Side-Chapter 3: Fine and Fine (Another)

Inside the prison, Fine was still looking at the screen. The writing on it was undeniably hers, yet she had no memory of creating it. Then, she recalled Mei's mention of parallel worlds.

Even now, she couldn't argue with the letter's contents. It mentioned Mei's true identity, who he really was, and even the reason for the scar on his back.

"My other self in another world is rather naive," she thought.

As a researcher, she admitted she was losing to her parallel world counterpart. Yet, she couldn't deny the connection, seeing traces of her own past self. After all, she had known who Mei was from the first glance.

"To think he was the son of me and Enki in a parallel world."

When she managed to translate the words, she was confused. But after watching Mei fight, she saw traces of Enki in his style, while also recognizing her own younger, foolish self before she met Enki.

She lightly described her younger self as hot-headed, often picking fights with everyone. That changed upon meeting Enki. In fact, love was blind; she was so blinded that she didn't even see Enki's true motives until she felt betrayed.

What was more pitiable was that Mei didn't even notice the truth hidden within her relic, cleverly concealed within her body, or what was happening to her.

Because she used the power of the Aegis relic, which shielded others, she managed to shield Mei's true body, which was female. However, a side effect of the relic transformed Mei into a man. They didn't know if it was a backlash, but Mei forgot most of her childhood memories.

In fact, what was more surprising was that the relic was a combination of two relics into one, which was the whole reason why Mei's output clearly outclassed the other girls as Fine could clearly see that her other self really doting on her to make sure no harm came for her in anyway.

But ironically, this made them a target. In the end, to keep her safe, they sent her to another world using Gjallarhorn. They had noticed a group from another parallel world, calling themselves Skuld, aiming to take their daughter, as she was the first complete fusion of Human Relic.

So, to hide this when they send Mei to paralel world they put some security measure in it and the one who can open it was herself or rather her another self as the reason they think she was safe in her another self was because they think that if it Fine who love Enki then she will protect Mei at all cost.

When Fine read this, she giggled uncontrollably. She had never considered the possibility, however slim, of falling into the clutches of an evil version of herself. According to Mei, parallel worlds existed, making the chance of encountering an evil Fine low, but not nonexistent.

Then, remembering her time with Enki, Fine realized something: if she, while with Enki, could clearly see herself acting in such a way, she couldn't deny what her other self had done.

From the moment she first read the writing until now, she had always supported Mei from behind the scenes, even assisting her in ways Mei didn't realize. But a problem arose when the crystal cracked.

Examining it, Fine noticed a hidden message within the cracks, one that spoke of something even more dangerous.

The message warned that when the crystal completely broke, Mei's body might become unstable as the relic used that opportunity to repair itself. This was why Fine had repeatedly tried to warn Mei, knowing full well that Mei wouldn't listen. Fine then attempted to create an even more powerful replica to prevent Mei's crystal from breaking.

Just like Enki, who would do anything to protect those he cared about, Mei would do the same, especially for someone she clearly cared about. Fine continued her research and discovered a coded message by combining the first and second writings.

It mentioned a second relic used in the creation of the crystal and its purpose: the relic would regenerate itself, even if completely destroyed, as long as there was enough Phonic Gain. This revelation surprised Fine, as she now understood why they were being hunted.

The other relic was the Holy Grail, possessing healing powers. In fact, even if Mei were to die suddenly, she could resurrect herself as long as there was enough Phonic Gain. This made everything much clearer.

Even though Mei's relic was supposed to be the Aegis, which protects someone, it didn't necessarily mean it could heal them. Fine simply shook her head slowly, realizing this revelation a bit too late.

The final battle was broadcast worldwide, and even Fine witnessed Mei entering the portal. It was the first time Fine had ever felt true fear.

By then, she realized she had grown more attached to the girl than she initially thought, understanding that she was beginning to see her as her own daughter.

However, now wasn't the time to remain in prison. When she received the news that Mei had returned, she brute-forced her way out, ignoring Genjuro and the others. She immediately inspected Mamoru's body. At first, Tsubasa blocked her, trying to protect Mamoru, but when she saw Fine's face, she relented.

After thoroughly examining Mamoru, Fine sighed in relief. Nothing was wrong with his body; it was stable. However, she could clearly see that another, hidden relic was manifesting. Furthermore, the Aegis relic, which should have disappeared, was being repaired; she detected a tiny fragment of the relic within Mamoru's back.

After a successful examination, she called Genjuro in, preventing the others from entering.

"Genjuro, I have something important to tell you."

"What is it, Fine? As your former colleague, I'll hear you out."

