Winterlichwalzer
The red ribbon drifted in the calm rhythm of water. Shards of ice slowly skinned off Freu and gently dissolved. Slowly, Freu's body was freed from the rigidity as she sank deeper and deeper into the river.
"Freu…" Ruu dashed toward the river after Freu, leaving Grolla and Pamela on the ground in front the Iris who was laughing hysterically. With a small splash of water, Ruu became a shadow covered by blue ripples. The surface of the river became disturbed with a few bubbles of water and soon rested still again.
Diving deeper, Ruu struggled badly against the upward current of the water. Her fairy wings flashed a faint blue once as a stream of weakly glittering sapphire particles started to float off.
"Ah…" at the floor of the river, Ruu spotted Freu. Flapping her wings one last time, Ruu allowed her wings to drift into nothingness as she gained the last bit of acceleration to reach right in front of Freu's face. Resting her hand lightly on Freu's forehead, Ruu closed her eyes…
In the distance, a gruesome aura spread out and reached the battle field in the grand palace.
A zombie flew across the sky and shattered like a fragile piece of fruit followed by another three. Schirach landed on the ground and caught scent of the aura.
"Mine, mine, did I drink too much?" a dark source of jealousy boiled deep inside of voice as she rubbed her force with her hand. Clenching her fist, a gust of wind blew out and carried off the invading zombies like pieces of trash. "That's probably not your mis-sensing." Sichte's image flashed across the scene and solidified with her back to Schirach's back. As Sichte was talking, an emerald dust breeze blew past towards the top of the church, "tch, at this time!"
"Well, this is the dead end…"
"Really is, Grolla and Freudia are both weak against the nature of my aura, we must g-"
"for Iris, that is." Schirach's mouth curved into a disappointing smile.
When Freu opened her eyes, there was nothing around. A single prism sealed away her body along with all her possible motions. It was very impossible to judge the broadness of the space; the surrounding was soaked in the kaleidoscope of twilight color, one that Freu knew well somehow.
"SEELEGEWEHR!"
The ghost of a scream broke the dead silence of the space as Tia flew past Freu's prism. Ahead of her, among a dozen of abnormally huge magic platforms, a dark seraph stood erect. The two images gradually approached, faded and vanished.
Tia…
The White King rested silently; her words cannot reach; her emotions can only struggle against the chains of fate.
"Freu…"
"Ruu?" Freu mouthed the name and was immediately reminded that there's no sound coming out of her mouth. Ruu floated down and rested her tiny palm on the surface of the prism, "it's OK, Freu. Ruu is able to hear Freu."
Ruu's words penetrated the prism and resonated clearly around Freu.
"Ruu… where's your wings?"
"Ehehe… they melted when Ruu was in the river…" Ruu laughed childishly. Freu's head lowered a little in apology; there was no strength left in her body to respond to her will of taking the little fairy into her arms. Choking back her regrets, Freu's voice was torn apart. "Sorry…"
"Freu?"
"Sorry, Ruu. Looks like this is as far as I go. Hurry back up… I don't want anything to happen to you anymore after Eifer…"
Ruu shook her head slowly, "Ruu, won't let Freu alone." Placing her hand on the prism of Freu, the prism flashed in a colorful phantasmagoria that began devouring Ruu's hand like the water did her wings. "Ruu, stop!"
Ruu shook her head again. "After meeting Freu, Ruu learned a lot. So Ruu will stay with Freu…"
Freu stared disbelievingly…
"whenever…"
… her mind desperately screaming for someone to help the disappearing figure in front of her…
"wherever."
Please… someone…
"How unbecoming." A voice reached from behind Ruu, "is this all you got after all, beetles?"
"Ai-chan?"
Eifer emerged from behind the twilight. Her chestnut hair was uncovered by her usual winter hat.
"Eifer, why are you here?"
"Huh. So much for your big words. After all, you weren't able to save anyone; not Spiritia Rosenberg, not that beetle over there… not me either."
Freu paused for a little. Her mind scratched for words but didn't find anything, "sorry…" Eifer seethed at Freu's apology. Her eyebrows furrowed angrily, but something was missing compared to usual. "You make me want to throw up! Pretending like a big sister and being condescending your whole way, only to come to a sorry apology?"
