Matsui drifted into a void, darkness enveloping her wholly. She felt weightless, formless like a specter cast adrift from its moorings. Had defeating Revena claimed her life too? Regret tinged with her fading thoughts she couldn't witness the city's restoration with her friends.

Gradually, muted voices echoed as if from a great distance. Matsui struggled to make out the words.

"Come on... wake up already..."

She recognized Reira's brash tone, thick with concealed concern. Another voice chimed in, gentle and coaxing.

"We've got you, Matsui. Please get up."

Jayla. Matsui clung to their familiar presence like anchors, drawing herself up from sinking depths.

With tremendous effort, Matsui forced her leaden eyes open. Blinding sunlight lanced through the haze, bringing watery shapes into focus overhead - Reira and Jayla peering down anxiously. She blinked slowly, their features crystallizing against the blue sky.

"You're alive!" Relief flooded Jayla's face as she helped Matsui sit up carefully. "We were worried you would never wake up."

Reira let out her held breath, leaning back on her heels. "Thank god you are okay…"

Despite sore muscles screaming in protest, Matsui found a weak smile. Their playful banter assured her no permanent harm had been done. Glancing around, she tried placing where they had taken refuge. "Are we...on a rooftop?"

"Sure are!" said Jayla. "After you passed out, we had to get creative in finding a safe place to rest up here. Pretty nice view, yeah?"

Matsui followed her gesture and gasped softly as the sprawling city was unveiled before her. Late morning sun gleamed off glass skyscrapers and empty streets. No raging fires, no hordes of the undead, just everyday Tokyo waking to a new dawn.

"It's...back to normal somehow," Matsui breathed. Had their cure achieved more than just banishing Revena? Jayla squeezed her shoulder, brown eyes bright with joyful tears.

"The zombies are gone too, all of them! Poof, vanished into dust overnight."

Matsui's gaze snapped to Dorki, who sat calmly preening on an air conditioning unit. "What's happened? Did defeating Revena reverse everything?"

The creature nodded, pausing his grooming. "Just so. Her magic was the catalyst perpetuating the undead plague. With Revena purified by your actions, all creations tied to her necromantic powers have ceased to exist."

Matsui stared over rooftops where unimaginable hordes once roamed ravenously, now empty except for living souls. They had done it - the city was free! Wordlessly, she hugged her dearest friends, their relieved laughter and tears trailing to the open sky. Light had prevailed over darkness.

As their euphoria settled, Matsui noticed Jayla chewing her lip anxiously. "Hey Dorki," the girl asked, "if Revena's magic got wiped out here, what happened to her whole ruined world that she banished us to?"

The creature's ears twitched thoughtfully. "The blighted dimension remains in existence. However, cut off from their creator's energies, the legions of undead infesting that barren place have also faded to dust."

Jayla frowned. "But that means her world stays completely wrecked with nobody left alive, right?"

"Correct," Dorki affirmed. "The catastrophic damage inflicted upon that Earth is irreparable. It shall persist devoid of life in permanent ruin."

A heavy pall fell over the group at this sobering truth. Revena's home had fallen victim to hate corrupting a soul beyond recognition. Gazing upon their city stirring to renewed life, Matsui wondered how many worlds never got a second chance.

Clearing her tightening throat, Matsui turned to Dorki. "When I was unconscious... I think I saw Revena's spirit in a dream. But she seemed at peace finally and thanked me for freeing her." She hesitated before asking gently, "Do you think she's finding forgiveness now?"

Dorki tilted his head, ruby eyes growing distant. For a moment, Matsui thought he wouldn't reply. Finally, he spoke slowly. "Light ever remains in the darkest souls should they choose rehabilitation over ruin. You purified Revena's essence - perhaps she may indeed find absolution, given time."

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

Matsui thought she glimpsed a tear glistening on Dorki's fur, but he angled away, posture guarded. Revena had been Dorki's sworn ward too, before betrayals shattered faith on both sides. In helping heal her broken spirit, perhaps they had also eased the ancient being's burdens.

Rising on creaky legs, Matsui joined her friends peering over the rooftop's edge. Far below, other survivors creeped out from their shelters. They embraced tearfully in the streets, gazing up with joy and gratitude. The golden sunrise cast its hopeful glow between soaring skyscrapers, dispelling the city's lingering shadows.

Matsui wrapped one arm around each friend, drawing them close. "A new chapter is beginning," she declared softly. Infinite possibilities awaited theirs for the shaping. Together, they had seized destiny from certain doom and won back radiant futures. Now came living, with lessons etched permanently across their souls.

Reira bumped their shoulders playfully. "Fuck yeah, it is an awesome chapter! We saved the whole city!"

