001 ♔ [video]
[People ought to start checking their pockets when they wake up here. The communicator's broadcast seems to suggest that the device is being left behind as the new arrival strides down the temple steps to take a look around his new surroundings. Conveniently, it gives a clear view of his back - red hair, white sleeved arms, long black cloak edged
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Sure, she had quite the surprise earlier this week when Beatrice had showed up (as usual as a troll in a cloud of butterflies), but for Battler to appear here too now, Battler who she hadn't seen since she had sacrificed herself for the sake of him being able to fight on, who she hadn't even been able to talk regularly as a little sister to a big brother since twelve years ago.. That surprise was just as bad. If not worse. ]
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... Then again, she was fairly sure only the real Battler would be talking to people who weren't there like a complete idiot. Okay, to be fair, she did understand who Battler was trying to talk to, but to any regular person it probably looked like a moment of temporary insanity.
Having a first introduction like that would just be too typical for him. ]
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One of her hands rests on her belt, near the gun. Somehow she's starting to feel a little unsure about putting a bullet into anything that looks like her brother, whether it's a Fae or not.
But then again, maybe she won't have to. Maybe it's really Battler.
She wants to hope, wants to believe. But not be disappointed again.
Finally after that moment of staring Ange speaks up, her voice a little bit softer and more shaky than she intended it to be. ]
... Onii-chan..?
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So Ange will find him almost exactly as she saw him, looking around the place with the rowan dangling from his fingers. True, he looks around at the sound of steps, feet hurrying towards him - is this the beginning then? Not even an introduction? Tch, these witches --
And then he sees the crest of her head, and he doesn't need to see her face or her form when he sees those little pink hair ties he won for her, all those years ago.
Years? Was it? Not for him, surely, but - but it felt that way. And it had been years for her, too, years that had ended in pain, in being ripped and shredded and -]
Ange...
[All thoughts of pieces and boards and the rest drain clean out of his mind at the sound of ( ... )
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She can do this. She has done this before, after all, when she first entered the game as Bernkastel's piece.
The look on her face hardens just a bit. Ange builds up that wall she has made to protect herself many times before just a bit more, just enough to make her at least seem more sure of herself right now, even if she isn't inside her head. ]
It's really you, right? ... Listen, if this is another lame trick, I-- [ She can't bring herself to speak any further than that, not when it's Battler in front of her or even something that looks just a bit too much like him. ]
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Dammit -
[It doesn't matter. He can't really bring himself to care, not with his little sister there in front of him, whole and safe like she should be.
He closes the distance between them and opens his arms to throw them around her, pulling her into a tight hug.]
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She wants to say something, but she finds her throat dry and no words come out. Her body starts shaking a little bit.
It's him. There's no way that the person holding her now isn't her older brother in the flesh. ]
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He clings to her, and thinks of that little girl, and thinks of Gretel, and thinks of her being torn apart and just clings harder, burying his face against her hair. It hushes the choked, dry sob building in his throat but can't mute it completely. His eyes are stinging. His throat burns. His chest feels tight.
But he's smiling.]
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She manages to pry her arms loose just a bit, enough to wrap them around him as well, hands clinging to his cape.
Maybe, Ange figures, if she holds on tightly enough he won't go away again. ]
Onii-chan, you came.. You finally.. finally came.. [ She realises she's sounding much more pathetic than she would like herself to be, but she tries to force that thought to the back of her mind for now - she should deserve to let herself loose this much for a moment after all those painful years. ]
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[Where is here? He's stopped wondering, for now, stopped caring. There's a wet ripple to his voice, and his eyes shine when he leans back to look at her, but he hasn't shed tears yet. Instead he stands with one hand on her shoulder and one resting on her head, crouched slightly to meet her gaze directly.
And it's her. It's the Ange who fought alongside him and it's the Ange that beamed at him from beside the front door, the Ange who sniffled and tried to hide her fever when they left that day for Rokkenjima.
So, what does he do? He gives a little laugh, and then - ruffles her hair.]
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Lowering his gaze, he chuckles to himself, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his trousers. He's just adding up on all the lost time he has to make up for, isn't he?
Her voice catches his attention again and he looks up, beaming once again - and then his eyebrows raise quizzically.]
Eh? Maybe you'll need to explain things to me, Ange --
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Ange walks the few steps back to him and pushes the communicator into his hands. ]
This thing records video and voice messages and then plays them for anyone to see. Everyone in this place has one of them. They're sensitive, so sometimes they start recording by themselves without someone even meaning to do so - like yours just now. Hence why I knew you were here.
[ She doesn't say any more than that, not immediately. She figures the best way to do this right now is to take things bit by bit instead of dumping all the information about this place on him at once. Ange is fairly sure Battler can figure everything out if they take it slow. ]
Sort of like a camera and a television in one device.
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