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@reverseduality
Welcome to the start of Reverse Duality, a Steve Saga AU where the roles of every single major hero and villain that has a counterpart have been reversed! Care to see how this changes the story?
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CHAPTERS LIST
(chapter 1)
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REVERSE DUALITY WORLDBUILDING NOTES 1
there might be more of these? idk
PORTALS
The Reverse Duality Au is set in an altered version of Minecraft! This means that most of Minecraft's rules apply, however, there are a few major differences. One of these is how portals to other dimensions work - or rather, how they don't.
Let me explain:
Interdimensional travel does not exist in Reverse Duality!
Or rather, while the people of this world have memory of it being possible in the past, once a
~certain someone~
showed up, all portals, aside from ones to pocket dimensions, seemed to stop working.
Why?
Did they ever even work in the first place?
Secret :)
let's just say that, at least in this world, you can't have a matryoshka doll of dimensions
What does this mean for a world based on both Minecraft itself and The Steve Saga, both of which are pretty well known for having travel to other dimensions be possible?
Let's start with the Minecraft aspect.
Without access to the nether and the end, the inhabitants of this world are cut off from several useful materials, including:
the means to make potions
netherite
the means to make end crystals
several useful building materials (some of which are more blast-resistant than easy-to-obtain materials of the overworld)
elytras
the means to make beacons
However! Due to the... nature of this world, there will be other ways to access these two dimensions once the need for some of these materials becomes clear. Specifically, by incorporating them into the overworld!
The nether is the easier of the two to access; at some point while mining, someone discovers that the bedrock at the bottom of the overworld is riddled with small holes, some just wide enough for a large person to fit through. When tunneling through the stone covering said holes, they discovered netherrack, and that they had tunneled directly into the nether.
The end, however, is a bit harder to reach, at least without suffocating. It ended up in orbit around the planet, somehow staying within earth's shadow at all times. Its islands are extremely difficult to see unless they happen to pass in front of a star and block out its light.
While the journey there is extremely difficult without teleportation or the technological advancements necessary for space flight, it's more possible to survive once you actually step foot on the islands, as the large amounts of chorus plants and fewer animal life forms allow for the islands to maintain their own thin atmosphere. It has not yet been discovered how the chorus plants are able to create oxygen or energy without contact with sunlight, but some theorize that they are able to feed off of some of the radiating energy of the teleporting creatures that live there. If this is true, it could also explain the properties of the fruit the plants bear.
proposed food chain:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Now, what about the Steve Saga, the series that Reverse Duality is an AU of?
The Steve Saga seems to contain three main flavors of dimension in its world: full-scale dimensions (sometimes called realms) (examples: the steve realm, the spirit realm, the spiritless realm, that one dimension with the purple grass, the nightmare dimension), mirroring dimensions (dimensions that match another dimension and can interact with or view the activity of the dimension they're based on)(examples: where the overseer was trapped, the reverse dimension), and pocket dimensions (dimensions either small in scale or contained within another dimension)(examples: the great library, the end crystal/ore steves dimension, that one pocket that Elemental used to "train" Sabre and Rainbow, the black hole). The in-between and the time dimension are outliers to this, but most closely fit in the pocket dimension category.
For reasons not yet revealed in the comic, the realm Reverse Duality takes place in is somewhere that can only fit one full-scale dimension, and it is extremely difficult to escape this unless someone really knows what they're doing with teleportation and fully know what situation they are in, or are traveling between universes instead of dimensions. This means it is completely cut off from all other main dimensions (including afterlives :) ) However, pocket dimensions and mirroring dimensions for this main realm are still reachable, since pocket dimensions are contained within another dimension, and mirroring dimensions are less their own realm and more a reflection of another/a displacement from the main realm they connect to, so they still fit.
[A rather.....intriguing individual arrives. Many parts of his black and white and purple and blue body are floating. His scorpion tail rises up as he lands, confused and unsure...]
This.....why was I taken here..?
...
Where IS here-??!
[His wings glitch as he starts to look around.]
He finds himself at a cross-section in a long hallway, with 3 directions to take. The floor is checkered red and white with mangrove and pale oak woods, polished to such a shine that they almost look like ceramic tiles. The walls are black, patterned with vibrant green ones and zeroes that almost seem like they're moving, and lined with bright white quarts pillars that are so frequent they obscure where any other splits in the path or any doors could be in the distance. The ceiling is quarts brick, with a solid stripe of red wood going straight down each hall in the crossroads, and dotted with bright glowstone lights behind iron trapdoors as frequently as the walls are with pillars. The air here smells sterile, like some kind of laboratory or hospital, with a hint of citrus (not that anyone from this world would know what that is) and something metallic. It is eerily silent here.
The hallway to his left comes to an immediate dead end within 4 blocks, with nothing of note. The hallway in front of him also comes to a dead end, but with a path of deactivated redstone dust that heads off from the left between two pillars, straight to the cross-section he's in, and down the final hallway. It's matte and dark against the reflective floor, almost making the dust look like a trail of dried blood. He can't tell how far it goes down the 3rd and longest hallway, which ends in what appears to be a spiral staircase to. Somewhere, but it splits off very nearby to go between two more pillars, just close enough to see that it leads to a green copper door.
[He visibly grimaces as he smells the uncomfortably sterility of the place. His head floats upwards a little as he adjusts to his surroundings.]
A lab, huh...?
[He laughs, before heading towards the copper door.]
At least I finally get some me-time...though, depends on this is what I think it is....
The door seems to just lead to a storage closet, with several chests lining the walls stacked almost to the ceiling.
Hm.....meh, I don't even wanna know...those chests are probably full of muck and dust...
[He huffs, before wandering out towards the leftmost hallway.]
The leftmost hallway comes to an immediate dead end. There's nothing of note here, it's barely even a hallway. Why does it exist..?
Strangely enough, unlike the other two halls, there's no path of redstone on the floor.
[He stares at the walls, before running his floating hands along them.]
What kind of maniac makes hallways useless...? Damned maze...
The walls feel like solid brick, hewn from some kind of stone. The ones and zeroes flicker and glitch as his hand passes over them, as if they aren't really there.
Behind him, echoing from somewhere the longest hallway, the distant sound of a small metal object clattering as it falls to the floor.
Hmmm...
[He freezes as he hears the near-silent metallic sound, pulling his hands away from the strange walls. His tail raises up in defense as he heads towards the sound.]
Might as well..Curiosity has killed the cat before, though...
As this facility falls into a dead silence once more, with nothing but the echo of his footsteps, he passes by another seemingly-useless hallway, again with no redstone trail, before coming to another crossroads, with no indicator as to where the sound came from.
Ahead of him is a slightly claustrophobic spiral staircase leading upwards, trapdoors blocking light sources making the climb less than a block wide.
To his right is an impossibly long hallway, with its red stripe on the ceiling being replaced by a a blue one of stripped warped logs. At its very end, just barely visible due to distance, is a wide staircase leading upward, with the glow of daylight shining through from where it leads.
To his left is a hallway that seems to lead to nowhere, with the redstone trail on its floor turning about halfway through it to go between two pillars. Its ceiling stripe is purpur pillar, and, if he looks down it for long enough, he may be able to see a single flicker of what appears to be a blank, glitchy nametag through the wall.
[He grabs at his floating ponytail in frustration. He looks longingly over at the sunlight-lit staircase, and squints at the staircase in front of him for a long moment. He finally sighs, his wings glitching a little as he starts down the left hallway.]
This better not be a trap or i swear to God Steve I'll lose it.
The redstone leads to another green copper door hidden between the pillars, and, before he can consider looking inside the room behind, it swings open, its handle being turned by what appears to be a human with messy, textured grey hair with other colors hidden underneath, a black and white labcoat with a blue and pink inner lining, dark blueish grey pants, and mismatched blue and pink shoes. A blank nametag floats above his head, glitching.
He's slightly older in appearance, somewhere in his twenties, and there's messy silver stubble along his chin, along with a few scarred over nicks, as if a couple days ago he had attempted to shave with a sword. He looks... unkempt, to say the least, coat and shirt rumpled as if he'd just now thrown them on in a hurry, his purple glasses crooked, and he's leaning against the doorframe to keep himself stable, clutching at his own stomach with his free hand in pain. Strange, glowing lines cut through his skin, but right now their glow is faint and his skin is a bit desaturated, as if all the blood had rushed away from his face.
As soon as he sees the strange being in front of him, he lurches back in surprise and fear, causing him to fall backwards. The sudden movement and hard landing cause some strange snapping sounds to come from his stomach, and he winces before looking up in tired confusion, his eyes unfocused, as a small amount of strange, brightly glowing fluid starts seeping through his shirt, staining it. The same fluid stains his hands with a vivid glow.
[For a moment, he stares at the stranger with disdain, before blinking, his scorpion tail slowly lowering. This...judging from his color scheme, it must be another universe's version of himself...He sighs, covering his face with annoyance. Good god, why is THIS what he has to deal with?? His eyes stare up at him through his own glasses.]
....hello.
[Yup, it's definitely obvious who this guy is supposed to be. With how much he's had to deal with Zero and Asra and...everyone, he's used to players in general by now.]
He freezes, before looking around behind him in suspicion, as if expecting someone to be there, but only seeing small puddles of the same glowing fluid on the ground and some kind of surgical table as what's slowly spreading across the front of his shirt, as well as a scalpel laying on the ground, which must be what made the metal clattering sound before.
After his gaze lingers on the scene behind him for a second longer, this version of Illusion struggles to stand up, once again leaning against the doorframe for stability. He seems pretty out of it, slightly slurring his words.
W- who are you?
I'm you, I guess....
[His five eyes squint back towards the surgical table as his mind tries to make sense of what he's looking at. The mushrooms attached to his head glow faintly as he finally looks the strange player-him in the eyes suspiciously.]
What the hell is going on here...?
Upon a closer look, the 'player's' aperture-like eyes are extremely dilated, but he stops squinting against the bright ceiling lights to widen them when he hears who the person he's facing is. Only a bit, though, he's met another version of himself what to him feels like a long time ago.
I- I don't know. I woke up several min-nutes ago..
He looks down, as it seems like a wave of nausea starts to rise as he reminds himself of what he woke up to.
Sssomeone did something to me, messed with my head, b-but I don't remember his name. I jjust know I need to get the hell out of here.
With that, he weakly tries to push his way past and leave the room.
[He again glances at the room, before grabbing his free hand with a look of disgust as the same glowing fluid gets on his hands.]
...I've seen the stairs outta here, I gotcha...
[His tail twitches. Why??? WHY is THIS what he's gotta deal with now??? He's not made to do this! God Steve knows he's terrible at everything to do with this stuff! He huffs, as he pulls his strange duplicate down the hall. Guess he'll have to make do...at least there's some silence this time around....hopefully.]
His hand twitches at his touch and is freezing cold and shaking, but he doesn't try to pull away; he's too loopy to think about complaining right now.
Even just a quick glance around the room shows several more items in it; counters surrounding the table hold several surgical tools, all covered in glowing lavender and blue fluid but neatly placed, straight and orderly, except for a small needle and thread that seems much more thoughtlessly set down. There's a few bottles of different colored liquid and used syringes, but what stands out most is a needle laying on the ground in a pool of the glowing substance, as if it was torn out of something, attached to a long tube leading to a large airtight container, filled with somewhere between a liter and a liter and a half of the liquid. Strangest of all, though, is a crossbow on the wall on the other side of the room, with a few boxes of bolts filled with different colored potions beneath it, mostly unlabeled, but some with words like "paralytic", "anesthetic", and "adrenaline" written on the boxes.
Illusion stumbles along behind his alternate self as he's half following, half getting dragged, taking fast and shallow breaths, but not saying a word. He takes a glance at the spiral staircase as they pass before looking at this other Illusion with a questioning look in his eyes, before he spots the wide staircase ahead. They also pass right by another green door. Eventually (and I DO mean eventually, this is an extremely long hallway),right before they reach the stairs, there is another crossroads. Ahead, on the path to daylight, the floor changes from tiled woods to tiled iron and rust-free copper, which seems to have a faint energy coming from it. To the right is a hallway that seems to open up into a room, though what's in it can't be seen from here.
[He glares at the medical equipment as he holds onto him tighter, vowing to never return to this damned room except maybe to return the blood(?) to his alternate's body. Damned players, so fragile....He keeps his tail raised again, two of his eyes constantly flicking around as his floating hands both hold onto RD!Illusion.]
Damned maze...
[He glances at every door with his topmost eye, glaring intently. He will GLADLY punch the shit out of someone if he must, but by God, He will not let himself get caught off guard.]
The more metallic floor clanks beneath their feet as they step onto it, now very close to the "exit", and the walls of the hall change to tinted glass. It seems to pass through a pretty expansive cave, but the hall's lights don't illuminate enough of the darkness outside to make out much other than a few glowing berries on vines and the outer pillars holding the hallway up, which seem to be made of iron. There's another room overlooking the cave, possibly what was connected to the rightmost hallway, but it's at too much of an angle to see what's through it's own tinted windows aside from the light trapped behind them and the flick of the silhouette of a wing.
RD!Illusion starts fidgeting with a chunk of his hair, dreading the feeling that they're being watched...
[He stares off at the mysterious room, glaring. Given the nature of the other room RD!Illusion woke up in, he doesn't trust this place one bit. And given how suddenly the hall changed in material.....he doesn't like it at all. He makes sure they stay on the move, wings now flicking in and out of existence as paranoia begins to set in.]
After only a few steps forward, as they pass the first two pillars of the metal and glass section of this hallway, laughter and lightning striking several points directly above the ceiling can be heard as electricity pulses through the iron pillars and metal floor tiles.
Redstone dust connects the first and last metal pillars, as if being placed by an invisible force as the laughter passes right by them, activating the center line and trapping them in this section of the hallway. Suddenly, a familiar smiling figure appears out of thin air, standing just outside the redstone barrier and blocking the exit. He's sporting twin halos of dark steel that cover his eyes, not that he's at much of a vision deficit given the several dark eyes on the halo itself, glowing green zeroes and ones as their pupils pointing in several directions, constantly flicking around as if searching for something interesting to look at, with a few focused on the two Illusions. Most of his body is covered in what appears to be a layered cloak, which opens with an exaggerated flourish to reveal itself as three pairs of wings, each darker than the last with more ones and zeroes spilling out of the bottom pair, and a dark, bird-like tail, all covering up any view of the stairs.
Man, I can't believe you actually FELL for that! I really expected smarter out of someone with your kind of power!
[As the redstone clicks into place, he can feel his powers diminish a little. He growls, his tail tapping intensely against the floor. His eyes flick towards the sound, before quickly resting upon the all-too-familar-face and voice. Using his upper arms to keep RD!Illusion from falling, he raises both hands.]
Finally! I can do this!
...you motherfucker.
[He gives him an irritated grin as he double flips off the angel-like being. His wings flair out as he does so, both which wrap around his other self.]
He gives a mocking scandalized look, putting a hand on his chest just below where his strange wing-cloak-thing is tied.
And what-EVER did I do to you?
He says this with a shit-eating grin. His form glitches slightly as he steps closer to the redstone line.
[He simply motions to his other self.]
Every. Fucking. Thing.
[Ohhhh, he is PISSED now. If he wasn't dealing with this injured player version of himself, he would crash right through that window and choke this motherfucker to death.]
Oh please, I just wanted to run a few tests! He'll be fineeeee :)
RD!Illusion shrinks back a bit as he says this, clutching his stomach through his now glow-in-the-dark-tie-dyed shirt. He opens his mouth to ask just what this guy was trying to achieve, but no sound comes out.
Speaking of which, I should really get back to those before before his... more powerful friends get here-
All of his eyes are focused on RD!Illusion now, who tries to step back in fear.
OH, you're NOT doing that at alllllll, not while I'm here!
[He steps in front of RD!Illusion, blocking Sabre's view of him a little better.]
I'd gladly prefer to take a stab at you than vice versa.
[With that, he steps forward, attempting to break the glass.]
The glass shatters easily, but Sabre's not behind it; somehow, TWA!Illusion ended up attacking a reflection. The glow of the hallway lights spills into the cave around them revealing a strange, lush environment, with the walls of the cave being made of mostly blackstone, with moss and skulk everywhere. RD!Illusion sneezes as some pollen from a nearby spore blossom gets into his nose. Sabre, still standing in front of the trapped exit, simply stays grinning.
Aw man! Ugh! I just installed those!
Having already gotten the mental link he needed, Sabre snaps his fingers and all thought leaves RD!Illusion's eyes, before he slumps over and passes out
Boop! There we go :)
[He shakes the broken glass off of him, before rushing to his other self's side, just barely catching him. He huffs, holding him close despite the blood getting all over him.]
God FUCKING-
[He glares at Sabre again, looking even more irritated. It's- it's not even like he CARES about this guy that much, he's just angry that he hadn't seen through the obvious signs that some bitch would, of COURSE, be behind this, and now he's caught up in it. It's not like this matters all that much..]
I'm gonna tear your throat out.
Oh whatEver shall I do?
Why don't I make it easier for you.
Suddenly, the flesh of his neck goes invisible, revealing the internal organs underneath. Thyroid, trachea, larynx, it's all there. His arteries pulse uncomfortably. It's. Disturbing, to say the least.
The rest of his neck reappears.
Look, you have nothing to do with this, so why don't you just... step away from the "player", leave well enough alone, and I'll let you leave freely? No harm, no foul!
Well...
His right hand and wings shift to press against his chest, as he tilts his head to the side in thought.
I guess one fowl, *technically*, but who's counting?
..Good lorddddd, you're so corny.
[He rolls all of his eyes, still holding his other self, giving him an unimpressed look.]
Well, yes, theoretically I could. But I've spent the last 2 or 3 days with some of the most IRRITATING motherfuckers in the universe, and yet! Guess what! They still don't compare to you!
[He grins, as he carefully wraps his wings and arms tightly around the unconscious player.]
Leaving him behind means letting you get your way, and by GOD, I'm in the mood to be a thorn in your side again.
Sabre pauses at this, and one of his dark steel halos lifts a bit to reveal. A Few Left Eyes, all with black sclera. While most of his eyes have either a one or a zero in them, one of his left eyes, larger than the rest and where an eye actually should be, has both overlapping each other. While his smile never wavers, growing even wider, his eyes now all show a cold anger, all focusing on TWA!Illusion now as he raises a hand, readying to snap his fingers again. He continues to speak in a chipper tone.
Have it your way then!
As he takes a step forward, he doesn't notice as his foot pushes aside some of the dust on the floor, breaking the connection and now leaving two ways out of the broken loop; either through Sabre or out the shattered window, which no redstone dust had lined.
Very well, it has been a displeasure meeting you!
[With that, his wings glitch, as he leans over and simply falls out of the window. As he falls, his form fully glitches out, still holding tightly onto his alternate self. When he lands, he's transformed into what can best be described as a demonic boar crossed with a griffin or a centaur. His many horns line his forehead and tail, as his still-floating arms latch on tightly around RD!Illusion. His scorpion tail is still somewhat present, the spikes along his tail now holding its paralyzing venom. He starts racing along the cave, looking for a good way for the angelic monstrosity to lose track of them...]
Sabre, taken by surprise at this, fumbles his snap, sounding more like a fwip and having no effect. He stares through the window in disbelief.
