CaesriusPolybius
Worldgate Mechanic
- Location
- United States. Ish.
On a related note, we might want to see about coding... would Suspend() or Sleep() work better for a stun or paralysis Function?
Hold It In (RWBY/Transistor)
- Thread starter Prok
- Start date
- Crossover
Interlude: The Nobody. (Part 1)
Prok
Go play Star Fetchers
- Location
- Scotland
Actually, the figs take care of that problem! At least, if the wasp has crawled into a 'female' fig, which means it can't lay eggs safely, so it dies, but it does pollinate the fig in the process, and once it begins to ripen, an enzyme called ficin dissolves the corpse. So all you're crunching on are seeds, not wasp carcass, but every ripe fig has had a wasp inside it at some point. Then again, most pigs have probably had something less than savoury inside them at some point, and we still eat bacon.
Never say this quest isn't educational, and that figs aren't fascinating.
I've played about with the idea of a quest that expands on what's happening in the Fate Shop right now, where you actually play as the Seosten, and you have to possess people around your initial host in order to make it to a place worth being in. Then I looked at how my last original quest did and just kind of didn't.
And now, the mystery interlude. It's a three-parter.
|||
You hurt.
You got the call in the small hours of the morning, and you let it motivate you. What would be a three-day mission for you and your team, you completed in seven hours by yourself, and you hurt for it. Your hands of flesh and bone made steel through your soul tore the Grimm to pieces, but they took their pound of flesh in turn. By the time you were done, your Aura was broken, your body with it, gouges of flesh taken by the Grimm, your arms slashed to ribbons- Nevermore feathers sprouted from your back in such numbers that you seemed to be wearing a cape as black as spilt ink.
Your team saw you, the horror in their eyes as you stumbled into the camp, then out the other side, not allowing yourself to stop, to falter, only one thought in your mind.
Lennie tried to stop you, telling you to stay so he could treat your wounds, but you silenced him with four words.
"Can't stop. Baby's coming."
For a few more shambling steps, there was silence. Then he only said one thing.
"... Godspeed, you crazy fuck!" He yells, the rest of your team cheering you on to get your ass to the hospital.
You didn't pay it much attention. You were focused on your feet.
Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Right-
You stumbled, the rhythm broken, and suddenly you were next to the hospital- a small, squat building, barely a large brick hut. You must have stopped thinking about how far you were from the village.
You shambled to the door, pushing it open with a clumsy shoulder and giving the receptionist a small heart attack as she saw what state you were in. Her screams carried through the entire building, and suddenly you're the centre of attention.
"Roy?!" Doctor Mul yelled, her voice panicked as she rushed over to try and support your frame. Considering you're about half-over her size and twice her weight, you appreciate the thought if nothing else."Wh-what happened?!"
"Grimm." You told her as if that explained everything. "Where's Nella?"
"Wh- you're in no condition to see her, you have to-"
"Please. Just... before I pass out. Let me... lemme see..." You felt your head come over with a haze, words and thoughts began to blur together. You forced it away, refusing to let something as trivial as some blood loss stop you. You focused, using the pain as a catalyst to grind out one last sentence before speech left you.
"Let me see my kid."
Mul looked at you like you'd gone insane, but she looked up at you, past the long, thick beard, below the jutting brow, into your eyes, and she must have seen something you're not aware of there because she stayed silent and took you by the hand, leading you by it.
"Just try not to fall on me. Or get blood-" She glanced behind her, taking in the floor with a mild grimace. "-nevermind, too late for that."
You're led into a small room, curtains drawn around a bed, the sound of your wife screaming in pain, the midwife trying her best to keep her calm, instructing her in how to birth a child.
It hurt you, to hear that. You felt your heart gripped and squeezed and contorted with every yell of pain, and you found some reservoir of strength cracked open by it. You stood tall, your bald, bloody head easily poking over the top of the curtain, and you walked over, no longer shambling, no longer stumbling, because Nella needs you, and Nella needs you strong.
You poked a hand through the break in the curtain, drawing a yelp of surprise from wife and midwife both.
"R-Roy?! Is that you?"
"It's... me." You tell her, straining to get the words out. Your lips feel leaden, nearly impossible to move to form the words you want to say.
"B-but you're supposed to be hunting the Grimm!"
"I... did."
"... What do you mean you diiIIIAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
"You're crowning! Keep going, you're almost there!"
Resting your calloused hand on the rail, you felt her hand take yours, pain and stress giving her a frankly cruel level of strength to be subjecting your hand to, even if she couldn't actually wrap hers around it all that well.
She began to scream again, and you grit your teeth as your hand is subjected to the worst crushing sensation you've ever had to experience. You don't know how long this went on for, this cycle of screaming, hand crushing, and heavy, panting breaths. You felt your teeth grind, a miracle you didn't crack them, the pain was so intense. Still, you stayed silent but for small words of encouragement.
