Chapter 315
Belial suddenly paused, taken aback.
At this moment, what appeared in Dark Kite's other hand was a Magic Wand that corresponded to Fallen Heaven, but was completely different in color.
The Magic Wand shimmered with a dazzling silver light.
--- Broken Wing.
Whether it's a broken Silver Feather or Dark Feather fallen from the sky, it's an incomplete wing, possessing only half the power.
When the two reunite and spread their wings again, the perfect pair of Paired Wings will return.
This undoubtedly gave Belial a clue as to what would happen next.
At that very moment, Dark Kite slowly merged the two Magic Wand together.
The spiral at the junction of the wing and the handle, as it rotates, slowly merges the two together.
Black and white wings intertwined at this moment.
"So, what's next...?"
In Dark Kite's other hand, she held a dark red Crystal engraved with the mark of a phoenix.
Fate Kite Crystal and Paired Wings.
This is... the original form.
Facing Belial, who stood there dumbfounded, the strongest Magic girl simply embedded the Crystal symbolizing the phoenix into the Paired Wings Magic Wand, a gesture she hadn't done in a long time.
"--- The Phoenix Myth!"
Chapter 100 Hello, Magic Girl
The darkness was like a deep sleep, a stillness where nothing could be felt. When I held my breath, it felt as if nothing was happening, and I felt at ease. But when I started breathing, I felt a fear of loneliness and nothingness.
When Kirishima Ai opened her eyes again, she saw a closed, empty world filled with countless stairs and closed rooms.
The ceiling extends indefinitely, filling the room with an endless expanse.
Are those rooms real?
If she remembered correctly... she had originally followed Silver Feather's advice and used Silver Feather's Crystal to transform again, hoping to have a proper talk, but ended up here.
She looked around, puzzled.
But she did not see any trace of Silver Feather.
Am I dreaming?
Thinking this in a daze, she looked at the room in front of her. For some reason, the door seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.
She leaned closer for a look.
There was a calendar on it, with dates from when she was little, and it featured cartoon illustrations of Magic girls.
Beside the door, a line was carved at a low height.
With these questions in mind, and a little unease in her heart, she pushed open the door.
"Look at my score today, it's a perfect score."
As she pushed open the door, the bright afternoon sunlight streamed in. In the room, she saw a little girl with short black hair, happily holding up a report card and showing it to a young and beautiful woman.
Kirishima Ai was stunned for a moment.
She quickly realized what was happening.
The woman in the room was her mother. She had just returned from a business trip and could spend a long time with her and her sister. On this day, young Kirishima Ai also achieved her first exciting result.
Although it's not a big deal.
There will be many more times like this in the future.
But she remembered it very clearly.
Her mother, Shiratori Aoi, with a gentle smile, reached out and touched her head as a child.
She praised her repeatedly, saying "So amazing!"
"Ai will definitely grow up to be a wonderful person."
The mother's slightly cool hands cupped her child's soft cheeks, feeling the warmth of her daughter.
At that time, Kirishima Ai was puzzled.
"Great?"
What does that mean?
She feels great about herself now.
"That means you will live a very happy life, do what you want to do, meet people you like, and never feel lonely."
Shiratori Aoi's words always seemed more profound than empty to her, making them difficult to understand, especially for a child.
Even later, Kirishima Ai was unable to understand the meaning of these words.
"Like Mom?"
The little girl's beautiful, clear eyes were full of longing and curiosity, and her mother's image was reflected in them.
A moment of confusion flashed across Shiratori Aoi's face. After a pause, she stroked Kirishima Ai's cheek and said:
"Better than Mom, much better."
A mother offered her heartfelt blessings to her child.
She looked at her blessed and beloved child, imagining what a happy future this child would be like.
That day, the little girl innocently said---
"Then, from now on, I will be very happy, and I will become a wonderful person."
She said this when she was a child.
The child's innocent words stung Kirishima Ai, who was staring blankly at the scene.
She lowered her eyes, her gaze dimming.
Then, everything in the room gradually disappeared, turning into darkness, leaving only a door.
It was a gray-white door that smelled of disinfectant.
It was very quiet in the darkness.
But a low arguing could be heard coming from inside the door.
One man and one woman.
Kirishima Ai seems to already know what's behind that door.
She placed her hand on the doorknob, stood there blankly for a while, and then pushed the door open again, revealing the scene inside.
That was in a hospital corridor.
She saw her father and mother arguing when she was a child. Their voices were indistinct, and she only remembered the rift between them that seemed impossible to mend. It was the only unforgettable memory of her childhood.
The rest, nothing could be heard.
Just like now.
It was just the lingering echo of a nightmare.
What caused their argument? Why were they so angry, no longer liking each other, and eventually divorcing, unable to go back to how things were before?
Nobody told her.
Adult matters are complicated and difficult to understand, and I won't let her figure them out anyway.
She turned her head and saw the ward.
Without a word, she stepped into the ward and saw the pitiful little girl lying on the bed with a bandage on her head.
The parents thought the little girl was asleep.
But in fact, Kirishima Ai heard it all when she was a child.
Injured by the Monster incident, she looked at her parents arguing at the door of the ward with confusion and unease, wondering why they were arguing and also wondering where her younger sister was.
"Dad? Mom?"
She weakly called out to her parents at the door.
But she was too far away, and her voice was too soft, so no one could hear her.
Sometimes she thinks about it.
Could it be that my voice was too weak back then, and they didn't hear me, which is why they have gradually drifted away from me in the years to come?
Thinking of this, Kirishima Ai lowered her head and looked at her childhood self.
Whether it was her imagination or not, the injured little girl seemed to have noticed her, and this time her pupils showed confusion and bewilderment.
She reached out and patted the little girl's head:
"It'll be alright."
"Although they won't be living together anymore, they're both living good lives, and you'll still see them often."
"Hina will get better in the end."
Kirishima Ai didn't know if the little girl could hear her.
But she wanted to tell her confused and anxious self that everything would be alright.
Although there will be many sad things along the way.
But in the end, things always return to calm.
However, after that, this child, who knew nothing about the future, asked Kirishima Ai in a daze:
And what about you?
Like a dream.
The past self saw Kirishima Ai and asked her a question.
Kirishima Ai stood there, stunned.
"... I?"
For a moment, she was lost in thought, reflecting on everything she had and the life she was living.
Compared to her Magic girl companions, she's probably quite lucky in every way.
People should learn to be content.
But she still couldn't answer the child's question.
She remained silent until the ward faded into darkness, and at that moment, she vaguely began to understand what this world was all about.
In the void, in the lonely darkness, Kirishima Ai saw numerous rooms again.
Each door symbolizes the past.
It symbolizes closed-off minds, meaningless daydreams. Even if you expect something different in a certain room, perhaps there is a glimmer of hope in this endless, boundless despair, but in the end, you will only reap disappointment.
She would occasionally see this place when she dreamed of Silver Feather.
Silver Feather seems to have always lived here.
She dwells in her past, in her closed-off heart, living as her own shadow in this endless, false world.
Before she knew it, she had started walking again.
As time went on, she searched through the doors one by one, looking for traces of Silver Feather.
After starting junior high school, she expressed her desire to live on her own for the first time.
Because her father was too busy with work to come home, and because her home was far from the high school in the city, he agreed to her request.
She moved into that dark, cramped home that belonged to her for the first time.
She rented a cheap place, and could use the rest for her own expenses. She didn't have many living needs anyway, and this kind of house was enough for a junior high school student.