"So let me get this straight. I gave you a credit card, its PIN, and you went on what is essentially a spoiled brat's rampage?", Tiki asked as she somewhat diligently and with womanly poise, gobbled down the food, "This is actually top-tier delicious, by the way."
"You ask me in the same way Luna would, honestly. No anger in it whatsoever.", Enemy shook her head, "But not even close to that. Tiki, I had no clothes to wear. Absolutely nothing, besides another armor in the closet. Might as well have been another skeleton. The fridge was empty too, and I'd obviously need to have something in it if I wanted to not die of starvation. If you ignore the times we are practically forced to eat outside, every time we are in proximity of restaurants, cafés or otherwise, we just spend like it's no one's business. Not sustainable in the long run."
"I beg to differ. So long you don't buy a mega-mansion, this credit card is unlimited. And since we oh so graciously came into the presence of one of the four major Victorian ministries presidents, we won't really have to pay out much...unless, again, you do something incredibly stupid."
"In total, with the value of Merits in Victoria, judging off that bread cost me around 2...say that in Sandaco's and Insinia's Merit value, it'd be around 1200. All that for a full wardrobe, a spa treatment I very much wouldn't take back, hairdressers which were also heavily needed, the shopping of the month, and the visit to the ophthalmologist."
"That's...not half bad at all, actually. But the spa was a tad bit too extra, was it not? Not that its effects were bad, you actually look...beautiful.", Tiki gazed at Enemy again.
"Surprised you cared about something like this to comment on it. But it was the sheer freedom I felt at that moment, you know. Something besides constant yelling, slashing, and anger of war.
"Couldn't agree more.", Tiki nodded.
Enemy was surprised, "Really?"
"If anything, Enemy, can I ask for a little extra favor out of you? I want you to teach me how to cook, at least to a basic level."
A stunned look, the same as that of Tiki first discovering Enemy's new beauties, now came across Enemy's face instead. It was a request far too outlandish for what she had prepared for, struggling to answer at first before agreeing unconditionally.
"If you want to be around when I cook, sure. I can give you a visual example on top of vocal instructions."
"Thanks. Your skills in this, compared to Dante's, make them look like roses against plain grass. And against Hikari's...", Tiki remembered the 'Pasta Incident'.
"Yeah, I get it. I don't want anything in return for it. But if you could, by your own choice, tell me one thing, I'd level with you way better."
Tiki knew full well what the question would be, silencing Enemy before she even got the chance to ask. A deep battle seemed to happen in her mind as she gazed back and forth from Enemy to the plate of delicious food she had in front of her, before eventually coming out with the raw truth and nothing else.
"Because I want to be a mother someday.", Tiki looked away, not in embarrassment, but in pure shame and regret.
An admission that over exceeded even the spectrum that Enemy had delinquently tried to place Tiki, along with many others before her in her life on, completely shattering the balance of her once driving, monotonous scale.
"Ok, I was not expecting that. But in all honesty, seeing you interact with Lina the way you do, I can see a world where that'd happen. Still...out of the blue."
"I won't bother you with much more than that. It's something...plastic, anyway."
Enemy got in closer to Tiki as she grabbed onto her shoulder. Their ties together only recently lie in the war that the world waged, one that dragged them both in and forced the faults of humanity on them, to reject dreams, ideals, and nature in favor of living to see the sunrise. But in that spare moment of weakness, it was as if a fighter flight response sparked within Enemy, to grab onto Tiki as if her life was in danger in the middle of a battlefield, to aid an ally in a moment of exposure. But this battle was one where they had to face together with their backs against the wall, not at each other's. As such, only encouragement could come from Enemy, to further explore a weakness and alleviate it, much like she had been doing herself for the entire day. Not for the furtherment of Tiki's ability as a warrior and a soldier. But for the sake of humanity. Both of their humanity.
