Hello. This is your pal, Jude Warble.
Important Note: I will not repeat the Deaths of characters on each Solo, Duo or Trio Ending because it will just consume the plotline and it would be a useless repeat. Just so you all know.
And with that out of the way, please enjoy this fanfic, and as always, stay breezy!
Unknown Location
"...Maria?"
His eyes couldn't believe the sight he was seeing.
His ears couldn't believe the sound he was hearing.
His nose couldn't believe the scent he was smelling.
His hand couldn't believe the sensation he was feeling.
Shadow's mind was on overdrive. Everything seemed to be weird.
"Maria...Is that...You?" Shadow whispered his question, causing Maria to tilt her head to the side, still flashing that sweet, innocent beautiful smile.
"What do you mean, Shadow? It's me. Are you alright? Do you have a fever?" Maria asked, before walking towards Shadow and placing a hand on his forehead. It was at that moment that Shadow's entire being shivered. It was the same sensation, the same feeling, the same emotion that he felt back then. His heart would skip a beat even from the very sight of her face.
"Ngh!" Shadow then suddenly gasped as he felt a severe headache assaulting his head, which was followed by the silhouette of a blue-haired girl that was wearing what apparently were a maid's clothes. However, Shadow couldn't see her face clearly, and the more he focused on trying to see her face, the more the headache intensified.
"Shadow?" Maria called out to him, her smile long gone, and a genuine worried expression was on her face.
And without warning, Shadow ran past her, right outside the room. He then looked left and right at the expanding corridor, before he picked right. He then ran, visions assaulting his head and increasing his headache.
"It's #$% to #$%, but it doesn't #$% you..."
The image of the blue-haired girl appearing once again in his head. It appeared as if she was trying to say something, but Shadow was unable to make it out.
"Shadow-kun is #$% Hero!"
A Hero? Him?
How? He doesn't remember doing anything to those Humans. He was already tolerating their existence because Maria was a Human, but what happened? What was going on? Why whenever he had visions of that girl, his resentment towards Humanity...Decreased?
No, it didn't decrease. He was just putting up with it for her sake.
...
...
...
Wait. For whose sake again?
"Huh?"
He then stopped in front of him, having realized that he had just entered a massive room that was used to breed snowflake flowers. This was a special room, as Maria loved flowers, especially snowflake flowers, so this room was created by Gerald per Maria's request.
"Shadow? Are you alright?"
"?!"
He turned his head around, only to see Maria standing a few meters away from him. Shadow's eyes widened at this, before he saw Maria smiling and walking towards the giant bed of flowers.
"Hey, Shadow...Tell me...Have you...Finally seen it?" She asked, sitting on the bed of flowers.
"W-What...?" Shadow asked, his heart thumping with...Worry. He then gasped upon suddenly seeing a hole in Maria's chest, with a patch of blood in her clothes. Him staring at it caused Maria to follow his path of sight, which in turn caused her to gasp lightly, before smiling warmly at him and used a lock of her blonde hair to cover the hole in her chest.
"Oh! Heheheh...Sorry. How rude of me..." She said with a small chuckle.
"Maria...Is...Is it really you...?" Shadow asked, walking towards Maria, and once he reached her, he sat next to her on the flowerbed.
"It is. So, even you ended up in this lonely place..." Maria muttered, having a sad tone in her voice, even though she was smiling.
"What's that supposed to mean? What are you doing here?" Shadow asked, even though deep down inside, he knew the answer, but he just couldn't admit to it.
"I'm dead, Shadow. We both know this to be true" Maria answered, before taking a flower off the flowerbed, gently caressing it as her smile faded.
"I think the more important question is...What are you doing here?" She asked, causing Shadow's eyes to widen in realization, before he gasped as his headache returned.
"Or rather...What's the last thing you can remember?" She resumed asking as Shadow gritted his teeth, shaking his head, trying to get rid of the headache.
"It's easy to give up...But it doesn't suit you..."
"Huh?" He was surprised at how clear the sound of the girl was this time, but he still couldn't see her face. The headache soon faded, and Shadow looked to his side with a downcast expression.
"I...I was...Fighting...?"
"W-What...? No! You're wrong! We could defeat it if we cooperated together!"
"Some people were trying to help me..."
"MOVE ASIDE! SHADOW-KUN NEEDS HELP!"
"Why is it all so hazy...?" He asked, gripping his head from the severe headache that was increasing in its intensity.
"I see" Maria said before standing up.
"Come along" She called out to Shadow, who in turn looked up to her from his sitting position.
"I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to, but..." She started, before extending her hand to Shadow.
"I've been meaning to speak with you" She finished her words, before Shadow took her hand and stood up. They then walked along the length of the flowerbed room, which for some reason, seemed to be endless.
"I saw everything, y'know. From the moment you awoke again...And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about you" Maria said as she was fiddling with the white flower in her hand while Shadow was walking behind her, following her with each step she took.
"It was hard to see you try and end everything in retribution for a reason you had such trouble putting your finger on...Does any of it sound familiar?" She asked, as visions started to assault Shadow's head once again, but this time, it didn't hurt at all.
He saw everything.
His cooperation with Ivo Robotnik.
His foolishness from being schemed by his father.
His fights with a certain blue hedgehog.
His betrayal at the hands of the Humans he swore to protect.
His own Death, witnessing his rival shedding tears for him as his Life left him.
His own torturer, who denied him the peace and mercy of Death.
His 100,000 years of absolute torture, misery and solitude.
His arrival at another world.
His meeting of new people, new faces, new...Friends.
"...Yes" He answered, hugging his arm with a solemn look on his face. It was then Maria turned around, casting a sympathetic look at Shadow, before reaching for his hand with his. Shadow's eyes then widened as he saw Maria kneel to his height, placing a hand on his cheek, while using her other hand to caress his hand.
"My friend...You've been broken for so long. The Life we sough together...Never came true" She said, placing the flower in her hand in the hair of his quills.
"I can't say I wouldn't have been just as lost and hurt in your position...But even so, you made the right choice" Maria said, standing up and making Shadow look at her in surprise.
"I...I almost broke our promise, and even then, I'm continuing to-" He was about to speak, but Maria cut him off.
"But you kept it in the end! You gave them all another chance, even after everything! Whether or not you've had help finding your way, you remembered" She said, and suddenly, Shadow saw the vision of the girl, but this time, it was clearer.
"Shadow-kun is Rem's Hero!"
His eyes widened with tears falling from them, having seen the face of the beautiful girl whose heart fluttered for. His Number One woman.
Seeing his expression, Maria's sad expression softened as she gently took Shadow's hands in hers.
"There's just one thing that saddens me about the way it had to happen" She said.
"...What is that?" Shadow asked, causing Maria to look to the side, her sad expression saddening Shadow as well.
"What he told you...About every Life being important, and you being no exception...He was right" She said, before placing a hand on her heart, particularly the hole in her chest that released dried blood that stained her blue dress.
