She had blacked out, hadn't she? She had aching pains in her nails, her knuckles were bloodied and bruised and when she looked around, indents and carvings littered the walls.

Wait, was it night time?

No moonlight was bleeding through the window far above the cell, yet she could see clearly through the darkness. That was unsettling.

She was also becoming more inclined to sleep through the day and wake up in the night. Additionally, she was woken up by irritable itching, causing her to growl and snarl as more feathers burst from her back gradually, slowly; far more agonizingly than before, as it was when spreading up her arms.

She could hear whispers outside. She could only imagine it was because no one had ever seen a prisoner like her before, a monster like her before. Whether they cruelly mocked her and her condition, spoke in hushed and fearing whispers, or were arguing about who would dare enter the boundaries of the cell, it didn't matter, she knew it was about her.

Soon enough, the door clanked and shuddered open, a rather heavy duty door, Kotori thought, revealing a surprisingly confident looking guard. In his arms, an animal, thankfully dead this time. He dumped it down, making a show of dusting off his hands as he eyed Kotori all the while. And Kotori stared right back, watching like a hawk.

She could feel the feathers on her arms bristle as he took a step closer and a snarl threatened to rip from her throat. Fortunately, she kept herself human, but never once did she look away.

"So, this is what the guards have been talking about? The creature locked in the dungeons, feral and unkempt?" He crouched down with a smirk, "Doesn't look like much to me."

She couldn't stop herself from letting out a small hiss, backing herself up further against the wall. It was more out of fear that she would hurt him, if she was honest with herself.

"You haven't even hurt anyone have you?" He said, "You'd think a thing like you would have done something like that."

"Do you want to be the first?" Kotori said before she even had a chance to think about it.

He scoffed, seeming to be thrown off balance a bit at that remark, "Well, I don't envy you down here. But it's befitting of your kind."

"What is my kind?" She asked, genuinely curious, but it wasn't a question that was meant to be answered.

She noticed a subtle twitch in his leg muscle and her feathers bristled again, even feeling a pressure build up in the sharper bumps of her back, about ready to pierce through her skin. She watched his eyes look to her feathers before he shifted his weight, "Listen, ah… I've been dared to grab one of your feathers. Can I?"

She shook her head, "No."

"Come on."

"Get out," She growled suddenly, feeling a rising anger in her.

He sighed and looked as though her were about to turn, before suddenly shooting his hand out to snatch a feather, but Kotori was far faster, grabbing his wrist and clawing down his arm, leaving three gaping gashes. He let out more than a yell of pain, stumbling back as he watched her rise to her full height above him.

No, no, she couldn't kill him. She would surely forfeit her humanity, her sane mind, but with a searing anger in her chest, she wanted to do something to him.

"You want one of my feathers," She snarled, suddenly feeling the tension of her cheek rip through the skin by the seams, as if it were mere thread, dropping and rotting away to reveal two rows of jagged, sharpened teeth right up until the lips, "Then have this one."

Her mind being driven of its own volition and rage, a feather plucked itself from her arm, floating momentarily before thrusting itself down and embedding itself in his eye.

She didn't do anything more as he was hurriedly dragged, kicking and screaming from her cell. She felt more feathers pierce through her back and tear her blouse. She realized now how poor of a condition her shirt was actually in, but she shook her head, gazing towards her clawed hands and the blood dripping from the nails. Could they be really described as nails anymore?

Then, she felt the aching and slight burning sensation in her cheek, bringing her fingers up to touch the supposedly thinning skin, until she was met with nothing. Nothing but the two rows of monstrous teeth. Collapsing back onto her stool, a pit of dread grew in her stomach. Why had she done all that? Still though, she hadn't killed, she hadn't killed. But, she could have. Prey was right there, defenseless and cowering.

Her attention snapped back to the dead animal all of a sudden. He could have been no more than that beast over there, although a lot less clean and with a lot more missing.

Curiously though, she moved to pull another feather, but found the task to be a lot more difficult that she thought. It wasn't weak plumage or loose, any of it. How had she done that before? Maybe it only happened when she was threatened or wanting to harm something. Or someone.

