It took Yubabas Sister a lot of effort to convince Sen Getsusa, who was ready to pull out a knife, that she was a 'kind' grandmother.
"You know about Planeswalkers too?"
This was the title she had heard Yubabas Sister use for her when she first entered.
Sen Getsusa elegantly raised her teacup to open the conversation.
"Hahaha, you didn't know?" Yubabas Sister let out a hearty laugh. "From the moment you crossed over, I felt a dimensional power settling in my territory."
"Have you met many Planeswalkers?"
Yubabas Sister nodded with a beaming smile, yet said the opposite: "Who knows?"
Sen Getsusa looked at Yubabas Sister.
So far in her life, she hated two types of people. The first type was those who only told half the story.
Therefore, both types of people were very annoying.
￣へ￣
"Hahaha, just a joke. Here, the last time I saw your kind was ninety... I think it's been ninety years."
Yubabas Sister pulled out a string-bound cloth notebook with a torn cover from somewhere. With a 'heave-ho,' she hopped onto a chair, put on her glasses, and searched page by page, occasionally dabbing her tongue with her index finger.
"Ah... let me see..."
The sound of pages flipping.
"Oh, here... found it."
"—So his name was Jace Beleren. It really has been ninety years." She looked for a moment, closed the notebook, and spoke to the bewildered Sen Getsusa: "He was a fellow who could easily manipulate people's hearts..."
"Manipulate people's hearts?"
"Yes, a terrifying fellow. The source of his power was the mind. However, Sengetsu-sha is also a very special person."
"Special?" Sen Getsusa took the steaming porridge handed to her by Yubabas Sister and softly thanked her.
"That's right, every Planeswalker is special." Yubabas Sister's purple eyeshadow held a vague sense of mystery. "While you may not have the power to manipulate minds, every Planeswalker seems to possess an Ability unique to themselves."
Sen Getsusa nodded.
Her Perfect Princess was exactly that.
"Moreover, besides being a self-awakened Planeswalker, you carry a bit of Source World energy on you. Your World is undergoing a Mystery Recovery."
"What does Mystery Recovery mean?" Sen Getsusa thought of that worm girl and the chaos shown by the Profiler.
"It just means many ordinary people will gain transcendent abilities. It's not important. You'll understand the specifics slowly."
Speaking of this, she suddenly remembered something and clapped her hands: "Oh dear, oh dear, too much time has passed, my head isn't working well. Please wait a moment."
"Is it here... oh, here it is. Though the taste will be a bit strange."
After rummaging through cabinets, Yubabas Sister handed over a grey, palm-sized wooden box: "But this is necessary. Eat it."
This wooden box was painted red on the outside, and the paint had become mottled and peeled over time.
"What is this?"
Sen Getsusa opened the small wooden box Yubabas Sister handed her. Inside was a purple velvet lining, with a small black pill placed in the center.
"This is not the human realm. If you stay with gods and ghosts for too long, very bad things will happen. You should have noticed by now, haven't you?"
Yubabas Sister pointed at the hand Sen Getsusa was using to hold the teacup.
Under the rising steam, her fair fingers were already becoming a bit blurred.
Sen Getsusa held it up to her eyes and turned it over to look. It seemed transparency was slowly crawling up her body from her fingers.
She turned her gaze back to the small black pill: "Profiler."
[Existence Jade: Forbidden! The boundary between gods and monsters; Mortals may not enter! Those who enter are deemed'spirited away'!]
[This dark little thing can keep the consumer's existence from dissipating, allowing you to enjoy your later years here in peace.]
Enjoy my later years... "Is this all it takes?" Sen Getsusa pinched the pill and stuffed it into her mouth. It was bitter and coarse. She quickly took a sip of porridge to wash it down.
She couldn't help it; she really couldn't stand medicine, as she hadn't been sick for a long time.
It really was miraculous—she looked at her restored body in the mirror; the sense of transparency had finally vanished.
Sen Getsusa bowed to Yubabas Sister: "I am truly grateful to you."
"Hahaha, it's nothing. People like you can never resist exploring new places. The 'Existence Jade' isn't anything extraordinary; it just depends on who you meet... If it were her, you might have to work for her for decades. Although time between Worlds isn't synchronized..."
"Oh dear, she is an insufferable person..."
Yubaba's Sister rattled on about something, then turned to Sen Getsusa with solemnity: "Little Tsukisa, guard your name with your life."
"In this place, never trade your name with anyone—better still, tell no one at all."
Sen Getsusa nodded; once warned, she would carry the warning in her heart.
Only after the nod did the old woman continue: "Planeswalkers are clever, learned, and endlessly curious. If you've no fixed purpose here, you may stay with me."
"This old crone has been lonely so long that a 'grand-daughter' suddenly fills the swamp with hearth-smoke! Hahahaha!"
She laughed heartily, inviting Sen Getsusa with genuine warmth.
Sen Getsusa needed no persuasion; thanks to Aria she already felt great affection for the elder. She smiled, "Then I'll trouble you, Grandmother."
Yubaba's Sister waved the thanks aside. "Who wouldn't want to befriend a Planeswalker before she blooms? Still, at your age there's no need for such sobriety. Calm and steady are the business of us ancients. Come, let me teach you a local nursery rhyme."
Sen Getsusa: …this conversation leapt a cliff.
Before she could answer, the old woman began to sing, her husky voice ringing through the room in its own peculiar cadence.
(´･_･`) …fine.
The first World's burly-coloured geezer forced her to lift stones; the second World's eccentric old Witch insists on teaching her children's ditties.
Sen Getsusa watched the Witch, now singing and dancing with abandon, pull her from the chair mid-chorus—helpless, she was dragged to her feet.
Still singing, Yubaba's Sister chanted, "'Black marsh agleam with starlight bright,'—come, follow—'the gap 'twixt gods and men where reverence lies.' Sing, come on, little Tsukisa—'O my deity!'—pitch it higher here…"
Sen Getsusa's face was wooden. After a long moment she lifted stiff arms and mimicked the tune: "Black marsh agleam with starlight bright…"
ヽ(＃`Д')ノ
"Yes, step! Good, forward—hands up—raise the pitch here…"
On her first day in another World, Sen Getsusa learned a song-and-dance. When the two performers finished, no applause greeted them; they applauded each other.
Weary, Sen Getsusa followed the satisfied Witch through the parlour, past the hearth, to find a long staircase hidden behind the earthen house.
Though the cottage had looked squat, it sported a second floor.
The wooden steps felt solid beneath her feet, not a creak of age.
From the upstairs rooms Yubaba's Sister chose the largest and ushered her in.
An old amber lamp hung from the ceiling; a fire crackled briskly.
Soft-pink paint coated the walls; a stack of fresh quilts lay on the bed.
The washroom had been swept, cupboards and mirror all brand-new.
"Well?" the old woman asked, eyes sparkling with silent pleas for praise.
Sen Getsusa glanced around and hoarsely gave a thumbs-up. "Great! Grandma, you're amazing!"
"Hahahaha! I knew you'd love it! Clearly I was meant to have a grand-daughter like you!"
"Then good night, little Tsukisa." In the swaying lamplight Yubaba's Sister waved and gently shut the door.
Footsteps faded outside; quiet settled, mingling with the faint damp of the marsh and the distant wind that travelled through distant trees.
Moonlight slipped through the window as the door closed.
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