umiscripts | alliance of the golden witch; prologue

"Wah-hah-hah-ha, you alright, Battler-kun...?! We're already on the ground, and ya can't fall any further than that, wah-hah-hah-ha...!"
"Uu-kkyakkyakkya! Faaall, faaall, kyakkyakkya!"
In the lobby of the Niijima airport, Maria dashed around in excitement.
Battler's uproar in the plane must have been very interesting.
"Hey, Maria! Give it a rest! ...Sorry, Battler-kun. Don't take it badly."
"What a pa-thetic guy, you are. Even with that hu-ge body, you still can't handle vehicles?"
"Shaddap... All humans have one or two things they're bad at..."
"Battler-kun, why don't you come with your aunt on an overseas trip sometime soon? What about Europe? I'm sure you could overcome a half day riding on a plane. *giggle*giggle*giggle*!"
"...Stop it, Mother. I'm sure Battler-kun's dislike for vehicles is inherited."
"Oh, from Asumu-san?"
"......For some reason, she just couldn't handle vehicles and the like. Pretty much anything other than a bicycle or a car. Whenever we tried to go far away, that woman was so annoying with the 'no not this, no not that, I'm scared I'm scared, fall fall, gyaah gyaah'."
"Children are taught that things which their parents can't seem to handle are dangerous. I'm sure Battler-kun saw Asumu-san doing something like that and learned that vehicles are scary."
"*giggle*giggle*. Could it be Asumu-san's genes, I wonder?"
"Who knows. Those would be some pretty annoying genes. .........Stop talking about Asumu. Right now, the one who's here is you. Right?"
"...You're right, sorry."
"He-y, the cars are here! Exactly three of them. Get on, get on!"
"Fall, faaall!! Where's the parachu-te, where's the parachu-te!! Uu-uu-kyakkya!!"
"You rasca~l!! Wait wait wait u-p! I'll sentence you to the little girl tickle punishme~nt!!"
"Uffufufufu. It's good that they're in high spirits. If Battler-kun and Maria-chan weren't there, the atmosphere in that plane would have been very stiff."
"Thanks. I'll take that literally. ......Hey, brats! The taxis are here! You can play around later."
"Uu-uu-!! Taxiii, taxiii!! Mariaaa gets on fiiirst! Kyakkya!!"
"Hey! Maria, and you too, Battler-kun, stop fooling around! You'll bump into someone!"

The tone of Rosa oba-san's voice grew a little frightened.

And Battler, as soon as he realized that they really were fooling around too much...just as expected, bumped into someone.
"Oh, sorry..."
"Battler-kun, you guys are going in that car. You're keeping them waiting."

After George urged him to hurry on, Battler apologized to the person he had bumped into and ran up to his parents, who were telling him to come quickly.
With a clunking sound, the doors on the three taxis were shut one after another, and they departed, heading for the harbor......
......As their taxis dashed away...

The entire world grew suddenly dull, ......and slowed to a halt.
Voices, the wind, and even sound, ......everything stopped, and as if they had been frozen in the instant a photo was taken, everyone trying to move, ......stopped.
People and machines and clock hands, even the dust dancing in the wind, were frozen.

With one foot still raised, the people who were walking were frozen.

Scraps of paper dancing in the wind were pinned in midair, frozen.
......And among the shadows standing still in this world that had stopped, a single one moved.
It was a girl.

The girl Battler had just bumped into...
While she had moved, it had truly been a subtle thing.

Her gaze dropped, her shoulders lowered a miniscule amount, and she sighed. ...That was all.
In a normal world, that probably wouldn't even be taken as movement, but in this still world, it looked very out of place.
...After that, something else moved.

It was a black cat wandering around the shadows near the taxi rank.
It came up right behind the girl, ......and leisurely...changed its form into that of a human.
It wasn't a cat. It was a witch.
Of course, the girl was also a witch.

As the witch stood still, her gaze still downwards, she muttered...
".........I can't, ......stop everyone from going to Rokkenjima, can I..."
"You cannot. On October 4, 1986, you are not here."
"......If I were, even stopping everyone wouldn't have been impossible...?"
"Although I cannot imagine how a six year old girl could act to make them turn back. ......That's right. If you were in this place, the probability wouldn't have been zero. If there is a probability other than zero, I can find a miracle."
".........If I hadn't been sick, ...and they hadn't left me behind........."

With her head facing downwards, the witch tightened her fists...
...They were trembling very slightly.
"You were sick in bed starting October 3, 1986. And Beato's game board is cut off starting October 4. ......You are not given a chance to avoid getting sick. ...In other words, you are fundamentally an existence which certainly cannot rise to the game board."
"Thanks for being patronizing. ......I understand. ......I know that just seeing Father, Mother, .........and Onii-chan healthy like this, ......that alone, ......is a very wonderful miracle..."
Ange had supposedly been standing in the way of her family, trying to prevent them from going outside the airport, ......towards Rokkenjima.

...However, it was impossible for her to exist in October 4, 1986, and she could not do it.
Just getting bumped into by her brother and being apologized to...

...Even though he hadn't known that she was his own little sister, ...it had been such a miracle, ......that she could cry......
"............I'm sorry for the sarcasm. I won't waste the miracle you've given me."
"How reliable. ......Come, let us go with them. To Rokkenjima. All of the pieces are already gathered. ......The curtain will open on the fourth game. By this time, Beato and Battler are already seated."
"......To Rokkenjima..................To where my, ...no, ......everyone's fates changed...October 4, 1986, ...on Rokkenjima........."
...What happened on that day?

I will expose that. Learn that. And I'll take it back...!
As she stood there with her fists still clenched, she surely turned her face up to the heavens.
A single teardrop from the depths of her eyes dripped down into the air.
And when time started moving again, the two witches' figures were sucked into a blowing gale and erased in an instant.