After a bit of walking and a slight detour to the warehouse for some…insurance, I made my way to the 4th floor of the academy and started walking through the still eerie looking floor to Angie's research lab. When I finally got to Angie's lab, I knocked on the front entrance. "Angie? It's me. May I come in?"
"Oh Rin! Of course! Let yourself in with the key. I'm still finishing up our little project, nyahaha!" I heard Angie call back from within the room. I did as she said and took out the key she gave me and unlocked the door before opening it. As soon as I did though, my heart dropped to the floor, along with my jaw, and my eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my head from the sheer amount of shock I was feeling. The lab was the same as when I last came here, with the addition of four new wax models, each one based off of the four friends who had died. There was one for Tsumugi, Kirumi, Miu, and Korekiyo, each one in one of the iconic poses that they had made when they were alive. Despite being wax models, they were extremely lifelike, so much so I almost believed they were the real deal when I first saw them. But that was only for a moment, and it only served to strengthen my belief that this wouldn't work. These models, while incredibly detailed and, dare I say, perfectly made to look like their models, were distinctly different from a real body, dead or alive. "Nyahaha! That expression that you have… Are you impressed with my work?" A wax-covered Angie asked me as she finished up the rest of the Tsumugi model.
"Y-Yeah. They're very…well made." I replied, doing my best to not relay that I was feeling incredibly uncomfortable being in the presence of the models. They were giving me goosebumps, and I could feel a cold sweat forming on my forehead when I looked at them. I actually had to turn myself to my side so I wouldn't have some of them in my line of sight. Just looking at these things was making the guilt I thought I had buried resurface, making me feel even more uncomfortable then I would normally be around lifelike inanimate objects. "I have to ask though why you decided to make one for each of our deceased friends when we can only bring one back? Also, did they have to be made with such…perfect detail?"
"Well, simple dolls probably would have worked as well, but once I got to work, Atua took possession of me." Angie told me. "Nyahaha! And before I knew it, I had made all of these!" She cheered happily. I guess that explains why that vision from before had effigies of Kaede, Rantaro, Kirumi, and Ryoma before…not that it makes it better. For once, I started to worry about the reaction she gave in accordance with the effigies. On one note, I can understand her feeling pride in her work and how spot on she managed to get them to the original people, but at the same time, I don't understand how she could do something like this and still be her usual cheerful self, despite being in the presence of effigies taking the form of people we've watched die in front of us. Perhaps it's how she copes with death? Perhaps she's too focused on the ritual or bringing one of our friends back to worry about that? I don't know, but I for one would rather have my mind on other things than this for the time being.
"Okay… Do you need anything else for the ritual?" I asked as I looked around for something for me to do. "Didn't the Necronomicon say it needed to be burnt over the effigie for the ritual to work?"
"Yep! I was going to go out to one of the empty rooms to grab one of the candles that are on the walls, but if you want, you could go grab one while I clean the wax off my hands." Angie told me with a smile. I couldn't help but chuckle when she said that.
"You need to clean more than your hands, Angie. There's wax on your face and in your hair." I told her. "You really went all out with this." Angie giggled in response as she gave me a bright smile.
"Of course! Atua always does his best to use me as his vessel to convey his divinity in his work, and this is a special occasion where one of our friends will come back to us, so it's only natural to put real effort into this."
"Yeah. I honestly can't see you half-assing something small like a doodle, let alone something as importantly as this." I nodded. "You get washed up. I'll go get that candle for you." Angie thanked me once again as I left the research lab, locking it behind me. I quickly made my way to the three empty rooms that were just down the hall. When I got there, I paused as I thought about which room to go in, even if it didn't matter at all. I shrugged as I did the only thing that can solve a problem like this. "Enenie meenie miney that one." I said as I pointed to the middle room and swiftly entered. That's when the second biggest surprise of the night happened. These rooms were supposed to be empty. This one wasn't.
