POPOLA I

"No stopping, no stopping ever, NO ONE STOPS." she screamed.

Her sister… was gone. How could she be… how could this have happened? It didn't make sense… the replicant she cared for like her own- cut her down…

I'll never stop until those 4 are dead for ever daring to lay a hand on her sister… DEVOLA…

Emil The Ultimate Weapon thought he could get them away… she refused to allow that. THEY WOULD PERISH HERE for Humanity, for Devola…-

They would not escape her.

The thought of Devola lying limp on the floor fueled her rage. Which in turn fueled her own Maso. She saw them panicking in their bubble of protection, and smirked in joy at their unease. Hoping beyond hope their deaths would fill the hole she felt in herself.

Then she saw The Ultimate Weapon make his way back towards her with the purple protection sphere, which seemed to turn a dark purple as he came closer. She homed in on what felt like all the Maso within her to protect herself, and attack.

Yet it seemed to be all for naught regardless of what she did as she felt the darkening sphere. Pushing and pulling her into it, and she felt as if her body was getting crushed within, along with that of her sister. Which was the real tragedy. It was not enough for them to kill Devola, her body had to become collateral too. The Maso bubbled within her in reaction to the further spike in her emotions. Then she felt the air around her getting more and more condensed, immense pressure building up around her, despite the sheer force of Maso she used to combat it. In the end she was crushed in the strange attack of the Ultimate Weapon.

Suddenly she was somewhere else, not on the smooth grounds of the Shadowlord's castle.

She felt an energy enter her, adding strength to her Maso…

Then she heard a gasp of breath.

She looked over to see Devola raggedly breathing….

"Devola…"

"Popola, I thought I…"

"You did." Popola managed to get the words out.

"How am I alive?" Devola asked.

Popola was at a loss for words. Too busy staring at her sister… going in to hold onto her, helping her up. Appreciating that she was talking again. A voice she never thought she'd hear again.

"Where are we?" Devola asked glancing around.

Popola did the same, the unfamiliar terrain was one thing. They seemed to be in a narrow outdoor corridor or alley of some kind. Everything was a different shade of yellow or brown and the ground had an incline and roughness to it. Then she looked around past the narrow alleyway and saw a couple of replicants looking at her and her sister with fear painting their features. She supposed to them they just appeared out of nowhere, so she couldn't really blame them. Though after all this horror with Nier, she was momentarily sick of the shells.

One thing that troubled her though was none of them were recognizable as a replicant in her and her sister's area of operation, none of them looked familiar at all… even compared to ones she saw in passing or in days long past when they had better communication with the other observers. With that thought, she began to feel the Maso in her circuits, and let it flow across her until the power was concentrated in her mind. Silently querying to cross-reference the faces she saw with the project gestalt, and the observer general data dump files.

She focused her eye on the man looking at her with fear evident in the nervous sweat dripping off him. Upon farther analysis, she felt a great weight on her.

UNKNOWN HUMAN LIFE DETECTED, gestalt bound to host of origin. No traces of White Chlorination Syndrome present (Approx. age 24)

That had to be a mistake… Perhaps Emil caused her system some strain… She scanned the woman who was glaring at her and bringing her hands together in some manner of prayer. From behind a crate selling some type of soup or stew.

UNKNOWN HUMAN LIFE DETECTED, gestalt bound to host of origin. No traces of White Chlorination Syndrome present (Approx. age 32)

Popola was getting concerned now. A single bad scan was one thing, unusual for something so important but possible. Two in a row was unheard of. Finally, she scanned the young boy eyeing her who looked cautious but had less fear in his eyes than the older two.

UNKNOWN HUMAN LIFE DETECTED, gestalt bound to host of origin. No traces of White Chlorination Syndrome present (Approx. age 8)

She wished she could take her circuit out of her very head in that instant… But before she let her rage consume her again. She looked around.

Then it was a flash of that message over and over and over… as she homed in on several people outside of the 3 who appeared to see her and her sister's "entrance".

"I've never seen so many replicants in one place"

"Those are not Replicants…" she paused almost not believing the words coming out of her mouth.

"Are your observer capabilities still fully functional?" Wondering if perhaps her sister's temporary death, took a toll on her system. She had after all been dead just a minute ago…

Devolas eyes seemed to widen upon utilizing her observer functions.

"They're humans? Project Gestalt was a success?"

Popola shook her head, finding the conclusion doubtful. Despite how much she wished it to be true.

"I'm not sure the scan of a handful of faces indicates that they were never separated from their body to begin with but…" Wait, Devola should be able to tell easily with her observer scan functions.

"Can't you see Devola?" Popola said, concern flooding her tone. Would she be alright? They might need to find a repair center for her. Which was a problem, seeing as she had no idea where they were.

"I saw human life detected all across my interface as I looked but its glitching out a bit."

"Is your regular sight alright?" Popola said softly.

Devola nodded.

"I have my human imitation functions and my Maso offensive capabilities at the very least. I'm not in critical condition, I can check my vitals just fine… some of my observer functions seem to be faulty though."

