Reclaiming the Throne

by GuiltyKingOumaShu

5 years has it been since Shu had fallen from his throne and lost his crown. But now, just as he is about to accept his crushing defeat and live with the bitter taste of loss, he makes the sudden realization that only death can end a king's reign. He may be a fallen one, but a king he still is nonetheless. He will reclaim his throne and reunite with his queen or die trying.

36. Legacy

I am finally back with a new chapter. I wanted to update earlier but what can I say, my life still ain't going that great. Can't find a decent job, so I am living the minimum wage life. Sucks for me. I won't be saying much here and leave the majority of my ramblings for the A/N at the end of the chapter.

My page: patr*on dot com /GKOS (missing letter is an e)

Word count: 28.769 words filling up 48 MS word pages (too much, I know, but didn't know where to split.)

Enjoy!

---

36. Legacy

"We are finally here." The envoy stated with a content sigh as he approached the gateways of Tennozu Fort together with his followers. However willing or unwilling they may have been.

Inori looked up at the imposing fortress, its tall crystal walls not even the most impressive obstacle to be seen standing between them and the building at the center of the formation. Not only had Mana covered the former walls the students had built with crystals, she had also raised guard tower-like formations on the walls in regular intervals. Armed Da'ath personnel could be seen patrolling on them and observing both the inside and the outside of the fortress. The queen figured that they would have had a good look at their surroundings from so high up.

Analyzing the structure as a whole, she thought assaulting it would be hard given the strategic position of Tennozu High. Surrounded by canals on one side, attackers would have to storm the fort from another, unless they wanted to go through the hassle of crossing one of the canals. There was a reason for why Shu had decided to make Tennozu High their base of operations five years ago. If properly fortified, this place was relatively easy to hold. It had been a good base back then and was certainly even better now that it had been altered by Mana. She bit down on her lower lip once she realized that. How troublesome.

The envoy led the group to something that looked like an entrance. With a bit of fantasy, you could probably even still see remnants of the old school gate under all the crystal reinforcements. It wasn't entirely clear whether or not the old mechanism would still be useable to seal the entrance, but the pinkette was sure that if it wasn't, Da'ath would have surely installed another means of closing the gate in case of attacks.

Two guards in white were keeping watch over the entrance, but didn't even try to get in the envoy's way as he wordlessly passed them. No questions were asked and no objections raised. He simple walked through there without trouble. Needless to say that everyone else was allowed to enter after them as well. Inori thought that to be quite odd, but when she saw other people trying to get in after them, she saw them stopped and questioned by the guards who had asked for them to identify themselves. It seemed like only the envoy enjoyed the luxury to enter and leave as he pleased, which made sense, she figured.

She was still in the middle of asking herself whether or not this security flaw could possibly be exploited somehow when she was forced to make a new, more shocking realization. Having barely even passed through the gates, she suddenly noticed how Shu's feelings for her had stopped reaching her.

She stopped walking out of shock, opening her eyes wide in panic as she concentrated on sensing Shu even more, hoping that the signal had merely become weak due to distance instead of having died completely. One explanation was acceptable, the other absolutely disastrous. Her heart rate accelerated even more when she failed to feel Shu even after seconds of trying really hard. Something like that couldn't happen. It wasn't allowed to! Adam's feelings for Eve had to reach her assuming both of them were still in Tokyo. Failure to feel Adam could only mean horrible things. Things Inori didn't even want to imagine.

Acting on instinct alone, Inori turned around, making her first steps back to the gate she had just passed when her weird behavior naturally drew the group's attention towards her.

"Is something the matter, Eve?" Yuu asked with a curious smirk as he watched the queen's panicked reaction.

"Something is not right…" She muttered in confusion as she came to a halt. That's when she realized it hadn't just been Shu's feelings for her she had failed to sense, but the crystal network as a whole. Where normally a bunch of voices could be heard all around her, there now was…silence. But not the comforting one, but the more creepy kind. Inori had previously been able to block out the voices of other Genesis talking over the crystal network with her mind, but now she couldn't actually hear anything going on there at all. It was as if everyone had suddenly died. She felt…disconnected.

"This is…impossible…" The pinkette gasped and held her forehead, slightly shaking her head in disbelief. She was Eve. She was basically one with the crystals. To be disconnected from them was simply not possible.

"What is…?" Souta asked, raising a brow at her.

Inori didn't seem to acknowledge him at all, being too absorbed in her current unexplainable situation. She had never felt like this before, not once after she had woken up in the void realm. In an attempt to confirm her suspicions, she attempted to create a crystal directly in front of her, only to get surprised by the fact that the crystal she had attempted to summon appeared diagonally left from her.

This was even more confusing. She had meant to create it directly in front of her, so why would it spawn so far away from her desired location? Furthermore, when she tried to order the crystal to float in front of her and perform some basic movements mirroring the ones performed by her hand, she was soon to notice how the crystal, while performing movements, failed to behave in the way she had wanted it to. This freaked her out so much that she let go of the crystal on the spot, letting it fall on the ground like the lifeless object it was. The group winced at the sound of glass breaking apart as the crystal shattered after hitting the ground. All while the queen herself shook her head in absolute horror and confusion.

"What is happening…?" She asked herself in shock clearly not comprehending what was going on with her.

"That's what I would like to know as well." Arisa groaned in frustration. "It's like you are throwing a fit every 100 meters we walk. What is it this time, I wonder?"

Ignoring Arisa just as she had Souta before, Inori's eyes fell on the envoy and the ring he wore on his left hand. Counting two and two together, she quickly came to the conclusion that this had to be his work once more. Eying him angrily, she asked:

"What have you done to me, envoy? Speak!" She demanded of him.

Yuu, however, was only seen raising a brow in wonder, seemingly oblivious to what she was even talking about.

"I am afraid you have got me at a loss here, Eve. Perhaps you could elaborate?"

"Why…why can't I feel the crystals anymore?"

Yuu was then seen folding his arms in front of him as he pondered possible explanations for her dilemma.

"Well, Ouma Mana might be dead, but this base is still her creation. It could be that she had made this place with the intent of locking you out, should you ever come here. She wasn't very fond of you, after all."

Inori's angered look shifted into one of worry as she looked around her, considering the possibility. There was logic in the envoy's words. Eve could restrict crystal access, so, while Mana had been Eve, she might have used her authority to restrict Inori's here. And after accessing Mana's memories, Inori realized that she, indeed, had done so. So that's what this was?

"Then that's an easy thing to fix…" She decided with a determined nod as she tried approaching the closest crystal wall. That was until Yuu got in her way.

"Wait, Eve. Explain what you are doing."

Coming to a halt again, she frowned at him, but did as she was told. "If Mana has created this place with the intention of locking me out, all I really need to do is override her order."

Shaking his head with a knowing smirk, Yuu replied: "I doubt this is going to be this easy to be honest."

"Watch me." As if to prove him wrong, Inori merely turned around and walked towards the crystals near the gate again, placing her right hand on them. However, as soon as she had done that, her expression became troubled. She closed her eyes but even after moments of waiting, nothing seemed to happen. Eventually her hand retracted itself as the queen mumbled to herself:

"I…can't read them, either?"

Of course, being the spiteful woman she was, Arisa didn't pass up on her chance to ridicule Inori.

"What's wrong, Wonderwoman? Weren't you going to show us your impressive Eve powers?" She said with a smirk.

"This is weird…even if Mana did lock me out, I should still be able to read her crystals and undo her handiwork. But these crystals…their inner works are all…gibberish. I can't change them like this." The pinkette thought out aloud, not really seeming to pay attention to the blonde's jabs at her. After a short pause, Inori's expression became determined as she said:

"In that case, I will have to destroy them."

"Perish the thought, Eve. I won't let you do that." Yuu merely told her with a sigh, shaking his head. "It may be regrettable that Mana's crystals have such a negative effect on you, but surely you couldn't have thought I would let you raze this fortress down just because it is inconvenient for you. I am really sorry for you, but Da'ath needs those walls so they stay up."

"Then I will just rebuild them for you…" She tried to argue back, but only saw him shrug at her.

"And riddle the fortifications with hidden structural weaknesses for Adam to exploit? I don't think so. Besides, it took Mana several days to finish reinforcing this base. Since Adam is already planning to make his move, we will likely not have the time to finish reconstruction regardless. I'll have to ask you to kindly bear with this situation for until your Adam comes and joins Da'ath at which point you should be free to alter these crystals to your heart's content."

Inori eyed him defiantly as she narrowed her eyes on him. "Is that an order?"

Frowning in displeasure, he replied: "Do we seriously have to play it this way all the time, Eve?"

The queen, however, only repeated her question, this time with more emphasis: "Is this an order, envoy?"

Sighing at her, he eventually confirmed: "Yes, Eve. No destroying crystals made by Mana."

This caused the queen to smirk as her eyes flashed up red. "I refuse." Her words seemed almost playful at that point.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, the envoy lifted his ring which soon after started gleaming in a purplish sheen. Soon after, Inori was seen frowning in displeasure and holding her head as if in pain, albeit never losing her smirk. Eventually the red gleam in her eyes started to flicker followed by her losing the strength in her legs and slowly falling to the ground, leaning forward on her arms as she began panting heavily due to what seemed to be extreme fatigue.

"I…understand." She yielded in the end. Yet, despite being obviously tired, the group got the feeling she was content nonetheless.

"I hope you are happy with yourself, Eve." Yuu told her with annoyance in his voice before looking at Harune. "Please help her walk, as she obviously won't be able to do so on her own."

"On it." Was all she said in response before walking up to Inori's side and throwing one of her arms over her shoulders to help her up. "Alright, and up you go."

"Here, let me help you." Souta was quick to offer assistance by taking position to Inori's other side and mimicking Harune's actions.

Inori, however, only chuckled at that. "Oh, so you won't use your telekinesis to carry me around? I am so very disappointed. Could it be you are getting tired already?"

Closing his eyes at that remark, Yuu could only sigh once more. "Eve, you may think this behavior is in your own interest but it really isn't. You will never tire me out before I get to do what I have planned to do with you. Believe me, I have thought this through a thousand times. The only one who will get to suffer for this is you if you won't cease your childish resistance."

"Oh, so is that a threat now?"

"No, Eve. I will never threaten you. It is a warning, though. I would like to avoid having you go through this ordeal any more than I absolutely have to."

"Save me your fake concern, envoy. It is wasted on my ears." She coughed once, trying to stabilize her heavy breathing.

"Pity. But if this is how you want things to be, I can hardly change it. I will try to get this sorted as soon as possible so that you won't have to struggle for too long." He explained to her dryly as he turned around, leading the way once more.

Disregarding the envoy's words entirely, Inori chose to focus on her surroundings instead as she was more or less dragged forward by Souta and Harune. Inside the huge crystal walls that had surrounded the fortress and former school, many people were buzzing around. Some wore the typical Da'ath attire while others, presumably the former Mananites, kept wearing whatever the hell they had wanted to. But yet, even despite that clear difference, both groups appeared to be coexisting fairly well with each other. While the queen saw many Da'ath members and Mananites keeping to themselves and doing their own thing, there still seemed to be a form of understanding between both camps since Inori kept spotting both factions interacting with each other rather peacefully on several occasions.

Whether it was a Da'ath engineer coming up to a group of Genesis and asking for their assistance regarding the heavy lifting of a broken Endlave arm-piece or some wounded Genesis coming up to Da'ath to ask for medical attention. Neither side showed any signs of annoyance and simply helped each other out on the spot. It seemed almost as if it was natural for them to act this way. If there was any form of segregation going on, Inori couldn't see it at the very least.

This caused conflicting feelings to well up inside her and she had to frown. How come the formerly so unruly Mananites who would even bicker amongst themselves were being so cooperative with Da'ath when the Undertakers back home kept locking horns with her Genesis on a constant basis? Don't get her wrong, she was happy to see that coexistence was, indeed, very possible, but why did it have to work here and not back home? Was it her fault, perhaps? Had she failed as a queen?

Don't even go there, Inori. Da'ath is just really good with offering carrots so they barely ever need to get out the stick. The latter of which those Genesis here got to know fairly well in the past, sadly. No wonder that playing "good cop" works so well on them now.

The queen blinked at that confusedly. There it was again. That voice. Now she was absolutely positive she hadn't merely imagined it. And while she appreciated the encouraging words, she had hard times believing that it really was supposed to be her "inner voice", for it wouldn't make sense for it to use metaphors she couldn't quite comprehend. What was this "good cop" thing supposed to mean? Neither her, nor Da'ath were members of the police…or were they?

She shook her head and held her forehead in frustration. How confusing. Hey, inner voice, how about making more sense over here? The voice just chose to sigh at her.

Nevermind that. I will explain later. Just don't freak out when I finally do. You are not crazy, okay?

Well, that was a relief to hear…but weren't crazies normally telling themselves the very same thing all the time? Maybe she really did lose it? She had hit her head quite hard back when she had collided with Jun yesterday. Just thinking about that actually hurt.

The voice didn't respond to that and Inori wasn't sure whether she was relieved due to that or rather saddened. She did appreciate the encouragements the voice offered her, yet it would also ease her mind if she could make sure she wasn't actually slowly embracing lunacy. Otherwise they might see a new kind of mad queen appearing on stage soon…

But anyway, since the voice was gone for now, Inori chose to scout out the base some more in hopes of finding something to use later. The first thing that obviously struck her eyes was the giant crystal towers Mana had erected on top of the school building, thus turning it into an absurd palace or fortress. There was a huge tower in the middle which was surrounded by many smaller ones arranged in a circle around it. Each one of those towers was connected with each other through crystal bridges that grew out of them at seemingly random. It almost looked like a brain's synapses, even having lights travel through those bridges from time to time, though it was more likely that they transported Genesis using the crystal network rather than electrical impulses meant for directing nerve systems.

The advantage of creating such a seemingly crazy architectural nightmare was quite obvious, though. Those towers were all connected with the outer wall of the fortress, allowing Genesis defending the fort to fast-travel all around the base and "jumping" from tower to tower in case of an attack. Flanking Da'ath here would prove to be hard. Plus, since there were so many chaotic connections to the towers, destroying them would also become difficult. Even if you managed to damage some bridges, you would still have to severe all of them to cut off reinforcements form arriving. It was surprisingly smart tactical thinking for someone like Mana.

Furthermore, the crystal towers themselves seemed to have been charged up with some sort of power, as the pinkette was able to see them flare up in a pinkish sheen in constant intervals. In fact, the energy seemed to travel from one tower to the next, being passed on in a fluid motion, thus letting the pink gleam travel around the base in a circle. This made the queen very suspicious. What was all the power needed for? What was generating it? Was it perhaps a defensive mechanism? Or maybe even a weapon instead? She sure hoped not, as the energy concentration was so strong around her, she could hear a surging noise every time the power managed to finish a full cycle around the base and passed the closest tower to her.

Speaking of weaponry, there were quite a lot of Endlaves around, much to Inori's dismay, albeit not to her surprise. Knowing that Shu would only have one to use, seeing all those war machines being neatly lined up in the former makeshift garage was indeed quite disheartening. Mana must have even upgraded the garage when she had chosen to reinforce it with crystals, as Inori didn't quite remember it ever having been big enough to even hold Endlaves in the first place, let alone so many of them.

They seemed to be in good condition, having several engineers tend to them at all times. Some pilots were using a couple of them for some training maneuvers while being instructed by some veteran pilots. Well, that was a relief at least. Even such inhuman people like Da'ath seemed to need training to become the monsters that they eventually end up to be. It was concerning to see some Genesis joining their ranks, though, as not all pilots appeared to be Da'ath only. But perhaps she could use that knowledge later, so she made a mental note of that.

As the group approached the main entrance, the pinkette couldn't help but notice a reddish spot on the concrete, not far from the path they were using. A bunch of Da'ath soldiers marched over it in formation, never even paying that spot any heed. Inori, however, immediately felt an unpleasant sensation welling up inside her. A weird mixture of sadness and anger which forced her to turn away her gaze in hopes of getting rid of it.

That's right. It was the spot Yuu had shot Shu's arm off with the help of an Endlave right after they had returned from the void realm.

