[Ranni…]
Ranni's eyes were drawn to the hole in the dome. They were unfocused, tired, yet she couldn't close them any longer.
'Rain… Right?'
She was met with momentary silence, the voice in her mind speaking moments after.
[Yes.]
The water she was floating in left her soaked, yet she did not sink. She lay on the body of the warden.
[Ranni… How are you feeling?]
'Sore… But it's bearable.'
Rain's voice softened slightly as she spoke once more.
[Ranni… How are you feeling?]
Ranni closed her eyes, tears welling up.
She had closed her eyes for the final attack against the warden moments ago. While she couldn't see anything at that moment, when she hit him, she heard a cracking noise.
She couldn't tell exactly what she struck with her soul weapon, but the motionless, cold body beneath her gave her the answer to her question.
She knew what she had done, and there was no turning back time.
'I… I'm fine.'
Her eyes squeezed shut, as if she were trying to shut everything out. But there was one person she couldn't shut out, no matter how hard she tried.
[Ranni.]
'I can't, no, I won't. I don't want to.'
Ranni's mind began to shake, her emotions running rampant.
'Rain… If I turn around, what will I see?'
[That… is something you already know.]
Ranni began to chew her bottom lip.
'Is it my fault?'
[Ranni…]
'It's fine… now's not the time right?'
Her thoughts became quieter, with Rain sighing in her mind.
[Ranni, you need… to answer that yourself.]
Ranni's mind went completely silent at these words. It was as if these words had lulled the girl into a deep sleep, with Rain beginning to take control of the body as she fought her mental battle.
Her shut eyes slowly opened, and her clenched hands relaxed. Her hair, once black, began transforming into a beautiful silver, her pupils slitting once more.
With a quiet sigh, the girl rose, sinking further into the water,
"Haaaah, it hurts."
Her legs burned deeply, and she felt exhausted. The shots that the warden fired at Ranni had pierced through her legs, leaving the wound open and exposed to the chilled water.
Gritting her teeth, she looked around for a moment, seeing Sylvia floating nearby in the water, seemingly exhausted from overexerting herself.
Their eyes met, Sylvia's bright emerald eyes peering into Rain's yellow ones. Seeing the difference in hair color, Sylvia gave an exhausted smile as she spoke up,
"It's you, isn't it? The one inside of Ranni?"
Rain gave a silent nod, her voice as tired as she looked,
"Yes, I'm Rain, her sister."
"Hey! Are you two alright?!"
Shinto's voice sounded out from above, sludge dropping from the roof to grab the two.
Sylvia weakly raised her hand, the sludge wrapping around it as her expression twisted into one of disgust.
"This is actually disgusting…"
"Deal with it."
Shinto stuck out his tongue as he teased the girl.
Rain grabbed onto the sludge as well, groaning as it slowly pulled her out of the water.
Once the two reached the top, Rain took a look around the courtyard.
Bodies riddled the battlefield, some being guards, others being children.
She could no longer see the angel in the skies, leaving her to assume that something had happened to its master.
It was that angel who was strengthening all the children. While she was still inside of Ranni, she could see the effects that being had on the battlefield.
A normally unwinnable fight became possible, but now…
'Evvls was it? Was he killed as well?'
She searched the field for him, her eyes cold and focused. She began to slide down the dome, following Sylvia and Shinto.
Her feet touched the ground, and an intense jolt of pain struck her.
"Agh… Damn it!"
She cried out as she lost control of her legs, falling face-first into the ground.
She quickly pushed herself up and sat up straight, unable to hide an embarrassed blush on her face.
Sylvia sat beside her, leaning on the dome, quietly sighing. Her eyes were closed, so she hopefully didn't see such an embarrassing moment, but she couldn't be sure.
Shinto had already run off to go help survivors. He hadn't been harmed too greatly in the fight, and all he needed to do at the moment was maintain the dome till the Wrath of the Sea God dissipated.
Though his pierced forearms were a bit worrying.
With another sigh, Rain resumed her search for Evvls.
It was then that her eyes landed on a girl with purple hair. She was sitting next to the very boy she was searching for.
He was sprawled out on the ground, seemingly sleeping, while Akari had a hand placed on his gut.
A faint green light was covering the boy, seemingly healing magic.
After a few more moments, Akari rose and searched the courtyard.
Surprise covered her face at seeing Rain, but it was quickly masked with neutrality as she walked over, asking,
"Are you okay?"
Rain shook her head as she bluntly responded, "No, everything hurts, and I can't walk."
A smile crept onto Akari's face at her response. Her hand reached out to Rain's legs, the soft light flowing onto her just as it did for Evvls.
She couldn't understand what was happening, but she knew it was healing her.
Neither she nor Ranni ever learned magic. The two hadn't even learned to sense mana in the air, let alone their own mana.
If they had to say why, it'd be because they never saw a reason to.
Their physicality was enough to match those who strengthened their bodies with mana anyway, so Ranni spent her time perfecting her skills as Rain simply watched.
"Thanks."
Akari nodded, a small smile on her face as she began to heal Sylvia at the same time.
"So I assume you've told her now?"
Rain gave a nod, saying, "It was a bit earlier than I'd like, but I did it."
