The first two to stand up were Remi and then Crow, who stood up, holding the glass of water in her hand. The three suspiciously watched the other two, who begrudgingly took a stance beside their seat.
'2:28:37'
Talon walked over and stood between Crow and Temp, facing Temp, and ordered:
"Take five steps."
Talon, Crow, and Remi didn't hesitate. They each took five steps, their shoes colliding with the ground, forming a disorganized rhythm.
Talon, glared at the two who remained motionless, and screamed:
"Go on!"
Hesitantly, the two took fateful steps. Temp's walk was slow, but looked normal for the most part. He was stepping as if expecting an obstacle to appear in front of him. Vitty's walk, on the other hand, was weird… she took her five steps, but they were so small she'd moved only a meter or two.
If she had stepped normally, she should have ended up in the middle, in line with the bathroom.
Talon didn't voice anything aloud; he just waited and took note of the time before ordering again:
"Five more steps!"
'2:28:55'
This time, none of them hesitated, and all of their steps looked normal except for Vitty's. Her steps were the opposite of her last ones; it looked more like lunges, which caused her to end up standing by the desk where Remi had once sat.
They were nearly as spaced out as they could be in this small room. Remi was currently standing between the fridge and Crow's desk. Crow was by Temp's desk. Talon was in front of the lectern, and Temp was by Vitty's desk.
As for the people themselves… Temp looked a little nervous and still getting over linguing pain, but Vitty… Vitty was visibly horrified. She was slightly shaking, tapping her hands together, and sliding her feet back and forth on the ground.
Once again, Talon ordered:
"Five more steps!"
They all started taking their first step when all of a sudden, Temp fell as if he'd miscalculated which leg he was moving and picked up both at once. He let out a slight yelp, and shoved his wrist down, barely managing to latch on to the desk and flip himself so he didn't faceplant.
Vitty, seeing Temp fall, sprinted across the room and knelt behind him and asked:
"A-a-are y-you okay?"
Temp rubbed his head, then started to get up when a look of surprise captured his face, and he screamed:
"Yeah, I'm— Ahh! Why'd you throw that at me?!"
At the next moment, Crow stepped to the side of Talon and threw the glass bottle of water toward Vitty and Temp.
Temp's countenance twisted in terror as the bottle sailed through the air and hit Vitty in the chest.
'So, I was right… He's the one messing with the clock!'
Vitty reflexively caught it, then looked up with panic on her own face.
Neither Temp nor Vitty shared their gaze of petrification. All they could do was stare at the girl pointing at them, Crow's lips slowly drifting apart, she spoke for the first time and said:
"Your Restriction is—"
Temp brought the fingers of his right hand together and snapped.
…
"Five more steps!"
'2:29:15?'
An odd feeling invaded Talon's mind. As if he were on the cusp of experiencing a crisis… something was amiss. He didn't know, but something was wrong! Terribly wrong!
'W-what's this feeling?'
Before anyone could even take a step, Temp crashed into Vitty's desk and began to spit up blood. He groaned in pain but looked unconcerned with his own state instead staring at Talon… no, the girl behind Talon.
Vitty instantly rushed over to help the poor man, who clutched at his chest while pointing at Crow and flapping his mouth. Temp, through pained breaths, barely managed to squeak out:
"S-She, ach! She can speak!"
Crow looked dazed, as if something had hit her in the head. Everyone looked at her, ignoring the bloodied man on the floor. In the next moment, her face flipped from confusion to a weird determination as she clutched the bottle in her hands.
Crow stepped to the side of Talon and threw the glass bottle at Vitty and Temp. The glass hit Vitty in the chest, who caught it reflexively.
The group looked at Vitty, stunned for a moment before Crow opened her mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out… until something did.
Pointing directly at Vitty, Crow said:
"...You have no reflection."
Crow jumped back and clutched at her throat as if something was wrong. She shoved her finger forward again and opened her mouth, but this time not even a single word came out.
'What? What's going on?! Seriously! What's this feeling?!'
However, nobody questioned Crow's ability to speak. They were more focused on her words.
Temp probably, couldn't tell because he was in the middle of coughing and spitting up blood while also at the wrong angle, but the other three saw it.
Crow, Remi, and Talon looked over at Vitty… It was only slight, but… a very, very small part of Vitty was see-through.
From their angles, when looking at the edges of the water in the glass, the green and red wall could be seen through her.
While there wasn't a light source in the room, the light was brightest in the middle as if it were there. Perhaps that was the cause for this effect, perhaps not, but either way, Vitty was doomed.
Vitty slowly stepped away and dropped the glass bottle, letting it shatter on the ground, then screamed:
"N-no! W-what are you talking about?!"
Temp looked up at her and tried to speak:
"Y-your Restric…"
Vitty threw down her desk on Temp and jumped over before sprinting into the bathroom, not even locking the door. The three abled chased after her, only to find her completely missing…
Remi asked:
"Is… is she in the mirror? Is that her Privilege? She can't stay in there forever, can she?"
Temp, threw the desk off himself and crawled over. From the floor, he screamed at the mirror:
"Y-your Restriction is that you have no reflection!"
…
Nothing happened.
The group had expected the door to unlock, maybe for Book to come in. However, none of them knew what happened when someone guessed another's Restriction. For all they know it could have worked and they passed.
'Is she immune while in there?'
Temp looked confused and touched his chest and closed his eyes. When he reopened his eyes he shouted again as if begging for it to work:
"Your Restriction is that you have no reflection!"
A sharp pain emanated from Talon's gut as if he'd just been punched.
'What the hell?'
Another sharp pain stung his side, sending him crashing to the ground. Talon grunted as he fell.
"Argh!"
Crow, Remi, and Temp looked at Talon.
'So this is where that feeling came from!'
Talon tried to stand up, but another unseen force caused a sharp pain in his head. Following that, his arm felt like someone had just slammed a metal pipe into it. He wasn't feeling the force of the hits, but the pain willed him to move as if he had.
Remi asked with an odd smile:
"Hey, uh, The Prince… you good?"
'Is this the effect of one of their Privileges?! No…'
Talon clutched at his head, then dropped to his knees and coughed up blood of his own.
A terrible smile appeared on Remi's face:
"I have no idea what's going on… however, this… This is perfect! The Prince, you were the only anomaly… Ha! Thank you, Alta! Hahaha! Whatever, I don't know what's happening to you, but it's time to be done with you all, finally… It was a little fun… But let me show you the cruelty and ruthlessness it takes to be a true prince, you damned fraud!"
Another shot of pain struck Talon in the chest, causing him to bite his tongue, and more blood flew out of his mouth.
'Raven! What the hell is happening to you?!