#jeanne talks to the void

[licogli]

i am so sick and tired of consumer culture

[robotsmoocher]

twitter being down makes me regret not tweeting every single thought in my brain

[ravetillyoucry]

PUPARIA

Chapter 11 - No Moon At All

prev - chapter 1

"... So, you haven't missed all that much really." Hosah slouched back into the booth seat, greatly undermining the gravity of all he'd just explained to the recently absent detective.

The ashy, almost silver, haired man opposite him seemed to be at a loss for words. Looking at him and Jeanne sat beside each other was definitely an interesting sight. In terms of just about everything, the two were polar opposites, maybe that was why their relationship seemed so distant, so cold, so strained. Hosah had told Teddy all about his concerns about the pair, but the lunch time they'd spend together, the first time as a whole group, would surely show his assistant exactly what he meant.

One thing the shifter always liked about Thierri is how they seemed to be on the same wavelength. There was no feeling of making things weird or awkward in a conversation with the guy, he seemed to always understand just exactly where Hosah was coming from, which was nice when he didn't really want any logical solutions to his problems, just someone to validate him and indulge in whatever delusional perspective he had.

"Oh yeah, same old same old, right?" Thierri tilted his head in a shrug of mutual understanding, taking a sip of his disgustingly sweetened coffee all the while.

These kinds of conversations were the ones Hosah’s father had taught him were just in man’s nature, playing down their struggles in phrases like ‘Living the dream’ or ‘Nothing new’ , not making a spectacle out of their struggle. It was a lesson the shifter carried with him through every day life, one that men such as himself wouldn’t be too talkative of their struggles as to not worry anyone, his respective job as a man to be the one to help others, and not to be helped.

It was at this point when the shifter realised he'd been the only one speaking this entire time, his coworkers all having an air of uncomfortable tension about them, an unresolved issue that Hosah had no idea about. Eugh. So awkward. The only thing filling the void of conversation was the painful sound of cutlery against the ceramic plates. God, that noise, it drove the shifter absolutely insane.

Rather than focusing on the people in-front of him, Hosah would rather just eat whatever food he'd spent an unreasonable amount of money on, and that was really saying something. It was too pretty to eat. A cute little slice of the same cake Teddy had bought for him a week or two prior, hand iced with little slices of strawberries between the layers, cemented by whipped cream. He fidgeted with his fork in his hand, trying to calculate what bites would be the best in order to get the most satisfaction out of the cake.

This was something Hosah had done ever since he could remember, it'd start with the second best bite, then he'd work his way around the meal picking out the more unsatisfying parts until he'd gotten to the very best bite at the end. Very much impractical, but the thought of not doing this just made him want to not eat at all. Not necessarily a good habit, but it could be worse.

A hand giving a reassuring rub on his knee caught him off guard. It was Teddy, with a slightly concerned smile plastered across his face, eyebrows angled down, as if to say 'All good?'. It was already hellish before Hosah had said anything about his doctors concerns, how everyone treat him as some fragile, incapable victim, constantly on the brink of breaking, but everything was about to get at least a hundred times worse from here on out.

Another thing getting progressively worse was the tension around the lunch table. The shifter desperately wanted to break the silence, feeling like a child in the middle of a messy divorce, but there was nothing that came to mind in terms of conversation topics. Lately, Hosah found himself praying for divine intervention a lot more than he usually would.

"Oh, also, autopsies came back whilst you three were sent over to the bakery." Jeanne, like the angel he was, swooped in to save the group from certain death due to awkward silence.

If the shifter had put the fork to his mouth in all the time his food had been sitting there, he would've surely spat it out in surprise. "Really? What happened? What did they all say?"

Hosah could assume the last victim had bled out from his assistant's observation, but the rest seemed to be in perfect health on the outside, aside from the fact they were dead, of course.

"Well, they all seemed to have overdosed, aside from fifteen. Looks like whoever done it has access to the medication they give the shifters who grow in order to keep them regular sized." The dark haired, one-eyed detective took a sip of his drink, leaving Hosah at the edge of his seat, wide eyed, waiting for more detail. "Obviously, 'ts gonna work differently when you're on the opposite side of the shifter spectrum. Did it to keep them small I guess."

Ugh. The more detail the shifter received, the more he wished he'd just stayed in Colorado on shit money working in retail by day, babysitting by night.

Hosah had almost forgotten there were other people around the table aside from himself and Jeanne as his assistant interjected,

"How can people do that. I don't understand. I.. What would motivate anyone to treat others so badly." Teddy didn't look at the shifter beside him, or at anyone around them in-fact, instead, staring off into the distance with glossy eyes and a pursed lip.

The shifter was always aware that his assistant was quite perceptive and insightful, but he’d not expected such a high level of empathy toward his own situation. Only made sense, given his reaction to having the parents identify their child’s shrunken, rotting corpse in front of him. Now seemed like the time for Hosah to take his turn giving the man a pat on the leg, to let him know all would be okay, even if he didn’t fully believe that himself.

"Man, you should get on the internet and just see these kinds of message forums. Just unbridled, unprecedented hatred. I don't know what the fuck we did to them, it's these fucking.. Conspiracy theorists. They have their own shitty lives, and instead of realising maybe they're the reason for it, they want to look to anywhere else but themselves to put the blame. We're just easy targets, easy to say that we use everyone around us, that we're just the same as any other city rat running around the streets spreading all kinds of diseases."

Oops, Hosah didn't mean to rant on like that. In embarrassment, he quickly shovelled his first bite of the strawberry shortcake into his mouth, hoping someone else would pick up the conversation, or the topic would be changed.

"Mmm. After all, with great power comes great responsibility. Most don't know how to handle having such an imbalance over people in this world. People take advantage of others even when they don't have to power to kill them with one harsh movement, you guys have never stood a chance really." That last part may have been a little offensive, but Jeanne was right.

Mouth filled, all the shifter could do was give a passionate 'Mmm' with a point over to his superior in support of his statement. How great, he knew inviting Jeanne wasn't such a bad idea, look at these high intellect, insightful conversations being had. Anyone who overheard must be thinking , 'Woah, what a set of intelligent and handsome young men' .

"That reminds me, actually, sorry for the other day, Jeanne, I was careless and couldn't handle my emotions. Sorry." Teddy perked up, this was something the shifter had no idea about, what the fuck did Teddy of all people have to apologise to Jeanne about?

Was this why his friend had been avoiding the two all this time? What happened whilst Hosah wasn't there? When was Hosah not there?

"Damn, bitch, what'd you do?" , was the most casual way Hosah could put all of his questions.

Instead of giving a straightforward answer, the ghostly looking detective sitting opposite him waved Hosah off, "Long story, no big deal, it's all resolved now, just a.. misunderstanding. Don't worry about it."

Hm. No, no yeah, the shifter was definitely going to worry about it.

Everyone, now seemingly at ease, continued to chat about nothing as Hosah continued to question in his mind just what could've happened between the two. Chowing down on the cake, he wondered how exactly they got into a situation where they'd be fighting. In fact, Hosah became so deep in thought that he'd actually cleared the plate in front of him. Perfect! One less problem to worry about, surely now that he'd eaten one slice of cake, that means all future food related issues have been defeated, and he'll never have to worry about that specialist appointment or his doctor's theories ever again!

Feeling all proud of himself, Hosah and his assistant trailed behind the two detectives in front of them, walking in pairs back to the office.

Teddy took the shifter by the shoulder, pulling him in closer, his hand cupping the blonde head and pressing it into around his collar bone area due to the height difference. "We should go back to that cafe more often, since the food is good there,"

"Psh, come on," Hosah scoffed, his neck now craned up to rest his stubbled chin on his assistant's shoulder, "I told you, there's nothing wrong with me, just been too stressed to have any kind of appetite lately." If that were the case, the shifter would've been stressed every moment of his life.

It was better if he gave everyone one less thing to worry about anyway, there was enough on Teddy's plate, despite his claims of wanting to help, the shifter knew it was just too much to ask from him. This would be something Hosah would handle himself, given that everything else in his life was a shared task. It was his right as a man after all, to take care of his own shit and to not expect the people around him to help him with it.

"Right." Teddy didn't let go of the detectives head, instead playing with his hair, his fingertips moving in satisfying circles.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, the sensation was very nice. They probably looked like a couple to everyone else around them, but for once in his life, Hosah didn't really care. He couldn’t even really be bothered if his stalker took notice, maybe it’d teach them to back off, now that he had a guard dog that’d stick by his side during every second of the day.

That reminded him, his hair was one of the things on his mental list of 'jobs to cover once you're normal sized', "On the way back home, can we stop at the convenience store? Need to fix my hair, it's all grown out and shit."

"Yeah, yeah sure. I can help you with the back if you need it." Teddy reassured the shifter, despite wanting to say ‘Yeah, I can see that’.

Hosah was gonna need all the help he could get after the last time he tried to do this job alone, exhibit A of the disaster being his current state. Yellowed, with a texture similar to that of straw or hay, as his hair desperately wanted to curl, but would he brushed out and left a frizzy mess.

-~-

"I don't know, what do hairdressers do, bleach first or haircut first?" The shifter had never actually had his hair cut or bleached by a professional, which is probably why it looked so choppy and bad.

Teddy didn't look up from the instructions ok the box, "Never been to a barbers before?" he smiled, not in a demeaning way, but it still annoyed Hosah just a little.

"Nope. My grandpa owned his own barber shop so he taught my dad how to cut hair. He usually did it for me."

Instead of using his words, the assistant gave a little 'Mmm' of understanding, too indulged in using the box guide rather than trusting the process as Hosah usually did.

"Okay," he said, grabbing a towel from the back of the bathroom door in which they sat in, "Colour first, then cut."

Despite insisting to do it himself as he had done so countless times in the past, Teddy had already decided he was going to play hairdresser today, with the shifter sitting shirtless on a stool in the already cramped bathroom as his hair was being covered in the shitty store bought shit he'd become accustomed to.

"You do this yourself usually, right?"

"Yup."

".. Can tell." Teddy winced as he got around to the back of the shifter's head.

Turning back to look at the man behind him, Hosah asked, "What, is it bad? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Keep your head forward." the assistant used his un-gloved hand to give Hosah's cheek a gentle touch back into the previous position it was in before, "No, it's not bad, it's just.. Roots are pretty long. And the length. 'Ts like mullet."

"Shut up, no it's not, it was just buzzed before, that's all"

Hosah didn't take kindly to being laughed at, resting his elbows on his knees and cupping his face in his hands like a bored schoolboy.

It was particularly hard not to squirm with the sensation of the brush against the back of his neck, Teddy's fingers gently pressing against the almond skin, keeping the shifter in place as he brushed from the ends to the roots of his choppy hair.

Shivering under the touch, Hosah felt the need to clarify, "Sorry, the bristles tickle."

"Not much left to do now," his assistant said under his breath, "Your hair is just.. very thick. It's nice."

The shifter got stuck between saying thank you or saying something self deprecating, ultimately deciding silence was the best way to take the compliment. Letting people say nice things about him put Hosah at unease, as if acknowledging it would make him come off as big-headed or vain, so instead he usually just denied it instead.

It was proving to be very difficult not to shift whilst in his seat, with the skin to skin contact around his shoulder and the gentle brushing of the bleach against his scalp. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Hosah's default size was three inches tall, he's the most comfortable when shrunken, being a 'regular' height to him felt like one massive perpetual growing pain that filled his entire body.

Despite the pain of getting around, the least physically painful time of his life was probably when he'd gotten height stuck for three months. Over time, the shifter learnt to just tune out his chronic pains, but getting into a comfortable position in life where he had someone to look after him, the thought of just staying tiny forever became overwhelmingly tempting.

" 'Kay, looks completely covered to me." Teddy said in a sigh, removing his singular glove, "Now we wait."

The urge to run his hands through his bleach covered hair was difficult to overcome, "I'm gonna go put a record on,"

It was honestly a miracle that Teddy also owned a record player, as the world had made its shift from tapes and vinyls to CDs and ipods, but that was one thing Hosah took immense pride in. His vinyl collection spanned all the way back to the fifties, as a good portion of the records he'd amassed were 'borrowed' from his father. Scanning through the box he'd had his assistant bring over, ultimately the shifter decided on a little Townes Van Zandt, playing Hosah's all time favourite song 'I'll Be Here In The Morning'.

This song always reminded Hosah of his ultimate dream, living in that cabin on the islet in the lake, although there were some sour memories and feelings attached to it, he felt as though he'd spent too many years fantasising about it to give up now.

"I never really pegged you as a country type of guy." The voice came from the figure leant up against the bathroom door frame, almost being as tall as the door itself.

"Well," Hosah sighed, "I'm not really that picky. Jazz is my favourite though. Just sucks that all the best artists are dead now."

Teddy laughed as he approached, their height difference being more prominent that ever as he stood directly in front of the shifter now, "There are still some talented musicians. Can go to one of those Jazz Clubs and bars over the weekend, it'll be fun."

The taller figure leant down, close to Hosah's face, which was hidden by the fact he'd chosen to stare at the rug underneath him rather than the person he was talking to. If that was Teddy's idea of weekend fun, then the shifter had been doing it wrong his whole life.

"Sounds nice, yeah," Hosah turned his head even further to the side as he spoke, desperately trying to hide how red he'd gotten from the close proximity.

It wasn't supposed to be happening this way around, it had been years since the shifter had been teased by a man, he'd grown used to being the one having to initiate all these sorts of feelings. It was a pleasant change of pace, one he welcomed like an old friend at his doorstep.

"Cool." Teddy echoed the shifters own words back to him.

Hosah would’ve taken this as his sign for a smoke break if he didn’t have a thick layer of convenience store hair bleach on his head. The pain of his own flustered-ness was almost unbearable, but his morbid curiosity kept him around the sofa on which his assistant had now sat on, waiting for what move he would make next, if any at all.

Still, with his eyes focused on the wooden floor under his feet, the shifter could feel eyes lingering on him.

“Hey, do we not need to put like, I don’t know, foil in your hair, or a plastic bag?” Teddy asked, his head tilted to rest on one of the many pillows accumulated on the couch.

“No clue. What are you, some kind of professional?” Hosah joked, hoping his downturned eyebrows and his squinted eyes would distract from the shade of red his face had turned.

His roommate just shrugged, “Might as well be, my mom spent more time in hair salons then she ever did at any of my games and shit.”

“Ahh, so you played a lot of sports as a kid then?” Now they were getting somewhere. A nice common ground for the two to stand on.

“I mean,” Teddy stood to his full height, “Look at me. I was six foot by my fourteenth birthday. They begged me to join the basketball team.”

Sounded about right.

“Kind of always expected you to be more, you know,” Hosah took a moment to consider whether the other person would take offence, ultimately deciding he didn’t really care as he did his best ‘classic highschool movie nerd’ voice, “In the book club.”

“God, I should’ve been,” Luckily, Teddy took it like a champ, laughing it off, showing his radiant smile, “What about you? Not really the football type, right?”

“Baseball. I was fuckin’ great at it too. Short and skinny, aerodynamic you know? Then I started shifting more, and I got busy with all the doctors visits and health consultations, had to quit in the end.”

A bittersweet memory, but still one Hosah looked back on fondly. It was one of the only times he really felt like part of a friend group as a kid.

“Yeah, I can picture that, you in the cap and the cleats?” Teddy went back to his previous teasing ways, an unexpected turn for the person the shifter assumed to be quite the prude about these kinds of things.

