Episode Nine: Salvation of the Golden Witch

A/N: Yeah, because I'm a sad sap who couldn't handle such a tragic ending, I decided to write this. You don't have to believe it. If you prefer a different ending, feel free to continue with that as a reality. Be aware that this story does not contain the "?" of E8. No information revealed in that segment will apply to this world. I didn't realize it existed until after this story came to me and I love it too much to throw it away. Simply put, this story is my reality. It contains actual magic, as opposed to magic being entirely non-existent; "a world where actual magic exists." I may reference the other ending and will probably answer the question of why the fate of this world is so much different from the others. If you like, consider it a part of the cat box. This story was written after the "Magic" ending (be mindful of spoilers- if you don't want them, get out before it's too late!), with the understanding that the "Battler" who followed Beato to the depths was a hallucination, a wishful thought.

Just to give you an early explanation, the "Game Master" Battler was flung back into the original Battler's consciousness.

-
Chapter One: Nijima

Land. Battler didn't think he'd ever set foot on land again, after everything that had happened. No more game board. No more challenges. Well, maybe that wasn't quite true. His legs felt weak from being on the water; they shook beneath him, making it hard to stand. There was a strong hunger in his stomach; Beatrice's directions would have been flawless if he knew a damn thing about what he was doing when he drove a boat, but he didn't. There was no food left on the boat he used to get here. Even now, he had almost nothing.

Battler clutched the gold in his pocket. He had washed up on shore, damp from the sea air and sweat. There was an awful sunburn on his neck, but he didn't mind. It reminded him...it reminded him of happy things.

The sun came out from behind a cloud and gently shone its light upon the traveler. It did not do much, but it did enough. The weary traveler took off his coat.

"How did you do that?" asked the wind.

"Easy," said the sun; "I lit the day,"

The red-haired man chuckled, gazing out to the sea. "Even though I took my coat off..." he looked up to the sky; "that wasn't victory for you, was it?" a soft breeze blew, relieving him a little of the heat. "Remember what I told you," he tied the little boat to the dock he pulled up to. It had already served its use, but it seemed the prudent thing to do. "Even though that game is over...I will be sitting here...I will wait until you have become a qualified opponent. And when that day comes...I will open a new game board...a new kind," looking up to the sky, he decided to exercise his abilities one last time before he lost them. "Bernkastel and Lambdadelta be damned!" gold text flew from his mouth. Gold, the one and only color that could be above the red. If any human caught him speaking with it, they would not be able to hear him; they might see his mouth move, but they could not hear the truth. "We will all have a happy ending!" the text was still gold; "So, don't doubt me!" Battler stepped off the dock, and approached the ocean, thankful that none of his family was around to see this. They would laugh and poke fun at him for decades. Even after all this time, he was still sappier than a maple tree. "Beato..." he said, putting his fingertips in the ocean. "You waited for me for six and a thousand years," even he had to laugh at himself at this point, though it was important to him to separate the two numbers. "So, this gold text is a gift to you," he put his hand through the salt water on the shoreline, pressing the palm of his hand into the wet sand until it was up to his wrist, and making a fist. "I will not waver until I have waited six-thousand years! Until then, I will never once doubt you! I will not give up! And most of all, I will not forget!" he stood yet again. "I can't keep my promise to kill you..." with a chuckle, he added; "Fifth law of Ushiromiya, it is absolutely forbidden to ask someone to make you a promise based on deception. The definition of 'deceive' is to fabricate, withhold, or otherwise manipulate information that could be crucial to the decision-making process," putting his hands in his pockets, he turned around, still speaking to the water. Hey, that sounded cool, right? He made his own law. Tilting his head back and to the side slightly, as though someone was there, he continued. "So...don't hold it against me...okay?" a grin broke out across his face. "Sleep well, Beato. You'll need your rest for the next time we see each other,"

His legs wobbled as he tried to walk, ruining the moment entirely.

"Come on now, Battler," laughed a familiar voice; "you have to make a cooler exit than that,"

His eyes widened. "Beato...?"

After he blinked, she wasn't there anymore. The man smiled to himself, and made a choice. He chose to see that fleeting moment as a message. "Got it. I'll make my exit more fitting," he agreed, taking another step. Although he desperately tried not to look like an idiot, he ended up tripping over his own legs, anyways. An intense nausea took over him, reminding him of his sea-sickness and how much he hated the ocean. Could he at least get off the shore here, before the sick feeling over-took him? He straightened himself up, and the moment his foot hit concrete, he fell on all fours and vomited. What exactly was coming out, he didn't know, since he hadn't eaten anything substantial for the last couple days, but- much like the truth of Rokkenjima- he was just as well off not knowing about it. From a place not so far away from him, Battler heard the concerned voice of an old woman calling out;

"Help! Help! Someone, call a doctor!" she continued shouting, but his brain tuned her out. He wanted to tell her he was fine, just a little sea-sick, but he couldn't get it out of his mouth. It seemed like he didn't have any control over speaking for the moment.

