“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche
The night stayed longer than it should have, Kei had known that much but what he couldn’t understand was why he couldn’t move. A weight pressed against Kei’s chest like an iron slab, pinning him to the mattress. His breath came in shallow, frantic gasps, but his body refused to respond.
The room was wrong. The familiar hum of his dorm heater was missing, replaced by an oppressive silence that buzzed faintly in his ears. Shadows pooled in the corners, stretching toward him like reaching hands.
Then he heard it—the soft creak of a door hinge. Kei’s eyes darted toward the sound, though his head wouldn’t turn. His dorm door was ajar, darkness spilling into the room like ink. A figure stood there, framed by the faint glow of the hallway light.
Marin.
Her face was too calm, her features unnaturally smooth. Her hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders, catching the light like strands of midnight. But her eyes—they were fixed on him, as if they could see inside him.
“Kei,” she whispered, her voice like a thread of silk pulled too tight.
She stepped forward, her bare feet soundless against the floor. Her shadow moved strangely, flickering like a candle’s flame.
“Why do you fight me?” she murmured, tilting her head as she approached the bed.
Kei wanted to scream, to thrash against the invisible weight holding him down, but he could only watch as Marin climbed onto the mattress, her movements unnaturally fluid. Her knees sank into the bed on either side of him, her hands resting on his chest.
“You don’t need to be afraid,” she said, her lips curving into a soft smile. “I’ll take care of you.”
Her fingers brushed his jaw, tilting his head back to expose his throat. She leaned closer, her breath warm against his skin.
“Just let me in,” she whispered, her voice dripping with an intimacy that made his stomach churn.
Then she lowered her lips to his neck, and his skin burned where she touched him.
Kei woke with a gasp, his body jolting upright as though breaking the surface of deep water. His chest heaved as he clutched the sheets, the cool air of his dorm room biting at his sweat-drenched skin.
He grabbed his phone from the nightstand, his hands trembling as he checked the time.
4:03 AM.
The campus grounds were cloaked in a pre-dawn stillness, the sky a deep navy tinged with the faintest hint of gold. Kei shoved his hands into his pockets, his breath visible in the crisp morning air as he wandered aimlessly.
The quiet was unsettling, every sound amplified in the emptiness. His footsteps seemed too loud, echoing against the stone paths.
Near the science building, a faint glow caught his attention. Curious, he approached, the silhouette of a figure coming into view.
“Yuta?” he called softly.
The girl turned, her messy ponytail bouncing as she adjusted the goggles perched atop her head. Her lab coat hung loosely over her uniform, giving her a disheveled, almost comedic appearance.
“Kei?” she replied, squinting at him through the dim light. “What are you doing up this early?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” Kei said, stopping a few steps away.
Yuta grinned, holding up a test tube filled with a faintly glowing pink liquid. “Science doesn’t sleep,” she declared dramatically.
Kei raised an eyebrow. “So you’re…doing experiments? At four in the morning?”
“Best time for it,” Yuta said with a shrug. “No distractions, no interruptions. Just me and the magic of chemistry.”
Kei chuckled softly despite himself. “You’re really into this, huh?”
“Science is everything to me,” Yuta said, her tone softening. She reached up to fiddle with the silver beaker-shaped charm hanging from her necklace. “It’s the one thing that makes sense, you know? The one thing I can control.”
Kei nodded, her words striking a chord he didn’t expect. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I get that.” For a moment, they stood in companionable silence, the cool morning air wrapping around them like a fragile cocoon.
“Anyway,” Yuta said, breaking the quiet with a grin, “don’t let me keep you. Unless you want to help me blow something up?”
Kei laughed, shaking his head. “Maybe next time.”
The light spilling through the window was pale and diffused, casting soft shadows across Marin’s room. She sat on the edge of her bed, brushing her dark hair with slow, deliberate strokes. Each motion was measured, almost reverent, as though taming the strands was part of a sacred ritual.
The brush caught on a small tangle, and Marin frowned faintly, smoothing it out with careful precision.
