Page 77 of Knot Your Fated M.U.S.E.

Making herself my enemy so I don't lose control and hurt everyone.

But as the water continues to rise and the alarms scream their warning, I can't help wondering about those blue eyes from my memory. About why they felt so important, so familiar.

It’s the only thing holding me back from sinking into that threatened space — to release the animal of survival that always comes out to play, ensuring I’m never facing death alone.

I can’t stop her from coming out to play.

But that fragment haunts me desperately, ensuring that whatever happens, I don’t dare forget those piercing eyes.

The shadows know, but their song is drowned out by the immediacy of survival: Riot's hands further tightening on my throat and the rising water that threatens to claim us all.

"Let her go, Riot!" Azurite shouts as our heads hit the ceiling, the water rising inexorably.

Riot's grip remains firm on my throat.

"Find us a way out!" she yells back, tightening her hold until I hiss in protest. "Just keep looking!"

Then the water claims the last pocket of air, and we're all forced under.

The shadows screech one final time — a sound of warning, of loss, of something breaking free. Their song becomes a cacophony of chaos as I feel control slipping away like sand through an hourglass.

No. Please.

But it's already happening.

Through the crystalline water, I see Azurite and Luna — their forms wavering as they continue their desperate search for escape. Azurite's heterochromatic eyes are wide with determination, while Luna's unseeing gaze somehow managesto convey frit with how her head is moving side to side with her moving arms that emphasize panic.

Then my eyes find Riot.

The guilt in her expression hits me like a physical blow. She knows what's coming, understands exactly what she's done by making herself my target.

But beneath that guilt lies steel-hard determination.

She's choosing this.

Choosing to sacrifice herself so the others might survive.

Choosing to be the victim so they won't have to be.

The shadows' song reaches a crescendo, and I feel the last threads of my conscious control starting to unravel. The other part of me -the one they created through years of torture and experimentation- rises like a tide of darkness.

I'm sorry.

I try to tell Riot with my eyes.

I'm so sorry.

Her grip on my throat never wavers, even as understanding passes between us.

She's made her choice, accepted her role in what's about to happen.

One last sacrifice in a life that's seen too many.

The familiar sensation of slipping away begins — like falling asleep but in reverse, watching as something else takes control of my body. Something stronger, lethal, and unburdened by conscience or compassion.

The perfect weapon they wanted to create.

Through water-blurred vision, I watch Azurite grab Luna's arm, pulling her toward what might be a shadow of hope - some crack or crevice in the wall that could lead to salvation.

---