Skippytheghost

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Meanwhile, Cathryne whined and rapidly shook her hands as though she was trying to fling water off them. She looked around and swiftly made her way over to the arena, then hopped the fence and took a deep breath after landing on the other side. “O-Okay…, okay… C-Calm down for a moment…” Cathryne shakily stuttered. “I-It’s… just a side effect from… b-battle…” she said to herself while walking into the middle of the arena. “I-I just… need to m-make use of… m-my flame and-”

“You realize you spend a fuckin’ week in bed, right?” Drake suddenly said right behind her. Cathryne yelped and spun around as she leapt away from him, shocked that he somehow managed to sneak up on her. “Relax, it’s just me.”

Cathryne forced herself to take several deep breaths, then took another step back from him with a quiet growl. “You shouldn’t sneak up on an Eternal…” she said, still stammering fearfully from what happened with Sonya. “A-And… yes, I’m a-aware of how long I was bedridden again… M-My issue is… my flame was beyond my control….” Drake walked up beside her just looked at her hands for awhile. “I-If my flame….h-had…”

“Well, nothing happened, so don’t worry about it.” Drake said, when Cathryne suddenly went quiet. Suddenly, Drake laughed to himself and pointed back toward the palace. “Well…, maybe not nothing, but Sonya didn’t get hurt.” Then, he looked at her hands again as Cathryne let out another nervous whine and started shaking them again. “Look, there’s a lotta fuckin’ land out there.” He continued, pointing southward, past Osheim. “Head out that way, clear your head, and use that fuckin’ fire until you get it under control, alright? Hell, don’t stop until you hit the Draco River if you’re worried about lighting shit up by accident.”

“W-What? You’re certain?” Cathryne asked, stunned that he was acting so casual, even after accidentally splitting Sonya from her Doppelgänger again.

“Of course I’m fuckin’ sure. Look, after a week in bed and with that flame shit burned completely out, you gotta get back in the swing of things.” Drake answered, folding his arms. “Get out there and just blow off some steam, then come back and we’ll figure this shit out. No big deal.” Cathryne reluctantly nodded, then turned away and started walking away before Drake suddenly continued. “And take this with you.” Cathryne turned around and was startled when she saw Drake tossing a small, black, rectangular object to her. She fumbled with it for a second, then was surprised to see it was a Veralus radio once she had a secure grip on it. “We’ll keep in touch if any shit goes down while you’re out, alright?”

“R-Right…” Cathryne replied, before Drake started walking back toward the palace. “A-And, Drake…?” She called, a few seconds later. “I-I truly am sorry for any trouble my flame’s caused you and your allies…”

Drake laughed and turned to face her again with a casual shrug. “I said relax, didn’t I?” He called back, walking backwards until he reached the arena’s fence.

Cathryne sighed with a smile, then turned away and vanished in a burst of green flames She reappeared several feet above the ground somewhere in northern Victoria close to Alta Mor’s southern border. She hit the ground hard and felt the wind get knocked out of her lungs on impact. She laid on the ground for sometime, worried that if she moved her flame might erupt if she moved. After what felt like an hour of just enjoying the quiet and the cool breeze sweeping down from the north, she rolled onto her back and stared up at the clear blue sky overhead. She took a deep breath, then slowly picked herself up. She wandered around in the open field for awhile, then sighed to herself and looked at her hands again.

“Alright… perhaps it’s time to give this a try…”

Myst and Azara heard the Council Chamber door open and turned to find one of the members of the high Council step into the hall. They looked at each other, then walked up to the cloaked figure and bowed to him. “C-Councilor…” Myst quietly said, keeping her eyes on the floor. “I-It’s an honor…”

The elderly Nocturne growled to himself, then gestured for her to stand up straight. “You’ve remained here to learn of out verdict on the girl’s plight, correct?” He said, in a low, raspy tone.

“Y-Yes, I have… A-Azara has as well…” she answered.

The Councilor nodded, then turned around and waved for them to follow. “Come then, we have need to speak further.”

