――Seated in the center of the classroom, the white haired girl slightly tilted her head.
Receiving her gaze, Subaru quickly looked around the room to make sure there was no one else present. And then, sticking out half of his body into the hallway, he checked left and right just to be sure――Confirming once again that there was no one else, he scratched his head and let out a sigh.
[Subaru: There's just something I have to say first]
[Echidona: Sure, I'm listening. What are you feeling, what are you thinking, and what do you want to say to me. I am very interested to hear all of it]
[Subaru: You look, super good in that uniform]
Facing the Witch whose eyes were beaming with curiosity, Subaru stuck out a finger and blurted out his thoughts. And hearing this, the Witch seemed to blank out for a moment, until she couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing,
[Echidona: Waha, why thank you. If you think so, then it was worth it for me to reconstruct this from your memories. In fact, this outfit seems to be the most vivid out of all your memories, and the one you've looked at the most. Is it a favourite of yours?]
Standing up from her seat, picking up the hems of her grey skirt――Echidona did a quick little spin on the spot. Her white, shoulder-length hair dancing with her movements, her playful figure looked perfectly like a youthful girl of her age.
Grey skirts, and a deep blue blazer. The red ribbon below her neck marked her as in the same year as Subaru, and in contrast underneath, her white dress-shirt shone bright and dazzling.
Only, if there was one thing that he was dissatisfied with,
[Subaru: Compared to short skirts, I prefer long skirts a little better. That way it takes longer to lift them up and there's more time to ignite one's imaginations]
[Echidona: I see. Then, to measure up to your skirt-lifting expectations, I will wear a longer skirt next time]
[Subaru: We won't get a chance for that! Also, it's not because I like it that everyone wears this uniform. It's just a rule here that we have to dress like this. Kind of like the Imperial Knights and stuff]
"Kusukusu", Echidona covered her lips and giggled. With an attitude as if she wasn't really planning to take Subaru's excuses seriously, even if he tried to exonerate himself, he won't be getting the result he wanted.
Shrugging, Subaru walked to the back of the classroom――to the seat beside the window in the second-to-last row, and pulling out his chair in that half-assed location, he plonked himself down.
The tactile sensation of the hard, wooden chair. The edges of the desk that had alphabets carved into it by some previous occupant. The desk-leg that creaked whenever he put his weight on it while falling asleep. And the festering rust on the insides of the drawer. They were all fragments of Subaru's distant, and bygone days.
[Echidona: And here I thought you'd be a little more surprised]
[Subaru: If you wanted to hide it, you'll have to put more effort into the background, you know. There wasn't even a single person walking around on my way here, that's just way too unrealistic]
Even considering that it was a weekday afternoon, it may have just been a little too unpopulated along Subaru's path. Almost as if everything irrelevant to Subaru's past had simply been cut from this world.
[Subaru: This world was just way too convenient for me. So it's your own damn fault that you didn't get to see the reaction you wanted]
[Echidona: No no no, that's a part of the fun too. Experimenting, and receiving the results are in themselves a kind of happiness for me. What the results are at this point, doesn't matter much. Unless, of course, if we are talking about how future events will be influenced by these results, then it would be a different matter]
Echidona waved her hands left and right as she said this, as if she really wasn't sour about the way things had veered outside her expectations. Seeing her without a trace of negative emotion, in his heart, Subaru secretly wanted to click his tongue.
[Subaru: So then, what is this world supposed to be? I'm sure I went in your Tomb while it was in the middle of the Trials, and then...]
[Echidona: You entered while possessing the qualifications. So naturally, you began the trials as well, correct? Didn't you hear it? "First, you must face your past"]
Confirming Subaru's thoughts with these words, Echidona placed her hands behind her back as she slowly walked toward Subaru. Her beautiful hair swaying in the cool, refreshing breeze that had blown into the classroom, without a sense of incongruity, the girl in her uniform blended seamlessly into her surroundings.
