Lightning struck the girl a third time, and she cringed in pain. The sensation would drive a lesser person mad, but she maintained her blank expression.
“It is proof of my love, Jupiter. Being cruel, causing you pain—these are the only ways I can stop you from proceeding down the wrong path.”
Keraunos’s voice was filled with genuine sadness as the beast struck the girl with a fourth bolt of black lightning.
“Ngh…g-g-gaaAAHH!”
“Does it hurt? Are you in pain? Do you wish for the suffering to end? I do, too, Jupiter. I do, too. Why must you force me to harm you, beloved daughter? Why must you make me do such horrible things to you? I wish to stop more than anything. I only want to see you smile. I speak the truth. I wish only for you to be happy.”
But the self-proclaimed father didn’t let up—it cooed gentle words at her, all the while torturing her with black bolts of lightning.
She was unable to run, unable to defend herself, unable even to die. She could only allow herself to be showered with lightning.
She had no means to resist. They were facing off in a world composed entirely of thoughts and memories. And here, Keraunos’s powers reigned supreme.
Everything was as the beast willed it. So long as she stood up to it, this hell would continue endlessly.
……This is the trial, she suddenly realized, snapping out of her daze.
The Sublime Demis spirit Keraunos was a symbol of all things negative to the girl. But, at the same time, it was also her protector.
Her purpose in this imaginary world—her duty—was to confront the spirit.
The cleansing was her means of renewing their pact. And her party leader had told her that, to improve the terms of their contract, she would have to demonstrate her strength to the beast.
Jupiter needed to make the monster yield to her. And then she needed to take back the memories it had stolen. I have to become myself again.
“…I’ll say it as many times as it takes. I am not your daughter. I am your master.”
A bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky and struck the girl.
Her body was indestructible within this dreamworld. But the pain she felt was real. Her heart and mind were beginning to crack under the assault.
“I’m afraid that is only half true. You are both my daughter and my master. Don’t you recall the pact you forged with me in that terrible place all those years ago?”
“I’ll be your daughter. Just, please…I need you to protect me.”
“…Ngh.”
The memory bubbles surrounding Keraunos suddenly burst, flooding the girl’s mind with memories of her shameful past.
She’d been forced to forge a pact with the devil. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have survived. She would’ve been disposed of.
She had sworn to become the spirit’s daughter in exchange for its protection. In that moment, she had given up her dignity to live on.
But she had reached her limit.
“I can’t take this anymore. I’m done being your daughter. I’m done putting up with the misery your protection brings me.”
“It is the natural duty of a parent to protect their child. You have always been and will always be my weak little girl. This is your fate.”
“Then here and now, I terminate our pact…!”
The girl mustered up all the strength in her broken body and tried to push herself up.
She eased off the ground and got on her hands and knees. Then she struggled up to a kneel. Finally, she stood.
She’d left the white ground behind, and she was standing tall under her own power.
“I don’t like this side of you.”
The beast was not ready to commend her efforts. To Keraunos, this meager show was little more than an obstinate child rebelling against her parent.
The creature chose, instead, to trample the girl’s budding hope underfoot until there was nothing left.
“Do you think I’ll simply allow you to be with those wretched people? The ones who tell you to ignore your father’s words? How naive. Or perhaps you doubt my love for you? I’m afraid that won’t do. Not at all.”
Crash, crash, crash, crash!
A storm of lightning bolts, each one with the power to turn a person into ash, raged around them.
“Respect your father. Honor your father. Listen to your father! If you cannot do even that much, then you’re not even human! You’re lower than cattle! Oh, Jupiter. I don’t remember raising you to be like this. You’re supposed to be my sweet, innocent daughter. You’re supposed to listen to your father. That is your natural state! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten something so basic? You must remember. Remember! That is your duty, according to our pact. Useless, helpless child. That is your one and only role. Now, prepare yourself! Your period of rebellion is at an end! Sleep in the bliss of childhood made eternal!!!”
Crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash, crash!
Keraunos continued his barrage of pitch-black lightning, scorching the land so absolutely that not even a single flower could grow there.
The father was willing to risk everything for the sake of its daughter. But what if its beloved daughter was determined to walk a path most foul?
The answer, from the beast’s perspective, was simple: The father would have to punish her until she repented. Hit her, kick her, throw her into the streets without food—this was not abuse. It was parenting. Engraving these lessons into the child’s mind was the only way to ensure that she would stay on the righteous path.
All of it was for her sake. Keraunos knew she would resent the spirit for brandishing the whip of parental love, but it was prepared to be hated for educating her this way.
“AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
It loved her more than anything, more than anyone, forever and ever and ever.
Bolts of lightning full of the beast’s twisted emotions rained down on the girl by the hundreds, each one of them a direct hit.
The bolts crackled, danced, and flew through the sky. It was a veritable natural disaster.
The attacks were enough to alter the climate, to ravage the earth. The fact they were confined to the realm of her heart made no difference.
On the contrary, this horrible display was possible precisely because it took place within her. This was the only way for the beast to attack its master’s heart without threatening harm to her body. It was a rare opportunity for Keraunos. The spirit could finally mold Jupiter into the “good girl” it had always wanted her to be.
“Now, tell me, Jupiter. Do you regret your actions yet? If you do, then let me hear you say you’re sorry. I want to hear you say it. Say, ‘I’m sorry, Daddy. I was wrong. Daddy’s my only real family. I don’t need anything else. I promise I’ll do everything you tell me to do, Daddy. I love you and only you. All I need is you, Daddy. You’re my everything. I want to be with you forever, Daddy. Daddy! Daddy! DaddyDaddyDADDYDADDYDADDY!!!’… Now, my good little girl. I want you to promise me. Refuse, and I’ll have to punish you even more.”
Having subjected the girl to an unprecedented level of violence, the spirit—who knew nothing but its own twisted paternal instincts—now demanded her submission. The timing could not have been more perfect; the girl’s heart was on the verge of breaking.
It hurts.
Her body screamed with pain.
It hurts so much.
Her spirit began to waver.
I’m in so much pain.
A small pouch fell by the girl’s side.
Oh. That’s right, she thought, remembering. I was told to open this if I felt like I couldn’t take it anymore.
The girl subconsciously reached for the large pouch and, still withstanding the beast’s barrage, opened it up.
“……”
For a moment, the girl forgot she was being showered by miasmic bolts of black lightning. Everything before her seemed to turn white.
Inside the pouch were countless resistance-boosting accessories—charms given to the girl to keep her safe.
But what impacted her the most wasn’t the accessories.
“Huh?”
It was a piece of paper. There was a letter inside the pouch.
“Ah… Sob.”
She knew whose writing it was. It was a promise made long ago. One she should never have forgotten.
“Let’s…”
Her tears began to flow. She finally realized…
“Let’s visit the garden again soon.”
…she had long since…
“I’m looking forward to seeing you again.”
…been forgiven.
“Eliza.”
A long-forgotten memory, from the days she had spent at Rosso and Blu, seemed to call out to her. She could hardly believe her friends cared about her so much.
I wasn’t alone after all. Lots of bad stuff might have happened to me… Life was really hard…but I was still so lucky. I had people who loved me. So, so many people. I finally get it. I can finally say this proudly… I’m the luckiest girl in the whole world.
“……No more.”
The snowstorm blowing through the area began to die down. Once it cleared, Keraunos doubted its own eyes.
There in the center of the field of snow, standing among a shower of hundreds of lightning bolts, was the girl. She was glaring at him.