Hours Earlier
Bronya looked up from where she had landed only to see an endless void in the horizon. Shapes shifted and morphed into numerous and random things such as stairways and books, only to then shift again as spheres and pyramids took their place in this ever changing space. Stars shone across the dark skies overhead and a cool breeze grazed her cheek.
«It's… beautiful.» Bronya observed before rising to her feet, Project Bunny appearing right beside her.
«Project Bunny, heat source scan.» The girl commanded with her soft spoken tone and the machine proceeded to follow orders. Moments later and Bronya looked disappointed.
«Nothing detected on this sector. Einstein could be anywhere…»
Leaping from platform to platform of the shape shifting material, Bronya looked for hours on end and found nothing. The darkest parts of the Deep Sea were out of reach and the sensors were to weak to track anything from down there. Bronya looked out to the abyss with a distant look on her face, seemingly lost in her thoughts.
«Could you be down there too, Seele?»
Her train of thought was disrupted by a loud sound echoing from the distance. Deciding upon moving closer to inspect it's origin, Bronya soon found what seemed to be a portal opened in the middle of nowhere.
Inching closer to the mysterious pathway, the girl reached out her hand slowly towards it, only for it to destabilise itself and disappear then and there.
Sighing in disappointment, Bronya turned around to head back from where she came until she noticed something small flying in front of her face, leaving a small trail akin to stardust in it's path.
«A butterfly?»
The girl wondered and the butterfly in question moved as if it nodded to her in response. Intrigued by the creature, Bronya moved closer to inspect it.
It's blue tinted body and black colored wings felt eerily familiar to the Snowy Sniper. The Butterfly then turned around and slowly flew off and to the distance, almost as if it wanted her to follow it. Bronya supposed it had to mean something if the first lifeform she encountered here wanted to lead her somewhere. And so, she did as asked.
Following it for a couple of minutes, the Butterfly stopped before it instantly materialized itself on the platform close by, making sure Bronya hadn't lost track of it. After a brief flash of confusion, Bronya detected the butterfly and hopped to it's platform.
But the moment she did, the same portal from before materialized next to the butterfly as well, seemingly getting both of the lifeforms' attention.
The butterfly then started to phase and teleport all over the place, confusing Bronya even further, until she noticed that the portal that stood next to her had moved to where the butterfly was. It seemed as if the portal was following the flying creature, appearing next to it whenever it stopped moving. Bronya's eyes widened in understanding.
«It appears that wherever you might lead the Bronya, this portal will be here to allow me to escape, no matter the danger… Very well, The Bronya will follow you wherever you wish.» the small girl said and the butterfly turned to her and seemingly nodded once more.
It teleported back to the platform Bronya stood on when she first noticed the portal and waited for her to arrive. After she did, the butterfly slowly started to descend into the deepest part of the Sea of Quanta.
Steeling her resolve, Bronya spared one last look behind her to the portal as it disappeared from her sight once more. And then she jumped, falling much slower than she expected, given the regular laws of gravity she was accustomed too, the girl fell deeper and deeper into the Dark, and then her consciousness left her.
The next time Bronya opened her eyes, she noticed that the stars shone even brighter in the darkness that surrounded her. She could not however spot any platform to land on, and she felt a rush of wind against her face. That was when Bronya realised, she was falling. Falling faster than she had ever before in her life, it seemed as if gravity had decided to multiply and drag her down at an incredible pace.
With no way to stop her free fall in sight, Bronya closed her eyes and prepared herself for an endless lifetime spent in the abyss, with no goal, plan or hope for the future.
Her mind was then freed of all other thoughts and distractions. The only thing, the only regret left in her mind was the promise she made and failed to keep so long ago.
«The Bronya is sorry she couldn't go to the sea with you, Seele…»
«The Bronya is…»
«Seele, I'm…»
She could feel a single tear flow from her eye and down her cheek. She was ready now. Everything was behind her. She could finally…
«Wait a minute…»
Bronya could tell she was sad in the past. After the experiment she couldn't properly explain what it felt like though. She couldn't even really tell if she was feeling anything at all compared to her normal emotionless state. Just that it was different. But she could understand when she thought she was sad. No feelings involved, just a natural conclusion and a slightly different reaction.
So how did she shed a tear just now?
Bronya opened her eyes and was immediately alerted of two things.
One. Her descent had stopped and she was currently hanging off of the edge of a floating platform.
And two. Someone had caught her.
She looked up to see a hand clamped around her wrist as it's owner was apparently struggling to pull her up. That hand was the only visible part of that person from the angle Bronya had, seeing how they were making sure not to drop her.
It only took a second for Bronya to summon Project Bunny and make it hoist her up from below, helping out the person above as they finally mustered the strength needed to pull the young girl up. The moment Bronya was on the platform and safe, a pair of arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace and she could hear the person in front of her sobbing as they rested their head in Bronya's chest.
The first thing Bronya noticed about that person was their female body pressed tightly against her own. The other girl's arms were wrapped around her waist and held her closely, preventing her from even attempting to break the embrace.
The next thing Bronya noticed about her savior was her hair. Blue-tinted black hair that perfectly framed the girl's face as she looked up to Bronya with tears in her eyes.
And finally, the girl's eyes were a color that Bronya recognised all too well. A color that Bronya held deep in her memories and helped her sleep through the troubled nights.
Her eyes shone brightly and stared into Bronya's own eyes with newfound hope and relief.
«The sea looks exactly like Seele's eyes…»
«Bronya…» the girl called out softly and the Snowy Sniper's eyes widened as her savior's soothing voice seemingly melted all of her confusion away instantly.
«Seele… The Bronya is so sorry…»
Seele cut her off by cupping her cheek and letting their foreheads touch lovingly.
«Bronya, it doesn't matter. I told you before… You were my hope all along… And it seems you've kept your promise to me after all.» she said as she motioned for Bronya to look around at the space that surrounded them, the Sea of Quanta's beautiful scenery making it's way through the darkness that was present only moments ago and illuminating the two girls under the starlight.
«The Sea is beautiful, Seele.» Bronya simply said and Seele turned to her with a loving smile.
«I love you too, Bronya.»