Rio Sato limps through the ruined streets of Mitakihara, her still unconscious sister Riko slung over her shoulder. Rio sniffles a bit, her eyes empty and red from hours of crying. After a few minutes, she trips over some rubble with a little yelp, both twins tumbling onto the street. Rio takes a few minutes,…

Hanako: …This doesn’t excuse her actions, of course. She is still our enemy. Hanako stands at the edge of Lake Lacrima, her eyes closed. She has recounted the story she pieced together from Ophelia’s negative emotions, which Hanako had absorbed in full during their last fight.  Hanako: I would pity her… if she were not…

She dreamed of Notre Dame Basilique, lit up blue at the Place d’Armes, which she crossed every night as she came home from practice. She dreamed of applause, stretching her arms towards the skies and arching her back as she had been told, every tendon and muscle in her body falling into place like pieces…

Yui races through the tattered, impossible structure of the Dreamscape. Tearing through buildings, bricks, trees and fences. Her breathing is heavy, but she pushes herself beyond even her soul’s normal limits. On the horizon, the figure of Mei’s soul slowly descends. Yui knows she can’t let him get to it before she does.  Sure enough,…

An apartment has been left unattended for weeks, as if its inhabitant one day just up and vanished into thin air. The bed is unmade, a gaming console is still lying on the floor in the middle of the room, laundry is hanging from a rack in front of the window. The front door is…

An impossible city looms, both lit up under a night sky with neon and fluorescent bulbs, signs lining with a mismatch of eras, modern and antiquated, as well as a bright orange sun, though its rays don’t reach the city skyline. Directly in the center of this paradoxical city lies a simultaneously ancient and modern…

Yui has spent the last few hours buzzing about the gym, making sure that things would be fine without her for a few hours. Kiwako had double and triple checked the route provided by Cecilia, as well as the time where it would be safe. Yui had a large backpack on her back, and a…

Looking down, on the distant horizon, the traveling group could see the faint outline of Mitakihara City. Damage could be seen in its silhouette, but the town was, for a mercy, largely intact. This fact alone was enough to invigorate Hanako, who took a pointed, deep breath as if to punctuate the fact. Before that,…

Another meeting of Mitakihara’s Citizens’ Council passes without incident, as Anisa observes Katsumi Sasaki overseeing the signing of a makeshift contract between half a dozen local business owners affected by the city’s regression. In the corner of her eye, she notices Toi striking up a friendly conversation with two of her former colleagues at Mitakihara…

He sees Her, beaming, sitting across the table from him, with that godforsaken ring around Her finger. He sees how She knows. He sees the bubbling hot-pot between them, the smell of boiled mushrooms and fatty meat clawing its way up his nostrils. He sees Her hands, shaking as they wrestle and Her despair brings…