All discombobulated, Hosah struggled to get his words out in one piece, “I think it’s time to rinse.”

Without turning back, the shifter speedily shuffled back to the bathroom, with Teddy following close behind him.

“Just sit down on the floor and hang your head over the side of the tub,” Teddy instructed, grabbing a towel from the bathroom door, shutting it behind him all the while.

Hosah obediently followed the instructions given to him, his neck uncomfortably craned up so it rested on the bathtub’s walls, his hair still stuck in its same position due to the solution in it.

The warm water hitting his scalp certainly was a pleasant feeling, the hard pressure of the shower head being weirdly soft against the tender skin the water pounded down upon. If it wasn’t hard to shrink before, it was definitely a challenge to stay his current size now. Hosah hadn’t even realised how he’d had his eyes closed for a while now, enjoying the pampering of which the likes he’d never experienced.

“It’s nice, right?” Teddy laughed, although the shifter had no plans on saying anything in return, being too indulged in the process to even notice the fact his assistant had said anything at all.

And that wasn’t even the best part, Hosah knew true bliss as the shower head was turned off, Teddy moving over to the shampooing process. Gentle fingertips massaging the purple solution into his scalp, the sensation being so satisfying that it brought a wide, involuntary smile to the shifter’s face.

It was moments like these which made Hosah wish for just a few seconds, he could leave his body and look in from an outsiders perspective. Seeing this moment from the angle of a painted idea would probably be pretty beautiful, although his position, leaning up with his head hanging over the tub, probably wasn’t all that nice looking from a third person view point.

Teddy lifted the jug of perfectly warm water, carefully rinsing the shifter’s hair of the soapy mixture he’d just rubbed in, brushing his fingers through the freshly bleached locks to make sure he got all of it out.

As the shifter opened his eyes, long after the sensation had ended, he was met with that same smug look Teddy sometimes carried, when he’d gotten his way with things.

“Enjoy yourself?” He asked, taking it upon himself to start drying Hosah’s hair, delicately scrunching the ends rather than the usual scrub the shifter would give to his own scalp after washing it.

Hosah scoffed, too flustered to think of anything witty to get his assistant back with.

The pair sat on the cold, tiled floor together, Teddy tenderly rubbing the towel in a circular motion against Hosah’s head, the setting sun gleaming in through the small, stained glass window above the toilet which they were hanging out beside. Even with the mess from the bleaching job that just took place, Hosah could picture how beautifully picturesque this scene probably looked. Trying to imagine himself from a different perspective than his own was difficult, but it was one he was willing to try out in hopes of painting this moment, as payment for his assistant’s care.

This reminded him, he had to ask what specifically Teddy wanted him to paint for him.

“You know that painting I promised you?” Hosah began his inquiry, his big brown doe eyes looking up innocently at the figure which sat above him.

“How could I forget?”

His hands balling up into tense fists, the shifter continued, “What specifically did you have in mind for that? Just so I can get started,”

Teddy’s eyes adverted from the task at hand to look at the shifter below him, “Anything you think would be best. I wouldn’t even mind if you threw something you did years ago at me, to be honest,”

Great, perfect, that means Hosah had free rein on what he was creating, just how he liked it. But now was the hard part, making something as equally as beautiful as the person he was making it for. The task seemed daunting, almost impossible, but the shifter wouldn’t want to let Teddy down, especially not after all he’d done for him so far, with more aid surely to come in the future.

“There,” Teddy moved a few inches back, now sitting on his butt the same as the shifter did rather than on his knees, “All better now.”

Hurriedly, Hosah got up to look at his new and improved hair in the mirror, and sure enough, it looked even better than it did the last time he’d done it himself. He felt finally whole again, finally himself as his hair had been returned to the sleek, almost white colour it once was. There was still a little dark root peaking through, but this time it looked very intentional, and it made his head hair match his facial hair and eyebrows, which was always nice.

“You like?” Teddy asked, moving in behind the shifter, resting his chin on the damp hair.

“Yeah, yeah of course. Best it’s ever been.” Despite wanting to be angry over how his assistant positioned himself, Hosah couldn’t bring himself to feel any negative emotions at all.

Looking Teddy in the eye through their reflection, the shifter added, “Thank you, it looks great.”

“Aww,” the pale arms wrapped around Hosah’s dainty shoulders swaying him left and right playfully, “Anytime.”

If this is what life would be like with Teddy, the shifter wasn’t sure he’d even want to return to his own apartment once all the crazed stalker shit had worn down.

[so2collection]

Star Ocean: Blue Sphere Mini Guide and Tips - Final Section

First half you can view by clicking here.

Leviabor Ruins (Part 2)

Private Action - Leviabor Ruins (Floor 320 / Right Side; Before clearing Leviabor Ruins) - Rena IN - Use Rena's Rebirth to revive some guy killed by a monster. He gives you an item based on the GB model you're playing on. GB/Super Gameboy 1 has the best prize. Note: I didn't do this, because the guide I used gave me the wrong requirements and I passed it. GBA gets an Orichalcum, so it wasn't really worth it anyway.

We can now unlock all floors. Talk to the man on the right and he'll automatically unlock all the floors on both elevators. Don't forget to check both. Make sure you get the Guiding fragments before looking for the Seal.

Go to Ava City (or, if you don't wanna look around, just teleport right to the Leviabor Ruins). Some of the shops are still there, but the buildings aren't… Lord Ava is nowhere to be found (and you still can't take his treasure darn it). 3rd door from the top of Ava's palace is the way back to Leviabor. If you check the inn where you can sleep at the bed for free, you'll also see that is where Lord Ava has taken refuge.

We already have the Fire seal from early game, so that's 1 down, 9 to go…

Water Seal - Start at the 103rd Floor. Defeat the enemies in the rooms going right, right, and up. A treasure appears with a Guiding Water fragment. Return to the beginning of the 103 Floor and go to the left, upper left this time. Defeat the Froggy to get a Blue keycard, then go up. There's a treasure with the Water Seal. Go back to the upper right side and we have to fight Titan. (Huh, he didn't appear for me… maybe I fought him earlier, I can't remember…)

Wind Seal (Rena is required for this floor.) - 114th Floor. Break the box (right, right, up) on the lower right to get the Guiding Wind fragment. Hit the switch ahead. Head up to fight a Titan. Two of Rena's Ray spells took him out easily. Press on until you see a broken floor switch. Use Rena's Rebirth on it. Before hitting this switch, go up and hit the lower right breakable box and reveal another switch. Hit that. Go left and defeat the two titans to get the Wind Seal. Go back using the teleporter on the right.

Earth Seal (Rena is required for this floor if you want the full set of Jeanne armor. Since I'm using Dias/Celine/Rena, it's useless. You should have someone with Push/Pull to avoid near soft-locking.) - 30th Floor. Match up the boxes to the spaces on the floor like you've done many times by now (you can just use Push, you don't need Pull) Go left and match up some more blocks in the upper and lower screens to open a door. Go left and break open the upper left box to get the Guiding Earth fragment. Return to the elevator room and go right this time. Keep going right, use Rena's Rebirth on the center to revive the block and finish the puzzle to get some Jeanne Armor (great for characters like Chisato). Go back to the room left of the boxes and down through the door the Guiding Earth opened up. Fight the Cooper and continue down. Go right and when you get to the room with two blocks, move them off of their spots on the floor to close the previous door and open the bottom one. Get the drive from the treasure chest (you'll need a lot of these, like 5 or 10 or something, you should have 1 so this should make 2).

So I soft-locked myself because I didn't have Pull :/ I had to Teleport out to the ship and go all the way back. To get Pull on Dias or Rena, they need Perseverance at 7. Safe to say, I could get it for Rena, but it just seemed easier to backtrack.

From the room where you moved the two blocks to make 4 match on the floor (lower/center), move them all OFF of the marks so you can go left instead. Grab the treasure for the Earth Seal.

Void Seal - Go to floor 227. First defeat the Carlas and hit the switch on the right. This is timed: Go left, go down, right, and down for a fight. Get the Gold Key and the Fairy Ring. (You don't know how happy I am for a Fairy Ring for Celine; I can spam her spells way more now!) Return to where you flipped the switch and go right. If you don't have hover, you'll have to fall into the pit and go back up. If you go right, there's some useless items. Go back to the elevator area. Go down and left, defeat the Carla, and hit the hidden switch in the block. Go down, hit both switches and return to the elevator again. Go left twice. Defeat the Carlas and get another Blue Key from a ? chest, then hit the switch and go down the lower right path. Go down and in the lower left corner in the Guiding Void. Go right, save, then go down for the boss. Go down and the Void Seal is in the chest. If you come back to large, open room where you got the Guiding Void, with Room Analysis FA, you can get Bunny Shoes. Just nab Ernest and come back.

Star Seal - Go to 216th Floor. Go left, down, left, left, down (use Gold Key you should have 227 Floor). Defeat all enemies in a room to get Blue Keycards. The Guiding Star is in a chest. Return to the elevator and go right and up to get the Star Seal.

Darkness Seal - Go to 115th Floor. Go left, get the treasure, then go back and hit the switch. Go right from here and hit another switch. Go back to the far left and up for the Guided Darkness fragment. Turn off the switch near the elevator and the one to the right, then go down for the Darkness Seal. Go right for a transport down.

Light Seal - Go to the 1st Floor. Go left for one of those Drives and then go back to the elevator area and go to the upper right for the Guided Light fragment. Take the teleporter down and return to the 1st floor. Go right, down, and right to find the switch puzzle room. It's confusing to explain, so I won't list the answer here. Took me about ten minutes to figure out. Go down, right, and fight the boss. Take the Light Seal and Fairy Source and go back down with the teleporter.

We're almost done… I stopped here to use the 2k SP I amassed on Celine and finally maxed out her TECH (I didn't get Lezard Techno, though, which sucked. Too many points in the opposite branch, I think.)

Bolt Seal - B12th Floor. Go down and move the block. Go right and get a Copper Key. Go left, left, up, right and open the door with the key. Go straight up and move the block. Go down and right a let the floodgates open. Swim down and get the chest you couldn't reach before for the Guided Bolt fragment. Go left and left and the fragment will open the door on the lower left of the map. Go through. The Bolt Seal is in the chest. Go to the elevator and switch floors then return to B12. Move the block thats downward near where the Seal was, then activate the water. Go grab the drive from the seal room. Finally, go and come back again, this time just let the water go first thing so it goes to B13.

Minus Seal - B13th Floor. Put all the blocks in the spaces and grab the drive from the center and all the stones in the other chests. Go down and swim to the two blue chests, one has a Platinum Key. Go back to the top side and right, you'll see the area in the screenshot, put the drives you've collected there.

This drains the water. Use the Platinum Key on the lower left door. Go to the far right and put the green block on the green glowing space, then swim back to where we started. If you go up and all the way right, there's a blue chest with the Guiding Minus fragment. Go back to the Platinum Key door and go down until you're in a submerged room with platforms. You can swim, but it doesn't lead anywhere. You can jump, but it is a major pain in the ass. I went and nabbed Precis (switched for Rena) to use Hover to get through this section. Hover to the far left for a boss fight. He went down with 2 Thunderbolts and a Thunderstorm for me. Grab the chest for the Minus Seal. Use a bomb on the back wall and you'll need Pull to move the block (you can then grab 2 stones, nothing great so dont worry if you miss this) and then return to the boss room and go through the transport.

The Final Floor! - 320th Floor -

Put all the Seals in place and face the Chimera boss that Rival sics on you. 6 Thunderbolts took him out. When Celine gets fatigued, switch to Rena to keep Dias alive. Once Chimera is dead, this opens Grand Knott (finally). Go up to enter it, save.

We'll be getting some really good armor soon, so don't waste too many resources just yet. Heal up/restock and let's tackle the lower level of Grand Knott…

Grand Knott (lower layer) Go up and Rival says she'll be waiting on the fourth floor. (The number 4 is associated with death in Japan, so we all know what she means by that…)

Make sure you've saved/healed (Grand Knott is added to the transporter) and go face the boss, El Dorado. Just use a few Thunderbolts and keep your distance. Bless on Dias helps as well. This annoying gold BlackDragonFiendWannabe will be a common enemy soon... :(

Now, to get the treasure we need someone with Room Analysis, so we may have to lose Rena for a bit and bring Ernest. To the right is a Mithril. The left room has a whip for Ernest and I think you can get through it with his Whip ability, but I grabbed Precis to see what the item was (you need both, because you need Room Analysis for the treasure). After this go grab Celine and Rena again (you'll need either Precis or Rena for some items coming up).

Go up from the entrance past the boss room and go left, up, and right to reach a room with some treasure (very useful curatives), then go left and left again (you may have to clear a room of enemies to open a door) to get back to the central area. Go right, up, and left for more treasure (a weapon for Precis.. fun). Now go right, down, right, down, up and you'll see stairs. Go to Floor 2.

Floor 2 - Ignore the panel, go up, left a bit, and up. Grab the treasure (the Mithril Dress isn't better than anything you currently should have so you can skip this step if you want) and then go back to the panel and click it. Go straight up to the 3rd Floor.

Floor 3 - Push the brick onto the circle and the top area will open. Go up, defeat the Golds (do not let them get initiative; Celine's Magic Shot is great for this) and grab the Purple Keycard. Go back to the entrance, move the block off the circle, and go right and up (left is a dead end). On the left side of blocks, break the top right block for the treasure (weapon for Ashton). There are more El Dorados in some of the blocks, so be careful.

Spell - Rena sparked Light Cross from using Ray. :)

Go down and right and down and use Rena's Rebirth on the bridge. Put the block on the space and grab the treasure (Leon weapon) from the right room.

NOTE: There's Seraphic armor in the top hall, so be sure to explore there too. You do not want to pass on this armor. If you've played SO2, you know how powerful it is. Put the Seraphic Guard and Garb on Dias, since he's our meat-shield.

Go back to the bridge and down. It's hard to tell but there's a room with a glowing panel on the upper right. Flip the switch (change the arrow). You'll arrive on the fourth floor. Remember, this is where Rival said she's waiting for us, but we need the Prism Key from the 5th Floor…

Welcome to dungeon maze Hell. Best part is, this is gonna show up in the top half of Grand Knott, too.

Spell - During a battle, using Starlight, Celine sparked Lost Mental (Mind Absorber). Using Ray, Celine sparked Southern Cross (finally~)

I wandered around for 3 hours trying to get elevators to where I needed them. Familiarize yourself with the layout before you do anything.

Fuck this room and everything it represents. What a horrible fucking place to just punish you for learning the game. These little jerks respawn constantly.

There's a series of rooms and the elevators move between the floors. Just follow this guide: Top - A, Right/Middle - B, Right/Bottom - C, Left - D <-- these are the elevators Ride D up. Ride B down. Ride A up. Ride D down. Go right and down for a green dragon enemy. He gives 99 SP per fight and can be one shot killed by Celine's Southern Cross. Go left and take the elevator to Floor 3, then save and go up.

You're truly on the 4th Floor now. Rival lays await in the room ahead. Get the Prism Key from the left side and a Robe of Ishtar for Rena on the left (and Elven Boots too, if you want them). You shouldn't need help with these puzzles, considering they put them on the back of cereal boxes and restaurant playmats… You may even consider grinding that green dragon for SP. When ready go save before going through the door.

Rival is gonna give a whopping 600 SP, so use an Extension Card at the start of the battle! For the fight itself, remember this isn't the final battle… So, don't go ham on using your best stuff yet. Besides, two blasts from Celine's Southern Cross decimated her. I even had time to prep with Anti and Bless, because I went in expecting the worst. :p In fact, using Bless, I sparked Angel Feather!! Even better!

