"Huh?! What do you an?! The '' in this world was raised by Cocolia?!"
Seele's eyes widened, her voice thick with shock and disbelief.
"Yes," Bronya replied, standing nearby with a slight nod. "Bronya and Seele... and the other children at the orphanage... were all taken in by Mother Cocolia. We grew up together."
"Your world... is seriously ssed up..."
Seele couldn't help but pull a face like she'd just swallowed a fly, her teeth baring in a reflexive grimace of disgust.
"However, Bronya's situation isn't like the relationship between Cocolia and Bronya in your world. When we first t her..."
Theresa began to recount the story Kiana and Raiden i had told her—how they had first encountered Bronya and how they eventually destroyed the chip that was being used to control her.
"...Cocolia treated Bronya as nothing more than a weapon."
As she listened to Theresa, Seele's expression shifted into genuine shock. "Wait... Cocolia... she used a child as small as Bronya as a weapon? She even controlled her emotions and her body?!"
"Mhm." Theresa nodded, her gaze softening with a protective, motherly affection as she looked at Bronya.
"So, Seele, I was hoping... that you wouldn't project your feelings toward the Bronya and Cocolia of your world onto the Bronya standing here."
"...Is that true?" Seele didn't answer imdiately. Instead, she looked down at Bronya, her voice laced with lingering disbelief.
"It is true."
Bronya gave a faint, expressionless nod.
Yet, looking into Bronya's calm eyes, Seele noticed they seed to be trembling ever so slightly.
"..."
At that, Seele fell silent.
I'm such a jerk...
Even though I already knew most of this, I think I took the joke too far. I've actually made her sad.
"I'm... sorry," Seele muttered after a long silence, her voice small and awkward. "I... I didn't know all that..."
Her cheeks began to flush a faint red. After a brief stutter, her shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Fine... it's my fault. I shouldn't have been so an to you before I knew your story. My bad."
"It is fine, Seele. That is all in the past." Bronya shook her head. Her gaze remained calm, but as she watched Seele, her eyes seed to brighten just a fraction.
This only made Seele look more flustered, her expression a mix of awkwardness and genuine regret. She looked like she really was beating herself up inside!
"Seele, Bronya does not bla you." Bronya reached out and took Seele's hand in hers.
This ti, Seele's hand only stiffened for a split second before it went limp and yielding.
This caused the corners of Bronya's mouth to curve up slightly, revealing a small, happy smile.
Watching the two of them, Theresa felt a wave of relief wash over her.
"Well, I'll leave you two to chat! I've got to head out for a bit!"
Theresa stood up abruptly and marched toward the door.
"Wait, what?!"
Seele instinctively reached out her other hand, but before she could get a word out, Theresa's short legs were already pitter-pattering away. She hurried out the door, thoughtfully clicking it shut behind her.
You're just going to leave Bronya to ? Leaving her alone in this room with just like that?!
Seele stared at the closed door, screaming internally.
I an, I'm not actually going to do anything to her, but you're making feel like I'm about to turn into so kind of predator—or worse!
anwhile, Bronya was gazing at Seele. Beneath the joy and relief in her eyes, a deeper emotion began to stir.
Seele... Bronya will never let anything happen to you again!!
Bronya... cannot bear to lose Seele a second ti...
For so reason, Seele felt a sudden chill run down her spine, but she brushed it off.
"..."
With Theresa gone, Seele suddenly realized she had no idea how to start a conversation.
She just stood there, her hand held tightly by Bronya. She could feel the strength and the softness of those smaller hands trying their best to wrap completely around hers.
"Bronya."
Seele hesitated, looking at the girl. She eventually spoke in a soft voice, "You told your story, but... what about the other Seele? Did... sothing happen to her?"
"...Yes."
The mont Seele asked, the light in Bronya's eyes vanished for a heartbeat.
Seele felt that chill down her spine again.
It feels like Bronya's on the verge of a total ntal breakdown... Okay, ntal note: stop using 'Seele' to trigger her.
Once I get the power to dive into the Sea of Quanta, I'll just go in and fish her out myself.
"Seele... Bronya's sister... to protect Bronya... she volunteered for the experint first. And then... she disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Seele acted surprised.
"Mhm... she... fell into the Sea of Quanta..."
"The Sea of Quanta?"
"Yes." Bronya nodded, her grip on Seele's hand tightening. "It is... a place difficult to describe. An invisible, shoreless sea that exists... between worlds."
"To protect Bronya, Seele agreed to Mother Cocolia's experint. She entered the Sea of Quanta of her own accord, and then..."
Watching the light fade from Bronya's eyes, Seele's discomfort grew.
She looked exactly like soone who had tried to find a casual topic of conversation, only to realize they had poked a fresh wound and now had no idea how to fix it.
"Later, Bronya asked Mother Cocolia to let her participate in the experint too. But during the trial, Bronya only saw Seele one last ti. Since then... Bronya has never been able to find her again..."
"Well, maybe... maybe she's still alive?"
Seele tried, rather clumsily, to comfort her. "Look, you said yourself you saw her at the end. That ans she must still be in that 'Sea of Quanta' place. She's definitely still alive, it's just... it's just..."
As she trailed off, Seele's voice grew weak, and she suddenly slapped herself across the forehead.
"Ugh, what am I even saying!"
"Bronya does not bla Seele." Bronya reached up, taking Seele's other hand down and clasping it firmly between her own, effectively pinning her in place.
"This morning... when Bronya saw you on the surveillance footage... Bronya thought... that Seele had finally co ho..."
Seele opened her mouth to speak, but looking at Bronya—whose eyes were once again rimd with red—the words simply wouldn't co.
"Bronya knows you are not her," Bronya whispered, her voice growing faint. "But to see Seele again... even if it is the Seele of another world... Bronya is already very happy..."
Is... is that so?
Seele looked into Bronya's eyes. There was an intensity there that made her skin crawl, a gaze that felt slightly... off.
I'm probably just imagining things. But I've already stabbed her in the heart enough for one day... I'd better stop pushing her buttons.
-- --
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