“If you want a drink, we already have water, tea, and coffee right here.”
“I don’t want anything except this milk tea. There was a vending machine outside the dome. Go on—get going,” Charlotte said, shooing us away with her hand.
Yui stood up, still looking dissatisfied. I hesitated, wondering whether or not to do it…but then tied my hair back tightly and said:
“An enemy. It’s close.”
A shadow immediately appeared, standing in front of the only door to the room.
“What is that…?” Yui murmured, stunned. She’d taken off her eye patch, and her blue eye was wide.
What had looked like a shadow at first turned out to be a black robe. The skeletal being that wore it held a curved blade in both hands, looking like a grim reaper here to take our lives.
“Run!” Charlotte shouted.
The grim reaper vanished, and the next moment, I heard a ferocious metallic crash. The reaper’s blade had locked with the knives Charlotte had drawn.
“We need to go.” The next thing I knew, I’d grabbed Yui’s hand.
“But—!”
“We’re no match for that!”
Charlotte turned back for a moment, and our eyes met. The proud agent smiled and gave a small nod.
“I’m sorry.”
Yui was still hesitating, and I took off running, pulling her along by the hand. Right now, all I should be thinking about was getting the two of us away from the enemy while Charlotte was keeping it pinned down.
“Mia, what is that thing?”
“…I don’t know.”
We burst out into the corridor. There was no one around. Where had all the staff members gone?
“There’s a staff door nearby!”
I ran down the hall, following Yui’s directions.
I may not know what that grim reaper was, but one thing was clear: It could only have been made by Abel. In which case we couldn’t beat it. My will was no match for his codes.
“…Rill.”
If only the Magical Girl was here. We bickered every time we saw each other, but she had fought far more righteously for the world than I had.
“Mia!” Yui called out, and I looked up.
While my thoughts were elsewhere, the world around us had changed, and now we were running through a strange space.
“…What is this?”
The darkness around us was filled with clutter in colors so vivid they made my head hurt. I saw a wheelchair and an old clock, mics and fancy dresses. There was an emerald pendant, a musket, a red ribbon. All of them seemed familiar.
“Mia, that way!” Yui pointed at a right turn up ahead, ignoring a standing sign with weird backward writing on it. Her blue eye was shining. I’d just have to trust it.
When we turned the corner, a small pink figure was singing in front of a crowd of shadows. A sudden pain seemed to run through her body, then she put a hand to her throat and collapsed. The audience of shadows began to fade away, but the pink figure reached out desperately toward them.
“That’s…my…”
“…! What are you trying to show us, Abel?”
It was like a nightmare had been drawn into a picture book.
When we turned another corner of the hallway, we saw a girl sitting in a chair on a platform. This time, the figure was purple, dressed as a shrine maiden. Beneath her, dozens of shadows prostrated themselves. A few moments later, flames swept over them. But the girl’s shadow stayed in her chair, not moving a muscle.
“—Ah! This is…”
I’d finally figured it out: This was a world of our sins and regrets.
Which meant the place Abel was trying to lead us to was…
“Mia, over there!”
A door appeared in the darkness. All we could do was open it. Still panting for breath, Yui and I went through together and found ourselves outside.
Face-to-face with a grim reaper.
There wasn’t just one of them, either. The cavernous eyes of several dozen corpses gazed mercilessly at Yui and me.
“………Oh.”
Yui gasped quietly. Her hand was trembling in mine. Not that I was any different.
“I’m a failure as an Oracle.”
To think I hadn’t even been able to foresee this future.
I was scared. Terrified. I had always said, The world’s going to end anyway, as if it meant nothing. Yet when the end was staring me in the face, I trembled like a leaf.
“The others always fought regardless…”
All the other Tuners had always put their lives on the line in order to save the world. Boss, Nagisa, Rill—everybody…
“Mia?” Yui called out.
I’d gently released her hand and stepped out in front of her.
“I’m frightened. I hate this. It’s way too scary…”
What I was saying didn’t match up with what I was doing. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes. Even so, standing on legs that shook terribly, I spread my arms wide, shielding Yui.
But—
“The others always fought anyway!”
Lots of faces rose in the back of my mind. Boss, Nagisa, and Rill, as well as Charlotte, Olivia, and Kimihiko.
“Yui, if I don’t manage to protect you, I’m sorry.”
I knew somehow that there was no way I could win this fight. This was an event where our defeat was set in stone.
“I’m probably going to disappear here.”
Argh, saying it out loud makes me feel like crying again. …This is so scary.
“You’re going to try to protect me anyway?” Yui looked just as uneasy as I did, but she hadn’t turned and run.
“Yes, of course.” Raising my head, I started walking toward the horde of grim reapers.
“After all, I’m older than you.”