"Ai-chan, that's enough." Ruu interrupted. Eifer, staring at Ruu for a second, also calmed down a bit, "Ai-chan wanted to say something different, right?"
"Eifer?"
"Do you want to live or die, Freudia?" Freu hesitated for a while. Hiding her face from the unyielding eyes of both Eifer and Ruu, Freu murmured, "but… that was Tia…"
"so you cannot shoot? Naïve. One day, you will die from that naivety."
"But…"
"Why did you fight me? And why did I fight you? What appeared only as a meaningless fight for you was the struggle against fate for me. That's why you disgusted me from the beginning. And you disgust me even more now."
Freu lifted her head to look at Eifer's face; she saw an expression on Eifer that she had never seen before.
"I am not just a doll. To prove that, I will not choose my method. This world is not childish enough to allow you choices. What about you, Freudia?"
The White King's sister showed herself in front of the White King. For the first time, she was crying; a tearless cry. For the first time the White King saw her sister. And for the last time, the White King cried, with tears of blood.
"This is the life that I got from you, Freudia."
"Ai-chan?" Ruu got lifted away from Freu with an unseen force as the prism started cracking. A wave of cold air engulfing a burning core returned to Freu.
"Here we go, Strudel." Eifer's figure got drawn towards Ruu as the two disappeared in a ball of sapphire light. The world of twilight merged into the world of reality. One after another, the images of the RKS members emerged.
Everyone is still fighting… so as to break the nightmare…
Voices came flowing in; the battle screams of thousands. The voice became clearer and clearer; the twilight color grew more and more intense as the deep blue of the water faded.
"Eifer… Tia…"
"GROLLSCHWERT!"
"How stupid are you, Ms. Grolla. Lay back and enjoy your death can't you?"
Iris flashed out a beam of laser that bellowed towards Grolla's unguarded chest area while she held her sword above her head, ready to bring down her weakened slash. Pamela dashed between the laser and Grolla and defended against the laser with all the strength that she had left. But in the darkness of Iris's delirious laugh, both Grolla and Pamela got thrown back as their swords flew out of their hands.
"This is it!" drawing her other hand, Iris threw another beam of laser at the two who were crumbling under the pressure of Sichte's aura. The laser snaked towards the two and, just before swallowing its preys, became frozen pure white.
"…!?"
A pale blue white dotted on the twilight color of the sky and quickly spread out. Snow started to dance down in the seemingly world of ice.
From way below the bridge that Grolla and Pamela rested on, the river water burst up with the force of an avalanche and froze in midair as an ice mountain, towering over the bridge and Iris. Thousands of vines of climbed speedily up the iceberg, emitting sparkly emerald particles on their way up and mingled harmonious with the falling snow. Freu emerged from behind a mirror of ice, glaring down at Iris. One streak of vine rising up behind Freu ripped the red ribbon and Freu's hair spread out in the chilling wind like a winter roulette board of frozen death behind her.
"To save Tia, I, too, will not choose my method."
Like a piece of dainty crystals gently being blown away by wind, Freu churned out aura like a whirlpool.
Right… I shall eventually greet the tomorrow… for the sake of that…
Accompanying Freu's words, Freu's aura condensed in the air and six giant ice flowers sprouted from the bridge below and formed a prison around Iris from the top of their spikes.
"Freudia, looks like you haven't learned your lesson yet, not to exercise such profanity against God." Iris hissed in her menace, "DIE GEPLANTE ZU~~"
"Weiβ teufel." A pale white wall of boundary clashed and overwhelming the algae colored world that Iris conjured.
"What!?"
Right… this is my choice…
A white-haired fairy circled the mountain of ice up and stopped herself besides Freu. A trace of hostility arose in her tone. A trail of red traces its way from the corner of Ruu's right eye down her cheek as her eyes narrowed, shooting the same scarlet glare at Iris as Freu.
"I'll lay you to sleep in a frozen coffin of ice…"
"… for all the eternity to come."