"Faulty?"

"When I tried to scan the humans with my eyes, the interface became bugged and my scanner functions seem to be struggling to achieve even just a limited capacity." Devola said with less concern than what Popola thought it warranted.

She was preparing to lecture Devola about a diagnostic and repairs check being an absolute priority, however, that was interrupted.

"Stop standing about cursed fire women! Stranger have you!" The shopkeeper woman Popola analyzed earlier started yelling.

She had already planned to go in a second, as soon as she had some idea where they were. Turning to face the man nearest to her she prepared to ask a question of the first flesh human she encountered in a Millenia, if her eyes are to be believed.

"Where are we, Sir?" The man looked offended and the fear in his eyes seemed to increase tenfold at the question.

"Begone witch, I saw you come into birth in darkness no doubt bad omens from your ilk. " The man said pointing at the alley they exited.

With that Devola started to drag Popola away from the two that had begun to hurl various insults at her. Including some she hadn't heard in quite a long while.

Suddenly the Boy she scanned was on their tail.

"No mind Meg, and Tat pious drunk. Stiff as boards those two be."

Popola and Devola quickly made their way following the young boy, the humans screaming at them finally fading away in the distance.

"Where is this?"

"Tis is flea bottah miss, Don see such pretty ladahs here" the boy said. His accent was a bit hard to understand but it did not stop Popola from blushing in embarrassment at the young boy's compliment. Then she noticed a cluster of children playing.

Popola saw a familiar look come over Devola face at the sight… She saw a desire grow in her sisters eyes.

"You need to get looked at Devola, we need to find where the nearest Observer androids for an in-depth diagnostic and potential repairs."

"I will be fine Popola. I may not be able to use parts of my interface, but I can still access my storage and as I said my vital functions are fine, nothing critical is degrading."

"Devola you need to get a diagnostic." She pleaded thinking back to her laying dead on the floor.

"Whas an innah face?" the boy asked seemingly curious

Devola and Popola looked at each other, silently debating whether to tell the boy or not. He was a human in the truest old-world sense, assuming her observer functions were not acting up as well in different ways. Though despite how hard it was to believe, she believed it. Even so. It was unlikely these humans had experience with technology utilizing computers judging by the air quality, which was both free of White Chlorination particles and lacked the gas and oil fumes of the era preceding their production, as well as electric signatures. They seemed to be in a similar era to the ones the replicants reached before. Given that, the human's young age, and their own lack of understanding of where exactly they were. They opted to not potentially confuse the young boy.

Though Devola still offered him something of an answer.

"My head is not at full capacity, is all."

"Capac-dy?" The boy asked seeming proud of himself for managing to get something close to the word out. Devola smiled back at him.

"You know when you are tired how its harder to think?"

The boy nodded.

"Tis, arder for meh to think wen im hungry to, I always hungry, Thats why i'm thankn to ya ladahs. Distractn, Meg."

The boy held up a piece of bread looking back in the direction they came.

She gave him a smile, Popola was smart enough to figure out where he got it.

Devola seemed to reach the same conclusion, she looked over at her sister, whose own smile faltered briefly.

It seems humans or not there still were young boys suffering and starving.

Her sister took a step towards the children playing then.

"Now if you'll excuse me, Sister. I've never sung to a true human before. I'd like to do so now."

Popola gave Devola a nod despite her own worry as she was happy to hear her sister sing once again.

With that Devola began strumming her lute and started to play the oh too familiar tune Song of the Ancients .

Popola felt herself brushing away a tear upon remembering how she had almost lost the chance to hear Devolas voice ever again.

Some of the kids continued playing but many seemed mesmerized by the song. Looking at Devola in awe or nearly running into each other after getting entranced by the music.

She even saw some older humans seemingly captivated by the song.

They weren't the only ones as Popola found herself enchanted by her sisters voice like so many times before. Envisioning the words as they came, imagining the times Devola sat just like this by the old fountain of the village.

Then she heard a heavy thud and the familiar sound of a man walking in armor. That's what got her out of her own trance.

It seems the man noticed as he turned his helm her way before staring back at Devola taking a step towards the area her sister serenaded from.

"That was beautiful. Is that High Valyrian?"

The gold cloaked armored man asked, his continued steps making a heavy noise as he walked closer to her sister.

A.N. Well there it is chapter 1, just an Idea I had literally last night. All my time between classes today was spent writing this. Curious what people think of the crossover, as well as the characterizations. This was inspired by my desire to write an ASOIAF AU, and my Desire to give Nier Replicant's/Gestalt's Devola and Popola a shot.

I feel like this chapter is pretty heavy on the nier references though I plan for this fic to be able to be enjoyed fandom blind. Do you think it'd be best to explain the lore talked about here in author notes? Hope people enjoyed the chapter. Critiques and just general thoughts on things are always welcome.

Edit (2/14/2023) : Chapter 1 has been edited to fix some grammar mistakes and wording has been changed in some parts slightly.