There was an eerie magic circle covering the entire floor of the room, making it look like a ritual was happening inside. And in the middle of the room and circle was a large metal cage that had a white cloth covering it, and onto the covered cage was the wooden dog statue from Kiyo's research lab. I wasn't able to take it all in as after a single blink, the statue was gone, along with the cloth. For some reason, a deep sense of dread sank into my mind as I felt urged to approach the cage. Even after getting closer to it, it was so dark in the room and within the cage that I couldn't tell what was inside, but somehow, I had a horrible, horrible feeling I knew exactly what it was. The question now wasn't what it was, but who. I grabbed the cage, and slowly lifted it, and that's when I saw who the would-be victim was: Tenko. She was lying on her side on top of a wooden board that had been pushed out of place. Even when I knew I would see a body, seeing Tenko's was so shocking I dropped the cage quickly, causing a loud slam that echoed inside the room. I covered my ears and closed my eyes due to the pain, and when I opened them up, the scene was gone.
"...Ignore it. I need to get the candle." I forced the words that were tainted with foul taste out of my mouth as I stifled a nervous gulp. Just like with the previous Foresight vision of Angie's death, I chose to just not think about Tenko's and walk over to one of the many candles in the room and grab it. Not wanting to stay there any longer, I quickly made my way back to the Ultimate Artist's Research Lab. However, when I got to the lab and tried to unlock it, I noticed it was already unlocked. Confused, I opened up the door and saw Angie talking to Shuichi, Tenko, Kaede, and Maki, showing them all the effigies as she did.
"What do you think? Aren't they amazing?" Angie asked them.
"You do such cruel things so innocently." Maki replied with a disapproving glare.
"Hm? What?" Angie asked as she tilted her head in confusion. That's when Angie noticed I had come back and her smile reappeared as she greeted me. "Rin! You got the candle!"
"Yeah. It wasn't too hard." I told her as I set the candle to the side. "So…what are you guys doing here?" I asked Shuichi and the others.
"Well…" Kaede began with a nervous look. Shuichi then seemed to gulp before walking up to me with the same timidness Kaede had.
"Rin…could you and Angie please reconsider?" He asked me.
"Reconsider?" I questioned as I felt my eyes narrow their gaze on the detective. "Are you seriously here to try to stop us again?" I asked, an underlying tone of frustration in my voice and expression as I spoke.
"I don't understand how bad that might be." Shuichi told me as he tried to convince me for what had to be the fifth time now. "Remember that this was Monokuma's motive. If he wants us to do it, it can't be good."
"You say that, but you all ignored my warnings about the flashback lights." I countered. "It seems to me, you all only get concerned with whatever Monokuma gives us if he explicitly calls it a 'motive' or if there isn't anything 'good' like past memories that you can realistically get from it. Seems pretty hypocritical to me."
"And the dead can't really come back to life, y'know." Angie added. "So the people who died must still be alive-"
"No, Angie. That's not possible." Shuichi told her. "The bodies were not fakes. I'm positive. Especially after seeing the wax effigies. The effigies were nearly perfect, but the real bodies still had traces of a soul. A soul desperate to live, struggling, fighting for life… That's something that can never be replicated. No matter what technology you have, you can't fake a soul. Kirumi, Tsumugi, Miu, and Kiyo…are dead." Shuichi then turned back to me with a curious expression. "You must have realized that too, right Rin?" I suppressed a small growl as Shuichi easily deduced what I felt when I first saw the effigies.
"Yes, I did come to the same conclusion." I answered. "I never gave the theory of the deaths being faked any real consideration, but the moment I saw the effigies, I knew it wasn't possible. No matter how lifelike someone makes them, they're completely distinguishable from the genuine article."
"...I agree. I have no doubts that their deaths were real." Maki added with a dark look. "Trust me, I've seen my fair share of dead bodies."
"Yeah…same." I mumbled quietly so no one could hear me. From the visions to the real bodies and the nightmares, I could say that I was quite certain I could tell a real death from a fake at this point, and Maki is probably like that but on a much higher level than me.
"I see, I see… If that's what Maki says then maybe they really are dead." Angie nodded. "Then…if we do the ritual, will we actually resurrect the dead?" She then asked gleefully. "What a miraculous mystery!"
"Huh?" Shuichi gaped at her.
"What are you saying? Someone who's died couldn't possibly come back to life." Kaede told her.
"Hm? But that's not what Atua says. He says that if we do the ritual, one of the four who has died up till now will come back. So…if those four really are dead, then the resurrection ritual will surely work." Angie argued. "Rin still wants to perform the ritual too, right?"
