"I can't believe it." Saki Sakai stared at her test, stricken. She had gotten a single question wrong, because she'd read the question wrong, and thought it had been asking something else. She wasn't first in the school rankings. From that alone, she was. . .fifth. . .like always.

　　"Don't mind don't mind!" Eri patted her on the shoulder with an enormous smirk. "There's always next time, Saki!"

　　"If I weren't distracted by things at home -- !" Saki bristled.

　　"Oh? Is that the sound of someone trying to back out of her bet? Which family just aced the school rankings?" Eri waved her test paper in front of Saki's face.

　　"The Kounos." Saki muttered.

　　"What was that? I'm not sure I heard you," Eri continued fluttering the test paper in front of her face.

　　"It was the Kounos!" Saki spoke louder.

　　"That's right, the Kounos! I've retrieved my family's honor. The haunted house incident never happened!" Eri bounced on her toes euphorically. "So, when can I expect you over to my house?"

　　"What does it matter?" Saki groused, then her face lit up with a brilliant idea. "Fine, let's make it today after school!" Saki challenged.

　　"But, my parents might be busy. . ." Eri pushed her two index fingers from her alternate hands together worriedly.

　　"Oh? I thought we had a promise. Wasn't the winner going to invite the loser to meet her parents?" Saki drew up all her height and crossed her arms in stern disapproval.

　　"Fine! This afternoon! You'd better not be late!" Eri pointed just as dramatically back at Saki.

　　"What are you talking about? How can I find your place unless we walk back to your home together?" Saki laughed.

　　"But, won't you need to check in at home first?" Eri asked.

　　"I'll just call my parents, they've met your parents already so it will be fine. Of course you'll have to give me your clothes to wear for school tomorrow. You'd better dress me up as fashionably as you dress every day. And since I'm staying the night, we'll have to bathe together too." Saki said.

　　"Wait! This wasn't part of the promise!" Eri complained.

　　"Backing out now? The Kounos sure are bad at keeping their words. Sounds pretty dishonorable -- " Saki grinned evilly.

　　"Okay, okay! Sapphire, don't deduct any more points! Saki can do whatever she wants! I'll bake her cookies!" Eri's face turned red. Saki almost felt a little pity for her. Almost. Maybe if she hadn't waved her test in front of Saki's face. Maybe.

　　"Let's bake them together then." Saki relented. "I need to learn how to cook eventually. All I could do for Aiko this morning was crack eggs."

　　"You have no idea how easy you had it," Eri leaned in close to whisper in Saki's ear. "I only got to positive points this morning. I made my bed after I woke up and he gave me one point. I swear, if I stopped an asteroid from hitting the Earth, he'd give me one point!"

　　"I still don't even know what my magic is." Saki admitted, blushing. "But Chiharu gave me some pointers on your homework. Let's work together, as followers and emulators, when we get to your place, okay?"

　　"Okay. Can you convince Sapphire to bond with me? I'm sure he'd listen to you." Eri pleaded.

　　"Of course! You're perfect. I'll tell Sapphire that as many times as it takes." Saki promised.

　　"Thanks, Saki. I'm getting really excited. Can we fit all this in to one visit?" Eri smiled excitedly.

　　"If not, I'll just come over tomorrow too." Saki grinned.

　　"Don't become a freeloader!" Eri objected. But the lunch chime rang and the happy part of school was at an end. Now they had to stare at kanji and jump rope again, like some sort of diabolic torture chamber, for the next three hours. Saki wouldn't be surprised if school made them do both at once, since apparently anything and everything 'built character' and 'was necessary if you wanted to succeed in life.' As though adults jumped rope. Or remembered a single thing from what they learned in school. School was the biggest fraud in human history.

* * *

　　Keiiichi Kouno presented the picture to his assembled team over the video conference table.

　　"It's low resolution, but my wife wouldn't make a mistake. The Wyrd Council, as they call it, is in Tomsk, Russia. Specifically, in an underground lair." Keiichi reported.

　　"As expected of Sora," An elderly man shook his head ruefully. "You say their location was in your spam folder?"

