All of a sudden, without caution, Professor Helena's smiling expression and repetitive finger movements then changed drastically into one that bore stiffness. There was no longer a smile on her face, only a cold impression that carried its own aura.
"Ah... I got caught, huh? I thought it was quite convincing." A calm and flat expression, showing disinterest, was on her face. Her lips pouted slightly in dissatisfaction.
Yes, you really suck at acting. I've had figured this out from the very beginning.
I thought to myself, once again managing to escape in this situation. This wasn't the first time it had happened. In fact, I had anticipated it. This was for the third time.
I had been extremely irritated. Her acting was so awful.
Monotonous, effortless without intent, merely mimicking without any real emotion.
Like a true NPC.
I thought as I recognized our similarity for the first time.
After that, I mustered the courage to mock her a little.
"Hey, don't act like you're disappointed by this. Shake my head."
I snapped after seeing her reaction when I managed to deceive her.
So, what was really happening? My memory was connected to hers. Perhaps it hardly was a scientific explanation, but logically, this hypothesis stood still.
In my mind, she had 'disguised' herself as anyone she could've attached herself to.
First, when she altered the impression of a mother with flirtations and seductions that I felt were inappropriate for a mother, not to mention when she cried on my shoulder, trying to convince me of her motherly presence meant to comfort me.
As if I had just awoken from a nightmare. Absolutely sickening.
Second, it happened once more when she fabricated my memory of Azalea for a fraction of a second. Not only did she embrace and cry on my shoulder, but she also shamelessly harassed me.
And the third time—what had just happened and was still happening.
From there, the inconsistencies and contradictions were evident, from her movements that seemed to lack variation to the information she provided. The huge giveaway, which unveiled her mask, was when she used the Mytheia device. Professor Helena, Professor Helena couldn't have known the full extent of its abilities. She merely figured out how to use it properly from my simple obversation. In other words, similar to using a device according to its book manual.
Not to mention her speech that was inconsistent with the Professor Helena I had always known. No matter how cruel Professor Helena, she would've never tested me to this extent, let alone giving hints about the chamber's mystery WITHOUT EVEN MENTIONING 'WICKED WITCH' ONCE.
Selene. I had never expected her to be as cunning as I thought.
There was no doubt—this snare was hers. She was responsible for everything that had been happening, including this strange ability I currently have possessed.
"Well, coincidence can be freaky indeed. Nice to meet you, Kairi-san."
She gazed at me with her drowsy eyes while addressing my name's honorific.
"To be fair, this was hardly beyond my expectation. Yet I never expected you to figure it out that earlier. But if I didn't do this, you might have done something crazier..."
"Such as killing yourself to make sure this wasn't real, for instance."
"What a suicidal maniac." She remarked, leaving an unsettling atmosphere.
"Oh my... Damn. Just what kind of a coward you are, you bitch."
I firmly countered, once again challenging her perception.
She knew I was going to do that.
It's my back-up plan just in case I had failed to pull out her strings.
"Oh, now you dare saying that. Just a moment ago, you were confused and had no idea on what to do. Also, weren't you about to apologize earlier?"
"Nope, I will take back everything I've said about that. You don't deserve any mercy. Now, enough of this mundane. What you're doing is beyond limits, don't you think?"
Beyond limits, you say... perhaps you mean on the verge of limits.
Such a low-budget joke slipped into my mind out of nowhere, landing awkwardly.
Maybe she thought such a wordplay was amusing. Pathetic.
"Why does it matter? Don't you also enjoy toying around? Seeing them as tools?"
Honestly... what she said was true. We were like two sides of the same coin.
Dehumanization appears to be one of many similarities we do possess.
We are similar, yet different. However, I refused to accept such a cruel fact.
"Nope, that was before."
"Oh, is that so? What about now?"
Her expression was rigid. Ice-cold like a robot. Almost terrifying. But I wasn't afraid.
"Now I've changed, Selene."
"Alright then, 'Now I've changed' Kairi. This has been quite uneventful, I suppose that's enough for now. It hasn't been any pleasure to talk with you."
"Okay, Wicked Witch."
"Of course, Leech Maniac."
I SWEAR I'M GOING TO PUNCH THIS GIRL. SHE'S INSANE.
She actually dared to peek into everything I did before arriving at school. So, why leech? As it turns out, leeches in this world has high magical powers and even possesses invaluable herbal properties. I only just discovered this after 'reading' the grimoire library earlier. Driven by curiosity, I experimented with this ability—boiling, killing, and finally consuming it alive. Oh, didn't figure that one out? Of course, this was my way of deceiving her. By rewriting my own memory, contradictions could be masked, even if not entirely.
But I knew she wasn't foolish enough to believe that I simply wandered through the forest and watched those 'creatures' from afar. From the very beginning, she probably already suspected the 'memories' she received from me. No doubt, she must have had reasoned that something was truly wrong with the script she had been crafted for me, and I knew exactly how far I could have pushed this ability to its limit.
"Can you stop interfering with my business? If I like leeches, that's my choice."
"The same applies to me. Even if I'm the evil, never address that name."
She began walking away slowly, attempting to disappear from me.
"Wait." I asked her. She then stopped but didn't turn around.
"What is it?"
"Weren't you supposed to help me?"
The atmosphere fell into silence.
Her breathing was almost inaudible.