"Of course. Would be a waste to have come this far to just give up. I want to know exactly what they plan on doing if we perform this 'ritual'." I nodded.
"Nyahaha! I'm glad you share the same opinion as Atua and I! Atua is never wrong after all!" Angie cheered.
"You're…really not gonna stop this, are you?" Tenko eventually asked us.
"Of course not! This is both Atua's and the student council's will!" Angie told her. "You all are probably still worried about the motive, but it's okay. Atua has spoken, and the council has come to this decision. Nothing bad will happen as long as we put aside all thoughts of escape."
"For now, at least." I added. "Escape isn't feasibly possible at the moment. If there was even a single hope of escape, I would push for it, but there isn't right now. You all just have to accept that we have no choice but to sit tight until an opportunity presents itself to us."
"But what about the risk that Tenko told us about?" Shuichi asked me.
"Risk?" I questioned, a bit more anger starting to boil in me.
"She told us how you mentioned a small risk that's involved with this resurrection ritual, so I'm curious about what you plan on doing if it actually happens." Shuichi asked. I turned to Tenko with a slight glare before sighing.
"You want to know what I plan on doing if that 'risk' actually happens?" I asked. "Sure. I'll tell you what I plan to do. It's simple really. That risk is if the ritual actually brings someone back, they might have a completely different personality that'll cause them to start killing, right? If that happens, I'll just take responsibility and nip the problem in the bud before it becomes a real issue."
"A-And how do you plan on doing that?" Kaede asked me in a nervous tone.
"With this." I said as I took out the hook I grabbed from the warehouse. "If our 'resurrected' friend wants to go on a murderous rampage, I'll just kill them before they can do any damage." With just those words, the entire room seemed to become cold with dread. Everyone, even Angie, seem both shocked and horrified by what I just told them.
"Y-You'll WHAT!?" Kaede screamed.
"Well, I probably should have eased into this." I shrugged as I put away the hook with a sigh. "Of course, I'm going to make absolutely sure that whoever we resurrect isn't dangerous, but if they are, I'm of course going to try to restrain them with some rope I brought from the warehouse before anything else, but if they can't be restrained or they're about to hurt someone, I'll do what has to be done."
"B-But if you kill them, then that would mean you'll become the next blackened…!" Shuichi exclaimed.
"Yep, obviously. Doesn't matter what the reason is for, a death is death, as per killing game rules. If this worst case scenario happens, both the resurrected fiend and myself will both die."
"B-But-!"
"Look," I cut Kaede off. "I know you might think this a little drastic, but this is the 'worst' case scenario where I can't restrain the assailant. If someone needs to die, it might as well be me. I've got nothing to lose after all."
"Nothing to lose?" Maki asked, a slight bit of concern in her voice as well.
"Well, yeah. I told you all multiple times now. I have nothing aside from you all and this academy." I told her. "I can say with a fair amount of certainty now…that there isn't anything for me outside this place. That's the feeling I get, at least. Besides, I wouldn't mind dying if it meant protecting you all. Dying as a hero…if I got to choose how I died, that would certainly be how I would want to go."
"Rin…" Shuichi began but I stopped him.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to just throw my life away. I'm just letting you all know that no matter what happens, I'll take responsibility for it. Nothing you all say can deter me from doing this."
"Is that so? Then there's no point in talking anymore." Maki sighed.
"Hmm, so we're done talking now? Cuz we still have a few things to do before we start the ritual." Angie said. "If you're gonna slow us down, perhaps we'll turn you into wax effigies! Nyahahaha!"
"I'd rather not think about having more wax effigies at the moment Angie." I told her with a weak chuckle. "Although, the prospect of using these hyper realistic effigies to freak people out with pranks does interest me slightly, but that'll be for another day I suppose."
"Tenko, let's go back for now. I think we may need another plan." Kaede told the aikido master as she placed a hand on her shoulder.
"O-Okay…" Tenko replied sadly.
"Let me get the door for you. It's the least I could do." I told them, my tone still a bit annoyed at them for trying to stop us yet again. Still, I opened the door for them and led them out.
"It's already nighttime, so please be careful as you head back to your rooms." Angie told them as they exited the lab.