Akari glanced at Sylvia, who was acting as if she were sleeping.
She couldn't tell if she was doing this out of consideration, to not intrude on the moment, or because she was simply actually tired.
Either way, Akari was slightly grateful for this act, as it allowed her and Rain a moment of catching up.
"Well, how do you feel then?"
Rain gave it some thought.
The battlefield had quieted down.
With Ken's defeat, the guards all froze in place. The children who survived the ordeal were all too exhausted to celebrate loudly.
Watching these children help each other up, Rain spoke once more,
"I feel happy."
Akari looked at the girl's expression at these words, and as expected, she had seen a bright smile.
Akari smiled at this sight, her attention turning to face the sound of footsteps.
It was Shinto and Akatsuke, who'd been carrying Evvls and Akio.
"Yo, Akari, you think you could try healing Akio too? Looks like these two went into burnout."
Akari nodded, moving her hands towards Akio as the faint light enveloped him as well.
Once the healing magic was stabilized, she began to question him, asking, "What's burnout?"
Shinto laid the two boys down as he tilted his head towards her as he answered,
"It's just when you overuse your soul weapon. They'll be fine… soon enough."
Both Rain and Akari glanced at each other, an eyebrow raised.
With a sigh, Akari accepted his explanation and continued healing the boy.
Rain stood up, stretching her body. She still felt a bit exhausted. Her wounds had closed, yet she knew she wasn't at full strength, plus, she still felt the lingering pain of the wounds either way.
"So, you got a name?"
Shinto's voice sounded out, staring directly at Rain.
Rain's eye twitched, with this being the second time she had to answer this question already. With a mildly annoyed expression, she answered, "It's Rain, I'm Ranni's sister, got it?"
"Her sister huh? Why do you share a body?"
It was Akatsuke who asked this question.
The last time she had seen Rain, she was partly the reason for his death. But rather than anger, he felt relief.
Sure, Rain hadn't tried protecting him in the slightest, only caring about defeating the foe in front of her, but he couldn't blame her after learning the truth behind her existence.
He wasn't necessarily close to Ranni, so Rain would know even less about him than her. Of course she wouldn't try to protect a stranger who caused his sister to go into an episode from someone powerful.
He was simply relieved that Ranni really wasn't the one there that night, and that he didn't earn her hatred.
"How would I know that?"
Rain's answer was blunt, with her fidgeting with her hair as she spoke. With her wounds healed, Rain felt great, but that was only physically.
In all honesty, Rain still had her mind on Ranni.
She was currently isolating her sister's soul, trying to allow her some time to think, while also blocking her from seeing anything that may slow her recovery.
Because of these things, these questions directed at her were aggravating her quicker than they normally would.
Sensing this, Sylvia finally opened her eyes, swiftly changing the subject as she said,
"So, uhm… now that we can escape, you guys have any plans? I want to return home… nevermind, that'd be a bad idea."
"Why? Was what you did really that bad?" Akari tilted her head, her voice slightly confused.
Shinto laughed at her words, saying, "Have you forgotten where we are? This may be the juveniles division, but this is still the most secure prison in the world. Landing yourself here is harder than escaping!"
"Ah, right."
Akari nodded in understanding, going on to say,
"Well, I still plan on getting home. After all, the… crime I committed was done here, in Sylvana. So long as I don't go back, I'll probably be fine."
"Speaking of, let Ranni come with you… no, I guess it'd be better to say let us come with you now."
Rain spoke up, crossing her arms as she stared into Akari's eyes, as if peering through her soul.
"Why?"
"We have no home to return to now, with our only living family dying today, we are essentially opans."
"Opans?"
"Yes, those people who have no family," Rain said as if it were obvious.
"Oh, you mean Orphans!" Akari said, connecting the dots.
At this revelation, Shinto burst into laughter, falling on the ground as he said,
"Opans! This is amazing!"
Rain blushed furiously, her fist clenching and unclenching as if she didn't know what to do. Akari smiled, holding back a laugh as Sylvia covered her mouth, knowing that laughing wouldn't lead to a good outcome.
"Ah… Ah… Die!"
Rain suddenly struck Shinto in the solar plexus.
"Ah! Argh!" Shinto began wheezing, his face twisted into pain as he clutched his stomach.
He began coughing, and as he coughed, Akari began to heal him with an amused expression. Though the actual damage was fading, the pain was not, leaving Shinto curled into a ball.
'Once again, my intuition has saved me…'
Sylvia thought to herself, a triumphant smile on her face.
Sylvia opened her mouth, but before she could speak, she suddenly couldn't breathe.
It was as if someone were stomping directly onto her lungs.
She stood up, looking around as the hairs on the back of her neck rose.
It wasn't just her who reacted. Rain had already summoned Ranni's soul weapon, and Shinto's expression hardened, rising from the ground as he searched around as well.
Even Akatsuke had a worried expression on his face.
The only one to not react was Akari, but the group could already tell why.
It was simply because she felt nothing, as if her body were disconnected from the world itself.
Surrounding Akari, the group searched the Courtyard for the source of the feeling until their eyes locked onto a creature climbing over the wall.
A pink, gelatinous substance crawled down the wall, with Akari murmuring,
"A slime?"