The girl in white was falling through darkness.
Each time she swung her arms, the darkness parted, revealing the expanse beyond.
Skyscrapers rose from fields where horses grazed. The girl had leaped from the top of one such skyscraper, descending through the clouds. The offices were shrouded in gray and hundreds of stories tall. She plummeted past them all to the ground below.
This was a dream world, largely constructed from memories of the subject she was diving into. The white-clad girl was god here—and no one could ever change that.
“How should I fill the time?” she murmured.
She’d already ransacked the memories here; there was nothing more for her to see.
As she stifled a yawn, the once-banished darkness rolled back in. The world changed from day to night. She raised a brow, amused.
There was a wolf ahead of her.
It stood up, shifting forms. The clawed forearms became those of a human, and the black fur turned into clothes and hair of that same color. The amber eyes narrowed, and a high nose bridge appeared. The girl who remained was still clearly a carnivore. Even fully transformed, there was something animalistic about her. Like she’d devour any human lost in her woods.
“Long time no see. How’ve you been?” the white-clad girl asked. “I thought you’d be here. I mean, you sent me a message, saying, ‘I know.’”
“You always were a loathsome wench. I knew you wouldn’t die that easy.”
Her voice was like the snarl of a beast.
The white-clad girl threw up her hands.
“I’m glad I’ve earned your trust! You haven’t changed a bit. Make up your mind, and nothing can stop you. When did you get in touch with the Headtaker Corps? Poor things. She believed she was acting of her own free will until the bitter end.”
The beast did not answer, merely staring at the girl.
“Cat got your tongue?” the white-clad girl said, not the least bit bothered. She adored putting what they both knew into words, but it was not strictly necessary.
She’d known at a glance that the Headtaker woman was under a mental interference spell. That’s why she’d taken that fight, pinning down who’d meddled with her. It was possible to overwrite a mental interference spell with superior technique and talent, but the spell on the Headtaker woman was prodigious. Even the girl in white would have struggled. She’d lived one thousand two hundred years and knew only one person capable of this. That was not her only motivation, but it factored into why she left the Headtaker alone.
“You’ve come all this way, I must show some hospitality,” she said. “What would you like? A fruit tart? A macaron?”
The beast ignored her.
“You met the ferrywoman?” was all she said.
The woman in white had seen that coming.
The beast had not yet given up.
“I did. I knew I’d be revived, so it was no use; she won’t speak unless you’re actually dead. You’ve got to take the proper route to the other side.”
“Ah.”
The beast’s amber eyes gleamed. The white-haired girl’s skin pricked, sensing her hostility.
“I’ll find my way there. Get in my way, and you die.”
“I would love to see you try,” said the white-clad girl, and she snapped her fingers.
The darkness above parted. And then the beast’s body crumbled. She showed no signs of consternation. She’d known her opponent had the upper hand in that place. The beast—the girl in black—simply glared at her in silence.
Until the last fragment faded.