Nice to have some easy levels/fights after that fucking slog that was Grand Knott's lower layer… Rival shows up for real and reveals we defeated a clone. She tries to kill us, but the Edifians intefere and teleport us out.

Aqua City Revisited The Edifian leaders say Rival went to the orbital elevator, Ex Trokia. It's some form of a structure that exists on the planet underwater and can communicate with space (where Rival piloted Grand Knott). The Edifians take you there.

Heal. Restock. Grind a bit in Grand Knott if you want. Make sure you save/have some Extension Cards for the boss battles ahead (make them with Art). When you're ready take the upper left door in Aqua City (the one that previously and can be changed back to Nusa Beach, if you want)

Looks straight out of Alien, huh?

Ex Trokia Trade Rena out for Precis. Floor 2 - You start on 2F. On the left, go left again for treasure. On the right, go right for treasure. Once done, go drop Precis for Rena (the best item was the Shield Earrings, put those on a mage if you need to take less damage) and come back, go back to the right and this time go up (you can jump the 2 gaps). You'll find a ladder to F1. Go down and right and blow up the lower right wall with a bomb. Toss the Mithril Helm on Dias and go back where you blew up the wall and head up.

Floor 1 - On the left, light up the 6 switches before the lights go out. Study duration and use Dias' Dash to get them all. On the right side press the blocks in this order or you'll get attacked: low right, upper left, upper right, lower left. In the center/up room, align the blocks in a cross/plus shape.

Floor 3 - Go up to Floor 3. Go left and flip the lever and go up and activate the console. Return to the beginning of the floor and go right and up for the stairs. If you hit the switches in the room, they open doors. The only item is a Mithril, so go up and right to the 6th Floor. Don't bother with the elevator path on the left; it's a dead end with no items.

Floor 6 - From the stairs go: up, up, up, left, save, and through the door. All the items are just common junk, so don't bother. There's a boss fight coming so heal up and launch the Linear Shuttle to the Metro.

Nu, one of Rival's flunkies, attacks. I used Angel Feather on Dias, then kept my distance as much/often as possible to give time to cast Southern Cross. His first form goes down in 4-5 casts. The second form will take double that. Your biggest issue for the second form is avoiding stamina fatigue and keeping everyone alive. Switch who you're controlling if you need to. Be patient and you'll win quickly. He gives 440 SP, so it's worth using an Extension Card (I forgot)…

Now we're in some kind of colony. They don't register to the teleporter… There's a tricky jump on the upper right. Save, then stand on the metal bar on the right and leap up. Go left, up, grab the ? treasure, and continue right and up. Go to the next shuttle and the next colony (Norn colony).

Go up and right. Defeat the dragon guys to open the doors again. Go up (right is nothing and the enemies do respawn). Go to the next shuttle / Metro colony. Go up for a place to heal for free. To the right of the beds is a wall to bomb. You get one of each Check (Stone ect) and some Talismans. Go back to the main area and go right.

There's a series of rooms here with blue crests on the floor. Kill the enemies WITHOUT destroying the boxes. When you put them over the crests the block in the center becomes a treasure (usually its the best weapon in the game outside Blue Sphere crafting or Cave of Trials, so they are well worth it!) I think if you mess up you can go back to your ship, but you can't go to the colonies, so you'd have to backtrack… Save carefully (I missed Precis' weapon) If you go up you'll find an elevator that takes you to the final city, Cosmo City, so there may be hope yet to complete the colony…

Of course, we have to go through a little road to the city. Go left to heal/save. Go up through the enemies to face a boss, Rival's other flunky, Diablo.

Use an Extension Card first thing in the fight. Use Celine's Southern Cross and Rena's Light Cross to take him out fairly quickly (he also doesn't have a second form and he isn't as aggressive as the other guy was).

Cosmo City Enter Cosmo City. There's a blue Froggy enemy, but he isn't hostile. All the little robots are talking about their Master away on a trip and are obscessed with cleaning. It's kinda sad :( Make sure you upgrade your main trios weapons (I guess the upgrades in the dungeon weren't as good? Or the same?) Anyway, they're pretty pricey. If you go to the Item Shop they have higher-grade food ingredients, so you could cook with those or use anything you have. Personally, I sold gold bars and all the Bunny statues and got just enough Fol for weapons, a Duel Helm for Dias, some accessories, and restocked my usual consumables.

Go back to the ship to heal for free and feel free to pick some herbs in Cosmo with Bowman if you want. Also, make sure to switch out Dias and talk to him for his ultimate weapon. (Private Action) Fun fact, he says he got it from Gamgee! Nice!

Speaking of… How do we get the Blue Spheres for the Ultimate Weapons?!

Item Creation - Alchemy / Blue Sphere Make sure skill is maxed Make sure you have the Lezard Flask This works for everyone except Dias, Chisato, and one other (I need to look this up again) who obtain through Psychometry and NOT Blue Sphere. Make Blue Sphere, have the ultimate weapon, and bring it to the man in Knott…

You need to make connections between the elements. Blue Sphere needs: Earth (4), Water (6), Fire (4), and Wind (4 Minimum, 6 Max). Connections are when the gems connect, like this: o-o-o = 2 connections o-o-o-o =3 connections

My wife and I tried for a long time… it's basically impossible. On the bright side, iron is cheap and using alchemy can be a great way to make money for late-game. The only other way to get Blue Spheres is to play the Connect feature, which isn't usable for English. :( My only idea is to load up my save in a GB and go grab that supposed free one, so let's try that…

Go to the door behind Rival's old base in Knott and find the tower with the breakable wall (remember, the wall is only breakable in Mobile version, which is lost media… So the GB version (Black and White) makes a hole you can pass through)

Thank. God. Using my emulator to change the settings worked (make sure it's set to Gameboy, Black and White) or the door won't appear. So, we have 1 free Blue Sphere. Let's take it to the man in Knott…

Okay, I can confirm there is none for Dias, Ashton, or Chisato, so don't bother. We may as well make Celine hers. So choose 'Rod' from the list. You'll get the Volcanic Mage Rod. Now, you may notice it's like the other ultimate weapons (which, btw, Dias, Ashton, and Chisato give through their Private Actions). All the stats are 0. That's not quite the case!

How do the Ultimate Weapons work?

Here is how they work: ATK = Stat Base + STR divided by 2, Stat Base + HIT = Dexterity divided by 4, Stat base + MAG = INT divided by 2

So, Celine's base INT right now in my file is 304, giving this weapon an +INT of 152, bringing the total MAG/INT to a powerful 456! You can see the stat change in the Status Menu.

In comparison, though, there are the Cave of Trials weapons. Celine's best CoT weapon is the Forbidden Maze (not sure of the ROM translation, this is from the guide) which only has an INT of 100… There is also that early dungeon weapon based on total playtime, but it seems a pain to calculate. If you wanna go grab that and give it a shot, go for it! (I mentioned it early on in the guide.)

Don't get confused by the 0 change to Dias' STR, his ATK power goes way up! :)

In conclusion, the Blue Sphere is worth it.

Skills - More Tips A character is maxed/can't learn anymore skills when the skill level reaches 350. You REALLY need to not level the opposite branch at all. I did this for Dias and he learned Awakening, but Celine had too many points in Battle and did not learn Lezard Techno or Lost Magic.

Item Creation - Psychometry From what I gather, if Dias learned Awakening, then he just needs Radio Waves (Sense Lv 1 Skill) and Religious Studies (Theology) (Int level 1 skill) also to unlock Psychometry.

I'm not going to touch on it too heavily, but the object of the game will let you use up the ultimate weapon to unlock the ultimate skill (SAVE before). I think if you succeed / luck you can keep the weapon AND learn the skill. Theology seems to be a late INT skill, and I haven't maxed Battle yet… I will update if I manage to train enough, as having another skill would be great, but not at the loss of the weapon…

Late-Game Levelling (before Cave of Trials) I want to make more Extend Cards and go fight those green dragons that give 99 SP each, since they would give 198 SP each fight and they go down in one hit of Celine's Thunderstorm…

Item Creation - Art (Extend Card) First, we need Extend Cards, so we need Art. Celine should have it near max. Buy Magical Canvas from Mile Ruins' Shop. Save. To get Extend Card, you need red paint in the center of the image (each different item requires different colors/placements). If you have trouble affording the Magical Canvas, sell any paintings or cards you don't want, food, or stones made with Alchemy.

If you don't get red paint, don't worry. Just stay nearest to the center as you can and you can still get an Extend Card. If you have another color but already have red in the center, you can hold the brush off of the canvas as well. My advice is to just keep all paint towards the center by lightly tapping opposite the direction the paint brush moves.

Once you have 15, go to Ex Trokia (3F) and fight the green dragon enemies. I know you can use Rena's Rebirth to revive monsters, too, but an easier way is to get to the 4F stairs and go back down to respawn the dragons in the rooms. Once you enter a room, wait a second and use Celine's Magic Shot FA for initiative. Get some distance in the fight, have Rena use the Extend Card, and then cast Southern Cross for easy one-hit wins.

Also, while leveling Dias, I learned the skill he needed for Pull, which is Mental at level 7 (it's a Battle Skill). Also, once he got the Level 4 Skill Combination the AI was doing 4 hit combos and taking down the dragons itself.

I am hoping to max Dias, but I don't wanna go forever training. I'm already at 40 hours playtime. Heal/stock/save, maybe try to make some more armor if you want, then let's go complete this game!

Grand Knott (upper layer) The transporters in the first area with the escalators all lead to the bottom. Bring a few bombs.

Go up the right escalator 4 times, then take the left path for a treasure. Keep going up from there.

There's a bomb wall on the right. I put the Mirage Robe on Celine for the extra evasion, since she's middle spot. Don't bother with the escalators for now (left ones are an enemy filled dead end, right leads up). Go left and then go through the door with the guard.

Here's the damn elevator puzzle again. Go up twice, take the elevator. Go right, down, down, left, down / out the door, down the escalator, left and through the door again. Go left and ride the elevator. Go right, down / out the door, up the escalator, and through the door. On the right there is a dead end with a weapon for Precis. From the entrance go left and up. If you want Sylvan armors (not useful for Dias/Cel/Rena), ride the elevator. Grab the treasure (be careful of the red dragon, we're back to OKO enemies boys… I just ran) and go back down the elevator. Go right, up, left, up, right, up, left. Solve the maze to get to the upper/right side, go up the stairs and get one of the God Rings for the CoT.

Go back down to the maze and solve to go up. Rival greets us and welcomes us to the Grand Knott Core.

Grand Knott (Core) Use Jump to grab the Philosopher's Stone from the chest, then teleport back to your ship real quick.

Private Action - OUT: Celine - Spaceship - Gain Field Action / FA Teleport by speaking with her outside the ship.

Prepare now. By the end of the dungeon, I did learn Psychometry (leveled Sense and Battle to full, then learned Knowledge until I got Theology!)

You'll need Teleport or Hover to get through easiest. The main enemy here is that red dragon, so it's not going to be a cakewalk… There's a little bit of dungeon to explore (best items are Wizard's Mesh on the far bottom right and the Oberon Knife (towards the top left, you'll need Teleport or Whip to reach it), but I'll provide the most direct path to Rival / Final Boss: Right, up, (Repair the bridge with Rena's FA Rebirth), up, left, up, up, up, right, right, right, across the gap with the poles (use Teleport or Ernest Whip), go all the way left, up, right, and you should see an opening going up. Save!!! The final boss is on the other side!!!

SAVE

I equipped Dias with the Tri-Emblem. Celine removed Star Necklace for a Resist Ring.

Final Boss Rival

She shifts between four forms. You must defeat a form in 30 seconds to kill it. If you only damage it and she shifts, the form fully heals.

The mecha goes down pretty quick between Dias' attacks and Celine's Southern Cross. The demon only takes three Southern Cross to kill. The wizard takes a long time casting, so using spells/attacks it should go down quickly. Make sure if you're controlling Dias to stay up on her, she likes to back up. Lenneth form is the worst one, mostly vunerable to physical attacks; if you can hit her. Use Angel Feather and any support items (Mental Pot on Celine, a Speed increase for Dias). After I did this Dias finally took her out fairly quickly. The normal form of Rival is cake and goes down super quick. You should see it briefly at the beginning of the fight and again at the end.

Rival, defeated, explains she is a human created by Edifice, a master computer from another world (Mother Brain?) It's goal is to never let humanity evolve too far and erase it every time it advances. Rival also explains that she wanted to defeat Edifice, but isn't able to, so she summoned the SO2 group to do so.

Rival gives her goodbyes and you go on to face Edifice. Don't worry about the fight; Dias took it out in like 3 hits.

Looks like a FNAF endoskeleton D:

Mother Brain explodes and you escape. Congrats to us all, for finally completing the main story of Blue Sphere! :)

ENDING - SPOILERS (Note: There are not multiple endings, but there is a post game.)

Okay, shitty new Tumblr only allows 30 images per post, so PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE ENDING / FINAL THOUGHTS POST. (This is ridiculous.)

[kuiinncedes]

doneee

[relighthatspark]

.

[arc-misadventures]

Burning, Blind Rage

Jeanne: Okay… That was weird…

Jeanne looks about what the dubbed as the, ‘White Room.’ The room where she, and Jaune met. It had been a while since they last swapped, it had been nearly two months since they last swapped, Jeanne had dared hope that it had finally ended.

But, considering she was back here, evidently it wasn’t.

As she looked about she could bot find any trace of, Jaune. Usually they would be meeting at the, ‘Blocks’ by now. A pair of white cubes that rested in the middle of the white void they encapsulated. They usually appeared at the a distance away from the, Blocks. They could usually just pick a direction, and walk, and they would arrive at the, Blocks.’ But, Jaune was no where to be seen.

After having enough of waiting she decided to walk past his block, and see if she could find him. After what felt like five minutes, or was it five hours, the White Room had this way of messing with ones mind. Jeanne finally found his male counterpart, on his knees, head held low, and arms listlessly resting by his sides.

She was going to call out to him when she noticed that, Jaune had done some upgrades since she past saw him. His body was more filled out, less lean, and lanky, more filled out, and muscular. Armour that fitted his body better. A red sash resting upon his waist, as his Crocea Mors rested against his hip. The blade design, looking more refined, less simplistic, and had a more elegant details embedded within its design. The one thing she couldn’t help, but notice was his new hair style. Goes was the shaggy blonde locks of hair, now it was a more stylish spiked hair style that she couldn’t help but admit, looked quite fetching on him.

Jeanne stood their looking at her male counterpart. He just knelt there without moving, nor uttering a word. Speculating he wasn’t going to say anything, she decided to speak for them instead. Since the duo had figured out they couldn’t leave until after they talked. However, something just felt wrong this time, something was wrong with him.

Jeanne: So… uhh… I like the new look… It looks quite fetching.

Jaune: …

Jeanne: Y-You do something to your sword, looks different? Enhance the blade, shield, a-anything?

Jaune: …

Jeanne was getting worried, usually she, and Jaune would be having a semi-pleasant conversation, on account on how everyone in her world was a bit of a jerk to him. But, they still had there moments.

And, they were certainly having one now…

Jeanne: So uhh… I was in, Mantle… never been there before it seemed… it seemed nice? A little dark, and drearily. Probably because, Atlas blocks out the sun most of the time. Hahaha-ha haa… uhh…

Jaune just sat there as if he wasn’t even registering her presence instead of simply ignoring her.