All her hopes and dreams of a peaceful future she had held at the time, shattered by one simple gunshot. And as the shards had fallen to the ground, being forced to take a bath in the blood that had poured out of her beloved king's severed arm, they had become tainted and twisted until they were re-arranged into the hopes and dreams she held today. Which was to survive together with Shu, no matter the cost. Peace? She didn't even dare to think of it, knowing that the moment that wish manifested inside her heart, it would merely be ripped out of her chest by Da'ath's cold claws and torn to shreds once more. No, Inori realized sadly, peace was at least as impossible to attain for her as it was for people to catch a god. After all, you couldn't grab what only existed in myth, could you?

"And if you turn your head to your right, you will be able to see an ominous red mark on the ground which clearly wasn't caused by someone accidentally having dropped a crate of ketchup." Souta was heard mumbling as he imitated a tour-guide. He seemed to try to stay positive, but clearly had his troubles upon seeing something like that. A normal reaction, Inori thought. People shouldn't ever get comfortable with seeing blood. Especially so much of it.

"Hm, this should be Ouma`s if I recall correctly. From the time Yuu failed to follow a simple order of elimination." Arisa explained to Souta while narrowing down her eyelids in disappointment halfway through the sentence. The envoy who had been the target of her subtle jab had chosen to remain silent, knowing fully well that nothing he would tell the blonde actively could change her opinion on the matter. However, Harune shocked the group when it was her of all people who had chosen to stand up for the blond man.

"Miss Kuhouin, the envoy acts on Da'ath's best interest. While that may include your interest, it is not limited to that alone." She said calmly. There was no trace of venom or malice to be heard in her voice. Just rationality. As if she had merely stated a simple fact.

The young head of the Kuhouin family appeared to be irritated by that. Who was this girl to speak for the envoy? She had not directed her words at her.

"Oh, I didn't know the envoy got an envoy of his own now. So do I have to speak through you to communicate with him now or how does this work?" She asked her with folded arms.

Before the brunette could reply to that, though, Yuu merely said:

"Don't direct your frustration at my assistant, Miss Kuhouin. You may not have liked hearing her statement, but that doesn't mean she is wrong with what she said. I may answer to you, but only if your will is in accordance with the rest of Da'ath. You may have sought Ouma Shu's elimination, but I have already explained to you why I didn't act on it. If you have a problem with my decision, feel free to raise your complaint to your fellow executives."

"Tch, forget those old geezers." Arisa merely rolled her eyes and looked away in disinterest. "They are all too focused on the apocalypse for them to listen to me, it seems. But that's fine. I actually have a proposal to make that they definitely will be in favor of, impatient as they are. Please look forward to it, your majesty." Her last words were directed at Inori as she performed an exaggerated bow.

"I am sure you will only act in both our interests, Arisa." The queen replied to her gently.

The group was then becoming witness to the hugest paradox they have seen that day. As both ladies were facing each other with seemingly kind smiles and goodwill, their eyes sent out entirely different messages. On first glance they made it appear as if they were really thinking what they were saying, but upon clearer inspection their clear thoughts came to light.

"Ah, why can't you just fall into a coma and never wake up again…"

"If I ever bring the apocalypse, I know who I will put in charge of garbage collection, that's for sure."

Abeline and Zoe who kept watching them both in silence, were just seen raising a brow at that, followed by shaking.

"Temperature just dropped?" They both muttered in surprise and took a few steps back from them to gain distance.

"Yeah, though that's more due to those two ice queens not getting along than anything." Yuu explained with a tired sigh, followed by pushing the twins closer to the building. "Come on now, get inside and warm up."

Both girls took a few steps into the direction they were shoved to but stopped immediately afterwards, turning around to face Yuu once more, albeit without a single word.

"We will be right behind you, just go." He merely told them with a smile as he waved the off. This, in return, made them nod in satisfaction, followed by storming off into the direction of the school building faster than any ninja could have. My, they must have been really eager to get out of the cold.

Speaking of which…

"Wow…it really is cold…" Inori finally realized, looking quite surprised for some reason. She touched her now reddened cheeks which had undoubtedly been a side effect of the temperature around her.

"Sherlock Yuzuriha, at your service." Arisa said mockingly with one hand on her hips sassily.

"I never noticed until now…" The queen admitted as she looked down in sadness. "It's because I no longer can feel Shu…"

"Must sure be nice to have an in-built heater inside you." The black haired man next to her mumbled enviously as he turned away from her to sneeze, causing Arisa to grumble at him.

"Idiot. Get inside as well, before you catch a cold." She scolded him.

"But Inori…" Souta tried to object before his boss pushed him forward, followed by putting Inori's arm around her shoulders so she could carry her in his stead.

"Just go before I change my mind."

"I will never forget your sacrifice, Milady!" He cried in a mixture of happiness and admiration before finally turning around and following the twins inside.

"Aw, look at you, Arisa. Seems like you still are capable of expressing human emotions such as kindness and sympathy." The pinkette snickered in amusement as the blonde who was supporting her now merely pressed her eyelids shut in anger. All while the envoy continued to lead them to the main entrance.

"That's rich coming from someone who only recently learned what emotions even are."

"How mean, and here I thought we might be friends…" The queen theatrically whined as she pulled Arisa closer, thus putting more weight on her.

"Stop that, you fat cow. You are heavy! Why don't you annoy the envoy's number one fangirl instead?" The blonde suggested in annoyance.

"Please leave me out of this, ladies…" Was all Harune could say as she nervously tried to deflect the idea.

"As much as it pains me to end this…bonding session you ladies seem to be enjoying right now…" Yuu eventually said quite listlessly, clearly feeling slightly irritated at the childish behavior. "We are finally here. Welcome back to Tennozu High, Eve." He said the last part with a smirk as he pushed the doors open. The guards at the door didn't even acknowledge their existence as he led them in.

Inori couldn't help but look around in what seemed to be a mixture of nostalgia and disbelief. What she saw was equally as familiar as it was bizarre. She now stood at the entrance hall with all its shoe lockers and the remains of the quarantine barriers established by Shu back during the Loop Seven days, yet there was also a big amount of crystals sparkled all over the place as if this place had suffered some kind of alien infestation problem.

Except, Inori had to realize, it wasn't exactly as scary as it might have seemed at first glance. While it might have looked intimidating to the eyes of unrelated people, to someone like Eve, who understood crystals and their creation, a purpose and system to the madness was quickly found. Where ordinary people would think of the crystal sprouts as uncontrolled infestation, Inori understood that there were only crystals where it made sense for them to be. Most of them had grown near the walls of the hallways for quick transport, only crossing over the floor if the wall or the ceiling were not an option or when windows would have gotten obstructed. Some crystals had overgrown light sources to offer their own light instead, probably improvisations since the original light bulbs had probably ceased to function ages ago. Not to mention many crystal structures which seemed to offer additional services, such as emitting heat. One of which was currently claimed by two little girls of identical appearance, practically hugging the crystal in an attempt to warm themselves up faster.

True, Mana's design for the crystals all around the base might have lacked finesse, but Inori understood more than anyone that creating a fortress in less than a two weeks' worth of time was a tough job, even for the queen of Genesis. Style would inevitably have had to suffer in favor of functionality. Compromises had had to be met, unfortunately. In the first place, Inori would actually believe that creating a base from scratch would have been easier than using Tennozu High as a base, since it was always easier to control only crystals, instead of having to work around concrete and steel, but Da'ath had probably wanted to salvage the already existing electricity lines and heat systems of the school so Mana might have had to bite the bullet for them back when this place had come to fruition.

Being Eve was a hard job no matter who your followers were, it seemed.

"I never thought I would see this place again. It has changed a lot." She had to eventually admit. Whether or not she liked the changes couldn't be heard in her voice alone, though it was very doubtful she would, considering this place had become a Da'ath infested cesspool.

"Oh, that's right. You used to attend this school, didn't you?" Harune seemed to remember something she had learned before. Either the envoy had told her that detail or he had given her access to Inori's files to let her learn of that fact herself. The queen wasn't sure if she liked being studied so much by other people, especially Da'ath supporters.

"Yeah, we did. Though it used to be so much better back then." Arisa responded to that question with narrowed eyes.

"Lots of memories in this place." Inori appeared to be thinking back for a second as she paused her sentence for a second before a smile eventually started adorning her face. "They weren't all bad."

"I suppose so." Even the cold Kuhouin princess had to agree with her on that.

Yuu had looked like he had wanted to add something to that topic when he had suddenly been attacked by two little girls from behind. "Ouf."

"Welcome home, Yuu-nii!" They both cheered as they nearly tackled him down, laughing. That was before they noticed that his skin and clothes were still cold from when he had been outside so they quickly jumped off him again.

"Gah! Cold!"

The blond man could only chuckle at that. "Well, it's good to see you two all energetic again, though I could really do without these sudden assaults…"

"Eh…? But that's half the fun…!" Abby gave herself surprised.

"Right?" Zoe seemed to agree with her twin sister, looking at Yuu as if he had just said something crazy.

"….Fascinating." Inori couldn't help but mutter in amazement. She was holding her chin while witnessing the girl's sudden change in character with wide open eyes. Gone were all the emotionless behavior and the emptiness in their eyes. Although their clinginess regarding the envoy was still untouched. A full recovery to their previous state, before they had left the Kuhouin mansion. From the looks of it, even Arisa seemed to be baffled at that sudden change in character.

"Like day and night, huh."

"It appears like we are missing Mr. Tamedate." The envoy merely noted on the side after having held an eye out for the dark haired man.

"The one who came with us? He said he wanted to go find someone who would give him warmer clothes." Abeline told him with a finger put on her lips, thinking back.

"Said he would be back in a flash." Zoe added with a nod.

"He lied. A flash would have been quicker. Like this." As if to demonstrate, Abeline teleported herself forward with the help of her void. A fact that seemed to annoy the blonde business woman of the group.

"Wait, so they can teleport around Tennozu. So why did we have to walk…?"

"The barrier just restricts them from getting in or out. They can teleport freely inside the base once they have crossed it." Harune told her calmly before turning to the envoy directly. "So, should I escort Eve to her chambers?"

The blond man nodded at that. "Please do, Harune. Miss Kuhouin and I will have to attend a board meeting to bring Da'ath up to date regarding the current situation."

"Always such a blast to attend those…" Arisa merely sighed at that, clearly not feeling very motivated to participate. However, it was a necessary evil to overcome as an executive. It wasn't all fun and games being on the top of the food chain, after all. And this time, she had some suggestions to bring up, too, so the sooner she got to it, the better.

That was when Inori broke away from Harune and Arisa and decided to walk on her own feet again, even if slightly shaky ones.

"No need for any escorts. This was once my home. I can get around here on my own just fine." She told the envoy defiantly.

"Even so, you would be surprised how much the structure has changed from before Mana had modified it. Especially the newer upper levels." Arisa said with a frown. "Just take her with you, be a good little prisoner and get to your cell as soon as possible so that you won't bother anyone more than you already are." A gesture meant to shoo her away accompanied her disinterested sounding words.

The queen, however, just deviously smiled as she replied: "Your concern for me is so moving, I might actually decide to stick around with you for the duration of my stay here, Arisa. Our friendship would surely grow drastically."

"The only thing that would grow is my urge to vomit whenever I see you."

"Oh my." Inori laughed as if she had heard a mere joke, putting her hand on her cheek and leaning her head slightly into it. "I hope you won't accidentally choke on it and die."

"Please, just stop…" Harune tried to appeal to their reason, yet only got those two to lock intense gazes hidden behind fake smiles. They were like magnets with the same polarization. Force them together and they would spend all their power to just get apart as soon as possible.

Luckily for them, the return of Arisa's knight marked the end of the ladies' bickering. He came running back to her with a Da'ath jacket, now matching the rest of the cult in color at least, albeit he was still wearing his old clothes underneath.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, guys. The dudes at the gate kept making a fuss when I wanted to enter and I thought I would have an easier time moving around if I matched the dress code around here." He explained to them while scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Plus, I gotta say, those clothes are a lot more comfy than I would have previously thought…" He showcased his surprise by demonstrating how well he could actually move in that jacket he had acquired, being able to stretch his arms out in every direction without ever getting restricted in any way or the fabric giving in. If anything, he was probably more restricted by his shabby business suit he still wore underneath it.

"Naturally, Mr. Tamedate." Yuu chuckled at his words amusedly. "It's made with a material that is currently only available to the military. It doesn't tear, burn, is water proof and keeps the wearer warm. Quite a pain to clean them, though."

"In other words, that jacket is probably more expensive than everything you own combined." Harune added with a playful smirk, causing him to gulp.

"You know, on second thought…" As he was about to attempt removing the garments from around his shoulders, Arisa only groaned at him in annoyance and forced it back on him once more.

"Forget the money, Souta! Keep your eyes open for Nanba and his scum instead! It was your idea to come here, so I expect you to take responsibility and keep me save, got it? Don't you dare leave my side for even just a second." To emphasize how important it actually was to her, she even put her left arm around his right one and held him close to her.

Hearing his boss' demanding tone, he assumed a serious posture and responded firmly: "Yes, Ma'am!" He didn't know whether it was funny or sad that it almost felt like a reflex to him. He also gulped at the sudden direct contact and wondered if she actually realized how close they were right now or whether or not her potential fear of Nanba might have temporarily overridden her rational thinking. Either way, he couldn't help but blush slightly, but he was happy nonetheless.

"Good." She nodded and offered him a content smile. "I am counting on you here, Souta."

"Leave it to me."

"They do realize I am still around to protect them, do they?" Inori overheard Yuu mumbling towards Harune's direction as he watched those two making yet another scene with folded arms.

"I think they might just be on the edge because this place brings back bad memories for them." Her assistant offered him her theory with a kind smile.

"If you say so…" The envoy shrugged and began moving forward while shaking his head in what might have been resignation. Nope, he wouldn't be wasting his time wrapping his head around their problems. He had plenty of his own to deal with as it was.

"I am afraid I have matters to attend to, Eve, but don't worry, I will leave Harune with you to look after you. She is authorized to get you anything you could possibly need, so feel free to ask for her assistance whenever you so wish."

Inori, however, only frowned at him in response as she folded her arms in front of her chest, declaring confidently:

"I don't need her."

The envoy could only shrug at that. "Well, then you are apparently more capable than I am, since I tend to take advantage of her assistance ever since I have found her. Perhaps you should give her a chance first?"

"If that is so, why not take her with you instead? Unless you need her to have an eye on me…?"

"I can't take her to the executive meeting, Eve. There are rules here in Da'ath. You need clearance for that." He told her with a frustrated sigh as he scratched the back of his head.

"The envoy's assistant can't attend?" The queen asked, slightly bemused at what she assumed was a mere attempt to come up with an excuse.

"It's not about rank but time served in Da'ath. Since Harune has been here for even less than a month…" He began but got cut off.

"Less than a month and already the envoy's sidekick? That's an impressive jumpstart on the career ladder." Souta couldn't help but exclaim with an impressed whistle.

"Yet not impossible, is it Executive assistant Tamedate Souta?" The brunette girl in question said with a smile as she put both her hands behind her back neatly.

"Touché…"

"Anyway, Harune has earned her place for a reason, so don't underestimate her abilities. I am sure she will be helpful one way or another." Yuu tried to wrap things up as he turned around again to leave. "We will be going now, Eve. Make yourself at home. I am leaving things to you, comrade Harune. I have faith that you will take good care of Eve in my absence."

"I won't disappoint you, Yuu." She told him with a playful salute, earning her a chuckle from the blond man.

"Of course. You never do."

"Bye bye, Haru-nee and Inori-nee." Zoe said as she trotted after the envoy, turning around only to wave at them.

"See ya, Inori." Souta nodded at her as he walked past her with Arisa walking next to him arm-in-arm.

"Try to not cause too much chaos, can you do that?" She merely rolled her eyes without even looking at her.

"We will come visit later!" Abeline promised with a big smile before running off to catch up with the rest of them.

Harune watched them go for a moment in silence before eventually speaking up:

"And off they go. Well, shall we do the same then, Eve?" She turned around to the pinkette only to realize said woman had already ditched her and gone off to on her own. "Wah, Eve. Wait for me, please!"

