RE: DETERMINED
Act 4, Chapter 2 - DETERMINED To SAVE You (あなたを救うために決定) [Part 2]
Last Time on: "RE: DETERMINED"!
...Everyone was in danger. Frederica, Petra, BB, and Rem were all endangered and he needed to find a way to stop it. "Pandora!" He called out, as the presence of the Witch of Vanity immediately entered his senses, as she appeared before him with a smile.
"Is there something you needed, Ryu-kun?" She asked in a kind, serene tone of voice as Ryu looked up at her with a determined look in his eyes.
"I need you to help me get out of the Sanctuary." He said as Pandora nodded once. 'I'm going to save you, everyone!'
"Ryu is now at the mansion of Roswaal L. Mathers. He is at the front gates, ready to fight." Pandora said, as her Authority activated and sent the boy away to his destination. "...Good luck."
He silently made his way through the building, constantly on guard as he felt like something was off. Not just the fact that Elsa was alive and back, no. But it felt like the world was corrupting itself as if everything good in the world was being drained away over time. He eventually stopped and turned around to face Elsa Granhiert, as the assassin licked her lips in anticipation. "I knew you'd be here."
"And you're just on time, Prince Ryutensei," Elsa smiled, malice and bloodlust visible in her eyes, which were darkened considerably from what he remembered them to be. "I've waited for oh-so-long to get a chance to get into your guts."
"Your chance is never coming to pass," Ryu said, his tone filled with anger and hatred as he raised a hand, using Black Warp to create a flurry of knives and spears which he threw at Elsa. The assassin dodged with expertise and swiped at him, with Ryu barely finding himself able to dodge. It was then that Elsa stopped, looked up at the ceiling, and smiled.
"Ah, no matter. It seems his pet has finally arrived. A week earlier than anticipated, but I suppose when it comes to the Leviathan and hunting down the Shocks, the beast can speed up its pace considerably." At that, Ryu's eyes widened. The Levia-
Everything around Ryuuto exploded as a giant scaly dragon's foot appeared in front of him. The foot drew back as a singular eye stared down the hole it made, ancient and gold in color, but also animalistic and filled with primal rage. Primal rage that Ryu was now matching. "LEVIATHAN!" Ryu roared in rage, raising his hands as a flurry of Gaster Blasters formed behind him in his rage-filled state, allowing him to access his sealed magic as the blasters fired at the dragon. The energy wave was enough to disintegrate Elsa and half of the mansion, but the dragon known as the Brown Leviathan was unaffected by the attack once the smoke faded.
"Is that all?" The dragon rumbled in a voice that sent fear down Ryu's spine. That was his strongest attack, there was no way. "Clearly, I overestimated your power from Blaze's claims." No, no, no, no, no! It should have been killed!
The Dragon raised his clawed-foot and in the next moment, Ryu knew nothing.
"You are weak."
Ryu found himself able to breathe a moment later, as his eyes hot open and he coughed heavily. "Oh god… that thing… is here?" Ryu's eyes were filled with fear, as he stared at the stone floor beneath him before he heard familiar whimpers. "Emi…" He crawled over to the girl and held her in his arms, touching her cheek to wake her up. Just as before, she looked at him in a mixture of surprise and fear. But this time, Ryu was prepared. Prepared to help his friend.
He helped Emilia out of the Graveyard, his hair covered by his eyes as his eyes gave off a dull glow. How was it here, this didn't make sense. The world was destroyed. The entirety of my Multiverse was destroyed, so how was it alive? Panicked thoughts similar to these flooded his mind as he had no idea what to do anymore.
If it was here, then the people at the mansion were screwed no matter what he did. There was no one on this damn planet that was strong enough to beat that thing! The only chance he could have was if he had powers superior to his father, and that was a risky situation! If he wanted to do this without risk he needed to be God-tier like Asriel or something! Hate flashed in his eyes briefly as Ram and Garfiel rushed over to their sides, as he felt weak again. Useless. He felt like he was just a pathetic, greedy prince who dreamed too big.
Yet again, he followed a script. Due to his experiences with RESETs in the past with Frisk, he had gotten pretty good at memorizing what he and other people said and was able to follow instructions very well. It was a simple game to him. But he was admittedly half-hearted in everything he did, and the people around him noticed the change in the normally confident Ryu, who seemed to be a little more reserved and less energetic. Ryu knew they noticed, too. But there was little he could do about that, after what he had just… experienced. He couldn't act like he normally did, because he knew there was a hopeless situation waiting for him outside. Eventually…
"I'm sorry, Ryu-kun…" Emilia said as the Prince smiled weakly. "I didn't mean to lose my composure like that."
"Hey, it's fine, Emi!" Ryu said in an attempt to encourage her, as he knelt in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Just rest. We can figure out a plan tomorrow. Nothing we can't beat when we work together, right?"
"Ah… right…" Emilia nodded slightly, a faint smile on her face as she looked up at her friend. Ryu nodded back and shifted his gaze to Ram.
"Make sure to take care of Emi, Ram." He said as the oni maid nodded. He looked behind him, noticing how Emilia was shivering. Ryu swore to himself to never let Emilia feel pain like this again and then left the room, standing outside and staring up at the night sky as he tried to figure out what to do.
"Ryu-sama, are you even listening to me?" He heard once he had pulled himself out of his thoughts, looking at his assistant.
"What's up?" He asked Otto, as the merchant looked at him in worry.
"Ryu-sama, are you doing alright?" Otto asked him, with Ryu going silent for a moment before nodding with a grin.
"Yep! Doing perfectly fine!" Ryu responded, hiding his emotions behind a mask of Determination, his red eye glowing slightly. "What, didja think something was off?"
"No, nothing looks off at all." Otto denied, before his eyes narrowed. "Except the fact that you've seemed to have lost a small bit of your normal confidence. You seem more hesitant, fearful. Calculative." Ryu stared at Otto in silence, not even bothering to give him an answer. "...Perhaps I'm just overthinking things though."
"Yeah, you most definitely are overthinking things, Otto," Ryu replied as he got up and straightened up. "But I can say definitively that you've been pretty helpful as an assistant, Otto."
"W-what? But I didn't even do anything for you yet!" Otto exclaimed in confusion, causing Ryu to smirk slightly.
"Nothing you can visibly see, maybe. But I can say you've helped, and that's the truth." He walked over and patted the merchant's shoulder, smiling. He wasn't lying either, since the merchant's existence did allow him to stay calm. Thus was the nature of a Perseverance soul, as they naturally had an aura that kept people calm and collected. Like Wilhelm or Crusch for example. Plus, the fact that Otto was his assistant helped there too.
"A-ah, alright then, Ryu-sama…" Otto smiled nervously, as the boy took his boss's compliment. Ryu smirked in response, as just then he shifted his gaze to the right, hearing someone walking over in their direction.
"Yo, got a sec?" Garfiel asked, walking over in their direction with a lamp in his hand. Ryu jumped down to meet up with him in the middle, hands kept in his pockets. "You still seem as shady as ever, Prince."
"Being shady is one of my best qualities, then," Ryu responded casually, taking what could have been an insult and turning it into something he could be proud of. Garfiel scoffed at that. "I assume you're here to talk about the Sanctuary?"
"What the hell would I come here to talk about other than that, huh?!" Garfiel snapped. "Of course it's the Sanctuary!" Ryu had a cocky response to give the teen in response but decided to hold back so he didn't hurt the young man's pride.
"Right then! Otto, I'll be gone for a bit, so behave yourself!" Ryu responded with a smile, patting his assistant on the shoulder.
"A-ah alright then! But you better do the same, Ryu-sama!" Otto half-requested, half-demanded with Ryu nodding in response as he left.
Ryu silently stared at the form of Ryuzu, standing in the middle of an empty field. "So, you're the one who wanted to talk then, Ryuzu?" Ryu asked, as the maybe-elf hummed.
"You may interpret it that way if that is what you wish," Ryuzu replied. "Young Gar is my attendant after all."
Ryu silently looked around for a while, before his eyes settled back onto Ryuzu. "What do you want, Ryuzu-san?" He asked, as he felt the wind around them pick up slightly, his spiky hair blowing in the wind.
"I'm sure you have questions, Young Ryu. About how Frederica was able to leave the Sanctuary, more specifically." Ryuzu said, as the Prince nodded in confirmation. "What exactly do you want to do with that information?"
"I want to assess the situation, get a hold of every bit of information I can get my hands on," Ryu replied, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Eventually, I will free the Sanctuary. One way or another. Whether it be through the 'normal' way or finding an alternate path. I'm not just gonna sit around and twiddle my thumbs."
"...In a way, you'd be right that there could be an alternate path." Ryuzu eventually admitted. "But are you willing to spend your time searching for an alternate path when we have already tried before?"
"You didn't have someone with as much Determination as me before," Ryu replied, as he knew even Flugel didn't have Determination. When he came here, his Determination didn't carry over into his new body. Instead, all he kept was his Justice and mere fragments of what could have been his alternate trait, Patience. "I'm going to find a way out of this place one way or another, and then Emilia can rest easy."
Ryuzu patiently stared at him as she waited for him to finish speaking. "That may work for the trial, but it is not wise to constantly run-"
"I'm not trying to shelter her, or giving her a chance to run. I'm just giving her time to get stronger before she faces her past." Ryu responded instantly, barely repressed fury in his eyes. "I know Emilia can do this! But she needs time, and I'm speaking from personal experience to know that! I wouldn't have been able to face the knowledge of my own past if it wasn't for the time I've taken to grow older and more mature, if it wasn't for the support of friends around me. I want to support Emilia just as I was supported, and then… then she can face her past and come out stronger for it, I just know it."
"Alright ol' hag, I've had enough of this sappy crap!" Garfiel cut in, as the two looked over in his direction. "Tell 'im already! Tell 'im it's just like a gadgy gwadzeadd tryin' to hide in the mountains!" Ryu was once again lost by the strange idioms and phrases that Garfiel was using, and looked at Ryuzu with an eyebrow raised.
"What Young Gar is trying to say is that there is no convenient way to escape," Ryuzu explained, as Ryu's red eye narrowed, glowing a bit brighter. "Frederica's escape was an exception from the rule. She does not meet the conditions of being held in the barrier." As Ryu heard that, his mind wracked for any solutions or reasons to this, eventually settling as one possibility came to mind.
"She's not a pure 'half-blooded' human, is she? She's a quarter-blooded hybrid." Ryu realized as Ryuzu smiled slightly.
"Yet again, you show how quickly you catch onto things, Young Ryu. Yes, she is a quarter-blood, as you put it." Ryuzu confirmed, with Ryu looking over at Garfiel for further explanations, his mind hungry for knowledge as his experience back in the Underground kicked in. He knew this current situation was something he was going to have to loop for a while to get all information necessary.
"We have different dads." Garfiel clarified. "I'm Garfiel Tinsel. I'm pretty sure she goes by a different surname." She certainly did, and that explained a lot now that he thought of it.
"She was born to a human mother and a mixed-blood father." Ryuzu continued. "Therefore, she can enter and exit the forests at will." At that, Garfiel scoffed loudly.
"Hah! Enter and leave, huh? Don't make me laugh!" Garfiel said, as Ryu realized the two were likely not on friendly terms. Maybe he despised his sister for leaving the Sanctuary? He was unsure. "She hasn't been back here in over ten years! Frederica abandoned this place!"
