A lonely soul floated in the blackness of the unknown.
After Miyoko was shot and killed, her soul awoke in a place so dark that her eyes couldn't make anything out.
Where am I? How did I get here? What happened to me?
Confused, she began asking herself questions that had no answers. Then, suddenly, she remembered what had happened before she found herself in this unknown void.
"Huh?"
"Come down. Everything's going to be alright," one of Miko's friends said to Miko while they were walking behind Souta, who was following Yuuki and Miyoko.
Miyoko and Yuuki had no idea what was happening behind them when, suddenly, Yuuki asked Miyoko, "So I've been wondering… why did you ask me instead of the others to, you know, tag along?"
"It's, it's because I li—" Before Miyoko could finish speaking, everything went dark.
Oh… I was going to tell Yuuki how I feel about him, huh.
She said this while scanning the area, when she suddenly noticed a golden light emanating from the spot where she was floating.
"What's this golden glow?" she asked, trying to pinpoint the exact location of the light. Suddenly, she noticed strands of hair floating in front of her. They were longer than she remembered, curling and drifting like threads of liquid gold in the darkness. Each strand seemed to shimmer independently, catching the faint light as if the abyss itself were illuminating them.
Miyoko lifted her hands hesitantly, moving them through the glowing threads. As she did, she noticed her whole body beginning to emit the same light, a soft radiance that traced her form and made her feel weightless, suspended in the darkness.
"Why am I glowing?"
A troubling thought crossed her mind.
Am I dead?
She wondered in curiosity when, suddenly, some silver dust appeared from nowhere, drifting slowly through the darkness like tiny sparks caught in the void. The particles began gathering at a single point in front of Miyoko, swirling together in a silent, hypnotic motion. Gradually, the dust coalesced into a solid form, shimmering and reflective, until it created a block almost the same size as her, hovering steadily in the air.
'What's this?' She thought curiously.
She moved closer to the block, her body floating slowly through the darkness, while a hint of hesitation held her back. Part of her wondered if it might be some sort of trap, something that could hurt her the moment she got too near, but her curiosity pushed her forward anyway, urging her to get a better look at the mysterious, shimmering structure.
She grimaced at the block as she realized her eyes were full of tears. Warm, sticky drops began slipping down her cheeks, trailing small paths across her glowing skin. She brought her hands up, trying to wipe them away, but they fell faster than she could catch them.
"Why am I crying?" she asked herself, a tight, burning sensation spreading across her chest. She stared at her hands and then back at her glowing reflection in the block, noticing every drop that clung to her fingers before disappearing into the void. The tears didn't stop, and with each one, a sense of helplessness and confusion grew stronger inside her.
"Why am I like this?" she said as she continued to wipe.
I can't even stop my tears from coming out. Just how useless can I be? she thought, as the tears continued to flow.
A moment later, the reflective block began to shimmer and shift, the solid form dissolving back into countless tiny particles of silver dust. They swirled and danced around each other for a few seconds, catching the faint golden glow from Miyoko's body, before scattering and vanishing completely into the darkness.
Miyoko closed her eyes, letting herself sink into the sensation of weightlessness. She allowed her body to drift along with the unknown, floating through the black void with nothing to hold on to, nothing to guide her, and only the fading traces of light surrounding her.
She didn't know that someone, or something, was observing her from another dimension, as she floated helplessly in the unknown.
....
A few minutes later, while she was still drifting through the abyss, an unfamiliar voice suddenly echoed inside her head.
"You who feel weak and useless. Welcome to my world," the voice said.
"Huh?"
The voice made Miyoko jolt in surprise. She had no idea where the voice was coming from. She quickly looked around again, scanning the endless darkness, but there was no one in sight.
The voice had sounded so close, almost as if it were right next to her. Then she came to the realization. If the voice wasn't someone speaking next to her, then it must have been coming from her mind.
"Wh who's there?!" She asked while making a complicated face. Her voice had begun to tremble slightly.
"I am no one you know… yet I am here to offer you a task. Do not fear."
A task? she thought, her brow furrowing in confusion.
"What… what does that mean?" she asked, straining to locate where the voice came from.
"I desire something from you. In return, I will grant you powers beyond anything your mind can imagine."
At the mention of magical powers, her trembling eased slightly. Curiosity sparked inside her, though many questions still lingered.
"Did you… Just say magical powers?" she asked, her voice a mix of disbelief and wonder.
"Yes," the voice replied, calm and commanding. "Magical powers… or would you rather remain trapped here, in this endless void, for all eternity?"
"Prison?" she said, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Yes," the voice whispered, calm and infinite. "This place… this endless darkness… is a prison for souls who departed with regrets heavy upon their hearts. Here, time stretches without mercy, and hope withers away. Yet, you are not bound to it forever. You may take the power I offer...
...or remain here, adrift in this void, until time itself fades into nothingness."
The revelation that she was in a prison was more than she could bear; her mind felt clouded, unable to settle on a single thought. Then, other voices began to echo, but this time, it was her own voice, coming from deep within her mind.
"Take the offer," the first voice urged, low and demanding.
"Don't do it!" the second voice cried, trembling with fear.
"If this is a prison… then I have to get out of here," the third voice whispered, hesitant but determined.
"What about you?" the fourth voice asked, uncertainty lacing every word.
"What about Shoya?" the fifth voice shouted, desperate.
"Just take his offer!" the first voice barked again, sharper this time, almost aggressive.
"Magic… powers," the sixth voice murmured, soft but irresistible, carrying a weight that made her shiver.
