Open - (Post WB) Consequences

Fuck that.

He was done.

He was so fucking done.

He wasn’t going to die for people he never knew.

It would make for a better story, sure, but he didn’t care.

From the crumbling remains of Titanius, the midnight haired muse dug.

His nails cracked, his hands burned, his arms shuddered. He dug.

And from the remains of the beast, the remains of Nanami’s shell, he pulled the stilled corpse of Seigi out. Ashen skin, pulverized bones, entrails hanging out, bloody holes everywhere. The stench unbearable, if gore and gristle wasn’t something he had long grown accustomed to. It hurt, seeing his friend like this, but it was fine now.

She was still an adventurer. He could still revive her.

Always for the individual, never for the collective.

And, most importantly, he was too tired to give a shit anymore. His white suit was red and gray, torn and burnt. His hair was a beehive mess, tangled beyond belief. His lute was lost in the fight, another instrument sacrificed for another devastating blow. But he still had energy left. Still had his voice.

Seigi, or two strangers he never cared about?

There was never a decision.

‘Look, I am deeply sorry for the Brotherhood’s inadequacy, but could I ask for those who won’t die permanently to yield their spot to those who will?’

Fuck that.

He pushed past the eyepatch bastard and into the portal, disappearing, disappearing, disappearing into a land that didn’t stink of hatred and despair.

.
.
.

It didn’t work.

He sang the Song of Genesis, the revival spell that brought all back to its origins.

It didn’t work.

He sang Iedi’s Hymn, the holy spell that pulled the lost back into the festivities of life.

It didn’t work.

He sang the Cadenza Lacrimosa, the taboo resurrection spell that could call even monsters from their graves.

It didn’t work.

Why why why why why why WHY?!??!

The in and out of players, the aid of the Brotherhood, they all meant nothing.

Because the world wasn’t so kind.

And one’s ultimate fate laid in but a single die.

As the muse screamed, scrambling through all the spells he accumulated in his lifetime, those cursed words continued to pop up over the broken corpse of the girl he thought of as a friend.

<<Revive Failed>>​

The darkness did not end.

 

Gwyn pulled herself from the portal and moved away, catching the sight of Cain's sullied back leaving desperately before them. He had seemed to be falling a little ways apart toward the end there, his song discordant in a way that didn't match the dissonance. He'd fought with tooth and nail. Wild and savage. Like with the Deva. She thought perhaps he was more akin to her with the battle fury burning in his blood like it did in her own, but she was a fool to think the same.

They were different breeds of beasts. He fought with a passion and with adrenaline, yes. But the Deva? That mad bestial nature? That was for Ursa. She had seen the feathered plume. The stark pattern on the white blaze that matched the fallen woman's. She, however, had been an NPC. A living, thriving part of this world.

Seigi was certainly thriving- to put it politely- but she wasn't apart of it.

The huntress peeled away from Kyupin, who she had set to hauling through the portal and left her to her devices. She was grown and intelligent and more than strong enough to look after herself while Gwyn figured out what was cracking Cain to nothing.

He was... reviving? The body was still. There was no Seigi, only a husk.

"Cain, Cain stop. She's already gone- at a temple I mean. You know you can't break the game and fast travel people by reviving after too long. Cheating and all." She waved a hand, but continued her approach.

Gwyn tensed as his panic grew and the words from his lips weren't spells, but desperate pleas. She lunged forward to snatch him by both his upper arms, forcing her face and body to block Seigi's own.

"Cain! I know it's fucked up- it's hard- it's gruesome and terrible, but that's how the game is. She's sitting at a temple somewhere yelling her dead off at some priest about GUTS and GLORY and HEROISM." She tossed aside her pride to mimic the empowered words Seigi and her crew had long since taken up just to further make the point before her tone dropped. Grew more serious. Quiet. Private. Meant for him, who meant a lot.

"Breathe, God-Killer. Match me, inhale for exhale... okay? Please?"

 

He tried to breathe, tried. But it was choked sobs instead. The temple. She could be in the temple, yes, but they couldn’t confirm that. With her UI gone, they couldn’t just message her. What was it again, his last message sent, moments after she plunged into the belly of that eldritch monster beneath the Bandit King’s fortress?

‘You doing alright?’

