Ceres Fauna's Everyday, Just a Little Bit Strange Days
In a secret place where gods and incredible beings from various worlds have gathered to live a relaxed life together, Ceres Fauna, the organizer of the 'Council,' is as busy as ever looking after everyone.
One day, the mischievous Watson Amelia is excited, saying, 'I'll use my time machine to grab a snack from tomorrow!' The god of time, Kronii, hears this and panics, shouting, 'You'll break the world's rules!' Fauna tries to stop it with the power of nature, but Amelia has already pressed the
Ceres Fauna's Everyday, Just a Little Bit Strange Days - The Ring of Truth and Everyone's Courage
The Bloom Circle at dawn was quiet.
The wind faintly stirred the petals. The rustling of Elda Magna's leaves could be heard in the distance.
Ceres Fauna sat in the middle of the flower garden. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was wet with tears, plastered to her cheeks. The tiny sprout above her left ear flickered faintly, on and off. Before her lay the Moya-Moya Stone. The pale vortex of light on its surface turned slowly.
"...I'm sorry."
Fauna reached out toward the stone. Her fingertips touched its cool surface.
—I was lonely. All this time.
She felt like she'd heard a voice. Not words. But something that resonated directly in the depths of her chest. A deep, deep cry of loneliness.
"You were alone all this time too, weren't you."
Tears overflowed. They fell onto the stone, bursting in tiny splashes.
Fauna understood now. This stone hadn't wanted to mess up everyone's emotions. It had just wanted to touch someone's true feelings. At the dark bottom of the deep sea, for so, so long, it had been waiting for someone's honest heart.
"Just like me."
Ever since becoming a tuner, she'd worn a mask. The mother figure for everyone. She had to keep it together. She couldn't show weakness.
But.
"The truth is, I want to lean on everyone too. I want to say 'help me.' I want to scream that it's hard..."
The stone's light softened, just a little. As if it were nodding.
Fauna wiped her tear-swollen eyes. Then, she stood up.
"Let's go. I'll let you hear everyone's true feelings."
Clutching the stone to her chest, she ran toward the Potager.
——
At the Potager table, Gawr Gura lay face-down. Her two-tone hair of deep navy and white was a disheveled mess. The shark fin on top of her head drooped like a wilted flower.
"Uuu... it's my fault... because I brought a stone like that..."
Gura was sobbing. Her small shoulders trembled. The anchor at her hip jangled noisily.
Fauna sat down beside Gura.
"Gura. It's not your fault."
"No! I was lonely! I wanted to make friends with someone! So I picked this thing up! And now everyone's gone crazy!"
"You were just lonely."
"...Huh?"
Gura lifted her face. Her large aqua-blue eyes were blurred with tears.
Fauna gently took her hand.
"Me too. I was lonely all this time. Thinking I had to keep it together as a tuner. I couldn't tell anyone the truth. ...But that's wrong. I've just realized now—it's okay to say it."
"Fauna too...?"
"Yes. So you're not alone. Let's save everyone, together."
Tears spilled again from Gura's big eyes. But this time, they were different from before.
"...Yeah!"
——
The Ticker House was pitch black.
The workshop, usually filled with the sound of explosions and Amelia's laughter, was as silent as a graveyard. Clock parts lay scattered across the walls, tools abandoned carelessly on the desk.
Amelia was curled up small in the corner. Her waist-length blonde hair hid her face. Only the time machine on her left wrist glowed faintly.
Her goggles lay on the floor.
"...Everyone would be better off without me."
She stared into a hand mirror. Her own face reflected back. Old scars around her blue eyes. From a time experiment gone wrong, long ago.
"I failed again. This time I've messed up everyone's insides. I can't just laugh it off anymore."
That's when.
Knock, knock.
The door was rapped.
"Leave me alone!"
But the door opened.
Fauna stood there.
"Amelia. I need to talk to you."
"Didn't you hear me!? I'm—"
"Your inventions have helped me before. Do you remember?"
Amelia stopped dead.
"...Huh?"
Fauna crouched down in front of Amelia. Then she took her hand. It was cold and trembling.
"Before, when I collapsed from a time distortion. The energy drink you gave me. Without it, I'm sure I would've been bedridden much longer. Your inventions don't just hurt people. They can save people too."
"...That was just a fluke success..."
"Even if it was a fluke, someone was saved. I want you here. The Commons needs you."
Amelia's eyes widened.
The sparkle of curiosity that was always there was now warped by tears. But deep within, something stirred.
"...Fauna."
——
The Orrery Spire.
The interior of the clock tower had an eerie atmosphere. The sand in the giant hourglass was still stained a dark red. The reversed flow of sand made an uncanny sound.
Chronii stood at the tower's exit. His long silver hair was tied back, and he held an hourglass-shaped staff in his right hand. But his back had lost its usual earnestness.
At his feet, a small bundle of belongings.
"...Let's end this."
He took a step forward.
—Thud!
"No!"
Gura leaped in front of Chronii. She spread both arms wide, blocking his path.
"Don't go! Please!"
"...Move aside, Gura. There's no meaning in me being here anymore."
"There is! If time gets messed up again without Chronii, who's going to fix it!"
"Even if it's not me—"
"I was scared of being alone too!"
