2-1 I'm a Bad Girl
The sound that pierced the silence in the room was merely the chime of a clock. For the last hour, the trio sat amongst themselves in a building designed to act as a small medical center. Most of the rooms were filled with those caught up in the Grimm attack. The results of which led to one final truth being uncovered. Astra was from Remnant, that was her home.
Her eyes were heavy, struggling to stay awake long enough until her check-up was complete. From what Sora and Cinder received from the staff it was a case of 'magic burnout', this implied Astra being so young for a person with an Aura and Semblance meant she overused both to help evacuate ponies caught in the crossfire, not to mention her Silver Eyes. For W, all she did was sit there and stare at the filly, never once leaving her side for reasons neither could pry from her lips.
"I remember... my Papa was like me, he could use... that glow like me," Astra croaked, trying to stay awake a little to answer. "I-I think the scary lady... she wanted to... to..." No one needed to hear it, Cinder sat beside her bed, ruffling her mane.
"Now-Now, lass, rest, we can discuss your abilities tomorrow," It had been a while since he felt the need to use those old terms. Nodding, Astra managed another tiny smile.
"I-I did it... I was... helpful..." Soon, the medication and lack of energy knocked the young warrior out. Those words made W sigh through her teeth, brushing a few strands from the filly's eyes with just her tail.
"Always were, kid," W soon returned to normal, crossing her arms as she leaned against her chair. "Sparkles, what's the deal with Astra? She like Ruby from the show?"
Cinder... strangely sat up straight at that, something Sora shook his head for, "Now you've done it..."
"Her father was a Silver Eyed Warrior, a rare trait that upon awakening its power can vaporize or petrify Grimm and all creatures made of darkness, most were hunted down to an extremely rare few, like Astra; The ones that attacked her home must've known of her father," Cinder crossed his forehooves. "As for her 'Seer' ability that would be her Semblance, they vary on the individual, and using it constantly today drained her aura."
Both stared at him for the longest time, processing this information, except for W who knew quite well what the show was but didn't feel the need to stop the old man from rambling. W smiled lightly with a lazy stare, "You're a fanboy aren't you?"
"..."
She slapped her thighs and quickly shot up. "Well, that's all I needed - adorable as it is - heard these Bats wanted to celebrate with actual alcohol and I'm not gonna miss this chance so if you excuse me..."
"Wait, what about-" She already left by the time Sora got a word out, combing his fingers through his hair. "Sorry, but what about Astra? Isn't she worried about her?"
"Precisely why I am staying," Cinder replied, turning to Sora with a small chuff, seeing his face twist with guilt and interjection. "Do not look at me that way, lad, you both fought tooth-and-nail for these people," Patting the boy's shoulder he swore he could see the Hollow's smile through the helmet. "Go, take this night to enjoy yourselves, I shall watch over her."
"I... well I guess I haven't really eased up since meeting her," It was a tempting thought but he felt bad about leaving Cinder to watch Astra by himself. Or until the door swung open again, and the Hollow's magic quickly snatch a green bottle before it could knock Sora on the forehead. "Yah!"
"On me... you know, for helping her," W murmured from the doorway awkwardly, playing with the tip of her tail between her fingers. "Well, you comin' or not, Fly-Boy or is a little drinking too low-class for a Prince?"
Sora sagged with a deadpanned stare while Cinder chuckled. "You'll never let me live that down, will you?"
"Not until you're on your deathbed, hehe," She winked, sticking her tongue out before tugging him away with her tail. "Now stop complaining and loosen up a bit, for Astra's sake too since she saved our asses."
His reluctance gave way to acceptance. "Heh, sure."
By the time W and Sora arrived at the predetermined destination. Most were busy with clearing up the streets of debris, thankfully, the Grimm don't normally destroy unless it's in their way. Most were taking the night, as W found out, to simply celebrate their survival. Compared to the likes of Hoofprint, the Bat Ponies here were more fixated on the jubilation of victory over the Grimm than something as small as a few damages. No one died which was another thing they annoyingly kept asking to thank W and her friends for.
"Ah, look who decided to finally turn up!?" It was the same Bat with the spear who spoke with a mug in his hoof.
The large open tavern had a deck facing a few buildings toward a river that ran through Hollow Shades. Lanterns helped illuminate the area around the edge on an overhang. Some light strung across the gap leading toward the bar to their right. It was only a small rectangular building with two floors. The first clearly to sell and a staircase to the bar's left leading to storage.
Once the odd pair of humans were spotted, many cheered and praised them in passing. Sora smiled and thanked them for W who instinctively kept close to his side, something his chest felt tight upon contact for. Cupping her hand he helped her remain calm while the two stood by the bar with the Bat, his off-hoof offered to them. "Pleased to meetcha, the name's Blackthorn - saved my flank and many others with that boomstick of yours."
