For several long seconds after Ciri finishes speaking, I'm stunned silent. I realize it's a bit hypocritical, since I literally asked her to get personal, but...holy fucking trauma dump! Who told her to confess she tried to kill herself out of boredom!?
That aside, the fact that their race has such a deeply ingrained concept for the inevitability of life losing its meaning...it's incredibly fucked. Frightening, actually. Will that happen to me, if I live long enough?
I feel an immediate revulsion to the idea. No, I flat out refuse to think that's true. A few million years isn't nearly enough time to satisfy all the questions I have, to exhaust all the questions there are, nor could I ever write off Nina's or Alto's company as meaningless. That also goes for Ilina, if...no, when I manage to make her ageless like the rest of us. If, one day in the inconceivably far future, I truly do wish to die from boredom, it will be because the universe itself is coming to an end despite my best efforts.
Nina's uncharacteristically somber voice interrupts my thoughts.
"Ciri...you never told me that was why you live in your human form." (Nina)
Ciri looks at her silently for a few seconds, then gives a dismissive shrug.
"Why would I do that? I do not loathe you like the others, but neither are we so familiar. We both spent our eons on this world alone, didn't we?" (Ciri)
Nina falls silent, and I take the opportunity to scrutinize Ciri's stoic face.
"Ciri, you don't feel that way anymore, right? Like you might be tired of existing..." (Mizuki)
Ciri glances at me, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. After a moment, there's a glint of amusement in them, and she spares me a small smirk. Her voice turns almost...teasing?
"I do not...are you worried about me all of a sudden?" (Ciri)
I raise my eyebrows.
"I mean...a little bit, yeah. What did you expect, telling me that sad ass story? If we're really going to do this Bonding thing, I'll be damned before you go committing seppuku on me later. If you're having trouble feeling alive, just tell me, okay? For a freak like you, I'm sure that's nothing a solid beating can't fix." (Mizuki)
Ciri blinks, genuinely taken aback by the comment. Nina interjects, her voice distinctly playful.
"Ohhhh, I think you're going to regret that offer, Mizuki..." (Nina)
Before I can give her a confused look, the sound of heavy breathing draws my attention, and I turn to see Ciri's face flushed, breathing ragged, her gaze locked onto me with an unsettling intensity. Seeing my eyes on her, her lips twist into an indecent smile.
"I won't hesitate to do so." (Ciri)
I cringe slightly at her reaction, and notice Ilina staring daggers at me from the side of the room as well. Eager to move on, I clear my throat awkwardly.
"Ehem...uhm, right...let's try the Bond again." (Mizuki)
Without even waiting for a response, I close my eyes, and try to purge the mental image of Ciri's behavior just now. I take a deep breath, refocusing on the task of Bonding. Meanwhile, Ciri slowly gets herself under control, and with a final, knowing smile, closes her eyes as well.
This time, I find it easier to be emotionally open, to empathize, to want to be closer to her. Perhaps I was pulled in by the tragedy of her wanting to kill herself, just another pitiful sucker for damaged beauties. Maybe there's something about this fear of losing your purpose in the world that resonates with me, or maybe I'm simply bored and deranged enough that I find the challenge of salvaging this degenerate appealing...I don't know.
Whatever the reason for it, no matter how small, I feel invested in the idea of her now. I'm keen to invite her into our lives, and with that unspoken invitation, I feel what must be the essence of Ciri's being wash over me, like I once felt from Nina. But instead of a warm feeling, like lying in the sun of a soft meadow, I feel ice in my veins. Yet, it is somehow not an unpleasant sensation, like stepping into cool pool water on a blistering summer day – soothing, steadying, and invigorating.
Then, as suddenly as the sensation arrived, it vanishes. In its place I can feel a rising giddiness, unmistakably foreign, and...something else. A notable shift in my magical power, but also a sense that there is more to me now, like a phantom limb for an appendage I've never had in the first place.
"Mizuki, how do you feel?" (Alto)
My eyes snap open, and I look to Alto, who is staring at me with a strangely intense expression. I smile wryly.
"Great, actually...I can feel that I've definitely gotten stronger, and I might have a new ability, too. I'll need to spend some time getting used to this, though." (Mizuki)
Her expression becomes puzzled.
"Your power increased? You're certain?" (Alto)
I give her a confused look of my own. I mean, why does she sound surprised? That's the whole deal with these things, isn't it?
Before I can voice that sentiment, though, Nina's near-frantic squeal sets my heart racing.
"Eeeek! Mizuki!?" (Nina)
I snap my head towards her, and what I see makes my pupils constrict to pinholes. Nina's staring down at her own hands, eyes wide as saucers, an icy-blue glow emanating from her palms. The air around her seems especially still, laced with a subtle but definite fog.
Without delay, I begin probing her with magic sense...I nearly choke on air.
