When Scythe had been told she would get a chance to meet this wanna be Rin she was ecstatic. She wanted to teach the twerp a lesson about fucking with her life. To make an example out of them so that she and her friends could have their peace.
Over the past few days they had talked a lot with the townspeople and the Council, actually getting some hints and explanations to the myriad of different things they had felt ever since their rebirth. Although it appeared nobody knew anything about them being able to feel other people’s thoughts or emotions. The only clue they got was that some demi-humans were unable for them to read, such as Vampires, Kitsune, a few of the Insectoids, and even the Sharkmen. Strangely enough Nereids were not on that list, despite being very closely related to the Sharkmen.
That being said they also learned a lot about magic. While they had brute force and instinctive understanding, they didn’t have any training or understanding on how magic worked really. Considering the lack of magic teachers on Amnellium all they had was self-taught.
Scythe already thought of herself as pretty strong, and all she learned in the past few days only supported that belief. She felt, honestly, like the king of the world. Nothing could touch her and her friends and she was enjoying this feeling of being the top dog for a change.
Yet, despite feeling her own strength, as the car pulled up with this imposter that claimed to be her she couldn’t help but feel a creeping, impending doom, a guarantee that should she be careless she would die then and there.
And she hated this feeling. She forced herself to stay, unwilling to give in to this fear spreading around her body. She refused to yield to anyone. She was the top dog, she was the baddest bitch on the planet, and she would prove it if necessary.
That was until she locked eyes with the girl sitting in the backseat.
She looked to be around fifteen, with jet black hair and glowing purple eyes, eyes that held such wisdom and knowledge, a promise to protect and a tenderness and gentleness that made her want to vomit.
Yet underneath all of this lay a threat like a sharpened blade on her throat. She was the source for this feeling of impending doom. But by now she couldn’t care any less.
All the things she felt were washed aside, rendered completely unimportant by a feeling of certainty that rattled her brain. She knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the girl sitting in the backseat was herself, Rin Savart. She could feel it, could feel the emotions and thoughts but at such a distance it was near impossible to make them out specifically. Mostly because of the pure strength of presence the girl had.
At the same time, she somehow felt more… whole. Like some missing piece had once again returned after an absence that had been far too long.
A shiver ran down her spine as they gazed into each other's eyes, her cold steel against the girl's titanium dagger.
„Well, fuck me…“, Grunt said behind her, but Scythe ignored him. Everything was rendered completely obsolete, the only thing that mattered were her and this girl.
What felt like years later the girl opened the door and got out. She wore a regal looking attire and had an air of majesty and dignity about her, like a Queen who had just stood up from her throne.
„Imposter!”, Scythe said, without any preamble or introductions.
„Impossible…“, the girl mumbled, the only reason Scythe could hear her was the fact that she shut out anything else.
There were around twenty meters between them. Scythe knew she was fast, way faster than anything or anyone she had come across so far. So, she moved, out of instinct. Her mind was screaming at her to get rid of this impossible imposter, this clone of her. She was Rin Savart, the one and only, she was Scythe, the Cyborg Dragon, she was the strongest person around. She wouldn’t let some wanna be Rin roam free, despite how certain she was that the person in front of her was exactly who she said she was.
Within a fraction of a second she had drawn her pistols and opened fire. She was certain she would kill the girl without her even being able to understand what happened.
Yet her bullets missed by only a hair's width. The other Rin’s movements were fluid, naturally so, as if the world itself bent around her to accommodate her movements. And in the next moment she was gone.
Every alarm in her body screamed at Scythe, told her to get the fuck out of the way, and she had never been betrayed by her instincts. So, she listened, dodging to the side.
Scythe could feel the wind from the blade that slashed only millimeters away from her throat, a wickedly sharp blade made out of a black looking crystal. For a moment she got a glimpse of the girl, now clad in an outfit reminiscent of the stereotypical assassin’s armour from various movies, and the two locked eyes. All the gentleness, the passion, the desire to protect was gone from the other girl’s eyes, replaced with the cold stare of a killer hunting her mark.
