(Disclaimer: dark themes ahead)
Avalon stood there, completely paralysed.
She didn't know what to think, what to feel. She just stood there, heart in her throat and with an emptiness she never felt in her chest.
She wanted to scream. To cry. SOMETHING. This feeling was indescribable, it was like her entire life's purpose had just flown away.
And the next thing she knew, her world went grey.
—
A week passed.
Avalon was in her bed, curled up in her covers like the world was ending. She didn't know how, but after what happened before, she found herself in her room.
Since that day, she hadn't moved from her bed. A single line repeating through her head refusing to let go.
Why do you run?
It was like a parasite that refused to let go. Clinching to her mind and never letting her breathe without its presence resurfacing.
Avalon wasn't scared. Nor was she sad, angry or any other emotion a person would typically experience at a time like this.
She simply felt… empty. No happiness, No sadness, Nothing. Just pure emptiness.
On the other hand,
Violet was worried about her roommate and brought her meals regularly, but that was as far as it goes.
Why? Because she was the one who brought Avalon back, she was called by the dorm leader and was told her roommate had collapsed at the practice course.
Violet immediately moved to go get her but what she saw was an indifferent umamusume in a wheelchair staring at Avalon's unconscious body.
Of course, Violet asked Chris what happened but all she got was, "Don't worry about it."
Since that day everytime she approached Avalon to ask her a question all she got was depressed mumbling.
And today marks a week.
At this point, Violet was unimaginably tired of Avalon wallowing in whatever despair she was in and snapped.
"AVA!!!"
"...!" Avalon hadn't heard Violet shout so loudly before, so she was a little startled.
"Listen to me." Violet would continue either way, if there was anything an eclipse was good for it was being stubborn,
"I don't know why you're so depressed at the moment, nor do I care anymore. You have a week to get signed by a trainer. Are you actually going to sit here and let all your hard work go down the drain?!"
"What did you do to get here? I'm aware you're an orphan, so tell me. Did you steal the directors money and run away? Did you beat up the younger kids and take from them? Tell me!!"
"Sss~" Boneless was here too.
That set something off in Avalon's brain, why would she steal? She earned each and every penny with her own hands. She spent days analysing each and every uma before a race and simulated the race in her head thousands of times before making her bets.
All she did was to get here. And she was giving up this easily? She hated herself even more for that.
The director was like a father to her, why would she steal from him? And those kids? She loved them more than anything, they were family after all.
The accusations Violet made got Avalon extremely angry, an anger that burned away all the emptiness she felt previously.
"What the hell…?" Avalon muttered as she began to get out of bed.
"...!" Violet perked up, it seemed like her provocation worked! A smile was about to grace her lips when all of a sudden a hand grabbed her collar and pulled her closer.
"You can badmouth me as much as you like." Avalon spoke quickly and concisely, "But you say a word about my family like that again, and I may not be so merciful."
Violet had no time to react, she could only nod. She wasn't afraid of Avalon in the slightest, she knew basic self defense as the heir of a prominent family.
But the look on her face was definitely intimidating.
Avalon let go of Violet, calmed down a bit and said, "Thank you though, Vi. I'm a bit more clear headed now. I know what to do."
The smile Violet shoved down came up once again, replying with a simple, "Anytime."
"Sssss~"
And so, Avalon quickly changed into her tracksuit, which was thoughtfully cleaned by Violet, and left to find Chris.
—
Chris was currently sitting in her wheelchair, once again at the local course. She snuck herself a cigarette and began to puff on it once again.
'Heh. I've gone and traumatised another child. Aren't I horrible, little sister?'
Chris wasn't always like this. Born in 1904 she grew up a happy kid, life full of surprises and a heart of pure golden innocence.
What brought her real happiness however, was her little sister, Berlin Belle.
She was the only family Chris had, but it was more than enough for her. In order to stay afloat though, they needed money.
And what better way to make money as an umamusume than races, right? What Chris didn't expect however, was that she was incredibly talented.
So much so that she was even challenged by the legendary Man O' War once, and to even her surprise, stained the legends record.
Each and every win she racked up, the smiling admiration on her sister's face grew immeasurably.
And that smile, the goofy, happy smile that Chris always looked back to, warmed her heart more than words could explain.
Chris was an undefeated tyrant of her era.
