divineshadows

[divineshadows]

“Oh, it��s okay Richter! I’ve tried to kill them both before too, and we’re friends now, so it shouldn’t be a problem for you!”

Emil, that’s... no......

"Th-this wedding is for.. Lloyd Irving and Zelos Wilder?! Those are the friends Aster was talking about..?!"

...

...

...

"Obnoxious screaming aside, I should not be here." He's making a beeline for the exit.

[divineshadows]

“Wow, this is amazing! I’m so happy for you guys, I can’t believe you’re actually married now!”

But... was the screaming a normal wedding thing? He wouldn’t know...

[divineshadows]

Emil’s 5☆ and 6☆ images from the Knight Uniform gacha (August 31, 2020 to September 16, 2020)

[divineshadows]

He deserved her anger, and he wasn't going to stop her. He'd been a fool. A complete and utter fool- he'd caused so much pain. Both her, and for so many others in the world. He would never be able to make up for his sins, but he would spend the rest of his eternity doing all in his power to fix the problems he had caused.

"My mind was changed by the hearts of the people who journeyed with me. I had closed it off, unwilling to listen to anyone. But... without my memory to cloud my mind, I was able to remember things I'd long forgotten. Trust, kindness... I owe it to them."

She was hurting so deeply, but he knew that he had no right to comfort her. And yet... despite everything, he wanted to. She was still his centurion, one of his first creations- an extension of himself, but so very much her own person.

"I know, Aqua. I know. I should have listened to you." His voice was soft, a reminder of the spirit he'd once been, yet still so clearly different. "So... I truly am sorry. I betrayed you before you ever betrayed me. I will not ask you to forgive me, but know I am doing all in my power to atone for what I've done."

A power beyond the control of Summon Spirits.. Aqua could hardly believe that such a thing existed, let alone that Ratatosk was even admitting to it; willing herself to lift her gaze to watch him as he spoke. He was so.. different, now; different than the day they last spoke at the gate, before attacking Richter and Aster. There was still so much pain in his voice, but briefly, he reminded her of how he used to be; when he was still so gentle.. before he was betrayed. Did this place have something to do with it..? Or.. was it Emil's influence?

She listened, intently; feeling herself tense at the thought of being unable to help Richter in his time of need, but at least.. he was alive. She felt soaring relief for a moment, before the rest of Ratatosk's words truly hit her; unable to help the shocked expression that cascaded across her features.

『 Wh.. what? You're.. going to help them..? 』

All things considered, Aqua should have been happy. That was what Aster and Richter always wanted, for Ratatosk to restore the flow of mana, to help the world from its decline-- but all the Centurion felt then was burning anger.

『 After everything that happened.. after how badly you hurt Master Richter, after you killed Aster-- now you have changed your mind?! Why did they have to suffer so much before you realized you were wrong?! Why?! 』

Despite herself, as the words left her, tears began to stream down Aqua's face; pulling her arms tightly around her frame. They were emotions that Centurions shouldn't have felt so fiercely, but Aqua had been carrying the weight of them ever since that day, refusing to let them go even as the years went by.

『 I.. will never regret what I did. I don't regret staying by Master Richter's side, or helping him achieve his goals.. but.. 』

『 I.. I never wanted to be your enemy. I never wanted to betray you.. it hurt me to do so. Why couldn't you have just.. listened to me back then?! W-we could have avoided all of this! I know you were hurting too, but.. did any of this mend your broken heart..? 』

[divineshadows]

"No, this wasn't my doing. This place seems to be ruled by powers beyond even that of summon spirits." In another time, he likely wouldn't have been able to admit to that. In truth, it still pained him that he had to admit to such weakness- but Emil had shown him that sometimes, such honesty was necessary.

"We defeated Richter, but we did not kill him. After our battle, Emil attempted to have our allies kill us, but they saw through him and convinced him to face me." It was a blunt way to describe things, but he owed Aqua the truth. "We faced each other, and came to accept each other. I no longer aim to destroy mankind- I will use my power to aid the spirit of the new world tree, and do what is necessary to fix the world's mana flows."

He hesitated for a moment, voice quiet and low.

"I'm... sorry, Aqua. I'm sorry for everything."