For all her life Scythe had never been afraid of anyone’s gaze. Interested sure, maybe even a little intimidated, and often enough bored. But never afraid. This gaze, however, wasn’t the gaze of some random snobby CEO, or a soldier realising he went against someone far stronger than himself. No, it was the gaze of a person who knew for a fact that the recipient of this gaze was nothing more than an insect, a worthless waste of time. It was evil incarnate, an Apex Predator at the very top of her game.
And it enraged her. How dare she look down on her?! How dare she insult her so much!
Letting out a fierce warcry Scythe moved to punch the imposter straight in the jaw, just for the girl to somehow vanish once more, again trying to behead her.
However, a moment later, before either Scythe or the imposter could react, they were flattened by a bloodlust that was physically palpable. Between them, out of nowhere, arrived a figure clad in shadow, tendrils wrapped around both girl’s necks.
„ENOUGH!“, a brutally hoarse voice ordered and everything fell silent.
For a few moments nobody moved, and slowly the world around them faded back into Scythe awareness. Without her realising it a battle had broken out. On the one side was the wannabe Cluster who had erected such a curious and intricate shielding spell that Clusters looked like child’s play in comparison.
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On the other side was her squad, weapons drawn and ready to fire, although she could see from Silks and Grunts clips that one or two shots had already been discharged.
In the middle of all of that were herself and the imposter, as well as a being that she couldn’t sense at all, yet was utterly overbearing at the same time.
„Nobody move“, the figure now said in an androgynous, melodic voice that was even more alluring than Clusters.
„Vix“, the imposter said with a flat and cold tone, staring the figure down. Scythe reveled in the knowledge that this imposter had been caught as well, only to realise a moment later that she wasn’t mad at this figure because she was attacked, but simply because they had interfered.
„I apologise, my Queen, but to avoid further bloodshed I had to intervene. It was very likely that if this would have continued even for a few moments more there would have been considerable collateral damage“, the figure, whose name was apparently Vix, explained.
„Let. Go. Of. Me. Right. Now“, Scythe spit between her teeth. She could feel the power from the tendrils around her neck and despite her usual attitude didn’t dare to go against them. To do so would be to court death.
„I would, but you plan on attacking Her Majesty, which I cannot allow“, Vix said and Scythe felt a gaze on her, even though she was unable to see their face.
She could hear a sigh and the wanna be Cluster shook her head, „And here I was hoping we could all get along… Some people, I swear.“
„Shut your fucking mouth, you swindler“, Scythe spat, which only resulted in the tendrils around her neck growing tighter.
The wanna be Cluster only raised an eyebrow, „Swindler? Well, I do suppose it is hard to believe. Although I am still somewhat surprised you immediately started attacking. Am I the only one who can feel this connection with my… clone? Twin? What would the correct word here be? Anyways, the lovely lady in the risqué getup.“
„I don’t give a flying fuck. I won’t be tricked by some weird spell you lot cast to save your sorry asses from being mauled by us“, Scythe said with rising irritation. She was not in control of the situation, and she hated it.
This time it was her imposter that spoke, „Spell? There are no spells that can affect auras. Did you never bother to learn even the basics of magic?“, she asked, with genuine shock in her tone, which pissed Scythe off even more.
„What the shit are auras? We aren’t in some anime or some shit“, Grunt cut in, sounding about as displeased as Scythe felt. She could see his finger tense on the trigger of his Heavy Machine gun, but he didn’t dare fire with his boss in such a precarious situation.
„Vuthe, don’t forget what Scarlet said where they claimed to be coming from. I wouldn’t be surprised if they never learned even those basics if they were on Amnellium“, the wanna be Cluster said.
„I can guarantee that there isn’t such knowledge there“, a new voice said, this time in Amnellal. It was a voice that was strangely familiar.
Scythe turned her gaze into the direction of the new voice, and she needed a moment to make sense of the sight. Next to the elderly woman who had come out of the car together with the imposter stood a person she’d never thought she’d ever see again.
„Archangel. How the fuck are you alive?! I blew you up myself!“, Cluster now cut in, her rocket launcher at the ready.
