karaniji (kinome) 2

[feralphoenix]

You can read this chapter here on the MAGKAN official website!

Content warnings for this chapter include: Suicidal ideation, body horror, referenced child abuse and child death



Cultists: Hey, did you hear?
Cultists: I heard, I heard!
Cultists: They say our savior has finally appeared!
Cultists: Did you know? I heard our savior is a human who came from another world!
Cultists: Lord Ghost said so!
Cultists: We have to go meet her quickly!

Cultists: At long last, we'll be saved!

THE EMPTY-HEARTED GIRL AND THE RAINBOW FRAGMENTS

Poyoko: It's tough.
Eba: UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGH
Eba: I'll do that! You go sit!
Poyoko: ...I'm sorry.
Eba: Hmph! I literally JUST caught that fish, I'm not gonna let you mess it up!

Eba: Here.
Eba: It's still so hot, so be careful. I wouldn't put it past you to burn yourself.
Eba: You gonna eat that or not?
Poyoko: ...I'll eat it.

Eba: ...So. About that fragment you absorbed.
[sfx: chew chew chew]
Eba: You haven't forgotten about that, right?!
Poyoko: I remember.
Eba: That's a shard of the Rainbow King.
Poyoko: Rainbow king...

Eba: The fragments are the Rainbow King's very heart itself. If you get them all together, it'll be possible to bring the king back to life... So I'm collecting them.
Rainbow King: Eba!
Eba: And if I can revive the Rainbow King, then... I'm willing to do anything.
Poyoko: Huh.
Eba: ............You're making a huge-ass mess.

Eba: Sheesh! You're a handful and a half!
[sfx: smirk]
Eba: Eavesdropping, huh? I see you still haven't got any manners...

Eba: ...Corbeau.
Corbeau: Sorry 'bout that! Old habits die hard.
Corbeau: Anyway, would your little friend happen to be...
Corbeau: ...a human, by any chance?

Eba: ......She is.
Corbeau: I knew it! I haven't seen a human in so long! May I touch her?
Corbeau: I didn't expect to find you on a leisurely luncheon with a human. What happened to gathering the fragments?
Corbeau: More importantly... Don't I remember you saying you loathe humans?
Eba: Shut up!
Eba: I don't have the luxury to ditch this kid just 'cause of that.
Corbeau: By which you mean...?

Corbeau: ...I see! In summation:
Corbeau: You finally found a fragment, only for it to be absorbed by the human...
Eba: .............................yeah,
Corbeau: PFFT
[sfx: GYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHUEHAHOO]
Eba: STOP LAUGHING.
Corbeau: What a blunder to make!
Eba: HMPH

Poyoko: He said it was... important. Can I give it back?
Corbeau: Don't worry, little miss outworlder! There's a way to take it out.
Corbeau: All we must do is erase your heart's desire!
Poyoko: ?
Corbeau: Do you know of the immense power these fragments hold?
[sfx: shake shake]

Corbeau: The Rainbow King is a god but all in name, you see. So of course, there's incredible power inside his fragments.
Corbeau: Power so incredible... that it can grant any wish!
Poyoko: Power...
Eba: The king's power is extremely dangerous.

Eba: That creature we just saw... Most likely, its heart's wish was "I want friends".
Corbeau: Lately, this forest...
Corbeau: ...has been haunted by rumors that anyone who sets foot inside will never be seen again.
Eba: The creature probably lured everyone to it with the fragment's power.

Eba: It turned one person into its own kind... then another... and another... and in the end it couldn't stop anymore.
Eba: It was overcome by its own power... and went out of control.
Corbeau: And so, before you meet the same fate, we must erase your desire!
Corbeau: For instance, say someone's dearest wish was for money!
[example: I'm so cold! I'm so destitute! If only I had money...]
Corbeau: If that person were to absorb a fragment, they'd end up like this!
[example: MONEY!!!!!! MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!! GIMME MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

Corbeau: Erasing that desire would go something like this!
[example: I don't need money! I have you...!]
Corbeau: Once they don't feel that desire anymore, the shard will pop out on its own. They don't need it anymore, you see.
Corbeau: Do you understand?
[sfx: nod]
Eba: Then let's get to it. Poyoko...
Eba: What is it you wish for?

Poyoko: Wish?
Poyoko: (My wish...)
Poyoko: I don't have one.

Eba: Huh?
Eba: Wait, what?!! Every living thing's gotta have SOME kinda wish! So you should too!!
Poyoko: Hmm...
Eba: That's right! You're a human, aren't you?!
Eba: So you wanna go home, right?! Back to your world!!

Poyoko: I don't.
Eba: WHHHHHHHHHHH????
Eba: Then... then a thing you want to have! Or something you want to eat!!
Poyoko: I don't... have either.
Eba: WHY
Corbeau: You know, I thought it was odd. She shows no signs of fear or surprise despite what she's seen here.
[REACTIONS OF OTHER HUMANS THAT WANDERED INTO THIS WORLD: "Where am I?!" "WAH!!! WHAT IS THIS?!"]

