- Wronged -

So many memory spheres to watch, but the time was limited.

Khun knew that this was wrong as he was disregarding her privacy, but who cares about that anyway? Many people had called him a bastard since he was small, it wouldn't matter to have one more person calling him like that.

The yellow memory spheres meant that she was happy. Blue showed sadness, pink showed embarrassment, green showed disgust and dark purple showed fear. The brighter the spheres were, the stronger she still remembered her memories.

'I didn't expect for her to experience so many hardships,' Khun thought. He was in another memory sphere and was standing on a field. 'I guess she's a good actress to be able to hide all her pain... or she just simply doesn't care about it anymore.'

The memory sphere that he watched right now was colored yellow. It was a happy memory sphere. He chose this one as he was exhausted after seeing so many dark purple and blue spheres.

In that memory sphere, he watched Charlotte was playing soccer with her friends. She looked rather excited and happy whenever she entered a goal.

However, the sphere that he chose was not entirely yellow in color, for there was a blue color at the back of the sphere. Yellow and blue color were together in one sphere, it meant that her memory was both happiness and sadness in the same time.

She was happy because she could experience what she could no longer experience, sad because it was just a dream.

What he had just saw was what the green- haired girl was dreaming in her sleep after she encountered the terrible incident that made her lost the ability to walk and run again. When the dream was over, he returned to her bedroom.

She was covered with purple blanket, her head was on the purple pillow. Khun sat on the bed looking at her, watching a drop of tear fell from her left eye.

"........................."

He extended his hand towards her face. Touching her cheek, he wished to be able to remove the drop of tear from her cheek. But what could he do when he was just an ordinary person who broke others' privacy for his own satisfaction? Maybe if he was a God, he could do whatever he wanted. But he was just an ordinary person struggling to keep up with his gifted friends, trying to improve himself so that he wouldn't left alone at behind.

A second later she woke up. When she opened those purple eyes again, those purple eyes seemed to be looking straight to his blue eyes. It was as if she was looking at him again for a moment before she bit the bottom of her lips and pulled the blanket to cover herself completely.

And right at that moment, he was starting to return to reality and disappeared from the memory sphere that kept replaying the same scene.

≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫

She deserved all these, Charlotte knew that. She thought that she was ready, but turned out, she still needed time to accept those harsh truths.

It was normal for one to be hated after she abandoned the others. She should have expected this. And now that she was there supposed to be begging for forgiveness and a way out, she inhaled and accepted her words. Although her words were not friendly, but she still spoke facts and reminded her the truth.

Still, it wounded her pride to know that she was being compared with Rachel. And her sworn enemy knew that she hated that person that she kept mentioning her to irritate her, which was very her style.

And not only that, Charlotte also hated to be cornered. She hated to be cornered and forced to do something that she didn't want to, because from the beginning until the end, she was starting to be aware that she was a selfish girl who only cared for her freedom. And she justified her selfishness as her human right.

The sworn enemy pushed her aside and made her fell down.

"Now, you can beg for my forgiveness," her sworn enemy spoke and moved her index finger downwards, telling her to kneel. Those purple eyes were as cold as they could ever be, perfectly suited someone who was enjoying the opportunity to humiliate the one who had been hurting her these years. "If you kneel for me for three hours, then maybe I will forgive you."

".............................."

She could still feel the pain on her right palm.

'I know that all these years, I've been denying her, denying my past and identity. I deserve all those beatings but I--'

She glared at her sworn enemy coldly.

"Sorry to decline your request, as I couldn't do it."

'I hate it when someone corners me and tries to humiliate me this way.'

"....."

This time, it was her sworn enemy who remained in silence. Her cold expression was still cold and calm as they could be, since she was not surprised that Charlotte would react like this. If she was in Charlotte's position, then no matter what, she wouldn't give up her pride.

But right now she didn't care about 25th Charlotte's feelings.

"You must be taking me as a joke. Just because you thought that I know what you are feeling, I will treat you gentler? Ridiculous."

With shinsu, she created as many bangs as she could and directed them towards Charlotte.

"But I am no longer the 'thing' that will accept whatever you throw to me... because simply enduring everything....."

With a softer and more malicious voice, she finished her line, "It's not fair to me."

Those bangs were shot towards her in the same time.

"Have you gone insane?!" Charlotte questioned her sworn enemy. "If this bridge is destroyed, then we are screwed!"

[Time Manipulation- Time Reverse]

The hourglass appeared in the middle of her hands. The hourglass released golden light that immediately made those bangs vanish.

"Screwed?!" Her sworn enemy made a sword out of shinsu. In the same time, Charlotte did the same. "You will be the only one who will be screwed!"

"Dying here means you couldn't get outside! You will no longer be able to meet your friends, brother and family!" Her sworn enemy shouted as their blades crossed each other in excitement. The thought that Charlotte would taste the feeling of separation and abandonment made her felt excited to defeat the brown- haired girl. "You will be trapped in this place FOR ETERNITY!"

