The constant and loud sound of applause filled Eira's ears as she took slow steps into the prestigious Ubuyashiki Mansion. The entire Corps knew of her extraordinary feat, and many members came to the mansion to celebrate her achievement. She was taken aback by the overwhelming praise and support, she felt… good.
This was how it was supposed to be. Instead of doubters like Ayumu, everyone should be celebrating that an Upper Moon had been defeated for the first time in centuries. She grinned with pride and looked around at the various faces who came here in her support.
Eira's blonde hair flew with the wind as she twirled and raised her arms, basking in the success. She was surrounded by bright and vibrant auras, all in an excited state. The cheers were music to her ears, the atmosphere cloaking her in a warmth of happiness.
Master Ubuyashiki smiled as the sunlight shone down onto him on the stage he sat on. As Eira relished in the long-awaited praise she deserved, the Master simply smiled.
"A great stride has been taken towards our victory," The Master's soft voice was enough to silence everyone, his kind tone pierced through the loud cheers and everyone halted to listen to him. Eira faced him and bowed as he continued to speak.
"Thanks to the dedication, innovation and courage the Ice Hashira has displayed, the eradication of demons is close…" Ubuyashiki stood up, his knees shook as he pressed his entire strength into standing up. His wife supported him by his side, putting a hand over his arm as he stood to slowly clap for Eira.
Once again, the applause broke out for Eira. Once again, her ears were blessed with validation and reassurance that what she had done was right. She was smiling ear to ear.
Members of all different ranks flooded her, asking questions as if they were paparazzi.
"Do you plan on conducting another mission?"
"How effective was the poison?"
"How many casualties were there?"
Questions jumped from the crowd non-stop. Usually, Eira would be overstimulated by the large influx of speech, after all, she preferred peace and quiet. However today, she found herself enjoying the impulsive questions and loud racket everyone was causing. Everything was going to plan, her entire life had taken a 180 turn from the depths of pain, suffering and failure, to the height of success and ecstasy.
The sun watched Eira shining brightly. And almost as if the sun's wrath had manifested itself into the world, bad news flew quickly towards Eira. The white crow, pale pupils, and sharp talons flew swiftly towards the hidden mansion. The shadow sprinted fast across the ground. A straight expression on the crow's face. The past night relaying in his mind over and over.
Just as Eira opened her mouth to answer some questions, the white crow plummeted from the sky into the courtyard of the mansion. He opened his wings and glided in circles around the courtyard, he came to a gentle landing on Eira's shoulder and perched himself, staring at all the unfamiliar faces in front of him.
"Update on the mission," The crow's words were as minimal and ominous as ever.
Eira smiled softly as she felt the crow's talons hold onto her clothing. After 5 minutes of answering many questions, she excused herself to a private area where she could hear the news alone. The crow stood on a windowsill, the soft rays of sunlight evoked a mellow mood.
Her blind delusion already had her smiling, she expected her plan to be done.
"Kaze is alive. Ali is Upper Moon Three. Ali knows everything, Kaze told him after they stopped fighting and talked for a while," The crow's words were monotone and emotionless.
One by one, the words slowly seeped into Eira's brain, processing as they travelled through the conveyor belt of thought. Her mind felt light, she began to question the authenticity of reality.
"What?" Eira's eyebrows furrowed as she tightened her hands. She stared at the crow intensely. Her soul ignited with fury as her mind grasped the full extent of the crow's words.
"Kaze is alive. Ali is Upper Moon Three. Ali knows everything, Kaze told him after they stopped fighting and talked for a while," The crow repeated with the same tone, with no sympathy in the deliverance of crushing news.
"What?!" Eira shouted and groaned in disbelief. She slammed her fist into the window behind where the crow stood. The glass shattered and the piercing noise echoed through the entire hall. The entire courtyard went silent as the noise alerted them.
