天国の日没 Tengoku No Nichibotsu (Heaven's Sunset) - Volume 2

Chapter 15 - Fate

It's night time inside Reyman's tower. For three days, ever since Reyman told everyone they actually awoke eight million years in the future, where all the worlds they come from have ceased to exist, new Lumieris residents have been barely leaving their rooms. Actually, Reyman has renamed those rooms into "homes" for no particular reason. Not like it mattered to anyone.

Toadette was lying in her bed, lifelessly staring at the ceiling. The energetic and upbeat Toadette has been absent for three days. Scar was also in his and Toadette's home, sitting on the floor in his room, leaned against the bed he wasn't sleeping on, reading a random book he picked from the bookshelf, even though his mind was somewhere else entirely. He didn't bother to try and start a conversation with his roommate, much less cheer her up.

Daisy was in her small home, lying on the bed, with her head buried into the soft pillow. She didn't know what to do or is there any point in doing anything from now on. She was robbed of her entire life.

Shuichi was in his secret place, holding the diary in his hands. He wanted to write something in it, but he couldn't. For the first time, Shuichi didn't have a clue of how he felt. Was it sorrow? No, it didn't seem like it. Perhaps happiness? Definitely not. Could it be anger? No, it was not anger either. Was he indifferent to all this? No, he was not. Could it be fear? Hardly. This kind of feeling was unfamiliar to him, but to tell the truth, it was not bothering him so much. He'll never see his parents again... But now he wondered, were they even a little sad when he never returned home, from Kinoto? Thinking like that, he died a little on the inside, but at the same time, he realized he has no more essence to get depressed. If anything, Yuuji has not been bothering him for three days.

Talking about Yuuji... he was in his and Shuichi's home, in his room. The last thing on his mind was Shuichi. What has he lost by warping eight million years into the future? Constant struggle for money, life on the other side of the law, recruiting of new narcotic consumers, fellow criminals who would backstab you any time, street fighting, blackmailing, being awake when everyone else is asleep, pretending to lead a normal life during the daylight, necessity to always cary some kind of weapon... Yuuji stared into space... stared and stared... and then he smirked.

And there was Wolf O'Donnell, restlessly doing push-ups in his and Princess Saya's home. "356, 357, 358..." he counted aloud, working up a good sweat, as if he was trying to impress his lover, even though she couldn't see what he was doing. He was the least bothered by everything. All that mattered to him was to live happily with Princess Saya and to protect her, he was determined to get stronger each and every day.

Reyman had patience. He didn't expect anyone to accept their fate as fast as Rin did. Furthermore, with everyone hermiting inside their homes, this was a good chance to show Rin through the Memory field a bit. Rin also promised to introduce herself to everyone once they pull themselves together a bit.

The first thing both Reymand and Rin noticed was a dark dot in the sky.

"So, how long before Memory field is under attack?" Rin didn't need to ask Reyman about the dot, she already knew it was bad news. She was impressed by Memory field's dreamy landscape, but didn't feel any sort of need to comment on that.

"First of all, Rin... Do you have the idea what that dot might be?" Reyman asked, pretty sure Rin will know the answer. He plucked several raspberries from a nearby bush and handed them over to Rin, to try it out.

Rin wholeheartedly accepted the fruit. "It's a void that will be expanding little by little. It must be connected to the artificial black hole from Kinoto." She tried the first raspberry. As she expected, it was quite tasty.

"Correct, Rin" Reyman praised her like a proud teacher. "The void is at the beginning of its cycle and sadly, there's nothing we can do to shut it down. I expected it to happen much earlier though."

Rin was enjoying the raspberries. "So, the void is going to swallow the Memory field?"

"It won't be that simple. Remember, everything you see here is nothing but an illusion. Nothing here is real, and neither is this void." Reyman explained. Rin didn't reply anything and instead waited for further details. Reyman tried to explain it as simply as possible. "However, the illusion might become a reality if it consumes a mind. Normally, the most logical solution would be not to set food inside the Memory field ever again. However, for various reasons, I will not allow this place to be swallowed into the void."

"Which are?" Rin finished her raspberries. "If you say it's simply because you want to protect this place for disappearing, don't expect a lot of help from me" she made it clear.

"Fair enough, Rin. Indeed, that is one of the reasons, but it's not the only one. There's something that pokes the point of interest of you all" Reyman said.

"What would that be?" Rin actually planned to aid Reyman either way, but she wanted him to convince her the best he could. Reyman appreciated that about Rin.

"Princess Saya can be awoken from her dream only within the Memory field. If the void and its army swallow her, her mind will remain trapped inside a dream for all eternity, which is no different than death." Reyman explained, leading Rin across a long sandy road connecting two small islands.

Rin has already memorized all the areas they visited during the stroll. "I think that sole reason would be effective on Wolf O'Donnell only" she teased Reyman.

Reyman wished she was actually right. "No... if Princess Saya never wakes up, Wolf will start losing his mind. He's on the edge already."

"Yeah, I've heard him..." Rin understood before Reyman explained to her.

"Wolf murdered 19 people like nothing." Reyman was suddenly disturbed by the thought. "To be honest, he is the only one inside the tower I am not fond of at all. He poses a greater threat to the existence of Lumieris than this void."

"So it's better to have him as an ally than as a foe?" Rin concluded.

Reyman simply nodded. "If we oppose him, nothing good will be in store for us."