We stood side by side and waited for the

Sun to rise.

Waiting for our earned prize,

Saving countless Mundane lives,

Hoping for a fate defied

Is that sacrifice I see? Behind the lies?

Behind your deep, dark, unwavering eyes?

Chapter 17: Schrödinger's Cat

Yuuko[I{You}] rejected the idea. She simply could not believe this was her last life. But the absence of marks on her hand was all the proof she needed. No more lives. But then she saw Clow, and peace settled into her[my{your}] heart. If he was safe, then she could die in peace. Besides a very special friend was waiting for her in heaven and…

"No, Yuuko!"

Clow was pleading like a child now, and she could not bear it no matter how serene she felt. Leaving him like this was not the right way to go. But still, it couldn't be helped. She was dying for real this time, and no one could save her now.

'I just want her to open her eyes one more time,' he thought. Tears poured down his face; two rivers of grief. He pressed forehead pressed against the hands he was holding.

Then there was darkness, followed by light. Yuuko's eyes fluttered gently several times. Sadly, when she awoke, her soul was not in Elysium.

Alive and dead. Yes, Clow had done it. He had somehow made her immortality permanent. As if seven lives resetting every three minutes wasn't enough.

"I'm dead, but still alive."

The Tenma Has Not Been Sung

天魔は歌われていません

...

Well the entire group's reaction to Chii's declaration was, as usual, mixed. Amber and Garrett were not surprised. She was the reason they had travelled to Japan in the first place. Minoru was speechless, as was his Persocoms. Hideki was both perplexed and slightly angry, of course, that she had never bothered to tell him before.

But then the entire situation became all too clear. More translucent than crystal.

Chii knew the location of the gate to Elysium. This made her a target for "The Game". However, since her knowledge was valuable, then physical harm was far off on the list of objectives for the contestants. This fact calmed Hideki down considerably, but the other was far too chilling to think about for long.

Amber on the other hand was the "key" to the gate. Her heart, more specifically, was the key. Prophecies in their sense of vague notions did not stipulate whether it had to be beating or not, so the other contestants in general had assumed the less preferable option. That is, to kill her and carve out her actual heart to use as a key.

In terms of witchcraft and other magic, this practice was not all that uncommon, in the case of small mammals and other animals that is. The only time a human heart would be used in such rituals would be in the case of very strong blood magic, which would often be used to summon large demons and other Eldritch Abominations.

The only way Amber hoped to survive would be if she had support. Even though there were 108 players initially, the only requirement to participate was that your name had to be written in the S-registry. In truth, this actually bumped up the number to 110 people. After all, Amber and her Assertor Famulus were already registered by default.

In fact, she hoped to win as soon as possible.

However, the only way that could happen was if all the other contestants either dropped out or were eliminated.

This was the only other rule aside from the obvious that the prophecy had spoken of:

"But who may enter the paradise, will be determined by skill. Many will arise to the challenge: those who are not afraid to fight, slaughter, and kill…"

Quit or kill. Kill or be killed: the only options that anyone really did have in such a dire situation. It was truly what someone could call a "death game".

And so that is why the two of the Americans came to this group of six kind people in seek of aide. That is why The Black Butterfly's reincarnation herself outreached her hands and pleaded for their support. Garrett even kneeled in front of Chii and Hideki, his eyes to the floor.

"I beg you two," he said quietly. "Even if you do not form a contract, will you allow us to protect you?"

"But why?" Hideki's hands pulled Chii closer to him even though she wanted to reach out to her 'younger brother' and hug him.

"For oujo-sama's sake." He raised his head to look at the fellow Chobit. "Chii is her very precious friend, and by extension, so is Chii's 'the one just for me'."

And then Hideki got it. Garrett's look was proof enough. They both were of the Chobits series, right? If what Ms. Hibiya had said was true…

"Of course, then!"

"But do you fully understand what you're getting into, everyone?" said Amber, measuring each person's reactions. "If I do execute contracts between you all," her eyes rested on Kotoko and Kojima for an unusually long moment before finally looking into Hideki's eyes with an intensity hot enough to melt steel. "The latent power within your souls will awaken, and there will be no going back."

"Supposing we do make contracts," said Kojima, "not just with a partner of our own, is there a way to add additional ones?"

"Explain."

"For example, if Kotoko and I were to do this 'Pactio' thing, and I became the Contracting Mage, then could I make another contract?"

"It depends. If you wanted another Assertor Famulus, it would depend on your amount of magical ability, which, you could steadily gain with time. You could probably add on a couple more, maybe three or four. However, if you wanted to become the Assertor Famulus of someone else, say, me…now, that can be accomplished only once. After all, isn't the proverb 'you cannot have two masters, for you shall love the one and loathe the other'?"

Logically it made sense. Kojima wondered if he and Kotoko could forego making a contract, but he realized with a sinking stomach that he had basically had handed over a young teenaged girl to be killed, so in a way he did owe her one. However, the thought of being killed himself also made him have the overwhelming urge to vomit.

The next thing everyone knew, he was on the floor, unconscious, being fret over by Kotoko in a stubbornly kind way.

...

In addition to their other duties, Minako made sure to keep tabs on the household that her suspects had retreated to. Tracking them down was the hard part. Observing them was another story. From the moment she arrived, Minako had the strange feeling that something was not right. Or, rather, that there was something odd about the place that the tracing spell—er, program, (a spell-program?) had traced the subjects to. What she initially noticed was that they both were nowhere in sight. The second thing that surprised her was…that the two girls from the other night were there. It had been this fact that she pointed out to Junji when they rendezvoused at the Kokubunji residence.

"What do you think, Junji?" She turned a fraction to the left, where her husband was still staring at the Kokubunji household with a very focused set of eyes.

"It's too early to ask that," he answered, trying to recall why those girls looked so familiar, especially Chii.

"Really now?" Why he was being cautious, she could understand, but he usually didn't wait this long.

"Their files were sealed so we know nearly nothing about them aside from that incident." The young professor shrugged and pressed his lips into a hard line. "It's too early to tell."

"What do you propose we do then?" said Minako, an almost impatient huff in her voice.

With a sideways glance at the reader then the Kokubunji residence, Junji cleared his throat. "Well, what would you suggest, dear?" He had been wondering how she proposed to confront the two sources of the other night's disturbance.

With the most serious voice she could generate, Minako addressed the only logical option in her eyes. "Knocking on the front door."

"Seriously?" Unsurprisingly, Junji was taken aback for the Nth time since he met Minako.

"Of course. Who knows what could happen if we respond with aggression?"

Junji had a splendid picture of himself being dismembered. "Good idea."

The right to use my friend as a weapon—

that is the sinful crown I shall adorn.

I accept this 'guilt.'