A humungous werewolf-like creature with purple fur strafed in the crimson sky as it avoided a stream of silver fire. Having avoided the metallic blaze, the beast opened its maw and let out a blast of purple fire at its attacker.
The knight, clad fully in silver plate armor, continued to climb the sky at a rapid pace, undeterred by the flames pouring right over its helmet. With an inhuman silence, it reached out with its heavy gauntlet in an attempt to crush the beast's vitals. As the gap closed between the two, the wolf intensified its flames, completely engulfing the visor of the knight with bright purple, before narrowly dodging to the side as the knight continued to sail skyward. As it left its back left open to attack, the beast began to chant.
"Mightier than the lance,
Braver than the sword,
Pen of mine unbreakable will,
Become my word!"
A spell circle appeared before the beast's extended paws, and from it emerged a spiral of concentrated energy glowing bright purple; and like a massive arrow bearing an incarnation of utter ruin, it flew straight towards its target, leaving a long trail of purple light.
The arrow scored a direct hit on the back of the fully armoured torso, yet it did not even flinch, let alone suffer a scratch. Without emanating any feeling of anger, pity, or even relief, it halted in the air and turned around. Raising its hand, it began to gather energy into a single point.
"Here it comes!" the Chanter of Elegies predicted as she gritted her teeth in anticipation from within her bestial hide.
Following the hurling motion of the silver knight, dozens of silver fireballs scattered in her general direction. She avoided them by flying higher, diving lower, weaving sideways—and generally abusing all three of the world's dimensions as best as she could, all while closing in on her target gradually.
As the knight unleashed a second volley, Marchosias offered very simple advice: "Don't let any of them so much as graze you, or it's over."
"I know Marco," Margery said with a focused and serious tone. She grunted as she strained to shift her position against her current momentum, and twisted her armor of hide in an unnatural way. While she had barely avoided one cluster of fireballs, another flaming silver missile was already speeding her way.
Immediately, she bailed out of her armor, sacrificing the unnecessary bulk, and dove straight downwards to avoid the attack. As she twisted upright in her freefall and mounted Marchosias, the silver knight raised its hand again, this time forming a gigantic sphere of metallic fire—enough to flatten all of the three surrounding blocks below her.
"Tch!" Margery clicked her tongue as her mind quickly began scrolling through her list of counter-spells.
"Expand, expand,
Like the never youthful sun,
Every king's reign be done!"
Completing her verse, she flicked her middle and index finger forward and shot a string of arcane symbols into the colossal orb. In the moment that the knight decided to hurl the silver bomb, its once-stable form suddenly began to ripple, and at the precise second it left its hand, it exploded prematurely, blasting the silver knight with its own energy.
"If its own power won't put a dent in that stupid Silver, I don't know what will," Margery said, signs of exhaustion all over her face.
Almost as if on cue, the knight emerged from the dissipating silver nova unscathed and charged right at the Chanter of Elegies yet again, this time throwing its arms forward and unleashing yet another deluge of silver fire upon its enemy.
"Crap!" Margery exclaimed as she quickly called up a barrier to deflect whatever fireballs she couldn't dodge. It did not matter, however, as the silver knight soon closed in on her, broke through her shield like a hammer through the most brittle of glass, and caught her in its great arms.
"No, no, no, no, NOOOOOOO!" the blonde woman screamed as the visor of the knight lifted up, revealing a bubbling silver fire within that soon spilled all over her.
A dejected Margery Daw sat atop the home she shared with a certain young male, facing towards the half-risen sun on the horizon. Her clothes were completely undamaged and no wounds or burns tainted her fair skin—the most damage she had actually sustained in the duel being little more than losing her hair tie and glasses from the heavy amount of acrobatic aerial stunts she had to pull off. As her long blonde hair fluttered in the wind, she spoke to her contractor.
"Marco, what the hell was that? I know it's just a simulation, but did you have to make the training dummy that overpowered? And did you really just have it finish me off with our own move?"
"When you say 'overpowered', I hope you're putting it lightly. This illusion of the Silver is based off the accumulated unrefined strength and skill of the toughest enemies and allies we've met from at least a hundred years up to now multiplied by ten—the closest thing we can practice against according to the data we have from Bal Masque. If we actually beat it before reaching twenty losses, I wouldn't be doing my job right."
