Flum Apricot awoke in a completely pitch-dark space.
“Morning. Can you see?” Standing in front of her was a girl with black hair who looked exactly like her, as if she were looking in a mirror.
“Me…?”
“That’s right. I’m probably you from a previous life.”
“No, come on, that’s imposs—” Just as Flum said that, though, she realized that she had unfamiliar memories in her mind. Memories of a past life, when she was Flum Watermoon. “But why do I know these things? What is this?”
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“Since we’re in the same body, maybe my memories from when I was out there are in your mind, too.”
“You say that, but I have no idea where I am right now. Do you know?”
“I dunno. Maybe it’s like, a place where souls or such reside.” It was pitch-dark, and she couldn’t see anything except for the other person, but it did seem like there was a floor and walls. Flum got up and faced the self-proclaimed “Flum” from a previous life.
“I’m sorry. It seems like I ended up taking over your body for a little while.”
“There was nothing anyone could’ve done. My memories were sealed away. But I can’t forgive you for making Milkit sad.”
“There was nothing I could’ve done about that either, though. I talked to her because I thought she was the Milkit I knew.” This Flum thought she had done something wrong herself, and she seemed to be just as sad about it herself. That pain remained in Flum’s memory, so she couldn’t condemn her any further.
“So…your Milkit is waiting outside for her master to come back,” said “Flum,” pointing off to the right. There was a deep darkness spreading in that direction, but there was probably an exit there. “I wonder if the Milkit I know is over there…”
As she said that, she gazed off toward the left. There was a light visible in that direction, and beyond it, a beautiful, unfamiliar meadow. Flum thought it was a pretty sight, but at the same time, she thought that if she went there, she’d never be able to return.
“So it is really true that you’re me from a past life, then?”
“Who knows? I don’t think that anyone could say for sure unless they’re God. But ‘Flum’ is here, and ‘Milkit’ is nearby. After such a long, long time, to have such a miracle occur… I can’t help but think it’s fate or something.”
“You mean that it’s not just a coincidence that Milkit and I met?”
“I can’t say for sure about that either, but don’t you think that’s way too unlikely? I feel like it’s more natural to think that fate brought the two of you together, rather than coincidence.”
The moment they met, Flum had looked into Milkit’s eyes and felt that they were beautiful. Was that also fate, she wondered?
Feeling a little lonely, she put her hand to her chest, and looked down.
“This feeling is fate…”
“No, that’s not it!” “Flum” immediately denied it. It seemed like she had some reason that she could state that so definitively. “She wasn’t the Milkit that I knew and loved, and I wasn’t the Flum she loved, either. That’s only natural, since we lived completely different lives. The relationship we had formed was also completely different.”
She was supposed to have been reunited with the person she loved. But in the end, all she had was an intense feeling of loneliness. “It’s like fate only takes care of us up until that point where we meet, I think. Up to that point, it’s the result of our past lives working hard and making out all lovey-dovey.”
“Making out all lovey-dovey…”
“Huh? You aren’t doing that? I thought for sure you were lovers, though.”
“No! Milkit and I aren’t lovers…”
For some reason, “Flum” looked at Flum with a look of doubt in her eyes. “Hmm. Maybe that’s the difference.”
“What’re you ultimately trying to say here?”
“I’m saying that everything that happened after you met is the relationship that you’ve built together, a relationship that’s unique to the two of you.” No matter how much fate brought two people together, if they didn’t feel attracted to each other, they would remain strangers. It was this Flum and Milkit’s will that led to their meeting in the dungeon, holding hands and escaping to the outside together, and then deepening their relationship to the point where they wanted to be together forever. That was how it seemed.
“Go. You’re the only one who can protect Milkit-chan.”
“Flum” said that as though she were giving Flum a gentle push forward, but Flum had always intended to do just that from the start anyway. She started walking toward the exit, while “Flum” started walking toward the light.
Flum, suddenly curious about something, asked “Flum” a question.
“Hey. Wasn’t there something you wanted to do too, though, if you were alive?” It was a question that she simply asked out of curiosity, with no other meaning.
“Flum” stopped walking and casually replied, “Yes, there was.” She raised her gaze slightly, as if trying to remember something.
“But you know what Rischel and Milkit said. We’re already dead, and we have no place in this world. Even though we’re long-forgotten dead people, we cling to life stubbornly, not knowing when to give up, reaching out for what we’ve lost and our unfulfilled wishes, and that ends up becoming a ‘curse,’ I think.”
It wasn’t a conclusion that she had reached after being convinced of the facts. However, when Rischel appeared before her after changing into that monstrous form, “Flum” understood. She realized that, despite the difference in appearance, she was essentially the same.
“So it’s okay. I’m going to the place I should be going.” She had completely given up. In that sense, she might’ve even been able to be grateful to Rischel. As she moved to the light once more, this time, “Flum” asked Flum a question.
“Oh, that reminds me. If things continue as they are, there’d be no point in coming back to life. Can I just say one last thing?”
Flum went “What?” and looked back at her with a slightly anxious look on her face. “Flum” replied with a mischievous look on her face.
“You two are clearly in love with each other. Just tell her how you feel already. I’m sure she’s waiting for you.” Then with a wink, she walked toward the light.
“What a curse to lay on me, right at the very last minute…!” Flum’s face turned red in an instant.
In the end, “Flum” disappeared into the light without Flum being able to confirm whether all this stuff about a past life was real or not. Though it might have been some kind of hallucination…she could see another girl waiting for “Flum” in the meadow further beyond.
“Ugh, forget it, just forget it! I’ve gotta hurry!” Flum raced toward the exit without looking back.