Her plan had failed. As delusional as she may seem, she was being brutally led on by chance and coincidence, the past events had gone how she'd wanted them to beat for beat. Now the plan lay shattered infront of her. Her ambition and only sense of happiness alongside it.
Shards of glass impaled Eira's fist. Blood dripped onto the floor like a slow metronome. Every single strand of her being burned with fury as she digested the news piece by piece. The ever-increasing clarity that her scheme collapsed only drove her further in her anger. Yet… Her emotions began to turn tides, transitioning extremely quickly from anger to sorrow.
Her focus shifted to the news that Kaze was alive. How could she have tightened her fists and been disappointed in the news? Her stomach turned with disbelief of herself. Her hands ran up to her hair, she pulled on her roots as she stared at the floor. Her blonde hair was stained by the red blood. As she clenched her hair, the glass shards only pushed deeper into her palm. Her breaths became heavy, she could swear she felt her ribcage closing in on her lungs. She struggled to breathe properly.
What was she thinking? Why had she even come up with a plan that ended with her friend's death? All for some 'excuse' for her to kill Ali and have Asumi's validation?
Tears began to seep out of her tightly closed eyelids. She pictured Kaze's face stained by blood, if her plan had succeeded.
The self-inflicted pain on her scalp felt like the only avenue to release her emotions. She felt disgusted in her thoughts.
The universe and the reader watched in confusion as Eira relished in remorse she should've felt the moment she had the thought of killing Kaze, instead of this moment of delayed guilt that was occurring now.
The crow was still sitting on the windowsill, watching as Eira lost herself mentally. Not that there was much to be salvaged, the crow had witnessed her episodes first-hand. Her extreme shifts from cunning and prideful to self-loathing and unsure. The pale eyes stared at their appointed Demon Slayer.
Eira's breathing slowed. She could feel an influx of auras heading towards her. Her eyes darted up to the crow. The messenger of the bad news, if she killed him, would the bad news disappear? Could she imagine she had never heard it?
"Stay silent," Eira's hands released from her hair, and the blood began to drip onto the floor again as the blood flowed down once again.
The noise of footsteps cluttered in Eira's ears, many members rushed to the shattering sound. Their pace slowed as they witnessed the Ice Hashira trembling in anger, her bloodied hand clenching as tight as possible. Silence enveloped everyone. Shock painted vividly on their face as they stared at the sight, the Hashira they had just praised for being brave, strong and unwavering, now in a moment of vulnerability. Demon Slayers who had seen people being torn limb for limb, organs spilling out of people's bodies, were not frozen at the sight of Eira trembling with fury. If possible, her gaze would've burnt the crow she was glaring at to a crisp.
"Are you ok?" The silence didn't last long, a Corps member quickly rushed to Eira's aid.
Eira's eyes snapped to the side, her eyes were met with the group of Corps members who gazed at her as if she was an alien. Slowly, more members trickled into the crowd.
The one person who had rushed to Eira's aid asked once more.
"Are you okay?! What happened?"
Eira's eyes were moist, slightly glazed with tears, she made eye contact with the member. She felt like screaming.
She wanted to scream the truth, "I WANTED MY FRIEND DEAD, I FRAMED THE KINDEST FRIEND I HAD AND WANTED HIM DEAD SO I COULD KILL ALI GUILT FREE."
But she didn't scream that.
"I.. don't need an excuse to kill him," Eira murmured quietly enough for no one to hear what she had said clearly. Eira's heart pounded as she opened her now light red eyes and stared back at the crow, then at the crowd. Eira stood up straight and took a deep breath in.
"My next mission is to kill the next successor to Upper Moon Three," Eira grabbed her hilt, her fingerprints and palm pattern stamped with blood onto the white hilt of her father's sword.
"Be prepared for my letter of action," Eira's eyes turned stern as she decided one thing for sure in her mind.
She didn't care about what Asumi thought. She didn't care whether Kaze hated her now. She knew one thing.
Ali was the problem.
And she wanted Ali dead.