Then? Then came the crying. High, keening, begging for attention. A slight gurgling to it, like it was being done through a thin layer of mucus. You hear the midwife curse under her breath before scrambling for a tool of some sort. A moment later something was sucked away, and the gurgle disappeared, leaving the sound clear.
The baby. Your baby.
"... It's a girl!" The midwife said.
It was a girl. You had a daughter.
You had a daughter!
Your wife was breathing hard, and a snip later, the baby was cut from the umbilical cord, laid down on a small table next to the bed, where the midwife started to check it for... things, you heard something about heart rate. All you could see were silhouettes, the curtain still drawn around Nella's bed. The midwife handed your daughter to her after a few moments, and your wife went silent while you resisted the urge to rub your hand.
"Roy? Come in and see her." She asked you, the smile in her voice so, so obvious, it lit the room around you just to hear it. Everything that she'd just gone through didn't matter anymore because she was looking her baby in the eyes, and it was good.
"... I don't... I don't want you... to see me like... like this." You told her.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"I'm... not exactly... in great... great shape right now." You explain, every source of pain flaring up once more.
Nella stayed silent for a moment, the midwife still working around her, ahem, lower bits for the moment.
"... Ok. I understand. Er, Sister, could you... hand her to my husband?" Nella asked, and you find yourself smiling. She always did understand why you felt the need to be seen as... a rock.
"Of course." The midwife said, quickly getting off her knees and taking the baby from her mother. You stepped back as she shifting her way through the thin, blue curtain, managing not to open it too far. You shifted around, making sure to stay out of your wife's line of sight, which was the point where your knees simply gave out, leaving you to drop to them. When she finally spotted you, the young midwife, probably not even twenty-five, gave a slight yelp, before cutting herself off with a bit lip. Taking a deep breath, she handed it to you, squeaking out some instructions on how to hold her, and suddenly you're left with a bundle of fabric in your arms.
She was... so small.
Small enough that you could fit her in the palm of your hand if you felt like it. But... this was good. Looking at your daughter, her tiny face with those deep, muddy brown, too large eyes, looking back up at you with more curiosity than anything else, noting how the tufts of hair on the sides of her head left her looking almost as bald as you, you felt the pain just... melt away. Suddenly, the cuts along your arms meant nothing. The Nevermore feathers might as well have not been there. The holes, left by Boarbatusks trying their best to gore you, simply stopped existing.
You felt your Aura again, bolstered by the sheer... wonder, you feel, looking at your child. A smile, foreign to you at the best of times, tugs at your lips. The thin, blue light of your soul, still weak, still fragile, but getting stronger with every passing moment, began its task of keeping you alive for just a little longer. Long enough to enjoy this.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" You heard Nella say.
"... She's... so small."
"Only to you, you big lug!" She answered playfully. "... What should we name her?"
Oh God. You had no idea. Even if you weren't on the brink of unconsciousness, you would have no idea.
Then, unbidden, a flash, one final thing to say before you gave in to your injuries, numb as they were at that moment.
"... Ada... I... I like Ada..."
"... Ada Doyle." Your wife agreed. "It's beautiful, Roy."
You didn't respond. You wanted to remember this face forever. You wanted to commit it to memory before you...
Before... you...
As consciousness left you, you distinctly remember... not hurting anymore.
|||
You are nobody.
And you hurt.
You are sitting in a bar, nursing a bottle of beer, trying to think on the best day of your life.
You're trying. Which is better than some days.
The girl behind the counter doesn't seem to pick up on your unsaid desire to be left be and tries to strike up a conversation with you while she continues polishing a glass.
"Lien for your thoughts?" She asks, looking up at you. And up. And up.
... And up.
"Nothing much worth a lien going on up here." You tell her. "Besides, don't you have others to serve?"
That's a lie. This bar's mostly dead, except for some equally sad drunks and a small party going on in one of the booths by the sounds of it.
For some reason, she takes that as something to laugh at.
"Nah. See those fellas over there?" She asks, pointing subtly at some... rather rowdy fellows. The aforementioned party, you realise. "College tournament team. Good fighters, sure, can't not root for the home team, but I doubt there's a thought worth a lien rattling in any of those heads."
One of them begins chugging their drink, the others cheering them on. Full pint in fifteen seconds.
Amateur.
Slamming his glass down, he lets out a victory belch, echoing through the bar like a thunderstorm.
"Eurgh." The barmaid wrinkles her nose. "See? Animals, the bunch of them."
You snort, a sound much like the snuffling of a bull, but otherwise choose not to comment on it.
"Alright, I get it." You relent. "I was... thinking about the day my daughter was born."
You can see her heart softening already, her gentle smile growing. "Yeah? What's her name?"