"I'm a doctor," he couldn't identify the voice as feminine or masculine. "What seems to be-" the statement was never finished. Battler assumed it was the doctor who ran towards him and placed a hand on his back, but he couldn't tell. They were wearing casual clothes, and might not even have been on duty. "Sir, are you alright?!" yeah, it was the same voice, but it was fuzzy from the nausea in his head.

His eyes were forced shut by a dry gag; his heart pounded.

Battler nodded in response.

"I'm going to take you to the hospital to check you over," there was more mumbling. He could hear the doctor thanking the old woman for pointing out this horrendous state he was in. At least he made it off the beach before that happened. "Can you stand, sir? If you can't, I'll call you an ambulance,"

His whole body was shaking. Every muscle in his body twisted up in pain. It hadn't hurt when he got off the boat, but he was already pretty weak then from jet-lag (or would it be called 'boat-lag?'). Hitting the ground the way he did and forcing some liquid matter out of his throat was enough to set off the aching. Battler wondered if he could stand. It would be easier if they just brought an ambulance. But this wasn't about whether or not it was easy. If he couldn't do a simple thing like standing up, how could he expect his beliefs to manifest as a miracle?

"...sir..?"

He coughed, wiped his face with his hand, and gave the doctor a proud smile. "I can stand," he replied firmly, forcing his legs to move. Before long, he was standing on his own two legs again.

"You shouldn't push yourself, sir,"

Battler folded his arms over his chest. He was quite a bit taller than this doctor, at least five inches. Hah! Did he really think something like that would be difficult? Something like standing? "Will it really make you feel better to check me out?"

"Immensely. Now, can you walk?"

"Can I...live...?"

He tried not to hear that voice in his head, but it was there anyways. "Of course I can walk," he told the doctor, his voice coming out too strong for the actual scenario as he imagined himself telling her that. If he wanted to bring this story to a happy finale, his belief must not falter. He took a step. "Alright then, doc. Which way to the hospital?"

"This way," the answer was unnecessary because by then Battler had already seen it. A huge sign in the front was marked "West Nijima Hospital," and it wasn't exactly small. "I'm not on duty today, but I'll make an exception," without thinking much of it, he followed the kind stranger. His ability to reason was clouded over with hunger, illness, and exhaustion from the trip, or he might have wondered whether or not this person had an ulterior motive. He really didn't want to be strapped down in a hospital right now, but what else could he do? Battler knew nothing of Nijima; he had nothing here. At least when he moved away from home the first time, he had an idea of where he was going; he could make it to a grocery store and back. Staying at a hospital would buy some time for him to decide what to do.

The doctor had to check in, and immediately admitted the new patient. An office receptionist with an annoyingly high-pitched voice commented; "How rare to see you here on your day off!"

"I have to keep you on your toes a bit. Right this way, sir,"

It started to get weird when Battler realized that this doctor was asking him questions normally a triage nurse would ask. While it made things easier and more convenient, it was also very strange, and he doubted it was a matter of 'this is just how it is on Nijima.' The doctor was mumbling something about treatment, about wanting to run blood-tests and make sure his brain waves were functioning properly. He found himself unable to concentrate on what was happening around him. It felt like he had some new place within his mind; a blank, empty space. The sensation of a cold water-bottle against his wrist jolted him out, and he had to wonder when that doctor had moved.

"You're far too dehydrated for me to take blood from you,"

Battler took the water bottle. His hands were so hot it felt like steam should be rising from the palms; he almost expected a sizzle as the condensation on the outside of the bottle came in contact with it. Luckily, nothing like that happened. "Thanks," he said, taking a drink. He didn't realize how dry his throat and mouth were until the cold water hit it, and then he was craving it. Water that didn't quite make it dripped from the corners of his mouth. The only reason he stopped when he did was because he had finished the entire bottle. Although he needed air, he would have kept drinking if there was more.

The doctor laughed. "I'll have to get you another, looks like you were pretty dried out,"

"Wait," he called to the doctor's back. "I have a question for you,"

"Go ahead," when the doctor turned around, Battler realized he hadn't been seeing this person too well. In other words, this was either a girl, or a man with boobs. They weren't incredibly large, but they were present nonetheless.