Corbeau: Aren't you disturbed at all to have wandered into an unfamiliar world?
Poyoko: Not really.
Corbeau: Rather than her simply being slow-witted... it seems like she lacks the capacity for emotion altogether. In that case it makes sense for her not to have a wish.
Eba: (She has no wishes?!?!?!?! There's no way that's possible...)
Eba: (No, wait... If it's really true...)

Eba: (Then maybe this kid is...)
Corbeau: Hmm...
Corbeau: In that case, let's just kill her!
Eba: ......huh?
Corbeau: Kill her, and take the shard out of her corpse! That's much faster!
Corbeau: Thankfully she's an outworlder, so her life doesn't matter to our world at all!

Eba: Sure, I'll kill a creature that's lost to the king's power and out of control... but Poyoko's perfectly sane. So I won't be violent with her.
Corbeau: Aw, but coming up with another way will be such a pain!
Corbeau: And you know how rare humans are... she should fetch a pretty penny!
Corbeau: I can hook you up with a collector if...
Eba: I said I'm not gonna kill her.

[sfx: goosebumps]
Poyoko: ? I wouldn't mind if that's the easiest way...
Eba: Shut it, you!
[sfx: GRAB]
Eba: I'm talking it out with Poyoko some more. Later.
Corbeau: Ah, wait one moment! There's something else I need to tell you...
Eba: What?

Corbeau: It's about the next fragment!
Eba: YOU SHOULDA SAID THAT EARLIER!
Corbeau: Sorry about that! You'll be able to find it due north from here...
Corbeau: They say there's a very strange house that way.

Eba: A house?
Corbeau: Oh, yes! It has an unbelievable appearance... it's obviously unnatural.
Corbeau: Likely, it's due to a fragment's influence!
Eba: I see. Thanks for the info.
Corbeau: The Sun King asked me to help, after all!
Corbeau: Goodbye~~~~
Corbeau: Phew. That was terrifying!

Corbeau: If he just sold her off, he could live in luxury for a good few years...
Corbeau: He'd do anything for the Rainbow King, so I thought he would jump at the offer...
Eba: You need to value yourself more.
Eba: Everyone's born for a reason, and everyone's life has value. "Everyone" means you, too.
Poyoko: But... my wish...

Eba: If you don't have a wish now, you just have to find one, right?
[sfx: GASP]
Eba: GYAH! How long are you gonna keep holding my hand?!!
Poyoko: F... find?
Eba: That's right. Use your head a little.

Poyoko: B... but I...
Poyoko: I can't...
Eba: What was that?! No giving up before you've even tried!!
Eba: If you haven't got any desires, then that means you aren't in danger of losing yourself to the fragment. Which means that you've got time.
Eba: So take your time to come up with an answer.

Voices: "Don't act on your own!" "I told you not to come upstairs!" "Don't leave your room!" "If you don't wanna get kicked outta this house too, you better listen to every word I say!"

Eba: Huh? You feel kinda hot...
Eba: Don't tell me...
Eba: D'you have a fever?
Poyoko: ...? Come to think of it, I feel bad...
Eba: SINCE WHEN!??!??!??!
Eba: OH SCREW IT!
[sfx: YANK YANK YANK YANK]

[sfx: POFF] [sfx: YEET]
Eba: ALRIGHT, WE'RE GOLDEN.
Eba: I'm getting some water, so don't move!

Poyoko: Where did he have this?
Poyoko: (My heart is pounding... I feel floaty.)
Poyoko: (I feel weird. Because of the fever...?)

Ghost: That's so dumb.
Ghost: It's so much easier not to think.
Ghost: Isn't that right? If you just turn your brain off, then no matter what anybody does to you...

Ghost: ...you won't even care.
Poyoko: (This girl...)
Poyoko: (I saw her back when...)

Ghost: Don't do anything. Don't fight back, don't hope... that's safest.
Ghost: That's what we've always done. It's too late to change.
Ghost: So hurry and come with me.

Ghost: That's right. Good girl.
Ghost: I'll be waiting. So... Hurry up and find me.
Ghost: Find me, and...

[sfx: GASP]
Poyoko: ......Huh? I...
Poyoko: Where am I...?
Poyoko: Eba......?

Eba: WHERE DID SHE GO
Poyoko: (I have to get back...)
Poyoko: (What a big flower.)

Poyoko: (It's crying?)

Poyoko: (It's so hard... I can't get out.)

Poyoko: (Oh well.)
Poyoko: (She said so too. Don't do anything. Don't think. That's safest...)
Poyoko: (That's how it should be. Nobody will care if I disappear...)

Eba: You need to value yourself more.
Eba: Everyone's born for a reason, and everyone's life has value. "Everyone" means you, too.
Poyoko: ...Even...
Poyoko: ...Even me...

Poyoko: E...

Cultists: That was a close one! Wasn't it, Savior?



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