“What do we do now?!” I ask, splashing through the sludge surrounded by burning debris.
“We listen and then make ourselves heard.”
“What?!”
“Come with me!”
He’s running toward a mountain of rubble a little taller than everything else. He scrambles up a pile of cars, runs along the wall of a collapsed multiuse building, and uses the bottom of a fishing boat thrown onto its side as a foothold. I follow desperately behind. He reaches out to pull me up onto the fishing boat. With the Keystone in one arm, I take his hand with the other and somehow manage to get onto the boat. I stand next to him, panting. Here at the peak of the wreckage, we have a view of the entire town burning around us.
“O Divine Gods who dwell beneath this land!” Souta thunders. He’s looking out over the burning town and beyond it to where the worm and Sadaijin are tangled together. His deep voice resonates through the air of Ever-After.
“You have long protected us for generations. Your mountains and rivers that we have long called our own—”
He spreads his arms wide, as if to embrace the entire town. His eyes are closed, and beads of sweat dot his face.
“We respectfully return them to you!”
As he shouts these last words, he claps his hands together. I stare, astonished, at the scene before me.
The burning nighttime town is swaying as if I’m seeing it through a thin curtain. The black of the rubble and the red of the flames fade and melt together, and in their place fresh colors rise to the surface.
They show the town as it once was, lit up by the morning sun. Brightly colored rooftops reflect the light, cars drive down the streets, and traffic lights blink green and red. A white fishing boat glitters on the blue horizon far away. The air is fresh and clear, full with the promise of the burgeoning spring and rich with the smells of everyday life. The scent of miso soup, of grilled fish, of laundry, and of kerosene. The smell of a town on an early spring morning.
Eventually, I hear soft voices, like the wind is blowing them to me. Young voices, elderly voices, strong voices, kind voices—all overlaying each other in a hubbub that fills my ears.
Good morning.
Good morning.
Let’s eat!
I’ll see you later.
That was delicious.
See you after school.
Come home as early as you can!
Take the car on the drive to work.
See you after work!
Yes, see you when you get back.
Okay, I’m off!
Okay, I’m off!
Okay, I’m off!
I’m hearing everyone as they go about their morning. That morning.
“I know life is transient.”
Souta’s booming voice above my head brings me back to the present. The town before us is burning again, and it’s night. He closes his eyes, brings his hands together, and shouts, like he’s praying.
“I know death is always with us. Even so, we pray to survive another year, another day, another hour.”
Hot wind flecked with the sparks of Ever-After whips through his black hair and his long white overshirt.
“Ferocious, all-powerful gods! Please, please—!”
Souta opens his eyes and speaks even louder. He is looking far into the distance, where Sadaijin is riding the worm’s head. The huge white beast is frozen, staring at Souta.
“—I beg of you!”
Sadaijin roars in response. Jumping off the worm, it runs straight toward us. It leaps over a row of houses in a single stride; with another, it crosses the burning river and with another the school grounds, bearing down on us by the second. Like a gust of night wind blowing through the town, the white beast draws near. Souta’s big hand silently grabs mine as I reflexively stagger backward.
“Surrender.”
Sadaijin opens its mouth wide. The flame of its red tongue and its rows of sharp teeth close in. I shut my eyes, waiting for it to swallow us.
“Huh?”
But a second later, I’m falling through the sky.
The wind is raging in my ears, my skirt is flapping wildly, and the horizon line is spinning out of control. I see my hair band fly off in the wind. My ponytail comes apart, and my hair buffets my face. I’m falling through the sky of Ever-After with the Keystone still in my hands.
“…Ah!”
In the distance, Souta is also falling. He’s holding a Keystone, too. I understand in a flash that Sadaijin has turned back into a statue. Souta is holding Sadaijin, and I’m holding Daijin. Souta raises the Keystone in both hands over his head. He is falling toward the raised head of the worm. I look down. I’m falling toward the worm’s tail, which is rising into the sky.
I know what I need to do.
I raise the Keystone over my head, just like Souta, still hurtling downward. The tail seems to have countless entwined blood vessels laid bare on its body. Inside each one runs a glittering red stream. Veins of blue light begin to trail from the Keystone I’m holding. The lines of red and blue stretch out as if seeking one another. It’s beautiful, like I’m falling inside a fireworks display.
I channel the energy of my fall and the weight of my body into my voice.
“We return you!” I scream at the top of my lungs as I swing the Keystone down toward the worm’s body.
Instantly, all the veins making up the worm boil, bubble, and burst.
Two long blue spears of light pierce the worm’s head and tail at the same time.
The next moment, its massive body explodes into light, becoming rain that pours down on the earth. The heavy blanket of clouds blows away, and brilliant starlight illuminates the world below. Sparkling rainbow-colored drops laden with energy from the earth caress the town’s wreckage, calming the flames. The remains of the worm, arched like a bridge in the air, drift slowly to the ground. It is made of soil. The land soaks up this shower of rain and earth, and plants sprout before my eyes. Green envelops the rubble as if it is embracing the whole town. A tranquil ruin emerges, covered in deep green and lit by brilliantly shining stars.