Number 7

'...'

With a cold gaze, the white haired woman stared at the wall in front of her.

Slowly, she lifted her hand - within it a sharpened shard which she had used to carve the numerous markings before her.

Adding one more, she etched the wall like a madwoman, scraping and scratching vigorously.

Blood covered her hand, which the shard penetrated as she relentlessly scraped the wall back and forth, insanity overtaking her.

Then, dropping the shard to the ground as it shattered into pieces, she replaced the mirror.

As she gazed upon herself, an emotionless expression presented itself.

'...'

Heading over to her bed, the woman fell face first into it.

"Ngh..."

And with tears forming in her eyes, she held in a scream.

"Why... did he know?"

[Attempt Number 5 - Begin]

----

It made no sense.

Eclaire was completely certain that nobody could have snuck into that corridor and eavesdropped on her.

Had someone entered, she would have heard the door open.

The only people present in that place were the prisoners of the basement. Nobody else should have overheard her plans.

When she had noticed Yakov at the top of the stairway, Eclaire knew for certain that he had not entered the basement at any time between when Eclaire entered and left.

There was no way he could have spoken to any of the prisoners before meeting up with Eclaire.

How then, did he learn of her betrayal?

'And to further things... right when I was about to checkmate him... he made the one move that prevented such a checkmate from happening in the first place.'

This was the real key.

Rather than being caught in a two pronged attack where Yakov would have to be in two places at once to save Gerard, he instead took precautions to eliminate the enemies before they ever became a threat.

'Just how did he come across such knowledge? What are the conditions for his ability?'

There had to be conditions.

Eclaire's ability had conditions. So too did Gerard's. All of the abilities must come with some sort of activation conditions or limitations on the way they could be used.

'And if it didn't have conditions... then I would have been caught in a deathloop a long time ago.'

The fact that Yakov only ever killed Eclaire after she had been outed as a traitor proved that he wasn't all knowing.

He didn't have some sort of omniscient vision that granted him the ability to witness everything.

'There must be... some sort of reason why he knows what he knows.'

However as to what that condition was - it was anybody's guess.

'No matter.'

However with cold eyes, tired of trying, Eclaire moved forward with a sluggish expression.

'This time... I'll try something that even he won't be able to counter. And if my actions as a traitor are revealed?'

With a smirk, the woman opened the door, heading into the halls as she began her march.

'I'll just create a situation where even if he knows what's going to happen, he won't be able to stop it.'

----

Going halfway wasn't going to cut it anymore.

Trying to get away with a best case scenario was nothing more than a dream - an endless dream that she could chase for the rest of her existence and never achieve.

She had to set her goals in stone and be willing to make the sacrifice to achieve them - this was the only way.

'It's not going to be... easy.'

Eclaire had accepted this long ago.

'I'm going to have to make some sacrifices.'

Yet even knowing this, she did not waver any longer.

For perhaps the madness had driven her beyond the brink of sanity.

'But in the end... I will win.'

Thus, the white haired woman stepped into the basement - for the FINAL time.

----

"My kids... where the hell are my kids? Dead. They're dead because of you, woman."

"My older brother... he was the kindest soul to ever live. And because a witch like you took him to this place, I don't have an older brother anymore."

"How can you live with yourself, knowing how many lives have been taken due to your actions?"

The insults... began.

"I was the leader of a small group, and we were promised food and water. Little did I know that my woman would have to become some plaything!"

"Do you feel good? After you've scraped up all the survivors and turned our lives to ruin? Hey, how do you feel, you bitch!?"

"Everyone, be quiet."

Yet the woman carried about her an aura that was unlike anything before - silencing the insults immediately with these few words.

However this was only for a few moments.

"What the hell do you mean be quiet!? Who the hell do you think-"

"You. What career did you have before this all happened?"

Approaching the man who had complained that his kids were dead, Eclaire faced the man without a shred of remorse.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Answer the question."

The man spoke out in irritation, however Eclaire continued to press him.

"I owned a steel mill. Had a bunch of employees I took good care of. Had a good family - all of 'em gone now. Two kids, dead because of your damn boss."

With hatred in his tone, the man shot out this response, glaring at the woman as she nodded her head.

"If your factory produced enough pollution to the point where a child or two died from cancer, would that be your fault? Or would it be an unfortunate circumstance?"