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After several seconds, a blinding white light filled the room and she swiftly turned away before being hit by a shockwave and being knocking to the floor. When wind finally died down and everything went quiet, Lotus whimpered and slowly uncovered her head. She looked around and found the Dining Hall in complete disarray with the cots, beds, chairs and even the dining table tossed all around the room. She was about comment on the mess, when she heard Cathryne gasp and take several stumbling steps behind her. She spun around and found her standing in front of not one, but two Sonyas.

She yelped in shock and turned to Troy, who seemed surprised, but not nearly as shocked as her or Cathryne. He looked back at her for a second, then walked over to Cathryne and looked looked at both Sonyas and took note of the one on the right looking much more frustrated than the other. He sighed and shifted his attention to the Sonya on the left.

“I’m assuming you’re the original, right?”

The Sonya on the left whined and glanced over at the other, before hesitantly nodded. “Y-Yeah… Sorry about… causing so much trouble…”

Her Doppelgänger snarled and shot her an intense glare. “What the fuck are you apologizing for?” she snapped, getting a shocked yelp from Sonya. “It’s not like you’re the one that split us.”

“Sonya… please don’t be like that…” Lotus sighed, before gasping and looking between them both. “I-I mean… other… Sonya…”

Troy patted her on the shoulder, then let out a sigh and turned to Cathryne. “I’m… guessing this wasn’t your plan?” he asked, watching her just stare at her hands in shock. “Cathryne?”

Cathryne yelped and spun around to face him. “H-Huh?! W-What?!” she cried, looking like she was about to run and hide.

“I said, I’m guessing you didn’t plan on doing this.”

“N-No, I-I didn’t… I-I’m not e-even sure how I-I managed to…” Cathryne stuttered, trembling as she turned her eyes back to her hands. “I-I fear something… is wrong…”

Troy looked at her hands for awhile and watched Cathryne slowly open and close them.“You think it’s serious?” he casually asked.

Cathryne moaned and turned her attention toward Sonya and her Doppelgänger. “I-I’m… not sure… I-I doubt it… though, I-I might’ve undone all our progress in training Sonya…”

“Yeah, well… Maybe now that progress will actually mean something…” Sonya’s doppelgänger commented, sitting back down on the bed and glancing to her left at Sonya. “This way you have to train yourself.”

“Sonya, that defeats the entire purpose of what we were doing…” Lotus replied, before suddenly gripping the sides of her head with a confused and terrified expression on her face. “I-I don’t know which one’s Sonya a-anymore…”

Sonya whined nervously and looked over at her. Before she could reassure Lotus that she was, in fact, the true Sonya, Troy sighed and pointed over his shoulder toward the doors to the Main Hall. “Alright, find somewhere to test out your abilities and see if there’s really something going on, alright? Then get back to me and we’ll see if we can fix this.”

“R-Right…” Cathryne whimpered, before swiftly exiting the Dining Hall. When she entered the Bailey, she was quickly met with Cassandra and Kaska walking toward the Palace.

When they noticed her, and the horrified look on her face, Cassandra whined and motioned for Kaska to wait where she was. “Hey, Cathryne? You okay?” She asked.

Cathryne moaned again and quickly hid her hands behind her back. “W-Well, I-I’m… unsure… W-We successfully placed Sonya back in control of h-herself…” she replied, glancing back at the Palace.

“That’s great! That means she can get back to her training!” Cassandra cheered, pulling her into a tight hug.

“Though… there’s…. One rather large complication…”

After Cassandra heard what had happened, she ran back into the Palace and swiftly rushed into the Dining Hall where Drake had since joined Troy and Lotus. Sonya’s Doppelgänger glared at Drake as he laughed at her’s and Sonya’s unusual situation, while Lotus attempted to keep her under control and Sonya just silently sat on the edge of her bed.

“W-What the heck h-happened? C-Cathryne mentioned she accidentally split you two… b-but…” she slowly walked up to them and looked them both over for several seconds before whining to herself and shaking her head. “Th-This is a bit of a setback…”

“That’s a fuckin’ understatement.” Drake snickered, while Sonya’s Doppelgänger continued glaring at him. He looked down at her, then folded his arms and gave a quick shrug. “You wanna be one Sonya again, right?”

