Even before confirming the other person's identity, an awkward sense of anticipation had persisted until the concert began. As the fans stopped their commotion in the audience seats, the sound system inside the venue began to blast spirited warm-up music, and the atmosphere around started to gradually heat up.
Amid this heated atmosphere, Emerald Sparrow's heart too began to race.
Whether the other person was who she thought, the answer was now within reach.
If not, she could certainly breathe a sigh of relief, but she would probably feel embarrassed for being somewhat presumptuous; yet, if it were so, just the fact that the person appeared on this stage would reveal a lot.
After many years of not returning to Fangting City, even absent at An Ya's funeral, Asou Haruka's flamboyant return here probably meant she would come looking for her.
After all, their relationship was that of old teammates, not enemies. From all logical perspectives, there was no reason for Asou Haruka not to see her.
And when it finally came to the actual meeting...
At this thought, Emerald Sparrow's mind wandered, until the music on stage gradually subsided, the character projections on the large screen behind began to roll, and the surrounding fans started to cheer wildly—it dawned on her that the main event was about to start.
With the rhythmical beats and shouting, she felt her own heart pounding in sync. Holding her breath, she focused intently on the stage. Although her seat wasn't particularly close, at that moment, Emerald Sparrow felt as if there were only herself and the stage left in the venue, waiting for the performer to step forward.
"Mari!" "Mari!" "Mari!"
The calls from the fans grew stronger, as the music through the speakers turned more complex and forceful, with more voices joining in sequence, a multitude of instruments adding to the performance, and then, the musicians' names started scrolling on the big screen.
Guitarist, drummer, bassist, keyboardist, woodwind, string... one name after another flashed before everyone's eyes. As the pace quickened, the list scrolled faster, with the cries from the audience growing louder and resembling the roar of a tidal wave, pulling everyone into a frenetic sea of celebration.
Eventually, after the list of all the musicians was displayed, only one large, white name was left solitary on the screen, and those short characters triggered the loudest cheers.
Following the name was the title of the opening song, "Lonely Meet."
The music took a swift turn, seamlessly transitioning into the intro of the song, and then, within the sound of the intro, a somewhat tall figure appeared on stage out of nowhere.
An extravagant performance dress, slightly flamboyant makeup, yet what couldn't be concealed was the singer's beautiful orange hair and those pairs of red eyes.
They were eyes that seemed to speak, deep with melancholy, and within the melancholy, it seemed like countless secrets were buried. Just one glance would intoxicate someone with the feeling of being sucked into a whirlpool.
The owner of those eyes walked to the front of the stage with a confident smile, waving to the fans below, and then, as the intro ended, she effortlessly lifted the microphone, her clear voice blossoming with cheers in the venue.
As for what she was singing, Emerald Sparrow was no longer paying attention.
Because, her objective had been achieved. Just by seeing those familiar eyes, she could confirm that the person on stage was without a doubt the one she had imagined. Even the image on stage could be described with another name—Margaret.
The person appeared without any regard, directly using her true form on stage.
Although her current image differed from what Emerald Sparrow remembered, and she looked not like the middle schooler she was when she first became a bud-level Magical Girl, but rather like an adult, or to be specific, a college student, it did not mean Emerald Sparrow was mistaken. In fact, this had to do with the process of Magical Girls joining the Magic Kingdom.
All Magical Girls who joined the Magic Kingdom faced the procedure of elevating their avatars into their essences. During this process, Magical Girls could adjust their avatars' images to a certain degree to better match their current age.
As a result, not all Magical Girls in the Magic Kingdom looked like "girls"; there were even those who appeared to be young women or even matronly figures. Clearly, Margaret was among them.
It was also because the upgraded avatar differed from the original that Emerald Sparrow could not confirm her identity when searching for pictures on the internet. Perhaps this was why she boldly used her true form as her real stage image.
While this image did not exactly match her memory, it awakened Emerald Sparrow's buried recollections in another way, because it was incredibly close to Margaret's appearance when she left.
At that time, Lin Yun no longer saw her often. The hurried glimpses back then could not overwrite the impressions left over the years.
When she left Fangting City, she seemed to be in her mid-twenties; it was two years after Lin Yun and An Ya got married, and Lin Xiaolu was just over a year old.
Unlike Hong Siyu, who left without a word, Asou Haruka announced her departure calmly to a few of her teammates and had An Ya relay the message to Lin Yun, thus settling the matter.