Curtain Call
"This place..."
The small seaside village where Lucia and Silvia were born. Min-su could tell this was the starting village he'd seen in the illusion beyond Silvia's memories.
The golden light of the sunset reflecting off the sea. The harmony of seagull cries and crashing waves. The faint, briny scent of the ocean wafting through it all. Even the cool breeze tickling the skin. This village's scenery made anyone who beheld it set aside their anxieties and worries. A place that filled the void with nostalgia for a happy past.
...So this is it.
The music Lucia and Silvia had created together. The song the two sisters made to erase the continent's discord and bring peace to all—it captured this very scenery in sound. Because to those two girls, this was the most peaceful, most longed-for place they'd ever known.
This landscape, born from all those elements blending together, was truly...
"Beautiful, isn't it."
"Yes..."
It was so breathtaking they couldn't even find words to continue.
"...I'm glad."
Silvia, the sunset at her back.
"That I could at least show this scenery to you in the end."
Her silver hair fluttered in the sea breeze. Silvia's figure was as radiant as the backdrop itself, but Min-su's expression hardened at her words.
"The end... what do you mean?"
"It was a fate that should have ended in death. But the Tower revived me to use as a pawn. Handing me the ridiculous rank of constellation."
She perched on the stone railing.
"I couldn't just rejoice at being alive. I had no idea what became of Lucia after my death, or if our lifelong wish had come true. So I resolved to fulfill our dream here on Earth."
A world with pains no less than—no, perhaps even greater than—the continent where Lucia and Silvia had lived. Silvia wanted to share Lucia's music with them.
"I had no clue the Tower was such a vicious thing."
"Silvia..."
"...If not for you, our sisters' dream would have been trampled and defiled by the Tower. Min-su, thank you. For saving me... and for saving Lucia's dream."
"It was just what I had to do. More importantly..."
Silvia's fading form was now transparently faint, obvious even at a glance.
"Looks like the time left isn't much."
"Time left..."
"Thanks to you, I escaped the Tower's curse. Now I'm simply vanishing as nature intended. Don't grieve. I'm finally gaining the rest I could never have."
"..."
"It's just a shame I won't know what became of Lucia."
Lucia...? Min-su tilted his head. Lucia had clearly...
"You and Lucia's dream... it succeeded."
"...What?"
"I'm sure of it. I saw it with my own eyes."
In the illusions of the mental realm as he searched for Silvia, Min-su had witnessed the events after her death. Lucia brought peace to the continent with the song they'd made together. No more wars from religion or other conflicts—Silvia lived on in history as the Saint of Peace. They enjoyed that peace until the world perished and was absorbed by the Tower after Lucia's death. It had delayed the inevitable doom by nearly a century.
"I see... That girl Lucia. She did it."
Silvia's eyes glistened with emotion. She beamed at Min-su.
"Thank you, Min-su. You saved me right up to the last moment."
With the brightest of smiles.
"...Oh dear. Because of you, I've gone and formed a new attachment to this world. Ahh, I want to repay you somehow."
The Golden Melody dwelled within Min-su, infused with divinity.
"This is my final gift."
"W-Wait a second!"
"I wish for your happiness, my one and only duet partner."
Silvia smiled radiantly at Min-su, the golden sea behind her. Whoosh! Just as his hand reached for her blurring form, she scattered into motes of light. At that instant, the brilliant star of the Golden Melody Performer winked out from the heavens.
"..."
Min-su's outstretched hand clenched into a fist and dropped.
Did I... fail to save her?
Why?
I destroyed that evil monster. So why is she disappearing?
The melody she'd left behind echoed within him. Leaving an unforgettable masterpiece and vanishing like that. Unfair.
Next time.
In the crumbling mental world, Min-su vowed firmly. He wouldn't let go again. He wouldn't lose anyone again.
"You did great, Min-su!"
Back in reality, Rijette greeted him with a beaming smile.
"Constellation? What about the situation..."
Glancing around, Min-su confirmed the chicken shop patrons—who'd been unconscious—now chattered boisterously, back to normal as if nothing had happened.
"It's all resolved! All thanks to you, Min-su!"
"Our junior is seriously incredible? This is an achievement no S-rank player could pull off!"
Only then did it sink in for Min-su: everything was truly over. The Tower-twisted music was gone; all was restored. Back to peaceful everyday life.
Though Silvia was absent from it.
"Constellation. By chance, is Silvia..."
That's when a sobbing girl in the corner caught his eye.
"That's..."
Rijette trailed off. She'd seen the star vanish from the heavens too. She didn't love that a constellation had enchanted her precious apostle, but erasure was a different story.
As they hesitated to speak—
♬ ♪ ♬ ♩
Song notes drifted in.
"This song...!"
Yu-bin lifted her tear-streaked face.
An unforgettable song. One she never wanted to forget. The melody of the golden beach, a song of peace. The original Silvia had sung at karaoke—her constellation's final legacy. The tune that soothed every listener was more than enough to heal her heart.
-[Golden Melody Performer] asks your name.
"...Yu-bin."
-[Golden Melody Performer] wonders why you like that song.
"No need to know..."
-[Golden Melody Performer] wiggles her eyebrows, asking if you want to learn how to play it.
"Ah, no need to teach me!"
-[Golden Melody Performer] bursts out laughing at the crack in your singing.
"Don't laugh, you jerk!"
-[Golden Melody Performer] says that someday, we must part.
"What nonsense is that all of a sudden."
"..."
It hadn't been long, but during her lonely runaway days, that constellation had been her companion. Memories with her constellation flashed by in a rush.
Beyond them, the song continued. As if her constellation spoke through it: that being together had been fun, to be happy.
"...Hmph."
Yu-bin wiped her tears on her sleeve and stood.
"I'll make it on my own power! Don't regret it then!"
The apostle who'd lost her constellation thrust her fist toward the sky.
"You sure you'll be okay alone?"
"Doesn't matter. I've always been alone anyway."
Worried as he was, Min-su couldn't stop Yu-bin from going solo. Her constellation might be gone, but dragging her home wasn't an option. And healed by Silvia and Lucia's song, she was no longer a grief-stricken girl. There stood a resolute young woman, off to tie up unfinished business from her past.
Min-su headed home with Rijette and Idaine, a faint unease lingering.
In the end, didn't get to eat the chicken properly.
No way to chow down on the leftovers in that mood. Thus, Min-su's first outing with his two goddesses fizzled out awkwardly.
"You did well, Min-su. So it's not your fault."
"Don't sweat it. Junior nailed it perfectly. It was unavoidable."
"...Thanks, both of you."
The goddesses comforted him, but the nagging discomfort in his chest wouldn't budge. He'd given his all, yet failed to save her.
Min-su pressed a hand to his chest. He felt the golden melody surging within. Silvia's final divinity.
Her mission, thwarted by the Tower's meddling. Min-su resolved to see it through in her stead.
Hoping everyone could find peace in that song, he opened the door to home.
He opened his bedroom door to shed his outer clothes and flicked on the light—then froze.
"...Huh?"
His bed held someone sleeping in the nude.
"Mmm... smack smack..."
A silver-haired goddess deep in slumber, lips smacking contentedly. The Golden Melody Performer, Silvia, lay there.