"But now you're here. Having ended up trapping yourself in your past...Even though I know that you can't stay for long" Maria finished, causing Shadow's eyes to widen in realization.
"This is...My Past..." He thought. He then witnessed as Maria knelt down and once again took his hand in hers.
"Shadow...You deserve the same happiness as everyone else does. I know it must not be easy, especially now, but I want you to live. I want you to be happy" Maria said, her voice breaking, pleading Shadow, whose tears refused to stop, to love himself even more.
"I can't. I've only ever been happy when I was with you. So please...Don't leave me alone again..." His voice was breaking as well. The emotional damage was no longer small enough for him to bear. This caused Maria to shed a few tears, before taking Shadow in a hug, tightly embracing him as if he will disappear away if she released him.
"Oh Shadow!" She exclaimed, her tears falling on his collarbone, with him returning the hug as well.
"Shadow...I know it hurts...But my time in our original world ran out years ago. I'm a different person now in the world you're in now...Please...Try to understand that you were never truly alone" She said, blinking the tears in her eyes, before continuing to speak.
"They all came to see what had happened to you. Those who you made bonds with back in the previous world...They were completely devastated when they lost you...And in this world...Other people will be even devastated to lose you...Even me...I'll be devastated if I ever lost you again..." She said, more tears falling down, no matter how much of them she blinked away, they didn't want to stop.
"They wanted to help you...Both of them wanted to help you..." She whispered, the images of a certain blue hedgehog and a certain white-haired Human with nasty eyes appeared in the back of Shadow's head.
"And know that I'm always watching you, even if your reunion in the other world is unpleasant, I shall wait for it with ragged breaths. I...I wish I could do more..." Maria said, before cupping Shadow's face in her hands, and proceeded to touch his forehead with hers.
"But the least you can do for me is to understand that..." She whispered.
"Maria..." Shadow whispered back, before Maria pushed him gently away from her.
"Maria?" He asked.
"Remember...Don't be afraid...What will happen next in your Life is as much a mystery to you as it is to me...But that doesn't have to be a bad thing. There's still so much I wish to tell you...But we will have all the time in the world when we meet again back there. And besides...I at least got to say what was most important to me while still in this form..." She whispered, before staring at Shadow's eyes.
"Life won't always be happy, Shadow...But I know you'll be able to get up and walk again. So please..."
Her voice whispered, her tears that were so precious to him that it tore his heart seeing them fall from her beautiful face, her smile that melted his heart and made him forget about the world...
"...Try to live for yourself and everyone precious to you, and please...Let's try not to hate each other when we meet again, okay?" She said, clasping her hands together.
It was at those words that Shadow stood up, his tears won't stop, but his face was filled with resolution.
"Let's start here...From Square One...No..."
A small vortex of red wind swarmed around Shadow, engulfing his form. Moments later, the vortex faded, revealing him in his original form: That Humanoid form that he entered his new home with.
"...From Zero!"
"Sayonara for now...My dear Shadow..."
The words whispered in his ears increased his tears as he turned his back to her and proceeded to walk away from her, towards the door of the flowerbed room.
"I'll love you...Always...No matter what happens..."
Those words made him stop moving, being close to exiting the room. He then turned his head towards her, only to see that she completely vanished, with nowhere to be found.
This made his face completely crumble down, mixing perfectly with the tears.
"I...*hic*...I love you too...I'll definitely...Definitely..."
He turned his head in front of him, before pushing the door of the room open. White bright light engulfed the entire scenery.
"...Save you no matter what"
Unknown Location
Shadow's eyes blinked open, a tear rolled down from the corner of his right eye. He then looked in front of him, only to see Echidna sitting in front of him, smiling as she rested her face on the back of her clasped hands, with her elbows resting on the tea table.
"Huh? What?" He muttered.
"It seems that your past was quite intense. Even though that was nothing but a glimpse of it, I think that you just wanted to see this point of your past because you saw it as the most important" Echidna said.
"...You're one hell of a Witch, Echidna" Shadow just muttered those words, wiping the tear that fell from his eye with his sleeve.
"I'm really surprised that you're still doubting my abilities. Anyways, have you learned anything from your past?" Echidna asked, her expression was of absolute curiosity. But Shadow saw it as a kid excited for the new piece of candy in the candy store.
"...That's between not telling you and none of your business" Shadow answered, causing Echidna to puff her cheeks annoyingly.
"You sure don't know how to treat a lady, do you?" She asked.
"Anyways, what are those Trials? What are their purposes?" Shadow asked.
"Well, for starters, you were shown to have qualifications to enter the Tomb of the Witch of Greed to take on the Trials of the Sanctuary. Even though in your case, this isn't necessary, considering the fact that I'm making you take the Trials. And also, didn't you hear me? I told you to 'Face the Abhorred Past', didn't I?" Echidna answered.
"Well, whatever. I think that I can trust you for now. Making an exception isn't a bad thing once in a while" Shadow said, causing Echidna to blink, before smiling in an arrogant manner.
"I'm baffled. You talking to me like that made me feel a hint of joy" She said.
"It's nothing to be happy about. I just decided that I can trust a Witch like you, nothing special actually" Shadow said, causing Echidna to pout, before her expression became serious shortly afterwards.
"Everyone has some regrets of their past" She started to speak, gaining Shadow's attention with her words.
"Today, you regret about something you did yesterday. Yesterday, you regretted about something you did before. And Tomorrow, you'll regret about something you did today...Because Humans...Nay...Mortals...Have the nature of regretting things. I suppose that in a sense, we Immortals are no different" She finished.
"You're right, but don't be so pessimistic. You reflect on the things you regret doing yesterday so that you can do something about it today. Finding a solution is also a quality that both Mortals and Immortals possess" Shadow said, causing Echidna to clap her hands together. Her eyes suddenly shone like a kid that just received a new toy as she had stars in her eyes while looking at Shadow.
"Exactly! It's only a slight play on the words! But there's a big difference between facing the past optimistically and pessimistically! Many face it pessimistically and deny what they have done! They look away and act as if nothing happened! There's nothing that can be done! The you from yesterday is never wiser than the you of today! The number of experiences and amount of knowledge! The past's is always worse than the present's! The present's will always be worse than the future's! That's the cold harsh truth!" She exclaimed happily, slamming her hands into the tea table. However, Shadow wasn't shocked at all from her behavior. If anything, he found her attitude really annoying.
And much to his own chagrin, Echidna kept on talking, but her tone was calmer this time.
"...Which is why the people who look at their past get lost. They have doubts. They grieve. They suffer. And they search for an answer. But...They're afraid, insecure, unable to move on, and in turn, they cannot pass the test. Facing your past can either be positive or negative. Doing so leads you to the end, thus gives you an answer...But..." She trailed, before her cheerful smile returned to her face as she spread her arms to the sides.
"...I shall accept any answer! That's the condition to pass! I'd admire if you accept your past, even better if decide to cut your rejection of it! And I'll give you as many chances as you need to do it! That's the test!" Echidna exclaimed, before gasping in realization, then she proceeded to cough in her balled fist while averting her face to the side.