Are you KIDDING me!?
He flaps his wings and readies himself to give chase, but thunder rumbles as someone attacks him from behind, trapping him in a sphere of dirt and blocking off his way to follow.
RD!Illusion starts to stir, eyes screwed shut against a pounding headache and the expectancy of the bright lights of the facility.
Ugh... what happened...?
The cave is fairly long, and there's several stalagtites and stalagmites to weave between. The room from the other hallway has a small staircase entrance, only visible from the ground, and the other end of the cave seems to have an opening into a much smaller, more tunnel-like cave that leads elsewhere.
[A couple eyes glance back as he smiles, seeing the dirt pile up. He weaves his way through, eventually slowly down as his wings shake out, his form stablizing into a more simple fluffy boar. His face is mostly normal as RD!Illusion comes to, except for being a bit longer and with horns going up his forehead and on his nose.]
Welp, I think your friends have arrived at last...
[He tucks them both into a corner of the tunnel cave, hoping to let the battle peter out until he can return and meet these "friends" of his...He sits, tucking his other self into his fur.]
Escaped out the window, hah! You shoulda seen the look on his face..
RD!Illusion flinches at the sound of thunder raging on, now coming from above them aboveground. He barely sinks into the soft fur, being surprisingly light. As soon as his friends are mentioned, he looks up, opening his eyes and being suprised at the darkness of the cave around him. His eyes are still too dilated for him to be able to properly see anything around him unblurred, but he can recognize the material that was summoned by color as he squints anxiously at the hallway's exterior.
... Elemental..?
He takes off his glasses to try to clean them and get a clearer view (not that that would have helped), but notices the splotch of vividly glowing blood on his shirt, which has. Luckily? Stopped spreading for now, for the first time.
Ohh that's. Tthat's not good.
His speech is slow and unfocused as he weakly buries his face into TWA!Illusion's fur.
[He nods, reaching down, grimacing.]
Here, lemme get those clean for you..
I can't. Really heal much, sadly, so.....for now, just...hold on, okay..?
He takes a second to process before carefully nodding a little, handing over his glasses with a shivering hand. They're already perfectly clean, the stars decorating the corner of their rims reflecting the glow staining his hands and now the glasses' handles.
[He still makes sure they're clean, rubbing off the glowing liquid...gah, he'll have to wash this stuff off later....Still, as he sits there in the cold dark of the cave, he's glad he's here. Kind of. Okay, maybe he still doesn't really want to be here, but he's at least grateful he didn't need to directly fight Sabre. He hands the glasses back after checking them over.]
He pulls back his coat, something small shifting in one of his outer pockets as he tries to wipe his hands off on a clean part of his shirt before accepting the glasses, giving a look of tired frustration when they don't clear up his vision. He's more anxious than anything, staring up at the cave ceiling as the thunder starts to die down. He tries to draw his knees close to his chest, but winces at the sharp pain in his abdomen. He instead pulls back his sleeve to inspect something on his arm; ten heart symbols, only half of one of which is filled with the same now-faint glow of the rest of the lines engraved into his skin.
[He sighs, putting a hand to his face.]
God, how the hell are you still livin'...
[He begrudgingly fishes through his pockets, until finding a loaf of bread.]
...Here, I guess this'll help.
He gratefully takes the loaf of bread, before pulling back his other sleeve to show another set of symbols also with only one half-full.
God, how long was I out..?
He eats the bread, trying to pace himself as a few more of the symbols fill up, but nothing else happens.
Mmmm....not that long, reallly...the guy snapped his fingers and you passed out..
[He grumbles a little when he sees how little the bread helped. He knows he doesn't have any more, and he's not about to make a whole show of digging for more.]
No, I mean... before...
He searches his own pockets for anything that could help, but they've been cleaned out aside from a leather notebook, as well as something warm and soft in one of his outer pockets. He relaxes slightly when it nuzzles against his hand, but he doesn't take it out.
[He tilts his head. Oh god, what the hell is that?]
What...?
He looks up, confused.
What is that in your pocket?
He silently reaches into his pocket and pulls out a grey and white tabby kitten with a dandelion seemingly made of gold woven into its light blue collar, placing it on the ground, where it sits, looking up at the two Illusions in confusion. It looks small enough that it would fit perfectly loafing in two cupped hands. It seems healthy and well-fed, despite everything.
[Illusion's slightly fluffy tail raises up as he looks down at the tiny creature. He tentatively reaches down, letting it sniff his hand.]
It's...so small.
The kitten cautiously gives his hand a sniff, before starting to lick it.
You can thank the flower for that.
... Someone... gifted it to me a long time ago, claimed it reminded them of me. Don't really see it, though...
He stares down the small cat's friendly gesture with an exaggerated look of betrayal.
[He laughs quietly, giving the kitten a pat.]
Ehhh...you ARE a bit of a sad wet kitten, to be fair...
The kitten leans into his hand, immediately beginning to purr.
Wh- Hey-
RD!Illusion jolts, trying to quickly sit up straight, but the sudden movement causes another snapping sound to come from his stomach, and he winces again.
[He sighs, petting the kitten with one hand and carefully keeping RD!Illusion in place with the other.]
See? Wet kitten. Can't even keep your guts all in one place!
[He says this purely to be a bother, but he does worry when he hears how damn loud that snap was....Hopefully, his friends find them soon, because he certainly ain't a medic.]
Like, seriously, Zero and Asra have been better at keeping themselves from death's door than you have in the last....ten minutes I've met you.
I. Have no idea who those are.
>:|
It's not exactly like I *wanted* to be kidnapped and used as a test subject for who knows what-
These are just. Unusual circumstances.
The sounds of battle have already died down to a halt above them a while ago, and now only a far off low rumble of unrelated thunder and the nearby high-pitched rumble of the kitten's purring remains.
Yeahhhh, but who the hell ends up IN these kinds of circumstances, huh??
[Some of his eyes have taken to staring off near the facility, wondering if it's safe to venture out yet.]
Only someone who doesn't have a clue what's goin on, that's what.
[He shrugs.]
How was I supposed to know he could affect my mind...
He squints up at twa!Illusion, before taking out his leather notebook. He removes the cap of one of 5 pens strapped to it, a glittery yellow one, and flicks it to the side of the cave. The kitten immediately chases the new toy, running just out of reach. No more petting.
[He shrugs, watching as he does so.]
Once we're outta here, I don't mind a more in-depth discussion, I guess...
Yyeah...
He sits there for a second, watching the kitten play, before he looks up at the cave ceiling. Thunder rumbles off in the far distance.
Lightning'ss been gone ffor a while... d'you tthink it'ss safe to go back out?
He opens his pocket and the kitten, after noticing, jumps back in carrying the pen cap. He then carefully stands up, stumbling a bit and swaying on his feet, even more lightheaded than before. He looks like he's going to pass out, the glowing lines on his skin flickering between being barely visible in the dim cave and being completely snuffed out.
Whoa- whoa-
[He grabs him by the shoulders, steadying him.]
Do n o t stand up. Probably, yes...Let's get outta here.
[He picks him up again, stretching his hooved legs a little as he makes sure he's not gonna worsen his injuries.]
I'm not dealin' with whoever or whatever your friends are alone...
[He looks up as he starts snaking his way out of the cavern, his many eyes glancing upwards and towards the facility, occasionally down at RD!Illusion.]
I'll be ffinee, I just. Don't wanna be hhere muchh longer...
He goes limp as he's picked up, the allure of sleep increasing with his wooziness. He perks up a bit when he hears the mention of his. We'll, he doesn't know if they're his friends... allies? What even makes someone your friend, anyway? How can you even tell if they consider you one? He's not exactly a mind-reader.
You sshould be all- alright... it's just Elemental and Origin, tthey'vve been pretty nice to me-
The window that they left through is too high up to reach without flight, and the only other options out of the cave are the staircase into what looks to be some kind of viewing room, and maybe deeper into the tunnel cave they were hiding in.
[He just. Stares down at him as they approach the facility. He's seen enough of those two through memories, he doesn't exactly consider that a positive thing.]
...
[Then again...ugh. New universe, new rules. He looks up at the viewing room, glaring at it before adjusting how he's holding his alternate self. His fluffy fur is oddly cozy, though smells faintly of...metal, oddly enough. His body glitches, reforming wings.]
Alright I guess..
[He huffs, before flying up to the window, transforming into a much smaller beast form so he can fit through the staircase easier. He's still fluffy, of course.]
This better be simple..
The 3 block wide staircase leads up to an oak forest on the surface through a large, fancy, obvious entrance. The corners of the entrance each have a red nether brick wall topped with rusted copper lanterns, the flames inside which are glowing bright green. Behind them is a large mountain covered in more forest, and while the sky itself is a normal bright blue, it's half-covered in cotton candy pink splotches. Thunder rumbles in the distance fairly frequently, but it doesn't seem to be related to any fighting as it rings out in random directions. RD!Illusion doesn't even seem to notice it as he drifts in and out of consciousness.
The landscape is dotted in towers of dirt, as if whoever summoned them was trying to capture someone mid-flight, but nothing else was summoned, as if the one being attacked didn't even try to create any blocks to fight back.
[He sighs, giving the rusty lanterns a quick middle finger as he stares begrudgingly up at the sky and the towers of dirt.]
Nothin' is ever easy..
[He continues forward, walking out towards the furthest towers he can see, hoping to catch a glimpse of the two RD!Illusion mentioned...]
It doesn't take long to find someone among the summoned structures; a red figure weaving between pillars and trees, seemingly searching for something or someone. Blobs of water and lava float around and cling to his arms, not dripping, in the way that water floats in wobbly balls in zero gravity environments, and vines are woven through locks of his hair the way they would a small tree, tightly enough to choke it out. Some of the vines twist around each other to form a leafy crown atop his head.
He spots TWA!Illusion as quickly as he is spotted, and takes a step back cautiously...
Who-
... before his golden, glowing eyes widen as he notices who he's carrying.
... what are you doing with him?
[He goes to raise his hands in defense before stopping himself, not wanting to make this whole situations much worse.]
I got him outta the lab, I did not hurt him! That motherfucker- presumably, the guy you were fighting- did it!
[He steps forward, mostly just tired of carrying the guy at this point. His voice is.....distinctly VERY familiar....He offers up the nearly-dead "player" up to him.]
...I can't really heal, but I got him away :/
[Elemental can see a strangely fluffy half-boar....thing...that seems to bear similar colors to his companion, but more....well, unusual. His elongated face has several horns along the forehead and nose, he has five eyes that seem to watch things unseen, and his hands are floating. Somehow, this has not affected carrying RD!Illusion at all.]
He carefully accepts the barely-conscious "player", eyeing this strange being with suspicion, the lava around one of his arms seemingly avoiding making contact with either Illusion, until his eyes widen even more at the glowing stain on his shirt. He gently lays RD!Illusion down on a soft spot on the ground.
I will. Be right back.
Suddenly, he disappears, returning almost immediately with a regeneration potion and a few golden apples, along with some bread, and quickly crouching down next to the player.
[He simply sits beside one of the dirt pillars, transforming back to his default form with less fluff and horns. He watches with bored, yet slightly fascinated eyes, crossing his arms. His scorpion tail curls gently around himself.]
He holds up the potion, eyeing TWA!Illusion's transformation with cautious interest.
This might not work fast enough if you drink it, so I'm going to need to see that wound, ok?
RD!Illusion gives a small nod, and Elemental lifts up his shirt a bit to reveal a large wound done by someone who clearly didn't know how dissection works; the main incision spans from somewhere in the center of his ribcage, unsettlingly visible as he's laying down, down to the bottom of his stomach, and there's two more cuts from one side of his torso to the other, as if the guy who did this was trying to open his stomach like a cardboard box to look into. The cuts themselves were done by a very steady and precise hand, but they're stitched up by a hand that was a lot more shaky. The stitches are uneven, with some too loose, some too tight, and quite a few snapped open or done so close to the edge of the wound that they tore at his skin, reopening it. They both cringe at the sight.
It's going to be alright, just sit tight.
Elemental's eyes glow a bit brighter as he uses his powers to make each stitch dissappear one by one, trickling in the regen potion behind them. The wound slowly mends itself, and RD!Illusion winces as he feels his nerves knit themselves back together, but relaxes in relief once it's done, some of the glow returning to the lines that cut across his body.
[He doesn't do much, beyond continuing to watch, a mild frown forming as he realizes JUST what those horrid snapping sounds were.....His only real thought now, is how the fuck is he not dead already?]
[He absent-mindedly traces his own torso, which is not so much a single large body part as it is floating pieces. The floating nether star where his stomach would be glimmers a little as his hand passes over it.]
Once the potion has done its work, all that's left of the wound is a scar, joining a few other scars on his torso, mostly fireball-related burns, though all of those are old and faded at this point. His skin is loose, as if he had gained some weight only to very quickly lose it, leaving him nothing but skin and bones. For some reason, none of his scars interrupt his glowing lines, which have not fully regained their glow, and as he tries to sit up just a bit too fast, pulling down his shirt, he falls back, his vision darkening a bit with dizziness and nausea, a headache creeping into the edges of his mind as he no longer has the pain in his stomach to focus on. Unfortunately, the potion was unable to restore a large portion of his missing blood, and the side effects are still very much present.
Hey. No. You need rest. You really shouldn't try to get up on your own.
But I-
RD!Illusion gets interrupted when a golden apple is shoved into his hands.
I saw what happened, there is no way I'm letting you get yourself even more hurt. At the very least eat this first, alright?
RD!Illusion stares up at Elemental before begrudgingly taking a bite out of the apple. It goes down surprisingly smoothly despite his nausea, numbing his headache and returning some strength to his body, though his glow still doesn't fully return; his body will have to replace a lot of its missing blood on its own.
[He sighs as he continues to watch this exchange go down.]
He's right, ya know. That injury is...not something to take light of. Your bones were very, very much visible.
[Well. At least he is conscious? But now there's a new guy to figure out, yayyyyy....]
He similarly sighs, before more carefully sitting up and turning so he can prop himself up against a nearby tree with some help from Elemental. He stretches, trying to get as much bloodflow as he can back into his limbs, making the ribs still visible through his skin more obvious through his shirt. Even the kitten, which had tumbled out of his pocket when he fell back down, seems to agree with TWA!Illusion and Elemental, climbing into RD!Illusion's lap to make sure he stays down and letting out the tiniest little mew, before nudging at his hand once he puts it down, getting a bit of blood on its fur. He gives it a scratch behind the ears and it starts to purr again.
Has that cat been with him this entire time? He's been missing for a couple of weeks-
[TWA!Illusion shrugs, now finally walking closer.]
Would seem like it...it's been fine somehow..
RD!Illusion's ear twitches and his nametag glitches as he finishes his apple.
The little guy's smart. It can sneak around pretty easily, it probably was able to sneak out for food from time to time.
He looks at the hunger bar on his arm, up to 3 and a half symbols full now, before accepting more food from Elemental. He buttons up his labcoat for the first time... ever, really.
Why is it so damn chilly out...
It's a fairly warm day.
[He glances up at the sky and down at his alternate self.]
....It is not cold whatsoever.
[He just sits nearby again, though now relatively close.]
...That clearly took a lot out of you..
... maybe.
He draws his arms into his coat, leaving his sleeves to go limp. The kitten mews again, disappointed that it's no longer getting pet.
Elemental sits nearby, drawing out a thin string of the lava around one of his arms and forming a web of it, trying to warm up the air around RD!Illusion a bit.
How did you find him, anyway? Even with the.. screens.. Origin and I have searched for a while, and I've only just now located that suspicious entrance.
[He shrugs.]
Woke up there.
...By which I mean, I guess...getting taken from one world to another or something, God if I know...
I just wandered around the place until I found him. And, inevitably, we were BOTH found :/
A confused and concerned look spreads over Elemental's face as he processes this.
... this world has been cut off from most other dimensions for years, how is that even possible...
RD!Illusion is looking away now, holding a piece of bread he was given through the collar of his coat to eat as he draws his knees closer to his chest, making sure not to squish the kitten too much, who is curled up against his stomach, purring and only slightly compressed.
[He huffs, messing with one of the chains on his pants.]
Hell if I know, the last "world" I was in was....fucked up, to say the least.
It was....a fusion of worlds, at its core. Steves from....at least two separate places, and...at least one if not more non-Steve realms....God, it was bizarre and nonsensical....fuck, there's even VAMPIRES somehow! I have no idea what that place is!
[He looks up at the sky again, just contemplating all of this.]
...But, needless to say....I wouldn't be surprised if that's half the reason I got here at all.
The pink splotches corrupting the sky are starting to shift to a dark, blood-red color as a firey orange sunset spreads across it. Both of them are giving him identical looks of stunned silence and curiosity now. RD!Illusion is tempted to pull out his notebook and write this all down, to ask a barrage of questions, but now probably isn't the time. The silence is only broken when, tired of not being pet, the kitten jumps off of RD!Illusion's lap, landing with a small thump in the grass, and trots through the fallen leaves on the ground, going to bother TWA!Illusion.
[He doesn't make eye contact with either of them, continuing to watch the sky. His vaguely resting bitch face doesn't change either, until his ears perk up a little as the small creature trots up to him. He looks down at the small cat, before sighing, giving it scritches under its chin.]
...The whole universe seems to be corrupted. Not just people have been relocated from across dimensions, but..the entire landscape, too, is cobbled together.
[With that, he goes quiet again, his only movement from petting the kitten and his tail resting in the leaves and grass surrounding him.]
At the mention of universes, Elemental squints at him, before finally putting together that twa!Illusion is an alternate universe version of rd!Illusion, now looking at him with even more concern.
... How does that even- what would be the purpose of combining realms like that?
What's that world's version of me even doing?
[He shrugs, though smirks a little when Elemental FINALLY notices who he actually is.]
Haven't met 'em yet. Went to hell, though, I guess...that's where the vampires were, for some reason.
Didn't know vampires were real, but somehow, that tracks...
There are some old myths about vampirism being something along the lines of some sort of demonic curse,
He pipes up, helpfully.
Pretty sure Owen himself said somethin' about that...Getting torn away from his lover?
[He pauses.]
....Then again. I'm 90% certain he said that guy was also the one that turned him....
That's.
...
Why is romance so concerning?
[Illusion cracks up a little at that, showing sharp, almost glittery, teeth.]
I don't know, but I don't care to find out more!
Illusion lets out a sharp breath of amusement of his own.
That is. Completely fair!
Elemental gives a disappointed look; he was actually kind of curious.
[He does give Elemental a little bit of a smirk.]
Ehhh, it wasn't that interesting. Something something, Louis was secretly a vampire as mayor, something something his bite cured Owen's illness. Yadda yadda, the town found out about the vampirism, Louis is burned alive, Owen commits mass murder. Very normal activities, it sounds lke.
Aaaand they're concerned again.
Hm. Yes. N o r m a l.
Rd!Illusion wishes he was more suprised by this, but at this point he's gotten more used to strange and concerning events than he'd like to be.
The kitten doesn't seem to care, now attempting to climb twa!Illusion's clothes in order to obtain uppies and sit on his shoulder.
...Yeah, Owen is...a strange person.
[He sighs softly, picking up the small creature.]
