we were right

          Well, it wasn’t comforting news, but that was the reality of the situation and he would have to cope with that for now. Having a familiar face like One’s definitely helps in putting some ease on Ludger, despite the tension he felt being in a foreign land and the circumstances regarding his disappearance back in his own world. Still, he is certain of himself; he will adapt as he always has, no matter how bleak a situation. After all, it wouldn’t be his first foray into another dimension. It just happened to be a different kind, if he’s understanding her correctly. 

Still, her answer doesn’t surprise him. She’s as confident as always, even in the face of uncertainty.

    “Getting by somehow,” he answered, albeit with a nervous ring to his tone. It’s clear that he’s still taken by the issue of his current existence here whereas he shouldn’t really be existing in the first place. Briefly does he glance on his palm, clenching and unclenching it into a fist. He truly is here… alive and well. That troubled him.

    “You know, they assigned me to some district,” he divulged, offering her a smaller smile. “Maybe you could help me locate it?”

     For someone as observant as One, the slightest change in another’s tone rarely escapes her, even now. So as the familiar man answers her question, the Intoner can’t help but squint lightly at his face. Due to her nature, she wishes to aid him but it also occurs to the blonde that his anxiety stems from being stranded in this place... Of which One herself can relate to.

     So if he doesn’t wish to divulge in such a matter for now, the Intoner can’t blame him nor push him for more information regarding it.

     ❝ Oh? So, you’re to stay below the city as well, then? ❞ she asks, though the question itself is purely rhetorical. While the history of each District is rather intriguing, they aren’t ideal for housing various people... As evidenced from how people are simply shoved into small huts when they’re assigned to the Districts for housing.

          The familiarity she emanated was a welcome change, a beacon he can cling to while he tried to set his head straight from the initial confusion of the city. But he knew that she can see right through his smile. Though, while genuine, Ludger does have his concerns that troubled him at the back of his mind. But he wouldn’t want to trouble her with that. Not when they were having, to Ludger, what felt like a reunion ages in the making.

It felt like a lifetime ago since he last saw One. Indeed, his smile upon seeing her was more than genuine.

    “You’ve been here before?” Her words surprise him. She’s been in this city before and yet she’s surprisingly calm compared to Ludger, who’s only keeping it together through sheer force of will. “So… we’re in another dimension entirely, is that it? I wonder…”

Briefly, he thought of the schism that once separated Rieze Maxia and Elympios, his own chromatus, the ability to destroy alternate realities. He wondered then, if this Hive City was anything similar. Brows knit in thought, turning briefly to face One once more. “In any case, how have you been? Well, I hope!”

     To his surprised exclamation, the blonde can only offer a small hum of conformation before he continues on. While it’s something to that effect, this place is also something like another timeline as well... Or perhaps it’s simply some sort of isolated universe or dimension completely. Truth be told, the finer details are still being worked out by One within her mind.

     ❝ Something like that, yes. ❞ she agrees, pausing for a moment as he asks her another question... One of which is very sincere. Perhaps a bit surprised by the notion of how he’s concerned for her rather than his own situation, the blonde’s eyebrows raise slightly before offering the other the ghost of a smile.

     She isn’t fine but of course, she’d rather keep that to herself.

It wasn’t as if 2B was unadjusted to others looking at her attire with a questioning gaze. Even the androids of Earth sometimes looked upon the androids of YoRHa with curiosity regarding their visors. It seemed many saw them as ‘blindfolds’, devices create to remove one’s ability to see - but was nothing more than a piece of equipment in her arsenal.

But this girl’s appearance was enough to attract the android’s attention as well. It was vague, but her facial structure and hair colour reminded her of Operator 6O. It stirred a little nostalgia in her memory, though this young woman clearly didn’t possess 6O’s energy.

“No. This is a piece of headgear assigned to me by my higher ups. It isn’t a blindfold. It helps display diagnostics and also functions in a way that enhances my sight when necessary such as in dark places or when I need to see farther away.” She could do those things without the visor as well, but it certainly aided in the effectiveness of her visual abilities.

“I understand your confusion however. It seems to be a common question in this city.”

     ❝ Aha. I had thought that to be the case, ❞

     The blonde hums in thought for a moment, her response sounding rather matter-of-factly. While she wouldn’t had been surprised to hear that this girl could have been blind and merely navigates with heightened senses, that didn’t really seem to be the case... At least in One’s eyes. As perceptive as she is, very few things can escape her logic and gaze, even now.

     ❝ However, I find myself more curious as to how you describe it. So, am I to believe that this is actually technology disguised as a blindfold rather than just an enchanted piece of fabric? ❞ as an Intoner from a world of such fantasies, he latter would have been more believable to her.... However, since she has been to the city once before for quite some time, One has become accustomed to the technology here.

            ( ❀ )❜SHE WAS REALLY HOPING the grinding of her teeth in annoyance could be heard loud and clear. The woman could just keep walking forward and ignore the existence of this person entirely, but being quick to being irritated quite easily, it was a bit impossible. ❝ Didn’t I kill you? ❞ The metal hand would reach up to her own head as it would rest on the side as she’d heave out an annoyed sigh. The headache was already coming, and this conversation barely started.

