Chapter 0: Lost Time Prologue [ロストタイムプロローグ]
"Ahh happiness-how strange it is t- feeling-"
Static filled the air as the song attempted to play continuously.
"-morrow ends, -love it-"
More static filled the empty air as the lullaby slowly started again from the last part.
"Happiness... What was it again? I had a theory on it, right?"
Silence. Aside from the broken loop playing softly, it was all that she needed to answer her questions.
It was a hot summer day on the 15th of August. On top of a tower within the haze stood a lonely girl, watching the misadventures of a small group of teenagers via a seemingly outdated and retro television set. She felt proud of them. After all, she helped in making that small band of misfits. Her scarlet eyes blinked once, and it returned to a natural, hazel-brown color. The action of blinking made the television set's display turn to static and in turn, made her think.
Time meant nothing to her in this expanse. Every second she spent slowly turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days until she lost track of time. It seemed like an eternity but it didn't really matter. After all, as soon as she realized that the 15th of August is going to end, then time itself would reverse and this accursed day would start all over again, provided that the aforementioned teens would fail their ill-fated adventure for the billionth time.
Or was it a billion and five? She didn't know. She stopped counting. She was tired of it.
At first, the idle conversations that took place were mainly due to curiosity, maybe a hint of boredom and desperation. When It kept attempting to speak to her, however, she didn't know why. She knew it wasn't a good sign. It never really bothered her that much or maybe she never really bothered to think about it. But whenever the topic of conversation shifts to something about herself, that's when she would feel uneasy. It kept poking at her, trying to find her weaknesses.
And It finally found one.
"Could I get out?"
It was a small desire. A small wish she quietly harbored ever since that fateful meeting with It. It was something that started eating her away.
A desire that's so small yet so loud is what It needed. After all, It lived off of people's desires.
"Am I really stuck here forever...?"
"This is so unfair."
"I want to be with them again..."
"Ahh, so this is what you hope for? Will you be happier if you were with them instead? I am capable of granting you that desire..." It goaded.
She was only human after all and chances like these were really tempting. It was selfish and quite frankly, the risk weighed more than the promised success.
However, It was her last hope.
The small, sad smile in her face was barely noticeable as she clenched her red muffler. That red piece of clothing that served as her faithful companion even after death, wrapped around her neck.
She couldn't hold herself back anymore.
"I'm sorry everyone... I guess I'm not fit to be your big sister after all..."
Those were her last thoughts as the song she loathed haunted the world and started the same agonizing loop again. Even before she could bring herself to do anything, It was already there.
"Very well, I shall grant your desire."
And with that declaration, the mechanical hand of the broken down yet still running clock tower began ticking counter-clockwise. She knew what was to come because this happened too many times already.
However, she doesn't remember a time when she didn't fully see the ticking stop. This time, It made sure she was a part of the next loop. But to bring her in, It had to take someone else out.
It knew who to replace her with.
"But that's all I will say, the end is fading away... day after day, laugh in the haze!"
A/N: Here is the prologue (kinda short but chapter 1's done and it's longer somehow) for the collab fanfic between my friends and I! Please don't hesitate to comment your thoughts~ Feedback is always appreciated~
Lyric inserts are from JubyPhonic! Also, for those of you wondering, the setting is going to be manga-wise mixed with anime-wise plot somehow.