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It was another long day at the city and the traffic did not help the mood at all. Gura wanted to just run towards her destination but she'd get scolded if she used her powers out in the open. The radio was also broken so she had no choice but to listen to silence while waiting in traffic. It took her 3 hours just to get there. She parked her car at a dark and unkept house. She steps out and notices that the plants outside have been watered at least.
"This house has seen better days..."
Gura was about to ring the doorbell but as she tries to press it, the door swung open. It seems to be welcoming her so she just stepped inside. Gura walks around the house and notices that the inside was actually well maintained and not broken or decrepit at all. After getting lost in the area a few couple of times she finally finds Ina's room.
"The door kind of just let me in soooo. I hope I'm not trespassing or anything? Hmm?"
She slowly opens the door and finds Ina collapsed on the floor. She rushes over to her and it seems that she was actually just sleeping. Gura sighs and carries Ina to a nearby sofa and sets her down there. She tries to make tea and sets it down on the table near the sofa where Ina was resting at. Gura takes a sip of the tea and waits for Ina to wake up.
While waiting for Ina to wake up, Gura picks up the pieces of paper that was scattered across the floor. She reads one of them but the language was too confusing to read so she decided to just stacked them all in a corner.
"Hnnn... Gura?... What are you doing here? Did you make this tea?"
Ina slowly sat up and looked at Gura, She was still pretty sleepy but she decided to drink the tea that Gura made.
"You really suck at making tea, Gura"
"Hey it's just leaf water, I just boiled some leaves. And it's not THAT bad"
"No, Gura, It's really THAT bad"
The two joked around and enjoyed each others' company. It was nostalgic for Gura. It's been a long time since they actually hung out.
"By the way, Why were you collapsed in the first place?"
After Gura says that, The room falls silent. Ina stares at her cup of tea with a distant expression. With a defeated sigh, she finally talks
"I know we were supposed to stop trying to bring her back 2 weeks ago but... I just wanted to try it one last time."
Gura was shocked by her answer. It's what she expected to hear but it was still unbelievable to her. Ina was the first one to agree that they should stop trying to find ways. Yet here she was, trying to bring her back.
"I understand but, You're pushing yourself too much that you-"
"Don't worry, I am going to stop. The experiment failed and well... I guess it really is time to move on..."
Ina's chest tightened after saying those words. It's hard for her to accept that her longtime friend was gone. Her hand is shaking as she is holding the cup of tea.
"Hey Gura..."
Gura was still staring at Ina. She sees Ina is having a hard time but she just can't find the words to say at that moment. She replies to Ina with a smile.
"Hmm?"
"Are you really not hiding anything, Gura?..."
Gura's eyes widened in response to Ina's statement.
"So you ARE hiding something"
"W-well, y'see-"
"No, No it's fine. We all keep secrets that we don't want others to know."
"Thanks, Ina... Thanks for also letting me stay for a while"
Ina stands up and walks to her room while Gura walks towards the door. Before Gura closes the door behind her, Ina says something to Gura.
"I also know you're going to do something reckless. So Gura...Please, Be careful. We don't want to lose you as well"
The door closes and Gura stands outside of the house as the door slowly closes. She was so shocked with what she heard from Ina that she didn't realize that it started to rain. She walks towards her car and drives off. The dim lights help her as she drives around at night
"How...does she know..."
Gura enteratains the thought and drives somewhere else. After a few hours of driving, The rain stopped and she arrives at a house. It was early in the morning when she got there. The house is newly built but it feels like it's been part of the neighborhood for a long time now. She goes for the doorbell but was interruted by a voice behind her.
"Hmm? Gura? What are you doing here? And why are you incredibly wet?"
Behind her was Calli, holding a box of items. She was surprised to see Calli there and decides to run up to her and hug her.
"Woah there, nice to meet you too Gura, but you- you have to let go of me."
Before Calli could say anything else, Gura collapses unto her. It's been an entire day and she's pretty exhausted. Calli picks Gura up and carries her inside their home.
After a few more minutes, Gura wakes up confused as to why she's in Calli's bed and that her clothes were completely dry. It was pretty comfy and the pillow she was sleeping on was incredibly soft. There were boxes lined up across the room so it was kind of obvious that they haven't finished moving in yet. She walks out of the room and sees a flight of stairs descending to what it seems to be a living room. She descends the stairs and sees Kiara cooking something while talking to Calli by the counter.