Inori, not even slowing down for her to catch up, merely heard how the footsteps of her warden eventually caught up to her due to the clacking her shoes produced on the spotlessly clean floor as she came running up to her.

"Whew, don't just leave me like that. I will get lonely." She tried to write the matter off as a joke despite clearly knowing better.

"I don't need a babysitter." Was all Inori said to her, not even looking into her general direction.

"Aww, don't view me as your babysitter. I am supposed to be more of a…well…" She was seen putting a finger on her lips as she tried thinking of a better term. Eventually her expression lit up excitedly and she began to grin: "Your handmaiden!"

Raising a brow at the unfamiliar term, Inori couldn't help but ask: "What's that supposed to be?"

"Well…" The brunette girl scratched her cheek awkwardly, not being entirely sure herself. "I think that's what servants of the queen were called back in the days…"

"But, as I have clearly told you yesterday, I am not your queen, so…"

"But you are." She interrupted the pinkette by getting in her way, causing her to stop walking and look at her for once. "It doesn't matter if we are Genesis or not. Everyone in this damn base looks up to you and respects you as their one true ruler, Eve."

"Or,…" Inori told her with a displeased frown. "and this is far more plausible to me, they just look up to me because I am the only one who could grant them evolution which comes with more power and time to live."

"You can't know that…" Harune tried to disagree calmly.

"Well, neither can you, right?"

"Well, if you put it that way, I actually kind of can…" The ex-shopkeeper told her with an awkward laugh as she scratched her cheek again, looking away.

Her remark caused Inori to blink at her in perplexity for a second before she shook her head in annoyance and moved around her to continue her way. "Forget it."

"You don't have to be so cold, you know?" The queen could hear her sigh behind her. "I know we might not have had the best start, but I am sure we could get along just fine if you just gave me a chance? I am actually quite confident in my social skills."

"Well, I am not." Inori merely replied bitterly.

"Don't be like that, Eve. I know you have plenty of friends."

She stopped walking for a second, turning around to her follower forcefully.

"Yes, but that was just coincidence." She looked down for a second in sadness. "If it weren't for Shu, I would still be alone. Because I forced my way into his life, I forced my way into his social circle as well, and just like that I ended up gaining friends."

"Even so, that's totally fine, though?" Harune stated with a carefree shrug. "Many people only get to know people because they get introduced to them by other ones."

"I don't want to be part of your circle, though."

"Why not? Because I joined Da'ath? Why reduce me to that aspect alone? I was Harune long before I became the envoy's assistant. And I am sure you were Inori long before you became Eve as well, so why not start there?"

Inori put her hands on her hips and looked at the brunette girl thoughtfully, realizing that she couldn't deny her words. She disliked being reduced to her title of Eve, so it may be impolite to do the same with this girl.

"You raise a valid point, I suppose." She eventually admitted in defeat.

"See? I knew you could be reasonable." Harune said with a soft smile, followed by putting her right hand on her chest. "Hello, my name is Kanzaki Harune."

"…Yuzuriha Inori." The pinkette simply responded with her name after some hesitation. It was quite apparent that she wasn't all too sure whether or not she was doing the right thing here.

"Nice to meet you, Inori." Gleaming at her, Harune tried her best to make a friendly and approachable impression.

"This is so awkward…" Inori couldn't help but note with a quiet laugh. And it meant something if even she could figure that out. You knew you were in quite the tricky situation if it was weird enough for even Inori to notice. After all, she was still getting used to most of society's quirks and perks.

"It will only be like that in the beginning, you'll see." She told her confidently, fully believing that they could get through this initial obstacle of awkwardness. There was always a way!

"So, what now? Are you going to give me the Da'ath recruitment propaganda now?" The queen asked full of suspicion.

"Relax! There won't be any Da'ath talk if you don't want there to be. We could talk about different things instead to get to know each other better." She told her with a gentle smile, causing the queen to tilt her head ever so slightly in wonder.

"Like what?"

"Like…" Yeah, wait a second. What exactly was she supposed to talk to Inori about? Dramas Harune had watched and enjoyed? Fashion trends? She knew Inori had been stuck in the void realm for five years. No television or fashion there. Needless to say that Tokyo had been stuck in a lockdown for weeks now. Who even gave a crap about fashion? But what else was there? Inori did not want to talk about Da'ath and when it came to things she and Inori might have had in common, there weren't a whole lot of them coming to mind.

Crap. It was only now that Harune even understood how fundamentally different they both had been right from the start. They might as well have been born on different planets for all it mattered. How could she become her friend that way? The only connection they actually shared was…

"Well, we both know Shu, I suppose…?" She winced when she saw Inori folding her arms at her, clearly not impressed.

"So? Everyone knows Shu. If not from before my return then at least now that we have become terrorists."

"N-no, I mean personally!"

"Oh?" Inori raised a brow at that.

"He came into our shop almost every week. I fancied the thought he might have done so because of me." She confessed with a faint shade of red spreading on her cheeks. This caused Inori to blink at her in surprise.

"Do you…like Shu?"

Nervously fidgeting around with her hands in front of her, she looked down and said: "Please don't be mad, it was just a crush. Needless to say, I have given up on it."

"…why?"

This time it was Harune's turn to be surprised. Why did Eve sound so disappointed? Shouldn't she be happy?

"Excuse me?"

Inori could only sigh at that. "Love is a powerful feeling, it might even be the very best one there is. I find it hard to believe it is one someone would just give up on. If they did, they might have mistaken the feeling for something else, like Arisa does for example."

"You think I am lying and secretly going after your Adam instead? You don't have to worry about that." Harune tried to reassure her calmly, only to see the queen shaking her head at her instead, closing her eyes and bringing up her hand to her chest with a happy smile.

"I am not worried. Shu's feeling for me are strong and true. His love for me will never waver. And neither will mine for him."

"I am…conflicted. Should I feel moved or sad by that statement? I know I said I gave up, but somehow those words just now kind of stung." She admitted with a crooked smile.

"So, tell me." Inori then suddenly said with sparkling eyes. "What is it you love about Shu?"

"H-huh?" Well, that was a first. Someone eagerly asking what others loved about their lover, even seeming excited about it. To think that would be the topic that would bring them together...under normal circumstances it would have done the opposite. Did everything about this girl work backwards? Oh well, if it worked, it worked.

"I initially only idolized him because I thought he was a hero for saving many people, including my father's life." She thus began explaining to Inori who for some reason listened to her eagerly. The way she looked at her expectantly made her smile in return. There was something very pure about her eyes. A look you just couldn't help but meet with happiness. Almost like looking into the big, happy eyes of a puppy.

"You wouldn't believe how shocked I was when I saw him entering our store the first time. It was like as if some Hollywood star had randomly decided to walk in. I think I couldn't even talk to him properly. My father had had to step in. The shock eventually eased up on me once he continued to visit. That's when I eventually noticed that even though he was surrounded by this bright and shiny aura of heroism and hope that inspired me, deep down, he was a horribly broken man. For years I have tried cracking the walls he had built around himself but whenever I thought I might have made progress, it turned out that I had just imagined it all along. It was as if something was holding him back, preventing me from fixing him, but he would never tell me why. It wasn't until I finally got to see the way he looked at you that I realized that you had been the reason all along. He wouldn't let others fix him because the only one who could fix him had been you all along." Harune told her with a defeated smile. "That's when I was forced to give up on him. You fixed him instantly where I couldn't even make progress after years. What you two share with each other? It is special."

Inori who had listened to Harune's story eagerly so far, couldn't help but frown in confusion in the end.

"Wait, what do you mean you got to see us? I have never met you before."

"Ah, you wouldn't have known, but we did meet once before, though I looked slightly different. More like this." The brunette girl laughed and put both her hands up to her head to mimic a cat's ears. "Nya~"

"Wha…" Inori took a step back in confusion before realization slowly befell her. The only cat she had actually seen ever since she had come back to this world had been… "Wait, you can't mean…the cat in that looted store. That was you?" As confusion slowly made room for anger, so did the volume of her voice rise, though at that point, she wasn't even completely sure what exactly her anger was directed towards anymore. Harune for having fooled her all along, herself for not having even considered the possibility, cats for being so cute that she had naturally left her guard down or Da'ath as a whole for using animals as spies.

Harune couldn't help but grin excitedly. "Yep, it's impressive what voids can do, right? You definitely should try it some time. Being a cat was quite the experience, I can tell you that."

Inori gritted her teeth in frustration as she finally understood that her and Shu's situation had been hopeless right from the very beginning. If Harune had seen them there, they had never been safe for even just a second. It was as if they would play into Da'ath's hands no matter what they did. And the worst part about it all was that they had never even noticed they had been played until it already had been too late.

"I see…should have killed you back when I still had the chance…" Inori mumbled to herself darkly as she turned around. The brunette behind her flinched at that.

"W-what an awful thing to say, don't you think…?"

That was when Inori turned around, stepped forward and angrily pushed her right finger against the spy's chest. "Considering it was you who sold us out to Da'ath, no…I don't." She narrowed her eyes threateningly.

"Sold out…it's not really fair to accuse me of that, is it? After all, I couldn't possibly have known you two would actually be opposed to joining Da'ath. I was under the impression I would be helping you."

Inori stepped back and looked at her as if she wasn't sure whether she was supposed to laugh at that or punch her in the face. "Help us? You mean like helping us put a noose around our necks or...?"

"Inori, could you please stop being emotional for one second and just calmly think about my position regarding this matter? The last time I saw Shu was one day before this whole mess even started. After weeks of being worried about his wellbeing after he had been falsely accused of being a terrorist I finally get to see him with a broken leg, unable to even move on his own, desperately looking for shelter. Yuu had given me no reason to assume you and Shu would be hiding from Da'ath and I actually still can't comprehend why you would have, but even if I had known of that fact, I would still have told Yuu about Shu and you because you two needed help." Harune explained her reasoning to her calmly, yet determinedly, truly believing in her actions to have been right and not willing to let Inori claim otherwise.

The woman in question put a hand on her forehead and held back an annoyed groan, turning around to collect herself so that she wouldn't snap at the girl in front of her. For the first time in a while, Inori realized she had actually trouble with keeping the hot sensation of anger that rose up inside her from boiling over. With a deep breath, however, she eventually managed to remain at least halfway composed about all this so that when she decided to face her so called "handmaiden" again, her voice would be sharp but not furious.

"Okay, you know what? You are right. We needed help. But not that help! Thanks to your help, my friends and I got severely hurt in the process and now I am imprisoned in this…Da'ath cesspool where even the crystals which should obey me, won't because my former nemesis kindly decided to torment me even from inside the grave."

The queen had expected defiance and excuses coming out of the brunette's mouth next , but got surprised when she saw her facial expression soften and growing regretful instead as she lowered her gaze.

"I am sorry, Inori. For things to end this way, I really am. I never intended for it to come to this, believe me. I would have never thought you two would actually resist Da'ath. It was supposed to be help I sent you, but ended up being an obstacle instead. And even though I had no bad intentions when I did what I did, I sincerely wish I can make it up to you and Shu one day."

Seeing her anger being met with nothing but regret and honesty eventually helped Inori with cooling down the bubbling hot mass rising up inside her. Closing her eyes and relaxing her muscles, by the time she opened them again, she had managed to cast away the majority of her negative emotions.

"Why did you join Da'ath, Harune? Tell me." She wished to know. The girl before her looked back at her with eyes full of determination. Not a speck of doubt was seen reflected in them as she spoke:

"To bring the end of the cycle of death the apocalypse brings with it. To assist Shu in becoming king over the world and rebuild it together with you into a place people can be happy in. Da'ath's wishes and my own wishes align perfectly so I didn't hesitate to join them when Yuu had brought the offer to me. I thought it was fate that had brought us together and that I should devote the life he had saved to help him help you and Shu with fulfilling your destiny of bringing the apocalypse."

After hearing all this, Inori could only shake her head with a pained smile. "If you wanted to stop the apocalypse, all it would have taken you to succeed was to keep Da'ath away from us. Shu and I never intended there to be an apocalypse in the first place."

But Harune only shook her head slowly in disagreement. "That's not the same. Resisting the apocalypse is an act of futility. You can prevent it times again and again, but in the end, Eve will always come back and be forced to try again. The only way to stop the apocalypse, is to bring the apocalypse so that the Eve curse ends and we all will finally be free to live in peace at last."

"But by doing that, more people will die than in all the previous failed apocalypses together."

"That's still better than being stuck in a world which can't move forward. People will continue to die, the survivors will be forced to rebuild and just when they might have thought their lives had returned back to normal, another apocalypse will strike and rob them of yet another person important to them. I have gone through this too many times now and have lost everything at this point, but I refuse to let others go though the same pain as well. If we can't avoid the apocalypse, it's better to end it all in one swift go instead of dragging it on for years to come. This is why I am assisting Da'ath in making you and Shu king and queen. You two will be the saviors of the human race, even if humanity itself may not understand that yet."

Silence embraced those two as the queen chose to get a picture of the brunette's motivations and goals. With a frown, she eventually came to the conclusion that she, at her very core, wasn't a bad girl, but had merely chosen to take a fundamentally wrong turn on her path to make her goal become reality. Well, assuming everything the girl had said was actually the truth.

There was logic in her claim that it would theoretically be easier for humanity on the long run if Inori and Shu would just bring the apocalypse and be done with it. If the world had been a bit simpler, it might even have applied to her and Shu as well. However, and this was what Harune ultimately did not understand, with Da'ath acting behind the scene and trying to dictate their every move, bringing the apocalypse was actually the worst thing they could actually do. That was because the apocalypse was the only thing Da'ath couldn't perform on their own, thus having to force Shu and Inori to do it for them. That in itself may have sounded like a bad thing, but it was also the couple's biggest trump card if you thought about it rationally.

Shu and Inori had something Da'ath wanted, thus forcing them to come for Adam and Eve. It exposed the normally so secret organization and offered them the opportunity to strike them down. If Shu and Inori were to waste that advantage and thoughtlessly brought the apocalypse now, Da'ath would get what they wanted and disappear back into the shadows again, possibly forever. There would be no way to find them again and no way to get rid of them either. At that point, Shu and Inori would never know if their actions were even still their own or merely being directed by Da'ath from behind the scenes. A horrible outcome if you thought about it. Da'ath already was nothing but a pain when they still needed them, so how much worse would they possibly become once they actually wouldn't? A scary thought to have.

This was why Da'ath needed to be removed before the apocalypse happened. If their removal could not be achieved, so would the apocalypse have to be prevented. It was the only way to guarantee a future in which Shu and Inori could both become happy together.

Harune didn't understand this currently, but if Inori were to succeed in undoing the envoy's brain washing, perhaps she could succeed in breaking free and end the bastard's life herself before Shu had to come? At the very least, it was worth a shot. And even if it wouldn't work, it probably still was better to have her where Inori could see her rather than planning intrigues against her and Shu behind their backs. Jun had once told her something about holding your enemies close. This must be what he must have meant.

"Alright, fine. I will keep you around. For now."

"Really? Thank you!" From out of nowhere, the brunette girl showed her relief by suddenly hugging Inori happily, albeit only for a second before she eventually seemed to realize what she was doing and quickly let go of her instead. "Uh, sorry. I was just really afraid you would shun me, so…"

"Why is it so important to you?"

Harune could only smile sheepishly in return, putting both her hands behind her back innocently. "Well, I told you I support your and Shu's candidacy for kingship and my best bet to achieve that is by making you two work together with Da'ath. To make this possible, I need to fix your somehow bad relationship by becoming the middle ground for both parties to use in order to grow closer again. It's politics."

Hearing her reasoning, Inori could only chuckle and roll her eyes at her. "Yeah, that's not gonna happen, Harune. But I will give you credit for your diplomatic approach at least."

"Well, if it won't work, I will at least have gained a new friend, so there is no loss for me regardless, right?"

"Right…" More like acquaintances at best, Inori thought. For some reason, she saw Harune look away with a defeated smile for a second before she returned to her normal cheerful self. "Something the matter?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. It was just that I have only just now realized how big my goals actually are. I have lots of work ahead of me regarding Da'ath and you."

"Well, disregarding your agenda revolving Da'ath, what's the plan for me now? Since the envoy wanted to assign you to me, I suppose you want to give me the tour or something?" Inori asked with a sigh, not really all that motivated to be dragged around a base she already knew for the most part.