"...It seems I got too excited. I'm sorry for displaying such deplorable behavior" She apologized.
"I don't mind, really. But judging by your words, that would mean that I passed the First Trial, right?" Shadow asked.
"Well, yes, but...As you already have concluded and realized, this world is nothing but a fictional dream that was actualized through your memories. This means that the girl that you were talking to is already dead, and the fact that you met her is purely from your own memories" Echidna said.
"This is all made up, huh? If there's quite a few things that I never knew..." Shadow muttered.
"Are you sure you never knew about it?" Echidna asked, causing Shadow to look at her.
"Is it really true that you have never seen the huge flowerbed room back in the floating colony of your previous world?"
Shadow remained silent, his eyes being shadowed by his hair.
"Did that Maria girl understand your feelings? Or are you saying you never thought that all of this was only a reflection of what your subconscious wants?"
Again, Shadow refused to speak, but his fists were clenched tightly.
"You wanted to believe it...And you wanted her to love you in the same way as you loved her"
Shadow still remained silent, his teeth were gritted as he growled in a low voice.
"This girl, Maria, who you held deep feelings for, despite her not seeing it. The only person back in your original world who would accept any of your inner, selfish, twisted desires"
Golden blood drew from the corners of Shadow's lips as her bit into his lips with his teeth.
"That was all too idealistic, don't you think?"
Just then, Shadow immediately slammed his hands into the tea table, standing up from his chair, causing Echidna to blink.
"What's wrong?" She asked, only to be met with Shadow's hard, cold glare.
"Stop treating the girl...No...The four girls that I love as if they're idiots, Echidna. Those four aren't people that could fit in the limits of my poor imagination...Don't you fucking dare look down on them!" He said, yelling the last part, causing Echidna's eyes to widen in surprise.
"Maria accepted my decision. I told her my feelings before I could meet her here in this world. Even if it wasn't her, I'll just find her and tell her that over and over and over. I won't stop until she hears it. She told me that she loves me. She told me that she'll be waiting for me. That smile, that voice...Those weren't my imagination!" He exclaimed, before falling back to his chair.
"I won't be fooled by your words. So stop playing mind games on me" Shadow said, releasing a sigh from his mouth.
"Aww...Not even a hint of hesitation. Are you trying to make a Witch cry?" Echidna asked with a pout on her face.
"I won't tell you that I'm sorry, but I'll just say that I love those four chicks more than anything" Shadow said, causing Echidna to sigh in defeat, before her smile returned to her.
"Then the First Trial is officially over. I have high expectations of you in the next two Trials" She exclaimed, causing Shadow to nod.
"I don't need your expectations. I just need answers. You can take those expectations and shove them right up your ass for all I care" Shadow said, causing Echidna's shoulders to slumber downwards and for her to sigh once again.
"Again with the vulgar language...I won't escape from that ever, will I?" Echidna asked.
"...You have it coming every time. It's your fault" Shadow said, causing Echidna to sigh one last time, before she smiled.
"Alright. Ready for the second test?" Echidna asked, to which Shadow gave her a silent nod, causing her to snap her fingers. The moment she did so, darkness once again enveloped Shadow's vision, before he heard words echoing in his ears.
"Face An Unthinkable Present"
His eyes blinked once again, but this time, to a new scenery.
A simple house with lots of Christmas decorations. The ornaments, the lights, even the large tree inside the house that was covered with fake snow.
Shadow blinked at this, before looking at the window, and he was really surprised to see that he was still in his original form. Unlike when he was facing his past, where he had to revert to a hedgehog, Shadow was still in his humanoid form. As if nothing changed.
"Shadow-kun! So you're here!"
"?!"
He suddenly heard a voice that made his eyes widen in disbelief, and caused him to turn around, where the sight that he had seen shocked him even more.
Two people that weren't supposed to be in the same place found themselves right in front of him.
"Rem...Sonic...?"
At the same time. Mount Cordor
"We did it! All three of us!"
"That was...The strangest adventure that I've ever been part of"
"So many deaths 'cause of tha'creatcha. Ma' amazin' self doesn't know whadda do now..."
Otto, Heinkel and Garfiel released sighs of relief upon entering into the grounds of Mount Cordor, glad that the nightmare was over. And as the three stared at the close-to-set sun, they contemplated on their current predicament.
"Don't give up! We know...This is a hidden spot!" Otto exclaimed with a confident smile.
"Yeah, of course...THIS is a hidden spot"
"?!"
And the familiar voice shattered all of their hope, as Subaru EXE appeared in a small, brief flash of light, standing in front of the three males.
"What? But how? Three of us are alive!" Heinkel said in a mixture of shock and horror, before he saw a new existence appear out of thin air.
It was what appeared to be a small girl dressed as a maid, but her reddish-brown hair was pale purple, with her cyan eyes becoming blood red irises with black sclera, her skin being pale purple in color and her left eye was forcibly closed shut, as if it was beaten to the point that it can no longer open from being swollen badly.
"I guess you forgot about the girls" Subaru EXE said.
"Petra-chan?!" Otto exclaimed in shock upon seeing the state of the little girl.
"Th'fuck?! Th'hell didya do t'th'girl, ya bastard?!" Garfiel roared his question, having seen the mutilated form of Petra.
"No, this can't be happening!" Otto yelled with his eyes wide in shock, grief and disbelief.
"Deja Vu didn't work for you this time, huh?" Subaru EXE asked in a mocking manner.
"Deja Vu? Th'heck ya talkin' 'bout?!" Garfiel yelled, his angry voice was now laced with sobs at seeing his sister's reanimated corpse in front of him.
"Oh jeez...Deja Vu helped you three to survive. Some small fragments of memory are still inside your braindead heads. I guess you can handle it..." The abomination said, before the three males saw Subaru EXE teleporting away, leaving Petra EXE there with them, whose right hand crackled with purple electricity and left hand had a glowing purple orb of light in it. Garfiel, who was the first to recover from the shock, grabbed Otto and lifted him up.
"Go away, Merchant Boy!"
"?!"
Otto gasped as he saw Garfiel hoisting him above his head with both hands, and before he could question what the Human-Beast Hybrid would do, Otto was thrown with herculean strength away from both of him and Heinkel. Otto landed face first on the dirt several meters away from the other two males. He then stood up and coughed out the dirt that entered his mouth, and not a few seconds later, he saw Petra EXE appearing in front of him, holding the heads of Garfiel and Heinkel, whose faces were fixated with an expression of absolute horror while being completely covered in blood.
"Stay away from me!" Otto exclaimed, trying to fight the urge to throw up.
"Otto-sama, please...I don't want to do it, but...Just make this easy for me..." Petra EXE spoke in a tone that was completely devoid of emotion and life.
"Petra-chan...What happened to you? You've changed..." Otto said in a broken voice, seeing the sweet little kid reduced to nothing but a mutilated corpse that was intending on killing him.