"If you are willing to listen to me, I have no moral right not to do the same. Those are words hard enough to get through your thick skull, right?", Enemy encouraged Tiki in one of the only ways she was sure that she would understand, before relaxing her tone as she spoke further, "Tiki. No one will hear you. At least for my room, I guarantee you. My walls don't have ears."
"I can't even have...", Tiki was caught on short breath.
"You won't run away. I know you won't.", Enemy pressed on, "And I wouldn't add so much pressure if I didn't see that the severity of this situation perfectly aligned with mine. Like Hikari...I won't stand by and watch. Not when I can help. Not when I know I can make it better."
"Thank you.", Tiki subtly said.
A small breath later, Tiki shook off Enemy's arm gently as she prepared herself to give an explanation much needed. In a way, even in the rush of the moment, from her words surging in the faint of heart, the first step was unintentionally done. The leap had been leapt. All that was now left was to keep falling from her sky prison, where in her head far above the clouds, she had locked herself away for years as well. But hadn't they all? Embarrassment, bravados, the sheer dependency of an entire world on their shoulders...they were still children, stuck in a limbo of time, where they could finally be left alone to grow. If even temporarily, for conflict between others in the world, demands unable to be met but rising ever higher, the enforced legacies of their fathers...it had all finally stopped.
"Look. I've been an instructor for the military way longer than I've been on the field. On the rare off chance I'd take young rookies the likes of you all, where they'd know nothing and need to go up from a total 0...I liked it."
"So you went from being a soldier to an instructor...hmm. Sounds about right. But if I were to intrude, it goes deeper than that, doesn't it?"
"I didn't just want it because I was envious of how other women in Sandaco were treated compared to me, or for the status that those who were 'life givers' got in the first place. Ever since I studied abroad, the first of my kind to actually do so compared to country-wide education back home, I was just in love with that concept, which only grew very violently once I was back home. Don't get me wrong, slashing the shit out of monsters and soldiers is satisfying as all hell, and at the time, my country depended on it. War was the only thing we knew to sustain our economy, hence why 'Demons', was the sort of derogatory term everyone called us by, as opposed to the Church's 'Angels', who were peaceful. But now, I see a future where we end most of all wars."
"I see. You wanted a break away from that?"
"Fighting will continue with the constant infestation of monsters, but those are far below the scale of what country-wide wars are. If anything...during one of those wars, I actually did fall in love myself. Some guy who spared my life, and that I haven't seen since."
"Anything curious about him specifically? Anything we can use to find him?"
"Yes, but...for what? You'd be better off going for him instead. For all the romanticism of it all, what for? Unlike you, I don't know home economics, cooking, or anything. I far outpaced everyone in the military, because honestly, it was literally what I thought I was made to do, a drive I focused on for so long that I simply don't know much else. Engineering and weapons R&D, big deal, that's locked into a war scenario too. At least that's what I believed up until now. What good would I be anywhere besides conflict?"
"I think you're beating yourself down for no reason. Hell, I'd say that you are a box full of surprises, Tiki. One time after the other, you show multiple sides I'd never come close to thinking you had."
"And the one side I wished to, I don't. If I were to be completely selfish right now, when I first walked through that door, or rather, when you first opened it...god dammit, I'm so jealous of you. You actually look so beautiful, which I never knew could happen for someone like...well, you. You no longer look like you have a constant bad hair day, rough skin, or anything. I don't know why I suddenly got like this but in front of you...I feel like a failure of a woman.", Tiki exhaled deeply as she let her thoughts slip her lips.
"We both know that ain't true. But to tell you the truth, I never thought I had it in me myself. Nothing that can't be changed, Tiki. You can really do the same if you wish, just let me point the way for you."
A heavy sigh came from Tiki, where her conflicting jealousy with her own wishes, and anger for something she wished she was the mirror of in front of her, before she clenched her fists in a fit of loss, unsure of what to do herself.
