How did this happen? That's the question that keeps bothering me the most. How could I have let this happen? I don't even bother fighting, without her I have no reason to; my life seems worthless and empty. I try not to look, but it's as if my eyes have a mind of their own and won't listen to what I tell them to do. Continuously they stare at her face, her face and wonder where I could have missed the signs, where I could have went wrong.
In my head I replay every conversation, everything that happened leading up to this point. With my newly awakened sight I can see every little hint, every little plead for help that she was screaming at me; everything that I had missed. My heart aches; my chest tightens with guilt, the horrible guilt I feel now that's only intensified each time I look into those eyes. I can't help looking though, no matter how badly it hurts each time I do, I have to. I kept searching, looking for any indication that my daughter is still there somewhere.
"She's gone," the goddess tells me in that sickeningly sweet voice of hers. The grin that spreads across her face, my daughter's face, is enough to replace my guilt with rage. "Accept it for what it is and move on Ronin. She is never coming back."
Never coming back, the words echo in my head. I want so badly not to believe her, with everything in me I want to not believe that, but looking at her now I can't help it. Her face isn't hers anymore, her eyes aren't hers, nothing about her is the same and I see that now. My daughter is gone. My reason for living is gone and I have failed.
"Don't worry," her voice makes my blood boil and my teeth grit. Even her goddamn voice isn't the same. "I'll end the suffering for you quickly. I know how badly you want to see her again."
Is that supposed to make me feel better? Or perhaps that was meant to make me tremble with fear? Either way, I feel neither. If I do die I know that I won't be able to see my daughter and the idea of death doesn't scare me like it possibly should. Through the link I share with my friends, however, I can feel them tense at this woman's words. Apparently they were beginning to feel the fear I should have been.
That gut wrenching smile comes over her face now and at this point I have to look away. I can't bear to look at my daughter, no, I can't stand to look at this woman who is hiding behind my daughter's face. It doesn't last long though; obviously she won't allow me to look away. I feel her finger under my chin, turning my head back to face her dead on and I have no choice but to stare at her.
Tears sting my eyes as I look back into hers. No, dammit, those aren't hers anymore, this isn't my daughter and that's not her face I'm staring at! "You're hurting," underlying the pathetic attempt at sounding sad I can tell she's laughing at my pain which only makes my hands tighten into fists where they're bound behind my back. "Let me end this for you now."
That sickeningly happy smile on her face fades away as I watch her form a sword from the darkness around us. As she pulls back, preparing to run me through, I don't even see her anymore. Hell I can't even hear the shouts around me from my friends. I'm not even paying attention to my impending death, no, none of that matters. She thrusts the sword forward now, but all I can see is my daughter's smiling faceā¦
