CHAPTER 126B: WE'LL NEXT MEET AT A TEA PARTY
—She views the future.
???: <—Gone without, you cannot even wield a sword. Thief!!> ???: <Witness. The victor remains I.> ???: <Subaru, Emilia-neesama, I know you must be so tired. I'm sorry. But I'm going to wind up being a burden too. I'm sorry. All the thanks I'd wanted to say could never be enough...>
—With every coloured light she touches, Emilia sees a different future.
???: <To think that someone I wanted to kill so much was actually a kind person, what an incredible nightmare.>
???: <There exist feelings which musn't be spoken. Does it satisfy you, now that they have come to light?>
???: <Does this make you feel that you've seen your promise through? If it does... if it does, then I was better off bound and dead in that cave! If I was going to see this dawn, then I should have just offed myself sooner...! Shit, shit!>
???: <God I'm sorry. I'm weak and so this. God I'm sorry. I couldn't make the kill, god I'm sorry. Now ▒▒▒ will always be alone forever. God I'm sorry for being so weak...>
—Woe, ire, death, rebirth, farewells, meetings, the future comes to her in many forms.
???: <Yes... my dear grandchild... must've grown up well...> ???: <I shall never perish to such nonsense as a curse!> ???: <It's simply that I realised something. ...That along the path up to today, I haaaaaaaaaadn't been walking alone.> ???: <How come... there's no soul inside!?>
—Must the future be despair? Is there nothing but sorrow and suffering?
???: <Just 's promised, 'm fuckin' killin' yer! Yeh!? NATSUKI SUBARUUUUUUUU!!>
???: <Am Ibeing so covetous? Am Isaying anhything so indulgent? Don't anhybody die, don't anhybody weep... what is so complikkated about it?>
???: <After all, we must bleed ourselves to our very last drop to atone, yes?>
???: <Right and wrong and good and evil's all a bunch've bullshit. You're stopping right there. Say it's Dragon or say it's Witch, if you're blocking the way then I'm... then we're, gonna smash you.>
—Then, was it wrong of her to choose this path? Was she mistaken to wish for any favours?
???: <—I believe that to pray for favours is hubris. Prayers are for when you seek forgiveness.>
—In the final world of light, a girl that Emilia has never seen awake and speaking talks.
I'd like to have a proper conversation with her, she thinks. The sentiment proves more than enough for her deny the rejection of everything.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Emilia's vision clears, and she realises that she is in a breezy meadow.
A hillock with a white table. Emilia herself sits upon a white chair, unable to remember what happened only a few seconds ago. But she does know that she is in a dream world.
Emilia: “Echidna?”
If anyone is going to greet her at the end of the TRIAL, then it's going to be the thing's supervisor, Echidna. Emilia casts her gaze around in search of her. But even though she can see this field stretch on to the horizon, she sights no shelters or anything indicating the presence of people. And should she leave the table to go walking around, she might lose the table and never find it again.
She's definitely right here in this spot, but it strangely feels like she might fall off the horizon. Emilia takes deep breaths to calm herself down, and decides to start moving if nobody's around. Perhaps there's an exit somewhere. She'll find that, and get out of here. She's got nothing to gain by wasting time here.
???: “It's been like this forever—haa—but why is it that these situations—huu—always wind up being my post—haa? I can't say I'm thrilled with it.”
Emilia: “...auh,”
Seeing the ball of hair that suddenly appears across the table from her, Emilia freezes. She stares at this thing before her in shock, still halfway into standing up.
And gulps.
???: “Mm... an understandable reaction—haa—and the correct one—huu. The kid from before must've been a tad obtuse—haa.”
Emilia: “—”
Every word out this person's mouth comes mixed with a gloomy sigh. She is a rather listless woman with overwhelmingly long magenta hair, wearing a black robe. Her comments are not thorny at all, and she looks relaxed as anything.
—But Emilia regardless feels a pressure so intense it's practically strangling her.
If this person felt like it, then Emilia's head would be vanished in an instant. Emilia has regained her past, and can now manipulate such a vast quantity of mana that her body cannot contain it all. Even though she has gained a massive boost in her capabilities as a solo fighter, she feels that she has no chance against this woman. She'd kill Emilia as easily as swatting a fly—and Emilia knows this.
Woman: “You don't need to be so wary—huu. I'm not looking to hurt you, or to get hurt—haa. Since that'd be a drag—huu. But Echidna just doesn't want to see you so she—haa—forced me here.”
