The Death of a Wallflower
Masuyo sat on the floor of the abandoned shrine, staring off into space. In one hand, she held her soul gem, once a beautiful, ocean blue color, but now soiled. It was mostly black now. Murky. Polluted. She sat up, frowning.
"... So, I was right." She muttered, her voice riddled with fear. The darkness of her soul gem blended with the woods around her, and her breathing quickened. Oh god, why'd she come alone. She was terrified of being alone. Her blue eyes darted around, but she couldn't find anyone to help her. But there was nobody.
She was alone.
Masuyo felt water stream down her face, and rubbed away her tears with her free hand. "I need to go home." She declared, standing up shakily. But, her feet and mind had other plans. She sat back down, feeling weak. She looked down at her soul gem.
No, grief seed. She looked down at the grief seed in her hand.
"... Haha... Looks like... this flower wilted, huh?" she weakly asked nobody in particular, as everything went black, and she felt herself slip a
Vivian entered a dark labyrinth, squinting. Her eyes haven't adjusted yet. A few lights floated around, tempting her to go to them, to ask for assistance. But she knew too well. Those must be the witch's familiars. She cautiously stepped forwards, rubble crunching beneath her feet.
After a while, the dark magi managed to gt to a lighter spot of the labyrinth, before stepping on something. A body. She looked down, and through the dim light, spotted the limp body of Masuyo Ibi. Her face having a small smile, looking as if she was peacefully defeated. She looked up, and spotted the witch, a large, faceless figure, clad in a kimono. But, she shared the same pigtails and hairstyle as Masuyo. The deduction came easily.
"... You fool." She muttered under her breath, her sleeves extending to form a claw.
... It hurts.
That's all that Masuyo's consciousness felt. She floated in oblivion, watching all of her regrets pool around her. She watched other magi leave her, thinking about how annoying the younger girl was. She watched her final moments, the ice in her stomach falling as her grief seed revealed itself. She watched herself finding the demolition crew sign by the shrine over and over again. And she watched the others at her school laugh, call her names.
"Weird ghost girl!" "Creepy plant lady!" They chanted. She gritted her teeth.
This was despair... huh? She thought, looking up. She saw what her witch was seeing. But in full color and light. She watched her friend, or should she say, first magical friend, scratch at the witch's face, cutting off a candle, stabbing the demon she became. She smiled.
At least someone cared... Thanks, Vivian-chan.
With that thought, everything turned white. The witch was dead, and Vivian received her prize. The grief seed of the girl that followed her to the bookstore. The hyperactive girl that carried the Pokemon plush. The magical girl that claimed to see ghosts. Vivian frowned. She turned, and the barrier fell. She forgot Masuyo's body, but it was too late.
"Oi!" shouted a burly man, clad in a construction worker's suit. "You're trespassing, miss! This shrine is getting torn down!" Vivian blinked, and nodded. She began to walk away. But, something caught her ear before she went.
"Thank god we can finally tear this old thing down!" one worker said to another.
"Yeah. What bugs me though is that how long those dilemmas lasted."
"Yeah, getting ill for almost a year? That's odd."
"And that girl, the one with the pigtails? She always was at the shrine. She beamed at us whenever we were trying to tear it down..."
"Oh yeah! Her! I wonder where she is."
"I'm not sure, but let's just get to work."
"Yeah! It's this spooky old relic's time to go, anyways."