"Young Gar…" Ryuzu began, as Garfiel scoffed, looking away. She sighed and shifted her focus back onto Ryu again. "Well, now you know. I apologize for making you listen so long to learn so little."
"Any knowledge is good knowledge if you know how to use it, Ryuzu. I don't mind." Ryu smiled in an attempt to make the maybe-elf feel a bit better. "But still, it seems I'll have to figure out something… maybe…" Ryu looked directly into Ryuzu's eyes. "Ryuzu-san, I'd like to make a request of you. There's something I want to tell you, but I want confirmation that it won't be spoken of."
"Very well, we will tell no one." Ryuzu eventually relented, as Ryu took a deep breath and sighed.
"Alright. I can undergo the trials in Emilia's place." He said as Ryuzu and Garfiel's eyes widened. "You saw me, I was able to enter the Graveyard unharmed, and it even began to glow. That's because I have the qualifications to complete the trials. Whether it's because of my blood or something else, I don't know. But I do know this. I can do them, and I've already passed one."
"You passed the trial?!" Garfiel seemed genuinely surprised as Ryu smirked in his direction before his eyes landed back on Ryuzu, red and yellow-green shining faintly.
"You're probably thinking about how things have gotten more complicated, arent'cha?" Ryu grinned, as Ryuzu eventually nodded.
"Yes, you took those very words right out of my mouth, Young Ryu," Ryuzu said. "But I now understand your point." She then nodded over in Garfiel's direction. "Young Ryu, there is something important I must tell you as well."
"And what would that be?" Ryu said, as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Right now, I need you to keep quiet and behave yourself," Ryuzu said as Ryu felt his danger senses go off. Garfiel grabbed him by his neck, as Ryu's eyes narrowed fearlessly.
"So, this is your plan, huh? You honestly expect me to stay quiet and just accept whatever sick plan you've got for me?" Ryu began to laugh, as Garfiel and Ryuzu began to feel genuinely unnerved by the fearlessness in his eyes. It wasn't just courage, it was genuine fearlessness, as if he was disallowing himself to feel the primal emotion of fear. "Well, I've got bad news for you." Garfiel heard a humming above them and looked up to see a strange dragon-shaped skull pointing down at them with magical energy building up. It was too late though. "I'm taking you all with me. Rather die than be killed!" Ryu closed his fist, as the blaster went off, a massive explosion going off in the Sanctuary.
"You are growing bolder and bolder, Ryu." The boy looked up to find himself not back at his save point, but stuck in a strange void. Austin stood above him, lazing around in a large blob-like form. "Did you honestly have to kill Ryuzu and Garfiel along with yourself? That's such a strange way to go."
"You should know by now that I don't take kindly to capture," Ryu responded. "Where even am I?"
"This is the Void, Ryu. I have brought you here for one reason." Austin's 'eyes' narrowed as he stared down at him, with Ryu feeling like an ant before the godlike being. "We are going to stay here for a while, until your Soul adapts to the Authority of Sloth and absorbs some Void energy into it. You are not a naturally slothful person, so we need to ensure that you both have the ability to summon it from a different Source, as well as let the power that was once your Corruption settle back into you."
"This is surprisingly thought-out, Aus," Ryu commented. "Have you been planning this-"
"Since the felling of Petelgeuse Romanee-Conti, I have been planning, yes," Austin confirmed his suspicions. "Now, get comfortable. I know that your trials of pain have only just begun. Take this respite and rest."
And rest, Ryu did.
Eventually, Ryu found himself waking up with Austin staring down at him impassively. "Have you rested up well, Ryu?" The Hate Origin asked, with Ryu nodding in response. "Ah, that's good. I have a… job for you, and some advice. Something I know will be helpful in your journey."
"What is it, Aus?" Ryu asked the Hate Origin as the being went silent.
"I need you to visit an alternate timeline," Austin said, as the Void around them began to crack and shatter. A portal formed behind Ryu, as Austin raised a black tentacle-like thing from his normally formless body. "You will learn something… albeit in the hard way. You will return to me once you have completed this task. As for the advice, don't tell anyone about your ability to Reset. You will only bring chaos." Ryu was then smacked into the portal, with Austin giving him no chance to respond. "...This better be worth it, you so-called Pure soul… Ryushinsei."
From the darkness, a young man who looked like Ryu walked out, his hair and eyes both colored a pale green. "Oh, don't worry, Austin. This will be worth it. Thank you for helping me." Ryusei smirked, dark intent in the Spirit of Purity's eyes.
Ryu eventually found himself waking up in an icy wasteland, coughing to himself as he got up and looked around. "The hell… were you thinking, Aus?" He complained as he walked around. He was unaffected by the cold, yes, but he was annoyed that Austin had just shoved him into another timeline without even asking him. It took only moments for him to realize he was alone.
There was no sign of life. Empty clothes and houses surrounded every inch of the snow-covered Sanctuary, and Ryu felt dread creep up his back. Everything was too… clean, too snow-covered to just have everyone… gone. It wasn't as if they had left, no, this was akin to a ghost town. He felt like he had just stumbled upon a Genocide Route Snowdin from how cold and lifeless the Sanctuary was.
Ryu kept pushing, however, as he was determined to figure out what was going on. "This… makes no sense…" Ryu eventually muttered to himself, as he looked to the side to see a white bunny with a horn on its head staring at him. "...The Great Rabbit." Ryu realized moments later, as he used his power to form a large amount of Hate and condensed it into a super-pellet. He threw the dark orb of energy at the rabbit, who immediately began feeding as its eyes began to glow brightly. Hundreds of more rabbits flooded the area as they began to feed on the Hate orb, with Ryu taking a step back. He didn't expect to meet this sort of concentration of Gluttony Beasts.
Ryu knew it was only a matter of time before these Rabbits had finished feeding on the Hate Pellet, as he stumbled back and formed one after the other to attempt an escape, distract the hungry beasts with food. He refused to let himself be eaten. But then, as he stumbled back, he fell onto his back from tripping over one of the Great Rabbits. Just as he was afraid to be eaten, he noticed how passive the Rabbits were. They seemed hungry and their eyes were lit up with malice, but they didn't act. His eyes widened slightly as he realized there could be an explanation to this. When he killed the one who took Rem's existence, he took their Authority, their Witch Factor. Gluttony was able to control the Mabeasts, and it seemed that the Authority was active enough to keep him alive.
But he wasn't willing to test his luck though, as he noticed the hunger in the beasts' eyes was only intensifying. They had only paused because he was able to summon the Hate Pellets, and he knew it. But his Hate wasn't infinite. He couldn't possibly summon enough to feed the Rabbits forever. It didn't take long for the rabbits to act, as they rushed in on the boy, with Ryu jumping into the air and landing on an Integrity Platform to dodge the beasts. "Uh, Austin! Get me out of here! Now!" He didn't receive any answer, though, as Ryu felt even more dread creep up his spine. "Aus…?"
"Now, you must learn from suffering, boy." He heard a voice say, one eerily similar to his own, with Ryu's eyes widening. The Integrity Platform beneath him shattered and collapsed despite Ryu's efforts to pump it with more Integrity Magic, and Ryu knew… he was now rabbit food.
Ryu didn't even get the chance to numb his nerves with his Pain Negation ability.
When Ryu reappeared at his save point, he was too shocked, too stunned to move. Too stunned to do anything. He had died, yes. Nothing new. But the worst part was he was eaten. Eaten alive. And no matter how hard he tried to fight, he couldn't beat the endless hordes, who chewed through his attacks and munched on his defenses for a snack. Ryu's soul felt damaged. Not physically, but on a conceptual level, he felt pain. "Dona… please… take me in…" He begged in his current pain-addled state.
"You have once again earned the qualifications." He heard Echidna's soothing voice say, as Ryu felt his worries washing away with the Witch of Greed's tone. "I invite you to a Witch's Tea Party."
Ryu found himself back in the Plains of Echidna's tea party, silently staring at the Witch of Greed. "...You listened… you actually listened to me," Ryu muttered, as Echidna smiled at him from her seat.
"Now, now, Ryu-kun," She admonished slightly. "Did you expect for me to abandon my first friend or something? You asked me to take you in, so here I am." Ryu eventually nodded as he walked over to the Witch of Greed.
"Echidna… I need to ask you something." Ryu began, as Echidna looked up at him in confusion. He then placed his hands on her shoulders, a deadly serious look on his face. "How do I access the powers of the Authorities I've obtained?"
"I-I can tell you anything you need to know, Ryu-kun, just please sit down!" Echidna exclaimed, as she then looked away in a semi-bashful manner. "I didn't expect for you to be so forceful."
"Eh? Oh, sorry then. I got a bit too excited," Ryu apologized as he sat down across from Echidna and casually gulped down the body fluid tea. He was still unfazed by the idea of drinking or eating absurd substances, due to his experiences both in the Underground and from hanging out with Echidna in the past. "Meh, still as bland as ever. Will you ever make normal tea?"
"I could, but I don't really don't care to. Don't see a reason," Echidna replied as Ryu sighed. He expected as much.
"Echidna, how much do you really know about me?" He asked as Echidna looked up at him and was about to answer, but he cut in before she could say anything. "And I don't mean Flugel. I mean me. This me. The real me. Prince Ryutensei James Henderson-Shock."
"...If you are asking what I know, I only know what I know," Echidna answered in a semi-evasive way. "If you're asking how much I want to know, I want to know everything there is in this world. No, not just that." Her eyes narrowed, as a faint ring of Patience shone around her eyes. "I wish to know everything in every universe, every timeline. You have confirmed the idea of a Multiverse in the past, and I want to know all about it."
"Echidna…" Ryu began, as he closed his eyes in anticipation, a part of him doubting if he should tell her this. But another part of him told him to trust his old friend, and despite logic being a normal driving force of Ryu's Determination, he placed his trust in his emotions. "When I die, I reset. The world reverts to zero, and a new timeline is created from there. I am an Anomaly."
"That is surely… an interesting explanation," Echidna said, as Ryu looked up to see the girl smiling at him calmly. Ryu didn't know how this was possible, Austin said if he told anyone about Reset, he would only find himself in trouble. That it would bring chaos. Telling normal mortals about Reset usually broke their minds under the stress of knowing their fates weren't even theirs, that someone else controlled them. "My, my, Ryu-kun! Stop staring at me like that. It almost makes me feel like a schoolgirl being fawned over."
This wasn't possible… "How… you can't be possibly…" She was supposed to be breaking down, or dead… that's what Austin's words suggested. Was he wrong? Was Austin wrong?
"I can assure you, Ryu-kun, I am real," Echidna said, as she smiled up at him. Ryu didn't know how to respond, as he realized he could finally tell someone not only about his capabilities of Reset and the pain it brought him in this world… but the pain it brought him in his old world. Over six-hundred times, Ryu had been killed back home. Over six-hundred times, and 99% of those deaths were caused by one being. Six-hundred deaths that Ryu never got over. Six-hundred deaths that Ryu was still traumatized by, but was forced to ignore, boiling in the back of his mind. Ryu's eyes filled with tears as he fell to the floor, feeling like a burden had been taken off his back.
