/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>46498150
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The question leaves me involuntarily, hands on Sekai's shoulders tightening as muscles tremble: “Why…? W-Why'd you do that?! You said you could do anything, and now y-you…” Lady Patchouli to my side remains silent, thinking, even when Sekai looks directly into my eyes; a shine in there that courses together with the strands of Ki beneath her veins. Because she has it now.

She has Ki.

Sekai is alive.

… It was like watching my child be born.

And she's just admitted to knitting her own death with the threads of fate.

“I want to strip myself of all that the Hakurei Shrine Experience represents before opening my eyes to your world, mothers.” The words are simple yet cleave deeply. They shouldn't. I've known her for so little; most of it was during that war. Yet recalling those words, the hug—the things she said just now—and understanding the lengths her suffering reaches… I cannot not care. “I'll die and together with me will the accumulated faith; suffering; pain—Father will not need to see in me his hell, nor True Mother her greatest mistakes… Just now they saw me not for this,” she opens her arms again, a gesture that carries not an ounce of the rage it did moments ago. “… But for this.” She blushes as, lightly, her hands fall on top of her heart. “I don't want it to change—to mean anything but myself. I want their love and to be free.”

My chest deflates with the reasoning, biting my lower lip. Why is a child making such decisions?! Not for a search for power, amusement—death, merely to not sadden her family.

It shouldn't be like this! It shouldn't—

—the palm of a tiny hand takes hold of my wrist. I look into Sekai's eyes and her next words break my heart: “That's the way it is, Mother Meiling.” Words are about to come out, full of passion and heart… But they do not; iron is back to those eyes of nebulas. “I wouldn't choose this path if I didn't trust you two to save me.” Just like that, I am disarmed.

A little girl in a cage, and I can't do anything but let she commit suicide…

“… What do you need us to do?” Lady Patchouli asks, her eyes bearing a calmness only she could achieve in such a tragic situation.

“The building will be destroyed and, within seconds, will be my soul. Mother Remilia's power doesn't say when things will happen, only that they will.” She moves her free hand and a grimoire springs from the blue hue of the world; thousands of words written as pages rapidly flew. Two seconds later, Lady Patchouli held a whole odyssey in her arms. “That's the spell I used to bind your souls to the barrier. It'll take care of my soul,” she turns towards me. “You'll have to pass my Ki and my powers to that ghostly form, Mother Meiling… which means conducting all that—” she points to the towering Yggdrasil piercing the umbral skies; my heart sinks. “—through your body to make mine. You two need to coordinate perfectly within seconds without notice, otherwise I'll die.” There's no fear in her voice; no haunted expectations.

Only sheer trust that we, her mothers, will be able to pull it off.

A goddess of ultimate power that can and would reshape the world if she'd let bitterness define her…

… A sweet girl in need of help.

And I am fucking here.

My grip tightens and though Sekai tries, it's impossible to hide the cosmic shine behind her nebulas. “We will save you.”

She pauses, then gingerly looks towards Lady Patchouli, her eyes broad as she skims through thousands of pages of one singular spell.

An entire magician's life and more could be written there.

Lady Patchouli nods with no hesitation.

Sekai's body tenses like a rod; she then brings an arm up, swiftly rubbing it against her welling eyes… “This is an u-ultimate deal! You'll save me! I'll h-have a good life with my family… But, heh, to officialize this ultimate deal, unlike Other Father, who uses handshakes… I take hugs!” I blink, not understanding half of what she said.

Her arms softly circled my back, but it was not like I needed an excuse to squish her into a tight hug. Sekai’s Ki sings, flowing with power and heart, signs of true life that steel my determination like a forge of giants. Failure from now on is unacceptable!

This girl will live, or my name is not Hong Meiling!

She slowly releases the hug, turning to Lady Patchouli—the odyssey disappearing inside one of her storage sigils—and not wasting a second before rushing the magician and hugging her so fiercely Lady Patchouli almost stumbled down!

I cannot resist busting into a hearty laughter. Lady Patchouli pouts, pauses for a moment… Then softly pats Sekai on the head, accepting the hug elegantly.

“T-Thanks for everything…” That done, Sekai takes a few steps back after ending the hug, her smile shining like diamonds—as suddenly were mine and Lady Patchouli's bodies. W-Wow! Wait—Sekai! “We'll m-meet again! Mama Patchy, Mama Meiling, I love you!”

The last thing I saw before being blinded was Sekai openly crying and energetically waving her arms.

Then, darkness.