Tatiana sighed, pinching her nose bridge as she looked at Leo. "Shouldn't we go follow her? The reason why we came here in the first place was to find her."
Leo only shook his head in response, sighing right after her before putting his hand on his waist. "Leave her be; disturbing her might enable her to attack us. Besides, I doubt she would do anything stupid given things are right now."
"I agree with Leo, other than that, don't you guys feel anything different with Ena?" Isaac pointed out, holding the blade's sheath with both his hands. "I know, it's natural for her to be like that after, you know... But she feels different in a way."
"You're not the only one; the atmosphere around her changed drastically from what she was hours ago." Theodor followed.
"So, we're just letting her do whatever she wants?" Tatiana replied.
"You shouldn't be so heartless, tia. Out of all of us, she was the closest to Haruo—not to mention her reactive nature. Let's just wait for now..."
And so they did, they started to wait for something, anything at least that could break the silence and lighten the morale, just the tiniest ones will do, but who knows when the time will come. So many things happened at once; they couldn't fully swallow it and nearly choked themselves. How long will it take until all of them can wait and digest it all?
***
The forest rustled in the cold wind, and the snow that remained in the trees' leaves fell and regrouped with the rest on the ground. Many birds chirped silently like a whisper in the forest, breaking the silence it had given, and even cracking sounds were heard not far from the lake.
The fog that had covered the whole lake had slowly dissipated as Ena strolled deeper through the dark forest. The trees thinned as she slowly descended.
Her footsteps crunched through the hard snow, leaving a trail behind her. Her steps would echo in her ears, creating a smooth rhythm that resembled a tempo, only for it to be interrupted by two more tiny ones following hers.
"I never expected you'd figure out so quickly. We truly are smart, aren't we?" The doppelganger said, making her way to Ena's side. "But that aside, where exactly are we going?"
No response... Ena only looked forward and kept walking in a straight path, not even taking a single glance at the doppelganger, not that she would want to anyway. Her gaze was fixed forward, and the tears in her eyes didn't dry even after meeting with the division.
"Ah, I see; you don't know where you're going, I thought you found a way to block my access to your mind, but it seems like I was wrong... It's not healthy, acting without thinking, Haruo would've said—"
Before she could speak, her entire body was perfectly split vertically, tearing and spreading apart before falling limp on the ground. Ena kept walking, paying no mind to the corpse of her young body.
"You've been trying to kill me for hours now. Don't you ever get tired of doing the same thing over and over again?" The doppelganger said.
"... No response, huh? That's fine, I'll just talk to you without your reply then."
"Let's see... Oh, this seems interesting!"
With the Idea flowing into the Doppelganger's mind, she disconnected from the ground and levitated to Ena's level.
"Why did I show up just now... Well, because I was sealed away along with the memories. I don't know how Father did it, but a few things can make me guess..."
***
Sweat covered Isaac's whole body as he stirred awake in his bed. He looked around at his surroundings, only to find nothing but the tent covering him and his weapons lying right beside him. He scrambled through the tent everywhere to find his glasses, to confirm his tuition.
His heart pounded relentlessly, and he looked at his hands before calming his breathing. It had been a long time since he had woken up like this, but given the circumstances, he was lucky to have slept at all, though it was hard to tell whether he actually rested.
His entire body still felt fatigued, without a second thought, he threw his blanket aside and exited the tent. Of course, he didn't forget to bring his belt and blade along.
The air felt foreign; light snow dropped from the sky and rested on the ground. The atmosphere was gloomy, with the only thing that seemed positive being able to see clearly through the weather. His eyes paced, the place, the same old view from yesterday.
It wasn't long before he spotted each division member, and like yesterday, they were busy with their own problems.
"You seem to be in good shape," Leo said beside him, lying on the branches of a tall tree, his foot hanging on the side.
"Well, better shape than all of us, that's for sure. You were the only one who was able to sleep after all."
A bright orange gue danced through the air while Leo's fingers followed it, swaying elegantly in a smooth motion. His hands flicked with precision, controlling the illuminating glow to his whim, slowing it before he caressed the air down, making it like a father in Isaac's nose.
"What do you think? It's a skill I picked up to keep my mind busy, though there were times when I felt compelled to burn the whole forest down—Of course, I wouldn't! Haha..."
"... Is Ena back?"
"Oh... haha! Yeah, she's back. I was gonna ask whether you actually slept, given the dark circles under your eyes. She's over there, just a few meters away from the rest of us, covering her ears for some reason. Maybe she finally went insane... Haha... Ha..."
"What time is it? Did any of you eat at least?"
"Oh dear Isaac... If we couldn't sleep, what makes you think we were able to eat? We're in a lost cause right now. Everything we do doesn't make sense anymore, trying to will only make us feel worse."
"What about the siblings? Or Rocky?"