Yes, Ryushi and Austin existed, but they were beings of darkness. Unable to empathize properly. They were meant for combat and destruction, not chats, vents, and other therapeutic ways for Ryu to get over his pain. It was then that Ryu felt Echidna embrace him, as his eyes widened. "I know." She said as Ryu felt a part of him be released. The months of pent up frustration and weakness. He felt the Witch of Greed, no, his friend stroke his hair gently as she used to do back in the day when he hung out with her. When he used to get tired. "I know of everything that's led you here. I know of the pain you have felt for so long. I know of your countless deaths, and how they've affected you. How you never got to move forward from your traumas, how you never got a real chance to talk to your murderer. I was watching you from the very beginning, Ryu-kun." He looked up at her, as he saw a little bit of the old Echidna return. "But watching is all I've done. So, if you can, I'd like for you to tell me yourself… what you have thought, how you have felt, and all the weight you've carried." Echidna then smiled at him, as Ryu felt a dam inside of him break open. "I want to know. After all, I am the Witch of Greed, who wants to know everything in existence."
"That's me, Echidna."
Ryu silently took sips of his tea, having finally figured out a way to use Black Warp in Echidna's realm. Echidna was slightly offended and disappointed that he didn't feel like having her 'Dona Tea' anymore, but got over it quickly as she realized Ryu was a goldmine of experiences and knowledge. Knowledge that surpassed even his many books he had given her during his time as Flugel. He was valuable, but not just because of his knowledge, but because he was a friend. Even in her current state, she had enough self-awareness to know that Ryu was the reason she went apathetic. But now she had her oldest friend in front of her, and she was free to talk with him at her leisure yet again. "Ryu-kun, I-"
"Dona, I know that you can link me up with the other Witches," Ryu eventually said to the shock of the Witch of Greed. "I want to talk with them. Especially Daphne. I need a refresher on the Great Beasts… and their weaknesses." His eyes narrowed, as she could see Ryu's stubborn determination would be impossible to stop. He would get his chats with the other Witches, no matter what. She sighed in exhaustion, now remembering how tiring Flugel was, and he didn't even have Determination as a soul trait.
"You truly have an exhausting amount of Determination, Ryu-kun," Echidna commented, causing Ryu to smirk slightly. "Well, I'm sure you're regaining your memories, but I want to ensure you don't get yourself into trouble when you meet Daphne. Firstly, no matter what, don't release Daphne's restraints." Echidna warned. "Secondly, you are forbidden to touch her. You should also avoid eye contact, if possible."
"You're really instructing me on how to interact with my former friends, aren't you?" Ryu asked with a raised eyebrow, as Echidna smirked back at him.
"I wish you the best of luck, Ryu-kun." She said, before dispersing into particles of light. Ryu was briefly blinded by the intensity of said light, before it died down and Ryu's vision swiftly returned.
"Ne, ne! Rai-yu! Have you been taking care of yourself?" The cheerful voice of a young girl hit Ryu's ears as he looked at the chair before him, where an old friend now sat. A little girl with deep green hair that stretched to their shoulders, with red eyes and brown skin, wearing a white and blue one-piece like dress. She also wore a blue flower hairpin. Ryu's eyes widened as he stared at the form of Typhon, his 'little sister' back in his days as Flugel. "I missed talking to you!" Typhon smiled at him, as she jumped out of her seat.
Ryu rushed over and fell to his knees as he hugged Typhon, missing his little sister as memories of her flooded his mind. He, as Flugel, had found her one day as she was judging people, and while he was both deeply disturbed and concerned for how a child was judging people for their 'sins', he couldn't bring it in him to take action against her. So he did his best to guide her, which led to him becoming her older brother. Typhon giggled from the tight hug, as she hugged her brother figure back. "Looks like you've missed talking to me too, Rai-yu!"
"I missed everything about you, Starlight," Ryu responded as he eventually released the hug. He extended his hand out to her, already knowing his sister's thought process. "I bet you want to judge me, right?"
"That's right! I was wondering if you're a bad guy, Rai-yu-oniisan!" Typhon grinned slightly, as she grabbed at Ryu's hand, focusing slightly. "Sin can only be repaid with pain." Typhon chanted, as Ryu noticed his arm was now missing but didn't register it as he impassively stared at Typhon. "Oh, you don't feel pain! You really aren't a bad guy! That's good! Very good! Onii-san isn't a bad person! But let's see here… Sin will become a wedge that allows no escape."
Wait, that wasn't apart of the- Ryu immediately found himself falling apart as his body shattered like someone had dropped a vase. He felt no pain still, but he did feel sort of annoyed… "So, you see yourself as a sinner even though you aren't a bad guy?" Typhon questioned him as she hovered over his broken form. "That's really sad, onii-san!" Typhon pouted slightly before she grinned. "Oh well, that's all Typhon came here for! I hope we can play tag soon, onii-san! Playing with Carmilla is getting a little dull nowadays. Now, that leaves…"
Ryu watched Typhon fade as he felt an impending sense of doom coming in his direction. This was going to end badly for him, wasn't it? "First! To strike all that defies reason in this world!" A voice called out from above, as Ryu felt his danger senses going off on an alarm as the voice got closer. "Second! Who cares about committing every heinous wrongdoing! Third! Whether it's ugly or beautiful, if you're here in this fleeting world, don't expect to come out of it unscathed!"
Oh god please no why was it Minerva he wasn't mentally prepared to interact with her-
A massive explosion rocketed out as Minerva crash-landed onto the scene, a cloud of dust and hearts floating around for a bit. "My fist will restore the world! My anger will cleanse the world! My rage, the fury of my fists, shall be my answer!" Ryu then felt Minerva punch him about a dozen times, and by the end of it he was restored to full health, but he was still very nervous about the idea of interacting with Minerva.
"Looks like you're still as furious as ever, Minerva…" Ryu eventually said once he had gotten over his nervousness, with the blonde girl immediately beginning a mini-tirade of anger.
"That's right, I'm angry!" Minerva confirmed as Ryu laughed nervously. "It's Typhon's fault for hurting you like that! Stupid Typhon!" She immediately began slamming her foot into the ground, shaking everything as a mini-earthquake began to happen. "I hate this stupid world for making her do that! I hate all of it!"
"Thanks for helping me regardless, 'Nerva…" Ryu muttered as the girl wiped away at her furious tears.
"Y-yeah, yeah whatever! Listen up!" She turned her fury to Ryu, as she pointed at the young Prince/Sage reincarnation. "If you've learned your lesson, don't do anything reckless! Next time, I'll just heal everyone!"
'Jeez, 'Nerva, I've got it already.' Ryu tiredly thought to himself, but didn't express his exhaustion with the Witch of Wrath. She eventually dispersed into light particles just like Echidna and Typhon did before her. Ryu was then again blinded, as a flash of light shot outwards. Once the light cleared, a simple coffin stood before him. It opened up, though, to reveal Daphne inside as it began to crawl from side to side.
"Ne, Ryu, I'm impressed that you've been able to get this far without your original source of strength," Daphne commented, as Ryu sighed in relief, knowing that he was now finally able to talk to Daphne. His actual goal. Not that he wasn't thankful for the chance to speak with Typhon and Minerva though. He was actually really happy to see two of his old friends again, even if he was exhausted of Minerva's fury. "What is it you want to know, old friend?"
Ryu smiled at Daphne, as she did the same instinctively, recognizing him as Flugel; the one who fed her when she was at her most starving. He didn't rid her of her hunger, but he was most definitely patient when it came to her, and she had enough sense to recognize Ryu as someone who she could trust. Her mindset was similar to an animal's, and animals sometimes trusted the hands that fed them and didn't bite, all it took was patience. "I want to know more about the Three Great Mabeasts. The Whale, the Rabbits, and the Serpent." Ryu requested as Daphne hummed.
"Oh, the whale, the bunny, and the snake? I remember them." Daphne said. "What exactly do you want to know about them Ryu? There isn't much I can tell you since you were the one who initially gave me the idea of creating them as food sources."
"The Snake ain't no food source, it's an all-consuming plague, Daph." Ryu tiredly sighed, before looking up at the Witch of Gluttony with a more serious look. "I want to know their weaknesses, anything you can tell me to give me a chance to fight back. I know it's survival of the fittest in your eyes, but wouldn't it make sense for things to be a little more like nature? Where both predator and prey know of the weaknesses of the other?"
"...You know just how to reason with me, don't you, Ryu?" Daphne's smile widened slightly as she rushed over in her Centipede Coffin, a wide sharp-teethed grin on her face. "I should have expected nothing less from my oldest friend!" She then drew back, as she sniffed the air. "What's this… smell? It's…" Her mouth opened wide as she caught a Hate Pellet that Ryu threw at her, consuming it instantly as her entire body shivered. "Ryu, I knew you were still as kind as Flugel! Generous too, that was so filling! I'll tell you everything you need to know about the Rabbit's weaknesses!" At that, Ryu smirked. It was easy to work with Daphne since she had a simple mindset. "The Great Rabbit relies on mana and other powerful sources of energy to find its prey." She said as Ryu's eyes widened.
That did make sense... and explained why they seemed to seem so passive against him for a while. Not only did he have an Authority of Gluttony sleeping somewhere in his soul, but he was literally an infinite source of magic when it came to Hate. If he could better use his Hate, he could technically sate the Great Rabbit forever. "But it can multiply indefinitely. Won't some likely be left over, separated from the group or something?"
"There may be many of them, but they aren't very wise, Ryu." Daphne denied. "They all share the same consciousness, so they will all follow the strongest mana point. If you can figure out a way of getting rid of them or even killing them, I will be most impressed." Daphne then smiled. "I'm also happy to hear that you've tamed a Mabeast yourself. A Wolgarm, right?"
"How'd you-"
"It was meant to be a surprise, but I'm very happy to know that Teymin found her way to you." Daphne shook in her Centipede Coffin, as he could feel the animalistic joy in her voice and aura. "She's a good girl, right? She's been protecting you, right? I want to know if my gift was doing a good job!"
"Gift? So you… created her for… me?" At her nod, Ryu pondered over this and eventually laughed. "Man, I would have never expected you to give me such a strange yet endearing gift!" After wiping away a singular tear of joy, he smiled at Daphne. "She's doing good, Daph. Thank you for giving me her."
"Ah, don't mention it, Ryu! Consider it a late birthday present from me!" Daphne smiled slightly before yawning. "I'm tired… can I go now?"
"Yeah, you can leave. Thanks for everything, Daph." He said, as the Witch of Gluttony nodded and dispersed into light like the rest of the Witches before her. When Ryu's eyes adjusted again to the flashbang of light, Echidna sat before him on her chair, sipping away at her tea. "...Welcome back, Dona."
"It's nice to be back, Ryu-kun." She smiled as she settled down her cup. "I hope you were able to learn from Daphne despite the… setbacks."
"There were no setbacks," Ryu said to Echidna's surprise, as she looked up to see him more confident and much more determined. "I got to see my old friends and, dare I say it, family. So I say even in the off-chance that I didn't learn anything from Daph, I would have still said it was a successful venture."
Echidna softly giggled at that. "Still as optimistic as you usually were, hm? I suppose that's what makes you endearing. Your optimism and determination." She stood up as she refilled the kettle with new tea, placed down a tray of cookies, and poured him a new cup of her tea. Ryu looked up at her with a suspicious look in his eyes.
"You didn't put any hair or anything like that in these cookies, did you?" He asked as Echidna pouted.
"I'm not that shameless, Ryu-kun! I'm frankly offended you would even suggest that!" Echidna said, as Ryu's eyes narrowed. He didn't trust that statement too much, but he didn't have it in him to care. Just as he was about to grab a cookie, he felt a pang of… something echo through his body. Not pain or anything like that. More like… he was being forced awake. "Ah, looks like it's almost time for you to wake up. Perhaps something sped up your awakening from the outside world…"
Ryu slowly forced himself to get up as he stared at Echidna. "Send me back, Dona. I need to figure out what's going on outside, don't want to worry whoever's trying to wake me up." Maybe it was Emilia, considering she was right next to him in the Tomb.
