The tree fell in the forest.
But no one was there to hear it fall.
The tree fell in the forest.
But no one was there to see it fall.
No one knows why the tree fell.
Because no one knew that it even fell.
~ Frederica Bernkastel
?
It was… an endless expanse. A world… no, an endless space filled with numerous fragments. Each fragment reflected a world inside of it. Several hundreds of thousands of these fragments, reflecting endless possibilities, alternate worlds.
This endless expanse, this sea of Fragments, might have been called "The Origin". It was the void. It was where new worlds begin and old ones end.
For those called "Voyager Witches", each Fragment represented another game to play. Each Fragment was another world created in order to stave off their boredom.
In that endless expanse, a witch was floating. Or perhaps, she was sifting through each and every Fragment. She was one of those Voyager Witches, searching for a Fragment that would satisfy her boredom.
That witch stopped in front of a single Fragment. That Fragment reflected its possibilities to the witch staring into it. …However, to that witch, those possibilities are mere trivialities, for it was she who has sifted through millions of other Fragments. Millions of other possibilities. But for now, maybe this Fragment was enough to satisfy her boredom…
She is, after all, the Witch of Miracles.
That witch turned away from the Fragment for a moment in order to search. Finally, it seems she has found what she was looking for…
"Hey, Lambda. Looks like I've found the next game we can play." That witch spoke with a dull tone, with almost no trace of emotion other than boredom.
"Oh?" Another witch appeared. That other witch called Lambda was wearing an outfit that might have given old people who stared at it diabetes, or an incredible sugar rush to a kid.
"Are you sure it's enough to satisfy you, Bern?"
"Hmph. It probably wouldn't hurt to try out a world like this. We've been stuck on 1986 for around seven Fragments now. We might need a change of pace."
"So are you planning to invite other witches to this?"
"Well… there were a couple of interesting people in this Fragment. I think we can manage with just them."
The witch wearing the overly pink outfit laughed. "Heh. I think I'll call a few other people to this Fragment to keep things interesting…"
The witch called Bern shrugged and entered the Fragment, while the other witch took off to search for other witches.
It would have been called a regular church. It had everything a church would have. An altar, a confession box, several pews, stained glass windows, and relief carvings of events from the Bible.
Except… the church wasn't anywhere in particular. It was in the void. Although it was within the Fragment, it wasn't part of the world of that Fragment. It would be more accurate to say that it was in a higher plane of existence in that Fragment.
And inside that church… was a priest. A priest wearing a long black robe, pacing around that chapel. It seemed that he was the only one inside that chapel. The only one to keep everything clean, the only one possible to oversee the mass… except that there was no one who would go to mass in that chapel, trapped inside that void.
As the priest paced around the chapel, the witch named Bern landed on the altar. Just like a cat, it was silent and unnoticeable.
"…Are you Kotomine Kirei?"
The priest in the long black robe turned. His dull eyes seemed to complement the witch sitting comfortably on the altar.
"…You are not supposed to sit on the tabernacle of the Lord."
The witch named Bern ignored the priest's remarks. The witch stood up on the table, as if she was the authority within that church.
"…I would like for you to participate in a little game of ours."
Kotomine Kirei looked up at the blue-haired witch. "A game?"
"Yes. As one of the Voyager Witches, I seek to relieve my boredom."
"…Voyager Witches? I am a magus and an executioner of the Church, but I have not heard of Voyager Witches."
"But of course. We're the ones who traverse the sea of Fragments. We spend eternity seeking each Fragment of ways to relieve our boredom. It just so happened that I selected this one. Now I'm asking you to join our game."
Kotomine scoffed. "Hmph. And what if I refuse?"
Bernkastel smiled. It was more of a jeering smile than a pleasant one. "I am the Witch of Miracles, Bernkastel. And by that name, I will seek out the worst possible Fragment for you and throw you in its depths. Of course, by participating in our game, I will grant you any miracle you desire. Do you have one…?"
Kotomine stared at the witch, deep in thought. "I will keep that to myself for now. Well then, I think I shall join your game, if only to kill time."
Bernkastel smirked, then clapped once. "Well then. It seems all of the participants are about to arrive soon. I expect much out of you, Kotomine Kirei. Don't bore me…"