Aina's body continued to walk forward completely out of her control. Before she could even grasp what was happening, she was sitting to the right of the man, her body trembling uncontrollably. No matter how hard she fought back, she couldn't seem to break free.
Aina clenched her jaw, her head raising to look the man in the eye.
The situation was far outside of her expectations. She sat no more than a ter and a half from a man she was certain could take her life with a thought. But, what was even more astonishing was the fact this… wasn't a man at all.
When Aina t the man's gaze, she finally noticed the familiar white irises, flickering with indifference.
There was no doubt, this was an Invalid, a true Invalid, a Variant Invalid.
Aina's heart lost control of any sense of rhythm, accelerating to the point it seed it might fly from her chest at any mont.
The man's wrists never stopped, slowly cutting the head before it in half. Grotesque white and red liquids spilled outward, pooling around the severed neck and almost overflowing the plate.
Aina's stomach rolled as the Invalid brought the fork to its mouth. Sohow, the immaculate table manners it displayed made the scene several tis more difficult to watch. The dichotomy of stateliness and stomach churning sights made one's head spin.
"No comnt?" The Invalid finished chewing and spoke these words.
It wiped its lips with a pristine white cloth despite the fact there wasn't a speck of impurity on its face. It seed completely at ease.
"When I sensed that there was soone who had actually chosen to co to after all these years, I assud that you would be powerful. But, I didn't think that you would be such a fledgling. I guess as the saying goes, the ignorant fear nothing, hm?"
The Invalid smiled lightly.
To anyone who didn't know better, it was quite the dazzling smile. All the practice Leonel put in couldn't match to even half the charm the male Invalid was currently projecting. Yet, Aina only felt more disgust. Unfortunately, as much as she wanted to look away, she couldn't.
As for the words the Invalid was speaking, Aina didn't spare them much of a thought. She wasn't aware of how dangerous this region was before she entered. Had she, she would likely understand more of the male Invalid's surprise.
It had quite literally been centuries since the last ti anyone had co to this mountain range willingly, let alone to the point of entering its ho and travelling so deeply into its lion's den.
The Invalid's word suddenly paused, its strong bridged nose tilting up in the air. It took a deep sniff, its gaze stirring with the first hint of emotion Aina had seen from it.
"This sll…"
The male Invalid leaned forward.
Aina fidgeted in her seat, trying to maintain distance, but her movents were completely out of her control. Her body trembled violently even to the point where the chair she sat on almost collapsed. However, it was all aningless.
The nose of the male Invalid brushed by Aina's hair and almost touched her neck.
It took a pause as though it was appreciating the scent of roses, completely unbothered by Aina's near breakdown.
Having an Invalid so close, Aina, too, could sll it. One would have thought that the sensation was akin to being near a rotting corpse, but in Aina's opinion, it was far worse than that.
It felt as though she was standing next to a pile of shit. But, upon that pile of shit, one had poured the strongest and most invasive perfus all over the top of it. It was far worse than just a rotting corpse, far worse than soone trying to replace a shower with deodorant, far worse than any olfactory assault Aina had ever faced before.
"… What a nice scent…"
The male Invalid didn't move from Aina's hair for a long ti. It was as though it couldn't sense her squirming in the slightest.
"… It's the scent of a delicacy, the kind of scent that shouldn't appear on this forsaken world. I understand now, you aren't from Terrain, no wonder, no wonder."
The male Invalid pulled back, but at that mont, Aina's hands began to move against her will. From her sides, they were pulled up until they were pressed palm side down on either side of the plate before her.
It was only at that mont that Aina saw what sat in front of her.
The brain sat there, its nurous folds slowly collapsing on its own weight. After being exposed to the air for so long, it started to experience so discoloration, turning into a deeper purple-black. A pungent sll of blood and gore hung in the air as though trying to suffocate Aina.
All the effort she was putting in toward trying to escape made her head swim. The foggier her mind grew, the more the scents seed to hook into her body, dragging her down toward a bloody abyss.
But, it was at that mont that Aina's body froze. All her trembling ceased and even her heart seed to stop beating completely.
All of her senses focused on the subtle, soft feeling gliding across her fingers.
Aina looked down her hands, her breathing hitching as she watched the male Invalid slowly run the flat of its knife against her long, slender fingers.
Fear gripped Aina's heart, her teeth rattling out of her control.
"… I've never tasted an other worlder before… I'm sure you understand. My kind isn't very well accepted, it's a bit sad, if you ask .
"It's quite amusing, though. In every instance of human history, it was the majority that dictated the rules and wielded the power. So, have you ever asked yourself why it was that despite the fact the majority beca like us… that we would still have to run and hide like this?
"It's interesting, don't you think?"
The male Invalid continued to run its knife across Aina's fingers, seemingly enjoying the elasticity her youthful skin showed. Sothing about the way her skin bent beneath the weight of its knife and rebounded back once the blade moved away was quite srizing to the Variant Invalid…
But, it was even more eager to know just what Aina might taste like.
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