"And since you're still here, I might as well address the elephant in the room, or in this case the misandrist." I began.
"...Eh?" Tenko made a noise of confusion.
"I think it's safe to say that you've thoroughly betrayed not just the student council but also me. Even after realizing something like this could've still happened after we talked, I'm still a little surprised you went ahead and did it." I explained. "Honestly, I'm half tempted to kick you out of the council right here and right now, especially with the day I've been having today."
"Wha-!"
"But I won't. Because you didn't do anything reckless to try to stop the ritual and because I still think you have a reason to be on the council, right? It's not like this is too much of a big deal, and I'm mainly frustrated because of things that have happened today. So I'll overlook this just this time." I told her.
"Yes, yes. I also forgive you, cuz Atua forgives you too. He's such a softie like Rin." Angie added.
"Hey. I'm not a softie." I argued, almost pouting at the comparison she made with her god and me. I then sighed before looking back at Tenko. "Either way, I hope you use the chance as a student council member to help do what you need to do. I wish you the best of luck in that regard."
"R-Right. Th-Thank you." Tenko said in a sad voice, one full of disappointment and regret.
"Nyeh? What's going on?" We all turned to see Himiko enter the hallway where we all were, along with Rantaro of all people.
"H-Himiko?!" Tenko shouted in surprise. My own gaze fell onto the avocado that was next to the small mage as I titled my head in confusion.
"And Rantaro too? What are you guys doing out and about at this hour?"
"Well…" Rantaro gave a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head. "Himiko apparently forgot something and wanted to come grab it, but the council's new rules prevent someone from going out alone at night, so I offered to come with her."
"Nyeh…That's right. But when we came up here to get what I left, we heard you guys and came over to check out what was going on." Himiko then turned to Kaede, Shuichi, and Maki with a confused expression. "Why are you guys here? Did you all forget something too?"
"That's not exactly what happened." Kaede muttered a soft reply.
"Oh, it's nothing." Angie told Himiko.
"Yeah. Nothing you should concern yourself with. We just talked about stuff. Nothing more." I said, not mentioning the details of what was discussed, mainly for Tenko's sake. Speaking of Tenko… "Hey Himiko, since you're here, why don't you talk to Tenko. She actually wanted to speak with you about something important."
"H-Huh!?" Tenko gasped in utter shock when she heard me say that. Himiko on the other hand only became more confused.
"Tenko wants to talk to me? About what?" She asked.
"That's something for you two to discuss." I answered dismissively. "But in my own opinion, I would say that it would be in your best interest to take what Tenko wants to speak to you about to heart. It's something I think you really need to hear and think seriously about. Can I ask that of you, as your friend and ally?" Himiko tilted her head again before she gave a small nod.
"Sure. I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about, but I'll do my best. You're the president, so you probably know what you're talking about."
"Probably…?" I repeated, a bit of sweat forming on my forehead. "Well, it doesn't matter. You all should get going now. I hope you have a good night, all of you."
"Right." Himiko nodded before turning to Tenko and the others. "Nyeh…let's go. As a member of the student council, I'll lead you all back to the dorms. After that, we can talk about what you want to tell me, Tenko." Tenko's eyes widened as she looked at Himiko and then to me. Her expression then turned to one of gratitude as she mouthed 'thank you' to me, with me just shrugging and giving her a 'go on' gesture in return. With that, the group slowly started to leave, with one exception.
"So…" Rantaro began as he moved over to me. "Before I go, mind if you let me in on what happened with that little 'project' you said you were gonna do? I'm a little curious as to what you found."
"Project?" I repeated before I realized he was talking about the flashback light. I groaned as I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. "Not good, I can tell you that much. I'll go into more detail with Keebo tomorrow, probably, but we didn't find a single thing of interest. In fact, it was like there was nothing to be found in general." Rantaro nodded, but I could tell he was disappointed by the news too.
"I see. Bummer." He sighed. "Hopefully, this ritual can give us more details about everything."
"That's the hope." I grumbled.
"Hey now, don't worry too much about it." Rantaro said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure things will work out soon enough. And if they don't you can always come to me to ask for help. I'll always be willing to lend a hand." I couldn't help but give a tired smile back to the adventurer.
