Chapter 19 - The Spirit of the World

One day, two days. Three days… Before anyone could mentally prepare themselves a week had flown by. Mei stepped outside, She didn't have to look up. Akari was everywhere. Her sister’s face, fifty feet high, loomed over all passersby. She averted her eyes from the sight, walking down the street, the citizens seemed wrapped up in Akari fever. People wearing shirts with her face, TV’s broadcasting her everywhere.

“...In other news, Zenith has decreed Akari Hoshizawa’s Lucent Coronation to take place tomorrow, every citizen is urged to attend as for the first time in the history of our system, after only two weeks of service and over 20 missions completed within only a week, Akari will-!”

Mei covers her ears, running away from the TV’s.

Akari… What happened to you…? Things have been falling apart… Rika hasn’t come out of her room for a week, Ami doesn’t talk to anyone… and Akari is… I need to do something! No, I have to!

Mei skidded. She pivoted on her heel and bolted in the opposite direction. “Think… How did things turn out like this so fast…?”

Her mind races faster, combing through the tens of memories she made in such a short amount of time, almost as if the years of suffering of prior would have disappeared. Until it clicks, the key to the puzzle.

“Kagemura…” She whispers.

Her feet pick up speed, arms swinging as she runs as fast as she can.

It makes sense… It always made sense! How he showed up that day… Always talks, tries to distance himself! Whatever he’s hiding, I’m prying it out of him tonight!

Mei takes a deep breath. “Kagemura!” She shouts at the top of her lungs. She waits a couple seconds, but no response.

…Ami was talking like she knew more. If she’s like Akari and she… grew somehow. I can use this!

Mei quickly made it to the dorms, slamming her fist onto the door.

“Ami! Ami, open the door!”

She bangs the door one last time. “Ami!”

The girl’s eyes fly open, staring at the shining blue sky. She laid up, looking around only to find herself on a beach, sand crumbling in her hand. “Ami, are you sleeping on the beach again? Do you seriously want to get taken away by the waves?”

Ami’s head turned, an elderly woman draped in a familiar blue blouse stepped closer to her. She smiled bright and wide, “Sorry, grandma! It’s really nice here…”

“Jeez… what will we ever do with you.”

Her grandma sat beside her, watching the waves recede and push in, she looked down at the child.

“Do you feel that?”

Ami touched the sand, looking up. “Feel what?”

Her grandma raised a hand, the sand swirling around them forming into a castle. “The Aether here is particularly strong… See, Ami… A Lucent can be whatever is desired of you. But us? We’re Unbounded.”

The girl tilted her head in confusion.

She laughed, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Think of it like this…” She started to draw in the sand, simple images.

“Lucents are held back by the government, our order of solace… while “Unbounded” like our village don’t belong to anyone.”

“...So are we the bad guys?” She asked.

“We could be,” she said while patting Ami’s head, “Anyone can be good or evil, the only difference between us is that we are free.”

“I want to be free, then!” Ami stood, her small feet sinking into the shoreline. “Super free!”

“Maybe you can! Aether is the spirit of the world… and Anima is the spirit of yourself. Freedom isn’t about one or the other… It’s… complicated.”

Ami’s grandma looks out into the vast ocean, staring into the horizon.

“You have to find that for yourself, it’s not just a Lucent's fate, or an Unbounded’s fate… it's a human’s fate. Too much of something in excess will destroy you… Normally, you’d say this if you were eating too much. But it’s true no matter where you use it.”

Ami looked ahead as well. “Then… What’s your’s, grandma?”

“Mine? Well, let’s see…”

"One day, all people will come to understand each other, and be free of hatred."

Ami blinked in the next moment, standing over a bed as her grandma laid with labored breathing. Voices from outside leaked in. “Granny Michi’s not looking so good. At this rate…”

A fist slams onto the wall of the hut.

“Damn it! That reservoir they built…! That thing is sucking up all of the Aether, we haven’t caught anything, we can’t feed anyone, and now our leader is sick. We’ll die if we don’t do something.”

Ami steps foot out of the hut, looking the two men in the eyes.

“I’ll do it. I’ll go to Tokyo, and find help there. And once I do… I’ll save everyone! I promise!”

Ami’s eyes fly open, her room messy with scattered papers. The banging on her door stirred her awake as she ran over to answer the door. It slowly creaked open, she poked her head out to see Mei standing with a determined stare.

“Ami… Help me find Kagemura! We’re gonna see the TRUTH!” she exclaimed.

She doesn’t respond for a second, only nodding before closing her eyes.

Her vision settled onto the Nurse’s office.

“Follow me.”

The duo run to the office, completely silent unlike the rest of the school in a buzz about Akari, they enter. A door cracked open slightly from the back leaks light as the girls open it wider. Kagemura stands over a girl with long, black hair, her hair so long it’s spilling out all over the bed and onto the floor. He grabs her hand, clutching it tightly.

“Kagemura..?” Mei spoke, stepping forward.

“This was bound to happen…”

Ami and Mei surrounded the girl, Ami touching her hand.

“Is this…?” Mei pondered.

“My daughter. She’s been in a coma for years now, I spend my days sitting here… waiting till she wakes up. I’ll rot here if I have to. I’m not going to give up on her.”

Mei stared at him. “Kagemura, I know you know the truth. Please.”

He avoided her gaze, shaking his head. “...The truth, huh.’

“Sensei.” Ami spoke up, “I have nothing left. I need to know the truth… I want to see it.”

Kagemura sat silently for a second, before disappearing. Although just as quickly as he vanished, he returned. He handed something to Ami, a small pin of the sun.

“If you want the truth, here. This is it. Whatever you do with this, no matter what, will change everything. But I believe in you regardless.”

Mei wanted to push further, but clammed up.

“Kagemura… thank you.”

“You can thank me by living. Go on.” Ami and Mei turn to leave, slowly shutting the door as Kagemura holds his gaze onto his daughter.

He reached out. A thumb brushed her pale cheek. Then the door clicked, and the world went dark again.

Chapter 19 - The End.