Enough is enough...
If you keep insisting over and over that I'm just like her, I'm really going to start wondering if you've sohow stumbled upon the script—if you know that I'm nothing more than an actor playing a part.
Kallen thought to herself, a sense of helplessness washing over her.
But in that mont, she didn't say another word. She simply stood there by the shore with Otto, watching the moonlit sea and listening to the rhythmic pulse of the waves.
A long, long ti passed.
Finally, Kallen spoke softly. "It's ti for to go back."
With that, she turned along with Otto and began walking toward the others waiting behind them.
"Kallen..."
Watching her approach, Sakura stood up from her spot by the campfire.
Kallen walked to her side and took her hand, her gaze sweeping across the group.
"Thank you, everyone..." She looked at them all, a gentle smile gracing her lips. "I've been truly happy this past week."
Kiana watched Kallen, her eyes shimring with a reluctant sadness. Nearby, Theresa's expression had beco one of utter defeat.
She, too, couldn't bear to let Kallen go. Being near Kallen brought her a sense of profound comfort.
After chatting with everyone for a while, Kallen turned to look at Sakura, whose eyes were already rimd with red.
The ti was almost up.
"Kallen..." Sakura gazed at her, the tears she had been fighting back finally spilling over.
"Don't cry." Kallen reached out, tenderly brushing the tears away.
"I don't want... I don't want you to leave..."
"I know."
Kallen pulled Sakura into her arms, giving the group one last display of public affection.
"Sakura, listen to ..." Kallen whispered into her ear. "No matter where I am, I will rember you. I'll rember how you waited for , your kindness, and everything that happened over these seven days. So... you must live well. Find your place in this world, stay with the others, and keep moving forward."
Sakura's grip tightened, holding Kallen as if she could keep her there by force.
"I'll wait for you..."
"Don't wait for ."
Kallen didn't even know if she would ever inhabit this form again.
"Keep walking. If the day cos where we et again, I want to see you happy..."
The seconds ticked away.
The group stopped dwelling on the sorrow of the parting; instead, they huddled around the fire, eating barbecue, nursing drinks, and singing songs. Yet, subconsciously, everyone was watching the clock.
"It's ti."
In those final seconds, Kallen let out a soft, airy laugh.
"Goodbye, Sakura..."
Under the pale moonlight, her skin seed to lose its color, turning a ghostly white.
Otto watched this happen, his lips pressed together so tightly they turned bloodless. To the side, Rita smoothly pressed a button.
The beach's searchlights suddenly flared with intensity, the bright glare forcing everyone to squint. In that mont of visual noise, the ghastly change in Kallen's complexion went unnoticed by the rest.
Even at the very end, Kallen fought to keep that smile on her face. She bowed her head slightly, appearing as though she were simply overco with the sadness of saying goodbye.
"Otto." She looked toward him. "Stay with until the very last mont..."
Otto nodded.
The two of them turned and walked toward the water's edge.
By now, Kallen's fading state had confird Otto's darkest suspicions. Kallen was dying.
But in reality... this was just Kallen pulling a massive stunt.
Before leaving, Kallen had decided to give Otto's heart a thorough wringing—consider it a bit of interest collected for the future. Besides, since Otto was so convinced she would die upon her "return," well... it would be a sha not to live up to his expectations.
Sakura didn't follow them. But in her ear, the distorted, mocking voice of Higokumaru hissed: "Look at her... she's dying... you're losing her again... and once more, the one by her side at the end isn't you..."
"Shut up..."
By the water, Kallen no longer had the strength to stand. She sank down onto the sand. Otto stood beside her in a heavy silence.
"Otto..."
"...Yes?"
"Thank you... for helping finish this performance."
Otto remained silent, but Kallen smiled. She poured every ounce of relief and tenderness she could muster into that expression, struggling not to let a stray laugh escape.
"Goodbye... my Great Inventor."
The mont before she vanished, she breathed those words into the salt air.
Then, before Otto could even process it, in the heartbeat it took for his pupils to contract, Kallen vanished. It was as if she had never been there at all.
Only the empty beach remained under the moon. A wave rolled in, washing over the sand and erasing the very last trace of her presence.
Otto stood by the shore for a long ti, a frozen statue in the night. By the campfire, Sakura was the sa.
'Goodbye, my Great Inventor.'
Those final words echoed in Otto's mind like a haunting refrain. After a long while, he looked up at the night sky and murmured in a low, gravelly voice:
"Goodbye, Kallen."
Now that Kallen had "returned," Theresa and Hiko forced themselves to shake off the gloom. Their eyes began scanning the beach.
Based on past experience... the next person to cross over into their world was about to appear.
Sure enough, a figure materialized on the sand.
"Huh?"
Everyone, including Otto, spotted the newcor.
"Kiana?!!"
Theresa bolted upright, her face a mask of shock.
"?!!"
The local Kiana gaped in stunned disbelief. The figure standing on the beach was wearing a suit of white armor she had never seen before. However, this other version of herself was in a state of ruin—the armor was shredded, covered in scorch marks and deep gashes.
Her silver hair hung in a tangled ss down her back. She was hunched over, gasping for air as if she had just clawed her way out of a life-or-death struggle.
"...Everyone?"
The "Real" Kiana looked at the crowd. In her eyes, which were filled with a mix of fury and soul-crushing grief, a flicker of confusion appeared.
Oh boy... I've beco... Kiana?
But it's the Kiana from that specific tiline... the one from the end of Chapter 11. The Kiana from the bubble world who was backstabbed by the First Herrscher right after defeating the Second.
"??" Kiana pointed at her double, her voice cracking under the strain. "That's actually ?!!"
She had thought it might be an interesting experience to hear about her alternate selves from visitors, but she never imagined she'd literally be staring herself in the face.
"Kiana!!" Raiden i couldn't hold back any longer; she dashed forward. Beside her, Hiko and Theresa didn't hesitate for a second, racing toward the newcor.
"You're... you're still alive..." The battle-worn Kiana looked at them, her exhausted, grieving eyes suddenly overflowing with tears of joy.
Her body gave a violent shudder. Then, as if her very bones had been turned to water, she collapsed onto the sand.
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