Charlotte blocked her sword that was aimed for her neck.

"If I die here, I will also drag you with me!" She argued. "Aren't you afraid of death?!"

Her sworn enemy scoffed before she raised her sword and swung it towards her abdomen quickly.

"FEAR OF DEATH?!"

Again, her sword was blocked by Charlotte's shinsu sword.

"HAH! SINCE WHEN DO YOU CARE SUCH A THING?!" Her sworn enemy shouted. "The moment when you made up your mind to survive in this tower, have you ever considered the people who you might have to kill one day?! The moment when you made up your mind to follow Bam to the top of the tower, HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT THAT YOU ARE GOING TO CLIMB IN A PILE OF CORPSES?!"

"STOP BEING A HYPOCRITE!" Charlotte shouted back. "Since when do both of us care about others as long as we could get what we need?!"

"That's right! We both are selfish beings! Which is why we will never be Gods!"

Charlotte wielded her sword and aimed for her sworn enemy's sword. With one strike, she managed to destroy the sword into pieces.

But her sworn enemy smirked instead. Everything was according to her plan. The pieces of the shattered sword became small spheres on the air and after Charlotte Everest leapt away backward, those spheres immediately attacked 25th Charlotte.

However those attacks were not sufficient to injure Charlotte. When all the smokes faded, her sworn enemy's smile vanished.

[Lotus Bud]

25th Charlotte was inside of a lotus bud. The pink lotus bud that she created as a self- defense protected her from all the dangers from the outside and once the attacks stopped, the lotus opened and disappeared.

Her sworn enemy scoffed in disbelief, "Is that what you call with a cheat?"

"You won't win against me," she said with a glare. "But that previous attack is quite sneaky. It would have been dangerous if I didn't summon the [Lotus Bud]."

"If it isn't dangerous... then IT WON'T BE FUN!"

"Then have a taste on your own medicine!"

Charlotte created as many bangs as she could and directed them towards her sworn enemy. Her sworn enemy had expected it to come and created a shinsu barrier to defend herself.

Charlotte prepared bangs as many as she could again. And this time, she wouldn't just be releasing her bangs without additional help.

"[Time Manipulation- Acceleration]!"

Those bangs were released again and this time, they were faster than before.

'If things continue like this, I will be flattened!'

But on that bridge, it was just hard for her to move and dodge those bangs. The narrow space didn't allow her to move freely unless she was capable of teleportation. She created a sword out of shinsu in order to block and destroy the bangs as fast as she could, but receiving injuries was inevitable.

A painful and high- pitched cry was heard from the smokes. The green- haired girl was pushed away and hit the way behind her as hard as it could be and fell down on the bridge again.

Ordinary people would have given up seeing the gap between their strength with Charlotte. However, Charlotte knew that her sworn enemy wouldn't give up that easily unless she killed her or she changed her mind at the last minute and joined by her side. And Charlotte assumed the former one to be more likely to happen, since someone who cared for her dignity and freedom like her didn't like to surrender easily.

"You won't be able to win against me," Charlotte spoke towards her sworn enemy. "The gap between the two of us couldn't be ignored. All your strategies are ineffective in front of the absolute strength."

Her sworn enemy coughed and coughed. Some parts of her were bleeding again, but she endured it. She could still see and hear everything around her. She was still fine.

'Is that so?'

Her body was completely in pain. Having received so many attacks from an irregular born with the ability to manipulate time, talent to control the divine water, sacred lotus to heal her wounds and blow her pain away, she was doing great already. Unfortunately, she was just... not destined to win this fight.

She was a past, simply the shadow of the real one. If it wasn't for the Hidden Floor, then there was no way for her to be able to stand like this. She to the real one. She should have known that it wasn't her part to beg for forgiveness as not to be erased of existence. She should be the one on her knees begging for mercy and leniency.

Because she belonged to her. So her life depended on her. Without her, she would cease to exist. This was something that she could never change, no matter how powerful she could be.

"Absolute strength?" She echoed. "Yes... you do have the power desired by many....."

Her talent in shinsu that allowed her to manipulate it in the way that she wanted, the hourglass that helped her to manipulate the time although it was just limited to several hours, the lotus with extremely fast healing and recovery, she was definitely a talented person, a living being who was favored by God.

"One might thought that all your sufferings you've been through... they are just a price for the talent you will have."

The way she spoke showed how she couldn't accept the reality, seeing her sworn enemy receiving so many blessings even if she discarded her identity and her past. She felt hopeless.

"You are me. I am you. What I have now is what you have," Charlotte said.

"But you never give me your acceptance and recognition."

Charlotte Everest looked at her sworn enemy. The hostility that she had was slowly replacing out of sympathy, while her own hostility and desire to fight was lessening not because of the same reason, but because she was faced with the harsh truth that there was no way she would win this fight. Had the 25th Charlotte viewed her as completely an enemy, then she wouldn't have lasted this long.