Her routine unfolded in silence. She rose, stepping into the bathroom where steam curled lazily from the shower. The water cascaded over her skin, the heat soothing the faint ache in her muscles.
Her hands glided over her arms, her legs, methodically shaving each surface until her skin was smooth and flawless.
Afterward, she stood before the mirror, the towel wrapped loosely around her frame. Her reflection stared back, her gaze calm yet distant. She applied her makeup with practiced ease, the dark liner sharpening her gaze and the crimson lipstick giving her an air of quiet confidence. Her hands lingered on the drawer beside her desk.
Inside were photos—dozens of them. Kei’s face smiled up at her from every frame, some pictures candid, others from years ago. A faint smile curved her lips as she picked one up, her fingers brushing over the edges.
At the foot of her bed was a small shrine. A single candle flickered beside a framed photo of her sister, the flame casting dancing shadows across the surface. Marin knelt before it, bowing her head as her hands clasped in prayer.
“I’ll make it right,” she whispered, her voice steady. “I’ll live the life you deserved.”
The candle flickered again, as though in response. Marin rose gracefully, smoothing her skirt before grabbing her bag. She glanced at the photo one last time before leaving, her footsteps soft against the hard floor.
The council meeting was subdued, the usual chatter replaced by focused discussion about the upcoming festival. Yuta’s enthusiasm for a science exhibit clashed with Yuki’s pragmatism, their playful bickering filling the room.
Marin silenced them with a single glance, her presence commanding without effort.
Kei sat stiffly, his hands clenched beneath the table as Marin moved about the room. Her every gesture, every word dragged him back to the nightmare he couldn’t shake.
At one point, Marin placed a hand on his shoulder, her touch lingering. “You’ve been a tremendous help, Kei,” she said, her voice warm.
Kei froze, his chest tightening. The memory of her weight on him in the dream surged to the surface, and he fought the urge to push her away.
The bathroom was quiet, the faint drip of a faucet echoing in the empty space.
Kei splashed water onto his face, his chest heaving as he tried to steady his breathing.
I’m losing it, he thought, gripping the edge of the sink. His reflection stared back at him, pale and gaunt, his eyes rimmed with exhaustion.
But then, the reflection shifted.
Marin’s face appeared beside his own, her gaze bore into him, her lips curving into a faint smile.
“Get out of my head,” Kei muttered, his voice trembling.
The reflection didn’t move. Marin’s eyes seemed to pierce through him, her presence felt oppressive as if she were in the room with him. With a strangled cry, Kei lashed out, his fist connecting with the mirror. The glass shattered, shards falling into the sink as blood dripped from his knuckles.
He stared at the fractured reflection, his breathing ragged. Marin’s face was gone, replaced by his own haunted eyes.
End of chapter
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137,978 Literary Works • 672,071 Reviews
Hi RatHat!
Didn’t do much reading the past 4 days –we were on vacation! But I’m back now and the dice have chosen another chapter of Eternal Beauty!
Nice to have the longer Nietzsche quote for once :3
Okay, there just is something about your descriptions that makes me feel dread for your characters. I mean I believe this is a dream sequence and still I’m invested in what Kei’s going through! I forgot how easily I slip into your story to be right in the moment with him! @.@
And how you describe Marin, ahhh. “unnaturally fluid”. It’s so good and so creepy and Kei can’t do anything against and is probably not even sure if he should do something. I like how you really use these dreams to show his mental state, things he probably wouldn’t admit for himself. And this consume thing you mentioned in PM is becoming more and more obvious.
Can you really not do anything abt the “Delete”s haunting the story? That takes me right out :/
Also feels like this sentence of this particular paragraph really overdoes it with the adjectives and adverbs: “Kei shoved his hands into his pockets, his breath visible in the crisp morning air as he wandered aimlessly.“
Hnngg my least favourite character. Alright Yuta, what can you do for the story today?
Well. Seems like she’s here to hammer home the point abt control? I still don’t like her and find her inclusion too out-there to fit the tone of the story.