That caused W to smirk, "Aw? Is the little Bat upset I stole his thunder?"
He laughed, calling the bartender over, herself smiling in silence while setting up two drinks for the pair. "Haha, you know it! But by Luna's grace you sure put up a fight, and you, boy, your swordsmanship is something I'd expect from the Guards."
"I... was tutored under a few, t-thanks." He replied bashfully, causing Blackthorn to nudge W to lean down for a whisper.
"Bit on the shy side this one?"
"He is, adorable, isn't it?" She didn't hide the fact her voice was loud enough for Sora's face to turn red, the pair laughing at his expense.
"Oh sure, laugh it up..." He quickly took his mug and slammed a good gulp of it down. To his surprise, he didn't immediately gag. "Huh, it's sweet?"
"Sure is," The Bat mare behind the counter replied, topping off a few for customers to her left. "It's brewed specifically to retain a sweet aftertaste, makes it easier for newcomers to alcohol to handle the bitterness gradually."
"Or if you just want it to stay down easier," Blackthorn chuckled, motioning to a pony passed out on a table already. "Lightweights, what can ya do?"
"Ironic since his name is Light," The bartender giggled but shrugged it off as W hesitantly took a sip, her antenna perking up. "Like it?"
"Holy hell this is actually not crap," With gusto, and the few onlookers, Sora included, she chugged the whole mug in one fell swoop, slamming the wooden mug down with a toothy grin. "Aaaah, man I missed beer!" She quickly fished around in her pockets along her belt and put a few Bits on the table. "Saving these was worth it, keep 'em coming!"
The bartender smiled and did so without complaint, Blackthorn laughing as he too ordered a refill. Sora joined them at the stools, drinking the rest of his in time, enjoying the pleasant atmosphere. However, he noticed that something caught W's eye after her second drink was gone. Peering over her shoulder he saw that she spotted a lone ash guitar sat by a stool, not a soul bothered it. Looking down, her fingers were taut, mimicking the action of holding one.
"You said you once played, right?" His voice startled her and her eyes became unfocused. With a reassuring look, he nudged her shoulder. "Go on."
"I... don't think I could," He excused herself poorly. "I-I mean, I've been blowing things up for so long - might have lost touch a-and you know, not mine so..."
"W, one thing you're bad at is lying," He smirked, for once making her blush slightly at the idea that her ability to lie was horrid or maybe it was because she did want to play, she really did but in front of people was another matter.
"How would I know I won't just sound like a wailing banshee?" It was always the thought on her mind, ignoring the desire as best she could
"It's like trust-" He began, seeing her stand up straight with a sigh.
"-A risk, yeah-yeah, I hear ya," Nodding dumbly to his words she spun around with a cute pout. "I will smash it over your head if I suck."
"Please don't, my pocket's light as is." He snickered, leaving her to grumble and pick up the instrument, taking a seat next to Blackthorn who eyed her curiously but kept his silence behind his mug.
W studied the instrument with a careful touch and inquisitive eye. It was heavy but cared for. The ash polished up and the strings tight without signs they would fray after only a few pulls. Tilting it in her hands she adjusted the guitar to handle the bridge on her right hand, holding it from the bottom with her hand on the neck. "Okay, how do I do this again...?"
Taking a few practice tests, the memories surfaced quickly for her, Aoi knew this well. Each point of the instrument like her own body. It just... felt right again, like with her grenade launcher, the instincts were there, yearning to be tested again. "Music is about expression, about having fun regardless if you're good or bad, right, teach?" Thinking of her weird tutor did help in keeping her mindset on recalling what she knew how to play.
"Ahem, okay..." W kept her voice low, focused on recalling the song she learned what felt like years ago. It was gradual, adjusting the strings and correcting her fingers between frets. It was a little nerve-wracking since she's never once played for people, let alone ponies as a first audience. Given her life in Equestria, she had become accustomed to the spotlight, good and bad, and has done stuff beyond simple performance on a stage, so to speak.
Her melody started off quiet and almost ominous in tone though with a lighter pitch due to the instrument being a guitar. Closing her eyes a moment, W let herself drift into a flow she had lost, "It happens every night, I watch my world ignite, But there's no waking from this nightmare. The stage is always set, The place I can't forget, The hidden eyes that I can feel there..."
Sora was back by the bar, leaning with his elbows back. To say he was lost in his own world was an understatement. W had a very snarky and almost condescending tone of voice but her tone had completely switched off, replaced with a smooth and sharp voice, singing with purpose and passion he had never seen before. It was beautiful.
