The ninth inning ended with an amazing score of zero for both teams. They decided to do a last round, if Emely's team could get a point, they would be declared the winner of this match. Ada was the first one to go, ready to hit the best she could. The referee whistled, officially starting the round. Emel prepared herself to throw the ball as fast as she could but it wasn't enough to throw off the anomaly who managed to hit it far away. Ada looked at her team behind her, unsure about what to do next.
"Did I win?"
Everyone tried to tell her that she needed to run, yelling over each other. She tried to understand but Opal whistled again, indicating that the ball was caught.
"Ada is out, next is Emely!"
Emely took the place of the confused woman, ready to do her best for the last round. Her other self stared at her with a mean stare, determined to win. But it didn't matter to Emely, she felt a rush of adrenaline in her body, reminiscing about the time when she watched Baseball as a child. She forgot how fun it was to see, and learned how thrilling it was to play. Emel threw the ball at a fast speed, trying to throw off her opponent. With a smile of excitation on her face, Emely hit the ball with all her strength and ran as fast as she could. She ran, but seeing that she wouldn't be able to get very far, she stopped at the first base and quickly heard Opal.
"The ball was caught, Emely is on the first base, Sepide is next!"
Emely had to wait now, once Sepide hit the ball, she would be able to run again. Sepide took the bat on the ground and prepared herself to hit as hard as she could. Emel pitched the ball and managed to get past the batter. Sepide realized she hit too late and prepared herself for her second attempt, this time, she hit too early, failing to hit the ball. She was starting to get discouraged, she didn't manage to hit the ball once during the game. Her friends tried to cheer for her but Remiel's voice in particular stood up to her.
"Do not worry, I am next! Even if you fail I will manage."
Sepide tightly gripped her bat, not ready to let Remiel prove she was better than her. She focused on the ball and nothing else, clearing her mind of all distractions. Emel threw the ball a third time, but this time, Sepide managed to hit it. Both she and Emely managed to get to the next base, letting Emely go on the second one. She was now halfway there, so close to victory.
"The ball was caught, next is Remiel!"
Remiel took her bat, ready to hit as good as she could. She was confident she could win, as didn't miss once in the match. But strangely enough, she had trouble identifying Emel's movement and missed all three of the throws. She felt disappointed in herself but quickly heard a voice that cheered her up.
"See!? I'm better than you!"
"Yes, You are!" Remiel said cheerfully in answer to Sepide, waving at her.
"Remiel is out, Silva is next."
Silva took place, taking a firm stance, her bat in hand. Emel prepared herself to throw the ball, not without taunting her opponent before.
"Your team got two out, a third one and it's over."
"It's okay, we'll win. I know my Emely, she's not the kind to give up."
"Well, my Silv is the kind to win!"
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"Sure, just throw your ball."
Emel clenched her fist around the ball, ready to throw it as hard as possible. Silva could feel that she launched. The right moment to hit was near, and in an instant, struck the ball with all her strength. The ball was sent flying, indicating to Emely that it was time to run. She ran as fast as she could, feeling the burning sensation in her heart. Her body only wanted to stop, and yet, she felt glad to push herself to her limits. She passed the third base but didn't stop there, it was now or never! Her legs burned as well but she couldn't stop right now, she didn't want to let her friends down and pushed herself as hard as she could. She liked to think that it was what the players she used to watch felt, this adrenaline in their veins. The effort was getting too much for her, taking the chance that Silva gave her, she jumped in a last effort. Opal whistled loudly, yelling with excitation.
"Emely gained the first and last point of this match! Giving her team the victory!"
Everyone gathered around their captain, helping her to get up. She was exhausted but still managed to give a proud smile to her team.
"We did it... All together..."
"I knew you could do it!" Silva hugged Emely tightly, barely letting her breathe "You're the best captain!"
The team was happy with their victory but also satisfied by the simple act of playing with everything they had. Emel went toward them, yelling at the group.
"It meant a lot to Silv! How could you!"
"Just get good." Said Polyetta "That was a skill issue on your part."
Emel was enraged but stopped at the sound of Silv's voice.
"Come on Emel, it's time to go back. We had a fun break but we still have a lot to do."
Silv was clearly disappointed. It was unusual for everyone to see her look so sad, it was almost enough to make them feel bad... Almost.
The girl in the wheelchair came toward them, looking more satisfied than her friend.
"It was so fun... I wish I could have played too..."
"You will when you'll heal but now it's time to go back home... I'm just frustrated we didn't win..."
"It's okay... It was still good to see..."
Silv went toward Iris and grouped every member of her team together to go back to their home. But before she did, she turned toward her opponents, still trying to act tough despite the strange softness she felt.
"You made Iris happy, so... Thanks... But next time I'll kill one of you."
"Silv..."
The girl stopped at Iris's words, reconsidering her own.
"Next time, I'll just cause immense pain to one of you."
"That's better..."
Iris smiled at Silv, who brought all of them back in a white flash of light. The Kronos's group was now alone, even Opal disappeared from thin air.
"It feels weird to see Silv like that." Said Sepide "She felt like someone else."
"She's still a psychopath though." Silva paused for a moment. She was starting to think that maybe she wasn't so different from Silv but quickly rejected the idea to focus back on the present "We should leave now, all I want is take a shower now."
"Wait, there's something I need to tell first."
After Polyetta said those words, everyone looked at her with curiosity. She took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the explanation to come.
"Do you remember the story I told last time?"
"About you dying and Neige resurrecting you?"
The leader nodded her head at Silva's words and continued with a serious tone.
"I couldn't finish the story last time but it's related to this world. It's not the first time that Neige and I came here."
"You told me that, but I really can't remember anything." Neige looked around but could only see a jungle, nothing more. Aside from a strange feeling he had, there were no memories of this place.
"We won the match, so I think you deserve to know what happened Neige... I promised it after all."
"You did? I was so focused on the game that I forgot."
"It doesn't matter, I'll tell everything anyway, or most of it at least. The anomaly killed me and Neige saved me with the book, but there wasn't any way to reverse what happened to our world... We didn't know it at the time, but the anomaly's damage can't be undone by the book."
"Wait, how could Neige resurrect you then if the anomaly killed you?" Asked Silva, confused.
"I don't really know to be honest, maybe a miracle of the Goddess? Anyway, after the anomaly killed me and Neige saved me I-"
"Hold on please, I am the one you call the anomaly, right? I don't believe I ever killed you."
"It was the first time you traveled in another world." Explained Neige "You entered in our world and killed Polyetta in front of me."
"R-Really? I'm so sorry... My goal was never to cause harm, especially not to you, Neige..."
"Can I continue?" Asked the leader "I don't want to spend all day here."
The group stayed silent and listened to Polyetta's story. They were all curious to know what happened after and what they did in this world.