Don't get caught in between my limbs, small one.
[He lifts it up so it doesn't try to climb towards the nether star in his abdomen. The kitten is carefully set on his shoulder, on his non-mushroom covered side.]
The kitten mews happily, before immediately sitting down, looking as stoic and serious as possible. As the world around them grows darker and stars start to appear in the sky, it seems to be searching between the trees for something that isn't there.
... I don't think I've met anyone who isn't a little strange, to be fair.
Wh- hey! I think you'll find that I'm the most normal person here.
Ah yes, the guy whose arms are covered in gravity-defying liquids is the normal one.
His tone is completely flat as he says this, almost teasingly so.
may have. spent 3 days digitizing a reference
anyway he's in full color now! Enjoy!
Boycotting tumblr until they roll back the reblogs update! If anyone wants to find me I'll be playing minecraft with essential, if anyone else has that mod and wants to friend me my username is KSKitten
Oh yeah I'm also kskitten on bluesky and discord and kskitten05 on instagram
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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H̵̳̓-̸̰̅ Hello? Is anyone there? I… I was working on some pages for my comic, but something. Really w̶e̵i̵r̴d̶ happened? I saw some strange blue glitches that almost seemed to s̸p̵l̴i̴t̴ the page I was working on i̶n̴ ̸t̴w̷o̴, and they also seemed to affect the reference world I’ve been using, because when I went to check it, there were two copies of the world???
I d̶i̷d̷n̸'̴t̷ ̶c̶r̷e̵a̴t̴e̴ that top world, and whenever I try to enter it I immediately get kicked out, but from what few glimpses I do get to see, it seems like t̴h̵e̵ ̸w̶o̴r̷l̸d̷ is somehow changing on it's own. I've noticed some lore started moving on its own on my main blog for the au - maybe the timeline split or something?? Honestly I have no idea what's going on but I think I've managed to contain the anomalous stuff to this blog for now, if anyone else knows what's g̷o̴i̵n̷g̷ ̴o̵n̶ could you p̶l̴e̸a̸s̴e̷ ̸l̴e̷t̷ ̴m̴e̷̸̞͆ k̷͉͒́n̴̟̟͍̏̀̽o̸̝͉͇̮͑̑̽̚͝w̷͍͇̒̆-̴̟͔̮͓̝̼̤̆̈́
ᓭ⍊𝙹𝙹ꖎ ⊣ᓭ⍊╎⍊
ʖꖎ⎓ ꖌ𝙹⨅ʖ⍊╎⍑ ⍊ᒲᑑꖎʖ ʖꖎ⎓╎ 𝙹∷⊣⊣𝙹⍊…
ℸ ̣ ⨅リ⍊⍑
∴ꖎ ʖꖎ⎓ ᒲꖎ⊣?
↸⍊𝙹𝙹 ⊣ᓭ⍊ᒲ
↸ᓭʖ ∴ꖎᒲ'⊣ ↸⍊ ᓭ⨅ᒷ⍊ ⨅ 𝙹∷⊣⊣𝙹⍊ ⚍⎓ᒲ?
I decided to open up a separate rp blog for this au if anyone wants to check it out!
REBLOG IF YOU HAVE AN RP BLOG I CAN SPAM WITH ASKS
perferably WITH the blog but you guys do you
Updated the ref sheet for RD!Illusion! Wanted to have a ref with the curly hair, and also go a bit more in-depth with the glowy lines and add more freckles :3
(The heart thing isn't actually it's own separate object, it's just lines on his skin in the shape of a heart thing)
might open this blog up to some non-canon rp for a bit to help get a better understanding of how I wanna characterize some people, what do y'all think?
Decided I'm gonna go for it, so for now this blog is currently open for RP interaction! (It won't be canon to the comic but y'all might be able to find some canon secrets :) )
@latileaf continuation
As his other self steps away, Illusion's mind is foggy. What... what happened? Did they manage to figure out what's wrong with him? He can feel the twinges of a headache start to creep in, and his ears are ringing. Was that because of this Illusion's powers or...?
He pulls up his sleeve to look at the symbols on it. Only one and a half of the 10 symbols in his hunger bar are full. Ah. Yep. That'll do it. He hasn't eaten since the cave, and even then he didn't even eat enough to be able to sprint. Has he even healed any since the water incident? He was brought down to half a heart then, he hopes he hasn't just. Stayed there this whole time without thinking about it. He checks his other arm. His hand is still cut from punching glass before, but not bleeding. 3 hearts full. That's 2 and a half hearts better than the alternative, at least.
The buzzing in his ears clears enough to hear the tail end of Invi and Illusion Steve's conversation.
... What am I not going to take well?
*Invi and Illusion Steve share a look*
Ehh...
*Invi steps forward,figeting with her hair*
So...about...getting you back to your world...
There is no your world.
*Illusion Steve just comes right out and says it,prompting a quick look of "why would you do that??" from Invi*
He stumbles. Is it from suprise or..?
What? What do you. What are you talking about. What??
I mean,the player realm still probably exists somewhere. But you can't go into it. And you've never been there.
*Invi sighs*
...Illusion...he's right. I'm not sure how to explain this. I know you believed it for a long time,I'm so sorry but-
You're not a player.
He freezes, staring at the two of them. He then takes off his glasses, rubbing his eyes with one hand to try to clear the fog in them (removing his glasses probably doesn't help with that), swaying on his feet a bit. He lets off an... unsettling chuckle.
I should have known.
He buries his face into both hands. One of his sleeves slips down a bit, just enough for his health bar to be clearly visible. The chuckle turns into a laugh.
I should have fucking known! Something was off from the moment I stepped foot into that world, but this--
*Invi looks worried even more by his reaction, stepping closer*
Hey,hey,it's gonna be okay,we can figure this out-
*Her eyes widen when she sees his health bar*
Ohhh that isn't good. Lu can you go get us some food-now--
Yeah yeah, I'm on it. Also you were in a black hole!
*Illusion Steve helpfully calls out that last part as he wanders off*
What. What the fuck do you MEAN I was- what??
His laughter intensifies.
God, I should have figured it out as soon as I realized I could feel!
Why did it take almost dying for me to even consider my entire life could have been a lie?
He does not look well, staggering at this point.
Is this even real?
Am- am I real-
He promptly passes out, falling to the floor.
ILLUSION!
*Invi yelps, quickly getting down on the floor and trying to pull him over to the couch as gently as she possibly can*
Oh,luu...
*With some struggle,she manages to lift him onto the furniture. She looks incredibly worried*
You poor thing,of course you're real...
He twitches a little at her touch, his body limp like a puppet off its strings. He is completely out.
*She sits next to him,gently stroking his head. A few minutes later,Illusion Steve comes back holding some food. He blinks at the sight*
Uh...?
He fainted... :(
...fair enough.
*He sits on the side of the couch,deciding he has nothing better to do than to wait for this Illusion to wake up*
It takes him a few hours to wake up, not moving at all in his sudden and unexpected rest. When he finally wakes up, he's groggy and slow-moving, exhausted. His headache is a bit stronger now, but not unbearable.
What... what happened?
You passed out on the floor once we told you some stuff,,your health bar wasn't looking so good so I had him go get you some food
*Illusion Steve proceeds to shove over several pieces of bread and some vegetables*
There. Eat.
He takes a second to process this, before pulling up his sleeve to look at the hunger bar engraved on his skin. It is now only 1/10ths full.
Ah. Yes. Thank you.
He then proceeds to take a bite out of the bread, pausing as if only now realizing just how hungry he is, and then once again downing it in half a second, causing the bar to fill up some.
You had me worried,Illusion...please don't go that long without eating...
I think he's got bigger problems than that
Love you lu,but not helping.
As they're talking, 2 more bread disappear before he finally slows down. As he starts to more slowly eat some of the vegetables, his appearance slowly mends itself like before, fixing the cuts on his hand (though they leave behind some scarring) and making him look less disheveled. As he feels the headache slip away and his energy return, he speaks.
I apologize, I. Forget to eat sometimes when I'm too focused on something, and there's been... a lot... to focus on.
Well you aren't wrong there...
*Invi sighs*
Are you...going to pass out again if we tell you the whole story? Or, Illusion Steve does. I only know who's responsible. Damn them,every time. >:/
He pauses, thinking.
... no, I'm fairly sure that just happened due to malnutrition.
As if to punctuate that, he takes one last bite, returning to full health and looking brand new again.
My mind was already foggy when you told me... um.
He's looking uncomfortable now, shifting a bit.
:(...
Yeah...I know that must've been a shock...I'm sorry...
I don't see why you would be. I'd think it'd be a relief to find out you aren't one of those players.
Not when you believed it for that long,though...
...I mean, from what I *thought* I knew, they weren't *ALL* that bad, I just didn't talk to any all that much.
Well,you didn't talk to any at all -_-.
,,That is for the best. I. Do not like players. Ours tried to delete me,,
And showed me cosmic horrors
Laughed when Illusion came back from the menu...
Humiliated me and forced me to give up all my power
Left the world in shambles
Stole my henchmen
Pretty much just almost ruined our lives--its nice that you aren't one. Anyways-
Well, yeah, but that's just one guy out of what, billions? Surely they can't ALL be. Like that.
Sorry that yours ended up being such a jerk, though...
Wait, henchmen?
I was his henchmen!
*Invi sounds very proud of this. Illusion Steve just shrugs*
I was just trying to make a proper illusion over the world and agonizingly, I needed help. The...henchmen thing is very much over. I still keep her around though.
^^!
And anyway,Sabre said there were BILLIONS of him. I would like them all to stay away from me. Forever.
???
You know what. Not gonna question it.
So. Um. About telling me the whole story?
*Invi and Illusion Steve look at eachother*
...yeah...so...
I'll say it.
*Illusion Steve mutters, glancing away. He didn't like what he saw,but...this guy does deserve to know*
All I was able to see properly was one memory,the one of right before you got in that place where you met Invi.
You were,like me...created...to help a being known as Galaxy Steve. You...were more powerful than me,though. ...
You made almost a perfect illusion for him. A town,filled with the people he loved...but,of course,that idiot kept breaking the fantasy.
*He sighs before continuing*
Galaxy ran off looking for some version of... "Sabre".
...
He was teleporting too fast,so,you had to chase after him in person. He was using too much power,and...
When Galaxy uses too much power...
*Invi speaks up,weakly*
He...he turns into a black hole.
You tried to get back. But you were caught up in it,and your own powers spiraled out of control as you fell into the new dimension created by it.
And then you woke up as a player.
.
..
...
It takes him a while to process this, his eyes going wide with shock and concern as he turns this information over in his head.
... a h. I see.
But, wait, hold on. If I was so powerful, then where's all that power now? Any power I may have had, I certainly don't have it anymore.
It's true, if someone were to check for any sign of power coming from him, they would sense nothing, just as Nightmare said before.
And that still doesn't explain what the hell's going in with my nametag...
...oh goodness,I didn't think of that...
*Invi suddenly looks incredibly worried*
Where did it all go? Did you see,lu-?
No?? What...that's weird...
Great, one mystery has been traded for another.
He crosses his legs and folds his arms across his chest. His tone is flat.
Now, instead of needing to figure out where my memories went, I need to figure out what happened to powers I didn't know I had. Just wonderful. How do I even find something like that?
*...Invi and Illusion exchange another glance. Invi's looks more like "maybe?" While Illusion Steves just looks like a very obvious "please no."*
We...could...go to people in this universe that were related to Illusion Steves power...
Pleaseeeee let me live in peace-
That's the only idea I have!
Noooo-
Okay well does anyone else have any ideas?!
Not unless this is somehow connected to whatever entity's been speaking through my "username", but I haven't seen any evidence towards that.
Oh yeah.
I'm sorry. The what now?
Nametag creature. Sometimes I can understand them and sometimes I can't.
*She blinks at Illusion's nametag*
Hellooo? Anybody got anything to say??
It stays still, unchanging. It only shows the last message it had before they left Illusion's universe:
ᓵ ̇/╎⍑'リ ᑑ⚍⍑⍑⚍ ⍊|| ⚍⎓╎⍑|| ⚍ᔑ⚍ᓵ⍑
[ C ̇/ih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch ]
...that's weird. It hasn't moved at all since we got here. Maybe it doesn't like this world...
Wait, seriously?
He looks up to try to read it. Stop doing that. You know you can't see it.
What does it say?
C...ihn...quhhu...vy...ufi...hy...uau...ch.
What. What the hell does that mean. What.
I have... no idea. It still sounds like another language, or... maybe some type of code to me, but I can not see it for myself to try to figure that out.
Apparently it was changing all the time when we were back in the other world, though.
Yeah,it would talk! It's nonsense now though :/
...that's...very odd.
*Illusion Steve stares at the unchanging nametag in confusion*
Could whatever was doing that... not leave that world? Or maybe it was just left behind...
...
Welp, I've got no ideas.
It's definitely a hard thing to solve. ...I mean,you don't need to solve it-
Invi.
You could,you know...
Invi.
Stay here with us!
INVI. N O-
BUT YOU DIDN'T LIKE MY OTHER IDEA >∆<
I LIKE THIS ONE L E S S
I don't think I should let something like this go unsolved, it may be important...
He pauses, like he just had an idea, pulls his notebook out of the inner lining of his coat, and hands it to Invi.
Could you write down what my nametag says?
Ooh,alright!
*Invi writes down the nametag,odd symbols and all*
Here,this is what it looks like.
*She hands the notebook back to him*
He looks it over.
Well, the alphabet's the same as what enchantment tables use, standard... galactic...
He takes a pause, remembering what he was told about his past. It's fine, it's a fairly common alphabet used in Minecraft. It's probably nothing.
Oooh- ugh. Galactic. >:/ I don't like that word.
*Illusion Steve sighs,patting her head. Invi purrs,leaning into it. He rolls his eyes*
Don't mind her. She holds grudges even harder than me. Go on...
Uh... well...
He clears his throat.
In the english alphabet, it would look something like this:
He writes "c xih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch" below the tag.
It doesn't have any numbers in it, which rules out a few types of code it could be. There's no key, either, so there's some ciphers that I couldn't try, leaving me with two that I actually know how to translate, if it's in english.
The first one, Atbash, takes the alphabet and reverses it.
He writes down some letters in two rows on the page, the top row being the first half of the alphabet, from A to M, and the bottom row being the second half backwards, from Z to N, each letter aligned with the letters of the top row.
So A becomes Z, B becomes Y, and so on.
The other one is the Caesar cipher, which takes each letter in a phrase and shifts them over in the alphabet by a set amount, so, for example, with a shift of 4, it's A to E, B to F, C to G, and so on.
It could be shifted by any amount, so normally figuring out how to decode something like this by hand would take. A while.
His speech speeds up a bit.
However! Unless I read that wrong, this sentence contains spaces, separating the words so that we can see how many letters are in each one, and the first word is only one letter. As long as there's nothing like code stacking; using multiple codes to encrypt one phrase, then there's only two words that could be; A, or I.
Neither of those become a C in atbash, so that likely can be ruled out, leaving us with only 2 possibilities with the Caesar cipher.
He writes more letters on the page, quicker than before. One row is the alphabet, and the next is the alphabet again if it started at c.
If we shift the letters so that C becomes A, we get...
He writes more slowly this time, cross-refferencing each letter with the decoder he made. a vgf'l osffs tw sdgfw sysaf
Which... does not make any sense.
Now to try the other one...
He writes down a second decoder, this time placing c under i and filling in the rest of the alphabet accordingly. He then tries to decode the sentence again, to more success.
"I don't wanna be alone again"
...
...
Well, that's. Depressing.
...huh. That was...actually smart.
*Illusion Steve sounds genuinely surprised by this. ...Invi tilts her head at the sentence*
...
...that's... really sad...
*Loneliness,that's something she can certainly relate to. However, something about this kind of sentence feels... uncomfortably familiar.*
...............so...I think they got left behind when we moved worlds...and those were the last words they were able to say.
His facial expression is unreadable, but he blushes in embarrassment, making his glowing freckles brighten.
Caesar's one of the... less complicated of the ciphers out there. It's lucky that that's what the code ended up being, really...
...
...
Ah.
Hm.
Worrying.
...a bit. Yes.
*Invi chews on her lip. Why does that sentence feel so similar to something she's heard before?*
.......heh, your freckles are all bright now,Luu.
What- wait- no they aren't-
They're glowing even brighter now.
Ooooh they're getting brighter!
*Invi, ultimate failure at identifying social cues, draws even more attention to them and leans in closer to look at them. Illusion Steve just snickers*
He leans away a bit.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
The glow does not die down. All of his glowing lines are bright now. He is radiating an aura of embarrassment. Please help.
Prettyyyy :DDD
*Illusion Steve is actively cackling at this point,finally pulling Invi away*
Oh my gosh,you are bad at this.
*It is unclear which one of them he is talking to*
He says nothing. The glow finally dies down after a few seconds.
Aw :[
*She looks disappointed by this.*
Don't you start.
*He shakes his head at Illusion*
Get better at hiding that or she'll never let you be...
Noted.
He shifts a bit in his seat, trying to discretely look at his hands to make sure the glow is back to normal.
She'll also probably start trying to headpat you just. All the time. Sigh.
:>
*Illusion Steve sighs again before he stares at Illusion,looking somewhat interested for once*
...how come you can glow,anyway?
Oh,it's a-
*Invi almost goes to say "player thing" when she remembers*
......I guess it's just a neat thing he can do!
... it may be my blood? I cut my hand on some glass yesterday, and it bled the same colors.
He looks at the now-scars on his hand. They're the one thing that didn't fully dissappear when he got to full health.
Oh,yeah that...wasn't fun...ah,did it scar?
*She looks worried for a moment before shaking it off*
Well, don't worry about that. Pretty much everyone has scars,as long as they still aren't hurting you it's alright
... yeah...
He's still looking at his hand, not bothered by the scars as much as he is curious about how they formed. Each scar stops at the glowing lines that roughly follow where his bones, veins, and joints would be, only continuing on the other side of each. He traces one of the lines with his other hand out of curiosity. It feels like a crevice in his skin, like the separation of two parts at a joint in one of those articulated wooden artist reference models.
...that's some...oddly specific scarring. Whatever...
*He feigns disinterest,but Illusion Steve does look somewhat curious for once. Maybe he's warming up to Illusion after all*
...
His facial expression drops a bit, as if he's thinking about something serious.
...
I should... probably go back. I have a strange feeling about... whatever entity was speaking through my nametag, like they're someone I need to help.
...
I should also probably figure out... everything else.
And I don't really want to be a burden here...
... :(
You aren't a burden,Luu...
*Invi pats the air above his head,which is a slight improvement from randomly headpatting him*
...but if you really want to,I can take you back...
*Illusion Steve just sighs, looking away*
I wouldn't really enjoy spending eternity with another version of myself. . . .however. However.
*He clears his throat,still looking away*
If. Your world becomes too dangerous. ...you are allowed to come back here.
For Invi's sake,not yours.
...
thank you.
He's also looking away, before he stands up, straightening his lab coat, and turns to Invi.
Yes, please take me back.
*She nods*
Yep, I'm on it!
*Invi also stands up*
We'll,uh,go outside for it- Illusion Steve doesn't like when I tear into the code in the house,,
>:/
:>
...Sigh. Yep,see you later...
