“You made one mistake.”

Beta interrupted my distracted thoughts. She continued in a bright cheerful tone, but the content was anything but happy.

“If nothing is done, the world will end in two months and three days. However, the methods we at Yggdrasil use can greatly extend the lifespan of the world.”

I fell silent as Beta took over the conversation with Grifford. I had never heard of an organization called Yggdrasil, but I had a good idea what it was about. I got up from my seat as the two began to hash out a business proposition.

“Ah, please wait for a moment My Excellency. Grifford, can I receive the promised goods now?”

“Certainly.”

Rose’s father reached into the cabinets at his desk and pulled out a blue bracelet with flecks of gold. I nearly had a heart attack as soon as I laid eyes on it. Perhaps this was the true reason Beta came to Rose’s father.

“This is our prototype Regalia, the Dawn Princess, produced by our very own Lapis.”

“It is a unique Regalia that fuses the traits of a Pilot with a Valkyrie, granting the wielder the instant firepower of a Pilot along with the instant expertise of a Valkyrie. This invention could single-handedly change the outcome of the war with the Demons.”

Beta’s additional explanation surprised me. This was the first time I had heard about Dawn Princess working along with Saint or Cursed Marks. Annabell Dusktaker, one of the seven main heroines, never made use of that ability when she acquired it late in the main story.

“As usual, you have that impossible ability to know secrets that nobody should know, Beta.”

Beta picked up the Dawn Princess Regalia and threw it my way. I passed my hand eye coordination skill check and successfully caught the priceless Regalia.

“I hope this helps you later when you have to choose between us and that thieving cat, My Excellency”

I didn’t understand what Beta was saying, but nodded my head regardless. She leaned in close to my ear and whispered to me so that nobody else in the room could hear me.

“Don’t worry, your little sister is safe.”

It was a given at this point that Beta knew just about everything there was to know about me. I nodded, overwhelmed, but relieved at finally hearing a piece of good news. I left the study with Rose and Sebas. Beta called out to my retreating figure.

“Look forward to Yggdrasil’s announcement tomorrow!”

— ❀❁✿ —

My feet carried me aimlessly through Emerald Coast. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had always hoped for someone else to save the world. Now, I knew that was wishful thinking. The weight of the world on my shoulders had quadrupled since this morning.

Beta’s organization, Yggdrasil, could not save the world and neither could the Witch Hunt Organization. What little pride and self worth I had gained from being one of the best Violent Evergarden players was smashed to pieces.

I was wrong. I had been delusional to believe that I could be the chosen hero who would save the world. I was a simple, ordinary person whose best efforts could only delay the inevitable. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes, only this time Rose was not here to tell me everything would be alright.

My feet brought me to Saint Freya Academy’s botanical garden. I followed the path to Colette’s secret place, hoping to find some of the peace I had found the previous day. The sun had dipped below the horizon and soon it would be completely dark outside.

I laid down in the bed of flowers. No Spirits appeared, but they probably only appeared last time because of Colette’s presence. Unlike the bright day before, the night sky was shrouded in darkness.

Dad was expecting me back home to have dinner with him. Lily would be waiting for me to sleep over again tonight. I couldn’t bring myself to care. Why bother when everything would be erased when the next iteration of Violent Evergarden began?

I stopped thinking and simply was. Nothing mattered. The world outside of this little meadow might as well have not existed.

Soft, green grass and sweet smelling flowers cushioned me. The sound of fluttering leaves swaying in the wind became a natural symphony. It was like I had become one with nature.

My smartphone buzzed. Lily sent me a message asking if I would be sleeping over tonight. Just below that was a notification from the Hexennacht app asking if I wanted to form a contract with the World Flower Spirit, Beta.

I turned my phone off and set it down beside me. As I had suspected from the flower in Beta’s hair, she cleared the World Tree dungeon. When she asked me to choose Yggdrasil, she was asking me to become a Magical Girl and abandon Terra.

