Chapter 13

For now, they left Ann locked in the hotel room, while the four of them went to the rooftop swimming pool. Hakade had said that he wasn’t too interested in swimming, so he sat at one of the available folding chairs near the poolside. He wore a shirt and short pants, far from his usual outfit. The girls, meanwhile, wore swimsuits of a similar design, the colors being the only difference. Laurel’s was red, Ana wore a white one, and Mia had a black set.

It had been a long while since they last swam, so Laurel did some slow laps around the shallower sections of the pool. It took a while for her to get used to swimming again. She pushed through the waters.

Phew… Hah… I miss this…

Unlike Hakade, Laurel Anamia was a good swimmer. The level of skill inheritance differed between the three, and in Laurel's case, she thought of herself as pretty decent. She might not be better than the others, but she’s better than Hakade, at least.

As she swam underneath the waters, life felt normal. Much like the memories from her past. That distant world where the most she would worry about was whether or not she could pass tomorrow's test. All that biology she studied ended up being useless. She hoped she would never have to regret forgetting about it.

She noticed two swinging legs. She took a peek above the water, confirmed her target, and swam that way. She appeared right next to Hakade. He had moved from his chair to the poolside, enjoying a slight dip. She wished Hakade would be surprised. It would be funny if he came tumbling down into the pool. But, much to her disappointment, Hakade's reaction extended to a simple stare.

Was he judging her for her childish behaviors, or did something else cause his eyes to be upon her?

“... What is it?” she asked, her tone coming off colder than she intended.

“Seeing you without your coat looks weird.”

“Oh, excuse me?”

Whatever reaction Laurel expected, it certainly wasn't this.

“I mean, didn't you wear your coat to bed?”

“Of course not!”

Laurel wore her coat ninety percent of the time, not counting the obvious times when she would take them off. This meant that in front of him, the Laurel he knew always had the lab coat on. The same could be said about her tied-up hair. The coat felt like her second skin. Not wearing it felt like exposing herself. She felt weak, cold. Hakade had teased her because of it.

“Also, you really don’t need to wear those glasses, do you?”

Laurel Anamia didn’t have any problems with her eyesight, but those glasses do have a purpose.

“They’re for blue light, remember? Because I stare at screens all the time?”

“...”

“Don’t say you’ve forgotten about that?”

“... I thought they were accessories.”

“And I thought it was obvious they’re not!”

Laurel gave him a cold stare, a bit disappointed that Hakade had forgotten. The girls chose different outfits on purpose, partly because of differing preferences, but also so he could differentiate between them. Even so, she wished he paid just a bit more attention. He was technically her childhood friend. They had spent a lot of time together in the past. Although when she thought about it, Hakade hadn't changed much ever since their younger days. She heaved a sigh.

“You’re not going to compliment me?”

Old manga often have the boys getting flustered when the girls bring this up, but Hakade reacted like it was nothing.

“Yeah, yeah, you look cute.”

She couldn’t deny that she expected more. This response felt very Hakade-like. At least her childhood friend hasn't been replaced by some weird magic thingy, something that she couldn't rule out completely.

“That’s better, although I would prefer the term ‘mature’.”

“Ana didn’t mind being called cute.”

“I’m not Ana.”

“Guess so.”

Laurel dived back into the pool. From underneath the waters, she could see where the other two were. Mia stood near the far end of the pool, looking out at the view while speaking with an older lady who happened to be staying at the same hotel. Ana, on the other hand, floated across the pool on a rubber ducky. It made her look like a child.

… Rubber ducky? Where did she get that? Oh, right, I haven’t asked her about that magic.

Laurel surfaced right next to Ana, who enjoyed the afternoon air in her own way. She had sunglasses over her eyes, her right hand holding some kind of yellow drink.

“What’s that?” Laurel asked.

Ana lifted her sunglasses and glanced at Laurel. “Piña colada.”

“... I don’t know you drink alcohol?”

“They have the non-alcoholic version.” Ana pointed toward the bar at the side of the rooftop.

“Did you get this rubber ducky from there as well?”

“I… I don’t really feel like swimming?”

Laurel was sure she saw her in the water just a minute ago. Did she order the drink after she took a dip, or did she dip first and then take her drink? Regardless, that wasn't important.

“By the way, Ana?”

“Hmm…?”

Ana seemed to be enjoying this ‘vacation’ so much that Laurel felt bad asking, but there was something she wanted to know.

“Have you ever heard about nullification magic?”

“... Nullification… magic…?” Ana’s expression turned serious. Just like that, she entered her work mode.

“Yes.”

Laurel had mentioned it when she reported what happened to the others, but Hakade and Mia said that they never heard such a thing. Neither of them could use magic, so it made sense if they didn't know. At the time, Ana had already gone to sleep, so she got the shortened version of what happened after she woke up.

Laurel hoped that their mage knew something about it. She retold what happened, this time including more details, like what Ann said to her.

“... Did what Ann said bother you?” Ana asked.

“Very.” She never heard about that kind of magic, nor did she ever feel so intimidated by someone. Ann didn't even try to threaten her, yet the fear she felt was beyond anything she had experienced before.

A spell that could nullify the very existence of something. She understood that their very existence was unnatural, so it shouldn't be surprising that the magic that created things could also erase it.

“That magic… it gives me the creeps.”

“... Because we too can be erased,” Ana said, before taking a sip of her pina colada. “... Only one of us is the original, yet at the same time, we didn't know who.”

Laurel always struggled with it. She knew that before this, only one Laurel Anamia existed. The original split into three, thus Laurel’s and the others’ existence. Still, the question remained: who was the original? They were all different from Laurel Anamia, yet also the same. They share things the original had, and they had things the original didn’t have. They gained new things, they lost old things. No one had a perfect similarity with the original. The only thing that remained constant was their memories.

If things were to be reset, which of them would disappear? How would it feel? Would it feel the same as death? Or would it be different? Would their bodies be the only thing that disappeared? Or would they take others’ memories with them, as if they never existed in the first place?

“Are you not scared?” Laurel asked.

“I am,” Ana admitted. She stared at the skies, not a single shred of tiredness visible in her eyes. A rather rare thing for Ana.

“But… we… we were never supposed to exist in the first place,” she said, then whispered, “I'm more worried about how Hakade would take it.”

Ever since that day, Hakade had taken care of them. If two of them disappeared all of a sudden, who knew what would happen to him, especially considering that he needed them. He wouldn't be able to operate the train alone.

“If that happens… Do you think the memories will go with us?”

“... You… still remembered those MARA you ran over, right?”

Ana had a point. She didn't forget about them. She wasn't paying attention that she knew every single one of the units the train rammed, but she still remembered crushing them into nothingness.

“If that's what you're thinking about, then you don't have to be worried.”

Of course, that wasn't the only thing Laurel feared. How about death? Would heaven or hell exist for them? Or would it be nothing? Like a black void that consumed all, leaving nothing behind.

“Wouldn't it be funny if we all merged back into one? Like a big combining robot?”

Laurel winced. “No, it would not be funny at all.”

She didn’t get how Ana could even joke about such a thing.

“Three souls occupying one body. The original will probably have more control, but imagine if she did not…”

“That sounded even worse compared to nothingness.”

“... I feel like there are fates worse than nothingness… would rather merge, to be honest.”

“Even when you'll lose control of yourself?”

“... Maybe.”

Ana didn't sound so sure.

“I… I don't think I can provide the answers you're looking for, Laurel.”

“It's alright. Sorry for bothering you.”