Margery considered her partner's assessment. "You're right. Against a monster like that, if we plan on coming back, we have to push our own strength beyond the pinnacle of the strongest Flame Haze." As she said that, her mind flashed back to her duel with the Flaming-Haired Blazing-Eyed Hunter. Even with the large gap in experience and skills, the flightless girl with flaming red hair had beaten her with little more than glorified swordplay. Compared to such potential, the goal she had set seemed so far off.
Marchosias let out a little knowing laugh. "Coming back huh?"
Margery silently tossed the Grimoire over her shoulder, her cheeks slightly pink. "Stupid Marco."
Her gaze turned to the existence beneath the roof she rested on.
"Nnnng."
That same Saturday morning, a groggy Keisaku Satou was forced to rise from his slumber in order to answer the incessant ringing of his cellphone.
Beep. "What is it?"
"Ah, S-Satou, so uh, y-you are coming today, right?"
"Ogata?" the boy said drowsily as he glanced at his alarm clock. 8:30 am, Saturday. "You have any idea how early it is? Wait, what the hell are you talki—?"
"We'll be right over! Hope you're wearing something pretty~."
"M-M-M-Margery-san?!" "Margery-san?!" Ogata and Keisaku exclaimed in tandem the moment the voluptuous blonde reached over from behind the boy's shoulder and spoke into the phone's receiver.
The face of the Chanter of Elegies was flushed red, and her breath stunk of booze. As soon as she had made her sudden intrusion to their conversation, she hung up and grabbed Keisaku by the collar before dragging him straight towards the showers.
"M-Margery-san?! What are you doing? What the hell is going on?" Keisaku asked her, now fully awake and in a panic, but completely unable to resist her strength.
"You and I are going on a date, whether you like it or not!"
His face exploded in full redness. "Have you gone completely bonkers?!" He sniffed the air and finally noticed it. "Wait, have you been drinking this early in the morning already?"
"If she didn't, she'd never bring herself to go!" the Grimoire resting on his windowsill guffawed after him in explanation as he watched the young man hauled out of sight.
Episode 7: All the Same Creature
"Geez, why didn't you tell me beforehand?" Keisaku grumbled as he trudged alongside Margery, just behind Eita and Ogata.
"Would you still have come if we told you?"
"Of course, they're both my childhood friends," Keisaku said honestly. "If they finally managed to hook up, I'd be glad."
Margery smirked as she put an arm around the boy's shoulders, her breath a little fresher than earlier that morning, but still with a faint lingering scent of booze. "You're surprisingly sensitive sometimes," she told him.
"I could say the same for you," Keisaku told her with the same expression. "And here I thought you'd still be sulking about Shana beating you."
"Ha! As if I'd let a flat brat like her get the better of me for long!" Margery said proudly.
Ahead of them, Eita took a glance over his shoulder before speaking to the girl walking abreast of him.
"So, why'd you invite them along, not that I really mind?"
'Moral support' is what first came to the girl's mind, but what actually came out was something a little different. "You said so yourself, Satou's started to take life more seriously since she came around right?"
"Yeah."
"And she's finally found a place she could call home with him, right?"
"Uh huh."
"Yet in spite of that, neither of them would admit there's something going on between them, when everyone can already see it, even Heca-tan."
"Wait, you aren't thinking of hooking them up are you?"
"Well, I don't think it'd happen that quickly, but it wouldn't be so bad if they got to have some fun together."
"I guess not."
"Besides, didn't Satou always have a thing for older women?" Ogata said with a wink.
"Really?" Margery said to the boy mentioned in a low voice. Apparently, neither of the two conversers before them was aware that they could just barely be heard by those behind them.
Keisaku turned his head the other way. "Th-that was a just joke I made when we were kids," he with an unconvincing tone.
On that same day, a certain Mystes walked the streets with the Priestess' arm wrapped around his. While the latter showed as little emotion as usual, it was apparent to the former that she was quite excited and cheerful that day, as her eyes were slightly wider than usual and were taking in all the sights they observed, regardless of whether they had already been witnessed before or not.
And then they paused by a store window displaying multiple stuffed animals: bears, rabbits, pigs, dogs, cats, all manner of creatures in different shapes and colors. While all of them were cute and appealing, one plushie in the corner held the Supreme Throne's gaze. It was a tiny-eyed large sheep covered in pink cotton-candy-like wool.
