Witness it, The Carnevale

"In other words, it's just a convenient dimensional space that all Resonators have strict private access to. No else can access their own space other than themselves." Danjin grabbed the handle of her own sword on her waist.

Then, as a demonstration, she threw it slightly above her hand and the sword immediately turned into particles, as if absorbed back into the surroundings as a frequency.

But before Katsuri could say anything, Danjin made a grabbing motion. And now, the sword was once again inside her hand.

"See? Pretty simple, am I right?" She smiled proudly, as if she had just performed a magic trick and is waiting for approvals.

"...I guess so." Katsuri responded, still confused about most the things she heard.

Could it be that... Danjin is not a good teacher?

"It's alright! You don't need to learn about it for now, we're about to celebrate the Carnevale anyways. I doubt that there's going to be a threat anytime soon that requires you to swing your blade."

The elevator door opened and they both went outside.

Then, they reached a set of stairs that leads to the rooftop of a building.

The sky was still dark but there is a hint of morning that's about to cut through the darkness in a moment.

As soon as they walked to the edge where a railing was placed to avoid anyone falling off, Katsuri leaned on the railing.

Her eyes was slowly witnessing the sun far in the horizon rising.

Her eyes squinted at the sudden brightness but she didn't turn away, fully capturing the essence of the sunlight that had just surrounded Rinascita.

It was fortunate some clouds were reducing the brightness, otherwise she would've gone blind looking straight at the source of light.

"Hm, as expected. It's a very beautiful day today, the perfect weather for the Carnevale." Danjin said as she also leaned on the railing, right beside Katsuri.

Danjin turned her gaze slightly to the side, looking at the side profile of her companion.

Fluffy hair, long bang barely missing hair and the length reaching her waist. It looked like she hasn't cut her hair in long time, but she still takes care of the quality to make sure it at least looks presentable.

"Alright then, first, we'll go to the fun section of Ragunna? After that, we can go visit the exhibitions. I've always wondered how Ragunna City actually came to be..." Danjin pulled out her brochure and flipped through the pages as Katsuri's attention was still on the rising sun.

It was then, Katsuri grabbed Danjin's sleeve.

Danjin stopped for a second before turning her attention to the hand that got a hold of her.

Without saying a word, Katsuri had plead silently.

"..."

Danjin stored the brochure and focused her attention on the sun, alongside Katsuri.

Katsuri stayed silent.

Danjin also stayed silent.

This kind of atmosphere felt very comfortable for the two of them, not at all awkward.

Katsuri opened her mouth slightly, "...Thanks."

"It's alright. I'm sure we all want these kind of moments once in a while too." Danjin said.

And they both watched the sunrise in silence, admiring the view of the sunlight covering the entirety of Ragunna.

Danjin didn't ask Katsuri about her reasons, she doesn't need to.

Sometimes, silence is enough to strengthen a relationship. Not everyone needed to interact all seconds of the day to make friends.

Some friendship just happens.

And that's exactly theirs.

A girl lost inside of a world that's not her own, a victim of a tragedy, and a teenager, that is Katsuri.

A girl with a solid goal for the future, a victim of a tragedy, and an independent adult, that is Danjin.

Both these individual had their path coincide in a place nobody would have expected.

Now, they will be together for the foreseeable future, until the day Danjin returns back to Jinzhou, they would stick together like a glue.

Katsuri grabbed her own neck, as if reminiscing about a moment that had passed.

Then, she held her hand towards the sun, covering her eyes from the sunlight.

Tilting her hand slightly, a pair of gun materialized out of thin air, both landing inside her small hand.

She placed one on her waist, and inspected the other one.

"Danjin." 

Katsuri called out listlessly as Danjin hummed to show that she's listening.

"I think I've figured it out."

"I've never told you before... but you see, my main weapon is not a sword."

"It's everything."

"My weapon could change shape, but I have no control over what kind of weapon they change into, nor when I could change it into another weapon."

"It could be a sword, a gun, a pair of gauntlet, perhaps even a spear, but I've never seen it change into a spear."

"All my knowledge on my own abilities are limited to what I have experienced myself."

"...I think I figured out what is the trigger to my weapon changing appearances every once in a while."

"I'm sorry, I didn't tell you anything about it before, but it's because I was not so certain myself."

"Now... I think I've figured it out."

Although she said all these, she never actually told Danjin about the trigger leading to her weapon changing.

After all...

Katsuri turned around and sat on the railing, jumping slightly just to so she could reach the top.

-The trigger was her very own death.

She was not worried because even if she did fall, she had no doubt that Danjin would've caught her before she could even feel the air going against her.

Danjin looked at Katsuri who was now facing away from the sun, her face covered in her own shadows.

"I am not fit for this place."

"Me being here just makes things worse."

"I don't know why or how, but it just do."

"I tried to run away once, but that failed."

"I tried to fight back, that failed too, it only led to a bigger catastrophe."

"I tried to talk it out, but then it got out of control quickly."

"Nothing I could do would make the situation better."

Katsuri shut her mouth for a moment, before turning her head slightly to look at the redhead who was now watching her with wide eyes.

No doubt, she's surprised about the things going on inside of Katsuri's small head, the amount of negative thoughts that's currently being poured out in waves.

"Here, take this gun. I'm not sure if you know how to use it but I can certainly tell you that it has a very high firepower. I've personally tested it."

"..." Katsuri's gaze turned downwards, towards her own hand.

It was 14 times.

She had been in this exact scenario 14 times before she decided to do this.

And it was also in the 14th round that she... was beheaded by Danjin.

It was then that she realized... Her existence itself was making a bent in the story that can't be fixed.

All these was the result of something...

It's as if she was a monster, a monster that only exist to lead humanity to it's demise. As long as she persist, then humanity wouldn't stand a chance.

In order for the happy ending to be the final page of this story... she must not be part of it.

She looked at her friend, one she had made in a moment's notice.

"This is our final moment together. Thank you for allowing me to feel the warmth of a human relationship, Danjin. I owe my life to you."

Then, she turned and called out towards the empty air, as if she was talking to someone.

"Come on, mysterious voice. Do your thing. Do whatever it is you need to me, but do not touch Faith. I won't forgive you otherwise."

Her eyes was empty of emotions.

[Wuthering Waves]

Rover watched as Phrolova stood on the air, waving her Lycoris around as red petals dropped from the sky.

All the Echoes around them became stiff, red aura emitting from their body.

Then... The sky opened, closing the sunlight that had once proven it's usefulness into the dark sky, hidden from the outside world.

The patterned sky seemed unusual, showing that it was an artificial one.

The Entirety of Ragunna has been swallowed into her domain.

But even as Phrolova watched the performance led by Carlotta and Rover, she still had her attention attracted to something else, she was quite distracted.

As if she was waiting for someone to enter the story.