　　"It may be the first and last time an advertisement ever helped the world." Keiichi grinned, and the Moral Aristocracy laughed appreciatively.

　　"What do we do?" A middle aged woman asked. "They can scry us from anywhere on Earth. If we approach Tomsk, they'll flee ahead of time and we'll lose them."

　　"That is the problem, isn't it?" Keiichi bit his cheek. "We have them, and we don't have them. If we attempt to engage them en masse, they'll slip through our fingers. They might stand still if we only sent one or two Choice Givers, but then they could just kill those two and where would we be?"

　　"Do we have any long range artillery?" A nerdy 20-something boy asked.

　　"It would be suspicious to even get near Tomsk. Besides, they're underground. Unless we confirm their exact location, make visual contact, and watch them die, there's always the chance we'll miss them, and then they really will get away." Keiichi threw the idea out.

　　"Let's hire terrorists to bomb the place." An elderly woman sitting in a rocking chair suggested.

　　"Do you know any? Who do we call, Terror-4-Hire Hotline?" Keiichi asked.

　　The Moral Aristocracy laughed again. Any 'terrorists' they contacted would inevitably end up being a front group for the CIA or MI6 anyway. Anonymity was key to their future conquest of the world. The last thing they wanted to do right now was alert the authorities to their presence.

　　"How about the opposite, then?" A precocious child holding a teddy bear and wearing a frilly pink dress offered. "Let's tip off the Russian secret police -- what do they go by these days? NKVD? OGPU?"" The girl stopped, trying furiously to remember the books she'd read on the most murderous group in history.

　　"I think it's the MVD now." A hairy heavily muscled fifty year old man offered.

　　"Thanks, Nikolai." The girl waved her teddy bear's arm in acknowledgement. "Let's tip off the MVD that the underground lair in Tomsk is a secret Chechen terrorist network. If I know them, they'll blow up everything first and ask questions later."

　　"Sending Dead Enders to hunt Dead Enders. True, the Corrupters will never see it coming. But what if Russia learns about wyrds?" Keiichi asked worriedly.

　　"Aren't we going to tell the world about it anyway?" The grandmother replied.

　　"That was just a contingency plan." Keiichi corrected.

　　"Well, isn't this the contingency?" The grandmother pursued.

　　"Fine, we'll deal with that when it happens. More importantly, how do we guarantee the Russians A) take the tip seriously, B) react with enough force given their magically armed opponents, and C) kill all the wyrds so that this battle can finally end?" Keiichi asked.

　　"Leave that to me." A woman in her thirties adjusted her glasses clinically.

　　That was the great thing about the Moral Aristocracy. Between all twenty of them, there was always a magic for everything.

* * *

　　"I'm home!" Eri called out, holding Saki's hand and leading her into the giant vestibule of their mansion.

　　"Sorry to intrude." Saki followed up timidly, taking off her shoes.

　　"Father, I hope you don't mind, but I brought Saki back with me today. If it's alright, can she stay the night? We'll both go to school tomorrow together, and she wants to wear the clothes I pick out for her." Eri called out to the empty expanse, confident her father would hear her somewhere in there.

　　"Welcome home, Eri. It's good to see you again, Saki." Mother bowed politely to their guest. "Father's in a very important meeting right now, so why don't you two go out and play in the back yard?"

　　"I'm sorry. I didn't think I'd interrupt." Saki bowed back, feeling a little more guilty for forcing Eri's hand.

　　"It's no problem." Father said affably, closing a door on the third floor of the mansion and tracing his way to the central stairway. "We just finished."

　　"And?" Mother asked.

　　"Miss Clive believes she can conjure up enough authentic looking documents for a certain extremely brutal and thorough security service to act." Keiichi grinned cheerfully.

　　"Oh?" Mother laughed. "That's brilliant! Who thought it up? Was it you, dearest?"

　　"Sorry to disappoint you. It was our resident super genius." Father got all the way down the stairs and kissed Mother demurely on the cheek.

　　"Annette Grifford? That innocent doll faced red haired child detective? Suggested we hire the KGB?" Mother's voice kept rising in disbelief.

　　"They changed their name again. It's apparently the MVD now." Father grinned.