And with all of it happening inside her head, she stammered, trembling once more. "I… I… want power."
"Good," the voice replied, calm and certain, carrying an authority that made her shiver.
White dust particles began gathering beneath her legs, swirling and condensing as if drawn by an invisible will. Slowly, they solidified into a massive crystal, large enough for her to stand on. Its surface shimmered with a silvery glow, reflecting faint glimpses of her glowing form. Edges sparkled with a delicate light, like fractured starlight, while the center seemed to pulse with quiet energy.
"Stand there… and let us begin."
A few seconds later, as Miyoko tentatively tried to step onto the crystal, the voice added,
"We'll be removing some of your memories for this to work. Choose wisely."
"Memories?!" she asked, her voice tinged with surprise.
The voice was silent for a moment, then, with a measured calm, it added,"Yes, your memories. Without this, it cannot succeed. Perhaps you've reconsidered?"
"No," she replied firmly.
"Then stand on the crystal, and focus on what you wish to let go of."
She stepped onto the crystal and started sorting through her memories, deciding what to let go of and what to hold onto. One by one, she focused on each thought, moving through them slowly and carefully, as if placing them on invisible shelves.
What she didn't know was that the voice wasn't interested in her choices. It hovered in the darkness, waiting to claim her soul and use what remained as its passage into the human world.
She closed her eyes, standing in the pale glow of the crystal, considering which memories she might relinquish to escape the abyss.
As she thought, fragments of her past began materializing around her, taking shape as solid, floating pictures. She remained unaware, her eyes still shut, while the images hovered in the light, forming a silent gallery of what she had lived.
"Hmmm," the voice muttered as Mizuhara continued to think. It noticed Yuuki appearing in several of her memories, moments where he had cursed around her. Pausing for a moment, the voice shifted its focus and finally spoke.
"Enough," the voice intoned, its tone final and unyielding.
What?! But I haven't even chosen anything yet, she thought.
"I said… Enough," the voice replied, calm and absolute.
She opened her eyes slowly and noticed some of the floating memories disappearing before her. She couldn't get a proper look; the moment she began to focus, the images had already started to vanish as if reacting to her indecision. She thought it was the voice's doing.
"Now, let us begin."
"Bu—" Miyoko started to protest.
"Listen," the voice interrupted, unyielding. "Do you want to get out of here, or not?"
Miyoko didn't answer. She stayed silent, but that quiet alone seemed to speak for her. The voice took it as enough.
Suddenly, the silver circular crystal beneath her legs began glowing brighter than before. The white shimmer of the crystal started merging with the golden light emanating from her figure, twisting and fusing into a single, blinding radiance.
As the lights intertwined, her eyes closed on their own. In the darkness behind her eyelids, she saw a vision: a blue-haired girl rampaging across countless countries and cities, leaving nothing but ruin in her wake. Amid the chaos, a voice echoed in her mind,
"So… this is the power of destruction."
"Huh?" she muttered, curiosity flickering through her thoughts.
To prepare her for the task, the voice granted her magical prowess capable of obliterating its enemies in the blink of an eye. It demonstrated the sheer effectiveness of the power, leaving Miyoko stunned.
"Why… why give me this kind of power?" she asked, still processing what she had just seen.
The voice remained silent, offering no answer.
Suddenly, her golden form flared brighter, outshining the crystal plate beneath her.
What's going on? she thought, staring at the plate and her own figure.
Is this… a side effect of the magic?
In an instant, her golden form split, forming two new figures, each a different color. One shimmered with a deep blue, while the other glowed pure white, standing like twin reflections of herself.
The blue figure stayed firmly on the glowing crystal, unmoving, while the white one drifted upward, floating just above it as if there wasn't enough space to hold them both. The light from their forms flickered and pulsed across the surrounding darkness.
"Blimey!" the voice said, its tone full of surprise.
This wasn't the voice's doing, nor part of its plan. Yet, with the blue figure still standing on the light, the process continued on its own.
It almost felt like time itself had stopped, the silence pressing in from every direction. The light particles hung in place, motionless.
Not even the two figures could move. The blue figure remained on the crystal, its memories completely erased, leaving it nothing more than an empty shell. Above it, the white figure floated, unconscious, drifting in the void.
A moment later, the voice paused, trying to salvage its plan—but the situation was slipping out of control. Suddenly, a portal ripped open next to the white figure.
A violent gust surged from it, tearing at the air, and the white figure was sucked in like paper caught in a whirlwind.
As it tumbled toward the portal, a new voice rumbled from deep within, rich and commanding.
"I see that you haven't changed… Orvethal!"
"Huh?" the first voice muttered, taken aback.
The portal snapped shut, leaving the blue figure behind in the void. The fusion process had failed—it required a whole, undivided soul to complete, and Miyoko's golden figure had split in two. Still, the crystal clung to the blue figure, fusing with it for a brief, unstable moment.
"Selythar, that traitor… what does he take me for?" the voice snapped, anger threading through every word. (By "Selythar," it was referring to the other voice's name.)
The voice knew exactly where Selythar had taken the white figure. With the blue figure stripped of memories, it moved like a puppet, and the voice seized control, sending it off to find the white figure. In that moment, the blue figure was nothing more than a lifeless doll.
....
Elsewhere, in a world called Avallon, there lay a land known as Melcelut, part of the vast continent of Erosia.
In the capital of Mel (Melcelut, for short), people had gathered to celebrate the king's birthday. It was also market day, so the streets buzzed with those looking to enjoy the festivities and snap up cheap goods.