"Deep gash wounds," Maki hummed in disgust, "And a pierced eye." She shook her head. How could the creature that had done this be allowed to live? Even if it was festering away in the dungeons, there was always a risk that it would escape or harm another guard, one that she would have to fix up, she thought begrudgingly. His story was simple, but then again, why would he make anything up? To demonize a literal monster? Ridiculous.

Soon enough, she had dressed the wounds, but little could be done about the eye. A simple eyepatch would have to do the trick, something he would have to wear for the rest of his life. Regardless, the feather struck her as odd. How had something so delicate been made into something so deadly? Surely, pierced at the right angle, it could be lethal on the heart and if a tad longer, could have seriously damaged the brain. Though, she was reluctant to touch the thing, with the foreboding aura it gave out. Her mother had told her not to touch it either, as she left the room and left Maki to finish up.

Pulling her out of her thoughts, a blue haired girl pushed her way through the doors, a girl she recognised, but not one that she could put a name to.

"What happened?" She said, stopping in front of the bed and frowning as she looked over his bindings.

"You know what they have in the dungeons, don't you? Furthest cell down, there's a… Creature there."

She appeared quite agitated by her words, but Maki shrugged it off. Why would she be offended for it?

"He went in to provide it with food and was attacked. That's all there is to it."

She opened her mouth, as if to try and argue against her, but she shook her head, Right… I see." She said, "Thank you for telling me."

Maki was about to ask why she was so bothered about this, taking umbrage for a monster and so eager to know what had happened, before she stormed off without another word.

"Sonoda, I can't authorise another visit to the cell after the incident. I'm sorry," He said, "I can't risk another guard getting hurt. Whatever kind of connection you had to her, she isn't herself anymore, that much is clear."

"Please, sir, I know she wouldn't do this."

"I'm afraid you can't say that for sure. She has changed. I know this might be difficult to hear, but you will never get her back to the way she was, for whatever reason this has happened."

Umi didn't want to let on that she knew more as of yet. Revealing the presence of a witch could cause panic, could implicate her somehow, she wasn't sure.

"I understand."

With that, she left without another word. Although she usually was inclined to take orders from her senior officer, this was her best friend she was talking about. He'd never taken her off the guard rotation, however. She was still able to hold the keys to the cells as she did her rounds, so she weighed up her options in her mind.

Disobey her orders and have unofficial visits to Kotori, or abide by them and break her promise to Kotori.

Her own job didn't matter at this point. So, when it was her next opportunity for guard duty, she slipped inside unnoticed, not thinking anything would be worse.

But there she was, feathers sprouting all the more from her back, in fact, she seemed to have caught her through a painful bout of skin tearing and snarling, not having noticed her enter. Umi stood briefly frozen.

"Kotori…?"

She raised with a start, feathers bristling angrily, before slowly calming herself down and tilting her head at the girl who had said her name. She remembered her name this time.

"Umi-chan," She attempted to say it normally, but her voice sounded more gravelly, rough and coarse, as though her throat was severely sore. A sickening crack accompanied the harsh tensing of Kotori's shoulders, but nothing more came regarding a change.

It hadn't been too long since she last saw her and this had already gotten much worse. She hadn't even gone out to look for the witch yet. The skin of her cheek worn away, two harsh jagged rows of teeth beyond any normal human shape and the feathers now entirely covered her back and appeared to have a strange life of their own, bristling whenever anyone, including Umi herself, approached. She carefully sat herself down in front of her after glancing to the door.

"I… Brought you a new shirt," Umi said, handing over something she had taken from Kotori's former home. Of course, it wasn't a break-in, but she didn't exactly have permission. And seeing as her shirt was even worse for wear, still soaked in dried blood and with numerous tears littering the back and the arms, she supposed it was a good thing.

Kotori sniffed at the thing, like some kind of feral dog before clutching it close to her chest, "It smells… Like me," She observed, slightly delayed in her speech, struggling to remember the words, almost.

"Yes, it's yours. It's from your home."

"Home…?" Kotori tilted her head, but nodded in understanding.

