Lost in the Echo: Chapter 17 (Last chapter)

Weeks passed. Gingka, Madoka, and the others returned to Metal Bey City after staying one more week in Koma Village while Pegasus taught Gingka the smaller details of controlling his powers. Ren was more than glad to return to her home after spending a little over a week in the unfamiliar forest, yet somehow they all remained slightly haunted by the sorrow that filled the eyes of Pegasus at all times.

“Is that really what I’ll become in two thousand years?” Gingka often wondered. The whole idea seemed so surreal to him, even though he had seen with his own eyes what he would become.

“I said goodbye once… I don’t think I could do it again.” Pegasus had said just before they had all left Koma Village. Once they were packed up and ready to go, the older one had simply disappeared. None of them knew where he had gone, but they were forced to leave without ever finding out.

“Ready for your wedding?” Hikaru asked, entering the room where Madoka was nearly finished putting on her wedding dress.

“Not really.” Madoka laughed.

Hikaru chuckled. “Well, you have no choice. It’s almost time.” The bluenette helped her friend lace up the back of her dress, then stepped back and sighed. “You look beautiful.”

“Thanks.” Madoka said, blushing nervously.

“Go on then. Your fiance and soon-to-be-husband is waiting for you.” Hikaru said, smiling.

Madoka blushed further. “You and Kyoya had better be next or else.”

Hikaru chuckled. “If only he were interested in that way.”

“He is. I can see it in the way he looks at you whenever you’re being oblivious to it.” Madoka chuckled, lightly lifting her long skirt and walking carefully out of the room.

“Madoka.”

The brunette turned at the familiar voice, but saw no one.

“Pegasus? You don’t have to hide, you know.”

“I’m pretty sure those at your wedding wouldn’t appreciate a cloaked figure appearing, and I don’t want to have to explain the existence of two of me.”

Madoka chuckled. “Perhaps not, but… Disguises?”

“... I hadn’t thought of that…”

Madoka chuckled. “Two thousand years older and you’re still an idiot.”

“Am not!” Pegasus said, punctuating his words with a very horse-like snort.

Madoka giggled. “Yes. Yes you are.”

“Better not waste any more time getting to my younger self now. He’s already started wondering when you’re coming down that aisle, if I remember correctly.”

“Right.” Madoka sighed. “I’m a little nervous about all this though…”

“Don’t be. Everything in the wedding will go perfectly fine, but if you must know, Gingka will make an idiot of himself and a mess of your face when you get to the cake.”

“Gee, thanks, because I totally needed to know that. I’ll just get him first.”

“Remember that I’ve already seen it happen and beaten you to it. Don’t bother. Well, you can try, but… Remember that he’s now a lot faster than you’re used to him being.”

“True.” Madoka frowned. “Well, I’m off, because I believe that’s the last song before I’m due to walk down the aisle and become Mrs. Hagane.”

“I’ll see you both after the ceremony. Until then… Well, if you see a few flashes of lightning, you’ll know why.”

“Got it.” Madoka smiled, looking around for a few more moments before jogging lightly down the hallway towards the large room where the ceremony was being held. A slight smile appeared on the face of the hooded figure of Pegasus as he stepped out from behind the large pillar he had been behind. Glowing blue eyes flashed for an instant before he simply disappeared from view.

“Pegasus is here.” Madoka whispered to Gingka once she had reached the altar.

“He is? Where?” Gingka asked, looking surprised.

“I don’t know, but he said he’d see us after the wedding ceremony.” Madoka replied quietly.

“Well then, we’ll just enjoy it. I do.” Gingka said.

Madoka smiled and nodded ever so slightly. Mere minutes later, all of their friends and family burst out cheering as Gingka leaned in and kissed Madoka deeply, the two wrapping their arms around each other. Only Ryo, Kentaro, Zero, Ren, and Hyoma spotted the slight flash of glowing blue in the rafters above. The five glanced at each other and smiled knowingly.

“Ready for some cake?” Gingka asked as he pulled away from Madoka.

Madoka raised an eyebrow, remembering what Pegasus had told her. “Sure.”

Gingka grinned, a mischievous twinkle already in his eyes as he offered his arm to his wife. “Let’s go then.”

Madoka chuckled, linking her arm with his. “Alright.” she said softly as Gingka escorted her back down the aisle.

“Did you guys see the flash of light in the rafters?” Ryo asked as he sat next to Gingka at the reception.

“Light?” Gingka blinked.

“Pegasus was watching.” Zero said. “It had to have been him.”

“He is here.” Madoka said. “He spoke with me just before I walked down the aisle.”

“Huh. Well okay then. Must be strange watching your own wedding when you remember it.” Gingka chuckled.

“You haven’t the slightest clue, but you will in about two thousand years.”

Everyone nearly jumped out of their seats, attracting the attention of the rest of the room.

“Is everything alright over there?” Benkei called, handing a plate to yet another wedding guest.

“Just fine. Madoka saw a spider.” Kentaro said quickly, earning several raised eyebrows.

