26 "Karaoke"

Reluctantly following April inside the building, it was moodily lit just like any other karaoke place. I had never been one to myself, but I had seen plenty of scenes from the shows I had watched.

April talked to the receptionist for a moment before being granted a key to a room. This is when the panic started to settle in. I was about to walk into a room where I will likely be locked in without any way to escape, but what choice did I have?

I couldn't call for Lyra now; running away was pointless as it would only make April more angry. I-I could kill April, but even the thought of killing wasn't something I could stomach so that wasn't an option.

"Come on~." April teasingly beckoned me to follow with her finger and my body took a step even though everything inside me said no.

'G-get the pain over with now.' I tried to cope with the thought that by doing this now, it wouldn't be as bad later.

Entering a small, dimly lit with background ambient music playing, April locked the door behind me and the two other girls sat down on the couch, leaving no room for me.

"Now, let's choose some songs to go with the entertainment." April picked up the stone tablet from the table in the middle and seemingly picked something at random. A song then started to play from each corner of the room from these weird stones that had runes engraved in them.

As much as I would have loved to examine them and figure out how they work, now wasn't the time.

"Fufu~, did you bring it, Angela?" One of the girls giggled while looking at Angela's bag.

Angela was the tallest as well as the most scaring-looking one with her long, dark hair and piercing brown eyes. Her name did not reflect how she acted or looked, which made me question her parent's naming choice.

"Don't worry Cas, I got one for each of us." A sinister smile appeared on Angela as she pulled out what seemed to be a tiny bat? However, moments later they transformed into real-sized bats.

'O-oh no…' My entire body trembled as I watched Angela pull out three bats from her bag and give them out.

'W-what do I do? P-please someone c-come… S-someone, p-please notice what's going on.' I was frozen in place, not knowing how to react. No matter what I did to get out of this situation, it felt like I would only end up in a worse position. I try to escape with my flames and destroy the place, then I financially ruin myself. I hurt April and then her family will be my ruin.

"Look at her face, she is already shaking~." Cas stood up from her seat and slowly walked towards me. Fear filled my eyes as she loosely spun the bat in her hand with clear intentions to hit me. I tried to take a step back out of instinct, but my legs finally gave out, causing me to fall on my knees and the giggles from the girls echoed in my head.

'I thought I was stronger than this now.' I wanted to move, I wanted to do something, but my body refused. I acted exactly the same way I did all those years ago. No personal growth; still just the pathetic loser who couldn't defend themselves or say no to anyone.

'Maybe it's best I just die so I don't have to live through this.' The thought I so desperately wanted to avoid surfaced. I had barely even gotten to live out this new life and I was already having thoughts of wanting to die.

It was a mistake to even think there was a better life by taking that dodgy apple. All it did was cause me pain I never wished to re-live.

"Batter up!"

*Bang!*

Before my thoughts could continue, one of the girls swung their bat right into the side of my head. I instantly hit the floor with a shade of red covering my eyes. My mind entered a daze, unsure of what was happening around me.

All that I could process was the insane giggling of the girls and the pain that coursed through my entire body. My body jerked and winced at every strike, with it only getting more painful as it went on.

I screamed in pain, but it was drowned out by the music. No one on the outside would be able to hear my cries, leaving me completely helpless. Even if someone did notice, I was a peasant after all, so I shouldn't even expect help in the first place.

"Scum shouldn't be allowed in the academy!"

"All you have is your marginal good looks."

"Can't you tell you're not welcome? Just drop out already!"

'I know, I know, I know, I know I'm just scum who got lucky. But I can't just quit now.' I tried my best to curl up into the ball, but the repeated hits from the bats made it impossible to keep still. My entire body was so tender that even the slightest touch would hurt.

'Just end me.'

'Fuck, fuck, where did they go!' I was sprinting as fast as I could through the city of Karroth, trying to catch up to them, but because it was peak time, it made it impossible to keep up. The only hope I had was that they were in the city so there were a few locations I had in mind.

Depending on their intentions, they could be at a hotel or karaoke. However, the only issue was that there were at least 10 different places I could check.

'If I were a popular bitch and I wanted to fuck with someone without getting caught... Karaoke.' It made sense, as it was a hotspot for nobles as well as troublemakers. This narrowed it down and since this was nobles I was dealing with, there were at least 3 locations I could think of.

Based on the direction I saw them head in, I tried to think which of the karaoke places were there.

'Fuck, I really should have accepted those invitations, then I would know where they are and the name of the place.' I had been invited many times when I was younger, but I declined since that shit was not my thing.

I did have a general idea, the name Carasol Street rang a bell as being one of the most unregulated places but it was extremely expensive. It was the perfect place for a snobby noble to do what she liked to someone she hated.

Having a location in mind, It would take 5 to 10 minutes of running, depending on how fast I can get by without being trampled by a magic beast or people. It was tempting to use my ice as a way to get around people, but my element was strictly banned for travel because it caused a huge nuisance for people around me.

Even without my elements, I was still able to weave my way through, making relatively good time.

Carousel Street was a kind of plaza where there was one long walkway with business on either side. It was known as the rich kid street, as most of the time it was filled with noble children overindulging or being spoilt to death.

'Please, Saki, be here and okay.' There was no telling what April and her goons planned to do, but I only hoped I wasn't too late.

Fast walking down Carasol Street so as to not accidentally incur the wrath of the nobles, I finally saw the karaoke place in sight with its bright neon sign.

"Found them." However, one of my many fears seemed to have come true. I witnessed April and her girls leaving the place with massive smugs on their faces. I wanted to charge and grab them by the neck to find out what they did, but Saki was the priority.

Luckily, they flew away with April's wind magic, making it easy for me to instantly run up and enter the joint.

"Tell me the room those three girls were just in!" I instantly went up to the reception desk, which was some scrawny guy who jumped at my fist hitting the desk.

"I-I can-."

"NOW!" I could care less about the rules or if I needed to pay, I was getting in there even if I had to tear down every door.

"T-t-they were in room s-seven." The guy gave no resistance and instantly told me which room they were in. Sprinting down the hall, I located room seven and swung the door open.

"Saki?" Upon seeing inside, I was instantly brought to tears. Saki's body laid on the ground in a pool of her own blood, right at my feet. Her body barely moved, but just enough for me to know she was still alive.

"L-Lyra…"

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