91. DrowningIt was like falling, only moreso.It was like dying, only less-so.It was like drowning, he finally decided. Yes, like drowning, like falling and being smothered, being suffocated.It was a scary and calming feeling. It was a lot of different things all thrown together in the blender and blended imperfectly together.It was...It was losing yourself.It was losing everyone you knew.It was losing the world.Ariel was drowning.He had started drowning a long time ago, though he didn't realize it. (He had always thought he was a good enough swimmer. He had always thought he could stay afloat.) He had thought he could get back up, get b
65. HorrorThe look of horror on his face was priceless. And, Kina decided, that the whole thing had been worth the trouble, after all. Decorating her victims weren't her usual calling card, but this time was special. This time, the matter had been personal, rather than practical. She even had absolutely no qualms with going a bit farther than she had before with the preparations and with the torture that followed.It had been great fun.Now, it was simply fantastic.When the boy returned home to find her there, all the puzzle pieces seemed to automatically snap together and it turned out to be perfect. Oh, so perfect.Kina had even anticipated what
39. DreamsAlice used to have dreams. She used to have a lot of them.Before she became the most powerful mage in the world, before she managed to break up the Demonic Order, before she was worshiped as a hero, she used to dream... She always used to dream. Every day, every night.But, now, there were no more dreams.There were no more dreams of the past, of the present, of the future.They were gone. They had fluttered away with the wind, with her magic, with her memories.They had first started drifting away from her when she stepped into the world of mages, of demons, when she decided to use her magical powers protect against destruction.Alice
27. ForeignAnzu had gone to Hell.Literally.It wasn't bad. Really, it wasn't.The only things that bothered her about it was the feelings (uncomfortable, anxious, etc.) she always got when she was in a new, foreign place and the fact that she couldn't remember how she died. (It annoyed her a lot, actually.)But, really, those things start to matter less and less as she got more use to the place.And, really, Hell wasn't bad. Not at all. Anzu could even say it was pretty decent, or pretty good, if anyone asked (it was only a bit of a stretch, only a bit).It wasn't as hot as she had been told. (It turned out that Hell was on an entirely different
57. SacrificeBeing a sacrifice meant dying, Michael knew.But, everyone else kept telling him that being a sacrifice meant dying so others could live.The boy didn't see how that mattered. He was going to die anyway."You are a powerful mage," they praised him."You will be worshiped as a hero," they promised him.But, Michael knew. He knew that their praises would die off and be forgotten once he was gone. He knew that the promises couldn't, wouldn't, be kept. He knew their pity, their relief, their anxiety. He knew.Of course, he couldn't do anything about it.If he rejected, he would be isolated, thrown out of the village, and guilt would be hea
59. No Way OutSamuel was used to being looked down. Though he was efficient enough, he paled in comparison to the others by the Archangel Raphael's side. And, there was also the fact that he was born human and only became an angel after his death. (Being able to work with the great Raphael was a privilege for those angel-born. It was--or had been--out of the question to let a human-born whelp assist the Archangel personally. And, Samuel was even appointed as his second-in-command.)However, now that Raphael was gone (into hibernation because he was bored, that bastard), leaving Samuel in charge, he had no one to defend him against the opinions of the Sera