Jeanne: So… uhh… Why were you in, Mantle for? And, where was everyone else? I couldn’t find them. I just spent most of my time wandering about the streets of, Mantle. Got some coffee, and went about my way… Then I just popped up back here.

Jaune: …

Jeanne: So uhh… where were the others? I sure would have liked to meet, Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha. I…?

Jaune twitched, in what she could only describe as pain when he mentioned, Pyrrha’s name. She could here what was a sniff, as his hand brushed away at his face before falling back to his side listlessly once more.

Jeanne: J-Jaune…? Are you crying? Did something happen?

Jeanne approached, Jaune slowly as she walked in front of him, bending down in front of him to look as his tear struck face, and red eyes.

Jeanne: Jaune?! What’s wrong did something happen? Please tell me, what’s wrong?

Jaune: You…

Jaune’s voice was soft, yet cut with a razors edge as it burned with hatred, and despair. His eyes turned to face her, red from tears, or red from rage she could not tell. Yet, they looked at with a blank void less stare that sent chills through her spine.

Jeanne: J-Jaune…? A-Are you okay…? D-Did something happen when You were in my word?

Jaune: Did something… happen…? Oh, gods I wish something did happen…

Jeanne: W-What are you talking about, Jaune, please tell me.

Jaune: Tell me… why was I in, Mantle? Please guess I’d love to know your reasonings…

Jeanne: Y-You were on a training mission, a joint training mission with, Atlas Academy?

Jaune: Good guess… I was working… Shepherding kids as they went to school…

Jeanne: Why would, Atlas have you do that as part of a training mission?

A small device was thrown before, Jeanne. She recognized it as one of the new scrolls, and a picture of his personal I.D.

Jeanne: Okay, I don’t see what this… wait? What is…?! This is a, Huntsman License?! H-How do you have this?!

Jaune: Because, Atlas Academy recognized me as an official, Huntsman…

Jeanne: W-What?! Why would, Atlas recognize you as an official, Huntsman? We’re, well I’m am still in, Beacon Academy.

Jaune: The reason I am in, Atlas unlike you is because, Beacon is gone!

Jaune stood on his feet, his new look also came with a few inches which lead to, Jaune towering over her, as she saw the unfiltered rage burn in his eyes as he stared down little miss perfect.

Jeanne: B-Beacon is gone in your world?! W-What happened?!

Jaune: We were attacked! During the Vytal festival we were attacked by a secret shadow organization that let to the fall of Beacon, and the deaths of hundreds!

Jeanne: W-What?! This happened to you?!

Jaune: Hundreds dead, an entire academy left as a, Grimm hive! A hell hole left in my world! While yours is still perfect just because you have an incompetent, Ozpin, instead of a psychotic, Salem?!!

Jeanne: W-What are you talking about?! I don’t understand!

Jaune: No… Of course you can’t… You still live in your perfect little world…

Jeanne: My world isn’t perfect.

Jaune: But, its a hell of a lot better than mine! Dozens of, Mistrals Hunters still alive because the Haven headmaster didn’t betray them! A White Fang that is a peaceful organization because you don’t have a savage terrorist organization! A Beacon that’s still standing! Blissful ignorance of a shadow war that has been raging for centuries! And… And, your partner is still alive…

These words sent, Jeanne reeling. Jaune’s, Pyrrha was dead. Why was everything in his world such a mess in his world. Why was his life so cursed, and hers so perfect.

Jeanne: W-What happened…? What, happened to, Pyrrha…?

Jaune: She was killed! Murdered during the, Fall after she was manipulated by a immortal parasitic wizard put delusions into her head that only she could save them. Delusions that got her killed!

Jeanne: O-Ozpin…? Ozpin killed her?

Jaune: She was killed by a woman called, Cinder Fall. A lying power hungry whore that will ruthlessly slaughter any of those in her way. At least that’s how she is in my world! In yours she is an experienced, Huntress who has served for years in, Atlas! You got little miss perfect while I got a raging psychopath! But, Ozpin led her down that path! Manipulative double talk that makes her think she was the only one could save them! Another psychopath for me, while you got a nice old lady offering you tea, and biscuits!

Jeanne: Jaune, I-I’m so sorry this happened to you! If I could have helped you, I-I would have!

Jaune: Then you could get the fuck out of my life!

Jaune screamed in unbridled rage at her, the shock of which sent, Jeanne tumbling to the floor, she started to push away from him as he towered over her.

Jaune: I thought my life was okay. Sure it sucked, but was better than it is now! Then we swapped! And I got to see how everyone loved you, how your friends, and family treated you! How they showered you in love, and affection! You were constantly teased, and bullied by your siblings! Your mother, and father taught you how to fight, while mine dismissed me! Why?! Why is your life so much better than mine?! Why?! Why?! Why…

Jaune broke down into tears as he fell to his knees. Before, Jeanne wasn’t a proud Huntsman. But, a broken boy. Broken by the cruel realities of his world, and the unfairness of her world.

Jeanne slowly got up on her knees, and crawled over to, Jaune and draped her body over his hunched form. Slowly rubbing the broken boy back in a comforting motion as she hugged him.

Jeanne: I’m sorry. Jaune… I’m so sorry…

Jaune: Its not fair… it’s not fair! It’s not…?!

(Thud!)

Jeanne’s eyes opened wide, gone was the white floor, and returned was the clockwork floor of, Headmistress Selma’s office.

She looked up, and saw she was surrounded by her team, friends, and teacher. Weapons held at the ready, all pointed towards her. The all eased their weapons as they saw, Jeanne’s face. The first to step forward with a nervous hint to her voice was, Headmistress Selma.

Selma: J-Jeanne is that you? Are you okay?

Jeanne could stare at all these people who loved, and supported her. All those who stood besides her. And, all she could do as she gazed upon these people was feel the tears as the fell down her face.

Her hands cupping her face as the tears fell. Soon, Jeanne could feel the comforting embrace of her friends as the hugged their heart broken friend as she cried her eyes out muttering the same words over, and over again.

Jeanne: I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, we had to meet, Jaune… I’m sorry…

///

I’m surprised none of you sent me an ask with this idea in it. I thought of this the moment I finished the second prompt. They were mostly, Jaune having enough, and quitting, Beacon. Oh well.

Consider this one in its own little ‘bubble’ compared to the rest.

Do enjoy~!

[danurso]

Let us burn together.

"Fufufufu."

Ritsuka looked away from his desk as the sound of a familiar chuckle and saw a familiar pale beauty, laid on his bed and staring at him with her ever present malicious smirk.

Jeanne: I'm sorry, did I distract you master~? Don't mind me, please keep working.

Ritsuka: What's so funny?

Jeanne: Votre bêtise est très amusante.

Ritsuka: *sheepishly* You know I don't understand French, right?

Jeanne: It's nothing, just seeing someone make so much effort to eventually be backstabbed and discarded is quite amusing.

Ritsuka: What are you talking about?

Jeanne: Don't tell me you don't know master?

At his confusion she grinned, resting her head on the cushion.

Jeanne: Tell me master, do you really believe you can save mankind?

Ritsuka: Of course. I mean, i didn't think I could at the start, but i'm not alone in this whole ordeal, everyone is doing their best so i have to do it too if i want to save mankind, We already dealt with three singularities so i think we can do it if we keep up.

Jeanne: I see. . . .now, let me ask you this, master, is it really worth it to save a world for people who will just betray you in the end?

Ritsuka: Why do you think they're gonna betray me?

Jeanne: Because that's what they do. You see master, you're a beacon of hope, for everyone here, a bright light that guides the path out of the endless darkness.

She raised her open hand which glowed with a small flame, dancing on her palm.

Jeanne: Mankind will follow you, trust you, count on you to guide them out of this darkness, but once you do. . . .

Her hand suddenly closed, crushing the flame

Jeanne: They will extinguish you. A bright light is only needed when you're trapped in the dark, when you're not, it's nothing but a nuisance to your eyes, and a constant reminder that you were too weak to escape the void without it.

Ritsuka: . . . .that's not gonna happen, the magus association will understand what happened and help us fix things once everything is over.

Jeanne: Oh but it will, mankind is a prideful race, they won't like to know that they were completely wiped out and had to be saved by a boy with no natural talent whatsoever, they will get rid of you and when they do, you're gonna end up just like me, a bitter failure who wasted it's life for a worthless cause.

Ritsuka: Things are not like they used to be back then jeanne, mankind was cruel, but things are better now, and i'm sure everything will be fine once this all ends.

Jeanne: *chuckles* Your optimistic attitude is adorable master, it almost makes me feel sad knowing it won't last. Mankind is rotten to the core, it has always been and it will always be, nothing can change that.

Ritsuka: You say that, but when all of this mess started, you were the first to answer my call, and you're the one who's been helping chaldea the most just like me, Even after being betrayed you're still helping to save mankind.

At his words, she burst out laughing, leaving him to look at her in confusion.

Jeanne: Helping mankind you say? Fufufufu, they can all burn in hell for all I care, they got the fate they deserved.

Ritsuka: Then why are you helping us?

Jeanne: Why else master, but to see you end up just like me?

Ritsuka: . . . .

Jeanne: So innocent, so frail, yet so eager to do what's right and to save those around you, You are a painful reminder of what i stood for in the past, and i wanted to burn you for that, but since I can't, I figured i would bear witness to your fall into hell, and maybe be the first to greet you once you arrive there.

Ritsuka: . . . . . *Smiles* Welp, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I think I'll have to leave you waiting.

Jeanne: Will you?

Ritsuka: Mankind has grown a lot in the past few centuries y'know? People are much better than they used to be, they help one another, putting their lives on the line and spending years to figure out ways to save lives, so I'll do my part to restore it, and I hope you can see it one day.

Jeanne: fufufu, your trust in mankind will be your demise master.

Ritsuka: Wanna bet?

Jeanne: Bet?

Ritsuka: *nods* Once this is all over, I will show you the world outside, and you'll see what I'm talking about in person, and once you do, you'll have to admit that you were wrong about mankind.

Jeanne: And what do I gain when I eventually win this bet?

Ritsuka: I'll admit that you're right.

Jeanne: Just that?

Ritsuka: What else do you want?

Jeanne: Hmm. . . . .may i burn you myself then?

Ritsuka: *sweats* W-what?

Jeanne: I wanted to have the pleasure to burn the master of chaldea myself when the day arrives. What's the matter? They will want to burn you anyways, I can at least promise my flames will grant you a quicker death.

Ritsuka: That still sounds like too much.

Jeanne: What is it? *Smirk* Where is your faith in mankind now master? Afraid that you will end up like me?

Ritsuka: . . . . .fine. *reaches out hand* It's a deal.

Jeanne: *Shakes his hand* I promise I'll be gentle with you when the time comes, master.

Ritsuka: I wouldn't start feeding the fire if I were you, pretty sure you'd be just wasting energy.

Jeanne: Fufufufu, we'll see about that.

And a while after that, Jeanne alter was gone, along with the other servants, eventually being brought back to help in the lostbelts.

Jeanne: Different foes, same story. *Sits down* the capacity of this world to be in constant danger never ceases to amaze me.

Ritsuka: I know. Still, I'm relieved to have you back.

Jeanne: You missed a cursed witch who constantly wanted to set you ablaze? Fufufu *Smirks* You're a wicked one, aren't you?

She didn't get a reply, instead, she was greeted with silence, and once she looked at her master, she saw him staring at her with a smile, he always did that, but now he seemed so. . . .tired, his eyes didn't have the same glow as they used to, and ever since she came back she noticed how weird he was acting.

Jeanne: What happened?

Ritsuka: I just really missed you. Sorry for staring so much.

Jeanne: I could tell by how much you're ogling me. I meant what happened to you?

Ritsuka: A lot, this situation with the lostbelts is-

Jeanne: That's not it, you looked death in the eyes countless times and got through it with that same annoying sense of optimism, no this is something else, something that shook you to your core, what was it?

Ritsuka: . . . . *Sheepishly* I can't really hide it from you, can i?

Jeanne: I believe you could, if you weren't such a terrible liar.

Ritsuka: Well. . . remember that bet we made a long time ago? Right after septem?

Jeanne: I believe that i do, wasn't it the. . . .wait, *smirks* Don't tell me.

Ritsuka: I think you won.

Jeanne: Pfff-HAHAHAHA!

Ritsuka: Yeah. . . .

Jeanne: I knew things were bad, but now this too!? This is hilarious! So master? How does it feel to reach rock bottom? Isn't it wonder-!

*Sniff*

She stopped at the sound, when her eyes went back to ritsuka, he was trying to keep up the smile, but tears were already streaming down his cheeks. Her expression shifted at that, her sadistic smirk was gone, replaced by a much more serious face.

Ritsuka: S-sorry *wiping his tears* I didn't mean to look so pathetic right no-!?

He couldn't finish his sentence, feeling his head being pulled and pressed against something soft, before being embraced in warmth.

Jeanne: *hugging him against her chest*

Ritsuka: Jeanne?

Jeanne: It's not your fault. You did everything you could but humanity is unfortunately like that, you're an incredible master.

He wanted to say something, but a lump got caught on his throat, slowly he felt something break, as tears flowed out freely against his own will.

Ritsuka: I never wanted anything out of it all. *Sniff* I just wanted to help. . . .but they said we caused it all and that someone like me could have never done something so grand, *sniff* they were going to execute all of us. . . .if it wasn't for the lostbelts we-

Jeanne: I know, I know. *Hugs him tighter* People are rotten to the core, and only see what they want to see, letting their greed and pride blind them, and making choices to satisfy their own ego. But hush now, it's okay, I will not let anyone hurt you.

She heard his breath Hitching as his arms wrapped tightly around her, he broke down in tears, sobbing intensely as he never thought he would, every last bit of pent up sorrow, anger and sadness came to surface as he weeped on her chest, she said nothing, no snarky comment, no sarcastic jokes, no poking or prodding, all she offered was silence and a comforting embrace until he, eventually, calmed down and she let him go.

Ritsuka: *sniff* I'm sorry. . .

Jeanne: Stop apologizing, it's annoying.

Ritsuka: I didn't want you to see me like this. . . . .what a pathetic excuse for a master, right?

Jeanne: Stop insulting yourself, that is my job.

He let out a small chuckle at that, not noticing how she smiled faintly at it.

Ritsuka: Is it? Cause you're doing an awful job right now.

Jeanne: Kicking someone when they're down is no fun at all, someone has to pick them up before that and since nobody did it for you, I had to take matters into my own hands.

Ritsuka: That's a shocker, since you said you just wanted to burn me.

Jeanne: I do and I have the right to do so whenever I want, I just don't feel like doing it right now.

Ritsuka: Heh, that's awfully kind of you.

Jeanne: If you tell anyone about this, I'll make sure there won't even be ashes left of you.

Ritsuka: Pretty sure you won't have to worry about that, given how many people are trying to kill us, I might end up burnt to a crisp before you ever get the chance. If the lostbelts don't do it, the mage association sure will.

Jeanne: I already said that I will not allow this to happen. If they want to kill you, they will have to bury me in the deepest pit of hell first, and if they succeed and we both end up in hell. *Smirks, holding his face.* Then let us burn together for eternity, mon maître bien-aimé.

Ritsuka: *Sheepishly* I still don't understand French Jeanne.

Jeanne: *grinning* I assumed as much.