"No.", she unclenched her fists, "You have been doing this for a while, and for me, I've gotta get other priorities straight first. And I'm not after any instant gratification, a one-night thing that I'll high off of to drop the next morning. I want to do this and make it last."
"You clearly have been pent up about all this.", Enemy comforted her, "And were I to guess...you got jealous or triggered when I finally calmed down enough to do this myself?"
Tiki hesitated momentarily, "Honestly, yes. I'm not a wuss, and I can admit it."
Enemy softly sighed, "Then I'll admit this back to you: I did all this after getting pissed off at myself, which is in contrast to how I usually get pissed off at anything but myself. Tiki, I went to take a bath and when I got out...I didn't have clean clothes. Hell, underwear even. Up until recently, I was just a combat switch in for Hikari, and I completely forgot and left myself behind. I was embarrassed out of my mind, to the point where it turned into instant sadness. Having the alignments in our points of view that we do enough to get along like this...can you image how it felt, even a little?"
"Like total ass."
"And ever since the Dante situation, being her other half, I've been dealing with Hikari's nonsense too. She's...unwell. I can't really read other people well as far as anything out of battle, incoming attacks and stuff, but her? I very much can. She's been...unwell. Almost to the point of making me scared. Although, being unwell is something that's been happening a lot between all of us. I can't help but feel like I've gone crazy at times."
"Don't we all? But when I look at the rest of the world, when I studied abroad, we can't be the right ones when everyone else is doing something entirely different. Sandaco had a clear division and specialism in certain areas but...I honestly feel that's a commitment so harsh, it defies even marriage. Oath to someone to go through good and bad is giving a part of you to them for life and life after. What we did? It's giving your entire being onto something inanimate for life, until death.", Tiki finished her food.
"You really went off on me tonight.", Enemy took a deep breath as she was confronted by the same deep wishes Tiki shared with her, but unable to act upon.
"I had to tell someone. And frankly speaking, Dante was simply not the person for it.", she began trying to relax her rising tension by humoring the situation, "Plus, if I did tell Dante about it, not only would he be useless since he has his own perspective on that subject, primarily due to the fact that he can't be a mother and plus, that could cause other...side effects. The last thing I want is the people reading this to ship me with Dante.", she rubbed the back of her neck as if someone was watching her.
"What?"
"Nevermind. Sorry for being so soft tonight. I know you're used to seeing me command and demand, so I probably have weirded the shit out of you. Awfully apologetic as a result of that as well."
"Apologetic, soft-spoken, you really did flip everything on its head, yeah. Definitely weird, but, had you not gotten this out, at least on me...thank you, for trusting me."
"Kind of a minor fault of you, you know. For some reason, inside this room, it's like you're also a different person as well. Never seen you so caring as well. But...to tell you the truth, I can read others way better than you do. I did this to get you to trust someone, if even a little. You are as closed a person as they get, and no one could scratch beneath the surface all this time. When I saw your other side at the very least somewhat like mine, I got on that train ASAP."
"I guess I took a page out of Hikari's book. Though, really, I always cared. So long as I had something to cling to, so long as anyone has something to cling to...it feels like it's almost a natural thing to care for it. You, for example, didn't even show any care for anything at all. Your command shifting from the mission to Luna's aid mid-battle though? That didn't only speak volumes to me, but I could honestly say it was a good part of the reason why something sparked in me. Sparked enough to jump in front of Terna's soon-to-be-shot body at least."
"I did come off a little too monotonous, I'll tell you that much. But it's my job, no less. To plan, to lead, and to guide, you have to be assertive, decisive, and collected. The last part, I still struggle with. But there are no struggles on the battlefield, unless you want to go to sleep with fewer body parts than you woke up with."
"I get you, fully. I'll help you with it, maybe you'll do good too. For someone of your academic level at least, you should be used to taking lessons quite easily."
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"I hope so myself. Thanks, Enemy. It really does help to have someone I can talk to about this."