"What are you saying!? Are you trying to tell me that running a factory is the same as leading people to this place to die under that man!?!?"

At her words, the man shouted out, standing up as he grabbed the bars, rattling them with fury.

"I merely did my job. What I was hired and told to do. It resulted in some unfortunate calamities, but those calamities were not a direct result of my actions. They were the results of another person's actions. And you? What did you do for your work?"

Pointing to the man whose older brother had died, the woman spoke with confidence.

"I... I was a shoemaker."

"If your boss told you to make a pair of shoes that would break easily, would you do so? If your boss told you to charge the customers as high as possible, would you do so?"

"Of course not!!"

"Why not?"

"Because those things are despicable!"

"Who decided that?"

"It should be obvious. But maybe to someone like you, that isn't so."

With the nod of her head, the woman seemed to be satisfied at the man's response.

"So what if you couldn't disobey your boss? Would you quit your job and risk sacrificing your loved ones for the sake of these morals?"

Yet the woman didn't bend for an instant, even as malice swirled around her.

"All of you here - if you were given the choice between two people, a loved one and a stranger, and one of the two had to die - which one would you choose?"

Walking down the hallway, the woman eyed each man.

"What about you?"

Picking one at random, the man didn't respond, only glaring at the woman with distaste.

"No response. And you?"

Pointing to another, the woman awaited a response once more - however she didn't receive one.

"Nothing. And you?"

Then picking a third, another round of silence followed.

"Is there anyone who can give me an answer?"

Yet now as she appealed to all - she grinned in victory.

"The answer is so simple it's obvious. Every single person here without doubt would choose it. The loved one, of course. But to say that out loud... it's cruel. It's horrible. It's despicable. That we could assign value to a human life over another purely based on our own personal valuation of that person... it's disgusting."

And with that grin, the woman held out her hands as she continued to walk down that corridor.

"But that is human nature. We value those we know - those we have assigned humanity to. Until we spend time with a person, we have such an insignificant value associated with them that we can live with ourselves if we treat them as below human. Which is why when we do evil things to a person, we like to push these things out of sight - deceiving ourselves into believing that we aren't harming anyone in the first place."

"Are you trying to justify your actions somehow?"

One woman spoke this time, calling Eclaire out.

"Justify? I'm not trying to justify anything. What I did was wrong - that much has already been established. I'm not trying to say that what I did was right. However what I did was merely... a part of my role."

Holding her hand to her chest, Eclaire now approached the cell of the woman.

"I was assigned the role of executive in this place. Do you think I chose such a role? No... perhaps I did choose to rise to such a role. But I was thrown into this place against my will. And I was given a choice - either to rise up to where I am or to fall down into this place where you all are right now."

Thinning her eyes, Eclaire's eyes filled with malice as they silenced the woman from within her cell.

"So can you really hate me for choosing to obey rather than end up like you people here?"

"Yes. We can. Not a single person here gave in to that man's rule, so you also-"

"And what have you done exactly since you went against his rule?"

While another woman began to speak, Eclaire turned as she cut this person off as well.

"You've sat in here, locked up like criminals - unable to do anything at all. While you all were wasting time, I was working to undermine this man, working to gain his trust, working to become someone who can walk into this place with a key and free every single one of you... so that I can begin the rebellion."

Sliding a key from the sleeve of her dress, the woman flashed it before all with a smile.

"Now what if I had refused that man like all of you did?"

At her words, the people were silenced.

They hated this woman.

They despised her with everything in their being.

People had died at the hands of Gerard's orders - and in some cases this woman had carried those deaths out with her own two hands.

She had led these people here, deceiving them into thinking that they were entering a paradise - when in reality she was opening the gates to hell.

Yet even so, they could say nothing in response.

For her words rang true.

She was nothing more than a prisoner - just as they were.

Yet she was a prisoner who at least held the keys within the palm of her hand.

"I'd be sitting in a cell right next to you."

Slowly, the woman began to walk towards the front, jingling the keys in her hand as she walked.

"Sure, you wouldn't hate me - but that hate would be towards someone else in my position."

And with every step she took, rage boiled within the expressions of those men and women.

"Sure, your loved ones wouldn't have died because of me... but they would still be dead nonetheless."

And then, reaching the first cell, she slid the key in as the lock clicked.

The gate opened, and the man inside merely stared at her, watching as he was freed from his captivity.

