{White Rose} MURDERED

To draw breath under skies liberated from thought and matter

The casual sound of atmospheric conversation. The sound from when the onions were cut into cubes, the thuds of when the knife hit the cutting board's wood, slicing through the herbs. Bubbling water in the pots, on the gas stove. Dimmed, orange lights hanging above the kitchen island which filled the entire darkened room and complimented the fire. The potted plants had a beautiful cyan ambient colour. Granted, you might expect the dojo to be a lot smaller from what it let on, from the outside.

A dojo in which the master and her disciples lived, and the Godsent tied onto the thickest branch of the big tree in the dojo's backyard. Nothing but bandages covered Leigh's numb body. The wind pulled on her hair from every angle, changing direction every few minutes.

The shoulders, the elbows, kneecaps, her malleoli, toes, her fingers, the carpi, her paps, nasus, auricles, lips- all hurt her so much, after a while, the pain went numb and she started having her own thunderstorm in her brain cells. The knife tapped twice against the sink to let water drop off.

"Godsent Lucifer Leigh, that's her name and she knows me as two people, Daniel Cherrywine and Walter Renwick."

Her arms were tied behind her back, the feet pulled closely the hands, she was hanging like a dead animal.

"You took my last name?"

"No need to fret.. there was no other Renwick in the faked reality.

I mean you weren't even in it, were you?"

.

.

"Fair. Go on."

She had given up on untying the rope but it was sturdy and bruised against her skin,

leaving red marks which were only encouraged by the snowstorm, the french door fixed.

"She's a renegade soldier, obviously, meaning she fled from the whole

Godsent-Program, couldn't keep up with the abuse, snapped- and killed the whole division,

single-handedly."

"So murder is her forte, it seems, oh dear.."

"Yes, ", cut the carrot,"Teamed up with the Roses right after the night of her first killing spree."

"The Roses?",

Rosh taste tested the soup, and added a little more salt.

"A trio, at first, a strong one, too. Satanael Leo Roseblood, Ray Blackwood, Leigh herself,

and I was kinda part of the team, at least, during the Res Novae War."

She glanced at him.

He added the veggies into the wok:"Anyway, uhhm- After Leo ended the fake reality,

everyone who had been orchestrated to stay in their places, was magically returned to their original lives.

Hence, why I am here again, as well."

"Hence why you were acting clueless the second you reentered this world?"

"Pardon, but I was not acting! Hell, can you imagine being at a war, then getting 'ported into the training hall the next second,

getting smacked in the face?"

She glanced at him. He gave small nods of trust issues.

Leigh gasped a few times, she was about to pass out as she felt really hot.

The feeling of melting organs came to her imagination and her feeling sick did not add well to her state.

"Use your Will, use your Will, use your Will", repeated her mind to her, or else, she'd be freezing to death. "But I don't know much more pain I can take on, in exchange for using a bit of Will." Time ran out. She saw before her a field of white roses whose heads began to fall off, one by one, turning into mist of dark grey and brown. The return to ashes-

Her breathing tried to draw deep breaths, yet it was again, only panting.

"What, are you serious?"

"What's that´Are you upset over my decision, Cherry?"

"Well- of course. I do know her, so it's tough hearing that."

…

"But if you were going to let her die, why fix her wounds?"

"I will let her die, but not that easily."

"Just what are you plotting, Rosh?"

"Death. I am simply talking about nothing else, but the death of her."

"..God, I hate it when you're talking so cryptically."

"Shall we plate, then? The food has finished cooking,

the bear soup has arrived at the peak of its taste."

When the dojo was eating, there were howls of beasts, as the moon's shine declared nightfall upon Earth, more and more creatures awakened to their call. Along the howling animals was none other than the white-haired demon herself. T'was not a child's cry in the middle of ruined sand castles,

it was the roar of an untamed amid a snowy landscape of sharp mountains. Rocky texture with thick blankets of snow and ice: This was the North. Welcome.

