Three years have passed since the doors of the Abyss were sealed forever. Fuwawa and Mococo, having returned to the surface, now run a small café called Abyssguard in the port town of Ordia, the same area that once served as their mission zone. Their days are peaceful—baking berry tarts while their white dog ears twitch gently. But that peace begins to crumble when Hermes Valou, the master they once served, returns from the depths of the Abyss. Hermes has lost most of his memories, and he murmur
Echoes of the Abyss: The Fuwamoco Epilogue - Awakening of the Echoes: A Farewell to Mother, and the Cry of a Sister Reclaiming Her Younger Sister
The cold air froze him to the depths of his lungs.
Fuwawa Abyssgard remained on her knees before the Primordial Door, unable to move. The obsidian floor leeched the warmth from her body. Her white dog ears twitched, catching the faintest stirring of the air. But she could hear nothing now. Feel nothing.
Her mother's lingering presence had vanished.
Fuwawa had swept it away with her own hands.
—If only you didn't exist.
The words that had left her own mouth still echoed deep in her ears. Had she truly meant them? No. She hadn't. But they had come out. She had hurled those words at her mother's final form.
"...Ah."
Her voice came out hoarse.
The silver bracelet glowed coldly against her chest. Her mother Reina's keepsake. Carved with Abyssal script, this bracelet alone still connected the present Fuwawa to the past. She clenched it tight. Her fingertips were beginning to lose all feeling.
—The key to releasing Hermes-sama's memory seal lies in the awakening of your own Echo Sense.
That was what her mother had said.
But she had no idea how to make it happen. She couldn't even imagine what the moment of awakening would look like. Fuwawa had been born a dog-ear tribe member and had lived with this ability her entire life. The power to sense lingering thoughts. What would happen when it fully awakened?
(I can't do it.)
Fuwawa bit her lip.
(I can't restore Hermes-sama's memories.)
(I hurt Mococo.)
(I erased Mother.)
Three losses crushed Fuwawa's chest all at once. She couldn't breathe. The back of her throat burned. No tears came. It was as if even her tears had frozen solid.
That was when it happened.
The communication talisman at her chest blazed with light.
"—Sis—where are you—"
Mococo's voice. Broken, faint, but unmistakably calling for Fuwawa.
"—Sis—"
Fuwawa's fingers closed around the talisman.
One finger. That was all the strength she had left.
"Mococo..."
Fuwawa murmured.
"Mococo is still..."
The little sister she had abandoned was still calling for her. That single fact barely held together Fuwawa's crumbling consciousness.
Fuwawa rose on trembling legs.
She touched the Primordial Door. It radiated a faint warmth. That warmth traveled from her palm into the depths of her body.
—Beyond this door lies the key to releasing Hermes-sama's memory seal.
Fuwawa understood this. But the door was sealed fast. She pushed, she pulled—it wouldn't budge. The Abyssal script merely pulsed with a pale blue light.
"...Open."
Fuwawa clung to the door.
"Please... open... Give Hermes-sama's memories back..."
The door remained silent.
Fuwawa slumped against it, knees buckling once more. Her legs, which had just barely lifted her, gave out beneath her.
"...I can't do anything."
She had lost her mother, abandoned her sister, and now the key to her master's memories lay right before her—yet with her own power alone, she could open nothing. Complete helplessness. Fuwawa knelt before the Primordial Door and wept quietly, all alone.
The deepest reaches of the Abyss. No one else was there. No one was coming to help.
Fuwawa Abyssgard wept alone in the darkness.
The door remained sealed fast, holding onto its faint warmth.
—
Meanwhile, in the Abyss's fourth layer.
The pale blue glow of the fungal forest illuminated Vincent Pale's blond hair. He had laid the fallen Hermes Valo in a safe place and was gazing intently at the man's face, eyes closed, deep green irises hidden.
Hermes's breathing was shallow. But his life was not in danger.
Vincent pressed a leather journal to his chest and closed his eyes. As a young executive of the Tidewind Trading Company, he had independently gathered information on the Abyss's remnants. And now, in this place, he had to persuade a single girl.