No response. Not then, not now. She could be at the temple, or she could just be gone, and he had no way of confirming either way. The message burned in his eyes once more. ‘Revive Failed’. Karmic justice for the job he thought he could magic his way around. Karmic justice for not being smart about it, not confirming the safety of their surroundings before reviving Ursa. So much lost. He wanted to believe that she was alive, that Seigi was simply in some temple somewhere, but…

What if she wasn’t? The first death to a cancerous abomination lead to the deletion of their User Interface, sealing their ability to escape to the real world. What was the second death supposed to mean then? The third? It was with violent force that Gwyn wrenched him away from the corpse, but he saw through anyways. Had already engraved that image into his retinas. God Killer meant nothing. Not if all the kills in the world couldn’t bring someone back from the grave. If it was like this, he should have never let her go. Should have drugged her, tied her up, sealed her in a basement with a perpetual sleep spell activated. But not just any basement, no, it’d have to be one far from Titanius. He could have rented a room in Druuk Island. No, farther off, he c done something!

But he thought it was wise to let her participate in the most difficult part of this fight. Thought that he could trust her. And there it was again. The words unvoiced, the mistake that Zack made, that Cain made.

If something was precious to you, just lock it away.

If he could believe, that would be wonderful.

But if he was an idealist, he wouldn’t have been so interested in seeing where that dumbass martial artist’s ideals brought her.

Dark eyes refocused, looking up at Gwyn’s scarred, bloodied face.

“The first time she died to one of those,” Cain croaked, “She couldn't log out.”

This wasn’t the noose choking himself.

“The second time…”

Fuck.

“The third time?!”

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckkkkkk.

Couldn’t voice it out, couldn’t clarify, couldn’t couldn’t couldn’t!
@Gwyn ap Herne

 

[THEME]​

"..."

A red and black cyclone rose from the ground only to scatter into the wind. The girl who stood in it's place very rarely mingled with the rest lately. There had been a lot to think about. The world's craziness and these kingdoms and stuff, All was pretty pointless so why should she? She had a method for what she needed, at least until something better came along. Why die for nothing?

How ironic then when she heard what was happening here and who was fighting in this battle.

Her heterochromia eyes, one dark pink and somewhat reminiscent of Magi Heart's while the other a blood red with a twisting almost self aware pupil. Looking around there was only destruction. Sorrow, grief, despair, suffering. Yep... she saw a few survivors lingering around the mess. The survivors... were actually worse off. Would have been better if they all died. It would have avoided this kind of aftermath. Who wanted a bittersweet ending? Not her.

It was terrible that this was the case, but it didn't make her cry, not at all. Her face and heart were cold to it. If anything the grief was beyond belief here.

"...Mmmmm....Gee whiz... just what happened to make this much grief!? Was it..."

What was the name Raina had thrown around? That was on so many random mouths lately? Oh yeah! Dissonance! The pinkette walked through the ruined piles of bodies and clenched her hands. Her face relaxed as it was becoming one of pleasure. It sorta was like being in a nice sauna but in truth it was only from the grief she had around her, she was actually feeling a mix of indifferent and curious to the situation here. There was only one person that she needed a answer for...

Where was Raina?

"Raina-chan. I know you fought, any hero would❤. I told you to stay alive and help me... you didn't break the promise did you...?"

A drip of blood fell down her cheek from her red eye as Wendel finally caught sight of someone she knew very well, or more like had bumped into a thousand or so times. He knew what gave her power, he knew that grief was something she needed, but it was not something she enjoyed. That was the uncontrollable incomplete thing that was Tenebris. Das Ein Magia was a person damn it. She should be treated like one! Like Raina did!

No... that ....dummy.

The body in Cain's arms was quite the sight, as some giantess woman also was looking at the body.

Wendel's face was expressionless as she approached and looked down at Seigi Ling Ling's corpse. Her eyes as dead as the corpse's.

"...She died again. R-Raina-c-c-c-chan."

Her body glowed nearly as black a aura as the enemy that was just felled. Her face unable to show empathy but her words and the amount of blood falling down her face now as it dripped upon the corpse of her only true friend showed otherwise. What did show extremely obvious though...

Was rage.

At....