You bring a hand to your head, rubbing an old scar. If you watched carefully, you would see her suddenly take in... all of that. Every line, every patch of scar tissue, all gathered over the years and put on display across your body like a tapestry of old aches and pains.
"... Ada. Her name's Ada. I'm, looking for her. A lot of stuff happened, back home, and she had to run. I'm, trying to find her again."
"... Oh. Well, I won't pry there. Any luck?"
"'Fraid not. I tried Vacuo, nobody there'd heard of her, so I'm going up to Vale. She would have been stuck to walking or hitchhiking, so I'm just kind of... hoping she's still on Sanus."
"... Wait, Vacuo and Vale? You don't know?"
You shake your head.
"I... just told her to run. Wasn't safe to tell her where, or ask where she was going."
She gives you a sympathetic look.
"Grimm attacks are harsh like that. At least she got out, right?"
You wince before you can catch yourself, and decide she probably saw.
"... Not Grimm."
Memories of a grin splitting a face in half, hair, golden, wild, a painfully anorexic body holding your daughter by the neck as those damned fingers roamed across her face-
The sound of crinkling glass in your hand brings you back. You look down and see that you've managed to crack the bottle, your grip was so tight.
The barmaid tenses up, dots suddenly connecting in her head. The glass in her hand slips free from the cloth, and you just about manage to catch it as it drops, your arm easily reaching the other side of the bar, your hand enveloping the glass completely. You place it on the counter, gently.
"... I'm, so sorry. I-I didn't know you came from-"
"It's fine. I was lucky."
So was she.
... Suddenly you don't want to talk so much anymore. Ignoring the leaking, you down the rest of your beer as quickly as you can, gently setting down the bottle so you don't actually shatter it.
"... I'll, go. How much do I owe you?" You ask her, palming yourself for your wallet.
"Nothing." She says, choosing not to look at you now.
You raise an eyebrow at the sudden charity, but don't question it.
"... Alright then. Thanks for the beer."
"Anytime. Good luck finding your daughter." She calls as you leave, and you raise a scarred arm in thanks.
Time to move along.
Always is.
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- Location
- Europe
Eldrich Terminator
- Location
- A state of cleverness
Seen it elsewhere too. Illuminatus trilogy was the one I was trying to remember. It's a crazy trip. @.@
So her father's first words to her cursed Ada into tinyness.
Also yeow that hit the feels. I mean, LISA, but still.
Looks like Ada might be getting a visit from her father if they actually happen to stumble into each other while in Vale.
ADeshantis
King on the Chromium Throne
- Location
- United states
nmWarden
Webcomic Glutton
- Location
- Texas
I wonder if he met any White Fang in Vacuo. Hear me out now: this wouldn't be the first time such an organization sought out trained mercenaries (or ex-Huntsmen) over civilian volunteers. That'd be an unexpected way for Ada and her father to meet again: him dragging another enemy to her doorstep.
As for the perpetrator here... we could be facing a rogue Maiden, a Witch from another fairy tale, or an enemy from Transistor. I'm not really expecting Ada's mortal mother to be her boogeyman.
As for the perpetrator here... we could be facing a rogue Maiden, a Witch from another fairy tale, or an enemy from Transistor. I'm not really expecting Ada's mortal mother to be her boogeyman.
ADeshantis
King on the Chromium Throne
- Location
- United states
Transistor doesn't really have combatant human enemies. Transistor barely has humans in it, honestly.
aren't the human foes all boss fights?
Prok
Go play Star Fetchers
- Location
- Scotland
I'm not even kidding when I say it's my honest goal to make people cry reading something I've written. Evoking that kind of emotional response from other people would be a first for me.
Then again, so would evoking any kind of lasting memory in people, so hey, twofer.
With the Grimm looming on every doorstep, the White Fang promoting equality whether you fucking like it or not, and Salem going after world-changing artefacts, I think it's sometimes difficult, with RWBY, to remember that...
You know what? You'll see.
I wouldn't really call Sybil human by the time you get to her, Grant and Asher kill themselves before you even get near them, so Royce is the only human boss fight in the entire game, and the only other living human.
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- Location
- A state of cleverness
Two out of three bosses, yeah.
And we turned one of them into part of the Transistor AI here.
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- Location
- Elsewhere
...
There's no Joy here, is there?
There's no Joy here, is there?
bigpianist
alcoholic
- Location
- Gensokyo
The man's mighty beard must be infused with alcohol and drugs. All the better to do those bristly beard face-rubs that children hate when you hug them....
There's no Joy here, is there?
- Location
- A state of cleverness
People are absolute dicks?
I mean, his Semblance makes him sound like Buddy/Roy is Colossus.
But you comment makes me wish he was Snowflame.
- Location
- Southern California
Funnily enough, I actually found this out about two minutes after posting. Guess that's what I get for not fact-checking until after saying something. That being said, you still gave more information on the subject than I found in my cursory google search.