"I know. Thanks, Rantaro. I can always count on you to help make me feel better." Rantaro laughed a bit as he walked away.
"Well, I'll be heading off now. Gotta catch up with the others or I'll get in trouble with Keebo and Gonta who're keeping watch at the dorm's entrance tonight. I'll see you both tomorrow at breakfast." With that, the enigmatic survivor left us, leaving me and Angie alone once again. I took a deep breath before I turned to the research lab's entrance again.
"C'mon Angie. We should finish setting things up for the ritual."
"Yep, yep! Let's hurry up and finish it! I can't wait to perform the ritual!" Angie cheered.
"We've got to be cautious though. Can't let our guards down too much." I reminded her as I opened the door for her before entering myself. "I just hope things really do work out. To some extent at least." I said in a low, tired grumble. I was just tired of failing. Of making no progress. Of not knowing about anything that was going on. Everything that has been going on lately was starting to really get to me. That's when I noticed that Angie had stopped in the middle of the room. She just stood facing the wax effigies she had made motionlessly, her peppy energy that she had just moments ago now just…gone. "Angie? Is something wrong?" I asked as I moved over to her. Once I was next to her, I could see her usual smile had faltered, and was now replaced by a unsure frown.
"Rin…Are we…really doing the right thing?" She asked me.
"Huh? You're asking that now? I thought you were the one who was most determined to do the ritual."
"Yes, and I still want to do it, but…I can't help but wonder. Now especially, it's something that's on my mind as of late." She began. "Y'know, these past few days have been a first for me."
"A first?"
"I've never had people yell at me before now." Angie told me. "Cause…on my island, I'm considered an oracle by the people, so they never yell at me and they always listen to me." Her expression then became one of confliction as she gave a weak smile. "But here, people get angry with the things I do. It's…comforting, in a way."
"Really?"
"Yes. If I had to explain it, it makes me feel like I'm talking to real people." Angie told me. "I love the people on my island, but sometimes, it feels like they only listen to me because I can hear Atua's voice. Like the only reason they care is because of Atua." Angie quickly gave a smile, but this one seemed a bit more strained. "That doesn't stop me from loving them and giving them the love of Atua. But here, everyone is different. They like me and speak to me even when they don't believe in Atua. While it's my goal to get more followers for Atua, being able to be with you all makes it feel like we're all really friends! But that's why I'm starting to feel a little hesitant. Everyone is becoming more and more upset at us doing the ritual, and at the student council in general. If we're making them angry…or if it's me who's angrying them so much, then…are we really doing the right thing?"
"Angie…" I said in a soft voice. I was surprised. This was the first time Angie was showing a more vulnerable side to her. She's always seemed happy and cheerful, but of course she has her own set of doubts and concerns with everything. No one can go through life in a perpetually happy state, even if they tried their hardest. And being in an environment like this must be even harder on Angie, who has never been scolded before in her life. To be scolded so harshly now, and in a life-or-death situation, it must be worrying her more than it would someone else. "You're not the only one who's upsetting them. I'm pretty sure I'm upsetting them too." I gave a dry chuckle before putting on a more serious expression. "Honestly, I've been asking myself the same question lately."
"Really?" Angie asked, sounding a little surprised by my statement.
"Of course. I'm always doubting myself." I jokingly said, mainly to make me feel better. "It's just I'm trying to be more confident in my decisions, but it's hard when I have no reason to really be confident in myself. I'm constantly failing, so I'm worried that what I'm doing now is just another failure. But I've realized no matter how much I doubt myself, there are things that just have to be done no matter what. In a situation like this, it's extremely hard to determine what's the best course of action. What's right, what's wrong…there's too many factors in this killing game to correctly determine the right path to take. Every path has risks and dangers, as well as other problems. No matter what we do, we can't make everyone happy as we try to move forward. All we can do is do our best to protect everyone and prevent tragedy. That's all we can do." I then gave a small smile as I looked down at her. "Actually, I kind of wish I was more like you."
"Like me?"
"Yeah. I mean, you're so confident when you do something, like you don't have a care in the world about what others think. It always looked like nothing could get you down, and I wished I could be the same." I then scratched my cheek nervously before I continued. "Although, I guess it was presumptuous of me to assume you didn't have your own worries or concerns. I apologize for that."