She just said with a shrug and proceeded to leave, It's been so long since he first met jeanne and even to this day he still didn't quite understand her, her words were harsh, cold and brutal most of the time, yet, there was a certain warmth underneath it all that made him feel safe and glad to have her around, the road ahead was difficult and the scariest it ever was, but if jeanne was around, he felt like there wasn't anything in the world that could stop him.

[madillhethen]

No way 😂 someone posted this on Twitter.

I don’t know but this is hilarious. So did Ishtar finally cave because I just got spamming her summoning like an annoying telemarketer.

Well, then I thank my favorites for coming home easily (Emiya, Jeanne, Merlin). Someone told me Merlin repaid my love by coming home 😂. (Merlin is the reason I actually started FGO. I was convinced FGO was another spinoff with no relevance to FSN so no character I knew was in there but I saw Merlin fanart and was surprised this was Saber’s master.)

Alright, now I’m curious, mutuals, who answered your summons easily (I’m not talking free tutorial roll but you can include that).

For me it’s: Emiya, Jeanne, Summer Jeanne, Merlin, Sitonai, void Shiki, Diarmuid, Medusa, Saber Artoria, Astolfo (Rider), Quetzalcoatl, Mandricardo, Waver, Mordred, Asclepius, Miyu, Emiya (assassin), Bedivere, Dante, Da Vinci, Calamity Jane, Li Shuwen, Mephistopheles, Izo, Oda (Avenger), Angra Mainyu, Ana (Medusa Lily), Gorgon and Salieri. (This is not all gold stars. I’m counting FP 1-3 stars who pop up no matter what. Also including spooks, not just intended rolls because I never rolled for half of these servants lol).

On that note, the one servant who just loves my Chaldea is Salieri. For some dam reason, he comes in WAVES. I already NP5 him and I still had 15 copies at one point, and he still pops up from time to time. I think in total I probably burned over 20+ copies of this man.

[licogli]

honestly godspeed to every artist who shares their art in public

i did too, briefly, but everytime i did i got people following me on twitter. People who had "PROSHIP DNI" on either bio, their dn or carrd and it's honestly so scary... it's got to the point where i just want to stop sharing art in public and only send it to friends. i don't know if these people just have a distaste for immoral ships (even though that's not even the meaning for proship, but at this point the word lost its meaning either way) or if they seriously wish harm on people for ships they deem 'problematic' to the point they suibait them, etc. i'm always just assuming the latter to protect myself tbh

[marshmallowprotection]

Hi! I’d love to get a match up please! I’m a 23 years old lady who loves cats. At first with people who don’t really know me I’m quiet, timid and shy. I’m rather insecure but when you get to know me I have a childlike excitable personality. I love being happy and feeling treasured and protected.

I love festivals, plushies and fireworks but have anxiety and can’t handle crowds. I love kissing hugging and petting animals! I also love mythology and fairies. I love believing in the magic of this universe, and I am an avid believer of ‘Love makes the world go round’. (All you need is love!)

But the other side of me is sad and tired, I am very empathetic so my heart gets hurt easily seeing the people I love in pain. I get upset and mad at injustices (I’ve been raped before so that’s an especially sore part) but try to move myself away from those in order to protect my inner peace.

Some days I’m numb and sad, like an empty void is taking over my heart. I feel like I change with my moods and feelings. Sometimes I’m vibrant and sometimes I’m a gradient of the melancholy night sky.

My biggest wish is to be as happy and as innocent as I once was. I have trouble trusting others but I wish to find someone who protects me and makes me feel like home.

I love romantic anime like kimi ni todoke and princess tutu, but also psychological anime like Tokyo Ghoul and magical girl anime like Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne.

I see myself as an autistic fairy (changeling) and wish to be a shapeshifter. I’m a hufflegryff and am an infp-a. I believe in astrology and am a capricorn sun with libra moon. At my best I’m peaceful, excitable, filled with gratitude and love and am very just and moralistic. At my worst I am apathetic, rage-filled, resentful, tired and cowardly.

I match you with...

Zen!

You're a very empathetic person and you seem to radiate so much kindness. Sometimes, that can be a little bit too much for you because as much as you have kindness in your heart, you're also prone to absorbing sadness and energy of that regard. It can be hard for you to cope because the world can be so cruel to people when they're different. Your kindness radiates in such a way that everyone around you can see it. Those that choose to stay by your side appreciate you for everything that you are, not the things that you can do for them. For that reason, a dreamer like you need someone that understands you. Your perfect pick is Zen. Somebody that sees you in your finest fashion and loves seeing you be so bubbly and bright.

Zen is your knight in shining armor and wants to make you feel like the princess that you are. You are kind of his opposite in many ways because you are so quiet and withdrawn around most people. But when you're with him, he gets to see you come alive and there's nothing that he loves more than to see your eyes shine. He could listen to you talk for hours about the things that make you smile. Nothing makes him happier than seeing you shamelessly enjoy yourself. You're literally talking for hours and he's just staring at you, listening and nodding along the entire time. He learns a lot and he gets better about being able to talk to you about the things that make you happy. And so, the only thing that you both can't quite vibe with cats.

At the end of the day, he's one person that you can show your anger with and he's not going to judge you. People say that he's kind of a hothead sometimes so he understands where you're coming from. It's better to let out those feelings than it is to hold them inside all the time. Even if it makes you feel ashamed to be angry. You can just always count on him to be there to support you no matter what.

[kuiinncedes]

I am: annoyed

[arc-misadventures]

good, first I have to say that I always like your short stories. now I know I'm annoying with jeanne's requests so on that side I'm sorry if I overwhelm you. But I reaffirm my taste by asking for more anyway, femAu) while phyrra destroys jeanne's swimsuits I overlooked a certain detail, jeanne does not like to show her body too much so in the end she arrives with a sleeveless sweatshirt during all her time in the pool. Thanks

I don’t mind your asks. Bar the music ones, mostly because I don’t like any of the songs you recommend, so later, I’m just gonna post one with a song I can work with.

But, in the mean time, useless lesbians!

\\\

Swimming Woes

Blake: Did you see them?

Pyrrha: No, Jeanne locked herself behind a changing room stall! There was no way I could steal a glance!

Blake: Did you try asking her if she needed help to try, and get into her stall?

Pyrrha: Listen, I admit I’m a little thirsty for my partner…

Blake: A little?

Pyrrha: Okay, I’m dying of dehydration! But, I respect my partners right to her privacy!

Blake: At least you admit it.

Pyrrha: Like you’re one to talk.

Blake: Hey!

Pyrrha: Besides, we’re at a privately rented pool, all for ourselves! No one can stop us, and I made sure, Jeanne had no choice but to buy a bikini after I destroyed all of her old ones! She’ll have no choice, but to… Oh, come on?!

Blake: What’s…? Oh… Oh no…

~~~

Yang: Hey Little-G~! Glad you could finally join us!

Jeanne: H-Hey, Yang. Little G? What are you referring to…?

Yang: A couple of things~!

Jeanne: I’m starting to regret going shopping with you…

Yang: Nah, you loved it.

Jeanne: Not sure about it now… Oh, uhh… N-Nice bikini, it suits you.

Yang: Thanks! It’s big enough to contain my girls~! What about you, looks like you got one that’s big enough for yours.

Jeanne: Nothing as fancy as yours, rather plain really.

Yang: Hard to find anything fancy in my size. Doubly so for you isn’t it~!

Jeanne: Did I ever tell you that, that smug smile of yours is unnerving?

Yang: No, but thank you for telling me.

Jeanne: My pleasure~!

Yang: So, what’s with the jacket? It’s practically covering all of you. Except those luscious legs of yours~!

Jeanne: I-I’m uncomfortable showing too much skin. People, stare too much, I don’t like it!

Yang: Bull! You we’re more than willing to show me~!

Jeanne: That’s different.

Yang: Oh, yeah, why’s that?

Jeanne: You remind me of one of my sisters. It’s partly why I like being around you so much.

Yang: Ow… That hurts, and here I thought we had a special bond together… Turns out I was just another sister to you! And nothing more!

Jeanne: You’re a terrible actor…

Yang: Still feel betrayed. Now, take it off and jump into the water, it’s perfect!

Jeanne: I-I don’t want anyone staring at me…

Yang: Pfft too late for that! That sweater is only emphasizing something juicy is under there~! We can already tell you’ve got a big chest! See, Weiss, and Ruby are already giving you soulless death glares!

~~~

Ruby, and Weiss stare into the blank, void less space at, Jeanne as dark organ music plays behind them.

~~~

Jeanne: (Shudder) Creepy…

Yang: Such is the fury of the small chested… anyway, take it off, I’m dying to see it!

Jeanne: N-No!

Yang: Oh, come on, please!

Jeanne: No.

Yang: Not even for your big sisterrr…Ahh?!!

Jeanne: …

Yang: You pushed me in?!

Jeanne: And, you played the sister card. And, for the record, you are the younger sister.

Yang: Am not.

~~~

Pyrrha: Grrr…!

Blake: Told you waiting for, Yang wouldn’t work.

Pyrrha: Fine then! Time for drastic measures…

Blake: Drastic? What are you going to do; Use your semblance on her?

Pyrrha: No, that won’t work! It will open it up, but it will still remain hidden! This is a drastic measure!

Blake: Okay, you’re going a little crazy here, so… What are you going to do?

Pyrrha: Observe… Nora!

Nora: Hey, Pyr-Pyr~!

Pyrrha: Nora! i need your help!

Nora: Need me to help you steal a glance at Jeanne’s mommy milkers?

Pyrrha: What…?

Blake: Her what…?

Nora: Her boobs, right? You want to see her big, big jugs? Key word, big! Like seriously, what did she eat to get so big…

Pyrrha: You’ve seen them?!

Blake: When?! How?!

Nora: Shower, peaked on her just like I do with everyone else.

Pyrrha: Wait, what…?

Blake: Y-You don’t really peak on everyone… do you.

Nora: Mole. Left cheek.

Blake: Okay, how the fuck?!

Nora: So, what’s in it for me?

Pyrrha: My debit card, and a pancake house of your choosing.

Nora: S-Seriously?!

Pyrrha: All yours for one day: Will you do it?!

Nora: Hell yeah I do!

Pyrrha: Excellent!

Ren: You’re going to regret this.

Pyrrha: Like hell I will!

Ren: Tell that to your bank account…

Blake: Ren, she’s thirsty as is, don’t try and stop her now.

Ren: Fair…

~~~

Yang: I can’t believe you pushed me in…

Jeanne: You were just sitting on the edge, posing.

Yang: Hey, with a body like this, you don’t think I’m not going to show it off?

Jeanne: We all know you, there’s nothing for you to show off.

Yang: Ow, why must you hurt me so?!

Jeanne: Some one has too…

Yang: How can you be so mean Nee-San!

Jeanne: …

Jeanne: Pray that you die a…?!

Nora: Hello!

Jeanne: Ahh?! Nora! Don’t do that!

Nora: Never…

Jeanne: Okay then… You need anything, Nora?

Nora: For you to have some fun!

Jeanne: I am having fun though.

Nora: You’re wearing a sweater at a pool; take that off and get going!

Jeanne: Nora, I’m fine you…?!

Nora: Less talking, more pool!

Before, Jeanne could say another wood, Nora removed her jack and pushed her in the water before she could let out a scream, she was already in the water.

Yang: Hahaha! See how it feels!

Jeanne: Nora?! Why?!

Nora: Can’t enjoy the pool when you’re standing on the sidelines!

Jeanne: I was gonna get in eventually…

Nora: Yeah, eventually…

~~~

Pyrrha: Crap!

Blake: What’s wrong?

Pyrrha: The ripples in the water are distorting the image… We need to get her out of there!

Nora: Didn’t you her to go into the pool?

Pyrrha: No, I wanted to see her bare, bikini clad body! Now she’s all wet!

Blake: That’s… That’s not really a bad thing…

Pyrrha: What are you… You… Yooooouuuuuu…

Water droplets slowly fell across her body, showing the soft and subtle curves of her body. The white and black trim of her bikini highlighted the mature and elegance of her well developed body. The eyes of all of her friends fell upon her as they all left the pool. Not a word leaving their lips as they saw perfection before them. Jeanne sighed in exasperation as she grabbed her long locks of hair, ringing them of the excess water.

Jeanne: Ahh… I wanted to do some stretches before I went in… Did you have to push me in?

Blake: Yes, yes she absolutely had to…

Jeanne: What, why? Oh… you’re staring at them, aren’t you.

Weiss: Life’s so unfair…

Ruby: First, Yang, now Jeanne…?

Nora: Just like the first time I saw them.

Ren: First, what…?

Yang: Nice bikini!

Blake: Glorious…

Pyrrha: …

Jeanne: Okay, I have a big…!

Yang: Huge.

Jeanne: A huge chest! You never knew because I have really good bra’s that make them appear smaller. And, I genuinely don’t like to show them off! And, thank you, Yang, I appreciate it.

Yang: No problem, Little-G~!

Jeanne: At least it’s better than, Vomit Girl… Okay, have you gotten it all of your system?

Ren: Yes.

Nora: Yes!

Weiss: I hate you so much…

Ruby: Big boobs are overrated…

Yang: Yes, but I can still enjoy the view!

Blake: They must be soft as clouds…

Pyrrha: …

Jeanne: Blake, stop talking…

Blake: Huh?Oh! S-Sorry…

Jeanne: I expected better of you… Hey? Pyrrha, are you okay?

Pyrrha: I can die now…

Jeanne: W-What? What are you…?!

Blood slowly tricked down, Pyrrha’s nose as her red faced body slowly tipped backwards and fainted.

Jeanne: Pyrrha?! PYRRHA?!!

[lo-55]

Shattered Chains of Fate Ch. 7

Fourteen Days to Conspiracy

Ichigo sits by the river again. The day is dawning, pink in the east.

He can’t see the sword any longer, not since he stumbled back into his body from his inside. His inner word, Zangetsu had called it.

Even still, he can feel it’s phantom weight, familiar and comforting in his palm. It feels like all he has to do is wrap his fingers around it and pull and the sword would be in his hand, gleaming and ready to swing, to block, to guard him.  Holding Zangetsu had felt like coming home.

Despite that, it had also felt like there was something missing. Like his other hand was empty.

Was that what Diarmund had felt whenever he put one of his swords or spears down?

He could  hear all of Achille’s dumbass bisexual jokes at his expense.

Ichigo leaned back on the damp grass, drawing in steady breaths, one after another. Up the incline he could see people waiting for him. Elmelloi, and a happily familiar face and pale hair.

Waver Velvet, or Lord Elmelloi II and his apprentice, a phenomenal mage and prodigy Flat Escardos. Waver had said there was something strange about the town, and now Ichigo has to wonder if he’s not partially to blame. Because of his fight with Uryu and massive monster had tried to crush the city. Because of him and Rukia some high class shinigami had come to visit and started causing trouble.

Ichigo wants to help. Really, he does.  He likes Waver even if he is grumpy. He’s one of the few people Ichigo knows who’s just as shit at actual magic as he is. Waver, like Ichigo, makes due with other means.

He’s an alchemist, and a detective. With no magic lineage to fall back on, and no innate talent for mage craft he uses outside forces to get things done. He draws his power from ores and reagents and uses reason to puzzle out what the best course of action is. Without the ability to fight head on Waver relies on other people for combat, and merely acts as their guide and support.

The one thing Waver truly excels at is teaching.

It takes him no more than a glance to understand how a spell is cast, and minutes to figure out how to teach someone with the right type of circuits how to use it as well. And how to strengthen and improve it.