Freudenstachel
"Fufuuu… HAHAHA!" Iris broke out into a hilarious laugh. Wiping tears out of her eyes, she calmed herself down and glared back at Freu, "then can you attack, this body?"
Freu grabbed onto the laces of her dress and, with a crisp jerk, ripped off a ring of skirt. Gripping the ring in her hand, Freu lifted it to shoulder-length and let go. The moment the ring started to drift, Ruu's eyes flashed red and Freu vanished from sight.
"…!?"
While the sudden surprise caught Iris's nerve, a dozen of vine pillars jutted up from below and crucified Iris in mid-air. A pure white light flashed past Iris and Freu rematerialized side by side to Iris. Her wild hair, having completely lost order, as if roared into Iris's face. Color quickly drained from Freu's body. In the split of a moment the figure blew up with the impact of an avalanche. Spiritia's body flew out from the snowy mist and slammed into the ground. By the time she stood back up, her hair ribbon had also fallen off, unraveling her bundled white hair.
"Freudia… !?"
"EIFERSTACHEL!"
Freu didn't give Iris enough time to respond. Grabbing a shadowy emerald ball of aura, Freu flung it across the air and spread its particles into the frozen twilight. Coming into contact with the burning aura, the plants all over the church ground started to wriggle and spear towards Iris like a woven spider web.
"Eifer?" Pamela pushed herself off the ground and looked up, worries filled her eyes.
"Tch…" Iris snorted, "GROLLSCHWERT!" dark violet sword waves flew out in all directions from Iris, deflecting Freu's plant blades into the floor around. In the matters of a few seconds, the vine spears gathered like a forest around Iris and Freu tied off the top by mixing her aura across the top.
"EIFERZWINGER!"
Smashing her force into the vine prison, spikes branched off of the vine pillars into the jail. A torn scream followed by a flash of dazzling light busted out of the jail with the shadow of a dark seraph.
Letting the chaos out of the jail, Freu sealed off the jail in vine and turned around to face Iris. A distorted expression dominated Iris's face.
"How… how dare you!"
The dark wings flapped once and Iris's aura rampaged and drifted into waste. Brandishing her arm like a sword, Iris sent a row of laser flying towards Tia's unconscious body. Almost out of instinct, Freu threw herself in front of the laser, which madly dissipated her aura. However, clenching her teeth, Freu showed no sign of yielding.
"Freudia, out of the way!"
"Freudia Neuwahl, dodge!"
"Freudia…" Ruu flew besides Freu. Blinking her eyes once, both figures disappeared from the world and the laser fell straight onto the two blades that immediately followed.
"None of your business. OUT OF THE WAY!"
Wasting another bulk of her aura, Iris blew off Grolla and Pamela. "Haha… ahaha… huh!?" a frozen saw blade cuts through Iris' left wing and flew off into the distance. A ray of tainted grey light emitted from the back of Iris's shoulder. The torn wing melted in the middle of the sky into a whirlpool of aura. Rubbing her wound with her hand, Iris laughed darkly, "hehehe… interesting… snow woman!"
Kicking back on air, Iris propelled herself towards Freu. Freu lowered herself a little and Iris flew right past, left behind a trail of expanding magic platforms. Tiny black holes as if opened up in the center of each and started to suck in dark traces of light from out of the thin air. The traces mingled and slowly took the form of round sphere. Iris flew non-stop, one loop after another around Freu. Then, in a symphonic rage, all the platforms shot out and bulks of energy flew towards Freu at once.
Freu darted towards the first wave that aimed at her heads-on. The falling snow flakes all simultaneously changed emerald and fine plants condensed into an armor in front of Freu. Another wave flew towards Freu and, right before they hit, a pair of scarlet eyes and sapphire wings fluctuated in the air. The bullets disappeared into a large cloud of smoke. Piercing through the cloth of smoke, a dozen of bundles of vine flashed out toward Iris. The first one to reach flew past besides Iris's face and the second one missed her shoulder slightly. While the front line of attack distracted Iris, another bundle of vine grabbed Iris's left ankle.
"What!?"