"Of course. I will not hinder you any longer." Echidna smiled, as she stood up and walked over to him, taking his hands into her own. "I hope you will come visit me again in another Witch's Tea Party. Perhaps in that chance… I will be able to tell you something." Ryu's vision began to blur and white-out as he was forced to awaken.
As Ryu woke up on the warm (read: cold) floor, he got up and coughed as he felt like his body had forgotten to breathe in its sleep. "Goddamn it, is this gonna be a frequent thing?" Ryu muttered to himself, before realizing that something was off. Emilia wasn't in the Tomb anymore. Paranoia set in. What happened? Did something attack? Did the Great Rabbit make its way here already? Why was he left alone in that case? Ryu shook off the questions and dark thoughts as he ran out of the Graveyard to notice that everything was covered in darkness. In shadows. In shadows that cut into everything.
Dark, darker, yet darker. The darkness keeps growing. Shadows cutting deeper. Photons readings negative.
Ryu shook off the thoughts, as he found the darkness to be more familiar the more he stared at it. The shadows he saw in his fight with his old lover. The shadows that accompanied both Satella and the Witch of Envy. He watched with wide eyes as the darkness formed itself into the shape of a woman, of a girl he knew and once deeply cared for. No, one he still deeply cares for. "Is that you… 'Tella?" He asked hesitantly, as the girl stuck her hands out to him.
"I love you." Satella said, as the amount of love radiating off her form and laced into her voice was almost toxic. Overwhelming. He couldn't tell if this was Satella, his Moonlight, or Envy. "I love you. I love you." She got closer to him as Ryu felt petrified, unable to do anything as the girl who was covered in shadows hugged him and held him close. "I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."
The love was overwhelming. Nothing existed but her love. Ryu didn't have it in him to respond, as he slowly crept his arms up. He still loved Satella, even after all that had happened, nothing would change that. But he couldn't bring himself to voice it in all of this overwhelming love. The darkness crawled up his body, as he couldn't even fight back. Was this it? Was he going to be consumed in this infinite love?
…
…
...
"Quit screwing around!" Ryu heard, as a being forcefully separated him and Satella as an explosion of force radiated outwards. Once Ryu had managed to get a hold of his mind again, he looked up at Garfiel, who grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. "We're jumping now, Prince!" Garfiel warned, as he then jumped into the air, with Ryu barely able to keep himself from panicking as his mind was currently overwhelmed with all that was happening. The shadows chased after them, not wanting to let either Garfiel or the object of their affections escape. Ryu was able to block them momentarily, slow them down by forming shields of Kindness and Determination. Kindness held them back for a few seconds, with Determination faring better and holding back the tendrils for about 15 seconds. "You're stronger than you let on, Prince. Maybe your claims aren't as bullshit as I first thought." Garfiel said as he dropped Ryu, with the young man reacting instantly as he landed on a building feet-first.
"Didn't expect for you to save me, Garfiel," Ryu commented, as he looked over in the direction of Satella. Or the Witch of Envy. He was unsure at the moment, as his brain wasn't given a chance to 'think'.
"Can't you see what's going on?" Garfiel commented. "What's important right now is finding a way to bite that thing's head off! And to do that we're gonna need firepower! I heard you were strong from both Ram's claims and your own, so you better live up to your own hype!"
Ryu's eyes narrowed, as he stared at the shadowy female. Why? Why was she here? Was it…. His eyes widened with fear, as he realized that maybe, just maybe… Austin's warning of 'not mentioning Reset or else there'd be chaos' was a reference to this? Was Satella's release from her prison triggered by the mentioning of his Determination's power? He had too many questions, not enough answers. But he knew one way to get answers. A knife formed in Ryu's hand, glowing crimson with Determination.
He needed to figure out a way to win, or die trying!
Ryu ran through the forests alongside Garfiel, slicing at tendrils that got too close with his Determination Knife. "Wait, we're going to the mansion?" Garfiel asked in confusion, narrowly avoiding a tendril which Ryu sliced at and forced to retreat. Ryu formed about a hundred shields of Kindness and Determination respectively, which was more effective on the Determination's end since he had an infinite amount of that.
"I need to figure out a way to stop everything!" Plus, if he was able to make it through the barrier somehow with Garfiel and led Satella to the Brown Leviathan… would she be able to kill the beast for him? It would surely be satisfying to see that beast felled by his… ex? Best not to think on that for now.
It was just then he heard rustling as he saw about a hundred or so Ryuzu clones walk up to them. How did he know they were clones? Simple. "They're… soulless." Ryu recognized instantly. "Garfiel, what are you planning?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Garfiel growled out, as he turned around, leading the army of Ryuzus. "We're gonna bust through with sheer numbers and crush that thing!"
Oh. Ok then. Ryu knew they were going to fail but it wasn't like he could stop Garfiel from going to try and complete his batshit insane plan.
The shadows grew closer as Satella/Envy neared them, the shadow-covered girl standing above them. "I love you." She said as Ryu felt a shiver go up his spine. He did genuinely love Satella, but this was starting to get a little… unsettling.
"There you are!" Garfiel said, before a red aura surrounded him and he shifted into a large tiger-like beast to Ryu's slight shock. He didn't expect to see Garfiel's 'beast form' this early on. Garfiel roared and charged at the Witch of Envy, who casually restrained the rampaging beast, tightening her grasp on their body to ensure he didn't escape. Just then, he commanded the Ryuzu clones to attack, as they exploded once nearing the shadows of Satella. Eventually, her attention shifted to getting rid of the pesky explosive beings, with her shadows cutting through the Ryuzus.
Garfiel managed to escape Satella's hold and jumped into the air as if to pounce on her, but the shadows acted faster than he could react, piercing him and then swiftly exploding him from the inside. "...Well, that sucks." Ryu looked up at Satella, a bored look in his eyes. "I suppose you're just gonna love me forever or something?"
"I love you," Satella said again, confirming Ryu's suspicions.
"Yeah, that's about what I thought. Welp," Ryu stuck his arms out, as if to embrace Satella. "If you want me to love you, come and get me." Satella paused, before her shadows enveloped him just as Ryu planned.
The shadows coiled around him. Ryu was unable to see. It was like a void, where all that existed was a suffocating amount of devotion, of love. Ryu was able to hear Envy's voice from all around him, as he grit his teeth. He needed to find a way out… but his saves were inaccessible in his current state. But Ryu did know of one way to escape this timeline. "Soul Magic: Hate Explosion." Ryu managed to say, as he felt his soul shatter instantaneously as he used his own limited Hate to destroy it from the inside out.
Envy gasped as she rushed to his side, tears streaking down her veiled face. Ryu reached out with whatever limited Determination he had, staring right at the face of Satella as he brought her veil back. He could see her sorrow, her tears of genuine sadness, and it broke his heart to hurt his Moonlight this way. It was then, that Ryu made an oath, reaching out to wipe away her tears. "I promise… I will find a way to save you… 'Tella. I…"
His words of love didn't get to reach Satella as he had died before he could say anything more.
…
The next loop wasn't changed much. Well, aside from Ryu possibly shedding a few tears unknowingly in front of Emilia, who pointed out said tears immediately. He knew what he had cried over, too. He cried over the fact he was unable to save the first girl to ever love him. Over his inability to save Satella.
But he didn't let that faze them, as Ryu was determined to figure out ways to both save the mansion and the Sanctuary. He strolled through lines of code as he rode Patrasche out of the Sanctuary, temporarily disabling his Alestian blood through FILE 0, so he could bypass the Barrier. He had also talked to Garfiel about this, telling him he could teach him soul magic when he came back, and that it could help him win over Ram. The boy jumped at the opportunity (once Ryu did a little save scumming that is), and let him do whatever he wanted.
Once Ryu had arrived back at the mansion with Patrasche via teleportation, he informed Petra and Frederica of the situation. "Are you saying we need to evacuate from the mansion?" Frederica asked as Ryu nodded.
"Yeah. There's a barrier over in the village that I've put up after a certain incident," He looked at Petra for a moment as he said that, the 'incident' being the Witch Cult's attack. "It should protect you guys long enough."
"Protect? It sounds like there is some sort of big threat coming along…" Petra worriedly said, as Ryu rolled his eyes and patted her head.
"Just get to the village, Petra. We need to ensure everyone's safety." He said, as Petra eventually nodded and rushed off. Ryu locked his gaze with Frederica and nodded in her direction as he made his way into the mansion, ready to talk to Beatrice.
He made his way into the Great Library, a determined expression on his face as he closed the door behind him, staring at Beatrice. "You're finally here, I suppose," Beatrice said, looking up at him from where she sat.
"I've decided that I've wasted enough time, BB," Ryu replied as he walked over in her direction. "I've also decided I've learned enough about my past to come here. In all of my knowledge, I've learned more about my connections to you and of your blank Book." His eyes landed on the Tome of Wisdom, as his red eye looked over it and informed him of its empty state. By fusing FILE 0 into his eye temporarily, he was able to see 'code' and other information. "And I've finally decided to get you out of here."
"Get me out? What are you talking about, I suppose?" Beatrice asked, a confused look in her eyes, but Ryu could see deeper. She was experiencing a flurry of emotions. Fear, anticipation, despair…. Hope. She was hoping he was going to somehow save her, Ryu could sense it. And Ryu was going to save her. Just as he had once SAVEd his friends back home.
"You probably didn't expect for me to say that, since it doesn't coincide with anything you know, right?" Ryu said as he took steps forward, getting closer to Beatrice. "But here's the thing, I don't care about any Tomes of Wisdom or Gospels or anything like that. If anyone says that there's a predetermined path for me, then I'll just reject that. I'm going to do what I want, not what some book expects me to do." He stuck his hand out, a telekinetic grasp of Blue Magic grasping the Tome and throwing it to the side as he glared at Beatrice. "I'm not abandoning you, BB! So just give up on that train of thought!"
"...'One day, that person will appear in the library'," Beatrice said as Ryu paused in confusion. The drill-haired spirit looked down, unable to face Ryu or look him in the eyes. "My job was to wait for that day, for that person. I've been waiting for it all this time. But 'that person' never came, and the book never told me who it could be. Time just continued to pass, and then…" Beatrice's small fists clenched themselves as Ryu could see tears build up in Beatrice's eyes. "I don't care if you're not that person… if you are the one who can finish me, put an end to my contract, who can take my life… I will settle for that, I suppose."
It was moments later that Ryu's fist slammed into a bookshelf loudly, shaking Beatrice out of her current state as she was startled by the sudden loudness. "KILL YOU?!" Ryu snapped, as Beatrice looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "YOU EXPECT ME TO KILL YOU?!" Ryu furiously wiped at his own eyes, where tears almost built up. "Like hell, I'll do that! And like hell I'll be that person, if that person was someone who abandoned you! Caused you pain for the past 400 years!" Ryu's eyes then flared with light as Beatrice stared at him in a mixture of awe and fear. "If this contract is causing you so much pain, then I'll just wipe it clean! I'll erase your contract and take your burdens as my own!" He pointed his hand at Beatrice, as a large amount of Hate-based Soul Magic formed in his hands, turning into a blackish-purple orb. "ERASE: CONTRACT!" He roared, as he shot the concentrated magic of Erasure at the Great Spirit, which hit her but did nothing but destroy the contract between Echidna and Beatrice.