That was when Harune took out a small tablet from her coat's pocket and began flipping through some digital pages. "Well, you are not wrong, I have had some places in mind to show you, but seeing that you already went to school here, most of the more interesting places we have here might not be all that new to you. However, there might still be a few you could be interested in."

"Such as?"

The queen saw Harune grin proudly at her as she excitedly responded: "Mana's throne room. No one actually has been allowed in there as far as I have been told. Even Tsutsugami Gai was never in there. It was an Eve-exclusive place. Curious?" The brunette cockily narrowed her eyes at her with a devious smirk. It was obvious the girl wanted nothing more than take a look herself with Inori being the perfect excuse to actually get in there.

P-perhaps that's not a good idea. One is supposed to respect the dead, right. If Mana did not want anyone in there, maybe it's for the best we respect that wish?"

Huh, and there was that voice from before again, telling her to not go. Suspicious. Perhaps there was a connection to explore? And besides, it wasn't as if Inori had anything better to do right now.

"Let's go then."

Aw, come on!

The pinkette disregarded the voice and let herself be led through the old school building by Harune. The people they passed by seemed to notice them and quite a few stopped what they were doing to quietly bow at Inori as she passed them by. Some even greeted her with "Your majesty."

This was troublesome for Inori because she had never really had to worry about who it was that had decided to follow her. In the past, she had had no problem with accepting everyone who had asked for her guidance and protection. But these people…they were acting like her vassals despite Inori never having agreed to be their queen in any way. She had no intention of protecting them, so being referred to as their queen was…awkward. Who were they to decide such a thing for her?

"This is the main elevator. It should take us to Mana's lair. This is exciting, isn't it?" Harune said with a huge grin as she approached one of the four crystal platforms in front of them. Two in front, two directly behind them, thus being placed in a square position. Looking around, Inori realized that this place must have been where the main stairways had previously been. Tennozu High's main school building had had 3 floors previously, one for each year. Freshmen classrooms used to be on the first floor, second years on the second and seniors were usually located at the top. The three stairways to reach those floors had been located at the ends of each floor's hallways as well as the center of it. The central was the one Inori was supposed to stand in front of now, only to realize it had been completely removed and replaced by these huge crystal platform floating where the stairway used to be. Looking up from here, the pinkette could see that there were now floors beyond the three initial floors albeit completely formed by crystals. The elevator shaft for the floating crystals to take reached far, far up into the very top of the crystal tower Inori had already seen from outside.

"How many floors are there?" She asked curiously.

"Mana added three full floors on top of the already existing ones. The tower itself has several floors as well, though not all of them are as big as the first six. Mana's throne is located at the very top which should correspond to the fifteenth or sixteenth floor. Hard to say, as they aren't all equally big." Her guide explained to her while reading the data from her tablet. A diagram of the base was displayed there. Inori nodded at that. Sounded a lot like her own place back in the void realm, only that they had a fast-travel station to go up and down. That probably hadn't been an option, though, seeing as there were also humans in this base who couldn't use crystals, after all. This also explained why a Genesis was located near the platforms, probably waiting for humans to ask for assistance with operating the elevators. The young man was about to approach Harune as he noticed she was heading to one of the crystal platforms, but eventually noticed Inori trotting behind her and let off them, figuring that if Inori was with her, she could perfectly well operate the crystals for her.

The brunette quickly jumped on top of the closest platform and waited for Inori to do the same. Inori wasn't so sure whether or not the crystals would actually listen to her since her connection to them had been severed ever since she had come here, but to her surprise, the moment Inori had stepped on it and thought "Take me to the top, please", the structure began glowing and several crystal posts began constructing themselves on each corner of the hexagon shaped platform. Once erected, several horizontal bars began linking the posts with each other, thus creating a fence that prevented people from falling over. The platform then began moving upwards in a moderate pace.

"Amazing…" Inori gasped and proceeded to touch one of the posts in fascination. "Autonomic construction and levitation. Such outstanding craftsmanship. I knew it was possible, but to see it work so flawlessly…if only I could read the crystals to see how Mana had made them…"

She did try, of course, but no matter which part of the construction she touched, it remained pure gibberish to her. An incomprehensible allocation of meaningless formulas, which even changed itself constantly to top it off. This meant the crystals weren't merely encrypted to her, they were just telling her complete bullshit which didn't even make the faintest bit of sense to her. She had never seen this happening before. How terribly frustrating it really was.

"You don't know how to make those?" Harune gave herself surprised to hear that.

"Crystal creation may appear easy on first glance, but it is actually rather complex on the inside. There are many ways to get to your goal and some are more suitable for a certain situation than others. You could say it's a lot like crafting where two people could each make a table, for example, but it would never be the exact same thing. So, while I do know what I theoretically need to do to make a crystal like this, it would never be like this one unless I could look into the crystal and see how exactly it was made. And even then would it only become an imitation, never an exact copy. The handwriting would be different." Inori explained with a sad sigh.

"So even Eves have different styles, huh."

"Yes, and it's a shame Mana's was lost. Back when I was still just a fake Eve, I used to envy Mana for all the complex crystals she could form. But even now that I have her ability, her particular skill was still not transferred over, making the few crystals she has left behind precious and unique artifacts. No Eve that will come after her will be able to copy her work, or mine."

"I would consider that to be a good thing. It means Eves can't be reduced to their title alone and every Eve to come will leave their mark in history through their creations." Harune told Inori with a gentle smile. Inori, however, could only look down in sadness.

"But Mana barely had the chance to do so…and the few crystals she has left behind are only in the way…" Inori muttered sadly, sounding slightly annoyed at the last part. It sucked that Inori probably had to tear this fortress down once she would gain control over her own actions again. She would rather protect Mana's creations for future generation to witness, preserving their artistic value in the process. Contrary to that woman's foul character, her craftsmanship had truly been beautiful in its own way.

"Is it that bad?" Her handmaiden asked her with quite some sympathy, not able to even imagine how bad it must be for Inori to be disconnected from the crystal network. And naturally so, for only Eve could truly understand the importance of crystals.

To humans, crystals were just rocks. To Genesis, crystals were a convenience, but to Eve crystals were an extension of her body. She could feel and move them around like she could with her arms, see through them like through her own eyes. To suddenly lose that feeling was crippling, as if parts of her had been amputated. It was more than just unpleasant. It felt…alien. Especially since she still could move crystals, yet couldn't feel their presence. Have you ever tried walking with a leg that's gone dead? It wasn't easy, let alone pleasant.

And then there was the absence of the crystal network as a whole. Her connection with all the other Genesis. True, Inori would have to lie if she claimed she wouldn't block out their voiced most of the time anyway, but to not even hear the faintest whisper in the very back of her head was so unnerving. After so many years of there always having been something to suddenly be confronted with total silence was scary. It felt as if everyone had just suddenly died. To a queen who loved and wanted to protect her vassals, the mere thought was downright horrifying.

And the worst of it all, the inability to receive Shu's feelings. The warmth and reassurance they provided her with. Their guarantee that he was alive and well. Gone! If Da'ath were to use the opportunity to go and kill him, he wouldn't even be able to reach out for her and ask for help. He could be cut down and slowly bleed out in some cold and lonely street out there with her none the wiser. She had to gulp down a heavy lump that had formed itself in her throat at the mere imagination of such a nightmarish scenario.

"It's the absolute worst, Harune. You couldn't imagine." She thus replied truthfully with folded arms and looking away.

"Eves don't have it easy, huh."

Inori could only sigh at that in agreement. "No one in this damn city does."

Silence embraced them as the platform slowly ascended towards the top floor. They had long since reached the newer crystal floors, which glowed in their own beautiful way. It was rhythmical, almost like a pulse, creating the illusion of them actually being alive. They also seemed to be able to conduct electricity as Inori was able to spot a few perfectly functioning screens hanging on a wall here and there as they went up and passed a few floors. Curiosity got the better of her as she felt the desire to investigate how exactly these crystals were formed and behaving, but she knew it was of no use as she wouldn't be able to read them anyway so she perished the thought soon after. Once during their ascend, Inori also noticed how one of the lower crystal platforms had shot upwards in an enormous speed, having been rotated sideways to create less air resistance as it flew upwards only to eventually assume it standard horizontal alignment once it had reached a certain floor. A group of people got on it and used the platform to descend, though now in a moderate speed. Inori watched them go down with interest as they passed them. Another interesting function of these elevator platforms.

Given how their ride couldn't go forever, though, they eventually reached the very top where the hexagonal platform gradually slowed down and the fence around it shattered apart, allowing its passengers to get off.

"So here we are, the first people aside from Mana who ever came here." Harune told her queen with an eager smirk, curiously looking around.

"How could you be so sure of that?" Inori wanted to know with a raised brow.

"Because many people had tried to come up here, but the elevator would never go higher than the floor below this one. Only Eve could tell the elevator to go to the very top. Fast travel is also impossible. Mana seemed to be adamant about keeping others out of this place. Which leaves the question: Why?"

"When have you become a news reporter looking for a story?" The pinkette asked amusedly.

"A girl needs her gossip. People in this base were weaving the most absurd theories and rumors about this place, so I just had to find out for myself."

"And? Happy with what you found?"

"Well, I was hoping for something horrible or kinky to be found here, but all there is are some sculptures and an, admittedly, quite enormous throne. Surprisingly normal for someone of Mana's reputation." Harune admitted as she examined her surroundings with one finger on her lips.

"Maybe that's the reason she had locked everyone else out? To escape everyone else's prejudices or to preserve her image as a cold ruler?" Inori formed a theory as she took her first steps forward to have a closer look around.

The throne room itself was rather big, kind of like her own one had been in the void realm. The ceiling consisted of an almost perfectly shaped dome that looked like it had been created by having the outside getting polished long enough so that it eventually became almost round in shape. The light of the afternoon sun made it sparkle like a jewel, creating various patterns on the floor as the light got refracted by the crystals. Looking up, Inori noticed an interesting phenomenon. The walls which were mostly see-through like windows became more and more opaque the closer they got to the direction of the sun. This, normally, would mean that the room would get darker than it currently was, but that wasn't the case because the light got reflected from all the various parts of the dome and thus illuminated the darker parts and the whole area as a result. That way, you could never get blinded inside here, but it would never be completely dark, either. Fascinating, as Inori found.

Aside from that, there was a spacious door leading to what seemed to be a huge balcony from which you could overlook the whole area. Naturally, you could also do that from inside due to the walls not obstructing the view, but it would be nice in case you wanted to catch some fresh air, Inori mused. A frown found its way on her face as she suddenly bemoaned the fact that she hadn't possessed a balcony in her throne room back in the void realm. Why hadn't she thought of that? So cool!

But then again, it had been the void realm. The concept of fresh air had seemed absurd there. It had been such a bizarre place, after all. Who knew if they had even inhaled air at that place, or whether breathing itself hadn't just been an illusion as a whole.

Shaking her head to lose those useless thoughts, the queen checked the rest of the room. There was the throne, of course, an enormous and symmetrical crystal formation that was impressive enough to make it seem as if the seat alone took up the majority of the room's space, making everything else dwarf before it. You could almost say the throne itself was enthroned over everything else in the room, with its queen sitting there or not, although Inori knew that thought was rather silly. For once the initial amazement over the throne's beautiful and extravagant ornaments and decorations would eventually fade, so would the onlooker realize in the end that it was nothing more but a simple piece of furniture. Beautiful and impressive in design and size, but worthless without its queen nonetheless.

The funny thing with thrones was that many people would spend all their lives imagining how it would feel like to finally get to sit on one. The reality, though? They were uncomfortable as hell. Inori found herself never sitting on one more than she actually had to. She would take a comfy sofa over these damn thrones any day. How come kings and queens couldn't sit on those instead? She would never know. Somehow she doubted that Mana had actually spent much time in hers, either. Especially when no one ever got to see her sit in it, which, to Inori, appeared to be the sole point of it. The only reason it probably existed was because Mana had had fun designing and creating the thing, given how gigantic it was and how much fantasy had gone into decorating it. Aside from that, though? It might as well have been a throne of dust, for that was likely the only thing that ever sat on it.

The most interesting thing about this room, however, wasn't the throne but actually the sculptures that were scattered all around the place. Countless beautifully crafted and detailed statues were arranged in a way you would normally see in an exhibition in a museum. Unlike Inori's pitiful crystal recreation of Shu she had done for Abeline and Zoe back at Arisa's, these pieces of art were actually of quite some high quality. Created with multiple different types of crystals that varied in color and complexity, they almost created the illusion of having a real person standing in front of you. There was so much detail worked into them that you would believe these people had really been there and merely frozen in place. At least until you touched them to realize they were hard and cold as…well…crystals.

They depicted people which, after closer inspection, Inori seemed to know. The first one she threw her eyes on was a young woman in her late twenties or very early thirties, maybe. She had long, shoulder-length dark brown hair and wore glasses in front of her eyes of like color. She was dressed in a typical summer dress which came with a matching hat. In one of her hands she held a bouquet of wildflowers while offering the viewer a kind and gentle smile. The other hand was used to hold her hat down to protect it from wind which, according to the position of her hair and dress, must have blown gently at the time the statue must have been "frozen" in time.

"I feel like I have seen that person somewhere before…" Inori mumbled to herself as she gently traced the statue with her fingers, careful, almost worried she might accidentally break it.

"Ah, yes. This is a sculpture of my mother, Saeko Ouma." Inori could suddenly hear Mana's voice in her head. She yelped out of surprise and retracted her hand instantly, looking around in confusion.

Harune, having heard her sudden yelp, flinched and shrieked as well, turning around to Inori in order to ask her what was wrong.

"W-what is it?"

"I…don't know. I suddenly heard Mana's voice out of nowhere and panicked." She admitted meekly." Her explanation seemed to freak Harune out even more as she kept looking around nervously.

"You mean this place is actually haunted?"

"I don't hear her anymore, though…"

"Maybe you imagined it?"

"Maybe…" Inori muttered to herself before eventually facing the statue again. "Or maybe…" She brought her finger back to it, slowly and gently touching it again.

"Ah, yes. This is a sculpture of my mother, Saeko Ouma." Mana's voice explained once more, causing Inori to narrow her eyes in confirmation. She knew it. Closing her eyes eventually, she let out a relieved sigh and told Harune:

"It was just a recording. It plays whenever someone touches the sculptures."

"Huh, really?" As if to confirm, Harune tried touching the nearest statue only to frown when nothing seemed to happen. Inori could only laugh at her in amusement.

"Genesis-only, of course."

"Are you freaking kidding me…? That's so lame…" Her handmaiden grumbled as she voiced her obvious disappointment at being unable to hear Mana, despite having been afraid of being haunted by her not even half a minute ago.

Disregarding the brunette for now, Inori took a deep breath and touched the statue for a third time. Let's see what Mana had to say.

"Ah, yes. This is a sculpture of my mother, Saeko Ouma. This one has been a bit tough to complete for various reasons. It was hard catching the wind in that moment I was trying to depict my mother in. And then there were all these emotions welling up inside me as I sculpted her." Her voice became somewhat sad. "She died very early in my life, her infection with the apocalypse virus probably being caused by the high exposure to the me back then who hadn't mastered control over the virus yet. I don't think I was really able to truly understand what death meant back when she died because I don't remember being as sad about it as I am now. Part of me still wishes I could return to that blissful and childish ignorance that made me not realize that it had been my fault my mother had died. I still remember that day I went on a journey through the void realm to look for her. I was determined she would be there waiting for me. All I wanted was to go to her, apologize and maybe see her smile for me, telling me that it was okay. That she would forgive me." There was a small pause.