"Good Morning, Sleepyhead. How's your sleep?"
"The bed is comfy, Calli. Thanks for letting me sleep on it"
"Calli, Can I sleep on your bed later?"
"We're living together, Ofcourse you can."
"Ahahaha...I'll leave you two to it then. Thanks for letting me sleep in, you two."
With Gura fully rested she walks straight to the door. Before she could open the door however, she was stopped with flames sprouting on the doorway.
"Before you go, Gura..."
Kiara stops Gura from going out. The mood inside the house gets serious. Neither Calli nor Gura anticipated that this would happen.
"I'll go grab some more of our stuff outside. Looks like both of you need to talk about something."
"Thanks Calli~ Just don't touch the farthest box in the corner okay?"
"The one with multiple pictures of me and some of your questionable items? Got it"
Before Kiara could even say a word, Calli just dissapears. Gura sees Kiara blushing and trying really hard to not freak out about it so she finds a place to sit down on.
"You can sit on any of those boxes it's fine?"
"Including this one?"
Gura points at a box that says "Fragile". The two stared at each other for a whole minute.
"Gura, just sit down."
"Fine, fineeee."
Gura sits on one of the boxes, hoping that it wasn't fragile. Kiara lowers the heat of the stove and returns to Gura.
"Thanks for drying my clothes by the way"
"Oh it's fine. Anyways, I've been meaning to ask you. Are you sure Council can't help?"
Even with a very despairing voice, That sent chills down Gura's spine. One wrong statement and something might just fly towards her.
"Yeah...I've begged for them to do something but there really is nothing that they can do."
Kiara stares at Gura with a doubtful expression.
"I can understand that civilization, space, and chaos can't do anything about it. What about nature and time though? I know they have the power to do it"
"No...No they can't. They say that she is an anomaly."
"An anomaly?"
"Someone that wasn't even supposed to be here. The laws of nature or time aren't bound to her."
"And you expect me to believe that? You're the only one that was able to get to their meeting place."
Gura lowers her head and says
"I know it sounds stupid but please just this once. Believe me."
The mood around the house had changed. It wasn't tense or anything anymore. Gura lifts her head up and sees Kiara sobbing. She stands up and pats Kiara on the head.
"You-You're a bad liar Gura."
"Wh-What do you mean?..."
"I overheard what you and Kronii talked about on the phone yesterday...And today... Today is... WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US ABOUT THIS GURA?!"
"I'm sorry Kiara... but... You'll get to see her again soon."
"Not like this Gura... There has to be another way around this."
"I'm...sorry"
Gura leaves and walks thru the flames. It burnt some parts of her clothes but that was all the damage it did. She leaves a Kiara kneeling down and crying. She meets Calli near the door. And with a simple nod from Gura, Calli nods as well and rushes to Kiara's side.
"I have to do this... to make things right."
She gets in her car and drives away.
After an hour of driving she finds herself near the woods. She parks her car and walks straight into it. A few bit of walking later, she finds a cliffedge. She sits down right at the edge and begins to talk.
"It's been a while, huh Ame... A month ago... at this spot... A city resurfaced and I lost control of myself..."
She looks beside her with a bittersweet emotion. She is trying to hold her tears yet she fails to do so as tear drops fell off her cheeks.
"The council was still busy dealing with something else at the time so you and the others held your own against me. And it... It resulted in your death."
Gura looks up at the sky with her tears dried up. She senses someone was right behind her.
"Heh...Looks like it's time. This time... I'll make things right. I'll save you from your fate. Even if it means that I have to die
Gura walks towards the figure standing behind the tree and everything around her started to glitch.
"I'll see you soon...
.̵̪̻̬̆.̶̩̠̘̘̩̮̍̈́͊̓͒̚͘͜.̷̡̳̲͐̉͌̏͑̒A̶͍̯͓̾̊m̶̨̹͖̤̘̀̾̄̕e̴̥̮͍͍̜̍̇͐"̴̤̖̼̇̋̋̑̈́̕ "
...Gura"