Number 7

[Try Number 4]

"Agh!!!"

If anyone were present in this room, perhaps they would have been disturbed at the fact that Eclaire always seemed to suddenly panic for no apparent reason.

"Huff... huff.... my head... head... head head head..."

Feeling her forehead, the girl confirmed that her brain was still intact - a routine which she had repeated more times than she could count.

Fortunately for Eclaire, she had picked this time and place as her reset point knowing exactly that she may fail time and time again, and wanted somewhere free of people so that she could gather her bearings each time she failed.

"It's still here, isn't it? Yes... yes... yes, it's still here. It's still here. Hah... haha... it's still here!"

Feeling her head with madness in her expression, the girl smiled as she confirmed that she was unharmed.

"But for how long?"

This terrifying question presented itself as she muttered under her breath, however she immediately turned to her mirror.

"The mark... the mark..."

With each death, Eclaire made a new mark behind her mirror, setting her new retry point each time she added one. As such, she always awoke standing in front of that removed mirror, the wall facing her with all it's marks.

"I need to add another mark... there... there."

Etching the mark into the wall, the woman closed her eyes, as if some slight bit of sanity had returned to her.

"My head is still here. My heart is still here. I am still alive. I need to try again."

Replacing the mirror, the girl stood up as she began to think to herself.

"I made a mistake."

Speaking to herself, she began to analyze her previous attempt - recognizing one fine detail that she had ignored at the time.

"Why was Yakov not with Gerard when I met up with him this time?"

The one target that she should have kept her eyes on was nowhere to be seen - and perhaps the fact that he was not present had unconsciously put Eclaire at ease.

'At that time he must have somehow found out about the assassin and taken the liberty to eliminate him.'

Yet this was not the thing that concerned Eclaire.

'But he also knew that I was the one who hired the assassin - and managed to plant a separate assassin to kill me.'

If that universe in which Eclaire had been slaughtered in front of hundreds of people had continued, the people would likely have all fallen into despair as a result of her death.

Yet even this was not what concerned Eclaire.

'So if he knew my plans to kill Gerard so well, then why the hell would he have left me alone up there with Gerard?'

She had no intention of killing Gerard herself - and perhaps Yakov knew that.

Perhaps he knew that performing a public assassination like that in front of so many people was beyond Eclaire, and that such a thing would not happen.

'So basically... he's underestimated my resolve.'

As she looked in that mirror, the girl smiled.

A wretched expression overcame her as the girl began to laugh to herself, chuckling with madness in her voice as she gazed upon her demented self.

"Hah... hahaha.... he... he's really underestimated me, hasn't he now?"

Pushing her hair aside, the woman widened her bloodshot eyes.

Crack.

"Ah."

Suddenly, the mirror broke in front of her, as if appalled by what she had become.

"Be quiet, you."

And as she gazed upon her distorted image in that shattered mirror, the woman's eyes became cold as they lost all sense of emotion.

"I'm sick of you."

----

The biggest problem would be convincing Gus.

While she had done so before, she no longer had to take him to the private room in order to keep everything hidden. After all, Yakov would inevitably find out about this plan, so it would actually be better if he learned of it easily.

That was why it didn't matter if some of the other basement prisoners overheard their conversation.

Even so, the man was someone who wanted to kill her with all his being.

By allowing the man to attack her, Eclaire had more or less managed to gain his trust by showing her weakness. Even so, she didn't particularly want to repeat that brutal scene.

After all, who knows? Perhaps this time he really would try to kill her.

'I convinced him before... I can convince him again.'

With this thought in mind, the woman made her way down once more to the halls of the basement.

Once more, the jeers and shouts of the people who despised her filled her ears, and the insults seemed to overtake the entire basement.

Yet despite these insults, the woman continued forward.

For she was someone who had endured far greater sufferings.

And such a trivial thing as a locked up man wouldn't inspire any fear in her.

----

"What are you doing, standing in front of my cell like that? Don't you have more people to bring to this place?"

With a sarcastic chuckle, Gus spat these words as Eclaire had approached his cell.

"Not exactly. I've got a bigger fish to fry."

"Oh? And that fish wouldn't happen to be me, now would it? Sorry to say, but I'm just a poacher. I've never been one for fishing."

"Well maybe you could give it a try."

Raising an eyebrow in suspicion, Gus didn't seem to take Eclaire's presence lightly.

"What are you planning?"

"You hate me - that much is true. But surely you must hate the person above me even more, correct?"

"You mean that pompous prick who had the balls to try and tell everyone to submit to him? Can't say you're wrong there."

"That would mean we have a common enemy."

With sly words, Eclaire attempted to slither her way into the heart of Gus, who refused to serve another above all else.