Waver cannot perform his own magecraft, but he can strengthen and support others.

He, above all others, is one person who understands Ichigo’s abilities.

They are peas in a pod, and it’s almost scary.

Ichigo lifts himself up from the banks of the river and picks his way up to the pair. Flat is as exuberant as ever. Even in snow, surrounded by recovered corpses of Chealdeas, he’d been delighted to be there.

What a weirdo.

“Hey,” Ichigo raises his hand to them. Waver grunts. His long red scarf shifts when the wind changes direction. The breeze comes with the smell of smoke and cardamom.

“Ichigo. You disappeared.”

“Sorry,” he’s not, “Something came up. I’ll be gone for about a month.”

Waver scowls at him.”We need you here. We’re investigating changes of ley lines around the city.  Your city. And you know how I feel about this place.”

Yes, he does. Ichigo’s never gotten the full story, but he knows ten years ago something happened that left Waver embittered to the entire country. The fact that he’s standing on japanese soil in the first place is frankly bewildering.

Ichigo doesn’t say so out loud.

“A friend of mine needs help,” he says instead. “So I’m sorry, but I need to go to her first. I appreciate your help with the house, but this is important to me.”

Waver frowns at him, and even Flat’s smile tilts sideways, like he’s not sure he understands. Ichigo doubts that he does. This child is a freaky innocence that isn’t innocent at all. Somehow he can look at pain and suffering and still thing its ‘cool’.

Ichigo does not envy Waver.

Waver must know Ichigo well, for he looks at him and his stubborn jaw and his hard eyes and he grunts irritably.

“Fine then. There’s no changing your mind,” he knows. “We’ll handle this matter. You help your friend.”

“Not like I needed your permission anyways,” Ichigo points out, but it’s not really angry. For all he’s a cantankerous old guy in the body of a man not even thirty Waver is good natured and nurturing in his own way. Even when he was summoned a servant (and Ichigo still doesn’t understand how exactly that happened) he’d been the same. Maybe that’s why Ichigo is so biased towards him.

“Good luck,” Waver says instead of anything else.

Ichigo nods to him, ruffles Flat’s hair, and makes his way to the Urahara shop as promised.

*

By the time he comes too, Ichigo feels less like a mage and more like a pile of recently tenderized meat.

The sky is burning pink and purple and night air is slow to fade to day. There’s dew settled into his bangs that glistens when the newborn sunlight hits it.

It would be lovely, if it wasn’t for the fact that ichigo could barely lift his head to shake the moisture off.

It’s a bone deep ache.

A lightness in his body that makes him feel like if he isn’t careful he’s going to go flying off into the sky, an empty void of a man.

Mash’s worried face poked in from the side of his vision.

“Master?” her voice is terribly soft, tumultuous with worry. Worry for him.

Ichigo pushes himself up slowly, only his own pride and stubbornness keeping him from falling right down back into the dirt.

Mash rushes to him to help, and her strong arms around him help to ground him back down. He still feels drained and hollow, but the warm hands that hold him steady are a help. They make his body feel more reel. And less like he’s not tethered to reality.

“Hey Mash. How long was I out?” He can’t quite remember what happened. There was a swarm of demons, and Kyo couldn’t handle all of them. Ichigo had-

What exactly had he done again?

Right, he’d shoved all of his reishi into Kyo, so he could cast a spell and destroy the monsters that had been coming at them. Where is Kyo, anyhow? Where are any of the others?

“Mash?” Ichigo asks, touching her side. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Oh,” Mash slowly lets him go, looking off to the side. “We got a cart to carry you in, since we can’t really stop right now. We’re in that now, and the others are laying down outside.”

Ichigo looks down to see that it’s not dirt he would have fallen into, but a scratchy brown blanket.

“How long was I out?”

“The rest of the day and all of the night. About eighteen hours in total. Nightingale wasn’t happy,” Mash grimaced. “She couldn't do anything to help you. No one could.”

Mash suddenly scowls at him and tightens her hold to the point of pain. “You could have been hurt! Master, you need to stop being so reckless!”

Another voice joins in. “Master is awake?!”

The cart rocks and Ichigo finds himself being shaken back and forth by hand so strong they could break his shoulders. “What did you do that for! You could have died! You fool!”

“Me-du-sa. Can’t. Breath.” Ichigo choked. She didn’t loosen her hold but she did stop shaking him so he could catch his breath. He put his hand on her elbows and looked at those ethereal golden eyes. “Sorry. I’m not going anywhere, promise. I just got overzealous. Are you okay?”

“Are we-?!” she bristled. “We’re fine! You were the one that almost shoved your soul out of your body!”

Ichigo blinks at her.

“I did what?”

“You almost shoved all of your reiryoku, your spirit energy, into me.”

Ichigo looks to the side, where Kyo is perched on the edge of the wagon. His dark eyes are fathomless, searching for something in Ichigo that Ichigo isn’t sure he has. There’s a light in them too, one that Ichigo can’t for the life of him decipher.

(Years later he will recognize it as hope.)

“Okay,” Ichigo takes Medusa’s hands from his shoulders and guides her to sit next to him. She looks into the seemingly empty air, but they are all beyond questioning him when he talks to nothing. “It still worked, didn’t it?”

Kyo’s brows furrow minutely. “It did… It was still reckless. I’ve never seen someone do something so utterly foolish in my life. You could have more than died. You could have destroyed your own soul doing that. Feeding your energy into spirit beings is dangerous, there is a reason it isn’t done. Even these heroic spirits contracted to you are a risk. Whether drawing on your life energy or your spirit energy, you put yourself in tremendous danger.”

“I know,” Ichigo tells him truthfully. Kyo is closer than he ever has been, like some wall he’d set up is starting to crumble. His mask is cracking. “I know it’s dangerous. Everything we do is dangerous, but if I don’t do it then everything will end. Everyone will die. All of my friends, all of my family will be gone. I can’t fight on my own. All I can do is strengthen others, even if I have to pay a price for that I will.”

“That’s very noble but-”

“Don’t make me into a saint,” Ichigo cut him off swiftly. “I’m not. If you want one of those you’re in the wrong singularity. I’m doing this because I want my sisters back. I’m doing this because I want to stop fighting and go home already. Every motivation I have is entirely selfish, Kyo.”

Medusa smacked the back of his head.

“Hey!”

“He may make you into a saint but you make yourself a sinner!” She snapped. “In Fuyuki we were on opposite sides of a war. You should have killed me. Even if we weren’t enemies I was, am, darkened by the cursed mud of a corrupted grail. In stead you told me to stop being a lunatic and poured your power into me, so I could stand at your side. You trusted me with your back when I could have easily stabbed it.”

“Medusa-”

“No! You may not be a saint like Jeanne but you’re a good, stupid man!”

Ichigo is so stunned by the fact that Medusa of all people has called him a good man that he doesn’t even notice the fact that she has heard Kyo as well.

It tops as one of the weirdest days of his lives.

* *

Ichigo finally finds himself standing in front of the Urahara shop, the old sign hanging above the doorway. It’s out of the way, stuffed between two towering modern buildings. If one didn’t know what they were looking for they would never find it. It was just an old shop tha hadn’t been converted yet. They’re not common but they’re also not so out of place that anyone would bat an eye if they happened to see it while out and about.

It’s exactly how mages run things and not for the first time does Ichigo wonder just what in the world it is that Urahara is. A mage? A shinigami? Something between? Ichigo can’t get a good read on him, but to be fair he hasn’t really been looking.

He knows his half hidden eyes and he knows he’s willing to help Rukia and help Ichigo. That’s enough for him for now.

He raises his hand and knocks firmly on the door. On the third knock the door slides open, revealing the tall man from before. Tessai.

Ichigo can’t get a good read on him. His glasses bar him from seeing his eyes and the eyes are the window to the soul. Never the less, Ichigo can still see his strength. A hundred times stronger than Ichigo, and now that he’s of a clearer mind when he looked past the man to Urahara he realizes that he’s stronger still.

They aren’t as strong as someone born in the Age of Gods, but they’re at least on par with weaker servants.

How had he missed that before?

Whatever. It doesn’t matter now.

“Hey. I’m here for my training.”

They let him inside. Underneath the shop there happens to be a massive chamber, stretching out in all directions. A mockery of the sky spreads across the ceiling, painted with fluffy clouds that almost seem to move across the sky.

Whoever this man is, he’s not a mage. A mage would never have something so cheerful in their home. Mages were creatures of darkness and shadow. Lonely beings of solitude.

Urahara was no such thing.

He had children, for one thing, and his assistant (husband?) seemed utterly devoted to him. He did not have the cold air of a mage obsessed only with legacy and the enhancement of his crest. No. For all Urahara reminded him of Merlin, he was certainly not a mage.

“So. What do we do first?” Ichigo asks, turning his sights from the sky to the man in front of him. His hat shadows most of his face, save the strange smile beneath that darkness.

“First, we would need to return your shinigami powers to you-”

“Yeah. I already did that part. What’s next.”

Ichigo was treated to the sight of Urahara tilting his head and blinking rapidly at him. It’s the only real sign of surprise on his face.

“You… already did that?” he repeated. He lifted his cane, exposing the flaming skull on the underside, and drives it into Ichigo’s chest.

Ichigo pops out the other side, in a familiar shihakusho with a sword strapped to his back. Zangetsu is actually less of a sword and more of a giant cleaver as long as his body. The curve of the red mark that sits above his heart just barely crests over the white folds of his clothes  

Urahara’s mouth opens but no sound comes out for a few long seconds. Ichigo scowls at him.

“You said I needed to get my shinigami powers and I did. Now hurry up already. We’ve only got ten days before I have to go save Rukia. So what’s next, huh?”

Urahara recovers (not very) gracefully, clears his throat and stands straight.

“I see. So you managed to do that all on your own.”

“Not really,” Ichigo isn’t one to brag, or take undue credit. He touches Zangetsu’s hilt lightly, fingers running across the bandages. “Zangetsu helped me out.”

“You know his name as well? Then I suppose we can skip three whole lessons.”

Ichigo doesn’t like the sudden, calculating look in Urahara’s eyes, but he can’t say anything about it. He understands he’s just done something expected, but doesn’t he always? He’s used to the staring, to the incredulousness of people who are just meeting him.

He misses the familiar presence at his side, at his back. Guarding and guiding him. But with Zangetsu in hand the void where his friends had once been is lessened, even if it’s not entirely gone.

Zangetsu has always been with him. That’s what he’s said, isn’t it?

“Then we’ll move on. Ichigo, your first task is to knock this hat off my head.”

“...huh?” Seriously? What kind of bullshit is this?

Ichigo squinted at him while Urahara drew a sword from his cane and pointed it towards him. A straight blade, thin and deadly he can feel the barely restrained bloodlust from here.

“Awaken, Benihime.”

The air sings with danger and a thrill shoots up Ichigo’s spine. Red light flickers, bloody and dangerous, across the blade until what’s left is no cane but the unmistakable sight of a zanpakuto. The hamon is straight, the tip is sharp and straight instead of tapered.

“There’s no timelimit. So try as hard as you can to knock this hat off with your sword.”

“That sounds like a good way to loose an eye, and if you do I can’t fix that,” Ichigo warns even as he pulls his sword from his back. The ribbon flutters off, wrapping drawing back to reveal the deadly curve beneath. It’s not the type of sword ichigo is used to holding. He’s used to something shorter, but the blade is as light as his own arm in his grasp. Is’t a part of him, he knows for certain. His instincts flare and he dodges just in time, avoiding a strike that leaves a deep gauge in the rock behind him.

“You should really be worrying about yourself,” Urahara says. His voice is deceptively soft, his smile is just as mild, and the shadow of his hat hides his eyes.

As if that would hide from Ichigo the singing his sword does for his blood.

“Fine,” Ichigo adjusts his grip, bounces on the balls of his feet and swings.

Their swords come together in a clash of metal against metal and power against power. Ichigo is raw strength poured forth and an unbending will, straight forwards and unyielding.

Urahara is swift and sharp and takes jabs at any opening, no matter how small. He is powerful, stronger than Ichigo, and when he’d released his sword that strength had more than doubled. There’s no doubt that he could go toe to toe with Diarmuid.

That’s fine. Ichigo meets him blow for blow.

He doesn’t run. He won’t wear scars of shame upon his back. He can’t go backwards now, not when he’s set his sights on his goal. Not when Rukia needs him.

Even with all that, he’s not winning.

He may not run but he’s being force back, further and further with Urahara taking every inch given for his own, eating the ground as he cuts at Ichigo’s defenses.

Ichigo keeps an eye on his unused hand. He knows these men are tricky. He knows shinigami can use kido, and he won’t be taken by surprise again.

Urahara shifts his stance and Ichigo lunges for the opening. Too late he realizes it’s a trap.

He takes a hard blow to his side, and blood drips down into the white fabric beneath the black.

Ichigo jumps back, a hand on his side, and hisses with the pain. It’s shallow. Not even enough to pierce into anything important. When he looks to Urahara he sees not the man but a predator stalking towards him. He’s not even close to running out of energy. Neither of them are, but now Urahara has drawn first blood.

Ichigo remembers red. He remembers the red of Fuyuki, the terror of the grail and the fallen kings. He remembers the blind desperation of the fight with Lev, and barely keeping Olga Marie from being dragged into the red earth. Red was raw destruction, blood and death.

Ichigo is beyond being afraid of it.

“Zangetsu,” the name comes to his lips. Zangetsu. He’s always known it. He’s always had this sword at his back, and now a phantom hand lays upon his shoulder. His partner. His weapon. The means by which he will protect all he loves.

“Forget fear,”  his words echo, and a second hand touches his on the hilt, “  Look forward. Walk forth. Never stop. If you look back you are lost. If you are afraid you’ll die. Swear, Ichigo.”  

He does.

“I’ll never run. I’ll never be afraid. Even if I have to tear the heavens apart, I will win! Zangetsu!”

Power swirls around his sword, Zangetsu squeezes his shoulder and falls into the blade, still crossed with Benihime. They sing together, a song of the hunt and a refusal to die. A cat and the moon, Ichigo pushes everything he has into the sword. Into Zangetsu. He trusts him.

Silver light rips out of the blade. He can see the moment of Urahara’s briefest panic and the last-second switch of his sword. From offense to defense, but it’s not enough to save his hat from the wave of raw energy that shreds from Zangetsu.

Ichigo catches the hat as it falls to the ground, a good sized chunk now missing.

He can’t help the grin that splits his face when he sees the land past Urahara’s red barrier has been torn into a fissure that stretches all the way out to the seemingly endless walls of the room, and cracks it’s way up towards the ceiling.

He lays Zangetsu back along his back and walks over to Urahara, twirling his hat around one finger. It feels good. Fighting with his own power, nothing has never compared to that. Nothing ever will.

Ichigo eyes the cracks and crumbling edges of the red shield Urahara has erected to guard himself, and eyes the sword in his hand. The bloodlust isn’t gone, but there’s something else in it. Ichigo touches that blade, drawing Urahara’s attention away from the new canyon in his basement. The touch is all Ichigo needs for a proper reading. Confusion, curiosity, and off all things hope.

There’s definitely something weird going on here.

Urahara pulls his sword back from ichigo delicately and sheathes her again. “You should be careful,” Urahara warns. “Benihime isn’t nice.”

If zanpakuto reflect the soul of their wielder, does that mean Urahara is also ‘not nice’?

Ichigo hands him his hat. “I think I passed your little test.”

