*
"Fuuu~ it's so tiring. Also... [Idealism of a magical maiden's transient heroism: panta rhei]. "
I reach back in time to retrieve their corpses, then I localise the target of the magic to their body and rewound time to the point before they died, healing their wounds. 3 familiar figure's stood before me. It would be strange if I revived them at the time of their deaths... They would have been waiting behind the scenes for a long while before I could actually meet them. I didn't want to put them through the excruciating wait, so I revived them now.
Myuu, Paridia and Gerald. Their figures were the exact same as the day I met them... Well magical girls weren't suppose to have their figures changed in the first place. I wonder... If I could... Cast it on myself... What would happen then?
Well, no time like the present. I brought her to safety, so it should be fine. At this time, present Kaede should already be at the edge of the world, it was a subdimension so in terms of time and distance, it is within the bounds of this universe yet infinitely far away. Then there should no longer be anymore possible time paradoxes.
" [Idealism of a magical maiden's transient heroism: panta rhei]!"
I split myself back into... Kaori and Himei. Our existences sort of homogenised back when we fused, so technically both of us are both Kaori and Himei, and I simply separated our bodies but cloned my soul and ego to fill both. But since we homogenised, we could also play both roles. But for the future that is to be, I'm sure we'll make many happy memories and begin to differentiate into our individual selves again. A shame, now I could feel my chest physically lightened... And the fox ears are gone... But I'm back to my original wedding gown combat dress.
".... Mhmmm!" (Myuu)
With a groan, Myuu woke up. She used her arms to prop herself up and lifted her waist with both arms and legs, before successfully struggling to stand on her 2 feet.
"... What the hell... [Grail of the centralised nebula]. " (Myuu)
She raised her hand and cast a magic fitting for magical girls, a vibrant green light showered the bodies of the 3 for a short moment, causing their faces to regain their vigour. The other 2 soon also managed to get stand back up with less groaning and difficulty due to Myuu's help.
"... You... Did you cheat on me and got married...?" (Myuu)
Her striking Hazel eyes peered deep into my soul, dealing critical damage as she inquired solemnly. Her twintails flow along the wind like elegant golden feathers under the rising dawn.
" What's... Going on... " (Gerald)
"Yeah..." (Paridia)
"What the fuck...? You're dressed in... All white...?" (Gerald)
"Speaking of which, we never really addressed it... You came and went like a storm. " (Kanou)
"Hey, I think you're forgetting to revive someone... My final skill basically recreates the entire universe and destroys the previous one, it can't rewind time like yours without the ambiguous ethical implications bothering me..." (Himei)
" Ah! [Idealism of a magical maiden's transient heroism: panta rhei]! Bring De Lan back! "
It was hopelessly noisy, but also super lively. It was something that Kaori couldn't help but treasure. Everything was finally returning to some semblance of normality. Her friends were revived and the Demon King was defeated along with Zedicia. What feud did they have with Zedicia anyway? If Zedicia was under orders from Himei, that meant the underworld sect of the Sanctuary was government regulated since Himei was synonymous with the government...
It was a country's specialised department of their own government that dealt with the underworld, an attempt by Himei to control even the unlawful side of her own country. But the human experiments got out of hand. The kidnapped orphans were no more than lab rats in that environment, it was Celistane Frey's reason to rebel against Himei... Because she knew it was government controlled.
But it also meant Kaori's efforts weren't useless. She managed to defeat the boss of the underworld, whom was also on the level of a god magical girl, Zedicia, The Progenitor. The Progenitor cult was the one of the most belligerent entities in the world, with roots spread over every faction. Defeating the strongest individual in the underbelly of a nation's black market would send a strong enough message.
And at this time, Himei should also have accumulated enough forces to tackle most of the outlawed industry. Unlike the start of The Great Disaster where she had no choice but to let Zedicia manage the underworld due to the universal lack of resources. Thing will improve soon enough... And Kaori was here if anything was to happen.
"Heheheh, it's a long story, but do you really wanna hear it~?"
She spoke with the biggest grin she could muster, she could sense her cheeks cramping and the edge of her lips cracking from the tension that her smile exerted on her facial muscles. Maybe she was just eager to brag, but becoming a god magical girl is not a feat that anyone could just brag about. Even if she did it out of necessity to save the world.
"Jeez... Were you that lonely?" (Myuu)
"... Hmpf!"
Kaori didn't know why she decided to pretend that she was mad, but she could feel the heat creeping across her face as she did so. Like an oppressive desert sun, her sweat flushed down her jaw as she tried not to die from embarrassment. What the hell... Where did all the tension go. Now that the battle was over, she felt like she hadn't relaxed for a few days straight. How long has it been, since she could rest...? She felt her vision blacking over and her hold over the magic in her body slipping. She was caught promptly by Himei, with her fist lightly creaking from the weight.
Kaori felt that her own body was light since she was moving with the help of her infinite well of magical particles. But to others, she might have weighed infinitely precisely because of her infinite well... Himei was the only one who could suitably support her body with ease... Though Himei was obviously tired as well.
"... Humu Humu. I'll set you guys up. There's no choice but to let my subjects manage the economy themselves, otherwise they would Inculcate dependency on me if I were to give them the resources they need. But I think renting some hotels should be a fine use of tax money, what do you guys think? " (Himei)
"... Your greatness, I don't think you should use the national reserves so willy-nilly since you don't have any salary...
