If I was destined to be nothing, why have I been called up for such an ending? The Crown is mine, yet there are none to rule.
But if I could bring you back, I would do it once, twice, thrice times over and so, so, so much more. I know who I am and w...
Shido gathers with the Spirits and the crew in the bridge of the Fraxinus airship.
"Everyone, really, thank you for choosing to help... It means a lot to me," he articulates sincerely.
Briefly staring at Kotori, he asks, "What did they say about me turning into a Spirit?"
Kotori quaintly responds with a lollipop in her mouth and a cup of coffee by her side, "They said all your activities about sealing Spirits are suspended for the moment. They said they still need to analyze the results on you that we sent them."
"That must not taste good..." Kaguya comments on Kotori with just the right amount of disgust. The thought of a lollipop-coffee taste makes her feel icky.
"U-Uhm," Tamae, also known as Duelist, muses with concern, "coffee isn't good for young children, Kotori-chan...!"
"No it's not!" she angrily shouts without serious intent, more like a childish rant.
"It is, Kotori. It is," Shido says plainly, wearing a smile of amusement.
While Kotori and Shido banter about health and diets with the consideration of Spirit "biology," Tohka and the occult-like Miku were sitting on one of the floor in the corner of the room against the wall, munching down on bread, ambiguous of image whether they were a chipmunk or a woodchipper.
"Doo youh lihe this breah hoo?" Tohka excitedly exclaims despite the baked bread being chewed on in her mouth.
Miku, liking the figure of the girl sat next to him, was nodding vigorously, yet staring at a peculiar placement of the purple-haired one's body. For the time being, things have gone peacefully, allowing Miku to have her respite.
Tamae seems to approach them, greeting Miku first.
"Is that bread to your liking, leader?" she questions with an innate bliss in her eyes.
Miku tilts her head in confusion.
Tamae flinches, smiling but failing to do so completely, ending in a cringing proportion.
"S-Sorry. Please forget I said that, I spoke without thinking, haha."
Miku responds cordially, smiling comfortingly, exuding benevolence before Tamae, though Tohka remains oblivious of the situation.
"T-Thank you, my lor—" she halts her speech, catching her tongue and changing what it says. "Miku...! Thank you for understanding." She manages to cover it up with a professional smile, one that she would use to get along with her colleagues.
She returns to Shido and the others, though having a shadowy glaze over her eyes.
Somewhere else, the night was no longer young. A device in the hands of a white-haired devil beeps and blinks a white dot over a lined map of a portion of Tengu.
"Hm, it's close enough, I suppose," he mutters to himself. He presses a button on it, briefly sounding off a white noise-like, high-pitched hiss that hummed. It stopped.
"Since Shido has returned, I expect you to keep this end of your deal, Laura," he utters with a vague sense of professionalism, almost insultingly so.
"I will," Laura mentions with a blank stare to the side.
"Powers will be on standby if you are ever in need of assistance."
"It's your contingency for me..."
"Correct, but it's best you do not see it that way," he mutters with a slight smile like a sly fox, a complex resembling a main villain trope. "But with regards to that, you will need support one way or another. Will you be able to face an Inverse Spirit?"
"You know the answer to that."
"I do."
"I don't have a choice."
"You don't."
"Then can I get started?"
"You may."
Laura changes into her Astral Dress in a bloom of dark particles. She stares up at the sky's light.
"The moon is beautiful, don't you agree, Laura Agana?"
"It is..." she ushers with an uneasy implication as she stares into once blue moon.
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You are a dweller beyond darkness. You are able to see what others cannot. You are not part for you are whole. They are not. They are myriads of words and symbols. They are million. You too are million, yet one.
What do you see?
You can see.
You can see a hollow moon—many eyes, like an angel.
You feel compelled to converse with it. You must ask a question.
"..."
You observe the hollow moon's silence. You must converse, now!
---
23rd of April, 2024: Failure
You have failed to converse with the hollow moon due to your silence.