@Cain Darlite

 

Aalam was merely watching taking a sip from his bottle as he watched the scene that was playing out in front of him. It was a rare bit of poetry to see the Great Cain, the Mad Muse, the chosen of the gods broken down like this. It might have been in bad taste, but it was funny to see for what the man thought he was it seemed the world of the game finally caught up to him. He thought it might have then that crazy blacksmith killed herself for him but it looks like this was his actual tipping point. It was good to see that there was a limit to the man if nothing else and after a second of reflection he might have had a hand in pushing him to get to that breaking point. The last job was something that he didn’t want do to after all and needed up with the dismemberment of a child’s body. Well, it was good for a man to know the limit of how much weight they were able to carry before it broke the back. Tilting the bottle back and draining the rest of it in one go as he watched Gwyn try and put the man back together. Well, she was a better person than him it seems as he was watching from the shadow of a tree, while a decent man was trying to bring back something that would never have the spark of life in it again. It was similar to the way people acted at funerals when they refused to believe a person was gone. Tossing the empty bottle in the bushes and was making his way get back to the town. However, a thought stopped him a thought and a person. Magi, he remembered that girl she had a smell about here a sickly sweetness of poison. It was candy that had gone toxic, she had been a now show for a long time but she was here for Cain, and the man wonders why the gods seem to kill off his friends. Payment for that one.


He was paying attention to what he was saying that she was unable to log out, that would mean she didn’t bounce back like the rest of us. She would have died like a person of this world would, that he didn’t give a damn about but then again what if that had happened to her? If it was she he might have been in the same place or a worse place looking at the bottle that he just threw in the bushes. Yes, he would be in the worst position. She was making him a better person slightly that was going to be a problem for today he was going to do the right thing as he saw it. So he moved closer to the pair, lowing her hood and face mask looking at him.

“Well, then she died and was judged possibly by the judge of this world, for the second time and then was brought back to life. I will assume it hurt and was one of the terrifying things that a person could experience. Depending on how the afterlife works in this world, the third time was more than likely more of the same. A cycle of pain I would suspect so that we could stay here and you can keep trying to bring that husk back to life, or you can get up pulling yourself back together drink some of this until it stops.”

 

His eyes were still too far gone for her to feel any more secure in this situation. Even less sure was the possibility of bringing him down to earth at all. The warring manic whirring of his mind behind fogged over eyes and the drowning aura of a depressive resignation. He knew something she didn't. Gwyn had never been great at reading people, but Cain? Cain had always been a boisterous voice in the battle. Always the shining white not-knight with his own goals and plans laid out, hidden under his white coattails. He was never this. Not that she saw. She didn't like it.

She didn't like the words either. Roland had mentioned something similar. Others maybe at the beginning of the battle? Maybe during Astor's call to arms, but she couldn't quite remember. Gwyn had heard of a massive creature and flew to fight. Taking the moment, however, she pieced together odd comments she had caught in the peripheries of conversation and combat.

The UI block was real? That didn't make sense. It was a game and she knew games apparently "bugged out" or glitched or whatever they called it, but Terrasphere didn't. VR wasn't supposed to and, in the event that it did, had safety features to kick them out.

Her steel grip on his upper arms loosened some, confusion clear on her own expression. "She... what? That doesn't make any sense. If the game were breaking down they'd shut it down. And even then, the rigs kick you if anything's wrong. It'd just force log her and then she can't message you. Can't log back in until the safety whatever is fixed. Some tech jargon... The game's UI couldn't just..." She nodded slightly as she spoke, desperately pretending her own pulse wasn't racing. Her words sounded less and less sure as she went on.

She knew better. The GUI block wasn't new. "The prison." King Theo had kept them trapped in the game for days, but-

It hadn't stuck out as important, she already played the game so much. It wasn't like she was fit to hit the trails yet so why bother? Had she really never considered it? That was- that was fucked up right? She had been trapped in a cell, under extreme stress, Kyupin was fucking tortured, and people got slaughtered. Beretta did. She hadn't logged on since, either.

Gwyn's grip on his coat tightened again as she met his eyes, her own wide and mouth slack. She shook her head helplessly.

That wasn't-

It wasn't supposed to-

Good, a distraction. Two, in fact. Bad, a strange one. Some tiny little thing that went all dark and grim and- couldn't she see he was fucking upset? What kind of asshol-

She looked familiar? The "magic girl" she had met in Astorea with the later-Duke Alonso. There were also the strange girls with roses and that one matched and she looked all sorts of wrong. The black aura didn't help. Gwyn released her grip on Cain, but remained in front of him as the familiar voice of Aalam joined them. She didn't look up.