"But of course I didn't find her. I used to have hope and tell myself it was due to the enormous size of the realm. That she could still be there somewhere. But thinking about it logically, she would have had plenty of opportunities to find me if she really was. After all, her stupid daughter had been the queen of the place, right? Wouldn't have been hard to find me and confront me for my sins. I wouldn't have minded if she had hated me, scorned me. If only I could have seen her one more time and just told her that I am sorry, it would have been enough." She sighed in deep sadness. "That never happened, though, so either she didn't make it through the apocalypse or she did and merely decided to stay away from me. I don't know which option would be worse. If only I had know how to bless people back then…these days I am handing out blessings for these stupid Da'ath executives I don't even know. I would send them all off to hell to bring my mother back. Yeah, as if that would ever work, right?" She chuckled weakly. "To be honest, I could really use some motherly guidance right about now. I am so lost…hey, Mom, what should this stupid daughter of yours do? Won't you tell me?" It was silent for a second and Inori thought for a second the recording was over before Mana's quiet, yet defeated and short laugh followed up. "I guess not."

Inori thought she might have heard her on the verge of crying before the recording eventually broke off. It was quite clear to her right then and there what this room had been for Mana and why no one had been allowed to enter. I was her "alone-time" room, a sanctuary to return to whenever the stress got to her and she needed time for herself. Inori had done that a lot back in the void realm, but she would have never thought Mana had been the same. It seemed like Mana had been quite successful with building up a front to never show others her weak side. She probably couldn't have afforded to.

Inori's gaze went back to the statue itself. So that was Mana's mother. Shu's, too. That would explain where she had seen her before. There had been photos of her back in his apartment. She had never heard Shu talk about her at all. Mana had said she had died very early. Perhaps he had never even gotten to meet her. How sad. Come to think of it, Inori didn't know who her mother was, either. Or if there even was one. She wondered if she was still alive out there if she ever even had existed in the first place. What would she think of her daughter being Eve and destined to bring the apocalypse? Would she be ashamed? Would she be proud? Which one of these options would Inori prefer?

She shook her head slowly, wanting to dismiss that pointless train of thought. Facing the next statue, she realized that it was a man who looked a lot like Shu, albeit older. The main difference apart from age would have been the stubby beard and glasses. There also was this different aura around him and looking into that man's eyes felt a bit different that looking into Shu's. They were still kind and warm, but there was something sad about them. The way he had small bags under his eyes told her how little sleep he must have gotten in the past and there was worry hidden behind the façade of goofiness that radiated from the grin he displayed for the audience. His posture was relaxed, hands in the pockets of the lab coat he wore.

"Kurosu Ouma, my father." Mana began explaining after Inori had made contact with the structure. Mana continued after a deep sigh. "Can't really tell much about him because I hardly ever even saw the man, especially after Mom had died. He had been obsessed with studying up on the apocalypse virus. Maybe to stop it, or maybe to get revenge for mother. I wouldn't know, he never told me, or anyone, really. I sculpted him the way he always looked like, wearing a lab coat, unshaven and running on caffeine. When Haruka would bring me with her to visit him, he would show me that goofy grin to make me feel better about his constant absence. Otherwise it would have probably been more accurate to make him sit down on a chair, facing away from the viewer and burying his face into some computer screen." She couldn't help but utter a quiet "Tch" before continuing in a more saddened voice. "Sometimes I wonder if it had been because he knew. That it had been me who had killed mother. Maybe he had hated me for it. Maybe that was why he had wanted to stay away from us. If he hadn't died before me, I wonder, would he have been glad to learn of the fact that I had blown myself up during Lost Christmas? Would he have cried? Or perhaps he wouldn't have even noticed, still glued to that computer of his, looking for answers he could never find."

And here we had Shu's father. The resemblance was undeniable, of course. Almost uncanny. That's biology for you, eh? It was almost scary what a couple of chromosomes could possibly achieve. She wondered how alike father and son might have been, had both been alive at the same time. Mana didn't seem like she had thought all that highly of her father, mainly because she had accused him of never really having been there for her. Inori wondered if that was really true, though, because if he hadn't really cared about her or even hated her, why would he have even bothered with putting up a goofy grin whenever she had come to visit? Inori thought that he must have cared a lot and that he had worked so much in order to try and find a way to perhaps save his children from the apocalypse virus. Or maybe even the fate of Eve if he had really known about it.

But then again, maybe Mana had actually known all that deep down herself and merely chosen to deny all of it because doing otherwise would have meant admitting that she had been at fault for killing her father as well. Since, ultimately, he had died because he had tried so hard to save his children. Inori knew that because Gai had told her that the void genome was based on research stolen from Ouma Kurosu. If that research had really been based on his goal to protect his children, Inori had no doubts that he would have protected it with his own life.

"Wait a second, isn't that Yuu?" Harune's mumble brought her back into reality as she turned around to face her. Checking out the statue in front of the brunette girl, Inori could only confirm her words.

"Mana seemed to have formed these statues based on people she knew, which would mean Yuu was no exception." She explained to her as she walked up to her.

"Mana really was a good sculptor then. It looks totally like him. Look, it even floats." She said excitedly as she pointed towards the floating likeness. It was a one-to-one model of Yuu, looking exactly like the blond man they had just parted ways with not even half an hour ago. Even the clothes matched! He was leaned back in midair, one leg thrown over the other and his head resting on his fist as he smirked with closed eyes, looking as if he was in the middle of doing what he apparently enjoyed the most. Talking.

"Well, this is Yuu. Envoy of Da'ath." Mana began explaining soon after Inori made contact with the crystal depicting the envoy. "Sculpting him was easy aside from making the crystal float. He hasn't changed by one bit from the first time I met him, still always talking and explaining things in midair." She laughed slightly."He suddenly started appearing soon after I had found that damn meteorite. I was scared when I started changing and getting these powers, but he was always there to tell me it would be alright. That it wasn't something to be scared of. He said it was a gift from nature and that I should embrace it. According to him I would make a lot of people happy with it. I believed him, or rather, I desperately hoped that he was right. The alternative would have meant that I was a monster and as coincidence would have had it, I wasn't one of the girls whose dream had been to become a monster when I grew up." Inori could almost picture how Mana had sarcastically rolled her eyes at that part. "He kept encouraging me to go further, to reach my limits and develop to my full potential. I used to believe it had been because he wanted to support me, but now that I've grown up, I can't help but wonder if that had really been the case. Had it really been him who has supported me, or had it been me who had helped him instead? It didn't really matter, though, as it had been a lucrative partnership for both of us. I hate to admit it, but I have needed him back then or else I might have really turned insane. Being Eve can be a heavy burden for a mere child…" Her somewhat nostalgic voice suddenly changed into a bitter one.

"But still, I am a little girl no longer and so I am not in need of a caretaker anymore. I used to believe that Da'ath needed me, but all they needed was Eve. They don't really give a rat's ass about me, so why should I? They have grown to be a burden for me by now and I would rather rid myself from them sooner than later. Yuu is smart and cunning. He might realize how I have begun feeling towards them soon and that might cause troubles. I just hope I can bring that darn apocalypse soon and be done with them. They won't be able to help me with Shu anymore anyway now that he has made his choice obvious…" She began mumbling to herself now, clearly worried and sounding as if she was gnawing on something. Her thumb's nail, perhaps? "What to do, what to do, what to do…"

It felt surreal for the queen to imagine Mana as ever having been uncertain or lost. The past had always shown Mana to be decisive and headstrong. A woman who had always known what she had wanted and had stopped at nothing to get it. Hearing her now, Inori had to realize that Mana had been more human than she would have previously thought. Even someone like her had faltered from time to time. It was also interesting to note that Mana had gotten tired of Da'ath as well, which would also explain why she had eventually tried to betray them. So it hadn't just been an impulsive decision from Mana just because she had suddenly changed Adams last second. She had likely only just waited for an opportunity. To either bring the apocalypse if possible or downright cut ties with Da'ath as a whole, whichever would have happened first.

"So, what did it say?" Harune asked her eagerly, being curious what the mysterious Mana might have thought of the envoy. Inori just looked at her with disinterest and responded emotionlessly:

"This is Yuu, envoy of Da'ath, blahblah, he is pretty annoying, blahblah, his breath smells of death. Blah. Blah. Blah. Moving on." Without wasting another second with the envoy's statue, she decided to turn away and check out another one.

"Eeeeeh? That can't be right? Are you sure you didn't misunderstand that somehow?" Harune exclaimed in shock as she kept alternating looking at her queen and the statue of the envoy.

Disregarding the loud brunette, Inori just continued down the line, walking past anyone she didn't really recognize, only stopping again when she ended up spotting what she thought could have been Gai…once.

The problem was, the sculpture had been shattered, only a pile of rubble remained with the head on top of it. For some reason, a statue of a young boy of maybe 6 or 7 years with shoulder length blond hair stood next to the rubble, fully clothed in winter gear consisting of a green winter jacket and an orange scarf. He smiled and held a small Christmas present in his hands. How odd. Why would that stand next to a broken statue of Gai?

"Huh, this one is broken." Harune stated the obvious.

"This was Gai. He ended up becoming her Adam. So why was it destroyed…?" She explained to her as she took the crystal head into her hands to look at it more closely.

"This is Triton!" Mana's voice told her excitedly, only to have all the excitement turn to uncertainty in the end. "I've redone this one at least twenty times now, but I am not sure whether I like the current one, either. I keep trying to capture his strong, yet gentle demeanor. His serious, yet kind eyes, but it just never comes close to the real one." She sighed in frustration. "Being a perfectionist is tough, but I think I will have to start from scratch this time as well. I just can't put a sub-par impression of Triton next to this perfect replica of his childhood self. It won't do him justice at all. Why must he make it so hard for me, though? Would it kill the guy to smile just once in his life? I can't put his serious self next to this cheerful kid. It ruins the picture…urgh, forget it. I will get back to this project later."

The queen's impression became somewhat sad hearing this. Gently she placed the crystal head back on the pile of rubble where she had found it.

"Seems like this whole sculpting thing of hers was still work in progress. She wanted to redo this one, but now she will never get around to do it…"

"Really? That's kind of depressing."

"Yeah…she never thought she would suddenly end up dying. Eve was supposed to be immortal, after all." She sighed in sympathy, actually feeling somewhat bad for Mana. Hearing her being so sure to return to this project while knowing that she never would was really saddening. Her gaze went away from the rubble and back to the kid standing next to it. So this was Gai when he had been but a mere child. So innocent. So pure. A smile found its way to Inori's lips just looking at the statue. He had been such a cute kid, she thought. It was a stark contrast to the man he eventually grew up to be…as serious, devoted and charismatic as he had been. She actually would have had serious trouble connecting those two together if it hadn't been for Mana's helpful recording. Sure, the hair and eye color matched, but that was pretty much where the similarities ended. At the very best, she would have thought it could have been his little brother or something.

"Even Gai was small and cute once, huh…" She thought out aloud for a second before a sad realization befell her and forced her to look down in sadness. It hadn't been so long ago that Gai had looked like this…and now? Now he was already dead. He would never be able to show his children pictures of his kid self and make them laugh at him, calling him a liar for showing them a huge contradiction. Mana would never get to be a mother, either. Suddenly Inori felt really bad for having rejected their offer to bring Da'ath down together. Maybe if she and Shu had agreed back then, everyone would still be alive and Da'ath would already be gone. Everyone could have started their own little families and their kids could have maybe even played together and become friends.

Tears started forming in her eyes and she quickly wiped them away before Harune could notice. It was pointless to think about this. Maybe it could have happened, maybe it couldn't have. It didn't matter, though, because that train had already departed. She knew why she and Shu had rejected the offer back then. Maybe it had been wrong of them, maybe it hadn't. All she knew was that they had done what they had thought to be right at the time.

She turned away from kid-Gai and decided to think of happier thoughts instead. Hey, if there was a young Gai, maybe there was a younger version of Mana, too? Even someone as scary as Mana must have been cute as a child, no? That's when she suddenly came to a halt and put both hands on her cheeks as she got an even better thought. A kid-Shu! How cuuuuute! There had to be one! She had to find him. She absolutely had to. Giggling slightly, she scanned the remaining statues, even going as far as to hum to herself while doing it.

"Well, someone is suddenly in high spirits." Harune noted with a smile as she watched Inori practically dance around the sculptures, looking for something.

"You don't understand, Harune. There might be more statues of children around." The queen told her excitedly.

"Yeah, so?"

"One of them might be Shu."

"Oh." She didn't seem that excited at first, until the words sunk in. Getting pumped up from one moment to the next, she replied: "Ooooooh, now I get it! Let`s do it! For science!"

Inori, now with a certain gleam in her eyes only brought both her fists up in front of her chest and shook her head with a grin. "No, Harune. For the kingdom!"

Saluting at that, Harune went right to work. "Gotcha!"

She didn't know, however, that her help hadn't been required from the very beginning. For, you see, Inori, having gotten quite excited by her own genius idea, did not intend for them to rely on pure chance in order to find a likeness of an early Shu. No, the pinkette would spare no resources in her search for adorableness. In other words, she would cheat.

Accessing Mana's memories directly, she didn't have to look long until her hopes were confirmed. A statue befitting the queen's wishes really did exist. And what's even better: That confirmation also came with the object's concrete location.

So, while the brunette handmaiden was busy scanning the maze of sculptures randomly, Inori was instead seen maneuvering the scene systematically and with utmost precision. She was a laser-guided missile locked on her target and moving in for the kill. In the end, it came to no big surprise that she would find what she had been looking for after less than just a minute of searching. What made things even better was that Shu's childhood depiction came with two bonuses as well. Mana's and Gai's young selves were standing next to him.

It was a rather big monument, placed in the center of the room, glowing slightly from within and creating an aura of elegance all around it. No other replica of Mana's past stood in its direct surroundings, thus already telling stories of the huge importance this piece of art must have had to its creator. The sculptures showed Shu in his earlier days, small, youthful, innocent and pure. His eyes so clear and strong that they naturally drew in the viewer's attention. Inori's most of all, for there was a difference to the current Shu she knew or even the one she had gotten the pleasure of meeting all those years ago. Yes, there was no doubt that her beloved Adam's eyes were still strong and unbelievably beautiful, but something else had found its way into them as well. Something the child version had lacked. Something she knew was visible in her very own eyes as well.

Guilt.

The burden of leadership. The stress of being the center of everything going on around you. The responsibility of having hundreds of lives resting in your hands. The constant struggle against one's own insecurities over their own actions…

The price of wearing a crown was not one to be taken lightly. It took its toll on everyone foolish enough to agree on bearing it, willingly or not. Every king or queen knew that. She did, Shu did, Mana had and she was sure that even Yuu did as well.

These kids, however, had been free of that. At least at the specific moment in time this creation was based on. It hadn't just been limited to Shu, either. Upon closer inspection, even Mana and Gai had truly been free of guilt as well. That realization brought a smile to her eyes as she calmly put both her hands behind her back, slowly approaching the monument in silence as she gazed at it as if it had taken away all the words her mind could have possibly thought of. She seemed to be truly awestruck.

Shu and Gai appeared to be not much older than maybe 6 or 7 with Mana having been slightly older. Perhaps 10 or slightly above that. The brunette kid wore a red tricot with yellow stripes near his sleeves and a big 2 on its front, accompanied by brown shorts and sandals. He was holding up a tree branch in his right hand with a huge grin on his face, posing as an adventure ready to head out on his journey for glory. In his left hand, he dragged after him a meek looking Gai in a white shirt and dark trousers. The blond boy seemed flustered by Shu's pushy attitude but Inori thought there was no indication that he had really opposed the notion of it. If anything, there might have been a bit of admiration mixed into that confused and nervous look of his. Something she knew all too well from the way the kids back home would sometimes look up at her. It was almost the same. Mana was just happily trailing behind them, hands put together behind her back and smiling at the boys, probably even humming an upbeat tune to herself as she looked after them so that they wouldn't accidentally hurt themselves.

Inori caught herself staring at Mana for a long time for reasons she couldn't really understand herself. She kept looking for signs of all the menace and maliciousness she had known the woman for after having been forced to fight her for years, yet was almost shocked when she couldn't find any trace of it. Could Mana actually have been a normal being at one point? Something that wouldn't violently lash out at you on sight, furiously accusing you of being a monstrosity and trying to cut you down with a bloodthirsty battle cry in the process?

She had to shake her head at the mere contradiction. The image her own memories of Mana provided her with and the image Mana had manifested from her own memories in this statue in front of Inori were creating a paradox. How could these two entities be the same person she had come to know as Mana?

A sad thought crossed her mind.

"Was it me…?" She thought out aloud. "Has my birth corrupted you to this extend? Would you have been happier, had I never come to life?"