"What's going on?" it was a vague question. He sighed at himself. "I just find it strange..." now who was talking in riddles? "A foreigner lands on your shores, and you give up time on your day off to take them to the hospital, do the in-take yourself, and make sure there's no significant wait time," as he spoke, his hand brushed against the gold in his pocket. It dawned on him; had she noticed? Was that what this was about? If she thought he had money, she had another thing coming. If she thought he was going to give it up, she had a whole lot more coming.

Her responding facial expression was as serene as ever. "I noticed," she told him, answering the question in his mind. Before he could continue on by explaining that he had nothing, she added; "I'd be lying if I said I had no ulterior motive- but make no mistake. It's not your money," she never let it out, but he could sense a chuckle in the way she spoke. "My name is Nanjo Akashi. I recognize the symbol on your clothes,"

He was going to comment on her name being so masculine, but he refrained in favor of asking another question. "Nanjo, huh? Do you know a-"

"Terumasa is my uncle," she responded. "I recognize the symbol of the one-winged eagle because of the post cards my family gets every year during Christmas. I didn't know my uncle very well, but thanks to him, the Nanjo family and the Ushiromiya family became friends," he wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic about that or not, but the way she was speaking sounded intentionally discrete. These might be some of the "contacts" he heard about. "Ushiromiya-san paid off almost all of my family's debt while Terumasa-ojisan was working for him. If it wasn't for Ushiromiya-san and your family, I wouldn't be a doctor. I would never have been able to afford it," she looked right at him. "So, when I realized you might be a member of their family, I knew I had to help you. I was sure...I was sure the explosion would have blown you all up,"

Battler smiled at her. "Good ol' gramps," he said in his usually teasing manner.

She decided not to give him any more on that matter. "If there's anything I can help you with, I will be happy to. For example, I have special powers that could turn that gold ingot into yen,"

He laughed at her comment. "Special powers, huh?" with that, he lifted the water bottle up so it was right beside his head. "Can your powers fill up this bottle with more for me to drink?"

Slightly surprised by the way he brought it up, Akashi giggled softly with her lips shut. "That's one of my specialties. I'll be right back," she left the exam room without taking the water-bottle. Battler stared at it, shrugged, and put his hand back down. His head was either clearing up a bit, or was so clouded over that he couldn't tell there was a problem. When the doctor came back in, she found him spaced out again. Smirking, she set the cold bottle against his wrist, which made him jerk again.

"You did that on purpose!"

She giggled softly. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. What could be filling your mind so much, I wonder?"

It wasn't so much 'filling' as it was 'un-filling.' He answered with a smug look. "I'm sure whatever you think I might be thinking about is more interesting than what I am thinking about," Battler told her.

"Here's your water," she held the bottle out to him.

"Oh, look," he took it; "your special powers even made me a new bottle,"

"I told you! It's my specialty," she waited for him to drink the second bottle, which only took marginally longer than the first one. Getting that dehydrated was definitely not good. "I'll go ahead and move you into a room. If nothing else, you'll have a chance to rest there," with a smile, she added; "You look exhausted,"

He laughed. "Hey, you think three days floating around in the water is enough to tire me out?" she couldn't possibly know his consciousness had been alive for much, much longer; that sleep was rare among meta-beings. It had been a long time since this consciousness was in a human body.

"In that case, you can lie on your hospital bed and make fun of me to the ceiling,"

"Sounds good to me," he answered, stretching his arms back behind his head. The searing pain of his sunburn rocketed from his shoulder blades to his arms. "Ahk-!"

Again, Akashi was giggling at him. "You have a second-degree burn all over," she said; "don't you remember me telling you?"

That must have been during the time he was so wrapped up in his own mind that he didn't notice anything. "Ah…no,"

"I'll take care of that as soon as I get you back to your room. I don't think it's too serious,"

As soon as they got in, she had him take off his shirt and used a spray bottle to mist the blistered skin on his back. Then she covered it in a loose wrapping of gauze.

"Go ahead and lie down on the bed. I'll be back in soon to run more tests on you,"

"Do you really need a test to tell you I'm just sea-sick?"

"I want to make sure you haven't suffered a heat stroke. Where were you when I explained this?"

In a black hole. "Ha-ha, guess I wasn't paying attention,"

"Clearly," she watched as he got on the bed and relaxed. "Your temperature is 37.8 Celsius, which is a bit low to have a stroke, but I want to be certain,"

"I still think you're being awfully nice for someone who doesn't actually know me from Adam. How much are you expecting me to pay you?"

