As night descended upon the island nation of Japan, the country remained deeply broiled in a stewing sense of dread.
Hours before, in the early morning, the Tokyo Hospital had suddenly been surrounded by dozens of armed military personnel, each armed and prepared for any unexpected encounters. They appeared with no alarm, and no explanations were given.
No unauthorized personnel were allowed in, and those that attempted to break in were pushed back out with no hesitation. No unauthorized personnel were allowed out, and anyone who tried were coaxed back in by terrified doctors who'd heard rumors about the Demon King who had set this all in motion.
In the span of a few hours, the Tokyo Hospital had suddenly become akin to a max security prison.
No questions were posed. No answers were given. No information was allowed to spread. The only thing given was a promise the soldiers repeated like a mantra:
"Wait."
That was it. One single word. No matter the question, no matter the emotions—that one word would always be repeated. The public at large was forced to remain in this liminal uncertainty, forced to Wait for whatever it was that had caused this in the first place.
Only a handful knew the truth. The doctors and nurses who had discovered Star's changing physiology, Kitahara Jo and Akikawa Yayoi who had made the orders, and a certain grey-haired umamusume who knew far more things than she truly should. Only they knew what was occurring, and they had Faith.
All the while, the White Comet remained asleep, her consciousness far away as her body underwent its final metamorphosis. Golden light spurned from within, seeping out through the cracks in her skin. That golden sheen burnt with a warmth not unlike the sun itself.
And within her rapidly beating heart, an imperceptible, golden seed slowly began to grow.
.
.
.
Suddenly, I found myself in a completely different place. The hospital room I was in was gone, and instead I stood on a grassy slope just next to a slow, crawling river. The skies were lit orange by the light of a setting sun, and the faint silver of an approaching moon was gently hidden behind the warm orange.
I knew this place. I'd been here many times before, though I hadn't been here in a while.
The very place where Oguri and I first met. The very place where I first proclaimed my love to her. The very place when Oguri and I first kissed.
A small, fond smile came to my lips as I slowly walked down the slope. In retrospect, it was fascinating that so many eventful moments had occurred on this very slope. If Kitahara knew about this place, he'd probably call it something silly like the 'Slope of Beginnings' or something.
It really was fascinating.
Two years and a half had gone by since my career began—essentially three years. Two years and a half since Oguri and I met on this slope, with her drawn to my premade onigiri, with me pulled in by the story she would and had undergone in another world. Two years and a half since we began to forge a path away from Fate.
Two years and a half since I fell in love at first sight.
And now here I was, at the tail end of my journey in Japan. Of course, my career wasn't over yet—far from it even. There was only a couple weeks until I left this country, and even I didn't know when I'd next return here.
"But this story will go on." Someone then said. I blinked, and turned around to find the Three Goddesses standing there. It was Darley Arabian who had spoken, her smile fond.
I smiled. "Yeah. It will."
Byerley Turk and Godolphin Arabian glanced at one another for a moment, before they shook their heads and turned around. The light of the fading sun seemed to grow brighter for a moment, and suddenly they vanished. Only Darley and I remained now.
She smiled as she suddenly walked up the slope, heading for the path that stretched onto infinity. I joined her right after, needing no words to understand her intent.
We walked on in silence for quite some time, passing by the same buildings and streetlights over and over, this illusory world continuously repeating ad infinitum.
But the truth was that Darley was waiting for me to speak, and I was stalling. From the very first moment I saw her, I understood why I was here. There was something I needed to give away now. Something I needed to return.
And eventually, I finally spoke.
"Will I be able to see you again?"
Darley hummed softly. "You will." She said. "Your Soul shines with Bravery, and as long as that connection remains, we can always appear before you." She huffed. "That's assuming you don't simply take matters into your own hands and breach your way into our world by force."
I raised an eyebrow. "That can happen?"
Darley smiled. "It can indeed." She glanced at me. "After all, you too carry within yourself a breath of the Divine."
I paused. "Wait-, seriously?"
She nodded. "The Ichor you bled is more than enough, and your transformation will solidify it." She shook her head. "Though perhaps the term means little now. With Destiny no longer in place, there are no Gods." She placed a hand on her chest. "As of now, my sisters and I are no more than Phantoms with great power, our forms retained by the Faith of the people."
I blinked. "I don't think there's any difference in that."
She giggled. "The difference is minute, I admit." She grinned as she stretched her arms. "But bearing the title of God comes with great responsibilities. And in truth, it was one none of us truly desired." She winked. "You could say that we've finally retired from our posts, and now there opens the possibility for others to ascend to the thrones we left behind."
Understanding dawned in my eyes. "And I'm one of them?"
She nodded. "Indeed." She pointed at me. "You are the bearer of the {Soul of Bravery}. By all rights, you are the most apt choice to take my place. Just as Secretariat is to Byerley, or Kincsem to Godolphin."
I hummed, and paused. "The way you're describing it," I began, frowning slightly. "Makes it sound like you're unsure."
"Because I am." She freely said, casting her gaze to the skies. "A fluctuating variable remains. There still exists someone else who could take upon themselves the crown of Bravery, just as I did eons before."
My mouth moved on its own.
"Eclipse." I said.
She nodded, her brows furrowed slightly. "Indeed, however, my sisters and I remain incapable of locating her. We are sure that she still exists, but we are unsure where she is." She shook her head. "It is as if something, or someone, is deliberately shrouding her from our eyes."
…Hmm.
"If she does indeed take the throne, then you would instead be considered a Proxy—a Demigod, in simpler terms." She said, turning her gaze back to me. "Just like how Oguri Cap is a proxy for the Throne of Strength, for she too bears the {Soul of Strength}."
I blinked. "Wait-, she's met Byerley-san before!?"
Darley blinked back, before she quickly shook her head. "No, no! She hasn't!" She giggled shyly. "Rather, it'd be more apt to say that her unnatural strength had been acknowledged by this World itself, and It has granted her the possibility to take the Throne." She hummed. "If I had to put it another way, you and Secretariat became Proxies due to your close connections to us, while Oguri path more closely mirrored our own."
So she's basically saying that Oguri's monstrous strength was so impressive that the World itself wanted to make her a Goddess, and only couldn't do that because someone else was already in that position.
…Damn girl. You scary.
Darley shook her head. "But I believe we have gotten side-tracked from our original intention."
My lips twitched for a moment, before I sighed. "Yeah, you're right." I ran a hand through my hair. "No point in stalling anymore."
My eyes closed, and when I next opened them, their ocean blue had instead shifted to gold. And there, floating between the two of us, was a translucent panel that offered only a single choice.
[Co█plete t█e Sto█y? Y/N]