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Dorothy quietly stepped forward. "Is that... really you, Pinne?"
Pinne smiled. "For a little while. Sit with me?"
Dorothy numbly sat down on the crate beside Pinne. As she did, she realized that the aged and wooden crate creaked a bit from her weight... and that it was creaking from Pinne's weight as well.
Which meant she was there. Really there.
Dorothy's violet eyes teared up and she lunged to hug Pinne.
For a split second, Dorothy thought nothing would happen. That she would pass through Pinne and realize that it was all just a hallucination like back then. That it was another way for her mind to keep herself sane.
But-
"H-Hey!"
A loud crash. The wooden crate shattering as it failed to hold their weight.
And then Dorothy stumbled onto the ground on top of Pinne.
Pinne laughed and said, "You've changed a lot."
Dorothy shook her head, tears dripping from her cheeks. "I... That is..." Words failed her. So instead, Dorothy sat up and pulled Pinne in for a tight hug. "...Are you going to disappear again?"
Pinne was quiet. Held within Dorothy's arms, she looked up at the starry sky and said, "Those who perished do not feel they died a meaningless death."
Dorothy's breath hitched.
...She remembered those words.
Dorothy had said them herself. To Rapunzel, who was lost in grief after Operation Ark Guardian at all the ones who died.
"They proudly gave their lives and remained brave until the very end..." Pinne placed her hand on Dorothy's cheek and said, "Did you forget your own words, Dorothy?"
"That's...!" Dorothy's vision blurred again. "It's different. I killed you...! You should have lived! If I'd been more careful, if I hadn't been so careless, then-"
"Neither the Commander nor Lilith would have wanted you to be overcome by death."
"That's..." Dorothy's breath hitched and she shut her eyes. "That's not fair, Pinne...!"
Pinne wiped Dorothy's tears away and said, "Back then. When Scarlet asked you why you fight. Do you remember what you said?"
Dorothy opened her eyes to look at Pinne.
Pinne gave a soft smile and said, "You wanted to be proud of something, right? To be someone other people look up to and aspire to be?"
Dorothy could sense it. That whatever miracle brought Pinne here was going to end soon. So she hugged Pinne tight. "No. No, no, no. Don't go. Pinne-!"
"Don't blame yourself, Dorothy." Pinne hugged Dorothy back and said, "If you don't have anything to be proud of, then be proud of this. Even at the very end, I aspired to be like you. The brilliant, shining, perfect Goddess of Victory who managed to win even against all odds."
Golden light began to shine. As it did, Pinne's form started to blur at the edges.
Seeing that, Dorothy felt like her heart was being ripped out again. "No... Please..."
Pinne smiled and patted Dorothy's back. "The dead can't pull you up. They can only pull you down."
"I don't care!" Dorothy hugged Pinne tighter and said, "If we fall, we'll fall together! So... So...!"
"Dorothy."
Dorothy froze at Pinne's serious tone. Hearing it, she leaned back to look at Pinne.
Pinne stared at Dorothy and said, "You are a symbol of hope. You are a Goddess. A beacon of hope to us all. Please, Dorothy. Don't turn your back on those who are still living."
They were Dorothy's own words. The same ones she said when Rapunzel had fallen into despair.
Hearing them echoed back at her like this...
"...You aren't fair."
Pinne nodded. "I know. But life isn't fair. That's why we have you. The Goddesses of Victory to prove we can win even when it isn't. So." She pulled Dorothy in for one last hug and said, "Live, Dorothy. I give you my life. And I will always be with you, my Goddess."
Golden light flared.
Dorothy reflexively closed her eyes. And when she did, she felt Pinne vanish. Her warmth, her arms holding Dorothy tight... it disappeared like mist.
With it, Dorothy's heart felt like it was torn out from her chest again. But when she opened her eyes...
"...What's this?"
On the ground in front of her, there was a gun.
The same kind that Pinne used to use. A shotgun. But it wasn't the mass-produced model that were given out. Instead, it was an ashy gray, the color of Pinne's hair, with golden feathers inlaid all over it. And then, on the side, there was an inscription with golden letters.
Dorothy numbly picked it up. And when she read the inscription, her breath stopped.
===
Paradise is wherever you are, Dorothy. Live. Fight. You are my beacon of hope. My Goddess of Victory.
