Stella sat with her hands folded neatly in her lap, eyes lowered for a moment before she looked up at all five of them. Her voice was gentle, careful, as if she was placing each word on thin glass.
"What I am about to tell you will sound bizarre. It will sound impossible. You may think I am lying, or mistaken, or out of my mind."
She paused, searching their faces.
"And I will not blame you for any reaction you have. But you deserve the truth."
There was a long silence.
Then Mimi let out a hollow laugh that had none of her usual sparkle.
"Girl, the entire world is barbecue. I will believe anything right now."
Ragna's voice was flat, exhausted.
"We climbed into a hole and climbed out into hell. Nothing is unbelievable anymore."
Neera pushed her glasses higher with a trembling hand.
"Rationality has left the room. You may proceed."
Midori nodded weakly, eyes distant.
"If you tell me the moon is made of cheese, I will accept it at this point."
Nozomi clasped her hands together, voice quiet but steady.
"We are listening. Please… tell us."
Stella inhaled softly.
Stella folded her hands more tightly, gathering courage the way someone gathers breath before a plunge.
"When you stepped into the sanctuary," she began slowly, "and the gate closed behind you, you left the world you knew. This space does not exist on the same plane as reality. It is located in a completely different space. A different… dimension, if you prefer that word."
She waited for the screaming.
The denial.
The meltdown.
Nothing came.
Not even a gasp.
Five exhausted women simply stared at her with the expression of people who had reached the emotional equivalent of the credits rolling.
Ragna nodded first.
"Yeah. That tracks."
Stella blinked.
"It… does."
Ragna gestured vaguely toward the ceiling, the halls, the strange machines.
"If you had told me this before the world outside turned into burnt lasagna, I would not have believed you. But now it explains the food synthesizer and all the futuristic tech."
Neera adjusted her glasses with shaky but resigned acceptance.
"Dimensional dislocation would also explain the absence of natural decay in the air quality here. And why time feels different."
Mimi took a sip of her water, eyes still dazed.
"Honestly, girl, at this point I would believe you if you told me this place was built by magical hamsters."
Midori nodded vigorously.
"Or rats with top hats. Very possible."
Nozomi whispered a soft prayer under her breath, then looked up with calm eyes.
"If this place is separate from the ruined world, then that means… we are safe. For now."
Stella stared at all of them, stunned by their complete lack of panic.
Her mouth opened as if to say something, then closed again.
She had prepared for screaming.
For shock.
For fear.
For denial.
Instead she got a group processing interdimensional travel with the emotional energy of people who had misplaced their keys.
Stella let their strangely calm acceptance settle before she continued. Her fingers tightened slightly around the edge of her skirt, and her voice lowered into something heavier.
"There is more you need to understand. When you entered this place… when the sanctuary sealed behind you… something happened on Earth. Something catastrophic."
The girls tensed, shoulders stiffening, breaths catching.
Stella hesitated only a moment before speaking again.
"Within minutes, the planet experienced multiple earthquakes. Not ordinary ones. Not even record breaking ones. These were beyond measurable scale. Higher than magnitude ten. Simultaneous. Every major continent. All at once."
Silence spread through the room like smoke.
Mimi stared at her, eyes wide and lost.
"Girl, what kind of anime plot is that."
Ragna frowned deeply, shaking her head.
"Earthquakes cannot happen like that. Plates do not move in sync. Not across the entire planet."
Neera looked more rattled than ever, her logical foundation shattering further.
"Multiple magnitude ten events would exceed tectonic capacity. The crust cannot physically produce that much energy at once. It would require… I do not even know what it would require. Nothing known."
Midori pressed her fingertips to her temples.
"So the earth literally decided to crumble like a cookie. Is that what you are telling us."
Nozomi's voice trembled.
"Millions of people… entire cities… everything… all at the same time."
Stella lowered her gaze, unable to meet their eyes.
"Yes. It was instantaneous. Devastating. And irreversible."
The air grew cold.
The girls exchanged looks of shock, disbelief and unraveling horror.
Mimi finally whispered, "This sounds too bizarre. Like it cannot actually have happened. It is too big. Too impossible."
Ragna nodded, voice tight.
"I am trying to accept this, I really am, but earthquakes of that scale would tear the planet apart."
Neera looked like she was going to be sick.
"It makes no scientific sense. None. Zero. Reality does not behave that way."
Midori's voice was small.
"Are we being punked. Is this still part of the prank chapter."
Nozomi wiped her eyes, trying to stay composed.
"I want to believe you, Stella. I want to. But… this is too much. Too impossible."