Her every casual gesture feeling like a trap set to entice his heart, Subaru consciously turned his gaze away from her. Then,
[Echidona: Anyone, would have regrets about the past. As long as they live day after day, no one is without regrets. Today they regret yesterday, yesterday they regret further before that, and when tomorrow comes, surely, you would regret something about today. ――People have the capacity to regret, after all]
[Subaru: That's a pretty pessimistic way of thinking about it. If we just replace "regret" with "self-reflection", then today we'd be reflecting on yesterday, and tomorrow we'd be reflecting on today, and, maybe, we might find some kind of breakthrough, isn't that's a human ability as well?]
[Echidona: ――Precisely!]
Clapping her hands together with an insatiable voice, Echidona shoved her face up close, making Subaru instinctively shrink back. But, undeterred, she continued leaning in, staring into his eyes with her black pupils, at a distance where they could feel each other's breaths,
[Echidona: It's a simple play on words, or, rather, a slightly different way of thinking. But depending on whether you view the past with pessimism or optimism, the answers become worlds apart. Most people look to the past pessimistically and always only see the bad memories, and so they treat the path they have walked with denial. Then, growing even more repulsed by the sight of what they have denied, they close their hearts, and try to forget]
[Subaru: Hey, your face...is kinda close...]
[Echidona: But can you blame them? Compared to today, your yesterday's self was certainly more ignorant. And compared to what you will know tomorrow, your today's self would no doubt be found lacking. The total sum of knowledge, or even just the number of memories, would always put the past at a disadvantage compared to the present and the future. That is simply the fact!]
Completely disregarding Subaru who was being pushed back by her aura, in a state of heated passion, Echidona pressed on her delivery. Suddenly turning her body away, she forcefully slammed her palms on the top of the desk,
[Echidona: And so, when people face their past, or when they actually meet their past, they become lost, confused, lamenting, suffering, anguishing, despairing, and there, they will find their answer. As long as they find their answer, no matter what kind of answer it is, I will give it my affirmation. Whether it was an answer they received by turning their backs, or by reaching their arms forward, it would be unmistakable proof that they have overcome their past]
[Subaru: That's, the purpose of this Trial?]
[Echidona: Correct. It is to face one's past, and come to some kind of answer about that past. If they are afraid of finding the answer, loathing it, or are hesitating and at their wit's end, then the Trials could never be overcome. However, if they could either accept their past, or if they could deny it completely and sever themselves from it, then I would see them off with my praises. That, is the first of the Trials]
Nodding to Subaru, who seemed to have understood, Echidona returned to her original self, and, with a slight blush on her cheeks, she quietly cleared her throat.
[Echidona: I, I seem to have gotten a little overexcited. I'm sorry I showed you something unsightly]
[Subaru: No worries. If you had bad breath though, that would've gone badly, but fortunately, yours smelled like citrus. More importantly...]
Feeling a bit sentimental over the rare chance to see Echidona embarrassed, Subaru pulled up his chair and leaned his body forward, and,
[Subaru: If those points you mentioned are the conditions for passing the Trial, can I take that to mean I've passed the Trial?]
[Echidona: Having watched everything from beginning to end...I think the results were more than satisfactory]
Placing her hand over her chest, Echidona inhaled deeply as if filling her lungs with the aroma of fragrant black-tea, and then, with a terribly satisfied look on her face,
[Echidona: Whether it was the symbol of the traumas of your past, or the representation of your past guilt, you have found your answers. For that, I send you off with my praises]
[Subaru: From beginning to end...doesn't that mean you saw me crying with snot dripping down my nose too!?]
[Echidona: I'm sowee, even I couldn't help tearing up in the eyes at those parts]
[Subaru: Shut up!! And don't you tell anyone, it's embarrassing!!]
The scene of his parting with his father where he poured out all his emotions, it wouldn't be funny at all if some pervert had been watching them all that time. Above all, it would be an insult to the emotions between Subaru and Kenichi in that moment.
"Kusukusu", regardless of whether she could understand such sentiments, Echidona bursted out laughing,
[Echidona: If there was anything I was disappointed with, it would be that you hadn't experienced the agony even deeper when you came face to face with your past]
[Subaru: Huh?]
[Echidona: I like when people reach their answers, but I think the suffering on their path to the answers is something praiseworthy in itself. I was looking forward to watching you find an answer through the anguish and struggles, but...]