-Pinne.
===
Seeing that, Dorothy laughed and wiped away her tears. "...Not fair. Using my words against me. Leaving a memento like this..."
It was just like her.
When Dorothy didn't know how to survive on the field, Pinne had taught her everything she needed.
And even now, Pinne hadn't just left words. She'd left behind a way to keep moving forward, even without her.
"...Fine." Dorothy cradled the shotgun in her arms and stood up straight, holding her head high. "Pinne. I won't falter again."
At that time, Dorothy felt her phone buzz.
"Hm?"
Dorothy frowned. "Just who on Earth would be... Oh. Is it Commander?"
She *had* left in a hurry.
Dorothy shifted her shotgun- No. Pinne.
Dorothy shifted Pinne under her left arm and pulled out her phone to check the notification.
But it wasn't from Andersen or any from Goddess.
Instead, it was from Sophia. That AI that her nephew created to oversee the Outpost.
Dorothy frowned and opened the message.
And then her breath hitched.
===
[Sophia]
> I detected anomalous readings around you, Miss Dorothy.
> Because of that, I recorded them.
> After reviewing it, I realized you may want the records.
> Attached are various angles of the anomaly I recorded.
> Be well.
===
...They were video files.
Of her and Pinne.
Proof.
Proof that it wasn't like before.
That it wasn't a hallucination.
That, just now, it was real.
With trembling hands, Dorothy played one of the video files.
And then, in the video, Pinne's voice echoed as she hugged Dorothy.
*If you don't have anything to be proud of, then be proud of this. Even at the very end, I aspired to be like you. The brilliant, shining, perfect Goddess of Victory who managed to win even against all odds.*
Dorothy quietly rewinded the footage and played it again.
And again.
And again.
"Dorothy." Andersen's voice echoed from behind. "Just what made you-"
"Wait." Snow White's voice cut him off. "...Dorothy?"
Dorothy didn't respond. Instead, she played the footage one more time.
Pinne's voice echoed across the abandoned ruins around them.
And then Dorothy laughed and turned around. As she did, golden light flickered from behind her, for a split second revealing Pinne placing her hand on Dorothy's shoulder.
At that time, Scarlet and Rapunzel, arrived. Just in time to see it.
Scarlet's eyes widened. "Pinne?"
Rapunzel clasped her hands in prayer, a warm smile on her face. "Oh Lord, we thank you for these miracles you have bestowed upon us this fateful night..."
Dorothy swept her gaze across the people in front of her. Especially at Red Hood, who was sprinting over in the distance.
Then she let out a soft smile and whispered, "I get it now, Pinne." She hugged the shotgun close to her chest and then murmured, "I need your help, Pinne."
Immediately in response, Dorothy felt a soft pat on her back, as if pushing her forward. And then Pinne's voice echoed in her ears. "You'll always have it. Now, don't let the dead pull you down, my Goddess."
"Dorothy?" Andersen frowned. "Are you... alright?"
Dorothy wiped her eyes and then let out a bright smile. "Better than ever. Now, it IS a night for celebrations, yes? The night is young. Before we retire, what say we have a proper night out? Like old times?"
===
Back in Neon's room.
Standing in front of a full-length mirror that she had dragged over, Neon stared at her reflection... or what should have been her reflection.
But instead, there was an aristocratic young girl in her early teens, wearing a small crown and a black ribbon in her hair. With twin-tails fashioned in drill-like curls and a fancy, albeit tattered, uniform, she looked the image of a haughty young princess...
Which she was.
Neon let out a soft smile and said, "Wow. You're still tiny after all, huh?"
Princess scoffed and said, "Of course. I'm still stuck like this after all this time. But..." She let out a soft smile too and said, "It looks like you grew up healthy, Third."
Neon nodded. "Yep!" She smiled. "After all, you gave me such a healthy body to work with! Oh! I found the blueprints you left behind in the glasses!"
"Did you now?" Princess smiled.
"Mmhm! It was super encrypted, but my friends and I figured it out!"
"I'm glad you did."
Neon stared at Princess in the mirror.
Princess stared back, quiet, looking like she wanted to say something.
Neon tilted her head and said, "What's wrong? You said you wanted to talk, didn't you, Princess? Since we have the chance, why don't we?"
