Starlight Dream

Chapter 47

"Call me Kaguya, the Dreamer." The Devil Princess said, giving a polite bow. "I'm pleased to meet you, Seina, the Troublemaker. You've caused Mei no end of grief with your meddling."

"I swore I'd stop your kind from hurting anyone else." Seina clutched her hand hard enough to draw blood. "I'm fixing the damage you caused. We're freeing the old queen, stopping your vile plans."

"Silly little girl," Kaguya said, giving a mock exasperated sigh. "Has Charity been feeding your little head these delusions? What if I told you that you've been fighting for the wrong side? That you're only hastening the destruction of everything?"

"What?"

"I'm afraid the multiverse is doomed. It will soon become a dead husk devoid of life. Think about your world, child. Its destruction is inevitable."

"Inevitable?" A stab of ice tore through her heart as she realized how defenseless she'd left the people she loved the most. Soon Aiko, Seiko, and Uncle Kenji would die, and nothing could stop it.

"But we can help you, Seina." Kaguya continued. "When Mei rejuvenates the cosmos, we will restore all. We will replace this multiverse of suffering with an eternal, blissful paradise. That is our purpose, to renew a broken multiverse."

"Why are we fighting against you?" Seina looked into the Devil Princess's eyes, seeing nothing but supreme kindness. Why had she even considered fighting against such a noble soul? Starlight Dream and the Princesses only wanted to restore justice to the cosmos. How had Seina been blind to this irrefutable fact?

"We should be friends! You're right, Kaguya!" Seina looked down, ashamed. "Could you ever forgive me for the trouble I caused?"

"You're already forgiven, Seina," Kaguya said, her kind voice warming Seina's sad and broken heart. "Let us be sisters!" Much to her delight, Emiyo and Colten nodded in agreement, finally seeing sense.

"Don't give me this love and friendship crap!" A violent voice broke through the tender moment, smashing it to pieces. "It's you monsters that ruined the cosmos in the first place. And we're meant to trust you with the next? What bull!"

This outburst caught everyone by surprise, mouths agape at the pure audacity. It jabbed into Seina's brain, leaving her momentarily dazed. What the heck was that? Why had she agreed with a monster like Kaguya?

"She was trying to corrupt your souls," Charity said as a way of explanation. "With the cloud of suffering, you were especially vulnerable. But she forgot somebody in the room, assuming he wasn't worth bothering with."

"Impossible!" The serene expression on Kaguya's face vanished, replaced with pure incongruity. "He shouldn't have been able to break my spell, regardless!"

But Seina understood. Mr. Kiyojiro had a high place in her heart. He was family, rough edges and all. If anyone could reach out to her, it was him.

"Damn." Emiyo grabbed at her head, suffering an even worse headache. With the Devil Princess's concentration lost, her soul-corrupting spell had fizzed.

"Pest." Kaguya's lovely face morphed into something ugly, almost inhuman in its fury. The sudden smile drove daggers into her heart, making Seina retreat a step. "No matter. I'll rip you to shreds instead. It'd been too long since I'd played with anyone. And it doesn't matter what you do. I've already preordained how you will die. Your petty victory was pointless!"

"Your evil ends here!" Seina summoned her staff to her waiting hands, already in motion to strike. While ruthless and mean, she couldn't allow the Devil Princess to transform.

"Huh?" Seina blinked as she struck open air, their opponent already across the room. She coughed in pain as Kaguya delivered a punishing kick to her sternum, atomizing several ribs. Even in her civilian form, the Dreamer was this powerful? Seina retaliated with a wild punch, but Kaguya had already disappeared.