Part Two - 04 | For Power, For Pleasure

Pursena slouches lazily in her chair, chewing on her jerky as usual. There's not much going on now, the classroom is silent, it's just her and the quiet boy at the front of the class.

Of course, she knows him too well. Many a time she has tagged alongside her sister to pick on him, to humiliate him, and nothing more. Nothing less. But she strays from attracting his attention, as well as everyone else's unless Linia is by her side.

She's alone. So now would not be the time to play around with a student. Besides, it's not like she really has such a thing in mind anyway, to be picking on someone. She's much too focused on the image of Linia and Y/N waltzing out of the class earlier.

Pursena bites down on her jerky, an angry bite that does not quite satisfy her hunger nor her emotions. All she can think of is Linia and Boss alone together somewhere, indulging in sweet snacks and drinks together without her, sharing romantic glances and such. Linia must be seducing Y/N right this minute, surely. Such a thought makes the dog-girl's blood boil. The possibility of Y/N somehow falling for Linia instead of her, when Y/N is the only one she can and will marry.

Oh, it bothers her so much. She chews her jerky a bit faster, grumbling to herself. "Stupid. Idiot. I should've been the one to go with Boss, not her."

She munches on her food faster. "Fuck it all. I should just go and find them. Even if I have to spy. She better not be trying to sway Boss with her... her stupid voice and — and dumb ears. Dumb cat."

It doesn't occur to her that she can be heard. After all, the room is deathly silent. It's just her complaining to herself and the only other student in the room, who quietly absorbs himself into his studies. He must hear her. If he doesn't, that's a miracle. He would have to be so preoccupied with his extensive studies that his ears drown out all other sound.

This, however, just isn't the case. At one point his brown eyes flick to the side, casting a sidelong glance at the girl. He only briefly turns his head to look at her, and instinctively Pursena's heightened awareness sends her eyes to meet his.

"What are you lookin' at?" she growls. The boy does not react or respond. In fact, instead of turning back to his books, he continues staring her down.

Pursena takes this as a challenge.

Little does she know, she's a lot less intimidating without her feline counterpart around. It goes without saying to all except the Doldia sisters themselves that when either Linia or Pursena are alone, they are no longer a threat. They're just another ordinary student. When they are not together, everything changes. Victims of their ruthless torturing become enlightened to a world of opportunity, of chances to finally be rid of their fear.

If Linia were here, the quiet boy would most definitely resort to hiding the shivers going down his body. He'd turn away, lock his lips, focus worriedly on the pages once more.

But now?

Now, there is no fear to feel. No shivering. No urge to turn away and hide. There is no Linia, therefore Pursena holds no power. When a Doldia sister holds no power, she is ripe for the taking. That is the golden rule. That is what makes the boy close his books, stand up, and face Pursena entirely.

Pursena can't react just yet. She doesn't understand what's going on. Why is this boy not afraid even though he recognizes Pursena to be his former co-tormentor?

"Oh, is it time already?" he says. Pursena gets no time to ponder his words before the doors to the classroom come bursting open. She gasps, taking her eyes off the boy and setting her gaze far behind her where a band of students come filing into the room.

A bunch of familiar faces. Those who have suffered by her hand. Nightmarish memories coming back to haunt her. It is as if these are spirits that she has had the liberty of tormenting, and now these ghosts come crawling back to send the girl into a shock.

She bolts up out of her seat.

"H-hey! What's going on?!"

No response. Another female student manages to sneak up behind her, pulling her into a tight grasp that mimics somewhat of a hug, but it is much harsher and much more deadly.

"Let go!" Pursena shouts.

She flails but to no avail. She can kick and punch as much as she likes but she is powerless against the resilience of those thriving on vengeance.

A throng of voices fill her acute sense of hearing; so too does the beating of her heart. A steady thump, thump, thump.

"Knock her out!"

"Do it already!"

"Come on, Marshal!"

The instincts that build the beast-girl scream at her to fight. Fight, keep fighting. Keep struggling. Even as she kicks wildly, striking everything but her assailants, she persists. The chaotic clattering of her heel striking desks and chairs as she is hoisted further back into the female student's arms turns the scene into a cacophonous mess.

Her efforts prove effective when she manages to elbow the girl behind her so hard that she is immediately released from the choking grasp. For a split second, Pursena is free. She taps into an animalistic side, vaulting flawlessly over the desk and making a beeline for the door.

...

No matter.

She is stopped, not by physical force, for the students behind her are too slow to catch up now — but by magic. Pursena barely breaches the rim of the doorway before she feels a wave of nausea wash warm through her bones. She shivers, her legs jitter, and she abruptly drops to the ground with a thud.

Eyes closed. Unconscious, just like that.

"What took you so long?" one of the students asks. They all turn to look at the quiet boy, the same boy who shares a class with Pursena, as he slowly climbs the stairs in the middle of the classroom with his hands behind his back.

"I wanted to see how far she'd get," he says, looking not at his fellow students but down at the now-snoring dog-girl. "That was fun, wasn't it?"

"Very funny, Marsh," says the girl who once gripped all of Pursena's body. "We get it — you're an expert and you're a silent caster, but we agreed to get this done nice and fast. Quit playing."

"Come on, she didn't pose a threat, did she?" Marshal inquires, tilting his head.

"That's not the point. According to the others, Linia and Y/N are together. Chances are, they'll be able to fight back and find us."

"So?"

The girl sighs, averting her eyes as she thinks of the student named Y/N. "That gifted student... the new one... they're no joke."

"Ah, right, the one in my class who was turned into the sisters' slave. It's no big deal." The boy kneels down next to the unconscious Pursena and lifts her into his arms. "Come on, let's get her to the meeting place."

Another student steps forward and helps Marshal hold the girl in place. It doesn't take very much for them to carry her out of the class. "She won't wake up, right?"

Marshal shakes his head in a negative. "You know my targets don't wake up. She's out like a light. Unless she can resist my magic, she'll be napping until I wake her up."

"That's our boss."

...

The vengeful students carry that helpless girl away to a secluded place within the academy, where there are no lurking innocent students or teachers — there is only quiet and loneliness. It's just an empty room that has not been used for some time. Perhaps a class was once held here. Perhaps not. But it is the perfect place to hold a hostage. Well hidden.

When they arrive at the room, they sit Pursena down in a lone chair and bind her arms and legs to the wood. Six students surround the girl now, a number too low to be considered even close to the brunt of the students involved in this operation.

The true number is nothing short of hundreds. Too many to count. It is a vast number of students within the academy as a whole.

Now that the sisters are separated, the academy is going to do whatever it takes to make them feel the same kind of pain they have made everyone else feel.

Marshal stares at the girl, thinking to himself. After everything that has transpired thus far, at last...

At last, the school can be rid of the devils known as the Doldias.

"How long until they get here?" Marshal asks his fellow students.

"Half hour. We have a way to get them into the building. The teachers won't be an issue."

"Mm."

"Marsh, what's the plan again? Why aren't we just beating Pursena up?"

"Oh, we're still getting revenge, trust me. But no need to get bloody. Augustus' men are going to take her away, and you know what that means."

The students behind Marshal all go silent, waiting for him to add something. Noticing their silence, the boy faces them with a crazy grin stretching across his lips.

"She'll be enslaved and treated like nothing but an animal. All Augustus wants is a servant for both her loyalty... and for pleasure. And she is the prime candidate."

The students nod in unison, all in understanding of the situation.

Marshal faces Pursena again, watching her peacefully snore away.

"It's revenge even sweeter than simply bloodying her up, don't you think?"