"By tomorrow, we'll have probably glossed over most of this anyway. Hate to admit it, but you're right about what's going on. A lot more battles are on the horizon, and if I want something like this to last, we'll have to face them."
"That being said, let's not forget the human side. I originally came to ask you two things. One is the snacks I told you about and the other is if you'd join us in Terna's room. We're having a movie night!", Tiki looked around for the snacks.
"Oh, really? Uh...the snacks should be in the cabinet, still in the bag to take it easily along with you. But I'll have to kindly decline. Besides all this that happened tonight, I'm just not feeling quite ready about this stuff yet. There is a lot I have to deal with right now, besides my interests conflicting with reality."
"That kinda sucks. It's a girls-only night too, and Terna specifically bought the giant TV and home cinema for this.", Tiki got up and grabbed the bag full of snacks.
"You won't persuade me by guilt tripping me.", Enemy shrugged as she cleaned up, "Though, I'd like a favor. Here, take this meal."
Tiki took the small plastic box, "Alright, where to?"
"Dante. Since the rest of you will be eating snacks for tonight."
"And here I was about to ask you if you had any relationship goals.", Tiki smugged.
"No, Budget Anya, I don't.", Enemy sighed, "And the reason I'm doing this is a lot darker than it appears. Happened right outside the training room, swiftly too, and I didn't pay too much mind to it at first...but the truth is, I genuinely have been a total asshole. I...it's surely a sudden change of heart, and I had my reasons for it. But in the end, that doesn't excuse me for being said asshole. And the way he reacted was much more different than it normally would've been."
"Girl, it's been a couple of days. Give him space."
"You all keep regurgitating the same excuse.", Enemy got annoyed, "He came up to me-ah, whatever. This ain't for Hikari's sake anyway. It's for me, so because I don't want to sit here and explain everything all night, please. Just do it."
"Alright then. I'll be at Terna's place if you need me after. Do take extreme precautions if you see Lina outside the door, wearing shades and a miniature tuxedo.", Tiki warned her.
"That's incredibly and oddly specific?", Enemy got confused.
"Her birthday is coming up and she just got done speaking with Drima about a potential gift in his office. Ever since that, she's gotten her zoomies again. And since we told her it's 'girls only', she basically has been standing in front of the door and fending everyone not specifically being a 'girl' off. Dante tried to play along while trying to get in. He spent fifteen minutes in the infirmary afterward."
"I do not like it at all when Lina gets the zoomies, since we all know it's most likely correlated to combat."
Tiki shrugged, "Aside from that incident, Luna is there too and the situation is under control. We'll find out very soon what's it all about anyway. So with these two at hand, I'm off. Good night if I don't see you at the movie later."
With that, Tiki calmly exited the room and she left Enemy behind, finishing the cleanup and packaging of the leftovers. A surprise came at her yet again, however, when she opened the cabinet above the sink to store the dishes, finding a singular chocolate bar remaining and oddly placed in the middle, waiting just for her. Knowing full well that this was a way for Tiki to show appreciation, she cast it aside as she finished all her cleaning, before grabbing a big cup and crushing the chocolate bar inside, it appearing to be way thicker on the inside than the outside. A few minutes in the microwave later and a steaming cup of hot chocolate was out, pipping hot and filling the atmosphere with its milky aroma. Spreading some sugar on top, she carefully grabbed the cup from the tip of its handle as she made her way towards the very edge of the bar, waiting for the chocolate to finish cooling as she looked out of the window in the night sky, relaxing amidst the end of a long day.
And in between said end, she couldn't help but wonder, had her words pierced the heart of her other self so much to deny any more words from her mouth? Or had she simply been waiting, bearing witness to a life stolen away by accident, in a world that existed as one such accident?