The same captivated eyes of the girl turned to meet those of the boy. She said nothing, and her face remained passive, but he could see plain as day that her eyes were definitely sparkling; she was practically pleading to him to let her buy the adorable little stuffed animal. There was absolutely no way he could refuse to such a face.
Meanwhile, two young girls passed the time in a bookstore, accompanied by a bespectacled male classmate of theirs. The latter of the three took to stand reading a collection of tanka poems compiled into a single pocketbook bound with green covers.
"The seagull / wonder if she is sad / left alone without being touched / by the blue of the sky / or the blue of the sea," he read aloud after flipping to a page at random. "Hrmm, wonder what it means."
He put the book away and rejoined one of his other companions.
"Thanks for inviting me along, Yoshida-san," the boy said to the girl browsing a shelf full of romance novellas.
"Think nothing of it, Ike-kun" Kazumi replied cheerfully.
"Yuji and everyone else was busy anyway," Shana told him bluntly as she rejoined them with a few books of her own in hand. At the implications of unwitting words, Ike felt like a small knife had just stabbed him in the chest.
"R-right," Ike said aloud. "So, what have you got there anyway, Shana-chan?"
The long haired girl glanced at the handful of books in her arms. "They're all books I used to read until they were lost to me."
"Oh? I never thought you'd be into this kind of stuff," Ike told her as he looked at the titles more closely. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Labors of Hercules, Journey to the West, the Iliad..." All of them appeared to be books about brave heroes, gallant warriors, and knights of chivalry. "Have you ever considered the Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones?"
"I was thinking about it, are they any good?"
"Definitely, there's a reason they have awards."
"Not everything with an award is actually good, you know?"
Kazumi watched the two from the corner of her eye, smiling to herself at the thought of how she had begun to open up to her friends ever since her arrival around three weeks ago. Sure, she still hid how she really felt about some things behind a wall of pride and stubbornness, but that was just part of her nature.
"Hey Shana-chan," Kazumi beckoned to her. "Which of these would you recommend?" she asked as she pointed at the bookshelf before her.
The Flame Haze came over, scanning the array of books lining the shelf. "These are all romance titles."
"Yes, they are. But there's just so many of them, and I don't know what to pick."
"I've never touched the genre," Shana admitted, but noticed one of the names higher up the rack. On tiptoes, she reached up and picked it off. "But I've seen Wilhelmina and Sophie read this one a few times."
"Persuasion by Jane Austen," Kazumi read the cover aloud as she took it from her. "I'll take your word for it. Thanks, Shana-chan," she said with a smile.
The Flame Haze blinked and turned away. "I-I didn't get it for you, okay? I just got it unconsciously because I wanted to make sure of the title."
Kazumi giggled and Ike shook his head with a smirk.
Yep, she isn't honest at all, the former thought to herself.
Holding a pink stuffed sheep in both her arms, Hecate trotted next to Yuji as they continued on their date. As they walked, the Priestess couldn't help but rub her face against the soft wool of the toy.
And then the two happened to pass by a pet shop. This time, the window displayed several living and breathing cats, dogs, hamsters, and birds, Hecate's personal favourite. A pleasant shiver ran up her body when a few of them took notice of her.
Yuji felt a soft but eager tug at his sleeve abruptly as the Priestess stayed rooted before the display and kept her eyes locked onto the sweet little creatures.
The group of four, led by Ogata, ran a couple of blocks before slowing down in one of the city's back roads. When they finally stopped to catch their breath—save for Margery who possessed peak physical condition—Keisaku turned to the Chanter of Elegies.
"What the hell made you think it was a good idea to flip off the owner of that mall, then kick him in the nuts, with heeled shoes?!"
"The perv was looking at Matake funny," Margery replied with a frown, then she addressed Eita. "How can you call yourself her boyfriend if you won't do at least that?"
"I-I'm not-," Eita was about to deny it, when he realized his proximity to Ogata herself. "I-I mean, you wouldn't do something that crazy either, right Satou?"
"Why the hell are you directing that at me now?!"
"Of course he would! That is, if Keisaku is a real man."
"A real man wouldn't put his loved ones in danger in the process! And how are you still drunk?!"
"I haven't been keeping a flask on me if that's what you've been thinking."
"Give it."
"No way! You just want it all for yourself!"
