#yuan 01

Aargh! There always had to be an explanation! Magitechnology! Anything! But nothing seemed to fit.

Raine had gone through the “initiation process”, against her better judgment. She got inside of the car and kept her hand on the door’s opening lever, and the other hand firmly rooted to her staff. She was shown her new residence, which reeked of embalming fluids, for some reason or other. Then she spent the rest of the night fiddling around with this piece of magitechnology she was given. She decided if she was stuck in an unfamiliar place once again, she should at least get to know it a little better. The next morning she went exploring. She walked around aimlessly, but backtracked once she thought she saw a familiar ensemble.

Raine rubbed her eyes. It was...Yuan? Turning down a street corner, her feet picked up speed. She turned heads, and a crowd watched as a woman akin to a stampeding bull stomped down the street. A cloud of dust was picking up around her feet. Those nearly caught in her wake jumped to the side just in time to avoid being trampled.

Shitty science fiction thriller movies. That’s what this reminded Aizawa of, despite the disgusting smell of rotting flesh filling the air, along with the wailing up above and the groaning down below, it felt just like a movie. Not real, no substance and entirely predictable. He wasn’t going to test the zombie bite theory, avoid the thick crowds and take out the stragglers, help out anyone who needs it. They were taken out fairly easy.

Well... The shamblers at least. Aizawa stood on top of a truck, the vehicle rocking with a group of undead trying to get at him. His tired, bloodshot gaze scanning the surrounding area for any signs of actual life.

Until he saw a familiar head of blue hair. That’s not someone he’d seen for a very long time.

"I’m terribly sorry to what happened. Alfred, say sorry.” Hawke said, a tone like that of a cross mother. Alfred, the Mabari puppy whimpered, clearly guilty, and lowered his head towards Yuan, one of the most adorable apology he could muster. 

The troubles didn’t stop there though, as Hawke looked up to the tree to see the cat, a weird cat with blue fur, his War Hound had chased.

He faced his palms towards Yuan then told him to wait there. “I can fix this.” 

Exerting his athletic bravado, the mage climbed up the tree rather swiftly. He clung onto the branch the cat sat on and was just a few inches away towards saving it when it had other ideas. It jumped off of Hawke and landed in its masters arms, and left the dumbfounded man just hanging onto the branch. Then a a noise broke out, then an alarming snap, followed by a yell of surprise, and ended with a loud thump on the ground. 

At least getting down was the least of his worries now.

“The champion saves the day, again.” He uttered in a daze.

But Aster was pushing Richter to do more than just keep himself cooped up in the university’s library, eagerly doing what he could for the half-elf to pick up any other sort of hobby. With all the festivities going on currently, he supposed it wasn’t strange to end up in the midst of them, but.. how on earth had he let Aster talk him into this, of all things? Richter felt absolutely ridiculous, proven by the sour expression plastered upon his features.

However, a look of interest seemed to come forth once his opponent revealed themselves; and although he did not recognize the man before him personally, it was easy to see that he was still familiar in a way.

“.. hmph. Pitting two half-elves against one another-- I’m not sure if I should laugh or be irritated at the coincidence.”

“Nevertheless, our shared heritage will not make me go easier on you. Let’s get this over with.”

There’s something carefree about this world. Though tragedy seemed but a breath away, the people here seem weightless. Like their burdens had truly been left behind in their old worlds.

If only he could feel the same.

It’s a life he’s never known. One wherein leisure seemed to take precedence over all else.  It sets him ill at ease, a constant reminder that a soldier has no place amongst civilians. So many of them are human, so many of them impossible to trust.

( then again, can you even trust other half-elves? can you trust cruxis? )

True, the Grand Cardinals had fallen into disarray. Pronyma taking the helm had disrupted whatever harmony they had managed. More often than not he had felt as though he and Magnius were the only ones who truly good goddamn about the cause. Kvar, for all the effort he put into caring for his underlings, coveted power. Rodyle could scarcely be trusted... but near to the end, even Magnius had seemed distracted. Secretive.

Had they known? And if they had, why had they not told him? 

( though he knew the answer to that all too well. what point was there in telling a man who had given up all hope that his last hail mary, the salvation he clung to, was nothing more than a pretty lie to guarantee servitude?  )

... How he hated secrets.

This is the thought in his mind as he catches a glimpse of blue hair out of the corner of his vision, pausing and turning to be certain he wasn’t imagining it. Forcystus squints. 

And then a look of immense relief washes over his tired visage. For no matter how much he doubted, no matter how much the truth was gnawing at him, devouring him from the inside out - he would always find comfort in the presence of another half-elf.

“Excuse me, have you seen someone around here that looks like me?” She pauses, glancing at her phone again as she puts one hand on her hip.

“Stay away from me.” This version of Kay is scared, and she’s sick, but that doesn’t mean she’s about to go down without a fight. She’s all alone, but who can she trust...? Everyone’s saying that people are disappearing, or being sent away. She’s been running through the city for a while now, running away from... from that weird cosplayer that kind of looks like her.

She just wants to go home.

It had happened within a matter of seconds-- as Lloyd was traversing through the island, trying to learn of all the locations in this giant place, he had witnessed a thief steal the purse of an unsuspecting woman. The moment she called for help, the boy knew that he needed to stop the jerk who did this to her; currently weaving through crowds of people in an attempt to catch up to him.

Yet despite being almost close enough to grab him, an innocent bystander suddenly appeared between Lloyd and the assailant; and even though he had tried to slow himself down before crashing into the stranger, Lloyd’s efforts were proven fruitless as the two of them went careening onto the cobblestone below them.

“Ow, ow..! Damnit, I almost had that guy..” attempting to collect himself, Lloyd slowly pushed himself off the ground as he rubbed the side of his head; blinking as he realized that not only had he knocked someone over, but he had knocked their groceries from their hands, too. A carton of milk lay on its side, emptying its contents into the street whilst a few eggs were cracked and broken under his body. “Ah..! S-sorry, I didn’t mean to--...... huh?”

But then.. as he looked upon the stranger, familiarity suddenly struck him. He.. knew this person, didn’t he? Not from this world, but from his own; and as the other also began to collect himself, Lloyd couldn’t help the volume in which he exclaimed the man’s name.

“Y--”

“Yuan?!”