Chapter 49 – The Other Truth, The Happy End, Schrodinger's Cat, The Endless Possibilities
The curtain of war had been drawn. The demise of the Trinity would signal Bal Masque's retreat, thus bringing an end to this curt war. The oblivion that has been brought to the leader of the Four Mystes signals the end of the Golden farce created by them. It seemed that a time of peace would come for Misaki City and the world. All was well.
Michiru Akenabe, the boy who had been blessed with power and immortality by a Treasure Tool named Golden, was responsible for putting an end to both factions. Millions sought for the Treasure Tool, he had gotten it without even knowing of its existence. By having the Treasure Tool meant that he was entrusted with responsibilities. By having the Treasure Tool, he had to give up something precious to him in return. This was the price of power, whether one desires it or not.
Michiru could hardly feel himself, and hardly felt like himself as he knelt on the ground, holding Wilhelmina Carmel, the woman he loved more than anything else in the world, in his arms. He had just killed three of the toughest members of Bal Masque, which was quite a feat considering that they were, well, three of the toughest members of Bal Masque, but he had no recollection of doing so. He barely had time to pat himself in the back when Nottes Kuvestar appeared out of nowhere, and everything went south from there immediately.
Kuvestar had captured the injured and on the verge of death Wilhelmina, and set the Death Link curse on her. As a final revenge against Golden, who had more often than not gotten in his way of immortality, he had killed the woman most precious to Golden's holder. Wilhelmina Carmel, with her stubborn and righteous personality had ordered Golden to allow her to die. Thus everything went according to Kuvestar's plan; he sought death at the condition of Michiru Akenabe's eternal suffering.
And so Wilhelmina smiled sweetly at the man she loved while on the ticking seconds of her long life. He cried upon seeing it. He knew what the smile meant, and why it was special: he would never see it again. Michiru could not accept it as he felt that he did not deserve it, and yet now that he could no longer see it, craved for it.
He did not know how long he had been crying. He did not realize that he had stopped either. At the moment he was holding Wilhelmina in his arms tightly, not knowing what to do. He looked at her face, she looked like she was sleeping very peacefully, traces of her smile could still be seen. Even in death she was beautiful, Wilhelmina looked as if she would open her eyes at any time.
He could still feel her body heat; it had not been dissipated yet, but how long would it last? How much longer could he feel her warmth, before it, like her life, would disappear forever and never come back? Now that he had lost her, even something trivial like body heat meant a lot to him.
"Wilhelmina..." He whispered softly, knowing that she would not be able to reply him.
"Michiru..." Came a reply. Michiru opened his eyes wide. It took a moment later for him to register that the voice was actually coming from behind him. Trying to hide his shame from his sudden jolt of excitement, he turned around to look at Margery and Rebecca, who had just entered the hall.
They both carried a look of shock and disbelief on their faces as they walked towards him.
"What happened, Michiru? Is she...?" Rebecca said.
Michiru bit his lip.
"I let it happen. I didn't do anything to save her. I let her die in front of my own eyes." He said dryly.
"Who was the one who did it?" Margery asked seriously.
"Kuvestar. He set the Death Link on her. Wilhelmina chose to die and perish with him."
Michiru turned his eyes away from them and looked at Wilhelmina again. Little did he know that on his blind spot, Margery made an unnatural movement with her lips.
"Wilhelmina might be stubborn and overly righteous, but she's not dumb." Margery commented.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Rebecca was the one who asked.
"You can't tell?" Margery said with a laugh, "And you still call yourself a Flame Haze."
"What are you talk-" Rebecca retorted, but suddenly looked like she realized something, before finishing off with a lame "Oh..."
Their unusual conversation caught Michiru's attention, something that even surprised himself. "What are you all talking about?" He turned his head towards them and said.
Yet Margery and Rebecca made no signs of wanting to reply to him. Margery was chuckling while Rebecca looked uncomfortable. Michiru felt a moment of agitation, but what followed immediately made him stop in his tracks.
His lips suddenly met with someone's.
Eyes wide open, Michiru could not believe what was happening to him.
Wilhelmina was kissing him.
The woman he loved more than anything else, whom he thought he had lost her forever, was kissing him in the lips.
I'm hallucinating... was what he first thought, but wasn't the kissing too real to be imaginary, no matter how crazy Michiru thought he might have become?