Archangel tilted her head in confusion, „Have we ever met before? I can’t seem to recognize you or your companions.“
Before anyone could answer the wanna be Cluster stepped forward, raising her hands to get everyone’s attention, „People, please. Can we continue this discussion without being at each other's throats? We came here to talk to you about this whole identity thing, but I’m pretty sure that the question of who was telling the truth has already been answered. So please, let us go somewhere where we can talk normally.“
„And why the fuck would we do that?“, Scythe asked, still irritated. However, even though she didn’t want to admit it, she was curious about a few things. Mainly what Archangel was doing here or what this woman said earlier about magic and auras or whatever.
„Because“, the wanna be Cluster turned to her, „If you don't, we will kill all of you right here and now and be done with this. I don’t want that, mainly because I would like to figure out how there can be literal soul copies of us, but neither of us will hesitate if it means protecting the people.“
Her friends snorted, but Scythe couldn’t join them. She wasn’t stupid enough not to realise that this shadow person could end her right now. She was sure she could beat them in a normal fight, but right now she was at their mercy. Maybe she would play along for the moment.
„Alright“, she said, surprising her squad greatly.
„What the shit, boss?! You serious?!“, Cluster asked incredulously.
„Shut it, Cluster. For the moment we will play their game. If it turns out they're full of shit we’ll just end them“, she said with more confidence than she actually felt.
Vix let both of them go and took a step back, keeping a careful eye on them. The Rin Imposter took a step back as well, her clothes shifting back to the regal attire she wore beforehand and her weapon vanishing into the shadows.
„Now, how about we start introductions since I won’t tolerate anyone using my former name“, the wanna be Cluster said, which surprised Scythe a bit. Although maybe that was simply part of the deception.
„My name is Tizanta isk Thesekar, I am an Astral Serpent and am probably the most knowledgeable about magic in our group. Our friends Calagrophy, Castaphiel, and Corellanium won’t be joining us for this conversation. Those three would be Katarina Erin, Blight, and Michael Durr respectively. This“, she pointed at the imposter, „Is Shade Dragon Vuthe de Thal, formerly known as Rin Savart. Our shadowy friend is Vixus Umbara, Vuthe’s child and our jack of all trades. I don’t think I need to introduce Archangel, given your reaction just now. And last but not least we have Scarlet Savart, who at least one of you should already know.“
The last statement shook Scythe greatly. She had long since made peace with the fact that her family was dead, so the sudden announcement that her sister was present threw her for a loop. She looked at the elderly woman and was surprised to feel an ache in her heart as she saw the distant, almost apathetic look in the woman’s eyes.
„Shut your trap, no way my sister is still alive“, she tried, although her heart wasn’t in it. In all honesty she knew that Tizanta was speaking the truth, but she didn’t want to accept the fact that she had her sister shown such a disgraceful sight.
„No, I am quite alive. Although it is hard to see you as anything close to my sister. Vuthe at least had some resemblance, but you? I honestly have trouble believing that you are, although all signs point to it“, Scarlet said, each word stinging more than the last.
„Scarlet“, Vuthe said, „Don’t be too harsh. You know what I did. And I know of Amnellium. If the stories are even remotely true I honestly don’t want to know what they had to suffer through.“
Scythe was surprised to hear that this Vuthe girl was coming to her defence. This entire situation was emotionally confusing and the longer this conversation went on the less she knew how to feel. She could practically feel her control over the entire thing slipping away further and further, which only led to panic in her heart. She was the Boss here, the one with the final say, how did things end up so derailed?
„I mean, I know she would have changed, but this much? Vuth, look at her. Can you really see yourself in that?“, Scarlet continued, crossing her arms, with her eyebrows raised.
Vuthe stepped forward, between Scythe and her sister, „Yes, yes I can. In fact, during my first breakdown after the assassin’s guild I was just like that. Give her some time.“
„You don’t need to defend me, you know. I am more than capable of talking for myself“, Scythe snapped at Vuthe, getting more and more confused and not knowing how to handle all this.
Vuthe turned around and the look in her eyes made Scythe forget her earlier promise. She punched the girl straight in the face with all the strength she could muster, „DON’T YOU FUCKING DARE PITY ME, YOU BITCH!“, she cried out, unsure if she was mad at Vuthe or herself, for not being able to endure the genuine pity in the girls eyes. Her thoughts were running crazy, nothing here made any sense to her, nor did she know what was going on.
Before she could run after the girl who had just been launched straight across the mansion's front garden, she felt a sudden pain before the entire world went black.