"Hah! Common enemy my ass. You're my enemy. That fatass is my enemy. Everyone working for this damn hotel is my enemy. Are you trying to get me to work with you? Or maybe you're just trying to use and trap me?"

Waving Eclaire off, the man showed no interest.

"Either way, I ain't about to become your pawn."

"Hmm..."

At these words, Eclaire began to think to herself.

She hadn't yet encountered a roadblock such as this, and as such she didn't know what to do.

'Do I let him out like last time?'

Reaching for her pocket, the girl pulled out a silver key as she swung it in her hand with a smile.

"I have the power to free you. Are you sure you should be rejecting my offer so quickly?"

"And what is this offer of yours?"

While the man was clearly filled with suspicion, he was at least willing to hear Eclaire out.

'Perfect.'

"I let you out. I'll even give you a weapon. You assassinate Gerard, and I take control after his death. Even if you're captured, I'll order that you aren't killed. I'll let you go free when it's all over."

"Absolutely fucking not."

Immediately, the man rejected her plan.

"I can already see exactly how this scenario will play out. Let me guess. You'll have people stationed to make sure I don't escape before the assassination happens. Right?"

"Well, I can't exactly trust you, and letting you go free without any precautions would be..."

"But that's where the problem is. If I assassinate that man in broad daylight, it will become chaos. Where am I supposed to escape? Of course, I won't be able to. You say that you would order that I'm not killed - but can you guarantee that won't happen?"

Thinning his eyes, the man glared at the woman with a vicious look.

"Do you doubt my power as an executive? With just a single order, every person in this hotel will obey me - whether out of love or fear.", Eclaire responded.

With confidence, she made this statement - for her words rung true.

Should she order such a thing, she would be able to prevent anyone from killing this man in the chaos.

Such was the position she had built within this Hotel.

So long as Yakov didn't find out about her plot, that is.

"But who is to say that you will give such an order in the first place?"

"Eh?"

However the words of Gus surprised Eclaire.

"You think I would... oh. I see."

Nodding her head, Eclaire came to a realization.

"You think that I would throw you away in order to cover my own tracks and flawlessly take control?"

"Eliminating any loose elements... isn't that the method of a dictator?"

Standing up, the man held out his hands as he spoke with a deadly expression.

"Why else would you have come to this place and spoke loud enough for all to hear - unless you had plans to get rid of every person here?"

"Perhaps because I have no need of hiding my methods once I have taken power."

"That only makes it worse, woman."

"Think about this. Say you refuse me. Say you all inform Yakov that I came down here and asked such a thing of you. I will go under suspicion, even if your words are not taken seriously. My position will decline, and my control will waver. You should know already that there are three other executives who don't particularly like me. What would happen if I were to be branded with suspicion of rebellion?"

As Eclaire twisted her words around, the man held his hand to his chin in thought.

"I won't deny that you're puttin' yourself at risk by being here, but that doesn't change the fact that you might betray me. You did it before, after all."

"I hear those words all too often."

Looking upwards, the girl seemed to toss up her legs, as if kicking up dirt with a pale smile.

"Do you think I like betraying people? Do you think it's something that I can live with? Do you think that I'm such a corrupted person that I don't even look back on my decisions with regret?"

Closing her eyes, the woman held out a hand as if to stop Gus from responding.

"Don't answer that. I already know the answer. I've become someone heartless, so I have to see this all the way through. It's the decision I've made. Because I determined that there was no way to do things without sacrifices."

Opening her eyes, the woman's smile fell upon Gus - however it was no demented smile.

It was a smile filled with pain.

"It's a weak way of thinking. It's a way of thinking that only someone as weak as myself could come to accept. But at the end of the day... I've tried."

Then, slowly, the smile turned to a frown.

"I tried... and I tried... and I tried and I tried and I tried and I tried and I tried. And here I am, trying again. But no matter how many times I try, no matter how much I sacrifice, I just can't seem to win."

And with that heartbroken expression, the girl looked up to Gus as she pleaded with her eyes.

"It makes me wonder... if I really have to sacrifice everything before I can even come close to a victory."

Suddenly, the expression of the girl shifted as she grabbed her forehead in torment.

"Ah. Ah. No, no no no. I wasn't supposed to show you that. I wasn't supposed to show weakness. That wasn't how I wrote this scenario. I was supposed to come off as strong. Strong, strong, strong. And I can't retry... no, I could... but that would mean giving up now."

Shaking her head, the girl refused such a notion.

"No. I'm not giving up. Not now. Not over something like this."

"You've got more than a few screws loose, miss. I think the entire machine has been disassembled."

This was the only statement the man made, however this statement brought the girl back to reality.

And suddenly, with a horrifying shift in personality, the girl flashed an elegant smile.