See, now I feel kinda bad for not actually participating in that one, because I actually found it really interesting and enjoyable to read.
Also: damn, Ada's had it rough.
- Location
- Jaburo
That raises a question. What would happen if one were to snort Dust?
I'llNameThisL8r
Bad at names
- Location
- Here
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Either nothing or nothing good.
Prok
Go play Star Fetchers
- Location
- Scotland
Having done a quick post-mortem of it, my main problem was the fact that it was from a completely alien perspective, on top of not really being that character focused, which is... definitely my strong point, I'm not even going to debate that now, I really do shine where actual characters are concerned, and Pyres didn't really have them in any appreciable measure. On top of that, the sheer scale and number of, er, numbers I'd eventually have to take care of would probably end up being intimidating even to people used to numbers upon numbers.
In retrospect, it wasn't... the most elegant system I had planned out. Not for a quest, anyway.
Pile on an average of about three votes per update, and you can't really expect me to carry it on sheer enthusiasm, you know?
Next time'll go better, though!
Hopefully.
It makes you sneeze.
And we all know what sneezing around Dust does.
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nmWarden
Webcomic Glutton
- Location
- Texas
Assuming this message was from your phone I want this to be another reason that Jaune will never forget to charge his scroll. Maybe he'll remind his teammates about that too. It's as likely to save your life as your weapon after all. And besides it is critical to getting an embarrassing picture of fellow students!
ADeshantis
King on the Chromium Throne
- Location
- United states
I had nothing to do with this.
Interlude: DisJaunored
Prok
Go play Star Fetchers
- Location
- Scotland
Power's back!
So! I wrote out part 2 of The Nobody interlude, looked it over, and realised I would probably step on some toes if I published it as is. Not your toes, no, moderator toes. The ones that actually matter.
The toes that stub back.
... This analogy is breaking down- my point is, after some heavy editing, I sent off the main problem part for approval, and now... I'm just, waiting, and I don't wanna start actual story updates back up until I've finished it, so, have an interlude instead.
|||
The world fades. Not into grey, but into purple. The mark on the back of your hand, black at the best of times, shines even darker through the gloves you use to cover it up. You watch Pyrrha slow to a standstill, halfway through asking you what you meant by 'I shouldn't be here.'
"Well? What did you mean by that?" The man with the black eyes and the red leather jacket asks you. "Were you talking about your failure at school, unable to utilise your abilities to their fullest, scared of being discovered, and subsequent faking of transcripts? Or were you referring to your pact with me specifically?"
You don't respond to him at first, before realising he's not going away.
"... Both, I suppose." You relent. "I mean, the transcripts would get me kicked out, but... this..." You gesture to your left hand, the sparking, tingling sensation of a forced Time Stop leaving it a little numb. "This could get me executed."
"The Abbey has no such power in Vale. You may be given a cold shoulder, but I hardly doubt you'll be hunted down unless you decide a trip to Atlas sounds like fun."
You finally turn to face him.
"And that's better? I don't, I don't want to become the next, the next Steele, the next Auntie Goodwitch, I want to live a normal goddamn life, just for a little while!" You tell him, unconcerned for anyone overhearing you. A conversation held betwixt moments cannot be overheard by those who cannot slip between them like you.
"And yet you took my Mark. I can't help but sense a certain dissonance between your actions and words, Jaune."
"You say that as if they're mutually exclusive! Am I not allowed both?! I'm a Huntsman, is that not entertaining enough for you?!"
"There are many Huntsmen. None of them tried to beat down three people twice their size at ten for hurting their sister. You take my gift, and you squander it, and I can see why you do."
"Really? You can see why I squander your gift? Well, fucking enlighten me!" You yell in his face, to no effect.
"You are scared."
The words cut through to your core, and you find yourself... surprisingly calm. Almost relieved that somebody finally said it.
"You feel you will be ostracised the moment that you tell someone, so you don't tell them, you know you will be found out the moment you use it, but you know you're going to fail if you don't... a vicious cycle, with no easy answer."
You stay silent, your chest numbing as you realise he's right.
"... Will you continue like this? Allowing yourself to stew in your own anxiety, crippling yourself by not using my Mark, and perpetuating the cycle, or... will you take the plunge?"
You stare at him, silently uncomprehending. Noting your look with some mild annoyance, your benefactor nods to Pyrrha.
"The Invincible Girl. She only wishes to help. Does she seem like a follower of the Abbey? I know nothing of her, but... I would not say so. Indeed, she seems a safe haven in a stormy sea. If she takes it well, all is well. If she doesn't, then you have no reason to hide your powers anymore."
... For a moment, you consider his words. He does have a point.