Princess quietly stared at Neon. Then she said, "Third. Do you know how a Nikke's appearance is decided?"
"Huh?" Neon blinked and said, "Of course I do! Master and the others told me about it. In the Nikke conversion process, the body becomes similar to the ideal image that the person has, right? It's kind of like a wish-"
A sense of dissonance.
Neon paused, suddenly realizing something. "...Huh?"
Princess let out a sad smile. "Yes. That's right." She walked up and placed her hand on the mirror. "When a girl is turned into a Nikke, the image impressed upon their heart and soul, the wish they cherished with all their might... if it is strong enough, then that wish is reflected on their form when the process is completed."
Neon froze. Thoughts raced through her mind. Pieces that didn't seem to click until now. The reason why she didn't remember anything despite being a unique Nikke.
Princess turned her back from within the mirror and quietly said, "I always wondered why you treated me so kindly, when we'd never even met before. I thought about asking you hundred of times, but I never did. Because after living with you, I figured it out on my own. That's just who you are."
Neon was quiet. Her heart trembled as she stared at Princess's back. "Princess. That's-"
"...You would struggle all your life to survive in a lightless sewer, only to die for someone else. You're that kind of fool."
Neon slowly walked forward towards the mirror. "Princess..."
"You poor thing. You've never seen the Ark, have you? Or even tasted good food? You've never seen what a bright place looks like, huh? Or worn clean clothes, or bathed in warm water?"
"I have now." Neon placed her hand on the mirror. "Because of you, Princess, I have." Her green eyes shimmered with tears as she let out a bright smile.
"I hope you get to live that life, to see the light with those eyes, to go wherever you want, to live happily and joyfully... And also to never have to deal with that wretched cough again."
Neon's tears ran down her face as she nodded, staring into the mirror. "I have. I did. I am... So Princess-"
"...That was what I wanted to say to you if we ever met again, Third. But... We never have. And we never will."
Neon froze.
The realization of Princess's words slowly dawned on her. And as they did, her eyes widened with horrified understanding.
"No."
Princess turned around again, only to reflect Neon's- No. Stall III's face. The grown up version that Princess had wished with all her heart to one day see. The face that was impossible to exist because of the circumstances they met.
And like that, Neon realized the truth.
Princess... No.
'Neon' let out a sad smile from within the mirror. "You aren't her. You aren't me. You're you." She placed both her hands against the mirror and said, "Neon. Something new, something synthetic... But something uniquely you. So... Live for us both, okay?" She reached up and tapped her red glasses. "These should help. If you get a chance to, go visit D.E.E.P. They're yours."
"Princess..." Neon murmured. "...Are you okay with this? I feel sad for you."
Neon didn't remember much.
But she vaguely remembered it.
How desperately she had wanted Stall III to live.
How much she had wanted to return to the Ark.
And Neon could vaguely sense it too.
If Princess wanted, she could take it back. Because Neon WAS Princess... at least, the part of her that wished she could be like Stall III.
"It's okay. I feel happy. And I still am." With those words and a soft smile...
Princess vanished.
And then it was just Neon.
No. Not just Neon.
Princess and Stall III.
"Oh." Neon stared at her reflection. As she did, memories slowly filtered back to her.
Stall III's memories of finding and living with Princess, ending at when Princess used her glasses to scan her brainwaves. And Stall III's wish for Princess to be safe, since she was Stall III's first friend.
And Princess's own memories of living with Stall III, entranced and furious at the fact that someone as kind as that was fated to such a terrible life. And Princess's wish that Stall III grew up whole and healthy.
"...I'm both. Aren't I?"
Both. Neither.
Something old, something new. Something borrowed, and something blue...
Neon wiped her tears away and then smiled, determination in her green eyes. "Okay. Then... I'll live. For all of us. Just you watch. I'm going to make so much firepower that both of you can see it from the afterlife!"
The reflection in the mirror didn't show anyone else.
Just Neon.
And that was more than enough.
Neon stretched, feeling Princess's knowledge on technology trickle in. "Mm, so that's how that works! And that explains how I'm so good with gadgets. I was wondering about that since I don't think Third ever was... Well!" Neon laughed. "Master's going to get a kick out of this in the morning!"