femslash february 2022 prompt 10: roses.

Through the Brain, Mend the Heart

There are four living bodies in the rose garden. The wind howls, whipping the rain into a frenzy around the survivors, the culprit, and the accomplice. If any of the victims need to communicate, screaming suffices.

Shannon sits on her hands and knees on the cobblestone path. As ordered by the culprit, the accomplice obeys his command. She awaits his further command, even if her chest squeezes upon seeing him approaching them, his smile stretching into his cheeks. He flashes her his gums as he smirks, and she simply nods, accepting what will come next.

Maria wails. She clings to her mother's broken body, which had shielded her from every bludgeoning wound. She begs for Rosa to move, to run, only to squeak when Battler hovers over her. He aims the butt of the Winchester at her skull, a low chuckle escaping him that only Shannon can hear.

"Maria," he croons, "tell me. Is Beatrice going to appear? Is she going to bring you to the Golden Land?"

"U-uu! Uu, uu! Beatrice is going to save us! She'll bring Maria and Mama to the Golden Land! You'll see!" she screeches, clenching her tiny, bruised fists.

Rosa wearily raises her head at the sound of her daughter's voice. She lifts a mangled hand, but Battler kicks it away. He smashes his stained heel on her fingers, crushing them. As she howls, bones split from her skin.

Shannon watches. She doesn't make any attempt to dissuade him. She's already marked by the bloodstains he painted across her face and neck. Although a whisper in the back of her mind pleads for her to save Maria, she stays as still as the lion statues that led to her misfortune.

"You still have some life in you, Rosa-oba-san?" Battler jeers in disbelief. He snatches a fistful of her matted locks and forces Rosa to her knees. She still tries to cover Maria, who cannot stop crying. "Oh, a mother's love. How precious. I can't wait to rip that still-beating heart from your chest."

"I won't let you," Rosa groans, missing her left ear. "I won't let you hurt Maria."

"Well, if Maria is the name of the game, then let's play," Battler sneers, and he casually tosses her aside like a filthy dishrag.

Shannon tenses. The whisper grows louder. Beatrice begs, but Shannon will not listen. The roulette has chosen this fate, and she will abide by it, even if it means witnessing the death of her one true ally.

Battler seizes Maria's throat. She gargles. It comes out as a hacking sort of sound, a noise no child should make. Maria struggles and thrashes as Battler begins to squeeze. He holds Maria far above Rosa's grasp, laughing at her futile attempts. She can only flap her useless limbs while Maria kicks at his chest, spittle already forming at the corners of her mouth.

"Shannon-chan, look at Maria. Isn't her expression so nice? Isn't this what you wanted to see?" Battler demands, his face red hot from the exertion.

Shannon winces at the name. She had requested that he refer to her with her true name. Battler had refused before going on to murder six adults. As the culprit, he controls the accomplices, allowing him to do as he pleases with them. She supposes that is true, and while the name burns her ears, she follows his will.

Maria's eyes are bulging. Veins flutter in her neck and temples. Her mouth is stretched wide open in a silent scream.

"Stop! Please, please! Maria!" Rosa's anguish is snuffed out by Battler's heel crashing into her jaw. Something snaps in her face and her front teeth fly out. She crumbles to the ground, still entreating for Maria's life.

Shannon's lips tremble. Battler stops. She freezes in place and realizes what she has done. She had made an involuntary movement when he had commanded that she act according to his script.

Battler chucks Maria to Rosa. The mother clutches her half-lifeless daughter and wails into her hair. His footsteps overpower the thunder. He towers over her, narrowing his eyes, before quietly ordering Shannon to her feet.

Listlessly, she does. She does not bother to smooth the wrinkles in her skirt. She does not fix the lank hairs on her wet face. Shannon meets Battler's gaze and waits.

"This island is mine. Everyone on this island is mine. You are mine," he hisses, his thumb pressing down on her lower lip. "You do as I command. You do not tremble. You love every millisecond of this carnage." He slices downward, splitting it open. As blood trickles down her face, he leans forward, his imposing body all she can see. She smells the iron and bodily fluids staining his once pristine violet suit. "Understand, Shannon-chan?"

Shannon nods. "Yes, Battler-sama. As I said, I am yours."

"Now, that's a perturbing sight."

She flinches at the sound of a woman's voice. It's another involuntary movement. She tries not to recoil, but Battler isn't interested in her. She follows the source of the voice, her heart beginning to beat again.

Approaching from the mansion, her bare feet quietly hitting the steps, is Erika. She is the uninvited guest. She is dressed in a strikingly simple outfit. A swimsuit looking as if it had been pilfered from Jessica's room covers her. She carries a Winchester rifle, her smile sitting pretty on her carefree face.