Iris was instantly dragged out of her still position in air and slammed onto the ground. A row of ice mirrors phased up and Freu's ice figures emerged from the mirror and bombard where Iris landed like meteors. A dust storm blew up from ground of the bridge and made Grolla and Pamela jumped away.
The dusty cloak showed no sign of clearing up. However, the day slowly became gloomy as a dark sun shrouded the one behind Freu's frozen aura. Black sparks of lightning fell onto the ground and dissipated the mist. Iris stood in the middle of the mist; her left arm encroached by the lightness and looked burned. "Freudia…" a heavy snake surfaced from Iris. The dense lightning boiled violently in Iris's hand as she lifts it to her chest.
Iris's aura became more and more gruesome. Sensing that, Freu also started to retract her aura from the air into her hand. A chilling ice ball began to take form. The ice cloth gently thawed away from the atmosphere, revealing the blazing twilight from beneath.
"Let's end this…" Freu whispered.
"Your life that is…" Iris gripped on the lightning bolt. Bringing her arm a full circle behind her, Iris flung the bolt into the sky, "BLITZSTRAHL!"
Facing the flare and not wincing, Freu stabilized her firing arm with her other hand. Tapering her firing range, a white flash of light soon rushed out back towards Iris.
"FREUDENSTACHEL!"
The two beams clashed fiercely in mid-air. The equilibrium point oscillated back and forth, wasted aura crystallized from the clash point fell onto the ground where they left burnt out spots of ice.
"How far would you be able go, with that amount of aura you have left?" Iris exacerbated her attack, pushing back the front line toward Freu.
Eifer… Tia…
Eiferstachel
Freu's attack suddenly switched green, stabilizing the front line.
I won't be able to hold on for long at this rate…
Realizing her dire situation, Freu accelerated herself towards Iris against the lightning blades. The thrush of thousands of sparks made their scars all over Freu's skin. In the trembling space, it looked as if scarlet eyes broke out all over Freu's body.
The stream of light disappeared from Freu's hand.
Ruu inserted herself between Iris and Freu and Iris's blazing laser ran through Freu's chest, carrying Ruu's figure into the wind. A blotch of blood spilled into the air from Freu's chest along with the zigzagging laser. The frame then became still. The blood froze in mid-air; the laser stopped moving.
"Freezing my weapon? Meaningless struggle!" Iris 's motion slowed down greatly as she retracted her hand from the still laser, "with that wound, you can't do any attacks!"
Ruu… at this rate…
Shoot it, Freudia.
But… my aura…
You have the bullet, don't you?
…?
Shoot
A droplet of silence dripped into Freu's heart. From the rings of ripples that gradually spread out arose the still image of a smiling girl and, behind whom, the silhouette of a man.
As if imitating the girl to calm herself, Freu smiled lightly. Lifting her arm towards Iris's face, Freu's palm was only a few centimeters away from Iris's forehead. Trapped in the magic of the white devil, Iris could barely move, but her face showed a sign of worry and fear.
"SEELEGEWEHR!"
Plätschernblume, Eisblüte
The white engulfed everything for a moment. Freu lost consciousness after the battle, just like a certain someone. The aurora slowly died down while a snowy night of bright moon shined on. The flake flowers floated down, as if dancing along with the rhythm of requiem.
"…"
?
"…ia…"
Who… is it?
"…dia…"
"FREUDIA!"
Freu slowly opened her eyes. A spot of green reflected into her eyes. The night has cooled down, but an unusual pale cyan filled the night sky.
"Sichte…?"
"Mine, mine." Sichte let out a deep sigh and leaned back. Slightly adjusting her badly torn shirt, Sichte rubbed off a blotch of blood from her forehead. "don't scare us like; it wasn't even funny."
Freu managed to look down at her chest. Her dress was stained red. However, there was no pain, just a sense of incompatibility.
"Hey…" Freu sat herself up, earning worries from Sichte, "don't force yourself, Freudia."
"Don't worry about me, where's Iris?"
Sichte closed her eyes and shook her head. Opening her eyes again, Sichte stared into the distance where Grolla and Pamela stood. Right besides them, Tia laid asleep on Liebea's knees. Around them, hundreds of people laid on the ground, wounded, asleep. However, none had a sour face.
