"Welcome back, my dear students."
Grimm's voice oozed from the walls as the group stumbled into the new chamber.
The room was wrong. Curtains of rotting velvet hung heavy with dampness. The floor was painted black in a wide circle, like a stage made of dried blood. Chandeliers dangled low, their flames trembling but never dying, shadows stretching unnaturally long across the red-stained walls.
And there it was again. The altar. Their candles, their lives, lined in a row. Each flame shook and bent as though terrified of its own survival. Except one.
Toru's pale flame. Steady. Cold. Mocking.
Grimm's chuckle crawled through the chamber.
"Lesson three. By now you know the price of hesitation. But tonight…" A pause, long enough for their pulses to race. "…tonight, the house is merciful. It will give you a clue."
With a clang, a massive hourglass descended from the ceiling, its sand crimson, hissing like fire as it fell.
"You have until the last grain drops," Grimm purred. "Solve the riddle. Choose wisely. Or the house will choose for you."
Light seared across the black stage as glowing letters carved themselves into the floorboards, jagged and bleeding as if written with knives:
"The loudest voice hides the quietest lie. Seek the silence beneath the scream."
Sayaka's candle flickered violently, coughing black smoke.
Her eyes went wide. She stumbled back. "N-no… no, it's not me! It can't be me!"
"It has to be you!" Yume shouted, her voice shrill, her arms clutching Toru's sleeve. "Your flame—it's the only one turning black!"
Sayaka's chest heaved, her voice breaking into hysteria. "Because he's the Extra! Look at his candle! It never bends, never fades! You're blind if you don't see it!" She jabbed a finger at Toru.
"Enough, Sayaka!" Ayaka cried, tears burning her eyes. "You're just making it worse—"
"Shut your mouth, Ayaka!" Sayaka snapped. "You always play mediator, but maybe that's just your cover! Maybe you're hiding behind that calm act!"
Reina chuckled low, the sound smooth as oil. She stepped forward, her face lit by the trembling glow. "Oh, how delicious. The riddle has two faces. The loudest voice…" Her eyes slid to Sayaka. "…but the quietest lie? Perhaps the one who hides behind reason."
Her gaze landed on Tsubasa.
Tsubasa's jaw tightened. "Don't start this, Reina. I've been the one keeping order here."
"Exactly," Reina whispered. "Always so calm, so logical. Isn't that the sweetest lie of all?"
Sayaka seized on it, eyes wild. "Yes! Yes, it's him! He pretends to be on our side, but he's the one twisting this game!"
"That's insane!" Ayaka cried. "Tsubasa hasn't done anything—he's the only one trying to help us think straight!"
"Or maybe," Reina purred, "he's been steering us exactly where the house wants us to go."
The sand in the hourglass poured faster. The hiss filled the room, louder and louder, like a snake coiling tighter around their throats.
The walls began to shift. Shadows peeled off the velvet, forming headless silhouettes clawing at their throats, miming silent screams.
Then—Mika's voice. Broken, fragile.
"…not her… it's… him…"
The whisper cut through them like a knife.
Yume let out a sob, clutching Toru like a lifeline. "It's real—she's still here—she's warning us!"
Sayaka shrieked, pointing a trembling hand at Tsubasa. "See?! She said it! She said it's him!"
Tsubasa's face darkened, his fists clenched. "Don't let Grimm trick you! This house lies! He's playing us against each other!"
The hourglass drained, crimson sand almost gone. The altar flames guttered violently.
Sayaka screamed again. "It's him! It's him—it's not me!"
The last grain fell.
The chandeliers rattled. A blinding spotlight dropped from above, slicing through the gloom.
It fell on Sayaka.
Her scream pierced the chamber. "NO—NO, PLEASE, NOT ME!"
Everyone froze.
The light stuttered. Flickered.
And then slid.
The spotlight stopped.
Tsubasa.
He looked up, eyes wide, horror dawning too late. "…no…"
Grimm's voice purred, smooth and delighted.
"Ohhh, the riddle is solved. The scream was only the bait. But the quietest lie…" His chuckle was sharp as glass. "…was reason itself."
Tsubasa staggered back, his hands trembling. "Wait—this isn't right! Listen to me—!"
The sound tore out of him before he could finish. A scream, high and sharp, rising into a pitch no human throat should reach. His hands flew to his mouth, blood spilling between his fingers.
His candle flared once, smoke curling black.
The scream grew louder, cracking the air, shattering the chandeliers.
"AaAAaaaAAAAA—!"
His head burst apart in a catastrophic spray of blood and bone, his body collapsing to the black stage with a wet thud.
On the altar, his flame vanished into a curl of gray smoke.
Silence swallowed the chamber.
Sayaka sank to her knees, gasping, then laughing hysterically. "It wasn't me… it wasn't me…!"
Ayaka covered her face, sobbing. "He kept us steady… he was the only one keeping us together…"
Yume clutched Toru's arm so tightly her nails dug into his skin. "Why him…? Why him, when he wasn't wrong…?"
Reina's laughter floated out, soft, poisonous. "Bravo, Grimm. Even the calmest mask shatters best."
Sayaka's eyes snapped to Toru, her voice low and venomous. "This is your fault. Your cursed candle… you're the one twisting the game!"
The others followed her gaze.
Toru's pale flame burned brighter, steadier, defiant against the trembling row.
Grimm clapped slowly, mock applause echoing like gunshots.
"Ahhh, splendid. Even reason bleeds. Even reason dies. But one flame refuses my stage. Tell me, students…"
The walls pulsed, dripping blood. Shadows stretched like claws.
"…how long before you snuff it out yourselves?"