"Yeah...I've changed...I feel myself lonely without you and everyone else, Otto-sama..." She said, causing Otto to realize that there was nothing that he can do to change her mind.
"Petra-chan...I'm sorry, but this is where our paths diverge" Otto said.
And right immediately, Petra EXE lunged at him, discharging purple electricity from her right hand. Otto had to dodge to the side to avoid being electrocuted, but the air was immediately knocked from his lungs when Petra EXE spun beside him and slammed the sole of her foot into his stomach, causing him to lose his balance and to fall to his knees.
Petra EXE then spun on her heel, delivering a roundhouse kick to Otto's face, causing blood to burst from his nose and for him to fall on the ground. She then advanced towards him, forming a ball of purple light in her left hand, intending on finishing Otto off.
However...
"An opening!"
"?!"
Petra EXE then had her only good eye widened in surprise. The orb of purple light immediately dissipated from her hand. She slowly looked down, only to see a huge Earth spear that was larger than the normal ones conjured by a Terra spell sticking out from her chest.
She slowly lifted her head up, looking at Otto who was sitting on the ground, and a few moments later, Petra EXE fell to her knees, before falling face-first to the ground, lying motionlessly and unmoving.
"I...I'm sorry, Petra-chan..." Otto muttered sadly while proceeding to stand up and look at the corpse of the little girl on the ground.
"Poor child. She didn't deserve such a Fate..."
"?!"
Otto was then alerted by a mysterious figure clad in shadows, but judging by its shape and posture, it appeared to be a slender female that was floating in the air in front of him.
"W-What?! Who are you?!" Otto asked in shock, already on alert.
"It feels terrible...Awful...Isn't that right?" She asked, yet didn't wait for an answer for Otto, before she completed her phrase.
"You need to survive!"
And right after saying that, white light assaulted Otto's eyes, before he was teleported away from Mount Cordor, leaving Petra's reanimated corpse on the floor of the mountain.
Memory Fragment File #13
"Umm...What are you doing?"
"Eeek!"
"Ah! Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!"
As Petra was tending to the flowers in the flowerbed located behind the Irlam Village, she tripped to the ground from surprise when Otto showed up from behind her.
"No...I'm the one who needs to be sorry" Petra said while standing up from the ground.
"Hey. I think I know you. You're one of the children in Irlam Village that always play around in its streets, right?" Otto asked, having seen Petra a few times when he was trading supplies with the village.
"Yes. My name is Petra...Umm...We didn't meet a lot because I always hide when strangers enter the village. We've already had enough from a single stranger, actually" Petra said while hugging her arm, having remembered the two weird bunnies that were about to kill her and her friends if it wasn't for Subaru and Shadow appearing on the scene to the rescue.
"Oh. You're hiding because of that attack a few months ago? Sorry about it, but at least you're safe" Otto said.
"Well, that's not only it. When I meet with strangers, I always have a feeling that they might laugh at me or..." Petra trailed in her words, before she heard Otto chuckling, confusing her.
"Hehe...You remind me of myself before I met Natsuki-san. When I was a child, everyone ridiculed me because I had a Divine Protection that allowed me to talk to animals and Mabeasts, which made me avoid people at first, only interacting with them because of my job as a merchant. But when I met Natsuki-san, I found out that there was nothing to be afraid of. You just have to be yourself and believe in yourself as well" Otto said, causing Petra to blink.
"Be yourself, you say..." She muttered the words, smiling as she liked the ringing sensation they gave.
"By the way, I heard from your parents and the other villagers that you're a good seamstress, Petra-chan. Care to show me your work? I might be tempted to buy from you" Otto said with a smile, causing Petra's smile to stretch even more on her face, brightening her image even more.
"Yes! Sure! They're in my home!" She exclaimed as she and Otto marched back to the village.
Memory Fragment File #13: End
A few hours later. Atop the mountain near Costuul
"I must be getting closer to Irlam, but there's no sign of anyone that I know. I wonder if they're alright"
Frederica, having climbed atop the mountain, was shivering slightly as the weather got cold once she reached the top. Obviously since the more she tried reached the atmospheric layer, the lower the temperature becomes.
However, what she didn't expect was that a blizzard would assault the mountain range that moment she reached the top. It didn't happen progressively, but it occurred instantly the moment she set foot on the top of the mountain.
"He can...Manipulate even the weather...That's on the level of the Great Spirit Puck-sama..." Frederica muttered while gritting her teeth, before she tried calming herself by taking in a deep breath, even though her lungs started to hurt due to the fact that she took in an extremely frigid air. Nevertheless, Frederica endured the pain, before she leaned to look from the top of the mountain and down to her destination, only to see a massive screen of fog obscuring her sight, which was natural due to the fact that she was at the top of a mountain, where she was progressively getting closer to the atmospheric layers of the planet.
"I can't see anything. This fog bothers me" She said.
"Frederica nee-sama!"
"?!"
Just then, a familiar voice rang in Frederica's ears, causing her to instantly have a smile and a glimmer of Hope shining inside of her heart as she turned around to face the owner of the voice.
"Petra! Thank Od! You...You..." Frederica was excited to see that Petra was alive, but one look at her form and the glimpse of Hope inside of her, alongside the relieved smile that found itself on her face instantly shattered and crumbled away like dust.
"No...Nononononononononononono...This can't be...Petra...You..." Frederica's voice was completely broken upon witnessing the mutilated corpse of the little girl staring emotionlessly at her. Frederica could also swear that she smelled the scent of a verbal disease, as well as bodily fluids. This made her narrow her eyes that were now filled with tears to observe Petra EXE even more, only to gasp as she saw what appeared to be water running down from between her legs, which caused Frederica's eyes to widen in shock before she placed a hand on her mouth.
"Petra...No...What happened to you...?" Frederica asked in horror, seeing that Petra had indeed suffered something that was worse than Death before she met her current dreadful Fate.
"I've died. Don't worry. I actually enjoyed it" Petra EXE said, still holding an emotionless expression on her face, and her answer broke Frederica's heart even further.
"What...? What do you mean...? What happened to you...? You look strange..." Frederica said, trying to find any kind of a fragment of whatever remained of Petra inside the walking corpse of said girl that was standing in front of her.
"Frederica nee-sama. I need to kill you. You can't survive alone out there. So, I'm sorry for this" Petra EXE said.
"You came here to kill me? Why?" Frederica asked, Grief filling her heart by the second.
"I don't want you to suffer. Please...Just let me kill you...It will only hurt for a second" Petra EXE answered.
And this phrase caused Frederica's heart to completely shatter, having come to the cruel realization from this single phrase.
It was too late.
"No...I'm sorry, Petra. I can't give up" She said, causing Petra EXE to sigh, before she slowly raised her left arm towards Frederica, pointing her index finger at her.
"Then, I'll kill you anyway"
"?!"
But before Petra EXE could do anything, Otto rushed forward and slammed into her, pushing her and causing her to trip off the mountain and be sent toppling on its length, with sickening sounds of bone breaking and blood splattering could be heard as Petra EXE's form disappeared into the fog surrounding the mountain.
