The grass blades swayed softly as Karabell's hair fluttered in the gentle breeze. His weapons were nowhere to be seen. He couldn't help but let out a soft sigh as he stared into the distance. The sun was setting, seemingly setting the sky ablaze with dozens of shades of orange, pink, perhaps even purple. Was the sun setting or rising? He couldn't tell. Karabell opened his mouth, but no words came out. The sky suddenly looked as if it had been dyed red with blood. Why did that grassy plain feel so familiar? Karabell knew for a fact that he hadn't been there before. As he continued to stare at the sky, the Captain realized how much he missed looking at all the abandoned buildings. He missed the Lower District. Karabell's mind wondered back to his endless conversations with Shono. Why were they fighting? Because they were soldiers? Because they wanted to save the world? Because they'd gotten sick of living in fear? They were all thoughtlessly risking their lives, telling themselves that there was nothing wrong with willingly dying for their ideals. Marno had been murdered. Gun had gone insane. The Lower District's AAD had been destroyed. Base Miu had been annihilated. Squads A and B had lost. Had anyone managed to escape alive? How many more people did they have to lose?
"So, why did you bring us here?" he asked, but his gaze remained glued to the red sky.
The Aberration clasped its hands behind its back and started pacing in front of Karabell. For some reason, it avoided looking him in the eye.
"What is this place?" Karabell inquired again, raising his voice.
He was starting to lose his patience. That Ringleader had brought him there partly against his will. As soon as he'd set foot in that place, all those things he didn't want to think about had started to flood his mind. He deserved an explanation at least. Karabell's shoulders slumped. It wasn't like him to get angry over something like that.
"This is Alfheim. Well, this is how I envisioned it, anyway. It's beautiful, isn't it? A realm of beauty and light. But there are no elves inhabiting this land. In reality, it's nothing more than a place where we can talk, a simple product of my imagination. Is it not to your liking?" the creature said pensively as the wind ruffled its fur.
"I, for one, think it is absolutely superb," they heard an annoyed voice say. "But why are we here? Also, would you mind dying already? Stalling for time won't get you anywhere. I thought you'd put up more of a fight, too. I'm a bit disappointed."
Karabell felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see his friends standing in front of him. So they'd been transported to that strange realm as well. Frederick and Gull were there, too. Gull didn't seem to be feeling any better. Frederick grinned, his arms crossed in front of him. Alice and Een smiled understandingly.
"You were holding back, weren't you?" the Captain heard himself say. "No, that isn't the right way to put it. Halfway through our fight, I realized something. You didn't want to fight us. You made that painfully obvious, you know? First, you tried to scare us away by showing us our darkest memories. You wanted us to recall the moments when we were terrified beyond reason, when we were drowning in regret. You wanted us to question ourselves. To lose hope and give up. That was what that ominous feeling was all about, am I right? Judging by Frederick's reaction, it worked for a little while," Karabell continued, not giving the creature time to answer. "I felt a little shaken myself. Although it took us some time, we managed to snap out of it. Even then, you refused to fight seriously. You took a defensive stance, basically inviting us to hit you. Did you perhaps think we wouldn't break through your armor? But, with Gull's help, we eventually managed to take you out." He paused briefly to catch his breath. "What I can't figure out is why. You did all that because you didn't want to kill us. However, I don't imagine you would've just let us leave. You didn't want us to win, either. That would've meant losing your life. So why did you do all that? What was your goal? No matter how much I thought about it, I wasn't able figure it out."
Karabell massaged his temples. His head hurt. There were way too many thoughts running through his mind. His eyes stared holed through the creature as he awaited its answer. The Ringleader forced a smile, but sorrow clouded its features.
"We are a plague," the creature started in a voice devoid of life, as if each word were painful for it. "We're monsters. We weren't supposed to exist. Even I don't know how it all began. No one knows. That's because we weren't born. We materialized out of nothingness. That is one of the few things I'm sure of. We simply... appeared. Strange, isn't it? All I remember is darkness. Where was I? What was I? I didn't know. I couldn't think about it. It was probably cold there. I couldn't see nor hear anything, and I couldn't breathe. But I didn't die. I don't know how much time passed. It felt like I was stuck in an never-ending nightmare. I wasn't scared. Somehow, it didn't feel wrong. I didn't find it strange, either. Eventually, I heard a sound. For the first time ever, that endless silence had been shattered. And then I saw it. Light. Back then, I had no idea what was happening. I lacked the intelligence to even question it. Little by little, I got closer to that light, but not by my own free will. It felt like an invisible force was dragging me towards it. It was overwhelmingly beautiful. And it was so bright I was forced to close my eyes. The next time I opened them..."
The Aberration stopped talking all of a sudden. The sun had set almost entirely. Something wasn't right. The space around them started to distort, and the surroundings started to change. The sunset grew fainter and fainter. The sky slowly changed colors. Yet again, Karabell's eyes went round, and the color drained out of his face.
"This is the sight I saw before me," the creature said with a seemingly pained smirk.
The Captain couldn't believe his eyes. He tried to take a step forward, but his feet refused to obey him. It felt as if his heart had stopped beating. No, maybe it was beating too fast. Which was it? He couldn't tell.
"There's no doubt about it," he muttered. Despite himself, his voice shook with emotion. "This is... Tokyo."