　　"You just never know anyone in this world!" Mother exclaimed.

　　"Welcome home, Eri." Father leaned down from his vast height to give his eleven year old daughter a kiss on the cheek.

　　"Did something good happen, Father?" Eri beamed up at him, glad neither of her parents were angry for bringing back an unannounced guest.

　　"Not yet. But there's reason to hope. Now, what's the plan here?" Father turned her attention to Saki, who was standing quietly in the background, still amazed at how rich her friend was. Eri had never said a word about it at school.

　　"We're going to bake some cookies together. Do we have the right ingredients?" Eri asked concernedly.

　　"If it's cookies, I'll. . ." Mother offered.

　　"It's okay, Mother. Just give us the recipe and show us where the ingredients and cooking utensils are. We're trying to learn how to be good wives. You see, Saki has this hugeeee crush on Uemeda." Eri began.

　　"Lies! All lies!" Saki tackled Eri to cover her mouth. "Is this how you introduce me to your parents?" Saki asked.

　　"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it." Eri started laughing, her red ribbon bobbing as her head shook. "Mother, Father, this is my best friend. She wanted to stay over for the night."

　　"Welcome," Eri's parents nodded slightly.

　　"Saki, these are my parents. As you can see, they're not just any Choice Givers, but the leaders of the most powerful Choice Giver organization on Earth. You could say they're the two greatest people on Earth." Eri held out her hand to present them with a flourish.

　　"Ah, nice to meet you." Saki bowed deeply.

　　"Tell us about yourself, Saki." Mother suggested, guiding them to a set of comfortable couches in the living room "I'll go set the kitchen in order, but I can listen from there. Would anyone like some tea?"

　　"Yes please." Saki agreed, relieved to have something to hold and sip so she didn't just have to stand around nervously.

　　"Take a seat and relax. It will only take a moment." Mother smiled, and soon everyone was under her spell and sitting down quietly as directed.

　　"There's nothing interesting about myself." Saki searched around desperately for a way to compare to 'the two greatest people on Earth.' "But I really like my older sisters. They're both Choice Givers too." Saki bragged.

　　"We met them, at the amusement park." Mother called out from the kitchen, agreeing affably. "They seemed like wonderful people. Very brave. And it was sweet of them to take you out for your birthday."

　　"That's nothing." Saki enthused. "Aiko wrote this incredible book, it's called Changeling, and it's my favorite book ever. Not that I've read that many books. . ." Saki was quick to blush and retreat.

　　"A book by a Choice Giver? That must be extremely interesting." Mother inquired.

　　"Oh, it is. It's about psychics who take over the world because they're sick of the world. You see, the world is sick, it's just totally broken, and they're the only good parts left in it. But then the world wants to break them too, and they just. . .stop tolerating it. They marshal their forces and strike back in full righteous fury. They call themselves humans and everyone else 'homo sapiens,' like some leftover relic of the evolutionary tree. And their society is so wonderful. It sounds like heaven. It's really strict for the individual, but the rewards for everyone agreeing to obey those terms together, as a community, are enormous! I wanted to live there instantly. When the story ends they're all set to colonize the whole world with humans and establish their society as mankind's future, through force of psychic arms." Saki rushed to explain.

　　"I could get to like this girl." Father grinned. "A shame we aren't as strong as these psychics, it would make life so much easier."

　　"Father's planning to conquer the world too!" Eri explained.

　　"Really? How?" Saki asked, amazed.

　　"It's a secret." Father put his finger over his lips. "Who's your favorite character in this book, this Changeling?"

　　Saki thought about it for a second, mulling over the options. She liked practically everyone in the story, and the characters were all similar to one another, because they all shared that one bond as a united community with a single goal. It was like what Aiko had told her earlier. The better people became, the more similar they became, because there was only one absolute ideal.

　　"If I had to choose, it would be Hitomi Machida. She just has this immortal line. Hitomi barely ever says more than like three words in a sentence, and that's when she talks at all. But that was enough for me to remember her so clearly." Saki explained.

　　"So what was it?" Mother called from the kitchen, pouring hot tea.

