Forest

It was dark by the time Xateramusa got back from Hawaii and decided to take a walk through the forest looking at the trees and sky, She soon came to a clearing and sat down in it. "Its been a hard battle so far. I wonder who is all left before the final battle." She said outloud while looking at the stars.

As Xat went to the forest, Darren went alongside her. He lost his way partway in so he was separated from her now. He looked around as he said, "Where did she go? Well, at least the night sky is nice..." He hadn't even remembered a forest being here before. With the situation with Yugure he had a lot on his mind. Hawaii didn't help to clear it either.

Xat looked around just now rembereing she had a companion walking with her. "Were did he go?" She asked as she stood up and called his name.

Darren blinked as he heard his name being called out. He went in that direction, moving towards the voice of Xat. He looked around, trying to look through the trees with the amount of success one would expect, not much at all. "Xat? he called out to her. He really wasn't use to areas such as this.

Xat heard her name and walked over to his voice and smiled when she saw him. "There you are Darren. "Were did ya dissappear to?" She asked

Darren smiled at the sight of her, mostly because it was a familiar face that could lead him out of this leafy maze. He sighed and said, "I wish I knew where I was, but this place all looks the same. Do you really come to places like this often?" He was more familiar with the city than he was places like this. Though, even in the city he found ways to get lost.

Xat smiled at his question and nodded."Yes i do in fact. Part of my training was in forests." She said as she walked up and grabbed his hand. "Come on I want to show you something." She said as she dragged him to the clearing before stopping and looking back to the entrance."Never mind, it can wait. I just have this bad feelign something is happening to the others. We should go and find them." She said as she let go of his hand.

Seeing her so excited made Darren want to know what she wanted him to see. He was excited for it since she was rarely so open about her emotions. When she stopped, he openly frowned, but she had good reason to stop. She was right that things were likely happening while there were enjoying the greenery.

"Yeah, I guess you're right there," He said to her as he crossed his arms. "I kind of don't trust myself to get out of here though. Maybe you should lead us back to the concrete jungle. I think I could take it from there."

Xat looked back at him and nodding as she grabed his hand again, once again dragging him through the forest. They past the clearing and a while later came to the edge of the forest. All that was left was to find the others in the city.

Darren held onto her hand and as they walked out of the forest, letting her lead as he had no idea what to do. He gripped onto it to make sure he didn't lose her again, the last thing he needed was to wander around the area alone. As soon as they were out of the area, Darren looked around and said, "Okay... city... city... Where are we again?"

Why am I not surprised?

He tries his best. He should be given points for that.

"If you two are so sure then one of you lead the way!"

Queen Yukino crash landed into an isolated forest. The wound Soul Saver suffered from was shared, appearing in the angel queen's chest. Cursing violently, she was able to use her powers granted by Stride to heal it. It was still extremely painful, and left her taking gasping pauses in-between breathes. A growl of fury was let out, incredibly displeased with that sudden shock. They, who appeared from times in which they conquered all, were supposed to be the only ones with abilities like this. Yet, people in this timeline beyond Neu Edelweiss can do it too? The Gear Dragon didn't mention that part!

Leaning back against a tree, she continued to mend her own wound.

Heading through the woods, Satoshi heard a large crash. It sounded as though it were in the direction of the clearing he had meditated in once before, as well as talked to Yugure in the past year about various other matters. He felt like there was a chance he should ignore it and keep going to make sure Yugure was fine, but...even so, if it was a threat, it would be better to deal with it here and now than later on.

When he reached the clearing, Satoshi was surprised to find a familiar face. Yugure was tending to a chest wound, leaning against one of the trees. St least, that would make sense, had he not seen her get carried away unconscious by Seifer and Tsubasa.

Which meant that this was...

Satoshi walked over to her and gently placed his hands on her sides, applying a soft squeeze of pressure as she was healing herself. "Here. This should help the healing process a little bit better, Yukino." He looked up at her face, bladed pupils and all and gave a weak smile.

Queen Yukino almost reacted to Satoshi's touch by smacking him away with one of her wings, but it was surprising to see the face of her best friend. Lucky for him, she noticed in time, so no swatting occurred. A gasping snarl was let out, clearly not a fan of needing assistance. It was still helping though, as the pain through the skin and tissue recreation diluted some. "Thank you, Sato-" The ruler stopped in the middle of her words. Right... this wasn't her world, so it wasn't her Satoshi. No, it was that fraudulent skank's Satoshi. Irritably gathering her pride together, the angel stood up, putting some distance between them. Still gripping her chest as the aching was still dying down.