Mococo Abyssgard.
Vincent turned around.
Deep in the fungal forest, Mococo sat huddled. Her white dog ears drooped limply. Her pink eyes were swollen from crying. She was staring fixedly in the direction her sister Fuwawa had gone.
"Mococo-chan."
Vincent sat down quietly beside her.
"...Sis left."
Mococo's voice was small and trembling.
"Yeah, she did. Fuwawa-san headed to the deepest layer alone."
"Because Mococo said those things... Sis got mad..."
"That's not it."
Vincent shook his head quietly.
"Fuwawa-san didn't leave because she was angry. She left because she felt she had to go."
"But... but Mococo said to Sis, 'You're going to leave me behind just like Mom, aren't you'... such a horrible thing..."
Mococo's tears glittered in the pale blue light.
Vincent was silent for a while.
His amber eyes gazed into the distance. Beyond the fungal forest, to the even deeper places of the Abyss. As if chasing the back of Fuwawa, who had gone there.
"...I had a brother."
At the sudden words, Mococo looked up.
"...A brother?"
"Yeah. Allen Pale. Five years older than me. He was an Abyss investigator."
Vincent opened his leather journal. Inside was an old photograph. A young man smiling at the Abyss's entrance.
"When the Abyss closed three years ago, my brother never returned. His body was never found."
Mococo caught her breath.
"...Vincent-san..."
"That day, my brother said, 'There's something in the deepest layer I absolutely have to confirm.' I tried to stop him. I said, 'Don't go.' But he just smiled and said, 'I'll be right back,' and descended into the Abyss."
Vincent's voice was calm. But beneath it, a deep shade of loss seeped through.
"...He didn't come back?"
"No. The Abyss closed. My brother vanished inside. I should have stopped him harder. I should have screamed, 'Don't go.' But I just watched his back as he left. And I lost him."
Vincent closed the journal.
"Mococo-chan. You're in a position to stop Fuwawa-san right now. You can still make it in time. Before you lose her, like I lost my brother, you can chase after her."
Mococo's pink eyes widened.
"...But Mococo said those horrible things to Sis..."
"I understand your fear. That your sister might take Hermes-san from you. That fear is real. But isn't it the same as the fear of losing your sister herself?"
Mococo's body trembled.
"...Losing Sis..."
"Yeah. What you're really afraid of isn't Fuwawa-san taking Hermes-san. It's Fuwawa-san disappearing from your side. Am I wrong?"
Mococo bit her lip.
Tears overflowed without end.
"...You're not wrong. You're not wrong... What Mococo fears most is Sis being gone..."
"Then let's go. To your sister. There's still time."
Vincent placed a gentle hand on Mococo's shoulder.
"I'll stay here and bring Hermes-san back to consciousness. You go after Fuwawa-san, to the deepest layer."
"...Mococo, alone?"
"You can do it. You're Fuwawa-san's little sister. You were the Abyss's watchdog, weren't you?"
Vincent pulled a small communication talisman from his chest.
"Take this. You'll be able to reach Fuwawa-san."
Mococo received the talisman with both hands.
"...Okay. Mococo will go. To Sis."
Mococo wiped her tears.
A light of determination kindled in her pink eyes.
"Be careful. The Abyss is about to close. The remnants are growing more active too."
"I'll be fine. Mococo has to apologize to Sis. I will apologize, no matter what."
Mococo stood up.
She looked down at Vincent. His amber eyes gazed back at her gently.
"...Vincent-san, thank you."
"I'll be praying for your safety."
Mococo nodded deeply, then broke into a run toward the depths of the fungal forest.
Through the pale blue light, her white dog ears shrank into a small silhouette and vanished.
Vincent watched her go until she was out of sight.
"...Please, be safe."
He sat down beside Hermes and began preparing to restore the man's consciousness.
Abyss, fifth layer.
Mococo ran desperately through the stone labyrinth.
She clutched the communication talisman. The small stone Vincent had entrusted to her. It was her only connection to her sister.
(Sis, wait for me.)