"I see." Freu paused for a second. Her brain went into oblivion for a second. Another ripple flower flashed across her mind, "where's Ruu?"
"Ruu? I don't know… who is that?"
Freu's eyes widened. "Freudia," turning her head around, Pamela stood right besides. "Freudia Neuwahl, Eifer, where's Eifer?"
Freu lowered her head, hiding her eyes behind her hair. Pamela took a step back. Trying to stay calm, Pamela only looked more prone to crying. "H-hold on, Freudia Neuwahl, don't stay silent on me, say something!" Clenching her fists tight, the corner of Pamela's eyes grew wet.
"Crying again?"
The voice with the chilling tone struck Pamela and Freu from behind. Both of them instantly lifted up her head to look up. A ghostly transparent figure stood alone in the snowy background, feet barely touching the ground.
"E-Eifer…" Pamela's voice was trembling. Reaching out for Eifer, Pamela's hands passed right through Eifer's cheeks. A flash of light spilled out from the hologram-looking image; an intangible breeze lifted the hat from Eifer's snowy hair. Eifer stayed silent for a moment then looked back at Freu.
"Looks like you proceeded to the next level from a beetle." Eifer said in her cool voice. Freu's eyes softened. Her mouth twitched as if trying to say something but she held it back. "Freudia, one day, I will settle the matter with you. Don't you rot before that."
"Eifer…" Freu realized that it weren't only words that she was holding back, but emotion as well. "Eifer, I have a lot that I want to say to you." Freu stared at Eifer's flickering figure for a long time, longer than she had ever before, engraving every bit of it into her brain, "you will come back, won't you?"
Eifer closed her eyes and turned away, towards Pamela.
"You too, yours interfering with my plan this time. I will eventually have it back."
Pamela, too, didn't manage any words. The faint light showered through Eifer's body onto Pamela's head, bathing down a sadness that she had never felt before.
"So long, Ms. Captain."
Eifer's words circulated in the air, bouncing off one piece of crystal after another. To Pamela, the difference between the resonance of sound and light became indiscernible; what remained was the just the phantasmagoria of twilight, bathed in silence. The particles dissolving from Eifer gathered in the air and glowed with increasing intensity. The emerald faded from the conglomeration along with any other color and flew towards Freu where it softly landed on Freu's outreaching palms.
"Ei…fer…?"
"In the blessing of our Lord…"
"…please rest in peace." The Refractias' black dresses cloaked the back of Pamela. Schirach walked up to Pamela and put her hand on Pamela's shoulder. "Even though she was in that state, Eifer still came. You understand?" quietly, Schirach waited for the tremble…
But there was none.
Pamela simply stood with her head down a little. A new, fresh trail of blood dripped down the corner of her mouth, covering the crimson, as if burnt out old trail. "Freudia Neuwahl…" Pamela called out to Freu, showing only a side of her expression, "After all, I can't tolerate the doings of RKS. If you let me catch any more of your wrong doing, I shall not stay silent."
"Until then." Freu turned sideways just like Pamela.
At that moment, an ephemeral wave of something embellished the air between Freu and Pamela.
Right…
This is Eifer…
This is the Eifer that I know…
Intangible and barely sensible…
Invisible but slightly fluorescent…
Flickering yet carrying a trace of warmth…
My dear comrade…
My little sister…
Eifer Skute…
In the land far, far away joined to Freu and Pamela only but the ever extending sky, where everything started, the fairies chanted out their rhythm. The wind carried the melodies across the space; the waves carved the lullabies into time.
Pamela started to walk away. Her footsteps were slow, but firm. Schirach waved at the crowd and left after Pamela, Lecht and Rink following closely up. Freu turned back toward where her people were waiting, her expression carries a tinge of appeasement but was too complex to be read beyond that. Steadily, Freu marched out, cradling the little blue fairy sleeping soundly in her hands, for the way that she had since long been pursuing.