     ❝ I don’t know what’s worse, the fact Two was here, or now that you’re here now. ❞ The city just kept getting more and more tainted with these annoyances. What a shit fest. ❝ That city of your’s is nothing but shit anyway, don’t see why you care so much about it. Pretty sure it’s still in shambles still too. ❞ After the fighting with the dragons, Accord using herself to destroy her, killing her, and the sealing, yeah. The city was probably a damn goner now.

     ❝ Now you didn’t just greet me for nothing did you? If you did I don’t know if I should throw up right here and now or not from the gesture. ❞ The sarcastic remark would soon be followed by the wave of a hand to wave off the other intoner. ❝ Why don’t you do what other children do, stop fucking annoying me and buzz off. I don’t really have the time to play with you. ❞

     Smile steadily falling into a scowl, the blonde can only watch the other speak with disdain... As well as some intrigue. So, Two had still been stranded here since One left? Or had she, too, been whisked to this city and back home like One herself? Curious about the matter, the Intoner knows better than to ask Zero, of all people, for more details about anything at all; especially regarding their sisters.

     ❝ You speak like a foolish drunkard but I hope your actual intelligence hasn’t stooped that low, ❞ begins the blonde, lifting her head as if to try and look down at the other.

     ❝ But no, you are correct in this rare case; I didn’t come just to say ‘hello’ to you, ❞ the very idea makes her scoff, which she doesn’t try to hide from the other Intoner. The sooner she gets to know what she wants from Zero, the better.

     ❝ I want to know about that-- ❞ she nods her head to the flower within Zero’s eye; the parasite that refuses to leave, even within this city.

          He remembered fading, fading away in a last bid attempt to save a little girl from being erased from existence. He remembered giving it all up, his life, the life of his brother and leaving the friends he made in his journey behind, entrusting to them a future where Elle could live a normal life. And so he faded, satisfied with his decision to sacrifice himself to fate, knowing he gave her a chance at something grand. It was bittersweet, but he was smiling till the end, humming a gentle a tune.

Then, he woke up here. An unknown city, far from his own but with relative familiarity to it. Was it all a dream? No, it couldn’t have been. In a daze, Ludger wandered out into the streets, confused and lost. It wasn’t until he saw a flash of white in the crowd that he felt something he was sure of since he woke up. Suddenly, he was drawn to this figure and before he knew it, he was walking towards her.

A sense of familiarity filled him the closer he got to her and more memories were jolted to the surface. From another place, another time… and another life. He knew her, he was certain of it. Finally, he was face to face with the young woman and Ludger couldn’t help but smile upon seeing her face once again.

    “I’m just as surprised as you are. It’s strange… but I suddenly remembered some things when I saw you. It’s been forever, hasn’t it?” A lifetime, it would seem. Regardless of that, he continued to smile. It eased him to know that One, someone he knew from another life, was here with him.

    “It’s good to see you, One. Although… I have no idea where we are right now.” 

     Cheerful, as always. While she can understand the sentiment (for she, too, often shows her sisters a smile in their time of need), One still can’t understand why he still insists on such a gesture. Surely he must know that she, of all people, can see right through such acts? And though she’s well aware of that, somehow... His smile still seems genuine, despite it all.

     In a way, he reminds her of herself; of how she used to be once upon a time.

     ❝ That, unfortunately, makes two of us. ❞ she informs rather matter-of-factly, sympathy apparent within her expression.

     If it’s one thing that continuously piques the blonde’s interest, it’s the citizens that dwell within Hive City. While some of them are rather ordinary, some others are on the farther end of the fascinating scale. Though the Intoner is well aware o the existence of fantasy like creatures such as dragons and fairies, some people and species within this place are ones that have abilities that impress even her.

     The person in question that makes the blonde rather curious is a seemingly ordinary girl with white hair. It’s neither her clothing nor the colour of her hair that intrigues the Intoner but rather, how she seems to seek out specific things and even stare at others as though she is able to see through that blindfold of hers.

     Perhaps she, too, suffers from some sort of augmented eyesight?

     ❝ How curious; you seem to be getting along just fine despite your eyes being obscured, ❞ she starts, expression naturally hardened.

     She didn’t want to see her here, of all places.

     Yet despite her loathing, the blonde can’t help but think how fortunate it is for the traitor to be stranded here, as well. For if she’s here within this place that somehow is able to limit the abilities of even an Intoner, then the world back home can be safe for now... Though, One couldn’t say it’s the same for this city for if the flower’s true power is able to come out, then wouldn’t they all be doomed once again?

     Regardless, the Intoner can’t help but smile at the whole thing; at having the world be just a little safer for the time being.

     To say she’s displeased to be brought back to this place is something of a severe understatement.

     After all, the Intoner has a great deal of tasks to take care of back in Church City... And the rest of the world, as well. To be so easily whisked away in the midst of a worldwide crisis is not only troublesome, but it’s extremely worrying, as well. To the blonde worries deeply for both her sisters and the citizens of their countries, she simply cannot put up with this sudden turn of events.

     Humming in thought for a moment, the sound of footsteps approaching her figure becomes apparent to the blonde. While her senses have been dulled down since her return to this place, the Intoner’s heightened senses are still far more powerful than that of a normal human. Expecting to see someone she’s not acquainted with, One is instead met with the familiar visage of another she met some time ago...

     In another place.