Moving onto the next, the woman began to unlock the doors one by one, and as if in a trance - the people held onto their anger and hatred for just those few moments.

"So... I won't ask for you all to forgive me. However I will ask for you all to join me - so that we can defeat that man who ordered the deaths of all those people you loved."

And as she came upon the final cell - that of a particular poacher who she knew quite well, she unlocked this last gate.

The man stepped out, calmly looking around at all the people whose eyes were lit in fury, and soon enough this man realized that he was the representative of all the people here.

Within his words, their decision lay.

"First let us take our revenge on you. Then we'll consider rising up against that man... and showing him just who the fuck he messed with."

And with these words, Eclaire closed her eyes in acceptance.

"I see."

For as she did so, a raging mob honed in on her.

"Do as you please. Just leave me my life."

----

"Hold her down."

Everything was planned.

"She isn't resisting. We can do whatever we want to her."

All of this was well within her calculations.

"Perfect."

But that didn't make it any less terrifying.

"So you've finally accepted your sins, and are trying to compensate?"

"Not exactly. It's merely that if I don't do this, I won't have any chance."

While numerous men grabbed hold of Eclaire to hold her down, Gus spoke at the representative of the people as the two went back and forth.

"Any chance at what?"

With a strange expression, Gus raised his eyebrow as he pressed further.

Yet the response which the woman gave was anything but what he could have expected.

"At living."

At this statement, Eclaire was met with a fist to her cheek.

Her brain wobbled as her vision blurred, and the lingering feeling of pain shot through her as she spat blood.

"Are you saying that there's something more terrifying than an entire mob of people who hate you... trying to kill you?"

Motioning with his finger to another man, Gus directed another to come and take a crack at the girl.

This particular man - whose rage was lit like a fire in his eyes - barged forward as he shouted out.

"This is for my wife!!!"

Grabbing Eclaire's throat, the woman felt her throat tighten as she was choked, his grip increasing as he wrung her like a towel.

"Give her back!!! Give her back to me, you witch!!!"

"Perhaps... if I was... truly a witch... then I would be able to give her back."

Choking out these words, the man stepped back, horror evident in his expression.

Once more the woman spit the blood from her mouth, heavily breathing in as she continued to be held down by the other men.

Then, looking at Gus, she spoke with a dead look in her eyes.

"There are many things far more terrifying than... mere humans."

And with a grizzled tone, the woman held out her restrained hands, glancing at nobody in particular as she spoke to all present.

"Go on. Take all your anger out on me. And once you look back on the pain you've caused... maybe we can work together to face the real threat."

----

To even call the woman a human would be an ambitious statement.

Her skin was black and blue, more like that of a zombie than that of a living person.

Not a single uncovered spot on her body could be seen that was not such a color.

Blood ran down her sides, covering her and lacing her perfectly white dress which had been torn and dirtied.

Her hair had been ruined, pulled and twisted to the point where a mere shower would not fix such a thing.

Her fingers had been broken and realigned, the feeling within them having been lost.

Some of her teeth were chipped, others missing. Her nose was broken, and her entire face was swollen from the beatings.

"Just what has gotten into your mind that you would free us... knowing that we would do such things to you?"

And as she was surrounded by people whose hatred seemed to have been dispersed upon looking at the pathetic figure before them, a particular man spoke up.

"Are you... willing to work with me now?"

Barely able to move from the immense pain, the woman slowly lifted herself, speaking with a bloated tongue.

"And if we were? What do you even want in the first place?"

"Yes, just what could you possibly want - Eclaire?"

Suddenly however, an uninvited voice spoke up from the shadows.

A voice which caused every person in that prison to jump - for they recognized it as one of the men who had wardened this place.

"Yakov..."

Gus spoke this single word, evoking the name of the man who went by the title of "The Janitor".

This man walked calmly through the crowd of escaped convicts, at which each person froze - wondering if they should beat this man up as well.

"You all have been quite... brutal. Eclaire. Just why are you down here? Why are you so beaten? You do realize that if Gerard sees you with such a face... he will lose his mind. Correct?"

Raising her head, the woman could barely even do such a thing in her pathetic state.

With tired eyes, she looked around her, all gazes falling upon the single woman in that moment of silence.

However with a horrid smile that inspired fear into each and every person there - the woman said a single word.

"Kill."

And to whom she was speaking - not a single person present knew.