The huntress stared down at @Das Ein Magia and straightened her own posture to lord between the girl and the bard in white who seemed much more suited for the black of a funeral shroud. He didn't need this darkness too.

"Mage- Magical- Magi? Magi, right? I don't know what you think you've got to add to an already shitty situation, but you're not helping any. Keep those daggers you're glaring pointed elsewhere. I'm not much in the mood for sufferin' anyone's shit." With that she rolled her shoulders and bore her teeth in a snarl. Cain wasn't fit for company. And she wasn't about to be either.

At Aalam's heel landed a burning, black swan. The bond at the base of its skull singing in tune to Gwyn's demands. This one was flock-pack. The little one was a gar in the lavawater, thinking itself a gator. Brat.

 

Wendel gritted her teeth at this woman that decided to show antagonism towards her. She didn't remember this person or if she did it was very vague. It didn't matter though. This was a example of how people were anyway, thinking they could understand what was happening... this woman didn't even believe Raina was in danger!

"...You know nothing about what is going on so don't act like you do. Raina-chan is my best friend. MINE! Not yours, not Cains! Not this gruffy looking guy. She made the promise with ME!"

She didn't cry, at least not the way anyone else would. There must be still a chance. Just because it happened again it, wasn't a sure thing was it? She didn't know the answer but these people that blocked out what was happening, they deserved to die. Not Raina, not the one who would help get the Happy Ending! The only one she felt anything for anymore!

Pushing Cain she grabbed Seigi greedily trying to pull her away and shook her wildly with a increasingly growing wildness in her eyes. She was on her knees now and shaking the body, her eyes turning to Cain.

"Why didn't you revive her! What have you done... she's the only one! The only one! Damn you! None of you deserve to live more than her.... It wasn't her time yet... I....I needed her to see it with me. I won't let her do this to me... I won't let her... I refuse. You aren't allowed to die. Not allowed..."

She dropped the corpse coldly and stood back up. Wiping the blood from her face in a futile effort to stop the flow.The thought to take the body and just leave with it was tempting but that would be accepting that this was the end. That no other bodies will appear.

She closed her eyes and turned away from the trio.

"....Hehehe...hehehe...hehehe... Raina-chan. You... hehehehe... liar. I'll wait❤, I'll give some time... to come back..."


@Cain Darlite @Gwyn ap Herne @Aalam Abungu

 

If the game was breaking down they’d shut it down?

He laughed, sinister, mirthless, even as Gwyn realized the own folly in her words, her denial of something that had already happened before.

“Did you forget?” Cain spat, bitter, burning, “Terrasphere is illegal.”

He was sick of this shit, the grief, the shock twisting into a fiery, vicious anger. A furnace reflected by his dark, dark eyes, smouldering like charcoals, barely biting back the anger. If he could burn everything until there was nothing left, that would be good. The void would be better than this, better than all these pointless fucking words.

Ah, yes, lashing out at the world was much, much, much better.

“Shut the fuck up, Aalam. I’m not far gone enough to start drinking my inadequacies as a human being away. You were there, you twit, you SAW what Ashiore became after just one death to that tentacle witch. She’s a fucking rotting corpse now. Do you even understand what’s possible in this game? Understand how many people have disappeared? How much the news constantly reports on deaths of Terrasphere players?” The muse, no, just the man, grimaced, teeth bared. “Of course you wouldn’t fucking know. You spread your legs for anyone with coin to spare while closing yourself off from everything that’s happening around you. Must be easy with a bottle glued to your mouth half the time, huh? Fuck even were you during that last bit, trying to shake more coins out of a duke with no power?”

Smouldering? No, this was a fucking conflagaration, his gaze swapping to that psychotic little bitch that was so close to Seigi and yet, out of all the Rosed bitches that showed up to the fight, WASN’T EVEN THERE.

Didn’t revive her? How DARE she say that! It didn’t matter at all whether or not that muscled dyke was in the way, didn’t matter at all that he was ruining his image over and over and over and over and over again. Fuck this shit, fuck all this shit.

“Fuck you too, Wendy!”