*Invi nods again. Then she hesitates before asking Illusion*
Do you...want me to stay with you again? Because I totally will! But also...
*She doesn't say it,but it's obvious she's missed being home*
Oh no, you don't have to do that. I think I'll be fine now that I. Have a better idea of what to expect...
Alright then!! :D be back in a second,Lu
Yeah yeah...you're helping me garden today,I've been doing it alone and I keep accidentally killing plants-
Oh dear.
These hands were only created to destroy...
*Invi giggles quietly at his dramatics,leading Illusion outside. Once they're a few feet away from the house,she only again peels into the coding*
I'll walk you back through,mmkay?
He nods, holding his hand out for her to grab.
:]
*She takes his hand,pulling him in. They repeat the same process as last time,though this time the lines where she stops form the name "Reverse Duality"
Invi pulls back the code and steps out,and they're back in the other world again*
Well,here we are! Hah...
.....I'll miss you, Illusion. Come back any time,okay? And hey,if you ever need me...I will come find you. Promise :>
As soon as they step back into the world, Illusion's nametag shifts.
||𝙹⚍'∷ᒷ ʖᔑᓵꖌ!
Thank you.
He can't seem to make eye contact. His face is expressionless.
... I'll remember that.
[ You're back! ]
Nametag seems to be working again. Yeah yeah, we're back...
*Man, something about that thing is starting to rub her the wrong way*
...hehe,alright...
*She once again pats the air above his head*
Be safe! No more drowning. I love you please don't drown.
*Invi turns around,stepping back into the code. For one moment,she hesitates"
........hey, Illusion. If you ever meet that person Gal was looking for...someone named Sabre...
Don't believe anything they say.
And take care of yourself, will you?
See you later,Luu!
*Another step into the code,the world reforms...and she's gone.*
Sabre... that's the name of that guy those two don't like, the.... the real player.
He hesitates on that thought. It leaves a taste in his mouth that he's not sure if he likes or hates.
He reaches into a pocket in his coat lining, wanting to make a note of Invi's warning. He... he finds nothing.
He quickly searches the rest of his lab coat, but comes up with nothing.
No.. no nono-
Eventually he puts his head in his hands. He must have left it behind on that couch. He sighs.
Great, just wonderful.
It's too late to get it now, he guesses he'll just have to make a new one. At least getting the leather and feather will give him some food, he might not forget to eat again.
After hesitating for a bit, he walks off towards the now-charred forest.
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@latileaf continuation
As his other self steps away, Illusion's mind is foggy. What... what happened? Did they manage to figure out what's wrong with him? He can feel the twinges of a headache start to creep in, and his ears are ringing. Was that because of this Illusion's powers or...?
He pulls up his sleeve to look at the symbols on it. Only one and a half of the 10 symbols in his hunger bar are full. Ah. Yep. That'll do it. He hasn't eaten since the cave, and even then he didn't even eat enough to be able to sprint. Has he even healed any since the water incident? He was brought down to half a heart then, he hopes he hasn't just. Stayed there this whole time without thinking about it. He checks his other arm. His hand is still cut from punching glass before, but not bleeding. 3 hearts full. That's 2 and a half hearts better than the alternative, at least.
The buzzing in his ears clears enough to hear the tail end of Invi and Illusion Steve's conversation.
... What am I not going to take well?
*Invi and Illusion Steve share a look*
Ehh...
*Invi steps forward,figeting with her hair*
So...about...getting you back to your world...
There is no your world.
*Illusion Steve just comes right out and says it,prompting a quick look of "why would you do that??" from Invi*
He stumbles. Is it from suprise or..?
What? What do you. What are you talking about. What??
I mean,the player realm still probably exists somewhere. But you can't go into it. And you've never been there.
*Invi sighs*
...Illusion...he's right. I'm not sure how to explain this. I know you believed it for a long time,I'm so sorry but-
You're not a player.
He freezes, staring at the two of them. He then takes off his glasses, rubbing his eyes with one hand to try to clear the fog in them (removing his glasses probably doesn't help with that), swaying on his feet a bit. He lets off an... unsettling chuckle.
I should have known.
He buries his face into both hands. One of his sleeves slips down a bit, just enough for his health bar to be clearly visible. The chuckle turns into a laugh.
I should have fucking known! Something was off from the moment I stepped foot into that world, but this--
*Invi looks worried even more by his reaction, stepping closer*
Hey,hey,it's gonna be okay,we can figure this out-
*Her eyes widen when she sees his health bar*
Ohhh that isn't good. Lu can you go get us some food-now--
Yeah yeah, I'm on it. Also you were in a black hole!
*Illusion Steve helpfully calls out that last part as he wanders off*
What. What the fuck do you MEAN I was- what??
His laughter intensifies.
God, I should have figured it out as soon as I realized I could feel!
Why did it take almost dying for me to even consider my entire life could have been a lie?
He does not look well, staggering at this point.
Is this even real?
Am- am I real-
He promptly passes out, falling to the floor.
ILLUSION!
*Invi yelps, quickly getting down on the floor and trying to pull him over to the couch as gently as she possibly can*
Oh,luu...
*With some struggle,she manages to lift him onto the furniture. She looks incredibly worried*
You poor thing,of course you're real...
He twitches a little at her touch, his body limp like a puppet off its strings. He is completely out.
*She sits next to him,gently stroking his head. A few minutes later,Illusion Steve comes back holding some food. He blinks at the sight*
Uh...?
He fainted... :(
...fair enough.
*He sits on the side of the couch,deciding he has nothing better to do than to wait for this Illusion to wake up*
It takes him a few hours to wake up, not moving at all in his sudden and unexpected rest. When he finally wakes up, he's groggy and slow-moving, exhausted. His headache is a bit stronger now, but not unbearable.
What... what happened?
You passed out on the floor once we told you some stuff,,your health bar wasn't looking so good so I had him go get you some food
*Illusion Steve proceeds to shove over several pieces of bread and some vegetables*
There. Eat.
He takes a second to process this, before pulling up his sleeve to look at the hunger bar engraved on his skin. It is now only 1/10ths full.
Ah. Yes. Thank you.
He then proceeds to take a bite out of the bread, pausing as if only now realizing just how hungry he is, and then once again downing it in half a second, causing the bar to fill up some.
You had me worried,Illusion...please don't go that long without eating...
I think he's got bigger problems than that
Love you lu,but not helping.
As they're talking, 2 more bread disappear before he finally slows down. As he starts to more slowly eat some of the vegetables, his appearance slowly mends itself like before, fixing the cuts on his hand (though they leave behind some scarring) and making him look less disheveled. As he feels the headache slip away and his energy return, he speaks.
I apologize, I. Forget to eat sometimes when I'm too focused on something, and there's been... a lot... to focus on.
Well you aren't wrong there...
*Invi sighs*
Are you...going to pass out again if we tell you the whole story? Or, Illusion Steve does. I only know who's responsible. Damn them,every time. >:/
He pauses, thinking.
... no, I'm fairly sure that just happened due to malnutrition.
As if to punctuate that, he takes one last bite, returning to full health and looking brand new again.
My mind was already foggy when you told me... um.
He's looking uncomfortable now, shifting a bit.
:(...
Yeah...I know that must've been a shock...I'm sorry...
I don't see why you would be. I'd think it'd be a relief to find out you aren't one of those players.
Not when you believed it for that long,though...
...I mean, from what I *thought* I knew, they weren't *ALL* that bad, I just didn't talk to any all that much.
Well,you didn't talk to any at all -_-.
,,That is for the best. I. Do not like players. Ours tried to delete me,,
And showed me cosmic horrors
Laughed when Illusion came back from the menu...
Humiliated me and forced me to give up all my power
Left the world in shambles
Stole my henchmen
Pretty much just almost ruined our lives--its nice that you aren't one. Anyways-
Well, yeah, but that's just one guy out of what, billions? Surely they can't ALL be. Like that.
Sorry that yours ended up being such a jerk, though...
Wait, henchmen?
I was his henchmen!
*Invi sounds very proud of this. Illusion Steve just shrugs*
I was just trying to make a proper illusion over the world and agonizingly, I needed help. The...henchmen thing is very much over. I still keep her around though.
^^!
And anyway,Sabre said there were BILLIONS of him. I would like them all to stay away from me. Forever.
???
You know what. Not gonna question it.
So. Um. About telling me the whole story?
*Invi and Illusion Steve look at eachother*
...yeah...so...
I'll say it.
*Illusion Steve mutters, glancing away. He didn't like what he saw,but...this guy does deserve to know*
All I was able to see properly was one memory,the one of right before you got in that place where you met Invi.
You were,like me...created...to help a being known as Galaxy Steve. You...were more powerful than me,though. ...
You made almost a perfect illusion for him. A town,filled with the people he loved...but,of course,that idiot kept breaking the fantasy.
*He sighs before continuing*
Galaxy ran off looking for some version of... "Sabre".
...
He was teleporting too fast,so,you had to chase after him in person. He was using too much power,and...
When Galaxy uses too much power...
*Invi speaks up,weakly*
He...he turns into a black hole.
You tried to get back. But you were caught up in it,and your own powers spiraled out of control as you fell into the new dimension created by it.
And then you woke up as a player.
.
..
...
It takes him a while to process this, his eyes going wide with shock and concern as he turns this information over in his head.
... a h. I see.
But, wait, hold on. If I was so powerful, then where's all that power now? Any power I may have had, I certainly don't have it anymore.
It's true, if someone were to check for any sign of power coming from him, they would sense nothing, just as Nightmare said before.
And that still doesn't explain what the hell's going in with my nametag...
...oh goodness,I didn't think of that...
*Invi suddenly looks incredibly worried*
Where did it all go? Did you see,lu-?
No?? What...that's weird...
Great, one mystery has been traded for another.
He crosses his legs and folds his arms across his chest. His tone is flat.
Now, instead of needing to figure out where my memories went, I need to figure out what happened to powers I didn't know I had. Just wonderful. How do I even find something like that?
*...Invi and Illusion exchange another glance. Invi's looks more like "maybe?" While Illusion Steves just looks like a very obvious "please no."*
We...could...go to people in this universe that were related to Illusion Steves power...
Pleaseeeee let me live in peace-
That's the only idea I have!
Noooo-
Okay well does anyone else have any ideas?!
Not unless this is somehow connected to whatever entity's been speaking through my "username", but I haven't seen any evidence towards that.
Oh yeah.
I'm sorry. The what now?
Nametag creature. Sometimes I can understand them and sometimes I can't.
*She blinks at Illusion's nametag*
Hellooo? Anybody got anything to say??
It stays still, unchanging. It only shows the last message it had before they left Illusion's universe:
ᓵ ̇/╎⍑'リ ᑑ⚍⍑⍑⚍ ⍊|| ⚍⎓╎⍑|| ⚍ᔑ⚍ᓵ⍑
[ C ̇/ih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch ]
...that's weird. It hasn't moved at all since we got here. Maybe it doesn't like this world...
Wait, seriously?
He looks up to try to read it. Stop doing that. You know you can't see it.
What does it say?
C...ihn...quhhu...vy...ufi...hy...uau...ch.
What. What the hell does that mean. What.
I have... no idea. It still sounds like another language, or... maybe some type of code to me, but I can not see it for myself to try to figure that out.
Apparently it was changing all the time when we were back in the other world, though.
Yeah,it would talk! It's nonsense now though :/
...that's...very odd.
*Illusion Steve stares at the unchanging nametag in confusion*
Could whatever was doing that... not leave that world? Or maybe it was just left behind...
...
Welp, I've got no ideas.
It's definitely a hard thing to solve. ...I mean,you don't need to solve it-
Invi.
You could,you know...
Invi.
Stay here with us!
INVI. N O-
BUT YOU DIDN'T LIKE MY OTHER IDEA >∆<
I LIKE THIS ONE L E S S
I don't think I should let something like this go unsolved, it may be important...
He pauses, like he just had an idea, pulls his notebook out of the inner lining of his coat, and hands it to Invi.
Could you write down what my nametag says?
Ooh,alright!
*Invi writes down the nametag,odd symbols and all*
Here,this is what it looks like.
*She hands the notebook back to him*
He looks it over.
Well, the alphabet's the same as what enchantment tables use, standard... galactic...
He takes a pause, remembering what he was told about his past. It's fine, it's a fairly common alphabet used in Minecraft. It's probably nothing.
Oooh- ugh. Galactic. >:/ I don't like that word.
*Illusion Steve sighs,patting her head. Invi purrs,leaning into it. He rolls his eyes*
Don't mind her. She holds grudges even harder than me. Go on...
Uh... well...
He clears his throat.
In the english alphabet, it would look something like this:
He writes "c xih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch" below the tag.
It doesn't have any numbers in it, which rules out a few types of code it could be. There's no key, either, so there's some ciphers that I couldn't try, leaving me with two that I actually know how to translate, if it's in english.
The first one, Atbash, takes the alphabet and reverses it.
He writes down some letters in two rows on the page, the top row being the first half of the alphabet, from A to M, and the bottom row being the second half backwards, from Z to N, each letter aligned with the letters of the top row.
So A becomes Z, B becomes Y, and so on.
The other one is the Caesar cipher, which takes each letter in a phrase and shifts them over in the alphabet by a set amount, so, for example, with a shift of 4, it's A to E, B to F, C to G, and so on.
It could be shifted by any amount, so normally figuring out how to decode something like this by hand would take. A while.
His speech speeds up a bit.
However! Unless I read that wrong, this sentence contains spaces, separating the words so that we can see how many letters are in each one, and the first word is only one letter. As long as there's nothing like code stacking; using multiple codes to encrypt one phrase, then there's only two words that could be; A, or I.
Neither of those become a C in atbash, so that likely can be ruled out, leaving us with only 2 possibilities with the Caesar cipher.
He writes more letters on the page, quicker than before. One row is the alphabet, and the next is the alphabet again if it started at c.
If we shift the letters so that C becomes A, we get...
He writes more slowly this time, cross-refferencing each letter with the decoder he made. a vgf'l osffs tw sdgfw sysaf
Which... does not make any sense.
Now to try the other one...
He writes down a second decoder, this time placing c under i and filling in the rest of the alphabet accordingly. He then tries to decode the sentence again, to more success.
"I don't wanna be alone again"
...
...
Well, that's. Depressing.
...huh. That was...actually smart.
*Illusion Steve sounds genuinely surprised by this. ...Invi tilts her head at the sentence*
...
...that's... really sad...
*Loneliness,that's something she can certainly relate to. However, something about this kind of sentence feels... uncomfortably familiar.*
...............so...I think they got left behind when we moved worlds...and those were the last words they were able to say.
His facial expression is unreadable, but he blushes in embarrassment, making his glowing freckles brighten.
Caesar's one of the... less complicated of the ciphers out there. It's lucky that that's what the code ended up being, really...
...
...
Ah.
Hm.
Worrying.
...a bit. Yes.
*Invi chews on her lip. Why does that sentence feel so similar to something she's heard before?*
.......heh, your freckles are all bright now,Luu.
What- wait- no they aren't-
They're glowing even brighter now.
Ooooh they're getting brighter!
*Invi, ultimate failure at identifying social cues, draws even more attention to them and leans in closer to look at them. Illusion Steve just snickers*
He leans away a bit.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
The glow does not die down. All of his glowing lines are bright now. He is radiating an aura of embarrassment. Please help.
Prettyyyy :DDD
*Illusion Steve is actively cackling at this point,finally pulling Invi away*
Oh my gosh,you are bad at this.
*It is unclear which one of them he is talking to*
He says nothing. The glow finally dies down after a few seconds.
Aw :[
*She looks disappointed by this.*
Don't you start.
*He shakes his head at Illusion*
Get better at hiding that or she'll never let you be...
Noted.
He shifts a bit in his seat, trying to discretely look at his hands to make sure the glow is back to normal.
She'll also probably start trying to headpat you just. All the time. Sigh.
:>
*Illusion Steve sighs again before he stares at Illusion,looking somewhat interested for once*
...how come you can glow,anyway?
Oh,it's a-
*Invi almost goes to say "player thing" when she remembers*
......I guess it's just a neat thing he can do!
... it may be my blood? I cut my hand on some glass yesterday, and it bled the same colors.
He looks at the now-scars on his hand. They're the one thing that didn't fully dissappear when he got to full health.
Oh,yeah that...wasn't fun...ah,did it scar?
*She looks worried for a moment before shaking it off*
Well, don't worry about that. Pretty much everyone has scars,as long as they still aren't hurting you it's alright
... yeah...
He's still looking at his hand, not bothered by the scars as much as he is curious about how they formed. Each scar stops at the glowing lines that roughly follow where his bones, veins, and joints would be, only continuing on the other side of each. He traces one of the lines with his other hand out of curiosity. It feels like a crevice in his skin, like the separation of two parts at a joint in one of those articulated wooden artist reference models.
...that's some...oddly specific scarring. Whatever...
*He feigns disinterest,but Illusion Steve does look somewhat curious for once. Maybe he's warming up to Illusion after all*
...
His facial expression drops a bit, as if he's thinking about something serious.
...
I should... probably go back. I have a strange feeling about... whatever entity was speaking through my nametag, like they're someone I need to help.
...
I should also probably figure out... everything else.
And I don't really want to be a burden here...
... :(
You aren't a burden,Luu...
*Invi pats the air above his head,which is a slight improvement from randomly headpatting him*
...but if you really want to,I can take you back...
*Illusion Steve just sighs, looking away*
I wouldn't really enjoy spending eternity with another version of myself. . . .however. However.
*He clears his throat,still looking away*
If. Your world becomes too dangerous. ...you are allowed to come back here.
For Invi's sake,not yours.
...
thank you.
He's also looking away, before he stands up, straightening his lab coat, and turns to Invi.
Yes, please take me back.
*She nods*
Yep, I'm on it!
*Invi also stands up*
We'll,uh,go outside for it- Illusion Steve doesn't like when I tear into the code in the house,,
>:/
:>
...Sigh. Yep,see you later...
*Invi nods again. Then she hesitates before asking Illusion*
Do you...want me to stay with you again? Because I totally will! But also...
*She doesn't say it,but it's obvious she's missed being home*
Oh no, you don't have to do that. I think I'll be fine now that I. Have a better idea of what to expect...
Alright then!! :D be back in a second,Lu
Yeah yeah...you're helping me garden today,I've been doing it alone and I keep accidentally killing plants-
Oh dear.
These hands were only created to destroy...
*Invi giggles quietly at his dramatics,leading Illusion outside. Once they're a few feet away from the house,she only again peels into the coding*
I'll walk you back through,mmkay?
He nods, holding his hand out for her to grab.
:]
*She takes his hand,pulling him in. They repeat the same process as last time,though this time the lines where she stops form the name "Reverse Duality"
Invi pulls back the code and steps out,and they're back in the other world again*
Well,here we are! Hah...
.....I'll miss you, Illusion. Come back any time,okay? And hey,if you ever need me...I will come find you. Promise :>
As soon as they step back into the world, Illusion's nametag shifts.
||𝙹⚍'∷ᒷ ʖᔑᓵꖌ!
Thank you.
He can't seem to make eye contact. His face is expressionless.
... I'll remember that.