Not a single person... except for that man.

----

"I see... it would appear that this is a situation I will need to take care of."

In that moment, the man gazed around him, as if to take inventory of the men who had surrounded him.

Their anger seemed to return, and once more a fire lit in his eyes.

"This man too is one of Gerard's lapdogs! We should kill him and escape!"

"This woman was dumb enough to let us out... we can't let this opportunity go to waste!"

One man after another, the prisoners shouted out as the fighting began.

"Arrrgghhh!!!!"

And with a steel bar in hand, one of them rushed at the older gentleman - who caught this weapon without so much as glancing in the direction of his attacker.

"It's not exactly a good idea to give me a weapon."

With a clang, the man who had attacked with the bar found himself falling to the ground unconscious, the bar now in the hands of his opponent.

"But if you're going to go so far as to offer... it would be rude not to take up such a gesture of kindness."

Surrounded by hundreds of angered men and women, the older gentleman merely grinned, the metal bar in hand as he prepared for battle.

"Get him, all you wenches and bastards. We're taking back our freedom - here and now."

And with these words, Gus signaled the beginning of an all out conflict.

----

"Is this the extent of your hatred?"

Surrounded by bodies - was a man.

This man, who was well beyond his years, showed no sign of age having affected his combat abilities as he flicked the blood off his hands.

The men and women around him groaned in pain, unable to stand after having faced such a man.

For this man was a Calamity.

"How... is this possible?"

One particular poacher moaned in shock, unable to perceive the existence before him.

"We were knocked out so quickly last time... I thought they had used some cheap trick... but this..."

"If this is indeed the extent of your hatred towards my liege... then I would suggest you bottle such hatred up - and never allow it to surface for the rest of your existence."

With these words, the man slowly walked through the hall, his steps instilling fear into all who heard them.

'Is he going to kill us?'

'Oh my goodness...'

And even these people, who could not have held back their hatred - were filled with terror.

"As for you... this is quite disappointing."

"I've heard that... many times."

Looking down upon a particular woman, whose white hair was stained red, Yakov approached Eclaire with crossed arms.

"You intended on freeing these cretins from their cells and using their hatred against Gerard in order to defeat me. You even allowed them to personally maul you - for two reasons."

Holding up his index finger, the man began to pace as he closed his eyes while he explained.

"First, their anger was directed towards you even more so than it was towards myself. You needed to shift that anger. So by allowing them to release it upon you, they no longer felt any need to chastise you - and instead would focus on the enemies who prevented them from going free."

Raising a second finger, the man nodded in satisfaction as he continued.

"Second, from my perspective it would appear as if these cretins had somehow managed to get free - and as such had taken you hostage and put you through such horrifying torment. Not a soul would have expected that you would allow yourself to go through such pain. A conflict between myself and these prisoners would be inevitable."

However as he finished his sentence, the man turned around as he faced the woman with a stern expression.

"However, you made a miscalculation - Eclaire."

"I already know that..."

Choking up blood as she spoke from her position on the ground, Eclaire laughed to herself in a pitiful manner, tears in her eyes as she accepted the reality that faced her.

"I didn't think... you could possibly survive against so many enraged opponents. But... I was wrong."

"Indeed."

Reaching for his coat pocket, the man pulled out a pistol.

"Eh?"

"He... had a gun on him the entire time?"

"He was... just messing with us... the entire time!?"

Some of the men and women around couldn't help but speak out in shock as they witnessed this, horrified at the fact that this man had defeated them without a firearm when he had such easy access to one.

Bang!

At that instant, the sound of the firearm silenced all present - particularly the very woman whom the bullet had entered.

Blood dripped from her mouth, and her already dead eyes lost the slight amount of life remaining within them, and her head fell down to the ground as she lost the strength to hold herself up.

"You're wrong, ladies and gentleman."

Placing the gun back into his coat, the man nodded his head 'no' as he returned down the halls.

"I was not 'messing' with you."

And as he left to exit that room without even bothering to imprison the people again, the man's words left a sting in their hearts.

"There was simply no need to use lethal force... on all except that one."

Closing the door, the man left the prison hall as he continued to walk.

However what nobody saw on that day was his expression as he left that place.

"She... was almost quite the threat, wasn't she?"

Taking a deep breath, the man resolved himself as he went up to inform his leader of the news.

"I'll have to be more careful."

----