"O-Otto-sama?" Frederica muttered the name of her savior
Flashback. A few minutes ago. Ganaks. Nighttime
"Ack!"
Landing with a soft thud on his back, Otto rubbed his back from the pain that resulted from the collision onto the solid ground.
He then sat there, wide eyed and shocked as tears flew down his eyes without him making the faintest of a sobbing sound.
"Tinsel-san...Heinkel-san...We failed again..." He muttered, his speech completely broken from the sadness that he got plunged in just a few moments ago.
Not only did he lose his other two companions, but he was also forced to fight the woman that he fell in love with, seeing her being treated as nothing but a slave, forcibly being taken from her grave and not even give the slimmest shred of mercy from the vile creature that brainwashed and reanimated her.
So cruel...So revolting...So...So heartbreaking.
"It's useless, useless...We're all going to die again and again...What should I do? Should I just...Give up?" He muttered to himself, Despair already consuming him to the roots.
"Hey, Exebark. I think we found a dinner for ya"
"?!"
Hoping into his feet upon being alerted by the sudden malicious voice nearby, Otto shivered uncontrollably, as the voice was pretty much beside him. Looking in front of him from behind the bushes that he miraculously landed beside, He observed two of the most disturbing creatures in his life. One looked like a floating balloon with long, clawed arms and another that looked like a Wolgram. Both were pale blue in color from head to toe, had the same fanged, sharp, pointy teeth and had the same crimson, mad bloodlusted eyes as they gazed on what appeared like a child that had the same eyes that oozed blood out of them just like its predators and the same pale blue color theme.
"Look! You're pretty hungry, Barky! So let's catch this useless slave!" The balloon-like entity told the Wolgram-like beast, to which the latter extended its tongue out of its mouth, gazing hungrily at the trembling child, who despite having its eyes disgustingly oozing blood of them, it still showed genuine fear when those two leered at him with such murderous aura.
And just as they both were about to close on the child...
"What the bloody hell are you two doing here?"
"?!"
Otto had to place both hands on his mouth as tightly as he can as he was about to release an unconscious gasp, as Subaru EXE appeared in a white flash, positioning himself between the blue child and the two entities that were about to kill it.
"Oh, sorry for a rhetorical question. Who allowed you, Execun, to eat Exebi, one of my important slaves?" Subaru EXE asked the balloon entity sarcastically as Exebi, the blue child, jumped on his shoulder.
"Important?! He's useless! He's helping them survive! But we want to kill them, just like you!" Execun exclaimed.
"Kill? Don't you want to have fun with them a little longer?" Subaru EXE asked, and Otto had to hold his urge to vomit at those words.
"Fun?! What's the point in that?! I want to kill them! But this little freak was helping them!" Execun called out.
"At least it's even way better than your...hobby" Subaru EXE said with a glare towards Execun, causing the entity to gasp.
"Killing is an easy way, but manipulating them is much better. Don't ruin my plans. Go find them so that my eyes will not see you for now" Subaru EXE said, causing Execun to click its tongue, before vanishing in a small flash of light.
"Hey, Otto. Now we can talk"
"?!"
Suddenly, Otto felt his entire body get frozen, before he was pulled telekinetically from his hiding spot towards the abomination possessing his friend.
"W-What were you waiting for? Or is it just one of your tricks?" Otto asked, mustering whatever courage he had within himself.
"Let me open your eyes..." Subaru EXE said before Otto felt that he regained control of his body, and then an exact copy of Subaru EXE appeared in front of Otto.
"Remember the giant version of me? Well, it was just a clone, and so is this copy of mine. Try and kill this clone" He said to Otto, who wasted no time and sent the head of the clone flying with a punch enhanced by Mana. It was then when Otto's eyes widened in realization and horror.
"Just a clone...That giant one...Was one of your copies? So all this time, your copies were fighting with us?" Otto asked, pure shock and horror plastered on his face, before he saw Subaru EXE walking towards him, not stopping until he was just a meter away from him.
"Hehe...Now you know...Now then...Try to kill me" Subaru EXE said to Otto, who also wasted no time and delivered a Mana-infused punch to Subaru EXE. Now normally that would also cause his head to fly, but no. Subaru EXE's head was still intact, and not even a bone was broken.
Otto's eyes widened in shock and disbelief once again.
"Y-You...You're immortal?" Otto whispered his words, horror plaguing his very soul as Subaru EXE's grin widened to the point that it was close to splitting his face.
"Oh my...What a fool you are. How can you be so naive, Otto? What an intoxicating stupidity..." Subaru EXE said before backhanding Otto in the face, causing him to lose his balance and fall on his face.
"Have you lost your mind? Oh...Yes you did. I just need to push certain buttons to wreck it completely, yeah?" He said before vanishing instantly, leaving the wrecked Otto alone, who stood slowly to his feet, his face plastered with horror and anxiety.
"This is madness. I have to reach the Sanctuary as quick as possible to warn the others there. I think that the fastest way is through the Ginia Mountains and then through Elior Forest" He said as he entered through the entrance of the mountains behind of him.
Upon entering the mountain, Otto became completely confused.
Ganaks was supposed to be a mining city, and the Ginia Mountains were simply a part of it. Someone could make a fortune if it wasn't for the dangerous environment. And since Otto was the person to take with the rumors and never find through it, which was natural due to how much misfortunes he went through, he preferred to stay away from Ganaks, and as far as possible as well.
Being known as a mining city, surely you would imagine to find minerals lying here and there. However...
"It's completely barren. What happened here?" Otto asked no one in particular, as he walked ahead for a few minutes. Suddenly, he felt the mountain rumble, before a huge rubble from the ceiling fell and was about to squash Otto underneath it, only for the merchant to jump away just in time to avoid being crushed.
"Oh great. The entrance is closed" Otto sighed at his rotten luck upon realizing that he couldn't now get out from the entrance even if he wanted to. The rumbling even increased.
"Alright. No use staying here. I have to keep moving" Otto said before dashing towards the inside of the mountain.
As he was running, he barely dodged to his side as a crack on the ground appeared underneath him, and whatever spurted from the ground did a good job on burning the left sleeve of his pants.
"Lava?!" Otto yelled out. It was then when he gasped in shock and horror.
He was in a dormant volcano, which was activated right now. Something that shouldn't be possible considering the fact that it required too much power on the level of a town-spanning earthquake to activate. Unless...
"This bastard!" Otto cursed from behind his teeth, spitting his words like venom at what the abomination that was using his friend's body had done.
It was his vision of 'fun', after all.
Otto then dashed towards the inside of the mountain, his heart was already beating so hard, as panic rose inside of him from the possibility that there was no way out from the mountain now that the entrance was sealed off.
"Natsuki-san...Would never give up...Even in this kind of situation..." He said from behind his gritted teeth, only to scream in pain in the next second when something burst from the ground, stabbing him into his left thigh from behind and piercing through the front of his leg.
