The sentinel gaze of wistful starlight glazed the square of the first district, as it had the day and all days before, as, too, it would all days forevermore. Sometimes, the stars winked knowingly, a timeless specter hovering just at the periphery as eternal reminder of what had been lost. Mostly, the purple twilight lay undisturbed, as did the town.
But this time—this time as she walked into the square, Sayaka knew it was different, that something had changed, diverged from the fates written in the stars above. Something unexpected.
Amethyst was gone.
Sayaka found no joy in her heart, save maybe relief that Kyouko was safe. She tried to think of Amethyst and discovered she knew only of the name, only of the tale of her departure that the radio spoke of—the trailing, crackling voice that spoke to her mind. But she could not remember the girl—or maybe she was a woman. She saw no face and recalled little beyond that. And yet...
And yet, she felt relief. Even she, immutable in her defensive pledge, was glad that Amethyst was gone—glad to be rid of this person to which she shared no past and now no future. Was that wrong?
On an intimate and deep level, something in her being suggested that this was for the best. That Amethyst could not coexist with those associated with the feather and its search. The feather, elusive and mystical, but familiar enough to feel... comforting. In all the ways that thoughts of the feather brought reassurance, so, too, did thoughts of Amethyst introduce unwanted melancholy. Sayaka felt compromised. As though to say that all along, and ever since she had entered what she thought to be a witch's lair, she had been plucked along a predetermined path as if there were strings that tugged at her limbs and guided her to this very spot, into this very square—and for the third time, no less. Strings that told her what to do, how to feel, knew where she must go, and—
Sayaka shook her head clear and steeled her nerves. She lost herself to her thoughts of late. Traverse Town had challenged her in ways she had not expected. She couldn't be certain who or what she was anymore, and yet... and yet somehow if she could just protect Kyouko, if she could just defeat these faceless puppeteers that moved and danced the displaced refugees, maybe she could fix... something. Well, it would be a start, at any rate.
Kyouko, Amumu, and Soren began speaking as soon as Sayaka arrived. She jumped into their conversation.
“For a group of feather seekers, we haven't actually done much seeking for feathers,” Sayaka said. “And now Amethyst is gone, and this town and these stars seem to be moving us around like they please, and they—the ambiguous they—tell us there is more to this game we play, but nothing happens, and we return here to discuss, and we could do that for the rest of our lives.”
Sayaka looked straight at Luke and made no attempt to conceal her stare.
“So here's what I will do,” she said. “I do not trust Luke, his story, and all that he has said. I think he has been too quick to claim things in his own defense, only to later contradict himself. I think that for what we know of the past few days, Kyouko, Soren, and Amumu did not attack anyone in this group.”
Sayaka took a moment to consider the radio host.
“And I am willing to bet Cecil did not, either—or, at least, he certainly had the chance to frame someone else and chose not to.
“So, I vote for Luke,” she said. “And maybe I am wrong. Maybe I rush into things. I can do that a lot. But I... I know I've worked hard to help and protect the others in this group, and I feel pretty confident with this choice.”
(( I KNOW I JUST VOTED FOR YOU SO THIS IS AWKWARD, but I hope everything is okay, Rasei. ;; ))
Message [Page 21 of 26]
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