A few seconds later, Wilhelmina removed her lips from his. Michiru stared into her eyes. He could see nothing but bliss inside it.
"Wilhelmina..." He murmured.
"This is payback for tricking me the other time." Wilhelmina said, smiling at him playfully.
"I'm such an asshole, aren't I?" Michiru said, "Playing stupid jokes with you when you were so worried about me. I guess I deserve it. Well done, Wilhelmina."
He remembered there was a time when he had used up all his strength protecting Wilhelmina from Sabrac. He had recovered not long after, but decided to play a joke on Wilhelmina by feigning unconsciousness. When Wilhelmina realized it she uncharacteristically threw a fit by running away from the house. He had never gotten to properly apologize to her.
"You're really back, aren't you, Wilhelmina?" Michiru said as he touched her face, pink from blushing. "You feel so warm. This isn't a trick, right? I'm not hallucinating, am I?"
"No." Wilhelmina replied curtly and kissed him once again. This time, he returned her kiss as passionately as possible. Wilhelmina did not die; his heart felt relieved at the thought. Wilhelmina was still alive. Completely forgetting about Margery and Rebecca's presence, he kissed Wilhelmina to his heart's content, elated that Wilhelmina turned out to be fine.
"But how are you still?" Michiru asked when they finally let go of each others' lips after a few minutes of endless kissing. "I saw Kuvestar cast the Death Link on you. Now he's dead. There's no way he would die unless you..."
"But he is dead. And I am alive." Wilhelmina said playfully, as if boasting to Michiru that she had one or two aces up her sleeve. She was not known as the Manipulator of Objects for nothing.
"So please tell me, how did you do it?" Michiru said softly, feeling very proud of her.
Wilhelmina stared into Michiru's eyes with a soft but playful smile on her face.
"I set up an illusion for him. I knew that he would try to use the Death Link." Wilhelmina said, "He took the bait and set the Death Link on my illusion instead."
"How did you know that it would work on an illusion?" Michiru asked, alarmed that such a sinister and powerful plot was broken by a simple trick.
"I didn't," Wilhelmina replied curtly.
Michiru did not know how to respond.
So basically Wilhelmina had taken a stab at this trick blindly, and then surprisingly found the bullseye. If her plan had failed... Michiru shuddered at the thought of that. He had just been blessed with the fact that Wilhelmina was still alive after he thought she was dead; he did not want to relive that experience again.
"I was busy battling with the Trinity, so you must have set up the illusion while I wasn't looking. Which means the Wilhelmina that Kuvestar was holding was actually the illusion." Michiru said, "But I've never taken my eyes off you since, how could you have swapped with the illusion during the period?"
"I didn't," Wilhelmina said again.
This time these words made Michiru feel like he wanted to cry. He heard Margery and Rebecca burst out laughing behind him, accompanied by another familiar female voice uncharacteristically.
He watched stupidly as the Wilhelmina in front of him disintegrated into ribbons and fall to the ground slowly. Then he continued to stare at those ribbons for a good few seconds before crying out loud.
"I've been kissing a bunch of ribbons all along!"
He was so ashamed of himself that he continued to stare at the ground, not lifting his head, although there was apparently nothing for him to see on that spot. When the laughter and giggles died down behind him, someone walked towards him slowly and said to him.
"How did you like the taste of your own medicine, Michiru Akenabe?"
Michiru continued to cry without looking up.
"You're so cruel," He croaked.
"That will teach you not to play tricks on the Manipulator of Objects. How do you think I obtained this title?"
"I'm so sorry... I was wrong for playing that stupid trick with you, Wilhelmina..."
Wilhelmina knelt down in front of him and extended her hand. She lifted Michiru's face; Michiru avoided his teary eyes with hers.
"Since the illusion is mine, I killed it off, and I can revive it again to my liking. With this method, I killed Kuvestar, the Mystes who had stolen Golden's power." Wilhelmina said coolly into Michiru's face, making laughter erupt among the two ladies once again, "Have you learnt your lesson, Michiru Akenabe? Do you still dare to tease Wilhelmina Carmel, the Flame Haze who defeated the strongest Mystes?"
"I've learnt my lesson, Wilhelmina-sama... I'll never tease... the Flame Haze... who defeated the strongest Mystes... ever again..." Michiru sobbed.