"I don't want your stinking booze!"
As the three continued to bicker, Ogata noticed that they had stopped just in front of a popular arcade. Hoping to rescue their outing, she turned to the other three.
"Hey guys, forget that stuff, let's go have some fun in here," she said with an eager grin.
Keisaku blinked as he was the first to cease arguing. "Oh, this place, it's been a while since we've played here."
"You ever done anything like this, Margery-san?" Ogata asked as the four entered the building.
"We didn't have them where I grew up," the Chanter of Elegies answered honestly. "But how hard could it be?"
No less than five minutes later, Margery had already spent at least seven tokens on the same crane game. Her hand was tense as her eyes were fixed on the claw and her prize behind the glass. She grinned with excitement as a bat plushie was finally lifted up gently... only to drop back into the pile just a second before it could reach the hole in the corner.
"Arrrrrgh!" the Flame Haze growled in frustration as she kicked the base of the machine. "This thing's cheating me, I just know it!"
Keisaku put a hand on her shoulder. "Right, right, how about we try something different now. We're obviously not getting anything from that anytime soon," he said.
Margery produced another shining coin from her pocket. "No, just one more try," she said. "I refuse to lose to this piece of junk."
Keisaku swiftly snatched the coin from her hand with a deadpan expression. "These things aren't unlimited you know? And there's a lot of things we can do around here," he told her as he glanced around. Off to the side, Ogata and Eita were shooting hoops in a basketball-themed machine, with the girl leading by at least ten points. "How about that one?" he said as he pointed to a light gun game cabinet. "At least with that one it'll all boil down to your own skill and reflexes. And if we have tokens to spare by the end, maybe we can try again on the crane game?"
Margery took a moment to think, and conceded. "Sure, it's been a few decades since I last used anything like a gun."
Soon, Keisaku ended up with just as much tokens as Margery, who still survived on her initial credit. With superhuman speed, accuracy, and perception, the Flame Haze's character was never struck once, and she never missed a target.
Bang! Bang! Bang! BOOM! Bang!
Unaware that the blonde, attractive woman was drawing a small crowd, not only because of how out of place she looked, but also because of her uncanny skill, the two continued to play, with the boy desperately struggling to keep up with his partner.
After using up at least ten tokens and clearing the game, Keisaku sighed as he holstered his plastic gun and turned over to Margery's screen.
5,340,862 points.
Margery shot the three letters right by her score, spelling "DAW" and leaving her unreachable mark in the game's record. By this time, the spectators dispersed in speechless disbelief.
"Damn, where'd you learn to shoot like that?"
"The Flame Haze Civil War back during the Old West," Margery answered. "This was cakewalk compared to those antique six shooters we had to deal with as backup weapons."
"Flame Haze Civil War?" Keisaku repeated.
Margery turned her eyes to the boy now, and smiled softly. "I'll tell you about it some other time," she promised him.
Keisaku stared at her for a while, then smiled. "I'll hold you to that," he said.
"Oi, Satou, let's check out that game over there," Ogata said as she approached them with her date. She directed their attention the new arrival of the arcade, a machine large enough to fit a virtual rollercoaster, but was shaped like the torso of a giant robot cat.
Keisaku read the text of the poster next to it. "Nyaboron: Attack on Ein."
"Whoever did this must be a world-class artist," Margery noted as she observed the poster itself.
"I heard the prototype of this was made for a mass school audience," Eita said.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's try it out," Ogata urged.
Still with the pink sheep in her arms, Hecate stood behind Yuji as he stood before the doors of a CD store. It wasn't the same one he had been in just before he had discovered the truth of the world, but it reminded him of a life of normalcy long gone nonetheless, and besides that, it also reminded him of his vanished friend.
Sensing the boy's hesitation, the girl pinched his sleeve softly, and he turned back to her with a grateful smile. They entered the store together, where each of them wordlessly picked up a music CD to share with one another.
Reuniting at one of the sample headphones, they showed each other the case of the CD they had selected: one was a pop album by the famous idol Ruka Suirenji while the other was a collection of classical masterpieces performed by modern day musicians, but mostly by one named Megumi "Nodame" Noda.
Shana, Kazumi, and Ike sat on a bench as they ate the same hand-held lunch: juicy pita-wrapped beef shawarma.
"It's a bit spicy," Ike noted after taking a bite.