"Ryu?" Beatrice hesitantly asked before she found herself embraced by the preincarnation of the Sage. "...Will you really… take me in? Would you really put me first?"
"BB, I would do anything if it meant I would be able to save you," Ryu said, as Beatrice felt tears flood her eyes, her own magic finding no lies in the statement. She knew Ryu was stubborn and would do anything to save her, but this… was too much for the spirit as she could feel his overwhelming kindness and compassion.
"What a heartwarming reunion of souls." Elsa's voice called out from behind them, as Ryu's eyes narrowed. "Though if I'm being honest, I think I've seen enough of this."
"Elsa, you dare-"
"Shamak." He heard Beatrice say, as the dark spell exploded outwards. Ryu took the chance to grab Beatrice and teleport out of the mansion, appearing elsewhere. "Where are you planning to take us?"
"To the village. It's the only safe space, I've put up a barrier that disallows those with malicious souls to enter the premises." Ryu replied, just as he looked up to see a girl standing at a bridge.
"Oh, it's you two!" The familiar face of Meili greeted him, surrounded by Mabeasts of all kinds. "What are you two doing here? Honestly, that Elsa is so sloppy…"
"You… you're working with Elsa, Meili?" He asked hesitantly, a part of him not wanting to believe that the missing village child was actually a spy working for the Bowel Hunter. Meili only smiled in response. "You…"
"I had a lot of fun when you used to play with us, Ryu-oniisan! So I'm willing to make you an offer! If you give up right now, I can make sure your death is swift and painless, unlike whatever Elsa has in store for you!" Meili grinned with childlike innocence, sending fury into Ryu's soul. It was then that Beatrice took a few steps forward, standing in front of Ryu almost as if she was guarding him. "Oh? Are you going to fight me?"
"My condolences, but I will not allow anyone to hurt Ryu," Beatrice said, her blue-purple butterfly-shaped eyes narrowing.
"I see, well, I'll let my partner take care of y-" Ryu turned around just as Meili was saying that, forming a shield of Determination and knocking Elsa back. Beatrice reacted as well, raising a hand as she fired off spells of her own, which destroyed whatever they touched.
"If you think you can beat me and Ryu when we're working together, then you're very naive," Beatrice said as she turned to face Elsa. "Plus, he has made a promise to save me, and I wish to see if he can pull it off. So, in this situation, he is my Contractor… and I will not allow you to kill him." Beatrice's eyes narrowed with malice, as a faint rainbow aura surrounded her.
"What an interesting development," Elsa giggled, unfazed by the danger she was now in. "A Great Spirit and a Prince working together. I will delight in this little fight."
Beatrice's eyes narrowed as she immediately went on the offensive, using Patience Magic to slow time to a crawl, and then raised her hand to the sky. "Minya!" She called out her spell, as shards of crystallized time formed around Elsa and surrounded her. She snapped her fingers, time resuming as Elsa was unable to dodge the flurry of arrows. Eventually, Elsa's crystallized, beheaded body was revealed once the smoke settled, with Ryu's eyes narrowing. That couldn't be the end.
Both Beatrice and Ryu stayed on the defensive, knowing that Elsa wasn't dead because their soul didn't shatter in their soul vision. Moments later, Beatrice's eyes widened as she pushed Ryu to the side, knocking him over. Ryu looked up to see a knife stabbed through Beatrice's abdomen, with his eyes widening. "B...B?" He asked hesitantly, as the Great Spirit smiled at him through her tears.
"Ah… finally… freedom…" She said, as Ryu's eyes filled with his own tears. "Don't cry, Ryu… I don't blame you for anything." Beatrice fell forward as Elsa let them go, with Ryu catching the spirit in his arms.
"No, no! You aren't dying on me, BB!" Ryu hissed, his eyes burning with angry tears. He raised a hand over Beatrice's abdomen, trying to heal her with Kindness magic desperately, but soon was kicked away by Elsa while he was distracted. Ryu skid to the side, despair and fury in his eyes as he glared up at Elsa. "That was my friend, you fucking whore!" Ryu's hands ignited with magic, gold flames appearing in them as he summoned the power of Retribution. He then fired them at Elsa, who grinned madly and grabbed the flames to Ryu's shock, with the flames changing color to black as they were corrupted by Mirakn's power.
Elsa then redirected the fire back at Ryu with double the power, slamming into him with great force as his body skid across the floor like a ragdoll. Elsa then approached him with her knife, as she stabbed Ryu's red eye, sending him sprawling across the floor in pain. "I expected more of a fight from you, Prince," Elsa said in a bored tone. "Clearly, Blaze-sama overestimated your power…"
Ryu winced around in pain, barely able to keep himself from screaming as blood and Hate leaked from his damaged eye. The only thing keeping him from showing how much pain he was experiencing was the fact he was trying to dull his eye's pain with Hate while biting his own tongue to redirect the pain. "My, my Elsa! You're so cruel! Don't you pity him?"
"I pity this Spirit who was wasting her time and life on this weak 'Prince'," Elsa replied. Ryu grit his teeth as he looked up at Elsa hatefully, before noticing Beatrice move her hand in his direction and mouthing something. He couldn't hear her, though, as he was swiftly teleported away.
"...Reset," Ryu managed to say as he found himself appear in a strange prison-like cell. He wanted the timeline to reset. "Reset, Reset, Reset! Let me go back!" He summoned his screens and found the RESET option to be blotted out, with a note attached to it.
If you want to reset, first you must face the consequences of your actions - Sei.
Ryu grit his teeth in frustration and anger as he slammed his fist into a wall, shattering it to bits. He eventually got over his rage and made his way outside, noticing how it was snowing. "No matter… as long as they aren't here…" Ryu muttered, as he made his way to the Tomb. He pushed his way forward and opened the door, noticing Emilia standing there in the middle.
"Ryu-kun? Is that you?" Emilia smiled at him in an eerie fashion that sent shivers down Ryuuto's spine. She rushed over to his side, as Ryu fell forward, his scarred eye still bleeding. "Ryu-kun, you're hurt! Don't worry, I've got this! Emilia-chan will heal your eye!"
"Emi…?" Ryu was unsure of what to think of this, as he couldn't get a read on Emilia's emotions. It was like she was unable to feel anymore. It was unsettling. Emilia caught him when his legs gave out, giving him a tight hug.
"That's right, Ryu-kun. It's me, your Emilia…" The girl said, as Ryu was finally able to get a read on her, feeling one emotion radiating from her soul and psyche. Love. But it wasn't love in the normal sense, it was the type that made him scared. Love as in the terms of the Witch of Envy. Possessive, easily angered, jealous… toxic. "I was lonely, you know… You just ran away and left me behind. I was so scared…"
"Emi, I-"
"It's okay though!" Emilia cut him off as she smiled at him, a mixture of madness and adoration in her amethyst eyes. "You came back to me in the end! I never stopped believing that you'd come back! I knew that if I completed my task, you'd come back to save me. That you would be my hero, my knight in shining armor. I was somewhat scared that you might end up hating me… so I came here to try and complete the trial, but that didn't help at all. But I'm so, so happy that you've shown up, Ryu-kun! Stay with me forever, okay?"
"Ryu-kun, I love you!"
Die. Ryu wanted to die. Pain radiated from every part of his body. He had confronted Roswaal with help from Garfiel and Ram, but the clown margrave had put up a fight and killed both of them and then told him about his sadistic plans.
Ryu had killed the man, of course, it wasn't even a fight. It was a one-sided massacre on the Hate-fueled Ryu's side. He had just witnessed his friends' deaths, so he was justifiably furious. But that was just where the problems began, as Ryu had swiftly encountered the Great Rabbits. They had swarmed him from every direction, looking at him expectantly after consuming Roswaal's body once he had thrown it in their direction. "Feed us. Feed us, master." He heard them say in the back of his mind, likely a side-effect of his dormant Authority of Gluttony.
"I'm sorry, but I cannot feed you myself. Eat everything else, I suppose." He had instructed the beasts, who hopped off in search of more food. Ryu found that he couldn't control the Great Rabbits with his Authority, merely redirect them. If he told them to eat in the opposite direction of the Graveyard, they would listen until they ran out of things to eat there. Which eventually did happen, as they returned with desperate looks in their eyes. He had nothing to give them, though, as he barely managed to escape to the Graveyard and put up backup shields. His body was mangled in bites, blood, and hate leaking from his wounds.
"Ryu-kun? Oh, you've returned!" Emilia smiled at him as she stood up, with Ryu staring at her with his one good eye. She rushed over to his side and embraced him. "Gosh, where have you been? I missed you soooo much!" Emilia giggled, as Ryu was unable to say anything, he was pretty sure his throat was damaged. "I got so worried, you know?" Ryu tried to say something, but Emilia quickly shushed him by placing a gentle finger over his lips. "Ah, don't say a thing, Ryu-kun. Come now…" She took his hands into her own, smiling at him lovingly. "It's okay now, my sweet, determined Dragon. You fought valiantly." She led him away and sat down, as she looked up at him. "Come, sit here, boys like 'lap pillows' right?"
Ryu eventually obeyed as he rested his head back on Emilia's lap, closing his eyes. "Ah, you look so tired… you've been pushing yourself for everyone's sakes… but you never once think for yourself…" Emilia smiled down at him. "Ah, but don't worry! Emilia-chan will take care of you! I love you after all! Only push yourself for me."
As Ryu felt his life fading from his body, Emilia giggled again and leaned in. The final thing he experienced was the taste of a Kiss of Death.
When Ryu's eyes snapped open, he felt… disturbed. Greatly so. When he turned to look at Emilia, his mind shifted to the memory of the previous timeline. "I can't… let that happen again… I have to stay with you…" Ryu now had three goals. Save the Sanctuary, save the mansion, and save Emilia. And he would do anything to get there.
Yet again, it was a matter of following a script, but now he had even more information. That being the fact that Roswaal was a lying, manipulative bastard that knew of his looping, though he was unsure of how he did it. Ryu eventually made his way back to the Tomb, staring up at it. "I need to talk to you again, Dona… here I come!" He declared as he walked into the Tomb. "Dona! I'm here to bargain everything!" Ryu's eyes then widened as he felt something overwhelm his senses and put him to sleep.
"Behold an unthinkable present."
A blizzard rampaged around Ryu, as he was forced to watch a scene from above without a body. 'What is this…' Ryu thought in confusion, as his eyes landed on the gigantic form of Puck, the Beast of the End empowered by his offered Soul. 'Is this… the timeline after Rem's death?'
"So, it is you…" Puck's eerie voice said, as he faced down the Sword Saint Reinhard van Astrea. His fur was coated in patches of black, giving him a peculiar pattern as his eyes were colored a deep gold.
"Emilia-sama and Ryu-sama are both gone now, aren't they?" Reinhard asked the rampaging beast, his hair blowing in the intense blizzard.
"Lia is asleep, forever. Ryu is apart of me now," Puck replied. "I have decided to take up his final wish and execute the Witch Cult personally on my quest to destroy the world."
"So, that's why you're doing all of this?" Reinhard asked, as his blue eyes narrowed, with him drawing his Dragon Sword and preparing it as it began to glow brightly. "I am going to stop you from causing further harm. If you must resent someone, resent me."