　　"Her fiance asks her. . .arghhh, before that I have to explain," Saki said, shaking her head. "All the psychics in Changeling have been paired up in arranged marriages, because the community wants the new psychic genes to 'stick' and carry over to the next generation, so that humanity can be a new psychic race unlike everyone who came before. Most of the community are just people with the right ideals and above average intelligence, it's just these twenty psychics, aged from around ten to twenty, who are their flame and hope for the future. And none of the twenty psychics object, they all understand how important this is, and embrace their duty, in marriage, war, childbearing, everything. Duty is such an important word to humans. I mean, to the humans of Changeling. So Hitomi has a fiance of course, I think his name was Hoh Er."

　　"A Chinese married to a Japanese?" Mother asked, bringing Saki, Eri, and Father tea, carefully placing the platters that looked extremely fine and beautiful in front of each of them, before taking a seat herself with her own cup of tea.

　　"In Changeling none of that matters. Everyone in the community is bound together by their ideals. Race, nationality, historical grievances, cultural traditions, religions, they're all wiped away and replaced with this overriding dream of progress. The main characters are a couple too. Kip Miles is a coffee colored Indian, who was actually raised by homo sapiens, and his fiancee by the end of the story is Autumn Brewnell, this incredibly striking blue eyed blonde haired nordic type whose mother is the leader of humanity. They couldn't have been more different people or come from more different backgrounds, but because they were both psychics, and they both believed in the future their community was aiming for, they still fell in love and came together as a couple and a team."

　　"I see." Mother said, listening with fascination.

　　"Okay, well, Hoh asked his fiancee, Hitomi, whether she wished they didn't have to fight a war, whether she wished she could just abandon this whole concept of duty and go do whatever she liked, leading a peaceful, pleasant life." Saki got back on track.

　　"It sounds like the Devil tempting Jesus." Eri put in, listening intently.

　　"Well, be that as it may, he ended it by asking her, "Does the world absolutely have to change?"" Saki continued.

　　"And?" All the Kounos leaned forward.

　　"And Hitomi said "Yes."" She always says just one word like that, and speaks really quietly too," Saki explained parenthetically. Everyone nodded to show they understood.

　　"And when Hoh asked "Why?"" Saki continued, "Hitomi said, "Because like this, it's still too sad."

　　Eri Kouno leaned back, her head feeling like a rung gong. It may have been the most beautiful line she'd ever heard.

　　"That's just it, isn't it?" Father leaned back, a sigh of satisfaction escaping him. "How can they expect us to sit back and do nothing, now that we know where this world is heading? It's impossible. It's like Aiko said. Like this, it's still too sad. The world absolutely has to change. And it's our duty to change it."

　　"Do you agree with Aiko, Saki?" Mother asked.

　　"Aiko's my guiding light." Saki said simply. "I wish we were living with Hitomi and Autumn and Katja and Azusa and Valentine and Norn and all the rest of the psychics tomorrow. I would trade their world for ours in an instant."

　　"Can I have a copy?" Eri asked hopefully.

　　"I'll ask Aiko for one. But she's really leery of handing the book out, because it's so politically incorrect. It basically overthrows every single tenet concerning everything we believe in the world today." Saki said.

　　"I don't mind that." Eri boasted.

　　"I'll ask. That's all I can promise." Saki said, not very optimistic about Eri's chances. "But weren't we going to cook some cookies?"

　　"Right." Eri agreed, standing up briskly. "Saki, you can crack the eggs."

　　"Please no! I've cracked enough eggs today! I want something real to do!" Saki protested as the two friends escaped into the kitchen.

　　Sitting in bathing suits with their legs in the large outdoor pool, Saki, Capri and Eri enjoyed their late summer or early fall evening. There was a tall fence around the entire complex, so no peepers could see them, and the temperature was just right. Saki had had to borrow Eri's bathing suit, but that was nothing, since they were going to share a bath together in a couple hours anyway. Thankfully, not like the one she'd shared with her sisters yesterday. Eri had an enormous indoor hot spring that could have fit ten people comfortably with water so deep they could maintain their modesty perfectly. Not that she really minded being seen, if it was Eri and Capri. At eleven years old, there was nothing to see anyway. Turning a year older certainly hadn't helped in the development department. How long was God going to make her wait?

