After everyone else had gone back inside, only Shiraha and Elysia remained.
Nee-chan sat off to the side, knees drawn together, arms wrapped around them, chin resting on her knees. She looked, for all the world, like a quiet, demure literary girl.
"Shiraha~"
"I'm listening."
Shiraha sat beside her, quietly leaning against her. His head just happened to rest against her arm. Slightly cool.
Elysia freed one hand and wrapped it around Shiraha. "You've read my file before, haven't you."
Shiraha paused, then nodded lightly. "I have. I even know that Nee-chan's thigh ring changes position every day depending on the day of the week."
He really had read her file. And he knew a little more than most. Though when it came to the small details of daily life, he knew a little less than others.
After all, the story files from before his transmigration weren't exactly rich in everyday minutiae.
"Do you still remember the Honkai incident in the town of Vostok-51?"
Elysia spoke softly, her chin rubbing gently against the top of Shiraha's head.
She was Elysia. Even if she might now be a ghostly sister of this new era, a ghost was still an Elysia-brand ghost. That much was fundamentally unchangeable.
At least, that was what Elysia believed. Teasing children before had simply been because teasing children was far too addictive.
Shiraha paused, his expression turning a little tense.
Elysia's starry eyes curved into crescents. "Seeing Shiraha so nervous... it seems some things were lies before~"
How very Manticore.
Shiraha probably knew quite a lot. Maybe he'd truly lived all the way until those final days in the Previous Era. Maybe his confidence in himself didn't come from being MANTIS No. 2.
Shiraha pressed his lips together and hurriedly got up, ready to organize his words. "Nee-chan, Anti-Entropy—"
Elysia's index finger gently pressed against his lips.
"I know Anti-Entropy will rebuild this place. I believe in my judgment. That First Herrscher and Miss Tesla are good people."
"But Shiraha, tell me honestly." She paused, her fingertip moving away from his lips. "The people here... can their lives ever return to how they were before?"
Elysia's starry eyes were uncharacteristically serious. No joking.
Shiraha: ....
"I feel like—"
Forget it. Shiraha shut his own mouth.
Even though he personally felt that the lives these people had lived before hadn't been good at all... there were still degrees of "not good."
At the very least before the disaster, they'd had houses to live in. Rice to put in the pot. Even if the rice was expensive.
Elysia pulled Shiraha tightly into her arms again, rubbing her chin fiercely against him. Very fiercely.
"Nee-chan is laying the foundation for your future here. You can't be this glum."
"I'm afraid Nee-chan will disappear."
Shiraha's voice was muffled. Elysia rarely gave it her all. This once-beloved darling of the world was no longer a darling at all.
"You should have faith in the all-capable fairy lady~♪"
Elysia's voice carried a smile, the end of her sentence lifting brightly.
"Now. It's time for your performance."
Elysia released him. Now it was Shiraha's turn to lay the groundwork, to make others value him more, to smooth the road ahead with fewer obstacles.
Shiraha was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "Nee-chan, just start directly. I have my own considerations."
At that, Elysia's smile grew even softer. My self-made child companion, your heart isn't completely filled with darkness after all.
But Shiraha really did have his own considerations.
Elysia took hold of Shiraha's arm, slowly lifting it. She spread his palm open, facing that devastated snowfield.
For the first time, Shiraha experienced the so-called possibilities of Origin with absolute, tangible clarity.
The earth that had already been laid bare by the unleashing of Shamash began to soften. The frozen soil thawed. The ice layers melted. Moisture seeped into the dry, cracked fissures. A strange, foreign light began to color Shiraha's eyes, glittering like stars.
He discovered for the first time that a landscape so dry and dull could become this radiant and beautiful when viewed through these eyes.
Elysia rose and half-knelt behind Shiraha, gently embracing him. Her long hair cascaded down.
"Beginning with me..."
The next line should have been, ending with me.
Those words surfaced in Shiraha's heart. He reached out, trembling, to touch the illusion before him.