"Mamoru is my son from another world."

"I see."

"Furthermore, my other self is clearly overprotective of him, as she made his relic more special than the others."

"What do you mean by that, Fine?"

"Mamoru's relic isn't just one; it's two relics combined into one, cleverly disguised. I'm sure that if anyone other than myself were to inspect it, they would only think it was an Aegis relic."

"I see. Do you know what the other relic is?"

"Yes. I even found something equivalent in this world, but it's a pity that relic was already gone before I awakened."

"It sounds like it was a powerful relic."

"To say that relic was powerful would be an understatement. In fact, it was for the best that it disappeared long ago, because its existence would certainly cause a world war."

"That dangerous? What relic is it? Since you've teased me this far, you should just tell me."

"Fufufufu, sorry, old habits die hard. But yes, I should tell you. The other relic is the Holy Grail."

"The Holy Grail? You mean the Holy Grail?"

"Yes, it's the Holy Grail from the legend of Arthur. But it wasn't omnipotent like the original. Still, its power was strong, as it possessed the property of healing."

"Healing? That makes sense as to how Mamoru managed to heal others, even though his relic should be Aegis, which is a shield."

"Fufufufu, yes. In fact, it was cleverly hidden so that many would think it was an extended power of Aegis. I think it was the power of this relic that allowed him to bring back those two."

"Kanade and Serena, if I remember correctly. Serena was one of the children in your experimental facility, wasn't she?"

"Yup. She, her older sister Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika were all in the experiment group I created. But still, funnily enough, while we failed to create a fusion child, my other self managed to create one because of love."

"Fusion child?"

"Oh, I forgot I haven't told you about that. Basically, it's a human-relic hybrid, like that girl Hibiki, which is the closest thing we have in this world to it. But Mamoru was different; he really adapted to the relic as if they were one being."

"What do you mean by that, Fine?"

"What I mean is, as expected from my child, or rather, my other self's child, but still, as expected, since I managed to decipher the memo hidden inside his relic. Basically, Mamoru was a product of love."

"Care to explain some more?"

"From the message I received, basically, poor Mamoru was being targeted as a hostage when my other self was researching the Holy Grail. My other self's husband, who funnily enough was Enki, died protecting him, but at the cost of his life. Mamoru received a huge wound on his back."

Fine slowly takes out a picture of Mamoru's back, which has a huge scar, and gives it to Genjuro, then points out the middle part of the scar.

"Driven by desperation, my counterpart refused to give up. She created a relic, a combination of the Holy Grail and the Aegis, hoping to heal her son. Her success, however, put a giant target on Mamoru, not as a hostage, but as an experimental subject."

"Funnily enough, I believe he met Hibiki inside that parallel world before finally coming to our world. As for why she came to our timeline? I don't know, but clearly either her relic went out of control or something happened in the future that sent her back to the past."

Fine gently rubbed the sleeping Mamoru's cheek longingly, which surprised Genjuro, as he had never seen Fine make this kind of expression, not even when she was acting as Sakurai.

"Still, I never expected I would become so attached to this child. At first, I was planning to use him to locate my former love, Enki, since he said that Enki still survived, but now I just want to see this child live his life."

"Even though it will be dangerous?"

"Fufufu, you underestimate him so much, Genjuro. My counterpart even created a failsafe."

Fine handed over an X-ray scan of Mamoru's body. The relic on his back was smaller now, but the lines spreading from it looked almost identical to blood veins.

"As long as there is enough Phonic Gain, Mamoru will never die. So, unless his crystal is destroyed in a place where there is no Phonic Gain, he will resurrect himself."

"Wait a minute, Fine, did you just say resurrect himself?"

"Of course. Why do you think Kanade and Serena came back to life in the first place? No matter how high your Phonic Gain is, there is no way to bring back the dead, but he somehow managed to bring both of them back. So, while he doesn't know of the existence of the other relic, he somehow knows how to use it."

"I see now. I know why you said that it is good that relic doesn't exist now, since it clearly can spark a war."

"Right? So, make sure to protect this information with all you've got, Genjuro, because if the situation where she becomes the target comes again, I will make sure to use any means necessary to protect him, even if it involves destroying Earth."

"Wouldn't that kill Mamoru?"

"Fufufu, you are pathetic, Genjuro. The moment Nastassja activated that ruin to protect the Earth from the moon, it already infused the moon with Phonic Gain. So, all I have to do is send Mamoru there and blow up the Earth."

Hearing that, Genjuro swore to do anything to protect this information, even if it cost his life, as, in the worst case, the Earth would cease to exist because of the people who would be the reason for its extinction.