Chapter 6.5

“Miyuki? Natsuko?” Fujiko asked. “Is that really you?”

“What do you think?” Natsuko laughed.

“I think–”

“Strictly speaking, no,” Miyuki interrupted. “We’re communicating to you via Elio. The spell preserves the spatial memory of the past, and as it turns out, Natsuko and I both used Elio to imprint our memories here for when you reached the Eye.”

“...How did you know I was going to ask that question then?”

“The same way all lifelike holograms in shows and movies respond to you like they know what you’re going to ask,” Miyuki shrugged.

“Natsuko…” Reiko said. “Is this where you’ve been? For the last ten years?”

“Technically–”

Reiko slapped Natsuko across the cheek, but her fingers cut through nothing but a visage composed of imaginarium.

“I suppose I deserve that,” Natsuko mumbled. “I’m sorry Reiko, but I am not physically here.”

“And neither am I,” Miyuki said. “Miss Ichinose filled me in on a few things, captain. I don’t say I blame you, but we don’t have a lot of time. There are things much more important to share with both of you.”

“Why should I listen to anything you have to say, Natsuko?” Reiko growled. “It’s just going to be more cryptic prophecies, isn’t it?”

“Reiko,” Natsuko said, gently. “I’m dead. I died ten years ago. Any influence that I can still exert on the present is in the magic I left here ten years ago, which has given me enough time to share one final conversation with you. I won’t waste it.”

Reiko already had a retort bouncing at the tip of her tongue, but a pressure in her other hand stopped her. Fujiko squeezed her palm and shook her head.

“I think it’ll be good to… try to let go,” she said. “You’ll regret it later.”

“...Fine,” Reiko sighed. “What’s this all about?”

“You want to tell them?” Natsuko asked Miyuki.

“You figured it out first,” Miyuki shrugged. “Ten years before me. You go.”

“Alright then,” Natsuko nodded. “Ten years ago, I predicted that an Egregore was preparing to answer a Question that unravels a fundamental truth about our universe. Such a Question would have disastrous effects, not just on The Now, but on the flow of imaginarium across all points in time.”

“Isn’t that just Taboo?”

“Not quite,” Natsuko answered. “A Taboo refers to incantations that imaginarium refuses to perform. In contrast, this Question, I believe, is a Question that the imaginarium wants us to ask.”

“You’re implying that imaginarium has a will of its own,” Reiko frowned, “that it wants us to do this or that. I still find that hard to believe.”

“I think Miss Ichinose’s claim is more… poetic than accurate,” Miyuki chuckled, “but we’ll get there in a moment. Do you remember Lady Baba Yaga’s Question, Fujiko?”

“...What is imaginarium?”

"During an ascension, imaginarium accumulates when it believes an Egregore is about to ascend," Miyuki explained, “but what if that behavior was at the heart of all magic? What if imaginarium's anticipatory nature has determined the trajectory of all things? Is there anything we do that is not predicted or influenced by imaginarium?”

“So that’s why Baba Yaga was okay with Lisa Everest’s interference,” Reiko pondered aloud. “No matter if Lisa’s original plans succeeded or not, she’d be one step closer to answering her own Question.”

“Exactly right, captain,” Miyuki nodded.

“I still don't get it,” Fujiko shook her head. “Why couldn’t she force Miyuki to not ascend if that was her plan? We all saw how powerful she was. Forcing any of us to submit to her would have been child’s play.”

“That would have defeated the whole purpose,” Miyuki smiled. “Lisa couldn’t force me to not ascend, because she would have had to use imaginarium to do so, which would only prove that imaginarium determined these course of events. Choice was integral to her narrative, to prove that people could defy imaginarium.”

“Which brings us back to here, to this moment,” Natsuko said, “where Lisa Everest is preparing to transcend the imaginarium’s Mysteries.”

“How do we stop her?” Reiko asked.

“You already have,” Natsuko said. “I left an incantation in the Eye of Castle Gramarye ten years ago. The activation sequence is very simple.”

“I open those eyes,” Fujiko answered.

“Very good,” Natsuko nodded. “The counterspell will siphon away the imaginarium she’s gathered and return it to its respective places across time.”

Fujiko clenched Reiko’s hand even tighter.

“There’s just one last thing” Natsuko sighed. “Now that the spell is activated, the need to maintain this space inside the tower is no longer necessary and is potentially dangerous. It will need to be closed.”

