Parfaits at Angel Mort
"Lambda, are you here?"
Bernkastel's voice echoed among the sea of fragments. Cloaked in darkness and pearly glows, the Witch of Miracles descended among the various worlds she had once known. She fluttered among them, floating quietly and listened to the reverberations of her question. Bernkastel sighed, knowing her beloved frequently took detours to explore the various fragments and search for people receiving a blessing in return for their tumultuous work. Lambdadelta praised those who put their heart and soul into their goals, blessing them with victory after they had proved their absolute worth. Someone could work their entire life only to be on their deathbed before Lambdadelta rewarded them, which only made for pleasant stories to be told around Beatrice's tea party.
Bernkastel fluttered in the eerie darkness, long hair swaying behind her as she brusquely turned her head towards a random fragment. She had been searching for a certain world in order to torment the one who so utterly humiliated her. Even though the marriage had been underway, Bernkastel knew the funeral would be so much more enticing with a certain piece from a particular world she had difficulty locating. Gazing through millions of fragments had left her weary, and she had hoped Lambdadelta would spring up from a fragment with tales from the sickeningly sweet wedding to ease her budding boredom.
She must be eating her weight in cake by now. I'm sure she's having a ball showing off parlor tricks to the bride and groom, she mused, scowling to herself and snatched twin fragments. Peering at them, she huffed and tossed them back into the ocean of glimmering white chips.
Bernkastel crossed her arms, pursing her lips tightly and wondered how long she would have to suffer under the ignominy of searching. In a period she craved to forget, she longed for a miracle to happen and spent hundreds of years dying to write one out. Her master abandoned her, leaving her to a humiliatingly horrific fate, but before she could dwell on it and succumb to her greatest fear, she straightened in wonder.
Curiously, Bernkastel floated towards a fragment, revealing a tuft of green hair bristling in the wind. A young girl in vibrant clothing adjusted her ponytail while her twin waved her finger at her, dressed in a strange type of maid outfit. Bernkastel gripped the fragment, watching the twins interact at Angel Mort. The waitress served her sister a colorful parfait, and the other sister clapped her hands, thanking her for the free meal.
"Onee, don't say that out loud. You could get me in trouble with management," Shion said, leaning closer towards Mion. "I've already had some voyeurs try to earn some free pastries when they almost tripped me."
Mion winced, covering her mouth to obscure her blush. In a muffled voice, she quickly said, "I mean, thanks for the dessert, which I will definitely pay for, and tip the waitress"
Shion sighed, sitting down opposite her sister in the booth. Angel Mort was surprisingly mild in terms of customers. After Mion's club made swift work of perverts, they were allowed a moment of peace to relax under the summer sun. Shion glanced out the window, finding Rena swinging around Rika and Satoko, shouting about how she was going to take them home. Keiichi hurried after Rena, barking at her to release Satoko and Rika and remarked they were suffocating. Hanyuu nearly tripped, hobbling after everyone to wait for her when Keiichi took off after the sprinting Rena. Chuckling, Shion set her hand to her cheek.
"You really are cunning, Onee. Being able to earn the waitresses some free time by eliminating all of the disgusting customers really helped out," Shion commented, and Mion snickered, shrugging.
"Don't think about it, Shion. I'm just glad we were able to chase them out before they could do any real damage," Mion said, spinning her spoon between her fingers before scooping out a strawberry.
Shion smiled, glancing out the window and saying, "Keiichi-san barreling through that league of perverts must've been because he gained so much power from your punishment games."
"Kei-chan's been having a lot of trouble in the games. He's losing his touch, which means I just gotta make him work harder to help him win."
Chuckling over her twin's twisted logic, Shion asked, "Isn't it because you like seeing him in short skirts?"
Flustered, Mion tried denying her cheeks to burn with scarlet. Waving her hand dismissively, Mion blurted, "No way! Not a chance! Punishment games aren't meant to be like that."
"Whatever you say, Onee."
Angrily chomping down on her parfait, Mion glared out the window towards the crisp autumn sky. The soft pinks and oranges melded together, and the wind gently blew the leaves. She was about to comment on the other Hojo's treatment when the bell by the door rang, alerting Shion to stand.
"Welcome to-oh?" Shion paused, stepping away from her sister's booth and approached the customer. "Rika-chama, what kind of outfit is that?"
Standing in the entrance was a young girl with dull purple eyes. She peered at Shion, tilting her head and patting the seemingly odd garb. Compared to the world of the witches, her outfit was considerably mild. In her fallen detective's garb, Bernkastel shook her head.
"Erika."
Shion tilted her head, smiling in blank confusion.
"My name is Erika," Bernkastel insisted, rolling her shoulders back.
"Oh, excuse me. You just looked so much like a friend of mine," Shion said, gesturing for Bernkastel to follow. "We're not very busy today, so please feel free to choose where you would like to sit."
Bernkastel nodded, stepping past Shion and stopping by Mion. Lifting her gaze at the girl in mystical clothing, Mion swallowed a particularly large glob of vanilla ice cream and grinned. Bernkastel remained silent, resting her hands by her lap.
