A small bed and chair had been hastily transported into the room next to the medical bay, the shelves stocked with the minimum amount of emergency medicine. Those new additions aside, the room was utterly bare, with only essential furnishings.
It was a makeshift ward seemingly personalized for its inhabitant, Lakhesh Nyx Seniorious.
Ever since the day she’d lost consciousness, the girl had quietly slept here. Not a single breath passed her lips. Not a single beat could be heard from her chest. Yet her body was warm to the touch, and her expression peaceful.
Despite having died, she didn’t seem like a corpse. Perhaps all that jargon about personality destruction was some sort of misunderstanding, and she’d wake up again soon with an embarrassed laugh? If there was someone hoping for such an event, would anyone be able to blame them for it?
“Collon.”
Seated on a small chair next to the bed, Collon Rin Purgatorio slowly raised her head. She blinked blearily as a strand of cherry-blossom pink hair slipped from her cheek, still marked red from where it’d been lying on the mattress. “…What now, Pannibal?”
“It’s late, and you look terrible. You should go back to your room and sleep in your own bed.”
Collon turned at a sound behind her. Pannibal Nox Katena was opening the window. She softly leapt into Lakhesh’s room, accompanied by a slightly cold—though pleasant—wind that rustled the flower-patterned curtains. It was dark outside the window. Ah, it’s gotten really late.
Lyell possessed technologies more advanced than other cities, including lights that used electricity. They were convenient things that could light up a room like a miniature sun, far stronger than a candle or lantern. But if the room never darkens, that means it’ll be difficult to figure out when night falls, huh? How annoying.
“I wanna stay by Lakhesh’s side a bit longer.” Collon rubbed her eyes. Although she wasn’t quite sure, it did feel like bags were forming underneath them. “Just a bit…”
“You keep saying that. How long has it been already?”
“I know, I know. But really, just a bit more…”
“I’ve heard that several times before too.” Pannibal shook her head in frustration, dropping down next to Collon. “It might be cruel for you to hear, but sitting here forever won’t bring Lakhesh back.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m worried about you, Collon. At this rate, it feels like you might end up disappearing from our sight next.”
“Yeah…” Collon mumbled, her voice unenergetic and passionless. “Sorry for making you worry.”
“I’m the one who ought to apologize.” Pannibal smiled weakly, reaching out to wrap Collon in a hug, tightly pulling her head into her chest. The other girl made no effort to resist as a muffled, sobbing noise spilled out from her mouth.
Collon Rin Purgatorio. A cheerful girl who hated to think about difficult things, bubbly enough for her overflowing energy to set the very air around her aflame. Her body might’ve grown as she got older, but her childlike spirit never changed—or rather, though many people close to them might see her as such, Collon herself knew there was a part of her that consciously tried to keep up her ceaseless enthusiasm.
But there are limits to everything. Any source of energy can become exhausted and stop moving. Inevitably, there were times when unpleasant thoughts kept whirling around and around in her head. Sometimes, even Collon couldn’t keep being cheerful.
“…It’s not as if we’ll be apart for long,” Pannibal said, gently patting Collon’s hair. Her voice was a low whisper. “Lakhesh proved that our ignited venenum can destroy Croyance. If we keep this up, then when the day of the decisive battle comes, the three of us will probably open the gates to the faerie homeland.” Collon’s shoulders twitched. “It might not be at the same time, but we’ll be able to end our lives in the same way.”
“…That doesn’t…make me happy…”
“You need to think about it in a certain way. It might make you unhappy, but you won’t be lonely either.”
“I don’t wanna think about it!”
“So willful. That’s just like you.”
“…Mmf…” Collon closed her eyes, still enveloped in Pannibal’s chest. “Really…were we here—were we born—just to throw away our lives?”
“That’s right. We need to see our path through.”
“To search for our path, you mean?”
“Hmph, that disagreement again. Us having different opinions makes me a little sad.”
We’re all divided, Collon thought.
Although all four faerie soldiers dispatched to Island No. 35 had the same objective, each of them saw their situation differently. For her part, Collon accepted each of them had separate goals in mind. Even so, she’d hoped they could meet the future awaiting them together. But it seemed that wouldn’t be allowed anymore.
Pannibal said they’d come here to determine their path. Collon had countered that they were here to search for their path. If Tiat was here, she’d say they had to open up the path for the children back home. And…if Lakhesh was conscious…she’d say they were here to properly walk their path.
