Betrayal

Before Mitsuna could react to her hand suddenly splitting and cracking apart, Natash swung her wooden sword and cut it off before the cracks could go further.

Mitsuna screamed in pain.

Taking deep breaths.

Mitsuna's face had shock, fear and pain on it.

Before she could say anything, Natash turned around and left without a word.

"W- Wait! Natash!" Mitsuna grumbled out through the pain. But Natash did not stop.

Falling to her knees, Mitsuna was confused.

'What? What just... happened?'

Looking around, Mitsuna saw her teacher. Her body and clothing were full of cracks. Her head was the only thing without a scar.

"T- Teacher!"

Standing up and running to her, she almost fell a few times as she was trying to deal with the pain of her missing arm.

"Teacher! O- Oi!"

Reaching out, Mitsuna held her teacher's hand only to have it crack more and break off.

Placing it down, Mitsuna tried to wake her up.

"Teacher?"

Trying to wake up her teacher, she could not even get her to move.

"Teacher?!"

Seeing her eyes slightly open, Mitsuna carefully took off her glasses.

"W- What happened?"

"*Cough* Nat... had a spar with me."

"Why did... she-"

"It's fine Mitsuna. It's fine."

"But..."

"Listen. Go home. If that place doesn't work, go to the East."

"Home?"

"To your parents' sweetie. I won't be able to pay rent anymore soon." Empathy said with a weak voice and a light smile.

"N- No. Teacher... don't leave."

"I'm right here, Mitsuna. I'm not going anywhere. Sit down."

Listening to her teacher, Mitsuna sat down next to her.

"Natash. She is... sick. She somehow gained a Divinity and that changed her."

"..."

"It's good that she took your arm. If she hadn't your body would have slowly cracked and been destroyed like mine..."

"..."

"Listen. Mitsuna. If you can, then help her. She is my pupil. If you can't... then kill her."

"But..."

"She is a Divinity holder. She might be faster at growing stronger. She might be just as talented as you or me. But you are different... you can grow as much as you want."

"But that would take so long."

"You have all the time in the world to grow Mitsuna."

The cracks travelled up Empathy's neck and reached her chin.

"And one more thing."

"yes."

"Make some good friends. It will be difficult to stop a Divinity holder alone. If you can't find anyone worthy of being a friend, which would be quite sad then find some subordinates."

"..."

"Mitsuna. You can't do everything yourself. If you have strong and trusted comrades on your side, friend or not, you can go a lot farther."

"...okay." Mitsuna rested her head on her teacher's shoulder.

"Good girl. I'm proud."

The cracks travelled up Empathy's head as she stopped resisting.

Her whole body was covered by them as the sound of shattering glass could be heard.

Like thin ice that was stood on, the cracks increased and spread even more.

Empathy closed her eyes, lifted her hand and pat Mitsuna on the head.

A moment later, she completely shattered and turned to dust.

Mitsuna, who was resting her head on her teacher's shoulder, fell to the ground.

Getting into a fetal position, she wept.

...

'The south.' Natash ran.

'Kill strong beings. Get stronger.'

The voice was practically screaming.

'Where... am I going?'

Natash suddenly could not see.

Hearing a voice, she froze. For it was her own.

'Sleep.'

'What?' Natash could not comprehend.

'Oh. So it needs more. No matter.'

'Who...'

'Hmm. I am 'you' in a sense. A better version of you and as of now. The only 'you'.'

Natash fell to the ground. Standing up a moment later, her eyes were different.

'Time to start a new game. A new adventure.'

She thought as she accelerated.

...

'Why? Why?' Mitsuna thought.

'Mom. Dad. They should know what to do. They always do. They're strong and smart they can handle this.'

Standing while only half-conscious, Mitsuna ran towards the house.

Packing some food and clothes she didn't look back as she dashed through the door towards the place she was born. The South.

'Brother, Mom, Dad. I need you.'

At the back of her mind, she knew how stressed she was. She was contemplating if she was traumatized and could ever trust again.

Since her birth on earth and the death of her parents, she lacked any parental support if you don't count the teachers who could only praise. She didn't know how to handle death or anything relating to it.

To her, grief was terrifying as she didn't know how to react.

Since a child, her aunt had looked after her, although she did a terrible job. And within her few years of life she had never needed to attend a funeral as no one close to her had died.

To be honest, she knew she was a little spoiled. She could buy anything she wanted, her aunt was always planning something and didn't bother with paying her any attention.

No one ever told her off. She couldn't be ready for anything if she hadn't gotten money from the will.

But this time. She had parents that cared. A brother who was as sweet as could be even though he didn't know how to show it. They told her when she was wrong and when she was right. Within Mitsuna's life, no one had been so... accepting. She felt as though her family had been with her for hundreds of years. Even though to dragons, a year would seem like a week at most. But, maybe because she had been a human once. She could not imagine growing up without parents. She had no idea how she managed back on earth.

All these thoughts passed by in a second.