“We were never ‘one Sonya…” said Sonya’s Doppelgänger. “I just had nowhere to go after she defeated me. So I ended up becoming part of her.”

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When Cathryne finally entered the Dining Hall, she found an agitated Sonya pacing back and forth beside her bed while Lotus pleaded with her to calm down. Cathryne stopped just past the doors and folded her arms as she observed the scene unfolding before her. Eventually Troy entered as well and walked over to Lotus and Sonya. He told them Cathryne was there and urged Sonya to sit back down on her bed as Lotus wandered away and stopped in front of Cathryne.

“You look a lot better.” Lotus chuckled. “You doing okay?”

Cathryne smiled at her with a sigh and a quick nod. “Yes, I’m feeling much better now. And I apologize if I worried you.”

Cathryne turned her attention back to Troy as he walked over to her. “Alright, Sonya’s about as relaxed as she’s gonna get…” he sighed, shaking his head. “We’ve been dealing with this for a week now, so any help you can give us is appreciated.”

With a nod, Cathryne slowly walked over to Sonya with Lotus following close behind. “Sonya?” She quietly called, leaning forward and looking into her eyes as Sonya just stared at the floor with her arms folded and tail angrily flicking behind her. “Are… you feeling alright?” Suddenly Sonya shot her an intense glare that stunned her for a moment and made her take half a step back from her. “O-Oh… uh…” she nervously chuckled. “Um, T-Troy said you were…”

“Why the hell are you acting surprised? I know Troy fucking told you what’s going on.” Sonya suddenly snapped.

Lotus whimpered and rush in front of Cathryne. “S-Sonya, please be nice… Cathryne’s here to try and help you, remember?”

Without warning, Cathryne leaned in close to Sonya and gazed into her eyes“You really are the other Sonya…” she whispered, noticing the subtle yellow glow in her eyes. Cathryne groaned to herself and stood up straight, then turned to Troy. “You’re certain she didn’t try to do this?”

“Not unless she actively did it to keep Sonya from feeling the pain she was in. But the fact she’s been more agitated than usual over it, tells me otherwise.” Troy answered.

Cathryne turned her attention back to Sonya and closely examined her. “So… can you help her?” asked Lotus, when several minutes passed without a single word.

With a sigh, Cathryne straightened up again and rested her hands on her hips. “Of course I can… but… It’s a matter of how to go about it…” She moaned to herself and stared at Sonya for awhile, then slowly nodded and shook her hands before placing them on either side of Sonya’s head. Sonya growled and looked back and forth between her hands, but suddenly looked at Cathryne when she spoke. “Sonya, please remain still.” She quietly said, before glancing at Troy. “And, Troy? Close the doors to this room.

After Troy closed the doors, he noticed the room gradually starting to dim and a green glow began radiating from Cathryne’s palms. Lotus nervously backed away when that glow erupted in a burst of roaring green flames and Cathryne’s eyes started glowing with a blinding emerald green light. Suddenly, Sonya’s eyes rolled back in her head and her back arched as a vortex of wind encircled them.

After several seconds, a blinding white light filled the room and she swiftly turned away before being hit by a shockwave and being knocking to the floor. When wind finally died down and everything went quiet, Lotus whimpered and slowly uncovered her head. She looked around and found the Dining Hall in complete disarray with the cots, beds, chairs and even the dining table tossed all around the room. She was about comment on the mess, when she heard Cathryne gasp and take several stumbling steps behind her. She spun around and found her standing in front of not one, but two Sonyas.

She yelped in shock and turned to Troy, who seemed surprised, but not nearly as shocked as her or Cathryne. He looked back at her for a second, then walked over to Cathryne and looked looked at both Sonyas and took note of the one on the right looking much more frustrated than the other. He sighed and shifted his attention to the Sonya on the left.

“I’m assuming you’re the original, right?”

