Poisoned Justice: Café of Shadows

Frieren

(For a thousand years, I've served the same tea. The faces change, but the ritual remains.)

Furina

Behold! The Justice Parfait - where every layer represents the scales of divine judgment!

Soifon

(0.3 seconds. These tables need to be spotless. Something's wrong here.)

Jirou

(The heartbeat in the kitchen... it's not human. It's hunting her.)

Furina

This... this parfait was supposed to have cherry syrup, not... crimson?

Soifon

Furina-dono, don't touch that. The kitchen reeks of bloodlust.

Frieren

(Ah. So the hunter becomes the hunted. I've seen this poison before - in the age when demons still walked these lands.)

Furina

The Justice Parfait... it was supposed to be perfect... why does it taste like... betrayal?

Jirou

(The killer... they're already inside her. The poison isn't in the parfait... it's been in her bloodstream for three days.)

Frieren

The binding spell recognizes this poison. It hasn't been used since the Demon Wars.

Furina

What... what is this? Why can't I move my arm?

Soifon

Flash Release: Blade of the Thunder Goddess!

Furina

(That reflection... those aren't my eyes... they're the same color as the poison...)

Frieren

The poison isn't killing you, Furina. It's awakening something that was always inside you.

Jirou

(The heartbeat... it's synchronized with the poison. Furina's becoming the monster we were supposed to protect her from.)

Furina

Justice... shall be served... by my own hand...

Frieren

(After a thousand years... I never thought I'd see the Crimson Judge reborn. And she's been hiding inside the Hydro Archon all along.)

Furina

The verdict... is death!

Furina

(No! This isn't me! Someone help!)

Soifon

(Which Furina? The victim or the killer?)

Frieren

The Crimson Judge has awakened. But the host fights back.

Furina

(Furina de Fontaine... you are NOT a killer... remember who you are...)

Jirou

(The heartbeat... it's multiplying. There's not one killer. The entire cafe is infected.)

Frieren

The poison spreads through the walls themselves. This cafe... it's been feeding on us.

Soifon

Take it. Your justice, your choice. But know this - if you fall, I fall with you.

Furina

(Can't breathe... the poison's reaching my heart...)

Jirou

Her heartbeat... it's slowing. Whatever's killing her isn't just poison - it's feeding on her divine essence! we need to help her. or she’ll die.

Frieren

The Crimson Judge's poison requires a host sacrifice. If we don't sever the connection now, she'll become its vessel forever.

Soifon

(My blood contains anti-demon properties. It's risky, but it might be the only way to draw the poison out.)

Furina

I... I don't want to die... not like this... not as a monster...

Soifon

Drink. My blood will either save you or kill us both, but at least you'll die as yourself.

Frieren

(The cafe itself... it's not just a building. It's the Crimson Judge's original prison. And we've been serving tea over its grave for centuries.)

Furina

Justice... has been... served. But whose justice... remains to be seen.