For a second, the tensed and bristled feathers relaxed slightly, before regaining their hostility. Umi had no idea how she could help any of this. She was powerless to watch as someone she called one of her closest friends twisted and turned into this. And even if something in her mind was telling her that she shouldn't bother to try and salvage any kind of connection she may have with her and that she was becoming far too monstrous and dangerous to be around. But she didn't want to throw her time here away. Not the years of friendship they had built up, with Honoka too. Come to think of it, she was yet to find a way to have Honoka come and see her as well. Then again, did Umi really want Honoka to see this?

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Umi sighed, "Do you remember anything more?"

There was a pause.

"No."

She had expected that, but it didn't make the blow any better for her.

"Can I come closer?"

Umi could feel those black eyes on her in an instant, but the shuffling of her body and the feathers rubbing against the wall were recognisable enough for Umi to know that she would be allowed to sit next to her, "I can't stay for much longer. I have to get back to my duties soon."

Kotori nodded, "What is Honoka-chan like…?" She asked in a soft tone, trying to distance herself from the harsh one earlier.

"Well," Umi managed a laugh, "She's clumsy, tactless, the most unsubtle person you could ever meet, yet she's kind, energetic and would do just about anything for a friend. And to her you're still her friend."

Kotori glanced towards her skeptically before letting her feathers relax again. Maybe Umi was starting to get on her good side. Maybe she would be able to help her this way. Looking to the side of her face, Umi was able to see the side of her that still looked distinctly human. Her cheek on this side was still intact and although her iris couldn't be seen, just about everything was still the same. From her hair, to her lips, everything. She was still beautiful.

"Was I a good friend…?" She asked quietly.

"Of course you were. There was rarely a day where I ever saw you sad. You were always ready to be with us. And you acted as a sort of buffer between me and Honoka when we disagreed or you thought I was being too harsh on her."

Now that Umi thought about it, the arguments and conversations between Honoka and herself had simmered down considerably ever since Kotori's disappearance. Not that she was the catalyst, Umi thought, but rather because with her gone it wasn't the same. Honoka had stuck to her responsibilities, Umi had stuck to hers as well.

"And…" Umi trailed off with a sigh.

"And…?"

"Nothing," She shook her head, "If I hadn't stopped myself I probably wouldn't have been able to shut myself up." She sent her a smile and a small flash of one on Kotori's own face appeared as well for a split second. A smile looked much better on her face than a pained grimace.

"Sorry, I have to go," Umi said, leaning forward and slowly standing herself up, "They'll wonder where I am if I'm too late."

"Okay," Kotori said simply, looking as though she didn't have the energy to say anything more.

As soon as she had left, Kotori turned her attention back to the clean shirt. Giving it another cautionary sniff, she decided it was safe and began to peel the shirt off her body, trying not to tug too painfully at her feathers. Something behind the skin of her back began to push, wanting to revel in the freedom, but she quickly covered herself up again. The feeling began to subside briefly and there was a sudden sharp pain and she could nearly feel the layers of skin being torn apart to the very final part, until it stopped.

Her fingers grazed against something particularly rough against her skin and upon looking down she saw coarse, grey scales running and spreading up her sides. Whimpering, she did up the buttons and sighed, sitting back against the wall and bringing her knees close to herself. Could this not have been anyone else? Why her?

She reached to touch her non-existent cheek, as though it hadn't really happened, only to be met with those unfamiliar and inhuman teeth. She felt along to the corner of her mouth, only to find that a small split had formed. Upon opening her mouth, she could tell that the split was there to allow for her to have a full and effective bite. Part of her morbidly wondered if the other side was destined to become the same.

A few days later, Umi had returned for another visit, but struggled to make much conversation out of Kotori. She knew that if she kept seeing her there might be some humanity to be regained and kept intact within her.

Kotori had slowly revealed to her that the witch had visited again. And if her memory was serving her correctly, the witch had casually mentioned that she lived in the forest on the western side of the city. Although Umi thought that the situation was a little too perfect, she wanted to try and find her as soon as possible.

With her next opportunity in sight, Umi quickly headed to the border of the forest, looking to the darkened shrouds between the trees, she lit up her torch, checked her weaponry and headed through.