“It was a big one.” Madoka chuckled sheepishly, half-glaring at the old man for blaming her. The others in the room chuckled and shook their heads before returning their attention to their food.

“Sorry. I should have warned you that I was here.” Pegasus said, chuckling lightly. “But nice save.”

“Thanks.” Kentaro said.

“If you think you can be fast enough to not be seen then you may as well grab some food.”Madoka said.

“I might, but Benkei seems to be keeping a very close eye on those burgers.”

“All the more challenging then.” Gingka chuckled. “I dare you.”

“If you can snatch a burger off the table then I can pull the tablecloth off and hide it without anyone noticing.”

“You’re on.” Gingka grinned.

Before Madoka could open her mouth to protest, Gingka was sitting next to her with a fresh burger and the tablecloth had entirely vanished.

“... You two are idiots.” Madoka whispered.

“Well, he started it.” Pegasus said as Benkei noticed the missing tablecloth and began to freak out.

“Technically you both did since you’re the same person.” Madoka said.

“... Touche.” Pegasus muttered.

“Alright, now put the tablecloth back.” Madoka said.

“Give me about an hour to go untie Julian Konzern from it and I will.” Pegasus replied.

Madoka animefell out of her chair. Gingka tried his hardest not to look amused, causing his face to twist into some weird expression. The combination of these two actions attracted the attention of everyone else in the room, causing everyone else at the main table to look away and whistle innocently as if they knew nothing.

“Madoka…? What happened…?” Kenta asked slowly as the brunette got back into her chair, glaring at the air in front of her as if it had committed something extremely atrocious.

“Gingka happened, that’s what.” Madoka huffed, shooting a sidelong, smirking glance at her husband who pouted.

“... I honestly can’t argue with that…” Pegasus’s voice said softly. Gingka snorted.

“Is there a horse nearby?” Masamune asked, twisting in his seat.

A second snort came from above the main table, the room going silent as their eyes widened.

“As a matter of fact, there is.” Gingka said.

“... I’d try to stop you but I remember doing this myself so I won’t bother.” Pegasus groaned.

“Masamune, the horse is up. See if you can find it.” Gingka said, grinning.

“Gingka… Let’s not cause chaos.” Madoka whispered.

“Too late.” Gingka snickered as Masamune shot up and ran around the room, staring into all the rafters.

“Just ignore him. It’ll keep him busy for a bit.” Ryo chuckled. Everyone fell silent and returned to eating, until…

“WHAT IS THAT?!?!” Masamune screeched at an ear-splitting volume, crossing the room in record time, for him.

“I’ll let you explain this one as payback.” Pegasus snickered before falling silent, causing Gingka to gain a tick mark as several people around the room stood, alarmed.

“It’s nothing, everyone. Just a prank.” The redhead called. “Reflective stuff in the rafters. Nothing more.”

Everyone else in the room looked relieved and began to sit down, but Masamune pointed an accusing finger at Gingka, who raised an eyebrow.

“Then how come it moved?! It jumped from one rafter to another!” The black-haired blader exclaimed.

“... Special effects.” Gingka said quickly, his brain freaking out as his eyes scanned the rafters above them.

“You know what? I think it’s about time we had cake.” Madoka stood. “Benkei?”

“But… Where in the world did the tablecloth go?!” Benkei exclaimed, poking his head out from underneath a nearby table.

“Forget the tablecloth. Are you sure it was there in the first place?” Madoka asked.  

Benkei sweatdropped at the brunette. “You helped me put it on the table, remember?”

“... Oh yeah, I did. Weird.” Madoka said, trying to shrug it off as if it were nothing.

Gingka sent a sharp glare up at the rafters, while Madoka ignored Benkei. The rest of the wedding went nearly without incident, until, just as Pegasus had said, Gingka used his newly-heightened skills to entirely cover Madoka’s face in frosting, much to the amusement (and surprise) of their guests.

“That was a nice eventful day.” Madoka commented that night as they stood on the balcony of a hotel in Tokyo.

“Yeah.” Gingka said, sighing contentedly. “Pegasus, if you’re there, you can come out now.” he said to seemingly nobody in particular. Silence fell for a few minutes before a whooshing and flapping sound was heard, and Pegasus landed on a nearby balcony, a slight yet sad smile on his face as he sat on the railing.

“I’m leaving soon.” he announced quietly.

“To go where?”

“Back to the future, to pick up right where I left off when I came here, although then I was only half the age I am now.”

“Huh?” Gingka blinked.

“Know this. In one thousand years, when you go back in time, you will end up going back one thousand years too far. How do you think the actual Greek legend of Pegasus started?”

“... It was you?” Madoka blinked.

A smirk flashed across Pegasus’s face. “Turned out there were many in the older days who took this deal. The chimera was one of them.”

“Now wouldn’t that be a story to tell? You’ve seen a lot of what we only know as history.” Madoka said, smiling.