Putting away the cup as she finished her drink, she went to her bed. As soon as her skin touched the sheets, she felt it...the first cold of winter. Outside her window, the humidity started fogging up, causing her to see the world from afar as she recently did letters up close. She took off her glasses as she tried to take in a better view of the night-lit city, only to once again see herself in the reflection of their lenses. But this time, between all she said and was said to between her and Tiki, she wanted to converse with none other than herself.
"Hey...Hikari. Please, talk to me.", Enemy pleaded, "I...I couldn't talk to you about this, since I didn't have the words to do so, but...your thoughts. They plague me too. I'm scared for you..."
Her pleas carried by the wind and away from her, it's as if she was ignored. To break the silence once more, she spoke words deep in her heart, as if desperation for the one voice she got used to fill her head once more.
"I'm...scared, Hikari. I'm so scared. I can't do this alone, can I? I never could do this alone..."
With a broken voice, Hikari had no other choice, but to speak once more as she was called upon, "I'm sorry, for everything I did to you. I'm sorry...Isabella."
Through both their eyes, no matter the body, it was clear. Tears, like many shed among this group of torn children, were being shed. Enemy's tears though? Those who reflected light in the darkness. Those of happiness. Such a swelling of nostalgia caused her legs and arms to fail to work as only her eyes were left working, looking into the blurry lights beyond the window. It was a name...it was her name. Isabella. For thousands of years, she was nothing but a vessel, in a world where she had no purpose. And then, the light seeping through the window slowly emerged from her hand. Small and delicate. It appeared to her the same way it did to Hikari. A World Core. The same Hikari had, but that in her eyes, the seemingly white crystal parts of that core reflected all lights as images moved around like a movie. How had she been denied this? Her world and herself?
Isabella's eyes were running lowly with tears as she looked at the World Core, "Isabella Aimori.", she mumbled as she looked at the World Core.
And then, where the World Core started for her, faint but very much there and noticeable, two were hugging and cradling her between their warm winter clothes. And even though Hikari would never know...Isabella did.
"Isabella Pelletier...Isamu Aimori."
She picked herself up as her intrigue peaked, holding the World Core with both hands up close. Looking at it up close...her glasses weren't on. But not a single bit of that was blurry, or unrecognizable. These images, no matter her afflictions now or those faced before...they could never be tainted. Her name would never be forgotten. She had never forgotten. She had just pushed it all away. And all to then fully realize who she really was. What she was.
"Hikari...in the Quantum Irregularity, when I kept reliving death...I still could hear my thoughts. When I broke out of the void and saw that bright flash... 'Ma Lumière'. Exactly what...what mom would say. "Watashi no Hikari'. What dad would follow with."
The identity she masked herself with was but a concept of her, one that was attempted many times over. As Isabelle forcefully casted her home, Hikari would remember it for her. As Dante's memories were replaced, Hikari would remember. As Serena's legacy would be passed on, Hikari would remember. And as Tiki's self remained hidden...Hikari would be there to witness it and remember. Her roots lay deep...and like this world, a part of herself so pure was stolen away...she had to conceal it, and protect all that was left of it.
"I tried...", Hikari's lowered voice echoed in the distance, "I...really did.", she softly chuckled, "But from the bottom of the Quantum Irregularity, if it even exists...I don't know if this was enough. Realizing the potential with Mellistar's world before everything, seeing the Day Of Starfall and the Key Of The Gate being a thing that allowed for these gauntlets I used to do this all. This desire, I struggled to differentiate which one of ours it truly was. Whatever. Seeing the state of the world today, it really doesn't strike a difference as it did back home, right? Although, I guess the monsters left roaming the world are something to boast about. More bad to add to the pile. This delusion took thousands of years for me to live and realize it...and how utterly selfish it was of me, amidst your second chance in life, to make you live a mere fraction of that time -in pain and suffering- to fulfill that delusion."