“Me,” Fujiko muttered. “It’s me that does it.”

Reiko and Fujiko saw this coming the moment that they had seen Natsuko again, but the notice was still all too soon.

Natsuko, however, beamed that ever prideful smile.

“Good girl,” she said. “Reiko?”

“Yes?”

“Time inside this space flows differently than outside,” she said. “There’s time. I’d… like to say our goodbyes properly for once.”

“I… I’d like that.”

Natsuko gestured at Reiko to walk with her. They went on a private stroll and began to speak the moment they knew Fujiko the eavesdropper was no longer in earshot.

That was when Miyuki turned to her.

“Can we talk?” she said. “There’s something else I want to tell you about, something I haven’t even shared with Miss Ichinose.”

“Sure,” Fujiko replied, cautiously. “Not even with Natsuko?”

“It’s just a theory. I could be wrong,” Miyuki frowned. “When I was younger, I tried to read Castle Gramarye’s Existence Formula. I could never do it. In fact, no one's been able to render the castle’s formula in any form.”

“For the brief moment that I was an Egregore,” Miyuki continued, “I realized why. I don’t know how anyone’s been able to hide the truth for this long.”

“What, is the castle a fake? Or was its formula erased?”

“No. Quite the opposite. Its formula hasn’t even been written yet.”

“...What?”

“Castle Gramarye has not been built yet.”

“But…” Fujiko was lost again. “Aren’t we standing on it right now?”

“We are,” Miyuki nodded, “but this is the secret behind the castle’s descent. I always thought the castle was in the sky, waiting for a destination, but that’s not it. Castle Gramarye exists in the time There, in the future. What we call its descent is actually the castle projecting itself into the past, to Now.”

“Miyuki, I don’t know. You said it yourself. It’s just a theory.”

“But think about it. If Lisa Everest succeeded today, what would that have meant? It means she would have transcended above the Mysteries set by imaginarium. In doing so, she would have destroyed a portion of reality to get there. What could she do? Theoretically, she could perceive magic Then, There, and Now. Change the future. Send parts of our destroyed reality into the past.”

“Parts… you mean like Castle Gramarye.”

Miyuki drew herself close to Fujiko and whispered.

“An Egregore is going to ascend, Fujiko. An Egregore, let’s just call her Egregore X, who will, when she ascends, shatter all principles of magic and construct from the corpse of reality Castle Gramarye and live in all parts of time. It could even mean that all the imaginarium ever cast is merely residual magic blasted from that event in the future.”

“...Why are you telling me this?” Fujiko muttered.

“I think someone should be aware of the possibility,” Miyuki shrugged, “and when I was thinking of who to tell… well, I could only think of you.”

“Not Mamoru?”

“Mamoru…” Miyuki blushed. “Well… he’s not here anyway.”

They laughed.

“He misses you,” Fujiko conveniently changed the subject. “You’re still alive. The doctors said your mind’s drifting somewhere. I thought maybe… here…”

“I’m just a memory,” Miyuki smiled. “I don’t know where the real me could be, but I know wherever I am, I’m happy that I met Mamoru, that I was finally useful–”

Before she could finish, Fujiko threw her arms around Miyuki, but like Reiko, she discovered that Miyuki was thinner than air.

“You’re not dead weight,” Fujiko forced back a sob. “You never were. I’m so sorry, Miyuki. I said so many terrible things to you.”

“It’s okay,” Miyuki replied. “I enjoyed the brief time we knew each other Fujiko. If destiny is in our favor, then I hope we see each other again.”

Reiko and Natsuko returned. Reiko wore tear stained eyes, just like Fujiko.

“Take care of each other now,” Natsuko said, “and whatever Miyuki told you, Fujiko, I’d take it seriously. She’s probably right.”

“Another prediction?” Fujiko raised an eyebrow.

“Just a hunch this time,” Natsuko winked. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Fujiko said. “Reiko?”

“Let’s finish what we started,” Reiko replied.

Fujiko’s eyes opened. The glittering, verdant glow of the Elio dimension began to wither and blur, though Fujiko could not tell if the blur was due to magic or tears.

The edges of the world folded back, revealing a white space similar to the flash when the Eye of Castle Gramarye first gazed at them, and before she spoke her word, she trained her eyes on Natsuko and Miyuki and burned their faces into her memory.

“Goodbye.”