Then a grin flashed over his face as his eyes narrowed towards Wilhelmina. She had been making a playful face for a while, but she suddenly faltered as Michiru had suddenly gained his confidence back from her teasing. How? Was it not good enough to best him? Michiru had always possessed a confidence within him which he only shows during clutch situations, she knew that, and decided to use it as a double-edged sword for him. She had always admired Michiru's composure, but she did not want to see it at a moment like this.
"But do you know, Wilhelmina Carmel, Manipulator of Objects? The strongest Mystes... is me, the Golden." He said smugly, grinning sinisterly at her, "And you haven't beaten me yet, have you?"
Without mercy, respect and consideration, he reached out for her breast in a swift motion and squeezed it with all his might. Wilhelmina's calm face instantly changed. She let out a high pitched moan as her cheeks went pink immediately.
"Now try to beat me when I've got your weakness." Michiru said as he pushed her down, hand still on her breast. "Go on. Aren't you the Manipulator of Objects?"
"M-Michiru..." Wilhelmina's voice was cute, "Stop it... stop... M-Margery is... looking..."
But when she turned towards Margery, she and Rebecca were making exaggerated body movements as they left the room.
"Oh? Margery who?" Michiru said as he applied more force. Wilhelmina screamed again and began to whimper. Michiru then took this opportunity to caress her in different parts of her body. Every few seconds, she would leak out a moan, gasp or a whimper, even though she tried her best to keep her mouth shut. She tried pursing her lips, gritting her teeth, sticking her tongue at the back of her throat; but she still moaned excitedly when Michiru was touching her.
""Try and stop me, Wilhelmina. Try and stop me." Michiru challenged.
"I... cannot... put energy... into myself... when you are touching me!" Wilhelmina moaned, "Michiru! Stop it! I have just finished a b-battle! I do not have... any... energy to..."
Michiru blowed her ear. She moaned excitedly again, much to her disdain.
"Hmph... So much for wanting to challenge me at this. Boring." He taunted.
"You have to respect for Flame Hazes!" Wilhelmina groaned angrily, "You... caressing me like this... no respect... f-for women... Nnghh!"
"You should go back to being kuudere, Wilhelmina." Michiru said, "Trying to get even over a trick I did to you long ago and then acting cheeky in front of me isn't going to cut it. Right now I will let you know, I am the dominant one. So what if you are a Flame Haze? The Golden is the most superior."
Wilhelmina registered those words even though she felt as if she were in another dimension, and reflected upon it. It was not that Wilhelmina was truly mad at him at that one time he played his silly trick on her. Sure, she felt hurt at the time, but she had forgotten about it afterwards. What had made her think of getting back at Michiru, and then formulate a plot to do so, in a crucial moment of an important battle? Come to think of it, she had no idea either. And that was when she realized.
"I... must have changed..." She thought to herself, grinning, "I've changed... because of this man..."
Golden. She had been blessed. Someone who makes her feel safe. Someone who will protect her when she needs. Someone to love her for eternity...
"I love you, Michiru." Wilhelmina said. She thought that she was using her normal voice, but it turned out differently. "This time... I will... not be going anywhere..."
"I love you too, Wilhelmina." Came Michiru's reply. "This time, I will love you and protect you for all eternity."
Then she allowed herself to be drowned by the pleasure she had not enjoyed for the past centuries.
X
"Aren't you nervous?" Michiru asked Wilhelmina he sat on the ground, looking at the exit of the Tendokyuu.
"About?" Wilhelmina said as she sat beside him.
"A new life is waiting for us out there." Michiru said, pointing his chin at the door. "When we walk through this door, a new future with endless possibilities awaits us. You don't feel anything about it?"
"Being here, it feels as if time has been stopped for our sake. It is as if time will only continue after we step out of this sanctuary." Wilhelmina replied.
"Yep. This is the end of the story. I am together with you. We have obtained our happy ending." Michiru said. "Everything that happens beyond this door already makes no difference to our story. That is why time has stopped. You are right about that. But it is not our side that has stopped, it is theirs."
"Why the sudden philosophy?" Wilhelmina asked.