"It's pretty clear that they also feel like shit right now, but if you want specifics: Theodor is lounging around, Tia is fighting air, and Rocky is in his own world."
"That sounds... Pretty normal, actually, maybe we're actually recovering now."
"... HAHAHA!"
Leo laughed maniacally, the sound echoing through the whole area. "Isaac, I'll be for real with you. What they're doing is a hundred times worse than you're imagining; I'm only using this tone to at least brighten up the mood, but it seems impossible now. That was a nice joke, Isaac, but I know well enough that you know we were only deluding ourselves."
"It's better to accept it as it is than make a fool of ourselves thinking everything is alright even though it isn't. Take my advice: never—and I mean NEVER—look for ways to escape reality, or we might end up getting trapped in our own minds—unable to escape the hole we dug ourselves. Even if it hurts... It's better than being pathetic."
Isaac changed his gaze; he couldn't deny what he said because, in all honesty, he knew it was true.
There was nothing more pathetic than hiding behind a lie because you couldn't handle the truth, afraid of the cruel world, but they end up getting consumed by it due to their fantasies. Getting blinded by their own mind, cause they refuse to make a choice.
But reality was never a choice to begin with; only delays what is to come, the Inevitable. The more they refuse, the more they have to choose what is real and what is not. Only when you accept reality, you are no longer given a choice, because what choice is there when you already know the answer?
It is hard, it is painful, but in the face of cruelty, pleasure is only temporary; facing a problem is always the best solution. It is only a matter of endurance; the ultimate thing that decides all is how patient one can be until they collapse in their own fortitude.
"But don't be too harsh on yourself, Isaac. Facing reality might be the best solution, but it's still dangerous; it tests how much endurance a person has and how long we can keep our humanity."
"Get going now, make sure you don't stray off too far."
With that in mind, Isaac nodded, then walked away from the tent before taking a stroll in the area. To his luck, he found wild berries after verifying they were safe to eat; he gathered a whole bowl of them, but didn't eat them; instead, he kept them.
After strolling far from the rest of the division, she had found Ena in a daze of her own, covering her ears, whilst clawing through the tree. The area around her was filled with destruction, not as much as the lake, but enough to make it clear that she wasn't in her right mind.
Isaac could hear Ena mumbling to herself, sending chills down Isaac's body as he stood watch at the scene before him. It was awfully eerie, like something out of a horror scene came to life.
Maybe she had gone insane? The context clues were right in front of him: her ragged clothes, messy hair, and crimson liquid that stained the ground—but he didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet; it was only natural for her to react this way. The death of a special someone would take a toll on anybody.
"... Ena?"
Isaac spoke, but no words came back; if anything, the mumbling only grew louder. But he didn't stop there; stepping forward, he offered the bowl of berries to Ena.
"The whole division is a mess right now. We really—"
That's when the atmosphere around Ena suddenly changed. She stopped mumbling to herself and tore through the trunk with her bare fingers. She raised her head slightly, and despite her eyes still on the tree, Isaac couldn't help but feel a sharp gaze linger on his whole body.
Hesitation filled Isaac, taking another step felt like a gamble, but after thinking for a while, he decided to do it. He brought his hand forward, offering the bowl once more, flinging it in the air as Ena shot the hilt of her blade on the bottom of the bowl.
Isaac's eyes shot up, as he felt killing intent as he felt killing intent from Ena's direction. Without thinking twice, he grabbed his sword and used his sheathe to block the incoming strike.
He unsheathed the blade and blocked the other blade that targeted his side. The blade rang through the whole forest, the falling snow parted around them like a bubble, as they clashed their blades.
"W-Wait! Ena!"
Isaac would've never known Ena would stoop so low and try to kill him, but only when they clashed blades had he realized that Ena was at the breaking point. The line that decides the person overall.
She wasn't far; she was confused, and helping would only fuel her mind to spiral even more; that was his mistake. He thought he could organize everything by being kind, only to realize that he was only being naive.
It was funny: only when a blade was inches from his face did he discover the true meaning of what Leo said; you can't force reason on people who have already lost theirs, you can't coordinate through hardships if they won't even cooperate.
Just because they need help doesn't mean they want it. He understood it now; he was only trying to escape, and he felt pathetic. He thought he could help and fix things the way they were, but ended up making things worse. He tried to find light even though he was blind, and when he finally saw the light, he found fire instead.
Burning all his knowledge and replacing it with embers of his enlightenment, but that came with a price, which was the cruel reality, and the discomfort that came with it.
What was he expecting? A reward? Praise? Or maybe glory? It was quite foolish; he received nothing, nothing but a person trying to kill him, driving a blade into his heart as he realized his flaw; this was the consequence of his naivety, and it was cold.
Leo was right; there was nothing more pathetic than deluding oneself.
Isaac tripped and fell to his back, a blade piercing the side of where he lay. There he saw his reflection staring back at him.
"No one asked for your help."