Emilia: “I-I, see...”
Emilia gives a timid nod. The pressure wreathed around this woman shows no signs of letting up. Nothing has changed about her ability to easily decimate Emilia. But if nothing is going to change about the fact that the woman can kill Emilia whenever she wants, then that'll stay the same regardless of whether she's scared or not. Emilia inhales, holds her breath, exhales. Doing this, she forces herself to calm down.
Emilia: “You're here in Echidna's place... so you're also a witch?”
Woman: “—. I see—haa—so you're braver than I thought—huu. That you're not timid during the critical moments—haa—might be you taking after your mother—huu.”
Emilia: “You know about my Mother?”
Woman: “I can't tell you anything, but yes—haa.”
The unexpected relation makes Emilia gulp, but the woman looks utterly exhausted after making that comment. Emilia could try to probe into it, but she probably wouldn't get anything. Thinking to herself: Someday, Emilia decides to temporarily shelve the topic of her mother. She has seen her past, seen an impossible future, and now Fortuna and Juice's light remains shining in her heart. For now, that's more than enough.
Emilia: “What would you like me to call you?”
Woman: “It's nice when children don't throw tantrums—huu—I'd like Typhon to get a lesson from you—haa. My name's Sekhmet—huu. As you've guessed, I'm the Witch of Sloth—haa.”
Sekhmet leans her body onto the table, looking up as she gives a faint smile. The bags under her eyes and the unhealthy-looking pallor to her skin are something of a concern, but her features are attractive, and she is a beautiful woman. Still, the word 'witch' and the ghastly aura she emanates do indicate that she is definitely not anyone ordinary.
Sekhmet: “I really couldn't—huu—care less about how our names as witches are treated in the present—haa—so that doesn't matter—huu. I just want to get this request done with—haa—and settle down into self-indulgent slumber—huu.”
Emilia: “Erm, if it's such a bother for you... could no one else have done it? Echidna doesn't have to be the one if she doesn't want to... but aren't there any other witches?”
Sekhmet: “You're not going to—haa—get a conversation out of anyone else—huu. Minerva's the only one who could manage an actual conversation here—haa—and she can't show her face to you —huu.”
Emilia: “Minerva...”
Sekhmet speaks with awful rhythm thanks to her pauses to sigh. But hearing that she offers a better conversation than the other witches makes Emilia terrified of imagining what the others are like. But even that sentiment is overpowered by the strong feelings Emilia has for the word 'Minerva'.
Emilia: “Minerva...”
Mutters Emilia to herself as she tilts her head. The word feels horribly nostalgic, something that would stimulate her memories. But that said, Emilia cannot remember hearing it in any of her memories up until now, or in any of her recovered memories either. But it's a mysterious name, that could evoke thoughts of someone very close to her.
Sekhmet: “No sense talking about someone who isn't here—haa. Anyway, I'm just here to pass a message along from Echidna—huu. Then I'm leaving it up to you what ideas you come up with to end the TRIAL—haa. Pretty easy job for me—huu.”
Emilia: “Erm, thank you for your efforts...?”
Sekhmet: “I'll pretend that worked—haa. Now, listen closely—huu.”
Sekhmet calls out to the brooding Emilia, and lies her head sideways upon the table. She gazes up at Emilia, and with a sigh, sets her right hand on the table too.
Sekhmet: “In the third TRIAL—haa—you would've seen the future—huu. Those futures are possibilities of what will happen—haa—in this future where you decide to overcome this tomb— huu.”
Emilia: “Possible, futures.”
Sekhmet: “There's a chance they'll all happen—haa—and a chance none'll happen—huu. Though, considering Echidna's personality—haa—even I can tell that the futures you saw weren't the nicest ones—huu.”
What do the other witches think of Echidna? At the very least, it seems like Sekhmet considers Echidna as someone mean. Emilia can't exactly say much on that.
Sekhmet's opinion of Echidna is actually a little worse than what Emilia figures, but it's difficult to demand a worse appraisal than 'mean witch' from Emilia.
Sekhmet: “The future splits into infinite pathways, and so derives possibilities—haa. But the futures you saw were all seeds thick with tragedy—huu. After they sprout and bud, what blossoms will come of them...? Haa. Are you prepared to wilfully walk a path of poison blooms that may leave everyone unhappy...? Huu.”