"As cruel as I can be, I'd rather not witness a man threatening a woman. It reminds me too much of my contemptuous boyfriend," she says as if she's having a conversation in a coffee shop.

Battler disregards Shannon. He gives Erika his full attention, Shannon noticing his amusement souring. "There you are," he growls, hungry to tear his teeth through her. "I thought I could've eventually coaxed you out of hiding, but it seems you came to me of your own volition. Are you that eager to die?"

She clicks her tongue. "And here I was convinced Rosa-san was the culprit. Please accept my most sincere apologies for suspecting you," Erika says, tilting her head to inspect Rosa, who can only utter garbled nonsense.

Shannon's brain buzzes. She glances between Battler and Erika. Throughout the story, they hadn't been able to locate Erika after the first twilight. She had been examining the bodies when she simply vanished. Battler had searched high and low for her as he enacted the other twilights, going as far as accusing Shannon of concealing his new plaything without evidence.

"Erika-san," she breathes out, and Erika giggles.

"It's good to see you as well. By the way, which name do you prefer?" she wonders, tapping her chin.

Slack-jawed, Shannon does not reply. Battler's fingers sink into her bony shoulder. He warns her to stay silent, and she dips her chin to her chest.

"We have unfinished business," he states, licking her blood off his thumb. "Erika, you almost made it to the very end of this game. Did you finally get tired of being a coward?"

Giggling, Erika raises her rifle. "I have a simple answer to that question, Battler-san. I'm going to kill you."

Battler barks out a shrill laugh. He clutches his forehead, doubling over. Heaving in a breath, he whips out his Winchester and aims at her stomach. "You? Kill me? The detective can't be the culprit. Don't you know that? This is my mystery! Our mystery! One killer and his accomplice!" He snatches Shannon's waist and presses her to his chest. The blood from another servant sticks to her cheek, and her nostrils flare. Battler's laughter screams into the night, Shannon's heart racing. "That incompetent comment sealed your fate! I'll be sure to savor your screams, Erika!"

His finger twitches on the trigger, but it's Shannon who gasps when Erika makes the finishing move.

"Battler-san, if you recall my introduction, I said, and I quote, I am a detective," Erika interjects with a thin-lipped smile. "Not the detective. I'm capable of murder."

"Hahaha-!" Battler cuts himself off. His face falls in an instant. "Huh?"

Erika fires directly into his forehead. The resounding explosion echoes, and a siren erupts in Shannon's ears. Blood gushes from Battler's brow. He sways and drops his rifle, his head flinging back. He staggers toward the spiked fence, and Erika smirks as he falls, skewering himself. The metal tip bursts through his eye socket, and his eyeball pops out rolling between Erika and Shannon.

The rain pelts down on everyone, smothering their shock while Erika steps toward the new corpse. Erika grabs his wrist and presses two fingers to his pulse. She waits, then she announces that Battler is dead.

Shannon collapses. A salty liquid runs in rivulets down her pallid cheeks. It cuts through the blood and warms her skin. She stares at her bony hands, unable to find her voice.

Erika crouches in front of her, her Winchester behind her back. "Now, I believe I asked you a question. Which name do you prefer?"

"How? How?" Shannon murmurs, looking up. She meets eyes that twinkle with impish delight.

"Simple. Observing from afar and isolating one's self from the chaos can lead to important discoveries."

Behind her, Maria sputters. Rosa shrieks in a sound both delighted and horrified. Shannon whips her head over, watching as Rosa embraces Maria's twitching body. Shannon's lips tremble, her eyes stinging from the rain, and slowly, she brings her attention over to Battler, her beloved who had caused her one thousand years of anguish.

Erika holds out her hand and blocks Battler from her view. "It's rude to ignore someone when they're speaking with you," she huffs, and she cups Shannon's face, turning her head to look solely at Erika. "Now, for the third time, which name do you prefer?"

Her tears run freely. The dam has been smashed. Her mouth creases upward, and she wraps her thin arms around Erika, who makes no move to stop her. Erika even tosses aside the gun, both knowing it will not need to be used.

One thousand years of torment are gone in a gunshot. Even if her heart hangs heavy in her chest, she spits out a bitter laugh. He had it coming. Most of them did. The blood in their veins was nothing more than sludge, murky and black like the bottles of ink she spilled on her rough drafts.

In her way, Erika had purified Battler's sin. The red truth of his blood dribbling down his face proved that. She would see him again in the Golden Land, but for now, she caresses Erika's face. She worships Erika like a savior, bringing herself in a fit of supplication to the woman with eyes as dark as the deep sea.

"I give myself to you. Please, call me Yasu," she murmurs, her head resting into Erika's shoulder.

"Yasu-san, I'm sorry this game lacked love," is all Erika says before she reaches over, plucks a dead rose from the garden, and sticks it behind Yasu's ear.