Chapter 8

It was like a dream come true. My former best friend, fifteen-year-old Emma Winterbell, had returned. I immediately jumped into her arms to hug her, and she gently stroked my head. It was only then that I realized how important she had always been to me. Not just on a déjà vu level anymore. I was both incredibly happy and completely confused. Why hadn’t I truly remembered her until now? Why had I only seen her as a mysterious girl from my dreams? My memories of our time together must have come from the timeline rewritten by the Magistras. There were countless questions, but I couldn’t resist the joy. I wanted to stay like that a little longer.

However, Emma let out a small groan.

“Reina big sis, you’re going to crush me… I can barely breathe.”

Embarrassed, I quickly let go.

“Sorry!”

I immediately began questioning her about how she ended up here, but before she could say anything, her stomach growled loudly from hunger.

“I’m gluttonous as it is, but who even knows when I last ate. Weeks? Months? Years? What date is it?”

Kaori and I exchanged a stunned look. There was far too much to talk about. After I introduced the girls to each other, we went to a nearby fast-food place to discuss everything. Emma didn’t have any cash or bank card. At least not anything she could actually use here. I treated her to a large meal, and she devoured it instantly.

Meanwhile, we shared our experiences with her, told her about Kaori’s situation, and explained everything about Kali Yuga, the Magistras, and the altered timeline.

Emma dropped her hamburger. A quiet, tense silence filled the air.

“So I had to suffer all this because of them…”

When I asked what had happened to her, Emma told us her story. She had arrived here only a few hours earlier, and she had never seen this place before. But with the help of what we told her, she pieced together part of the picture. She had lived somewhere completely different before. Or rather, in the same place — but not really. She originally lived in a city called Atlea, a much grayer, sadder place than the current Bliss City. This matched perfectly with what Fergus had told us. After meeting Emma, the name also surfaced in my mind, along with many other details.

When Emma talked about how, despite the gloomy atmosphere of that world, she and I had spent many good times together, I looked away in embarrassment. I told her that I had originally forgotten everything about that past, and that only after meeting her again did my memories come flooding back. Even so, many things were still blurry and confusing. Of course, I also told her that even before meeting Kaori, I had felt strangely out of place in this world. And that I had dreamed about her — though at the time, I hadn’t known who she was. Those dreams simply made me happy. Deep down, on an emotional level, I realized I must have known her.

Next, we talked about how she had gotten her Seraph powers. According to Emma, one afternoon, while walking home, strange white patches began spreading everywhere in the space around her. People’s bodies grew more and more faded and translucent. They panicked, but there was nothing they could do before they completely disappeared. Her own body also began to fade, and she was terrified. It occurred to her that she would never see her family, her friends, or me ever again.

But when she thought of me, the process of her disappearance stopped. Although this only lasted until she thought of someone or something else. Because of this, it became clear she had to cling to me mentally if she wanted to stay alive. She realized that everything and everyone around her had been erased. That world had ceased to exist. She no longer felt any physical sensations. She wasn’t hungry or thirsty, and she wasn’t sleepy either. She felt herself slowly going insane, but her emotions tied to me kept her stable. She was deeply saddened that she would never see anyone she had loved ever again, but she somehow felt she had to believe in me. That she had to meet me.

One day, she suddenly noticed that her body could take on a new form, and she could use incredible powers. That was how Snowincess was born within her. After she had fully learned to use her abilities, her longing to see me grew even stronger. But this longing wasn’t natural anymore. It didn’t stem only from our friendship. She described it as if some kind of force was pulling her toward me. It was likely because of this that she eventually saw a portal open, showing a beautiful, unfamiliar city on the other side. When she stepped through it, she found herself in our timeline. Everything was strange. She didn’t yet know that a change in time had occurred. She explored the area until something began pulling her toward me again. Because of this, she eventually found me — almost instinctively.

And suddenly she became hungry, thirsty, and now a little sleepy again.

I wasn’t the type to cry, but my voice cracked.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that…”

Kaori also showed empathy.

“I can’t even imagine how horrible that must have been…”

We had to do something for poor Emma. She must have gone through severe trauma. It was a terrible price to pay, even if she had gained extraordinary power. I became completely certain that the three of us had gained our abilities because of the creation of the new timeline.

Emma wanted to go back to her old home, but that didn’t seem like a good idea for several reasons. Still, I didn’t want to tell her that yet. I used the excuse that it was too late. And it really was. It was nearly midnight, and the fast-food place was closing soon. Emma accepted my reasoning that we shouldn't wake her family at such a late hour. We decided that tomorrow I would skip school and go with Emma to visit her family. Hopefully her mother would at least be home. I asked Kaori to tell the teachers that I had a slight fever.

In the end, Emma really did stay at my place overnight. She was incredibly happy that my home was exactly the same as before. I wanted to tell her, during our conversation, that I truly thought visiting her family was a bad idea. I just didn’t yet know how to explain it without hurting her. But I decided not to dwell on it that night. We had gotten home very late, and I wanted at least some proper sleep. So we lay down. Emma curled up beside me, saying she wanted to sleep next to her big sister. I grumbled a little that she wasn’t a child anymore, but she insisted.

I slept deeply. But around 5 a.m., I woke up to go to the bathroom. Emma wasn’t beside me. She wasn’t anywhere in the house or the yard. Then it hit me so hard my heart skipped a beat. I quickly got dressed and ran out of the house. She must have gone to her family. If they still lived where my blurry memories showed, the house was only a few streets away. I ran as fast as I could — but I was already too late.

The rising sun’s rays brushed my face as I turned a corner in one of the suburban streets and saw Emma. She was arguing fiercely with a man — her father.

“But this is the truth! I’m your daughter! Don’t you recognize me, Dad?!”

The man shook his head firmly.

“I told you already, I don’t have a daughter.”

Then a little boy timidly stepped out of the house. Emma’s face lit up.

“Oscar!”

But the father angrily ordered the child back inside, then shouted at Emma with hostility.

“I’ve been polite until now, but leave this instant! Or I’ll call the police…”

Emma refused to give up.

“Don’t do this! Where’s Mom? Where is she?”

The man let out an impatient sigh.

“Listen, young lady, your mother certainly doesn’t live here. My wife has been dead for five years, and I have to leave for work soon.”

The words pierced Emma’s heart. Her legs trembled; she could barely breathe. She didn’t want to believe what she had heard.

“Mom… is dead…?”

I had to intervene. I ran over and apologized to the man. I said my friend had been going through a stressful time and this was all just a misunderstanding. Then I politely said goodbye. I grabbed Emma’s arm, and at my urging, we left.

I could feel that she could barely walk, almost collapsing.

“Hey, it’s okay! Just hold on a little longer.”

I didn’t wait until we got home. I sat her down on a bench halfway there.

“He didn’t recognize me… I’m just a stranger to him…”