Casting a side-glance at Subaru, as if peering into the depths of his black irises, she narrowed her eyes,
[Echidona: Unfortunately, this Trial seems to have started a little too late for me to enjoy such a treat. It appears you have already found the answer to the negative feelings from your past before coming here]
[Subaru: Aah...is that so. If that's the case, I really should offer my sympathies]
Somewhat able to understand Echidona's disappointment, Subaru exhaled a deep sigh through his nose.
If the Trials had gone the way she had hoped, Subaru would have returned to his parents, the source of his past trauma, and over the time spent with them, realized his own weakness, agonized over it, and reached an answer either by running away or facing it head on, and, at last, found the resolve to come here.
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But Subaru had already…
[Subaru: Even when I was completely, hopelessly useless, there was a girl who told me I was a hero. So there was no need for me to face my past, I've already come to terms with the fact that I'm useless]
[Echidona: So you've arrived at a different form of resignation, I see. But to have it stray so far from my expectations, it really is an utter disappointment. The next time you meet that person outside, tell her that a Witch had some complaints to say about her]
Just as he was about to throw in a joke about that threatening remark, Subaru suddenly noticed. There was something Echidona said that he couldn't let slide.
[Subaru: A while ago you said you formed this reconstruction from on my memories...If you can peek inside my head, then shouldn't you know about the girl I spoke of?]
Or, perhaps rather than noticing it, it was him desperately clinging to a feeling that he could not let go of. Even if it meant having someone peek inside his head, if there was just someone who could remember Rem after she had been forgotten by all the world, remember her lovely features, remember that this girl still existed… But,
[Echidona: Sorry to disappoint you. But even being a thing of Greed, I can distinguish between what is right and wrong. Though I have extracted the information I needed to conduct this Trial, I have not touched anything else. If I simply stole all the knowledge out of your head, then where would be the fun in that? I am not quite ready to abandon the pleasures of simply listening to others just yet]
The only thing he got as a reply, was some kind of Witch's sense of honor that was beyond his capacity to understand.
One could even call them Echidona's convictions. However shameless that logic may be, it was not something Subaru could argue with. Still,
[Subaru: If you only pulled out parts that were relevant to the Trial…..then why did you pull out that uniform…..]
[Echidona: Obviously, I pulled it because it was a piece of information necessary for me to reconstruct this building you call "School". It definitely wasn't because after discovering a new Parallel World, I wondered what the girls here wore and whether it would maybe look nice on me or anything of that sort]
[Subaru: Are you, one of those highly intelligent idiots?]
After listening to Echidona essentially confessing the whole thing, Subaru sighed and shook his head.
So it was like that. It wasn't the answer he had hoped to hear, but at least now he knew something for certain. Which was that,
[Subaru: There's probably no need for me to ask this. But this world is...]
[Echidona: Aah, that's right. This is a fabricated world created based on your memories, meant to be an extremely faithful reconstruction of reality. Which means, of course――your real parents still have no idea where you are or what you are doing, and must be worrying to no end about their son, who had simply disappeared]
[Subaru: ――――]
[Echidona: As for the information you didn't know before, who knows if you hadn't inadvertently brought them here... are you so sure that you didn't know about them? The letters from your parents' old friend, can you be certain that you have never seen them? The old man who had known your father since he was a child, have you really never met him before? And have you truly never imagined an image of your father that was different from the one you knew, and never once traced it over inside your mind?]
Firing off her words in rapid succession, [Or rather,] Echidona continued,
[Echidona: Did you really think that as long you didn't know what was hidden in your heart, they would simply stay hidden? The contents your true heart that are yearning to be freed, how could you be certain that they are safely sealed away, and would not leak through along with the rest of the mundane little details? And still, can you be sure that your self-serving desire to be loved, did not beg your fictional father and mother to behave the way they did?]
Putting her face up close against the silent Subaru's, Echidona's last words fell to a bewitching whisper, teasing at the strings of his heart. And then, at a distance close enough to feel each other's breaths,
[Echidona: It was just too ideal, and too convenient――don't you think?]