Und Dann, Für Immer…
Resting on a new shining mahogany desk were piles of paper, stacked raggedly one on top of another. A beam of fresh morning light seeped through the window and softly illuminated Pamela's long, smooth hair. Feeling the warmth, Pamela woke up suddenly and looked around, as if looking for someone. However, the only things that she saw were what were already there in the office; two sets of drawers filled with sorted documents, a tea table and two dusty chairs used as accessories of the room, a flag of the empire drooping down from the wall on the other side of the room, draping over a table full of honors and medals with Pamela's name engraved.
The office was half-way lit by the rising sun. Pamela sat herself down on the chair that she had been sitting on since the night before and gave a loose yawn. Glancing at the mountains of paper in front of her face, Pamela felt the urge to just blow everything to the ground.
"Even though reporting is necessary, just what is wrong with this amount of work…" murmuring to herself, Pamela's eyes drifted her sword leaning against the window silt behind her. Standing back up, Pamela pushed open the window and let the fresh air. Overlooking a plain of prosperous cities, a sense of responsibility and hollowness filled Pamela inside.
So long, Ms. Captain
Swinging her head around, Pamela chased the phantom of the voice only to be reminded by the empty room that she had been fetching only hours of sleep for the past several days.
A series of knocking on fine timber door drove Pamela's eyes back into the reality. "Come in." A solider clad in light armor with a sword sheathed at his waist came in solemnly, closing the door behind him. His arm shook a little and the door snapped into its frame with a bit more noise than the solider intended, sending a chill through his spine.
"Relax." Pamela called out to the solider in her order, "and raise your chest. As a solider of the Holy Empire, who taught you that recessive stance of yours?"
"Y-yes my Lord!" the solider responded nervously.
"That shall halt as well." Pamela circled around her desk and took the pile of documents out of the clutch of the solider, "I am not your Lord. And you will see that proven." Exchanging a fiery look with the solider, Pamela no longer seemed like such a terrifying being as the solider stopped shuddering and stood erect.
"Yes ma'am!"
When the solider left, the superficially refined door barely squeaked. Sitting back into the chair, Pamela flipped open the report and recognized Lecht and Rink's handwriting;
Report: investigation case 00223
Nosdu mountain range has been reported to show relatively unstable signs that foreshadow possible future eruptions. Upon our investigation, there was no such sign although the provided evidence was concrete.
Complete investigation could possibly take up to three days given the range. However, current results show that there is a very low chance of any eruption in close future.
Additionally, Nosdu mountain range used to be in the jurisdiction of RosenkreuzStilette. Further investigation might solicit confrontations.
Waiting for further instructions.
Lecht Refraktia
Rink Refraktia
Pamela briefed over the concise message and lifted the feather out of the ink case.
On behalf of the Holy Empire, orders to Lecht Refraktia, Rink Refraktia,
Investigation of the Nosdu mountain range is to be conducted to the end for the purpose of clarifying all doubts. The result from this investigation is crucial for the protection of citizens of the land. Investigation is not to be forsaken so long as there is a chance of natural disaster.
Any interference of RosenkreuzStilette in the conduction of this investigation is to be taken as alleged impediment of execution of formal affairs and dealt with immediately.
Pamela paused mid-way through the letter. Coming to think of it, Pamela realized that it was the first time that she gave out orders since the Walpurgisnacht ended. With a determined smile, Pamela decided on the most suited closing that she could think of.
For the sake of citizens and the Holy Empire, the mission is to be carried out without fail, in the name of the pride of SchwarzKreuz.
Pamela Arwig
The pen scrolled smoothly across the surface of the paper and marked the last period of the message. Pamela put down the pen and let out a breath of relaxation; her glance drifted off to the side of the table.
A white envelope sat on one corner of the table with a red ribbon accessory sealing off the mouth. Underneath the envelope was the bulk of a letter, covered up. A single dainty signature in curvy font was imprinted on the bottom of the paper.
Freudia Neuwahl
The sun orbited around the Zuvenberg clock tower like a giant suspended pendulum. Sichte stood, covering her mouth with the back of her hand and wiped a sleepy tear from her eye. "Well, well. Guess we can just let them be."
"But Milady…" Grolla stepped forward in uneasiness.