He advanced as she dropped the body like a bag of bricks, her delusions running as rampant as the blood flowing from her eyes.

“Where the fuck were you, huh? Where the actual flipping fuckcakes were you? Seigi was here. Alphabet was here. Megan was here. Hell, the entirety of Astorea was here busting our asses to make sure that the entire world didn’t explode, and where the hell were you? Rose Bitch wanted you to look for shinies again? Wanted you to sit on your ass like a little bitch and polish the silver? You think I didn’t try? You think I didn’t burn myself away until I only had a sliver of energy over and over again, in an effort to KILL this damn thing before Raina tossed her life away?”

He snarled, pushing her away further, physically.

“Don’t FUCK with me, you little shit! You don’t know how much I bled, how many grudges I ate, how much I tried to end it all! You’re fucking strong! Where the FUCK were? None deserve to live more than her? Sure! But YOU. DO. NOT. DESERVE. TO. BE. WITH. HER. She cared for you so much! She joined Terrasphere to find you! And what do I fucking see?”

An unstained dress. A fully healthy body. A rose, blooming over her heart.

“I see someone who couldn’t even be assed to fight alongside her friend in such a massively dangerous scenario, despite being magnitudes stronger than her. And now you’re just turning your eyes away from the reality of your neglect, Wendy.”

It was burning out, faster than expected.

“Con-“

He was going to regret this.

“-grat-“

He didn’t really want this.

“-ulations.”

But it was so much easier.

“The first death took her UI. The second death she managed to get revived. But the third?”

The scepter that haunted him became the stake that he’d drive into that little, comatose girl’s heart.

“Revive Failed. Over and over and over and over and over again. Is your Master strong enough to fix this bullshit, little red?”

He knew the answer.

"Of course they are. Just as planned, am I right?"

The smile on his face was feral.

Predatorial.

Self-destructive.

 

"What a mess." It was a phrase that had been crossing Roland's mind nonstop since he had exited the core. They had been thrust into darkness in the middle of the apex of the battle to kill the body of Titania. Of course, they succeeded, but it wasn't until Ivan and his portal appeared that Roland had realized the cost. In a last ditch effort, more than a handful of the players, including the king himself, had thrust themselves into a suicidal attack against the monster. "What a mess." He had warned them all before this began, that dying here could impact your ability to leave the game. What he had not mentioned was that after that night he had discovered even more. Of course, that discovery could have been a number of things, but Roland had a hunch it was related to dying to monsters such as these.

With a sigh, he made his way to where the others had gathered after leaving the body. It was a small group, filled mostly with the strongest players. Whether they had made their way using their higher tier abilities, or had simply chosen to use the portal wasn't clear, but they were all that remained. Roland lamented the deaths of those who had stayed behind, not because of what would likely befall them, but because he had failed to properly explain the ramifications. The truth was, however, even he did not know fully what would happen to them. There was simply to many mysteries a foot, and not enough answers. He needed to get back in contact with Chelsea in the real world and begin to hunt things down. In a morbid sense, it would make things easier from here on out. With such a large sample size they would be able to spot more similarities than before.

Roland gazed forward at Cain and the others as they all gathered around someone's remains. A quick glance at the corpse's hand was all he needed to confirm the body as Seigi's. Of course it was seigi, she seemed to be polarizing in every room she walked into, a loud as she was brash. It was likely that polarization that got her killed so many times over. With a grunt Roland strode forward, seeing Magi for the first time in a long time. Unlike last time, however, she had grown a large rose that spurted out from her chest. That combined with her new dark outfit told Roland exactly what had happened. She had been taken by Vermilion as well. Roland grit his teeth, as his hand involuntarily clutched itself. Just how many people was this game going to steal? Magi Heart was the purest soul he had met while in this game, to see her defiled in such a manner sickened him to his core. He wish he had stopped her, back when they first met. Convinced her to log off and run. He wished the same for Alpha, and Seigi, but it was too late. He was always too late to save anyone. Really, it didn't matter how much power he gathered in this game. There just wasn't anything he could do. He couldn't even convince @Comet not to sarfice herself in the end.