"Is that so?"

"Maybe if I catch one of those personalities off guard I'll be able to kill you as well. Watch your back. But for now, hand 'em over."

Holding out his hand, the man looked Eclaire in the eyes with a firm expression.

"I'll kill your target. What happens after that... we'll leave for the future."

Thus, Eclaire handed over the keys.

"The gun will be waiting inside the bathroom on the first floor. It will only have a single bullet, so make it count."

With these words, the woman headed off, leaving Gus to wonder as to what he had just experienced.

'Still... only one shot, eh?'

As he watched the woman, Gus seemed to grin to himself as he plotted.

'What would you do if I went against all logic and used that shot on you?'

"You wouldn't do such a thing... using it on me, that is."

However as if she were reading his mind, the woman spoke from down the hallway, her voice echoing through the corridor.

"After all... if you did, then you would be right back here before you know it."

The true meaning of her words, Gus would never understand.

----

'That went... well.'

Eclaire wasn't exactly sure what was happening to her.

Mood swings?

Bipolar disorder?

Perhaps the mental toll of having died so many times was showing itself.

'It's as if... I'm losing my grip on reality.'

Slowly, but surely, she could feel it.

With each death, she had gained a sense that the world she was in would no longer exist at some point in the future.

It would be reset to a fresh start, and that world too would no longer exist the moment she made a mistake.

While the pain of death was real, the impact of her actions became all the more... inconsequential.

'No. I can't let myself think like that.'

'I'll win this time.'

'I've checkmated him.'

With a nod, Eclaire made her way through the basement, heading towards the stairs up to the first floor.

'As a matter of fact, why didn't I ever think of this before? It was so simple... but I never came across it.'

'Yakov is a single person.'

'As skilled as he is, he can't be in two places at one time.'

That much was certain - Eclaire had proven that in her last attempt.

If Yakov could indeed be in multiple places at the same time, he would have stayed near Gerard at all times while simultaneously taking care of any other business.

That was not a part of his ability, and Eclaire could say this with confidence.

'The existence of these abilities... it really is troublesome, isn't it?'

Had she been facing any normal human, she would have easily defeated him.

It was the existence of his ability, and the unknown nature of it which had allowed Yakov to surprise Eclaire again and again, always allowing him to predict her actions and plans before she could enact them.

'But... if he can't be in two places at once, then the answer is simple.'

Coming upon the staircase, Eclaire nodded to herself as she turned the corner.

'I just need to force him to be in two places at once... or else the King dies.'

However as she turned that corner, Eclaire laid her eyes upon a man who she could not have possibly expected at that time.

'Checkmate.'

"Good morning, Eclaire. Did you have some sort of... business in this place?"

Her heart froze.

Upon hearing those words, upon witnessing that man, everything within her immediately shut down, at which a seething terror spread through the woman.

'Did I mess up?'

'Did he find out already?'

'Is he coming to kill me?'

'He can't have found out already.'

'He hasn't even gone down yet. He would have to at least learn from one of them- ah. I need to respond.'

"Oh... well, I suppose not. I... you could say I was curious about the conditions of the ones who are kept down here."

With a curious remark, the woman flicked her hand through her hair as she began to ascend the staircase - desperately attempting to shut down the fear within her.

'He doesn't know yet.'

"The ones kept down here are to be used for special purposes, however it is quite unfortunate that we do not currently have any clientele to put these people to use. As such... they haven't exactly endured any sort of punishment for their rejection of Gerard's reign."

"That IS quite unfortunate."

With a haughty statement, Eclaire agreed with Yakov, continuing to approach him as she made her way up the stairs.

"Gerard was looking for you. I had been searching all over the place, but I couldn't find you. It's no wonder, since this was the last place I expected you to be."

"Ah! Is that so? I had better report to him immediately then. Please excuse me."

With these words, the woman slithered by Yakov.

'He doesn't know.'

And having confirmed his reason for being in this place, she no longer held the fear of being found out.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

However as soon as she had passed by the man, these chilling words resounded within her ears.

For the moment she heard them, the woman turned around to witness a scene which she never in her life could have predicted.

For within that man's hand - there was a red lump.

It pumped with life, spraying and squirting red liquid about it, and it was only after witnessing this horrid scene that the woman looked down to see it.

Her heart had been ripped straight out of her chest.

Falling to the ground, the woman grabbed her chest as she felt the cold run of blood around the hole, panting heavily before her vision became dark.

"If you're going somewhere, you're going to need this."

Then, as the woman's eyes became blank, the man bent over as he laid the ripped out heart back into her chest - as if it were a puzzle piece.

"Yet perhaps it is exactly the fact that you have such a thing... that prevents you from getting where you need to be."

----