"No, no. There's no need to be sorry about anything." Angie told me with a smile. "I feel the same way about you."
"Me?"
"Of course! You've helped protect everyone so many times now, and you give off an aura of reliability. Like I can depend on you for anything."
"I don't know about that? I don't feel like I'm that reliable." I replied in an embarrassed voice. "Even after all I've supposedly done, I still feel like I haven't accomplished anything worth admiring me for." I then felt a familiar pit start to form in my stomach as I stole a glance at the four wax effigies in front of us. "There are…plenty of people I've failed and disappointed." After I said that, Angie made a pouting face before she did something that surprised me. She jumped up and brought my head down into her chest in a warm embrace, like she had done with Himiko, Gonta, and Keebo. "H-Huh? A-Angie, wha-"
"You're too hard on yourself." She told me. "You do so much for the people around you…sacrifice so much..and yet you still don't believe you're worthy of praise. There is a fine line between being humble and being self-deprecating."
'B-But I haven't-"
"I can tell, as I'm sure the others can tell." She said in a kind, soft voice as she continued to hug me. "You've been working yourself ragged recently. Those bags that have started to form under your eyes are proof of that. You've been neglecting yourself, wanting to put us above all else, just like Kirumi did before she passed. But your selfless devotion is hurting you. You're scared, and that's fine. No matter what happens, Me, Atua, and everyone else will always appreciate what you do for us. You are our friend, and nothing makes me happier. Please, just remember you can rely on the student council, and even the others who aren't part of the council." She then smiled as she rubbed the back of my head like she was a mother comforting a child. "You're so kind, even when you scold me, you're kind. Even when you're tired and upset, you try your best to be kind to others. You even tried to cheer me up when I was feeling down just now, so let me cheer you up too." And that's when she said something I don't ever think I'll forget. "Thank you Rin. Truly. It's okay now. You don't have to hold back anymore. You can rest now."
And just like that, I fell apart. I don't even know why. All she said was words. Words I had heard before from other people, people I felt more comfortable and trusted more than her. But for some reason, perhaps due to the situation and everything that had happened in the last few days, I couldn't stop myself from completely breaking down. Maybe it was the lack of sleep. Maybe it was how frustrating the day had been with the lack of information gained from the flashback light or the constant bickering with the others who weren't in the student council. Maybe it was what I had said to Kaito. Maybe it was because there was the possibility of me throwing myself into yet another death trap. Or maybe it was because Angie was hugging me right now. Whatever it was, it caused everything to click in my mind, and before I knew it, I was crying. Sobbing, actually. It was the first time I had cried since waking up here, and I didn't even know why I was crying now.
No other words were exchanged as I just started crying into Angie's embrace. It was like all the things I had been holding back were flooding out as tears. The pain. The fear. The sorrow. The guilt. The loneliness. The failures. Everything came flooding out in the form of these tears. The feelings I've been holding in flowed out with them. The feeling of having to be the responsible person in the group, the feeling of having to protect everyone by myself, the feeling of not wanting to lose anyone, the feeling that I would never solve anything… These burdens I had held onto felt like they were being taken away, or like the burdens were getting lighter. For the first time since I had come here, it felt like I didn't have to carry the world on my shoulders for just these few minutes.
After a few minutes, Rin had stopped crying, and eventually, due to the extreme overload of emotions he had just felt, succumbed to his exhaustion. He was now asleep, now laying off in the corner of the research lab with Angie's coat draped over him like a blanket. Angie smiled sweetly as she quietly moved away from her resting friend, not wanting to wake him from the sleep he so desperately needed. She knew Rin was the type of person to never give himself a break. There she had met plenty of people like that on her island when they came to her for advice. She had always had a knack for knowing just what to say to help someone feel better. It came with the territory of being her island's oracle. Many people came to her for help in all areas in life, wanting to hear what Atua's answer to their problems were. With Atua by her side at all times, Angie soon became talented in reassuring people and helping solve their problems by saying the things Atua told her to say.