I had thought a World Flower Spirit like Beta would simply be an omnipotent God in the early stages of the game. Armed with intimate knowledge of what events would play out and when, Beta negotiated with Rose’s father for the Dawn Princess Regalia.

She must have repeated that exact conversation with him countless times, but apparently my presence today was unusual. I couldn’t see through her intentions in giving me the Dawn Princess Regalia. A Pilot could not become a Magical Girl.

“Ah, geez! Why isn’t anything making sense?”

I voiced my complaint to the empty, night sky. I didn’t understand what was going on anymore. The world had gone crazy ever since the Witch showed up. It wasn’t scientific for a video game world to suddenly become a real world. To begin with, why did the Witch challenge humanity to clear her game? I didn’t know.

I closed my eyes and gave up. I saw three paths ahead of me. I could join Yggdrasil as Alpha and work to spread love throughout the world and prolong this life as long as possible. I could join the Witch Hunt Organization as Alfonse Lockengard and stake everything on an attempt to kill the Witch. Or… I could continue living my daily life as Alice Phantasmagloria.

There was no right answer. All three paths led to the same dead end. In the empty night of this isolated meadow, there was nobody else to judge me. I cast aside the heavy responsibilities crushing me and pondered over what it was that I wanted to do.

“I want to go to Karaoke again with Lily, Rose, and Colette.”

My wish was like a brilliant jewel that illuminated the darkness shrouding my heart. My path grew clearer with each wish I made.

“I want to fly in the sky.”

Pure, innocent yearning filled my voice. I had always wanted to fly in the sky, but I realized it was impossible once I grew up. This was my second life. What was the point of this second life if I didn’t live it to the fullest? I would fulfill all the dreams I couldn’t do in Terra.

“I want to fall in love.”

The meadow grew quiet as I voiced my dearest wish. I didn’t have any particular meaning to it. Perhaps because of how long I had spent by myself, I purely wished to fall in love with someone. I wanted to find a person who would make me drop all the walls guarding my heart and let them in.

It was strangely uplifting to voice my own selfish wants over what others wanted from me. I could feel a smile forming on my face. The rustling of a bush near the entrance to the secret clearing made my smile drop.

I stood up and my hand darted into the pocket of my hoodie where the Dawn Princess Regalia rested. A figure materialized at the entrance to the clearing.

“Alice, I thought I might find you here.”

“Colette?”

It was Colette in her plain clothes. I should have guessed it was her as soon the sleeping Lesser Spirits began to wake up and appear in the air.

“Lily was worried because you weren’t responding to her messages, so she asked me if I had seen you. You should message her back before she starts searching all over Emerald Coast for you.”

“Thanks for looking for me, Colette.”

A sudden surge of warmth filled my heart. Rose was right. I had my precious friends who were looking out for me. I couldn’t abandon them to chase an impossible goal. I sent Lily a message apologizing and telling her I would spend the night.

“I am glad you are okay.”

Colette watched me send the message with a relieved smile. As I thought back to the wishes I voiced earlier, I realized my failure. I did a good job befriending Rose, Lily, and Colette at the entrance ceremony, but I had been drifting by inertia ever since.

If I wanted something, then I needed to reach out and grab it. I was tired of others telling me who I should be and making decisions for me. Things would only truly begin to change if I took the first step.

“Colette, do you want to join Lily and I tonight? We are having another sleepover.”

Colette made a face as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Are you insane? How could you even propose such a thing, knowing Lily’s sleeping habits?”

“I found a way to ensure that Lily doesn’t have any nightmares. Nothing happened last night.”

Colette shivered and goosebumps appeared on her arms.

“I can’t. It is impossible.”

“Okay. We can hang out some other time instead.”

I gave up, satisfied with having at least made the effort. Colette and I walked back to the apartments together and we split ways in front of Lily’s room. There was a much greater chance I was the one who would have nightmares tonight.

“Yaho, Lily~”

— ❀❁✿ —

I had stripped down to my base Saint Freya Academy uniform like the day before. Lily was in a sheer, babydoll nightgown that was semi transparent and only dark enough to cover the important parts. It was the type of nightgown one might expect from video game clothing and it was almost harder for me than seeing Lily naked.