"Relax, Grolla." Sichte said nonchalantly, "It's true that the Nosdu's were once in Zorne's jurisdiction. But the Schwarzkreuz has got their reason this time. There's neither point nor good in us struggling against them."
Grolla remained silent for a second and resigned her agreement. "Yes Milady. Then, please excuse me."
"Hold it, Grolla." Sichte grabbed Grolla on the shoulder, as she showed a sign of hurrying away, "Just for my assurance, you are coming tonight, right?" Sichte's eyes smiled friendly; her eyebrows drooped menacingly.
"M-milady... me bing there is simply going to ruin the fun for everyone else." Grolla stated plainly. Sichte's hand relaxed from Grolla's armor as her expression calmed down. "Well in that case it would be such a pity…"
"Milady, thank you for underst-"
"But it's simply not fair for Grolla to be left behind. Ahh what am I supposed to do…?" Sichte played a maneuvering tone in her tantalizing rhetoric, "oh yeah, then to make up for your absence tonight, how about me hosting the most grandiose birthday party for you next time?" Grolla's eyebrow twitched and Sichte started dancing in circles in self mesmerizing brainstorming, "with a room decorated with mountains of colorful and lovely flowers and sweetly embellished ChEeSeCaKeS?" Sichte shuddered deliberately, making Grolla's shoulders shuddered with her tone. Adjusting herself, Grolla made preparations to leave but was again grabbed on the shoulder by Sichte, "mS. GrOlLa, don't tell me you are going to stand me up?"
Grolla twisted her head a little just to steal a glance at what was behind her; Sichte's figure seemed to enlarge infinitely like a green demon, laughing sadistically. "I-I copy you, Milady. I will be there tonight."
Slowly, Sichte let go and said to Grolla's back, "Well, well. Then happily ever after I guess."
"But…"
"Grolla," Sichte forcefully suppressed all doubts in Grolla's voice, "Take my words for it; everyone will be sad if you are not there."
As the morning sun lit up behind the clock tower, Grolla and Sichte simply stood there. Grolla's head was down, thinking about something. Sichte relaxed and smiled a little as if Grolla were her child. No one knew what expression Grolla had at that moment.
The day has quickly gone dark. Tia lifted up her head to look at the sky; it has gone quite late. Around a huge smashed cavity on the wall of the Imperial Training hall, reconstruction has started.
"Tia, looks like we have to go back soon." Lilli circled to in front of Tia's face. "Um, got it, Lilli." Tia looked quietly into the river below; reflected in the ripples, a trace of frozen aura remained mingled with a source of burning aura. A piece of snow flake floated down. Tia put her head down into her arms, resting on the railing on the side of the bridge.
"Sorry, I was late, wasn't I…"
"What are you thinking about, Tia?" Freu asked softly.
"I…" Tia's eyes were invisible, hidden from the world, "wasn't able to save her…"
Watching Tia's face, Freu felt a tinge of self-blaming. For a second, Freu lost track of her thoughts. Diving deep into her reasons, Freu found nothing but one.
"Tia, what color do you think snow is?"
"Heh?", Tia's expression bore a bewilderment, "well, white?"
"That's right. But," Freu reached out into the sky as a piece of snow fell into her hand, as if craving for something, "if you look from straight underneath, what's white is the sky; the snow is actually black."
"Eh… is that right…"
"Tia," Freu turned back and extended her enclosed hand towards Tia, "I had been mistaken once, but I have decided to never again. I can't imagine the world without you. To save you, I will not choose my method; I will become a demon if I have to."
"Freu…" Tia hesitantly reached out for Freu's hand.
"Tia, there is no clear black or white in this world. Don't press yourself too hard for it."
Freu released her fingers and let something drop into Tia's hand. Tia stared at it for second. Slowly, a tiny smile emerged from her face.
It hanged loosely from Tia's palm. Ruu and Lilli stood on the railing of the bridge, watching as Tia and Freu crossed their fingers. A chilling white light seeped through the cleavage between their hands and illuminated the space around them in an engulfing kaleidoscope of white hue in which the two disappeared. What was left was only the reverberating echo of their voice.
"Seelegewehr"
Fin