Emilia: “—”
Keeping silent, Emilia gazes earnestly at Sekhmet. Sekhmet looks fatigued after giving such a long speech. But she soon furrows her brows when she notices Emilia's gaze.
Sekhmet: “...I'm pretty sure that I already gave you the question, haa.”
Emilia: “Huh, what? That was the question? I answer that, and the TRIAL ends?”
Sekhmet: “That's what it'd be—huu. ...Though, considering your goal, you could say that the Trial was over the instant that you managed to get here—haa.”
Sekhmet makes it sound like a free round. Emilia gives a wry grin. Emilia doesn't mean any ill. But the issue is just so banal it surprised her. After all, it's obvious how Emilia would respond.
Emilia: “Worlds that end tragically for everybody. No, I'm not prepared to see those at all.”
She has to think of memories that rip at her chest, that claw at her heard. In that world of darkness, amid those coloured lights, Emilia heard their wails times upon times.
Emilia: “These are futures where everyone might meet a sad end. In the dark world before this, I saw a lot of them. Where everyone was crying, suffering, angry. I don't know the details of what happened, but I don't want to see a future like that.”
Sekhmet: “...But, I can assure that if you continue on the path you're on—huu—it's highly likely for such things to happen—haa. Is that going to make you flee? Huu.”
Emilia: “No. That's going to make me face it.”
Sekhmet narrows her eyes as Emilia shakes her head and puffs out her chest. The overwhelming pressure threatens to consume her, but Emilia's spirit will not yeild. If she comes close to losing heart, memories of her mother and father support her. If she comes close to giving up, she has someone who will encourage her to keep going.
Emilia: “We'll sprint so fast we dodge the sad futures. But if that isn't going to work, we'll ride our momentum to soar over them. If people fall in the jump, we'll put in our all and pull them back up. And if we keep doing this, we'll wipe away every single tear.”
Sekhmet: “You sure sound confident for being so reckless—haa. When you merely talk about ideals and what's convenient for you, you'll break the instant that you slip up—huu. You don't think that'll happen? Haa.”
Emilia: “If I were alone, it might.”
Emilia responds fearlessly to Sekhmet's mocking words. In a sense, Emilia's stance is one that means being dependant on others. But that is the option that Emilia has left, after never being able to choose a single thing for herself.
Sekhmet: “—”
And Sekhmet looks utterly floored. She immediately looks down, the table and her hair concealing her expression. When,
Sekhmet: “Pff, khaah... haah, hahahaha! Ahh, yes! So that's it! Yes, that's it, that's definitely it, of course you'd give that answer now! Ahhh, hilarious!”
Emilia: “Is it really that funny?”
Sekhmet: “It's an absolute riot to me—haa. Okay? Huu. So, Echidna, right—haa. She's this terrible wacko even after her death—huu—who enjoys watching the TRIAL's challengers agonize over their pasts and presents and futures alone—haa. The idea that her plans would be destroyed, and like this... ahh, it's hilarious—huu.”
Sekhmet laughs uproariously, taking pained breaths while speaking with cheer. She lifts her head and sits upright, leaning against the chair back to view Emilia from straight-on. Sekhmet's eyes host a nostalgic gleam as she smiles,
Sekhmet: “The TRIAL presumes that you're taking it alone—haa—and you answer it by saying that you won't face your challenges alone—huu. —If Echidna heard this, she'd moan sour grapes all day, all while looking dead serious—haa.”
Emilia: “Oh. So that's the reply I could've got. ...Mhm, I sooo want to see that expression on her too.”
Sekhmet: “She's a terrible loser, so I doubt she'd let you see her looking like that—huu. That's a privilege reserved for us dream-dwellers—haa.”
Emilia: “So unfair.”
Emilia pouts, which just makes Sekhmet's expression more gleeful. To an outside observer, the harmonious joy abounding from them might make them look like friends who have known each other for decades.
Sekhmet: “Though, in exchange for that, I'll bestow you with your TRIAL results—haa. As you'd expect, there's nothing to complain about—in fact, you pass with a gold star—huu.”
Emilia: “Should it really be that simple?”
Sekhmet: “Did you want a more oblique answer, or some dramatic spiel—haa? Apologies, but you'd be wrong to expect something like that from me—huu. I'm the supervisor right now, and my word goes—huu. ...The TRIAL's over without any issue—haa.”