Before she could even sense his presence, the sound of that voice rang loudly in Aqua's ears; causing the Centurion to whip around in surprise. In the darkness, the blues of her eyes widened; and even if his form had changed.. there was no denying who was speaking to her in that moment.

『 Lord.. Ratatosk.. 』

Despite her last memories of him, there was something telling her that she didn't.. need to go on the defensive in that moment; though her clawed hands rose to her chest, clasping them close over the space where a human's heart might be.

『 'Arrived'.. you mean.. you did not take me here? What is this place..? 』she gave a quick glance to her surroundings again, before her gaze fell to the ground between them; trying to mull over the haziness in her head. 『 Tell me what happened after our battle. Please. Where is Master Richter? Why are we not at the gate? 』

[divineshadows]

The mist was dense as always, but Ratatosk could immediately pick out a familiar voice through it. There was a mix of emotions when he recognized the sound of his Centurion- relief to hear her, and guilt and regret over how deeply he'd hurt her.

"Aqua...?" Knowing her, he wouldn't be surprised if she had some fairly choice words for him. "So... you've finally arrived here as well, I see."

『 Wh-where.. am I? 』

In the middle of the woods, searching anxiously through the mist, a being that did not quite look human hovered; pressing herself against the flora, attempting to keep her position hidden. The feline-like ears atop her head flickered, a frown curving the pale skin of her lips.

『 This isn't the Ginnungagap.. did Emil-- .. n-no, Lord Ratatosk.. did he take me somewhere else to reform? Does that mean.. did Master Richter not succeed..? 』

[divineshadows]

"Awaken, Centurions! Restore the bond with your monsters, and repair the mana of the world!" The summon spirit's voice turned bitter with hatred, fixing his gaze back down on the pair before him. "And then go and eradicate mankind who destroyed my tree!"

"Aster, I..."

In all honesty, he didn't want to see this. He didn't want to think about it at all, but he had to face his past. But even so, he didn't want Aster to have to watch his own death.

"...I did. I couldn't see anything past my own hurt and betrayal. The two of you coming before me, telling me I'd been replaced, then asking me to fix things..." It had felt like a slap in the face. Mankind had always asked things of him, and never given anything in return. "But it wasn't right. I blamed you both for the actions of people from four thousand years ago. I'm... not going to leave you here, though."

'So please! Please use your Centurions to restore the balance of mana! If you do that, then the world will be saved.'

Aster's breath hitches in his throat. He'd heard about this meeting, from both Richter and Emil. He knows what happens next, but to see it...?

It almost feels as if he can mouth the words along with his past self, like it's something he would have said, something he did say, once upon a time.

"Seeing it now, it's... it's almost like I remember it," he says quietly. "The look in your eyes... you really hated us back then, right?" Aster makes no move to leave.

"You can go if it's too painful, but... I want to see it for myself. I feel like I have to."

[divineshadows]

"I... this is..." The mist had shifted to a place he knew well, his heart freezing as he realized where he was. Or perhaps more accurately would be to say when this was- he recognized himself, even if his form looked different.

"So?" The summon spirit looked down on the two in front of him, red eyes cold and dark.

"It... is, yes. Aster, I think... I think we should go."

@divineshadows

"Hey, Emil... where are we?" The mist around them had shifted, giving way to a space that, while sort of unfamiliar, felt eerily like he had been here before.

He's careful not to fall as they advance, taking a few steps ahead of his companion.

'We've heard that a new tree has been born.'

"Is that... me? And look, Emil, Richter's up ahead!" He keeps walking, then hesitates, looking back toward his friend.

"I don't remember this happening, so, it must have happened after I was brought here, right?" He closes his eyes... it feels like he's got a headache coming on.

"Tell me the truth, OK? Is that... you?"

[divineshadows]

"O-Oh, yes! Thank you." Emil smiled at the compliment, nodding his head enthusiastically. He quite enjoyed cooking, so it was always nice when other people would enjoy it alongside him.

"I do, actually. I've cooked it before a few times!" Partially for his monster friends, but hey, it still counted. He liked to think his companions had good taste, and to be fair, his non-monster friends liked his cooking too. "Why do you ask?"

@divineshadows

gotta admit, the accommodations in archimedes aren't too bad. yuri's definitely lodged in worse. now he's exploring the rest of his residential district, perking up as a blonde kid exits a nearby condo. by itself, it isn't really notable, no -- what's really important is the tasty aroma wafting through the door behind him.