"Spikes?!" He yelled out in pain and anger, before he gritted his teeth as he yanked his leg free from the spike that impaled it, yelling in pain as tears built in the corners of his eyes.
His instincts suddenly kicked in, causing him to jump to the ground, landing on his stomach and kissing the dirt underneath him as something circular swung like a pendulum behind him.
"Oh come on! Now there are saw blades?!" He yelled in frustration, before he willed himself to stand up and started to make a mad dash to the other side of the mountain, hissing in pain as his leg pulsated with the unbearable pain that the spike gave to him.
He then jumped to his side, avoiding a pendulum scythe that suddenly appeared from the ceiling of the cave in the mountain that threatened to cut him in half, only to miss the giant pendulum morningstar that slammed into him from his left side, causing him to slam into the wall to his right, which seemed to be a trigger reaction that caused a hook blade to swing vertically at him from the wall, piercing his right eye.
"GAAAGH!" Otto screamed in pain, before he felt the hook blade trying to dig itself deeper inside his eye socket. Fearing that the blade would pierce through his skull, Otto gritted his teeth, before yanking the blade out of his eye, causing blood to burst from his eye socket.
He didn't have time to recover as suddenly, he felt multiple objects slam into his back, and judging by their weight and the size of the stabbed area, Otto mentally concluded that those were iron darts. The kind of weapons that Gusteko assassins use like the deceased Bowel Hunter use.
He couldn't take his breath yet as dozens of arrows soared towards him from the front, to which he pushed himself away from the wall and to his left side, albeit he was barely able to dodge as three arrows found their mark on him. One at his right calf, one at his right shoulder and the last one pierced through his right waist, just missing his kidney.
Just as he dodged that, however, a log came swinging towards him, slamming straight into his chin and causing a few of his frontal teeth to be sent flying out from his mouth and knocking the merchant off his feet and onto the ground on his back.
Sadly, he didn't have time to rest from all of that, as suddenly, a loud clang rang in the cave and Otto screamed in pain as an iron bear trap found itself slamming shut on his left hind leg.
Otto clenched his teeth so hard that a tooth chipped, before he jumped up to his feet, wincing in pain as all of those traps literally ate at his stamina and he was yet to find an exit from the mountain.
"Bastard...He really is toying with me..." Otto muttered under his breath, his rage growing even more as he swore that he heard the mad cackle of Subaru EXE in the back of his head.
He then sprinted forward, desperately trying to move himself from the hellhole that his enemy placed him in. And then, he felt the rumbles increase, which caused him to squeeze his brain and force himself to endure the pain in his body, before he found himself outside the hallway of the cave that he was in, and a pitfall found itself separating him from the next entrance, and the pitfall itself contained lava, which was rising right now.
Otto gasped in horror. It seems that the earthquake from earlier caused the mountain to awaken. Otto remembered how Subaru told him once that mountains were originally volcanoes that became dormant due to the lava within seeping and hardening, closing the volcano from the inside and from its top opening, effectively turning it into a mountain. And with enough tectonic force, a.k.a earthquakes, it would cause the hardened lava to shatter and for the lava to reawaken within the mountain, returning its status as an active volcano.
And was what exactly was happening.
"Tch. No time and Mana to use Earth Magic to create a bridge..." Otto clicked his tongue at his rotten luck, before he braced himself and jumped to the other end, barely making it to the cliff as his hands latched onto the rocky platform of the other side, desperately trying to save himself from falling to the pitfall that held the rising lava.
Otto gritted his teeth. His body was already in pain, and his nails were gruesomely peeled off and drawing blood due to how much force he was exerting at clutching the rocky cliff that his nails and fingers drew blood.
"I'm not gonna die...Not here...Not now.."
He wanted to live. Something that was completely normal in every kind of living being in All Creation.
But Otto Suwen was different.
There were lots of misfortunes that happened to him. Being a liability to his parents who almost gave up on him due to his Divine Protection placing him into a constant cradle of Hell, his entire hometown ridiculing and calling him despicable names due to his Divine Protection, a daughter from a wealthy family, who accused him of having an affair with her after Olso Suwen, his elder brother, rejected her, started spreading bad rumors about him, and in order to show that he was innocent, Otto used his Divine Protection and quickly knew that she was having an affair with eight different men, with him not being included of them. This spiraled down as Otto was now hated by everyone due to the fact that this girl, Diadora Regundra, was from the Regundra wealthy family in Picoutatte, Otto's hometown, and not to mention that Diadora sent an assassin to kill Otto to hide her embarrassment. This led to Otto being exiled from his hometown, where his father, who desperately tried to protect his son, hooked Otto up with a merchant friend of his, causing him to become a traveling merchant.
But even then, Otto's bad luck really came forth; if he was transporting fruits, bad weather would come forth; if he took a shortcut, random bandits would attack him; and so forth. Luckily, Otto was born with a mercantile talent as great as his luck was poor. He rarely lost bets and deals, no matter the odds and, of course, he never went bankrupt. One day, Otto misread the market trends and got into a lot of debt after the price of the oil he was transporting plummeted.
Luckily, his saving grace came in the form of one Subaru Natsuki, who wanted to have a transportation to Lugunica, and will pay him handsomely. And he was of his word, as he paid him so great that Otto himself couldn't believe that he was now free of his streak of bad luck, as with the money that Subaru gave to him, he was able to take care of his debt with a portion of it, while the rest of the money he used in the investments on Mayonnaise and Pina Colada, which throughout the last few months, made a huge profit for Otto on top of his new job as the Emilia Camp's Head of Internal Affairs. He even got to meet a girl that he fell in love with.
He thought that his bad luck streak is over. That he finally found peace from his troubled life.
But even then, this happiness of his didn't last long, as his bad luck came biting him down...And not in his ass, but in the place where the sun doesn't shine, which, I kid you not, hurts a lot, if not outright causing instant Death.
In just a single day, he lost everything. His friends. His lover. His business. His world. Everything.
And that's all because of that abomination that was wearing the body of his best friend, prying on his friends and humiliating them just for 'fun'.
So the least that he could do was...
"Survive..." He muttered before forcing himself to climb up, ignoring the pain in his hands and legs, before he shot up and jumped to his feet, completely ignoring the pain and forcing himself to run through sheer willpower, even though his body was weighted by both his grave injuries and the bear trap lodged into his leg.
"I WILL SURVIVE!" He yelled from the top of his lungs as he ran as fast as his near-crippled legs could muster, the adrenaline pumping straight to his heart, giving him the power to run despite the pain plaguing and crippling him even further.
The lava then started to rise up as Otto entered the second cave. The lava then followed him at an astounding rate, but Otto didn't look back. Even if he had the time to do so, a sane man wouldn't even dare to look Death in the eyes.
Unless you're Subaru Natsuki or Shadow Terios that is...
"RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
He screamed so hard his throat hurt and his lungs threatened to burst. He could swear that he heard the bones of his legs crack, his tendons tear apart and his foot give away as blood came out from his wounds, as his vigorous and desperate running for his life was not giving time for his wounds to even begin closing.
But he didn't care. He just ignored it. His will to survive and see another day was way greater than the pain plaguing him. Even if it was for an additional day, hour, minute, or even an additional second in life, Otto Swuen would never give up.
After all, his two strong friends taught him that through their actions.
"I'll not die! I WILL NOT DIE!" He yelled, even as blood came out of his throat due to him screaming, with the lava behind him, chasing him like an extremely hungry predator ready at anytime to lunge at its prey to tear it limb from limb.
The rumbling increased. The quantity of the lava. The intensity of the heat behind Otto increased. The threat of Death increased.
But alongside those, the desire to survive and see the sun increased within Otto, which in turn forced him to the end of the tunnel where he saw a sliver of light at the end, the light that was illuminating the night sky, the light of the stars.
He let the stars guide him to the safety. To the end of this hellhole. Even if he knew that he will get sent to another hellhole, and even if it was worse than what he is experiencing right now, he already saw a lot within yesterday, and he will live to see tomorrow.
That's the man Otto Suwen was. A relentless man who will find the Top within the Bottom.
"I'LL DIE ON MY OWN TERMS! NOT BY YOU!"
Yelling this out, Otto jumped to the end of the tunnel, where the light of the stars illuminated the outside world, falling outside the exit of the cave and out to the outside world. The rumbling actually served Otto a lot, as just as the lava was about to get outside the cave and give Otto a free ticket to Od Laguna, rubble fell off the ceiling of the exit of the cave, blocking the other side of the cave and preventing the lava from devouring Otto and melting his flesh and bones.
But even then, he felt that he couldn't even sigh in relief, not even having the time to rest. He willed himself to stand up once again, before dashing away to the direction of Elior Forest.
"I'm almost here...I just need to be...Faster" He muttered from his blood-filled throat, before he increased his speed towards the frozen forest.
A few more minutes later, and he managed to pass through the forest, having also used potions that he had on him to close the wounds he sustained while escaping the Ginia Mountains. Otto then suddenly felt a power signature atop the mountains next to Costuul. His mana sensor wasn't as great as Shadow or Subaru, but it did its job.
He took a deep breath, using his Divine Protection of Anima Whispering to communicate with the bugs around the area to find out what was happening, only to gasp upon having the answer.
"Frederica-san!" He exclaimed the name in worry, before dashing towards the mountainside of Costuul, taking the route behind the Roswaal Mansion.
Flashback End
"Otto-sama! You saved me! What are you doing here?!"
"I felt your mana signature and used my Divine Protection to reach this point. I'm glad you're alive, Frederica-san! Anyways, follow me! We must get out of here!"
Right after exchanging words, Frederica and Otto proceeded to descend the mountain behind Costuul.
"Otto-sama...What happened? Who is this Exeller?" Frederica asked as she and Otto were descending the mountain.
"You know his name? Interesting. Did he tell you about those timelines or something like that?" Otto asked.
"No..." Frederica muttered, completely crestfallen.
"You had Deja Vu before, right? That means that the timeline had been reset before as well" Otto said.
"So that's why when Petra and I headed to see Garf and to the Astrea Mansion, I had a feeling that I did that before..." Frederica muttered, all the pieces of the puzzle inside her head coming together.
"I actually remember all the timelines and Deaths that were supposed to happen yesterday, but what about today? I have only strange images that sometimes blink in my head, making it completely unclear to me" Otto said.
"Otto-sama...I..." Frederica muttered out, but she was unable to finish her words. Otto felt like she was on the verge of crying as both were close to completely descend the mountain.
"Sorry, Frederica-san. Let us talk later. I need some time to think..." Otto muttered, trying to let Frederica rest mentally because anymore than that and both of them will go insane.
In fact, right as they were speaking, Otto felt like he was going insane.
A few hours later. Fleur
"W-What happened to the road?!"
"You're asking me?!"
Having descended the mountain, Otto and Frederica decided to advance towards the Capital city of Lugunica, considering the fact that they can find help from there to protect both themselves and the others from that creature chasing them.
However, much to their surprise, upon reaching Fleur from Costuul, they were stopped in their journey due to a huge body of water that stretched from the exit of Fleur and all the way to the entrance of the Capital city of Lugunica.
"The Capital city is on the other side of the lake, but how are we going to cross through?" Frederica asked as she looked at the body of water. It seems that the weather became extremely frigid, so Frederica was sure that a few minutes in the lake would cause a normal person to die from hypothermia.
"We're going to freeze to Death if we touch this water...Actually, I have an idea" Otto said before lifting Frederica up in his arms, causing her to blush furiously at the sudden action.
"Otto-sama?! W-What?!" Frederica asked out loud, her face bringing the color of a tomato to shame.
"A trick Terios-san taught me. By concentrating mana into certain body parts, I can erect some sort of a body shield around it. I engulfed my legs with mana and will use it to cross the water, but I have to do that while sprinting as fast as I can. That will probably empty my Gate dry out of mana, but we can make it there with that method. Anyways, hold on tight!" Otto exclaimed, before he sprinted at full speed. The enchantment of mana in his legs protected him from the cold water, as well as increased his speed, allowing him to adopt some form of water walking, dashing right towards the Capital city.
A few minutes later. The front borders of Lugunica
"Stay where you are!"
"We're survivors! You're supposed to let us in!"
Right upon reaching the gates of the Capital city, a guard from the guard towers shouted at both Otto and Frederica to stop, which in turn caused Frederica to call him out for his response.
"I took the orders from Margrave Mathers-sama's maid! She gave me the orders given to us by Mathers-sama, warning us from the undead people, and telling us not to let anyone in!" The guard exclaimed.
"What?! But how?! Ram is supposed to be back in the mansion!" Frederica called out the false statement of the guard.
"Because it's not Ram-san! Mister guard! Please listen! My name is Otto Suwen, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Emilia Camp! This Ram that you have is an imposter! You all feel it too, right?! If we wanted to kill you, we would have done that in the first place!" Otto exclaimed his words to the guard.
"Otto Suwen? How can I know that you're real?" The guard asked, which in turn caused Otto to take out a small knife that he had on his belt, holding it with his right hand, before placing its blade on the palm of his left hand.
"Imposters can't die because they're undead, and their wounds regenerated instantly. Look!" Otto said, before tracing the blade of the knife on his hand, causing Frederica to gasp as she saw blood falling from Otto's palm, with tears starting to fall down from his eyes as he raised his bloodied hand for the guard to look at.
"S-See?" Otto asked, his voice slightly laced in sobs as the combination of the frigid weather and the wound in his palm gave him an extremely stinging pain.
"O-Okay...You better be telling the truth" The guard said, and right afterwards, the gates opened slowly, allowing both Otto and Frederica inside. Once they entered through the gates of the Capital city, they were met with a Knight and 'Ram' waiting for them.
"Are you alright? Do you need medical help?" The Knight asked.
