A countless number of pieces began fitting together inside his head, but the mystery was still far too vast. Even after learning fragments of the stories surrounding the protagonists of the Mystery of Cinder, he still knew almost nothing.

Morgan, Arthur’s older brother, had turned out to be the Master of Cinder. Or at least, that was what the black armor implied.

’What the hell? Why was that so much information all at once?! Arthur and Cinder’s memories were mixing together!’

He was bewildered. His emotional numbness wasn’t working anymore. Everything spun around in his head like a tornado of nonsense that, ironically enough, started making sense the moment he stopped to think about it.

’There was also the village that brought us to Axorhibis... the dragon... the Fairy Oracle, the corpse of the Time God.’

It felt like one of those games where you collect bits of lore and slowly piece the story together through the events of the game itself. But there were still way too many missing clues!

Mitsuki took some time to process everything. He sat down on the ground with his back against the wall and closed his eyes. He breathed deeply while his heartbeat gradually steadied itself, and once he felt calm enough, he opened his eyes and looked back on the memories.

’There are too many things connected to each other, and I’m sure I’ll uncover more as I move forward. For now, I know part of the story, but I’m still far from reaching the end of all this...’

The next pieces were hidden within the two remaining kingdoms, and to reach them, he needed to prepare himself.

He stood up and looked at the sunny sky. Beside him stood an ash shadow staring directly at him. In fact, the shadow glanced at the vomit on the ground and made a disgusted face.

"Be as disgusted as you want. I’m the one who’s alive, after all." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Offended, the shadow crossed its arms, but Mitsuki pulled out the shotgun and killed it on the spot. The scorching flames illuminated the rest of the alley, causing the other shadows hiding nearby to flee in terror.

"Seriously, I have way too much to think about, and the day has barely started."

After that, he walked silently through the city. One hand in his pocket, he allowed himself to appreciate the ruins of this place one last time.

He continued wandering for the next several minutes, because he had nothing else to do aside from thinking about the memories that assaulted him during the night.

He tried connecting everything he saw with those memories. Then he remembered all the ash knights guarding the streets. He thought about them as the hundreds of knights that appeared throughout Cinderella’s memories.

Some felt familiar. Others, not so much.

Before long, he found himself back at the cathedral they had first arrived through. He entered again as if it were his own home and sat on a piece of rubble near the transportation circle.

For a few brief moments, more memories interfered with reality, this time like small flashes appearing and disappearing so quickly that it was difficult to keep his focus steady.

’All of this... destroyed by something no one understands...’

The sound of a falling stone distracted him. He turned toward the entrance. Jeanne was standing there.

"So this is where you were. And in the exact place I’d expect."

"Jeanne. What’s going on?"

She smiled.

"Well, we’re already preparing to leave. It’s time to get out of this place before someone decides to come through here and sees us. I don’t think you want the others discovering who you are. We’ve managed to keep it a secret from Marco and his friends for now, but they probably already suspect something."

"After everything I’ve done in front of them, I’d be surprised if they didn’t. But you’re right. Are we leaving through the magic circle?"

Jeanne nodded.

"Ellegaard and the others should be here soon. Want to talk about something while we wait?"

"Please. I feel like my brain’s about to explode."

Taking a seat beside Mitsuki, Jeanne looked at the magic circle, which sat dormant with glowing engravings carved into the stone.

"Well, you ran off the moment you woke up. Ellegaard thought you were trying to escape her training, so she insulted you quite a lot."

"That sounds like her, I guess. There’s no stopping her, and I think I’m starting to get used to it."

"I don’t think that’s a good thing, but alright. What matters is how you feel right now."

"How I feel? I think I can already tell my emotions are coming back, but the difference is still very small."

"You’re making progress. Once your emotions fully return, let’s continue that conversation from before everything got complicated."

"That conversation? You mean before we ran into Galahad?"

"Yes. I want the real Mitsuki to answer me."

"Oh, well... I am still the real Mitsuki. Though... you just want to tease me, don’t you?"

Jeanne laughed like the spoiled princess she was.

"Of course I do. But there’s more to it than that, don’t you think? At least, that’s what I’ve come to realize during all this time."

"...Hmm. I can understand that in a way."

’This princess is insane, there’s no doubt about that, but there’s something about her that’s simply captivating.’

That authentic personality of hers was the complete opposite of what Mitsuki Kirishima had always been used to.

’I think emotions are really important in moments like these.’

Emotions are important in every moment. They shouldn’t be rejected, but embraced as part of oneself, because they’re what we are; they’re all we can be. And that’s not a bad thing. It’s beautiful.

Those emotions will make us suffer and make us laugh, but they’re proof that we’re truly alive.

Mitsuki, his broken soul, his lack of emotions...

That isn’t Mitsuki, even though it is Mitsuki...

A few seconds of silence passed. That silence was interrupted by Ellegaard’s usual insults as she argued with Marco. The others accompanied them, all looking uncomfortable in the middle of the argument.

They were ready to leave.

"Just shut your mouth, you stupid dog," Ellegaard said as she stepped onto the magic circle. "Now then, if you don’t want to get left behind, get inside the circle or die here alone. Though I honestly wouldn’t mind if this pathetic dog stayed behind."

"I seriously can’t understand how someone can be as unbearable as you, disgusting noble," Marco muttered.

Monar stepped onto the circle alongside the others. Marco nearly stayed outside, but reluctantly gave in and entered as well.

Then Ellegaard summoned her magic staff and struck the ground with it.

The magic circle lit up. Azel and Marco stared at the light with expressions of surprise.

The next instant, everyone vanished.