— Hey, my brother.
— Whoa! Where are my arms?! Am I crippled now?
Before even looking around, Tokita checked his precious arms. They were in perfect condition.
— They are... healed?
— Yes, my brother.
He finally noticed he was in a bed in a luxurious room. It was still night, and the lights were off. He looked at the girl who was talking to him. She had pink long hair and round glasses. Her eyes were also pink and she wore a dark wizard's cape and hat. She was smiling at him. He recognized her immediately. Everything felt so real. Tears formed in his eyes.
I can't be dreaming... don't tell me I'm dreaming... please...
— Nocus...
— Yes, I'm your sister.
He stared at her for seconds and started crying. She quickly hugged him, worried.
— What happened, brother? Are you injured?
— Please, Nocus... tell me this is real...
— I-I don't know the answer either! I still can't believe you're alive!
— Punch me in the face, please! Yell at me, do anything that could wake me up! I beg you!
— Eh? I-I can't do that...
— Please, Nocus! I don't want to return to that place, so please reassure me this is real!
She hugged him even tighter. He tried to hold his tears, but they kept falling.
— I don't know what happened to you the last days, brother, but I can assure you this is real. You are alive. You're the Sun I know. I would recognize you in any universe.
— Sun...? Am I really him?
— You will always be my brother.
He cried for a few minutes more. After they calmed down, Tokita resumed:
— I'm sorry, Nocus, but I'm not Sun.
— What are you saying, brother?
— I'm sorry, but I'm not your brother either... I am your... creator.
— My creator? I don't understand, brother.
— I am not from this world. You recognize me as your brother because I based his personality on me.
— Brother, your memories must be confused after being ressurected...
— I don't know how or why I'm here, but I can assure you these are real memories. I would never lie to my little sister.
— Are you serious...?
— Dead serious, Nocus.
They stared at each other in silence.
— I'm really sorry, Nocus, but I'm not him and never will be.
— I don't care...
— What? But you love your brother, don't you?
— Of course I love him! I don't care if what you're saying is true or not! If you're similar to my brother, you can just pretend to be him!
He was impressed. Not even he knew this side of her. He felt like his creation was alive. The shell he had once created was filled with life.
— I'm sorry, but I can't pretend to be someone I'm not. Even though we have our similarities, he was only based on me. Like you, he would be different from what I created.
— Are you saying the truth...? Please tell me he is alive...
— I don't know the answer... yet.
— What can I do to help? I use magic!
— Unfortunately, this is way beyond your grade. I suppose there's only one way to know the answer.
— Is it risky?
— For you, no.
He cut off his answer, thinking about many things.
— I will take any risks, brother!
— What do you know about souls, Nocus?
— Normally, only one soul can inhabit a body.
— Exactly. My guess is that he's watching us right now, without a body.
She widened her eyes.
— You're not saying...
— Yeah, I'll open my spot for him.
— There must be another way! What if we find another dead body?
— A soul and its body are linked to each other. He probably couldn't get used to another.
— But Burier could do something!
— Yeah, I'll have to ask her help, but not to find other bodies. She can summon the undead, right? But their original souls never come back.
— You can't... there must be a high-grade sorcerer somewhere!
— Unfortunately, I have made the concept of ressurection really difficult in this world. Only a few have succeeded, at great cost.
— So how...
— ...I'm here now? Good question. The veil between this world and mine has never been crossed until now. At least, I've never heard of it before.
— My brother... how is his body still alive? When we buried him, he was certainly dead...
— That's another mystery. Bringing a body back to life, with or without a soul, should be nearly impossible.
— If there's a chance...
— Sorry, but I've already decided. Even if he doesn't come back to life, I can't stay in his body forever. I'm sorry, but it's just how things should be.
— Are you sure...?
— Yeah, don't worry. I always wanted to die anyway.
— What... are you saying...?
She hugged him again.
— Please, don't say that ever again.
— It's just the truth. If I get to know what limbo is like, I'll take a shortcut. We'll all get there someday, won't we?
— You may be correct, but you're being too cruel to yourself...
— Not really. I'm being cruel to this world. I created it after all.
— But you didn't make my brother die!
— Yes, that may be true. But you wouldn't suffer if I didn't do it all for my own entertainment.
— You created us because you love this world! For every bad thing you did, good things came too!
— Do you seriously believe everything I said? I guess I made you too naive...
— I'm believing in you because I choose to!
She was determined. Not because her creator made her this way, but because she was alive. And being alive means choosing for yourself.
— Thank you, Nocus. But I'll still bring your brother back. I don't think I came here just to die the other day. I think something or someone will save me.
— What makes you think that?
— Being teleported to this world seems out of place enough. Anything can happen.
— What if you're wrong?
— Then your brother will be dead, as he should be by now. I probably died in my world too, so everything gets balanced.
— If my creator says that...
They went to the mansion's morgue. It had a dark green aura for some reason. The Burier put on a white mask and white gloves, with a serious expression on her face.
— If what you're saying is true, I must admit that you're brave. Not everyone comes asking me to kill them.
— I asked you specifically because I know you are an expert in this area, Burier.
— And because you don't want to feel pain.
— T-That's true, but I think you're simply the right choice...
— I take it back, you're not brave. Men are brave.
She put her hand on his head. A purple magic circle appeared.
— Are you sure, little one?
— Yeah-
He instantly passed out. Only he and she were inside the room. Nocus was just a kid, so they decided to spare her the scene.
— Sleep tight, princess. You won't be missed.
The spell she had just used was an anesthesic. Now, she placed her hand on his head. There was no trace left on his body, but he began to slowly die. After a few hours, it would be complete.
— 7...
Huh? Who said that? Wait, I'm still alive? Is this the limbo?
Tokita opened his eyes slowly. He was still inside the morgue. Someone was sniffing his body.
— B-Burier?! What the hell are you doing?
— Ara... young master?
— Why did it fail? I thought your spell was effective.
— Spell? Well, yes, my spells are certainly effective.
She stared at him with a crazy but innocent smile. She had no clue what he was talking about. Also, she was not using the mask and gloves anymore.
— But tell me, young master, how did you come back to life? I believed you, but I'm still amazed. You were a dead body seconds ago.
— I came back to life? How?
— That's what I'm asking you, young master. You died to the half-dragon days ago.
— Half-dragon? Who is that?
— Mitsurugi, the dragon cub your family adopted years ago.
— Wait, something is off here. If you managed to kill me, why am I still here? Did someone revive me?
— Ara, young master, how mean... I could never kill you.
— Also, you looked like you hated me back then... why are you nice to me now?
— I always try to be nice to my young master. I would never be a good employee if I mistreated my client.
— But I'm not your client! I'm an impostor, remember?
— Impostor? Who?
He stared at her in disbelief. She was not the same person he met hours ago.
— Let me see Nocus, quick!
He rushed to her bedroom. She was sleeping, but woke up as soon as he bursted through the door.
— Nocus, did you revive me? Did you see what happened?
— Brother...?
She started crying and ran to hug him.
— I always believed you were alive, big bro! I'm so happy!
— W-Well, I'm happy to be alive too, but... what about the ritual?
— Ritual?
— Burier was supposed to kill me, remember? Then I would give my spot to Sun, your brother...
— Why would she kill you, brother? And why are you talking in third person?
He froze. Everything seemed out of place. She released the hug to look him in the eyes. He turned around and saw Burier smiling innocently at him.
— Am I going crazy?