Hi everyone! Welcome to the third item of a drabble series inspired by Azuri-nyan's oneshot, Doppelganger.
Third element of this series: Enter the godslayer's shadow. This drabble is born from asking myself what could be Mu's doppelgänger. I'm afraid I might have miserably failed, but you never know…
Disclaimer: BlazBlue and its characters are not my property, but are Arc System Works's. Noelle is Azuri-nyan's property.
Before closing this author note, I'll thank Azuri-nyan for her authorisation to use Noelle and for having served as my beta reader.
Please enjoy that story!
Noelle's eyes opened slowly. When her eyes came into focus, she got up suddenly, startled. For she wasn't in her forest lair, nor she was in the grey void between the minds of the tenants. Neither was she in Noel's bedroom nor in Mu's blinding white void. She was in a brightly coloured room, on a bed. Getting up, she noticed that she was bandaged and that she was, as far as she could see for boxes and shelves impeded her vision, alone in the room.
"Damn, where am I…and who bandaged my wounds?", she pondered, checking her surroundings suspiciously to see her benefactor. Then, noticing a figure in the distance, she decided to approach it.
Apparently said figure had no wish to talk to Noelle, for she fled in the maze of boxes and shelves occupying the room.
"Damn it! Stop running away and let me talk to you!", barked Noelle, running after the figure.
"Hi hi hi! You're it, yay!", said the figure in a voice similar to Noelle's but with a childish tone.
"Stop right there you bloody fool! Who the hell are you?", she shouted, unnerved that someone she didn't know was occupying her space.
"I…am you…", said the figure, turning around and cocking her head in confusion.
Now that she was turning towards her, Noelle could see the similarities between them: the same face, the same body type and the same hair colour and texture. But there were also some differences: her eyes were bright blue, her hair featured a distinctive fray and she wore a red skirt and short sleeved jacket, with a dark grey long-sleeved shirt underneath.
"That bloody doll put you up to this didn't she…Who are you really?", Noelle brashly said, advancing aggressively towards the figure.
"I already said it before. I. Am. You." The girl stated those last three words empathetically.
"Stop playing with me! You don't even know my name!"
"It's Noelle, isn't it? And you're Noel Vermillion's doppelgänger, aren't you?", the girl said, taking a serious tone.
"Who are you really? And no jokes like « I am you » !", hissed Noelle, calling her scythe to her and narrowing her eyes in distrust.
The girl paused before speaking. "Jera-12, at your service!", she said with a big grin. "I am Mu's doppelgänger and I wanted to meet you! I am so happy!", she said, launching herself on Noelle to hug her.
Surprise made Noelle let go of her weapon and stay slack for a second, before she got back her bearings and got a stormy expression on her face. "Get off me!", she replied, extracting herself from Jera's embrace. "What do you want with me?", she demanded, clenching her fists and looking with an expression of repulsion at the overly cheerful red-clad girl.
"For you to lighten up! You shouldn't stay that gloomy every time! Life is beautifuul!", she replied, spinning around.
"What's it to you? I'll do what I want and stay as gloomy as I want," she shouted, her glare hardening when she realized the threat of this doppelgänger.
"I will never forgive them nor will I forget how they blocked me from getting control, as is my due! I will have my revenge on Mu for her interference, I will show Noel how she should have lived our life…how she's shamelessly squandering it!", she said, obsession bordering madness clear in her tone. "And…above all…I will have control even if there's nothing left to have control over! And I will get you too if you try to interfere…So don't get any ideas."
"But if you spend all your time obsessed with getting our body, you'll be as boring as Mu…she spends her time brooding about her purpose or destroying the world…", she says pouting. "So laugh! Enjoy the world!", she then says, smiling.
"But there's nothing to enjoy in that hell-hole!", she replied, tugging at her hair. "And don't you want to get out of here, to get in the sights of the worlds?", she says, honey coating her words.
"Y-yes, of course…", she replies, averting her eyes.
"Shouldn't you be bothering that thrice-damned doll to get out then?", she carried on, with that same honeyed tone. "Or that pitiful girl who always gets to be in control…Rrraaah! It's not fair! I would be so much better and I have to watch her screw up our life, I can't stand it!", she ranted, her temper getting once again the better of her.