"Yeah, it's really yummy," Kazumi praised the dish. Beside her, Shana made a small nod in agreement.
"I actually just found out from Shana-chan that a friend of mine was Arabian, so I got a little curious about what their food was like," Kazumi admitted.
"An Arabian friend?"
"Yeah, he's really nice. If only you could meet him," Kazumi said innocently.
And if only you could learn about the sacrifices people like Khamsin-kun, Hecate-chan and Shana-chan have to go through for the people they care about, she thought to herself, revealing a somewhat complicated expression for a brief moment. And seeing Ike-kun like this reminds me of how ignorance is bliss, without any of the guilt or fear I had to go through.
"But I don't regret it one bit," she muttered to herself as she took a small bite of her shawarma.
During that same hour, Yuji and Hecate sat at a table for two by the window of an Italian restaurant called the Festa Regalo, with Hecate paying, being far wealthier than the Mystes.
The secrets of the restaurant's recipes had been passed from generation to generation, from Italy to around the globe, and even today the dishes were still handmade by trusted chefs. Besides the typical Italian pizza and pasta, they were also known for their delicious lemon pies.
Both the Priestess and the Mystes couldn't help but notice the Tarot motifs decorating the place, with the Lovers card being the most prominent. But once their disk of cheese, meat, onions and mushrooms arrived to their table, they set aside their curiosity and began to dig in.
Having taken a big, excited bite, Hecate let a little tomato sauce and cheese stick to her cheek. The boy across her smiled from how adorable she looked, and paused in his feasting to wipe the girl's face with a paper napkin. The result was they both ended up getting a little red faced anyway.
Elsewhere, three native teenagers and a buxom blonde sat around a table slurping at their ramen bowls.
"Phaaaa! That hits the spot," Ogata said happily as she wiped her lips. "Definitely what we needed after all that yelling."
"Meatball Beeeeeeeam!" Keisaku re-enacted the final part of the game solo, with his arms forward.
"I guess that's why the whole inside was soundproofed," Margery said before sipping from the one cup of beer Keisaku would allow her. Hanging from the strap of the Grimoire she carried everywhere with her was a stuffed bat doll.
"I still can't believe you somehow managed to get that for her Satou," Eita told his best friend.
"Yeah, I got lucky with that last token I had," Keisaku admitted sincerely with a shrug.
Margery pouted a bit. "I still wanted to beat it myself you know," she told him with just as much honesty, before turning her face away. "But thanks all the same."
Keisaku's face reddened a little, but his following words and what he actually thought were far apart. "I just didn't want those tokens to go to waste."
"Ohh! Is this the fabled male tsundere?" Eita said with a fake gasp.
Ogata played along. "A rare specimen indeed."
Keisaku pounded the table in embarrassment. "Who's a tsundere?!"
It was Margery who started laughing, and the other three followed suit loudly.
Yuji and Hecate halted once more, this time before a trinket dispenser filled with egg-like capsules. The Priestess turned to Yuji, but before even making eye contact, the Mystes was already taking out a coin to deposit into the slot.
The Priestess turned the dial with curious eyes, and one of the capsules slid into the floor beneath it. Popping open the metal flap, she took the container and twisted it open with dainty hands.
Inside, she found a cute green frog mascot, widely known as Gekotan. The Crimson Lord smiled a little as she sealed it once again and placed it into her purse.
The Flaming-Haired Blazing-Eyed Hunter gasped as she saw a woman with long red hair like her own when in battle mode, although adorned with a black band around the forehead, but that was not the feature which struck her. The lady wore a long dark cape, one that wouldn't look out of place on a sorceress. Her clothes were relatively normal: a red and yellow top and tight, form-fitting brown pants, but she also wore several round gems, straps, and even a broadsword hung at her side.
Shana's mind raced as she put up her guard. Is she a Denizen? But i didn't even sense her. She's headed right this way! Are they finally trying to take me down when they think I won't notice? I can definitely strike faster, but I'd still have to put up a Fuzetsu. Alright, it's now or never.
"Oh! It's a cosplayer," Ike said with delight just before Shana could act. "I remember her from this anime that came out in the ninties."
Shana dropped her guard in puzzlement. "Cosplayer?"
"Basically, a person who likes to play dress up as characters they seen on shows, anime, games, etcetera," Ike explained in brief. "Speaking of which, the culture festival is coming up soon, right Yoshida-san?"
