005; video

[denies]

[ It doesn't seem like the video was made intentionally, since at first there's nothing to see on it, just a floor. But then it slowly pans up, showing pews much like the ones you'd see in a church. A wet trail lingers in the path between them, and it's like the camera is slowly following it, the muffled sound of rain in the background.

It stops though when it seems to reach the end of the path with the pews, panning up to show that the place is like some sort of chapel - but it's not empty now. Slowly a girl becomes visible, standing at the front of the chapel and looking up at the large windows. She's completely soaked by the rain, the water slowly dripping off her clothes and limps. Only her back is visible so her expression or face can't be seen, but even so it's easy to tell it's definitely Ange standing there, fully alive again but not saying a word so there's no interruption in the sound of the rain in the distance.

It's almost like the video is glitching a little though, since for the briefest second it's like there's not Ange standing there, but only a little girl sitting in the front pew, crying with her tiny fists pressed against her face. But it's barely visible before it just goes back to the image of Ange standing there until it slowly fades out after a few moments. ]

Comments

action; HIDES I'M SORRY FOR THE TL;DR I DO WHAT I WANT everyone just.. ignore this...

[tenminutes]

[ Yuri lie on the bed, same as each day once she'd finally settled down to check the community. She always did a variety of things. Tried to learn something new, tried to figure out different ways to help Kirito or just plain exercised to make sure that she stayed in shape. One of the things she liked to do was go out running in the rain at Rokkenjima, even if she knew it was a little dangerous and she always had to clean up afterward since she never brought an umbrella. Battler had always worried about her so much more than she had.

Most importantly, Yuri had to try not to think about Ange, or how she couldn't do anything to save and protect the people important to her again. She knew that there wasn't anything she could do, not when the witches were involved, but even though she'd become satisfied and managed to protect those deceased that she knew, a lot of times she still felt just as powerless as she used to. Especially when she'd seen Ange get torn to shreds for the second time. Not the first, but the second time she'd been unable to protect the poor girl. It wasn't as though she was the only one, but losing her again and again.. even if she wasn't the only one who'd seen that, the pain seared through her heart like she'd lost a family member. Yuri had even been relatively quiet around Battler for the past few days, a feat that many would consider both suspicious and highly improbable.

Here she was again, falling into that same routine. Lying on her stomach, toying with the little scroll wheel on her laptop's mouse, idly going through the new posts whether they be courtesy of their ducky overlord or intentional and she saw this one. She saw Ange. Yuri didn't watch the entirety of the post because she knew exactly where that was. Only a few seconds after seeing Ange's image did she leave her laptop open, not even bothering to close the video, and pull her shoes back on hurriedly before breaking into a run. Yuri didn't care if she ran into anyone or if she accidentally bumped into a table-- she didn't, just by sheer reflex, but if she had it would've really been no concern of hers.

It was that place that they'd gone when she'd first come to this world back when she and Battler barely knew each other, the chapel. It was one of the places she knew so well just because it was burned into her memory and now Ange was coming back there and as soon as Yuri burst through the door, lungs burning with the effort she'd taken to get there as quickly as possible, even pushing herself as fit as she was. The ever-present drizzling on this damned island had soaked her clothing, her hair, and the tiny droplets even trickled down her cheek and her neck but Yuri wasn't particularly concerned. For once, Yuri Nakamura paid little heed to how she looked. She didn't need to appear professional or in command of herself. Right now she just wanted to see Ange, to see that she was at the very least alive more than anything.

After all, she knew that there was no way she was okay. Whatever that "truth" that she had discovered was, there was no way that Ange was okay. Yuri wouldn't expect that of her, but alive was something she could settle for. It was something Yuri nearly wanted to start crying about just because this meant that Ange wasn't dead for whatever reason. The community or Battler had something to do with it or one of the other witches, maybe. It could be a damn mystery for all Yuri cared, as long as it was still Ange and she still had her memories.

Yuri's voice didn't hesitate. It was clear and loud and as she pushed the doors to the chapel open she shouted out to the girl as thought saying her name was supposed to make everything better, even if she knew for a fact that it could never. ]

Ange!

[ It didn't take her a second more to burst through the doors and run past each of the pews toward the other girl. ]

ignores your tag

[entreats]

[ She can hear Yuri. Of course she can. There's nothing else in the chapel and it's not like the rain is louder than her voice as she yells, so she hears the door behind pushed open and the shout itself, she even hears the girl's footsteps across the chapel. But even so, Ange doesn't move to turn around at first. It's like she's a statue, standing there perfectly frozen.

But when Yuri almost reaches her, she finally turns around to look at the other girl. The front of Ange makes her look even worse. Sure, all the blood is gone and she's fully back towards normal, but she's still completely drenched from the rain. Her face is particularly wet, but that's definitely not just the rain considering the streaks beneath her eyes and the fact that said eyes are almost completely red from crying.