She knew that again, she survived because someone felt sorry for her.

"I just don't understand," she spoke. "Where have I gone wrong? I am nothing but another imperfect living being like the rest of you, but it feels that every single step that I take will be judged."

"I ask for a little bit attention and affection from those who brought me to this world," she said, raising her right hand to the sky. "But they behaved as if I owe them something, as if I should have known that I wouldn't be able to live the life an ordinary girl in a loving family if I was born there."

"But do I ask to be born from them? If I could choose, then I would chosen to be born in a place where everyone cherishes me, where they ask me to be who I want to be instead of who I should be."

Tears fell from her eyes. She noticed that and immediately wiped them out with her right hand.

"You... are crying...?" 25th Charlotte looked surprised. Her sworn enemy remained silent.

"...... I am not someone who is heartless by nature. Is it wrong for me to shed few tears and complain for my gruesome fate? I couldn't cry properly in the past because many eyes are watching, but now looking at the past... who hasn't ever cried once? Why is that just because I shed a few tears, I became a weakling and a coward?"

Charlotte knew that feeling. Why did she hide whenever she wanted to cry, waiting for someone to notice her? It was because when she cried in front of the others, back then when she was just a small child who needed protection and affection, she was laughed and ridiculed.

Those who laughed at her were her childhood friends. She remembered now why she was still be friending with them, because she thought that they were too young and ignorant at that time. For the sake of harmony and friendship, she thought that everything would be fine. But just because of that simple experience, their ignorant laughs and childish mistakes, they were more than enough to affect her until now. It became a habit that she couldn't change.

"I really hate it, just to look at the sky like this," her sworn enemy spoke again. "It reminded me of the old days, where I lost my ability to walk again and I could only look at the sky hopelessly. I am sure that as naughty as I was back then, I never killed someone. Yes, maybe I stole a little bit of snacks, broke a few rules, but I didn't ruin anyone's lives. So why am I punished in this way?"

"Why did Gods give me everything just to take them away one day? And why do I even bother hoping, when I know I will only be disappointed at the end?"

Charlotte said nothing. That was right, why everything that she had was taken away one by one when she didn't do anything wrong?

"... I guess it's clear for both of us now... about our fear."

Her sworn enemy took a deep breath before she spoke with a lot calmer tone, "... yeah... it seems to be clearer now."

"We are afraid to be forced to lose what belongs to us. We are also afraid to be trapped in hopeless situations... don't you think so?"

Her sworn enemy said nothing. But Charlotte was sure that she agreed with her.

"There is something that I want to ask to you."

"Go ahead and speak."

"Since you understand everything that I've been through... no, we literally went through the same thing," her sworn enemy spoke. "Why do you hate me a lot? Is it because I reminded you of all your pains? But have you ever thought that I don't ask for those pains? I also want to be free and safe, you know."

It was her mistake to be ignorant, 25th Charlotte knew that.

"... You are right. It's all because of me afraid of being reminded of my past. My past used to make me feel inferior and weak. But now, I won't let my past stopping me from moving forward," Charlotte said with a very determined tone. "So...."

She took a deep breath before she added, "... I hope that you will be able understand my feelings... and trust me once more... Please... forgive me and give me another chance."

Her purple eyes blinked as she looked towards her enemy who extended her hand.

"I will not abandon you again," she promised her. "I will not make the same mistake and ruin your trust towards me."

She bowed down and added, "Please forgive me."

".............."

Just before she thought that there was no way for the brown- haired girl to ask for her forgiveness. She doubted her intentions to forgive her ever since she came to that place, because for more than eight years she had been running from her.

But seeing her bowing and asking for her forgiveness, even though she had to beat and threaten the woman first for her to realize her mistakes, she was starting to believe that she was being sincere. It would seriously be a tragedy if this time, her trust was abused again and she was fooled into believing her.

But didn't she know herself the best? At that moment, couldn't she tell and determine by herself whether she was telling the truth? And at that moment, there was no one who could force her to make decisions that she didn't want to. She could make her own decisions.

"... I prefer to be proved by actions and not words," Charlotte Everest spoke.

With the remaining of her strength, she struggled to stand up.

"I could still fight," she said. "Defeat me with all your strength. Don't let your sympathy get ahead of yourself. Let me fight again until I could no longer move, until I could feel that feeling once again."

'That feeling once again....'

She knew what kind of feeling she was referring to. It was the feeling of happiness to be able to move freely, not to be restrained or controlled. She wanted to feel that satisfaction and happiness once more.

"Let's finish our fight," her sworn enemy spoke, even when the pain that she felt was so disturbing. "With our lives on the line."

If that day was supposed to be her last day, then she hoped that she would be able to die in the way that she wanted, because she had the right and chance for it.