And she gave it her all not to die, she wanted to survive, somehow in the deep dark of her head,

she felt the need to live. "Leo would poke his tongue out, if he saw me like this", she thought to herself- "Kill yourself", she said out loudly, then inhaled and screamed it out again, so that everyone who was going to bite off the food from their forks, they would bite their tongues instead from shock. Her body was vibrating, the wounds were healed, yes, but the blood stained her skin, bandages and most importantly, her soul.

Red rivers dripped off of her mouth in long lines onto the ground she couldn't make out as everything started to hurt in her eyes. The faint smell of food reached her nostrils and made her stomach remember its emptiness as a result; but there was not going to be someone feeding her, hanging up here, from the tree.

"kill myself, I need t- kill- myse- , or this will. be painful. And I- dislike pain..", the mumbling of words.

The snow shone so brightly in the night, even she found it beautiful to look at.

There was no stimulus to help distract her from the ever-growing pain rising from toe to head which only got fiercer over time. At this rate, she was not going to fall asleep. Oh, how very unfortunate, for the snowstorm stopped and silence returned in the mountains.

Stars and glistening ice crystals made nox.

And time worked its magic, flying by.

"Still up, eh?"

"?.. Huh- Wh- What..?"

Her numbed, half-opened mouth couldn't believe seeing Cherry standing underneath her.

"You.. Is it- really you..?"

"I'm afraid so, dear.", tipping his cap, he looked into her weakened eyes.

"Cherry, can you-"

"No. I can't free you. my master's orders, sorry."

"Your master is more important than me..?"

Cherry hid his face behind his hand: "Pardon, Mylady but I truly cannot-"

"Can you please untie me? Cherry, it hurts so much-"

"Leigh. It does hurt seeing you like that, I must admit-

I came to check on you on behalf of my master. She doesn't intend to let you die, you know?"

Leigh was quiet and glanced at the figure of Cherry.

"What I can do, however, and that's on my personal interest for coming out here,

is to inform you on a couple of things."

She accepted what she was offered with an annoyed nod.

Their eyes stared deeply into each other's, as he looked away and flicked his cap,

came closer and finally began talking.

For solid hours of the dark he would talk to her,

give information about the world, how it worked and what state it was in currently.

Cherry explained the influence of the World Military and how it wasn't as strong as it was in the faked reality. They had a variety of bases around the world but that was that, really.

They weren't a force threatening with a military dictatorship anymore, no.

There are enough of rebelling groups out there who live their lives in freedom,

just as Leo promised they would when he asked them to place their trust in him.

The newspapers were never-ending as the War uncovered a lot of mysteries and sparked

a mine of new content which needed to be shared with the general public of towns, cities and Kingdoms.

There were pirates, vikings sailing, peoples building new cities on remote islands,

schools trying to encourage teaching about life and not how to encourage the death of a planet,

fierce politics trying to debate over their respective countries and bonds to other civilisations,

humans with Will, humans with no Will.

It was a colourful world out there Leo had brought back and yet the one

performing that miracle was not here, not in this world, not longer.

Bittersweet freedom.

One peculiar mystery, she was particularly interested in was Cherry's existence itself.

Who was he?

And so, he started giving answers. Cherry was a normal teenage boy who happened to get his personality split and manifested into two different bodies. To be more clear on that matter,

two different personalities were forged. One of them being Daniel Cherrywine, the other being Walter Renwick.

But before the manipulation of reality, which caused the fake one to come into existence,

he was simply called 'Cherry' by

the members of the Architects, his trusted friends.

The reason why he was split into two, he could not recall.

He only remembered being an orphan who was taken in by his master, Rosh Renwick,

who was somewhat of a rebel herself, before opening her dojo.

Albeit having retired,

the WM still have her name on the Hunting List.

After their talk had ended, Cherry promised Leigh to come visit her every night.