"Yes," the girl next to Shana affirmed. "Are you looking forward to it?"
"Of course! When else would we have an excuse to dress up and have fun?"
"That sounds pointless," Shana said without remorse.
Kazumi eyed her female companion with mischief in her eyes and giggled a little. She was apparently unaware that not only would participation be mandatory, they would be nominated without any choice in the matter anyway. Shana seemed like a cute enough girl to work well with any costume anyway.
As the Mystes of the Reiji Maigo and the Priestess accompanying him passed by a mall, Hecate caught sight of a pretty light green dress with frilly trimmings on a poster behind glass. Upon closer inspection, the name of the young woman modelling for the photograph signed her name in the corner as Ami Kawashima.
The Mystes gulped as the Priestess with twinkling excitement in her eyes on a straight face dragged him into the mall. A place with so much stuff that could attract Hecate's interest meant more things to carry, and he prepared himself to be turned from date to pack mule.
"Hey Tanaka."
"Yeah?"
"How long have they been in there?"
"Powdering their noses?"
"And God knows what else."
Eita looked at the watch on his wrist. "Ten minutes."
Keisaku sighed as he leaned against the wall, glaring at the door of the women's restroom.
"You know dude, you're lucky," he said suddenly.
"Huh?"
"I mean, look, I'll be blunt: you have a nice girl right there within your reach—and not just any nice girl, it's our childhood friend who always cleaned up after us until now—and it's plain as day that she seriously likes you more than as just a friend."
"Come on, you're exaggerating."
"Am I? Haven't you noticed how differently she treats you and me? Her attention was always on you, even today."
"I-I still don't think..."
"That aside, aren't you in love with her too?"
Eita's face went deep red at that. "H-how'd-?"
Keisaku smiles softly with his hands in his pockets. "Tanaka, we've been friends for so long, I'd be blind if I didn't notice."
He paused, then began to narrate. "Ogata told me about what happened during the Misago Festival, when we had just resolved that whole crisis. In her version, she blacked out somehow while you two were talking, and by the time she woke up, she was cradled in your arms like a slumbering princess."
"It wasn't anything that elegant."
"Her words, not mine. Point is, she was very happy you were there to catch her. Had it been me or anyone else, like Sakai, her foot would meet face in no time, because she gets flustered like that. But I bet she was comfy right with you. As for you, it's one thing to run for safety, but it's another thing to bring someone along with you, even if you know she'd be fine anyway."
"So, what's the story between you and the two boys anyway?" Margery asked the girl seated in the stall behind her as she washed her hands.
"Oh, they've probably already told you that we've been friends for a long time," Ogata said aloud. "Thing was, they were natural born troublemakers, but at the time, I had a hard time making friends with the other girls my age. Something about them being too soft or having less energy, but that's beside the point. They let me join their games when no one else would, so I'm really grateful for them. And now, even after I've made a ton of other friends, I still can't let them go. Actually, I think I still have the most fun with them."
"You had a fortunate childhood," the Flame Haze said before freshly applying her blood red lipstick.
"What was yours like?"
"Me? I didn't have one," Margery said as she put away her cosmetics. "Ever since I was little, I was used as a political tool, a servant girl not unlike Cinderella... and something even worse."
"O-Oh... I'm so sorry Margery-san," Ogata apologized as she bowed her head.
"Don't be, you weren't any of the assholes in my story."
"I know about my own feelings, alright Satou," Tanaka sighed. "And even if what you said about her is true, I'm worried that our friendship might change."
Keisaku chuckled lightly. "With her? I doubt much would. She'd still be the same old awkward girl we knew, just much, much sweeter towards you. Come on, the girl you love is right there within your reach, and yet you're still hesitating to reach out to her."
"Easy for you to say, you've always been the boldest of the three of us."
"That's only because I never had anything to gain or lose," Keisaku shrugged, and for a moment, there was a silence between them, before he spoke again.
"You're lucky, you know that, Tanaka?"
"What?"
"You and Ogata... it's really a lot more possible than you think, but..."
"Is it about Margery-nee-san?"
"Yeah. Things changed when Margery-san came, you know. Until she arrived, I'd always get us into trouble just for shits and giggles, but now, her just being here makes me feel like I have some purpose, you know. I want to take care of her, I want to protect her... and as much as I want to help her get her revenge, I want her to forget about the Silver, now more than ever, after I've heard what it can really do from Marco-san while she was passed out."
