#i forced myself to go to supermarket and ended up clinging to the shopping cart to stay upright

[hussyknee]

my disabled ass, after (1)good day: "obviously I am cured. in fact it may have all been in my head. who can say? now to rejoin society!"

me, the next day: "it has come to my attention that i may be chronically ill."

[yume-x-hanabi]

Echoing Song ~Kresnik Fragments~ (4th Night)

This is a translation of the fourth short story from the Tales of Xillia 2 Official World Guidance book. Prepare tissues.

--

The World Riding On A See-Saw

“Aah! I’m against tomatoes!” Elle’s tantrum could be heard all throughout the vegetable corner.

“They’re not just tomatoes, they’re cherry tomatoes. Aren’t they cute? You should try them at least once.”

“Boo! I won’t get tricked by a cute name!”

“Hey! Stop yelling, it’s embarrassing!”

Ludger and Elle both turned to me at the same time. “You’re the loudest one here.”

A nearby client snorted. My cheeks turned red. “You’re the ones who’re making me raise my voice!”

“Meow...” Rollo seemed to sigh in his carrier.

It had been a while since Spirius gave us a break. I was dragged on grocery shopping with Ludger and Elle.

Ludger looked like he was having fun as he pushed the cart around. Didn’t he have anything better to do on his rare holidays? … Well, not like I’m one to talk.

Setting foot in Trigleph’s giant supermarket was a shocking experience. A staggering amount of food was lined up in this stupidly huge building, in which more than ten times the total population of Nia Khera came and went to do their shopping. And perhaps the most incredible was that the food was replenished as soon as it was sold.

I had no idea there was such a world outside of Rieze Maxia… No, it was more that I had severed my ties to that world when I received my mission, because everything about the food lined up here—its production, export, sale—was based on devices using spyrix technology.

“Why do you hate tomatoes so much?” Ludger asked Elle.

“Because they’re all squishy and mushy.”

“But you like eggs, don’t you? Aren’t they squishy and mushy as well?”

They continued their chit-chat, ignoring how I was lost in thought. It was hard to believe this was an agent who destroyed worlds.

“Don’t compare eggs and tomatoes! It’s an affront to eggs!”

Elle tried to sound mature—and where did she learn that kind of expression anyway?—but the effect was a bit lost with her brown pigtails bouncing.

“Do you even know what an affront is?”

“I-I know! It’s when you make fun of someone.”

“Hmm. If you say so.”

“Hey! That’s an affront to me!”

Oh, so she understood after all. When you thought she was just trying to have the last word, it turned out she actually got the essential part down.

Ludger and Elle’s argument eventually settled on the decision to make rice omelette for dinner. In other words, Elle won. She marched toward the egg’s aisle with a triumphant look on her face.

“How soft.”

“Hm? Oh, she wants the sauce to be demi-glace. Instead of the usual, she asked me to cover the rice with a soft, fluffy omelet, like a bride’s lacy dress. She saw it on TV, apparently.”

“Not the food. You.”

Ludger’s eyes clouded from my brusque words. “That’s not true,” he answered bitterly.

I suddenly felt like water filled my lungs. …Ah, right. There was no way he was soft.

After all, you deceived me, killed my sister, and destroyed my world. What’s the point of acting humble now? It’s not like I’d ever forgive you. You, whose job is to destroy other people’s worlds. I’ll never forgive—

“Ludger! I found cheap eggs!”

The icy tension between Ludger and I was broken by Elle’s innocent voice. She was running toward us holding a pack of eggs.

“Look! It’s only 20 gald for a pack of six!”

“Don’t run! It’s dangerous.”

Just when Ludger yelled that, Elle ran into a cart pushed by a middle-aged woman.

“Elle!!” I screamed.

Packs of food and vegetables fell on the floor in slow-motion.

 Fortunately, Elle’s only injuries were slightly scrapped knees. However, Ludger was forced to pay for the food that was ruined due to her carelessness.

“You’re really stupid!” I told Elle. Relief turned my worry into anger.

We were sitting on a bench on the place in front of the supermarket. Elle’s clothes were sticky with egg yolk, and she looked dejected. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. At least you didn’t get hurt,” Ludger replied, wiping her shirt with a towel. He was being soft again.

Dude, that’s not how… Wait, why am I feeling so shaken?

“But you learned a lesson, didn’t you? Be more aware of your surroundings next time.”

“…Okay.”

I gasped.

