Mercury Trojan

Black Crow glanced at her without replying. Looking upward, he braced his feet against the wall, trying to find leverage to climb. Yet now that the floodgates were open, Mercury Trojan seemed unable to stem her urge to confide. "We started learning to read when we were four. Within half a month, I had learned two hundred words, while you couldn't learn a single one—you couldn't even recognize numbers. Everyone realized you were probably cursed by the Void Realm. Back then, I hugged and comforted you all the time. But just a few days later, I saw you going to our mentor to train your body, without a trace of unhappiness on your face. From that moment on, I hated you. "Later, when I summoned my first sorcery spirit and became a sorcerer, I went to share the good news with you, only to see you smash a giant boulder with a single punch. Instantly, all my joy vanished. "When I unexpectedly inherited the legacy of the prophecy faction and was officially appointed White Crow, I had barely celebrated for a few days before hearing the news that you had defeated an adjudication retainer. Fortunately, the cult still refused to make you a retainer. You have no idea—hearing that news made my heart feel as sweet as honey. But soon afterward, you vanished. And when I saw you again, you were dragging back the corpse of a wicked crow. "There were so many, many times like that. Do you have any idea how much I hoped you would die on a mission, die at someone else's hands? But you were like a cockroach. No matter what, you just wouldn't die. Every single time, you survived, and every single time, you grew stronger. Do you know how disgusting and loathsome you are? "Why won't you just die? Why won't you admit you're useless? Why do you insist on living with such stubborn resilience?" Mercury Trojan's voice grew thick with malice, her hands trembling with rage. "You're nothing more than an ordinary person who can't even read! "You must feel so proud of yourself now, holding the Four Pillar Cult's Mercury Trojan in your grip, with my life and death entirely at your mercy. You've achieved something countless others never could. Does accomplishing such a monumental feat as an 'underdog' give you a great sense of accomplishment?" Struggling to climb, Black Crow replied, "Because I wanted to protect you, I couldn't afford to hesitate or be lazy. Only by taking the hardest, most grueling path could I stand by your side." "Did I ever ask you to protect me?" Mercury Trojan retorted. "Wouldn't it have been fine for a useless person like you to just stay in the cult and cook?" "You did ask." "When did I ever say that?" "When we were very young, probably right around when we started learning to read," Black Crow said. "We were playing outside, and we both tripped and scraped our knees. You burst into tears immediately. I... I probably wanted to cry from the pain too, but seeing you cry made me hold it back. That was when I realized it was the one thing where I was stronger than you. So I comforted you and promised I would never let you get hurt again." The puncture wound in the palm of Mercury Trojan's right hand continued to seep blood, trickling down her arm and into her sleeve. "That's right," she said. "I'm afraid of pain, afraid of exhaustion, afraid of dying, afraid of the dark, afraid of ghosts, afraid of thieves. I don't dare sleep alone at night, I haven't mastered any combat arts, and I cry at the slightest provocation. I'm just a weakling. "That's why I hate you. I hate you to death. We're identical twins, so why is it that you stay so strong through so many misfortunes and cling to your pure faith, while I turned out so weak? "If you were as terrified of dying as I was, maybe you would have joined my side..." "Never," Black Crow said. "Even if I feared death, I would never betray the cult." "You would have," Mercury Trojan said. "If you knew Slay All Crows was doomed to fall." "What do you mean?" "Slay All Crows offended far too many cults. I warned them several times, but no one listened. The Calamitous Fire Sanctuary, the Whirling Light Cult, and several others had long since formed an alliance to exterminate Slay All Crows," Mercury Trojan said. "Slay All Crows would never compromise. You lot weren't afraid to die, but I was! I didn't want to die! "Even if I were taken captive, as White Crow, I might have been killed anyway. And even if they spared me, I would have been cast aside—never trusted, and maybe even murdered in secret! "It was around then that I received the favor of the Four Pillar Gods and became their Touch. Since the cult was doomed anyway, why not let me put its remnants to good use? So I began expanding from the small towns within our territory. Fortunately, Slay All Crows had a good reputation, so my early proselytizing went completely smoothly. Then I infiltrated the cult itself... You