The Sonya on the left whined and glanced over at the other, before hesitantly nodded. “Y-Yeah… Sorry about… causing so much trouble…”

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“Yes…, and I’ve mended her wounds as best I can…” Myst answered, turning back to Azara. “And… it seems she’s gained the patients of the Sonya we’ve grown familiar with…” Suddenly Azara looked over her shoulder when she heard footsteps on the far end of the hall. Seeing her reaction, Myst quietly moaned and bowed her head. “Azara… I can see remaining here troubles you. Return home, clad yourself in your robes, and return to the Lockhart Palace to rest for a time and recover.”

Azara suddenly turned back to Myst with a stunned gasp. “You’re certain…?”

“Yes, I’ll inform you of their resolution should they reach their verdict while I’m here.”

With a reluctant moan, Azara turned away from Myst and started walking away to put some distance between them when she traveled back to the Lockhart Palace. When she was a few feet away, she sighed and was about to leave, but hesitated and turned back to her with a growl. “Lady Myst?” She called, walking back over to Myst, who was making her way toward he doors to the Council Chamber.. “I must insist you allow me to remain here.”

Myst stopped and swiftly looked back at her. “What?”

“I insister you allow me to remain here.” Azara repeated. “I must see this matter through to the end.”

“Azara, we still possess no knowledge of the intentions of those rogue Knights. Should you truly be their target-”

“I’m still aware of the risks, Lady Myst…” Azara interrupted, before looking at the doors behind Myst. “But as I stated, I must see this to the end. Should I retreat now, I’ll see as though my efforts were in vain.”

“Yet such a thought would be false. Your efforts with your father brought us to this moment. Had you not aided us, he wouldn’t have spoken to the High Council.”

Azara let out a growl and folded her hands as she turned her attention back to Myst.“Of course, but I seek personal closure to this matter.” she said, before looking at the doors again. “View it as a matter of principle.”

Realizing Azara wasn’t going to back down, Myst let out a sigh and slowly nodded. “If… this is what you intend… I ask you remain by my side…”

Cathryne’s eyes shot open and she suddenly sat up with a gasp. She stared forward in the darkness and wiped the sweat from her face before looking around and settling her attention on Abigail sleeping peacefully on the other bed to her left. After examining herself and ensuring she was fully healed, she carefully climbed out of bed and wandered aimlessly around the room. Eventually she found her way into the hall and slowly walked toward the Main Hall, feeling as if her body was moving on it’s own. Reaching the door to the Main Hall, Cathryne came to a stop and slowly reached out to the handle, before suddenly snapping back to reality when the door opened and Troy nearly walked into her.

Troy stumbled backward to avoid bumping into her, then folded his arms and looked her up and down. “Well, I see you’re feeling better now.” He laughed with a shrug as Cathryne rapidly shook her head and seemed to wake up from a trance. “Or not?”

“N-no, I-I’m… feeling much better now…” Cathryne replied, before clearing her throat. “H-Has… Osheim’s d-defense succeeded?”

Troy nodded, but hesitated to answered for a moment. “It was as successful as we could expect, given the situation. You held those things off long enough for Myst to take over. Then of course Drake showed up and scared the shit outta the one you and her were holding back.” He explained as Cathryne stepped past him.

With a groaned, Cathryne came to a stop again and rubbed her head. “A-And…” she started feeling the palace spin. “…h-how is… Myst…?”

“She burned herself out pretty bad.” He answered. “She was out cold for awhile and couldn’t even heal herself with that Nocturne flame thing. We had to wait for her to recover naturally, but she decided to run off to the Nocturne Realm to talk with Azara’s dad again.”

Cathryne groaned and watched Troy walk by her. “She… drained her… her flame…?” she asked, before Troy turned back to her and nodded. “I-I see… I-I must see to her wounds then…”

“No, she’s fine now. She showed up here again on her own and said she was taken to the Healing Towers. So, she’s back to full strength now, but…” Troy paused and waved to her to follow him. She raised an eyebrow and walked across the Main Hall as he finally continued. “We’ve got another situation on our hands. After Myst’s flame failed and she got thrown back into the Bailey, That other Sonya took Sonya over again and killed that first ape creature, only for the same to happen to her.”