Sparks ignited through my head. This was just like… just like the words of my sister when she protected me from Exodus fifteen years ago.

“You learned a lesson, didn’t you? You have to be more careful, Milla.”

“But… Muzét… Your eyes…”

Stop! Is this a joke!? It’s just eggs! Muzét lost her light because of that injury! That’s why she started hating me and she…

She…

“Unfortunately, the omelette will have to wait. …I’m broke.”

“You need to work, right? I’ll help!”

Like mirrors, the two smiled at each other.

“It’s not funny! Think of how it’d feel to be destroyed for some omelette!” Before I knew it, I had started screaming. “Destroying worlds! That’s what you mean by ‘work’!!”

“W-What’s wrong, Milla?” Elle asked in a shaky voice.

When I came to my senses, I was running through the streets aimlessly. There was nowhere I could go in this spyrix-infested world. My chest felt like it was going to burst open, but I couldn’t stop running.

 I knew what they were going through. I didn’t want to understand, but I did.

I kept screaming in my mind, and after running around for a while, I ended up at the park in front of Ludger’s apartment building. There was a long shadow basked in sunset. It looked silly, trembling along my unsteady breathing.

“Well, of course. It’s my shadow after all.”

I felt so tired… I sat down on a see-saw.

“In the end, there’s nowhere I can go…”

I sat alone in a city of steel and stone and spyrix.

An unknown city. Unknown people. An unknown world. The only thing that felt real was the warmth of my knees as I hugged them to my chest.

The shadow at my feet smiled faintly. “Haven’t you always been alone?” it said.

Back in Nia Khera, I knew the believers’ faces, but not their names. I didn’t know anything—not the meaning of my mission nor the true shape of the world. I didn’t know anything, did I?

“…No!”

I had a sister. A kind sister.

The shadow swayed eerily and whispered. “But that Muzét died because of you.”

No!

“Because you betrayed her.”

No!

“You killed her.”

No!

“She died hating you.”

No, no, no!!

I gasped. The shadow swirled and from its center came out my sister’s silhouette. I held my breath. Blood oozed from her mouth. A lance was sticking out from her chest and she glared at me, screaming…

“Milla!”

Something warm appeared by my side suddenly and called my name.

I raised my head and saw my red-eyed reflection in wide turquoise eyes. Elle’s face was so close I was startled. She looked like she wanted to say something but didn’t know how to word it. What a silly face. Heh heh heh… It’s funny how her feelings showed on her face, clear as day.

The moment I let out a breath, Elle jumped into my arms and hugged me. Just like that time when my world shattered.

“Don’t worry me like that! I thought you disappeared for good!”

Why was she angry? It didn’t make any sense. But…

“…I’m sorry.” I found myself apologizing, though I did not know what for.

The piece of board holding me and Elle creaked and lifted us in the air.

“Uwah!” Elle squealed excitedly, clinging to me.

On the other side of the see-saw were Ludger and Rollo. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t know how to word it. Pfft, peas in a pod, those two.

“Milla, the see-saw!” Elle adjusted her posture in my lap and rocked her body.

How complacent. The shadow sneered again. Playing with those who robbed you of—Yes, you’re right. I know that, painfully. But… Still…

“You know, that’s the first time I ride a see-saw!” Elle exclaimed.

My reflection in her turquoise eyes smiled.

I started rocking the see-saw vigorously, stomping on the shadow with all my force.

“Me too, actually!”

The world swayed, Elle laughed.

Ludger started humming a funny song following the rhythm of the see-saw going up and down. Elle joined him. How carefree, Mr. world-destroying agent. But that song felt nostalgic, as though I had heard it before… Should I start humming too? Only if I feel like it.

Ludger and Rollo. Elle and I. Back and forth. Up and down. The “world” riding on a see-saw in the corner of a city colored in dusk did indeed seem balanced.

 Extract from Spirius Corporation archives

Name: Ludger Will Kresnik

Address: Frères Apartments, Room 302, Trigleph

Date of birth: Primia 4285

Home situation: Foundling. Deposited at Zorya General Hospital, Trigleph. Family register and parents’ names unknown. Raised in Rodo Private Orphanage. Adopted in Primia 4290. Dependent of Julius Will Kresnik (foster brother).

Information compiled by: Julius Will Kresnik, Examiner

* P.S.: Evidence of tampering with the above data was found. Permission to investigate granted.

Signed, Vera Lou Leshy CEO’s Secretary