She watched him from above, how he disappeared into the dark of the dojo, shutting the door by sliding it into its lock; and there it was again, the reflection of herself. The french door's window part acted alike a mirror that would remind Leigh of the situation she was in.

-No food, no water, no sleep.

Her eyes stared into the moon, a sigh for she knew she wasn't going to fall asleep somehow by a miracle. "I have to murder it, my self", she spoke, "Cut free from the past"

"Master, do you really think, this is going to benefit her?"

Rosh looked up from the chess board, when she check-mated Cherry. He didn't really care about the game itself, but it was the only way getting to talk with his master, as she was interrupted prepping to go to bed.

"That is up to the girl, Cherry. If she understands her situation, she should understand what to do.

I'm positive she's going to, however, doesn't seem like the dumb type to me. After what you have told me about her, at least. I think it's about time for a girl like her to get a move on. The years won't take it easy on you, even if you pray." "Thanks, I.. guess?"

"What a pleasant surprise, a 'thank you' coming from you, Cherry?", she chuckled,"The last time I heard that was when you still were a youngin.."

A clear sky and the counterpart of the moon was blinding just as brightly. The mountains could be taken pictures of and they would turn out beautifully as their texture was clear as day, the snowy tips stood out as if they were painted by hands of artistic genius.

Getting the newspaper in the mountains is usually not a common thing. So, as part of the morning routine, some students of Rosh were instructed to hike down the mountain, pick up the newspaper from Kingston, then hike up the mountain again- which required getting up as early as 5am. Cherry was not part of the hiking group, at least not today. He grabbed the newspaper from the desk, not expecting the headline:

-KINGSTON DAILY-

THE DEATH OF "FUTURE" KING SATANAEL LEO ROSEBLOOD

We think it's safe to assume that everyone who knows who Leo was it in shock right now.

The only son of King Jack Roseblood passed away just days ago in the middle of Winter.

As everyone is shocked by his passing, we have yet to hear a statement from the King himself.

Rumors say that he hasn't seen his own flesh and blood in over ten years;

Our team is on its way to Londinium for a special interview with the King, to clear it all up, which will be featured in one of the next issues!

About the late boy himself:

There are only few things known about him. He traveled not alone but with two members of the notorious criminal Blackwood-Gang, one of which was Ray Blackwood who now is rumored to be prisoner at UKR. His other travel companion was Godsent Lucifer Leigh, a member of the Godsent-Family. All three teenagers are marked on the Hunting List of the World Government and each hold a high bounty. However was Leo's dead body really found in the Kingston Hospital all alone?

We did not find any traces of his traveling companions, nor did we find any reason as to why Leo died. Doctors are trying to research the reason as you're reading this, so we ask you to stay tuned for our next issue, should you not get the news earlier...

Also, should you be intrigued by this topic and are perhaps headed towards Kingston,

you will not find the corpse of Leo. We were informed by our photo crew that his dead body vanished, as if it had been transported through magic. This is not a joke, the dead body was most likely stolen and to make things worse for the police, traces of it are nowhere to be found..

The seventeen year old boy vanishes from this planet alike his body did, alike he did presumably ten years ago...

…

Investigations are currently handles by the police, interrogations and searches have been started by the police. Hopefully, we all get to see the end of this..

Cherry put down the paper and took a sip of his tea, staring into the ceiling, slowly beginning to realize and comprehend Leigh's behaviour more and more. He had not known about Leo's death, nor Ray's imprisonment. Putting his chin into his hand, thinking. He had pinch himself a couple of times to make sure this wasn't a bad dream of some sorts. "This is actually sickening.. stealing his corpse. God, that's just plain awful", he thought to himself, then sipping again,"Rosh, I need to make a call.. call up an old friend of mine.." "You can name Jack by his name, Cherry" "Didn't want to bring up any memories of lost matches, y'know?" She punched his shoulder and tilted her face toward the french door which would seperate Leigh from them.