　　"If Cho Kai could give you any type of body, why do you have blue eyes, Capri?" Saki asked curiously, kicking her legs in the cool water back and forth, but slowly enough not to make any splashes.

　　"We wyrds all decided together," Capri said proudly. "Our colors are important to us, they're our identity, it's what we're named after. So we wanted to at least have the color of our eyes, the windows to our souls, to be our true colors as wyrds."

　　"So really your eyes aren't blue, they're Capri?" Saki asked, smiling.

　　Capri nodded. "And Onyx has Onyx eyes, and Magnolia has Magnolia eyes, and Awesome has Awesome eyes."

　　"I'm sorry you can't hang out in your human form at my house. My parents might object to me fighting dark wyrds if they knew I was a magical girl." Saki apologized again. Eri's home, where everyone was in on the business together, was so refreshing. More than all the money, she was jealous of parents who would understand her like Eri possessed. No wonder she loved them so much.

　　"It's okay. I miss it." Capri said, kicking her legs next to Saki's and watching the water ripple around them. "But you'll let me be human again when you move out at eighteen, right?"

　　"But that's seven years away." Saki said plaintively. "How can you nonchalantly skip over seven years?"

　　"Seven years really isn't that long." Capri said idly.

　　"I wish I could just wait around for seven years without a worry in the world." Saki said. "Hey, maybe that's my magic? Maybe I'm immortal!"

　　"Want me to stab you and find out?" Eri asked.

　　"Err. No thanks." Saki quickly lost hope.

　　"I don't think our magic is immortality," Capri said, her eyes staring up at the clouds. "When I scry you, I see a long, slow, winding river. It looks like it isn't moving at all. But it's actually so powerful it's reshaping the world. The key to your magic is in that image."

　　"Capri." Saki said, touched. She felt like she'd been given a precious locket from a boy who had just confessed to her. "But maybe I am immortal then. You're talking about a meandering river, those are the very oldest rivers you know."

　　"The river's age doesn't matter. It's how it slowly but surely changes." Capri spoke confidently.

　　"I've got it!" Eri clapped her hands together, making Saki jump. "Your magic isn't immortality, it's aging!"

　　"You mean like I can touch things and turn them to dust?" Saki asked, alarmed.

　　"Oooh, try it." Eri jumped up from the pool and found a rock. "Here, put on your suit and touch this rock!"

　　"Do you want to try it, Capri?" Saki asked, a little excited despite herself.

　　"Sure." Capri shrugged.

　　"Okay, Coi, Capri!" Saki shouted, and magic burst through her veins and all the water on her skin disappeared to be replaced by layer upon layer of heavy black mail. She walked over a few steps, still as lightly as in her bathing suit, and imagined magic running up through her body and into her finger.

　　"Umm, let's see. Shining Finger!" Saki said a suitable spell name, tapping the rock gently. Capri's light reacted, a blue diamond centered in the middle of her breastplate, and the rock started to grow. The rock started pushing Saki backwards as she retreated, stumbling. Soon it was a boulder, and then it was nearing the roof of the house.

　　"Stop! Stop!" Eri called out frantically.

　　Saki pulled her hand away and clamped down on the magic stream. The rock sat perilously as a new lawn ornament between the back yard and the pool. "Oops." Saki said, laughing nervously.

　　"Do you call that aging?" Eri complained. "Shrink it back!"

　　"Okay." Saki said. "Let's do this Capri, umm. . . Shrink Ray!" She willed magic into her finger and touched the rock again. The boulder started growing over the roof.

　　"Stoppppp!" Eri used construction site sign language again, and Saki broke off the connection with a wail.

　　"Are you trying to break my home?" Eri asked in a panic.

　　"It can't be helped! No matter what I do it just grows up!" Saki wailed. And then she realized what her souls' most secret wish must have been. She had wanted to grow up. 'I'm a big kid now.' Oh, God. It was too embarrassing!

