Ange [14]

[storychained]

Who: Ange Ushiromiya and YOU.
Where: Espoir.
Style: I'll match you!
Status: Open!
Warnings: Potential for crazy, violence, etc.

Comments

[nolessthanseven]

Isabelle had been running when she saw Ange; only the latter was slightly out of the ordinary, but even then, it wasn't. They inhabited the same city, it was inevitable that they run into each other every now and then. The Shadowhunter had begun to steer clear, wanting nothing to distract her from her run, only to find a piercing shriek cut through the otherwise silent morning.

She stopped dead in her tracks, almost gaping at Ange from afar as a wave of what might have passed for sympathy in her family washed over her; Ange used to be her friend, used to come to her about things. Granted, now she had Simon for all that, but Simon wasn't here.

Tentatively, Izzy crossed the field, feet silent on the grass, and one hand moving to the dagger holding her hair up in a bun: she refused to be unarmed now, even if it was just Ange. She couldn't be sure what would happen.

"Ange?"

[storychained]

Her name. She heard her name, through the pulsing, chaotic haze. But, it wasn't Izzy's voice she heard... it was a mix of her mother's, her brother's, her cousin's--

Slowly, shakily, she turned, half-expecting to see one of her relatives standing behind her. But, it wasn't her (former?) best friend that she saw standing behind her. It was her mother, Kyrie...

"... Mom?" she asked in almost a whisper. "Why are you... what is that?"

Indicating the knife, of course. Izzy might notice a look in the redhead's eyes that isn't quite all there.

[nolessthanseven]

Her brows pulled into a frown at that - she wasn't Ange's mother by any stretch of the imagination, not even during one of the events that had plagued Somarium and given her more memories that she didn't even have - and twirled the knife to lie flat against her wrist, hiding it from view.

"Nothing," she replied, still staring warily at the redhead. Izzy could clearly see that Ange was somewhere off in the clouds, but why was escaping her. It was a little bit nervewracking, and she didn't want to hurt the girl, but she'd do what she had to. "What are you doing?"

[storychained]

The game continued. Except the scene shifted suddenly, so that it was Bernkastel instead of Kyrie. Bernkastel, the witch who had used her, manipulated her... toyed with them all. Ange jumped to her feet, eyes wide and panicked.

"You!" she exclaimed, gritting her teeth in anger. "You promised I could save them! You said I'd be able to...!"

[nolessthanseven]

And this was why she kept the knife in her hand; though Unmarked, it would still do a fair bit of damage if Isabelle used it on her. Her grip tightened on the hilt, ready to offer a blow to render Ange unconscious as necessary.

"I didn't say anything. You're seeing things, Ange. Come on, snap to! " Izzy bit back, training herself into a battle stance. And here Simon thought Isabelle was the unreliable one of the pair.

[storychained]

She was seeing things. For a second, she saw Isabelle in front of her. And then, it was Battler. He wore the cape of the Endless Sorcerer, and extended a hand to her.

"You're seeing things, Ange," he began, "Don't forget."

Forget what, though? Her expression became more distraught as she stared at him, fingers twitching as if she meant to reach out for his hand.

"Onii-chan..." she said, fingers now curling into a fist, "Why is all this happening? I want to be with you, and everyone else..."

Another wave of sickness passes over her, and she sinks back to her knees, hands back over her face. Ange digs her nails into her forehead, trying to take deep, steadying breaths.

[nolessthanseven]

She was beginning - beginning? No, she was pretty much there - to scare Izzy, in a way. Not much tended to scare her, but this was starting to get there; minor hallucinations, she could deal with, but these were ridiculous. It was like she was flipping through channels on a television faster than she could even register what was happening.

"Ange, seriously. Cut it out," Isabelle started harshly, holding her ground even as the redhead dropped back to the ground, bordering on seriously injuring herself. It wasn't like she knew what to do in this sort of situation: she didn't really help people so much as she kept demons from killing mundies. So not the same thing. "Hey, are you hearing me, or just losing your mind?"

[storychained]

Ange looked up into the face of her friend, blinking a few times in her crazed stupor. After a moment, she swallowed, registering who it really was standing in front of her.

You... had something to do with that? How could you have? It's... that'd be impossible!

"... Izzy?" she choked out.

[nolessthanseven]

"Ange," Isabelle replied curtly, falling somewhat out of her fighting stance to place her hands on her hips; the dagger remained in her hand, still pressed firmly against the inside of her wrist and still hidden to Ange's line of sight. She redirected her focus there for a minute, glamouring it to simply remain invisible, then extended the courtesy to the rest of her weapons, resting comfortably in the knowledge that now, if Ange were to attack (for some reason), Isabelle would have the element of surprise.

"Found your sanity yet?"

[storychained]

No, the answer was no. Her vision swam a bit, and the girl had to shut her eyes for a minute before she said anything else. What was real? This whole place was a dream world, right...? But, she could have been in that hell the whole time, a plaything of witches, suffering with her family forever...

"I..."

Ange swallowed hard again, biting her lip. Then, with all of her effort, she stood again, her knees wobbling a bit.

"It's... that day."

[nolessthanseven]

"It's a day, Ange." Even though she could remember being told about what had happened back home for her, even though she understood why the shaking, the stuttering, the hallucinations now. But that didn't mean Ange had to be a victim to it.

Isabelle reached out with one hand to stabilise the other girl, though she wasn't offering any more sympathy than before. "Seriously, if you let one day affect you like this for the rest of your life, you're going to be a wreck."

[storychained]

A wreck. That's what she was, honestly. Torn apart by a mere date. The redhead took a long, shaky breath, shuddering slightly at the touch. This was Isabelle in front of her, she saw. Though all the pieces hadn't quite fallen back into place, this was Somarium. Her new home. The old ghosts hadn't followed her here.

So, was she really... free of them?

"... I know," she said finally, shaking her head. "Aah... I'm a real mess, aren't I?"

It was rhetorical. Of course, she knew the sorry state she was in. Fate had given her another roll of the dice, and here she was, wasting it! Ange Ushiromiya wasn't such a weak person. She was ashamed of herself.

So, she looked up to meet the gaze of her friend, and this time, really saw her.

"It's just a day," she repeated, "Tch. What was I thinking?"

[nolessthanseven]

She knew it was rhetorical, didn't even bother trying to answer; Izzy simply stared at Ange, willing her to be that girl whom she did consider a friend before everything else had gone down. Her mouth remained pursed - she was still annoyed, mostly at the fact that a boy had driven a wedge between them and also because that boy had been her friend as well.

"Can't tell you that. I'm not exactly a mindreader," she replied then with a shrug, withdrawing her hand.

[storychained]

"Really? I'd have thought that would have been one of your many talents."

She said, with some, but not nearly as much, as her usual flair. The girl took another few breaths, exhaling the negativity that had had her in a choke hold moments before. None of them were here. She could relax.

"... Thanks," she said, her head lowered slightly. "I thought I'd escaped all of that here, but..."

[nolessthanseven]

"I'm working on it. Not yet," Izzy snickered, moving to plant her hands on her hips. She couldn't see how the entire matter got set off in the first place, but she wasn't about to to bring that up, lest she end up dealing with another breakdown.

"No problem. I was passing by anyway." Isabelle flapped one hand dismissively; she didn't just deal with this sort of thing.

[storychained]

"Well, I'm glad you were," she replied, giving a one-shouldered shrug. They had become such good friends in the first place because neither of them had the time or energy for trivial things. For BS, really. Why start now?

"... I guess I'd better be getting back, just in case," Ange said. "Wouldn't want to--"

She waved a hand to express what she left unsaid.

"... Again."