"Hey! Are you new in the area?" Mion asked, lightly smacking the table.
Accepting the gesture, Bernkastel sat across from Mion and said, "I'll take what she's having."
Shion nodded, replying, "Coming right up."
As Shion whisked away, Mion grinned at the unflappable Bernkastel, saying, "Shion is right. You do look like a girl we know. What brings you to Angel Mort?"
Bernkastel rested her hands in her lap, glancing around the colorful interior of Angel Mort. A few waitresses flitted to other customers, serving coffee and pastries. Gentle conversations hung in the sweet air.
"I wanted to visit. I haven't been to Hinamizawa and Okinomiya in quite some time," Bernkastel admitted, and Mion's eyebrows rose in wonder.
"Are you a resident of Hinamizawa?"
"In a way."
"You know, I thought I'd know everyone in Hinamizawa by now," Mion said, sighing in disappointment.
Bernkastel leaned backwards as Shion approached, setting her parfait in front of her. Thanking her for the dainty silver spoon, Bernkastel took a small bite of blueberries and vanilla ice cream. She nodded in approval, reminded of a taste she had hundreds of years ago.
"Angel Mort has the best desserts around. Did you come back just to try some, Erika?" Mion asked, tilting her parfait glass towards her to scoop out the remaining fruit.
"I wanted some familiarity, yes. Where I was before, well, it was getting dull," Bernkastel said, taking mild bites of her parfait.
Sitting with her sister, Shion said, "Angel Mort is one of the liveliest places in both Okinomiya and Hinamizawa. If you came earlier, you would've seen a grand spectacle where Onee unleashed our friends onto a group of fiendish perverts."
Bernkastel hummed, having observed the very scene from the fragment before arriving. Rika and Satoko reveled in the latter's traps, watching perverts struggle under nets and bombs made of chalk. Hanyuu attempted to chastise them only to join in their laughter. Mion brandished her pistol, scaring off anyone trying to fight her into fleeing for their lives. Rena and Keiichi partnered, bashing away voyeurs in a scene reminding Bernkastel of another failed fragment where her former self suffered and died. It had been another exciting day from a time Bernkastel kept in the back of her mind. She nodded, taking another bite of her parfait.
"So, are you a Hinamizawa native?" Shion asked.
"In a way," Bernkastel replied, and Shion sighed, shaking her head.
"I hoped if I asked, I'd get a different answer."
Bernkastel recalled the same sentence from the Shion of many familiar fragments. Suppressing her comment, she asked, "Is Hinamizawa fun for you both?"
"It's great! Our village is simply the best. Everyone is so supportive of each other," Mion replied, folding her hands on the table. "No matter what happens, I'd never want to leave Hinamizawa for any job or place in the world. Even when that weirdo Okonogi offered me a chance to be captain of some silly Alpha or Delta team, being the leader of our club is way more fun."
"Well said, Onee. Our place is here, after all," Shion said. "After everything that happened over the summer, we can only treasure Hinamizawa even more."
The battle against Takano had been more than arduous. A race against time filled with hope blessed them with the miracle they all painstakingly achieved. Despite the despair, Bernkastel found herself faced with the Sonozaki twins who loved each other and would become twins again in their next life.
She briefly recalled those other maddening worlds. The fragments that shaped her into the heartless witch seized her, flitting through Shion's crimes and Mion's complacency in many twisted versions of Hinamizawa. She subconsciously rubbed her neck, irritated by her lost minion's choice of lacy chokers and set her spoon down on a napkin provided by Shion.
"You two must've worked hard in order to reach the miracle that became this world. I almost forgot the sensation of victory, but being in your presence has reminded me of it," Bernkastel said, and the twins glanced at each other. "It's fine if you don't understand what I'm saying. Don't try to overanalyze it. I've already had to deal with an incompetent idiot."
Mion hummed, crossing her arms and asked, "Victory is nice, but isn't it better if it's shared? Shion and I, along with the other members of our club, made it together to this day because of our bond."
"I can understand where you're coming from, Erika-san. It's nice to win at games, but have you ever played Old-"
"-Geezer," Bernkastel finished, stopping Shion's sentence. "I've played it. You include everyone so there aren't any losers. When the Joker is added, it's a boring game without losers. It's more fun to torment the loser and-."
"Hey, hey, that's just cruel," Mion said, standing up, and to Bernkastel's wonder, Mion flicked her nose. "Looking down on people and mocking them for losing is just hedonism at it's finest. If you saw our club-"
"Ah, but Onee, when Keiichi-san lost last week's game, you made sure to humiliate him," Shion interjected, snickering behind her palm.
Mion yelped, jerking towards her. Her hip knocked into the table, jarring Bernkastel's parfait and spilling it on her outfit. Mion barked that her behavior was entirely different from announcing her interest in cruelty.
Bernkastel stared at the vanilla mess on her bubblegum pink and white dress. Licking ice cream off her cheeks, Bernkastel stood and took the napkin, wiping the mess of fruit of rolling ice cream off. When Shion noticed her and offered help, Bernkastel raised her hand.
