The bottom of Athen's shoes shining a dark blue, nearing on purple, Anna hugged Carissa tightly, then kicked her leg up into the air, making it perpendicular to the ground.

The movement itself was easy, but grasping the concept was nearly impossible.

In the next moment, the line stretching from Carissa's shoes to the ground flickered, and another line appeared: another possibility.

There was a sharp corner, like that of an absolute value graph; the line bounced up from the ground and straight up into the sky.

Athen's ocean-blue eyes pupils widened as Anna then kicked the right foot back, so that it was perpendicular to the ground, the tip of her shoe facing the ground.

Suddenly, at that moment, as if it were fate, as Athen's right foot came to a halt, Carissa's pure white pupils finally revealed themselves, her eyelid raising.

Anna immediatly screamed, Athen's highest-pitched voice coming out.

"HOLD ME!"

Then...it happened.

As if they were something concrete separating him from the ground, Athens' right shoe paused its fall, defying gravity.

It was only for a slight moment, but Anna instantly grasped it.

As if she were leaping off the ground, Anna pushed the right foot as hard as she could downward, at the invisible concrete, and leaped into the air.

Instantly, all the momentum that they had gained while falling for over twenty seconds...vanished.

Athen and Carissa went up, not down.

Then, like any other normal jump, the two of them...descended to the ground, like a feather falling from the sky, with no physical injuries.

As both their fleet planted on the ground, Carissa's pupils immediatly widened as she felt Athen's hands wrapped around her, but before she could do anything, his body went limp.

Unconscious, his blood veins in shambles due to the extreme amount of mana that had surged through them not even a moment ago, Athen's motionless body fell forward, right onto Carissa's stomach.

Carissa, unable to withstand his weight, instantly fell backward, and in a moment, the two of them toppled, Athen landing right atop Carissa's lying body, his face on her stomach.

"w-what the!?"

"w-where is everyone!?

With her head to the ground, she confusedly glanced around, trying to lift up Athen's head, but every time she did, it simply fell back on her chest.

However, at that moment, Carissa felt something else — a familiar texture, which shifted her attention away from Athen.

The paper.

In between her chest and Athen's face was a plain piece of index paper.

Not skipping a beat, she immediatly yanked the paper away and held it above her head, unable to get up due to Athen's weight and her lack of energy.

Memories constantly rushed through her head, images of her falling through the sky...with Athen, allowing her to piece together portions of the story.

Ever since the diary had been destroyed, about halfway through their descent, Carissa had been awoken, in a semi-conscious state, where she believed herself to be in a dream.

However, her head burning with pain, Carissa simply alternated gazes between the boy before her and the paper.

Athen's eyes and lips were sealed shut, his eyebrows raised with his arms still wrapped around her stomach.

The paper...was touching him.

Did she...put her soul in his?

Carissa wanted to hold the paper tight, stuff it in her pocket, and never let go...but how could she?

This was no longer her problem...if she didn't destroy the paper, the boy before her would also be harmed by her mother's actions.

And...he, he had saved her life: that much she could tell with the faint memories flooding through her head.

The fragment of Anna's soul left in the paper was weak enough that a simple rip...could destroy it.

Her two hands wobbling, she slowly stretched out the paper like a rubber band...until.

*SNAP*

The paper snapped in two.

A cloud of purple smoke immediatly appeared above Athens' head, where the paper had been ripped, had floated up into the sky, like a flare.

Propping herself up with her hand, leaning against a tree trunk, Cariss carefully scanned Athen's body.

Is...she gone?

...

...

...

As I lay in the void...for what could have been years at this point, accustomed to the constant feeling of pain, I bitterly smiled.

Since I was here...that meant my physical body had to be alive.

But what now?

Did Anna run away with my body?

When or even..Would I regain control?

At that moment, though, as if answering my question, a faint light appeared before me, like a star in the pitch-black sky.

I felt a sense...of a familiarity as the light floated downward, toward my motionless body.

I could tell...it was a piece of my soul.

Or rather, it had been.

As the source of light passed by my body, I rolled over and smiled, using the last of my strenght to wave.

Thanks, Anna.

In the end, she had done it, saved not just me but her daughter.

Maybe she wasn't as mature as I wrote her to be, but in the end, she had remembered herself, with the help of the future image I had shown her.

I wondered: would the adult version of Anna remember all of this when she was revived at the end?

Or would this memory be solely shared by her and me?

If so, I would have some things to explain.

Resembling a piece of slime, the last remnants of Anna's soul descended into the pitch-black abyss beneath me, slowly but surely fading.

Despite having known her for less than a week, I felt the most connected to her in this world: after all, both of us had two chances at life.

Feeling my bodily control return, I slowly swam upward, toward where the soul had come from, feeling each one of my senses return.

The breeze outside the world, the soft feeling of what seemed to be a pillow, and finally, the beautiful scent of the world.

I was back.

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