Istaroth: Outsiders Cannot See Through Time-Their Danger May Be... Hm? Where Did That Paw Come From?

"Ei...? Can you hear me? It's me, Ma—"

"I don't know how long you've endured alone, but at this very moment, I'm so happy to see you again."

"I left behind the last faint trace of my consciousness within Dreamer's Will. Though it may be a little late, please allow me to continue the farewell we never got to finish."

"My disappearance was destined. At the very end, I hoped to take another form and remain forever by your side, and by Inazuma's."

?!!

"Makoto?"

A faint purple orb drifted out from Dreamer's Will, carrying a voice familiar to both people present.

Her body tensed instantly. Even in the fiercest battles, Ei had never been so nervous and rigid.

She had never imagined she would reunite with her sister this way. Looking at the dim orb before her, Ei regarded it as though it were a treasure more precious than her own life.

"It's me, Ei. I'm sorry that I was inadequate both as your sister and as a god, but at this moment, I have one last chance to make it up to you."

"..."

"Make it up to me? No, Makoto, you don't need to make anything up to me. Clearly, I should be the one—"

A tangle of emotions seized her heart in an instant, and Ei instinctively voiced what she had long kept buried inside.

But before she could continue, Makoto seemed to have anticipated this. In the form of that orb, she answered within their minds:

"Make it up to you?"

"Heh, Ei, you've grown up too. I'm truly happy to hear you say that."

"Five Hundred Years Ago, you wouldn't listen to anything I said. I had no choice but to seal away this final sliver of consciousness."

"Looking at things now, that decision