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 - The Watchdog's Kiss: Rebirth Beyond Loss
The sky before dawn was sinking into a deep, indigo blue.
The four of them walked in silence across the wasteland that stretched northeast of Ordia. How much time had passed since they'd crawled out of the collapsing Abyss? Fuwawa Abyssgard no longer knew.
Her white dog ears caught the scent of sea breeze. Far off, from the direction of the harbor, she heard the faint sound of a bell. Probably the signal for the early-morning fishing boats. The familiar sound of this town. It was unbearably nostalgic.
"...Sis."
Her little sister, walking beside her with both hands clinging to Fuwawa's arm, called out softly.
"We're almost there. Almost home."
Fuwawa squeezed Mococo's hand back. Cold, slender fingers. Trembling. At the bottom of the Abyss, she had shaken this hand away. Never again. She would never let go again.
Hermes Valo, walking behind them, said nothing. The taciturn man's deep green eyes stared quietly ahead into the pre-dawn darkness. The deep scar on his left cheek stood out under the pale starlight.
Vincent Pale fell into step beside Fuwawa.
"The Abyss Warden's post is just ahead. From here, I'll take the lead."
A young executive of the Tidewind Trading Company, he should have been exhausted, yet he walked with his back straight. His blond hair swayed in the wind. His amber eyes held a gentle light.
"Yes, please do."
Fuwawa nodded slightly.
The road leading to the old Abyss entrance was sealed off under the Abyss Surveillance Act. Even approaching without authorization was a crime. Much less descending the sealed staircase and returning from the Abyss — a formal inquiry was unavoidable.
But that was fine.
Fuwawa had no intention of hiding anything anymore.
Before long, a small stone post came into view. Lamplight spilled from its window. The Abyss Warden was on night watch.
The door of the post opened from within.
"...Who goes there?"
A middle-aged man raised a lamp, illuminating the four of them. He wore the black leather coat of the Abyss Warden's uniform. At his hip hung a magical tool of Abyssal origin.
"We have a report for the Abyss Investigation Bureau, Nox."
Vincent stepped forward.
"Hermes Valo has returned from an Abyss investigation. Additionally, there has been a significant development regarding the Abyssal residue. Please contact Nox immediately."
The Abyss Warden looked at Hermes's face and his eyes went wide.
"Hermes Valo... the former S-rank..."
"Yeah. That's me."
Hermes answered in a low voice.
The Warden studied each of their faces in turn, then finally let out a deep breath.
"...Fine. Get inside. But you'll be writing a report."
The inside of the post was cramped and musty. Maps of the Abyss and patrol records were pinned to the walls. A cup of cold tea sat on the desk.
The four of them sat down in a row.
The Warden pulled out some documents and dipped his pen into an inkwell.
"First, your names and the date and time you entered the Abyss."
"Wait, please."
Vincent interrupted in a calm voice.
"I will compile the report and submit it to Nox myself. Hermes is suffering from memory disruption due to Abyssal influence. Fuwawa and Mococo are also severely fatigued. Please, at least let them rest at the café first."
The Warden furrowed his brow.
"Regulations require that I question everyone who entered."
"I understand the regulations. But they are the ones who purified the Abyssal residue. If Nox issues a formal summons, they will respond at any time. Please, just for tonight."
Vincent bowed deeply.
The Warden stared at Vincent for a while, then finally clicked his tongue.
"...The young pup from the Tidewind Trading Company has gotten awfully high-and-mighty."
"In place of my brother."
Vincent answered quietly.
At those words, the Warden looked as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, said nothing.
"...Fine. I'll let it slide for today. But by tomorrow, you report to the Nox branch."
"Thank you."
The four of them left the post.
The sky was beginning to lighten. The eastern horizon was stained a pale orange.
"...Can you walk, Fuwawa?"
Hermes peered into Fuwawa's face.
"Yes, I'm fine. But what about you, Hermes? Are you injured—"
"I'm fine. You're the one who pushed yourself far harder."
At Hermes's words, Fuwawa felt a warmth spread slowly through her chest.
"...Thank you."
Fuwawa smiled faintly.
The four of them walked the road leading back into the city of Ordia.
The harbor town at dawn was quiet. The market stalls had not yet opened. Only the sound of their footsteps echoed along the cobblestone streets.
Before long, a familiar sign came into view.
"Abyssgard."
The small café run by Fuwawa and Mococo. A two-story wooden building facing the cobblestone street of the harbor district.
Fuwawa stopped in front of the shop.
She touched the door. The cold feel of wood.
"...I'm home."
She murmured it to no one in particular.
She unlocked the door and pushed it open.
The interior was utterly still. The dark shop, just as it had been left when they closed. Chairs were up on the tables, and a white cloth was draped over the counter.
And on the table.
A single tart remained.
A berry tart. The one Fuwawa had baked before heading into the Abyss. Deep crimson berries were piled generously on top. But the surface had dried, and the cream had melted and lost its shape.
A completely cold tart.
Fuwawa gazed at the sight.
The time she had spent in the Abyss had been only a few days. But above ground, that much time had certainly passed. This tart was the proof.
"...Ah."
Mococo peered into the shop from behind Fuwawa.
"The tart... the one you baked, Sis..."
Mococo's voice trembled.
"...I know. I was thinking we'd eat it when we got back."
Fuwawa said quietly.
"I'm sorry, Mococo. I went and ruined the tart you were looking forward to."
"That's not it... It's Mococo's fault..."
Mococo pressed her face against Fuwawa's back.
"Because Mococo said horrible things to you... and you went off alone..."
"Mococo."
