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The plan was so simple, and by that logic, clearly doomed to fail.
Sua knew that a duet wasn't going to save them. She'd known the aliens had a case of competitive bloodthirst, not so easily sated by meaningless sentiments of human follies. They couldn't see what Sua could see, looking into Mizi's eyes, sensing the wild terror running rampant within her. When they listened to their voices harmonizing, it wasn't burning passion they could hear, it was merely hollow novelty to them. This was the alien's good entertainment to serve them pure amusement.
At the moment, the crowd were making echoes bounce into the secluded hallway Sua and Mizi resided in. Above them, the aliens were awaiting their presence; awaiting one of their demises. They were cheering, even, probably betting on it.
How sickening, Sua thought, yet unsurprising. She'd come to expect the savagery of these creatures feigning ownership, after being caged and trapped and forced to be their decorative doll, over and over again.
It hardly hurt anymore, to be reminded of this lifetime spent being neglected and abused. Sua endured, and that was enough. She endured and found Mizi, which was far more than enough.
For the sake of them both, Sua reached for Mizi's free hand and intertwined them together. They were still backstage, no performance required. They pressed at each other's palms, fingers weaved tightly, and Sua was almost sure that their hearts were beating in time.
With quiet determination, Mizi was trying to stifle her nerves, attempting to cease her insistent trembling. In Sua's bones, the tenseness of Mizi's own bones could be felt like a ricocheted plea. With quiet determination, Sua closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, knowing exactly what she had to do.
Between her and Mizi, it was Sua that was going to lose. She would make sure of it.
Mizi was always so much more out of the two of them. Her hair pink and choppy, with soulful eyes that spoke in the same bright ferocity that Sua had left behind a long time ago. Being exposed to the life they were, childish hoping often drowned, but Mizi's was still clear and persisting. Sua just prayed that this wouldn't ruin Mizi, and her optimistically naive nature, so fine and rare.
Then again, Sua knew well that it was selfish, for she couldn't bear to live on without Mizi (it's for the both of us, reminded Sua, to appease herself).
Pretending to be confident as the platform brought them up to the floating disc stage was quite easy, as all Sua had to do was stare at Mizi and remember every little detail she was going to take with her to the grave. Her head didn't even spin as she took a delicate step forward and turned around to smile at Mizi.
Sua opened her mouth and let the sounds ring. It may've been odd, doing this in front of such a huge audience, but Sua was only focused on Mizi's sweet voice to her side. The duet was flowing naturally like breathing, and Sua had almost forgotten the existence of their scores.
In large, bold white, their scores were flickering. Sua dropped her volume, letting Mizi do the expressive gestures she executed so well. The song couldn't be dragged out much longer. The aliens wouldn't allow that. They were running out of time.
Of course, the pieces fell into place as Sua intended.
Mizi was still singing joyously. How Sua cherished it, knowing how wonderful it was to be her last memory.
A shot was fired, and Mizi was still singing as she elegantly shuffled nearer to Sua.
There was a screech unlike any vile alien's words. It erupted from nowhere that Sua knew, for she could only see the red everywhere.
Red, where it was supposed to be pink. Roaring, where there was supposed to be silent abyss.
The pieces had not fallen correctly. It was wrong, wrong, wrong. Sua kneeled, to the ground, grasping around for a sign.
Something thudded toward Sua. Something clicked a collar around her throat. It was cold (so was the corpse at her feet). The aliens were noisy, on par with the tremendous screech in Sua's ears. She couldn't bear to look away from the eyes she loved so dearly, now rendered lifeless and dull.
I will kill them all, for taking my life and love and freedom. And Mizi, my everything. Or it will eat me alive first.
Back down where the contestants were stored, the cameras suddenly struck Sua as far too invasive.
Without sympathy, Sua was shoved into her capsule enclosure, designed in a sickly translucent green for the observers to watch her through. Her captors hurried off to tend to the other urgent issue. A boy, one Sua knew, named Till. He was thrashing violently, screaming, maybe crying. They needed him to perform for round two. Sua looked away with a distant shame. Where were her tears? Gone, it's all gone.
Next to Sua was Ivan. He was glaring directly past her, his mask of indifference slipping only a fraction into some sort of concern for the scene Till was causing. Sua wondered how she was ever going to show worry on her face without Mizi to show it to.
The screen located in the corner of the room was replaying the second that ripped everything from Sua. It hurt, as she now realized that the bullet was meant to be hers, but Mizi chose otherwise. Mizi took the shot for her and that was that. Sua glanced at her bloodied skin, noting that the red was the last she had of Mizi, soon to be scrubbed off. She sunk to the floor, with knees to her chest. They wouldn't even let her go and reunite with Mizi.
It hurt so badly, but the ache was numbed and strange and rage filled. Everything seemed desolate without Mizi.
The fatal blow reran on the screen, over and over again, like a drill to Sua's skull. There was shouting, where the aliens had wrestled and shackled Till onto the floor. He lay limp, and Sua couldn't help but envision Mizi's slumped form at her feet. Sua wanted to destroy these aliens, the crowd and captors and all their owners alike.
She finally saw a different scene on the screen. Changed to a view of the empty disc, the audience was thriving, swiftly moving on to anticipating round two like Mizi's death was old news. Sua hated them all. As if reading her mind, Ivan spoke.
"Till won't make it." The anguish was so evident in his soft tone, yet his face betrayed it entirely, with a thin lipped frown. Sua balled her fists and thought of all the contestants soon to meet their end, looping it back to Mizi's absence again and again. "He loved her, you know?"
Despite not knowing, it didn't really register to Sua as what it was. She agreed, actually, because who couldn't have loved Mizi? She loved Mizi. She spent all her love on Mizi. Where was that love now?
"He'll make it." Declared Sua, with a weird kind of innate assurance for that soothed both herself and Ivan and Till. She whispered the next part. "He has to. For Mizi."
Ivan didn't respond, continuing to stare at the screen. Sua joined him, eyes trained on the screen. They waited for round two to commence in terse quiet. What else could they do? There was too much grief to process, for the past and future and present. It was better to believe, in whatever there was to come, and what little fortune they could have, regardless of the pain.
For now, there's nothing left for me to do but hopelessly hope and seethe in my rage.