Chapter Text
Taking in the gentle evening sun, a young girl reclined on her chair, making casual doodles into a blank sketchbook. The girl, named Ninomae Ina drew lines and circles and freeform squiggles without much forethought, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. Her living room wasn’t exactly her private studio, but it was cozy and had another distinct advantage. In the adjoining kitchen, her girlfriend, Amelia, was busy preparing dinner for the two of them. Indeed, Ina could just enjoy the peaceful serenity of a lazy-
“Oh fuck!” her girlfriend suddenly screeched out.
“You okay, Ame?” Ina called out.
“Yeah, I just dropped a knife. Don’t mind me.” Ina glanced up just to check, and found Ame still in her uniform and her bright blonde hair tied up in a messy ponytail.
With a giggle, Ina made a quick sketch of her girlfriend yelling at the knife. Ame probably wouldn’t appreciate it, but Ina would proudly pin it to the fridge anyway.
“What are you laughing about?” Ame cut in still from the kitchen.
“Don’t worry about it,” Ina giggled back. “It’s nothing, of course.”
“Hmm, I’ve got my eye on you.”
“A… private eye, perhaps?” Ina joked. Ame, an investigator by trade, laughed back, leaving Ina proud of her little joke. She then turned back to her drawing, still mainly pointless scribbles. She sighed and leaned back into the chair. A little while after, she called out, “How’s it going in there? Anything I can do?”
Ame snorted. “Not unless you can make these goddamn potatoes cook faster. I swear to God they’ve been boiling forever.”
Ina stood up and stretched. “Let’s just eat them now then. I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
“Absolutely not!” Ame was resolute. “Only the best for my Ina.” Then her voice dropped. “No matter how long it takes.”
“You spoil me,” Ina blushed.
“I try,” Ame leaned forward with a smirk and brandished a kitchen knife dramatically. “I’ll just cut some more holes in them.”
As Ina was about to head towards the kitchen to at least keep Ame company, there was suddenly a knock on their door. "I'll get it!" Ina announced.
"'Kay!" Ame called back, turning to her boiling potatoes.
Ina pulled open the door to find a tall unknown woman waiting for her. She had short, dark blue hair and piercing sapphire eyes, and she was wearing a white top with a black skirt. There was an otherworldly beauty to her, both attractive and terrifying.
"Hello," she greeted with a cool voice. "You must be Ina."
The young artist tilted her head. "Um yes, who are-"
But before Ina could finish the thought, the door slammed shut in front of her. Ina turned and suddenly her blonde girlfriend was there. Funny, she was sure Ame was still in the kitchen.
"Wha-" Ina started, before being cut off again.
"Ina," Ame spoke hastily, while locking the door. "We have to get out of here."
Then a voice came from behind the couple, from their very living room. The woman was now sitting at Ina's easel, somehow had slipped past them without them noticing. “Nicely done,” she said looking at the easel. “You really managed to capture Ame here. Especially how cute she is when she’s angry.”
Suddenly Ame stepped in front of Ina, shielding her from the woman. In a swift motion, she pulled out a pistol and aimed it straight at the woman. “What are you doing here, Kronii? We had a deal.” Ina was suddenly overwhelmed by the commotion. Did Ame have a gun the entire time?
The woman, Kronii apparently, nodded. “We did, but you did a little snooping, didn’t you?” Ame just stared at her. “What? Did you think I didn’t notice?” With a sickening smirk, she stood up. “So I thought a deduction was in order. A hundred years or so seemed pretty fair.”
Meanwhile, Ina gripped Ame’s sleeves tightly. “Ame,” she whispered. “Who is this?”
Ame didn’t take her eyes off of Kronii. “Someone dangerous.”
Kronii chuckled and took a seat on the couch. “That’s rich coming from you. After all, look at who you are protecting right now.” She glanced her eyes at Ina. “If I’m dangerous, she’s a calamity.”
Ina took a step back. “What does she mean?” she whispered. This time, Ame didn’t reply.
“How many times have you failed now, anyway?” Kronii continued. “Hundreds? Thousands?” She threw her hands up. “You’ve got to be getting tired by now.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Ame replied sternly. “I was going to succeed this time.” Off in the kitchen, the boiling pot began to bubble over.
“Mmm, I highly doubt that.” She turned her attention to Ina, hiding behind her girlfriend. “I wonder,” she mused aloud. “What makes you so special? Why you of all people?”
Ina looked at Ame, but when she gave no response, Ina replied, “K-Kronii, right? I-I’m just a normal person! Honest! You must have gotten me mixed up, right?”
“Oh,” Kronii bemoaned sarcastically. “If only. But I know exactly what you-”
BANG
A shot rang out. Ina covered her ears reflexively, and turned to see what caused it. Ame fired a shot at Kronii, who was now standing a couple centimeters to the side. There was a new hole in the wall behind her. “You know,” she said glaring daggers at the pair. “I’m getting real sick of getting interrupted.”
Ina blinked, she was gone. She blinked again, Kronii was right next to Ina and Ame. There was a metallic flash, and Ame’s gun clattered to the floor. Then, Ame was sent flying towards the kitchen, where she huddled on the ground in pain.
“Ame!” Ina screamed out, but there was a strong force on her neck preventing her from moving. Kronii had an arm around her, and there was something cold pointed at her neck. It was a strange pair of swords Kronii now held that she certainly didn’t have before. Ina froze in terror.
“Now, now.” Kronii said to Ame, still sputtered on the kitchen floor. “Let’s not make a fuss. Just come back with me, like we agreed.”
Ame was back on her feet and had grabbed a large knife from the counter. “That’s not what we agreed on.”
“Ah well, you haven’t been following the rules either. The watch shouldn’t have been able to take you back that far. What did you find?”
