[ Garden of Time / September 22, 0078 09:45 ]


"What the hell were you thinking, Fate?!"

Shari was angry at her, but Fate felt there was more to this anger than mere safety concerns.

"Now the Bureau can pin everything the Cradle has done on you! We still had a chance of going back and now you just go and condemn yourself!"

"Shari…"

Shari fell silent, staring at her. There was something in her stare that Fate didn't expect to see. She almost figured it out.

"It's that woman, wasn't it? Why are you protecting her?"

"I do not know what…" Fate's face went blank.

"Oh, but I do! She is your enemy, Fate, get over it! She wants to kill Vivio! She will manipulate your feelings to weaken you and then she will kill you, too, because you are in her way! And you still run like a puppy to meet her?!"

"Shari, stop it! What were you thinking, spying on me like this?"

"Spying on you? For God's sake, Fate, you were broadcasting your confessions on an open channel for the whole world to hear! I am so sick of it. No matter how hard I try to keep you going, all I get back are baseless accusations! Fine then, go back and wallow in your precious despair, sitting in your precious throne, re-watching your precious memories!"

Shari glare's felt like a slap across Fate's face.

"You know what, Fate? You win! I quit. I'm going to go to the Bureau and surrender. Oh, I won't tell them of this place, so carry on destroying yourself, by all means. From now on, deal with your own crap! I don't care about what happens to you anymore!"

She ran out, leaving Fate trembling with both anger and shame. In the ever-present silence of the Garden, Fate could hear the transporter activation. Shari was gone.

Eventually, she managed to stand up and walk towards Shari's computer. It was unlocked. The monitor displayed the image of the Kaiserkrone she found earlier, now dotted with red marks. A text file was opened next to it, its contents reading simply "Historical Museum, Vaizen".