"Nina, what the fuck!? Your power level...it's 11 now!" (Mizuki)
She turns towards me, equally bewildered but unmistakably excited, a small, maniacal grin infiltrating her face.
"Mizuki, I feel...incredible! Is this because of your Bond with Ciri!? Look!" (Nina)
The faint fog around one of her palms slowly intensifies into something more noticeable, and snowflakes begin falling from her outstretched hand. I simply stare in awe for a moment, completely taken aback by the shocking yet undeniable truth. Somehow, Nina has also gotten a boon from my Bond with Ciri, both in terms of raw power and in terms of magical abilities. Furthermore, the jump appears even more drastic than when I Bonded with her.
How is this happening, though? Am I acting as some kind of conduit in a three-way bond of sorts? Perhaps that's why the boost to our abilities is more than the first time – there could be some kind of compounding or synergy effect. Wait, forget that...does this mean Nina and Ciri now have a connection as though they're Bonded to one another? That's concerning...and vaguely kinky, I think? No, now's not the time for that.
I look towards Ciri, preparing to interrogate her about if she can feel Nina's emotions, and whether she expected something like this to happen. However, that train of thought falters when my eyes land on the icy beauty...staring at her own palm, covered in a writhing layer of mud, eerily similar to what I've seen Nina conjure before. My eyes widen in realization.
"So...Ciri, Nina...it looks like you both got access to one another's abilities. Can you also sense one another's emotions and locations, the same as you can mine?" (Mizuki)
Ciri looks up at me slowly, almost absentmindedly, her eyes full of disbelief. Hearing my question, she visibly stutters for a moment, as though struggling to focus her thoughts on it. Eventually, her eyes widen slightly, and she looks to me and nods.
"Yes, it's as you say – like I have the Bond with both of you. This is...completely unexpected, and the increase in my power is far beyond what I imagined as well." (Ciri)
Hearing the exchange, Nina's expression becomes briefly thoughtful, then she abruptly turns to me, too.
"Mizuki, it's the same for me...I can sense Ciri just like I can you." (Nina)
As my mind turns over the implications of this, both good and bad, I extend my magic sense to Ciri, curious about her own change in abilities. Like Nina, her magic power has soared...to about a 12. I briefly wonder why the gap between the two of them shrank from about 100-fold to 10-fold, but then I realize it makes sense. After all, in this weird, three-way bond, the differences in our constitutions should be diluted somewhat, especially so for two people of the same race.
I glance back at Ciri with renewed interest in my eyes, remembering something else from when I Bonded with Nina.
"Hey Ciri, did you get a new ability, by chance? Something from me, I mean. When I first Bonded with Nina, that happened." (Mizuki)
Without looking up at me, her gaze fixed on her own body with a distracted expression, Ciri nods absentmindedly. Her voice is soft and hesitant when she responds.
"I...believe so. I'm trying...I think, perhaps..." (Ciri)
Without warning, she vanishes from her spot on the floor mid-sentence. I blink, snapping my gaze around the room in confusion, but...she's nowhere to be found. The others are also staring at her previous location, mouths agape. Before anyone can voice their shock, though, I'm abruptly slammed onto my back against the floor.
Stunned, my eyes adjust to the new point of view before them. A pale blue-haired beauty is gracelessly sprawled on top of me, her sapphire eyes blinking at me in clear shock. Suddenly, recognition flashes in those eyes, and Ciri's lips twist into an excited grin. She speaks softly, her face so close I can feel her breath tickling my cheek.
"I am sorry for my poor aim, but...I believe I know what ability I've gained from you." (Ciri)
I stiffen, both from the awkwardness of how close her body is to mine, and from the revelation that she's acquired an instinctive version of my teleportation. Until now, I've been the only one able to use it on any meaningful scale, but with this...
If I'm right about the squared relationship between magic consumption and teleportation distance, and taking Ilina's range and magic power as a baseline to extrapolate for Ciri...fuck me, are you kidding!? Assuming I'm doing my math right, she should be able to comfortably teleport anywhere in the world and back! That's a huge win for us!
My eyes light up as I grin fervently back at Ciri, the prior awkwardness forgotten.
"Ciri, this is great! You-" (Mizuki)
Alas, I never get to finish that thought...before Ciri and I are ripped in opposite directions by an invisible, suffocating force. As I slam into one of the room's walls, I hear an enraged, borderline hysterical voice reach my ears.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!? HAVE YOU ALL COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN I'M HERE!?" (Ilina)
Right as the scathing words hit my ears, I register Ilina standing in the middle of the room, snapping her head between Ciri's and my post-yeet positions with almost manic force. Her silver hair is disheveled, framing an expression of divine fury that's as beautiful as it is frightening. Suddenly, a pair of bloodthirsty grey eyes meet my gaze, sending a shiver up my spine.
My face pales, the intensity of Ilina's glare forcing a strained, subconscious whisper from my lips.
"Crap..." (Mizuki)