She's from Mistral, and, yeah, Mistral, they might not be as bad as Atlas, but they're... not far behind. Still, she hasn't done any of the preaching bollocks you've heard Schnee go on about, so either she's quiet about it, or she's not a follower. Either way, she'll have heard all the propaganda about the Outsider and his worshippers, and that... ugh. Even if she doesn't try to kill you, she's going to be as uncomfortable as anything around you, assuming she doesn't accidentally blurt it out to someone, then it's just... ugh.
"If you don't tell someone, you will only destroy yourself."
You feel your fists ball up, and you move back to the edge of the rooftop with a speed that would probably have Pyrrha scared shitless.
You don't jump off, of course. You simply stand there and scream your frustration for nobody to hear.
By the time you finish, you feel... quite a lot better, actually. Screaming until your throat is hoarse is surprisingly therapeutic. You take a deep breath, before looking back to the black-eyed man.
"... Ok. Ok, fine. I'll... I'll tell her."
"What you choose to do is your choice alone. Telling her is but one of the many options you have, Jaune. All I ask is that you pick an interesting one."
With that, The Outsider fades away, and the world... unpurples.
"...mean?" You hear Pyrrha finish her sentence, before looking around for you. "Huh? Jaune, where did you- ah!"
She starts slightly, seeing you directly behind her, and just barely keeps from throwing herself off the roof in your place.
"Whoa, hey, you just pulled me back from that ledge!" You tell her, quickly grabbing her hand and steadying her.
"Wh- how did you- you were right in front of me!" She says, before coming to some revelation. "... Jaune, did you discover your Semblance?"
"No." You cut off that line of thought before you can use it as an excuse, and take a deep breath, trying your absolute damnedest to just take the plunge. "I... can I, ask you a personal question?"
Testing the waters is always a good idea before plunging into them. Right?
"... Go on."
"How... how do you feel about the Abbey? Specifically, their beliefs?"
She blinks, but brings a fist to her mouth in thought anyway, seeming to seriously consider the question. The ten seconds or so that it takes her to formulate an answer are the longest ten seconds of your life, and you regularly talk to a godlike being who stops time on a whim.
"I... respect those who follow its teachings, and the teachings themselves, but I do not follow them because there are certain parts of it that..." She looks down for a moment. "Rub me the wrong way. It is... flawed if followed blindly. That's the only way I really know how to put it."
You nod, finding her answer at least somewhat comforting.
"... And... what about their teachings on the Outsider?"
Pyrrha freezes, and you fear you may have just stepped on a landmine.
"The Outsider's cultists are savages, but..." She looks away fully this time, turning to look out towards the tower. You could hear the uncertainty in her voice, the lack of conviction in her answer.
You hear her mumble something.
"... I'm sorry?"
"... Nobody deserves the stake."
... Oh. Oh dear.
"... I'm so sorry." You tell her.
"It's fine. It's... been some time. I... I like to think I've moved on." She tells you, her voice cracking ever so slightly.
You don't know if you should do this now. Like, after that, it just seems kind of... tasteless.
And the whole savage cultist comment doesn't help-
"Can I... ask why this came up?" Pyrrha asks after a moment, and you freeze up. "I doubt that you're just asking out of curiosity."
You stay silent, words leaving you. She looks at you with those big, green eyes and smiles warmly at you.
"Jaune... we're teammates. If we can't talk to each other, who can we talk to?"
You scoff, immediately regretting how dismissive it sounded, before rolling with it and turning away from her for a moment.
"Pyrrha, I appreciate the sentiment, but... this isn't the kind of thing you just go and tell people. It could... it could get me killed, at worst."
"... What... what are you talking about?" She asks before you hear a gasp, suddenly connecting dots in her head. "... Jaune, do you worship the Outs-"
You whip around, cutting her off quickly before the thought can settle.
"No! It's... just... look, Pyrrha, I-I like you, I really do, I respect you as a fighter, as a teammate, you're honestly one of the nicest people I've met, and I can still barely manage to work up the trust I need to talk to you about this!"
Silence. Nothing but your breathing in your ears, and your heart pounding out of your chest from sheer nerves, you almost wonder if she's about to just break and run, leaving you to stew in your stress once more.
"... They caught her with a bone charm." She starts, walking over to you. "She had no idea what it was, except for the fact that it was warm when she was cold, and that it whispered to her, small comforts, nothing bad, just encouragement to keep going. She needed it, a lot of days."
You look up at her just in time to feel her hands on her shoulders.
"Her name was Euphemia. I met her every day on my way home from practice, this homeless girl just my age, and we were... friends. She showed me it, one day, let me hold it, and it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, this, crudely made trinket of bone and metal. It loved her, and she loved it, because with it, things just... felt ok."
She leads you to the bench near the door, and you both sit down for a moment.
"... The Overseers caught her. Even with laws against passing down harsh sentences for minor crimes in place, they just wouldn't stop pushing. It was like they were trying to make an example of her- everybody knew the judge was in their pocket, they were pressuring the jury, and in the end... she burned."
