"Aaaaaah!"
Clyde, Casca, and Corie groaned in pain, clutching their heads with both hands; "thud," they finally collapsed face-down on the ground. But Clyde slowly raised both of his arms, gritting his teeth as he dragged Casca and Corie closer to himself, pulling them into a tight embrace. He forced his head up, his red eyes glaring at Amara with a clenched jaw and set teeth,
"Hey... why aren’t you asleep yet... hurry up, I don’t have much time," Amara said.
Amara replayed the audio once more. Clyde’s head grew even heavier, forcing it downward, but he stubbornly kept his gaze fixed on Amara ahead of him.
"Th... this is bad... I can’t... pass out..."
Clyde kept enduring, feeling Casca and Corie still squirming within his embrace, a sign that they too were fighting to remain conscious. In the end, however, all three went still and limp, Clyde’s consciousness fading more and more,
"D... damn it... damn it... damn it..."
His eyes were nearly shut, still catching the sight of Amara’s infuriating smile before him, but just as his consciousness was about to fade completely, the melody suddenly cut off. Clyde snapped back to his senses and raised his head, his eyes widening as he saw a second squad of troops behind Amara’s forces, led by Ryker, who confiscated the device Amara was holding and killed the melody while aiming their weapons at Amara, who raised both hands in surrender.
"Clyde... Casca!"
Clyde and Casca turned their heads, seeing Mary rush into the room alongside Julia, who was wearing a military uniform. Mary immediately dropped to her knees in front of Clyde and Casca, completely ignoring her surroundings, and pulled them both into a tight hug,
"Thank goodness... thank goodness... I thought you two were truly gone and had died out there two weeks ago," Mary said.
"Huh... two... weeks?" Clyde stammered out, still feeling a slight dizziness from the remnants of the song.
"After leaving the guild, you were given a special mission and went out of town, and then word came that you had vanished... until I remembered everything and realized what was going on. I reported it all to headquarters and met Commander Ryker, who was also reporting to headquarters... I’m sorry... I was too late to save you," Mary answered.
"N... no... it’s okay, Big Sister Mary, I’m right here," Casca replied with a smile, though still looking pale.
"Huh?"
Mary turned to look at Casca with her short hair, then looked back at Corie, whose face was identical to Casca’s and whom she had just embraced.
"Um... my name is Corie... I’m Big Sister Casca’s twin," Corie introduced herself.
"Oh... I see... so that’s it. I thought there were two Cascas," Mary said.
Then Julia, dressed in the city’s military uniform with the rank of lieutenant colonel, knelt down in front of the three right beside Mary. Clyde and Casca’s expressions turned hostile, but Julia unexpectedly bowed her head,
"Please forgive us, Clyde and Casca... and Casca’s twin sister... We have failed you. We should have paid closer attention to you, and please don’t hold a grudge against Commander Ryker, he was only doing his duty," Julia said.
"W... what? So what is all this supposed to mean?" Clyde asked.
"I will explain everything at military headquarters. For now, head home and rest; you’ve been in this hidden facility for two weeks," Julia answered.
Clyde, Casca, and Corie fell silent, exchanging glances with one another. Clyde then cast a brief look toward the giant bones before looking back at Julia,
"Fine. My sisters and I demand an explanation from you, but after that, allow the three of us to leave the city," Clyde said.
"Very well, I can arrange that," Julia said, standing up. "I’ll take my leave now, we’ll meet again later," she added.
Julia then turned and walked out, taking Amara and her squad with her, accompanied by Ryker who followed from behind without glancing back even once. Once everyone had left, Mary turned to look at the three of them,
"Where... where are you three going?" Mary asked.
"To find our brothers and sisters," Clyde answered Mary.
"Oh... I see," Mary replied, looking saddened.
"Don’t worry, Big Sister Mary, we’ll visit the city later to see you," Casca replied with a faint smile.
