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As soon as the determined prisoner heard the glass shattering, indicating that the match had officially started, he quickly made his way over to the second closest cipher he could see. Luca was careful enough to make sure to avoid the nearest cipher; God knows how many times he was the first one to be downed by the hunter after making such a rookie mistake.
He silently bent down onto the dirty floor of the cemetary near the Red Church as to connect his and another cipher before he began decoding. His fingers moved a bit sluggish, indicating that he was still tired from staying up all night working on a new invention he had thought of days before.
Time passed before Luca even realized, and it hit him like an electric shock when he heard a member of his team scream as they were shot up into the air like a rocket. He shot a quick glance at the electronic device showing how much ciphers and team members were left, only to find out that all of his team members died, leaving himself the only survivor left for the hunter.
“Fuck, the dungeon! Where the hell is it?!” Luca mumbled angrily to himself as he ran around the map, desperately trying to find the small opening on the ground, leading him to victory.
That’s when he saw it: a mirror just a few meters away from him. Luca slowly backed away, making sure to be as quiet as possible, but started running when the mirror turned towards him, blowing his cover. The hunter twirled elegantly; a skill that let her trade places with her reflection, almost as if she was able to teleport.
Luca heard his panting growing heavier and louder as he felt his heart pounding in his chest, threatening to burst any given second. Quick footsteps and innocent sounding singing could be heard just a few feet away from the survivor, who just wanted everything to stop.
“She’s behind me! She’s-“ Luca wasn’t able to finish his thought as he was immediately hit on the head with the back of a knife, leading him to run faster and scream in pain. He heard a light chuckle behind him as another mirror appeared before his eyes and hit him before he even had the chance to react.
A loud wail escaped Luca’s mouth as he was brought to his knees, clucthing his bleeding head to silence the unbearable ringing in his ears and to lessen the pain of the injury.
“My, my! What a fun chase that was, boy!” The hunter beamed at Luca, kneeling down and lifting his chin up so he was looking at her.
“What a great way to start my d-day, I guess.” Luca attempted to speak in a sarcastic tone, only for his words to fumble out of his mouth from fear. The lady hunter giggled like a little girl before letting go of the survivor. A small grumble could be heard from Luca, expecting the harsh motions of the hunter chairing him like any other matches he’s been in.
“Well? S’get it over with… I-I’m a bit tired, y’see…” He let out a nervous chuckle in the end, ignoring the sadistic grin plastered onto the woman’s face. “Mmh, on second thought! You’re just too cute for the rocket chair treatment; I oughtta just let you go free! Not like it’ll change anything for me- I’ll still get a win either way.” She replied, winking at Luca innocently. Luca would have found it cute disregarding the situation, but he was grateful either way that the stranger was letting him go scott-free.
“Here, boy, let me help you up. I’m guessing you are a bit dizzy from my hits, yes?” She replied with a heartwarming smile, a whole 180 degree turn from the malicious smile she was wearing just moments ago, “Sorry, my dear darling! Next time we meet, I’ll be sure to go easy on you!” The hunter finished as she giggled, placing her hands in front of her mouth to hide her smile.
Her white, flowy dress gently spread out around the grass as she bent down to carry Luca in an almost dancing position. It surprised him, as most of the other hunters would always either aggressively tie him to dozens of balloons or shove him inside an envelope. He glanced up at the hunter who was looking down at him with the deep blue eyes, reminding him of the freshest and cleanest waters in the sea.
The silence was comfortable as Luca didn’t resist nor struggle to get away from the hunter’s grasp. His instincts were screaming at him to run, or to never trust hunters, but his desire and curiosity overpowered the other emotions. The sight of an open dungeon came to view for both him and the hunter before he was gently set down onto the ground- the hunter making sure he didn’t accidentally trip from her long dress and circles around the two.
“It was nice finally meeting you, Luca Balsa! I’ll see you again very, very soon.” The unknown hunter laughed and shoved Luca into the dungeon before he had the chance to ask for her name, let alone ask her for how she knew his name.
———-
“You’re kidding! Why was she so kind to you?! She was, like, an entire devil to me, Aesop, and Emily!” Edgar whined as soon as Luca entered his room. The prisoner let out a small yelp, not expecting the painter to be in front of him, complaining about their latest match.
“U-uh, I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about…” Luca lied, sheepishly smiling, showing his fang.
“Don’t even dare lying, Balsa. I was spectating you the entire Goddamn time!”
“Jesus, Edgar! Why do you always have to spectate me… would you perhaps know the name of the hunter..?”
“Get out!!” Edgar yelled, throwing the closest pillow at Luca, who barely dodged just in time as it hit the wall with a loud thud.
“Whuh- hey! S’my room! You get out!”