"that your cooking in there?" he gets right to the point, not bothering with any formalities, "smells friggin' amazing." familiar, too, like a recipe he's made before (no way the wonder chef's here, is he?).

oh man, now this has him craving one meal in particular. "say... you happen to know a thing or two about mabo curry?"

[divineshadows]

"They don't seem to really respond to me, either. I suppose that makes sense, given we're not on Aselia... but it still feels a bit strange."

Even if he'd been here for a while now, there were still things he was going to be in a continual process of getting used to. And chief among them was now looking to be Aster, who'd quickly been scruffed by the half-elven scientist.

"Ahaha... well, um, I do think there's not much point to fighting if we can avoid it. Especially if we just need to get to the end, right?"

Hopefully Aster would listen to him, even if he wouldn't listen to Richter. Though... Emil knew better than to expect as much, honestly.

@fallenconstellation - @eternalrecurrxnce

There was a part of Richter that was still trying to piece together how he'd been talked into exploring the depths of the island's great crater, though considering who had decided that they were going, he supposed it wasn't all that surprising. It wouldn't have been an adventure, Aster said, without bringing Emil along; and while the half-elf was always happy to see him, he seemed to be teetering on an apology for not being able to control the other boy's excitement over the prospect of discovery.

At the very least, this place had allowed Richter all of his abilities back; retrieving his blade from the broken earth below him after finishing off a particularly ravenous monster. Placing both axe and sword back into their respective holds, he passed a glance to the world around them; emerald eyes narrowing in contemplation.

".. this place is at least somewhat similar to Aselia, but these monsters.. they're particularly aggressive. It would be wise to avoid them as we venture further. We weren't asked to fight, after all; just to chart what lies ahead. We can steer clear of anything that appears dangerous, and save ourselves the trouble of--"

But of course, midway through his words, Aster was already heading to a particularly dark looking cave, and Richter immediately lunged forward to grab him by the scruff of his coat.

"-- Aster!!"

"Did you not hear a single thing I just said?!" with a sigh, Richter reached up with his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, attempting to recollect his composure as he glanced at their friend. "He won't listen just to me at this point, Emil. Is this the direction you would like to go in, or would you prefer to listen to my advice?"

@divineshadows && @fallenconstellation

[divineshadows]

@salfxsher​

"Stupid thing... what do you mean that dumb alien can’t be hurt?” Ratatosk grumbled, maybe a bit noisier than he should’ve been given the circumstances. Being thrown into a situation where he had to run was annoying enough- but sneaking around really wasn’t his thing. He’d rather face this stuff and not have it all be a major pain in the ass. “What a pain.”

[divineshadows]

@hcneycrxsp​

“H-Hey, are you alright?” Emil startled a little when he looked over at the girl, considering how young she looked. Why was she wandering down here on her own? At the very least, the jungle didn’t seem to be too heavy with monsters... but still. “Are you alone down here? Um, I can help you out, if you’re looking for someone...”

[divineshadows]

@dreamsembrace​

“I’ve done treasure hunting before, but not quite like this.” The places the Katz guild would send him and his friends could be strange, but at least they hadn’t involved going down to the bottom of some giant hole. Though... considering the path to the Ginnungagap, maybe he was being a hypocrite to find this a bit intimidating. Emil stared out at the fantasy biome ahead of him, sword readied but not yet drawn. “I do wonder what the point to all of this is going to be...”

[divineshadows]

its been a hot minute huh? lets make this a starter call for the event! capped at 3, I’ll probably randomize which biome because any of them could work for him.

[divineshadows]

“Can we not keep track of my counts of identity theft?”

"Does it count as identity theft if someone steals your face after you die?"

[divineshadows]

fallenconstellation​

“Emil, how can we convince this guy we’re not brothers?”

@divineshadows​

“I-I... don’t know? I mean, we’re not... but it’s not like the truth is easy to understand.”

[divineshadows]

“What are you making dumb bets for now?”

dxrkestmirror​:

“I’ll call your bluff.  Do it.”

[opening a video call with Emil…]

“Hey, Emil! Get on video. I have a bet to win, it’s important!”

@divineshadows​