"Ogata was right from the start about you," Eita said; it was his turn to make a brotherly grin now. "The moment she saw the two of you together, she told me."
"Yeah, I know, she doesn't exactly have the softest of voices."
"Then why have you been pretending like you don't even care about her?"
His friend looked at him straight in the eye.
"So, why Eita?" Margery asked when the human girl came out and joined her at the sink.
"Hueh?"
"Come on, Keisaku and I already know the real reason we're here," Margery coaxed as she put her hands on her hips.
"Ah, well, it's not really so complicated," Ogata said as her cheeks flushed. "He's just, always been more sensitive to my needs. Satou's always been our leader, driving us to do what we do to get our fun, and avoid trouble, and he's always protected the two of us in his own way. But he's always been one to look at the adventure more than the companions he shares them with. Don't get me wrong, it's fun having those adventures, but he's always been so reckless about it, like he's running away from something."
"But he's started to change, you know," Ogata continued. "Ever since you came along, I've never seen him more happy. Even when he's been stuck at home together with you, he seems to be enjoying himself in his own way. I guess what I'm trying to say is, you might be his adventure now."
"I've been acting like that because I already know there's no way it can happen. Two reasons: the first, is that she probably doesn't see me as anything more than something like a kid brother, like with you," Keisaku told his best friend. "You remember what she said, right? She's hundreds of years old, and far, far more mature than anyone here. What could she possibly want from a kid like me?"
Eita tried to respond, but found that he had not the wisdom to say anything against his friend's argument.
"And second, there was a boy in her past, a Flame Haze named Yuri Chvojka. I'm still not certain about how Margery-san felt about him, but I know he cared about her, he sacrificed his life to try and save her. As long as Margery-san has that memory, she'd never let anyone follow her into her dangerous life."
"Satou..."
"I'm his new adventure?" Margery chuckled in mild disbelief. "I know what you're thinking. You think he's in love with me, don't you? Well, I'll tell you right now, there's no way. What you saw before, he probably would have done the same for anyone who would have pulled him into their quest—and not the other way around, I just happened to be the one to do it. No, he's not in love with me, he just wants to have some excitement in his life."
The Flame Haze led the way out, the girl behind her speechless.
"And besides, the life I live is too dangerous for him anyway," she said.
The Mystes of the Reiji Maigo struggled to keep up with the Supreme Throne on her mad shopping spree. As he was weighed down by several paper bags of clothes, a game console box, a few toys, and the pink stuffed sheep, an amusing thought came to mind.
Even after Synchronizing with the girl and experiencing all of her memories and feelings, she still did a great many things that baffled him, and it drove him to learn more about her. Smiling at the thought, he found new strength to carry her load and pick up his pace.
The Priestess stopped in front of another store, no longer to the surprise of the Mystes, or at least, it should not have been, but she had just so happened to take interest in a store full of wedding dresses. He began to sweat bullets.
The Supreme Throne looked back at the boy with those same curious and earnest eyes she had been carrying the whole day, but this time it was accompanied by a smile. As soon as he saw her face, the Mystes felt his heart ease, and he smiled back.
Almost immediately, the Priestess entered to store to fit some of the gowns.
"Thanks again for coming along," Ogata said as she and her three companions stood at a crossroads.
"Don't mention it," Margery said in response. "It was fun, and I needed a stress reliever anyway."
"See you guys later," Keisaku said in farewell.
"Yeah, take care, you two," said Eita.
And so, the two couples who were still anything but couples parted on the pedestrians' bridge as the sun began to fall.
"I think that went well," Ogata told the boy beside her.
"Maybe," Eita admitted. "But I think they're the ones who need some real help."
"Huh?"
"So, what do you think?" Keisaku asked the woman walking next to him.
"I think Eita has to man up and make the first move since it's obvious that Matake's too shy to go all the way," Margery said. "Just organizing this must have taken some courage."
"Ogata's plenty brave, I just hope some of that eventually gets passed onto Tanaka. But otherwise, I think it's just a matter of time."
"Aren't we optimistic," Margery said with a grin and gave him a little playful shove.
"In the crapsack world we live in, someone has to be, right," Keisaku said, grinning back.