"You are a fool if you think you can beat me now, Reinhard van Astrea," Puck said, as black wings made out of the viscous liquid of Hate formed from his back. "Long ago, you might have been able to beat me, but now I have the power of a human's soul and the essence of a Primordial Darkness within me. I am superior to you."
It was just then that Reinhard realized his connection to Od Laguna had been severed somehow, as if the source of existence had been cut off. His eyes widened, as every blessing in his arsenal was destroyed, meaning he couldn't wield Reid as the Sword Saint anymore. Puck raised his paw, thanking the power of Hate for destroying Od Laguna, and crushed Reinhard beneath his paw. "...I would have been unable to do this without you, Hate. Thank you for allowing me to continue Ryu's wish."
"We have a common goal. Destruction. We are now unstoppable, young Spirit. Let us get our revenge." Ryu heard, as the world cut off there.
Ryu's eyes widened as he awoke back in the Tomb, now witnessing the dark reality, the dark truth of the timelines before that Austin wiped out. They weren't immediately destroyed, for either moments, minutes, or possibly even hours; they existed. He shivered, not knowing what to do as he realized the possibilities of this conclusion. How many worlds, how many lives were snuffed out alongside his own?
"Behold an unthinkable present."
Ryu lost consciousness quickly as he fell over again.
"Ah… this was a fun experience, I suppose." Elsa Granhiert smiled to herself as she jumped back from Ryu's corpse, with an angered Reinhard van Astrea and Emilia turning to her as they both prepared to fight back. "Oh? The fun isn't over, thank you for reminding me of that. I have one last target to acquire…" Elsa's sadistic gaze shifted to Emilia before she noticed Ryu's body slowly reabsorbing the blood and black liquid that was once oozing from his wound. The wound closed up as the black substance covered it, with the corpse slowly standing up and getting to its feet. Ryu's body was eventually covered, soaked in Hate essence. This... monstrous abomination took the form of a tall ink-black humanoid abomination, partly melted almost like an amalgamate, glowing with the magic of the traits Ryu had at the time of his death (which was currently just Determination and Justice, red and yellow) underneath its 'skin'. It also had a demonic and outright frightening smile on his face. The monstrous being looked at Reinhard with its smile. This was something inhuman, unholy. It shifted its gaze to Elsa, as it then smiled wider… and roared loudly, sending shivers of terror down even Reinhard's back as he was paralyzed in fear.
Eventually, Reinhard got over his feelings and charged right at the beast, ignoring Elsa in favor of this monster that took over his new friend's body. He found that Reid was responsive to him and drew it, attacking his foe, but it stretched out a clawed hand and caught the sword in its hands; grinning at him maliciously as he refused to let go. Hate then brought back his other clawed hand, and-
"Behold an unthinkable present."
The images grew worse, as Ryu was forced to see the side-effects of the timelines where he died and his choices. How Austin killed every one of his friends in the other timelines. Their brutal deaths. His brutal deaths, being stomped on by the Brown Leviathan, being eaten alive by the rabbits, the kiss of death.
Ryu's mind felt like it was about to shatter. He laughed to himself as he eventually woke up from the infinite nightmare of destruction and bloodshed, his laughter giving way to tears and then moments later fury as he began to pound his fists against the floor, cracking it beneath him as tears fell from his eyes. "Can you no longer stand, Ryu-kun?" Ryu heard a familiar voice say as his eyes widened, slowly looking up to see the blue-haired Oni girl who had stolen his heart standing before him, her eyes filled with concern and love. His tears filled his eyes, blinding him as he saw this as a miracle.
"Rem? You're here?" Ryu tried to get up, but Rem knelt before him and shushed him.
"It's okay, Ryu-kun. I'm here," Rem said in a soothing tone. "Your very own, all-purpose, ever-useful maid. I'm never leaving you, Ryu-kun." She reached over and touched his cheek with a gentle touch, caressing him as he instinctively leaned into the touch of his love, his savior. "You're tired, aren't you, Ryu-kun?"
"Maybe… I'm unsure… I just feel so weak without you," Ryu said as he bit his tongue. "I felt lost… even though I was determined to get you back, I didn't feel as strong anymore once the rage faded…"
"It's okay, Ryu-kun. Everything is fine. Leave the rest to me. You can rest easy now," Rem said, as she smiled at him and leaned closer, gently bumping her head against his. "You've fought for so long, but never got a real chance to rest, did you? You've suffered all alone, all this time. But you don't need to anymore. I'm here now, so don't despair." She grabbed his face, as he was made to look directly at her. "Just sleep now, my hero." She leaned in, as Ryu felt something was off in his semi-damaged state. But what was it? His Rem was here. He could rest… right?
"It's easy to give up… but it doesn't suit you."
Ryu's eyes lit up with color as he snapped out of it, noticing 'Rem' wasn't as she seemed. Her soul was green, Kindness, just like Rem's, but it was on a different 'wavelength'. He only knew one woman with this specific wavelength… that also had a Corruption fragment attached to her. "Carmila… stop lying to me… stop lying to yourself," Ryu said as 'Rem' flinched back.
"R-Ryu-kun? What brought this on?" 'Rem' asked in surprise and hurt, as Ryu's eyes narrowed.
"A long time ago, the real Rem gave me the Determination to keep going by giving me love I haven't felt in… so long. She became my new anchor, my new source of strength," Ryu glared up at 'Rem', or as he knew it, Carmilla the Witch of Lust; with anger in his eyes. "She wouldn't tell me to just give up and leave everything to her. Even in the situation she wanted something remotely close to that, I know she'd just ask me to allow her to fight alongside me, not to just give up! So stop impersonating her, Carmilla!"
"...A-ah… I see I've been caught…" Everything around him and Carmilla began to warp as he was finally able to see through her 'Faceless Bride'. "H-hello, Ryu… please don't be angry with me…" Carmilla said as she stuttered in fear, with Ryu sighing once he had gotten over his outrage over Carmilla impersonating Rem.
"Nah, I'm not too mad with you. Pretty sure you had a good reason to use Faceless Bride," Ryu said as he crossed his arms over his chest, a bored look on his face. He closed his eyes and thought to himself for a moment before he opened his eyes again. "Now I think of it, you did just save me from having an existential breakdown that could have ended the world… so good job, Carmilla."
"A-ah, t-thank you, Ryu-kun," Carmilla sighed in relief once she realized her old friend wasn't angry with her.
"So, is this part of Echidna's weird-ass plot?" Ryu asked as he looked around the Tomb, waiting for the Witch of Greed to make her entrance somewhere.
"You catch on quickly, Ryu-kun," He heard Echidna say behind him as he turned around to see the world warp back to the tea party. "I knew letting you see whatever you wanted through Carmilla would keep your mind from fragmenting, so coupling that with my knowledge that you are mildly resistant to the Authorities of the other Witches, and it seemed like a solid plan. You had an extremely low chance of somehow dying from close contact to Carmilla." Echidna smirked down at him, as Ryu sighed and walked up to the table. "I didn't expect to wear you out in the second trial so much, so I do feel a bit guilty…"
"It's fine, Dona. You showed enough concern to send Carmilla my way to calm me down, so all is forgiven." Ryu shrugged boredly, grabbing the cup of Dona Tea and peering down at it momentarily before shrugging again and downing the liquid. He still couldn't find it in him to care about the 'consuming bodily fluids' stuff, so he was still yet to be fazed. "So, that trial…"
"It was a simulated unreality created by your memories," Echidna explained. "Though it seems to be a former reality, as those worlds existed before the thing in you rampaged." Her eyes then narrowed. "But I didn't expect for The Darkness to be apart of you, Ryu-kun. The destroyer of worlds."
"Hate has been apart of me since I arrived here in Lugunica, Dona," Ryu shrugged as he put down the empty cup of tea. "I don't know what else to tell you." His eyes then narrowed. "But I want to know, why are you insistent on helping me? This is too much to just be you being 'nice', especially with your current state. You have another motive."
"Oh, Ryu-kun, it's awfully mean of you to just ask a girl to spell it out for you," Echidna said in faux embarrassment, before she smiled in his direction. "Ryutensei, son of Shinra Shock and Emily Henderson, how would you like to form a contract with me?"
"A contract, huh?" His eyes narrowed. "And what would that entail, Dona?"
"It's very simple," Echidna said. "From now on, whenever you run into an obstacle you can't overcome, when you feel like you're being crushed by the weight of your sins, I will give you my support. I'm confident in the amount of knowledge I have to offer you, Ryu-kun. I should be able to come up with a solution to any problem you come upon. And most of all, I can get a share in your Determination and its Reset abilities."
"Is that really it? You keep listing things that can assist me, that are beneficial on my end, but nothing that would interest you." Ryu asked in a mistrusting tone. "If you were the old Dona, the one from 400 years ago, I would have accepted this contract without a thought. But you aren't her. So, please, explain."
"I'm genuinely trying to look out for you here, Ryu-kun! Don't you believe me?" Echidna pouted, as Ryu's eyes flashed two different shades of blue.
"You're telling a half-truth, Dona. You might care, but you still do have an alternative motive for this contract." Ryu muttered as Echidna shrugged with a smile, having been caught. But still… if Echidna was even half-serious about this, about her offer… if there really was a part of her that wanted to help and support him in his journeys… could he deny her? "It might not be that bad of an idea though…"
"Meaning?!" Echidna practically jumped out of her chair in excitement, knocking it over as she leaned over in his direction, her black eyes shining with anticipation. She then realized her blunder and tried to play it off. "I-I mean… right… If you absolutely insist, I don't mind entering a contract with you, Ryu-kun…"
"Don't try to act like that didn't just happen," Ryu deadpanned in Echidna's direction, unimpressed with the Witch of Greed, who just laughed nervously in response. Ryu then sighed. "How is this contract even formed?"
"To establish a formal contract, you and I need to form a bond between our souls," Echidna explained as Ryu deadpanned further.
"Isn't that just basically the same terms as Soul-based Marriage contracts?" He said as Echidna looked away, unable to look at Ryu since he was sort of right on that end.
"W-well, yes, you're right I suppose!" Echidna then walked over to him and pointed her hand outward. "Regardless, we must first raise our palms to each other, like this." Ryu was about to follow suit, but an explosion of dust and hearts caused him to look the other way as Minerva made her explosive appearance.
"I'm gonna have to put an end to that contract!" Minerva angrily said, more furious than Ryu had ever seen her before.
"Wait, 'Nerva? How are you here? Didn't Echid-" Ryu's eyes widened as he realized Echidna was lying about the one Witch at a time thing.
"So you're after him too, hm?" Echidna calmly smiled. "I suppose you're just jealous."
"Stop teasing me! I'm outraged! I'm indignant!" Minerva clenched her fists in fury. "I'm absolutely boiling with anger! How can you so casually lie to a friend of ours, Echidna? You really are still a bad-natured jerk!"
"Echidna, you lied to me," Ryu growled out, as he shifted his gaze to the Witch of Greed. After all that he had done, after pouring his heart and his pain to Echidna, this betrayal stung more than any wound or death.
"Well, I didn't want to just keep popping Witches into existence, or let one of them take you from me." Echidna shrugged, still unfazed by the appearance of Minerva.
"You need to stop being taken in by her smooth words, Ryu-kun!" Minerva shouted. "It pisses me off! Besides, she hasn't even told you about the parts of the contract… would be… bad for you!" With each pause she stomped her feet against the floor, an explosion following each stomp.