Stella closed her eyes for a moment, her expression one of deep sorrow.
"I know," she whispered. "I know how unbelievable it sounds. But it happened. And the world outside reflects the aftermath."
Their faces said everything.
They were listening.
They were trying.
But acceptance was slipping through their fingers like sand.
The truth was too big.
Too unnatural.
Too devastating.
And they were only at the beginning of understanding it.
Stella seemed to gather herself, as if the next words weighed more than anything she had said before. Her peach colored eyes shimmered with something ancient and unbearably sad.
"There is one more truth you must hear," she said softly.
The girls straightened, tense again.
Their hearts were already brittle.
They had no idea Stella was about to drop a mountain on what remained.
Stella looked at each of them slowly, painfully.
"There are no humans left on Earth."
The room went silent.
Completely silent.
Mimi blinked.
Ragna froze.
Neera's breath stopped.
Midori's eyes went vacant.
Nozomi's hands trembled as if the words had physically struck her.
Stella continued, her voice breaking.
"The human race is gone. Every nation. Every city. Every family. All of humanity vanished in the calamity. There is no one left out there."
Mimi shook her head violently, her ponytails whipping.
"No. No. No, no, no, absolutely not. There is no way everyone is dead. That is not funny. That is not even a plot twist. That is insane."
Ragna's voice cracked, anger and fear blending painfully.
"How dare you say that. How dare you tell us everyone is gone. Our families. Our friends. Our entire species. That is impossible. Impossible."
Neera's chest rose in rapid, shallow breaths.
"Extinction on that scale has no precedent. There is no mechanism that could eradicate all humans simultaneously. The chance of total annihilation is mathematically negligible. You are wrong. You must be wrong."
Midori held her head with both hands, rocking slightly.
"No. No. I cannot accept that. My parents. The shrine ladies. My neighbors. They cannot all be gone. They cannot. We were just there. We were just there."
Nozomi pressed her shaking fingers to her lips, tears spilling silently.
"Please do not say that. Please do not say everyone is gone. Please tell me someone survived. Please."
But Stella had not even reached the worst of it.
She swallowed and forced out the final truth.
"And… the time you spent in the sanctuary was not the same as the time outside."
Five heads snapped toward her.
"What," Mimi whispered.
Stella looked like she wished she could take the words back.
"While you were here, drinking milk and eating cookies… almost a billion years passed outside."
It was as if the world dropped out from under them.
Ragna let out a hoarse breath, half a laugh and half a breakdown.
"A billion years. A billion. You expect us to believe that. That we ate one cookie while the entire timeline of Earth skipped to the credits."
Mimi actually grabbed her own hair.
"Girl, that is not bizarre, that is illegal. That is straight up science fiction."
Neera shook her head so hard her glasses nearly fell off.
"Time dilation on that scale is impossible. Even theoretical models cannot account for it. A billion years. That number is not real. It cannot be real. It is absurd."
Midori's voice cracked into a high pitched squeak.
"So humanity died… and then the entire Earth aged a billion years… while we were vibing with cookies."
Nozomi whispered, trembling,
"That means our families did not just die. They… they became dust. And then the dust became more dust. And the world kept going without us. And we… we did not even feel it."
The girls spiraled.
"No. No. No."
"You are lying."
"This is a trick."
"A dream."
"A hallucination."
"A prank."
"A glitch."
"A mistake."
"A misunderstanding."
Their voices piled on top of each other, drowning out thought.
Stella watched them crumble with her hands clasped tight, her face devastated, but she did not interrupt. She did not try to force acceptance. She simply let them fall apart.
Because every reaction was rightful.
For a long moment, the room was filled with nothing but shaking breaths and the quiet hum of the sanctuary's lights.
Then Midori's eyes widened.
Not with fear.
Not with grief.
With realization.
She slowly lifted her head, staring straight at Stella.
"Wait."
Everyone turned to look at her.
Midori pointed a trembling finger.
"You. You stalled us."
Stella froze.
Midori stood up on unsteady legs, voice gaining momentum like a storm.
"You stalled us. You kept us here. You showed us rooms, movies, food, plants. You kept distracting us. You did not let us leave."
Mimi blinked.
Ragna frowned.
Neera looked up sharply.
Nozomi's breath caught.
Stella's shoulders lowered.
Her eyes softened.
She did not deny it.
Stella's expression folded in on itself.
"I did," she admitted. "To protect you. If you had gone outside during the calamity, you would have—"
"STOP."
Mimi stood.
Not slowly.
