“Sora, I’m sure it will be all right.”
Says Chris, as she puts her hand on mine, which is still gripping the god killing dagger, but not moving.
I turn to the side while feeling that warmth, and see her smile. This wipes away the anxiety that took over my body, and gives me courage instead.
I take a deep breath, exhale slowly, grip the god killing dagger tighter, and slowly pull it.
Once it’s fully out, the effect of Time-Stop ends.
Blood starts to gush out of Mia, and her clothes are stained red.
I try not to rush, as I open the bottle, and use the elixir on Mia. This isn’t really used like a potion, or any other healing item, it’s more like an item in a video game that works on the person you designate. It feels like a magic item.
‘Will you really use it?’
A final check pops up in my mind, and I answer ‘yes’.
The bottle in my hand then turns into particles, which are spread, and disappear as if being sucked into Mia’s body.
Once they’re all gone, Mia’s body glows with a faint light, which eventually settles.
She doesn’t look any different, so it’s hard to say if it worked. Her time was stopped right after death, so she didn’t have time to lose the color on her face.
But using Appraisal shows me her status has gone from ‘Time Stop’ to ‘—’.
We keep watching her, holding our breaths, until she moves slightly. And then she opens her eyes a little, blinks, and sits up.
Then she looks at me and tilts her head, like a question mark just popped up on top of it.
Yes, we’re all looking at her with surprise on our faces, but Mia herself is just bewildered, because she doesn’t know what’s going on.
“A-are you all right?”
Is all I say.
“Hum, yes?”
“…You don’t remember?”
We don’t even know where Mia’s memories end.
Before Elizabeth possessed her? Or does she remember what happened while she was possessed…
“I…”
Mia hangs her head after hearing my question.
She takes a few deep breaths, and when she raises her head again, there are tears in her eyes.
“Yes, I’m all right. I remember. Why… Did you save me?”
As I wonder if I should explain, Chris suddenly gets up and hugs Mia.
Mia is surprised to be hugged, but puts her arms around Chris.
“Thank goodness… I’m so glad…”
Chris’ words are cut short, as she starts crying.
And as if moved by that, Mia starts crying too.
I look at them, and…
“It makes sense. From Chris’ point of view, Mia was sacrificed in place of her sister.”
Says Sera.
Yes, if we couldn’t have stopped Mia when she was possessed by Elizabeth, Eris, the demon king, would have lost her life.
We couldn’t save both, so in the end, we killed Mia to beat back Elizabeth.
It makes sense for Chris to think of Mia as someone who was sacrificed to save her sister.
“Fufu, too bad, Sora. Chris took your moving reunion from you.”
Says Sera, just as I’m thinking this all makes sense.
…Well, what matters to me is that she’s awake, and feeling well. Anything more would be asking for too much.
But when Mia suddenly looks at me, and I look back at her, I get happy when she smiles at me.
“So… Where are we? And I don’t see Hikari and Rurika…”
Hearing that prompts us to look to where Hikari and Rurika are sleeping, which takes Mia’s eyes there too.
I wanted to explain once things calmed down a little more, but Mia is looking at me like she’s asking for an explanation, so I have to tell her what happened to them.
“…I don’t know if I can heal them, but I will try. And tell me more about what happened while I was sleeping.”
Chris stopped crying before I knew it, and Mia signals for her to stand back. Her face is a little red, but let’s not touch on that.
I extend my hand to help Mia up, and we walk towards Hikari and Rurika together.
“S-Sora, what is that cute being over there?”
As we walk towards them, Mia notices Eliana, and asks about her while pointing.
Did Eliana hear her?
“Hn~… Good eye~. Makes sense that a goddess chose her~. My name is Eliana~. Nice to meet you~.”
She says with a full smile, while flying around Mia.
Mia seems overwhelmed by this, but calms Eliana down like she’s used to it, and starts looking at Hikari and Rurika like she’s checking their condition.
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Thanks for the treat.