-T̕͟n͠͞i͜҉͞áo̴r͏͡ ́͏̡O̕͝d̶͏r̡̧͘i҉͏́m ̷P͡l̡oige҉͏è҉u-
̶̀"G̷͝i͞n̵̴ǹ͝è͏f̸̧i̧̡r ó͘f͟͠͞ ͢h̢e̸͞t́͞ Y̴̡̨ŕ͟c̸̢a͘ş́tĺ ͘E̷̴a͟͡ḩ͝͠r͘͏̷t̀"́
I wish I could imagine
such a world where suffering
wasn't the basis of life
and where we must suffer
to understand the love behind all feelings.
*static*
I hswi I dluco iiemagn
such a rodlw hewer inufsgref
wasn't hte sasbi of flie
dna hwere we tmsu ufsrfe
ot undesrdtan hte oelv nidebh lal feeilngs.
*static*
I͏͜͢ ͟hs̸w̡i̕ ͞Į̴ ̡͟d͠҉ļ̡̕u҉̸͞c͏̀o ̨i͞ie̵m̷a̵͘͡g̴͟n͏̸͏
̷̛s̶̶u̡̧c̡͢͜h ͝a ̢͘rod̢ļ̶w̡̕ ̸͝h̴e̢͡͞w͏́e͡͡r̸͡ ͡i̢n̶u͘͏f͏s҉̡g̶̢͝re͢҉f͜
̢ẃa҉̵s͠n̡͝҉'҉t̶ ̀͢͡h̛́t͟͠e ̨sas̵͟b̕i̷̷ ̧͜óf̸̢͘ ͘f̶̡l͢i̛e̛͘
̸́҉d̛n͝à ̛͟͝h̵̶̶we͘͞re͘ ̷we̷ ̵̡t́̀͟m͢s̛u̶͜͝ ̵͘u̶͘f͡͝s̢r̵̢f͢͜͏è͘͟
̡͟o̕͢t̕ ҉̛ų͘n͏̸d͠͞͞e̡͘͞sŗ̕d̸t̷ąǹ ̷ḩ͢͞t̀͟͏e̛͡ o̸͟e͏̛͜ļ̢͟v͏̧͏ ̵͢n̸͜i͏de̵͘bh ͡la͡l͢ ̶͜҉f̧ȩ̴ei̧ĺng̶̢͠s̷.̕
Silence filled the air once all that was seen had been blacked out. As if what we were seeing of Rinato's epilogue had been cut off the air by a mysterious hacking.
Maybe that was the premature end of her epilogue, and that we are meant to end our viewing of this particular Murder Game unless you were to move on to read other epilogues before and after this one.
Yet, it wasn't particularly over... someone still wanted to keep this show running for their own best interests.
The shattering of glass echoed throughout the realm, a bright light obscuring the very scene that was now going to be displayed. In a manner of seconds, the light dissipated to reveal...
A rose garden filled with golden butterflies and blue crystals. Oh, and there were two individuals in this garden... the purple-haired individual holding a crystal that showed the image of Rinato inside.
So it turned out that these two were keeping an eye on this particular Murder Game for the longest time, and specifically on Rinato for a single reason. Even in the apparent outdoors, they were set up to have a little Tea Party, casually sipping tea as they watched the events of the "Ultimate Murder Game" come to a conclusion.
"Well well well~, that was really fun to watch, wasn't it my lovely Bern?" Lambdadelta closed her eyes with a content smile on her face, leaning back against her chair once it was clear that the game was now wrapping up and concluding,
"I told you that watching the Murder Games after the one Erika was involved in would be great! This one surely takes the cake out of all of them though. All of that action. All of that despair. All of that death especially! Much much better than the games that Beato would ever orchestrate on her own and with the help of that idiotic Battler!"
"It was, Lambda. Gives us a lot more insight to work on... Though, I would be able to enjoy the event much more if you didn't smother up our piece in romantic interactions. It was quite out of character to have her fall in love several times with the same boy," Bernkastel had a blank expression on her face, and somehow talking about a certain piece being "out of character" due to Lambdadelta's involvement.
"Well, what else was I going to do with the opportunities coming up left and right? You know, that Abel boy was really after our piece anyways, makes me wonder if Abel was a piece belonging to someone that loves to make those romantic moments. I believe the modern player would call those types of relationships a "ship." Hah, I bet Erika would have a field day with that one," Lambdadelta scoffed in an annoyed tone, but joked a bit with some of her words near the end of her say.
"Besides, while I handled the softer portions of our precious Lapis, you focused more with being a cold heartless killer who stood in the bounty hunter's way. Just like my lovey dovey Bern would always be when in a game. No wonder they wouldn't let you be a gamemaster, you would be too cruel to the players~" the Witch of Certainty teased her lover, laughing a bit before taking a sip of her tea.