And then, forcibly, he changed the words. "Rewrite destruction."
Elysia's starry eyes showed a trace of surprise. But saying it that way... seemed fine too.
"Right. Shiraha, you and I are different. You're meant to reshape this unbeautiful world into the image you desire."
....
January 23, 2008. Another pure Honkai eruption.
No Honkai beasts. No Herrscher. This area was simply, briefly, erased from the world and the people living here didn't notice a thing.
They only stared in astonishment as everything that had been damaged returned to its original form. The bare, exposed earth gradually regained signs of life. The entire region reverted to its state before the Honkai eruption and even more vibrant, more brimming with vitality than before.
It was as if, on this small patch of land, the world had pressed the "rewind" button. The entire world was watching this place. Under Origin's guidance, the Honkai energy that should have been violent and destructive became fuel to turn back time.
"Shiraha?"
Welt's voice was hesitant. Could Tesla have guessed right after all? Was Shiraha truly a Herrscher? Cast from the same mold as Kiana?
Tesla held her breath. Only Siegfried's mouth twitched. He felt like he'd just swallowed a fly.
Shiraha paused and blinked. Those dazzling, starry eyes returned to their original, simple appearance. He turned his head, his smile bright and clean. "My Nee-chan is amazing, right?!"
Welt paused, then laughed despite himself. "Amazing."
Shiraha nuzzled against Nee-chan's cheek. The motion was very gentle. His voice dropped very low. "I don't want the Authority of Origin."
Then he hugged Nee-chan with all his strength, arms wrapped around her waist, face buried in the hollow of her shoulder.
Though this scene probably looked somewhat strange to others. After all, Shiraha, who had just moments ago seemed capable of anything was now hugging a patch of empty air.
Shiraha's movements were clumsy, but no one else knew how to help. After all, it seemed no one else could even touch that Nee-chan of his.
"Nee-chan seems a little tired. She wants to sleep for a bit." Shiraha struggled over to Dr. Tesla. "Doctor... where's my room?"
Tesla's brain hadn't quite caught up yet.
"First floor, take my room!"
Cocolia made the call on the spot, decisive and sharp.
Anti-Entropy's core was about to be turned upside down. Two suspected Herrschers! No three!
"Thanks, Cocolia-nee."
Shiraha carried Nee-chan back to the room. Cocolia pushed the door open, stepped aside to let him through, then shut it behind him. She didn't say a single extra word.
Elysia, hadn't actually fainted. She was simply watching Shiraha perform, her starry eyes half-lidded, the corner of her mouth carrying a faint, elusive smile. The eyes that had reverted to their original blue were now starry once more.
Once the door was shut, Shiraha tossed Nee-chan onto the bed, then flopped down beside her himself. His voice was muffled by the bedding, heavy but absolutely impossible for anyone else to hear.
"I don't know how much this cost you, Nee-chan. But this sort of thing must never be asked of you a second time."
"I know Nee-chan has a kind heart. But after everything that happened in the Previous Era, I think even the fairy lady ought to have learned a thing or two by now."
"This world can't be changed through small acts of kindness. I don't want your Authority of Origin, Nee-chan. Since I want to change the world, I'll take the greatest one there is. I want Finality. I want the world!"
After saying this, Shiraha lifted his little face. That radiant smile swiftly faded. Even if there really were surveillance, all they'd see was his grave expression.
Then he tucked the blankets around Nee-chan. The motion was very gentle. His voice came out somewhat wooden. "Nee-chan, bury your face in the blanket. You'll feel better after a sleep. That's what I used to do when I was sick."
Elysia's starry eyes blinked and blinked. This feeling of being taken care of, especially with the blankets tucked in so snugly, with someone holding her hand was truly wonderful.
She really did seem a little tired. Elysia was just about to close her eyes when Shiraha sprawled over the bed again, his voice muffled. "Nee-chan, don't actually fall asleep. I'm really afraid you'll scatter."
Elysia: .....