…

Silence, naturally.

Inori couldn't help but wonder still. If she really had never come to be, would Mana perhaps have been allowed to be happy? Could Shu perhaps have fallen in love with her instead? Would he have been happy with that? Maybe that could have led to Mana becoming the queen the Genesis truly deserved? A kind and loving leader who wasn't absorbed in her paranoia and jealousy?

…Had Inori been in the way of all that? Could it be? She looked down in sadness.

"So many people keep saying that I shouldn't exist. That I had been an accident. Even so, I am happy I came to be, under whichever circumstances that might have been the case. I got to meet Shu and the others. I got to make many beautiful memories and got to experience so many different feelings. If it really was on the expense of your happiness, then I am really sorry, Mana, but I won't regret it." This was the moment she lifted her gaze up to look at the depiction of the young Mana in front of her with determination.

" If given the choice, I would choose life over death every single time. Because, even though I may hate this world, I still love Shu and my friends. To me, they are worth all the hardships this rotten world could possibly throw at me. That's why…even if it may be selfish…" She closed her eyes and made a short pause before continuing. "I want to live. Together with everyone."

What she didn't say, though, and that was the part that made her feel bad about herself, was that, if it really came down to it, she would destroy a thousand people's happiness to protect that wish of hers.

Once she realized that, she couldn't help but frown at herself in disappointment and disgust. Da'ath would be so fucking proud, wouldn't they…? Their little Eve was maturing perfectly into her role of apocalypse maiden. Bah! It wasn't as if she was doing that for them, but they would be the one's profiting still. It was so damn unfair.

"Inori!" Harune suddenly called out to her from a couple meters away, causing her to turn around to her. Thankfully, it freed her from her dark thoughts as well. Well, turns out the envoy's words had held truth about this girl's usefulness after all. At the very least, she was good at distracting her whenever it was needed, whether the brunette in question actually intended to or not.

"Ah, Harune. Don't worry about the child-statues. I already found them. They are over here if you want to see them." The pinkette kindly informed the brunette as she pointed towards the monument before her.

"That's nice, but you should probably check out the one I found as well." She replied to her with a sense of urgency, causing the queen to tilt her head ever so slightly in wonder.

"Why is that?"

"Well, because…I found you."

"Me…?" Inori couldn't quite hide her surprise regarding her handmaiden's words, slowly realizing that her feet had already begun taking her to Harune. Why in all worlds would Mana ever create a statue of her? It didn't make any sense.

"Did she want to have a dummy to use for target practice or something…?" She thought out aloud as she scratched her head, clearly clueless as to what Mana's reasoning could really have been. As she eventually came to stand in front of the statue, the queen's jaw nearly hit the floor.

She had expected many things upon hearing Harune's words. An ugly caricature to mock her, perhaps a statue showing her in a dumb pose or making silly faces. Something to make fun of at best. But when she instead found a perfectly realistic replica of herself standing in front of her, not to mention next to one of Shu of all people, Inori actually had to blink a few times to check whether or not she wasn't just seeing things that couldn't possibly be there.

And yet there it was, a giant depiction of herself standing strong with her two crystal blades in hand, looking away into the distance with a serious look, appearing to be yelling something while holding out her right hand into the direction she was facing. Shu was directly next to her, facing the other direction with Inori's void in his right hand while putting his other one on his queen's shoulder protectively. His eyes were scanning the area in front of him vigilantly. His posture suggested he was looking out for threats that could come for them. The way he held the singer's sword near himself and Inori made her believe he was trying to protect them while she was giving orders to their troops around them.

Inori was sure. This statue showed them in the midst of a battlefield. An odd choice, yet likely the only scenario in which Mana had ever seen both of them together in the first place. Mana's options regarding possible subjects of them might have been drastically limited. Or so it seemed at least.

"…Why…is this here…?" Harune eventually heard her queen mutter confusedly as she approached the structure hesitantly. This didn't make any sense to her whatsoever. Well, there was only one way to find out. Surely Mana must have added a comment or two regarding this work as well, right? Bracing herself for harsh words, Inori's hand eventually made contact with the monument's surface.

"….Okay, I will admit, I have struggled with myself for a long time whether or not I should actually create something like this, but the fact that I was running out of subjects for statues and getting tired of constantly rebuilding Triton for the millionth time eventually led me to give this one a shot." Mana's tired and slightly annoyed voice began its explanation inside Inori's head. A deep sigh followed, being accompanied by a long pause. Inori had just begun asking herself if Mana had decided to break off the recording at that point when it suddenly continued as if Mana was actually forcing herself to talk.

"That's Yuzuriha Inori, my former intended vessel, together with Ouma Shu, my brother who also is supposed to be my Adam, but would rather spend his time courting an empty shell of-" Her voice grew more and more furious before it eventually broke off. Another sigh later, her voice had returned to its normal state. More or less.

"No, nevermind. This isn't supposed to be about that…this was actually more of a challenge for myself, to be honest. Whether or not I could manage to look past my feelings for this woman and actually capture her appearance in a statue as it really is, rather than how I actually view her. I won't be lying here, forcing myself to remain objectively was the hardest goal I have ever set for myself, but I will have to admit that sculpting her was quite a lot of fun as a result. Once I finally managed to put all my hatred for this girl aside, I actually begun seeing her with the eye of an artist and could form her in a way that would make her true appearance justice." She gulped down an annoyed groan before continuing. "Artistically speaking, she was a great subject and a welcome change from all the Triton failures I am making all the time. I hate to admit it, but she is really beautiful and I might start to understand why Shu would be ensnared by her. Anatomically she is flawless and although she lacks any form of elegance or tact during conversations or other social events, when it comes down to battle, she becomes a true dancer, radiating with elegance and beauty. Her moves are fluent like water and her eyes become strangely expressive as she appears to be changing into a totally different being. I found myself just observing her during her fights for longer periods of time, often asking myself if she even still was the same person I knew. I admired her for it, and I hated her for it. Whenever she fought, I lost all confidence in my own skills. I knew I could hold my ground against her, but I would never be able to fight as beautifully as she could. It was the only thing she would always be better in than me. For a mere fake to ever be better in something than the original. It was simply unforgivable."

Inori frowned at that part. What was so bad about being better at something? Mana had been better in almost all other disciplines, from crystal creation to actual politics which were still greatly beyond Inori even now, for the most part. She couldn't understand Mana at all.

"The statue of Shu used to be its own, separate creation, but upon its completion, I noticed that it felt empty as if it was missing something still. Inori's monument gave off a similar impression. I kept thinking for days what I could have done wrong until I eventually realized that I have never seen those two fight alone. No matter whether it was Inori or Shu, they would always be accompanied by allies. And so I realized that if I were to ever create a realistic replica of them, I had to partner them up with someone. I continued to place dozens of random people next to them, but in the end…this was the only acceptable solution." Her voice was about to drift off into a rant again before she managed to eventually collect herself again.

"The artistic part of me is happy with my work…my heart, however, wishes for nothing more but to smash this thing into pieces so that I wouldn't have to look at it any more. It pains me to admit that they both look the best when placed next to each other. And since I have tried many possible alternatives, including myself, this outcome gets even more infuriating…I don't know what exactly it is these two share with each other but it is…irreplaceable."

She got quiet all of a sudden, as if suddenly having realized something. Then her voice became really faint and sad, uncharacteristically so for Mana.

"I do not compare to her at all. Shu….will never love me, will he…?"

Silence befell Inori for a while before Mana's furious cry filled her senses, followed by the sound of crystal hitting crystal and Mana panting heavily in anguish.

"I am all alone in this world…"

Inori waited for a while longer, but that was it. Nothing else followed this sad realization which Mana had uttered weakly in defeat. Looking slightly to her side, Inori even spotted a small crater in the floor to her right. This must have been where Mana must have hit the floor out of frustration before eventually coming to her sad conclusion. This eventually got the better of Inori's curiosity and the pinkette began scanning Mana's memories for what must have happened afterwards.

She was soon to learn that after that, Mana had gone down to the school garden, spending countless hours questioning her past actions and the futility of them. Her depressing thoughts would only strengthen the loneliness she already felt in her heart which had already been severe due to Shu's harsh rejection in the void realm. Eventually she would call Gai to her side, unable to bear the loneliness any longer and it would appear that he had been able to confess and save Mana from her darkness she had shrouded herself in.

Gai became Adam that night, which meant this statue in front of Inori had been the last creation Mana had left the world before eventually perishing. Inori didn't know how it made her feel, seeing as to how it was a likeness of herself. Everything always appears to be starting and ending with her and she couldn't tell whether or not it was a good thing. Well, Mana most certainly hadn't appreciated that…

For all it was worth, Inori did really feel bad for her predecessor. Now that she knew how important Adam really was to Eve, how having his acceptance could change so much in Eve's life, she could actually relate to Mana's obsession with making Shu finally embrace her. Instead, she had been met with scorn and denial, filling her heart with his heavy feelings of rejection and anger where there should have been happiness and love. The Adam that had been meant to give her the wings to reach heaven had only ended up dragging her down into hell instead. It hadn't really been Shu's fault for doing that, but he eventually had ended up causing Mana as much pain as he thought she had caused him over the years. Neither of them had really hated the other in the beginning, but somehow they had ended up harming each other until it eventually came to such an outcome.

Such tragic siblings.

Part of Inori felt guilty for having that which Mana had so desperately wanted for all her life. Maybe if she hadn't existed, Mana could have gotten it instead.

But she hadn't. Shu had chosen Inori. And just thinking about that already made her so very glad. She knew how Mana had been plagued by the curse of Eve. Shu's love had spared her from experiencing the same fate. For this, she was utterly grateful to him.

It was scary, really. The apocalypse may have revolved all around Eve, yet it was Adam who really decided whether Eve's story was to be a happy one or a sad one to be told.

Well, not that Inori's was looking all that peachy right now, either…

But it would get better eventually. That she was absolutely sure of.

"Mana sure had some nice things up here. I am glad I came to look." Inori eventually caught Harune mutter to herself as she walked around and took a look at a few more statues. "Never would have taken her for an artist."

"…me neither…" Inori had to agree sadly. "Her works give plenty of food for thought."

"Is that so…? Why not sit down on that throne of yours and collect your thoughts? I will be here if you need me." Her handmaiden offered her with a polite smile while gesturing at their surroundings, implying that she would be taking a stroll around the maze of sculptures. Perhaps she might have hoped to find a few additional ones of people she actually knew. Like the envoy, or Shu, for example.

"That…might not be that bad of an idea." The queen had to admit with a small nod, slowly turning towards the enormous throne in the room. It might not be comfy, but the seat was pretty far up and thus away from everything down there. Not getting distracted by any more statues or Harune might allow her to take a breather and calm down the whirlwind of thoughts ravaging her head at the moment. Her existence, Mana's existence, Shu's existence,…everything seemed to be so goddamn important these days. She could still remember when she had thought she had just been this weird terrorist girl Gai had taken under his wing. Life had been so simple back then. Sleep, eat onigiri, go on missions for Gai, sing…

Boy, she missed singing.

She wondered if she would ever get to do that again. Do queens ever have time for hobbies these days?

She frowned. They better do!

As she approached the gigantic crystal throne, she quickly realized that it was even bigger from up close than it had appeared to be from afar. She would guess its height to be of about 40 or 50 meters, making it physically impossible to actually reach the seat normally. However, just as she was about to create a crystal to lift her up there, she noticed that small pieces of crystal were gathering in front of her feet to create what appeared to be a levitating stepping stone. Lifting a brow at that, she decided to test it out by putting her right foot on it. Despite its small size, it held her weight without problems, not even losing the slightest bit of altitude. Instead, as soon as her foot made contact with the crystal, a new stepping stone appeared right behind it, this time slightly higher. At that point, it had become quite obvious to the queen that this had been supposed to be the stairway to climb the throne. Taking it for what it was, she thus began ascending the stairway one step at a time until she eventually managed to end her journey after about 30 stairs, finally allowing her to take a seat at last.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she was about to criticize Mana's extravagancy in creating this monstrosity of a throne, but she never actually got to it. For just as she had put her hands on the crystal armrests, a sudden surge of power was felt going through her and her eyes flashed up red for a brief second. She giggled as the unexpected tingling sensation had ended up tickling her ever so slightly. However, it had overcome her just as fast as it had vanished and so the queen found herself puzzled as to its origin. For just a moment, it had felt as if she had been able to feel the fortress in its entirety, just as she normally would as Eve if it hadn't been for Mana's crystals locking her out. Every floor, every tower and all of that pulsing power that seemed to travel in between them. She had felt it all. But only for just that second before it had left her already, leaving her with that unpleasant emptiness yet again.

Sighing in frustration, she threw herself back and leaned against the throne rather casually.

"You are quite horrible for doing this to me, Mana…" She mumbled to herself with a bit of annoyance added into her voice The same annoyance seemed to be directed right back at her shortly after..

Like you are one to talk. I told you not to come here.

Huh? That voice again? But it sounded so different now, almost like…

Before her thoughts could go any further, Inori noticed how her vision was slowly getting obstructed by white blobs. As she was trying to rub her eyes to clear them, she realized that they wouldn't go away regardless. Shocked about that, she didn't even have time to cry out in surprise as a blinding light started to take away her sight, forcing her to lift her arms in order to shield her eyes. When she finally was able to lower them again after some while, she noticed that she no longer sat on Mana's throne, nor was she still in the throne room to begin with.

Instead, she found herself to be at a new location. One she had never seen before. It was still a crystal building, yet so different. For starters, there were no walls at all. The ceiling was held in place by countless round pillars placed around the edge of the round platform, right in front of a small and neat fence that prevented you from carelessly falling off. Beyond that, Inori couldn't really see all that much because a storm was raging outside, sending several strong wind currents her way from time to time. The rain was actually so strong, you could only see a few meters outside before everything merely became a blurry mess, being only illuminated by thunder flashes from time to time. The clouds must have been thick enough to obstruct the sky completely, for there was no light to be seen anywhere. No sun, no stars. Only the crystal platform was lit due to the crystals giving off a faint sheen.

"What is this place…?" Inori couldn't help but mutter in a mixture of astonishment and confusion. This had never happened to her before. Or rather, things like this hadn't exactly happened to her since…

Inori was suddenly embraced by darkness as two hands found their way to her face, covering her eyes. A girlish, yet ominous giggle followed that action, the voice as familiar to Inori as it was horrifying. The stranger's hands had been warm, yet Inori felt all her blood leaving her face as a cold chill traveled down her spine.

"Guess who." Was all the woman said to her.

Out of sheer reflex alone, Inori smacked those hands away and turned around with an expression equally as determined as she felt scared right now. A crystal blade appeared in her hand which she held readily to her side, prepared for combat.

But where she would normally have lunged forward to attack, she found herself unable to move at all. Her hands started shaking as her legs began feeling like they were made out of goo. With a heart beating strongly in her chest, she realized with wide open eyes that fear had managed to take the better of her, paralyzing her in the process. All because of that person standing in front of her.

Mana.

"Tch, that really hurt. You are such a bad girl, you know?" Was all she said in response to Inori's sudden action. All while smirking evilly, not really seeming to mind one way or the other. Her eyes were obstructed by her long hair, making her appearance all the more ominous.

"I must be dreaming…" Inori mumbled disbelievingly, shaking her head slowly in denial. "This can't be real."

"Oh, but it is." Her nemesis took a step into her direction slowly, causing Inori to respond by taking one back from her as well. "Did you really think you would be able to ever get rid of me? I own you,Inori. And I won't rest until everything you think belongs to you finds its way back into my hands where they belong." She explained to her, all while coming closer still.

"Stay where you are! I am warning you!"

"Or what? Will you kill me again with that blade of yours? You think that will work? Come on. Why don't you just give up? I'll be gentle, I promise." With a scary chuckle, Mana reached out towards Inori, causing her to close her eyes in horror. This couldn't be happening!

"Kidding!"

That's when she felt a sudden pain coming from her forehead, followed by Mana's ringing laughter filling the entire area. Inori opened her eyes in surprise, but not due to the pain she had felt in her forehead from Mana having flicked it, but the sound of her voice which had suddenly lost all malice and danger. Rather than that, it was just genuine laughter, filled with glee. Happiness even. This was surreal. Mana couldn't produce such noises. So this was a dram after all.