With a deep breath, Sekhmet snaps her fingers. She fails to get a sound on the first attempt, or the second, but on the third try finally manages a click—and a breeze gusts from behind Emilia. Emilia glances behind her, her silver hair swaying, to find that a door has appeared at the bottom of the hill. It doesn't look like it leads anywhere, but Emilia intuitively knows that this door is the dream world's exit.
Emilia: “You mean... once I go through that door, the TRIAL's over?”
Sekhmet: “That's the one—haa. Congratulations—huu. In the four hundred years—haa—since this tomb was made and Echidna's TRIALS came into operation, nobody had defeated these TRIALS— huu. Well, not that there was an abundance of challengers in the first place—haa.”
Emilia: “...Yeah. Not many people have been to SANCTUARY, and meeting the requirement to get trapped in SANCTUARY is actually surprisingly tough.”
Sekhmet: “There's that too, but... well, it doesn't really matter—huu. It's all over anyway—haa.”
It does bother Emilia how Sekhmet starts getting vague, but she doesn't pry into it. More importantly, she's elated to hear that the TRIAL is over. Honestly, she doesn't feel any sense of achievement yet. It hasn't hit her yet. She had struggled so much with the first TRIAL that she'd almost broken down, thinking this whole thing impossible.
She did feel that she came here resolved not to lose, but even so.
Sekhmet: “You don't look like you agree with it—huu.”
Emilia: “Erm, well I am kinda bothered. Sooo just kinda bothered.”
Sekhmet: “Echidna doesn't present problems that can't be solved—haa. It's incorrect to say that's the whole of it, but that's basically the whole of it—huu.”
When it's one witch saying it about another, it's probably right. Emilia nods reluctantly in a show of agreement. Sekhmet glances at her, examining her, before giving a small wave of her hand on the table.
Sekhmet: “Once you exit—haa—that door behind you, it's goodbye to this dream castle—huu. Which also means that's the end of the TRIAL—haa. And that you're qualified to enter the room— huu—in the back of the TRIAL chamber—haa.”
Emilia: “Open, the door. Mm, right. And go in there... what's in there?”
Sekhmet: “The mechanism that keeps the tomb functioning is—huu. Once it's stopped—haa— SANCTUARY's duties will come to their end—huu. You'll how how to stop it once you go in—haa.”
Emilia: “I stop the tomb's functions, and SANCTUARY's duties end. So the barrier disappears.”
If the barrier is extinguished, then Emilia and the people of SANCTUARY will be able to exit the forest. She doesn't know how many people will leave for the outside world once the barrier is opened. Or whether life on the outside will truly be to their benefit.
But they can't stay closed up in here any longer. Just like how Subaru argued Garfiel down, Emilia has to convince them. This is the end of a period spent in a place with stopped time. Once time is moving again, how are they going to make a place for themselves to live?
If possible, then Emilia wants to search for the answer with them. She can guide them by the hand, give a push to their backs, and no matter how hard it is, she can walk at their side. Though it's an unreliable, shaky, and fledgeling demonstration of leadership.
Sekhmet: “It's enough.”
Says Sekhmet, as if she's seen into Emilia's thoughts. That comment alone doesn't come with any of her characteristic sighs. Sekhmet said it for her while looking her straight-on, and it makes Emilia gulp. And smile.
Emilia: “Mhm, thank you. That's how I want to go my way.”
With that, Emilia gets to her feet. She brushes her hair into order, before bowing her head to Sekhmet.
She doesn't really know why she's doing it. But it feels like simply saying a goodbye won't be enough. Why is it that she feels so grateful? Sekhmet surely won't tell her.
She pushes her seat in, and descends the hill on her way to the door. The door feels emepheral as it stands there in the middle of the meadow, and Emilia realises that she feels somewhat sad to be leaving the castle in a dream.
White table, crisp breeze. Bright sunshine, perfect weather. It would be so fun to hold a tea party around that table.
Emilia: “Sekhmet-san. Can you tell Echidna something for me?”
Sekhmet: “...Let's hear it—haa.”
Emilia: “If we ever get the chance to see each other again, let's have a tea party. Even if I'm doing it in a dream, I'll definitely welcome it.”
Sekhmet: “—No problem at all. I'll tell her.”
Her hand on the doorknob, Emilia glances back to address Sekhmet, who smiles. Emilia returns the smile, and opens the door.
Beyond the door is darkness. But for some reason, she feels no hesitation about stepping into it. Emilia already know exactly where it leads.