Cathryne stopped again and a look of horror washed over her. “S-So… she…”

“No, no. She’s alive and she’s slowly recovering.” Troy reassured her. “The problem is, Sonya somehow forced that other her to take control after she woke up. And that other Sonya’s not… exactly thrilled about it.”

“Sonya, retreated into her mind?” Cathryne asked. “H-How did…”

“We were hoping you could figure that out.”

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“She did find that black fluid upon the soil where she saw him.” Kaska commented. “So, there was something there… Whether it was truly Animus, or an imposter, I’m… unable to say.”

“He was infused with the essence of the Void. Sonya is the only other who suffered such a fate.” replied Myst.

“Whether or not it was actually him is beside the point…” sighed Troy. “Whoever it was, was reinforcing O’shea’s forces with those creatures from your Realm.”

“And that begs the question of whether or not they’ve formed an alliance with Animus.” added Jähn. “Or if he’s fallen to the influence of his God.”

“Koza’s long dead as far as we can tell. And Cathryne does seem concerned about him, so there’s that.” Drake replied, when he noticed the concern in Cassandra’s eyes. He then turned to Myst with a laugh and a shrug. “And if it was Animus, it sounded like he wasn’t looking too good when you saw him.”

Luna noticed when Drake looked over at Cassandra and quickly turned her attention toward her. Seeing how worried she seemed, she let out a sigh and leaned in close to her. “Cassandra… I know Animus caused everything that happened to Alta Mor… But there’s no way he can do that again…” she whispered. “You heard Myst and Drake… If it is him, he’s a lot weaker than he was back then and Jähn and the 327th know what to watch out for…”

“Anyway…” Troy suddenly said. “We need to know what Ri’lofen faced when he seized their capitol and when he invaded Victoria.”

“But the 327th’s troops at our southern border didn’t report anything like them…” Luna commented. “That’s why we were so caught off guard by them…”

“Sure, but it’s also possible he led those initial attacks with his own troops.” Troy replied.

“A tactic favored by the Nocturne…” added Myst. “Overwhelm your foe with expendable troops before unleashing the might of your true forces upon them. You’ve seen it in the form Chaos and Despair utilizing Hounds as fodder ahead of the 814th.”

Jähn growled to himself, then turned to Troy. “And their affinity for agents that work on their behalf.” he added.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t really seen any of that since Jericho and Animus.” Drake continued, before looking at Myst again. “Unless you wanna throw yourself in there with Cathryne.

Myst glared at him with a snarl. “Then you must include Vero as Atteros’s agent, as well as yourself and your allies.” She explained, turning to face him.

Luna whined and laid her ears back. “Could we please focus? We’re trying to figure out what’s been going on… and all we have is that Animus showed up and helped Liam O’Shea and that those things have something to do with that thing that attacked that Nocturne City and imprisoned Abigail in that Manor… We still don’t know if those Knights have something to do with it, if Animus is allied with Liam, or what how Abigail’s Lord is connected to those things…”

Another two days passed by and Azara was quickly growing increasingly concerned over how long the High Council’s talks were taking and the looming dread that it might mean they were going to deny Sonya’s entry to the Healing Tower. She paced back and forth int he hall outside the Council Chamber until she heard a rush of flames behind her and looked over her shoulder to find Myst approaching her.

“L-Lady Myst, I’m… afraid they’ve yet to come to a resolution…” Azara said.

Myst stopped a few feet from her and nodded as she looked over at the doors to her left. “I-I see…” she replied, letting out a sigh.

“Has Sonya condition remained consistent…?”

“Yes…, and I’ve mended her wounds as best I can…” Myst answered, turning back to Azara. “And… it seems she’s gained the patients of the Sonya we’ve grown familiar with…” Suddenly Azara looked over her shoulder when she heard footsteps on the far end of the hall. Seeing her reaction, Myst quietly moaned and bowed her head. “Azara… I can see remaining here troubles you. Return home, clad yourself in your robes, and return to the Lockhart Palace to rest for a time and recover.”

Azara suddenly turned back to Myst with a stunned gasp. “You’re certain…?”

“Yes, I’ll inform you of their resolution should they reach their verdict while I’m here.”