Shamane: pants
Shamane: I-I'm gonna throw up. It feels strange in here.
Shamane feels his legs weaken. He sinks to the floor.
Shamane: ... Was that Master's face?
Shamane: I-I can keep up.
Kaalaa Baunaa: It's hard to get used to it for the first time.
Though panting unstably, Kaalaa Baunaa is still staring at Kumar, who has regained elegance in the Realm.
Kumar: I feel a lot better in here. I'm sorry, Kaalaa Baunaa. I don't think this body of mine can hold any longer for a more appropriate meeting in the real world.
Kumar: I'm glad you came back for me. What I said was indeed too harsh.
Kumar has turned back to herself.
Kaalaa Baunaa: Kumar, why do you have to ...? Look at you. The price is too high.
Kumar: ...
Kumar: Hmm, in the first instance, I did have other intentions.
Kaalaa Baunaa: ...
Kumar: I kept imagining how my so-called "parents" would react when they were about to get crushed to pieces by the star.
Kumar: Little did I know, they have already paid for what they've done.
Kumar casts a quick glance at her puking brother and looks back at Kaalaa Baunaa.
Kumar: I worked myself to the bone, but who knew I would lose everything, including my purpose? It really sucks.
Kumar: But it's okay. Just a minor setback. Compared to what I've been through, it's not even worth mentioning.
Kumar: That's why I changed my mind.
Kaalaa Baunaa: ...
Kumar: I want to see it.
Kaalaa Baunaa: To see it? The star we can't see with our eyes?
Kumar: Seems like I was not very careful about my wording when my mind was clouded.
Kumar: It is a celestial body, Kaalaa Baunaa, not a star. It could even be a ... moving black hole.
Kumar lifts her palms, like she has done so many times in Kaalaa Baunaa's inquisitive gaze and in the lecture hall of the university.
Kaalaa Baunaa: ...
Kaalaa Baunaa: I'd rather you did this out of the hatred towards the people who abandoned you, or even towards me ...
Kaalaa Baunaa: ... for I carelessly exposed my identity as an arcanist, and thus you lost your ...
Kumar: I wish the same. I wish so badly that I could just be filled with pure hatred towards someone. But I can't, kid.
Once again, Kumar looks at Shamane. He still feels dizzy.
Kumar: You're the lucky one, young brother. I was going to kick your butt in our last encounter, but ... I just couldn't do it.
Shamane: ...
Kaalaa Baunaa: But the Manus has made you ...
Kumar: Kid. Banner University can get my name on the SCI list, while the Manus allows me to touch the universe. They are not that different to me.
Shamane: Sister, Mother told me about this. You physically can't take such a great amount of arcanum in you! The Manus should also know this!
Kumar: I appreciate that they remembered this about me, but this is the path I chose.
Kumar looks down at the swirling nebula.
Kumar: When I look into the sky, I feel myself the freest being in the world.
Kumar: The universe, what a vast, life-embracing place it is! No matter if you're an arcanist, or a human, even a grain of sand ... it encompassed everything.
Kumar: But I was driven away from studying it, abandoned by my own family, for some insignificant, unimportant reasons.
Shamane: ...
Kumar: I should have understood this earlier ... that my struggle means nothing on this planet.
Kumar: I'm tired, Kaalaa Baunaa. I just want to see that celestial body with my own eyes.
Kaalaa Baunaa: But, Kumar ...
Kaalaa Baunaa tries to stare into her eyes.
Kaalaa Baunaa: That's not how you look at a star. The telescope shouldn't be placed in a basement, and you shouldn't lower your head.
Kaalaa Baunaa: Kumar, how long has it been since the last time you looked up at the night sky, at the other stars?
Kaalaa Baunaa: What's more ...
Kaalaa Baunaa looks grave.
Kaalaa Baunaa: If the star falls, people in the village, including those kids—none of them will survive.
Kaalaa Baunaa: The Manus you summoned here has brought disaster to this place, to the people and their families.
Kaalaa Baunaa: They are not the sacrifice of your wish.
Kaalaa Baunaa: Stop heading down the wrong path, Kumar.
Weariness reigns over Kumar.
She raises her eyebrows and shakes her head slowly, as if nothing matters to her anymore.
Kumar: ...
Kumar: You know what? I don't care about them.
Kumar: Just like they've never cared about me, have they?
Kumar denies her, like she did when Kaalaa Baunaa pitched a terrible research proposal.
Kumar: Sorry, please indulge me with one last willful act.
As Kumar raises her arms, the stars in the Realm form a straight line.
Kumar: This is the path I chose.
Kumar: And you can't stop me, Kaalaa Baunaa.
Kumar: Hmm?
Clear cracks come from the depths of the universe, one after another.
Kumar: What?
Kaalaa Baunaa: It's Matilda! They made it!
Matilda: Hurry! Quickly! Do you understand? Yes, that's what Ms. Kaalaa Baunaa taught me to do.
Kanjira: Hmm. But I can't see anything when my eyes are closed.
Matilda: Don't rely on the eyes. Hold this crystal and take a deep breath.
The kids sit next to Matilda, forming an imperfect circle by the fire.
Outside this little circle, the human kids are peering around curiously.
Under the starry sky, the ones sitting by the fire take a deep breath and put their hands on a small idol.
Kanjira: To feel, emm, what she said?
Passer-by Boy: The change of the universe.
The starry sky is completely quiet.
Matilda: ...!
Matilda: The meteor shower is starting earlier!
Kumar: What did you do?
Kaalaa Baunaa: coughs That's the method only once known between you and me, Kumar.
Kumar: The observation method?
Kumar: You told others about the Celestial Egg?
Kumar: So wh- ...
She stops herself.
She's always the clever one.
Kumar: I see, I see. You once pitched that research proposal to me.
An almost gratified look appears on her face.
Kumar: You are indeed my best student, Kaalaa Baunaa.
Kaalaa Baunaa: ...
Kaalaa Baunaa: I finally understand why you asked me to keep it a secret. Even if we named it Egg, it's actually a projection of the universe, which has the same feature.
Kaalaa Baunaa: The universe is infinite, as long as we observe it self-consciously, think each of ourselves as one of the centers of the universe.
Kumar: ...
Kaalaa Baunaa: The Egg will then collapse because of multiple centers, until it puts a quietus on everything, including that star.
Kaalaa Baunaa: A shattered mirror will never be pieced together again, if there are enough forces to break it. Am I right?
Kaalaa Baunaa: "Then there was neither existence nor non-existence; there was neither the realm of space nor the sky beyond."
Kumar: ...
Kumar: Who could master these skills? Those old fogeys in the village?
Kaalaa Baunaa: A genius girl and a bunch of kids who looked up at the stars.
"Just like you and me in the beginning."
Kaalaa Baunna's lips quietly move, but none of those words come out.
Kaalaa Baunaa: I'm sorry, Kumar. I have to—no, we have to—stop you this time.
Kaalaa Baunaa: I can't let you destroy Mor Pankh ...
They are not enemies. At least for now, this is not a confrontation.
Kaalaa Baunaa: ... or destroy yourself.