"Ah, you really fell for it, Inori. Should have seen your face!" The former Eve said amidst laughing fits while pointing at her rival's face in mockery with her right hand and wiping away a tear from her eye with the other. Something she was undoubtedly producing due to laughing way too damn hard. It would have started annoying Inori at this point, hadn't she still been somewhat under shock.

The storm had stopped in the meantime for some weird reason. Their surroundings remained dark, but at least the wind and thunder were gone for now.

"Hey, you okay there? I know I was kind of pushing it, but surely you couldn't have been that scared, right?" Mana then asked after noticing how Inori just kept staring at her blankly, only ever blinking at her from time to time to show her she was actually still alive and hadn't spontaneously been frozen solid. Mana then seemed to realize how gloomy their surroundings looked and offered Inori a smile.

"Maybe that will help you calm down?" Pointing her hand at the darkness outside, she soon after began moving it horizontally to her right where, following her hand's movements, the darkness gradually vanished and got replaced by a sunny beach with the ocean slowly letting its waves crash against it. The sound of seagulls was carried by the gentle wind that now hit both girls peacefully and the sun shone brightly, leaving no room for the previous darkness to linger around any longer.

With the whole area now lit, the crystal building was revealed to be a huge pavilion with beautiful ornaments decorating all structures it consisted of. The pillars had beautiful carvings on them and the small fence surrounding the pavilion was elegantly and artistically formed as well. A small stairway led down to the beach, allowing visitors to take a stroll on it, while on the opposite side, a roofed walkway connected the pavilion with an even greater crystal construction in the distance. A mansion of some sorts.

This, however, didn't seem to change Inori's state in the slightest, as Mana eventually was forced to realize. The current Eve was seen looking at her surroundings briefly, but her eyes were quick to return to Mana where they remained to be vigilant, careful. Her stance was still defensive like a lone wolf facing off against a feral grizzly bear.

"Damn, you are still shaking. That bad, huh? I never knew I was this terrifying." Mana bit down on her lip and tried putting a hand on Inori's shoulder. Maybe to calm her down or something. It didn't matter, though, since Inori was quick to slap it away before it could even remotely touch her thus finally breaking her stasis.

"Don't touch me!"

"Geez, relax. I won't do anything bad, I promise."

"Riiiight." Inori responded to her with a voice drenched in suspicion. "I guess I will believe that, since it is coming from you." She turned around on her heels and began marching off into the opposite direction, shaking her head in absolute denial.

"I can't believe I would dream of you of all people. That's what I get for looking at all of those damn statues and listening to your voice. I guess I must have fallen asleep on that throne or something…"

Her hasty retreat, however, was interrupted by Mana suddenly jumping in her way. Well, "jumping" wasn't really the right word for it. It was more like gently floating, as she slowly and elegantly descended from slightly above Inori to make her halt in her tracks. Her hair and white dress kept defying gravity in a way that would make you believe she was actually weightless or submerged under water, yet when Inori tried moving her own clothes, no such abnormalities could be noticed. How odd. Still, it made Mana appear somewhat majestic, beautiful. But Inori wouldn't let such petty things fool her. She knew the devil when it appeared in front of her, even when she tried mimicking an angel.

"But you aren't dreaming. Well, you sort of are, but it's different. Your body is currently in some sort of trance while your consciousness got pulled to this place." Mana tried to explain to her calmly, placing both her hands behind her back casually. Inori could only narrow her eyes at that.

"This is utterly ridiculous. You must think I am stupid or something to believe such a story. This whole place can't be real." She pointed her finger at Mana angrily. "You can't be here. You are…"

"Dead. I am aware." Mana grumbled in annoyance as she folded her arms in front of her chest, looked away and sighed in frustration. "It might go against popular belief but I wasn't stupid, you know? I can put one and one together." She rolled her eyes at Inori as she began counting her arguments with the help of her fingers.

"The fact that everybody is calling you Eve, the shrine for me in your and Shu's room, the fact that you are now able to chose an Adam for yourself, the absence of my own void, seeing Nanba walking around there freely instead of being dead…it's really obvious. Whatever happened to me after he killed Triton, I must have died shortly after. Or else he would be the one pushing up daisies now instead of me."

"Wait…" Inori had to interrupt her with furrowed brows. "You don't remember what happened?"

"Nope. The last thing I know is that I had to see that smug bastard beating my Adam to death. Then everything just went dark. I believe I still felt my anger rising up inside me, but the next time I opened my eyes, I was actually in here, watching the world through your eyes." A mischievous smirk found its way on her face as she looked away and massaged the back of her neck awkwardly. "Aaaaaand the first thing I had to witness was, of course, you and Shu getting it on. Serves me right, yeah? But oh well, I won't complain. It was kinda hot." She shrugged at the last bit, smiling sheepishly before narrowing her eyes at Inori again, smirking. "Such a naughty girl you can be. Well, at least I now know I wasn't rejected by Shu due to that side of me, at least. Oh, speaking of which, that blowjob thing you initially struggled with? I helped you out with that. No need to thank me."

"Uh…what?" Naturally, Inori was confused about Mana's words. This whole situation was way more than she could really handle right now.

"You know. You didn't know how to do it, so I helped you out by lending you my memories in order for you to actually get an idea. But seriously, I can understand inexperience, but to not even know what it was…? Didn't know there still were girls like that around…" Mana mumbled the last part while scratching her cheek and looking away sideways.

This only caused Inori to look at her with even more suspicion than before which was clearly evident by her narrowed eyes. It was true that Inori had thought the idea had popped up in her head rather suddenly and back then she had assumed it had merely been her intuition. But now that she thought about it, having Mana giving her pointers was way more likely than her figuring it out by mere chance herself. It had been way too convenient an epiphany to have for that to having been the case, but still. That didn't solve the more pressing question Inori had:

"Why did you do that?"

"Why…?" Mana chuckled slightly at the question. "Well, I doubt Shu is kinky enough to appreciate you accidentally using teeth on him, which I am almost sure would have happened without my intervention." She shrugged at that. "You two were on a roll there, so I thought I would spare you two the awkward moment. Plus, the atmosphere was really hot and I'll admit, I got kinda into it, so I naturally didn't want it to stop there." She admitted with a big, sheepish grin, followed by scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "Gee, I feel like such a soccer mom, cheering you guys on and all."

"Liar." Inori accused her sharply. "All my life you spent your time getting in our way, and now you claim to support us? You won't fool me!" She declared to Mana defiantly.

"Yeah, it's true." Mana admitted with a tired sigh. "I hated you with a passion. To be honest, part of me still keeps screaming at me for even having this conversation with you instead of tormenting you like I always did. But it's somewhat different now. I still remember why I hated you and I can still understand why I did so, but ever since I woke up here, I cannot help but ask myself why I should even still bother…it's weird, but it's like, for the first time in years, I was finally able to think this through rationally again instead of being blinded by my fear of losing everything I cared about. I used to view you as a monster. A demon summoned by Da'ath to take everything from me that was to be mine by right. It's only now that I have accepted death that I can see that you are just a normal girl, trying to live with the same burden I had previously shouldered as well. You just want to be with your Adam and be happy. Like I did. And while I am still holding a grudge against you for actually taking Shu from me, I have realized that it hadn't really been your fault at all. It's not like you walked up to him, flashed him your panties and shook your tits around just to take him away from me. You didn't even know what love or passion were back when you first met him. I was forced to admit that it hadn't all been a calculated ploy to sabotage me, but rather…it was all just coincidence." She told Inori with a groan as she put both hands on her hips angrily.

"If I hadn't appealed to Shu that early, I wouldn't have caused Lost Christmas. If I hadn't caused Lost Christmas, you would not have come to be. If you hadn't come to be, Shu would not have fallen for you. And even after it all had happened, if I hadn't been so focused on Shu all the time, I would have been able to notice Triton's feelings for me earlier. I could have made him Adam and avoided all the misery I had faced over the years. Our war in the void realm could have been avoided and we could have joined forces to defeat Da'ath together. In the end, it really was more my fault than anyone else's. I was too stubborn and blind to accept it. I feel like deep down I always knew, but admitting my fault would have meant admitting that I had wasted all these years for nothing. Nearly all my life at that point. It was too bitter a pill to swallow. So I kept taking the easy way out until there no longer was any easy way to take and I was forced to eventually accept what I should have accepted years ago."

Mana paused for a second, closing her eyes forcefully in what seemed to be a mixture of annoyance and shame, before opening them again in the end, albeit avoiding Inori's gaze regardless.

"I am really bad at this and I don't think I am physically able to say the following words more than once, so please listen well to what I am about to say:" She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in her obvious struggle to continue talking. Eventually her eyes met Inori's once more, basically spitting out the following words at that point:

"I was in the wrong about everything I have ever done after we two met. I shouldn't have used you as a vessel. I shouldn't have gotten in your and Shu's way and I shouldn't have waged war against you. I was lost and bitter about my fate as Eve and I made you pay for it. I am sorry about everything, Inori. It was my fault."

Albeit Mana's posture and voice had made it sound as if she pretty much had forced herself to say these words, her eyes managed to convey that she had spoken nothing but the honest truth regardless, even when it was so uncomfortable for her. Seeing this, Inori was actually at a loss for words. Had…had Mana just apologized to her? The same woman she had known for years? The one who would have rather started a battle than ever admitting being in the wrong about something?

…was she sure she wasn't merely dreaming all of this? This couldn't be happening. It was too good to be true. A Da'ath trick, maybe?

"This…isn't a trick, right? You are…really meaning it?"

"…Say about me what you want, but I wasn't a liar. I take offense in people calling me that…" Her ex-nemesis replied with folded arms, still looking away. She appeared to be highly uncomfortable with the whole situation, which didn't come as a huge surprise. Mana had always been a prideful woman. To apologize, however, one was required to step over one's own pride. With the amount of pride Mana must have had, Inori couldn't possible fathom how hard it must have been for her to actually muster those words. Before she knew it, her vision became blurry from all the tears gathering there. Something Mana eventually caught a glimpse of from the corner of her eyes. Suddenly panicking, she asked:

"H-hey, come on. I did it the best way I could. No need to cry about it. I won't rephrase it for you, you know?"

"There is no need to. This is everything I ever wanted to hear from you." The current Eve admitted truthfully in between sobs as she finally let her tears flow. "I am so happy."

Mana's brows trembled in anger over that statement. "Me begging for forgiveness made you that happy…?" How much had she wished for her humiliation for her to cry all these crocodile tears now that she had finally gotten what she had always wanted to hear?

To the ex-Eve's surprise, though, Inori was just seen shaking her head slowly, while wiping away her tears.

"No, us two finally getting along."

"Eh…?" Now it was actually Mana's turn to be at a loss for words instead, looking at Inori with wide open eyes and mouth gaping apart. Raising a finger slowly to point at herself, she eventually asked. "You wanted us to get along? Didn't you hate me as well?"

Again, Inori just slowly shook her head at the question, still wiping off her tears. "I was afraid of you. And angry with you, too. But it wasn't hate I felt. Not really."

Mana, however, would have none of that. Now yelling at Inori disbelievingly, she said: "I tormented you! I tried to kill you! I killed so many of your followers! How can you not hate me?"

"You are right. I was really angry with you for that." The current queen told her with narrowed eyes before looking down in sadness. "But at the same time, I understood why you hated me so much. I think, if someone appeared out of the blue and tried to take Shu away from me the same way I did for you, I might have become resentful as well. I may have expressed it differently than you, but I am sure I would have become a terrible person as well." She put both her hands on each of her upper arms as if trying to hug herself in an attempt to console herself over the horrible thoughts going through her head at the moment. Her eyes appeared to become empty as she talked, as if reflecting the darkness hiding deep within her.

"There is a horrible, horrible darkness lurking inside me. When we were still stuck in the same body, I used to think it was you, but it remained to be there even when you were gone. I have hardly ever noticed it before, but lately I can tell that it's there. And I feel the only thing keeping it locked up inside me is actually Shu. I am afraid of what I would become if I were to ever lose him and it were to break free as a result."

"We are more alike than I would have previously thought, then…" Mana told her with a sad smile."I know that darkness you speak of very well. I didn't have a Shu to help me hold it in, so it broke free and made me do all the things I eventually did. But don't feel bad, Inori. Every person has that darkness lurking inside them. You just didn't know from the start because you had to learn what human emotions are. Everyone houses those demons and everyone struggles to keep them in check. Some succeed, some don't. And the more power someone holds, the more dangerous they become once their control slips away."

Inori gulped as she thought back to the Mana that had just lost her Adam. The horrible crystal beast she had become as a result, hell-bent on ending every existence crossing her path, including her very own one. The absolute embodiment of despair. If this was what Inori's darkness would transform her into, it could never be allowed to manifest outside of her heart. It absolutely couldn't!

"There, there. No need to be afraid." Mana's words suddenly brought her back from her heavy thoughts. Inori blinked at her in surprise once she noticed her patting her head gently. Unsure how to feel about that, she stepped back in confusion.

"H-huh?"

"Well, it appears I am kind of stuck inside you for the time being, so I suppose I could help you with that darkness of yours, should it ever become a problem." Mana told her with a carefree shrug.

"You would…help me…?"

"Yeah, although I suppose you could say I am expecting this to be more of a partnership than free service. For starters, I really want to know why I am here in the first place."

"And how would I know that?"

"If you don't know, who else would? You had to be the one who killed me, right?"

That's when Inori furrowed her brows at her in annoyance.

"Kill you? That was the last thing I had in mind when I last saw you. We wanted to capture you alive. It was the envoy who killed you."

"Yuu did…?" Mana asked her in surprise, followed by biting down on her right thumb's nail. "I know he was the one to poison me, but to actually kill me as well. I didn't think he would actually have it in him." But that's when she dismissed the matter with a shake of the head and went back to the main problem.

"Well, anyway, I must have ended up in here when you took the queen's crown from me. This would imply that it is an Eve thing that brought me here. Since you currently hold that thing, why don't you check it for any form of knowledge regarding my situation."

"You were Eve before me, shouldn't you know everything about it already?"

This caused Mana to smile at her casually. "Oh, you know how it is with these instruction manuals…you never read them unless you find yourself to be stuck. In my case, I am quite literally stuck. Inside you. And while I don't particularly mind that, I would still like to know why."

Inori sighed at that display of pure negligence. Weren't your predecessors supposed to be shining examples on how to do it right? Not that Inori was any better in that regard, of course, so she probably had no right to criticize Mana in that regard. Closing her eyes for a second, she began looking through the vast knowledge the queen's crown had provided her with until after a few moments, she eventually opened them up again, looking somewhat tired. Mana had to suppress her laughter when she realized her successor looked like those unfortunate kids in school which had been forced to spend all day inside the library against their will.

"Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Inori just waved her off with a tired sigh. "If I understand this correctly, this place is the pantheon of queens, a subsection of the queen's crown which every Eve inherits. All Eves of the past gather here to offer guidance to the current Eve, should she need it. It's the part of the queen's crown which holds the legacy of every Eve that has been and is to come."

"My legacy, huh." Mana repeated with a pained smile. "It's true that I wished to leave something behind in this world, but I never thought it would be like this." She gestured towards their surroundings listlessly and shrugged. "I guess the Eve curse really is absolute. No Eve ever truly dies, eh? Not even when she isn't even Eve anymore." Her voice sounded somewhat defeated when she had said that, looking away in the distance.

Inori frowned at that. "It's not even part of the curse. The curse can be dispelled when you bring the apocalypse, but the pantheon remains to be around even after that."

"So I am stuck in here forever then." Mana realized with folded arms.

"You are taking it better than I expected."

The ex-Eve opened up her eyes wide in surprise as she blinked at her successor. "Huh? Why? It isn't that bad a place to be stuck in. As sad as it may sound, I am actually happier in here than I ever was in all my life. There is this air of tranquility around here that just makes me feel at peace. And all my paranoia is gone, too. I even got over myself and told you I was sorry. Feels great to finally have gotten this off my chest. It's just…" She sighed. "It's somewhat lonely in here."

