"Where... is this?"
When Gudako and Hakuno came to their senses, they found themselves in a world so vast and empty it felt desolate. They stood on a mirror-like surface of water, perfectly still, which stretched to the horizon and merged seamlessly with the sky, making it impossible to distinguish any boundary. Scattered across this expanse were several freestanding doors, unconnected to any walls.
Since Jiang You's in-game teleportation didn't require passing through this place, it was the first time Gudako and Hakuno had ever witnessed such a sight.
"This is the physical manifestation of Jiang You's Worldline-shifting ability."
Sapphire, ever the dutiful guide, provided an explanation. "Kaleidoscope's travel between parallel worlds actually requires Jewels from the corresponding worlds as a medium. These doors are Jiang You's channels to those various worlds. Your world is one of them."
"But... which one is it?"
Gudako scanned back and forth between the doors. Although Jiang You could see identifiers on them, to everyone else, they looked completely identical. Gudako didn't immediately try to touch any of them. Everything here was so fantastical that she would have completely accepted it if Sapphire had told her something terrible would happen if she touched a door.
It's best not to mess with a Servant's things until you know what they do.
"Just try them all," Sapphire said, its assessment of Gudako's caution rising even higher. "The only one you can rule out is the one behind us—that door leads to Magical Girl Illya's world. Anyway, if it's a world you've never been to, the door won't open. You haven't traveled to other worlds with Jiang You before, have you, Gudako?"
"Never been."
Gudako immediately started twisting the doorknob. Great. The first door didn't budge an inch, as if it were fused with space itself. Without pausing, she turned to the next door. "Next!"
Hakuno had also overheard the conversation between Sapphire and Gudako. As far as she knew, she had only ever been to the Prisma Illya world and Chaldea. So, she turned in a different direction, toward a door set apart from the others, facing a different way.
Hakuno grasped the doorknob and gently pushed down.
"Sapphire! Sapphire!"
Seeing Hakuno's action, Ruby broke out in a cold sweat (if it even had that function). It knew exactly where that door led: to what Jiang You perceived as the "Real World." But it couldn't just shout to stop Hakuno—that would be too obvious, like covering one's ears while stealing a bell. Instead, it repeatedly rammed into its sister's body, trying to alert her.
"What are you doing?"
Sapphire irritably dodged Ruby's frantic collisions. It was used to Ruby's sudden fits of madness.
"Quick, look! She... she's about to push open that door!"
It all happened in a flash. Hakuno had already pushed the doorknob down forty-five degrees. A little further, and the door would swing open.
"How... How is this possible?!"
Sapphire's reaction was even stronger than Ruby's. The rule that you couldn't open a door to a world you'd never visited wasn't something they'd just made up. It was a real rule, stemming from Jiang You's own intuition—his very perception of reality.
For something like this to happen, there was only one possibility: Hakuno must be from the Mooncell world.
"Where are the Counter Forces? Why aren't they stopping her?!"
Sapphire knew the manifestations of the two Counter Forces had been watching this area. Logically, they should have intervened immediately when something like this occurred. How could they just let Hakuno push open that door?
Even if it's just burying my head in the sand, so be it, Sapphire thought desperately. If worst comes to worst, I'll just tell Hakuno the truth. I'm sure she'll understand the bigger picture and prioritize the world's survival.
"Senpai! I found it!"
Just then, Gudako's voice rang out, catching Hakuno's attention.
"Hurry! I found the gate to Chaldea!"
"Coming!"
Hakuno released her grip, and the doorknob snapped back to its horizontal position. At the same time, Ruby and Sapphire relaxed. Both magic wands went limp and collapsed onto the floor.
"What happened?"
Hakuno turned and nearly tripped over the two wands. She quickly jumped back, sensing that something significant had just occurred.
"Nothing, nothing! It was just Ruby acting up again. I had to teach her a lesson."
Sapphire instantly fabricated an excuse. After all, Ruby's usual reputation made it perfectly believable. Ruby was annoyed—she hadn't even done anything this time! But understanding the importance of the bigger picture, she could only force a smile and apologize.
"Let's go."
Unsure of the principles behind this kind of travel, Gudako grabbed Hakuno's hand to ensure they wouldn't be separated. The physical contact helped calm them both. But Hakuno felt that wasn't enough. She took Gudako's hand and intertwined their fingers in an intimate ten-finger clasp.
"That's more like it."
Hakuno seized the initiative, pulling Gudako through the door.
The Worldline shifted. What appeared before their eyes was... a wonderland?!
That was the only way Gudako could describe the scene. The world was so vividly colored it felt hallucinatory, a landscape unlike anything on Earth, with hues so brilliant they seemed possible only in dreams. She instinctively pinched her cheek, just to confirm she wasn't dreaming.
"Did we really return to our original world?"
Gudako stomped on the ground beneath her feet. It was definitely soil. But in Chaldea's world, everything outside Chaldea itself was supposed to have been incinerated. A scene like this shouldn't exist.
"If you haven't been to any other worlds, Gudako... then this is your world."
Sapphire also confirmed that something major must have happened at Chaldea. "Besides, Jiang You's Worldline Jump ability always returns you to the exact spot you left from. So this place... this is where Chaldea is supposed to be."
"This... This is impossible!"
Even if Chaldea had been completely wiped from the world, they should still be facing the blizzards of Antarctica, not this tropical rainforest.
"Furthermore," Ruby added, her voice laced with confusion. "The magical power in the air is incredibly dense. I haven't experienced the Age of Gods, but this must be comparable, if not superior. Yet, it feels... strange. It's as if the magical power is veiled, preventing direct contact. But if this were an illusion... the magical power is undeniably real. This completely defies everything I know."
"Well, you are dreaming, after all," a childish voice suddenly spoke from behind them. "But you're still too lucid to fully connect with the dream."
A little girl with a wide forehead stood there, clutching a rag doll.
She held the doll to her chest. "...So, could I ask you two Sisters to truly fall asleep?"