“How about it, Aria? Would it be okay if I wore this tonight?”

“Yeah, the fabric is thin enough that you shouldn’t have any nightmares.”

“Victory!”

I smiled at Lily’s enthusiasm. She had not shown up naked in front of me ever since I told her that I only wanted to show my skin to the person I loved. She still liked to wear as little as possible, but I appreciated that she was following my example.

A knock on the door interrupted our conversation. I had Lily stay and I went to open the door. Colette was standing outside the door in pink pajamas and carrying a pillow.

“Colette?”

I belatedly realized that I wasn’t wearing my glasses, colored contacts, or makeup. Even so, Colette didn’t bat an eye at my appearance.

“I have to make sure you don’t get hurt, Alice. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I told you that nothing happened last night.”

“Even so, I will not be able to sleep peacefully knowing you are spending the night with Lily.”

Colette pushed her way into Lily’s apartment, but lost all her momentum as soon as she caught sight of Lily.”

“Lily…”

“Letty…”

The room instantly descended into awkwardness as both of them must be remembering the last time they spent the night together. I cleared my throat and spoke up.

“Ahem. I invited Colette to join us and she happily accepted.”

“It isn’t an issue if I join you, is it?”

“Of course not, Letty. I am happy to have you!”

The three of us sat at the table and chatted, but Lily and I could tell that Colette was on edge. She had a death grip on her pillow and her body was tense. As a result, I ended up being the one who talked the most.

It was certainly unusual for me to speak so much, especially in a three person setting, but I found myself wanting to know more about my closest friends.

“Eh? Springwood isn’t your original last name, Colette?”

“That is right. My original last name was Greenpath, but my parents passed away in the war 10 years ago. That is where I met Lily. She belonged to a neighboring orphanage.”

“After the war, several orphans were placed in orphanages and given the same last name as those orphanages. The Maxwell and Evergarden orphanages got along well with each other just like the heroes they were named after.”

This was common knowledge to the Evergarden population, but it was new to outsiders like me. The video game was rather sparse with the details of the war 10 years ago.

“I was adopted by a kind, old couple and took on their last name.”

I nodded to show I understood. I wanted to learn more, but Lily’s cute yawn made me pause.

“It is getting rather late. We should call it a night.”

“Are you planning to sleep in your school uniform, Alice?”

“Lily is curious about that too. You haven’t brought anything to change into.”

I tried to push up my glasses to cover up my embarrassment, but I forgot I wasn’t wearing them. I couldn’t exactly say I didn’t have anything else to change into.

“This is what I am comfortable in.”

Thankfully, my friends didn’t pursue the matter further. I ended up in the center of the bed with Lily glued to my back and Colette on my other side. I wasn’t any better at dealing with Lily’s closeness, but there was a thin barrier between us this time.

Lily drifted off to sleep with an enviable ease. My eyes were closed, but sleep eluded me. Too much had happened today, from finding out Sariel was missing to learning that the world was doomed.

Even if I had decided to live this life to the fullest, I couldn’t help but worry about the dark future waiting for us at the end. I eventually gave up on sleeping and opened my eyes. Faint moonlight streamed in through the window and illuminated Colette. Her fingers remained gripping her pillow as strongly as ever. I quietly called out to her.

“Colette.”

“What is it?”

I didn’t have anything in mind when I called out to her. My eyes wandered until I came up with an idea.

“Can I hold your hand?”

“Mou, it can’t be helped.”

Colette gave me a ridiculously cute pout and held my hand. The familiar warmth of her hand filled my heart with fuzzy feelings.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Thank you for being my friend. You pulled me along to Saint Freya Academy like this and it meant the world to me.”

“Is it fun to embarrass me like this?”

Colette pouted again and I thought it was the cutest thing in the world. We shared a smile together and I was glad to see her tension had faded. I wouldn’t give up moments like these, not even for the world.