She looks away, trying to hide the tears in her eyes.
"... My parents tried to stop me. They tried to stop me from going to see her one last time, and I regret not listening to them because nobody should have to watch someone they love burn at the stake." Her voice cracks, and you find yourself...
Speechless.
She looks at you again, not even bothering to hide the cracking of her voice or the shine of tears in her eyes.
"... Please. I... I want to know. You say it could get you killed, and I want to know, so it doesn't have to be a surprise if we end up losing you to the Abbey as well. I don't- I don't want Ren and Nora to go through what I did. Even if you don't trust them with it, trust me, for them."
... What do you say to that?
What can you say to that, but the truth?
"... Ok. If you're sure."
You pull off your left glove and show her the back of your hand. After a moment of looking at it in the dark, Pyrrha gasps, her own hand covering her mouth to muffle the noise. After several, painful seconds, the shock passes, and she speaks.
"... You... how? Why? Why would you-"
You cut her off with a raised hand, silently begging for silence.
You take a deep breath, and you tell her your story. How, at ten, you were given his Mark in the middle of trying and failing to beat up three high school punks who were beating your sister for not having money, how you didn't really understand what you were agreeing to but fuck, man, it was your sister, and when the world started again, you felt stronger, faster, you could move from place to place without occupying the space in between, how taking down all three of them was effortless...
Nothing is held back. You give her the cliff notes of what you can do, and seven years of baggage all in the space of ten minutes.
When you finish, you feel... lighter. So, so much lighter.
"... And you... talk to him?"
"I talked to him not even fifteen minutes ago. You know, when I just suddenly appeared behind you?"
She replays the moment in her head, suddenly realising what it meant.
"... Oh my heavens I wasn't even 20 feet from the Outsider."
"Yep."
Pyrrha... chooses not to ponder on that for the moment, you think.
"You have a direct line to the being that the Abbey despises, and his Mark on your hand- how do you cope with that kind of stress?"
"... Honestly? I don't. I've just, gotten so used to it that I don't even notice I'm stressed out anymore. It's my norm."
She seems to go through several emotions hearing that, before settling on near-heartbroken.
"... Did it feel good? To get it off your chest?"
"It was the best decision I've ever made. You're the only other person who knows about this, now, and I didn't realise how much I needed that. Well, you and the Outsider, I guess. You?"
"... It... made me realise I probably haven't moved on as much as I hoped I had."
You both stay silent for a moment, just... watching the starts together.
"... Do you want to talk about it more?"
"Do you?"
"More than anything else."
And so you talked, about her friend, about your Mark, about the Outsider and the weird tasks he sets you every now and then, and the night passes by.
By sunrise, you both find yourself drifting into sleep, not enough to keep the other awake.
Your bodies may have suffered, but your minds were more than grateful for the sacrifice.
So! I wrote out part 2 of The Nobody interlude, looked it over, and realised I would probably step on some toes if I published it as is. Not your toes, no, moderator toes. The ones that actually matter.
The toes that stub back.
... This analogy is breaking down- my point is, after some heavy editing, I sent off the main problem part for approval, and now... I'm just, waiting, and I don't wanna start actual story updates back up until I've finished it, so, have an interlude instead.
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The world fades. Not into grey, but into purple. The mark on the back of your hand, black at the best of times, shines even darker through the gloves you use to cover it up. You watch Pyrrha slow to a standstill, halfway through asking you what you meant by 'I shouldn't be here.'
"Well? What did you mean by that?" The man with the black eyes and the red leather jacket asks you. "Were you talking about your failure at school, unable to utilise your abilities to their fullest, scared of being discovered, and subsequent faking of transcripts? Or were you referring to your pact with me specifically?"
You don't respond to him at first, before realising he's not going away.
"... Both, I suppose." You relent. "I mean, the transcripts would get me kicked out, but... this..." You gesture to your left hand, the sparking, tingling sensation of a forced Time Stop leaving it a little numb. "This could get me executed."
"The Abbey has no such power in Vale. You may be given a cold shoulder, but I hardly doubt you'll be hunted down unless you decide a trip to Atlas sounds like fun."
You finally turn to face him.
"And that's better? I don't, I don't want to become the next, the next Steele, the next Auntie Goodwitch, I want to live a normal goddamn life, just for a little while!" You tell him, unconcerned for anyone overhearing you. A conversation held betwixt moments cannot be overheard by those who cannot slip between them like you.
"And yet you took my Mark. I can't help but sense a certain dissonance between your actions and words, Jaune."
"You say that as if they're mutually exclusive! Am I not allowed both?! I'm a Huntsman, is that not entertaining enough for you?!"
"There are many Huntsmen. None of them tried to beat down three people twice their size at ten for hurting their sister. You take my gift, and you squander it, and I can see why you do."