Her legs shake. She doesn't even know what to say. She just stands there and stares, her voice cracking a little as she speaks up, as if she hasn't spoken in forever - completely broken. ]

Y.. Yuri..

ah yes i figured

[tenminutes]

[ As she gets closer, Yuri reaches her hand up to put it on top of Ange's head. She seems to be catching her breath rather quickly, so by the time she's up to Ange her breath's steadied quite a bit. She can see the tears on Ange's face, the wet of the rain. Yuri knows that whatever the case is, whatever that truth that's in the catbox is, it wasn't something that Battler wanted Ange to find out. It wasn't something pretty, it wasn't something that could satisfy her. It was something that hurt more than anything.

Yuri'd stopped caring what the truth was long ago beyond that Ange wanted to know it and.. if she found it out, then that's important, but there's no way that she could ever be glad that it hurt Ange this much. So much she died and came back like a miracle. So as Yuri's fingers touched Ange's hair, she just sat it there for a moment trying to be comforting. Yuri was never one much for hugs-- it rarely happened with her initiating it, but this was one case in which she felt she was going to have to. The hand trailed down Ange's hair, then wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her in.

Yuri was pretty sure that anything either of them said for the moment wouldn't really be all that important, as long as Ange knew that she was there. ]

[entreats]

[ It's not like Ange could talk if she'd want to at this point, either way. Because she just allows Yuri to hug her like that, no matter that it might look a little awkward with Ange being taller, but.. the moment Yuri moves to wrap her arms around her, she breaks all over again. Not literally this time, her flesh is still completely in place where it should be, but mentally she just can't keep anything like the usual up anymore. She starts crying again, loudly this time, wailing like a little kid. Normally she would be more ashamed of herself for doing this or more concerned with keeping up her usual front, but she can't. Does it even matter? Like this, everything is gone. Every last bit she believes in, every last hope she held was pulled away from her. She would have been glad if she could just have stayed dead, really, why did Battler have to pull her back like this when it just hurts?

There's some strength in her to leave her standing, but she's also definitely at least a little slumped against Yuri as she cries like that. Despite her being brought back to life, there's no energy left there. No spirit at all. ]

[ifbymyhands]

...Ange.

[entreats]

[ The reply comes quite a bit later than the video broadcast. And it's not video anymore, but just handwritten - but hey, it's better than nothing, right? She's probably just hiding. ]

What is it?

[ifbymyhands]

I'm not really surprised, but I'm happy all the same.

[entreats]

You should thank onii-chan then in that case. If it was up to me, I never would have come back to begin with.

[ It's more open than she usually is, but she just.. literally doesn't care anymore. Everything she believed in is gone. What's the point? ]

action;

[chestboard]

[slowly the doors to the chapel opened, a man in a cape came walking forward, a hand in his pocket and he didn't seem to be too worried about all this, about the fact that she was here again. after all, he was the one that allowed her to be here, brought her back, and now he was walking towards her at a steady gait.

once he was beside her he stopped, still staring forward at what she was looking at but his expression didn't change. he knew what she was thinking, what she was wanting, but he couldn't give her any of that just yet, the game hadn't begun, not until he said it would.]

Welcome back, Ange.

[that was all he could say at this moment, what he had been wanting to say, and he wasn't too sure what to expect from her at this point.]

[entreats]

[ Ange doesn't really know anymore either. What Bernkastel showed it.. she still can't accept it, yet that witch said it was the truth, that their parents really did kill everyone, that her mother really didn't care about her whatsoever.. the thought threatens to tear her apart yet again even as she's just standing here, completely soaked by the rain, her face completely stained even more so by her tears, her eyes big and red and puffy from crying so much over it.

Part of her wants to reach out to him, cling to him, hug him, but at the same time it's like she can't. And she doesn't even know why. ]

Why..? [ She still doesn't look at him, especially since they're standing there side to side, but her gaze drops from what she was looking at to the floor. ] Why.. did you bring me back, onii-chan..? Is that's the truth... you.. should've just left me like that.. [ Her voice is tiny and it sounds a little raspy, either from the crying or from only being revived a little bit ago, making her words only sound worse. ]

[chestboard]

[well, not like he wanted her to see any of that either way, he wanted to show her the truth in a different way, one way to get her to believe him when he said that it was time to move on and it was okay to.

this will make it more complicated but that's alright, it hurts him to do this to her too but he's wearing a smile as he talks.]

Onii-chan brought you back because you deserve to be here, with all of us. We were going to have a family conference right? One where everyone laughed and had fun, none of those stories of anyone killing each other.

That's not the truth I want for you after all. This game, my last game... is for you.

