Welcome back, my dearest reader. This arc is a particularly unique one, and I would like to share it with you. I have added the date while writing this, so as to make sure you are not confused. *smiles* There are such things as miracles: incidents that only happen twice or even once in the sea of fragments. The chances of the following incident happening are so low that no one, human or witch, would ever have thought it would occur. Yet, that incident pateintly awaits someone (a Voyager witch, perhaps?) to bear witness to it. However, this particular frgament is still quietly floating amongst the infinte kakera, waiting to be discovered. Come now, me and all the pieces in this game impatiently await you to uncover this tragedy~ *giggle*giggle*
Chapter 11: The End Of The World, Part 1
13 August 1986
The phone in Ushiromiya Rosa's office rang loudly, startling the exhausted woman behind the large, cluttered desk. Rosa composed herself, and cautiously picked up the phone. "H-hello?" She answered in as steady a voice as she could. "Good afternoon, is this miss Ushiromiya Rosa?" A man's voice sounded from the other line. "Yes, I am Ushiromiya Rosa. May I know who is speaking?" Rosa answered politely. "Ushiromiya-san, this is Yamamoto speaking." Ahh, a client of hers'. Either this would end very well or end extremely horribly. "Yes, Yamamoto-san?" Rosa said anxiously, digging her fingernails into her palm. "It is to my utmost regret to inform you that we will no longer be buying the stock from your company. The boss doesn't seem to like Western-style clothing very much, so we were forced to cancel the deal. I shall send a representative over to talk things over tomorrow, perhaps at 4 o' clock?" The man spoke tonelessly, as though he couldn't care less. Rosa, on the other hand, was about to lose it and dissolve into tears. Her fingernails had drawn blood from her own palm, but Rosa just let the blood flow and dirty her fingernails. "Alright. I am sorry to hear that. I shall meet with your representative tomorrow at 4 then. Goodbye." Though her voice shook, Rosa was proud that it didn't break while she spoke. She hung up, before letting her head fall on her desk with a hard thump.
Ignoring the paperwork beneath her face, Rosa's shoulders started to heave with sobs, tears dripping from her brown eyes onto her reports. Oh, what did it matter? Let all this disappear, let it all get destroyed! There's no point anyways. Rosa cried into the expensive wood of her desk, her tears already soaked through the thin paper. Rosa's company wasn't doing very well of late. It wasn't because her designs weren't nice or that Rosa wasn't a good advertiser, but it was just that Western-style clothes weren't very popular of late. This latest client had come along and bought a large amount of her company's stock for some show or something, delighting Rosa to no end. And now that the deal was cancelled, Rosa was back to square one again. Paying back her debts was taking too long, and at this rate, she feared she'd never settle them. It wasn't entirely her fault, though. After all, 'that man' had co-signed on the loan with her, and when he left, she was forced to take on his debts as well. Though it was unfair, Rosa had continued working hard to pay off the huge debts, hoping that that would make him return to Maria, his daughter, and to her, his desperate partner. You're useless, you're pathetic, how about you just die already? You let everyone push you around, you let your siblings bully you, you let that man get away from you, perhaps you should just end your miserable existence already. Rosa had many boyfriends over the years he'd left her alone, but none of them could fill the void he left in her heart. Plus, no man wanted a woman with a child created by another man.
Speaking of boyfriends, Rosa rummaged through her desk drawer and pulled out a slightly crumpled letter, written to her from her last boyfriend. Or, to be precise, ex-boyfriend. The contents of the letter made it certain that he wanted nothing to do with her anymore, and was leaving Rosa for another woman. She balled up the paper in her fist, and tossed it at the rubbish bin near her desk. It bounced off the wall, landing just beside it. Rosa sighed and rubbed her eyes, still sobbing lightly. Pull yourself together, Rosa. You can get through this. It's just one client. One very important client... Now all the extra clothes we've been rapidly creating was all for nothing. That just increases the amount of my debts, doesn't it... She took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "It's all useless." Rosa mumbled unhappily, wiping away the tears trickling down her fair cheeks with the back of her hand. She called her assistant, dialing his number with trembling fingers. "Hello, Akiyama-kun? I'll be leaving now, so I'll leave you in charge for today." Rosa said curtly. "Alright. Is everything alright, president?" Her assistant questioned. "I've got a headache, so I'm going home. I can count on you. See you tomorrow." And with that, Rosa hung up and dumped all her paperwork into a briefcase. She rushed out of the office, her head throbbing. On her way down, her assistant caught her in the lift. "Ah, there you are. Lucky me I caught you before you went home. This arrived for you from the bank just now." He handed her a letter, which Rosa grabbed, muttering a feverish thanks. The second the lift arrived at the ground floor, Rosa dashed out of the building, ignoring the stares she got from her employees. She got onto a train, wanting to go home desperately, every passing second feeling like a millenium. She pressed her hand against her forehead, feeling like she might pass out at any moment.