Well, I guess you could say the Demon King was an international emergency... Or global emergency. Perhaps it would be fine then...? " (HuoLi)
" It's not like you guys manage most of it. At most all we do is give the final 'Okay' to projects proposed by the people below. " (Miwa)
" Hehe... Are you saying I'm more useless than you for not even doing that much?" (Himei)
" N... No... Ah, yes, figure heads are important! They give strength and morale to the people below! As the head of the faction, you have the heaviest job empowering an entire continent's worth of people to continue living! " (Miwa)
"Good answer." (Himei)
"Fuhah~" (Miwa)
She breathed out a sigh of relief, barely getting by without incurring the wrath of her only employer. If possible, she didn't want to work any lower of a position. Sure there's the prestige and the money that comes with it, but what she valued the most... Was the ability to pass any possible work to her underlings. Sometimes The Eye God might whimsically make up some goals for the ArcMaidens to fulfill. Unless it's combat related, she'll giddily pass it all off her hands.
"Mhmm... ~"
She can't helped but rub her eyes as she woke up, an orange brilliance peaks through her eyelashes like dewy honey spread across a plate.
The world strangely seemed so peaceful now, as if all the previous turmoil has vanished and was all some ephemeral dream. Nah, it can't be an ephemeral dream, it was a long lasting nightmare. Kaori's smile blooms like a flower that has weathered a long drought, it was tough and her tear marks had flushed her face and worn out her skin. Even as magical girl's have regeneration, which include rejuvenative properties, she had been exposed to battle for so long that her skin was still damaged from the battle with Hikari.
Dawn was already over, the sky had transition to a dark sea blue and would brighten into an aquatic pale blue soon. The twilight was ending and the last cold breeze of the night brushed by her cheek, fanning her from the sweat and blood. She brushed her back as her head lied on Himei's lap... Himei's lap?! When did she get here??!?
Her body froze for a second, nothing could describe the fluffiness and buoyancy supporting her neck and head at that moment, but then she realised... Right after fusing she saw a sort of hallucination of Himei and began talking to herself... Well, she really was talking to herself, Himei used her body and voice and she used the same body and voice. That might have just been her attachment to the 2 personalities, and how both their egoes were so strong that that persists even after fusion which breaks down their individuality.
But the voices began to disappear partway, that was when the homogenisation had progressed so far the sense of individuality vanished. In other words, Himei and Kaori stopped existing for a while. There were simply 2 individuals who have the memories of both Himei and Kaede here. For now, they simply sealed their memories with Himei's perception blocking magic. But their personalities... Subconsciously they're now the same person...
Who would get excited laying their head on their own lap? She turned over to face upwards...!!! For a moment she got irritated at the 2 mounts hanging above her. Why did she get the smaller body? They were 2 equals. Using her last skill [Idealism of a magical maiden's transient heroism: panta rhei], she could recognise anything as a gradient, and she could convert any material from one to another after passing the threshold of recognition.
From the start, her radar already fulfilled that criteria by taking in most of the world. It operated with a certain range and gave her information on the gradients in that range. Naturally, gradients come in a pack with material. Gradients are a coefficient, a descriptor of movement. Naturally her radar needs to tell her how fast something is moving, and what that thing is. But her radar only works on the pre-established idea of gradients, of water, wind and other substances moving in our world. Something like the gradient of time would be too absurd to detect or read.
That's what her final skill does. [Idealism of a magical maiden's transient heroism: panta rhei] has 2 functions. Recognising anything in the world as a gradient, hence Idealism. The second was the recognition that every material in the universe was the same material, simply in a different state, and changing the gradient with her [Hollow calamity] would also change the material, hence panta rhei. All of this to day, she synthesised the materials that make up the human body, soul and ego to fill in the missing material when splitting herself back into Kaori and Himei.
It felt like the ego was completely replicated or split via binary fission instead... So they were actually the same individual dwelling in different souls and bodies. The body held the memories. The soul facilitated reincarnation. The ego held the psyche, the agency to react in a certain way, in other words it was a person's inherent personality. An environment may shape someone's personality up, but before that there needs to be a canvas to paint in a personality. An ego is that canvas, and though it's painted over, it's not inherently empty.
"Hmpf... All of this is nonsense anyway, you have to let go. I can tell what you're concerned about just from your face. And..." (Himei)
"I can't underestimate the pillows underneath.... My bad. But it's kind of weird, I..."
"Can't read my mind, right? You would think clones would know what the other is thinking at all times. But just with a different body and a slight deviation in time experienced... In other words we're already differentiating.
By the way, I can read yours though. I think you don't need a clone to read yours, you wear your heart out on your sleeve. " (Himei)
" I've been told that quite a bit... Haa~we can finally relax, just for a little while. What are you going to do after this? "
"... Despite what you may think, I'll be quite busy after this... A lot of sorting and rearranging to manage the damage, you get what I mean?
... I don't feel like explaining though, it's not like you'll help out. Your probably thinking of lazing around after this...! " (Himei)
" Urgh!! You're right. I also have catching up to do with the rest... "
Now of all times, she really understood why Himei told her that her feelings were obvious. A tinge of melancholy and a wave of loneliness came crashing and dyeing her expression with dropped eyebrows and distant looking eyes. It's clear she's contemplating, but only Himei or those close to her would be able to guess what she's hesitating about.
"Hmpf... It's fine. You can come visit anytime. With your abilities, you could barge in and nobody could stop you!" (Himei)
The Eye goddess teased with a cheeky grin.
" Hahah, you know I'd rather not cause any trouble. I'm still a magical girl. "