@latileaf continuation
As his other self steps away, Illusion's mind is foggy. What... what happened? Did they manage to figure out what's wrong with him? He can feel the twinges of a headache start to creep in, and his ears are ringing. Was that because of this Illusion's powers or...?
He pulls up his sleeve to look at the symbols on it. Only one and a half of the 10 symbols in his hunger bar are full. Ah. Yep. That'll do it. He hasn't eaten since the cave, and even then he didn't even eat enough to be able to sprint. Has he even healed any since the water incident? He was brought down to half a heart then, he hopes he hasn't just. Stayed there this whole time without thinking about it. He checks his other arm. His hand is still cut from punching glass before, but not bleeding. 3 hearts full. That's 2 and a half hearts better than the alternative, at least.
The buzzing in his ears clears enough to hear the tail end of Invi and Illusion Steve's conversation.
... What am I not going to take well?
*Invi and Illusion Steve share a look*
Ehh...
*Invi steps forward,figeting with her hair*
So...about...getting you back to your world...
There is no your world.
*Illusion Steve just comes right out and says it,prompting a quick look of "why would you do that??" from Invi*
He stumbles. Is it from suprise or..?
What? What do you. What are you talking about. What??
I mean,the player realm still probably exists somewhere. But you can't go into it. And you've never been there.
*Invi sighs*
...Illusion...he's right. I'm not sure how to explain this. I know you believed it for a long time,I'm so sorry but-
You're not a player.
He freezes, staring at the two of them. He then takes off his glasses, rubbing his eyes with one hand to try to clear the fog in them (removing his glasses probably doesn't help with that), swaying on his feet a bit. He lets off an... unsettling chuckle.
I should have known.
He buries his face into both hands. One of his sleeves slips down a bit, just enough for his health bar to be clearly visible. The chuckle turns into a laugh.
I should have fucking known! Something was off from the moment I stepped foot into that world, but this--
*Invi looks worried even more by his reaction, stepping closer*
Hey,hey,it's gonna be okay,we can figure this out-
*Her eyes widen when she sees his health bar*
Ohhh that isn't good. Lu can you go get us some food-now--
Yeah yeah, I'm on it. Also you were in a black hole!
*Illusion Steve helpfully calls out that last part as he wanders off*
What. What the fuck do you MEAN I was- what??
His laughter intensifies.
God, I should have figured it out as soon as I realized I could feel!
Why did it take almost dying for me to even consider my entire life could have been a lie?
He does not look well, staggering at this point.
Is this even real?
Am- am I real-
He promptly passes out, falling to the floor.
ILLUSION!
*Invi yelps, quickly getting down on the floor and trying to pull him over to the couch as gently as she possibly can*
Oh,luu...
*With some struggle,she manages to lift him onto the furniture. She looks incredibly worried*
You poor thing,of course you're real...
He twitches a little at her touch, his body limp like a puppet off its strings. He is completely out.
*She sits next to him,gently stroking his head. A few minutes later,Illusion Steve comes back holding some food. He blinks at the sight*
Uh...?
He fainted... :(
...fair enough.
*He sits on the side of the couch,deciding he has nothing better to do than to wait for this Illusion to wake up*
It takes him a few hours to wake up, not moving at all in his sudden and unexpected rest. When he finally wakes up, he's groggy and slow-moving, exhausted. His headache is a bit stronger now, but not unbearable.
What... what happened?
You passed out on the floor once we told you some stuff,,your health bar wasn't looking so good so I had him go get you some food
*Illusion Steve proceeds to shove over several pieces of bread and some vegetables*
There. Eat.
He takes a second to process this, before pulling up his sleeve to look at the hunger bar engraved on his skin. It is now only 1/10ths full.
Ah. Yes. Thank you.
He then proceeds to take a bite out of the bread, pausing as if only now realizing just how hungry he is, and then once again downing it in half a second, causing the bar to fill up some.
You had me worried,Illusion...please don't go that long without eating...
I think he's got bigger problems than that
Love you lu,but not helping.
As they're talking, 2 more bread disappear before he finally slows down. As he starts to more slowly eat some of the vegetables, his appearance slowly mends itself like before, fixing the cuts on his hand (though they leave behind some scarring) and making him look less disheveled. As he feels the headache slip away and his energy return, he speaks.
I apologize, I. Forget to eat sometimes when I'm too focused on something, and there's been... a lot... to focus on.
Well you aren't wrong there...
*Invi sighs*
Are you...going to pass out again if we tell you the whole story? Or, Illusion Steve does. I only know who's responsible. Damn them,every time. >:/
He pauses, thinking.
... no, I'm fairly sure that just happened due to malnutrition.
As if to punctuate that, he takes one last bite, returning to full health and looking brand new again.
My mind was already foggy when you told me... um.
He's looking uncomfortable now, shifting a bit.
:(...
Yeah...I know that must've been a shock...I'm sorry...
I don't see why you would be. I'd think it'd be a relief to find out you aren't one of those players.
Not when you believed it for that long,though...
...I mean, from what I *thought* I knew, they weren't *ALL* that bad, I just didn't talk to any all that much.
Well,you didn't talk to any at all -_-.
,,That is for the best. I. Do not like players. Ours tried to delete me,,
And showed me cosmic horrors
Laughed when Illusion came back from the menu...
Humiliated me and forced me to give up all my power
Left the world in shambles
Stole my henchmen
Pretty much just almost ruined our lives--its nice that you aren't one. Anyways-
Well, yeah, but that's just one guy out of what, billions? Surely they can't ALL be. Like that.
Sorry that yours ended up being such a jerk, though...
Wait, henchmen?
I was his henchmen!
*Invi sounds very proud of this. Illusion Steve just shrugs*
I was just trying to make a proper illusion over the world and agonizingly, I needed help. The...henchmen thing is very much over. I still keep her around though.
^^!
And anyway,Sabre said there were BILLIONS of him. I would like them all to stay away from me. Forever.
???
You know what. Not gonna question it.
So. Um. About telling me the whole story?
*Invi and Illusion Steve look at eachother*
...yeah...so...
I'll say it.
*Illusion Steve mutters, glancing away. He didn't like what he saw,but...this guy does deserve to know*
All I was able to see properly was one memory,the one of right before you got in that place where you met Invi.
You were,like me...created...to help a being known as Galaxy Steve. You...were more powerful than me,though. ...
You made almost a perfect illusion for him. A town,filled with the people he loved...but,of course,that idiot kept breaking the fantasy.
*He sighs before continuing*
Galaxy ran off looking for some version of... "Sabre".
...
He was teleporting too fast,so,you had to chase after him in person. He was using too much power,and...
When Galaxy uses too much power...
*Invi speaks up,weakly*
He...he turns into a black hole.
You tried to get back. But you were caught up in it,and your own powers spiraled out of control as you fell into the new dimension created by it.
And then you woke up as a player.
.
..
...
It takes him a while to process this, his eyes going wide with shock and concern as he turns this information over in his head.
... a h. I see.
But, wait, hold on. If I was so powerful, then where's all that power now? Any power I may have had, I certainly don't have it anymore.
It's true, if someone were to check for any sign of power coming from him, they would sense nothing, just as Nightmare said before.
And that still doesn't explain what the hell's going in with my nametag...
...oh goodness,I didn't think of that...
*Invi suddenly looks incredibly worried*
Where did it all go? Did you see,lu-?
No?? What...that's weird...
Great, one mystery has been traded for another.
He crosses his legs and folds his arms across his chest. His tone is flat.
Now, instead of needing to figure out where my memories went, I need to figure out what happened to powers I didn't know I had. Just wonderful. How do I even find something like that?
*...Invi and Illusion exchange another glance. Invi's looks more like "maybe?" While Illusion Steves just looks like a very obvious "please no."*
We...could...go to people in this universe that were related to Illusion Steves power...
Pleaseeeee let me live in peace-
That's the only idea I have!
Noooo-
Okay well does anyone else have any ideas?!
Not unless this is somehow connected to whatever entity's been speaking through my "username", but I haven't seen any evidence towards that.
Oh yeah.
I'm sorry. The what now?
Nametag creature. Sometimes I can understand them and sometimes I can't.
*She blinks at Illusion's nametag*
Hellooo? Anybody got anything to say??
It stays still, unchanging. It only shows the last message it had before they left Illusion's universe:
ᓵ ̇/╎⍑'リ ᑑ⚍⍑⍑⚍ ⍊|| ⚍⎓╎⍑|| ⚍ᔑ⚍ᓵ⍑
[ C ̇/ih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch ]
...that's weird. It hasn't moved at all since we got here. Maybe it doesn't like this world...
Wait, seriously?
He looks up to try to read it. Stop doing that. You know you can't see it.
What does it say?
C...ihn...quhhu...vy...ufi...hy...uau...ch.
What. What the hell does that mean. What.
I have... no idea. It still sounds like another language, or... maybe some type of code to me, but I can not see it for myself to try to figure that out.
Apparently it was changing all the time when we were back in the other world, though.
Yeah,it would talk! It's nonsense now though :/
...that's...very odd.
*Illusion Steve stares at the unchanging nametag in confusion*
Could whatever was doing that... not leave that world? Or maybe it was just left behind...
...
Welp, I've got no ideas.
It's definitely a hard thing to solve. ...I mean,you don't need to solve it-
Invi.
You could,you know...
Invi.
Stay here with us!
INVI. N O-
BUT YOU DIDN'T LIKE MY OTHER IDEA >∆<
I LIKE THIS ONE L E S S
I don't think I should let something like this go unsolved, it may be important...
He pauses, like he just had an idea, pulls his notebook out of the inner lining of his coat, and hands it to Invi.
Could you write down what my nametag says?
Ooh,alright!
*Invi writes down the nametag,odd symbols and all*
Here,this is what it looks like.
*She hands the notebook back to him*
He looks it over.
Well, the alphabet's the same as what enchantment tables use, standard... galactic...
He takes a pause, remembering what he was told about his past. It's fine, it's a fairly common alphabet used in Minecraft. It's probably nothing.
Oooh- ugh. Galactic. >:/ I don't like that word.
*Illusion Steve sighs,patting her head. Invi purrs,leaning into it. He rolls his eyes*
Don't mind her. She holds grudges even harder than me. Go on...
Uh... well...
He clears his throat.
In the english alphabet, it would look something like this:
He writes "c xih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch" below the tag.
It doesn't have any numbers in it, which rules out a few types of code it could be. There's no key, either, so there's some ciphers that I couldn't try, leaving me with two that I actually know how to translate, if it's in english.
The first one, Atbash, takes the alphabet and reverses it.
He writes down some letters in two rows on the page, the top row being the first half of the alphabet, from A to M, and the bottom row being the second half backwards, from Z to N, each letter aligned with the letters of the top row.
So A becomes Z, B becomes Y, and so on.
The other one is the Caesar cipher, which takes each letter in a phrase and shifts them over in the alphabet by a set amount, so, for example, with a shift of 4, it's A to E, B to F, C to G, and so on.
It could be shifted by any amount, so normally figuring out how to decode something like this by hand would take. A while.
His speech speeds up a bit.
However! Unless I read that wrong, this sentence contains spaces, separating the words so that we can see how many letters are in each one, and the first word is only one letter. As long as there's nothing like code stacking; using multiple codes to encrypt one phrase, then there's only two words that could be; A, or I.
Neither of those become a C in atbash, so that likely can be ruled out, leaving us with only 2 possibilities with the Caesar cipher.
He writes more letters on the page, quicker than before. One row is the alphabet, and the next is the alphabet again if it started at c.
If we shift the letters so that C becomes A, we get...
He writes more slowly this time, cross-refferencing each letter with the decoder he made. a vgf'l osffs tw sdgfw sysaf
Which... does not make any sense.
Now to try the other one...
He writes down a second decoder, this time placing c under i and filling in the rest of the alphabet accordingly. He then tries to decode the sentence again, to more success.
"I don't wanna be alone again"
...
...
Well, that's. Depressing.
...huh. That was...actually smart.
*Illusion Steve sounds genuinely surprised by this. ...Invi tilts her head at the sentence*
...
...that's... really sad...
*Loneliness,that's something she can certainly relate to. However, something about this kind of sentence feels... uncomfortably familiar.*
...............so...I think they got left behind when we moved worlds...and those were the last words they were able to say.
His facial expression is unreadable, but he blushes in embarrassment, making his glowing freckles brighten.
Caesar's one of the... less complicated of the ciphers out there. It's lucky that that's what the code ended up being, really...
...
...
Ah.
Hm.
Worrying.
...a bit. Yes.
*Invi chews on her lip. Why does that sentence feel so similar to something she's heard before?*
.......heh, your freckles are all bright now,Luu.
What- wait- no they aren't-
They're glowing even brighter now.
Ooooh they're getting brighter!
*Invi, ultimate failure at identifying social cues, draws even more attention to them and leans in closer to look at them. Illusion Steve just snickers*
He leans away a bit.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
The glow does not die down. All of his glowing lines are bright now. He is radiating an aura of embarrassment. Please help.
Prettyyyy :DDD
*Illusion Steve is actively cackling at this point,finally pulling Invi away*
Oh my gosh,you are bad at this.
*It is unclear which one of them he is talking to*
He says nothing. The glow finally dies down after a few seconds.
Aw :[
*She looks disappointed by this.*
Don't you start.
*He shakes his head at Illusion*
Get better at hiding that or she'll never let you be...
Noted.
He shifts a bit in his seat, trying to discretely look at his hands to make sure the glow is back to normal.
She'll also probably start trying to headpat you just. All the time. Sigh.
:>
*Illusion Steve sighs again before he stares at Illusion,looking somewhat interested for once*
...how come you can glow,anyway?
Oh,it's a-
*Invi almost goes to say "player thing" when she remembers*
......I guess it's just a neat thing he can do!
... it may be my blood? I cut my hand on some glass yesterday, and it bled the same colors.
He looks at the now-scars on his hand. They're the one thing that didn't fully dissappear when he got to full health.
Oh,yeah that...wasn't fun...ah,did it scar?
*She looks worried for a moment before shaking it off*
Well, don't worry about that. Pretty much everyone has scars,as long as they still aren't hurting you it's alright
... yeah...
He's still looking at his hand, not bothered by the scars as much as he is curious about how they formed. Each scar stops at the glowing lines that roughly follow where his bones, veins, and joints would be, only continuing on the other side of each. He traces one of the lines with his other hand out of curiosity. It feels like a crevice in his skin, like the separation of two parts at a joint in one of those articulated wooden artist reference models.
...that's some...oddly specific scarring. Whatever...
*He feigns disinterest,but Illusion Steve does look somewhat curious for once. Maybe he's warming up to Illusion after all*
...
His facial expression drops a bit, as if he's thinking about something serious.
...
I should... probably go back. I have a strange feeling about... whatever entity was speaking through my nametag, like they're someone I need to help.
...
I should also probably figure out... everything else.
And I don't really want to be a burden here...
... :(
You aren't a burden,Luu...
*Invi pats the air above his head,which is a slight improvement from randomly headpatting him*
...but if you really want to,I can take you back...
*Illusion Steve just sighs, looking away*
I wouldn't really enjoy spending eternity with another version of myself. . . .however. However.
*He clears his throat,still looking away*
If. Your world becomes too dangerous. ...you are allowed to come back here.
For Invi's sake,not yours.
...
thank you.
He's also looking away, before he stands up, straightening his lab coat, and turns to Invi.
Yes, please take me back.
*She nods*
Yep, I'm on it!
*Invi also stands up*
We'll,uh,go outside for it- Illusion Steve doesn't like when I tear into the code in the house,,
>:/
:>
...Sigh. Yep,see you later...
*Invi nods again. Then she hesitates before asking Illusion*
Do you...want me to stay with you again? Because I totally will! But also...
*She doesn't say it,but it's obvious she's missed being home*
Oh no, you don't have to do that. I think I'll be fine now that I. Have a better idea of what to expect...
Alright then!! :D be back in a second,Lu
Yeah yeah...you're helping me garden today,I've been doing it alone and I keep accidentally killing plants-
Oh dear.
These hands were only created to destroy...
*Invi giggles quietly at his dramatics,leading Illusion outside. Once they're a few feet away from the house,she only again peels into the coding*
I'll walk you back through,mmkay?
He nods, holding his hand out for her to grab.
@latileaf continuation
As his other self steps away, Illusion's mind is foggy. What... what happened? Did they manage to figure out what's wrong with him? He can feel the twinges of a headache start to creep in, and his ears are ringing. Was that because of this Illusion's powers or...?
He pulls up his sleeve to look at the symbols on it. Only one and a half of the 10 symbols in his hunger bar are full. Ah. Yep. That'll do it. He hasn't eaten since the cave, and even then he didn't even eat enough to be able to sprint. Has he even healed any since the water incident? He was brought down to half a heart then, he hopes he hasn't just. Stayed there this whole time without thinking about it. He checks his other arm. His hand is still cut from punching glass before, but not bleeding. 3 hearts full. That's 2 and a half hearts better than the alternative, at least.
The buzzing in his ears clears enough to hear the tail end of Invi and Illusion Steve's conversation.
... What am I not going to take well?
*Invi and Illusion Steve share a look*
Ehh...
*Invi steps forward,figeting with her hair*
So...about...getting you back to your world...
There is no your world.
*Illusion Steve just comes right out and says it,prompting a quick look of "why would you do that??" from Invi*
He stumbles. Is it from suprise or..?
What? What do you. What are you talking about. What??
I mean,the player realm still probably exists somewhere. But you can't go into it. And you've never been there.
*Invi sighs*
...Illusion...he's right. I'm not sure how to explain this. I know you believed it for a long time,I'm so sorry but-
You're not a player.
He freezes, staring at the two of them. He then takes off his glasses, rubbing his eyes with one hand to try to clear the fog in them (removing his glasses probably doesn't help with that), swaying on his feet a bit. He lets off an... unsettling chuckle.
I should have known.
He buries his face into both hands. One of his sleeves slips down a bit, just enough for his health bar to be clearly visible. The chuckle turns into a laugh.
I should have fucking known! Something was off from the moment I stepped foot into that world, but this--
*Invi looks worried even more by his reaction, stepping closer*
Hey,hey,it's gonna be okay,we can figure this out-
*Her eyes widen when she sees his health bar*
Ohhh that isn't good. Lu can you go get us some food-now--
Yeah yeah, I'm on it. Also you were in a black hole!
*Illusion Steve helpfully calls out that last part as he wanders off*
What. What the fuck do you MEAN I was- what??
His laughter intensifies.
God, I should have figured it out as soon as I realized I could feel!
Why did it take almost dying for me to even consider my entire life could have been a lie?
He does not look well, staggering at this point.
Is this even real?
Am- am I real-
He promptly passes out, falling to the floor.
ILLUSION!
*Invi yelps, quickly getting down on the floor and trying to pull him over to the couch as gently as she possibly can*
Oh,luu...
*With some struggle,she manages to lift him onto the furniture. She looks incredibly worried*
You poor thing,of course you're real...
He twitches a little at her touch, his body limp like a puppet off its strings. He is completely out.
*She sits next to him,gently stroking his head. A few minutes later,Illusion Steve comes back holding some food. He blinks at the sight*
Uh...?
He fainted... :(
...fair enough.