[entreats]

[ It's like he's talking to her again like she's a child, like he did before when he first became that sorcerer. The fact registers somewhere in the back of her brain, but after everything she's seen and heart she can't bring herself to care anymore. Not about this, not about anything-- if their parents are really the culprits, then her search was doomed from the beginning, then even the family she loved so long ago.. was a lie, wasn't it..? If her mother really doesn't care, then there was no one there for her from the very beginning..

The thought hurts her more than anything, and she has to bite her lip hard enough to make it bleed a little to even hold back the tears that threaten to fall at the thought. ]

You're saying.. that what Bernkastel said, all of it, that isn't the truth? [ It's desperate, it's almost like she's pleading. Please let it not be true, it'd ruin her, she might as well die if it is.. and he knows, right?! So he should tell her, he's the only one who can save her, if she doesn't have her brother then she'd truly completely alone, truly forever lost. ] Did mom and dad r.. really kill everyone..?! Onii-chan..!

video;

[tunics]

Hey... Ange!

[he knew that she was gone, that she had been gone, and he had been wanting to look for her-... but she was back now, and something seemed a little off with her.]

Are you alright-... how are you... [back so soon? no, he won't say that, he's just happy she's here.]

I'm glad you're back.

[entreats]

[ The response comes a little later after the broadcast - enough for there to be a noticable pause, not even just a few minutes but much longer than that. It's also written rather than being video like before. ]

Sorry, Link. [ She wants to write more, but she's not sure what, not even sure what to say or where to start. Everything is just so mixed up and messed up, she doesn't know what to do anymore.. ]

[tunics]

[written even? that settles thing, makes him want to see her if she's in such pain like this. he's her friend, and he wants to be there for her.]

Can I come to your world?

[entreats]

[ There's another pause. But this time it isn't since she's preoccupied with other things, it's since she's thinking. She doesn't know what to say or do. She doesn't want to be alone, but on the other hand, she doesn't want anything else either.

She doesn't.. want anything anymore...

In the end she writes very, very slowly. ]

If you can. [ She knows Rokkenjima tends to not usually be very easily accessible.. ]

[makewayforroze]

[In all of her years here, she's never been so happy to see a video. Since she had seen her die, that image had stayed in head, making it hard to do anything but think of her as dead.

The smile flickers on her face a little when the video does but that can come after. Right now, the important thing, the only thing, was that she was there.]

Ange? Ange, how are you?

[entreats]

[ Normally she would have been quick to jump in and reassure Roze, but this is different. Because she's really not okay, this is the worst she's ever felt and she's always felt cruddy throughout her life. But after hearing all of that from Bernkastel.. it's like the very last of her life force and her will has been extinguished. So much that she only answers quite a while later, and it isn't video or voice but just written text. ]

I'm here.

[ Not even an indication of what she's feeling since she doesn't know how to describe it. There's no words for this sadness. ]

[makewayforroze]

[She notices. Roze wants to be there, to hug her and confirm she's real, to promise to do everything to make sure she never gets hurt again.]

Do they know you're back? Are they coming to get you?

...Ange, I'm so glad to see you again. I thought... [No, this isn't about her.] I'm glad.

text

[shinjaeba]

[Battler brought her back. Of course he did. Eva-Beatrice knew he would. How could he leave Ange out of all people like that? He was a bleeding heart but, for once, she can't blame him. She couldn't just respond to Ange. For once... for once, it would be better to leave her alone.

What could she say? She could open up old wounds. Stir up the bad blood that's been brewing for so many years. But she doesn't. She should leave the post alone. She should. She wants to.]

...that old cat really should have known that she couldn't send you to hell. That's my job, right?

[entreats]

[ It's the very last person she wants to talk to. For different reasons than usually, though, but the feeling is just as strong as ever. She's already not particularly talkative - heck, she doesn't feel like doing anything. Considering everything.. she'd rather just sleep and not wake up, something like that.. why did Battler have to bring her back to begin with?

At least with the text she can easily write back. Just pretend it's someone else. Just block it out. ]

Go tell onii-chan that. I didn't come back by myself.

[shinjaeba]

Guess that just means I'll have to take you there myself.

[Just keep it like normal, Ange will get better.]

[material_guy]

Oi. [He could be a little more sensitive, could throw out a 'glad you're okay' or even wait for a response to his 'oi' to gauge the mood as if her crying weren't clue enough. But instead he'll be a tool for one more jab from Bernkastel.] What happened right before you melted inside-out?

[entreats]

[ Funny story, Greed. One she doesn't particularly feel like telling. She's already exhausted enough from everything, and that whole ordeal shot down her last motivation to carry on, so it's not like she still has motivation left to talk. It's why her answer comes so late, and it's written instead of voiced. ]

Does it matter to you?

[Video]

[material_guy]

That's a stupid question. I'm asking.

[But he's sure he knows why she's stalling with questions rather than just spitting it out. That doesn't mean he's much more sensitive about it. In fact, it's time for another pushy insistence.]

C'mon, go on video, it's easier.