Lonely, huh. Inori looked around at the beautiful scenery and marvelous architectural buildings at this place, but was quick to realize that it also felt empty. There was a lot of room in here, yet all that space only amplified the effect of emptiness. With no other people around than her and Mana, this place was basically nothing but a tomb. An uncomfortable thought. Even the seagulls the girls could hear in the distance have yet to actually be seen. There was nothing in this place but them.

"Gai isn't here, either." Inori suddenly realized and looked at Mana with quite some sympathy, but Mana offered her a sad smile once she had heard her words, placing both her hands over her heart.

"Well, he sort of is with me. In here. The Adam and Eve connection we shared never got severed. I have no idea where he is right now, but I am still receiving his feelings from there. We just can't see each other, which is slightly regrettable…"

"That's horrible!" Inori gasped. "Aren't you sad?"

"Not really. You know how it feels like when Shu is right next to you, holding your hand?" Inori nodded. That feeling was seriously the best. Upon direct contact, his feelings for her would just rush through her in their entirety and fill every cell in her body with that radiating warmth and pleasantness. Not to mention that electrifying sense of power that would also fill her with his touch alone. That sensation was what every Eve strived for, Inori believed. It was the only thing that really mattered. Seeing that Inori understood, Mana continued her explanation with a sheepish smile.

"I know it's hard to understand, but right now, it feels like he is standing right next to me, holding me close. I can't physically feel him, but he is still here with me. It's comforting and I feel at peace like this, but still, you can't have conversations like this, either."

Ah, now Inori began to understand what Mana actually meant. If she could constantly feel Gai in such a way, that must have meant that he was actually really close, even if she wasn't able to see him. Perhaps this meant that Gai's soul was with her, but without a body to actually possess, he couldn't really speak to her. So, in other words, she wasn't lonely due to the lack of Gai's presence, but the lack of people to actually interact with instead.

"In that case…" Inori said, suddenly feeling somewhat nervous for asking this. She looked away and rubbed her left arm awkwardly. "Maybe we could talk with each other from time to time instead?"

"Are you sure? Aren't you afraid of me?" Mana asked with a teasing smirk, causing Inori to narrow her eyes on her in disdain.

"Nevermind then."

"Eh? Come on! I was only messing with you! I would really appreciate your company! Please don't ignore me!" Mana suddenly exclaimed in a panic and grabbed Inori by her hand as she had already turned around in an attempt to leave. That's when she heard Inori suddenly laughing at her heartily, turning slightly around while forming a V with her index and middle fingers and saying:

"Kidding."

Mana, now with an eye twitching from annoyance, tried to hold back her anger with a pained smile:

"…..I guess I deserved that one…was it fun at least?"

"Yes!" Inori admitted with a giggle. "You seemed pretty desperate. It was really cute!"

"Does that make us even for my joke earlier, then?" She asked with a deep sigh.

"I suppose so." The current queen nodded in affirmation, followed by smiling in satisfaction. "This is fun."

"Seeing me beg like a peasant is fun?" Mana asked with eyes narrowed down from annoyance, but her successor only deepened her smile while shaking her head.

"Talking normally is. We never did before."

"Oh." He ex-Eve laughed nervously and with a bit of shame. "I suppose that's my fault as well. I was too proud to acknowledge you as my equal, so all we ever did was fight."

"I didn't want to fight, though."

"I know. So I think it's time we stopped." She shrugged with a defeated looking smile."Quite ironic, isn't it? All these years I was so afraid of you taking away my kingdom and brother from me. Now you have both and I am actually fine with it. I never liked being queen anyway."

Inori frowned at that. "I don't like being queen, either

"Well, though luck, now you have that title. Good riddance." Mana suddenly laughed and patted her on the back encouragingly.

"No fair!" Inori whined helplessly. "Can't I just give it back and just take Shu instead?"

"Nope." A mischievous grin accompanied Mana's simple declaration. "If you hate it so much, go and get Shu to work so you can spawn some brats and raise them to take the crown from you one day."

"Do you want to be an aunt that badly?"

This caused Mana to flinch, holding her head with both hands in despair. "Ah! I am still too young and beautiful to be an aunt."

"You say that, but do you even still age?"

"Well, if I won't then no children for you!"

"Eh? Please age!" Inori asked of Mana desperately before both of them suddenly burst out into a laughing fit.

"What are we even doing?" Inori asked after a while in between soft giggles. They had both taken a seat on crystal chairs they had each created for themselves to sit on.

"You were right. This is fun after all." Mana eventually agreed, letting out a content sigh.

"If only we could have gotten along sooner." Inori mumbled to herself in disappointment. She could have actually had a friend instead of a long time rival. Wouldn't that have been nice?

"We could have built crystal stuff together." Mana thought out aloud.

"We could have exchanged different crystal creation techniques with each other."

"I could have ditched ruling my kingdom on you and made off to make out with Triton somewhere." Mana mused with a mischievous smirk, causing Inori to narrow her eyes defiantly.

"And I would have dragged you right back to place you on that huge throne of yours while I run off with Shu instead." Mana only grinned at that, then her gaze became somewhat distant as she thought about something else with a sad smile.

"We could have had a double wedding. With lots of cake. I would have placed my best sculptures everywhere and you could have sung your songs. Triton and Shu would probably have had started a competition on who would get drunk faster, even though Genesis can't get drunk. Doing stupid things, just how when they were boys. Everyone would have been there to celebrate with us."

"And we would have been sisters…" Inori continued the thought with a sad expression, lamenting that which could have been but wasn't.

"Yeah…" Mana nodded slowly, looking down in regret as well.

"You really aren't fair at all, Mana." Her former rival accused her to be with a shaky voice, trying to hold back some tears and forcing herself to smile. "In life, you used to be so mean to me, only to become like the sister I always wanted you to be now that you are dead."

Mana could only nod at that, agreeing with her while smiling sadly as well."Yeah, I seem to get everything backwards, don't I? Would it have made you happier if I had remained the same so that you could hate me and be happy about my death?"

"Stupid Mana." Inori said as she sniffled quietly, wiping away a tear. "I would have been happier if you had been like this right from the start."

"I see. Well, what can I say...it turns out that, true to popular belief, I really was quite…" Inori noticed how her vision began fading out into white again. The last thing she saw was Mana's apologizing smile and a lone tear traveling down her cheek as she spoke.

"…stupid."

When the light finally faded again, Inori realized she was back in her original spot as if she had never even left it in the first place. Well, if Mana's words had been true, she really had never left it to begin with. She blinked a few times and noticed that her vision had become blurry due to tears having been formed there and she quickly wiped them away before anyone could see them.

"Oh, my queen. It appears you have fallen asleep for a bit after thinking too much. Were you that tired?" Harune's voice reached her from below. Looking down to her, Inori realized the brunette was waving at her with a gentle smile.

"I suppose so. How long have I been out?" The queen asked curiously, causing her handmaiden to produce some thinking noises.

"Um, not entirely sure. I just came back from exploring the room about seven or eight minutes ago. You were already unresponsive then, so you might have been out for about 15 to 20 minutes."

"I see." Well, that basically aligned itself with her own rough estimation of time spent with Mana.

"Did you have a nice rest, Inori?" Harune asked politely, causing the queen to merely lean her head on her hand as she smiled to herself.

"Well, you could say that. I had a nice dream." She closed her eyes and held back a sigh. Of course it had just been a dream. Something like that could have never even happened. It had simply been too good to be true.

Don't worry, hon. That was no dream. I am still here.

Inori's eyes opened wide for a second in surprise before she eventually realized what this meant and a big smile formed itself on her lips. The voice now even sounded like Mana, unlike before where it had just been her own one. It was funny to think how hearing Mana's voice would actually make her happy now where it once used to fill her entire being with dread. Times sure changed, huh. Good thing it didn't always change for the worse.

I assume I don't need to hide my identity anymore, so I will be using my normal voice from now on. Don't worry about me distracting you during important conversations or something, though. I am fairly tactful. I know when to impose on you and when not to. Just don't ignore me, alright? If you don't want me to speak, tell me to shut up. That's far better than being ignored anyway.

Well, knowing how lonely the pantheon was, Inori could understand Mana's fear of being ignored. Inori was pretty much the only person Mana could talk to, so if she were to ignore her, she would be forced to spend an entire lifetime in loneliness. The queen wasn't sure if she could have brought herself to be this cruel to Mana even if she had actually hated her. It was a fate even too horrible for someone like Arisa to bear, whom she certainly disliked a lot more currently.

You are too kind, Inori. You know, you can be angry with me. I am a big girl. I can handle it.

Nah. Inori wasn't a person who held grudges. Mana had apologized and it had felt genuine enough. With that, she had been forgiven.

You are such a softie. But that's alright. It suits you and people like you for it. Maybe it is even growing on me as well.

"Well, you seem to be in a good mood all of a sudden. That's great." Harune said energetically as she took out her holo-tablet and began swiping through some of her prepared plans and documents. "If you liked coming to Mana's room so much, perhaps we should continue our tour some more? You might actually come to like it here."

Suddenly jumping off from the throne and landing next to her handmaiden, Inori merely put her right hand on her hip and offered her a grin. "I doubt it, but it would be a waste to let this opportunity go to waste. So let's see what you got for me.

"That's the spirit, your majesty! Let's see, first we should get back to the elevator. Please, follow me." Harune, looking like a kid who had just asked for and received permission to go out and play, eagerly and with a huge smile, began marching forward and leading the way while checking her tablet religiously. She seemed to have so many plans and a lot to do.

This girl is trying way too hard.

Maybe, but trying hard wasn't a bad thing, Inori thought and giggled to herself. Her friends back home were also always trying to help her out. And very hard at that as well. At the very least, Harune seemed to take her duties as self-appointed handmaiden very seriously. And even though the queen still thought she had no particular need for her, she still kind of had to admit that she admired her enthusiasm at least.

As she began trailing after the brunette, Inori, still in high spirits, couldn't help but think that today hadn't been all that bad. Sure, she was taken to this place against her will and yeah the crystals at this place had disconnected her from the network which was really bad, but looking at it from a more positive standpoint, she still had been able to make a lot of progress today still.

For one, there was Kyoma, the clan leader she had helped with opposing Nanba and who was now hopefully going to help Shu out in the future. And secondly, of course, she had finally been able to make up with Mana after all these years. Those were some serious accomplishments for just one day. And considering how it hadn't even been over yet, perhaps Inori would manage to get herself even more advantages over Da'ath?

Yeah, sorry about the crystals here. I kind of never thought I would eventually end up befriending you, so…

But Inori just shook her head slowly. Nevermind that, it couldn't be helped. She would deal with that obstacle some other time. For now, it was more important to focus on what she actually could do rather than what she would like to do. Right now, she could scout the area for more weaknesses to exploit, so she would just do that. Bringing up both her hands and forming them into fists determinedly, she smiled eagerly to herself. Ready to tackle any problem that would dare cross her path head on.

And with that, Inori set out once more. Unwavering and in high spirits. She wondered whether Da'ath actually knew how screwed they basically already were. With Inori making new allies left and right, this coming war was about to be won sooner than she would have previously though. After all, there were now two Eves they had to look out for, right?

Oh you bet, girl. That envoy and I still have a score to settle here.

Still, even with all that progress for Inori, she knew she couldn't afford letting her guard down. Da'ath was a scary enemy to face. She had done a lot already, but there was still a lot to do left. That realization made her frown and she couldn't help but silently wish Shu was next to her to pat her head and cheer her up, telling her that she was doing great. Sighing at that silly thought, she actually wondered how Shu was doing on the other side. Was he making progress as well? She was sure he was. It was Shu, after all. Her lovely Adam. He could do anything.

She smiled to herself. Yes. It was only a matter of time now.

Stepping on the crystal elevator next to Harune, the platform began constructing its fence before eventually commencing its descend. And as she floated down the huge tower, a single thought was on her mind:

"Fight, Shu! And be safe!"

---

Guess who's back? Back again?

Alright, alright, before you go apeshit on me, I am perfectly AWARE that bringing back dead characters after killing them is considered to be cheap and can potentially divide the fanbase into people in favor of the revive and people against it, but as with everything I do with this fanfic, I brought Mana back for a reason. And that reason is NOT because "I am running low on canon characters" or because I "made a mistake by killing her off and now I need her back".

To make it short, I am thinking big when I write my stories. The plans for Reclaiming the Throne may be finalized and I may know how it will end, but that doesn't mean that I am content with leaving it at just that. I am working out a plot to go further, thus potentially leaving me with the option to write a sequel for this story if both I and my readers so desire. For my current plans, the following requirements have to be met:

Mana:

- Has died and transferred the queen's crown over to Inori

- Continues to exist in the universe inside the queen's crown

If not both of these are met, my plans would have to be trashed and I would either have to think of something else or give up on it. Well, I like to leave my options open, so I laid down the ground work just in case.

I am sorry if this is a plot development you don't approve of, but I hope you can live with that.

And before I get showered with complaints about Mana being too nice here, I will kindly repeat myself again: There is a reason for that.

With the way I do hings, revival is never as simple as it sounds. Of course, when I bring people back, there is usually a catch to it. You don't have to wait for the release of the sequel to learn what that catch is about, but it will take some time regardless.

So, with that out of the way, what else is there? Well, now that I finally managed to get to this point, the next chapter will finally show Shu again, so you guys can look forward to that.

Other than that, I don't think there is much to say about this chapter. It was mainly focused on Mana and what she has left behind in this world, which turned out to be quite a lot, actually. It was a lot of fun writing the conversation between her and Inori, albeit I sadly had to cut parts here and there to finally get this chapter done. Otherwise it would have gone on and on forever, dragging things out unnecessarily. Originally, there were a lot more funny interactions. Especially due to Mana's lack of shame regarding perverted things clashing with Inori's lack of shame regarding private topics in general. The general idea would have been to let Mana try teasing Inori about her sex life with Inori just being like "What about it?"

Mana would eventually agree with Tsugumi that teasing her was just no fun at all.

Another scene that was cut due to chapter length was actually something that was supposed to develop Sudou, Ritsu, Miyabi and Abeline a bit further, but was eventually cut because I thought my readers would not have liked reading too much trivia about them anyway. Interest in Nanba's gang seems to be limited to scenes of them getting defeated or them being assholes so that readers could hate them more and await their demise even more (Note: This is not a confirmation that they will die. I won't spoil their fate.)

Anyway, the scene was about Abeline and Sudou meeting, which reveals that they actually know each other and get along fairly well. An interaction with all those characters present would reveal that:

Sudou: Is good with children, mainly because he is pretty immature himself, plays an instrument

Miyabi: Albeit hating children for being noisy and annoying, is strongly interested in their protection because "they are the future".

Ritsu: Doesn't give a rat's ass about children and makes fun of Miyabi for even believing they would all even live long enough to see a "future in which said children actually mattered to them

Abeline: Not afraid of older people, social, making friends with anyone as long as they have a common ground, interested in making music.

Highlights of the deleted conversations include:

*Nanba's gang hanging out, doing their own thing when a wild Abeline suddenly approaches Sudou who was trying to play a song on a guitar he found in the school's music room*

Miyabi: *after seeing those two talking with each other from the corner of her eyes, approaches Sudou with drawn void* I know we are doing a lot of crazy stuff these days, but pedophilia is where I draw the line, Sudou. Release the child at once, you lolicon.

Sudou: *shocked* Pedo-? Are you out of your fucking mind? Not everything we do has to be centered around sex you damn nympho-bitch.

Zoe: *tugging at Yuu's coat* Hey, hey. Yuu-nii. What's a nympho?

Yuu: *smiling at her ignorance, only lifts a finger as he begins to explain eagerly* Hm? Oh, that's short for nymphomaniac. Someone who is addicted to the act of-mhmph *suddenly gets interrupted by Harune putting both her hands over his mouth in a panic*

Harune: *blushing mad* Don't teach her that!

---

Well, I think that's all I have for today. I hope you enjoyed the read. Please leave me a review and as always, feel free to contact me whenever you have questions regarding my works. I am more than happy to clear any form of confusion you may have. Also, check out my patr*on page if you have the time.

Hope to hear from y'all and see you all again next time when it's Shu's turn to be in the spotlight again.