Not softly.
She exploded upward like her grief had ignited into something feral.
"You stalled us?"
Her voice shook.
"You kept us HERE while the world DIED?"
Ragna reached for her, instinct kicking in, but Mimi stepped out of reach, eyes burning.
Stella opened her mouth.
"Mimi, I needed to keep you alive. The sanctuary-"
"ALIVE FOR WHAT?" Mimi screamed.
The sound cracked through the sanctuary walls like thunder.
Stella flinched.
"WHAT IS THE POINT OF SAVING US," Mimi shouted, voice raw, shattering, terrifying, "WHEN EVERYONE WE LOVE IS DEAD."
Stella's breath trembled.
Mimi took two steps forward, then another.
Her hands curled, shaking violently.
"You should have LET US DIE WITH THEM."
"Mimi," Neera whispered, horrified.
But Mimi did not hear her.
She grabbed Stella by the collar of her dress with both fists and slammed her into the stone wall. The impact echoed through the room. Stella gasped softly, peach hair spilling over her shoulders.
Mimi leaned in close, teeth gritted, tears streaming.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE LET US DIE TOO."
Nozomi gasped, stumbling forward.
"Mimi, please, stop, you cannot kill a celestial being."
"LET GO," Ragna shouted, pulling at Mimi's arms.
"Mimi, she is trying to help us."
"HELP US?" Mimi shrieked, voice cracking.
"HELP US? BY LETTING US WATCH OUR WORLD TURN TO ASH? BY MAKING US THE LAST HUMANS? BY STEALING OUR ENDINGS?"
Her voice broke into a sob, then back into a scream.
"I DO NOT WANT TO BE ALIVE WITHOUT THEM."
Stella did not fight back.
She let Mimi hold her there, tears slipping silently down her own cheeks.
"Mimi," Nozomi begged, tugging desperately at her wrist, "please, we need you, please stop, please."
Ragna pulled harder, voice strained, close to breaking herself.
"Enough, Mimi, ENOUGH, you are hurting her."
Slowly, Mimi's fingers slipped.
Her arms shook violently.
Her strength collapsed before her fury did.
Stella slid down the wall to her knees, not in fear, but in sorrow.
Mimi fell to the floor, screaming into her hands.
A sound ripped straight out of a soul that had lost everything.
Midori dropped beside her.
Nozomi wrapped her arms around her.
Ragna held her shoulders.
Mimi kept screaming.
And Stella watched, her own tears falling freely, guilt darkening her features.
Neera sat apart from them all, frozen, hollow, her mind spiraling in silence.
A truth was forming inside her.
A realization she had not spoken yet.
Mimi's screams slowly dissolved into broken sobs, her body shaking in the arms of the others. The sanctuary felt like it was holding its breath, thick with grief, shock and disbelief.
Stella remained on her knees by the wall, dress rumpled where Mimi had grabbed it, her pastel hair mussed, tears still sliding quietly down her cheeks.
Silence stretched.
And then Neera stood.
Suddenly. Sharply. With purpose.
Everyone looked up.
Neera's voice came out steady, though her hands trembled violently at her sides.
"We cannot go outside," she said. "Even if we wanted to confirm any of this, we cannot. The air is toxic. It is not breathable. We would suffocate before we could take ten steps."
Her voice cracked on the last word, but she pushed through.
"It does not matter if this is true or false in this moment. We cannot validate anything without dying."
Mimi lowered her hands slowly, breathing in ragged gasps.
Ragna's hold on her shoulders softened.
Nozomi's eyes widened with dawning fear.
Midori sniffled, tears still clinging to her lashes.
Neera's expression wavered, but she forced herself not to look away.
"We cannot go outside. Not now. Not like this."
A soft, hesitant voice broke the silence.
"I… may have something that can help."
Every head turned toward Stella.
She stood up slowly, brushing dust off her dress, not quite meeting their eyes. Her movements were gentle, almost fragile, as if she were afraid of breaking the moment or the girls.
"I know you do not trust me," she whispered. "You have every right not to. But I… I have something that might help you survive outside long enough to see the truth for yourselves."
Her voice wavered.
"It is not perfect. It is not easy. But it is the only way you can step onto the surface without dying."
Stella hesitated only a moment before quietly turning and walking down one of the side corridors. Her footsteps were soft, barely audible. The girls watched her leave, unsure if they should follow, breathe, or cry again.
Mimi wiped at her eyes weakly.
Ragna steadied her.
Midori sniffled loudly.
Nozomi squeezed Mimi's hand.