"Language, young lady," Jayla mock-chided in her best parent voice, wagging her finger. Their laughter carried on the breeze, innocent and clear once more. Each new sunrise, Matsui knew, they would cherish as the gifts they were - not guarantees, but fragile wonders to be cared for each moment.

Matsui gazed out across the city, finding peace in observing life stirring awake once more. Windows brightened with warm light as families reunited. Down below, someone had passed out hugs and food to dazed strangers. Each act of compassion was a brick refortifying humanity's spirit from the ravages of chaos.

Nearby, Jayla gave voice to the sight's poignancy. "Never thought I'd see this place just... existing again, y'know? It scared part of me that we might be fighting and running forever in that nightmare."

Reira breathed deep as if inhaling normalcy itself. "I'm just glad the air doesn't reek of death for once. That stench was really harshing my style after a while." She examined a frayed lock of hair critically before sighing. "Could really go for a hot bath, too. I've got zombie gunk in places you don't wanna know."

Matsui laughed, also eyeing her grime-caked clothes ruefully. "I think we'll all be spending some quality time with soap. But first..." She left the vague statement hanging, none of them quite ready yet to confront everything that came next. Beyond this rooftop, normal life awaited. Could they step back into its rhythms and roles after sojourning in chaos?

"Ahem." Dorki's polite throat-clearing drew their attention. He startled Matsui to see his fur sparkling as if diamond dust coated each strand. "Before we part ways, I have one last gift to bestow."

His luminous ruby gaze passed over each girl. "You have all proven yourselves true saviors worthy of legend. But your destinies moving forward are your own to shape." Dorki's aura intensified until Matsui shielded her eyes. "May you find purpose and peace."

Warmth cascaded over Matsui like standing beneath a waterfall. When it passed, she patted her unfamiliar outfit - they were back in their school uniforms! Nearby, Reira and Jayla also examined the abrupt wardrobe change in wonder. Their hair also returned to their original natural colors.

With dawning sadness, Matsui understood Dorki's intent. They fulfilled their roles as magical guardians. It was time for him to depart and for them to close this chapter. Emotions choking her throat, she asked softly, "What will you do now?"

Dorki gave the feline equivalent of a sigh, fur rippling. "My duties call me to return to protecting the multiverse's balance. This rotation brought valuable lessons..." His posture grew solemn. "But I have lingered too long already. Farewell."

Before Matsui could respond, a distressed Jayla dropped beside Dorki, resting her hand on his back. "You can't leave yet! We still need you!" Tears coursed down her cheeks. "If you hadn't helped us, we'd have never made it."

Reira struggled visibly with her own churning emotions before adding gruffly, "You really came through guiding us, clueless kids. We'll never forget that." She crossed her arms, staring at the ground. Matsui heard the unspoken plea - stay with us.

But Dorki gently extracted himself from Jayla's grasp. "Your bonds strengthened each other, not I. My role was merely to spur your inner growth already flowering." Sadness and pride intertwined in his voice. "Wherever your paths lead, have faith in your hearts guiding the way."

Rising to hover before them, Dorki allowed a tearful embrace as he conveyed his motives. "The Council of Kubulls would bar me from distraction or attachment. If I overstayed, unforeseen consequences could shatter entire dimensions." He nuzzled each girl tenderly. "I must trust you three to walk on in brave new light."

With that, he drifted up and away in a glimmering breeze. The girls kept their gazes fixed on the sky until Dorki shrank from sight completely, gone to shepherd destinies unknown. Only then did Matsui lower her eyes, finding her friends' hands clutched in hers just as tightly.

"He's really gone, isn't he?" Reira rasped finally. The weighty realization sunk in - they had gained self-reliance but at a heavy cost this dawn. Together, they sat in bereavement for everything lost and found along their harrowing journey.

Matsui eventually broke the solemn reverie, voice thick with emotion. "Come on, you two, enough moping around. We'd better get down there and actually help our city rebuild."

Jayla cracked a wobbly grin. "Plus, find some grub! I'm so hungry I could eat a horse." She mocks gnashed her teeth at a laughing Reira. "And you're looking tasty."

"Try it and you get roasted, not toasted," Reira shot back. Their humorous banter lifted their spirits as they gathered their scant belongings. Before leaving the sanctum rooftop, Matsui peered once more into the open sky sending their guide onward.

"Your lessons won't be forgotten, Dorki," she whispered. Facing her companions, Matsui swallowed lingering doubts. "He's right about one thing - we have each other, and that's enough."

Determination kindled in Reira's and Jayla's eyes at her rallying tone. Together, they could navigate whatever lay ahead. With a deep breath, Matsui led them down to rejoin the living, changed forever.