"I'm alright, Sir Knight. But Otto-sama here needs help. He's injured" Frederica said, glancing worryingly at Otto, who was hissing from the pain in his hand.
"Very well. Please follow me, Otto Suwen-sama" The Knight said, escorting Otto to a nearby medical facility, leaving both Frederica and 'Ram' alone.
"So...You made it out?" 'Ram' asked Frederica, where the latter had noticed that Ram's eyes were brown instead of pink and her pupils were shrunken. It gave her an eerie feeling and her instincts screamed at her to run.
But Frederica knew that any kind of sudden movement, and everyone in the city, including Otto and herself, will be dead.
"What do you want...?" She asked, trying to finish their speech as quick as possible.
"I think that your mental health is not that good" 'Ram' said, and this line caused Frederica to get angry.
"Mental health? You know what? Screw you. I better go and be by Otto-sama's side rather than talking to you" Frederica said in a firm manner, before walking away, leaving 'Ram' alone, who just smirked evilly at the retreating form of Frederica.
"Hehe...Just take the bait, you stupid piece of meat..." She muttered.
Capital city of Lugunica. Medical facility
Frederica arrived at the room where Otto is, before smiling as she sat on the side of his bed where he was seated.
"How are you feeling, Otto-sama? Have you decided on taking a nap?" Frederica asked, causing Otto to smile weakly at her.
"Hehe...I wasn't sleeping, but at least I have some time to relax...Finally..." Otto responded with a low voice, having remembered what had just happened to him back in the Ginia Mountains.
"Maybe we could find Garf? And maybe even Heinkel Astrea could help us too" Frederica said.
"..." And the moment she said that, Otto's weak smile completely crumbled down, being replaced by a devastated expression.
"They...They didn't make it...They were with me...Petra-chan killed them..." Otto muttered to Frederica, causing her own smile to fade as well.
"Oh...Petra...She...She was such a nice girl...She wasn't supposed to die...She had her Life way ahead of her..." Frederica said, her voice laced with Sadness.
"If only I was there...With her...Exeller just drove us in circles..." Otto said, causing both of his and Frederica's heads to be hung down in Grief. A few moments later of mourning, Otto lifted his head and looked at Frederica.
"Frederica-san...I want to tell you something" He said, before reaching for two bottles that had lots of pills inside of it. This caused Frederica to look at him as well.
"I-If we have Deja Vu about that day...Then that means that the timeline got reset, and maybe...We could..." He said, before inching one of the bottles closer to Frederica.
"...Commit suicide. This will be like a dream. Even if we become corrupted...We'll...We'll return back to normal when the timeline resets once again" Otto said, causing Frederica's eyes to widen at Otto's proposal.
"Otto-sama...I..." She trailed in her speech, unable to find the words to reply with. She was trying to find anything to stop Otto from this Madness, but nothing came to her mind. It was then when Otto's eyes widened as well, but not only from shock, but also from realizing what he just said.
"I'm sorry...I guess I'm starting to lose my mind...I just lost any hope...We're not gonna make it without them..." Otto muttered, to which Frederica hung her head down with her face being riddled with the same Despair that Otto was experiencing.
It was like a plague with no cure, no matter how much or where you searched.
"I agree...If we committed suicide, we can return to the first point before all of that happened. And if we can save all of our friends like that...Then so be it..." Frederica said.
"You agree, huh? I guess we both lost any hope..." Otto muttered, before Frederica extended her hand to take the bottle of pills that Otto presented to her.
"Take these pills. All of them...I'll take the same amount. If it's gonna work, our suicide will be like a bad dream..." Otto said.
"How long does it take?" Frederica asked, before she saw tears proceeding to fall from Otto's eyes, trailing down his cheeks and falling on the sheets of the bed he was sitting on.
"I don't know for sure, but don't worry. It's painless Death...Better lay down to sleep..." Otto said, before inching the bottle to his mouth, but before he could swallow the pills, he stared at Frederica, who was also holding her bottle next to her mouth.
"Frederica-san..." He called to her.
"Yes, Otto-sama...?" Frederica responded to his call.
"...I love you" Otto said, before placing the bottle of pills on his mouth, then proceeded to swallow them all in one go. He then immediately dropped his body backwards on the bed, closing his eyes and immediately drifting to sleep.
Frederica saw this, and her eyes also proceeded to release tears from them, before she openly sobbed, tightly gripping the sheets of the bed she was sitting on, watching the Life of the man she loved being slowly taken away.
"I love you too...Otto-sama..." She muttered before proceeding to also swallow all the pills in her own bottle, and right after finishing, she went next to Otto and lied down next to him, hugging his body as she also closed her eyes to await Death as well.
Soon, white light engulfed the whole world, and a single phrase echoed on deaf ears.
"I want them to live..."
Memory Fragment File #14
"Alright! Your hair is ready, Frederica-san!"
"Thanks, Otto-sama..."
Otto was dressing Frederica's hair, but even when she thanked him, Otto could feel that something was off.
"Oh...You...Still can't forget about that Mabeast, can you?" Otto asked, causing Frederica to sigh.
"Otto-sama, It's...complicated. I just can't stop thinking about that Mabeast...The Guiltylowe...I just want to protect myself and don't count on others..." Frederica said.
"It's okay. I understand. But you still can ask for any of us to help. Ask me, for example. I'll be there if you ever need me" Otto said with a smile, causing Frederica's cheeks to have a rosy blush on them, to which she averted her face away from him.
"Well...I want to do it by myself...But on another note, you also gave Petra lessons about survival in the wild, right?" Frederica asked.
"Petra-chan...Haha...If only you saw her...She is really formidable when it comes to fighting. I guess this is also because of your combat lessons as well" Otto said with a smile.
"Heh...Yes...I can imagine..." Frederica muttered with a calm smile.
"Okay. Let's go. It's almost nighttime. We need to sleep early for tomorrow. I have a lot of work to do and lately I haven't been taking proper amounts of sleep" Otto said while scratching his head.
"I'll catch up to you later. I need to look at the sunset for a while" Frederica said.
"Don't stay late! Bye!" Otto exclaimed before walking towards the direction of the mansion, leaving Frederica to look at the sunset.
Memory Fragment File #14: End
And Done!
Alright! Three chapters in a week! I'm on a roll, buddies!
For the comments, Again, to my pal Reaper 10398.
Yes, I did mean that slap to you, but in a good way because you encouraged me to correct the personality of Ram and Rem in this story. I do agree with you that it's kind of twisted in the main story, so correcting it in my image would be the best plan.
Also, yes. Sonic...AND Silver will appear in this story. They will appear in the Epilogue of Arc 3, and their true debut will be in Arc 6. So stay tuned.
As always, please support me with your comments and ideas. Your reviews are what motivates me to continue this story, and I hope that I can live up to your expectations.
Next Chapter: Round 2. Ending 11: The merchant and the little girl in distress.
Until Next Time And Next Chapter!
Jude Warble, Out.