She took a deep breath, shoving down the fear and unease rising in her chest.
“I… have also grasped power far beyond what I had before.”
Her hand shot out, grabbing Faye’s, squeezing tight. As if by proving her strength, she could anchor her here, keep her from vanishing. As if holding on tight enough, she could make Faye see.
“I now have the power to protect this home, and the power… to protect you, Sis.”
She fought back the tears, but they were already there, brimming in her eyes, making the dim light shimmer with a fragile, trembling glow. She forced herself to keep that familiar, bright smile, the one that seemed to be able to dispel all haze.
She smiled through the glint of tears. Showing off the treasures she'd fought so hard to build.
It wasn't a demand to stay.
It was more like a child who had finally found her own treasure, eagerly showing it off to the person closest to her. Hoping for a word of praise, a confirmation of her worth, hoping she would stay just to share in this hard-won joy.
“Stay with me, Sis. Together, okay?”
Faye just looked at Pandora. Looked at her eyes, which held back tears yet still strained to smile. Looked at that hope of hers, which was both strong and fragile, a contradiction, yet pure.
Suddenly, she fell silent.
No one knew, in this moment, what thoughts passed through Faye’s mind, as vast as the ancient starry sky.
But, for that one instant, the gentle, mysterious disguise known as “Faye” and her true self, that cold ego worn smooth by endless time and power, overlapped for just a fraction of a second.
However, that instant was too short.
So short that Pandora, a newly-broken-through second-rank Wizard whose mental power had just undergone a transformation, failed to perceive it.
By the time she registered her sister’s momentary daze, Faye was just Faye again.
Her perfect face was once again covered by a perfect expression. Of self-blame. Of sorrow. Of worry. And of… a heartbreakingly firm resolve.
Pandora understood. Of course, she understood.
This time was no different from any other time in her memory. She didn’t feel the sting of disappointment. Faye had come to this world. Nothing could compare to that. This was, to date, the best news she had ever heard.
She believed that this meeting would, in the future, absolutely not be the last time.
As long as she continued to work hard, to become stronger, to grasp even greater power, she could definitely make “that day”… a reality.
Pandora, slowly, released her grip. A grip that was reluctant, but decisive.
Faye, as if she felt it, was silent for a moment. As if drawing a period at the end of this brief reunion.
Then, that ice-melting, gentle smile returned.
She pulled a card from who-knows-where. It was exquisitely ornate, dazzling to the eye at a mere glance. The card was made of an unknown, iridescent metal. The complex patterns on it, which seemed to flow as if alive, glowed slowly in the last light of the sunset.
She pressed it into Pandora’s hand, and it carried a peculiar, unique coolness.
“After you reach the Academy, if you can’t find a mentor you like, you can use this card to find me.”
Faye’s voice held a solemnity she had never before shown.
“I can give you a future.”
“This future might not be the ‘strongest,’ or even the one that can go the ‘farthest,’ but it will absolutely be the ‘most unique.’ The one that is… most suitable for you.”
She stressed it again, her deep eyes locking onto Pandora, as if wanting to brand these words directly onto her soul.
“Do not ever forget. Come find me when you need to.”
Pandora nodded seriously, but only glanced at the card before tucking it into her pocket. The most prominent thing on it was a name—“Amanda Adam”—and the prefix “Six,” written in an odd script before the words “Demon Hunter.”
Pandora didn't pay it much mind.
Every minute, every second with Faye was too precious. In her mind, one more look at Faye was far more important than looking at a cold card she could check at any time.
“Alright. I must be going now.” Faye’s voice was as soft as a feather, but it landed like a stone on Pandora’s heart.
“Can’t you stay a little longer? Even… even for dinner?” Pandora made one last, futile attempt. She suddenly became a bit of a “chatter-box,” a side of herself she had never shown in front of anyone else.
The words tumbled out, a desperate, silly stream describing what a sumptuous dinner she could make with the few supplies left, even insincerely, exaggeratedly praising Betty’s culinary skills, which were in truth just “enough to fill the stomach.”
She did all of it just to make her stay. Even for another minute. Even for one more hour.
She had never thought she would be so… uncharacteristically soft-spoken.
But, seeing that unchanging, crushingly gentle smile on Faye’s face, Pandora, slowly, stopped talking.
She knew.
Her sister was about to leave.
“When you have time… look at the moon more often.” Faye’s voice held a distant, sigh-like lament, as if from another world.
“‘She’… is very beautiful.”
Pandora’s mind raced. The red moon? Was the red moon beautiful, so she should look at it more? She subconsciously nodded, committing this strange instruction to her heart.
Finally, she used a tone that was almost pleading: “If you run into any trouble, you must tell me… Perhaps, I can think of a solution.”
Faye smiled. But whatever her true feelings were, reflected in the identity of “Faye,” they were a perfect match. She was the one who would always tolerate everything her little sister did.
She smiled, and nodded.
However, she took a step back.
The last rays of the sunset, as rich and red as blood, fell completely upon her.
In that trance-like moment, her figure seemed to melt into the sky itself, vanishing from sight.
Only a light, floating phrase was left behind, echoing in the empty corridor.
“When you have time… look at the red moon more…”
………………
Silence. A long time passed.
Pandora only then slowly roused herself from that feeling of hollowness, of being emptied, that came with her sister’s complete departure.
She was just about to reach into her pocket to pull out that card she had so casually tucked away, wanting one more look at what her sister had left her.
But, her fingers, the moment they brushed against the cold, metallic surface of the card—
She froze.
A sudden, bone-deep stillness.