It was this mind set that caused him to turn to @Cain Darlite with a stare a mix of self hatred and disgust, and open his mouth too let loose a secret he had promised himself to keep until he learned more. "There's no point in mourning her death." he said cooly, "The player who played Seigi, 'Raina Raythean', died weeks before this fight. All you're holding is some cruel artificial version of the character that the game designed to fill her spot." With that he turned to walk away, thoughts of Ursa surprisingly filling his head. Had he cared if a NPC died then? Maybe... but...the real world was still more important. Wasn't it?

 

Aalam stooped down on the floor and looked at the man, who was in the on the ground and in pain. Even as he was looking for a fight with his words, it was something at least he wasn’t in shock however he was still at a point of denial. That wouldn’t do anyone any good especially the kingdom at large the man had enough power to be a problem, for a second he considers what could be done. A well-placed arrow to the back of the neck could stop that from happening for a little while, but Gwyn might stop bringing him drinks if that happened. That would be a travesty so he would have to keep playing this like it was expected. Taking another swig from the bottle as Cain kept going, the man was mad he got that, but this was sad. If that was the best, he could then the man was barely able to put his heart into the insult. The saying was never kick a man when he was down but when did he ever do anything that was normal or civil. He left those things for people that had a moral code or well yea a moral code.

“So you did or are you going to keep bitching? I just wanted to know before I talk you know you get all that out your system cause it was getting annoying. Now I don’t care what you think about me it doesn’t matter, but I have caused my fair amount of death in his game. And I don’t regret it as for why I was not in this final battle; it is simple I did my part. Look at you and be the same look at her if what the duke is saying is correct. She was dead a long time ago what you cared about was a memory of someone that died. People died Cain no of us live forever and now of us will, she is dead these actions won’t bring her back to life.” Taking a long swig of his drink as he thought about his words and how it would be terrible to run an arrow Cain’s neck though. Yes, that was still a bad thing to do. “As for what I do and how I do it for my code is my own. Who I work for and what I do with my skills is my own.” Going back to his bottle as he waited the man had a point they tend always to have one, and he was aware that his name was worth too much after the things that he had done. However, he had never broken his code, so his soul was light.

 

Cain's outburst was probably supposed to be a major moment between the two. He pushed the much smaller girl, he shouted, and he pointed fingers in accusation. He showed for the first time in Wendel's memory, yes even compared to that time in the cafe...

He showed true resentment, true grief, true anger towards this situation and towards Wendel or... perhaps who he expected her to be, Tenebris or Magi Heart.

Unfortunately, he was not talking to them and this girl couldn't care less about his opinions. All that mattered was Raina and the ending they wanted together. This problem was just another thorn. Thinking he was better than her, thinking he had any right to say anything as someone who just 'played' Terrasphere like a idiot.

"...Treating it all like a game. It's...hehehe... your fault. All of yours hehehe. Try living here and maybe you'd have.. hehe...no she isn't... this isn't...hehehehe...."

She stopped her insane giggling as he went on. The only feeling she had for this man at this moment...

Was grudge...

But.

He was... suffering too. Once it's no longer a game, that's when suffering becomes that much worse. He was making a crossing into a much darker reality and even with how much she begrudged him. Even if she felt no pity for him behind her shattered glare. Wendel did want him to no longer feel such things. Raina wouldn't be happy if he did.

That would not be a Happy Ending at all.

"So you know then."

She sighed as all of his grief bathed over her like a flower taking in nutrients from the sun. She took his hand and shook her head as her twintails waved back and forth. Surely he would pull away or try to hit or push her. That was not a problem though, she would take his grief and fuel herself with it. In a way this made this more tolerable... this wait.

Because surely it was just a wait...

Raina's soul could not be extinguished. If it ever was she would...

Das Ein Magia would bring her back. From the depths of hell if necessary, from history, from memory. She would not allow Raina to end. Not without the right ending.

"Wendy would be pretty upset to see you act like.."

Then another person came and said something that broke her chain of thought. Raina was a AI... she was dead in real life? Wowzers... that was... so... utterly ...dumb.

Pulling away from Cain and shadow stepping directly in front of the swordsman. The girl stared at him and then she laughed. In all the horrible things that happened today this actually made her laugh. A honest if eerie one that floated over the dead bodies all around them.

"Hehehehe...Mr Roland... hehehe.... You can still....hehehe... call this a game? Dummy❤ *snicker*."

She raised her right hand and summoned a illusion of Raina from the real world. Taking her hand, Wendel walked with her phantom copy away from the group. This would do for now.

