In the Beginning III
The boy agrees to pay the price before Yuko even names it. She clarifies that she can only send him to other worlds, but finding what the girl has lost will be something that he has to do. He agrees and the boy from earlier runs out with two little creatures in his hands. One is white and the other is black.
Yuko thinks again for a moment then speaks, facing Anna. "This is how you will repay me."
She takes her hands from her pockets. "Please explain," she says, gripping the bracelet with one finger.
"You will travel with them," she points to the men and children. "You will aid that boy in finding the pieces of memory. This is how you will use your time that you owe me."
The words hit Anna, brick by brick. Then the confusion overwhelms her. "You want me to travel worlds?" Pause. "May I ask how that works?"
The witch nods and points to Anna's chest. "The seal I gave you; your soul cannot move on because of it. That is the price for your travel in order to pay with your time."
Anna thinks it over. My time for the seal. My afterlife for the travel. Doesn't really seem fair, but there's nothing I can do about it now.
She nods and walks over to where the others stand. The man in white smiles down at her. He's only a few inches taller.
"The bracelet will break when your price is paid in full," explains the witch. "Once that happens, you will not be able to move forward to the next world."
Anna now feels irritated. She opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. She only nods.
The witch then grabs the white creature. It looks kind of like a round rabbit. A red stone sits in the middle of its forehead and it smiles weirdly.
"This little one is named Mokona Modoki," says the witch. The creature will lead them through the worlds. The black one is used to keep in contact with the white one. Mokona will take them to different worlds but there is no way to control where. Therefore, there is no way to know when your wishes will be granted. She goes on to say that there is no coincidence, only Hitsuzen. Something Anna understands and wishes she didn't.
She names the boy's price. His relationship with the girl. When asked what the girl is to him, the boy says that she is a childhood friend, the princess of a country, and a girl who is very precious to him. His face grows pained with every word. Upon further explanation, even if the boy retrieves all the girl's memory, the one memory that will never be retrieved is the memories she's had of the boy.
Even so, the boy still pays the price.
The white creature jumps into the air, wings appear at its back, much larger than its self. A magic circle glows underneath it. Its mouth opens huge and wide. It begins to suck them in. Anna tenses herself, so do the others, but the white creature swallows them. The colors overtake her once again.