[ Credens Justitiam ]

As the floor gave way beneath her feet she tumbled down for what felt like an infinity. The court room, the faces of her classmates all fell away in a blur…

[Short steps, deep breath, everything is alright]

It was hard to see when she tried to open her eyes, they fought against the bright light above. Misaki was lying on the ground of an enormous glass building, every single inch filled with lush plant life. A greenhouse. The clear blue skies left her with a feeling of serenity. The sunlight cast tiny rainbows as it scattered through the glass panes. She looked around at the trees and flowers, bushes and grasses, an exotic rainbow of colours. She could name them all if she tried, each one had its use. All of them were naturally poisonous.

[Chin up, I can't step into the spotlight]

The plants began to writhe, breaking her out of the peaceful trance. Misaki scrambled to her feet but a large vine, with sharp red thorns, whipped around her leg. Thin streaks of pink appeared within moments as the thorns punctured deep into her calf.

[He said, "I'm sad" – somehow without any words]

Even in her panic she could see through all the greenery, her work bench waited at the other end of the room. It would have all the tools she would need. She could cut herself free, she could make an antidote, she could live.

[I just stood there, searching for an answer]

There was nothing she could do about the vine still clinging to her leg, its thorns were too dense and sharp to try and remove with bare hands. It pulls at her, as she tries to push herself forward. The punctures turn to gashes and more blood paints her leg. Sweat on her brow, she grits her teeth and moves on.

[When this world is no more]

Her hand reaches forward on its own, instinctually to find some purchase, to keep her balance. It lands on the trunk of a small tree with pointed orange leaves. Sap seeped from the bark and onto her palm, it stung like acid and she let out a yelp of pain, pulling away.

[The moon is all we'll see]

She fell again, into a bed of fragrant flowers with pale purple petals. Pollen rose into the air as she disturbed their resting place. Her body now began to compensate for the stress, the physical pain she was under. Her breathing became erratic, unwittingly drawing the noxious pollen into her lungs.

[I'll ask you to fly away with me]

Seconds passed before her throat started burning, her eyes started watering, her head started spinning.

Still she moved on, a single goal fixed in her mind.

[Until the stars all fall down]

She crawled across the ground on her elbows - her leg torn and numb, her hand burnt and twitching - only able to move a few inches at a time. Her breaths turned to wheezing coughs as her airways began to close.

[They empty from the sky]

None of the plants around her could be used as remedies without time and preparation, they were useless to her now when she needed them most. She was useless…

“I-“ words were caught behind another coughing fit. Her inches of progress slipped away as she lost the will to move and the ferocious vine dragged her backwards.

[But I don't mind]

“I promised… I pr omised… I’,m s or- sorr y……”

Misaki whispered these dying words with the last of her breath, before another vine shot out from the foliage, wrapping itself around her neck.

The thorns pieced her skin and blood gushed from the wounds. A gurgling sound was all anyone could hear as blood filled her throat and lungs. Her body was pulled back until she was kneeling, now bleeding hands clawing at her neck. Her eyes rolled back into her skull. It lifted her up, the first vine slipped away leaving her dangling freely. The second squeezed her neck, tighter and tighter and tighter. Until with an incredible snap – the sound of both bone and flesh being rend in two – Misaki’s body fell to the ground. Her head still in the grip of the vine as it retreated back into the foliage.

[If you're with me, then everything's alright]