"I can't believe it." said Cerise when we got back to Dovacath.
"I can't believe he'd go out like this." responded Jon.
"It's unfortunate." said Matthias, "I was watching the little ones and then I heard some noises outside. When I got here, he was on the ground like this."
"Father…" said Cerise, "...Why?"
"..." responded Mikaela.
"Why does somebody always have to die?" I said.
"Didn't you guys come back to life after your deaths?" asked Clara.
"Not all of us." said Lucas.
While Lilith and Lucas tried not to show it, it was clear that they were still feeling some pain over their older sister's death.
"There are some deaths that can't be undone," said Christina.
"Way to make me feel like an asshole." said Jeff.
"Hey," I said, "it's not like you or Jean died in your own worlds."
"You just couldn't let us stay dead." responded Jean.
"All we can do is keep moving forward," said Jon, "we've got to do the best that we can."
"Right." said Cerise, "He wouldn't want us sitting around doing nothing."
"However," said Jon, "doesn't something seem off?"
"What are you talking about?" asked Cerise.
"Well, we both know he wouldn't go down easily." said Jon, "But something about this corpse is bothering me."
"So, you've noticed it too?" asked Christina.
"What's going on?" I said, "What did you notice?"
"There is something very unnatural about this corpse." said Christina.
"So what did you two notice?" asked Cerise.
"Take a look at his eyes." said Jon.
"Eww, gross." she said, "Why would I want to do that!?"
"His irises are red." commented Mikaela.
"What?" replied Cerise.
"Isn't that strange?" said Jon, "I remember him having gray eyes."
"Yeah…" replied Cerise.
"You don't normally see people with red eyes in our world." said Christina, "However, these red eyes look a bit too natural, don't you think?"
"You're right." I replied.
"That's not all." said Jon, "Do you remember that locket he'd always carry around?"
"Y-Yeah." replied Cerise.
"Inside of it was a picture you drew of the two of them together when you were a kid." said Jon, "But it's nowhere to be found."
"So… I think I've figured it out." I said.
"You've finally caught on." said Christina.
"I've been doing my best to follow the conversation." I said.
"So, what'd you figure out?" asked Justin.
"This man… is not from this world!" I said.
"What!?" responded Lucas.
"I can't say I expected this." commented Charles.
"So, what, is he like an impostor or something?" asked Clara.
"No." said Jon, "That man is without a doubt, Kurt Atwood."
"But wasn't he from this world?" asked Lucas.
"My father definitely was." said Cerise.
"Then what's going on here?" asked Jean.
"Isn't it obvious?" I said.
"I think I get it." replied Matthias, "However, I don't think everyone will catch on unless you spell it out."
"Tch, fine." I said, "This man is another version of Kurt Atwood."
"Another version?" responded Iris.
"Yep." I replied, "I assume he's from another version of our world… one where he never adopted Cerise."
"So… that means my father might be…" started Cerise.
"I hope so," said Jon, "but still, seeing a version of him dead like this… I can't help feeling a little sad."
"Well," said Matthias, "I guess I'll make preparations to guard his corpse until it fades on its own."
"We're counting on you." said Jon.
***
"So it ended up being a false alarm." I said.
"Well, that's sort of a good thing." said Jason.
"I guess." said Cerise, "Matthias really had me worried."
"Well," said Jon, "we should get ready to make our next move."
"Y'know, I still feel like I don't know much about you, Cerise." I said.
"I don't have to tell you anything." she said.
"I know that," I said, "I just know a few things that you told me."
"That's right," she said, "I did tell you a few things, didn't I?"
"Oh, I'd really like to know too!" said Iris.
"Yeah, you've got me a bit curious as well." said Jean, "What about you, Christina? Clara?"
"I don't care." replied Clara.
"I don't think I'll hear anything I really need to know." said Christina, "Besides… never mind."
"...?" responded Lucas.
"As I've already told Ron, I was on my own for a while." said Cerise, "My parents were gone and I was stealing to survive. But before then, I lived in a happy town called Magia. I don't blame you if you haven't heard of it since it hasn't been on any official maps in years."
"I've definitely heard of it." said Clara, "They were known for raising magical girls."
"You know about it?" responded Cerise.
"That's weird." said Clara, "I know of it, but I can't remember where I learned about it."
"Anyways," said Cerise, "Everything was going great, but one day there was an attack. A certain evil couple attacked."
"Let me guess: Jon's parents?" I asked.
"Yeah…" replied Cerise, "I didn't know it was them at the time though."
"..." responded Jon.
"While that was going on, Magia got completely destroyed." continued Cerise, "Nearly everybody died. Luckily I was able to get out. However, I don't remember much about my escape. I just know it was the last time I ever saw my family. After getting out of there, I had to figure out how to survive on my own. I no longer had any interest in being a magical girl and picked up some new skills. I was taking anything I could get my hands on, but one day, I ran into Kurt."
"And this was what led you to joining Jon's family?" said Justin.
"That's right." replied Cerise, "I tried to steal from him… but he was too smart. It turns out, he was there when Magia got destroyed. He wanted to save everyone, but his opponents were two powerful. It didn't take him too long to figure out where I was from. Not long after that, I ended up living with him."
"It really sucks that all that happened back then." commented Jason.
"Not much we can do about that." said Cerise, "Now, why don't we move on?"
"Right," said Jon, "we need to figure out where to go next."
"Any ideas?" asked Lucas.
"Matthias said he wants us to look over in Mirai." answered Jon.