"What if I try to free everyone this way, Professor? I know it won't restore the flow of time. But if more minds are able to think together, perhaps we can find a way out of this, somehow."
Vanitas shook his head.
"It won't work if they can't reciprocate," he said. "I was only able to move because I was already conscious when it happened."
"I see," Karina said with a smile. "So this only happened because you're Vanitas Astrea."
"Precisely because I am Vanitas Astrea."
Truthfully, Vanitas himself did not know the exact reason he remained conscious. He had suspicions, nothing more.
Perhaps it was the wind barrier maintaining a constant dialogue with the laws of the domain.
Perhaps it was his body's unnatural affinity with spirits.
Or perhaps, once again, Abyss had intervened in ways he could neither see nor confirm.
But that was all they were.
Conjectures without proof.
"Also, stop calling me Professor. I'm not a professor anymore."