She has overcome her past, chosen her present, and now meets a door to the future.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
—Feeling somewhat suffocated, Emilia sits up on the hard ground.
Coming back from the TRIAL isn't the same as waking up from sleep. It's not that her body fell into slumber, but that her consciousness was taken from her body led somewhere else. Her body and soul were in different places, and seeing that her soul wasn't sleeping, of course it's different from sleep.
If this were the same kind of thing as normal sleep, then considering that Emilia is rather bad at waking up, quite a lot of time would pass until she was really awake. Puck would be the one to wake her up before, but he isn't here now, and so it would've eaten considerable time. And now she will need to learn how to deal with this on her own, for the future.
Emilia: “—Ah, gotta stop.”
Emilia shakes her head to dispel her sleepy thoughts, and puts her hand to the wall as she gets to her feet. She feels pretty much fine. It still doesn't feel like she's overcome the TRIALS. But if what Sekhmet told her in the dream was true—
Emilia: “I should be able to open the door.”
She looks to the back of the chamber, sighting the stone door across the small room. The door hadn't moved an inch when she pushed or pulled it before, and just like how the tomb's walls glimmer slightly to Emilia's vision, this door also looks to be cloaked in light.
Unlocked. Might be what it means. Emilia's footsteps peal as she approaches the door. As she stands before it, she holds her breath for a moment.
On the other side of this door will be something that liberates SANCTUARY. Sekhmet said she'd know what to do, but honestly Emilia's a little worried that she won't. Emilia isn't exactly confident about her smarts. Is she not allowed to bring anyone along with her? Though, alongside the fact that not many people can get this far inside, she gets a feeling that the door won't open if anyone else is around.
Perhaps this is all happening because of how smoothly it all went: Emilia cannot erase her paranoia about this door. Perhaps it's all a deception, she wonders. You could that being warier than before, but it's a wariness limited to things connected to Echidna. A sense of caution she gets because she knows the personality of the person who set this up.
Emilia: “Anyway, have to go in. Okay, here I go.”
She balls her hands into fists to psych herself up, and moves to put her hand to the door. Should she push or pull? While she considers the issue, and just as her fingertips graze the door—
—The stone door slides sideways to make a path for Emilia.
Emilia: “...I feel like Echidna's smiling so nastily right now.”
Mutters Emilia, pouting at her spoiled start. Emilia gets the feeling that this door's gimmick is some very elaborate pestering from Echidna, which slightly calms her tension. She gives a sigh, gets herself back in the mood, and steps into the room.
The door opens into a room less than half the size of the TRIAL chamber. It's smaller than a room that's already small. Just two beds from the Roswaal Mansion would be enough to occupy all the space. She hadn't expected the room to be this cramped. Her eyes widen at how constrained it is, before she spots the thing in the back of the room and puts her hand to her mouth in shock.
—In the back of the room is something like a transparent coffin, with a woman lying inside.
Her time is frozen, keeping her so beautiful that you could wonder if she was only sleeping. The coffin looks to be made out of spellstone, and when Emilia touches it to examine its purity, she is shocked at how superior it is. Such high-grade crystal would excel even Puck's old anchor.
A woman is sealed in spellstone capable of sealing things superior to the Great Spirit Puck. —Of course, she isn't breathing. Emilia feels no life from her, and what remains is a husk.
Her long, sleek hair is white as frost. Her cheeks and neck, what areas of skin are visible, possess the beauty of virgin snow. Emilia's breathing near hitches before her stunning visage. Her beautiful form is garbed in perfectly black raiment, with not a single superfluous colour present, the dress-like vestment crafted to her in miraculous concord.
A beautiful woman who can be described with the two hues 'white' and 'black'. True beauty—the utter lack of need for any superfluous accessories—would probably feel terror when faced with this black and white countenance.
Emilia: “She's beautiful...”
Emilia's thoughts escape her lips. Emilia would find another strikingly beautiful woman if she looked in the mirror, but her sentiments have nothing to do with that. She is simply so enraptured by the beauty of this thing before her that she is absolutely moved.
A beautiful woman of black and white. That would be someone she met in the castle of dreams, the WITCH OF GREED.
In the depths of the tomb, waiting there beyond the defeat of the WITCH OF GREED's trials is,
Emilia: “She looks like Echidna... but who is she?” A woman reminiscent of the Thirst for Knowledge Incarnate, but who Emilia has never seen before.
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