Picking up her pace, W's eyes shot open to concentrate on her rhythm. "My eyes are open wide, I'm racing to her side. There's nothing that I won't do for her. But this is not a dream. My mind repeats the scene. I can't forget it and it's torture," She made some subtle mistakes from lack of practice but managed to maintain her flow, strumming along to a song only she knew. "That was before. But not anymore. I've left it behind. As much as I lost. Once I'm across, I'll find,"
In W's own head, she was back in her room, sitting on her bed with her legs crossed while playing key instruments off her laptop while her guitar filled the void, it was peaceful and she was content. That same serenity was stretched over her face and played in her fingers. "I've found the strength to grow so much more. A whisper to a roar. No more crying. It's time for me to soar~!"
Her smile grew, picking up her melody with force for the awe-struck crowd. Bet they have never seen something like her with this kind of talent, but sadly it was one of the very few songs she knew well and by God, she was gonna play it like it was the last thing on Earth. "Feel like I'm finally unbroken. Feel like I'm back from the dead. My strength back and confidence growing. Out of my way, 'Cause I'm armed and ready - Armed and ready. Ready; Armed and ready - I'm ready! Armed and ready - Ready! Ready; Armed and ready~!
For the rest of the night, the so-and-so party continued with plenty of stupid games and drinking. It was strangely peaceful for W, to feel as though she belonged for a fraction of time. Her worries were gone thanks to the booze that kept her smiling stupidly with the crowd. Soon, things returned to a quieter state, most finally calming down as the night grew longer. Strangely enough, a tipsy Sora noticed the distinct lack of a Cockroach Sarkaz among the ponies.
"Huh, where'd she...?" Sensing his confusion, the bartender nudged his arm, pointing a wing toward the river not far away.
"I saw your friend wander off that way, I think she wanted to get some time to herself," Then she smiled at the boy. "But somepony should check up on her, less she gets herself in trouble."
"Thank you," Slowly rising, Sora shook his head to keep his sense of balance evenly dispersed. "Okay, one foot in front of the other, no flying - remember what happened to Georgia." This had happened once before but that was the first time he had ever drunk, to begin with, thanks to Cliffheart.
Moving away from the commotion gave Sora time to feel the atmosphere of Hollow Shades. Compared to other towns spanning Equestria, it felt like eternal tranquility of nighttime, life bloomed in colorful patterns and in the darkest shades. A place like Canterlot had its fair charms, but underneath some of the posh and upper class, there were the spots for the less fortunate, those places held the most spectacular sights. Underground groups and spots for all walks of life. Hollow Shades was those hidden worlds given space to grow.
Passing under a balcony to a large building, crossing a wooden decking that lined the river like a hem he spotted the mercenary by herself, watching the world go by her passive eyes. She looked lost in her own world, she didn't even see him approach. "Thought you wanted to 'loosen up' tonight, your music sure seemed that way-" Sora startled W from her thousand-yard-stare by the river. "-are you feeling alright?"
"Someone's worried, cute." She teased though with a little less confidence than before. "So... guess I broke my word about playing again, kinda suck at that."
"It was... amazing," That made her chest twist again with that stupid sensation. "Really, I knew you played guitar but... wow."
"H-hey, come on now, I'm good but not that good, dude," She rolled her eyes playfully. It was a hobby, sure, but not like she was some amazing member of a band or anything.
"I mean it, you looked like you had fun." His honesty was so annoying to her because she couldn't just lie to escape it, or lie to him at all. "So, about being out here, are you really okay?" It worried him since she drank quite alot too, not that he was any better, just walking here was a little tricky.
"Nah, just... thinking about..."
"Everything?" He guessed to which she nodded, clicking her fingers.
"Always sharp - yeah, I guess lately I've been worried about how long... I'll be me," Her eyes loomed down over her hands. "It's inevitable that my mind is merging with W's own and I just kept saying to myself, 'If I just focus, keep fighting, beat the Merchant to a pulp, maybe I can still be me'," He could see it, her smile was wavering. "I-I really believed that to the point I got drunk on the hope, I got reckless, I wanted to fight more and more than I... yeah..."
For once in this melancholy, Sora smiled, standing next to her to stare up at the blue fireflies that decorated the treetops above like stars. "I kept training," His reply drew her ember orbs to the left. "I thought that if I kept learning to fly higher and higher, to reach the stars that I could hold onto who I was, not the Aasimar I had become but the normal child I was before, then I realized something important, like the fairy tale my Mom told me."
"That was?" By now W was much closer, wanting to listen intently to his story, and his eyes met hers, enrapturing her.
"That was the mistake I was making; I was scared of forgetting who I am, my name, my past but that wasn't why memories filled my head of a life I never knew, rather, they were always there, those memories, they're our dreams, our daydreams given form," The revelation threw W through a loop, her eyes unexpectedly wide, jaw unhinged somewhat. "Haha, it was hard to believe at first but the desire to fly as high as the stars, that was the very thing that made this body, the Aasimar Valiant special, when I became him his memories were made real too."
