Page 127 - NS 2024

Instinct Faith Haynes
To be led by instinct is no better than to be like a beast or animal.
To lack restraint means you are prone to mistakes.
Mizuki has always been an individual with a strong instinct, one she can’t always just ignore. It’s like a chain that binds you and moves your body, making sensible thoughts useless in a moment of weakness. As a child her instincts went overlooked, moments of knowing when someone was going to walk into a room, dodging items that came from an unknown direction, or just having a feeling when something bad was about to happen. Mizuki had been born with red eyes which was a symbol of a curse in her clan, so it was written off as an ability of the curse. But as she grew her instinct only sharpened. Whenever she was cornered her survival instincts took over stronger than any other, showing just how far her instinct could go. For identical beings to get stronger and be better than the next, they need to develop a killer instinct, something that can only be honed through battle. Being an important part of a warrior clan, it was impossible to not have her exposed to war and violence.
On one ill-fated day, Mizuki had been cornered by herself in the midst of battle. The chains took hold of her body and controlled her movements. Her brain didn’t quite think, it was more signaled sparks that sent the body into a purely reflective state. That day was the first time she had killed a person, she was only eight at the time, but in order to survive all rationality was left behind, she was no better than a beast that lashed out on its prey. Soldiers came to her aid but saw that they were too late. The two individuals that posed a threat were already dead and Mizuki stood there unscathed, blood staining her hands and around her mouth as she maintained an unreadable, dark expression. The soldiers decided not to say anything and just led Mizuki to safety.
As years passed the clan tried to keep a tight lid on Mizuki’s instinct to prevent her from being a threat to others. However, it was much easier said than done. Mizuki struggles with restraint more than half the time, in quick-based events she reflexively moves before she thinks and that isn’t something easily “fixed.” To her it is a method of survival and her free spirit and hatred of being tied down only enhances it. As the princess and next heir to the clan, there are many rules loaded onto her, many of which involve “don’ts.”
Naturally, anyone would become tired and bored of having to follow strict rules every day, so it was no surprise Mizuki found herself hiding from her scholarly officials in an unknown area of her school. It was now time for her to be learning and contemplating the land's history, but that class was more or less a headache; one that she wanted no parts of for the day. She found herself in a dark area of the school; it only had a staircase spiraling downwards. Curious, she decided to see where it would lead. She held out her hand to summon a small flame to light her way as she began her descent into the unknown destination.
The staircase was surprisingly long and took about half an hour if she had to guess. No sound was heard other than her own footsteps and the light flicker of the flame she had illuminating from her hand. She spoke to herself a little bit to maintain some hint of noise in the deafening silence until she approached a