Title: Staying Behind

Summary: Atoning for past mistakes.

I dodged to the side to avoid Leon's push. So predictable. My brother always resorted to dirty tactics.

Leon had a look of shock as I shoved him through the gate while he was passing by me.

"Marie!" he cried as he tried to reach for me.

"Tell the others that I'm sorry for tricking them, and that I love them," I said tearfully as Leon disappeared into motes of light like the rest.

With my part complete, I began the process of closing the gate from this side. As the gate shrunk, I saw a cat rush through, but it gave me a momentary glance as it disappeared. Hmph. It must have been Luxion. He probably would have tried to convince me to cross, but I hadn't given him time to convince me.

I wouldn't have crossed. The world and my brother needed Luxion. My usefulness was over.

The gate closed completely.

And with that, only silence.

Turning around, I saw of my parents standing by. They had proud but sad looks.

"... I'm home," I said tiredly and through my tears.

"... Rather fortunate you were the one left behind," a crooked voice said behind me.

Turning around in a fright, I saw a familiar figure.

"The elf priestess?"

"No outburst about my words? You've certainly grown since we've last talked."

"... Hey!"

She chuckled.

"Ah, there it is. But my words stand. It is rather fortunate that the one with the most regrets and the capable of light magic was trapped here."

"Light magic? You mean I can return?" I asked hopefully.

The priestess shook her head. "Not to the world you just came from. That which tethered you there was severed with your act of self sacrifice."

"... You mentioned regrets. Then to where?"

"Not where. When, My Dear."

"... But I can't return to the world of Alto Liebe. Not even an earlier time."

"You're getting there, Child."

I turned around slowly. My parents still stood there. Another figure was forming by them. A familiar but strange figure.

... Brother? As his original self?

"I see you've come to the realization. Your light magic will allow you to be reborn as a previous incarnation. You'll be able to fix your greatest regret."

I so wanted to take the opportunity.

"... And the consequences?" I asked numbly as I knew better.

"My, you have matured. For your information, nothing."

I blurted out, "That can't be! It's too good to be true!"

The elf chuckled. "I suppose the intricacies of time travel and parallel worlds isn't something you grasp. Ah, how about a metaphor. Alto: Liebe, the game, has multiple save files. Think of it as you starting a new game. Nothing you do in that save will alter the one you will be leaving."

"Yeah?! And what about the me over there? What will happen to everyone else if I stop my brother from reincarnating?! What about my daughter! Like hell I'll subject myself to my abusive ex!"

"Nothing terrible will happen to you. You'll just have extra memories. All people die. Your brother will still go through the cycle so will be reborn into Alto: Liebe. And your daughter will still be born. She may not have same genetics, but the basis of her soul will still be hers."

"And Big Bro's personality? Will it not change? Will it not risk us losing to Arcadia?!"

"But you will be reincarnating as well. You can avert the disaster yourself."

"And look how well my involvement went?!"

"That was when you concerned yourself with only your selfish interests. Even then, more people had a happy end compared to sitting on the sidelines. More deserving people were able to find their happiness."

"... Is it really all right for me to have this chance?" I hiccuped.

The elf approached me and held me in her arms. She stroked my hair soothingly.

"Yes, Child. Be selfish here."

"... What do I need to do?"

Waking up, I looked around. I was in a nostalgic room.

Getting up and going to my mirror, I saw my reflection. I looked to be in high school.

Looking at my table, I saw an orientation package. It had the logo of the local university. I gingerly touched the surface of the envelope and allowed my fingers to move over the bumps of the logo.

I had done it. I had successfully made it back.

First order of business, I had to move the Fujoshi material I had hidden in my brother's closet.

Walking out my room, I quietly moved through the house. There was no noise besides my footsteps. Looking down in the kitchen, I saw no one. My parents must have been out.

Perfect.

I hastily rushed into Ryo's room. The process took a few trips.

I huffed as I saw the multitude of material I had sitting in my room. I needed to dispose of these as soon as I could. My room couldn't hide all of this. These were burnables.

As I opened one of the boxes so I could tie up the material, I saw the attractive male on the cover.

... It'd be a shame not to enjoy it one last time.

I understand why Ryo had been so desperate to get his name cleared.

No.

It was worse for me.

Ryo was only suspected of being gay and was treated awkwardly.

Our parents had caught me masturbating to my doujins. I had been lost in the sauce for hours. Having a relationship with five guys simultaneously had really ruined me. No man could ever satisfy me now.

Ryo would not stop laughing at me for getting caught.

At least he let me hunker down in his apartment to avoid our parent's awkward stares.

"Eh? You want to play your Otome Game in my apartment? Why?" Ryo said with a look of annoyance and disgust.

"You think I want to remind our parents of the incident?!" I screeched.

He snorted.

"Fine. You can use my game console. Just don't goon here. Or at the very least, finish up your session by six."

"... Ryo, I need your help."

"... So not only are you a Fujoshi, but you're also into incest. Lord have mercy on your soul."

"... You done?"

Ryo bowed dramatically. "Go on."

"I'm not a real gamer. It's too hard for me."

