Episode 23: Little Bird
[Serebryanyi Adamov] [Thought].
About the pitiful Witches.
About the pitiful magical girls.
And, most pitiful of all, the [Witch of Gemini].
The [Witch of Gemini], [Green], had been a magical girl unit consisting of two machines operating as one.
The sisters [Emerald Green] and [Jade Green].
Emerald was the elder sister, and Jade the younger.
They had been close sisters.
Always together.
*
Because they had only one body between them.
*
“Oh, [Blue]! You came to see me!”
With clouded eyes, [Emerald Green]… the surviving half of the [Witch of Gemini]… welcomed Sere. Beneath the sky above Chiba City, atop a mass of piled-up illegal buildings.
The setting sun shone down on her.
From the waist, her torso was split into two.
One fashionable skirt.
Two green blouses.
Four slender, beautiful arms.
And yet, only the head on the right remained. The other torso was still there, dressed in clothes, like a headless mannequin.
Only the body on the right waved.
Only the girl on the right, with her short hair, smiled gently.
Her hair was a colour in which black and green had blended together like mud. The girl… the [Witch of Gemini]… greeted Sere as she climbed the ladder.
“…I’m Sere, Emerald-chan.”
“[Blue]! Hey, listen, listen! [Jade] has been staying quiet for agessss!”
Sere made herself smile.
The [Witch of Gemini] looked troubled.
“She hasn’t spoken to me for 2,075 days, 13 hours, 14 minutes and 15 seconds! Isn’t that awful!? It is, isn’t it!? Did I do something wrong, I wonder!?”
“…I see.”
“You do! She’s been quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet this whole time! She won’t forgive me even when I give her her favourite kitty cheese, and she won’t play card games with me, either! Hey, hey, [Blue]! [Blue]!”
“What is it, Emerald?”
“Please listen to what Jade has to say… I’ll put my headphones on. I’ll make sure I can’t hear anything! Okay? Please! Pretty please, just this once!”
If [Sapphire Blue] had been here, she might have chuckled and said, “How many times have you used that ‘just this once’ plea now?” But Sere hadn’t grown close enough to her to share that kind of familiarity.
She simply [Thought].
Then she pushed the thought away as unhealthy.
Grotesque.
To say she can’t be saved any more…
*
Someone had an idea.
If we had two hearts, two Magus Engines, we’d be incredibly powerful.
And then:
We’d need two brains to control them.
In the final stages of the Fourth World War, as the arms race in M-particle weaponry… in [Magic]… drove further escalation, research of this kind was conducted across the world. Only one successful case emerged in Japan.
That was the [Witch of Gemini].
And this was how it had ended.
Having lost her other half, the [Witch of Gemini] could no longer recognise the death of the half she had lost. The brain that would [Think] about it had deteriorated. She would probably never be able to [Reminisce] about losing her other half for the rest of her life, nor would she ever try.
Her younger sister, whose head had been severed by the magical girl [Viola Purple].
Whose remaining heart, too, had been surrendered to the [Organisation].
She couldn’t even remember what had happened to her.
“…Hey, Emerald.”
“[Blue]. Please. It’s fine if you and I fight, but if things go on like this, Jade will be alone. That mustn’t happen. Absolutely not.”
The voice of the elder sister, Emerald Green, was earnest.
Sere understood that this was simply how things were.
She had an older sister, too. [Sapphire Blue], the greatest big sister in the world. And because of that, she instinctively understood that there was no lie in the love an elder sister felt for her younger sibling.
“People can’t live alone.
“Especially not people as twisted as we are.”
“…All right, Emerald. I’ll listen to what she has to say.”
“Really!? Thank you! I’ll definitely repay you!”
“So…”
Sere clenched a tool in her hand behind her back.
“…Would you mind sleeping for a little while?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah… You’re right. If I’m here, Jade might find it hard to talk…”
“That’s right.”
“Okay!”
Her long eyelashes closed over her eyes.
The wind above Chiba City brushed through her hair.
Sere drew a deep breath.
She was about to take the heart from this utterly helpless, innocent, pure, devoted older sister who had gone mad.
Another usual night, Another Day.
Another usual job, Another Run.
That was simply how things were.
Her [Thought] was organised with almost excessive simplicity.
And yet, she couldn’t help but [Think]
Was this really…
Was this really the right thing to do?
With doubt still lodged in her heart, Sere approached.
At least, she wanted to spare the Witch any suffering.
With that in mind, she took from her pocket a sedative that would rob the Witch of consciousness…
“Someone’s coming.”
Emerald’s eyes flew open, and met Sere’s.
“‘It is for the sake of tranquillity. It is for the sake of serenity.
“For the sake of order, this shall be forged, and the wielding of its power permitted.
“Therefore… Thou art without sin.’”
Yellow phosphorescence coloured the wind sweeping through Chiba City.
“[Chihuahua Yellow]! I’m baaack, woof! And I’m heeere!”