Masaki

Masaki grew up in a warm, happy family and lived a fulfilling life, and it was only natural that such an upbringing shaped her into a brave and courteous young person. At the same time, her past as the "Witch" has granted her far richer knowledge and life experience than her peers. Yet sometimes, these fine qualities can also become a source of awkwardness —

"Ms. Margiela..."
"There you go again with that weird formal way of addressing me?"
"Ah— no, I mean, M-Margiela!"

On top of that, Masaki is an extremely well-liked girl aboard the Eternal. Her sensible, thoughtful nature leads many crew members to treat her as a younger sister and a junior. When they learned she was the fearsome "Witch" they had heard of, most could scarcely believe it. Having a witch under their care felt like a rather novel and precious experience.

"So, which age are you really right now? Your student age, or the age of that centuries-old witch?"
"W-well... let's just say both apply..."

From a very young age, Masaki developed an interest in cooking through various food-themed TV programs. At first, her parents worried it was unsafe for a child so young to handle kitchen utensils, so they strictly restricted her from accessing open flames, kitchen knives and other dangerous items in the kitchen. Undiscouraged by this limitation, Masaki explored all kinds of play cooking sets with great enthusiasm, and found plenty of joy chopping plastic toy carrots.

The real problem arose on the very first day her parents permitted her to enter the kitchen. Her mom and dad accompanied her to the supermarket to buy her favorite vegetables and meat, then taught her how to use a kitchen knife. But the moment her mother stood by her side and turned on the stove flame, an inexplicable surge of resistance completely took hold of Masaki. She screamed and jumped back from the stove, and even her parents' reassurance failed to calm her down... It was a long time before she gradually regained her composure. After this incident, her parents were no longer willing to let Masaki near open flames casually. And for a long time afterward, Masaki's nightmares recurred frequently: she would dream of the Witch's cottage burning down, and the villages she passed through reduced to scorched earth...

Fortunately, modern society always offers multiple solutions to any given problem. After a while, her parents introduced Masaki to a cooking appliance that works without any open flame — the induction cooker!

Now, as Masaki prepares lunch bentos for herself and the Conductor aboard the Eternal, she has grown into a remarkably capable little chef. Sometimes, she even shares her cooking tips and thoughts with other crew members.

Born into an ordinary yet happy family, Masaki was an enviable child.
Born into a ███ yet ███ world, Betty was a ███████ child.

From the very first day she discovered her Ascension Ability, Masaki pondered endlessly: Why had any of this come to pass? Could she use this power to help more people? And why was she bestowed with such an ability in the first place?
From the very first day she was reviled for her immense magic power, Betty lived in constant terror: Why had any of this come to pass? Why must she suffer harm for the magic within her? And why was she cursed with this power?

— Centuries slipped by after that.

Betty woke from her dreams to find she had become Masaki. Unlike her past self, Masaki grew up in a peaceful city, had a loving family to rely on, and never had to scrape by or fight for survival. A soft little bed sat in her room, hot soup cooked by her father waited on the dining table, her mother would iron her new dresses, and photo booth stickers from shopping trips with friends were stuck to the corner of her desk.

It hardly seemed like a bad thing, to live a happy life in this world forever... Yet nightmares still came for her every night. The memories of being "Betty" hounded her ceaselessly, like ghosts of hatred from a bygone past. As Masaki grew older, every year that passed drew her nearer to that desperate, fated end...

Before that end could befall her, one witch crossed paths with another. And then, they reached out to each other.

This is the story of how Betty the Witch gained her liberation. It is also the story of how Masaki came to accept her very first friend — and the final, truest version of herself.