know the rest." Black Crow tightened his grip slightly, leaving a red mark on Mercury Trojan's wrist. "You didn't have to turn against the cult." "But the cult would have turned against me," Mercury Trojan said. "Slay All Crows and the Four Pillar Cult are natural enemies. Rather than waiting for you all to become my foes, I struck first. I was afraid of you." "If you didn't want to go down with the cult, why didn't you just run away?" Black Crow asked. "Even if the others refused to leave, I would have gone with you!" "Without a grand law, how could we survive on the wasteland? Besides, we were Black Crow and White Crow. Once the enemy cults destroyed Slay All Crows, how could they not send people to hunt us down?" "Then we could have started over. We could have re-formed the cult after Slay All Crows fell, and then—" "Look at you, look at you! That is what I hate most about you." Mercury Trojan gave a bitter smile. "How can you talk so easily about things I could never do? "I am Tanomu, who craves comfort and pleasure—not Tamashi, who harbors grand ideals." Her body suddenly began to shudder violently. "I lied to you," she said. "A reincarnation vessel isn't that simple at all. It requires extensive preparation. Over two years, I only prepared this single vessel. Wherever I die, I'll truly die; I won't reincarnate into anyone else. "And..." Her teeth chattered, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed softly. "This time, in this Cataclysm, I'm afraid... everyone will die..." She looked up at Black Crow, sniffing, caught between crying and laughing. "Yet you, Tamashi, seem completely unaffected... How hilarious. Who would have thought that you, an insulator to the Void Realm, would be the one to survive this Cataclysm? "Everyone has their own misfortunes and their own blessings. Who could ever know that misfortune wouldn't turn out to be a blessing? "Come on, do it," she said in a trembling voice. "You dislike me too, don't you? Rather than letting the Cataclysm kill me, wouldn't you rather end my life with your own hands?" "I don't dislike you," Black Crow said. "I hate you. "Just as you could never truly dislike me; you only hate me. And you don't truly hate me, either. The line between love and hate has always been blurry. You only hate me occasionally, but love me most of the time. "I can still hold on. There's no need to give up." "Well, right this second, I really do dislike you!" Tears welled in Mercury Trojan's eyes. "Don't you understand?! I'm terrified! I'm going to die, but I don't know what will happen—whether it will hurt, whether it will be awful! I'm so scared! I'm so scared I'd rather die! "If you kill me, at least I can die quickly without enduring the unknown torment! "And after death, there's Hell... I'm so scared..." She trembled all over. "Will there be countless people waiting to take revenge on me? Will endless torture be waiting for me? And... and..." She hiccuped through her tears, blowing a snot bubble, and looked up at Black Crow through blurred eyes. "Tamashi, save me..." Black Crow looked down at the person whose hand he held. Once upon a time, they had often held hands like this. But she was no longer the pure White Crow, nor did she even bear her original appearance; she was merely an unrepentant sinner. Yet Black Crow let out a sigh. "Look at me. Don't move." He gave his head a shake. The crow mask came off on its own, spinning once in the air before landing precisely over Mercury Trojan's face. "I don't know if it will help," Tamashi said. "But dying in this mask might scare off some vengeful souls in Hell, and maybe earn you some help from others. "Go on down and wait for me. I'll probably be down soon to help you atone for your sins." Mercury Trojan stared blankly at Tamashi. "We haven't seen each other in two years... You're still so beautiful. Far more beautiful than me... "Maybe that's another reason I disliked you. I always felt that while we were growing in the womb, I stole your intellect, but you stole beauty and perseverance. I got less than you. "You owe me so much, so I'll take this mask," Mercury Trojan said. "Since you're no longer an adjudication retainer, don't wear a mask anymore." Her body trembled ever more violently, and she spoke in a frantic rush, as if terrified of running out of time. "I'll wait for you. You don't need to help me atone. Just being with me is enough. The one thing I can't bear is being alone... Will you really stay by my side?" In this moment, there was no deceit on Mercury Trojan's face, nor any venomous malice. Within those unfamiliar eyes, Tamashi saw a familiar reflection—the family member who had clung to him and wheedled for comfort ever since childhood. "Of course." Tamashi watched as his younger sister dissolved into water, slipping away between his fingers. "Even before we were born, I was already by your side."