Ina glanced down at the brass pocket watch dangling from Ame's pocket. She had seen Ame with the watch several times before, but never asked about it, and Ame had never drawn attention to it. She figured it was a family heirloom or something.
"Let her go, Kronii." Ame demanded, refusing to answer. "This isn't about her."
In response the arm around Ina's neck tightened, causing Ina to cough. "Now, that's just not true, is it? It's always been about her."
"I said let her go!" Ame insisted, now armed with a kitchen knife.
"Geez, Ame. What happened in the last 900 years? You used to be so much fun." Kronii brandished her sword and gripped Ina’s cheeks with her hand. "This one doesn't even matter, right? If something happens," she paused. "You can just find another!"
"IINNAAA!" Ame suddenly yelled in a desperate, furious rage. Ina was confused, and then she looked down. Her stomach was warm and wet. She touched the spot with her fingers and they came back red. "Wah," Ina whispered faintly, as she collapsed to the ground. Right before she hit the floor, she saw Ame pull out what looked like a medical syringe.
"Now that's more like it," Kronii cheered, now holding two swords a couple steps in front of the poor girl.
It took Ina a few seconds to process what had happened. She had enough sense left to try and put pressure on the wound, but found it made little difference. Her stomach was on fire, and the sudden cacophony of ranging metal around her made her head pound.
"Come on!" Ina heard Kronii's mocking voice. "You've seen worse than this thousands of times. What's the big deal?"
The injured girl recovered enough of her faculties to raise her head. But the sight before her was a flurry of motion. Walls and furniture would shake, long slashes would appear in the walls, all without Ina able to see what caused it. Potatoes were even flying and being cut suddenly. Ame and Kronii seemed to be nowhere and everywhere at once.
One constant in the visual storm was Ame's discarded gun, just a couple feet away from Ina. Every time she moved, her body groaned in pain. But still she continued. Inch by inch, she had to do something to help.
Suddenly a chair exploded against the wall above her. A new pain flared up in her thigh, as several deep splinters had lodged in her skin. Ina forced herself to keep going. She was losing blood quickly, and she started feeling light-headed.
"I can't faint," Ina desperately said to herself. "Must… keep… going."
The air around her rang with the sounds of destruction and Kronii’s sharp, cruel laugh. Nothing that woman said made any sense. After all, she was just Ina. Just a normal girl. Why did this have to happen?
Setting aside the volumes of questions she still had, Ina at long last reached her target. Stretching out an arm, her fingers clasped the cool metal of Ame's pistol. Her girlfriend had let her hold the gun once, unloaded with the safety on of course. That felt like a lifetime ago. The gun was heavier than she remembered.
There was a sudden thud across the floor. Kronii had Ame pinned to the floor, with one of her swords piercing through Ame's left arm, while she pointed the other at Ame’s neck. "Man," Kronii said while panting. "That was a neat little concoction there. I'm impressed! Made a little detour to Atlantis, did we?"
Ame grimaced back at her, her hand bleeding profusely. Her eyes seemed a brighter blue than usual and were filled with rage. Kronii shook her head, and pulled out Ame's watch. Dangling the treasure by the string, she mocked, "Well, it's about time we get back to it, huh. Eternity awaits."
The watch began to glow with a blue energy along with Kronii’s swords, but just then Ina pulled herself up and pointed the gun right at Kronii, her legs wobbly. "Hold it!" The pain in her abdomen screamed at her, but she forced herself to stand.
The light faded from the watch, and Kronii looked amused. "Hm," she said, not getting off of Ame. "Resilient, I’ll give you that. Maybe there was a reason they chose you after all."
Ina shook her head. "I-I don't know why you're here! But you leave Ame alone!" Her teeth rattled in her jaw; she was never good at talking to strangers. "If you need something from me, I'll do it. Just d-don't touch her!"
Ame raised her head to look at her. "Ina," she said softly.
Kronii started laughing like mad. That same cold and cruel laugh. The woman looked back at Ame. "You two really deserve each other huh." She returned to Ina. "Tell you what," she said derisively. "Go ahead. If you're serious, then shoot. I won't even dodge!"
Ina swallowed her fear. "I-I'm serious!" she shouted back.
"Mmm, it sure looks like it. Look at you, you can barely-"
For the second time that day, the sound of a gunshot pierced the air. The recoil felt like it would tear Ina's arm off, but she managed not to fall down. Kronii looked at her in disbelief, then suddenly reached for her shoulder, now bleeding.
"Oh, you wanna die?" She shouted furiously, and took a step towards Ina. But Ame made her move. With her free hand, she flung a discarded potato at Kronii. The woman instinctively dodged, but Ame kicked her legs hard enough to knock her off balance. Kronii caught herself, but let go of the sword pinning Ame’s hand down, which Ame seized.
Ina meanwhile pulled the trigger again, hoping for another miracle, but none such came. The gun didn’t fire, and in desperation, Ina threw the gun at Kronii, hoping for another distraction. The dangerous woman ignored it of course, and blocked Ame’s strike with her own sword, but Ame managed to close the distance and grab a hold of the watch from Kronii’s hand.
"What do you think you're doing?" Kronii demanded, pushing her blade against Ame's.
"I'm not letting you hurt her," Ame answered finally. Then, both swords and the watch began to glow again. Ame called out. "Ina!"
"Ame!" Ina yelled back, as she finally collapsed to her knees. The light approached blinding levels now. Kronii growled as she tried to take back the watch, but Ame's grip was firm.
"I-" was all Ame got out before the two of them disappeared in a flash. Ina fell fully to the ground, now wet with blood. Her whole body hurt, and her mind was a hurricane of racing thoughts. It wasn't long before her consciousness faded into hurried yells and the distant sounds of sirens.
Before Ina lost consciousness for good, she whispered, “Don’t go.”