A few hours before the Nebula ruptured the cocoon, a clandestine bargain unfolded between two individuals.
"It won't work?"
"No, it won't. The method they're relying on mirrors the principle behind Veil's portal. The difference is that they're restricted to transmitting only information into the past. It's convenient, since authority levels can be transferred that way, but it won't sustain anything in the long term."
"But they'd still manage to reach it…"
"To the date, yes. But everything that follows would collapse almost immediately. Consider it, if a Shadowbeast attempted to breach the foils and enter Earth, do you honestly believe it would get very far?"
"No… I'm assuming there are far stronger officers who could stop it."
"'That' Rita severely underestimates the 56th. Regardless of their intentions, they'd be annihilated in moments. And then there's the matter of how they intend to handle Artoria. Even if she survived the encounter, the outcome clearly wasn't to her liking, so Rita intends to kill the warrior as well."
"It did seem that way. I was never given any option except to confront her directly."
"No offense, but no amount of simple effort or time would ever be enough to bring down an Apostle's servant. She should know that, yet it appears she isn't thinking clearly."
"..."
"Are you feeling guilty about it?"
"I just… I don't think it's fair. Rita's going too far, all because that thing is deceiving her. She really needs to know."
"You still don't understand, Blue. I told you I wouldn't let you help her if you planned to reveal the truth. It has to be her decision, to apologize, and to turn back."
"But that only makes things harder for us! We can deal with everything else afterward–"
"How long do you think we'd last if we pretend everything is fine just to make our problems disappear conveniently?!"
"..."
"You call Rita your friend, but if you simply move on the moment she shows regret, you wouldn't be bringing back the one we lost. You'd only be bringing back someone who stopped hurting you because it no longer benefits her. I refuse to accept that."
"That's…"
"You don't believe it's possible, do you? And you know she'll be severely punished no matter what she chooses now. Is that what's making you hesitate?"
"Captain, you said you'd consider my opinion."
"I did. And since you're the one who suffered the most from this, I'm doing everything I can to not pass judgment prematurely. But this issue has grown beyond just us. A contract with evil is unforgivable when measured against our sworn values."
"We're still isolated within this boundary, aren't we? I understand your point, but I'm willing to do anything… if you could just protect her. I'll bear her crimes alongside her, whatever comes."
"..."
"Please…"
"I complain endlessly about Tyson's stubbornness toward me, but he's nothing compared to you. Just understand this, if you fail to uphold what you're promising, I'll intervene myself. And keep in mind, I don't know how to be lenient."
"That's more than enough."
…
By the time Blue reached Rita, the girl's resolve had already solidified.
"Nothing? I've been wanting to let that joke out this whole time."
Rita didn't turn to acknowledge her. She remained curled in on herself, distant and withdrawn.
The hair ties that once held her twin tails aloft were gone, leaving her long platinum hair cascading freely, veiling her expression entirely.
"Why did you have to kill her? She was all I had left."
"I suppose that's one way to phrase it. It's no skin off my back either way. Whitney was already gone. She accepted that, so it's about time you did too."
Blue merely shrugged at the accusation before attempting to pull the girl up by her arms.
Her hands were slapped away almost instantly.
"It doesn't matter!" Rita burst out. "I don't care if she accepts it, I can't! I just need her back. If there's even a chance, I'm willing to do anything!"
"Do you hear yourself? The 'impartation' that pushed you this far is gone. Everything you're saying now is pure selfishness. Even ignoring Whitney's wishes, you haven't considered how attempting something like this would affect the world around you. Or whether that thing ever had your best interests in mind."
"Then what would you do?!" Rita demanded, finally turning her head toward Blue. "If you lost the person you cared about most, would you just let it go! Would you give up if you knew there was a chance to make it as if it never happened!"
'But you can't.'
Blue wanted to say it, but the terms of her deal with Cosmo sealed her tongue.
"Wow… you've made this way too difficult, Captain," she muttered, turning around and sitting back-to-back with Rita.
"Sure, you have a point," she began. "If something happened to Red, I'd probably go just as far, no matter what. I know that much."
"..."
"But I also know that if I went down that path, someone who cared about me even a fraction as much as I care about you would try their hardest to drag me back. They'd call me an idiot, maybe smack me upside the head for being so annoying. Then we'd go home together and call it a day. A very… very unforgettable day."
Rita had no response.
It was an offer far too absurd, far too undeserved.
After all, even if she wished for it, this wasn't something they could ever sweep under the rug.
Surely the others agreed. Especially their silver leader. He would undoubtedly get rid of her the first chance he had.
