It was a bright day in autumn when that vivid memory took place.

Sawatari Mikasa and her younger brother of five years, Sawatari Yuu, were walking home together after Mikasa picked him up from school. Like they had many times before, the two of them proceeded down the sidewalk hand-in-hand while chatting aimlessly about various things.

However, on this particular day, they happened to notice a row of flowers blooming on the roadside. Even amidst the cool autumn breeze, they held strong and continued to grow through small cracks in the concrete.

“Ehhh, amazing,” Mikasa said in admiration. “I can’t believe they can grow like that even in such an odd place.”

Yuu seemed to agree as he crouched down to inspect them closer, and added, “It’s almost like they’re saying, ‘As long as we’re together, it doesn’t matter what environment we grow in.’”

Mikasa watched as her little brother smiled fondly while gazing at the flowers, and a sudden urge to embrace him overcame her. Slowly, she leaned down and wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind, encasing him in a gentle hug.

“I feel the same way about you, you know. As long as the two of us are together, I don’t care where we go. And even if we’re separated, I’ll fight tooth and nail until we’re reunited. I just... want to be by your side, for as long as I can.”

While she rested her chin on his shoulder and closed her eyes calmly while saying these words, Yuu had gone silent. Then after a few moments, his small hands came up to touch her arms, and he showed a big smile.

“Me too. I really do love you Onee-chan. No matter how far apart we are, I’ll keep on loving you forever.”

Yuu’s bright, smiling face had become engraved into Mikasa’s very soul from that day. It was the smile she’d promised to protect, and it belonged to the person she swore to never let go of. Even now, the image was still clear in her mind.

But that image began to warp and distort before her eyes, then eventually fade away as Micah’s consciousness steadily returned. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open while her body vaguely registered the josliting and vibrations around her.

Just as the question of ‘Where am I?’ started to form in her mind, a voice spoke. “So, you’re finally awake.”

The voice made her blink into awareness, and she looked around to see that she was in the back of a carriage, with Leo sitting casually across from her and Mariel to her right, supporting her head resting on the woman’s shoulder. Immediately, Micah pushed away from her and sat up.

“You’re probably confused about what happened.” As she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, Mariel gave a summarized explanation—from her falling unconscious due to the pain of Mana Depletion to the discussion of what to do with her, and finally the mayor’s decision to have her sent to a maximum security prison in Regalia.

That last part in particular sent red flags through Micah’s mind, and she immediately tried to stand up to flee, only to find that her wrists and ankles were bound with what seemed to be solid rock. However, what caused her to fall into a panic immediately after wasn’t that.

It was the realization that she wasn’t wearing her scarf.

Immediately, she felt her pulse quicken, and her breathing became labored as her vision started to swim. Her precious item; her one and only connection to Yuu was gone. It wasn’t with her anymore. Yuu wasn’t with her anymore.

Yuu… Yuu is… gone?

A surge of bile forced its way up her throat, and it took everything she had to swallow it back down. Still, the nausea persisted, and a feeling of dizziness overwhelmed her as she struggled to keep her breathing under control.

Leo and Mariel exchanged glances, the former confused and the latter concerned, and Micah vaguely registered Mariel’s words asking if she was okay before everything went dark.

She had no way of knowing how much time had passed before she’d woken up again, but when she next came to, she was in a different place than before. The warmth of the sun blanketed her body, and a soft sensation cushioned her head from beneath. A soft voice roused her into opening her eyes, where she spotted Mariel’s form looming over her. But just as quickly as she made to sit up the woman stopped her.

“It’s okay, just relax. You had a panic attack and fainted immediately after waking up in the carriage, so we decided to stop at a field nearby to get some fresh air.”

“How… how long…?”

“How long has it been? About three hours or so.”

“Three hours…”

Brief as they were, the memories returned to the front of her mind as Micah was once again horrified to find her scarf missing.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Mariel seemed to sense her rising hysteria, but Micah didn’t answer her. As her mind clouded over with thoughts of losing Yuu again, she began to tear up and hyperventilate.

Mariel watched her for a while, then made a grim expression as she reached to the side and took hold of the scarf. Once Micah registered the soft fabric being placed over her nose, her body instantly calmed down. Her hands went up to grip it, and she breathed deeply as if indulging in its scent until finally she relaxed completely.

“Better?” The woman asked. “I suspected your connection to that scarf might have been related somehow to your sudden hysteria. From the moment I first took it off, the mana in your body always seemed to be stretching out slightly, like it was searching for it.”