The World Core faded away from Isabelle's hands as she laid back and tried to remember more as her tired eyes seemed to close more and more on themselves. Unlike Dante, she had long known who she truly was, what she had done, and what she had faced. But now knowing who she once was...who was that girl she left behind all these years, all these worlds...it was freeing. Freeing to know how that part of hers felt. Freeing to have nothing left unsaid. But Hikari's voice remained frail and shallow, as she tried her best to hide it.
"I belong to you. I lied to everyone, confusing them into this entire world's story. I'm...I'm truly evil. Delusional. Despite all that I told Dante that night in Kaci. How long can I keep that lie going for my own mind's sake? I took their continents and I reformed them, I stopped other Overseers trying to put an end to it, and all I did to mask it was effectively rename them all."
"There wasn't a single lie there, Hikari. You know that. Just as you know that your actions turned like this out of sheer probability alone. No, I'm not taking responsibilities off of you, because at the end of the day, you did them. The only thing to look back to was that you and I were way too blind to see that the bad result couldn't be fixed when we kept going further in."
"All those fruitless years of trying for a better world...I'm so sorry, Isabella."
"You came into a world that hadn't harnessed anything, turned it into another Earth after my mind's image, and managed to transcend even freaking time and space to create a tool for you to use on it. I don't think there's anything to be sorry about, Hikari. It wasn't you who created Zero. It was an accident on a cosmic scale, and yet, you gave it life. Otherwise, what would there be? Just a rapidly decaying amalgamation of dead or dying universes?"
"And I defended it when I shouldn't. But having all of these people living in Zero...no. In this Other Earth. When you are responsible for something, you can't really evade accountability when the cracks show. And I finally learned that. And I can't keep going back again and again, all the way to the hardon collider in Canada even, to blame it for bringing me here. I was created along your frail matter state when you fell in there and then dematerialized into the Quantum Irregularity. And I did what I did on my own accord."
"You really have changed. Was it the Dante of then or the Dante of now to blame for this?"
Hikari sighed, "Who knows? But what I do know is that, no matter how hard I tried...I couldn't be this world's god. I never could. And with this power fading, I'll soon lack the power to even materialize what I need in places like the battlefield."
"You held onto many secrets, truth be told."
"All for nothing, because I was cornered into admitting them all anyway. I tried masking it by using myself as the person in question, which wasn't totally false but...he saw through that. He wrote a few points down on the email he sent to everyone, with my admission."
Isabelle sighed, "Before our powers were weakened in Dirunon when he first saw me. After being narrowly saved by Viola and watching her die...I couldn't help but blame him. But now, whether it's my own admission of fault or simple pity for him, I struggle to see a way he can earn redemption. Because he will never seek it."
"Like Mellistar said. We are a plague to humanity. Same with the Shadowers, same with the Enmities. The people who arrived into this world, who were plagued by wars for so long that the millennia passing don't justify what they have to show, suffering all that Obsulyte had to offer, besides merging the D.N.A. of theirs with animals and the such. I even tried to correct course by granting new arrivals the powers that made them Valkyries by tapping into the Abnormal Space to help Obsulyte come in more naturally...that too, a failure."
"There's hope, Hikari. There always was, but after that day where you had to run away with me after being separated from the Trailblazers...you never could see any hope."
"And I still can't. What's there to see anyway? Dante's completely broken trust in me? Tiki and Luna being actively suspicious and Magi and Drima being left in the dark? Not accounting for the fact that Decanee and Izuko were also, completely faded out because of Obsulyte control, when they start to find out, are they going to be killed too? God...my head hurts every time I retrace this. It's all so screwed. I'm sorry, Izzy. But I can't for the oh-so fragile life given to me see it. I can't see any form of salvation."
"It's one of those nights, isn't it?", Isabella sighed, "One change and then there's Tiki, you...I wonder who's next tomorrow morning, because I'll have to get out of this room at some point."
