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scaramouche is nevrously waiting at the doorstep of a small and cheap apartment. he already misses his penthouse and regrets that he even came here in the first place.
"fischl was supposed to warn you about me," he says loudly.
the door opens by itself. there's a voice coming from the inside saying: "come in."
"i need a love spell or something like that."
mona isn't even rolling her eyes, there's just no energy or will for such basic idiots. she just says: "sign here. i have no guarantees for side effects, and i only take cash." scaramouche is confidently signs the contract.
it's not like scaramouche is in love in kazuha, no, of course not. he just doesn't like when somebody tells him "no". he needs to own everything, from property to people. the next day kazuha asks scaramouche out on a date. love spell really works.
scaramouche is drowning, he simply can't get out of the water. ocean is bottomless, fathomless, abysmal and dark. scaramouche is cold, lonely and fucking scared. deep down something shines with a small and dull light. scaramouche has no energy to swim there.
he wakes up.
"have you tried dive there?" asks fischl while making herself a cup of coffee.
"i'm drowning, are you fucking deaf?" fischl rolls her eyes the same way mona did.
"it's a dream, you idiot, you can't die in your dream."
"at least, i hope so."
ocean is deep and has no limits. scaramouche fights his fear, he dives even deeper, tries not to think about an unpleasant feeling somewhere near his lungs.
the water is too heavy.
the light are getting closer.
"stop this!"
scaramouche knows this voice. mona is hiding something.
"get the fuck out of my dreams!"
mona stares at him with a blank face.
"did love spell work?"
"yes, but-"
"then what's wrong? go to your lover!"
"i hear your voice in my dreams."
mona laughs.
"that's sounds like a your problem."
"we were studying together," says fischl. "well, we were in the same coven, where they taught as magic. so it's not like "we went to the same university" type of studying."
fischl holds out old photocards, the girls were only twelve. mona is smiling so brightly looking at the camera. scaramouche only looks at her eyes.
"what happened?"
the last time he saw mona just two days ago, he couldn't possibly forger her appearance that quickly. now mona has white pupils, but in the photocard they're light blue, they don't look like that dark and dangerous ocean from his dreams.
"have you ever died?" scaramouche raises his eyebrow.
"what do you think?"
"well, mona did."
"but she's-"
"i don't know what happened, but we all got back not the mona that we knew. there are too many drowned men now, haven't you noticed? but you know," fischl smiles a bit. "i still believe that our mona is still alive. she's somewhere there, deep inside."
for some reasons, scaramouche can't stop looking at the old photocard. mona looks like her grown-up version, but she really does look more... alive. fischl involuntarily cleanches her fists.
"save her."
doesn't say "save us," out loud.
scaramouche dives deeper and depeer, he doesn't feel his lungs fills with water anymore. he's not afraid to die.
"if you're gonna go on, you'll drown."
scaramouche ignores her voice that catches him up with the illusory flow.
"i'll rip your lungs and heart off."
"try me."
"did you see the news?" scaramouche hangs up the call running to the laptop.
"this morning several hundred people were killed in a sudden tsunami."
scaramouche sees a familiar name on the death rolls.
kaedehara kazuha.
"so you decided to threaten me?" he smirks. "then let's play."
the light are much closer, breathing is almost impossible. was fischl right that you can't die in your dreams?
finally he hits the bottom of the ocean. a pale blue light radiates from the small shadowy bubble, the same light as the former mona's eyes.
"don't touch it!"
scaramouche notices several dozen phantoms coming from the surface of the ocean to stop him.
"well, let the dice roll."
scaramouche is so fucking curious what's going to happen if you tear this bubble apart.
so he touches it.
scaramouche feels a strong headache when he wakes up. the bright hospital light hits the eyes, and the smell of antiseptic and medicines is all around.
"you're scaramouche, right?"
he gently turns his head sideways. on the next bunk lies worried mona.
"fischl told me that you and me went swimming and almost drowned, but i... it's all because of me... but i don't remember this..."
mona looks like she's going to cry. this image is nothing like mona who threatened to rip his heart out.
"actually," she laughs. " i can't remember barely anything. it feels like i've slept for the last six years. i do remember when i turned 18, but now i'm already 24. it feels like some sort of magic."
but magic doesn't exist. at least, mona doesn't remember about it.
"i've heard mona lover your penthouse," says fischl while making a cup of coffee.
"of course. it's far better than her previous apartment."
scaramouche can't forget how brightly shined mona's eyes when she entered his house.
they shined with a pale blue light.
"so, everything's good?" asks fischl.
"everything's good."
at least, scaramouche desperately hopes so. mona doesn't remember about magic and doesn't come near the water.
her eyes are light blue once again.
and may god help them if one day they become white again.