She shook her head with a small sigh. “But I digress. Obviously, it’s too dangerous to let you keep it. In fact, Leo was just saying earlier how much easier it would be on the both of us if you just stayed unconscious the whole time.” She paused. “And despite the fact that I completely agree, I also made a promise to Halloway’s mayor that we wouldn’t let any harm come to you until we reached Regalia. It’s quite a risk on our part, yes, but I also consider your mental state to be included in that agreement, so I’m willing to let you wear the scarf for the rest of the journey.”

“R-Really-”

“However,” she continued, cutting off Micah with the raise of a finger. “Refrain from using magic, attacking anyone, or trying to escape from Leo and I. If you break any of these conditions, then I’ll have no choice but to keep you separated from that thing indefinitely. Do we have a deal?”

After listening to the offer, Micah started to consider her options, but quickly stopped herself. There really was only one answer she could give in this situation. Setting aside the fact that she couldn’t use [God’s Blessing], she was completely helpless when not wearing the scarf. Even after ten years, her PTSD-like reaction to being separated from it had not waned in the slightest. It probably wasn’t a stretch to call it her biggest weakness at this point.

With that in mind, she really did not want to experience constantly passing out again and again. At the same time though, their destination was apparently Regalia—a maximum security prison for mages, to be precise. If she were to be incarcerated in a place like that, it would undoubtedly be game over. In order to formulate a proper plan to escape her current predicament, agreeing to the deal and receiving the scarf again was absolutely necessary.

“...Yes, I accept. Rather, I’m grateful for your generosity.”

Mariel chuckled at her response. “You know, I remember saying something similar when we first met.” She offered a wry smile, then faltered slightly when Micah didn't share in the sentiment. “Look, I understand the circumstances aren’t very favorable for you, but it’s not like anything’s been made permanent yet. You’re only being temporarily held while the officials in Westra decide what to do with you, and it’s very possible that your sentence will be reduced heavily due to various circumstances like your age and your family’s neglect of your magic potential.”

Mariel continued by explaining that the carriage driver was given a letter from Halloway’s mayor that was to be delivered to the Norith council concerning this matter, and as they’re more than used to matters like these, their full cooperation was expected.

“All in all, things really aren’t as bad as they seem. You might even be able to return to Halloway in the best case scenario.”

Micah nodded along with her words, but chose not to voice her doubts over that last part. If the truth of her magic potential came to light, it was very unlikely that she’d be allowed to continue living a normal life for fear of another incident. Not that she was overly familiar with how the governments of this world operated, but just from her own imagination she could see the best case scenario as her being put on something like probation, with a personal magic instructor being assigned to teach her things like discipline while cultivating her skills under strict supervision. To keep her from practicing magic on her own, she wouldn’t be surprised if she was even put under something like twenty-four hour observation.

But again that didn’t seem all that realistic considering she’d actually killed someone. Perhaps it was something that wasn’t treated as seriously in this kind of world than on Earth, but in Micah’s eyes murder was still murder. She just couldn’t imagine they would let her off so easily no matter what the end decision was. After all, it was because she’d committed murder in the first place that she was so adamant about keeping her cover from being exposed.

“Hey, I’m back.” In the midst of her pondering, Leo appeared with several flasks of water in his hands. “Got enough to last us another week.”

“Ah, thanks.” Mariel reached over to take one, then offered it to Micah. “Thirsty? You must be, with how long you’ve been asleep.”

Though she didn’t want to accept anything from this woman, Micah realized just how true her words were; her mouth was dry from her hyperventilating earlier, and she was still sweating somewhat too. Reluctantly, she nodded quietly and reached up to take the flask.

However, doing so allowed her to notice the added weight on her arms, and the fact that she was still restrained by her wrists and ankles. She looked to Mariel questioningly, who shook her head and said, “Even if you look at me like that, it’s risky enough just letting you have the scarf back. Bear with it for now.”

She offered the flask once again and, left with no other choice, Micah obediently allowed herself to be nourished by the woman. She drank until the entire flask was empty. Once she was done, Mariel returned the flask to her partner. “So that’s how it is, Leo. Micah agreed to not cause any problems until we get to Regalia, and in exchange I let her have her scarf back.”

“Haa…” The man let out a sigh as he went to bring the rest of the flasks back to the carriage. “Whatever. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

He returned a moment later, and after making sure Micah was alright with it (not that she had much choice), Mariel allowed Leo to pick her up bridal-style and carry her back to the carriage as well. All the while, Micah did her best to fight off any embarrassment from being carried this way by a man for the first time since her father.