"It's just that...from the time I found you in the Quantum Irregularity to now, when there's no combat involved, it's kind of the first time that I had to relive this. Friends, close ones, the dramas and joys that come with it...I don't know how to handle it. I never did, and I probably never will. All I could ever think of was 'this world', 'that world', the 'world's stability'. Never once did I stop to think about what the world meant to me. And truly, I don't think it means anything to me anymore, like I don't mean anything to it. Mellistar aside, when created, you were given a second chance that manifested into me, we came to realize that after the fight in the Abnormal Space. Maybe Kikaro was right. I shouldn't have tried to do anything and let Zero take its course."
"Even if it did, would you believe me if I told you that not much would change? Think about it, Hikari. You only sped things up. The Day Of Starfall wasn't your deal, that's when Obsulyte, as they call it, really got introduced to the wider populous. The worlds weren't dragged by you either, and Mellistar's world even had bloody dragons in it from his stories. All those paradoxes collide to make yet another Earth. Strange that humans were the primary inhabitants of those worlds, but the chance for life was already stupendously low anyway.", Isabella smiled at the ceiling, "Whatever you say, I see you as the sister I always wanted to have. We witnessed an entire new world growing up, we traded insults sometimes and we mended after, despite you being an airhead most of those times, you took all the pain I had to endure in my mind and I did it for our bodies. It's something I thought I'd never get to experience, and despite thinking the absolute worst of everyone, especially after those long years of traveling on foot and being subjected to all of those shitty things...I wouldn't take them back. You made me see the other side of things, and I really do hope that I have at least chipped away a little at this hidden pessimism of yours by now."
"That you have...but I always saw myself as pathetic and helpless. Maybe that's why everything manifested the way it did. But seeing up close how you could look at something go bad and go further in to try and fix it instead of giving up all these times...I should've learned better. Two halves of a whole...no. We aren't. I was born into this world. You were brought into it. And yet, despite our cores, our differences aren't that many. Thank you for showing me what I could be, a braver, greater part to strive for. Mimicking you did actually end up doing some work. Because with Lass- er, Dante, and everyone after, I started really understanding how the world worked. And I'll gloss over how basically tried to stop me from accessing the full memories we had to 'protect me' which led me down to what happened at the hotel in Reingard.", she took a subtle blow.
"Hey, you kind of did the same, hence why I think Drima took notes after you when the Sentinels were still a thing.", Isabella shrugged.
"I prevented you from reviewing those memories, not fully deleting them. Ah, whatever."
"But don't you ever forget this, Hikari. Even this little that means the world to you, as it now does to me, is much more than a subtle reason for me to fight. Monsters that Makaro's dumb ass turned into these 'Shadowers', the agendas of people like Thaddeus who tried to pluck you into this god complex hole and take Dante with it...I don't care. If everything happens for a reason, our arrival along with many, many others, our survival into this point, hell, our powers, and even our actions. Then there's at least a reason behind it, for them not to be meaningless and empty. Striving for a world where I can at least live in peace, greeting my other half with food and a smile as they come back isn't that big a pipedream. And saving the world because we were struck by luck and power to do so? That's easier. Words or swords, because we can't keep firing guns at enemy hoards with how little money we have to reload.", Isabella chuckled.
"I love you and them, you know that, right?", Hikari softly spoke.
"I do, and deep down, I think they do too. Though, it'd be a lie not to admit that some of the things you've said and done haven't hurt them. But for their own good now or later, they'll realize."
"But still...amidst stating historical facts, how can I ever forget all the confusion I've put them through..."
And yet, despite all that she had done, in a bitter moment when one of the many in the group found out and came out with their real past...there was one thing that Isabelle could say.
"Thank you for looking after us. Hikari. From the bottom of all our hearts: thank you."
Was but what her fatigue would let slip out, before she drifted away in her sleep, laying upright on the bed. Her tears washed part of her cheeks as they drooled down, them continuing to roll until they reached the sheets. And despite not being covered by her blanket...she had nothing but the warmth of her heart heat up her body, and the room around her.