*He sits on the side of the couch,deciding he has nothing better to do than to wait for this Illusion to wake up*
It takes him a few hours to wake up, not moving at all in his sudden and unexpected rest. When he finally wakes up, he's groggy and slow-moving, exhausted. His headache is a bit stronger now, but not unbearable.
What... what happened?
You passed out on the floor once we told you some stuff,,your health bar wasn't looking so good so I had him go get you some food
*Illusion Steve proceeds to shove over several pieces of bread and some vegetables*
There. Eat.
He takes a second to process this, before pulling up his sleeve to look at the hunger bar engraved on his skin. It is now only 1/10ths full.
Ah. Yes. Thank you.
He then proceeds to take a bite out of the bread, pausing as if only now realizing just how hungry he is, and then once again downing it in half a second, causing the bar to fill up some.
You had me worried,Illusion...please don't go that long without eating...
I think he's got bigger problems than that
Love you lu,but not helping.
As they're talking, 2 more bread disappear before he finally slows down. As he starts to more slowly eat some of the vegetables, his appearance slowly mends itself like before, fixing the cuts on his hand (though they leave behind some scarring) and making him look less disheveled. As he feels the headache slip away and his energy return, he speaks.
I apologize, I. Forget to eat sometimes when I'm too focused on something, and there's been... a lot... to focus on.
Well you aren't wrong there...
*Invi sighs*
Are you...going to pass out again if we tell you the whole story? Or, Illusion Steve does. I only know who's responsible. Damn them,every time. >:/
He pauses, thinking.
... no, I'm fairly sure that just happened due to malnutrition.
As if to punctuate that, he takes one last bite, returning to full health and looking brand new again.
My mind was already foggy when you told me... um.
He's looking uncomfortable now, shifting a bit.
:(...
Yeah...I know that must've been a shock...I'm sorry...
I don't see why you would be. I'd think it'd be a relief to find out you aren't one of those players.
Not when you believed it for that long,though...
...I mean, from what I *thought* I knew, they weren't *ALL* that bad, I just didn't talk to any all that much.
Well,you didn't talk to any at all -_-.
,,That is for the best. I. Do not like players. Ours tried to delete me,,
And showed me cosmic horrors
Laughed when Illusion came back from the menu...
Humiliated me and forced me to give up all my power
Left the world in shambles
Stole my henchmen
Pretty much just almost ruined our lives--its nice that you aren't one. Anyways-
Well, yeah, but that's just one guy out of what, billions? Surely they can't ALL be. Like that.
Sorry that yours ended up being such a jerk, though...
Wait, henchmen?
I was his henchmen!
*Invi sounds very proud of this. Illusion Steve just shrugs*
I was just trying to make a proper illusion over the world and agonizingly, I needed help. The...henchmen thing is very much over. I still keep her around though.
^^!
And anyway,Sabre said there were BILLIONS of him. I would like them all to stay away from me. Forever.
???
You know what. Not gonna question it.
So. Um. About telling me the whole story?
*Invi and Illusion Steve look at eachother*
...yeah...so...
I'll say it.
*Illusion Steve mutters, glancing away. He didn't like what he saw,but...this guy does deserve to know*
All I was able to see properly was one memory,the one of right before you got in that place where you met Invi.
You were,like me...created...to help a being known as Galaxy Steve. You...were more powerful than me,though. ...
You made almost a perfect illusion for him. A town,filled with the people he loved...but,of course,that idiot kept breaking the fantasy.
*He sighs before continuing*
Galaxy ran off looking for some version of... "Sabre".
...
He was teleporting too fast,so,you had to chase after him in person. He was using too much power,and...
When Galaxy uses too much power...
*Invi speaks up,weakly*
He...he turns into a black hole.
You tried to get back. But you were caught up in it,and your own powers spiraled out of control as you fell into the new dimension created by it.
And then you woke up as a player.
.
..
...
It takes him a while to process this, his eyes going wide with shock and concern as he turns this information over in his head.
... a h. I see.
But, wait, hold on. If I was so powerful, then where's all that power now? Any power I may have had, I certainly don't have it anymore.
It's true, if someone were to check for any sign of power coming from him, they would sense nothing, just as Nightmare said before.
And that still doesn't explain what the hell's going in with my nametag...
...oh goodness,I didn't think of that...
*Invi suddenly looks incredibly worried*
Where did it all go? Did you see,lu-?
No?? What...that's weird...
Great, one mystery has been traded for another.
He crosses his legs and folds his arms across his chest. His tone is flat.
Now, instead of needing to figure out where my memories went, I need to figure out what happened to powers I didn't know I had. Just wonderful. How do I even find something like that?
*...Invi and Illusion exchange another glance. Invi's looks more like "maybe?" While Illusion Steves just looks like a very obvious "please no."*
We...could...go to people in this universe that were related to Illusion Steves power...
Pleaseeeee let me live in peace-
That's the only idea I have!
Noooo-
Okay well does anyone else have any ideas?!
Not unless this is somehow connected to whatever entity's been speaking through my "username", but I haven't seen any evidence towards that.
Oh yeah.
I'm sorry. The what now?
Nametag creature. Sometimes I can understand them and sometimes I can't.
*She blinks at Illusion's nametag*
Hellooo? Anybody got anything to say??
It stays still, unchanging. It only shows the last message it had before they left Illusion's universe:
ᓵ ̇/╎⍑'リ ᑑ⚍⍑⍑⚍ ⍊|| ⚍⎓╎⍑|| ⚍ᔑ⚍ᓵ⍑
[ C ̇/ih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch ]
...that's weird. It hasn't moved at all since we got here. Maybe it doesn't like this world...
Wait, seriously?
He looks up to try to read it. Stop doing that. You know you can't see it.
What does it say?
C...ihn...quhhu...vy...ufi...hy...uau...ch.
What. What the hell does that mean. What.
I have... no idea. It still sounds like another language, or... maybe some type of code to me, but I can not see it for myself to try to figure that out.
Apparently it was changing all the time when we were back in the other world, though.
Yeah,it would talk! It's nonsense now though :/
...that's...very odd.
*Illusion Steve stares at the unchanging nametag in confusion*
Could whatever was doing that... not leave that world? Or maybe it was just left behind...
...
Welp, I've got no ideas.
It's definitely a hard thing to solve. ...I mean,you don't need to solve it-
Invi.
You could,you know...
Invi.
Stay here with us!
INVI. N O-
BUT YOU DIDN'T LIKE MY OTHER IDEA >∆<
I LIKE THIS ONE L E S S
I don't think I should let something like this go unsolved, it may be important...
He pauses, like he just had an idea, pulls his notebook out of the inner lining of his coat, and hands it to Invi.
Could you write down what my nametag says?
Ooh,alright!
*Invi writes down the nametag,odd symbols and all*
Here,this is what it looks like.
*She hands the notebook back to him*
He looks it over.
Well, the alphabet's the same as what enchantment tables use, standard... galactic...
He takes a pause, remembering what he was told about his past. It's fine, it's a fairly common alphabet used in Minecraft. It's probably nothing.
Oooh- ugh. Galactic. >:/ I don't like that word.
*Illusion Steve sighs,patting her head. Invi purrs,leaning into it. He rolls his eyes*
Don't mind her. She holds grudges even harder than me. Go on...
Uh... well...
He clears his throat.
In the english alphabet, it would look something like this:
He writes "c xih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch" below the tag.
It doesn't have any numbers in it, which rules out a few types of code it could be. There's no key, either, so there's some ciphers that I couldn't try, leaving me with two that I actually know how to translate, if it's in english.
The first one, Atbash, takes the alphabet and reverses it.
He writes down some letters in two rows on the page, the top row being the first half of the alphabet, from A to M, and the bottom row being the second half backwards, from Z to N, each letter aligned with the letters of the top row.
So A becomes Z, B becomes Y, and so on.
The other one is the Caesar cipher, which takes each letter in a phrase and shifts them over in the alphabet by a set amount, so, for example, with a shift of 4, it's A to E, B to F, C to G, and so on.
It could be shifted by any amount, so normally figuring out how to decode something like this by hand would take. A while.
His speech speeds up a bit.
However! Unless I read that wrong, this sentence contains spaces, separating the words so that we can see how many letters are in each one, and the first word is only one letter. As long as there's nothing like code stacking; using multiple codes to encrypt one phrase, then there's only two words that could be; A, or I.
Neither of those become a C in atbash, so that likely can be ruled out, leaving us with only 2 possibilities with the Caesar cipher.
He writes more letters on the page, quicker than before. One row is the alphabet, and the next is the alphabet again if it started at c.
If we shift the letters so that C becomes A, we get...
He writes more slowly this time, cross-refferencing each letter with the decoder he made. a vgf'l osffs tw sdgfw sysaf
Which... does not make any sense.
Now to try the other one...
He writes down a second decoder, this time placing c under i and filling in the rest of the alphabet accordingly. He then tries to decode the sentence again, to more success.
"I don't wanna be alone again"
...
...
Well, that's. Depressing.
...huh. That was...actually smart.
*Illusion Steve sounds genuinely surprised by this. ...Invi tilts her head at the sentence*
...
...that's... really sad...
*Loneliness,that's something she can certainly relate to. However, something about this kind of sentence feels... uncomfortably familiar.*
...............so...I think they got left behind when we moved worlds...and those were the last words they were able to say.
His facial expression is unreadable, but he blushes in embarrassment, making his glowing freckles brighten.
Caesar's one of the... less complicated of the ciphers out there. It's lucky that that's what the code ended up being, really...
...
...
Ah.
Hm.
Worrying.
...a bit. Yes.
*Invi chews on her lip. Why does that sentence feel so similar to something she's heard before?*
.......heh, your freckles are all bright now,Luu.
What- wait- no they aren't-
They're glowing even brighter now.
Ooooh they're getting brighter!
*Invi, ultimate failure at identifying social cues, draws even more attention to them and leans in closer to look at them. Illusion Steve just snickers*
He leans away a bit.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
The glow does not die down. All of his glowing lines are bright now. He is radiating an aura of embarrassment. Please help.
Prettyyyy :DDD
*Illusion Steve is actively cackling at this point,finally pulling Invi away*
Oh my gosh,you are bad at this.
*It is unclear which one of them he is talking to*
He says nothing. The glow finally dies down after a few seconds.
Aw :[
*She looks disappointed by this.*
Don't you start.
*He shakes his head at Illusion*
Get better at hiding that or she'll never let you be...
Noted.
He shifts a bit in his seat, trying to discretely look at his hands to make sure the glow is back to normal.
She'll also probably start trying to headpat you just. All the time. Sigh.
:>
*Illusion Steve sighs again before he stares at Illusion,looking somewhat interested for once*
...how come you can glow,anyway?
Oh,it's a-
*Invi almost goes to say "player thing" when she remembers*
......I guess it's just a neat thing he can do!
... it may be my blood? I cut my hand on some glass yesterday, and it bled the same colors.
He looks at the now-scars on his hand. They're the one thing that didn't fully dissappear when he got to full health.
Oh,yeah that...wasn't fun...ah,did it scar?
*She looks worried for a moment before shaking it off*
Well, don't worry about that. Pretty much everyone has scars,as long as they still aren't hurting you it's alright
... yeah...
He's still looking at his hand, not bothered by the scars as much as he is curious about how they formed. Each scar stops at the glowing lines that roughly follow where his bones, veins, and joints would be, only continuing on the other side of each. He traces one of the lines with his other hand out of curiosity. It feels like a crevice in his skin, like the separation of two parts at a joint in one of those articulated wooden artist reference models.
...that's some...oddly specific scarring. Whatever...
*He feigns disinterest,but Illusion Steve does look somewhat curious for once. Maybe he's warming up to Illusion after all*
...
His facial expression drops a bit, as if he's thinking about something serious.
...
I should... probably go back. I have a strange feeling about... whatever entity was speaking through my nametag, like they're someone I need to help.
...
I should also probably figure out... everything else.
And I don't really want to be a burden here...
... :(
You aren't a burden,Luu...
*Invi pats the air above his head,which is a slight improvement from randomly headpatting him*
...but if you really want to,I can take you back...
*Illusion Steve just sighs, looking away*
I wouldn't really enjoy spending eternity with another version of myself. . . .however. However.
*He clears his throat,still looking away*
If. Your world becomes too dangerous. ...you are allowed to come back here.
For Invi's sake,not yours.
...
thank you.
He's also looking away, before he stands up, straightening his lab coat, and turns to Invi.
Yes, please take me back.
*She nods*
Yep, I'm on it!
*Invi also stands up*
We'll,uh,go outside for it- Illusion Steve doesn't like when I tear into the code in the house,,
>:/
:>
...Sigh. Yep,see you later...
*Invi nods again. Then she hesitates before asking Illusion*
Do you...want me to stay with you again? Because I totally will! But also...
*She doesn't say it,but it's obvious she's missed being home*
Oh no, you don't have to do that. I think I'll be fine now that I. Have a better idea of what to expect...
@latileaf continuation
As his other self steps away, Illusion's mind is foggy. What... what happened? Did they manage to figure out what's wrong with him? He can feel the twinges of a headache start to creep in, and his ears are ringing. Was that because of this Illusion's powers or...?
He pulls up his sleeve to look at the symbols on it. Only one and a half of the 10 symbols in his hunger bar are full. Ah. Yep. That'll do it. He hasn't eaten since the cave, and even then he didn't even eat enough to be able to sprint. Has he even healed any since the water incident? He was brought down to half a heart then, he hopes he hasn't just. Stayed there this whole time without thinking about it. He checks his other arm. His hand is still cut from punching glass before, but not bleeding. 3 hearts full. That's 2 and a half hearts better than the alternative, at least.
The buzzing in his ears clears enough to hear the tail end of Invi and Illusion Steve's conversation.
... What am I not going to take well?
*Invi and Illusion Steve share a look*
Ehh...
*Invi steps forward,figeting with her hair*
So...about...getting you back to your world...
There is no your world.
*Illusion Steve just comes right out and says it,prompting a quick look of "why would you do that??" from Invi*
He stumbles. Is it from suprise or..?
What? What do you. What are you talking about. What??
I mean,the player realm still probably exists somewhere. But you can't go into it. And you've never been there.
*Invi sighs*
...Illusion...he's right. I'm not sure how to explain this. I know you believed it for a long time,I'm so sorry but-
You're not a player.
He freezes, staring at the two of them. He then takes off his glasses, rubbing his eyes with one hand to try to clear the fog in them (removing his glasses probably doesn't help with that), swaying on his feet a bit. He lets off an... unsettling chuckle.
I should have known.
He buries his face into both hands. One of his sleeves slips down a bit, just enough for his health bar to be clearly visible. The chuckle turns into a laugh.
I should have fucking known! Something was off from the moment I stepped foot into that world, but this--
*Invi looks worried even more by his reaction, stepping closer*
Hey,hey,it's gonna be okay,we can figure this out-
*Her eyes widen when she sees his health bar*
Ohhh that isn't good. Lu can you go get us some food-now--
Yeah yeah, I'm on it. Also you were in a black hole!
*Illusion Steve helpfully calls out that last part as he wanders off*
What. What the fuck do you MEAN I was- what??
His laughter intensifies.
God, I should have figured it out as soon as I realized I could feel!
Why did it take almost dying for me to even consider my entire life could have been a lie?
He does not look well, staggering at this point.
Is this even real?
Am- am I real-
He promptly passes out, falling to the floor.
ILLUSION!
*Invi yelps, quickly getting down on the floor and trying to pull him over to the couch as gently as she possibly can*
Oh,luu...
*With some struggle,she manages to lift him onto the furniture. She looks incredibly worried*
You poor thing,of course you're real...
He twitches a little at her touch, his body limp like a puppet off its strings. He is completely out.
*She sits next to him,gently stroking his head. A few minutes later,Illusion Steve comes back holding some food. He blinks at the sight*
Uh...?
He fainted... :(
...fair enough.
*He sits on the side of the couch,deciding he has nothing better to do than to wait for this Illusion to wake up*
It takes him a few hours to wake up, not moving at all in his sudden and unexpected rest. When he finally wakes up, he's groggy and slow-moving, exhausted. His headache is a bit stronger now, but not unbearable.
What... what happened?
You passed out on the floor once we told you some stuff,,your health bar wasn't looking so good so I had him go get you some food
*Illusion Steve proceeds to shove over several pieces of bread and some vegetables*
There. Eat.
He takes a second to process this, before pulling up his sleeve to look at the hunger bar engraved on his skin. It is now only 1/10ths full.
Ah. Yes. Thank you.
He then proceeds to take a bite out of the bread, pausing as if only now realizing just how hungry he is, and then once again downing it in half a second, causing the bar to fill up some.
You had me worried,Illusion...please don't go that long without eating...
I think he's got bigger problems than that
Love you lu,but not helping.
As they're talking, 2 more bread disappear before he finally slows down. As he starts to more slowly eat some of the vegetables, his appearance slowly mends itself like before, fixing the cuts on his hand (though they leave behind some scarring) and making him look less disheveled. As he feels the headache slip away and his energy return, he speaks.
I apologize, I. Forget to eat sometimes when I'm too focused on something, and there's been... a lot... to focus on.
Well you aren't wrong there...
*Invi sighs*
Are you...going to pass out again if we tell you the whole story? Or, Illusion Steve does. I only know who's responsible. Damn them,every time. >:/
He pauses, thinking.
... no, I'm fairly sure that just happened due to malnutrition.
As if to punctuate that, he takes one last bite, returning to full health and looking brand new again.
My mind was already foggy when you told me... um.
He's looking uncomfortable now, shifting a bit.
:(...
Yeah...I know that must've been a shock...I'm sorry...
I don't see why you would be. I'd think it'd be a relief to find out you aren't one of those players.
Not when you believed it for that long,though...
...I mean, from what I *thought* I knew, they weren't *ALL* that bad, I just didn't talk to any all that much.
Well,you didn't talk to any at all -_-.
,,That is for the best. I. Do not like players. Ours tried to delete me,,
And showed me cosmic horrors
Laughed when Illusion came back from the menu...
Humiliated me and forced me to give up all my power
Left the world in shambles
Stole my henchmen
Pretty much just almost ruined our lives--its nice that you aren't one. Anyways-
Well, yeah, but that's just one guy out of what, billions? Surely they can't ALL be. Like that.
Sorry that yours ended up being such a jerk, though...
Wait, henchmen?
I was his henchmen!
*Invi sounds very proud of this. Illusion Steve just shrugs*
I was just trying to make a proper illusion over the world and agonizingly, I needed help. The...henchmen thing is very much over. I still keep her around though.
^^!
And anyway,Sabre said there were BILLIONS of him. I would like them all to stay away from me. Forever.
???
You know what. Not gonna question it.
So. Um. About telling me the whole story?
*Invi and Illusion Steve look at eachother*
...yeah...so...
I'll say it.
*Illusion Steve mutters, glancing away. He didn't like what he saw,but...this guy does deserve to know*
All I was able to see properly was one memory,the one of right before you got in that place where you met Invi.
You were,like me...created...to help a being known as Galaxy Steve. You...were more powerful than me,though. ...
You made almost a perfect illusion for him. A town,filled with the people he loved...but,of course,that idiot kept breaking the fantasy.
*He sighs before continuing*
Galaxy ran off looking for some version of... "Sabre".
