A Lie

Meanwhile, the one who kept coming up in conversations, Safira... she just stood there, staring.

Her whole body felt like it wasn't hers anymore, like she'd been transmigated a second time. 

'No...'

'No, this isn't real.'

'It can't be real.'

But it was. No matter how much she wished that it wasn't.

It was as real as the divine and as fake as the promises men made in its name.

Nobody could deny it. Nobody. Not even her own mind. It was the truth, plain and simple.

"Hhk..."

Her breath hitched, a choked sound breaking from her throat.

This before her was her teacher, shackled like a criminal, a Goddamn animal. And why?

...Because he saved her.

The price of her freedom was his own.

But if he hadn't… If he hadn't done what he did, she'd be—

'No!'