Upon reaching her station, Rosa staggered out, running home as fast as she could, her head feeling like it was about to explode. "Mama?" Maria called, hearing Rosa's footsteps approach. "Maria." Rosa smiled weakly at her daughter. "Mama! Are you alright?!" Maria dropped her crayons on the drawing she'd been working hard at, rushing to her mother's side. "Uu, Maria will go get Mama some medicine! Mama, just wait here, Maria will be back, uu!" The little girl dashed off to the kitchen and returned with a glass of chilled vegetable juice and some painkillers. "Thank you, Maria." Rosa smiled gratefully at her precious child, swallowing the pills and draining the glass of juice. The apocalyptic pain engulfing her brain dimmed slightly, her child's love helping to soothe the apocalyptic ache in her head.
"I love you, Maria." Rosa hugged her daughter tightly, crying into her soft hair. "Uu, Maria loves Mama too, don't cry Mama, Maria thinks Mama looks prettier when Mama is smiling, uu, uu!" The little girl snuggled her face into her mother's chest affectionately. Rosa just smiled and embraced her daughter tightly. "Hey, Maria, Mama will go bathe first, okay? After that, we can make dinner together or something." Rosa suggested, petting Maria's head gently. "Uu, make dinner with Mama, uu, uu!" Maria sang joyfully and released her mother from her arms. The upside-down artwork on the floor drew Rosa's eye. "What'd you draw, Maria?" Rosa asked. "Uu, Maria drew Beato!" The child proudly picked up the drawing to show her mother. "It isn't as nice as the one Virgilia-san drew for me... But Maria is working hard to draw Beatrice properly, uu, uu!" She cheered. The drawing depicted a blonde woman sitting at a table sipping tea from a teacup, wearing an ornate gown and a friendly smile. She was...
"No...!" Rosa shrieked, covering her ears with her hands. But what she needed to cover wasn't her ears. She wanted to cover her eyes, and her nose, for all she saw was the broken body of a beautiful woman with elegant blonde hair coiled into an intricate bun, blood splattering the front of her gown, the back of her head cracked open like an eggshell. She could smell the sea breeze tinged with the smell of her first and last friend's blood. And on her hands, the smell of blood was the strongest. Though none of the red liquid had splashed onto Rosa's delicate hands, they remained covered by it nonetheless. "No, no, no!" She fell to her knees, her eyes squeezed shut. The somewhat realistic art of the woman she'd killed 20 years ago triggered a long-dormant fear in Rosa's brain. She managed not to freak out when the large portrait of Beatrice was placed in the mansion, but that was mainly because the portrait depicted her as a wise, somewhat cunning, powerful witch. The Beatrice she knew was rather pompous, arrogant, yet childish, and also naive. Beatrice was wearing the exact same smile as the drawing in Maria's notebook, making the witch her daughter drew look just like the strange woman her mother met 20 years ago.