Up close, Urahara isn’t nearly as old as Ichigo first thought he was. He almost looks young, somewhere in his later twenties. Most questions, no more answers and no time to ask them.

“I’d say you did,” Urahara takes it from him, futility knocking dust away from it. “Ichigo, you are one scary kid.”

* * *

“Do you know where you are?”

“Are you going to ask me that every time?”

Ichigo isn’t surprised to see where he is tonight. There’d been a creeping dread that had begun crawling up his throat the closer and closer they came to the day he was to leave.

Merlin toys with a strand of Ichigo’s hair. It’s finally grown past his shoulders these days, and Merlin seems to take some small pleasure in the tactile sensation.

If Ichigo was trapped at the edge of the world for over 1500 years he’d probably be starved for new sensations himself. Or even something as simple as the presence of someone familiar.

He is reminded again that he has sworn to free Merlin from his prison, even if he has no idea how he’s going to do that. He’ll figure it out.

“Perhaps. It’s consistent if nothing else.”

“Everything here is consistent,” Ichigo retorted. “You’ll stop once you get tired of Westworld.”

“Maybe I’ll start with the Game of Thrones references then,” Merlin teased. Ichigo shot him a scowl.

Merlin laughed it off easily.

“Okay, something else then. In the meantime, how has your training been going?”

“My training? It’s fine. It’s mostly been Urahara fighting me. He hasn’t taught me much of anything, but I’m catching up to speed with my new sword at least.”

“Ah yes. And how does he fight?”

“Urahara? I dunno. Sometimes he moves like Kojirou, sometimes like Mordred.”

“Those are very different fighting styles,” Merlin mused, tapping his fingers along his staff. Ichigo nods his agreement.

“It is. More than anyone though, he reminded me of Okada,”  and you .

“A man slayer?” Merlin pretended to startle. “A man equally capable of saber and assassin techniques. What a terrifying concept.”

Merlin didn’t know the half of it.

“Do you fear him?”

Ichigo paused. “Huh? No. I probably should but… he doesn’t mean to hurt me, or my friends.”

“My, my. You always have had a knack for judging people.”

“Don’t make it sound like I’m some kind of mind reader,” Ichigo groans, falling back into the flowers that perpetually bloom aroun Merlin. It really is a very pretty prison.

His gaze wanders to Merlin’s staff.

“Those ribbons,” he says suddenly. “Are they soul ribbons?”

“Hmm?” Merlin follows his gaze and delights. “Aha! No, not quite but they are very close. They’re designed to keep my staff from being stolen or abused. I suppose, in some ways, they’re the essence or the soul of my staff. They work a bit like command seals.”

Merlin was being weirdly forthcoming.

That only happened when it was something Ichigo really needed to know. Why would he need to know that much about Merlin's fancy magic stick?

If he tries to ask, he’ll just be brushed off, so he doesn’t. Instead he engages Merlin in a game of twenty questions, to pass the time until he must leave again.

“Are you worried?” Merlin asks abruptly, breaking their game and starting a new one called ‘try to get Ichigo to talk about his feelings’.

“Why would I be?” Ichigo replies, narrowing his eyes.

Merlin holds up his hands placatingly. “This will be the first time you go alone into something like that. I would think you would be frightened.”

“I’m not alone,” Ichigo says evenly. “I have my zanpakuto, Zangetsu. Besides. This way I don’t have to be so careful. I won’t be leading anyone except for myself, and anyone who inevitably joins along while I’m there.”

“Your charisma is the stuff of legends.”

“I’m not charismatic!” Ichigo argues, scowling again. “People just like to glue themselves to me, it’s not my fault.”

Merlin laughs and Ichigo shifts uncomfortably in his seat, crushing more flowers around him. They’re replaced in second by yet more.

“Will I see you while I’m in the soul society?” Ichigo asks, peering at his friend.

Merlin considers this. “Most likely not. It’s a different world, and the realm of the dead at that. I don’t think I can reach you there.” There’s sadness hidden in his eyes. Ichigo scowls at him for a long moment before he gives in and hugs the grand mage.

Merlin stiffens in his grasp, his air leaving his lungs for the long seconds before Ichigo starts to fade away, back where he’s come from.

If he doesn’t come back, he won’t have Merlin doubting their friendship.

* * * *

Seven days. Seven days, and Ichigo is on his way out of the house.

There had been a festival earlier, and he’d wanted to go with his sisters and give them one last memory, before he potentially ran off and got himself killed on a rescue mission for a girl they didn’t even remember exists.

The fireworks stopped him.

He’s already on edge, already gearing up for a fight, for an infiltration (for a war). He doesn’t want to know what the sound of the sky cracking open and lights and fire roaring over his head will do to him at a time like this.

Instead he’d waited for them, and tucked them in when they’d been too exhausted for anything else. He left breakfast in the fridge so Yuzu didn’t have to worry about it in the morning, and when Urahara’s creepy ass blood message came through the window he switched bodies with Kon and was on his way.

Along the way, he bumps into Orihime.

And at Urahara shop Chad is waiting.

Uryu shows up last and when the door opens he grabs Urahara by the collar and drags him inside. The door shuts soundly behind them.

Ichigo spins them around and shoves Urahara against the wall, baring his teeth at the man. “What the hell are they doing here?!”

Urahara is completely unaffected, and it kind of pisses him off.

“What do you mean? They’re you’re friends, they’re here to help you. Isn’t that obvious?”

“Yeah, I know what they came. I wanna know why you let them?! I’m not letting them come along. They’ll be in danger. I’m not taking them with me!”

“Then what was your plan?” Urahara asks, his playful voice overturned with one that Ichigo has never heard. Dark and serious, with the same edge as his blade. The hat tilts and Ichigo can see his eyes. Old, and intelligent. He’s reminded, once more, of Merlin.

“They’re not strong enough for this,” Ichigo insists. “I would have made friends while I was there to help me. At least three.” Usually closer to ten or twelve.

“That’s the most naive thing I’ve ever heard. Why would anyone turn their backs on their home, on their captains and friends, to help a stranger like you?”

Ichigo bristles. “I don’t know.” But they always do, for some reason. “Rukia has to have friends. I can’t be the only one who thinks this is wrong and people will fight for what’s right if you push them to it-”

Urahara catches his hands and pushes him back. “You can’t rely on a strategy like that. You can’t count on peoples ‘better natures’ or you’ll always be disappointed. Your friends have come to help you, and they are stronger than you’d expect. Likely they’ll be the ones you can rely on. Do you understand?”

Ichigo narrows his eyes at Urahara. “I’m relying on you, aren’t I?”

The air crackles with tension between them, until the door slides open and his friends step inside. They freeze at the picture; Ichigo looming over Urahara, who’s got pinned to the wall.

“Uh.” Says Ichigo eloquently.

“Oh dear!” Cries Urahara, snapping his fan in front of his grinning face. “Whatever shall we do, now that we’ve been caught. Oh Ichig -ow!”

Ichigo elbows him in the side and lets him go. Fine. They were already here, and Ichigo can see their own stubbornness. Chad and Uryu aren't going anywhere, and Ichigo knows even Orihime can fight. He’d been there when Tatsuki was training her. Even with her ability, her personality will be the biggest problem.

Already he feels himself shifting. This is no longer just about him. This is the team he’s been given, and he reads over their strength as best he can. It’s not as clear as a servant, but he’s working on it.

Chad he knows is a brawler, brute strength and fierce dependability. Close rang, and he’s got an insane pain tolerance and durability. He can tell by looking, Chad is stronger now than he was even a week ago. Fine.

Uryu is an archer, through and through. Long rang, he’ll be at a disadvantage if they have to fight up close and personal. He also knows basic first aid. He’s maybe the best person to counter Ichigo, to bring with him. The biggest problem might be his hatred for shinigami. People do stupid, impulsive things when they’re filled with animosity.

  Your anger keeps you warm now, but it will leave you cold in your grave.  

Orihime.

“Orihime,” he speaks to her for the first time, startling her out of whatever daydream she’d been having. “What exactly can you do?”

“Huh? Oh well I guess I’m pretty good at math, and I get good grades in gym class too. I won a volleyball game last year and-”

“I think he means your powers,” Chad corrects quietly. Powers. Good god, what have they gotten themselves into?

“Well?” Ichigo presses. Orihime touches her hair clips, the ones she always wears.

“Well um. I can make barriers that bounce things off of them. And I can shoot Tsubaki at people like a laser light beam. And I can heal too!”

Ichigo doesn’t know who or what a Tsubaki is. He doesn’t know what powers Chad has.

Fuck he hates this.

But healing and shielding are something he can work with too. That’ll make Orihime their third tier, a support class.

Damn it.

And damn Urahara for not telling him about this!

“You need to calm down,” says someone new. Ichigo looks down, and finds the cat from before peering up at him. Golden eyes, and black fur.

“...Oh. You’re  Urahara’s familiar.”

The cat shakes her head. The masculine voice throws him off for a minute.

“No. I am Yoruichi. Kisuke is just an old friend of mine, and asked me to train your friends. The only person here who might have a familiar would be you, Ichigo.”

“I see,” Ichigo says. He looked at the other three, stronger than he’d ever seen them but so inexperienced. He doesn’t want to bring them to this. He doesn’t want them to have the paranoia, the nightmares, the noose around their neck that comes with constant fighting and desperate attempts to win. But there’s no going back now. They’ll follow no matter what he says.

Ichigo bows shortly to the cat.

“Thank you for helping them, then, Yoruichi.”

The feline preens and licks at her paw. “Don’t thank me yet. Thank me when we get back with Rukia.”

“Right…”

He still doesn’t know exactly what he’ll do once she’s safe with them. Probably he’ll have to call in one of those favors from the clock tower. So be it.

“Okay,” he shot one last look at Urahara. “Let’s go.”

Urahara leads him down into the training grounds. The fissure Ichigo had created has been fixed by now, leaving the ground flat and dusty once more. There are conspicuous stitches across the ‘sky’. Everyone else is to busy marvelling to comment.

Tessai goes to get a large square of hollow stone set up in the corner, while Ichigo’s friends watch on. He can feel Urahara come to stand behind him. He’s good, but he’s no King of Assassins.

“You seem to be thinking awfully hard there, Ichigo,” Urahara says. If he expect Ichigo to jump, he’s disappointed.

Ichigo presses his lips into a line before he answers.

“It’s heavy,” He says at last.

“Heavy?”

“The weight of their lives.”

Urahara is silent when Ichigo leaves him behind to stand at Chad’s side.

* * * * *

Ichigo is confined to the cart for the rest of the day, regardless of how he’s feeling or how stubborn he is. No one can outstubborn Florence Nightingale. Not that even Ichigo is stupid enough to try. Not after Medusa offered to chain him to the cart if he didn’t behave himself for her.

He was at the mercy of the nurse. Rama looked smug at the fact that it was finally someone other than him that she was fussing over. When Nightingale’s back was turned Ichigo made sure to flip him off.

The only person who rides with him is Kyo, his legs cross with a his sword in his lap.

Ichigo eyes is speculatively.

“Why don’t you draw your sword when you fight?” he asks at last.

Kyo looks up at him, his brown eyes startled. “Well,” he considers his words, “Mine is not a sword for combat.”

“...what the fuck does that mean?”

“My sword, this zanpakuto, is capricious, and not always friendly towards those that are even my allies. My Kido serves me well enough, and if I’m honest I try to keep her abilities a secret.”

“Oh,” Ichigo says, looking down at the sword. He can’t help being curious. Kyo is such a walled off person, even if he pretends to be friendly.

“It isn’t that I don’t trust you,” Kyo says suddenly. “You’ve proved that you’ll go to great lengths to help me, even if it to save your own skin. And whatever you say, I can tell you’re loyal and your morals are rigid.”

“It’s fine,” Ichigo waves his hand in dismissal. “If you don’t want to tell me, don’t.”

“Ichigo…”

“It’s fine,” he says ago. “You’re not in the wrong. Everyone has secrets, and you’ll only know us until we return to our own time. In 2018.”

“I’ll still be around then, if I’m not killed,” Kyo tells him swiftly. “Shinigami age much slower than humans. At least a tenth as fast, if not slower than even that.”

“That’s great,” Ichigo says, “But honestly it won’t matter if you’re alive or dead. Truth is, you won’t remember us.”

“What?” Kyo’s brows furrow and he sits up straighter.

“You’ll forget about all of this,” Ichigo says again, “When we set the world to right, everything that we’ve done here will be erased from history. Including your memory. There’s nothing we can do for it. We’ve seen it in people we knew before. We met Nero when she was still alive, but as a servant she’s forgotten all about us. The same will happen to you.”

“No,” Kyo shakes his head, narrows his eyes. “No. I won’t! And if I do, you must remind me!”

“How would I do that?” Ichigo asks, leaning back lazily. The idea makes his chest clench and ache. No one will ever remember him or Mash. They aren’t in this for glory. They won’t find any. All that will happen if they succeed is he will return to his family and Mash will return to Chaldeas.

“Find me. Tell me.”

“Tell you? Tell you that I’m a time traveller and I met you two hundred years ago but you can’t remember because we stopped the apocalypse?”

He doesn’t say aloud that if they fail it won't matter. Kyo won’t remember them because Kyo won’t even exist anymore.

Kyo narrows his eyes in thought. He runs his fingers through his curly hair, brushing it away from his face where a single strand likes to fall nearly to his chin.

Finally, he snaps his fingers.

“I’ll tell you something no one else knows,” he announces abruptly. He leans forwards, grasps Ichigo’s hand and brings it to his blade before he whispers into his ear a truth that Ichigo will not fully comprehend for centuries.

Not until he stands on a cliff and looks upon his once friend, flanked by a man with silver hair and a person whose eyes are hidden with thick glass.

* * * * * *

[eiriini]

Meta: Personality Analysis

Disclaimer: I, in no way, am a psychologist nor claim to be good at this. This is purely for fun, and for character growth. Also, this is based on the way I write Kamui/Corrin. Some of her personality is divergent from canon, due to past interactions in the four+ years I’ve written her. 

Edited: August 15th, 2020

Also this got even longer and I’m sorry.

Enneagram: Nine

Nines are accepting, trusting, and stable. They are usually creative, optimistic, and supportive, but can also be too willing to go along with others to keep the peace. They want everything to go smoothly and be without conflict, but they can also tend to be complacent, simplifying problems and minimizing anything upsetting. They typically have problems with inertia and stubbornness. At their Best: indomitable and all-embracing, they are able to bring people together and heal conflicts.

MTBI: ENFJ “The Protagonist.”

Protagonists are natural-born leaders, full of passion and charisma. Forming around two percent of the population, they are oftentimes our politicians, our coaches and our teachers, reaching out and inspiring others to achieve and to do good in the world. With a natural confidence that begets influence, Protagonists take a great deal of pride and joy in guiding others to work together to improve themselves and their community.

Four Temperaments: Sanguine

Your temperament is sanguine. The sanguine temperament is fundamentally spontaneous and pleasure-seeking; sanguine people are sociable and charismatic. They tend to enjoy social gatherings, making new friends and tend to be boisterous. They are usually quite creative and often daydream. However, some alone time is crucial for those of this temperament. Sanguine can also mean sensitive, compassionate and thoughtful. Sanguine personalities generally struggle with following tasks all the way through, are chronically late, and tend to be forgetful and sometimes a little sarcastic. Often, when they pursue a new hobby, they lose interest as soon as it ceases to be engaging or fun. They are very much people persons. They are talkative and not shy. Sanguines generally have an almost shameless nature, certain that what they are doing is right. They have no lack of confidence.

