Chapter 54: Astrid's Change Of Heart?
We went into The Cognitive World Of Hell. Astrid's Palace was on lockdown when we approached it. The pirate imp was watching us and decided to attack.
"Oh no ya scallywags don't!" He shouted,
The imp was then shot by us as he was about to turn into a Shadow.
"Ain't happening!" Cattleya said, "This is private business!"
We went inside the pirate ship through the back exit and quickly and quietly headed to the top.
Then, a giant Shadow stopped us.
"Captain Kilobite ordered me to take ya sea dogs down!" He shouted,
I did a backflip and attacked him with my dagger from behind.
"GAHH!" He shouted in pain,
"He's done!" Lars said as he used his saw to attack him, "Eat this!"
"Stand back!" Selene shouted as they readied their spear, "Here I come!"
Selene then ran towards the Shadow and stabbed him with her spear, killing it.
"There!" She said,
"Excellent work, everyone!" Cattleya said as she looked at the stairs leading to the 2nd floor, "Alright, not almost there yet, but we'll be making the climb in no time!"
As we left to take the stairs to the 2nd floor, Astrid appeared as we weren't looking.
"They're making the climb…" She said as she looked around, "This is my Palace, huh? It really does resemble envy towards them and I.M.P…"
Astrid then looked at the stairs and took a deep breath.
"Right, here I come." She said, "I sure hope my Shadow doesn't do anything bad to them…"
When we arrived at the top of Astrid's palace, we saw the treasure being taken away by a tentacle.
"What the?!" Cattleya said, "The treasure is gone!"
"Yar har har!" A familiar voice shouted,
We saw Shadow Astrid coming out of the water, did a few flips and landed on her two feet near the tip of her palace.
"Yer looking for me treasure, huh?" She said, "It's this, isn't it?"
Shadow Astrid revealed a small treasure chest.
"Of course it's in a chest!" Boris said,
"If ya want it, yer gonna have to go through me!" Shadow Astrid said,
Cattleya raised up a fist.
"Why did you have to hack us, Astrid?!" She shouted, "We could have settled our differences when we still have contacts! But no, you removed my contact so you had to do your things the hard way!"
Shadow Astrid laughed a bit.
"Come on, is that all you want from me, Cattleya?" She said, "To settle our differences? There were never any differences. Ever. You left me. Your absence ruined me, broke me and changed me."
Cattleya was silent. She was frustrated.
"Well, no more words, huh?" Shadow Astrid said, "Fine, if you want to settle our differences…"
Shadow Astrid then pulls out a pirate sword.
"Then let's settle this in a duel!" She shouted,
Cattleya then got out her pirate sword.
"Fine…" She said, "En garde…"
"Not doing anything?" Shadow Astrid said, "Good, I'm making the first move!"
As Shadow Astrid attempts to move, we all heard a voice.
"WAIT!" A familiar voice shouted,
We turned to the real Astrid running up to us. She was then out of breath.
"A-Astrid?!" Cattleya shouted,
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Willow shouted,
"How did you even get here?!" Selene shouted,
"...Never mind that…" Astrid said in a different tone,
"Astrid…" Cattleya said,
Astrid was then on her knees and was about to cry.
"Ok, I admit it, I was jealous of your success…" She said, "I only hacked just to get attention from you guys…"
We were speechless.
"I did it because of the loss of my parents and how you never came by, Cattleya…" Astrid continued, "I did it all because you were living a better life as a Phantom Thief… without even saying hi to me… but I cut contacts with you due to my envy…"
Astrid broke down in tears.
"I'm sorry… for everything…" She said, "I really am… I'm such a stupid, attention seeking, selfish imp!"
"Astrid…" Cattleya said,
Cattleya puts her pirate sword away and walks to Astrid. She was on one knee and let her and Astrid look at each other.
"...It's ok…" She said,
Astrid hugged Cattleya without saying anything. She was still in tears.
"Don't worry… I understand…" Cattleya said, "I understand that you felt bad about what happened, but please don't do anything like that to get my attention again. That almost ruined mine and my friends lives."
"...I'll try…" Astrid said,
Boris sniffed.
"Damn, this is emotional." He said,
"She really means it, huh?" Lars sais,
"Sounds like it." I said,
"Yeah, we really changed her heart in an instant."
"HEY!" Shadow Astrid shouted,
We all turned to Shadow Astrid.
"I wasn't done with ya asshats!" She shouted, "I didn't even start our little duel together!"
The real Astrid was worried. She was silent.
"Hey, can you try and talk sense to your Shadow?" Cattleya asked her,
Shadow Astrid chuckled.
"Of course she can't…" She said, "She's afraid of talking to her true self ever since she confessed so early…"
Shadow Astrid then clenched her fists.
"Damn Phantom Thieves…" She said, "Turning their attention to my other self instead of me…"
"It was just a shocking twist of events!" Boris said, "Give it a rest! We'll pay attention to you if you wait ever so patiently!"
"Yeah!" Willow said, "Hell, we already gave you enough attention when we had to do your stupid obstacle courses! Not to mention almost trying to take on Cattleya in a sword fight!"
Shadow Astrid groaned in disgust.
"You really know how to easily anger me." She said, "But it doesn't matter anymore!"
A shadowy aura started to flow around Shadow Astrid.
"Instead of walking the plank, I'll make sure you're all walking to your DEATHS!" She shouted,
"This isn't good!" Cattleya said, "Stand back, Astrid! This fight against your Shadow is gonna get ugly!"
"Oh no…" Astrid said,