* * *

　　The three girls lay in Eri's bed together, changed out of their clothes and into a matching set of red pajamas. Eri's bed was enormous, perfectly suited to a little princess, so none of them were even touching. But it was still a perfect place to whisper with the lights off.

　　"What do you see when you scry me, Sapphire?" Eri asked, wishing to keep up with her rival.

　　"A hawk clutching lightning bolts swooping downwards in mid flight." Sapphire said.

　　"Oooh! How regal!" Saki said approvingly.

　　"I told you you were beautiful." Capri agreed, her blue eyes glowing with their own light in the dark.

　　"A hawk sounds weaker than a giant river though." Eri complained.

　　"But you can shoot lightning!" Saki encouraged her friend. "Lightning's strong!"

　　"Thanks, Saki." Eri blushed, feeling warm and wonderful. "Sapphire, make me a magical girl."

　　"Please do." Saki agreed.

　　"It isn't enough to get along with your friends." Sapphire complained, turning Eri down for the umpteenth time. "Can you be a pillar for the whole world? Do you have enough love for everyone?"

　　Eri sighed, wondering when she'd ever be good enough. Her whole life, her parents had wanted her to be perfect, and she'd tried her best. Now Sapphire wanted her to be perfect, and she was still trying her best. But she always fell short of all of them. She couldn't be perfect. Her name wasn't Perfect Kouno. It had always only been Eri Kouno. She couldn't do any more than she already had. Maybe it was time to just give it up. She could never follow in her parent's footsteps. It had been a silly children's dream all along. Now that she had met a wyrd, she had met that reality face to face.

　　"You don't know Eri, Sapphire." Saki said angrily. "Of course she can love everyone. What kind of question is that?"

　　"It's okay, Saki." Eri sighed. "Sapphire's right. When I think of Dead Enders, I just feel contempt. As far as I can tell, Dead Enders are just losers. That's what the word means. The world is full of losers who aren't fit to bear the title human. They're still just hominids. Homo Sapiens. Like in Aiko's book."

　　"But listen, I believe that too!" Saki said, grabbing Eri's hand from across the bed. "I'm the one who told you about the book! And Aiko's the one who wrote it! She never said she loved everyone on Earth. In fact, she said she's never thought highly of 'the masses.' When she became a Choice Giver, she said that humanity could just go look after itself for all she cared! Choice Givers don't have to mindlessly worship the worst our species has to offer. In fact, it's our duty to reject what they have to offer and demand more! Maybe it isn't unconditional love of all life like Buddha's. But it's tough love, like parents show their children!"

　　Eri felt a flicker of hope. Could she feel tough love for everyone? Could she demand they keep getting better, like she'd always demanded from herself? Was that so far out of character to be beyond her reach?

　　"You said you had the answer for my homework. I came up with some answers too." Eri said, squeezing Saki's hand with her own, refusing to let it go. "Dead Enders are those who refuse to change. They just stubbornly cling to the same old traditions and beliefs, that science and reason have disproved long ago, and hold the whole world back in the stifling grip of stagnation. And it's not just because they're afraid of the risk of change. It's so much worse. It's because if everything stays the same, they get to stay in power. It's just that simple. Stagnation benefits the old, the wealthy, the prestigious, the conformist, the ideologically correct, everyone but children and heretics. Everyone but the misfits just want everything to stay the same forever. But only children and heretics can make mankind progress. They're the most reviled people in the world, the greatest contempt and hatred on Earth is reserved for them, but they're the one and only chance for humanity's survival. If we're going to get off this planet, if we're going to liberate our minds and open ourselves up to the possibilities of transcendence, it will only be because of our children and our heretics. It will be over the objections and the spitting fury of the masses. The old, the petty, the ensconced, the mindless, and the powerful. They're all on one side. And it's us, just us eleven year olds who haven't 'gotten with the program,' who still think there's more to life than this, on the other side. We still dare to think that maybe our schools aren't 'perfect' just the way they are. That maybe a lot of these jobs are retarded makework we shouldn't be forced to take just to pay for outrageously overpriced homes. That these religions just don't make mathematical sense. That freedom is a convenient term that somehow excludes all the freedoms we might want -- the freedom to found a new country, the freedom to organize society under our own terms and with the exact right citizens we want -- but is perfect at stopping us from proposing any single reform of anything that currently exists in the status quo."