Was.
Near the end of Chris' Classic year, after going undefeated for 4 G1s, 3 G3s, 2 G2s and a single SP 1, the war started.
Sirens sounded and people were told to evacuate during one of Chris' races. However she wasn't concerned about her own safety. Her little sister was currently at home listening to the radio, probably scared out of her mind.
So Chris ran, faster than she had her entire career, her sister was her everything. If she lost her, what would her life be worth?
Straight through the terrorised city, weaving through civilians, aiming for one destination.
Home.
BANG-!
She slammed open the door, out of breath and completely exhausted. But nonetheless, she shouted,
"BELLE?!"
All of a sudden, a small uma popped out of the closet and ran into Chris' arms as a scared, crying mess.
"Sis… whatz happening?" She shakily let out.
"Dont worry, I've got you, it's okay, we're gonna be okay." Chris reassured as she led the little uma out of the building.
But sadly…
They didn't get very far.
A sharp whistling sound came from outside.
Whistle-!
And moments later,
BOOM-!
The building was decimated, debris flew everywhere and Chris hung onto Belle for dear life… until a stray cinder block hit her head.
Bang-!
Chris was out cold.
…
"Cough!"
Moments later, Chris woke up, her hearing impaired and her right arm completely shredded.
But she couldn't care about either of those things.
"BELLE!"
She had to find her sister. At any cost.
She scrambled at the debris, dug and dug, screamed her name as much as she could, but it was useless, she couldn't hear her sisters cry for help.
But maybe some god pitied her, because right when Chris was about to break down, she heard a weak voice.
"S..is.te…r"
"BELLE?! BELLE, BIG SISTERS COMING OKAY?! STAY STILL!"
Chris moved into the direction of the voice as fast as she could and dug as deep and as fast as possible.
Until she finally found her sister…
With a metal support pole lodged into her chest.
Chris froze. No, this couldn't happen, not her, anyone but her, ANYONE!!!
"S…is…" Belle began to speak.
"Nonono please dont speak, not now not yet please we can get you some help so please-" Chris was trying her best to stay calm but her shaking voice betrayed her.
However, Belle couldn't hear Chris and kept talking, "Do…n't…di..e.s…i..ster."
And through all the pain she was experiencing somehow, she managed to ache out a smile for her precious big sister.
"Okay! I wont so please! Stop talking!" Tears streaked her face at this point. She stopped trying to act strong.and completely broke down into despair.
But once again, Belle didn't hear her big sister and kept going, "He-y s-si..s? I…c-a…n'ttt see…"
But her eyes were wide open. Her body began to go cold.
"NO STAY WITH ME!!! PLEASE!!!" Chris screamed her heart out. But it was no use.
Belle's consciousness was slowly leaving but the stubborn little sister, who finally noticed what was happening, decided to leave with a smile.
And she smiled, as goofy and warm as it had been every time her big sister won a race.
"I…m… so…p-ro..u.d..of…y-ou..si-s..t.e..r."
And like that,
Chris' reason to run vanished exactly how she appeared.
With a smile.
—
After this, Chris had to get her arm amputated and her eye was cut by the debris so she had to wear an eyepatch over her eye.
What she didn't notice however was the metal beam lodged in her leg which removed her ability to ever participate in another race.
Not that she cared, she wanted to die.
But she didn't.
Why? Because that was her sister's dying wish.
5 years later, she applied for a trainer Job at Royal Alcott Umamusume Academy and surprisingly got accepted with open arms.
But she would never actively take on a trainee unless they approached her first.
However, everytime they insisted she would ask them to do the same as Avalon did and watch their confident faces turn into a mess of tears and trauma.
Not a single person could give her the answer she truly wanted. No matter who it was.
So she remained a trainer, slowly rotting away with no one to train. She would go to the local course every once and a while to let out her frustrations. But it never truly worked.
The emptiness still stayed there.
Watching.
And now we're back here, reminiscing about the past in a wheelchair.
"What a terrible big sister I am…" she muttered.
"MS. CHRIS!!!"
"...!" Her name being called almost made her drop her cigarette, turning to see who it was she saw a sight she didn't think she would as long as she lived.
A small black and gold haired umamusume, staring at her dead in the eye with a determination stronger than she could imagine.
"I have my answer."
—
END OF CHAPTER
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