Chapter 223 : The Birth of [Birth]'s Turquoise Kingfisher
That was the first time Amanai Riko had seen [Birth] in the dream world.
Amidst the vast fields of iris flowers, two lost souls met.
Amanai Riko mustered her courage and said: "Your name is [Iris], may I call you Sister Iris?"
The princess-cut beauty paused slightly, chuckling softly in reply: "I have no definite gender. However, if you wish to address me this way, it is naturally acceptable."
However, [Birth]'s mental state seemed extremely weak. They explained it was due to power loss and bearing too much sinful karma, so they could not maintain consciousness at all times, only occasionally awakening.
Amanai Riko anxiously and concernedly asked: "How can I help you? What is 'sinful karma'?"
These were all terms she didn't understand, perhaps very complex things as well, but Amanai Riko still wanted to help the other person in her own way.
The princess-cut beauty gently shook their head. They didn't say much, only softly and tenderly said as the dream world gradually faded: "Don't think too much... take care of yourself."
Amanai Riko reached out to try to hold onto them, but those vast iris flowers still receded like a tide. She opened her eyes and awoke to the familiar ceiling.
The ceiling had star stickers that would glow faintly at night. The room was furnished with cute dolls and fresh books, with beautiful hanging paintings on the walls.
There was also a potted plant on the desk, though it wasn't a real living thing, but artificial flowers and grass as decorations.
This was an exquisite and beautiful but lifeless little room.
This was where Amanai Riko now lived, and also the cage the Supervisory Committee used to confine her.
Amanai Riko had no freedom in this prison, but after meeting [Birth] in her dreams, she gained some more conviction to keep living.
The girl's dim eyes once again lit up with the brightness of life, no longer like a doll or tool.
She thought: I'm not alone after all.
Thereafter, Amanai Riko would occasionally meet the princess-cut beauty again in her dreams.
At those times, Amanai Riko would enthusiastically tell [Birth] about what had happened during this period.
Her experiences while confined here were very limited, but Amanai Riko still tried her best to collect interesting stories to tell [Birth].
The princess-cut beauty never showed any impatience on their face. They would always smile and quietly listen to Amanai Riko's stories.
After Amanai Riko finished speaking, she would also ask about [Birth]'s stories.
[Birth]'s stories were all very ancient, almost all from a thousand years ago, but Amanai Riko also listened with great interest, especially when they talked about their younger brother.
The princess-cut beauty never specifically described their brother's appearance, nor mentioned technique details. The content they shared was just some exchanges of ideas and daily life.
From [Birth]'s mouth, Amanai Riko constructed in her mind the image of an equally handsome, gentle, and resolute young man. The faceless young man smiled in the dawn light and warmth, as if accompanying them right beside them.
As she spent more time with [Birth], Amanai Riko's understanding of them gradually increased. At the same time, doubts in her heart also bubbled up like foam:
How were they confined in this small world by humans?
However, such topics were like reopening old wounds. Since [Birth] had no intention of bringing it up, Amanai Riko didn't actively ask either.
She just kept the doubts in her heart, then continued trying to find ways within the Supervisory Committee that could help [Birth].
Amanai Riko could see the princess-cut beauty's weakness, and she was concerned about their condition.
The days spent with [Birth] were the happiest days for Amanai Riko since being confined by the Supervisory Committee.
However, such happiness didn't last long.
The day the incident occurred was a winter day. Amanai Riko, who had been confined here year-round, had to rely on changes in surrounding equipment and meals to sense the seasons. She sensed that winter had arrived outside.
The woman from the Supervisory Committee with suture marks on her forehead appeared at Amanai Riko's door with a smile. Her voice was soft and fine, seemingly asking with concern about Amanai Riko's feelings about living here.
Amanai Riko, who had already seen through the Supervisory Committee's true nature, didn't give her a good expression. She just stared at her with those eyes, refusing to acknowledge her no matter what, using what a middle school girl could do to express resistance and dissatisfaction.
The woman with suture marks on her forehead who was being ignored wasn't angered. Her smile remained unchanged as she softly asked: "I am also someone who has had children, and I know you miss your guardian. Speaking of guilt, I haven't been able to take you out all this time, making it seem like I've placed you under house arrest here."
"Actually, this wasn't my intention. It's just that outside is still too dangerous." She said, "For safety's sake, I had to protect your surroundings."
"Now, the time for Tengen's fusion with the Star Plasma Vessel has long passed. You won't be dragged by those higher-ups toward a predetermined fate anymore, and you can choose your own life path."
"At this point, it's time to arrange for you to meet with your guardian Miss Kuroi."
Every word the woman with suture marks on her forehead spoke had considerable power to move hearts. A teenage girl couldn't see the price behind these words, and her attention was focused on being able to meet Kuroi Misato.
However, she still maintained some wariness, pursing her lips to ask: "Before, didn't you threaten me with Kuroi? Besides, I've seen what you've been using me to do these past days. I... I don't trust you."
"A vast organization always has a mixed bag of people, good and bad." The woman with suture marks on her forehead seemed to sigh helplessly, then slowly continued, "I don't know much about those things, and harming you wasn't intentional."
"As for using the power placed on you to do those things, we strictly follow rules, screening unqualified elements to provide for more deserving people."
What kind of rules could arbitrarily decide others' fates? What kind of judgment screened for qualified versus unqualified?
