Alone in a cell surrounded by cool stone walls, time passes by. One day, a dirty mad scientist wearing suspicious sunglasses and a white coat draped over his fat body comes in, cackling.
“Yuffie Abisus!” he crows. “For the advancement of magical science, please let us examine your body!”
Thus begins the human experiment. In a dimly lit room, she’s naked and tied to a bed. A thick syringe is thrust into her arm, and an unknown liquid is poured into her. Each time, her body violently rejects the fluid, and she rolls her eyes as she thrashes, blood and screams unleashing from her mouth. A sharp knife cuts her up, dissects her.
“Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
Yuffie rolled around on the ground, clutching her head!
THUD!
“Achoo!”
Her fantasy finally ended when she crashed into a tree and sneezed at the same time.
“Just please don’t dissect me, just please don’t dissect me, I really can’t stand it when it hurts, just please dissect me…!” she muttered like a curse, but the throbbing pain in the back of her head helped her regain her composure.
“What’s done can’t be undone…”
That’s right, the past can’t be changed.
All she could do was think about what to do to avoid the worst possible future (a delusion).
“But I did the right thing! If I hadn’t fought off the Cerberus there, Lord Lyle’s life would have been in danger…”
In order to save him, it had been necessary to use her attack magic in front of someone else. When she told herself this, she calmed down. He had treated her kindly ever since their first meeting. Lyle was important to her, so she was relieved that she’d been able to go to his rescue.
“Not to mention…” She remembered how he had held her and protected her from the monster’s attack. “I think…this might be the first time someone else protected me.”
It was a strange feeling, one she’d never felt before.
“Stop it, you silly girl! He was just helping you! Don’t read into it!” Yuffie shook her head vigorously. It would be presumptuous for someone like her to feel even a little happy to be protected by Lyle, the third prince of this country.
“Ugh… I don’t feel so good…”
Just as she was trying to soothe her head, throbbing from too much shaking, the sound of a whistle rang out, signaling everyone to gather.
“I don’t want to go back…”
She wanted to run away as fast as she could, but that wasn’t going to happen. So she plodded toward the sound.
💠🌸💠
✦ ✦ ✦
WHEN Yuffie arrived at the spot where they all first gathered, the other students were already there. Her eyes immediately went to Lyle, who was in the middle of the circle. Someone must have healed him because his back wasn’t red anymore, and his skin was back to its natural, beautiful state.
Thank goodness…
Yuffie breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing it would be bad if their eyes met, she quickly walked away to stand at the fringes. Her restless gaze spotted the other members of her group.
I should probably say something…right…?
Her sudden disappearance might have worried them. With butterflies in her stomach, she slowly walked over to them.
“Oh, Yuffie!” Lifa noticed her first. Alto and Gill were standing behind her, and their reproachful stares said, “We were looking everywhere for you!”
“You have no idea how shocked we were when you vanished without a word like that.”
“I-I’m sorry… I got lost.” She hunched her shoulders in shame when Lifa scolded her. Alto and Gill tried to brighten the mood.
“Well, we’re all together again and that’s what matters!”
“And don’t worry, we hunted down the last Almiraj too!”
“Th-Thank you…”
That was the only conversation they had about Yuffie being separated from the group. Since it didn’t make a difference whether she was there or not, the reunion wasn’t a particularly emotional one. She felt both relieved and lonely.
Professor Sharon stepped forward and announced, “Due to unexpected events, today’s class is cancelled!” She didn’t elaborate any further. The students glanced at each other in confusion.
Please let this be the end, please let this be the end, pleeeaaase…
Yuffie was scared. Scared that her name would be called and she’d be taken to a dark room and interrogated. Although she had asked Lyle to keep the Flame Cerberus incident a secret, it was only a verbal promise. He had no reason not to report something so important to the teacher.
Her fears remained just that as they were all dismissed. In the end, there was no talk of the monster in question. It was also proof that Lyle kept his word.
He really is a good person…!
Yuffie was deeply moved by the knowledge. She was also relieved to have somehow managed to get through this pickle, but unaware that Lyle watched her from a distance.