"How so? ... I suppose you are correct with me being a cruel gamemaster. If it wasn't for your annoying whining, I wouldn't had the feeling to revive the piece near the end of the game. I wanted to watch the despair of that Abel boy, but if this is the ending that most of the observers wanted... then they have it now," Bernkastel gave a blank stare towards the Witch of Certainty. In return, the other Witch pouted at that comment.
"H-Hey! Don't try to guilt trip me with saying that I ruined the fun for you! It was a majority thing! If I let you do your own thing, then people would start abandoning that ship or something! That wouldn't be a good thing at all, having majority of our audience for this game leave because of a bad ending!" Lambdadelta defended her case considering the matter.
"C'mon! Just admit that it was a fun game to watch all along, hmmmm?"
However, Bern gave a bored sigh, which got Lambda all concerned. What was wrong? They just got to watch an interesting game. So what was there to be bored about?
"While I admit it was amusing to watch in general... I'm still not satisfied. All we do is spectate, observe, and control pieces within the game itself. I rather not keep up this passive stance we have on the Murder Games," Bernkastel spoke out her thoughts, as if she read Lambdadelta's mind. Even the Witch of Certainty was caught off guard by this.
"Hahhhh? You really want to put ourselves into a Murder Game? You must be pretty darn bored then, Bern. Then again, boredom is what Witches loathe the most, and I wouldn't want you to be so bored here in the Metaworld," Lambdadelta really was certain that this was what Bernkastel was trying to lean towards here.
"Well spoken with certainty, Lambda. I hope you didn't forget about that Red Truth she spoke of after Erika's return from one of those Murder Games. That this cycle of Murder Games will never end. In that way, we can join into one, and see the amusement in first hand experience. As for our piece, Rinato Dormi, I'll let her have her happy ending, I did use my power of miracles to ensure her survival from her first near-death experience, revived her from her death near the end of the Ultimate Murder Game with the same miracles, and that she now bears powers over crystals and possibly Kakeras because of it. Maybe in the long run, we'll put her into use again..."
"Ooooh~! I love your train of thought, lovey dovey Bern! With your Miracles and my Certainty, we'll be sure to be in any Murder Game we like~!" Lambdadelta had a sly smile on her face as she knew exactly what they would do next together.
Little did the next group of people wrapped up into a full-blown Murder Game would know that two Voyager Witches would play along with them.
*static*
*static*
-Rinato Dormi Epilogue-
Part Final
"Refining of the Crystal Heart ~ Recollection"
Once Lapis returned to her apartment and gotten herself into some casual wear... she had a moment where she felt like questioning on what she was doing. Things that did make sense to her... and things that didn't make sense to her.
Sure, she remembered becoming a bounty hunter, and how she was met with a near-death experience by being shot in the face... and that experience gave her those crystal powers. That made sense to her... including the memory of her latest bounty: her own brother.
However, she didn't remember or make any sense out of the things that occurred after that last bounty kill.
Abel...
Why did that name sound familiar to her? Why did it sound important to her? Did she forget something?
She saw it all.
Her first meeting with Abel in the beginning of the Murder Game...
Her broken feelings...
Their first kiss...
His involuntary betrayal...
Mending his emotional pain...
Her 'death'...
How come these things occurred... and she couldn't remember when it happened? It didn't make sense to her at all. Her memories were all jumbled up now, due to an unknown cause that she couldn't pick up. Now... now she had a single thought in her head that she didn't remember making the thought of herself...
I want to... meet Abel again...?
It didn't make sense to her, but if these were the memories that she couldn't pick off until now... then she might as well go along with it. She didn't realize that she was holding one of her crystals in her hand. Wait... she only had one crystal. She couldn't remember what happened to the other two crystals... but had a feeling that she left one of those two crystals with Abel.
"Things haven't... been normal for me since I've gotten this power... so I guess I have not much options but to go with what my memories tell me to do..." Lapis sighed as she held the crystal out in front of her, tapping into her power to activate it. She wasn't sure on what it would do exactly, but a small dimensional rift began to open.
"... Abel... I may not know you personally... but I'll pursue that relationship that we have... whether or not I'll make sense of it sooner or later..." she said to herself, reassuring that things would be okay. Why would her memories deceive her? It was her memories, under her own actions, not by anyone else...
The dimensional rift opened in front of her, opening up to a location where Abel may be waiting for her. Taking a deep breath, she walked through the rift, having it close behind her as she settled her eyes on the boy that had popped up in her memories ever so recently. A light smile appeared on her face, the blue diamond birthmark gleaming in the light exposure it was getting...
"I'm here now... Abel..."
I'm not afraid anymore... but I'm sorry that I may have forgotten a bit of our relationship... and the events intertwined with it... Abel...
-End-