"So, there was something up with that contract," Ryu said, his mistrust of Echidna only growing by the moment. Perhaps Minerva was right, and in his hopes to have his old friend back, he had pushed himself to believe she was still the same kind girl who wanted to save the world.
"There was a little extra clause of payment, I suppose, that I forgot to mention," Echidna admitted. "But calling it 'bad' is a little bit of an exaggeration in my opinion."
"And what would that payment even be?" Ryu asked, a more serious/angry look entering his eyes.
"It's very simple," Echidna began. "Everything you feel, everything you think, everything that remains in your heart… the future as you know it, anything you accomplish, all the potential in you, all fruit of the known borne of your existence… I want a taste of it." Ryu blinked. Oh. That didn't seem tooo bad, he supposed.
"Th-that's all true…" He heard Carmilla's voice say, as he shifted his gaze to see the Witch of Lust standing behind him. "B-but don't assume she just t-told you everything."
"Carmilla? You're here too?" Ryu muttered as he felt like there was seriously a conspiracy going on in regards to Echidna.
"E-Echidna-chan isn't lying… b-but there's a lot she's hiding from you…" Carmilla elaborated the pink-haired Witch stuttering in fear of angering someone.
"Don't bother listening to these two, Ryu-kun," Echidna said as she moved over to block his vision, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Once you have forged the contract with me, I will, without fail, guide you to the future you desire."
"This wouldn't be the promise you always precede with 'in the end...', would it?" Another voice said as Ryu looked over to see a woman lying down on the broken floor, an aura of laziness, of sloth, surrounding her. Sekhmet, Witch of Sloth and someone he gave the Authority of Sloth to back in the day to support her languid lifestyle. She sighed heavily. "So… you made it here… It's been a long time since I've seen you… then again, you aren't truly Flugel. Just the origin of his soul and personality..."
"Sekhmet…" Ryu's eyes narrowed further as he stepped back from Echidna, looking at her in suspicion. "Your promises are starting to seem a bit flimsy, Echidna, sorry to say. You're suggesting I use Reset willy-nilly, right? You do realize that will cause errors and glitches, unforeseen consequences and changes."
"You nailed it on the head, Rai-yu!" Ryu felt Typhon jump onto his back as she appeared, a wide grin on her face. "Hey, now we're all together, we can play tag later!"
Ryu couldn't help but smile at Typhon as he reached over and patted her head. "Sure, Starlight. Why not."
"My, my, it's been so long since we've had a proper Tea Party," Ryu heard Daphne say as she walked onto the scene with her Centipede Coffin. "You should have invited me sooner!"
"Okay, this is getting kinda weird. As happy as I am to see you all again, and I am happy," Ryu stressed that part of his sentence as he looked around. "Why are you all here?"
"I believe I've already told you, Ryu-kun," Sekhmet said as she sighed heavily. "It's the promise that's always preceded by 'in the end'..." She sighed again, as Ryu's gaze shifted over to Echidna, his red eye glowing menacingly.
"You said you would guide me to the future I desire… but I have a feeling you'll only lead me there after I guide you through every possible outcome in existence, am I right?" He asked accusingly, as he hated the idea of having to go through every route and every path, every dialogue option, just to sate Echidna's thirst for knowledge. This wasn't a game, it was reality.
Echidna smiled slightly. "For the purpose of attaining the future you desire, you must learn to accept any sacrifices you make along the way, Ryu-kun. That is a fact of the real world, the real kill-or-be-killed world," Echidna said as Ryu now understood Echidna was just as soulless as Flowey. His perceptions of his old friend were shattered, as the Witch of Greed stood before him. Not Echidna, but the empty vessel of her body. "You need to understand me better, Ryu-kun! Just think about it from my point of view! Your Determination, this power you possess, it's a tremendous and powerful weapon! You do not understand how useful it is! You are able to restart and delete worlds at will, create and destroy entire universes and manipulate the variables of existence at your peak! All so you can reach your goal, your desired future! It's the ultimate power any knowledge seeker could ask for! Of course, I won't force you to Reset! You will use it as you wish to achieve the results you desire, and I will lend you the knowledge you wish to fulfill your wishes. I expect all the results that come about in the process to contribute vastly to the-"
Ryu decided to tune out Echidna's ramblings at some point, seeing she had finally gone off the deep end. 'She really lost it, damn. I miss the old Dona-chan…' Ryu thought to himself boredly.
"I want you to use me to achieve your best possible future too!" Echidna declared once Ryu tuned back in. Looks like she was still going. "My maidenly heart's affections and desire to help you are real." Ryu's eyes flashed a deep blue as he detected no lie in that statement. "I'd be more than content to have you treat me as a convenience. If you want, you may use my body for your comfort! I will gladly offer my very existence to you!" And the rambling continued. Even if she was telling the truth Ryu did not like it when people rambled.
"Ryu, please pay attention," Ryu heard from inside of him, the words of Ryushi forcing him to listen to Echidna's rambles again.
"You can save everyone trapped there—the ones you love and all those you care about!" Echidna declared as she raised her hands to the sky. "For that purpose, I want for you to take me, use me, rob me of all the greed you want; so we can take hold of our future! That is all I want from you, desire from you, and all I offer in return! I have told you everything, truly every last detail, with passion… This might be close to love! It's a vow of love! And how will you respond to my love? I want your answer, Ryu-kun! This is one of the answers that will satisfy my curiosity, after all."
…
…
…
Ryu was pretty tempted to ruin all that buildup with a quick 'ya done?', but he didn't feel like being that rude to Echidna after all that he had just learned. A bit of his fire had disappeared, replaced by general annoyance. "You're going to use me."
"I am." Echidna nodded. "And you can do the same to me. That's what the contract is for. If you want to criticize me for using it as a means to keep you as my own, I'll accept any criticisms. It's the truth, after all."
"...I blinded myself… gave myself unrealistic expectations of what you would be like. You aren't really the Echidna I once knew, the one who I used to share knowledge with," Ryu grit his teeth, hate and rage directed towards himself becoming visible as a red-black aura surrounded him, with Typhon jumping off of his back immediately. The winds began to pick up slightly, as his hateful aura caused his hair to blow upwards slightly, giving him a devilish look as both of his eyes were now red with black sclerae. "You aren't the Echidna I know. You are a fake, hollow shell of the woman I once cared for. You're just the damn Witch of Greed! Everything about you is fake, all in efforts to use people to get what you want, to learn what you want with no regard for those you hurt in the process!" The winds around the plains began to pick up as a storm formed overhead. Echidna's eyes widened, not expecting Ryu's rage to affect her own little universe this much. Was this the power of Ryu's Determination? "You're just as bad as-"
"Calm down, love." Ryu heard as his eyes widened.
"She's here," Minerva said, as the floor beneath them darkened further.
"N-No!" Carmilla tried hiding herself as she was now terrified of the current situation. "I have nothing to do with this!"
"A really troublesome girl just showed up at a troubling time to start some trouble…" Sekhmet sighed tiredly.
"Oh? I'm feeling very, very hungry now!" Daphne grinned widely.
Ryu shifted his gaze behind him, as Typhon waved in the direction of an approaching shadow. "Hey! It's Tella! Now Rai-yu and Tella can reunite!" Typhon cheered in childish joy, with Ryu feeling dread creep down his back. Not that he wasn't happy to see Satella… but he was just not ready to face her, not yet. He still hated himself for being unable to save her back then. But there was nothing he could do. Satella was already here.
"You made it past all those barriers to make it to the castle of dreams?" Echidna asked Satella as she crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. "Talk about rude."
Ryu watched as his love, his first love, the one he had betrayed, the one he had hurt, the one he had failed to protect; walked in his direction silently. "Why… why are you here?" He managed to ask, as he felt like he was choking on his own guilt to see Satella not once but twice in what was basically the same day.
"For so long…" Satella said as she stretched her arms out as if to embrace him. "For so very long, I have loved you… and no one else."
"Stop it!" Ryu stumbled back, as he still saw himself unworthy of Satella's love and trust after what he did. He saw himself as a failure, and he didn't understand how or why she still loved him. "You're making no sense, 'Tella!"
"Calm down," Satella said in her gentle voice, every syllable of the words directed at him soaked in love. So much love it made Ryu feel sick, as he rejected the idea of being worthy of her forgiveness, let alone her love. "You're going to hurt yourself, Ryu-kun…"
"Stop it, stop it, stop it! Stop caring about me!" The winds picked up again as thunder rumbled above, black lightning crackling up in the heavy cloud cover up above. "I don't deserve any of this! I need to just get back and-"
"And then what? You'll keep dying, starting over, leaving more and more timelines to be destroyed?" Minerva asked him, as she glared in his direction, causing Ryu to pause as a panicked look settled on Ryu's face. He was too stressed out for this. "Must be nice to be you. No matter how anyone else feels, no matter how you feel, you can numb yourself to be unsympathetic. How do you think she feels? You're being ungrateful to her, y'know?" Minerva shifted her gaze to Satella as Ryu felt the pressure of his hate for his weakness, for being unable to help Satella in the past, build up again.
"Unsympathetic? Ungrateful?" Ryu felt his heart beat irregularly, shifting from a steady normal beat to an unstable, constantly changing beat that brought pain to every inch of his body. "You have no idea how I feel right now, 'Nerva." He grinned slightly, as his aura grew in intensity. "I hate myself for being unable to do anything, for being too weak to save the ones that I swore to protect. For being unable to help Satella. Do you think I don't care? I tried that! But no matter what I do, someone comes along and makes me care again!"
"...urt…" Satella muttered, as Ryu looked up at her with confusion in his darkened eyes. "Don't be hurt. Don't suffer. Don't be sad. So… love…"
"I don't get that! I sealed you away! I doomed you to be seen as a monster for the past 400 years! I have done nothing to warrant you still loving me!" Ryu snapped confusion and fury in his eyes. "Why the hell do you love me?!"
"No," Satella said, with Ryu pausing as he stared at his love. "Love yourself more." Ryu was almost sure he felt a part of his soul crack as he heard that. "Don't be hurt. Don't grieve. Treasure yourself more."
"Why… why are you doing this…?" Ryu croaked, as he felt completely vulnerable in Satella's presence.
"I love you. So I want you to love yourself and protect yourself," Satella softly said. "I don't want you to hate. To rely on Hate. To lose yourself to your darkness. You're stronger than that."
"You say that but I'm not strong." Ryu grit his teeth. "It's because of me that my family was killed. It was because of me that Rem is gone. If I was just a bit smarter, if I just defended her… if she didn't exhaust her mana…" He could have saved her, if he wasn't such an idiot. "I'm not strong! I'm just a weakling who was given a blessing he didn't deserve, a soul he didn't earn, and powers he stole from his brother! I don't deserve any of this! Blaze would have been better off as the Soul of Peace! I can't protect or save anyone! I'm just a fraud!" Ryu fell to his knees as he began to cry, hiding his face in his hands, feeling not just weak and horrible… but he felt like he didn't deserve to exist.
"Look at you… forced to grow up with the deaths of his parents, collapsing under the weight of all this repressed trauma. Your inner child, the part of you that never grew up, seems to have finally come up," Sekhmet commented, as Typhon walked over to Ryu with concern in her eyes.
"Nii-san, you're crying?" She asked, as she softly stroked her brother's hair. "Look at you… finally breaking down… you poor thing…" Typhon's concern then swiftly turned to the fury of a little sister as her eyes began to glow, a faint red and yellow aura surrounding her. "So who… made you cry?" All the Witches didn't dare move an inch, as they recognized that right now, an angry Typhon was easily one of the most dangerous things to trigger. Especially now she was protecting her 'older brother'.