The first night had been horrible and her eyes gave away just that. A deadly scowl stared at the bunny that was under her, feeding on the few strands of green grass sticking out of white. Her stomach growled. Hunger was knocking against her head, as was the need for water. Of course, the basic human needs would need to be satisfied, if they weren't, the body would remind their owner of that, repeatedly.

When some students took a break and walked into the backyard to play and enjoy themselves a quick glance at Leigh could not be resisted. Everyone was curious about her, some were scared of her, while others harboured anger toward her.

She had her eyes closed, there was no intent to look at them. If she was going to talk to someone, it'd only be Cherry and no one else.

"Hey, there bunny!", Leigh slowly opened her eyes in response to a female voice. Tired eyes looked at a girl her age slowly picking up the alpine hare, running her bruised fingers throughout the soft fur, then suddenly looking up at Leigh while keeping the motion of her hand.

"I thought you'd react to my call, heh.", a smile countered Leigh's sealed lips,"You know, you remind me a lot of that bunny here. You both are kinda similar..in a sense.."

Leigh gave no word. Her limbs ached again, those abrasions were going to be something else,

she knew it. "Come on, I know you hear me. Talk to me, you're not really a bunny right?"

"Leave her be already and join us", they held up their chess pieces. "Cheater!" "Hey!"

"Your fault!" She looked at Leigh one last time, before letting the bunny go and joined her friends.

Leigh closed her eyes again, completely.

Exiting every stimulus which tried to attract her, enveloping herself in complete dark.

She murdered everything which tried to attract her, enveloping herself in complete dark.

She murdered her self, in complete dark.

The self which carried the hatred and agony, the envy she had for Leo's beauty,

the envy she held for Ray's and Leo's relationship.

The pain and damage her father caused her so often, the abuse she had to go through.

This was no time for searching answers to answer the question of why everything had to happen the way it did but a time of soul searching to find the peace within the inner self which was deeply buried inside the body's soul, damaged from the actions of the World.

Complete Darkness.

Meditation.

To find the reflection of herself she threw away so long ago, ever since her training as a proper Godsent had begun, she wasn't thinking for herself, but only acting for the WM.

That was the truth I had to face, all this time I was too scared to look for my true self.

Scared, that if I would change, I wouldn't belong into my reality anymore, but really,

I was playing this fake role for too long.

I have to grow, I have to become stronger for myself, find my worth as myself,

not stay a order-obeying slave, mindless fuck.

I'm tired of that. Tired of being a slave to my anxiety.

I was so scared, even too scared to improve on myself, fearing people wouldn't recognize me once I did. Pathetic. I'm finally granted freedom but it's pathetic that I couldn't even achieve that myself.

But it's okay, isn't it? That's what friends are for, right? Leo, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. I will forever grow stronger, mentally and physically.

Thank you, you crazed devil.

I finally have realized that.. my smallest troubles had grown into one big problem,

and that.. that problem could have stopped me from breathing, hadn't I taken a real breather like this, to think things through in silence, free of it all.

"She's been like this for a month."

"Wait, has it been a month, already?"

"That would mean she didn't eat, drink, nor sleep for that long?? Holy crap.."

Cherry put both his hands atop their lowered shoulders, which shot up in response, "She will soon surpass all of you-" "Tsk, the hell are you talking about?"

"Cherry, do you actually think a person who's that exhausted could stand on their feet?"

He scoffed in confidence:"You guys don't know her the way I do", he patted their heads and left.

"Honestly.." "Has he finally lost his mind?" "I can't get him sometimes."

"You're that bunny girl, aren't you?" The girl felt a slight shiver down her back but after a couple of seconds she understood that voice, it was coming from the one hanging above her.

"So- So you can speak, after all, huh?"

"Can you fight?"

"Eh- Excuse me..?"

Master Rosh's focus on Leigh grew with each day, her students noticed that, especially Cherry.