Moral Alignment: Chaotic Good, "Rebel"

A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He makes his own way, but he's kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations. He hates it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do. He follows his own moral compass, which, although good, may not agree with that of society.

Chaotic good is the best alignment you can be because it combines a good heart with a free spirit.

Chaotic good can be a dangerous alignment when it disrupts the order of society and punishes those who do well for themselves.

Astrology: Taurus

Strengths: Reliable, patient, practical, devoted, responsible, stable

Weaknesses: Stubborn, possessive, uncompromising

Taurus likes: Gardening, cooking, music, romance, high quality clothes, working with hands

Taurus dislikes: Sudden changes, complications, insecurity of any kind, synthetic fabrics

Practical and well-grounded, Taurus is the sign that harvests the fruits of labor. They feel the need to always be surrounded by love and beauty, turned to the material world, hedonism, and physical pleasures. People born with their Sun in Taurus are sensual and tactile, considering touch and taste the most important of all senses. Stable and conservative, this is one of the most reliable signs of the zodiac, ready to endure and stick to their choices until they reach the point of personal satisfaction.

Taurus is an Earth sign, just like Virgo and Capricorn, and has the ability to see things from a grounded, practical and realistic perspective. They find it easy to make money and stay on same projects for years, or until they are completed. What we often see as stubbornness can be interpreted as commitment, and their ability to complete tasks whatever it takes is uncanny. This makes them excellent employees, great long-term friends and partners, always being there for people they love. Earthly note makes them overprotective, conservative, or materialistic at times, with views of the world founded on their love of money and wealth.

The ruler of Taurus is Venus, the planet of love, attraction, beauty, satisfaction, creativity and gratitude. This tender nature will make Taurus an excellent cook, gardener, lover, and artist. They are loyal and don't like sudden changes, criticism or the chase of guilt people are often prone to, being somewhat dependable on other people and emotions they seem to be unable to let go of. Still, no matter their potential emotional challenge, these individuals have the ability to bring a practical voice of reason in any chaotic and unhealthy situation.

Taurus – the Wandering Bull Being the one who betrayed their best friend, goddess Hera herself, this is an unfortunate being that has to wander the Earth in order to find freedom. As if something was always poking them behind their back, reminding them of happiness that once was, stinging and pushing forwards, they close up in their own worlds, lonely and separated from their core. To find love, a Taurus has to travel the world, change perspective or make a shift in their entire belief system and their system of values.

Conclusion:

There are some contradictions in these results, but overall, it is her at a basic premise. She tends to be very strong with her foundations, doing whatever she can to keep by them. Most of the time, she will listen to what others have to say, for they can hold more wisdom than her. However, there are just some things that she won't change on. Her Nohrian family knows this the most, and there are some thing that they've tried to change about her. Especially Leo ( sorrcerii ).

When it comes to the vices, she holds those in as much as possible. The insecurity, the side of her that may be uncompromising -- her reaction to sudden change that isn't what she planned for. Things like that. As a tactician, she likes to be as many steps ahead of her enemy as possible. In mundane life, she tries to put that side of her away. But there's always going to be a part of her that takes notice of every little thing. She notices how someone reacts to a gift, a conversation, and logs it away. However, unlike the standard, she tends to be rather lenient. She's also like clay; she picks up on traits. For example: because of Jeanne's ( noircisaint ) influence, she has more of a backbone than the 'standard' Avatar. With Zero ( echoedfates ), more of her playfulness comes out. He’s shown her that it’s OK to be a bit of a prankster -- well, more than she was before -- and it’s OK to put the title away when it’s just them. That there’s a difference between ‘princess’, ‘general’, and ‘wife’. 

In her Type Moon verses, Makoto ( dekirukoto ) and Yi ( einhcrjars ) have taught her it’s OK to let her guard down. Especially while in Chaldea, and around them. That it’s OK to love, and even though it may hurt when they are returned to the throne, that things don’t have to stay at a standstill. That, hey, it’s OK to be you -- even more now than you were. 

However, that doesn't mean she'll bite the bullet on it's first fire, and will always try to resolve a conflict before it arrives. Her anger is one of a slow fire, unless you pour the right amount of gas. 

Kamui also holds in a lot more than most people. Even around those she calls her confidants and her retainers, she rather watch herself burn and suffer than those around her. She's very much a 'the world must be saved instead of myself'. Yet, over time, she's grown to understand that some people don't deserve it. Later on in the game, and depending on what route/verse, she will show some aggression to those who she deems deserves it. Which, as we know, is extremely small. ( Base game alone, Anankos, Hans, Garon, and Iago are the ones who get no special treatment from Kamui. And if she's acting nice, it's an act. ) 

There are times where she’ll return to a child-like state as well. There were many things that she didn’t get to experience, which lead her to have an imaginative mind and, at first, such a naive personality. Even during and after the war, she still retains it, since it’s so ingrained. It’s hard to ignore, hard to hide, but over time she comes to accept it. This is why she’s always reading; always wanting to learn; always wanting to experience what others have. A void can only be filled so much.

However, even though she may not seem it, she is rather intelligent. Because of lack of human contact outside of her retainers and teachers, she can come off as an 'airhead' or 'aloof'. Over time, that fades, and her true colors begin to shine more. She's able to find hoops she can jump through, but only will if the time seems right. Calculating outcomes begins to come second nature to her.

This is especially true when in Conquest, where she goes and knocks out almost all the Hoshidan soldiers she fights, just to put on a show for King Garon. In the end of that route, TECHNICALLY, she committed treason and blasphemy against Nohr. But thanks to Xander, she was absolved, and history wrote it to be that King Garon was dethrone on the basis of madness and insanity, dying in a battle in the Hoshidan capital.

And that’s it on this segment of, “Carrie adores Kamui too much, and has a problem.” Back to your regularly scheduled fluff! Thank you for reading this, and I’m sorry this turned out so long. asdfg

[murasaki-murasame]

After doing way too many summons on this gala without getting Gala Elly I’m just gonna quit while I’m ahead and start hoarding for the New Years banner, lol. And in the mean-time I’ll probably be skipping the Christmas banner so that kinda sucks but oh well.

Either way, I still got a whole bunch of new stuff in my gala summons, and also I have a lot of thoughts about the new This Month in DL post, so I’ll just put the rest of my thoughts under the cut.

I swear to god this gala was the most summons I’ve done on a banner without getting a focus unit, lmao. This must be punishment for me getting like three copies of Gala Euden last time. I think I did like 250 summons total, which included over 10 5-stars, but no Gala Elly. I may or may not end up caving to my temptations and grinding adventurer stories and hard mode campaign levels to try and summon more, but I should just quit while I’m ahead.

Either way, my haul of 5-stars, new and dupes, is:

-Gala Ranzal

-Wedding Elly

-Xanfried

-Lea

-Jeanne

-Chthonius

-Dupes of B-Zardin, Victor,  Sylas, Cassandra, Gala Sarisse, Shinobi, Vayu, and Long Long [x2]. I also got another dupe Shinobi from the 5-star dragon voucher thing they just gave us.

Let’s just say that I don’t know how to feel about wanting Gala Elly and then getting Gala Ranzal + Wedding Elly, lmao. At least they’re both new units for me. Though it feels doubly bad that I got Gala Ranzal, 45MC’d him, and then almost immediately afterward I got Wedding Elly. Welp. I’m a Noelle main in eHMC anyway so it’s not a huge deal. But it’s nice to get my wind roster fleshed out more.

I’m honestly really happy about getting Xanfried, and it more or less makes up for not getting Gala Elly. He was one of those 5-stars who I was vaguely tempted to dream summon because it was bugging me that I still didn’t have him. Now I think the only launch 5-star I don’t have is Hildegarde.

I’m also happy about getting Lea, even if she isn’t a great unit and I have like six other flame swords. I really like her whole design aesthetic.

I don’t really care much about the new 5-star dragons I got, but they’re nice to have. The Long Long dupes are nice, though, since now I have a nearly MUB one for my Lin You.

Oh and I got regular Aeleen as well, and she was the last non-limited 4-star I needed to get, so that’s cool.

We’ve known about the next banner for a while because of datamines, but either way, I feel a little bit salty that the new 5-star is literally just Thaniel But Better [tm], lol. If it weren’t for the fact that Chocolatiers is a limited print, I’d say that she wouldn’t even be worth it when Thaniel’s a more accessible option who works just fine in HBH because the whole fight is literally tuned around his kit since until now he’s been the only real healer for it. I hope this doesn’t lead to people acting like Thaniel’s not good enough for eHBH anymore once Jiang Ziya comes out. I’ve invested way too much into him to switch. I did recently craft the HDT water spear, and I can use my H-Maritimus on Elly if I want to use her in eHBH, but I still want to stick to Thaniel.

And on that note my H-Maritimus is at 2UB, and between the sunlight stone we’ll get soon from the Megaman event, and the dragons I have at nearly max bond level, he’ll probably be MUB soon, which should push my Thaniel above 7k might, which will be great. He’s currently at about 6,850 might, between him having +200 augments, Chocolatiers at +190 augments, a MUB HDT1 water staff, etc etc. And we’re gonna be getting the Christmas event facility again soon so that’ll boost him up even further.

Also I’m really not interested in the new dragon since he’s just water Hastur and I don’t care about that at all, lol. Durant seems cool but I already have a 50MC Natalie, and he’s a 4-star so he’d be easy enough to get off-banner anyway.

I’m gonna probably skip the Christmas banner since I went all in on this gala and I want to save for the New Years banner. And since it looks like the Christmas banner will be in just a week or so, I won’t exactly have many resources saved up by that point anyway. I’m not really interested in any of the existing Christmas alts, though, so it’d probably be an easy skip anyway, unless the new ones really interest me.

I hope that them doing the Christmas rerun stuff earlier in the month than I expected means we might get a Christmas-themed raid event afterward, but I won’t get my hopes up. I think we’re due for a new raid event anyway, but that’ll probably be what the New Years event is anyway, I guess.

I’m curious to see how they handle the New Years stuff, since it’d feel weird to rerun the Ieyasu event/banner, with how that was themed around the current zodiac year. I think we’ll just get a new event with new units, and probably a new welfare unit along with the event itself. With how good Ieyasu was [and how salty I still am about not having him], I think it’ll be worth saving for that.

Though considering that the next story chapter is gonna apparently be Luca-focused, I’m guessing the January gala unit will be Gala Luca, who I’d be extremely interested in, so that’s another thing to worry about saving for, lol.

And on that note we’re getting Chapter 11 in about two weeks, and even though we got more or less the same teaser description for it as last time, we at least have a better look at the two new android characters. Even though they’re gonna be antagonists I still kinda hope we can get them as playable units some day.

We also got more info on the new endgame boss mode, and even though I still want more specific details about it, my current guess is that it’s basically going to be High IO. It’ll probably be themed around there being new android military squads to fight against, with the new bosses being their leaders or whatever. It’d be fun to get some genuinely difficult wave-based content, but it’d also be great if it means we can get facility upgrade materials a lot faster.

The reveal of the new mode being called The Agito Uprising also more or less confirms that rumour that’s been going around for a while, which also talked about how the Christmas banner would include a new Christmas Phoenix alt, that the new endgame bosses would drop 6-star weapons, that we’ll get a Monster Hunter collab in February, and that Mikoto, Ezelith, Naveed, and Xanfried will be at least some of the first units to get their sixth mana circle upgrades.

I’m honestly kinda happy to hear about Christmas Phoenix since that makes it more likely that the Christmas banner will be an easy skip for me, lmao. But anyway, I really wouldn’t be surprised to see the Agito Uprising bosses dropping weapons that are roughly between 5t3s and HDT weapons in power. we really need something like that to ease the transition into the eHDT cycle. I’ve basically given up on getting into eHJP/eHZD until something along those lines happens to make them more accessible, lol.

I still have a lot of questions about how the whole sixth mana circle upgrade thing will work, and sadly this didn’t really tell us anything new, but they at least said that they’re aware of how limited the pool of units used in endgame content is, and that they’ll try and make changes to make more units viable for that, so that’ll probably be the main point of the sixth mana circles. I have a feeling that only 5-star units will end up getting them, which would kinda suck. There’s a lot of 5-stars who need an upgrade, but there’s also a lot of other units who need an upgrade too.

They did mention that they’ll be doing something with 3-star units in general, though, so I’m really curious about that. I really really want them to rebalance 3-star units so that they all have 100% on-element status resistances. I could take or leave anything else, but they really need that sort of buff. There’s no real point to holding back a unit by giving them incomplete or off-element status resistances. Which also applies to welfare 4-stars. For example, my Xania would be way more viable in eHMS if she can get to 100% stun res without needing a print, and it’d just be great in general if Vixel could get an actually relevant status resistance for his element. I have a feeling they won’t change anything else about their kits, but even just that’d be nice.

My realistic prediction for what the sixth mana circle upgrades will actually include is that it’ll more or less just be more of what we already have with the current ones. It’ll probably just be a few flat stat upgrades, maybe some more coability node upgrades, and one or two upgrades to the skills/abilities of each unit. At the very least I think that units will get a third upgrade to their S2, since those only go up to two upgrade tiers whereas every unit gets three tiers to their S1. And there’s a lot they could do to improve units by buffing and adding stuff to their S2s. For example, Thaniel would really benefit from getting a regen heal added to his S2, but Jiang Ziya existing makes me think they’re just forgetting about Thaniel for good. I can’t really think of what they could do with any of the 5-stars, though. It’s possible but less likely that some units might also get upgrades to one of their abilities, but that’s a bit more uncertain than them getting skill upgrades, if only because there’s a lot of ability types that you just can’t upgrade at all, like 100% status resistance or skill prep abilities.

It’d be really nice if they changed the second ability of 3-stars to 100% status resistance and gave them something entirely new for their third ability, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they just buff the 25% status resistance abilities of those units to 50% status resistance.

Also, we got more details about how we’re getting higher-level void battles added, and higher difficulties added to the void dragons, which I think is a necessary addition in order to help bridge the gap toward endgame content. As it is now, void battles aren’t really worth doing outside of endeavors. But it’s also nice that they’ve added augments to the void dragons and stuff.

In general they’d been making a lot of steps toward easing the progression toward endgame content, especially with the other changes they made to Avenue to Fortune, and them also adding augments to HDT drops. It’s nice that they’re aware of the issue of how steep the progression curve is right now, but it also really makes it clear that it’s a genuine problem that they’re currently being stuck trying to fix. I don’t really blame them for it, though. These things happen with games like this. I’m just glad that they’re actually addressing it instead of leaving it unchanged.

It’ll sadly take a while for them to add all of the new void bosses on the same tier as the Volcanic Chimera, but it’ll be nice to eventually have more accessible options to get into other eHDTs and stuff.

Anyway a whole bunch has been going on lately and I think it’s on a good track. Honestly my biggest issue right now is that since they changed the UI I keep clicking the wrong buttons when I’m trying to go between menus, lmao.

Oh and yeah the Megaman event is a thing that’s happening. There’s really not a lot to say about it because it’s so barebones and gameplay-focused, but it’s fun, and I like how much they’re leaning into the aesthetic of it. Megaman himself is a really goddamn weird unit, though. I like how much he’s apparently designed to play like he’s in an actual Megaman game, but it’s a weird playstyle to get used to for this game. And I still prefer Xania as a flame wand, lol.