Rebornverse Art & Writing

Erin stood in the shower, feeling the warmth of the water cleansing her body. The blood and sweat flowed down the drain. Steam surrounded her. She ran her hands through her hair. The flowing water kept the soap out of her eyes. She had a long day. As soon as she was dry she would take a well deserved rest. There was so much for Erin to process. So, so many people died. All those innocent people living in GDC were killed by the Xenpurgis attack, all those annoying or rotten people too. It wasn’t fair. So many people had to watch helplessly as their lives were ruined. Erin liked the city. She often went looking for new clothes there, more often she stayed at the Blakeory Atheneum. It was her sanctuary, a quiet place where no one could bully her and where nothing was demanded of her. There was a fulfilment to be found in reading all those books. It made her smarter too. Helped sharpen her vocabulary and familiarise her with the way of words. It complimented her natural wit and helped her win arguments. She couldn’t win them all though. Like when Clear got the last word in against her as she was being killed.

She told Asopo that moment would haunt her randomly in a few years while she was taking a shower. She was joking but it actually happened, and a lot sooner than expected.

Clear doesn’t fucking matter. She’s nothing. Except she’s still Erin’s problem because Clear and Kieran 2.0 showed up to make their lives hell all over again. And they were with Kaina, the real Madame X, the one that actually mattered in the grand scheme of things. The world shatterer, the first interceptor, the monster that killed her family.

Kanon, Allen, Melia and Asopo…

Alice is gone too. Erin didn’t see her die but in all likelihood she’ll never see her again anyway. She’s so glad Asopo convinced her to take part in that silly pretend show about the kingdom and the battle against the wolf king who turned out to be good in the end. It was fun, and it was the last bit of quality time she got with those three before they all died.

Erin was finished in the shower. She stepped out and began the process of drying herself. She was in the league HQ in Sashila, they had all returned there after Nim had saved them. The hair dryer began blasting her head with heat. The brush untangled the knots in her usually fluffy white hair. Asopo admired her hair.

When she played the role of “Sister Erin” the cunning dark mage and he played the role of “General Asopo” the calm protector they both ended the story by liberating the red wolf and restoring peace to the land at the cost of their lives. Those characters they played died gentle deaths where they ceased knowing they had done the right thing, and the narrator implied near the end that they were both reborn as trees that grew next to each other. 

Erin hopes… that she gets to see him again when this is all over. 

She misses Asopo. She misses Melia. She wanted to get to know Alice and Allen more and be a good sister to them. And she wanted to know Kanon better, he was a very interesting person, and an incredibly strong one in the end.

Erin lost so much, yet despite it all she was among the lucky few on her team that wasn’t killed during the fight against the Mother Fuckers- (ugh, fine, they’re called the Mysterious Figures) if they actually manage to save the world she will be among the ones who won’t die in five years.

But does Erin even care? She remembers telling Melia that before she met her and the rest of her friend group she wanted to die because she felt that she didn’t have any purpose in her life. It all felt empty and pointless. Then she realised the full extent of her destiny, she realised that she needed to punish Vitus and protect her siblings from him. After they defeated Vitus and spent a few minutes discussing what to do with him, Asopo vouched for her and said that she should be the one to finish off Vitus. It was very satisfying in the moment, it was a great relief when she realised that she would never fear him ever again. But now it felt pointless. 

Who cares that she got to kill Vitus? She wishes her friends were here! 

She laid down on the bed and held her plushie, she was never big on collecting stuffed Pokemon dolls, but Aelita gave her this one for Christmas. I guess since Asopo offered her hugs so often, Aelita thought it would be cute if Erin could hug something that reminded her of him. She felt a tightness in her throat. She squeezed the Mudkip against her chest, hugging it as tightly as she could. She would kill to feel as though she was being hugged back. But she won’t be. She won’t ever be. Because her family is gone. And in a few years her best friend Aelita will be gone too. 

She was scared that after Team Xen was defeated the group she had would all go their separate ways and she would casually be left alone again. She spoke with Melia about it briefly, but during that conversation she naively failed to consider that they all might leave her alone simply by dying.

Today everything she had to think about somehow involved death. Team Xen were all a bunch of dead people walking. All those people in the city died. The characters in the play died. Everyone dying, all the time.

Maybe Erin should die too.

She acknowledged that this was a dangerous path for her thoughts to take. But is it an irrational one? Let’s be optimistic and imagine the best case scenario. With the help of Crescent the surviving interceptor, Aelita, Venam, Damien and Alexandra they all win. Kaina is brought to justice, Erin avenges her family and every world Kaina destroyed for her insane purpose of seeking oblivion. Then what? She hangs out with Aelita until the timer for Nim’s blessing is almost up. She finds a hospital to treat her wounds from the initial battle when they return. Then she lives. What is she living for? Who is she living for? She has Venam who won’t be dead, but that won’t be enough.

And besides, Erin’s continued life is a danger to others. Cloe and Vera explained that continuing to push herself will make her Archetype evolve until eventually the power takes over and she becomes a monster. Alice was going to seal herself away to avoid that fate, but now Alice might be dead anyway. Why bother with sealing though? If Erin gets sealed she’ll be stuck with a boring existence, possibly for eternity. If Erin dies there’s a chance she’ll find herself in Asopo’s arms again once she passes the threshold. There’s a chance she’ll get to see Melia smiling again. There’s a chance she’ll get to speak with Kanon again.

She noticed that she was crying quietly. 

Erin remembered how Souta left her without even saying goodbye. He made her wait until she found a letter left by him. She forgave him then, but not after wasting headspace resenting him for a while. That was selfish of him. It would be selfish of her to die too. Maybe there are a couple of people who would at least want to say goodbye. Like what if Alice is still alive? What will Alice do if she’s left all on her own with no twin brother to play pretend with her, no kind older sisters to look out for her?

Erin made a decision. She’ll wait. She’ll wait and see if she’s needed.