[Subaru: ――――]
Tenderly gouging open Subaru's heart with her soft fingertips, Echidona smiled sweetly.
Unlike a smile that would have suited a girl her age, this one was abominable, like one belonging to a Witch out of the folklores.
His mind toyed and tormented by her penetrating words, Subaru squeezed close his eyes. In the back of his closed eyelids, in that pitch-black world, emerged his last impressions of his parents――
[Subaru: Don't belittle my parents just because you didn't get what you wanted, Witch]
[Echidona: ....what?]
[Subaru: I've already told them all of my answers. And my mom and dad both received it. I've told them everything that I was never able to say, and they told me to give it my best, and then wished me a safe journey]
Standing up from his chair, placing his hands on the desk, he pressed back his face against Echidona's so that their foreheads touched. Watching the Witch's black eyes opening wide in surprise, Subaru,
[Subaru: Their voices, their smiles, everything from those moments shattered my imaginations. ――My parents, are not some empty casks that can be filled with my fantasies. Don't you underestimate them]
[Echidona: ――――]
[Subaru: I've already told them everything I wanted to say. And after having put everything to rest, I came here.――Nothing you say can trick me]
Pulling back his forehead from her's, Subaru sat down in his chair once more. Then, leaning backwards into his chair, he rudely crossed his legs and stared at Echidona with an insolent gaze.
For a moment, Echidona seemed astounded by Subaru's reaction,
[Echidona: Really...You wouldn't even let me see you questioning your answers for a minute, you really are a human who would make a Witch cry. How exceptional indeed]
[Subaru: I'm gonna blush if you praise me like that. I'm the kind of guy who grows when he gets praised, you know. I can feel myself getting taller as we speak!]
[Echidona: I see you're never at a loss for words... Aah, but it's good enough. It's more than good enough. It's a delightful thing, to see such a firm answer that would not allow itself to be shaken]
As if giving up, Echidona shook her head with a smile, and then, pulling out the chair in front of Subaru, she sat down facing him,
[Echidona: The Trial is now over, in its truest sense. You have escaped the evil clutches of a Witch, it seems. As a reward...is there anything you wish to ask me before you go back?]
[Subaru: Oh, then there is one thing]
[Echidona: En, let's hear it]
Echidona nodded, as Subaru stuck out a finger pointing directly at her,
[Subaru: Before, you said you had nothing to do the Trials... How is this nothing to do with it!? You're not just involved, you're pretty much the main culprit. What's with that blatant straight-faced lie about having no influence over the Trials!]
[Echidona: To take a Witch at her word… even naivety and gullibility should have a limit. Didn't I tell you the last time we parted? I am a wicked Witch, after all]
[Subaru: Aah, is that right. Then, I can't trust a single word from this wicked Witch, can I. In that case I have nothing else to ask. ...By the way, is the seal on the Sanctuary removed now?]
[Echidona: And here you are asking another question as if nothing happened… you really don't bother putting up appearances, do you? Unfortunately, it would be too simple if the Trials ended with this. There are a total three parts to the Trials. But since you already passed the first Trial, I don't think they would be too difficult for you]
Sidestepping Subaru's indignation, Echidona held out three fingers as she answered him. Receiving this, Subaru muttered [Three parts...] under his breath,
[Subaru: One way or another, I'll have to unseal the Sanctuary. So, once I clear the other two Trials, it will be released, right? Can I take that as a guarantee?]
[Echidona: That's why I gave you the Qualifications. So of course. If you or any qualified halfblood overcomes the Trials, the Sanctuary will be liberated with my blessings. How will you overcome the next two Trials, I wonder. I will happily look forward to the answers you will give]
Watching Echidona nodding in affirmation, Subaru responded [Is that so], and stood up.
There was nothing else he wanted to ask. So there was nothing more to gain by dawdling in this fabricated world. A certain nostalgic feeling made him almost want to stay, but he had already said all his reluctant goodbyes.
Even if, as the Witch said, they were only transient and fleeting things.
[Subaru: Hey, Echidona]
[Echidona: What is it? Perhaps you would like to punch me before you go? Well, I realize I would deserve it, considering my conduct towards you. So if you wish, I am willing to accept it without complaints. But still, I am only a young girl, after all. If you could please avoid the face if possible...]