...
He was teleporting too fast,so,you had to chase after him in person. He was using too much power,and...
When Galaxy uses too much power...
*Invi speaks up,weakly*
He...he turns into a black hole.
You tried to get back. But you were caught up in it,and your own powers spiraled out of control as you fell into the new dimension created by it.
And then you woke up as a player.
.
..
...
It takes him a while to process this, his eyes going wide with shock and concern as he turns this information over in his head.
... a h. I see.
But, wait, hold on. If I was so powerful, then where's all that power now? Any power I may have had, I certainly don't have it anymore.
It's true, if someone were to check for any sign of power coming from him, they would sense nothing, just as Nightmare said before.
And that still doesn't explain what the hell's going in with my nametag...
...oh goodness,I didn't think of that...
*Invi suddenly looks incredibly worried*
Where did it all go? Did you see,lu-?
No?? What...that's weird...
Great, one mystery has been traded for another.
He crosses his legs and folds his arms across his chest. His tone is flat.
Now, instead of needing to figure out where my memories went, I need to figure out what happened to powers I didn't know I had. Just wonderful. How do I even find something like that?
*...Invi and Illusion exchange another glance. Invi's looks more like "maybe?" While Illusion Steves just looks like a very obvious "please no."*
We...could...go to people in this universe that were related to Illusion Steves power...
Pleaseeeee let me live in peace-
That's the only idea I have!
Noooo-
Okay well does anyone else have any ideas?!
Not unless this is somehow connected to whatever entity's been speaking through my "username", but I haven't seen any evidence towards that.
Oh yeah.
I'm sorry. The what now?
Nametag creature. Sometimes I can understand them and sometimes I can't.
*She blinks at Illusion's nametag*
Hellooo? Anybody got anything to say??
It stays still, unchanging. It only shows the last message it had before they left Illusion's universe:
ᓵ ̇/╎⍑'リ ᑑ⚍⍑⍑⚍ ⍊|| ⚍⎓╎⍑|| ⚍ᔑ⚍ᓵ⍑
[ C ̇/ih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch ]
...that's weird. It hasn't moved at all since we got here. Maybe it doesn't like this world...
Wait, seriously?
He looks up to try to read it. Stop doing that. You know you can't see it.
What does it say?
C...ihn...quhhu...vy...ufi...hy...uau...ch.
What. What the hell does that mean. What.
I have... no idea. It still sounds like another language, or... maybe some type of code to me, but I can not see it for myself to try to figure that out.
Apparently it was changing all the time when we were back in the other world, though.
Yeah,it would talk! It's nonsense now though :/
...that's...very odd.
*Illusion Steve stares at the unchanging nametag in confusion*
Could whatever was doing that... not leave that world? Or maybe it was just left behind...
...
Welp, I've got no ideas.
It's definitely a hard thing to solve. ...I mean,you don't need to solve it-
Invi.
You could,you know...
Invi.
Stay here with us!
INVI. N O-
BUT YOU DIDN'T LIKE MY OTHER IDEA >∆<
I LIKE THIS ONE L E S S
I don't think I should let something like this go unsolved, it may be important...
He pauses, like he just had an idea, pulls his notebook out of the inner lining of his coat, and hands it to Invi.
Could you write down what my nametag says?
Ooh,alright!
*Invi writes down the nametag,odd symbols and all*
Here,this is what it looks like.
*She hands the notebook back to him*
He looks it over.
Well, the alphabet's the same as what enchantment tables use, standard... galactic...
He takes a pause, remembering what he was told about his past. It's fine, it's a fairly common alphabet used in Minecraft. It's probably nothing.
Oooh- ugh. Galactic. >:/ I don't like that word.
*Illusion Steve sighs,patting her head. Invi purrs,leaning into it. He rolls his eyes*
Don't mind her. She holds grudges even harder than me. Go on...
Uh... well...
He clears his throat.
In the english alphabet, it would look something like this:
He writes "c xih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch" below the tag.
It doesn't have any numbers in it, which rules out a few types of code it could be. There's no key, either, so there's some ciphers that I couldn't try, leaving me with two that I actually know how to translate, if it's in english.
The first one, Atbash, takes the alphabet and reverses it.
He writes down some letters in two rows on the page, the top row being the first half of the alphabet, from A to M, and the bottom row being the second half backwards, from Z to N, each letter aligned with the letters of the top row.
So A becomes Z, B becomes Y, and so on.
The other one is the Caesar cipher, which takes each letter in a phrase and shifts them over in the alphabet by a set amount, so, for example, with a shift of 4, it's A to E, B to F, C to G, and so on.
It could be shifted by any amount, so normally figuring out how to decode something like this by hand would take. A while.
His speech speeds up a bit.
However! Unless I read that wrong, this sentence contains spaces, separating the words so that we can see how many letters are in each one, and the first word is only one letter. As long as there's nothing like code stacking; using multiple codes to encrypt one phrase, then there's only two words that could be; A, or I.
Neither of those become a C in atbash, so that likely can be ruled out, leaving us with only 2 possibilities with the Caesar cipher.
He writes more letters on the page, quicker than before. One row is the alphabet, and the next is the alphabet again if it started at c.
If we shift the letters so that C becomes A, we get...
He writes more slowly this time, cross-refferencing each letter with the decoder he made. a vgf'l osffs tw sdgfw sysaf
Which... does not make any sense.
Now to try the other one...
He writes down a second decoder, this time placing c under i and filling in the rest of the alphabet accordingly. He then tries to decode the sentence again, to more success.
"I don't wanna be alone again"
...
...
Well, that's. Depressing.
...huh. That was...actually smart.
*Illusion Steve sounds genuinely surprised by this. ...Invi tilts her head at the sentence*
...
...that's... really sad...
*Loneliness,that's something she can certainly relate to. However, something about this kind of sentence feels... uncomfortably familiar.*
...............so...I think they got left behind when we moved worlds...and those were the last words they were able to say.
His facial expression is unreadable, but he blushes in embarrassment, making his glowing freckles brighten.
Caesar's one of the... less complicated of the ciphers out there. It's lucky that that's what the code ended up being, really...
...
...
Ah.
Hm.
Worrying.
...a bit. Yes.
*Invi chews on her lip. Why does that sentence feel so similar to something she's heard before?*
.......heh, your freckles are all bright now,Luu.
What- wait- no they aren't-
They're glowing even brighter now.
Ooooh they're getting brighter!
*Invi, ultimate failure at identifying social cues, draws even more attention to them and leans in closer to look at them. Illusion Steve just snickers*
He leans away a bit.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
The glow does not die down. All of his glowing lines are bright now. He is radiating an aura of embarrassment. Please help.
Prettyyyy :DDD
*Illusion Steve is actively cackling at this point,finally pulling Invi away*
Oh my gosh,you are bad at this.
*It is unclear which one of them he is talking to*
He says nothing. The glow finally dies down after a few seconds.
Aw :[
*She looks disappointed by this.*
Don't you start.
*He shakes his head at Illusion*
Get better at hiding that or she'll never let you be...
Noted.
He shifts a bit in his seat, trying to discretely look at his hands to make sure the glow is back to normal.
She'll also probably start trying to headpat you just. All the time. Sigh.
:>
*Illusion Steve sighs again before he stares at Illusion,looking somewhat interested for once*
...how come you can glow,anyway?
Oh,it's a-
*Invi almost goes to say "player thing" when she remembers*
......I guess it's just a neat thing he can do!
... it may be my blood? I cut my hand on some glass yesterday, and it bled the same colors.
He looks at the now-scars on his hand. They're the one thing that didn't fully dissappear when he got to full health.
Oh,yeah that...wasn't fun...ah,did it scar?
*She looks worried for a moment before shaking it off*
Well, don't worry about that. Pretty much everyone has scars,as long as they still aren't hurting you it's alright
... yeah...
He's still looking at his hand, not bothered by the scars as much as he is curious about how they formed. Each scar stops at the glowing lines that roughly follow where his bones, veins, and joints would be, only continuing on the other side of each. He traces one of the lines with his other hand out of curiosity. It feels like a crevice in his skin, like the separation of two parts at a joint in one of those articulated wooden artist reference models.
...that's some...oddly specific scarring. Whatever...
*He feigns disinterest,but Illusion Steve does look somewhat curious for once. Maybe he's warming up to Illusion after all*
...
His facial expression drops a bit, as if he's thinking about something serious.
...
I should... probably go back. I have a strange feeling about... whatever entity was speaking through my nametag, like they're someone I need to help.
...
I should also probably figure out... everything else.
And I don't really want to be a burden here...
... :(
You aren't a burden,Luu...
*Invi pats the air above his head,which is a slight improvement from randomly headpatting him*
...but if you really want to,I can take you back...
*Illusion Steve just sighs, looking away*
I wouldn't really enjoy spending eternity with another version of myself. . . .however. However.
*He clears his throat,still looking away*
If. Your world becomes too dangerous. ...you are allowed to come back here.
For Invi's sake,not yours.
...
thank you.
He's also looking away, before he stands up, straightening his lab coat, and turns to Invi.
Yes, please take me back.
@latileaf continuation
As his other self steps away, Illusion's mind is foggy. What... what happened? Did they manage to figure out what's wrong with him? He can feel the twinges of a headache start to creep in, and his ears are ringing. Was that because of this Illusion's powers or...?
He pulls up his sleeve to look at the symbols on it. Only one and a half of the 10 symbols in his hunger bar are full. Ah. Yep. That'll do it. He hasn't eaten since the cave, and even then he didn't even eat enough to be able to sprint. Has he even healed any since the water incident? He was brought down to half a heart then, he hopes he hasn't just. Stayed there this whole time without thinking about it. He checks his other arm. His hand is still cut from punching glass before, but not bleeding. 3 hearts full. That's 2 and a half hearts better than the alternative, at least.
The buzzing in his ears clears enough to hear the tail end of Invi and Illusion Steve's conversation.
... What am I not going to take well?
*Invi and Illusion Steve share a look*
Ehh...
*Invi steps forward,figeting with her hair*
So...about...getting you back to your world...
There is no your world.
*Illusion Steve just comes right out and says it,prompting a quick look of "why would you do that??" from Invi*
He stumbles. Is it from suprise or..?
What? What do you. What are you talking about. What??
I mean,the player realm still probably exists somewhere. But you can't go into it. And you've never been there.
*Invi sighs*
...Illusion...he's right. I'm not sure how to explain this. I know you believed it for a long time,I'm so sorry but-
You're not a player.
He freezes, staring at the two of them. He then takes off his glasses, rubbing his eyes with one hand to try to clear the fog in them (removing his glasses probably doesn't help with that), swaying on his feet a bit. He lets off an... unsettling chuckle.
I should have known.
He buries his face into both hands. One of his sleeves slips down a bit, just enough for his health bar to be clearly visible. The chuckle turns into a laugh.
I should have fucking known! Something was off from the moment I stepped foot into that world, but this--
*Invi looks worried even more by his reaction, stepping closer*
Hey,hey,it's gonna be okay,we can figure this out-
*Her eyes widen when she sees his health bar*
Ohhh that isn't good. Lu can you go get us some food-now--
Yeah yeah, I'm on it. Also you were in a black hole!
*Illusion Steve helpfully calls out that last part as he wanders off*
What. What the fuck do you MEAN I was- what??
His laughter intensifies.
God, I should have figured it out as soon as I realized I could feel!
Why did it take almost dying for me to even consider my entire life could have been a lie?
He does not look well, staggering at this point.
Is this even real?
Am- am I real-
He promptly passes out, falling to the floor.
ILLUSION!
*Invi yelps, quickly getting down on the floor and trying to pull him over to the couch as gently as she possibly can*
Oh,luu...
*With some struggle,she manages to lift him onto the furniture. She looks incredibly worried*
You poor thing,of course you're real...
He twitches a little at her touch, his body limp like a puppet off its strings. He is completely out.
*She sits next to him,gently stroking his head. A few minutes later,Illusion Steve comes back holding some food. He blinks at the sight*
Uh...?
He fainted... :(
...fair enough.
*He sits on the side of the couch,deciding he has nothing better to do than to wait for this Illusion to wake up*
It takes him a few hours to wake up, not moving at all in his sudden and unexpected rest. When he finally wakes up, he's groggy and slow-moving, exhausted. His headache is a bit stronger now, but not unbearable.
What... what happened?
You passed out on the floor once we told you some stuff,,your health bar wasn't looking so good so I had him go get you some food
*Illusion Steve proceeds to shove over several pieces of bread and some vegetables*
There. Eat.
He takes a second to process this, before pulling up his sleeve to look at the hunger bar engraved on his skin. It is now only 1/10ths full.
Ah. Yes. Thank you.
He then proceeds to take a bite out of the bread, pausing as if only now realizing just how hungry he is, and then once again downing it in half a second, causing the bar to fill up some.
You had me worried,Illusion...please don't go that long without eating...
I think he's got bigger problems than that
Love you lu,but not helping.
As they're talking, 2 more bread disappear before he finally slows down. As he starts to more slowly eat some of the vegetables, his appearance slowly mends itself like before, fixing the cuts on his hand (though they leave behind some scarring) and making him look less disheveled. As he feels the headache slip away and his energy return, he speaks.
I apologize, I. Forget to eat sometimes when I'm too focused on something, and there's been... a lot... to focus on.
Well you aren't wrong there...
*Invi sighs*
Are you...going to pass out again if we tell you the whole story? Or, Illusion Steve does. I only know who's responsible. Damn them,every time. >:/
He pauses, thinking.
... no, I'm fairly sure that just happened due to malnutrition.
As if to punctuate that, he takes one last bite, returning to full health and looking brand new again.
My mind was already foggy when you told me... um.
He's looking uncomfortable now, shifting a bit.
:(...
Yeah...I know that must've been a shock...I'm sorry...
I don't see why you would be. I'd think it'd be a relief to find out you aren't one of those players.
Not when you believed it for that long,though...
...I mean, from what I *thought* I knew, they weren't *ALL* that bad, I just didn't talk to any all that much.
Well,you didn't talk to any at all -_-.
,,That is for the best. I. Do not like players. Ours tried to delete me,,
And showed me cosmic horrors
Laughed when Illusion came back from the menu...
Humiliated me and forced me to give up all my power
Left the world in shambles
Stole my henchmen
Pretty much just almost ruined our lives--its nice that you aren't one. Anyways-
Well, yeah, but that's just one guy out of what, billions? Surely they can't ALL be. Like that.
Sorry that yours ended up being such a jerk, though...
Wait, henchmen?
I was his henchmen!
*Invi sounds very proud of this. Illusion Steve just shrugs*
I was just trying to make a proper illusion over the world and agonizingly, I needed help. The...henchmen thing is very much over. I still keep her around though.
^^!
And anyway,Sabre said there were BILLIONS of him. I would like them all to stay away from me. Forever.
???
You know what. Not gonna question it.
So. Um. About telling me the whole story?
*Invi and Illusion Steve look at eachother*
...yeah...so...
I'll say it.
*Illusion Steve mutters, glancing away. He didn't like what he saw,but...this guy does deserve to know*
All I was able to see properly was one memory,the one of right before you got in that place where you met Invi.
You were,like me...created...to help a being known as Galaxy Steve. You...were more powerful than me,though. ...
You made almost a perfect illusion for him. A town,filled with the people he loved...but,of course,that idiot kept breaking the fantasy.
*He sighs before continuing*
Galaxy ran off looking for some version of... "Sabre".
...
He was teleporting too fast,so,you had to chase after him in person. He was using too much power,and...
When Galaxy uses too much power...
*Invi speaks up,weakly*
He...he turns into a black hole.
You tried to get back. But you were caught up in it,and your own powers spiraled out of control as you fell into the new dimension created by it.
And then you woke up as a player.
.
..
...
It takes him a while to process this, his eyes going wide with shock and concern as he turns this information over in his head.
... a h. I see.
But, wait, hold on. If I was so powerful, then where's all that power now? Any power I may have had, I certainly don't have it anymore.
It's true, if someone were to check for any sign of power coming from him, they would sense nothing, just as Nightmare said before.
And that still doesn't explain what the hell's going in with my nametag...
...oh goodness,I didn't think of that...
*Invi suddenly looks incredibly worried*
Where did it all go? Did you see,lu-?
No?? What...that's weird...
Great, one mystery has been traded for another.
He crosses his legs and folds his arms across his chest. His tone is flat.
Now, instead of needing to figure out where my memories went, I need to figure out what happened to powers I didn't know I had. Just wonderful. How do I even find something like that?
*...Invi and Illusion exchange another glance. Invi's looks more like "maybe?" While Illusion Steves just looks like a very obvious "please no."*
We...could...go to people in this universe that were related to Illusion Steves power...
Pleaseeeee let me live in peace-
That's the only idea I have!
Noooo-
Okay well does anyone else have any ideas?!
Not unless this is somehow connected to whatever entity's been speaking through my "username", but I haven't seen any evidence towards that.
Oh yeah.
I'm sorry. The what now?
Nametag creature. Sometimes I can understand them and sometimes I can't.
*She blinks at Illusion's nametag*
Hellooo? Anybody got anything to say??
It stays still, unchanging. It only shows the last message it had before they left Illusion's universe:
ᓵ ̇/╎⍑'リ ᑑ⚍⍑⍑⚍ ⍊|| ⚍⎓╎⍑|| ⚍ᔑ⚍ᓵ⍑
[ C ̇/ih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch ]
...that's weird. It hasn't moved at all since we got here. Maybe it doesn't like this world...
Wait, seriously?
He looks up to try to read it. Stop doing that. You know you can't see it.
What does it say?
C...ihn...quhhu...vy...ufi...hy...uau...ch.
What. What the hell does that mean. What.
I have... no idea. It still sounds like another language, or... maybe some type of code to me, but I can not see it for myself to try to figure that out.
Apparently it was changing all the time when we were back in the other world, though.
Yeah,it would talk! It's nonsense now though :/
...that's...very odd.
*Illusion Steve stares at the unchanging nametag in confusion*
Could whatever was doing that... not leave that world? Or maybe it was just left behind...
...
Welp, I've got no ideas.
It's definitely a hard thing to solve. ...I mean,you don't need to solve it-
Invi.
You could,you know...
Invi.
Stay here with us!
INVI. N O-
BUT YOU DIDN'T LIKE MY OTHER IDEA >∆<
I LIKE THIS ONE L E S S
I don't think I should let something like this go unsolved, it may be important...
He pauses, like he just had an idea, pulls his notebook out of the inner lining of his coat, and hands it to Invi.
Could you write down what my nametag says?
Ooh,alright!
*Invi writes down the nametag,odd symbols and all*
Here,this is what it looks like.
*She hands the notebook back to him*
He looks it over.
Well, the alphabet's the same as what enchantment tables use, standard... galactic...
He takes a pause, remembering what he was told about his past. It's fine, it's a fairly common alphabet used in Minecraft. It's probably nothing.
Oooh- ugh. Galactic. >:/ I don't like that word.
*Illusion Steve sighs,patting her head. Invi purrs,leaning into it. He rolls his eyes*
Don't mind her. She holds grudges even harder than me. Go on...
Uh... well...
He clears his throat.
In the english alphabet, it would look something like this:
He writes "c xih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch" below the tag.
