*
Only 3 are left. Sariel, Alice, and Arca. Was there any hope of victory from the start? After using their magic, everyone left. Rather Eterna created a law, using magic will cause your existence to disappear. That's why Eterna fought so leisurely. The sentinels gradually whittled their own numbers.
However this was no story meant for despair. The girls earlier fought for this chance with their lives. It took a while for them to even notice, with someone's existence erased, no one even remembered them or realised their numbers got reduced. It was not until Seren and Melia pointed it out...
The time to fight has come, if you have something that you cherish, it's okay to fight for it. John made that clear. Passion exists in everyone, Rumi made sure they knew they weren't ever fighting alone. Beauty will always be out of reach, that's what makes ideals worth striving for. Just striving has meaning, that was Luna's mission.
After the night, the next day always awaits along with all of its accompanying responsibilities. Heli wished that they wouldn't give up on this common sense. Humanity will find a way even if the sun dies out, Glenys believed that people's bonds are the natural state of this world, that it could endure any disaster. Magical girls are stronger than they realised. Pandora didn't want us to forget that, it wasn't miracles that made magical girls but the other way around.
What they've done so far isn't pointless. There's meaning to every action they take, Lux and Fortesia wanted them to remember their past mattered as much as the future. The power to change is more important than seeing the future. Never lose sight of the present, the future is reserved for humanity to secure, a shared effort. Humanity got through disasters by pooling their knowledge, Quanying and Beatrice assert that hope is a burden not meant for one person.
It's likely that when they come out, Eterna would spare no effort to eliminate them. Cracks leaking light pierce through the ground, spreading as far as the eye could see.
"... I see. One of us has to beat Eterna. Unfortunately, I'm not as cool as everyone, the best I could do is mend a hole. This is all up to you guys. Remember, you're magical girls. {Death blooms in stasis}!" (Arca Neracross, Ward W)
The bespectacled beauty spoke. Her looks stood out with her jet black hair, as magical girls rarely came with glasses, their eyesight is cure upon transformation after all. Laws invert, destruction becomes reinforcement, the land of the living becomes the land of the dead. No one could see themselves defeating Eterna, or perhaps they did and they've died trying. 21 magical girls perished to give them room to breath.
"It's back to us. Just like within that world." (Sariel)
She remarked grimly, her voice a low drowl.
"... I'll buy you time. You think of something." (Alice)
Equally grim, she spoke as beautifully as a bell's chime, but the words that came out stood as a jarringly stark contrast. Her face had turned into a frown, her fists clenched as she resolved herself.
"... No need to sacrifice yourself. I've already thought of something. The only idea I could think of." (Sariel)
" It doesn't sound too hopeful." (Alice)
She retorts with a little snark, most of them have died save for the 3 of them. In this space where Eterna's laws don't reach. Arca is using everything she has to deal with the breach, holding back the arcane concepts trying to invade from the outside. Anyone would respond that the situation was bleak, a sentinel meant nothing against a deity.
"Reflect Lastia." (Sariel)
"... Rather selfish, don't you think? How many would kill to see their loved one again..." (Alice)
"Yet you can do it, can't you?" (Sariel)
How long has it been since she fought the Calamity? How long since she died? What an absolutely abhorrent circumstance to find herself in, reviving her friend in the land of the dead. Arca's inverted laws allowed Alice's mirror to reflect the dead, with a link to the living nearby such as her acquaintance to Sariel. However, what could a single girl do? Of all people, should she really revive Lastia? What about the other sentinels?
Sure Rumi would achieve far more, or any of the other combat specialist.
"... I'll trust you. {Against the looking glass}, this is no profound rebellion against the divine. It is just a normal girl's repulsion against the little difficulties of life. Every magical girl was once an ordinary maiden, remember that." (Alicia Verynout, Ward U)
So who will save her? Who will save them? Maybe she will. It was a faint hope. The last time she was seen, she was only C grade. Yet she was expected to defeat Eterna, because Sariel believed in her.
"Are you ready?" (Sariel)
"..." (Lastia's reflection)
It remained silent. As if steeped in a deep dream, it's lifeless eyes don't respond. Rather than whether one can do something or not, Alice was always more concerned with whether she should do it or not. Getting caught up in the ethics and ultimately abandoning the idea, it sounded like something she would absolutely do. She still wasn't sure if if reviving Lastia was even possible, merely entertaining the idea for Sariel's sake.
Alice was a righteous magical girl. Alice never stopped getting hurt or losing hope... Yet she's arrived here all the same. All so she could protect humanity. That's right... It's no time to get cold feet. It's time to entrust her life.
"... {Swap}. " (Sariel)
The revival of the dead should have been more complicated. However, thanks to {Endowed truth seeks promised returns}'s ability to defy fate, the revival barely succeeded. Sariel and Lastia switched places, to which Lastia collapsed onto the ground unconscious.
"Lastly, {Sorrows of a beloved maiden}. Sweet dreams." (Sariel Letasigil, surpasser of an era)
She casted her hopes and dreams from across the mirror's surface. Her voice barely above a whisper, impossible to hear from the outside world. Ressurection was endlessly complicated, prone to violating many laws and risking the wrath of gods, the world itself and other unknown beings. There was no method that came without consequences, and the easiest loophole... Was for Sariel to take Lastia's place. One was brought out of the underworld, and one was brought in. When the numbers matched, there is equilibrium.
Her eyebrows flutter for a moment, before she shot up. She was assaulted with a migraine as soon as she took conscious, the cold hard floor was endlessly dark and the texture didn't make sense from what she observed. The pain pushing her to lay her body up.
Her body was floating above the void, her mind disoriented, and a sense of unease kept creeping up her spine. Was she dead? What was the last thing she remembered? It was The UFO, the Calamity that assaulted earth. How long has it been since she was last awake? Has anything changed since? She felt like she slept for a long time, so long that it felt unnatural to be awake.