That division is sad…yes, it’s sad.
“I wonder what Feodor would say if he heard this conversation?”
“H-huh?” Collon asked, slightly taken aback by Pannibal’s sudden shift in topic. “Hmm… I wonder…”
“He’d get mad.”
“Ahh, he’s always mad about something.”
“Yup, you’re right.” Her expression and tone were enough to make Pannibal laugh.
A girl existed alone in this world.
Strictly speaking, “this world” was the inappropriate phrase to use. Regardless, she existed.
She wandered on the other side of an abyss that greedily gulped up everything surrounding it.
There was a strange fury in her. Having probably lost everything, that rage was her only possession, and she clung to it with all her will.
For this girl was dead.
She thought she was looking at something far, far away.
She thought it was a strange, ruin-like place.
She thought there was someone there, a small someone with fiery red hair.
But she wasn’t sure about any of it. She didn’t understand why. She didn’t understand, but somehow, she could feel it—that place was, long ago in the distant past, once connected to them. It had faded away after a long time, after the transmigration of many souls repeating over and over.
Its connection to her hadn’t yet been severed. That was why she could see it. But the connection would be severed soon. That was why it was getting harder for her to see it.
…But…even so…
A small doubt rose in the corners of her melting consciousness.
What in the world am I?
She was supposed to be dead. She had something of a hunch about that. She understood that she wasn’t a hallucination or delusion. But even that fact alone carried all kinds of incoherent contradictions within it. It went against all logic.
The dead were supposed to have lost everything, but a peculiar rage burned in her heart without anywhere to go. The dead were supposed to be unable to do anything, but for some reason she’d been allowed to do things like think.
So just what in the world is happening?
While mulling over her doubts, she suddenly noticed a small light fluttering in the corner of her view.
One more question had just been raised. There shouldn’t be anything here. It ought to be a place where foreign objects aside from herself couldn’t exist or be accepted. So where did this clump of pale light appear from?
What are you? She asked it in frustration. There wasn’t anything like an answer or response. Instead, the light began to walk straight towards her without pausing or hesitating. Now she noticed it was beginning to take the shape of a person.
As the distance between them shrank, the light shone more brightly. The girl squinted her mind’s eye, as if she was feeling pain in her invisible corneas. All the while, the light continued walking at the same pace, the same speed, without stopping or changing direction.
I’m about to hit it. As she thought that, the girl tightly closed her mind’s eye and shut off her vision so that darkness could chase away the oversized shining light. She stiffened her phantom body, preparing for the impact.
And then the girl was swallowed up by that light…probably. Having closed off her heart at that moment, she herself couldn’t know what’d happened.
But there was just one thing she understood.
What happened to her afterwards—
The bedsprings creaked softly. Collon raised her face. Pannibal turned her head.
As the two girls watched on, the source of the sound slowly propped herself up.
The first expression to come to Collon’s face was slight confusion, brought on by the impossible having occurred. It was followed by the complete astonishment one feels from having witnessed something unimaginable.
“La—”
After that, it only took a few full seconds for her eyes and cheeks to fill with pure joy. A smile grew across her entire face, like a flower blooming as it welcomed spring.
“Lakhe—”
Lakhesh woke up. Breaking free from Pannibal’s chest, Collon rushed to her bedside with outspread arms, about to leap onto the bed with all her might.
A tiny shriek of logic halted her at the last moment; she herself might be small, but she still weighed a reasonable amount. Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem, but it’d be better to not tackle one of her sisters who’d been in a coma for so long. If she was going to hug her, she ought to consider properly how to do it.
Should I sling my arms around her shoulders and neck and spin to slide down vertically? That’d cause less shock longitudinally, given my position and hers—
“Hold on!”
“Gaharrgh?!”
Pannibal grabbed the nape of her shirt and forcefully yanked a surprised Collon backwards. She fell clumsily onto her butt, coughing like she’d been choked—rather, coughing in a choked-up voice. “What’s the big idea?!” she protested, more baffled than angry.
Pannibal didn’t reply. She wasn’t even looking down at Collon. Her gaze was fixed completely upon Lakhesh’s face, as the other faerie half-rose from her bed.
“…Pannibal?”
Even after calling her name, she didn’t look away. “Something’s not right.”