It doesn't have any numbers in it, which rules out a few types of code it could be. There's no key, either, so there's some ciphers that I couldn't try, leaving me with two that I actually know how to translate, if it's in english.
The first one, Atbash, takes the alphabet and reverses it.
He writes down some letters in two rows on the page, the top row being the first half of the alphabet, from A to M, and the bottom row being the second half backwards, from Z to N, each letter aligned with the letters of the top row.
So A becomes Z, B becomes Y, and so on.
The other one is the Caesar cipher, which takes each letter in a phrase and shifts them over in the alphabet by a set amount, so, for example, with a shift of 4, it's A to E, B to F, C to G, and so on.
It could be shifted by any amount, so normally figuring out how to decode something like this by hand would take. A while.
His speech speeds up a bit.
However! Unless I read that wrong, this sentence contains spaces, separating the words so that we can see how many letters are in each one, and the first word is only one letter. As long as there's nothing like code stacking; using multiple codes to encrypt one phrase, then there's only two words that could be; A, or I.
Neither of those become a C in atbash, so that likely can be ruled out, leaving us with only 2 possibilities with the Caesar cipher.
He writes more letters on the page, quicker than before. One row is the alphabet, and the next is the alphabet again if it started at c.
If we shift the letters so that C becomes A, we get...
He writes more slowly this time, cross-refferencing each letter with the decoder he made. a vgf'l osffs tw sdgfw sysaf
Which... does not make any sense.
Now to try the other one...
He writes down a second decoder, this time placing c under i and filling in the rest of the alphabet accordingly. He then tries to decode the sentence again, to more success.
"I don't wanna be alone again"
...
...
Well, that's. Depressing.
...huh. That was...actually smart.
*Illusion Steve sounds genuinely surprised by this. ...Invi tilts her head at the sentence*
...
...that's... really sad...
*Loneliness,that's something she can certainly relate to. However, something about this kind of sentence feels... uncomfortably familiar.*
...............so...I think they got left behind when we moved worlds...and those were the last words they were able to say.
His facial expression is unreadable, but he blushes in embarrassment, making his glowing freckles brighten.
Caesar's one of the... less complicated of the ciphers out there. It's lucky that that's what the code ended up being, really...
...
...
Ah.
Hm.
Worrying.
...a bit. Yes.
*Invi chews on her lip. Why does that sentence feel so similar to something she's heard before?*
.......heh, your freckles are all bright now,Luu.
What- wait- no they aren't-
They're glowing even brighter now.
Ooooh they're getting brighter!
*Invi, ultimate failure at identifying social cues, draws even more attention to them and leans in closer to look at them. Illusion Steve just snickers*
He leans away a bit.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
The glow does not die down. All of his glowing lines are bright now. He is radiating an aura of embarrassment. Please help.
Prettyyyy :DDD
*Illusion Steve is actively cackling at this point,finally pulling Invi away*
Oh my gosh,you are bad at this.
*It is unclear which one of them he is talking to*
He says nothing. The glow finally dies down after a few seconds.
Aw :[
*She looks disappointed by this.*
Don't you start.
*He shakes his head at Illusion*
Get better at hiding that or she'll never let you be...
Noted.
He shifts a bit in his seat, trying to discretely look at his hands to make sure the glow is back to normal.
She'll also probably start trying to headpat you just. All the time. Sigh.
:>
*Illusion Steve sighs again before he stares at Illusion,looking somewhat interested for once*
...how come you can glow,anyway?
Oh,it's a-
*Invi almost goes to say "player thing" when she remembers*
......I guess it's just a neat thing he can do!
... it may be my blood? I cut my hand on some glass yesterday, and it bled the same colors.
He looks at the now-scars on his hand. They're the one thing that didn't fully dissappear when he got to full health.
Oh,yeah that...wasn't fun...ah,did it scar?
*She looks worried for a moment before shaking it off*
Well, don't worry about that. Pretty much everyone has scars,as long as they still aren't hurting you it's alright
... yeah...
He's still looking at his hand, not bothered by the scars as much as he is curious about how they formed. Each scar stops at the glowing lines that roughly follow where his bones, veins, and joints would be, only continuing on the other side of each. He traces one of the lines with his other hand out of curiosity. It feels like a crevice in his skin, like the separation of two parts at a joint in one of those articulated wooden artist reference models.
...that's some...oddly specific scarring. Whatever...
*He feigns disinterest,but Illusion Steve does look somewhat curious for once. Maybe he's warming up to Illusion after all*
...
His facial expression drops a bit, as if he's thinking about something serious.
...
I should... probably go back. I have a strange feeling about... whatever entity was speaking through my nametag, like they're someone I need to help.
...
I should also probably figure out... everything else.
And I don't really want to be a burden here...
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Blacked out and ended up with some concept art for swap au/reverse duality Sabre, so here ya go! Enjoy!
@latileaf continuation
As his other self steps away, Illusion's mind is foggy. What... what happened? Did they manage to figure out what's wrong with him? He can feel the twinges of a headache start to creep in, and his ears are ringing. Was that because of this Illusion's powers or...?
He pulls up his sleeve to look at the symbols on it. Only one and a half of the 10 symbols in his hunger bar are full. Ah. Yep. That'll do it. He hasn't eaten since the cave, and even then he didn't even eat enough to be able to sprint. Has he even healed any since the water incident? He was brought down to half a heart then, he hopes he hasn't just. Stayed there this whole time without thinking about it. He checks his other arm. His hand is still cut from punching glass before, but not bleeding. 3 hearts full. That's 2 and a half hearts better than the alternative, at least.
The buzzing in his ears clears enough to hear the tail end of Invi and Illusion Steve's conversation.
... What am I not going to take well?
*Invi and Illusion Steve share a look*
Ehh...
*Invi steps forward,figeting with her hair*
So...about...getting you back to your world...
There is no your world.
*Illusion Steve just comes right out and says it,prompting a quick look of "why would you do that??" from Invi*
He stumbles. Is it from suprise or..?
What? What do you. What are you talking about. What??
I mean,the player realm still probably exists somewhere. But you can't go into it. And you've never been there.
*Invi sighs*
...Illusion...he's right. I'm not sure how to explain this. I know you believed it for a long time,I'm so sorry but-
You're not a player.
He freezes, staring at the two of them. He then takes off his glasses, rubbing his eyes with one hand to try to clear the fog in them (removing his glasses probably doesn't help with that), swaying on his feet a bit. He lets off an... unsettling chuckle.
I should have known.
He buries his face into both hands. One of his sleeves slips down a bit, just enough for his health bar to be clearly visible. The chuckle turns into a laugh.
I should have fucking known! Something was off from the moment I stepped foot into that world, but this--
*Invi looks worried even more by his reaction, stepping closer*
Hey,hey,it's gonna be okay,we can figure this out-
*Her eyes widen when she sees his health bar*
Ohhh that isn't good. Lu can you go get us some food-now--
Yeah yeah, I'm on it. Also you were in a black hole!
*Illusion Steve helpfully calls out that last part as he wanders off*
What. What the fuck do you MEAN I was- what??
His laughter intensifies.
God, I should have figured it out as soon as I realized I could feel!
Why did it take almost dying for me to even consider my entire life could have been a lie?
He does not look well, staggering at this point.
Is this even real?
Am- am I real-
He promptly passes out, falling to the floor.
ILLUSION!
*Invi yelps, quickly getting down on the floor and trying to pull him over to the couch as gently as she possibly can*
Oh,luu...
*With some struggle,she manages to lift him onto the furniture. She looks incredibly worried*
You poor thing,of course you're real...
He twitches a little at her touch, his body limp like a puppet off its strings. He is completely out.
*She sits next to him,gently stroking his head. A few minutes later,Illusion Steve comes back holding some food. He blinks at the sight*
Uh...?
He fainted... :(
...fair enough.
*He sits on the side of the couch,deciding he has nothing better to do than to wait for this Illusion to wake up*
It takes him a few hours to wake up, not moving at all in his sudden and unexpected rest. When he finally wakes up, he's groggy and slow-moving, exhausted. His headache is a bit stronger now, but not unbearable.
What... what happened?
You passed out on the floor once we told you some stuff,,your health bar wasn't looking so good so I had him go get you some food
*Illusion Steve proceeds to shove over several pieces of bread and some vegetables*
There. Eat.
He takes a second to process this, before pulling up his sleeve to look at the hunger bar engraved on his skin. It is now only 1/10ths full.
Ah. Yes. Thank you.
He then proceeds to take a bite out of the bread, pausing as if only now realizing just how hungry he is, and then once again downing it in half a second, causing the bar to fill up some.
You had me worried,Illusion...please don't go that long without eating...
I think he's got bigger problems than that
Love you lu,but not helping.
As they're talking, 2 more bread disappear before he finally slows down. As he starts to more slowly eat some of the vegetables, his appearance slowly mends itself like before, fixing the cuts on his hand (though they leave behind some scarring) and making him look less disheveled. As he feels the headache slip away and his energy return, he speaks.
I apologize, I. Forget to eat sometimes when I'm too focused on something, and there's been... a lot... to focus on.
Well you aren't wrong there...
*Invi sighs*
Are you...going to pass out again if we tell you the whole story? Or, Illusion Steve does. I only know who's responsible. Damn them,every time. >:/
He pauses, thinking.
... no, I'm fairly sure that just happened due to malnutrition.
As if to punctuate that, he takes one last bite, returning to full health and looking brand new again.
My mind was already foggy when you told me... um.
He's looking uncomfortable now, shifting a bit.
:(...
Yeah...I know that must've been a shock...I'm sorry...
I don't see why you would be. I'd think it'd be a relief to find out you aren't one of those players.
Not when you believed it for that long,though...
...I mean, from what I *thought* I knew, they weren't *ALL* that bad, I just didn't talk to any all that much.
Well,you didn't talk to any at all -_-.
,,That is for the best. I. Do not like players. Ours tried to delete me,,
And showed me cosmic horrors
Laughed when Illusion came back from the menu...
Humiliated me and forced me to give up all my power
Left the world in shambles
Stole my henchmen
Pretty much just almost ruined our lives--its nice that you aren't one. Anyways-
Well, yeah, but that's just one guy out of what, billions? Surely they can't ALL be. Like that.
Sorry that yours ended up being such a jerk, though...
Wait, henchmen?
I was his henchmen!
*Invi sounds very proud of this. Illusion Steve just shrugs*
I was just trying to make a proper illusion over the world and agonizingly, I needed help. The...henchmen thing is very much over. I still keep her around though.
^^!
And anyway,Sabre said there were BILLIONS of him. I would like them all to stay away from me. Forever.
???
You know what. Not gonna question it.
So. Um. About telling me the whole story?
*Invi and Illusion Steve look at eachother*
...yeah...so...
I'll say it.
*Illusion Steve mutters, glancing away. He didn't like what he saw,but...this guy does deserve to know*
All I was able to see properly was one memory,the one of right before you got in that place where you met Invi.
You were,like me...created...to help a being known as Galaxy Steve. You...were more powerful than me,though. ...
You made almost a perfect illusion for him. A town,filled with the people he loved...but,of course,that idiot kept breaking the fantasy.
*He sighs before continuing*
Galaxy ran off looking for some version of... "Sabre".
...
He was teleporting too fast,so,you had to chase after him in person. He was using too much power,and...
When Galaxy uses too much power...
*Invi speaks up,weakly*
He...he turns into a black hole.
You tried to get back. But you were caught up in it,and your own powers spiraled out of control as you fell into the new dimension created by it.
And then you woke up as a player.
.
..
...
It takes him a while to process this, his eyes going wide with shock and concern as he turns this information over in his head.
... a h. I see.
But, wait, hold on. If I was so powerful, then where's all that power now? Any power I may have had, I certainly don't have it anymore.
It's true, if someone were to check for any sign of power coming from him, they would sense nothing, just as Nightmare said before.
And that still doesn't explain what the hell's going in with my nametag...
...oh goodness,I didn't think of that...
*Invi suddenly looks incredibly worried*
Where did it all go? Did you see,lu-?
No?? What...that's weird...
Great, one mystery has been traded for another.
He crosses his legs and folds his arms across his chest. His tone is flat.
Now, instead of needing to figure out where my memories went, I need to figure out what happened to powers I didn't know I had. Just wonderful. How do I even find something like that?
*...Invi and Illusion exchange another glance. Invi's looks more like "maybe?" While Illusion Steves just looks like a very obvious "please no."*
We...could...go to people in this universe that were related to Illusion Steves power...
Pleaseeeee let me live in peace-
That's the only idea I have!
Noooo-
Okay well does anyone else have any ideas?!
Not unless this is somehow connected to whatever entity's been speaking through my "username", but I haven't seen any evidence towards that.
Oh yeah.
I'm sorry. The what now?
Nametag creature. Sometimes I can understand them and sometimes I can't.
*She blinks at Illusion's nametag*
Hellooo? Anybody got anything to say??
It stays still, unchanging. It only shows the last message it had before they left Illusion's universe:
ᓵ ̇/╎⍑'リ ᑑ⚍⍑⍑⚍ ⍊|| ⚍⎓╎⍑|| ⚍ᔑ⚍ᓵ⍑
[ C ̇/ih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch ]
...that's weird. It hasn't moved at all since we got here. Maybe it doesn't like this world...
Wait, seriously?
He looks up to try to read it. Stop doing that. You know you can't see it.
What does it say?
C...ihn...quhhu...vy...ufi...hy...uau...ch.
What. What the hell does that mean. What.
I have... no idea. It still sounds like another language, or... maybe some type of code to me, but I can not see it for myself to try to figure that out.
Apparently it was changing all the time when we were back in the other world, though.
Yeah,it would talk! It's nonsense now though :/
...that's...very odd.
*Illusion Steve stares at the unchanging nametag in confusion*
Could whatever was doing that... not leave that world? Or maybe it was just left behind...
...
Welp, I've got no ideas.
It's definitely a hard thing to solve. ...I mean,you don't need to solve it-
Invi.
You could,you know...
Invi.
Stay here with us!
INVI. N O-
BUT YOU DIDN'T LIKE MY OTHER IDEA >∆<
I LIKE THIS ONE L E S S
I don't think I should let something like this go unsolved, it may be important...
He pauses, like he just had an idea, pulls his notebook out of the inner lining of his coat, and hands it to Invi.
Could you write down what my nametag says?
Ooh,alright!
*Invi writes down the nametag,odd symbols and all*
Here,this is what it looks like.
*She hands the notebook back to him*
He looks it over.
Well, the alphabet's the same as what enchantment tables use, standard... galactic...
He takes a pause, remembering what he was told about his past. It's fine, it's a fairly common alphabet used in Minecraft. It's probably nothing.
Oooh- ugh. Galactic. >:/ I don't like that word.
*Illusion Steve sighs,patting her head. Invi purrs,leaning into it. He rolls his eyes*
Don't mind her. She holds grudges even harder than me. Go on...
Uh... well...
He clears his throat.
In the english alphabet, it would look something like this:
He writes "c xih'n quhhu vy ufihy uauch" below the tag.
It doesn't have any numbers in it, which rules out a few types of code it could be. There's no key, either, so there's some ciphers that I couldn't try, leaving me with two that I actually know how to translate, if it's in english.
The first one, Atbash, takes the alphabet and reverses it.
He writes down some letters in two rows on the page, the top row being the first half of the alphabet, from A to M, and the bottom row being the second half backwards, from Z to N, each letter aligned with the letters of the top row.
So A becomes Z, B becomes Y, and so on.
The other one is the Caesar cipher, which takes each letter in a phrase and shifts them over in the alphabet by a set amount, so, for example, with a shift of 4, it's A to E, B to F, C to G, and so on.
It could be shifted by any amount, so normally figuring out how to decode something like this by hand would take. A while.
His speech speeds up a bit.
However! Unless I read that wrong, this sentence contains spaces, separating the words so that we can see how many letters are in each one, and the first word is only one letter. As long as there's nothing like code stacking; using multiple codes to encrypt one phrase, then there's only two words that could be; A, or I.
Neither of those become a C in atbash, so that likely can be ruled out, leaving us with only 2 possibilities with the Caesar cipher.
He writes more letters on the page, quicker than before. One row is the alphabet, and the next is the alphabet again if it started at c.
If we shift the letters so that C becomes A, we get...
He writes more slowly this time, cross-refferencing each letter with the decoder he made. a vgf'l osffs tw sdgfw sysaf
Which... does not make any sense.
Now to try the other one...
He writes down a second decoder, this time placing c under i and filling in the rest of the alphabet accordingly. He then tries to decode the sentence again, to more success.
"I don't wanna be alone again"
...
...
Well, that's. Depressing.
...huh. That was...actually smart.
*Illusion Steve sounds genuinely surprised by this. ...Invi tilts her head at the sentence*
...
...that's... really sad...
*Loneliness,that's something she can certainly relate to. However, something about this kind of sentence feels... uncomfortably familiar.*
...............so...I think they got left behind when we moved worlds...and those were the last words they were able to say.
His facial expression is unreadable, but he blushes in embarrassment, making his glowing freckles brighten.
Caesar's one of the... less complicated of the ciphers out there. It's lucky that that's what the code ended up being, really...
...
...
Ah.
Hm.
Worrying.
...a bit. Yes.
*Invi chews on her lip. Why does that sentence feel so similar to something she's heard before?*
.......heh, your freckles are all bright now,Luu.
What- wait- no they aren't-
They're glowing even brighter now.
Ooooh they're getting brighter!
*Invi, ultimate failure at identifying social cues, draws even more attention to them and leans in closer to look at them. Illusion Steve just snickers*
He leans away a bit.
I have no idea what you're talking about.
The glow does not die down. All of his glowing lines are bright now. He is radiating an aura of embarrassment. Please help.
Prettyyyy :DDD
*Illusion Steve is actively cackling at this point,finally pulling Invi away*
Oh my gosh,you are bad at this.
*It is unclear which one of them he is talking to*
He says nothing. The glow finally dies down after a few seconds.
Aw :[
*She looks disappointed by this.*
Don't you start.
*He shakes his head at Illusion*
Get better at hiding that or she'll never let you be...
Noted.
He shifts a bit in his seat, trying to discretely look at his hands to make sure the glow is back to normal.
She'll also probably start trying to headpat you just. All the time. Sigh.
:>
*Illusion Steve sighs again before he stares at Illusion,looking somewhat interested for once*
...how come you can glow,anyway?
Oh,it's a-
*Invi almost goes to say "player thing" when she remembers*
......I guess it's just a neat thing he can do!
... it may be my blood? I cut my hand on some glass yesterday, and it bled the same colors.
He looks at the now-scars on his hand. They're the one thing that didn't fully dissappear when he got to full health.
Oh,yeah that...wasn't fun...ah,did it scar?
*She looks worried for a moment before shaking it off*
Well, don't worry about that. Pretty much everyone has scars,as long as they still aren't hurting you it's alright
... yeah...
He's still looking at his hand, not bothered by the scars as much as he is curious about how they formed. Each scar stops at the glowing lines that roughly follow where his bones, veins, and joints would be, only continuing on the other side of each. He traces one of the lines with his other hand out of curiosity. It feels like a crevice in his skin, like the separation of two parts at a joint in one of those articulated wooden artist reference models.
