Chapter 63: Resurrection, and Destruction
Light.
It was not a warm light, nor did it symbolize hope.
Conan felt his soul being peeled from his body by an irresistible force, then compressed and reshaped. He looked down to see a Soul Gem unlike any he had ever seen forming on his chest.
The gem was a deep, clear blue, like a sea of wisdom reflecting endless deductions. But at the same moment he made his wish, it was as if countless tons of nuclear wastewater were being poured into that sea, endlessly contaminating and corroding it.
At the same time, his clothes transformed within the light. They became an exquisitely designed, dark blue gothic lolita dress that incorporated detective-style elements. The skirt was layered with fine lace trim; the cuffs and collar were crisp, white, and formal; a neat black bow tie was fastened at his chest; and a simple belt cinched at the waist, outlining a slender silhouette. On his head sat a small detective's hat decorated with a blue ribbon, its brim tilted at a slight angle.
This bizarre yet somehow coordinated outfit was a twisted, absurd homage to his title as the "Holmes of the Heisei Era."
Power flooded his entire being.
And then, on the cold ground around him, one by one, humanoid orbs of soft light began to appear where the dismembered bodies of the mob's victims had lain. More and more orbs materialized, slowly gathering around Conan. Each orb represented the soul imprint of a person important to him, someone he recognized from the depths of his memory.
The twisted, despairing Witch forms of Kogoro Mouri, Ran Mouri, Ai Haibara, and Mitsuhiko had begun to disintegrate the moment Conan made his wish. Countless points of light appeared around the Witches, drawing out the impurities and distortions and funneling them into Conan, until the Witches themselves were reduced to simple orbs of light.
Where the pieces of Dr. Agasa's body lay, light gathered.
In the pool of blood where Eri Kisaki had fallen, light gathered.
At the place where Sonoko Suzuki and Makoto Kyogoku had last stood, light gathered.
Where Akemi Miyano was stabbed through the chest by a traitor, light gathered.
Where the children of the Junior Detective League—Ayumi and Genta—had fallen, light gathered.
The light of countless people Conan recognized continued to coalesce. Even a distant orb, one Conan had never forgotten, quietly formed in the direction of Moonlight Isle—Asai Narumi.
As the countless orbs of light converged, they ceased to be ethereal forms of energy and began to take on real shape, real warmth. All the twisted despair contained within them was absorbed by Conan.
They were being resurrected. The distortions in their minds were being stripped away, transferred by Conan's wish, until they returned to normal. They were not reborn as Magical Girls, but in their original, vibrant, human forms.
At the same instant, Witches all across the world felt a certain pull, a call emanating from Conan's wish.
Conan stared blankly at it all. His wish had been granted. He could clearly feel that with every life that was restored, with every Witch that felt the pull to "unify" with him in the future, the deep blue gem on his chest was being irreversibly stained by the corruption of his wish. The contamination was happening at an astonishing speed.
He had missed it. He clearly understood that he had likely missed the one chance, the true "optimal solution" that might have existed among a thousand possibilities, that could have saved everything. Submerged in despair, his reason had been drowned by emotion, and he had chosen only to save the people he knew and approved of. His wish didn't just contain salvation; it held something much darker.
But it was too late to say anything now. Once he had set foot on this path, there was no turning back. His only future was to become a Witch. He thought about self-destructing, shattering his own Soul Gem before he could transform. But the power of the truth showed him that if he did so, the twisted wish would instantly rob him of his current clarity and destroy every precious thing he had just brought back.
…
"Where… where is this?" Dr. Agasa was the first to regain consciousness. He looked at his hands in a daze, then at the familiar yet strange faces around him, his own face a mask of confusion.
"Sister?!" Haibara's trembling voice came next. She stood frozen, her eyes locked on the figure beside her. That figure was smiling, her own eyes filled with tears as she looked back. It was her sister, Akemi Miyano.
Impossible. She had seen her sister killed by that mindless mob. The heart-tearing pain and despair of that moment were still branded on her soul. Is this an illusion? Another one of Kyubey's tricks?
"...Shi-Shiho?" Akemi's heart ached seeing her sister's terrified, guarded expression. "It's me, Shiho. I'm here."
That familiar voice, that gentle gaze, the hand reaching out for her… Haibara's frayed nerves could take no more. This was not an illusion. Her sister was really back. She threw herself into her sister's arms, hugging her so tightly it was as if she were trying to merge with her, and broke down into wrenching sobs.
"Sister… I thought… I thought I'd never see you again."
"Dad!?" At the same time, from another direction, Ran's tearful cry rang out. She stood there, lost, her eyes sweeping blankly over the ruins and the familiar faces. What happened? Shouldn't I be dead? In Dad's dark Labyrinth, after finding out Shinichi was Conan… that absolute despair, that cold darkness, still lingered at the edge of her consciousness.
Then, her gaze fell upon a figure not far away. That familiar silhouette. The one who, in her memory, had become a Witch and was gone forever… Dad?
Impossible! Wasn't I just in Dad's Witch Labyrinth? Is this an illusion created by his Witch?
She instinctively raised a hand, wanting to use her magic to shatter this false hope, but she found her body was empty, without a trace of magical power. There was only her own original, formidable strength. And that figure… was so real, his face wearing that familiar look of dazed shock as he took in his surroundings, and her.
He was not a Witch. It was really her dad.
"Ran!" Kogoro Mouri saw his daughter too. The shock of having her back made him forget how to think. He instinctively opened his arms.
It was confirmed. It was real. Her dad was alive.
An indescribable joy instantly washed away all the chaotic thoughts and residual despair in her mind. The truth about Shinichi, her own death, everything about Witches—it was all thrown to the wind. Nothing else mattered. Crying out, she threw herself into her father's embrace.
"Dad! Dad! You're okay! Oh, thank goodness! Waaaah."
Kogoro held his daughter tightly, feeling her real warmth. The muddled detective looked at his wife, Eri Kisaki, at the police colleagues who should have been dead, his eyes filled with a shock that went far beyond his usual bewilderment.
"Sonoko!"
"Makoto!"
Sonoko Suzuki and Makoto Kyogoku held each other tightly, feeling the warmth of each other's bodies, as if trying to press the other into their very bones.
"Takagi-kun!"
"Sato-senpai!"
Wataru Takagi and Miwako Sato, the ill-fated lovers who had died one after the other in despair, could no longer contain their emotions upon confirming the other was real. They threw their arms around each other and wept. Inspector Megure looked at his subordinates, all standing before him alive, his lips trembling with emotion. He couldn't form a complete sentence, just clapped Takagi and Sato on the shoulders, his eyes red.
Tooru Amuro looked at the scene of post-disaster reunions, then at the devastated ruins of Tokyo all around them. Beneath his golden hair, his eyes were filled with a complex, unreadable emotion.
What is going on? We've… been resurrected? But… is it just us?
And all across the world, the Witches, because of Conan, began to stir…