Thankfully it was short-lived, and after all three of them climbed into the carriage, the driver set off once more, and so resumed their journey to Regalia.

-----

The rolling green landscape of Magi made for a good distraction for her eyes as Micah’s thoughts drifted to the nuns, whom she’d left behind in Halloway.

She knew she’d have to leave them behind eventually, but she never would have expected their parting to be so abrupt. She hadn’t even had a chance to tell them she was planning to leave in the first place, or say goodbye to any of them…

Maybe I should see it as a blessing in disguise though. At least now I don’t have to worry about breaking the news to them.

It was regrettable for Bernadetta and the others, but Micah’s biggest concern right now was that she’d left Halloway much earlier than she’d planned to. She had no way of telling whether [God’s Blessing] was at an appropriate level for her to start her quest to find Yuu, and it was clear from her fight with Leo and Mariel that her skills weren’t yet sufficient enough to defeat anyone who might get in her way, including God.

Well, before that I should think about how to get out of this mess first.  I won’t be starting anything if I’m locked up in a prison after all.

And yet with those words, she found her thoughts shifting to the dream she’d had earlier, and the words she and Yuu exchanged. While thinking about those happy days, she renewed her resolve.

Yuu… wait for me. Whether you’re in this world or not, whether you remember me or not, I’ll definitely find you. No matter what.

-----

Phew… That went easier than I was expecting.

Mariel pretended to look out of her own window while stealthily inspecting Micah and thinking these words.

Honestly, even she knew what she was doing was foolish—insane even, when considering what Micah had done to them and what she’d proven capable of in the past. Even if she and Leo had been able to suppress her once before, there was no guarantee that they could do it a second time, or that Micah would even attack them a second time and not simply run away when she found a chance.

Based on her estimation of Micah’s strength, the rock shackles she created should be beyond her ability to destroy even with the scarf’s power, but that girl’s very existence was an anomaly, and it was very possible that she could gather even more strength and shatter it easily once the right opportunity to escape presented itself. No matter how one looked at it, it was simply unreasonable to return the girl’s scarf to her.

Leo had argued many of these points himself after she revealed to him her intentions, and it wasn’t like she didn’t agree with them. And yet, she also felt it was unreasonable to ask her to sit idly by while a young girl repeatedly wakes up and goes into a panic attack only to pass out again, over and over for three weeks straight.

I mean, setting aside what she’s done, she’s still just a kid in the end. As a Hero and a human being, I can't just sit back and let that kind of cruel thing happen right in front of me…

Despite getting Leo to back down, Mariel knew it was her own wishful thinking that Micah would be cooperative upon waking up, which was why she agreed to Leo’s proposal that they test her before fully-committing to the idea of escorting her whilst she wore the scarf.

To that end, they had the driver stop the carriage and took the unconscious girl out to a nearby field, where Leo collected a few flasks of water in advance and hid nearby while Mariel waited for Micah to wake up. When she eventually did, Mariel returned her scarf—and if she attacked or tried to escape in that moment, Leo would have immediately sprung into action.

Luckily, that possibility didn’t come to pass, and Micah accepted the deal with surprising ease. It wasn’t clear just how smart the girl was, but Mariel supposed she at least understood enough to know that she was at a disadvantage, and promptly capitulated.

It isn’t as if I’m not wary of her though. Using my Ability, I can sense if the mana in her body or the scarf starts to build up. I’ll know exactly when she’s about to make a move, so we can stop her in the worst case scenario.

That was really the final nail in the coffin that convinced Leo, since it put all of the burden on her to prevent something from going wrong. Still, her partner seemed completely against the idea even after he relented. At the time, Mariel had called him out on the idea that his disdain towards Micah came only from the fact that she nearly killed him, and that he was holding a grudge because of it.

However, strangely enough he denied it, and while sulking muttered something along the lines of it being because she’d been hurt. He refused to say anymore than that though, which left her more than a little confused as to the true meaning of his words. Still, the important thing was that he wouldn’t stop her.

She snuck a glance to him, and cringed a bit at the sight of him visibly seething while glaring daggers at Micah, then the girl herself who seemed preoccupied with staring out the window, taking in the grassy expanse of Westra’s countryside for what was likely the first time in her short life.

What kinds of things had she been through? What was it that affected this girl so much that she could commit murder at only two years old? What were these “goals” she mentioned before? How important to her were they, that she’d make such a determined face…?

Mariel knew that she probably wouldn’t get to know the answers to these questions, but she still found herself curious about the existence called “Micah Stronoff”.

A small, very tiny part of her hoped that the girl would open up to them a bit before they arrived at their destination.