"That's fine. I've seen enough. This conversation will ease my boredom while I continue my search," Bernkastel said, dropping her napkin in front of them. "I don't doubt your words, Mion. You've both already secured your miracles. There's no need to lecture me about cruelty and Old Geezer when I've already heard it before. Anyway, I've got to get searching. It was nice to catch up with you both again."
"What does that mean?" Mion asked, but Bernkastel shook her head, stepping towards the exit.
"Ah, hey! You've got to pay for the parfait!" Shion snapped, blocking Bernkastel's path.
Mion snapped her fingers, grinning. "Oh, I get it! She said all that to distract us so she could dart off without paying! That's low, but in this case, it's fine."
Bernkastel peered between the sisters, finding Shion reaching behind her. The crackling of electricity whirled in her ears, and Mion cracked her knuckles, crouching behind Bernkastel. They were challenging her to make the first move and prepared themselves accordingly. Like any good game where the loser tried fleeing punishment, the sisters were more than ready to prevent their target from escaping persecution.
In the back of Bernkastel's mind, an old memory played in black and white. The young girl dashed in hopes of catching Mion, but every time she reached the edge of the building, Mion would suddenly appear at the opposite corner. The game ended in tears because she could not receive her prize of delicious food until the twins emerged to treat her. Bernkastel closed her eyes, hearing Mion shout that they would rush her and marveled over the memory that lingered in her head for hundreds of years.
Bernkastel yawned, waving her hand and allowing them to strike first. She suddenly ducked, looking up in time to watch Shion barely miss her twin's face with her taser. Mion's fist, however, collided with Shion's stomach. Down Shion rolled, clutching her body. Mion yelped, apologizing, and Bernkastel scampered towards the door. As other waitresses hurriedly attended Shion, Bernkastel pointed to the lingering mess on her dress, smirking.
"You can accept that I was an unhappy customer. Having a majority of my parfait spilled on my attire really isn't good service," she said, snickering at the irritated expressions the twins wore.
Slamming the door behind her, Bernkastel vanished. The rush of the door opening struck her back, but when she opened her eyes, she already returned to the sea of fragments, wearing her regular attire. Clutching the shard, she peered with devilish gleam at Mion waving her fist, shouting for Erika to return. Shion stalked out front, commenting she would never allow outsiders into her beloved Angel Mort.
Bernkastel gently tossed the fragment back into the sea as if she was skipping a pale, smooth stone. She watched the fragment briefly spin in the air before collapsing back into the endless ocean of possibilities, securing safety for her old life. Burying the past allowed her to protect it, but it had always been a quiet joy to revisit the ones she had left behind.
"Ah, Bern! There you are!"
Sighing as the voice of her darling Witch of Certainty bellowed and decimated her momentary peace, Bernkastel sidestepped. Lambdadelta flung herself into the fragments, sliding briefly before rolling onto her back. Bernkastel sat next to her, brushing a few shards away and asked where she had been.
"The wedding. The ceremony was fun, but you're definitely blacklisted from their next gathering," Lambdadelta sneered, sitting on her knees.
"Good. I don't want to be invited to such a drab event," Bernkastel said, wrinkling her nose
Lambdadelta snickered. "Oh, come on, Bern. It would be good if you made some new friends instead of throwing away your pieces."
"I've already made companions. In fact, I was just visiting some old ones."
Lambdadelta's mouth shot open. "Wh-what? But you don't have any friends!"
Bernkastel chuckled, caressing a few of the nearby fragments. "In an old life, I had many good friends. It's a shame, though, that they never ascended to the level of witches. I'm sure they could've eased my boredom forever, but that's why I keep you around, Lambda."
"Our love will always thrive. I'll never let you get bored," Lambdadelta promised, leaning closer and gently twirled Bernkastel's tail. "It's nice to whisper our love to each other. After such a festivity as a wedding, being able to-hey!"
Bernkastel leaped to her feet, not bothering to watch Lambdadelta crack her chin against a fragment as she toppled. "If the wedding was as fun as you insist, then I want to find this certain fragment as soon as possible. So, tell me, it exists, right? It certainly exists?"
Rubbing her chin, Lambdadelta smirked and nodded. "Of course. A world that is so seemingly perfect does exist for that pathetic kid."
Mimicking Lambdadelta's vicious nature, Bernkastel sneered, "Perfect. That's all I need to know. If the Witch of Certainty says this world can exist, the Witch of Miracles can definitely find it."
Bernkastel took off, leaving Lambdadelta to lie amongst the fragments. She would fly away, and Lambdadelta would count before searching for her again. It was an exciting game of cat and mouse where neither would know when they would meet again.
It must be something that I've retained from my time in Hinamizawa, Bernkastel thought, scouring the fragments with a sneer. I really should pick up Old Geezer again. It could be a fun way to kill boredom. Though, I'm sure the twins wouldn't approve of my methods of cheating, but I'm sure they would appreciate it my mastery of manipulation in winning card games.