Even if the words only provided temporary peace, it was the only thing Angie could do to help the other people of her island or even her friends find some sort of peace during the troubling times they all eventually found themselves in. Even if others frown upon it, Angie knew the peace that religion and her god had brought to people. She had seen just how powerful faith could be, and how something so small could help push someone to move forward. If sharing her culture and beliefs with people helped them get through pain and strife, and if she could share words with the people she cared about that helped make them feel better, then it must be Atua's will for her to do just that. After all, why wouldn't she want to help those she loved and cared for? Especially when they all did the same for her. Like Rin.
"Nyahaha! Now that I'm feeling better, let's get started with the ritual." Angie cheered, still doing her best to not wake her friend. She quickly set up the last few things needed before taking out the Necronomicon and the candle that Rin had brought. All she had to do now was burn the book and spread the ash onto the effigy of the person she was bringing back. The words of the others then rang out once again in her head. The warnings they gave her and Rin, that the ritual was dangerous. Angie hesitated for only a second, before she recalled Rin's words. She put on her usual wide smile and nodded. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Not when she has not only Atua, but such great friends supporting her. She held the book to the candle's flame until it caught on fire. She then let it burn to ash, taking the book's warning into account and making sure the smoke wouldn't cause problems for her or Rin. After the book was thoroughly burned and the smoke had dissipated, Angie took the ash of the burnt book and spread it over the selected effigie. Angie then put her hands into a prayer pose and whispered the name of the deceased three times. She then closed her eyes and waited. The room was quiet as Angie waited, not a sound being made. However, after a long while, Angie felt a light tap on her back, so she opened her eyes and turned around.
I don't know when I fell asleep or how long I've been out of it, but I started to stir when I heard voices. Two very distinct voices, actually. One of them I immediately recognized as Angie's, but the other one…they sounded familiar, but I couldn't figure out who it could be. Angie was also laughing really loudly, or maybe 'cheering' was the better word for it. Either way, it was bothering me, so I slowly started to open my eyes to see what was going on. The first thing I saw when I was able to get my eyes opened was Angie's yellow coat over me. Did she do that? That's sweet of her. I rubbed my eyes as I yawned loudly. "Nyahaha! Rin! Perfect timing! Look at who's back with us!"
"Angie?" I asked as I rubbed my head, which was aching a bit from waking up abruptly. "What are you-?" That's when I turned my head, and stopped dead in my tracks as I stared at the third big surprise of the night. Angie was giving me the happiest, widest smile I had ever seen, and I could see why. There was someone painfully familiar next to her, a look of confusion on her face. I couldn't help but just stare at her, just processing the fact that she was here, in front of me, alive. After about a full minute of just staring at her in silence, her confused look turned to one of concern as she tilted her head slightly.
"Rin, why are you staring at me? And… Why do you look so surprised?" She asked me. "Angie has been acting strange as well, but I haven't been able to understand why that is. Where are we, exactly? I don't remember a room like this being accessible to us." Just hearing her voice confirmed it for me. It was her. She really was there. She was back. I could feel my eyes start to water once again as my face contorted into a mixture of guilt, sadness, and pure joy.
"Kirumi…!" I shouted as I pushed myself off the ground and lunged at her, nearly tackling her to the ground as I hugged her tightly. The maid's expression only became more confused and concerned as she looked down at me, trying to figure out why I was acting like this.
"R-Rin? What are you-?"
"I'M SORRY!" I shouted. "I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'M SO SORRY!" I just continued to say that as tears flowed out of me once again. "I should have never-! You were-! And I-! I-! I'm sorry!" I couldn't even get a full sentence out as I apologized to her. I never thought I would get this chance, and now that it was here in front of me, I couldn't stop myself from doing anything other than apologize. Kirumi's death had been the hardest on me, being both the first death and one I was directly responsible for. I didn't even cry when we found her body, which only made me feel that much worse. So being given a chance to apologize to her face to face...it was like I was given a chance to fix one of the many mistakes I had made. A second chance. Kirumi just stared at me, still confused and seemingly oblivious as to why I was apologizing so profusely. However, despite that, she returned the hug and gave me a warm smile.
"It's alright. You've done nothing wrong. Whatever you are apologizing for, know I forgive you." She told me. I felt my eyes widened even more before I started crying even harder. I don't know if there really is a god out there, whether it's Atua or some other deity, but if there is, thank you. For the first time in what feels like a decade, I think I can have some real hope right now, at least just a little.
