Kagiri found herself once again in the garden, standing before Shinara.
"Did I… move again?"
The sun was leaning toward the horizon, and the shadows stretched across the ground as if they were yawning. Kagiri looked toward the spot where she had last seen the children but they were gone.
"Well then, Shinara, let's go now."
Shinara smiled brightly, and together they walked toward the school.
They entered effortlessly, as if the doors recognized them.
Shinara was amazed by the sight inside the long corridors, the golden light, and the calm she had never known before.
She wandered through the halls, brushing her gaze against the walls with quiet wonder.
Kagiri stood at a distance, watching her, letting her enjoy the moment… then stopped and waited for Aldric.
A minute passed… then two… then three.
But he didn't come.
Concerned, Kagiri began searching for him.
She found Shinara in one of the classrooms, but as she approached, a faint light flickered from another room.
She hesitated, then stepped toward it with every step, the light grew dimmer, until it almost vanished at the door.
Kagiri opened it… and froze.
The classroom was in chaos, the air thick with an unfamiliar energy.
At its center stood Mr. Aldric, silent as a statue,
and above him floated Shinara, trembling, her wide eyes pleading for help.
Fear crawled up Kagiri's spine.
"Sir… what's happening?"
Aldric remained silent. The air grew heavier.
Then, in a calm yet blade-sharp tone, he spoke:
"You have two choices, Kagiri."
The classroom began to split slowly
one side glowing with soft white light,
the other swallowed by deep shadow.
"The white side will take you to Velina… forever.
But Shinara will die there.
The black side will send Shinara to Velina…
and you will disappear forever."
A long silence.
Kagiri closed her eyes. Her breath faltered.
It felt as if the ground itself was waiting for her decision.
"A tempting offer, isn't it?"
Aldric smiled faintly.
"Think carefully… you deserve to go to Elythra."
But Kagiri remembered her promise to Velina and thought of Shinara,
the girl who had known nothing but fear and loneliness.
She stepped forward, heavy and determined, toward the dark side.
"Wait, Kagiri! Are you sure?
You're throwing away a chance every Lumaren dreams of!"
She didn't answer.
Reaching the edge of the shadow,
the floor beneath her vanished
and Kagiri fell into a bottomless abyss.
The world around her dissolved into silence,
leaving only the beating of her heart.
Then… a blinding white light below.
She drifted toward it, slowly… until it swallowed her whole.
"Is this… the end?" she whispered.
A familiar voice replied from afar:
"This time… the place has changed."
It was Hana.
She approached with a faint, apologetic smile.
"All I want to know, Hana," Kagiri said quietly,
"is what happened to Shinara. Did she return to her mother?"
Hana chuckled softly, as if she had already expected that question.
"You always take your time, Kagiri…"
Kagiri sighed. "And what's so funny about that?"
Hana replied:
"Shinara is still in the real world, waiting for you.
Your closeness to her your lack of fear
that's the key for both of you to cross into Elythra… with Velina."
"Wonderful… so this was all just a stupid game?"
Hana sighed again.
"It's not our concern. Every Lumaren is bound to a single master.
But you… you're different. You're bound to both Velina and Shinara.
That's why everything began to shift
to shape itself around you.
I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner."
"Damn you al.."
Before she could finish, the light vanished.
Kagiri opened her eyes and found herself back before the classroom.
Everything was normal again
the quiet, the walls, the faint scent of chalk.
But Shinara was gone.
Kagiri hurried out of the school…
then froze in disbelief.
"This… isn't Necrosia."
The sky was tinted violet,
and the buildings shimmered from within, glowing softly as if alive.
The school itself floated slightly above a glasslike ground.
In the distance, a city shimmered Elythra.
From it came a gentle music,
a melody that seemed to welcome them.
A moving shadow caught Kagiri's eye.
She turned and saw Shinara, standing there in awe,
staring at the beauty around her.
Kagiri ran toward her.
"Shinara… we made it!"
Shinara looked up, and far beyond her,
Velina was approaching slowly,
a warm breeze of light trailing behind her.
Kagiri smiled and whispered,
"Look, Shinara… it's your mother."
In a world floating between light and shadow, Kagiri finally stopped searching.
She had found meaning in a promise that was never broken.
It wasn't an ending at all…
but the beginning of a new dream,
in a place called Elythra.