"Really? You can see why I squander your gift? Well, fucking enlighten me!" You yell in his face, to no effect.
"You are scared."
The words cut through to your core, and you find yourself... surprisingly calm. Almost relieved that somebody finally said it.
"You feel you will be ostracised the moment that you tell someone, so you don't tell them, you know you will be found out the moment you use it, but you know you're going to fail if you don't... a vicious cycle, with no easy answer."
You stay silent, your chest numbing as you realise he's right.
"... Will you continue like this? Allowing yourself to stew in your own anxiety, crippling yourself by not using my Mark, and perpetuating the cycle, or... will you take the plunge?"
You stare at him, silently uncomprehending. Noting your look with some mild annoyance, your benefactor nods to Pyrrha.
"The Invincible Girl. She only wishes to help. Does she seem like a follower of the Abbey? I know nothing of her, but... I would not say so. Indeed, she seems a safe haven in a stormy sea. If she takes it well, all is well. If she doesn't, then you have no reason to hide your powers anymore."
... For a moment, you consider his words. He does have a point.
She's from Mistral, and, yeah, Mistral, they might not be as bad as Atlas, but they're... not far behind. Still, she hasn't done any of the preaching bollocks you've heard Schnee go on about, so either she's quiet about it, or she's not a follower. Either way, she'll have heard all the propaganda about the Outsider and his worshippers, and that... ugh. Even if she doesn't try to kill you, she's going to be as uncomfortable as anything around you, assuming she doesn't accidentally blurt it out to someone, then it's just... ugh.
"If you don't tell someone, you will only destroy yourself."
You feel your fists ball up, and you move back to the edge of the rooftop with a speed that would probably have Pyrrha scared shitless.
You don't jump off, of course. You simply stand there and scream your frustration for nobody to hear.
By the time you finish, you feel... quite a lot better, actually. Screaming until your throat is hoarse is surprisingly therapeutic. You take a deep breath, before looking back to the black-eyed man.
"... Ok. Ok, fine. I'll... I'll tell her."
"What you choose to do is your choice alone. Telling her is but one of the many options you have, Jaune. All I ask is that you pick an interesting one."
With that, The Outsider fades away, and the world... unpurples.
"...mean?" You hear Pyrrha finish her sentence, before looking around for you. "Huh? Jaune, where did you- ah!"
She starts slightly, seeing you directly behind her, and just barely keeps from throwing herself off the roof in your place.
"Whoa, hey, you just pulled me back from that ledge!" You tell her, quickly grabbing her hand and steadying her.
"Wh- how did you- you were right in front of me!" She says, before coming to some revelation. "... Jaune, did you discover your Semblance?"
"No." You cut off that line of thought before you can use it as an excuse, and take a deep breath, trying your absolute damnedest to just take the plunge. "I... can I, ask you a personal question?"
Testing the waters is always a good idea before plunging into them. Right?
"... Go on."
"How... how do you feel about the Abbey? Specifically, their beliefs?"
She blinks, but brings a fist to her mouth in thought anyway, seeming to seriously consider the question. The ten seconds or so that it takes her to formulate an answer are the longest ten seconds of your life, and you regularly talk to a godlike being who stops time on a whim.
"I... respect those who follow its teachings, and the teachings themselves, but I do not follow them because there are certain parts of it that..." She looks down for a moment. "Rub me the wrong way. It is... flawed if followed blindly. That's the only way I really know how to put it."
You nod, finding her answer at least somewhat comforting.
"... And... what about their teachings on the Outsider?"
Pyrrha freezes, and you fear you may have just stepped on a landmine.
"The Outsider's cultists are savages, but..." She looks away fully this time, turning to look out towards the tower. You could hear the uncertainty in her voice, the lack of conviction in her answer.
You hear her mumble something.
"... I'm sorry?"
"... Nobody deserves the stake."
... Oh. Oh dear.
"... I'm so sorry." You tell her.
"It's fine. It's... been some time. I... I like to think I've moved on." She tells you, her voice cracking ever so slightly.
You don't know if you should do this now. Like, after that, it just seems kind of... tasteless.
And the whole savage cultist comment doesn't help-
"Can I... ask why this came up?" Pyrrha asks after a moment, and you freeze up. "I doubt that you're just asking out of curiosity."
You stay silent, words leaving you. She looks at you with those big, green eyes and smiles warmly at you.
"Jaune... we're teammates. If we can't talk to each other, who can we talk to?"
You scoff, immediately regretting how dismissive it sounded, before rolling with it and turning away from her for a moment.
"Pyrrha, I appreciate the sentiment, but... this isn't the kind of thing you just go and tell people. It could... it could get me killed, at worst."