Collon heard the quiet warning in her tone. The question “Why?” quivered on the tip of her tongue. Lakhesh just woke up! What could possibly be wrong with that, especially when we should be celebrating?! Yet somehow, something about Pannibal’s expression stopped her from speaking.
Lakhesh blinked a few times and looked down at the palms of her hands. She made a fist and opened it, then repeated the motion with her other hand. Then she ran her hands up and down her body, in a series of slapping motions.
Collon could understand something was strange about it. It was plain to see that…that Lakhesh was just a bit confused and couldn’t figure out her situation, surely? That seemed believable to her, up to a point. But if that was all, then surely, she could pay just a little more attention to her surroundings!
But…the Lakhesh she saw seemed to somehow be trying to figure out who she herself was. It was as if she was trapped in an unfamiliar body that didn’t belong to her.
“Lakhesh,” Pannibal called carefully. The other girl’s face slowly turned towards them. “How are you feeling?”
She didn’t reply in words. Rather, it was as if her dim pupils gradually filled with light. Her expression, more half-asleep than awake, approached consciousness bit by bit.
And then she finally became aware of her surroundings. Her face twisted into a furious expression, full of spite and hatred.
“H-huh?”
Lakhesh Nyx Seniorious—no, since before she had that name, since she was just plain old Lakhesh—was a gentle-natured girl. Sweet and nice, but faint of heart. Collon had never once seen her face distorted by hostility, never once show hate or rage. Not a single time in their ten-year-long friendship. But…what in the world is happening now?
“YOU!” Lakhesh howled, a guttural shriek tearing out of her mouth. A hand simultaneously shot out with lightning speed, arcing towards Collon’s throat faster than any ordinary soldier could hope to react to.
Collon pulled back reflexively, barely avoiding what was best described as a knockout blow. However, Lakhesh’s hand was able to brush a few strands of cherry-blossom pink hair slower to follow the rest of her. Without pause, she grabbed onto Collon’s hair, then—
“Gyaaaaah—?!”
Lakhesh jerked roughly, tearing off some hair with sheer brute force as she jumped off the bed. Whether it was because of her rushed movements after having slept for a long time or any number of other reasons, she bent over as her face twisted in pain.
“Knew it.” Pannibal moved half a step forward to cover Collon as she sat dumbfounded on the floor. She lowered her center of gravity, taking a stance to guard against any further attacks.
Lakhesh ignored her and continued to glare straight at Collon. “Y-y-you’re…definitely…I don’t remember it…but I know.” Her voice was raw, like it had been wrung-out. One would believe her if she was to say she didn’t recall how to use it properly. “You are…my enemy…”
Collon heard a sound. She realized a little too late that it was a small scream that’d come from her own mouth.
“Seems like you’re not just making a bad joke.” Pannibal was calm as usual, or perhaps pretending to be. “How about you tell me what’s going on, Lakhesh? Or—”
She spread out her arms and stood as if to protect Collon. “Or maybe I should ask this first? Just who are you?”
A powerful wind blew through the curtains, shaking the window violently.
Lakhesh moved. Leaping onto her feet, which should’ve been weakened by her rest, she dashed to the window—still left open—and jumped into the black of night. Pannibal lowered her body in preparation to pursue but stopped as Collon grabbed onto the cuff of her sleeve.
“Collon?”
“I’m sorry…”
I know I shouldn’t stop Pannibal, we should chase after Lakhesh. Collon knew that, but she still couldn’t bring herself to do it. She couldn’t bear the thought of being left behind here. Her legs trembled, and she couldn’t get up.
“I’m sorry…but please, don’t leave me alone…”
She couldn’t stop shaking. It was like her body was shouting at her, complaining about how she wouldn’t get up. Or was it like she was admitting she didn’t want to chase after the back of her precious friend—Lakhesh’s back?
Pannibal’s eyes flickered between the open window and Collon.
“…Either way, we’ve already lost her,” she said quietly, taking Collon’s arm and supporting the other girl’s body with her shoulder. “It’s fine. I won’t abandon you. But we can’t afford to sit around twiddling our thumbs either. This situation is obviously abnormal, so we’ve got to notify our seniors as soon as possible.” With a soft but firm grunt, Pannibal lifted Collon up to her feet.
“…Pannibal, you’re nice, but cruel too.”
“It’s because I got a good education. Can you walk?”
“Yeah. Somehow.”
The huddled pair left through the door.
After ten days, the hastily created ward next to the medical bay was finally empty.