A/N: A friend mentioned that they ship MarryEne. Upon explaining why, I knew I had to write something like this. (It's not actually shippy though.)
"Don't you understand?! You're dying!"
Marry couldn't help it, as the sound of the protest brought a soft chuckle to her lips.
"Why are you laughing about this?!"
"Because," she answered out loud, even though she knew she was the only one who could hear the voice speaking to her, "I didn't realize you, of all creatures, would get emotional."
In front of her, a blue-haired girl without any feet looked over at her in surprise. "Huh? Is that jerk talking to you again?"
"He is. He sounds really mad this time, too."
The girl scrunched up her nose a little in disgust, and from within Marry's consciousness came an annoyed reply.
"Don't bring me down to the level of your human emotions! You still have time! You can still save yourself—everyone! I know you want to see all of them again! You can't hide your wishes from me! Bring them all back! Do it!"
Marry ignored the noise as a feeling in her throat made her bring a hand to her mouth and cough. The action seemed to strain her entire body, making every muscle and bone protest, and Takane moved closer. She put her hands out hesitantly, then pulled them back to her chest, concern on her face as she watched Marry intently. If she wanted to touch her, she could go use one of the androids, but at the moment she was nothing more than a 3D projection that could only observe. "… You alright?"
"… Alright enough, I suppose." Marry settled back in her chair with a soft sigh, her eyes slipping to half closed.
She wasn't given three seconds before the protests began again. "You want to live, right?! You want to see them, right?! You can do that! You can still do all of that! If you go back, you'll all see each other again!"
"Such an annoying snake," she muttered, settling a little further. But then she smiled at Takane. "Takane… do you remember our first group of friends?"
Takane's eyes went wide for a second, but then she smiled, a nostalgic expression on her face. "Ah, how could I forget? It was such a noisy group, after all. That was back when the both of us were still kids, so I bet we were probably noisy, too, huh?"
"We probably were." Marry laughed softly. "I promised myself that even if I forgot the rest of them, I'd never forget Kosuke. But, I can still remember the rest of them, too. There was… ah, Kido, and Kano…"
"Haruka, and Momo, Hibiya…"
"Shintaro." They said the name in unison, and in unison, laughed.
"All those people are dead," the voice in her head murmured, and Marry's smile turned into a slight frown.
"I know they're dead. But that doesn't mean we can't be happy with the memories they've left us with."
"Of course they're dead," Takane said, smiling sadly. "It's been over 800 years. I think I'm just happy that I haven't forgotten any of them. When they first started getting old… that was my greatest fear. That I'd live on completely without them. But… you helped me remember. And that was enough."
"You helped me as well, though. And we made so many more friends in the meantime, didn't we? They, too, didn't mind our strangeness."
"But they weren't strange like us."
"No, they weren't."
Marry coughed again, harder this time. Ah, it was getting difficult to breathe. She could feel the strength in her hands draining by the second, and she knew that it wouldn't be long now.
"I know you've answered this question already, but I still need to ask one last time. Are you sure about this, Takane?"
"No matter how many times you ask, my answer's not going to change!... Though, I guess if you're asking now, that means it's probably about time, isn't it?"
"I'm afraid so." Marry took the phone from the table next to her and placed it in her lap. Takane looked at it, then turned back to her.
"Immortality's only really fun when you have someone to share it with, right? I bet you thought the same. That's why you never rewound, even though it's been only the two of us for so long now. But I think… I'm ready. Yuki, Ryota, Muro, Tsura, Heisuke, and, the rest of them… ah, there were a lot of them, weren't there? They were all fun, and I really loved each of them. But… I think I'm ready to see Haruka again. Because, you know, I never really got over him. Even after all this time."
"I understand. You know, there was one part of it that I could never change, no matter what wish I made. I never grew up in time to truly love Kosuke. I think, of everything, that would be my one single regret." She coughed once more. "Ah, Takane…"
The image in front of her vanished, and an instant later, appeared on the screen in her lap. She smiled down at Takane, and Takane smiled up at her.
"And now, you who were the most troublesome one of all… I'll need to borrow your power one last time." Her eyes turned red, and she picked the phone up in her hands. "Goodbye, Takane. Thank you for staying with me until the end."
"And thanks for letting me stay with you, Marry. Goodbye."
She squeezed, and even with her weakening grip, the thin electronics broke apart easily. The screen flickered and went dark, and a moment later, Marry felt the last of the snakes remaining in this world gather inside of her.
"There's still time," the familiar voice hissed in her ear, his tone almost pleading with how desperate it sounded. "You can bring them all back. All of them! You can save yourself and bring them all back! You can enjoy all of this again! You're alone now. None of them will know. None of them will have to remember a thing!"
"I've already decided I won't," she murmured, eyes fading back to their normal color as her hands went limp. Ah, even using just the one ability for so short a time had taken a lot out of her. "I was happy with how we all lived. I won't cheapen that by erasing it… Not this time."
"Don't you want to keep living?! You're dying, you're dying and there's going to be no coming back from it this time! You can still use your power! Use your power! You have to!"
"So troublesome, even to the end…" If she'd known he would put up such a fuss, maybe she would have turned on some music. Listening to a snake scream at her wasn't what she had imagined this moment would be like, but maybe such a thing was inevitable. He, too, had been with her all these years, after all. "Are you afraid of disappearing?"
The protests that he'd been making suddenly cut off. That, perhaps, was enough to answer her question.
"I think I am, too. I would have thought that after watching so many of my friends go, I would be more at peace with it. But I suppose it's different when it comes time to face it yourself."
"Then don't face it. You can stop hurting. You can stop being alone. You can still go back; there's still time…!" But his voice was quiet, practically begging. Perhaps he'd resigned himself to the fact that she wasn't changing her mind.
It was ironic. Maybe if he hadn't put her and her friends through so many terrible things to ensure his own existence, she'd be willing now to go back and do everything all over again. But all of her friends had worked so hard to earn their peaceful lives, and the least she could do was let them keep that time they had struggled for.
"I'm not going to be alone. Not anymore."
Marry gave another cough, and this time, she couldn't even manage to lift her hand to cover her mouth. Ah, her eyelids felt so heavy. Maybe she'd just slide them shut for a little while.