"... locked away, was what he said about it... Mara, do you remember anything?"
A sigh. Mindia pulled Mara closer to her in her lap, resting her own head on top of the younger rabbit's like it was perfectly natural. Sitting on one floating landmass out of thousands, staring at the void sky above. It must've been fresh, evidenced by the tree they were sitting under still yet to be stripped bare.
Water droplets fell from the branches, as if it were weeping for them. Cruel irony was their lot; a pair given all the freedom in the universe, only for a trick of the same universe to take away their minds' sacred possessions. Memories, magic knowledge, one's very purpose, all might as well have been cast away to that Abyss that they found themselves in.
"Let's go over this one more time... what is it that we both remember? Everything about Gensokyo was left untouched, but most anything else is... just gone."
"I remember where I came from. I was created by a freakin' Grayface."
'... it still bothers you, Mara...'
"And with me, I don't remember where I came from... I don't know what my life was, but still, we're here. We have to keep moving forward, don't we?" Mindia said it in her best reassuring tone, but it can't be said that Mara was the one of the two that needed reassurance.
"... I guess." Nor could it be said that it was the subject she needed reassurance on, with that bitter tone of hers.
"H-hey, we can go to Rachel, she'll have an idea of what to do..." At this statement, she was only met with silence. "She definitely, definitely will. She's never let me down, you know!" With each little word, her spirits rose bit by bit, her faith in things going for the best not allowing itself to falter. "Sure, many of my spells have been lost, but starting anew isn't hard! I'm a Magician, after all!" She picked up Mara and sat her down to the side, taking steps away from the tree that gave them their temporary shelter. In mere seconds her staff materialized in her hand, still feeling that it was where it belonged. Mindia pointed it towards the tree, the crystal floating off the tip of the tool glowing fierce red. The concentration, the will, the raw energy flowing through her... none of this was lost.
The tree bursting into flames would be a reminder of that. "Now, let's be on our way. I remember where her lab is, I'm pretty sure..." Off they went. Having no capability of flight herself, the younger of the two wordlessly dangled from the other's hand, periodically loosening herself off to fall and run through the broken landmasses below, cleaving rocks and trees off their base, being sure to speed up and leap back to Mindia's hold. A strange training regiment, but that girl couldn't let that go for a second.
"It... should... beee.... ah, there!" Over the collection of wastelands, a portal stood under a familiar rock, one that couldn't possibly be missed for all the cranial injuries it's been responsible for. She shot the both of them down, far too excited to see her dear friend again...
... if she hadn't met resistance from the very person she was holding then. Even as she tried to make those last few inches and pass through, she couldn't budge. The grip on her hand was tightening, tightening... "... Mara?" As she looked back, she found the warrior rabbit wearing a face of pure disdain, one she'd never seen before. Frankly, she was scared of it. "W-what's...."
"It's always someone else, isn't it... you're always talking about this Rachel person, it's always about wondering where Zero is, and haven't you realized that that Momo asshole is pretty much a big asshole!? Why is it always about them!? I'm here, why isn't that enough!? What makes them so special!?"
One became her family first, one saved her life, and one, while ambiguously evil, was still someone she had to look after... Mara was important to her too, why was she...?
"I've been here ever since the day I was made... always here, always doing shit for your sake... and every damn time, I hafta' hear about these other people and how I'll never get to match up to them..."
"... Mara, that's not...!"
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" With all her might, the knight pushed away her self-decided charge. That rock would never be avoided, it seemed, with the mage slamming into it with a sickening thud and yelp. The way she peeled off the rock and fell into the portal below would've almost been comical, if the situation weren't so heavy.
Everything always came full circle. Once again, the rabbit magician entered Rachel's lab in no charming manner; flat on her face, groaning in pain.
Damaged in more ways than one.