Gura's scream echoed through the tower.
"For over a hundred years, alone in the deep sea! The only one to talk to was jellyfish! I was so lonely, so lonely, I thought I'd die! But Fauna saved me! She told me 'you're not alone'! Chronii, you're not alone either!"
Chronii's golden eyes wavered.
The hand gripping the hourglass staff trembled.
A scene from the past flickered through his mind.
—The moment the hourglass had shattered into pieces. Despair. He'd thought it was all over.
—But Fauna had spent days nurturing the sand. Grain by grain, carefully.
"...I."
His voice shook.
"I was always cleaning up after Amelia, and I was sick of it. Reciting the Seventeen Articles, following the rules... But deep in my heart, I found her outrageous inventions just a little bit interesting. I couldn't forgive myself for that."
It was his first honest truth.
——
The Ink Shadow.
Calliope's study was a semi-basement structure. One wall was lined with poetry collections, manga, and anime discs. A sign at the entrance read "Spoilers Strictly Forbidden." The room temperature, usually kept at 18 degrees, felt even colder today.
Calliope, wrapped in her black robe, was huddled in the corner of the room.
"...I don't need reality."
She clutched an anime disc to her chest. As if it were her only shield.
The door opened.
"Calliope."
"Don't come near me."
"I came anyway. Because I've been running away all this time too."
Calliope's shoulders twitched.
Fauna sat down beside her. The floor was cold. The air was heavy.
"I've been running from reality all this time too. Acting tough, hiding my true feelings. Thinking I had to keep it together because I'm a tuner. But... the truth is, I wanted to lean on everyone. I wanted to cry and cling to someone and say it's hard."
Fauna's voice trembled.
"Calliope. I want to hear your true feelings."
Silence.
Then, a faint voice could be heard.
"...I... the truth is, I want to eat sweets with everyone too. But I was scared of my death power, so I couldn't get close. If it went out of control, I might hurt everyone. I've always been terrified of that."
The loneliness of a death wielder. The honest truth she'd never told anyone had, for the first time, become words.
——
The base of Elda Magna.
In the plaza beneath the giant world tree, six people had gathered.
Fauna. Amelia. Chronii. Gura. Calliope. And Nanomea, who had arrived before anyone noticed.
Fauna placed the Moya-Moya Stone in the center of the ground.
"Right now, I want everyone to share their true feelings."
She wiped her tears and looked around at everyone's faces.
"First, I'll speak."
A deep breath.
"As a tuner, I've always been lonely. The truth is, I wanted to lean on everyone. I enjoyed Amelia's chaos in my heart. Pretending to be angry, but I loved that extraordinary disruption. I couldn't show anyone my weak self. I couldn't even cry. ...I've always wanted to say, help me."
Tears spilled over.
The stone's light changed to a gentler color than ever before.
This wasn't an emotional swap. A place where lies couldn't be told was being born right here.
Chronii stepped forward.
"...Next, I'll speak."
The hand gripping his staff had turned white.
"Long ago, when the hourglass shattered to pieces, I despaired. I thought my role as the god of time was over. But Fauna spent days nurturing the sand. Grain by grain, carefully. That's when I thought: I'll never be able to hold my head high against this person."
Tears fell from his golden eyes.
"Under my earnest mask, I was always afraid. If I broke the hourglass again, I'd be finished. And yet, there was a part of me that found Amelia's reckless inventions just a little bit interesting. I've been suffering over that contradiction all this time."
That's when.
Amelia sprang to her feet.
"I'm next!"
She took off her goggles. The area around her eyes, which she always hid. The old scars around her blue eyes were visible to everyone.
"These are scars from when I failed with the time machine a long time ago. The truth is, I was scared of them, so I could never take off my goggles. I thought if I failed again, this time I might hurt everyone. I know I'm nothing but a huge failure, and I'm a burden to everyone. But! Even so, I want to stay friends! I love it here!"
She screamed and collapsed in tears.
Chronii placed a hand on her shoulder.
"...Amelia. I'm glad you're here."
At those words, Amelia's crying grew even louder.
The stone's light intensified further.
Then, Gura burst forward.
"Me too! I'll talk too!"
She clenched her small fists and shouted.
"In the deep sea, I was alone for over a hundred years! The only one to talk to was jellyfish! I wanted to eat with someone! I wanted to chat! When I came here, I thought it was heaven for the first time! So I wanted to make everyone happy, and I brought the stone! I'm sorry! But I love it here!"
Her pure cry echoed throughout the plaza.
Everyone was in tears.
—That's when.
Kiiiiiiin.
Just when it seemed the stone's light had reached its peak, it suddenly shifted into a grating vibration.
"What!?"
Fine cracks began to run across the stone's surface.
Crack. Crack.
"The stone can't handle the honest truths—it's about to break!"
Fauna shouted.
"It's still not enough! We need everyone's true feelings, all of them! The honest truths of the people not in the plaza—they must be needed too!"
The stone continued its scream-like vibration.
The cracks spread, little by little.
There was no time.
Fauna looked around at everyone with an urgent expression.
"Not yet. It's not over yet."
The leaves of Elda Magna rustled restlessly.
The wind stopped.
An ominous stillness descended upon the Commons sky.
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