“Celine… this must be the place, considering it stopped. What were you looking for up here?” Arata questions Celine.

  Celine shrugs, “I don't know myself, my sword just told me to.”

  That thing can talk?! I expected answers, not questions! Arata sighs, he's too tired to think about it. Instead, he lets his body rest, his limbs all feel sore. Yet somehow, lying down made them pulse more furiously with a sting.

  Standing up Arata remarks, “Wow, you're in so much better shape than I am, even when being sent to this world enhanced my physical condition.”

  “How’d you die?” Celine asks, curious since he's already sharing some hints.

  Arata reminisces, “I was born with a defective heart… been suffering cardiovascular problems my whole life. What about you?”

  Celine ignores what Arata just asked, “There's a door Arata. Let's go through.”

  Ok geez lady, at least acknowledge what I said. Despite his disappointment, Arata acknowledged it was probably for a good reason. Arata opens the door with Celine, just like with the membrane, flesh holding the door shut teared apart like paper.

  On the other side was an observatory, through the open segment of the roof Arata saw something which made his eyes widen.

  The Milky Way! Is it a bad sign if I’m homesick for my home galaxy? Arata's head turns to Celine, she is starting to get emotional. Tearing up at the sight.

  Yeah, I get it, I really do, it's strange though, this place feels so… normal. I can be at ease here. Arata, seeing the telescope, puts his eye to it.

  On the other side, he sees something different, what was in front of him wasn't the Milky Way, it wasn't even a galaxy but something more breathtaking.

  Arata thinks back to his days with Ren. Constellations… they're so precious, some of my colleagues think they're stupid. With how many stars there are, people around me often told me that they weren't special. Just us humans, applying human ideas to objects beyond our reach to make sense where there is none.

  Being in this world made me miss easy explanations… no, before that, the doctors couldn't explain my illness, so I died, mom and dad couldn't explain what went wrong, so they separated. No, not just that, we all have questions with difficult answers. Why must some antagonize convenient solutions? Even if it can be disproven, with what we don't know, about the creator, about angels… a whole other idea to the governing forces of my home world. Back on earth, could we have really called the difficult answer correct, the one we tried so hard to search for? What if the creator got bored and used empty space as a canvas, doodling shapes?

  Arata watched the mirage of constellations, the stars moved, acting out scenes. A birthday, a road with traffic, a school classroom, a swimming pool and countless depictions of other diverse imagery as though the skies served to tell a story.

  Celine finally decides to comment, following up on Arata’s question of how she died, “I- I can’t remember…”

  Arata points out, “Ah, the death fog… depending on how you die, your mind needs to be reconstructed too, so it’s fine if it’s hard to recall-”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “No! I can’t remember! I can’t recognize the faces of my family, I don’t know where we lived- I don’t! Who am I? I'm not Celine… that was never my name. Arata-” Celine's face goes pale, panting so heavily she's coughing up any last molecule in her lungs. She collapses to her knees, quivering.

  “I can't remember the name of my favorite anime… You didn't mention anything there but Japanese pasta doesn't make any sense, does it? I don't really have those memories.” Celine shakes, crying her eyes out until there's nothing left.

  Doesn't remember… has she forgotten what our world was like? What year is she from? She mentioned Japan and anime, so probably recent. Arata thinks before asking, “What year were you born?”

  Celine just shakes her head, “You don't need to pretend. You don't need to comfort me, I I'm sorry, I can't be Selena. She died and I was born. I'm not a real person… I!”

  Arata bends down to her level, still confused but he needs to set her mind straight. Arata pinches Celine on the cheek as she looks up in shock, “Did that wake you up? If it did then you’re real enough for me. Aren’t those emotions real?”

  With that, Celine stops, she shakes her head, “No! Not even my emotions… this isn’t even my brain, I’m not even human, just a homonculus created from yet another copy. A copy of Selena who can’t even get the name right. I need to apologize to you, Clemence, everyone. I am no hero and no human either. I am nothing.”

  Arata watches as she begins to vomit from her stomach, her fingers reach up to her face, across her arms and into her legs. Celine tries to scratch off the skin that she does not believe belongs to her. Scratching, tearing, peeling, revealing red underneath.

  Arata’s body moves on its own, grabbing Celine’s sword, hurling over into the darkness before grappling Celine, pinning her down. She’s going insane, shit! If only Ravenna were here, what should I do to calm her down? On second thought, maybe not her methods…

  Arata thinks back to the sting on his cheeks when his hand moves on his own, a red mark whacks Celine over her right cheek. Celine suddenly stops, focusing on the numbing sharpness coming off of her face.

  “If you’re not Selena, I couldn’t care less, you’ll never be Selena. That girl wanted to leave Basin City behind, your journey started with that departure. Do you want to be a copy of another person, for whom? Do you believe the perception of strangers makes someone exist? Do you believe Clemence and I want you to be Selena? Have you ever thought about yourself and what you want?” Arata lifts up Celine by the collar.

  She’s sobbing far too hard, it would be unlikely she should answer in such a state. Arata tries his best to lower her while making sure she doesn’t try to kill herself. Celine tries to speak, choking on snot and tears, “I- I wanna be h- I WANT TO REINVENT THE HERO!”

  She exhales deeply, still making an ugly face towards Arata, a problem with very little substance to it. Celine gathers her thoughts, saying, “I am not THE hero, not who was summoned from your world to stop this problem. But she failed to kill the demon lord, the difficulties got to her and she killed herself. They then tried to recreate her, every product with a few more defects than the previous. But I don’t have to model myself off someone who failed if I reinvent myself right?”

  Celine hacks up some mucus from her throat before continuing, “I was worried I’d make you and Clemence sad… Clemence and I grew to be friends, I always thought she was just friends with Selena’s remnants. Yet, if we win this upcoming battle, she’d be happy, right?”

  Arata nods, noting that Celine hadn’t just gotten her wits back, a new sense of clarity began emanating from her. Her eyes opened wider than ever before, a sparkle painted over Selena’s depressing eyes. They shone in a way that only Celine could remember. Not a single figure on either of Arata’s climbs up the hospital could he sense such life coming off of.

  Arata lies his head down, looking up at the skies when Celine asks, “Mind teaching me what the things in the skies are?”

  Arata points his finger over to a figure, eyes glued to a computer screen, watching a show on a site of dubious legality, “That kid’s watching anime, used to have a long anime phase (never grew out of it), Three Section, Chikuwa… shonen’s alright but my real favorite is Predestination, Remain Nighttime.”

  “Plot synopsis?” Celine turns her head.

  Oh you poor thing, you’ll be here for a while. From anime to manga, from manga to visual novels, from visual novels to gachas with their shitty rates. Arata and Celine began chatting about the constellations. Nerd culture, food, history and any last piece of trivia Arata could fill the time with, until the two of them eventually faded from the ripping.