Neera stared at the empty doorway, mind still racing, mind still refusing the truth yet analyzing it at the same time.
Moments later, Stella returned.
She carried something in her hands.
A small silver box, intricate and heavy, carved with patterns like vines and constellations. It looked older than the sanctuary, older than decay itself, like it had been waiting centuries for this moment.
The girls fell silent.
Stella set the box on the table and gently lifted the lid.
Inside lay seven pendants.
Teardrop shaped.
Colorless.
Clear as glass, but not glass.
Too bright for quartz, too smooth for crystal, too cool for anything natural.
Something about them felt alive.
The girls leaned closer, breath held.
Stella spoke softly.
"These will let you breathe outside. They create a barrier, a filter, a protection. They will give you the time you need. Not forever. But long enough."
Her lashes lowered, sadness tinting her voice.
"You do not have to trust me. But they are the only way you can survive out there."
The room was silent except for shaky breaths.
Mimi stepped closer, looking down into the box.
"They are… pretty," she murmured, voice soft and cracked.
Ragna nodded slightly.
"Strange, but pretty."
Nozomi folded her hands reverently.
"They look sacred."
Midori's eyes widened.
"They look magical. Like… really magical."
Neera reached out, the scientist in her unable to resist.
"They are warm. Why are they warm."
Stella smiled faintly.
"They are meant for you."
One by one, the girls chose a pendant.
Neera was first, almost unconsciously.
Ragna took hers with steady hands.
Nozomi lifted one as if lifting a prayer.
Midori grabbed one that sparkled slightly differently, even if it was identical.
Mimi hesitated, then gently picked hers up, eyes lowered.
They helped each other clasp the necklaces around their necks, fingers trembling, breath uneven. It felt ritualistic. Sacred. Terrifying.
The pendants glowed faintly against their skin.
Mimi lingered beside Stella as the others finished fastening theirs. Her voice was small, barely above a whisper.
"I am… sorry," she murmured. "For earlier. I did not mean to hurt you. I was… I was losing my mind."
Stella lifted her hand gently and placed it on Mimi's head, fingers soft against her hair.
"I know," she said quietly. "And I forgive you."
Mimi closed her eyes, tears slipping again, but this time they were silent.
Once all pendants rested against their chests, Stella took a slow breath and gestured toward the open space in the living room.
"Sit together," she said softly. "In a circle. Hold hands. You need to meditate to activate the pendants."
The girls stared at her.
Mimi blinked.
"Activate how."
Stella gave a serene, ambiguous smile that helped absolutely no one.
"You will know."
Ragna frowned. "That is not reassuring."
But they were exhausted, confused and too broken to argue, so they shuffled into a circle on the floor. Legs crossed. Hands linked. Five pendants warm against five collarbones.
Stella stood back, watching them with quiet anticipation.
"Close your eyes," she instructed. "Focus on the warmth of the pendants. Breathe deeply. Let your mind become still."
The girls tried.
They really did.
Mimi scrunched her face so hard it looked like she was trying to physically force enlightenment.
Ragna sat rigid as a statue, gripping Neera's hand with military precision.
Neera tried to regulate her breathing in perfect four second intervals.
Nozomi whispered a quiet prayer under her breath.
Midori peeked every ten seconds to see if anything was happening.
Nothing happened.
No glow.
No sound.
No magic aura.
No transformation sequence.
Just tired women sitting on the floor with confused expressions.
Stella tilted her head, puzzled.
"Say the word… Jagrita."
They repeated obediently.
"Jagrita."
Still nothing.
Not even a flicker.
Not even a sparkle.
Mimi opened one eye. "Is this thing broken."
Ragna groaned. "My legs are falling asleep."
Midori whined softly. "I have been still for eighty years."
Nozomi rubbed her fingers on the pendant. "Maybe the warmth is the activation."
Neera muttered, "Doubtful."
Stella pressed her lips together, an embarrassed crease forming between her brows.
"It should have worked," she murmured.
She approached the circle and offered each of them a hand to stand back up.
"You are safe to go outside now," she said gently. "The pendants will still protect you even without a full activation. I will stay here and look through the library. There must be something I am missing."
The girls exchanged tired looks.
Too drained to question.
Too overwhelmed to argue.
Too numb to panic again.
Stella gave a small reassuring nod.
"Go. See for yourselves. I will find answers."
And with that, she turned toward the corridor that led to the towering library, already flipping through mental pages of forgotten knowledge.
The girls stood together, pendants warm against their skin, staring at the entrance to a world they no longer recognized.