“Well, it was a shocker at first to go from flying cars and teleportation, which I rarely used, to no technology or even running water.” Pegasus chuckled. “But I’ll leave that story for Gingka himself to find out.”

“I have to find out the story that you’ve already lived then?” Gingka said. “Will we ever meet again like this?”

“Even I don’t know the answer to that, but I doubt it.” Pegasus said. “After all, you will live a thousand or so more years, travel back in time to a thousand years before today, and then live to see yourself born. You know what you have to do concerning your great-grandfather. After his wedding, it’s up to you where to hide, although I know you will choose the same place I did. Your father and grandfather cannot see you at that age, otherwise something of what you experiences last month will change and then I cannot say what may happen. Good luck.”

“You too.” Madoka said as Pegasus stood and turned away. The winged man turned and smiled slightly over his shoulder at her. Madoka glanced at Gingka, who nodded. The brunette stepped forwards.

“One last kiss before you leave?” she suggested. “You are my husband, after all, just older. You may as well have your first and last kiss in the same day.”

Pegasus turned, looking surprised. Gingka raised an eyebrow.

“I… Had forgotten that you asked that… Even though I saw it happen all those years ago.” Pegasus admitted.

“I’ll leave you to it then. After all those years of waiting, you deserve it.” Gingka said, stepping inside. “It’ll be something to look forwards to in a couple thousand years.”

Madoka rolled her eyes and chuckled as she leaned out off the balcony and gently kissed the older version before wrapping her arms around him. “Good luck with whatever your future holds for you.” she whispered.

“Thank you…” Pegasus whispered, sniffling slightly. “I’ll miss you... “

Madoka smiled and stroked the back of his head. “You’ll do fine without me. You have future descendants to see, right?”

“Yeah… Unfortunately I’ll have to tell Kusari’s wife that her husband is gone, that I was forced to kill him. She expected me to return with him, to save him.”

Madoka gave a sympathetic look. “Well, hopefully she won’t be too hard on you.”

“Such a quiet girl… She’ll be devastated… Like I was when I lost you.”

Madoka pulled away and smiled. “If you ever want to come back and visit, you can though, right? Time travel has been invented.”

Pegasus shook his head and smiled sadly. “No… This will be the last time. I watched you grow up, you know. I’ve also seen you die. It’s time I moved on and helped the future generations.”

“Alright.” Madoka said, placing a hand on his scarred cheek. “Then good luck.”

“I haven’t forgotten though.” Pegasus said, reaching into his shirt and pulling out a chain that had apparently been hanging around his neck, hidden by the fabric of his clothing. Madoka smiled and looked down at her own hand.

“You still have my wedding ring, after two thousand years.”


“You gave it to me minutes before you died. I will never lose it. I promised you that.”

“I’m sure you never will lose it then.” Madoka said.

“I should go…” Pegasus said, looking at his right gauntlet and swiping a hand over it. Much to Madoka’s surprise, a screen appeared on the black leather.

“Then.. Goodbye.” Madoka said, kissing his cheek. “And good luck.”

“Twins.” Pegasus said.

“Huh?” Madoka blinked.

A broad grin spread across Pegasus’s face, his eyes sparkling in the way that was oh-so-familiar to Madoka from the Gingka she knew. “Your first children. Twins. Better work on that stamina, you’ll need it.”

Madoka’s mouth dropped open in shock. Pegasus laughed and pressed something on his gauntlet, disappearing in a flash of light as Gingka stepped back outside.

“Did he leave already?” the redhead asked.

Madoka merely nodded slowly. “Twins… Oh gosh, no… How am I…?”

“... Madoka?” Gingka looked confused.

The brunette turned around. “He just told me that our first set of kids are going to be twins.”

Gingka blinked. “He’s got to be joking.”

“Why would he be…?” Madoka muttered, gulping. “I’m not sure I want to have kids if it means twins on the first go…”

Gingka chuckled and put an arm around her. “You’ll do fine. Plus, if we never have kids now, then it’ll mess with who-knows-what?”

Madoka glared at him. “So that’s when you start talking like that.”

Gingka chuckled. “Come on. Let’s go inside and get to bed. It’s late anyway.”

As the two went inside, Gingka turned and glanced up at the stars once more, smiling at the sight of the constellation Pegasus in the sky. Whatever the future held, whatever untold secrets Pegasus had kept from him about what was going to happen, he was looking forwards to it. Even if he had to watch everyone die, he would gain new friends, new allies. He would watch his children, grandchildren, and their grandchildren be born and grow up. He would see it all. Perhaps he should start making a bucket list of things to do.

No matter what happened, Gingka knew that he would always remember how it all began.Even when his friends were all gone, he would remember their last words, allowing them to echo in his brain over and over again, never forgetting the memories he had made. In time, he would become the man he had seen, although he somehow felt that Pegasus was a mere echo of the person he was now. An echo… Continuing on even after the original has ended. Gingka frowned at the thought. When would he change? When would he begin merely echoing the person he was now, and become the person he had seen? Only time would tell, only time would know, when he would become lost in his own echo.