"... What... what are you talking about?" She asks before you hear a gasp, suddenly connecting dots in her head. "... Jaune, do you worship the Outs-"
You whip around, cutting her off quickly before the thought can settle.
"No! It's... just... look, Pyrrha, I-I like you, I really do, I respect you as a fighter, as a teammate, you're honestly one of the nicest people I've met, and I can still barely manage to work up the trust I need to talk to you about this!"
Silence. Nothing but your breathing in your ears, and your heart pounding out of your chest from sheer nerves, you almost wonder if she's about to just break and run, leaving you to stew in your stress once more.
"... They caught her with a bone charm." She starts, walking over to you. "She had no idea what it was, except for the fact that it was warm when she was cold, and that it whispered to her, small comforts, nothing bad, just encouragement to keep going. She needed it, a lot of days."
You look up at her just in time to feel her hands on her shoulders.
"Her name was Euphemia. I met her every day on my way home from practice, this homeless girl just my age, and we were... friends. She showed me it, one day, let me hold it, and it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, this, crudely made trinket of bone and metal. It loved her, and she loved it, because with it, things just... felt ok."
She leads you to the bench near the door, and you both sit down for a moment.
"... The Overseers caught her. Even with laws against passing down harsh sentences for minor crimes in place, they just wouldn't stop pushing. It was like they were trying to make an example of her- everybody knew the judge was in their pocket, they were pressuring the jury, and in the end... she burned."
She looks away, trying to hide the tears in her eyes.
"... My parents tried to stop me. They tried to stop me from going to see her one last time, and I regret not listening to them because nobody should have to watch someone they love burn at the stake." Her voice cracks, and you find yourself...
Speechless.
She looks at you again, not even bothering to hide the cracking of her voice or the shine of tears in her eyes.
"... Please. I... I want to know. You say it could get you killed, and I want to know, so it doesn't have to be a surprise if we end up losing you to the Abbey as well. I don't- I don't want Ren and Nora to go through what I did. Even if you don't trust them with it, trust me, for them."
... What do you say to that?
What can you say to that, but the truth?
"... Ok. If you're sure."
You pull off your left glove and show her the back of your hand. After a moment of looking at it in the dark, Pyrrha gasps, her own hand covering her mouth to muffle the noise. After several, painful seconds, the shock passes, and she speaks.
"... You... how? Why? Why would you-"
You cut her off with a raised hand, silently begging for silence.
You take a deep breath, and you tell her your story. How, at ten, you were given his Mark in the middle of trying and failing to beat up three high school punks who were beating your sister for not having money, how you didn't really understand what you were agreeing to but fuck, man, it was your sister, and when the world started again, you felt stronger, faster, you could move from place to place without occupying the space in between, how taking down all three of them was effortless...
Nothing is held back. You give her the cliff notes of what you can do, and seven years of baggage all in the space of ten minutes.
When you finish, you feel... lighter. So, so much lighter.
"... And you... talk to him?"
"I talked to him not even fifteen minutes ago. You know, when I just suddenly appeared behind you?"
She replays the moment in her head, suddenly realising what it meant.
"... Oh my heavens I wasn't even 20 feet from the Outsider."
"Yep."
Pyrrha... chooses not to ponder on that for the moment, you think.
"You have a direct line to the being that the Abbey despises, and his Mark on your hand- how do you cope with that kind of stress?"
"... Honestly? I don't. I've just, gotten so used to it that I don't even notice I'm stressed out anymore. It's my norm."
She seems to go through several emotions hearing that, before settling on near-heartbroken.
"... Did it feel good? To get it off your chest?"
"It was the best decision I've ever made. You're the only other person who knows about this, now, and I didn't realise how much I needed that. Well, you and the Outsider, I guess. You?"
"... It... made me realise I probably haven't moved on as much as I hoped I had."
You both stay silent for a moment, just... watching the starts together.
"... Do you want to talk about it more?"
"Do you?"
"More than anything else."
And so you talked, about her friend, about your Mark, about the Outsider and the weird tasks he sets you every now and then, and the night passes by.
By sunrise, you both find yourself drifting into sleep, not enough to keep the other awake.
Your bodies may have suffered, but your minds were more than grateful for the sacrifice.
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ADeshantis
King on the Chromium Throne
- Location
- United states
This interlude. <3
- Location
- A state of cleverness
Notbad.jpg. I'm not so sure that the Outsider would intervene to get Jaune to open up about the Mark, the dude sticks to his non-interference policy pretty strongly.
...Except when one of his Marked goes really off-script. Huh. Cinder's got a Mark of her own doesn't she? Or maybe Salem hahahaha.
(It's a pity Dishonored 2 was more A Thing than really good.)
...Except when one of his Marked goes really off-script. Huh. Cinder's got a Mark of her own doesn't she? Or maybe Salem hahahaha.
(It's a pity Dishonored 2 was more A Thing than really good.)