“ where steam curled lazily from the shower.” Since the previous part of the sentence has her going into the shower, this makes it seem as if the steam is already there from even before she goes in.
Oha it sounds like Sugei/Marin might have been also obsessed with Kei. As if even before has not been a one-sided thing. Or alternatively, Sugei is going “Well, Marin loved Kei like this, I will continue this—for her”? The latter seems more and more likely, considering her words to the shrine…
I like that Kei is still thinking of and still affected by the nightmare. I like that this has him question the situation more sharply!
I can only repeat how much I love reading this story and I’m looking forward to when the dice land on it next :3
Oh gosh, I’m so behind! Of course, CATS here to leave a review. Let’s dive in!
The quote really tells us what they have been experiencing these past few days. I wonder what will happen...will Marin haunt them?
Ok, so it starts off with Kei being frantic and full of terror. Seems like I was right! Marin is coming. I can see that Kei has been jumpy like this for a while, in the middle of the night.
Oh wow. Marin sure is creepy, trying to “bite” Kei’s throat is what I interpreted. I’m glad that Kei woke up, although I would think that he was already awake, but maybe he was waking up from a hallucination.
Wow! Yuta is so focused on her studies of science. I could never wake up that early...at least, for school related stuff.
Oh, so Yuta uses science to grey things off her mind. That’s a good way to cope. LEARN, Kei!
At least the word Delete separates the two perspectives. I feel like you should separate them with their names.
Marin sure sounds beautiful. Sugei has gotten so used to being Marin. But I hope he gets over it. You can’t just become someone you lost.
Kei is so haunted by the dream, the ghost, and Sugei! Go easy on him. Omg he punches the mirror??? That shows how scared he was.
Really loved this one
Moving in!
Happy EVERYTHING!!!
Love,
CATS
Aha, it looks like I beat Cat this time. One thing she mentioned in her review that I forgot to point out in the last chapter is Kukui's wounds. To me it seemed implied that she was probably harming herself out of guilt or shame or to feel what Marin felt. You *could* make it more explicitly stated if that's a recurring piece of feedback, but personally I just assumed it based on Kukui's nightmares and shame. Anyway, on to THIS chapter.
If it's nighttime then how is he seeing shadows? Unless he has a night light or there is a light source outside, shouldn't it be pretty shadowy and dark in his room to begin with? My dorm rooms certainly were.
Okay and see here, you say darkness spilling into the room, but you also say the figure is silhouetted which means some light should be coming into the room making it lighter not darker.
It was my understanding from previous descriptions that Marin IS quite soft and smooth in appearance. It stood out to me that Sugei was even able to replicate it. If you meant something more by it, I would maybe expound on that, like saying she was doll-like, rubber, plastic, something like that.
I remember this is the friend that Yuki mentioned at the beginning of her tour, but that was a long time ago without ever seeing or hearing about her again. I would add a quick reminder of who she is somewhere around this paragraph.
I fear for Kei. I don't know Marin's intentions, but they border on stalkerish, especially getting him involved with the counsel and having so many photographs etc.
There are several delete notes. They always seem to come at what would be scene breaks, so I'm not sure if these are old chapter breaks or YWS screwing with your formatting or what.
There is a lot of psychological terror going on here, as everyone seems haunted by each other. One thought I have is why Kukui remains when she seems to unsettled. I feel like she might have thoughts of dropping out or going to her old school or something.
And Kei has quite a strong reaction compared to how he acts around Sugei and the counsel. With how much time they've spent together at this point it probably would be hard to flip the switch, and that part I do buy. But I feel this will come to a head, perhaps in the climax at the festival. We shall see.
~Messy
U beat me...but not for long!
HELLO MESSY!!!!
I love reading your reviews so much, they are very insightful!
Yes, I did notice that some of my writing here was a bit contradictive...
The Marin we see here is not Sugei but Kei hallucinating... should I have made that more clear in the chapter?
No i think it was clear ehen it was a hallucination and when it wasnt