023th Shattering * Audio
[He doesn't know what he was expecting out of it, contacting Bernkastel despite having decided to not do it again... It was just an attempt to catch her attention again, become another toy for her so Ange would have a breathing. Whatever he expected, though, it won't happen as the filter breaks the moment he tries to put it up
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... Yeah. [ It's soft, pretty hard to hear - like a near wordless agreement on meeting up.
But first.. well, it's Ange, so of course paranoia creeps up on her. She hesitates for the slightest moment before speaking on. ] Are you sure she's.. really gone?
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[ And with that she closes her journal and is off walking through town to community building 6. She vaguely recalls walking exactly here back in July too, when Bernkastel had told her to come, but.. now it was for hopefully a much better reason.
(Also, stairs are so inconvenient, especially when you live on the eight floor. At least going down is more easy since you can jump, right.. n_n)
After that little while she does arrive at the room though, glancing around a bit warily before spotting the boy. ]
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The door of the room is wide open and he's sitting inside the room, at a table, staring blankly at his journal, lost in thought. Maybe he had developed Stockholm syndrome or something after all.]
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[ It's almost more a question than actually calling out his name, with the way he seems completely lost in thought sitting there. At least the good part was that Bernkastel indeed seemed to be nowhere around here, which was.. well, still a relief, even if she can't quite wrap her head around the idea just yet. ]
Oi. [ She steps over to him, leaning on the desk with her arms. ] Is something wrong?
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Nah, nothing is wrong. Though I suppose part of me is upset I didn't get the chance to be helpful to you in keeping Bernkastel distracted.
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Getting upset over not having to get yourself in trouble for my sake.. You're seriously a strange kind of guy. [ But she actually appreciates it a lot that someone would go through that much effort just for her sake.. It's just that she doesn't say that much out loud as easily. ]
Shouldn't you instead be glad you didn't have to do such a thing?
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[Even if he remembers, if the future he once learned about is true... He'll be dead by the time Ange needs him. But even if he survives, if the world he lives in is a miraculous one, maybe they won't need help to begin with.]
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... Even if you'd remember and be able to reach me, you wouldn't be able to do anything for me, Keiichi. Not even just regarding Bernkastel. My fate is already determined.
[ A piece raised specifically for this role. Growing up in misery, selling her soul to the devil-- no, rather, a witch, but close enough. Just a being who was created specifically so that Ushiromiya Ange's voice could reach Ushiromiya Battler in that one game.
"I came to bring you Ushiromiya Ange's mourning and sadness!" ]
So don't feel bad over it, or blame yourself for anything at all. There is nothing you could have done for me from the very start. [ a shrug, although she doesn't feel that casual about it at all. ]
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[It's not mere words, it's not mere hope without base. He speaks clearly, with a conviction born from truth. He has seen it, how much power an apparent absolute destiny posses, but he has seen it as well, how much power it's required to break it. It happened just once, yes, but at other times they were close enough to it, almost achieved it, they didn't break it but they shook it enough to crack it, little by little.]
If from the very start you were already beyond help, then all I would have to do is go further before that point!
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'I' can't be saved. [ And there's something resolute in her own words as well, although it's more hollow than Keiichi's fiery conviction. ] If you want to save 'Ange', go help out the six year old me who didn't lose her parents yet. This me lost my family, and Bernkastel just took that opportunity to build me into what would be the perfect piece to use for her own entertainment.
It's not something that will happen when I go back home, or even something that happened here. It already happened long ago. That witch has already done her part.
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Don't you understand it? 'Ange' and 'you' are the same thing, the same person, the same soul! Maybe you're the result of a tragedy and that certainly can't be changed, but if 'Ange' is saved so will you be saved, at the very end of it all, you'll be able to rest. 'You' won't be able to have a happy and long live free of tragedy, but you can certainly get it through a saved 'Ange'. If you're so sure you're hopeless, why don't you instead try to give hope to the other, countless, thousands of 'Ange' across the infinite worlds who have yet not lost their family ( ... )
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[ And at that, her usual pokerface actually shifts a little. To think back on all this is actually a little painful, especially with his words added, and it shows in her expression. ]
Back home, I sacrificed myself for Battler onii-chan, so he was able to fight on, because I thought.. [ her voice trembles just slightly before she manages to get it more firm again. ] I thought that even if there was no way for him to return to me again, he could still fight on and return to another 'me'. Because I couldn't stand the idea of another Ange having to live through all of this, I just wanted her to get the chance to be happy..
[ Maybe part of her wishes she could have been saved too, but.. even if just that little six year old Ange could have gotten her family back, that much would already be enough. ]
But even that is impossible now. [ and this is the part that is actually the hardest on her, more than anything. ] Battler onii-chan.. he chose to never return home again.
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Why did you turn into a monster?!
Even if Ange didn't do something as horrible... She still was misguided.]
Ange...
[Why would her brother choose to never return? Was it really a choice or was it... Acceptance? Rika's parents died on the 'curse' of the third year, Satoshi vanished on the fourth... How many times did Rika try to change that? To save them until she realized that, sometimes... Sometimes this really can't be changed. Did Battler really just give up, or did he realize that there was no way around it? Sacrifices must be made for things to move forward, people have to die and sometimes... There's no other way. Like with Rika's parents, like with Minato and Minako... Because even if those things could be ( ... )
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So she closes her mouth uselessly again, unsure what to say to his words, his offer. No longer being alone, living together with.. ]
I.. I can't.. [ She can't really voice anything quickly other than some instinctual refusal, some part of herself that makes her turn away from gaining anything. Because if you gain something, then you can lose it again at any time - just like she lost her family, her chance for a happy life, everything.. - and that thought makes her feel too vulnerable.
But.. at the same time.. She wants it. If she could only bring herself for once to say yes-- ]It would.. just be a bother, right? The houses probably aren't meant for so many ( ... )
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It would be a bother to want to know how you are and having to walk across the village rather than across a hall, to find out. It would be a bother if anything happened to you and we couldn't learn about it until much later, when worrying is useless and sadness is uncalled for.
The house may not be prepared for it but we can move, or modify it. There's an announcement in the library of a guy that offers that kind of job, I'm sure that with how things are in Luceti another room could be added in no time even if no one wants to move to a larger house. I didn't know Minako that well when she arrived, and none of us knew Loki when he moved with her. But that hasn't been a problem. If you don't know someone well, all you have to do is get to know them. And I know they won't say no.
[The major problem would be space and he already has ideas for it. he is willing to even build it with his own hands if he has to. He stands up as he talks, walking closer ( ... )
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