As far as she could tell, Blue was indulging in her own wishful fantasy when she should have been the one holding the most disdain.
"Why?"
"Hm?"
"After what I did to you, why would you forgive me so easily?"
"Ah… don't get me wrong. I'm still peeved about it," Blue corrected. "In fact, I plan to pay you back double. But that's only after we get you out of here. And the Captain might have a few choice words–"
"I already told you I can't turn back. What do you want from me? I won't do what any of you want anymore… I can't be who you want anymore…"
"Eh? Since when have you ever been that convenient a person?"
"What?"
"..."
"..."
Blue sighed.
"I hate to break it to you, Rita, but you've been really annoying to deal with."
"Why do you keep saying that!"
"What do you mean, why?! Have you not realized how much of a pain you are?!" Blue rubbed her face with both palms in exasperation. "For crying out loud, we came all the way here, and everyone's out there stalling with everything they've got until you get your sh*t together and come back, and you think it's only because we want something from you!"
"I didn't ask you to do that!"
"You didn't have to. It's just what friends do."
"That's not fair. How can I even think of myself as a friend after all this?"
"Were we never friends then?" Blue asked softly. "Did you stay with us only because you wanted something from us?"
Rita flinched at the words.
If she wanted to lie, she would have failed miserably. Her heart was already spilling truths she didn't know she carried.
"I don't know… but I got things I didn't think I ever needed," she murmured.
"I was happy when she said you liked my hair. I was happy when everyone worried about a stranger like me."
Her heart sang.
"I was frustrated when I lost to Argenta. It made me wish, for the first time, that I was stronger."
She confessed.
"I liked it when you treated me like a little sister, and how everyone ignored me whenever I said I didn't want help. When Argenta wouldn't stop talking to me, it was annoying… but it made me really happy."
She admitted.
"And even after I did something so selfish…" Her hands covered her face, hiding the expression that followed, "You all still risked your lives and came to help me…"
Her voice broke again, tears spilling freely.
"I hate myself… for being so happy right now."
"Rita… you're really a crybaby, aren't you?" Blue mocked, trying and failing, to mask her own tears. "It still isn't too late, Rita. You want this all to end, don't you?"
"Unfortunately, you couldn't be further from the truth."
The voice answered her.
It came from Rita, yet Blue knew instantly she would be mistaken if she assumed it belonged to the girl sitting behind her.
Blue's gaze lifted and met the eyes of a woman.
Pale, colorless eyes. Long platinum hair cascading far past her waist. A black lace dress that clung to her like a shadow. And an aura that reflected a heart long hardened.
She stepped forward, and Blue rose to meet her.
"It's you," Blue said, studying the woman before her. "Captain warned me not to try talking to you at all."
"..."
"That you're probably a vindictive, mean girl who can't be reasoned with," she continued. "But now that I'm looking at you, I don't think he was completely right. Your eyes look more sad than angry."
"I truly do not care what you have to say to me. But you should know this–leaving your body behind to enter here has sealed your inevitable end," the woman replied at last. "A shame, really. I would have liked your babbling to be proven false before your very eyes."
Her gaze shifted to Rita.
"Then again, I suppose it wouldn't have mattered. We will rewrite the events that led to our meeting. The result of my past incompetence."
Blue instinctively stepped in front of Rita, shielding her from the scorn burning in the woman's expression.
"I still don't really get everything that's going on, but how is that fair at all?" Blue demanded. "You keep acting like Rita didn't do everything she could."
"If she did, then why was there hardly any hesitation when our will reached her?"
"That doesn't matter," Blue shot back. "She was vulnerable. And you were perfectly fine taking advantage of that because you're still the same way, aren't you? That's why you sacrificed so much to get here."
"What do you know about–"
"I can tell you're supposed to be far stronger just by looking at you. And yet, the way you are now? I don't think I'd lose to you. Your spirit's so dim I doubt you even remember who you are anymore."
The woman's expression tightened into a scowl before she delivered her final warning. Not to Blue, but to the girl behind her.
"You have wavered enough. We do not need the weakness you carry. Therefore, our contract is null."
For the first time, Rita lifted her head to face the woman.
"T… that wasn't the deal."
"The arrangement was simple. We would relinquish control to you, and you would open our path back to that ocean. To ease your troublesome conscience, we requested only the silver one as collateral, none else. Yet you failed us at the final crossroad."
Blue turned sharply to Rita, bewildered.
"Rita, what is she talking about?"
Rita didn't answer immediately. She didn't even look at her.
She only glared at the woman for a long, trembling moment before finally speaking.
"They intend to let everyone die."