Mary smiled, brushing a hand across her face as she looked around the room, before turning back to Clyde, Casca, and Corie with a refreshed expression and a broad smile,
"You’ve all worked so hard here, haven’t you? Good job," Mary said with a smile.
"Haha... yeah, Big Sister," Casca replied.
"Thank you for helping us, Big Sister," Clyde added with a smile.
"Don’t mention it. Come on, let’s go home... and you, your name is Corie, right? Let’s go home together, and before we do, let’s buy some clothes for you," Mary said with a smile, looking at Corie.
"Okay, Big Sister Mary," Corie replied.
"But two weeks? We were in this facility for two weeks?" Clyde asked.
"Yes, that’s right. Once again, I’m sorry; I only realized it and my memories only opened up last night. Just as Julia said, please don’t hold a grudge against Commander Ryker, he didn’t wipe my memories, he merely hypnotized me, and after a week and a half, everything came back," Mary answered.
"I don’t know, Big Sister Mary. Even if you say that, I still don’t trust him, nor Julia and the rest of the military," Clyde replied.
Mary looked at Clyde’s face before her; she said nothing, but smiled and raised her hand to stroke the bangs on Clyde’s forehead,
"I understand. Come on, let’s go home," Mary said.
Mary then stood up, helping Clyde, Casca, and Corie to their feet, before they stepped out and left the room. Upon stepping out of the building, Clyde, Casca, and Corie only then realized that what Amara had referred to as a basement was actually the basement of a ruined building above the city of Neo Ark, utilized as a hangar to store the guild’s GEAR so that in the event of an enemy attack, they could easily respond. Mary then led them toward the city entrance, a manhole and they walked back through the sewers toward the city of Neo Ark.
As they walked through the sewer that looked like an underground thoroughfare beneath the city, Corie, who was seeing all of this for the first time, grew utterly bewildered,
"Um... we... really are in an apocalyptic world, aren’t we? The city above is destroyed and looks ancient... and... humans live in the sewers?" Corie asked.
"That’s right... shouldn’t you be happy here? Because in the simulation, I’m sure our scripts were the same, we loved sci-fi and fantasy, right?" Casca asked.
"Uuh... when you put it like that, I really feel like my life was just a script, and everything I went through, all my feelings and my entire self, was fake. It makes me not know who I am anymore," Corie said.
"Well, everyone feels that way... me, Big Brother Clyde, and all the rest feel the exact same thing. In fact, I once ran away from the city and went out all by myself... but I didn’t know where to go, so I eventually came back here... and I ended up meeting Big Brother Clyde... and I actually remembered him... I’m much happier now... at least, in this ruined world... I still have a family," Casca said.
Hearing Casca’s words, Corie fell silent for a moment, observing her twin’s face before a faint smile appeared on her lips.
"I understand... thank you, Casca. I’m sure I’ll be fine now because I have you and Big Brother Clyde... and one more thing," Corie said.
"What is it?" Casca asked in confusion.
"Um... what is this?" Corie asked, her finger pointing beside her face.
Casca turned to see the holographic display showing Corie’s status still open beside her face, clearly visible to her.
"Oh, that! Big Brother Clyde and I will teach you about that later," Casca said cheerfully.
"Okay... I’ll wait for the lesson, but why... was Big Brother Clyde able to transform earlier?" Corie replied.
"That will be part of the lesson too. Be patient, okay? It’s natural you don’t remember anything yet since you just woke up; I myself only remember a small fraction of our past lives," Casca replied.
"Oh... I see. All right, I’ll patiently await your lessons," Corie replied.
Corie continued to look around her; she was exactly like Clyde when he was first heading to the city of Neo Ark without understanding anything, her eyes widening and sparkling every time she saw a GEMA parked or passing by. Soon, she no longer looked sad, but enthusiastic instead, even if she didn’t ask many questions. Casca, who was watching her, simply smiled and let her younger sister look around while keeping an eye on her. They kept walking hand in hand, following Clyde and Mary who were chatting ahead of them.