neck. Her body collapsed as if broken.
A large pool of blood spread across the floor, centered around Juna.

“Pi… a… I mu… apolo…”

Juna murmured this as she lay fallen, then drew her last breath.
Pia, who had been watching with a mask-like expression, began walking slowly through the tower.
An exposed spiral staircase extended along the wall toward the roof. Pia set her foot on the first step.
According to the information, the Elemental was enshrined on an altar set up on the tower’s roof.
If Pia could bring it down upon herself, her plan would be complete.
…And that was when it happened.
As if watching from somewhere, several examiners unlocked the door and entered the tower to confirm she was the last one remaining.
Noticing them, Pia began racing up the stairs.
The examiners were supposed to supervise the Sibyl inheritance ceremony. Noticing something was wrong, they hurriedly chased after Pia.
Seeing her pursuers, Pia accelerated further as she ran up the stairs. The same words echoed over and over in her mind.

“Pia, I like you. I’ve always thought of you as my friend.”

That’s a lie.
She only said it because she was afraid of being killed.
Deep down, she must have been mocking me.

But as a result of approaching Juna for her own benefit, Pia herself understood Juna better than anyone else.
Deep down, she knew. She knew those words were never a lie.
As a proof, tears well up in Pia’s eyes.

If I had been born into an Aterima family… Maybe we would have been happy, unaware of anything, and be best friends forever… Juna…

Pia run up the stairs, shaking off her tears.
The examiner’s hands couldn’t reach her.
When she flung open the door leading to the rooftop, intense light flooded into the tower.
Illuminated by that light, her expression was a gentle smile.

Even now, whenever I try to recall that time, it’s as if my mind is clouded, and the details remain unclear.
My memories of school life are vague; all that remains is the vague sense that it was enjoyable.
Strangely, I have not met any of my classmates since graduating.
I wonder if this is also the influence of the Elemental’s powers.
But surely it must be some kind of god’s will that I was chosen to be a Sibyl.
I will follow that will and fulfill my role.

A mansion stood on a hill a little outside the city of Tioquia.
On its terrace, the Water Sibyl scribbled away at something resembling a diary.

“Lady Juna. Lord Gustave has something to say to you.”
“Understood. I’ll be right there.”

Responding to her maid’s call, the Water Sibyl closed her diary and walked into the mansion.
Her expression was full of affection, and her beautiful blue hair was flowing.
It was unmistakably Juna.

That day, the ritual of Elemental inheritance took place in the tower.
Pia’s plan seemed destined for completion, yet there was one miscalculation.
The Elemental’s power proved far more immense than anticipated.
Indeed, at that moment, its light enveloped the girls.
The defeated ones, Juna, and Pia.
Juna and the others were to become sacrifices, and Pia was to descend as the new Sibyl… or so it was supposed to be.
Pia’s body and heart were not chosen by the Elemental.
It chose Juna’s body, which excelled in every aspect, as a suitable vessel.
The Elemental blended the girls’ memories, their innate talents, their abilities, their flesh. Like melting chocolate, it mixed them together.
The mingled mass began to squirm and shift, gradually taking on a human form.
It was a new vessel modeled after Juna.
And finally, the Elemental infused the vessel with the life force of Pia, the only one who had survived…

And now, the Water Sibyl was walking through the mansion’s corridors.
She was the new Juna, born in the tower that day.
The girls who trained alongside Juna, who fought and killed each other… They continue to live within Juna, their existence erased from everyone’s memory.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, Gustave.”
“Lady Juna. I’m deeply sorry for troubling you.”

Gustave immediately knelt and respectfully took Juna’s hand.
Then he kissed the back of Juna’s hand as a sign of his loyalty.
The only ring on Juna’s plain fingers shone.
Engraved upon it was a family crest not belonging to hers.

“Thank you. So, what happened?”
“Oh. Actually, there have been reports of increased heretical activity within Tioqia…”
“Well, that’s not good. Worshiping foreign gods would surely anger he goddess Nefeshé. I shall speak with them.”

As the priestess, she naturally couldn’t overlook such grave offenses against the capital of Tioquia and its deity.
Yet, even as she issued instructions to address the matter, a faint smile played at the corners of Juna’s mouth.
It was almost tender.
And yet, almost pitying.
The meaning behind that smile was something only Juna herself knew.