Cross Effects > Areas

The Great Western Mountains

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Kotomine_Rin:
Vanangandr

The ashen puppet was pulled by coils of fire, the bird whispering sweet words in its stead. "Cheep cheep! You make me upset, if I'm being honest." Suddenly, the light flickered, like illusory coils buzzing on some sort of hologram. It looked anything but upset, from the other side where it laid.

Vanguard couldn't share that sentiment. He wore that unsettled heart on his sleeve, unable to hide confusion even if he wanted to.

"Missing shard...? What in the name of madness are you spouting now? I'm plenty whole and in one piece last I checked." He tapped his torso left and right as if checking. He had no memory of the guy, but he was looking at him as if they knew eachother. And he had the same voice that he heard in that vision. But why? And why was his mentor with him? "Besides, I'm telling you, you must've got the wrong guy. I've never met you in the citadel..."

He gasped for a second. Torn asunder, like that dream he had? But it couldn't- That vision, that nightmare was too horrible. It had nothing to do with him. So then why-

"That's right!" The puppet chuckled, unable to restrain the irony of it all any longer. With a dramatic snap, he pointed at him. "As you are now, you're nothing more than a husk. An empty vessel. I hardly meant deceiving you but... everything you know is a lie, my dear friend. The hero named Vanangandr never existed. In the first place, you are not even a person. A product, at best."

The words spoken shook something in the hero. The mysterious stranger's voice, the visions he heard, the citadel, all his friends and family waiting for him at home. He didn't know where anything stood anymore. He was lost in this place, unsure of what even to follow, with his justice nowhere in sight. The sight of his mentor should be comforting. The voice of this man he never met shouldn't elicit the revulsion in his heart. And yet, everything was wrong. Wrong. Wrong!

His step cracked the earth, and his voice boomed like thunder.

"YOU LIE!!"

He didn't know what that stranger was up to, but he had taken control of his teacher like this just to mess with him. Whatever trick they tried, it wouldn't work. He'd snap his friend out of it, he'd make sure whatever plot was taking place was stopped here and now. Because he was a hero. He was. He was...

SINIB:
Ivanna

The spirit burst into unholy flame at Willian's words. "Such words are nonsense—he exists here, now!" She exclaimed. "He is a living, breathing person, fully capable of thought and emotion! Now! BEGONE!" Ivanna shouted as the fires reached their peak.

Still, her wings formed a wall, preventing William from getting any closer. "If that's your idea of nice ambience, I must question your tastes."

Bern:
William

"And this is why I never bring you along."

The dark mage had vanished all of sudden. Or not, cause his fist was buried in the puppets gut. His fury was blazing almost as brazenly as the dark flames conjured by the Fallen Angel. His anger somehow flaring even higher than Ivanna and the young hero, it was bizarre that he was going after the puppet like this.

But was it really?

"You know not the value of life, least of all my Nakama. Now begone from my sight!" The moment ended and the puppet was yeeted away from the cave. William brushed the dust off and turned around to face the two who were left. "I don't stand for anything that worm has said. And he was not your teacher. That was something who likes wearing the faces of others, a parasite...."

Kotomine_Rin:
Vanangandr

There was no feeling, fear, or shock at the sudden blow. And why would there be? He had long since discarded such unnecessary feelings to save the world. But even if he hadn't, the illusion couldn't share in such drivel. It simply blew away like stardust in the wind, shattered with no catharsis or fanfare.

The flames of the burning bird ended, with naught but a disappointed smile.

All that was left was the boy, with eyes agape. Unable to speak. Staring with the dizzying sickness that built up inside him.

"But... my soul is.... fine. I am a person. I am... I am..." He sounded in shock, as if he was starting to remember something he should have never remembered at all. "I am Vanangandr, a hero of the citadel. I am Vanangandr. A hero. I am..." He repeated those words meekly, like a mantra. Almost as if to convince himself. His soul was whole. His body was his. Why was this even happening? What did he do? Why was that voice so familiar?

As he took a step back, a voice rang in his head. Something that revulsed him to the core.

Not good. We must cut a bit deeper.

"Your... Nakama." He gasped when he remembered those same words told to him once. In that dark, dark place.

SINIB:
Ivanna

The flames died down, and her wings retracted into her form, save two of them nestled tightly against her bare back. She shook her head, wondering why the two were saying random words in Japanese. It was odd, first when William had said it, but the meaning with which Vanagandr said it? She wondered if there was something to the dark mage's story.

Still, she stood between him, and the young man she'd been protecting. She looked up at the two men, craning her neck to look at them in the eyes. Still, she didn't seem bothered by doing so, so perhaps it was fine. She flapped her wings, and then flew up into the air, raising her slight form to look Van right in the eyes.

Then, she reached out, planting a small hand on his shoulder. "There, there."

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