"You see why you should lighten up? You're so obsessed by your quest that you cannot enjoy anything…"
"Don't you dare pity me!", Noel's doppelgänger roared. "You damn well know I have reason to be obsessed, as you put it: we're nothing! …But enough talking about me: didn't you try your hand at getting our body? I don't think you spent all your time playing games here when you could do it out there in the world.", she said waspishly.
"Y-yes, I did…", Jera replied, hanging down her head.
"So, what did happen during your take-over attempt-", she began to ask.
"-I-I don't think « take-over attempt » is the appropriate term…And besides it's not that interesting…", Mu's doppelgänger cut in, sweating profusely but turning aside to try against all hope to hide that fact.
Alas for her, Noelle picked up on that. "Oh? So you're afraid?" she said, her mood improving at the others expense. She smirked. "You better tell me what happened. After all, it wouldn't do to be so burdened by your past that you're unable to enjoy anything…" she said, her voice clearly full of fake sympathy.
"Well, I was fleeing Mu 'cause she's a brooding meanie who tried to use me as target practice when I asked her for permission to get our body when I chanced upon Noel. I tried to get our body from her but I didn't know how to do it so I proposed a game of tag to give me time to think about what to do, but I forgot what I was doing there and we played for the whole afternoon.", she said at a rapid-fire rate.
"Talk slower, I might have understood you.", deadpanned Noelle.
"And I don't know why, but she was always talking of homework I was distracting her from doing and wanted to leave.", she said pouting, oblivious to Noelle's jab.
"Well, fancy that: my oh-so-dear other persona who gets side-tracked from her obligations by a game of tag in her head. That's rich", she said, chuckling mirthlessly.
"H-hey, that's mean! And besides, it was such a good game of tag…Wait a second! You're distracting me!", she said, pointing an accusing finger to the black-clad girl.
"She's noticing it just now…I'm surrounded by idiots.", she replied, carelessly.
"We were talking about you! And that you need to lighten up!", Jera said, either deaf to or uncaring of Noelle's jab.
"But why? There's nothing to enjoy as an alternate half.", Noelle flatly replied.
"I'll show you what to enjoy! Let's play a game!"
"What about…no. I'll let you to your childish attempts to believe this empty world is of any interest while I'll do productive things like finding a way to get that body I seek. I have no time for silliness like « enjoying life » while I'm here."
"But what will you do once you're out there, as you put it? How will you enjoy life then?", Jera asked, desperate to make Noelle see her point.
"…I…", Noelle stayed speechless at this question, having never thought of what to do in the real world, but unwilling to admit it.
"You see? You wouldn't even know what to do once you took our body…", Jera said, raising her hands to the sky. "So no need to work yourself into an early grave! Laugh and be merry, and tomorrow will be happier for it! I have an idea, let's play a game! Say…a game of hide-and-seek!"
"Mmm…no. I need to find a way to get that body without having Mu sending me back here as fast as she can. I'm sure I'll have time to find what to do after", she said cockily.
"Rrraaah! You're impossible! Out, out, OUT!", Jera said, pointing to a light behind Noelle's right shoulder.
"Oh? So you don't want me to lighten up?", she replied, raising an eyebrow.
"There's no point at trying if you're that determined not to enjoy anything…Go and stay as depressingly negative as you are.", she said sombrely. "I just hope you'll get your mind off your quest and enjoy life before regretting it."
"Eh, don't worry your little empty head over it. I will get our body and then…I'll have all the time in the world to enjoy myself.", she replied dismissively, heading towards the light.
"Is she right? Will I really be able to enjoy life with our body? …No, I shouldn't let that simpleton get to me. I will enjoy it, I must enjoy it…I need to…"
Jera watched her fellow doppelgänger leave with a sombre expression.
"Noelle…I hope you'll think about how to enjoy yourself before it is too late…We won't be forever…"
And that's Mu's doppelgänger entrance! Her name comes from the twelfth rune in the 24-element Elder Futhark, Jera (also called Jeran or Jeraz and written thus: ᛃ)
Well, the "Murakumo's doppelgänger" naming convention being found (rune names), I think the next drabble will be between Mu and her double, but we shall see.
I'll stop that author note, thank you for reading and ask you to please review. Goodbye *bows and leaves*