Fuwawa turned around and embraced her sister.
"It's all right now. Everything is over. So please, don't cry anymore."
"...Yeah... Yeah..."
Mococo nodded again and again, her face buried in Fuwawa's chest.
Vincent quietly walked over to the counter.
"I'll boil some water. Let's have something warm to drink."
"Yeah, please."
Hermes sat down at the window seat. His deep green eyes gazed out at the dawn sea.
Fuwawa, still holding Mococo, looked at Hermes's profile.
A master who had lost his memories. Herself, who at the bottom of the Abyss had learned the truth about her mother, broken with her sister, and lost everything.
Even so, here they were now — the four of them, together in the café.
What was lost would not return.
But what remained was certainly here.
Fuwawa gazed at the cold tart and quietly thought so.
---
The second floor of the café, Fuwawa's room.
Outside the window, it had grown fully bright. Morning sunlight filtered through the lace curtains, casting a soft glow into the room.
Fuwawa and Mococo sat facing each other on the bed.
Mococo, still holding Fuwawa's hand, hung her head. Her white dog ears drooped limply.
"...Mococo. There's something I want to talk about."
Fuwawa spoke quietly.
"Yeah. Mococo has lots of things she wants to apologize to you for, Sis."
"I'm the one who should apologize. I'm sorry for leaving you alone."
"That's not it! It's because Mococo said those things!"
Mococo raised her head. Her big pink eyes were brimming with tears.
"You went into the Abyss all alone, Sis... Mococo was so, so scared! That you might never come back!"
"Mococo..."
"I'm sorry, Sis! Mococo was so focused on Hermes that I never thought about your feelings at all! I never understood how much you were suffering!"
Mococo gripped Fuwawa's hand tightly.
"You found out about Mom... at the bottom of the Abyss, didn't you? And Mococo, knowing nothing, said 'just like Mom' to you... I said the worst possible thing..."
"Mococo, it's all right now. Those words hurt me, but I know they weren't what you truly felt."
"They weren't! Absolutely not! Mococo loves you, Sis! More than anyone, more than anything in the world!"
Mococo said it as if shouting.
"But I love Hermes too. When I see you getting along with him, my chest tightens and it hurts... I was scared that you might take Hermes away from me..."
Mococo's tears spilled over and fell in drops.
"I know that's selfish. Hermes is mine. But you disappearing is even scarier. Being afraid of losing Hermes and being afraid of losing you... Mococo couldn't tell which was worse."
Fuwawa listened to Mococo's words in silence.
The fear of losing Hermes and the fear of losing her sister were the same.
What had looked like Mococo being selfish was, in truth, a desperate attachment to her sister.
"...Mococo."
Fuwawa cupped her sister's hand in both of hers.
"There's something I need to apologize to you for too. I hid everything from you. About Mom, about Hermes, and... about my own feelings."
"Your feelings, Sis?"
Mococo raised her tear-streaked face.
Fuwawa took a deep breath.
"I love Hermes. Not as a guard dog, but as a woman. I have for a very, very long time."
Fuwawa's voice was trembling.
"But I'm a guard dog. I've told myself over and over that I mustn't have feelings like that for my master. Especially because I knew you loved him too."
"Sis..."
"I'm sorry, Mococo. I kept it hidden from you, and all this time, I've been— I'm so sorry."
Tears spilled from Fuwawa's eyes.
"...Sis, don't cry."
Mococo wiped Fuwawa's tears with her fingers.
"Mococo loves Hermes too. But you love him too, Sis. If that's the case, then maybe Mococo is okay with it, as long as it's together with you."
"Mococo..."
"Because you're the most important person in the world to me, Sis. If it's someone you love, then Mococo can love them even more. So don't hide anymore. Tell Mococo everything you feel."
Mococo threw her arms around Fuwawa.
"Mococo... thank you. Thank you, Mococo..."
Fuwawa hugged her sister back.
"Sis, I will never lose you. No matter what happens, I will protect you. So please, don't ever abandon me either."
"Of course not! As if Mococo would ever abandon you! You're Mococo's treasure!"
The sisters held each other and wept for a long while.
Outside the window, the morning sun was painting the city of Ordia in gold.
---
The same night.
The first floor of the café, the guest room.
Hermes Valo lay on the simple bed with his eyes closed.
The aftereffects of the resonance he had absorbed in the Abyss made his body heavy as lead. But his mind was strangely clear.
He opened his deep green eyes.
The wood grain of the ceiling swayed gently in the lamplight.
—Reina.
He spoke the name.
Deep in his memories, something crumbled with a sound.
Sixteen years ago. The deepest part of the Abyss. Before the Primordial Door.
A woman wearing a silver bracelet. A woman who chanted Abyssal script, abused the master contract, and tried to offer him as a sacrifice.
Reina Abyssgard.
Fuwawa and Mococo's mother.
She had sought the power of the Abyss. She had tried to open the Door of the Abyss and make its power her own. As payment, she had tried to offer up the memories and life of her master — him — to the Door.
But in the end, she had closed the Door herself.
—To protect her children.
—Take care of Fuwawa, she had said.
Reina had said that, and remained in the Abyss.
Hermes's memories had been sealed, and he had been sent back to the surface.
And fifteen years later.
He had taken in Fuwawa and Mococo and become their master.
Still without his memories.
Murmuring only Reina's name, over and over.
—Reina.
—Where is Reina.
It was a craving for lost memories.
But what he had truly been seeking was not Reina.
It was the two daughters Reina had left behind.
Fuwawa and Mococo.
The two he should have protected.
Hermes closed h
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