"Are you so frivolous that you'd pay someone to help you?" she smiled at him. "What will you pay me with, then? I don't care what you pay me with, as long as there's plenty of it," Akashi left after saying that.

Battler laughed and looked up at the ceiling. "She doesn't even know my name," he said; "I'll be really worried if her only motivation is to help me," as far as she was concerned, he could be the person responsible for the explosion on Rokkenjima. Yet, she hadn't even questioned him. How strange.

It was only a few minutes later when she came in, followed by a nurse who pushed a tray of hospital food. Battler, however, was already asleep.

-

When he woke up a couple hours later, he didn't even remember falling asleep. There was a Band-Aid on his arm where a needle might go through to take blood, and on his other arm, there was an IV that was filled with some clear fluid.

"Battleeerrrr…."

"Huh?" he turned his head frantically. Nothing was there. This was the second time that had happened in just today. "Hm…" well, now was just as good a time as any to find a bathroom. Battler got up, maneuvering the arm with an IV carefully, and brought the drip line with him while he walked around. His legs felt stronger than before, but he was still pretty weak. Something to eat wouldn't kill him. After just a little searching, he finally found the restroom. His hair felt stiff and sticky. Since no one was around to tell him not to, he took the gauze off and got into the shower. There was nothing to use but the tepid water. It was enough to get some of the salt and sand off him, at least. After he got out, he patted himself dry with a towel and went back into his bed to watch television. He wasn't paying much attention to it. There were many questions he probably should be asking right now about where he was going to work and live, what he was going to do, but he wasn't. He wasn't thinking about anything.

It was some time later when a nurse came in to check on him. Again, she was carrying a tray with some hospital food on it, and a couple bottles of water. "Ah, you're awake," he looked at her, pulled away from the depths of his mind by the scent of food. Noticing the look on his face, she added; "Should I even ask if you're hungry?"

Before she had time to notice, he grabbed it and started practically shoveling food into his mouth. She was so shocked by it that she couldn't help but laugh. Within a couple minutes, he had finished everything that was there on the plate.

"My, my, someone isn't picky,"

Battler shook his head.

"Nanjo-sensei will be happy to know you've eaten all of it," it was strange to hear the name of his father's physician being used for someone else. "Shall I get you more?" he nodded, his mouth too stuffed for him to reply with words. She left to get him some more…something…he didn't question what. When the nurse came back, he snatched the tray from her again, and this time ate more slowly.

"Where did the doctor go?"

"She probably left to finish the rest of her day off. She'll be back in the morning, so don't worry,"

"Please," he answered; "Do I look worried?"

"No," she replied, heaving a sigh. "I was just curious about something,"

"What's that?"

"What…is your name?"

His mouth was full by the end of the question, so he couldn't answer right away. Battler wondered if he should come up with a different name to go by. The news would be broadcasting his last name everywhere; he didn't want to be hounded by press. Most people would assume that the one-winged eagle on his clothing was just a nice design; no one, including the news broadcasts, knew it was a family crest. But the name alone...that could be recognized.

"If I tell you, you have to keep it a secret,"

"Of course,"

"My name is Ushiromiya Battler. You can just call me Battler,"

"'Battler?' That sounds like a Western name,"

"It is. My grandfather was very passionate about Western culture, and it got passed down the family line. And what's your name?"

"Irie Miko,"

"Miko? Like, at a shrine..?"

"No," she grinned. "It's spelled from the words 'snake' and 'small.'"

He nodded to show that he understood. The food was gone again, and now, so was the better part of one water bottle. "Hey, you know, this food's pretty good,"

"I don't think I've ever heard someone describe our hospital food that way,"

"First time for everything,"

Miko gently took the empty tray from him and set it down on the cart. "I almost forgot. I brought you an ice pack and some Motrin for your burn," she said, picking both items up. "The Motrin is for pain. Here you go, Battler-kun,"

"Ah, thanks, Irie-sensei,"

"No problem. Is there something else I can get you? It looks like the gauze on your burn came off. I'll re-wrap it for you," she took some gauze from the cabinet and loosely put it on, just as Akashi had earlier. Once she was done, he took the Motrin. "There you go. Now, remember, don't leave the ice pack on for longer than fifteen minutes,"

"Got it,"

"Is there something else I can get for you?"

Battler closed his eyes, fighting the urge to stretch his arms behind his neck so he would look cool; it was too painful. "Nah. If I need anything, I'll push the 'call' button,' he motioned toward the button on the hospital bed remote.