However, Satella was unfazed as she walked forward, with Typhon stepping to the side for her as she knelt in front of Ryu. "I love you." Satella gently said. "Because you gave me everything. That's why I…"
"JUST STOP!" Ryu finally snapped, as hundreds of black lightning bolts scoured the area and destroyed Echidna's realm further, reminding most of the Witches of Ryu's power and who they were dealing with. Ryu then felt something go wrong as his body clenched up as if his heart was giving out. He leaned over as he coughed up blood, feeling the strange out-of-sync beat of his heart hard to manage in his current state. Was it because he had abused too much magic at once with his fury? He supposed it worked in his favor somewhat. Ryu's eyes widened as he felt his heart give out under all the pressure, his soul slowly cracking as he died.
"His heart… I have to heal him!" Minerva rushed in in an attempt to heal whatever was causing Ryu to die, having a feeling it was linked to the Black Storm. Typhon, however, jumped in front of her as she blocked the girl from nearing him. The young girl was knocked away, as Minerva's fist shattered as a side-effect of Typhon's Authority. "Out of the way, Typhon!"
"Ryu didn't ask for healing! He's still alive, he could ask if he wanted to!" Typhon replied with tears in her eyes. "He's made his choice! You need to stay out of the way, 'Nerva!" Was… Typhon defending him? Defending his selfish choice?
"I will not allow a friend of mine to die in my presence!" Minerva furiously shouted, her one remaining fist clenched tightly. Sekhmet sighed as she used her own Authority to incapacitate Minerva, pushing her into the floor. "S-Sekhmet?"
"I'm on Typhon's side when it comes to this," Sekhmet said eventually, though she seemed to not really want to talk, per usual. "He is still conscious and should be able to ask us for healing if he really wishes it."
Satella fell to her hands and knees in front of Ryu, tears forming in her eyes as she stared at the dying form of Ryu. "Ryu-kun, you did that on purpose, didn't you?" In a sense, he did. "Why haven't you realized you should be on the list of people you want to save? It should be so obvious…"
Why should he save himself? He was a fraud, who got his friends labeled as evil Witches and couldn't save anyone he cared about. "Ryu-kun… what happened to you? What did you see in those past trials?"
"Live your life to the fullest, and I'll be happy."
"I'll always love you, oi."
"Go forward, never stop pushing yourself and Stay Determined."
"Reach for the stars, and then go further. Okay?"
"Hey, brother… take care of yourself while we're gone, okay?"
"I love you, Ryu."
These voices…
Why were they encouraging him so much?
"You're not that bad... for a human!"
"I admire you, Ryu. You've done so much more than me in one timeline than I have in hundreds of thousands of Resets. You're pretty cool!"
"Well, some humans are OK, I guess!"
"No! That's not true! My friends like me! And I like you, too!"
"Your fate is up to you now!"
"You are our future!"
"NO! WAIT! YOU'RE MY FRIEND! I COULD NEVER CAPTURE YOU!"
"nah, i'm rooting for ya, kid."
"Ha.. ha… I don't want to let go."
"Ryu… you're… you're going to do a great job, OK brother? No matter what you do. Everyone will be there for you, okay?"
"Show me how awesome you can be, Ryu-kun!"
"Thank you, Ryu! For saving me!"
These voices… why…
'...I don't want to die… I want to live… for them…'
"SEE?! THAT'S HOW YOU REALLY FEEL!" Ryu was brought back to his senses, to reality, by a healing headbutt from Minerva. He was knocked back onto his bottom as he eventually raised his hand to his chest and noticing the pain of his heart had now faded. He breathed heavily, as he tried to adjust to the feeling of being 'alive' again. As he calmed down, the thunderstorm above faded away, leaving blue skies with white fluffy clouds behind. The normal status of Echidna's dream world.
"What… can I even do… if I can't save anyone?" Ryu muttered to himself, as he tried to register all the voices he had heard and tried to apply a face to them. A person. His aunt Rin, his father, his mother, his brother...
Chara, Frisk, Undyne, Alphys, Toriel, Asgore, Papyrus, Sans… Asriel.
Rem and Emilia.
They all believed in him and encouraged him to continue forward, they all cared about him. How did… how did he forget about that? "Can I really believe that… I can be…"
"I allow it," Satella's voice said from next to him, as he sat up to face her. "You are the one who saved me and so many others, so I will allow for you to be saved too. It is my wish for you to be saved." Through Satella's shadowy veil, Ryu was able to see Satella's tears as his own eyes filled with tears, unable to comprehend the amount of people who believed in him, cared about him, and loved him despite all of his flaws. His arrogance, his stupidity, everything. They all accepted him for what he was. He found himself shivering in emotion, as his soul slowly repaired itself on its own.
"Minerva aside, I'm surprised how you two have acted," Echidna said as she turned to Sekhmet and Daphne, the latter restraining Typhon with her Centipede Coffin.
"Stay out of this, Daph!" Typhon whined as she tried to escape Daphne's grasp.
"Well, Ryu made some pretty big boasts, so I want to see him go through with them." Daphne smiled knowingly.
"An intriguing thought," Echidna hummed as she turned to Carmilla. "And you were the one to call him back from the brink of death, weren't you Carmilla? You even used Faceless Bride, what for?"
"N-no reason…" Carmilla muttered as she covered her face with her scarf to hide herself, as well as her faint blush. "I just think t-that love is important. I wanted to r-remind him of the ones who cared about him. I would hate to see love taken and then swiftly forgotten."
"Sekhmet and Typhon respected his wishes…" Echidna began as she looked around at her fellow Witches and the former Sage who sat before her. "And Minerva healed him. Daphne helped prolong his life and kept his soul from shattering, and Carmilla reminded him of love he had forgotten. While each of you may have your own reasons, it seems you all wish to genuinely want to help Ryutensei." Eventually, Echidna smiled. Not one of her typical smiles, but a real, genuine one with actual emotion behind it. "It seems we are all in unison on this wish, to support our friend."
Ryu scoffed slightly as he looked over in Echidna's direction. "If you're gonna say this was a test, forget that." He almost felt like swearing but Typhon and Daphne were here and he was not going to be a bad older brother. "Your tests, per usual, are stupid as hell. But not 'risking my life' stupid. Just admit you wanted me to accept the contract and everything spiraled out of your control."
"Okay, fine, I relent," Echidna sighed. "You are right, I lost control of the situation rapidly."
"That's right." Ryu eventually smiled as he stood up. "I still don't really understand what I'm meant to do at this point since my original plans have been derailed."
"Then let me ask you this, Ryu-kun," Echidna walked over to him, her black eyes staring into Ryu's solid red and gold. His expression was more resolute, more determined, and unmoving than ever. But even still, Echidna tried. "If I lend you my assistance, you can be assured that you will arrive at a future in which you save those you want to save. If you don't know what you should do, would you extend your hand out to me? I can promise you I can lead you to the future you desire, without fail." She stuck her hand out to him. "You have my word."
"Echidna… I can't take your offer," Ryu shook his head solemnly, as Echidna sighed and brought her hand back.
"I thought as such…" She muttered. But Ryu wasn't done.
"But I'm not going to reject the chance to take your hand into my own, as that links to my new plan." Ryu's eyes hardened as Echidna looked at him in surprise. "I'm going to take not just your hand, but the hands of everyone here as I SAVE you all and take you with me to the future ahead." That successfully caught the attention of all 7 Witches, as they all looked at him in surprise. "I will SAVE you all, that's my promise! Because you all are my friends, my family! I will revive you all, and I'll fix everything! That's my oath! On my love for you all!"
Eventually, Echidna giggled softly, as Ryu smirked, recognizing that the old Echidna was now resurfacing in reaction to his willpower. Her giggles then turned into full-blown genuine laughter, as she leaned on him for a while and then looked up at him with a challenging look in her eyes. "I look forward to seeing you pull off that feat, Ryu-kun. In fact," She smirked as well. "I think I can speak for all the Witches as I say we all do."
"I can't wait to show you that the world isn't as bad as you believe it to be, Dona," Ryu replied, as Echidna slowly got off of him and took a few steps back.
"I have one thing to say to you, Ryu-kun. That poor, young Garfiel fears the outside world," Echidna said. "If you want to free him, you must break him out of that spell. I hope my trust in you is not misplaced when I say I believe you can manage to pull this off without a single death."
"It isn't, don't worry," Ryu replied, as he looked at the rest of the Witches. "I'm only starting to remember fragments and pieces of my memories, and of how I'm linked to you. But I can feel it in my soul, the bonds we used to have in my time as Flugel are still strong. You care about me, and I care about you. That's why I'm so determined to save you all. I'm truly a selfish man, aren't I?" He smiled sadly, as he then bowed his head. "Thank you for everything. For letting me die. For letting me live. For letting me hear the precious voices of those I had forgotten in my self-hatred. I thank you from the very bottom of my heart, for still believing in me." He then walked over to Satella, as he reached his hand out to her. She eventually took it, as Ryu tightly hugged the half-elf girl, not wanting to let go of her as he had forgotten how soothing her embrace was to him. "Most of all, thank you, Satella. For never giving up on me, even when I gave up. That power from a long time ago, when I lost my Determination… it was you, wasn't it?"
Satella smiled, hugging back her love and enjoying the embrace she had missed for so long. "Yes, it was. I couldn't bear to lose you."
"Thank you, Satella," Ryu replied, as he eventually released her from the embrace and stared past the shadowy veil, now truly able to see his old love's face. He gently grasped her chin with his hand and leaned in, as did Satella out of instinct. Ryu's determination was ignited like an old flame being given firewood after so long, now brighter and stronger than ever, as he drew back from the kiss. "I still love you."
"As do I, Ryu-kun," Satella said, tears of happiness running down her face. Ryu reached over and wiped them away, as Ryu eventually looked up at the other Witches, a visible aura of crimson power surrounding him. It wasn't faint, it was clearly visible and potent.
"I can handle things from here on, everyone. Thank you, again, for everything," Ryu said, as he noticed the world around him shattering. "I made a lot of promises to you guys in the past, haven't I? I swear on my Determination, I'll do everything I said back then. I'll do my best to redeem myself for being an idiot. I'll bring you all back and take whatever punishment the world gives me for creating the Authorities out of Corruption. But most of all, I promise to take back the Authorities, so you never need to hurt again. So no one ever hurts again."
"Ryu, don't fret all alone," He heard Satella say. "Fight alongside the people who care about you. Don't forget that there are people who care about you, who grieve when you die." Ryu began to notice everyone fading as they either waved or smiled in his direction. Only Satella remained of the group, as he held her hand. "And one day… you must come… to kill me."
"No," Ryu said in a firm tone. "I refuse to let that be how the tale ends. I swear, Moonlight. I'm going to save you."
Nothing mattered to Ryu but that one selfish wish. To save everyone and anyone he could. The world wasn't cruel, it wasn't kill or be killed. It just needed a guiding hand. And he would be that hand. He was beyond Determined to do so.
* Determination maxed out.
* Advanced Ability - "SAVE" Unlocked
* Authority of Gluttony - "Feast" Obtained
* Authority of Sloth - "Void Claw" Obtained
* Authority of Greed - "Immutable Love" Accessible
* SAVE Updated.
RE: DETERMINED
Act 4, Chapter 2 - DETERMINED To SAVE You (あなたを救うために決定) [Part 2]