"Mama, what's wrong?" Maria asked, panic creeping into her voice. Rosa swiped out at her daughter with her hand, knocking her to the floor. "I told you to stop talking about witches." Rosa growled, the pain in her head intensifying by the second. "Mama's not feeling well now. Why must you defy Mama's words?! I said don't talk about witches. All you do is talk about witches. Because of you, even I'm treated like a freak." She didn't think she could say anymore without passing out. Maria clutched at her head, whimpering. "Uu, Mama, come back... Don't get taken over by the black witch..." Maria whispered. "I told you to stop talking about witches!" Rosa snarled, hitting her daughter again. Maria cried out in pain, curling into a ball. Another surge of pain seized her brain, making Rosa whimper in pain. Pathetic. Rosa stumbled to her bedroom to grab some clothes, then staggered back to the bathroom, barely making it to the bathtub before collapsing onto the floor. Then, the realization of what she had just done sank in, and it was Rosa's turn to whimper and clutch at her head. "Oh, what have I done?" She whispered sadly. "I'm just a failure, aren't I? As a mother, as a businesswoman, even as a lover... I should just disappear, shouldn't I?" She started to cry again. All you can do is cry. Stupid. Pathetic. Worthless.
She started up the bath miserably, stripping down and soaking her body in the soothing warm water. The painkillers started to kick in, and Rosa's pounding headache faded to a faint throb. She sighed, the hot water calming her down considerably. Running one hand through her wet hair, she made a mental list of things to do after this. First, apologize to Maria, then arrange the meeting tomorrow, then maybe watch some TV with Maria before going to sleep. After a good 15 minutes of sitting around and thinking, Rosa got out of the bath, dried herself and put on her clothes, pulling the plug and watching the hot water and soap bubbles go down the drain. She folded her work clothes neatly and tossed them onto her bed after heading out of the bathroom. The smell of something cooking drifted around the house, and Rosa felt a twinge of guilt in her chest.
"Maria." She said upon entering the kitchen, the adorable sight of her daughter standing on a chair to reach the stove stirring a pot made another quick stab of guilt pierce Rosa's heart. "Uu, h-hello Mama." Maria gave her mother a bright smile despite the red marks on her cheek from being knocked to the floor. Rosa went over to her daughter and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry Maria, Mama is so, so sorry. Does it still hurt?" She pulled back to examine the red marks on the child's fair cheeks. "Uu, it still hurts a little... But Maria doesn't mind, since Mama defeated the black witch and came back to Maria, uu, uu!" Maria cheered happily, wrapping her mother's torso in her short arms. "Yeah, forgive your weak Mama for being taken over by the black witch..." Rosa didn't cry as she held her daughter. She'd done enough crying already. "Let's make dinner together, okay Maria?" Rosa smiled warmly, stroking Maria's hair. "Uu, make dinner with Mama~! Maria loves Mama, uu, uu!" The little girl sang, an expression of pure joy tugging at Maria's facial features. "Mama loves Maria too. So, what shall we make?" Rosa walked over to the fridge while Maria continued to stir the pot.
"Uu, Maria was making miso soup... But what else to make? Uu..." Maria frowned. "Maybe we could cook some side dishes?" Rosa suggested, pulling some ingredients out of the refridgerator, the fact that she was asking her daughter about dinner amusing her immensely. "Uu!" Maria called out affirmatively, stirring the pot more and more vigorously. After Rosa and Maria finished cooking, they took their meal out to the TV where they watched several shows while eating and talking. Rosa insisted that she wash up, and that Maria go take a bath first. She scrubbed the dishes wearily, wondering how her daughter managed to do this all the time. She's used to it because you weren't there. A nasty voice in Rosa's head that sounded suspiciously like Eva when she was younger chimed in, making her fingers tighten around the sponge. A sudden, horrible realization that that voice was just the same voice that was whispering to her since the start of her terrible evening dawned over her. Stop it. There was no point scolding herself. What she should do was actually be there for her daughter.
Rosa finished washing the plates and cutlery, then changed into blue pajamas. Armed with a glass of water and some headache pills, she opened her briefcase and yanked out a few documents. First, she fished out the letter she'd gotten from Akiyama, tearing it open unceremoniously. The message informed her that as the loan guarantor for 'that man', she would have to assemble 100 million yen by March in order to settle his loans. 100 million yen. The only thing that stood between her and her new life without the burden of 'that man' consttantly breathing down her neck. Rosa cradled her head in her hands, letting the distress and unhappiness wash over her. 100 million yen by March, huh? A thought suddenly struck Rosa, and she rummaged around for a fresh sheet of paper. Uncapping her pen, Rosa placed the tip against the paper, and started to write.