[Subaru: Thank you]
[Echidona: ――――]
Speechless, after going on and on trying to vindicate herself, Echidona suddenly lost her words.
Seeing her like this, for the first time, Subaru felt a small sense of gratification,
[Subaru: Even if it didn't really happen, and my words didn't really reach those two, I was able to say the things I wanted to say thanks to you. Even if it was because of your crappy-gossip-deprived curiosity, I was able to see the people I thought I would never see again, and say my goodbyes]
And show them that their hopeless, small, disappointing son had become a little less hopeless, had grown a little more, and could now hold his head a little higher.
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[Subaru: For that, I am grateful. So, thank you]
[Echidona: ...You're a human I can't understand at all, it's very fascinating. It's almost frightening, in fact]
Echidona wasn't joking or lying, and the look in her eyes seemed as if she was genuinely threatened by him. Seeing her like this, Subaru lifted the corners of his lips and smiled in reply,
[Subaru: Witch-sama must get frightened easily if she could be caught by a little kid like me. Oh well. So um, where's the exit?]
[Echidona: Leaving won't be difficult. Even now, this world is already beginning to fade. Nothing outside of this building is solid anymore. ――Leaving this building should return you directly to the insides of the Tomb]
[Subaru: That's pretty convenient. ――In that case, see you next Trial, I guess]
With a wave of his hand, Subaru got up from his seat and headed out of the classroom. Sensing Echidona's gaze trailing behind him, Subaru walked out without looking back.
In the world outside the window, dissolving into the encroaching vast, blue sky, the scenes in the distance began to fade. The fabricated world which had fulfilled its purpose, was vanishing into nothing.
The father who had patted on Subaru's back, and the mother who had walked with Subaru to send him off, were both fading along with the disappearance of this world. Until they were nowhere to be found.
[Subaru: ...You guys have already taught me all the most important things]
His emotions swelling up in his chest, feeling the back of his eyes growing hot, Subaru roughly wiped his eyes with his sleeves just once. And after that, lifting up his head, there was no longer any trace of tears in his eyes.
Looking straight ahead, Subaru walked toward the exit of this dying world.
In front of him, the world gradually turned to white, as far as his eyes can see, and――
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
[Echidona: ――Already gone, I see. My my, he's a lot more formidable than I thought]
――In the classroom after Subaru had left,
among the rows upon rows of empty desks, Echidona, having been left behind, stuck a hand into the front of her hair, and, enjoying a moment of quiet to herself, she leaned her weight onto the desk behind her.
Little by little, the World had began to collapse.
The fleeting world reconstructed out of memories, with the loss of its source, was turning back to dust. With the sensation of the disintegration of the world upon her skin, Echidona did not pay any mind to the crumbling footings or the vanishing atmosphere around her.
Her attention was fixed on a single point―― in front of the blackboard, toward the teacher's podium. There,
[Echidona: Just what I should expect from the man you fell for, I suppose]
[???: ――My special someone my special someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone to my someone]
[Echidona: Shut away in your own citadel, even though you meet him every so often you're still afraid of being forgotten. In such pathetic circumstances, to have the audacity to make this kind of assertion. I, can't understand you at all]
[???: None of your business none of your business none of your business none of your business none of your business none of your business breathe on breathe on breathe on breathe on breathe on talk to talk to talk to talk to touch touch touch touch touch my my my my my my my LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE]
With the other person insisting on speaking in nonsense, Echidona frowned in disgust.
Before her eyes, there was the shadow of a person standing in front of the teacher's podium――the shadow of a girl in a pitch black gown, with long, flowing, silver hair. Like a curse, everything above her chest was engulfed in darkness, making it impossible to see her face.
Every word she spoke and every ounce of the insane aura emanating from her filled the imagination with unspeakable horror.
Echidona seemed to accept the fact that this existence suddenly descended after Subaru left the room, as if it was only natural. As if she already knew that it would appear here.
[Echidona: Of course, it's only natural. Without asking permission, I trespassed into your beloved's heart, after all. I didn't intend to encroach into your territories...but even so, there was no way for us to avoid each other completely, now was there?]