He was the one telling Leigh that his master was willing to train her in swordsmanship,

if she was able to advance. Stuck during day and night in a form of meditation, she went into her consciousness, confronted her self and cut it. The person she witnessed was a copy of Leigh, a doppelganger of sorts she was able to cut through. Not slash, no murder, not kill, but simply cut cleanly through her soul. That was what it meant, to kill. The act of taking a life with

the understanding of the one you're killing.

The ties came off loosely, spreading like a net mid air, as she prepared her feet to touch ground again, everyone in the yard was following her with their eyes and mouths open.

A few parts of her body were exposed and covered with red marks of the clawing rope.

"What's you name?", Leigh stared her directly into her eyes. The girl's gaze went up from her chest to her face and murmured her name 'Sonja'

Leigh nodded:

"Master Rosh, could Sonja and I have a practice match with wooden swords?"

"Prove to me, that you have murdered your self, Godsent."

"Wait, h-hold on! I don't want to fight her!"

"If you don't want to, that's fine. I'll take on someone else, while you admit that you were all bark no bite", she cracked her fingers,

was handed a pair of baggy clothes by Cherry.

Her eyes wandered from one to another, reminding them of the first time Leigh barged into their dojo.

Only now there was no murderous intent. Her violent look was contrasted by a gentle and composed nature.

Leigh had to laugh at Sonja's childish expression: "If you're jealous, then spar with me."

"Fine, then!"

A breath. Leigh's focus. The training hall, she stood inside this training hall. Opposite of her was Sonja standing with uncertain arms and legs. Looks of hatred toward her, but Leigh accepted them and paid them no further mind. There was but one thing on her mind in this instant. It being the murder of her self,

picturing a clean cut through the mix of her feeling of angst, regret and pain, coming back from the dark, letting in the noise of the room into her ears, the vision return to her eyes and the touch of the grip of the wooden practice sword's handle come back to her. "Begin!"

Leigh killed her facial expression and suppressed any stimulus of stress with sheer effort of control.

She lightly made the wooden blade tap the ground twice in reference to how she would smash her katana against the ground to announce her intent of battle.

Looking at it, then at Sonja who stood in a stance that was foreign to Leigh. It seemed defensive,

so the white-haired assumed she was going to be offensive one for the first round. In contrast to Leigh's mute face, Sonja was freaking out internally, showing it slightly on the outside: drops of sweat on her forehead, shivering arms resulting into a shaky blade. Both of Sonja's hands were holding tightly onto the grip, just as she had studied it under Rosh, so naturally, hers and the reaction of the room was plausible when Leigh switched to holding the sword in only her left hand, spinning it forward a couple of times, spinning twice herself, securing her posterior foot as her mainstay, sliding with her anterior foot a bit forward and struck against Sonja's sword. Making her step back, forcing the crowd make way, blocking Leigh's attacks which came first from left, then right, a bit diagonal, finally from above when Sonja had lost the security of her stance and was pushed down to her knees, pressing against Leigh's blade with all the strength she was able to muster. It was more of a contest of who was pushing harder now, but still, Sonja couldn't believe it. While she had to use both of her hands,

Leigh was not even breaking a single sweat, pushing the entire weight of Sonja downward,

when Leigh finally added just enough pressure to- *crackle*

"Huh", Sonja looked at how Leigh's sword was going into her own, then completely seeing it break into two halves, "I went after your sword, Sonja,

there was no need to fear me hurting you", Leigh spoke and held out her hand, her arm covered in red lines and stains of blood. Sonja was baffled, had she finally found a girlfriend?

She carefully approached her hand with her own, when Leigh's suddenly went up and smacked against Cherry's. "'Knew you could do it, dear." "Piss off, 'course I could", she chuckled.

"Do allow me do treat thee to thy first meal, for I, myself,

will prepare the dish.", he tipped his cap. "Well, you sounded a lot like Walter, there."

"You can call me by that name, if you so desire", he winked and both laughed.

The single one not laughing was Sonja having her fantasy shattered as the crowd split and everyone went their own ways again.