　　Saki smiled in the dark. This was the Eri she knew. "The hypocrisy is just choking, isn't it? If you say marriage should be for life, or babies shouldn't be killed in their wombs, they go screaming about how we're restricting their sacred freedom. But then they turn right around and say drugs are illegal, because it's a bad choice that harms both society and the individual. It's okay to kill babies, but God forbid a teenager smokes some weed. It's okay to shatter a family, to kidnap children away from their fathers, to steal someone's entire life work away in an instant, but God forbid a child sees an R-rated movie. You can promise your wife to be faithful until death does you part and then sleep with another girl the day after, but God forbid you forget to put on your seat belt or don't wear a bike helmet."

　　"Freedom never mattered to them. The only freedoms they ever cared about were their own. They don't want freedom. All they ever wanted was license. Adults are scum." Eri summarized.

　　"Well, divorce in Japan is still really low." Saki reminded Eri tactfully.

　　"Of course I don't mean Japan. But the moment you leave this blessed isle, it's just darkness. It's just a moral void. No one's even trying to be good anymore. They don't even care, they've even lost the ability to feel ashamed of what they've become. If you turn on Japanese television, you can see stories of good people being good to each other. Just really sweet stories. Stories about fathers helping daughters, neighbors helping neighbors, friends helping friends, and everyone standing up for what's right no matter what the price. If you watch a movie from Hollywood, it's just vomit. It's all just vomit." Eri repeated.

　　"It's just us, Saki." Eri continued. "We're like Gondor and it's just waves upon waves of orcs besieging our blessed isle on all sides. And over everything stares that great red flaming eye, Sauron. The evil principle that's filled all the orcs and men to bursting, so long as I get my way I don't care who pays for it!" Eri stressed each word.

　　"It's not just you." Capri interjected, surprising Eri because she always stayed so quiet. "You have us now. Why do you think the wyrds came down to you? We're on your side. You may feel outnumbered, but there are thousands of times as many wyrds as men. And the vast majority of us are with you, Eri. We endorse you. You're the group we respect. You're the souls we find beautiful. Not them. We aren't going to abandon you. Sapphire won't abandon you, Eri. And Daffodil won't abandon your Mother. I won't abandon Saki. Not once in her entire life. I'll always love and support her. And when I say it, I mean it. I can't even live without her at my side, and we have to do everything we're told. That's how much we're behind you. Don't feel powerless and alone. You see, wyrds are with you, and we worship the one true God. The God of Truth, Beauty, and Love. When the wyrds are with you, that means God is with you, and if God is with you, you‘re invincible. Now that we've weighed in on humanity's future, there's no way you're going to lose. Compared to your electromagnetic and nuclear forces, your gravity and all the rest, the power of magic is infinitely greater. So don't feel alone or afraid or depressed or despairing. It might take time to train enough avatars who can accept our contracts, but we're going to win. God will not allow evil to triumph. In the end, it's his Creation, no one else's. It will always reflect his will. Like a second moon rising within a lake, the world and God are one. One perfect beauty. All one, Eri. All one."

　　"Capri." Saki breathed. She had forgotten once again. She felt guilty for thinking Capri didn't care about their bond because it would be so short for a wyrd. No matter how short it was, Capri cared about it as deeply as her own life. She had given herself, all of herself, to Saki, of her own free will. It wasn't a 'ball game' to Capri at all. It was something sacred, and Saki was someone sacred and pristine to have earned it. Lifetime contracts mattered more to wyrds than humans, not less. They were the ones who paid the full price upfront. They were the ones acting out of absolute dedication.

　　"Do you miss it, Capri? The etheric plane? All those beautiful wyrds who worship God like you?" Saki asked.

　　"I miss it." Capri closed her eyes. "But it's okay when I look at you."

　　Saki felt tears bunching up in her eyes. Capri had confessed to her again, and her heart wasn't nearly wide enough to reply as well as Capri deserved. All she could do was roll over and hug Capri as tightly as she could.