Ilaya is walking around a dark forest. She looked around with confusion as she tried to figure out why she's here?
"Where am I?"
As she pondered, she heard a loud scream coming in the distance. She identifies the voice as a male. Though, something about the scream bothered her. She vaguely felt the desperation and fear contained in the voice. She became nervous as she stepped back and wanted to run away. But, she didn't move as she hesitates
'I-Is the person who screams needs help? Is he screaming because he needs someone to help him?
Then, Ilaya decided to take a look at the situation first before deciding if she would help or not. She took a step forward as she cautiously walked slowly. Every step she took made her flinch as the crunching of branches and leaves, sounded like thunder in the silent forest. She felt that all kinds of creatures is looking at her and that caused her to shiver
As she got closer to the source of the screams. The voice of the man abruptly quieted. Suddenly, the whole forest is enveloped in total silence. Even the insects didn't make noises. The forest that she's walking suddenly turns ominous as she hears her breathing. She felt her heartbeat pumping so much that and she felt so cold
As Ilaya is considering walking back, she hears a low chuckle coming from the source where the man is screaming earlier. She held her breath as she listened to the voice
'It's a woman's voice, but why is she chuckling? Is he with the man?'
There's also something about the voice that disturbs her. She gathered her courage and proceeded walking again. She feels she's close to the source. Then, she managed to arrive at a border of a small clearing in the forest
She vaguely saw two figures in the middle of a clearing. One of the figures is laying down on the ground and the other one is kneeling beside it. She tried to peep at them, due to clouds hiding the moon. She couldn't see them clearly. She then heard a sound of something squelching
That sound repeatedly sounded in the quiet forest that it became the background sound. She started to tremble as a woman's laughter abruptly appeared
"Hahahahahaha!"
A gust of wind blew towards her coming from ahead of her, as she smelled an extremely fishy smell. The clouds parted as the moonlight finally showed the scene that she's afraid to imagine
She saw a woman laughing as she stabbed the man repeatedly. She was covered in blood but she can tell the details of the woman because of the moonlight
'She's young, probably the same age as me. But her figure is extremely familiar… so familiar that…'
Before she even finished her sentence, the woman abruptly turned to look at her!
Ilaya immediately hid on a tree while covering her mouth as she stifled her scream. She trembled violently as she remembered the eyes of the woman
'Her eyes are blue, her hair is short… she's…she's me!'
Ilaya felt her entire body covered in cold sweat as the forest turned silent again. The moment her other self turned her gaze in her direction, she managed to hide, but the laughter of her other self stopped. She calmed herself down and decided to take a second look to confirm what she saw
She leaned on the tree and peek at the place where the woman is located. As she carefully looked, she suddenly froze as she saw a blue eye also peeking at her just behind the tree that she's hiding!
"Ahhhhh!!"
She screamed as she felt horror and her hair stood on end. Her other self laughed hysterically as she lunged at her with a knife.
"Hahahahahaha!!"
Before her other self managed to stab her. She abruptly woke up from her dream
…
"Ahhhhh!!"
Ilaya sat up in her bed as she panted. She struggled to breathe and she was covered in cold sweat as she remembered her dream. Then, before she could process things, she suddenly stiffen and falls back groaning
"Ggghhh!"
Ilaya felt her whole body was on fire! Her body hurt so much that she gritted her teeth as she endured the pain that's assaulting her. Then, Ilaya waited for a long time for her to get used to the pain. As minutes passed, she felt a little better. Only then did she look around the room she's in. She saw a spacious room and lots of beds. There's also medical apparatus on each side of the bed
She looked at herself as she saw that she's covered in bandages. She also noticed that she had a needle that's inserted at the back of her palm that's connected to a serum.
As she took in the information, she remembered the events that happened last night. She heave heavily as she vomited at the side of her bed
"Blurghh!"
Ilaya's eyes teared up as she looked at her trembling hands, she felt that the warm blood of the man was still on her whole body. She can still smell the fishy smell of blood. Every breath she makes is making her remember the sensations of what she had experienced last night. She couldn't suppress her nausea as she vomited again
After letting out all her gastric juices. She slumped in her bed, she trembled as she cried
"... wahh… I-I didn't mean to kill him…hahh… I'm sorry..."
