Mera rises from the ground.

“He’s right. It’s never too late to try again. So what if you’ve made some mistakes? Recognizing them and trying to grow beyond them is what makes us human!” Mera exclaims.

“Shut up!” Maya shouts.

Tears begin to well up in her eyes. She dashes toward Mera, crashing into her with her shoulder. Mera’s pupils shrink as she was sent flying. She crashes into the ground and rolls over.

My… ribs. Mera thinks as she struggles to breathe.

Maya reaches down toward Mera, but a rock strikes her in the head. 

Maya looks down at Mera before turning around and walking over to Seiren who was sticking out of the rubble. Maya stood before him looking at his bloodied appearance. She wraps her hands around his neck and raises him from the rubble. She looks him in his eyes as she slowly begins increasing the pressure around his neck. 

“You’ve taught yourself how to give up before even trying,” Mera says. She flips over onto her stomach, heaving out each word.  “With strength like yours, those chains should hardly be an issue to break.”

Maya starts to hesitate, slightly loosening her grip on Seiren. He reaches down into his pocket and pulls out a gold wedding band. He raises it into Maya’s eyesight and her expression warps as though twisted by grief.

“You’ve sat in that cell, twisted by your own self-hate. Torturing yourself with thoughts that you might be responsible for your fiance's death. The cycle kept repeating, eroding away any semblance of who you were. And eventually, you gave up because the emotions were too much to bear.” Seiren says as he grasps, Maya’s wrists.

“It’s okay to feel that way and to even express your negative emotions. But what isn’t okay, is allowing those feelings to control you, wallowing in despair and just accepting things as they come!”  Mera shouts as she rises from the ground. After doing so, she stands there as if she realized something herself. 

Maya shudders for a few moments as she releases Seiren and stumbles backward. A wave of tears rolls down her cheeks, and Maya begins gripping at her head as she starts to groan. Her want to break free from her inactive state began to clash with her guilt and grief. Images of her fiance bloodied and beaten begin to fill her head. Soon after similar images of her other teammates also flood her mind. She drops to her knees and grits her teeth from the mental strain. 

These… These aren’t my memories! I never saw their final moments. The last thing I saw was Nette pushing me. So what exactly are these? Maya thinks.

“Uh, we seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties! I’m sure our Silent Executioner will be UP AND READY TO KILL IN A JUST A MOMENT? RIGHT?!” The advocate exclaims.

Maya hears his voice then looks to Seiren and Mera, noticing the collar around their necks.

I understand why they have a collar, but why do I have a collar, if I don’t have a partner. It wouldn’t be here if it didn’t serve a purpose, right? Maya thinks. 

She reaches upward, trying to grab the collar, fighting through the mental pain, as she inched closer. Right as she placed a finger on it, her chains began to glow, and pulled her arms back down to the ground.

“No no no! That collar is not for you to touch!” The advocate yells, nearly crushing the mic in anger. 

You telling me not to, it’s basically confirmation. Maya thinks.

Maya sits up. She pulls her arms off of the ground, despite the weight. Then begins stretching her arms apart, pulling at the chain holding her two arms together. The weight doubles, causing her arms to buckle slightly but she persists, ripping away from the chains with as much might as she can muster. 

Crack!

The chain breaks and fragments go shooting everywhere, spreading across the ground.

I didn’t realize it, but I haven’t been able to use my ability either. I never even tried. It's partially my fault, but also the fault of this collar, I’m guessing? She thinks.

Maya wraps her hands around the collar and with a tug, turns it to scrap metal. She drops the two halves onto the ground, where they make a crater, which causes some dust to fly up. After removing the collar, red vein-like marks slowly trace their way down her body before disappearing.