Mococo screamed in her heart.
(Mococo is coming. I'll apologize. Don't leave me alone.)
The walls of the stone labyrinth were beginning to crumble. Stone fragments rained from the ceiling. The Abyss was closing. She could feel the signs of it on her skin.
Sixth layer. The subterranean lake.
The lake's surface rippled unnaturally. Pale blue light reflected off the water, making the entire cavern waver. Mococo ran along the lakeshore.
That was when it happened.
"—Mococo—"
A faint voice reached her.
Mococo's feet stopped.
"—Mococo—don't leave me behind—"
The voice resembled her mother's.
The voice of Reina, who had vanished into the Abyss fifteen years ago. Mococo barely remembered her mother's face. But the voice alone, for some reason, she remembered clearly.
"...Mom?"
She turned around.
There stood a black shadow.
A Shadow of Loss. A being born when the lingering thoughts of those who died in the Abyss turned into monsters. Remnants of the Abyss that fed on memories.
The shadow approached Mococo slowly.
"—You were never loved—"
"...That's wrong! Mom loved Mococo!"
"—Your sister abandoned you—"
"...That's wrong! Sis didn't abandon Mococo!"
The shadow tried to touch Mococo's memories.
Black mist coiled around Mococo's white dog ears.
"—I'll devour your memories—"
"Stop!"
Mococo shook off the shadow and ran.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
(Sis... Sis...)
As she ran, Mococo remembered.
The night her mother disappeared. Five-year-old Mococo had been crying. Fuwawa had held her tight and said:
—It's all right. I'll protect you.
The warmth of her sister's arms that night.
The day she had clung to Hermes-sama. Fuwawa had worn a slightly lonely expression. Her sister's profile in that moment.
Mococo hadn't noticed then. How much her sister had been holding back.
(Sis, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.)
The shadow caught up again.
"—Your memories are worthless—"
"...Shut up! Mococo's memories belong to Mococo!"
Mococo kept running, screaming.
Seventh layer. Ancient city ruins.
Buildings were collapsing, and the old survey paths were blocked by rubble. Mococo climbed over debris, crossed crumbling bridges, and pushed deeper still.
The shadows were multiplying.
"—Your sister hates you—"
"...That's wrong! Sis loves Mococo!"
"—You drove your sister into a corner—"
"...That's right. Mococo drove Sis into a corner. That's why I have to apologize!"
Mococo wiped her tears and faced forward.
Eighth layer. Ninth layer.
Abyssal remnants appeared in countless numbers. From the walls, the floor, the ceiling. Black shadows poured out one after another.
Mococo ran.
Her legs tangled. She fell. She got up. She ran again.
Blood seeped from her knees. Her breath ran short. Her heart ached.
But she didn't stop.
(I have to apologize to Sis.)
With only that thought, Mococo raced through the Abyss.
Tenth layer. The Scorching Cavern.
Hot wind seared Mococo's skin. Sweat poured like a waterfall. Her white dog ears wilted from the heat.
"...Hot..."
Still, she didn't stop her feet.
The shadows tried to touch her memories.
"—You're a burden to your sister—"
"...Maybe. Mococo was always getting in Sis's way. But not anymore. Mococo will become Sis's strength!"
A shadow's attack grazed Mococo's left arm.
"...Ngh!"
Sharp pain. Blood flowed from her left arm.
Even so, Mococo kept running.
Eleventh layer. The Frozen Cavern.
A complete reversal from the scorching heat—now a world of extreme cold. Mococo's body shivered. Her breath froze white. Her sweat turned to ice and clung to her skin.
"...Cold... it's so cold..."
The shadows surrounded Mococo.
"—I'll devour your memories—"
Countless shadows attacked Mococo all at once.
"Stop!"
Mococo clutched her head with both hands.
The shadows tried to tear her memories apart.
—Sis's smile.
—Sis's voice.
—Sis's warm arms.
They were being swallowed by the black mist.
"No... Don't take Sis's memories..."
Mococo cried out.
That was when the communication talisman at her chest blazed with lig
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