How many weeks had W contemplated who she was, what she was turning into without answers? It plagued her, dreams of a life she never had, memories flooding her mind that left her conflicted and scared of herself, of the monster she may turn into. All this time it was her, she had dreamt of W many times outside the game, childish scenarios of her antics further beyond the canon story. They were her dreams, all of it was her own making!
Aoi wasn't... just a shell. For the longest time, it felt like the opposite for so very long, and now... she felt weightless and impulsive. "Then... am I still me?" It was a final hurdle, the last of her walls refusing to give.
Nodding slowly, Sora stood straight, ocean blue orbs locked to her tiger eyes. "Whether or not you're a Sarkaz or I'm an Aasimar, we're still us on the surface," Without thinking, his voice continued, neither noticing the lack of a personal bubble between them, W's tail instinctively curling to bob behind Sora's back. "You're still amazing, with or without this body or memories." Dumb as it sounded, he smiled with a shrug. "Does that answer your - mmfph?"
Many questions still rampaged in W's head. It was an awful buzzing that kept her awake many nights, regardless of the company she now traveled with. The lack of exchanged answers for her questions left her like she was constantly thirsty, yearning to drink something, anything to satisfy her craving. Now, she had answers, the reasons were laid out for her to digest and break down. Her mind was now void. What was next? She wondered. If the day comes when the Merchant is gone, and by some miracle, they succeed. What then? What... was she to do with these new memories and gifts?
It was a gamble, like all her plans and actions. To place a bet on mights and maybes. It could have been the alcohol stimulating her mind, but she didn't care. The 'what ifs' didn't concern her for this night, for one night, she wanted to forget the Royal Guard, to drown the anger and cruelty brought by the hooves of the ponies that were turned against her. To be... wanted and nothing more.
The deeper her lips pressed to Sora's, the more she grew hungry. Despite how this risk may fracture one of the few friendships she had in this world, to her astoundment, he was just left bewildered, face matching her red pigment. Gently, his hands grabbed her shoulders, only to dig her closer against his lips as the pair parted shortly after, remembering to breathe. Neither knew why they did that, or what compelled each other to continue at all.
"I..." W panted, still holding her fingers against his sides, his hands grasping her shoulders firmly. Slowly, her eyelids became heavy, a vampish smile on her lips. "...surprised you didn't pull back."
He stopped and stared as his eyes wandered, the effects of alcohol making it harder to restrain from tracing her defined curves to the point he wanted to slap his forehead. "Why am I..." He blinked, then remembered something recently sparked in his head.
"Do you like W?"
"Huh? She's a little abrasive but I get that, I think she's a nice person under that persona of hers." Even in this new lighting, Sora could see he was being analyzed by the Seer. "Why'd you ask?"
Astra pulled herself up onto a lopsided pillar, using it to follow Sora at chin level. "W likes you too."
"That kid..."Sora blinked, realizing he hadn't quite let go of the image still burned into his head, not that the effects of drinking let him do much thinking at all. He then chuffed, leaning closer to meet her gaze. "Like you'd give me much choice,"
"Hm," W and Sora gradually resumed the kiss a little less passionately, moving frantically and hotly, obscured by the dark overhang of the building beside them. W grabbed the back of his head, holding him while both his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer as the pair faded into the bliss that quickly overtook their senses, lost in each other's embrace.
///ACT III - Come To Light\\\
To Be Continued...
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Well that was unexpected , and by unexpected I mean completely expected
Povenmire, Dan, and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh. “Phineas and Ferb.” Season 1, episode 1.
10852209
Glad to know :3
Will there be any other arknights characters showing up?
10852675
Human-ish ones? One technically but I won't say more on it, sorry
10853581
Smut 😊
10854574
Damn straight.
Psst, probably gonna post it this Friday cause why not...
Okay can I just say how good you are with writing? The characters you wrote here are astonishingly amazing. The fact that you made a special twist on the Displaced stories is shocking. But that also begs the question; in some cases Universes are "sealed" meaning they can't be accesed by other Displaced. Meaning they can't get summoned or they can't summon a Displaced. Is that what this universe is?
Oh and I really have to apologize for not commenting as of late. I was playing catch up after I was in a fucking Displaced tournament. I still am in therapy after that so I apologize.
10861776
It’s all good, thanks though It’s great to see you’re enjoying my story and it’s coin flips. I didn’t actually know Displaced worlds were sealed though that really just fits with what’s coming coincidentally. I do look forward to seeing how you and the rest react to the big reveal later ^_^