These questions floated in her mind. Recalling those terrifying images of dried human skin, Amanai Riko's reason returned somewhat. She remained silent, saying nothing.
Seeing this, the woman with suture marks on her forehead didn't explain further, only saying: "Then, would Riko like to come with me to see Miss Kuroi? If you don't want to meet, I'll ask her to go back."
"...Meet." Amanai Riko uttered her answer between her lips and teeth. She didn't want to miss the chance to meet.
Anyway, the other party hadn't mentioned any other price, and with the possibility of seeing Kuroi again, of course she had to seize it.
Amanai Riko at that time was still somewhat naive, not knowing that some prices were hidden in the shadows with their costs secretly marked.
She thus calmly followed the woman out the door, walking all the way to an unfamiliar room.
This room had a strange structure. Cocoon silk that could nurture the dead and make them reborn filled the room, and unknown cursed energy fluctuated in the air. Two chairs were placed in the center.
The woman with suture marks on her forehead smiled, gesturing: "Please sit first, Miss Riko. Miss Kuroi will come here shortly." She stood at the doorway.
Amanai Riko looked at the chairs over there, her heart involuntarily jumping with joy as she thought about what to say when they met. She didn't think much about it, following the woman's gesture and sitting in one of the chairs.
It was at this moment that some anomaly suddenly occurred.
Strange patterns suddenly appeared on the floor, and the cursed energy in the room suddenly exploded! The surrounding white silk swayed in the wind under the cursed energy fluctuations, and intense oppressive pressure suddenly struck.
"!?"
Amanai Riko couldn't help but collapse to her knees. She felt a suffocating oppression and crushing pain. Her soul seemed to be squeezed out of her body, teetering on the edge as it was repeatedly pulled and tugged.
When the pain reached its extreme, she couldn't even make a sound to cry out.
Amanai Riko fearfully felt that her body no longer seemed to belong to her, her consciousness gradually being drawn out like silk.
Not far away, the woman with suture marks on her forehead smiled as before.
What was set up here was the other half of the [Split and Merge] cursed tool: [Merge]. The activation condition was for participants to enter voluntarily without additional restraints.
Brain-kun saw the stubbornness and rebellious spirit within Amanai Riko's body, like an unyielding little ram.
Brain-kun always had the habit of making everything perfect. Things with rebellious spirit meant danger.
So it carefully planned and arranged for a long time, intending to use the rules of the [Merge] cursed tool to further compress and fuse the already unified [Birth] and Amanai Riko.
[Existence] power was higher than humans, so in this process, what would be eliminated and squeezed out of the body would be Amanai Riko's soul.
And [Birth] themselves, because their power was weak and they couldn't maintain consciousness at all times, after being fused into the girl's body, they also couldn't control consciousness.
In other words, after this operation, Brain-kun would obtain a useful tool puppet: a body without conscious control, whose every movement would naturally be controlled by it infusing cursed energy.
In the room, tears rolled from Amanai Riko's eyes as her fingers dug tightly into the floor.
The teenage girl had never experienced such pain, nor had she ever been so close to death.
Was she going to die? But she hadn't been able to see Kuroi yet. What would happen to Sister [Iris] in her body? She was useless, still hadn't been able to find a way to help [Iris].
Life's final moments always seemed incredibly long. In that brief instant, countless things rolled through her mind. The pain gradually receded, and her soul seemed finally unable to stay, about to separate from her body.
At the very end, Amanai Riko's unclear consciousness drifted with inexplicable thoughts:
I still haven't been able to meet Iris's younger brother... what kind of good person is he?
It was just a pity that she couldn't see Kuroi, and couldn't wait for the reunion between Iris and their brother.
The kneeling body swayed, looking like it was about to fall powerlessly to one side.
However, at this moment, some power surged from her fingertips, merging into the girl's tears that had fallen to the ground.
From those crystalline droplets, a beautiful turquoise kingfisher energetically leaped out!
The turquoise kingfisher with beautiful feathers chirped once, rushing into Amanai Riko's soul that was about to drift away, giving her soul incredibly warm and resolute power.
The aura from [Birth] permeated the girl's soul. Amanai Riko opened her clear eyes wide in amazement, feeling all consciousness return.
But at the same time, she hazily saw the increasingly lowered eyelids of the princess-cut beauty in her mental world.
[Iris] had given her more power, protecting her soul from then on. But this also meant that the already weak [Birth] would have to sink into the depths of consciousness, falling into long slumber, or perhaps something worse.
Amanai Riko realized the parting. She somewhat fearfully and helplessly shouted in her mental world: "Please don't leave! I... why give me your power?"
Her tears slid down, blurring her vision. "I can't do it, don't trust me. I'll submit, I'll disappoint you!... I'm scared!"
In the mental world, the princess-cut beauty's figure had become increasingly blurred, but their voice was still so gentle, yet also had its own resilience.
"...I have been disappointed before. But I think fate won't let me be disappointed again."
"Could you hold on a little longer, try a little harder? Don't be afraid, I'll still be with you."
"..." Amanai Riko's throat choked up. She wanted to say "yes," but also wanted to say "no." If she said "no," would they not leave?
But in the end, she still said "yes" in her heart.
That figure gradually disappeared, and Amanai Riko couldn't catch the departing silhouette.
But that turquoise kingfisher, after circling in the mental world, lightly landed on the ground. It didn't leave, still remaining in her heart, watching her with tolerant, gentle eyes.