"We've been told stories with happy endings; Cinderella, Snow White... All those fairy tales, they all end happily." Michiru said, "But is the end that we know truly their end? What happens to them after the narrator stops telling us their story? Are they really truly happy until their 'end'? Don't they end up quarreling or something?"
"Are you implying that you want to quarrel with me, Michiru?" Wilhelmina responded somewhat irritably.
"Nah, that's not what I meant. What I'm trying to say is, our lives will continue after our story has ended. It becomes a Schrodinger's cat's box. Nobody can know what's gonna happen to us next. There's endless possibilities on how our lives would play out. That's why I'm feeling scared. What if someone appears and takes you away from me again?"
"That would be possible." Wilhelmina said, "But on the other hand, the endless possibilities will also not allow anyone to take me away from you."
"It's like a paradox."
"It is."
"A world where nothing happens and everything happens."
"Because it cannot be observed any longer."
"I wonder what happens to everyone in the canon story? Are Shana and Yuji living happily together? Is it the same for Satou and Margery? Has Wilhelmina found someone to love?" Michiru wondered.
"The Schrodinger's box cannot be opened. The possibilities are infinite and cannot be observed. That is why we have fan fiction." Wilhelmina pointed out coolly.
"Why are you even mentioning this? I know. We're in one right now." Michiru said, "And, I'm also a product of it to. I... am not even supposed to exist."
Wilhelmina suddenly stood up. Michiru's eyes followed suit.
"Are you afraid of the endless possibilities?" She asked firmly.
Michiru nodded.
"Do not be. Know this, Michiru. The endless possibilities have given birth to you. You came into my life, loved me, and protected me. You made me feel bliss, useful. You make my life meaningful and worth living. And all of this happens because of the endless possibilities. If you had not existed, I would still be alone and lonely right now."
Michiru started, feeling loss about what to say. Wilhelmina was right. He was the product of the endless possibilities. He should not be afraid of it.
"So let us embrace the endless possibilities, Michiru." Wilhelmina said, extending her hand towards Michiru, "In a world where our actions are unobserved. In a word where we are nothing. In a world where we are everything."
Michiru smiled at her and took her hand. Together, hand in hand, they walked slowly towards the exit, smiling sweetly at each other. Slowly, the reached the door. The closed door in which opening it would bring the end to their story, and the beginning to their story.
"Yes, let us go beyond the horizon, Wilhelmina." He put his free hand on the door, "But no matter what happens, Wilhelmina, I will protect you."
The door opened. A radiant light shone and engulfed them as they walked towards their future. Their future of endless possibilities.
"I love you, Wilhelmina."
"I love you, Michiru."
These two voices echoed in unison.
And the door closed. The unobservant Schrodinger's box had closed its lid. The end of everything. The beginning of everything. The existence of nothing. The existence of everything.
X
You think the narration is over.
But it is not. Thirteen figures of different gender, height and personality have appeared suddenly in the room. They all wore black hoods that cover their faces.
So, how are we to distinguish them if their faces are hidden? Like the flame of a Torch, there are similar flames that burn brightly in each of their bodies. And each of the flames burn a different symbol. An extremely obvious to differentiate symbol.
The people in the room. They are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. Reflected by the flame in their body. They spoke.
"Time only moves here, it seems that he is right."
"The story continues if the narration isn't over."
"But for what? What's the point in us coming out? The story is over. We have no way to change their story anymore. You can no longer open the lid of a locked Schrodinger's box."
"The endless possibilities... Do not forget that. We have no purpose in this story. But what of the next?"
"Then shouldn't we appear in the next instead?"
"The endless possibilities have made us exist here."
"Oh shut up..."
"Hmm... Endless possibilities... Wouldn't it be nice to have a world where 'I' exist?"
"Cheeky, they'll never see that coming."
"Yeah, that would give us limitless possibilities on how the world would become."
"Even though he does not exist."
"Even though we are not supposed to exist."
"But now we do."
"And so the endless possibility has given birth to another endless possibility."
"We will exist, when we are supposed to exist."
"So, how will our story play out?"
"What will our story be?"
"We are thirteen, we are one, we are Rebellion."
Upon saying in unison, the light of endless possibilities engulfed the thirteen figures.
Thirteen are gone.
Zero is left in the room.
So there is nothing left to tell.
The lid has been closed. You can no longer observe it.
And now, the narration is over. See you again in a world of endless possibilities.