[???: A fingertip a flake of skin a piece of nail a strand of hair a drop of sweat a particle of spit a single word a single breath a single fragment of emotion all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it all of it]
[Echidona: "Belongs to me", you mean to say? Hyahaha, being with you makes me even want to give up my title of Greed. How you could go so far for one single person, I can never understand]
[???: I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him I love him]
Therefore, Envy will not forgive Echidona, who had touched what was forbidden.
The shadow took a step forward. And with that alone, the room up to where she stood was swallowed into darkness. In an instant, the front of the classroom, the wall that held the blackboard, and the first three rows of desks were devoured by the Witch's shadow.
Leaping backwards, Echidona narrowly avoided annihilation, while, as if in pursuit, shadowy arms extended out, aiming for her neck. In the face of the pitch-black serpents baring their fangs, Echidona let out a sigh,
[Echidona: I would leave behind too many regrets if I let myself get erased here. So I'm afraid I'll have to be a little unfair――]
Saying this, Echidona slightly lowered her body, when the shadows that were aiming for her throat exploded from the impact.
Seeing this, the encroaching shadow halted its steps. In front of the shade with its two dangling arms, in the place where Echidona should have been,
[Sekhmet: Looks like I got called up again, haaaaa. I can't even get a good night's sleep, huuu]
Languidly huffing with her legs sprawled out on the floor, the purple haired girl ――The Witch of Sloth, Sekhmet appeared.
[Sekhmet: Haaa, it's no use]
As if struck by a devastating impact, the upper half of the shadow flew backwards.
Beaten back by the power of the strike, the rest of shadow sank into the darkness it had created. Lightly shaking its head at this outcome, the shadow reached out its right arm toward Sekhmet.
Immediately after, the darkness that had engulfed half of the classroom attacked at once, as dark demonic claws shot out, covering over everything in sight. The impenetrable blackness sealed off every direction―― But,
[Sekhmet: Didn't I just say it's useless, huuuu]
The Maelstrom of black claws scattered in the blink of an eye, and without the least resistance or reserve, the counter-attack struck into the shadow's entire body. While the shock of impact after impact were nailing the shadow's flesh into the cracks of the wall, Sekhmet only remained crouched up on the floor without the slightest movement, lazily looking on.
But even so, Sekhmet's attacks continued to assail the shadow's entire body, until gradually, that bottomless form began to break apart.
Against the deafening sound of the impacts, and the sight of the writhing shadow, Sekhmet only scratched at her hair as she watched,
[Sekhmet: With most of your power sealed away, haaa. And being inside nasty Echidona's citadel, huu. In a state that deprives you of your full potential, haaa, you're no match against me, huu]
Trying to hold back a yawn, Sekhmet's attacks ceased, and the defeated shadow dropped to its knees――when a strike from above mercilessly nailed it into the floor.
Sinking into the pitch-black darkness, the fading Envy looked up at Sekhmet.
[???: Why do you why do you why do you why do you why do you why do you why do you stand in between in between in between in between in between in between in between me me me me me and him and him and him and him and him and him――?]
[Sekhmet: Haaaa. ――It'd be too much of a bother to explain]
With this bitter reply, Sekhmet made a little downward swing with her raised hand.
In that same instant, half of the school building collapsed, and along with the crumbling dirt and lumps of earth, the shadow of Envy was swallowed into the depths of the ground.
In a world that was already fading, there would be no way to return from there.
[Sekhmet: Even after I'm dead, huuu. Why do I still have to deal with this stuff, haaaa]
Her own actions havings sped up the collapse of this world, the Witch of Sloth found a relatively nicer spot in the corner of the decaying classroom, and nudged herself over on her butt.
Huddling up with her back against the wall, feeling herself being drawn into the void of the dying world that had finished serving its purpose, she looked out through a shattered window at the Sun.
[Sekhmet: Nothing ever goes the way you want them to, huuu. Whether you're a Witch――or the one ensnared by a Witch, haaaa]
With a final, languorous sigh, the world vanished into light.
-=Chapter 20 End=-