(24.5) The 7th Crown

The clouds were eaten by the black hole as it built up into the sky. However, not just the clouds are gone.

All of the magical power that made up the massive spell, the ambient mana in the atmosphere, the clouds, the rain, and every bit of magic within every corpse, rubble and Vira as well.

Without its summoner, the gashadokuro had also vanished, leaving behind a gargantuan amount of magical energy to be consumed.

So much power vanished in an instant. Which means that the moment time resumes, a massive vacuum of negative space will immediately be rushed by positive mana from all over. A clash Aki remembers all too well will cause a massive explosion.

Perhaps Vira had a plan to quell the destruction but the sudden time stop somehow interfered, which means, Aki has one chance to do something or she'll be the first to die.

Time resumes and Aki begins to fall.

She instantly tears her shirt off and uses it as a pseudo-wand whip. Her mana surges, engulfing the tiny ball following her wild swing.

"Heca-prism!" Aki recites the new spell.

Her magic forms a thick shell around the ball, forming a bowl around it and a funnel skyward not a moment too soon.

Negative is filled by positive and the reaction is instantaneous.

The tiny ball explodes, illuminating the dark, stormy night as if a sun had just been dropped. The explosive force follows the funnel into the night sky in one thick beam.

Whatever clouds had remained in the immediate area are blown away, though the night sky still is hidden by the light.

Aki's retina's burn and she closes her eyes but it helps little. It is too bright.

Even behind the thick spell, a destructive shockwave sends her crashing into Dent but still, Aki keeps up the spell even as she feels her shirt disintegrate in her grasp.

Dent cries out, unable to gather enough wind to stop the pair of them from hitting the rubble below.

Mirra's strong arms catch the two and wrap them in a tight embrace. Seconds later, Mirra lands with a creak and grunt. At the same time, the explosion's blinding light finally clears and Aki drops the spell with a sigh.

"Is everyone okay?"

Mirra's face comes into focus as Aki's eyes flutter open. The right side of Mirra's face is marred black and her eye is swollen but a concerned grin plays on her lips regardless.

She opens her arms, allowing Aki and Dent free.

"This is the second time I've been knocked out of the air," Dent rolls onto the flagstone with a moan. "And the second time you've caught me."

"You're welcome." Mirra chuckles and turns her attention to Aki. "I dunno what that thing on your head was, but are you okay? You look worse than I feel."

Aki staggers to her feet, nodding.

Her head feels heavy still, though she sees no evidence of the golden light from the halo nor does she feel anything when she reaches a hand to grab it.

The illusion on her body is still gone, she notices. Which means she appears as thin and malnourished as she truly is. Against her clothes that are no better than rags right now, she looks worse. Only the shorts and the remains of her cloak serve to cover her beaten body. The shirt she painstakingly made nowhere to be seen. All of this only exacerbates the scars around her wrists and ankles.

"Phoebe!" Aki snaps to attention and hurriedly looks around.

Against the ruined cityscape by the harbour, only one spot is different from the rest. She sees Caor rushing over to a crater with artificially formed barriers around it and takes off.

Mirra and Dent quickly follow suit, joined by Winter and his parents in a rush.

They all hear it before they see it. Caor's scream of anguish harmonises with distant thunder, as if nature too could feel his pain.

Aki stops as the rest of Silver Sword rush to join their companions.

Images flash through her mind, not through Precognition nor Empath gifts, but herself. Memories of the past burgeon to the forefront, freezing her in place.

She can imagine what Phoebe looks like at this moment and cannot bring herself to look. Aki rubs her wrist and holds back a sob.

"Even now… I'm still a coward."

Vadi and Nidor Digger run past Aki as well. However, Winter walks much slower. Conflicting emotions bubbling within him.

Aki grinds her teeth and latches onto his emotions. She does not feel she can comfort the others. Not when guilt over Phoebe hangs on her like this. But maybe, Aki thinks, she can help him.

***

Winter pauses, looking over his shoulder to the spot where Vira had vanished. He balls his hand tightly into a fist and turns away to join the others around Phoebe's body.

Winter stops just behind the Silver Sword. Anger, disappointment, pity, and responsibility all swirl through his heart.

"Are you alright?" Aki places a gentle hand on his shoulder. "About her."

"...She wasn't my Kokone." He turns away, raising his bleeding fist. "But if that world's me had met her, this wouldn't have happened. I could have stopped it. Right??"

The clouds above have swirled back overhead and empty their waters once more. Rain washes down Winter's face but his heart is in turmoil. Aki sees it in his eyes and feels it with her Gift. Not all that rolls down his cheeks is just rainwater.

"Winter." Aki squeezes his shoulder reassuringly. "She came from a different world than you. A completely different reality. There's nothing you could have done for Vira."

He releases his hand, blood mixing with the rain. Red swirls dance across his palm before Winter lowers his head and nods. "I know, I know… but even though she isn't from my world, just knowing she ended up like this makes me feel like I failed her again. As if I couldn't keep her safe a second time."

"Thinking like that will only make you spiral." Aki shakes her head. "I won't tell you to think positive nor to accept how things are, Winter, but staying stuck in the past – your memories – without trying to move forward will only result in you sinking backward."

She sighs, her body aches and shivers now that adrenaline no longer fuels her movements. The cold rain stings her bruised and cut self. Caor's cries mixed with the falling rain do nothing to temper her mind either.

"Consider it this way," Aki smiles, vague memories getting filtered through the empty spaces of her otherworlder nature. "Even if it was brief and she was different, you got to meet a version of your loved one. How many otherworlders can say something like that?"

Winter wipes his eyes carefully, expression contemplative. Then, he nods with as much confidence as he can muster before excusing himself to approach the space the gashadokuro had been.

Aki's attention is drawn once more to the crater. Only voices and baleful cries can be heard from without. Though Aki easily feels the immense grief, anger, and pain that those within feel.

A weight too heavy for her to approach and another regret for her to carry.

"Do I call her my saviour when she gave her life for mine?" Aki mumbles. "Or would it be one more debt I couldn't hope to ever pay back?"

She sinks to her knees, unable to keep herself standing anymore.

"Hah… I wish… I wish I would have had the chance to get to know you, Phoebe. I'm sorry." Her lips curl into a quivering smile as Aki cups her head in her hands. "I just have no idea what I'm doing…"

Aki scratches at her cheeks, urging tears to fall.

Instead of tears, however, only her Soul Sight opens the flood of RPG-esque status windows following her words.

So many, and yet none to truly focus on. Until two catch her eye once more.

------------

[The World Narrative: 14 Crowns of Humanity has begun]

[Title unveiled: Cr¬wn of H¬ma¬¬tas]

------------

"But now, after two years, I finally know why I'm here." Aki clenches her fists hard enough they bleed. "What a cruel world."