"Alright. I'll be back in to check on you soon,"

Again, he found himself looking at the ceiling. What was he supposed to do now...? He wondered about it. How does one change their belief into a reality? Should he throw himself so deep into the occult that he went mad? That wasn't likely to work. But, if he got too lost in the immediate, physical world, would he lose it?

Well, the Head of the family was known for "making bizarre claims" without any back-up and then coming up with "something" when the time came.

True to her word, the nurse came back. Again, she found Battler fast asleep.

-

He slept until the wee hours of the next morning. It was still dark when he got up, and the shift change probably hadn't happened yet. He wished he could sleep a little more, but his body was having none of it. Although he had been sleeping, it felt like he had accomplished something. Battler reached into his pocket and clutched at the gold bar. It was still there.

Maybe he should send her a letter.

The thought occurred to him suddenly, so suddenly that he didn't know where it came from. Yeah, maybe he'd send her a letter. There was a window in the hospital room he watched the sun rise through.

It reminded him of a legend. Now, what was it? Ah, yes, the Egyptians. At night, the Sun god would "die" and sink beneath the ocean until he reached the underworld. Each day was treated as a celebration of the sun's "rebirth." According to the Egyptians, the sun was doing impossible things every day.

It was a beautiful story.

A small while after the sun rose, a couple more nurses came around, taking everyone's orders for the day. One of them gave him a couple more Motrin, and told him the doctor would be on shift soon. "Thanks," was all he said. He waited a while longer. The breakfast tray had already come around by the time Akashi came to see him.

"Good morning," she said, pulling out a chart.

"'Morning," he answered; "am I to assume that you didn't find any evidence of heat stroke yesterday?"

"You can assume that," she replied, glossing over some parts the nurse added about what he had eaten. "And you'd be right. I'm just going to keep you here for another night, to make sure you don't have any ill effects from the dehydration,"

"I see," Battler sighed in response.

There was a small pause. "You still don't trust me, do you?"

"No, I don't,"

"... ... ... I guess it is weird, from your perspective,"

"What do you want from me?"

"What makes you so sure I want something?"

"A strange man washes up on the beach after spending a few days in a motorboat. You identify him as a member of the wealthy Ushiromiya family and offer to help him without even asking for his name. Thus far, no other Ushiromiya family members are known to have left the island that recently exploded. Yet, you bring me in here and attempt to nurse me back to health without even asking for money. That doesn't make sense to me,"

She glanced down, then looked up at him. "You want to understand my reasoning, then? ...okay," he wasn't sure what she was getting ready to say. "I wanted to question you about the explosion,"

Battler looked at her. That was believable enough. "Okay, then question me,"

For a short moment, there was a slightly pained look on her face- as though she wasn't sure what she was going to say. Then she answered; "Did you know about the explosives on Rokkenjima before the incident?"

"No,"

"How did you escape?"

"I was in an underground tunnel when the bomb went off,"

"How did you know to get away?"

Hah, that was a good one. Why would you be in a little-known underground tunnel during an explosion unless you knew the explosion was going to occur? She was pretty good. Could he even give a satisfactory answer to that?

She stood back against the counter and looked at him. "So far, from my perspective, there are two possibilities,"

"And what are they?"

"You're either innocent, or ridiculously stupid,"

From that statement, he was rather thrown. Sensing his confusion, she answered the unspoken question;

"If you're innocent, it's possible that you haven't had time to figure out what you're going to tell people about how you survived because your life has been in danger. You escaped on a motorboat with little preparation and obviously got lost trying to get to a safe place, you might have been here much earlier if you had known what you were doing. You also never even thought of changing your clothes, nor did you give me a fake name. If you're guilty of causing the explosion on Rokkenjima, you're awfully stupid," she stopped while Battler laughed at himself. "I'm sorry, I didn't want you to know I had ever suspected you,"

"No, I'm glad. It makes more sense now,"

"Next time, you should just accept a person's kindness,"

"And miss the wonderful speech you prepared for me?" he laughed. "Hey, I was meaning to ask you something, but I never had the chance,"

"What is that?"

"Can your special powers help me find a place to stay?" he inquired; "I'd sort of like to keep my presence here a secret, at least for a while,"

"Hm..." Akashi glanced down, and a smirk appeared across her face. "Yeah...I think I can arrange that,"

Battler responded with a half-smile. "That's great. I'm lucky I ran into you, Akashi-sensei,"

"Yes," she turned her back to him as she started to walk out; "you are,"