The smell of blood was strong as Shuren stood over the two bodies. It was slippery on the floors, a somber reminder of the finality she had brought.
The bullets had done their job without hesitation, and their heads drooped abnormally. With a slow, almost casual exhale, she reached into her jacket. Between her fingers, a cigarette materialized.
The tiny flame flickered against the mansion's dim light as she lit it with purposeful calm. She took a breath, allowing the smoke to curl upward, obscuring the surrounding carnage with a haze.
It was silent.
She just stood there for a long time, listening to the gentle crackle of the burning cigarette with her eyes half closed. Despite the death inside its walls, the mansion appeared to be almost unconcerned.
Then she looked out and saw movement beyond the broken gates. Mya rocked slightly, her face still streaked with tears, and Assad and Taura knelt next to her, holding her close. But she was no longer crying. She clung to whatever solace they could provide, now only sniffling softly.
Shuren's forehead wrinkled a little.For what reason were they consoling her?
She watched even though she didn't understand the connection or the bond. Constantly watching. She took a final drag, put the cigarette down, and moved to the door. Taura and Assad saw her right away. Assad's eyes narrowed, clearly worried.
"What happened there?" His voice was tense as he asked.
Shuren remained silent.
With her boots clicking softly on the stone, she walked past them and went to meet Mya. Her eyes were still glistening with the last of the tears, fragile as glass, even though the girl had completely stopped crying.
With an unreadable expression of cold calculation and faint awareness of the girl's suffering, Shuren knelt slightly to meet her gaze.
She said, almost to herself, "It's over," but Mya heard her.
Her cigarette smoke was still slightly present around her, curling like a silent warning: power had gone through these hallways, and now everything else outside was watching, waiting, and responding.
Still shuddering outside, Shuren's eyes turned to Mya.
"Have you located your sisters here?" Mya winced as she asked in a cool, almost informal tone.
Mya couldn't meet Shuren's eyes, so she just looked down without responding.
Shuren's face was still unreadable. "Then accompany me."
Mya's eyes widened at the invitation and she froze for a second.
With a worried expression on his face, Taura took a step forward. "She can't enter there by herself, so hold on!"
Assad's voice was tense as he moved as though to follow. "Shuren, what's…going on?"
Shuren interrupted them with a raised hand. "Remain here."
They paused, their instincts being fought by confusion and anxiety. They paused, though, because of something in her tone. They listened carefully.
With hesitation, Mya moved in the direction of the mansion. Shuren didn't turn around. She just opened the door and let the girl go ahead of her. The smell of death and blood permeated the heavy air inside. Even with the deaths of Kinzau and Zheng Yan, the mansion somehow seemed darker.
As Mya entered, her stomach turned, and she looked straight at the two bodies near the stairs. Her hand flew to her mouth as she gagged at the sight. She staggered a little and had to turn her head away. Shuren, meanwhile, maintained her composure, her breathing steady, her eyes keen. Silent as a shadow, she moved past Mya and headed for the other room.
She paused at the door, turning to Mya with a calculated look.
"Your sisters may be in here," she said softly. "Go… say your goodbyes."
Mya's eyes went wide, confusion muddling her features. "W-what…?"
Shuren's gaze didn't falter. "Go. Don't stop."
Shaking, Mya followed her inside. The room was dark, lit only by the faint gray light that still lingered from the previous ritual. Her eyes took a moment to adjust, and what she saw made her stomach turn sick.
The room was packed with the bodies of merfolk. Mermen and mermaids were strewn about the floor, against the walls, in the corners, and on the furniture. Their faces were contorted in pain, fear, or shock.
Her breath caught, and she took a step back, her stomach churning with the sheer sight before her. And then her eyes landed on something else on the far wall.
Her chest constricted, her heart pounding furiously against her ribcage.
It was her other sister, Nui.
Her head was suspended from a single hook, her long hair matted and splattered with dried blood. Her eyes, a deep sea blue like Mya's, were empty and unseeing. Her ear fins were missing, torn away, leaving only bloody stumps. Her lips were pale and slightly ajar, as if she had been trying to speak in her final moments.
Mya's legs buckled. She collapsed to her knees, her hands over her face as she screamed, a sound that shook the mansion and reverberated off its walls.
Shuren observed her in silence, serene and unruffled, as the girl's anguish washed over the room.