Until she came back this would do.

The pinkette looked back as the Raina clone did as well.

"Yell at Wendy all you want but she isn't exactly here to listen and be hurt by you Cain❤. I don't know what's going on with my other body in that world but my name is Wendel, I'm me. I'm what Raina-chan wants. You and Roland, and everyone else... are lesser. I care enough about her feelings and Wendy's to keep your happiness in mind. But gee whiz... you aren't deserving of it..."

With that she vanished through a red and black whirlpool to the manor.

 

He wanted a fight, not this. He wanted a goddamn old fashioned brawled where Magi snapped and went apeshit crazy with her despair and grief bullshit, not this giggling little retard drowning in her own delusions. He wanted a fucking distraction, and instead, all he got were more and more assholes dropping one liners that didn’t matter.

HURR DURR JUST AN AI. Wow, did Roland have the attention span of a gnat? Did it even matter if Seigi was an AI, when AI were all massively human-like? Christ on a bike, no wonder the Duke only gained followers by selling off his land. Dude’s social skills were so low that it punched all the way down into Terrasphere’s China.

LOLOLOL PEOPLE DIE AND WHAT ELSE WAS NEW. Gods above, was Aalam memeing on him? Was he watching shitty anime IRL and decided now would be the best time to drop those lines? No, he couldn’t even be bothered at this point. No, he couldn’t give half a shit about any of them now.

No, if there was no violence to be had, no blood to drown in and no life to be brought back then…

He was done here as well.

Despicable and pathetic. That was what Magi was, hiding under yet another personality, lying and lying to herself to the point that she’d soothe her own loneliness with a goddamn illusion of Seigi. Running away into a dimension that only she could leave in, never, ever, ever dealing with the end results of her own incompetence. Ah, he’d love to tear her cheeks off. Would love to split her molars in half. Would enjoy peeling the flesh off her forehead. Would have an absolute blast pulling out her lacrimal sacs. Chiseling into the scalp. Splitting the nose. Blooming the eyes.

His hands cracked, digits shifting erractically as dark eyes burned the last vestiges of that otherworldy portal into his memory, before Cain slowly, slowly…did not let out a breath. It didn’t matter if this was going to be more miserable. He’ll hold onto the anger, incinerate the grief, and murder something.

The atmosphere was stifling, filled with defeated shitstains worth less than the dirt they sat their proverbial asses on. From this point on…

Roland and Aalam were dead to him.

…he was going to have to live without watching Seigi grow brighter.

‘The gravity of a collapsing star.’

What laid afterwards?

Whatever it was, he wouldn’t find it while engaging in discourse with those twats.

Without a word, he stormed off, seeking the mindless violence that so easily sheared away all other emotion.

 

He just took a swig from his bottle as he looked at the man that was losing himself in the pits of his sorrow and was disappointed if that was as far as the man’s strength lay then he was not as strong as he suspected. Well, the man’s might had been tested and was found not to be able to handle the weight of heroism. Segi was a good girl, and she was a hero, and that’s what heroes did they made the sacrificed for the greater good, and she did. Even though she wasn’t aware what it would have caused her in the long run and he was not going to be little that sacrifice with acting like a Cain did he would stand and make sure that if something like this was to happen again. After all, he still visited the old man’s home and had a drink with him well a small drink when he went to visit. But it was a fact of life and an on that no one could ever escape that everyone died. A person had to live with that knowledge that everyone died it seemed the Cain had not yet learned the lesson on how to let people go.

Draining the rest of his bottle as Aalam watched Cain walk away well that was going to be a mess if it wasn’t cleaned up. However, he didn’t care that much to be the one that would have to clean, and there were bigger things that he needed to do. Aalam was sure the man didn’t like him too much. That was to be expected after all he was there when two possible love interest of the man died. Yea he could see that man was not going to listen to him in the long run. However, there was a chance that he might listen to someone else that he respected. Tossing his last bottle for the day into the bushes turning his attention to the only other archer. “Gwyn could you look after the boy if you can, as a favor to me he is in a dark place, and that doesn’t end well. Other than that I thank you for the ale I have a shelf that this will wonderful on. May someone to share it with later if things stay well, thank you.” Making his way into the forest and activating his stealth well this was done, and he needed to find a bar.