"So you only want the cutscenes? Why not download a completed file?"

"The cutscenes are voiced and will say your name, but the developers were asshats and made it so there's no way to change the name used unless you beat the game with it!"

"... I'm going to assume getting a coding friend to do the job won't work."

"No! It literally kills the game because the developers were so concerned about people stealing code that any alterations to something as stupid as a name tag will make everything bug out!"

"... Okay... So what's in it for me?"

I quickly whipped out my phone and pulled up a picture of one of my friends. She was a blonde in a very racy bikini. She was sprawled out on her bed and homding herself wuite suggestively. Hikari would have done well in my hostess club.

Hikari also had a very similar personality and background to Angelica. That should hopefully seed in a desire for Ryo to protect the villainess in the future.

"This is my friend, Hikari. She's extremely repressed due to her family's strict upbringing. Now that she's in college, she wants to find a boyfriend, but she's afraid that she get caught up with a bad guy and has asked me to hook her up. She's willing to do almost anything. That's how I convinced her to wear this bikini. I also have photos of her in a bunny suit."

"Bikini?! That's basically lingerie at this point."

"Help me get through this game, and she's all yours."

"What even are those cup sizes?!"

I snapped my fingers in front of him. "Oy! Focus! Help me get my gooning material, then you can get laid."

"... She doesn't have a shit personality, right?"

"Now you ask that?! And no! You'll love her! At least enough to get laid!"

"... How shitty is this game if you are serving me a 11/10?"

I headbutted Ryo. He acquiesced. He would learn the ins and outs of the game! The world needed him to.

My eye twitched. It had been a year since I introduced Hikari to Ryo. Hikari just gave birth to her daughter.

I recognized this soul.

Elf Priestess! You lying bitch! Why was Erica my niece now?!

"Oh look. Rica like you, Rie."

Goddamnit!

AN:

1) Inspired by my Waking Up chapter (84).

2) Far more humorous since it's Marie that's the main character. Made Marie extra horny since she's been spoiled by Five Guys... the love interests not the burger chain.

3) She must suffer the humiliation of getting caught with her Fujoshi doujins.

4) Marie plans to indoctrinate Leon to saving the world. Sure she can be proactive but better to have multiple heads working towards the same goal. Plus, Leon finding Luxion would save his life.

5) I chose the name Hikari because it means light, which can then be associated with fire and heaven (Angel).

6) Marie can also push the other girls towards Leon. Maybe not Olivia, but Noelle definitely.

7) Marie still going to totally try to bag the five, but without compromising their mental development. Still screws up.

8) Hikari would drop out of college after getting pregnant. Her parents insisted on her becoming a housewife. She comes from a Christian background.

9) Elf Priestess never said Erica would be born as her daughter. She just said that she would be born.

Review Response:

Rebiele: It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. But in all seriousness, what prompted the quote?

Naphtali0501: Not at the moment.

Worldbringer of Joseun: Most of your commentary does seem to come down to one thing. My snippet format. I try to make a "complete" package in the sense that it introduces the idea and its main focus, introduces the type of humor, and introduces a future plot potential. I do this so people can pick up the pieces to make it their own. A result of this is that some things you may be interested aren't necessarily focused on. For example you mentioned you preferred political intrigue, but foresee it as background details. Obviously, I would find it interesting too. But because of the snippet format, I can't really get into it. If I were to seriously write this chapter, I would definitely put more of that in it rather than just leave it as a hitlist... unless I decide to go full comedy.

As for offering her sister, with a month or two of rejections, drastic measures need to be taken. Plus, better to give the Hero of Holfort a reason to protect her precious sister in case some asshole decides to sacrifice Hertrauda.

Hertrude's not a yandere, but every girl that falls for Leon has "heavy" love. Leon correctly perceives this. He just associates it to getting stabbed.

Tips for writing dialogue. Not so sure what I can advise. For starting out, I guess figure out your starting position for characters (mainly motivations), what each character wants, and what the end state is for each character based on plot. It really helps in not losing your focus. Add progression points to generally guide how you want the conversation to go. Add some basic dialogue to connect the points. Go over again to alter dialogue to match the characters more accurately. Go over again to capture the type of humor/misdirects/misunderstanding/etc. Very lengthy, but for a beginner, it at least helps to hash out the structure and forcing you to think how your characters would interact.

I skip several steps due to experience, but let's take a look at my Hertrude and Leon introduction. Hertrude's motivation is that she wants Leon both because she loves him and because he's a winner. Leon just wants to get married and live as a mob. He also had shown vocal disdain for the Kingdom's fawning over the prince and the unfair gender balance. Hertrude knows this and will insult the prince, insult the girls fawning over the masses, and hype up how boys are treated much better in Fanoss. Leon, in response, barely registers what Hertrude is actually saying because he doesn't want to get executed by Angelica. Hertrude semi gets the picture, and dials up the sex appeal. She never directly says betray the Kingdom for her. And you kinda get the point.

PlinPlinPlon: Pairs exceptionally well with the Oyakodon.

Jayswing103: Already started, abandoned, and posted. Ch 85: Abndoned Plots 2: First Impressions.