They're Like Ghosts
by SMYGO4EVA

Machi didn't think much of it at first, but, just then, she realized that she missed Pakunoda.

It was a gnawing feeling that she wasn't well-acquainted with. Though there was still an emptiness once Uvogin was no more, she was still surrounded by the others in the Phantom Troupe. Even though she didn't want to admit it, they were all she had left. Their presence soothed that very ache, and the whole was what was most important.

But as Machi thought back to the moments before she died, the memories she and the others were given from her, she saw that Pakunoda did what she had to do. She did what she had to for the troupe, and that must have been enough for her, even if it cost her life. Her eyes were mysterious, dark as a moonless night. And when she spoke, though her voice resonated within her, it was filled with longing.

It was eerie without her; she was a stable presence in an otherwise chaotic and ever-shifting group. Though a member could be replaced upon their death, it wasn't the same. It was an apathy that Machi had known, and yet it wasn't the same as it should have been.

So Machi closed her eyes, breathed, and walked forward; she knew that she had to carry on with the memories Pakunoda had given her. They were like ghosts that hung over her, and she would bring them with her, for what could be the rest of her time here.