Her tears streak from her eyes as she closes them. Then, Ilaya hears a door opening, but she couldn't pay attention to that right now. A man's voice sounded from afar
"She's awake now, tell the boss. Also send someone to clean this mess before the boss arrives"
As Ilaya continued to cry, a man entered the room and cleaned her mess. Then, after a while, the man leaves the room leaving only silence that was broken by her crying. She trembled as she felt cold all over her body. Ilaya's sobbing slowly ceased as she fall into slumber, with her face still pained from her suffering
…
Ivana arrived at the infirmary of her organization and entered the room where Ilaya is confined. She glanced at the sleeping Ilaya as she picked up a chair and put it beside her
She then sits on it as she crosses her legs and arms. Then, she closes her eyes as she rests, waiting for Ilaya to wake up
…
Almost an hour passed since Ivana arrived. Ilaya finally stirred as she woke up screaming
"Ahhhh!!"
She's breathing heavily as she grips the bed cover. She stared at the white ceiling with a complicated expression. She dreamed again of her other self trying to kill her, as fear and guilt is consuming her. She held back her tears as she noticed a woman sitting at a chair beside her.
The woman is beautiful, she has bangs and her side hair is only at face length, but her back hair is long. She crossed her arms and legs with her eyes closed. She's emanating an aura of pride and confidence as though she sits at her throne. Then, the woman opened her eyes and looked at her. She saw blood red pupils, when she saw those eyes, the memories of blood that she had experienced is reminding of her reality
Ilaya snapped back to her senses as she said
"... Who are you?"
In other times, she's probably going to be so excited to meet the red eyed woman who's familiar to her. But now, she doesn't have the energy left to be excited
Ivana looked at her deeply and said
"I'm Kyora Ivana, Boss of the Yakuza"
Ivana then asked her question
"Let me ask my question then"
Ivana then got up from her seat and leaned towards Ilaya. She peered at her deep blue eyes and said
"Who are you?"
Ilaya trembled at her question. She immediately thought of her other self and she hugged herself. Then, she muttered in a quiet tone
"I-I'm… Ilaya"
…
Ivana closed her eyes as she meditated. Then, her concentration is broken by a scream. She continued to close her eyes as she thought
'Now, what am I going to do with her?'
She's obviously broken now, like her. How am I supposed to cure my curse if the person that I'm going to observe is also suffering from it? I need more information, maybe I'll be able to cure myself by comparing ourselves
Ivana then opened her eyes as she looked at Ilaya. She saw a young woman younger than her.
She has a gentle temperament, but also a naughty side to her. That's her weakness, she's going to suffer terribly if she doesn't change. There's also this special quality about her. Something unique that I can't tell
Then, Ilaya asked her a question
"... Who are you?"
Right, I remember that she's chasing after me when I observed her the last time. Did she also feel the attraction of our powers?
"I'm Kyora Ivana. Boss of the Yakuza"
Now that I looked at her, her resemblance is really similar to that mysterious woman. She's a spitting image of her
"Now let ask my question then"
Is she really her child?
"Who are you?"
…
Ilaya felt that she didn't know herself anymore. The trauma of being dragged by the killer into his hideout, the beating that she suffered, and when…
"... Yamato!? What happened to him!?"
Tears appeared in her eyes as she thought of him. He found her when she's being chased by a killer and got shot and stabbed because of her. She will never forget what he did for her last night
Ilaya looked at Ivana with hopeful and anxious gaze
'Please let him be alive!'
As she sincerely wished that. Ivana replied to her
"He's alive if that's what you're asking. He is currently resting in the other room besides yours"
Ivana smirked as she continued
"The bullet and the stab wound he received are not vital. He really is quite lucky"
As Ilaya heard that, relief flooded through her. She suddenly felt sleepy, but she forced herself awake
'I-I don't want to see that dream again'
As she lied down again in her bed, Ivana thoughtfully checks her condition before saying to her
"We're going to continue this conversation two days later, you'll be fully recovered by that time. Also…"
Ivana extended her hand towards Ilaya and a blood red aura appeared in it. Ilaya's eyes widened in shock!
"You!... Are you also like me!? Can you also hear the whispers!? How do I remove it!?"
Ilaya gets up again as she bombarded her with questions. Then, she immediately felt the pain as she laid down again while gritting her teeth. Ivana retracted her hands as the blood red aura disappeared. She then said to Ilaya
"I'll answer you in our next conversation. Focus on your recovery first"
Then, Ivana walked towards the door to leave, but she stopped and looked at Ilaya
"Do you want to let Yamato stay here with you? I bet he's going to wake up soon"
Ilaya nodded
"Yes, please let him stay here. I didn't manage to thank him. Also, can I borrow a phone? I need to call… the people that care's for me"
Ivana then walked towards the door as she said
"Alright, I'll arrange for Yamato to be transferred here. I'll also give you a phone. You can operate it yourself"
Then, Ilaya saw Ivana leave the room. The place returned to silence