"What... do you want?"

Her Majesty wanted to be happy to see her best friend, but it wasn't, but it was close.

"I heard the crash." Satoshi jerked a thumb in the direction he came from. "Hard to ignore something so loud, y'know?" His hands rested back on his hips. "That, and...well..."

He wanted to lie and say that it was an important value to him that proper medical care was taken. She wasn't going to buy that in the least; he wasn't a doctor and she was managing fine. He sighed and caved in.

"Look, I know you're not...her, alright?" Satoshi shook his head. "I know that you're a different Yukino in the same way that you clearly know I'm not the same Satoshi." A general assumption, based off of her knowing his name, but it was something to work with. "But even then, when I look at you, I still see the same girl I met a few years ago." He put up his arms and shrugged. "Just, y'know, with more grandeur."

He took a step forward impulsively. "A lot of things have changed recently and I'm a guy who likes at least sort of understanding what's going on. I don't have any business causing you any sort of struggle unless you give me a real reason to." A slight frown adorned his face. "And I'm sure that's likely to happen because you're not exactly thrilled with the way your other self is." The frown replaced itself with a smile. "But at the very least, I can't let an otherworldly version of one of my best friends suffer through her injuries like this, can I?"

Sure, the likelihood that Queen Yukino was going to stay super skeptical of him simply because of his association with Yugure was a lot more in favor of getting a sword run through his chest than living, but it was being honest. Taking care of someone close was simply the way he did things. Especially someone he cared about as much as Yukino.

This was a confusing situation. Anybody that wasn't blind knew the unlimited hatred the parallel Espoirs had for one another, and Satoshi knew he'd only causing himself problems by communicating with another world's Yukino. The imperial couldn't get a good read of his intentions. Genuine concern and nothing else? The tension in her posture diminished somewhat. Like the soldier, she made sure to keep her guard up just in case this was a trap. Satoshi here mentioned that Queen Yukino was still the same girl he met a couple years back.

"Heh", she smirked. "You know I'll kill her when I have the chance. Yet you come help me and say something like that."

An arrogant, light chuckle.

"You're more or less the same as my Satoshi, you've proved that much."

"As far as I know, she could already be dead. From the looks of things, it took a lot out of her just to do what you've made look like a scratch." Satoshi shrugged again and chose to sit, cross-legged, before Yukino and stared up at her. "What exactly is it you want me to do for you to be able to trust me? I...really am curious about your world, and I won't say a thing of it to anyone if it helps."

He smiled. "You know me, I'm too honest."

A scratch... while her healing powers made it look that way, it definitely didn't feel like it. Queen Yukino instinctively reached toward her chest after hearing that. Her eyes followed Satoshi as he sat down to continue the conservation. Her parallel world friend wanted to know about her grandiose timeline... and how to earn her trust. "Nothing", was the response. "I can tell you about my world freely, but I will trust no one of this timeline that trusts the failure that is my other self. Not until they kneel, anyway." Her Majesty practically hissed, speaking with venom. Conquers who put faith in many people early wind up stabbed in the back. Not this one, however. Especially when they're on opposing sides as it stands, mirror of best friend or not.

"In my time, I beat Jellal and subdued the Dragon of Hell. Then I proceeded to cease Neu's ambush by isolating Schwarzschild Dragon before killing him. Power like that proved I could succeed, and did. So I kept going to do so. Link Joker was hardly a match for me by the time I was done."

Queen Yukino revealed the point of divergence - the point where times split. The royalty was rather proud of herself, as she had shared the despair of failing to get into the first national tournament like Yugure. However, she proved that she wouldn't always fail. She proved that she could exceed expectations and more. A smug smile carried itself with justified prowess.

Satoshi nodded. So this was the version of Yukino that achieved victory rather than forcing the game to end with Jellal Kisaragi. The face he hadn't seen in a long time...

Still, something didn't settle right with him. The Yukino that achieved the power of Exculpate the Blaster had a specific quality about her, one that she had learned through her failures leading up to that divergent moment. She had learned to love having the friends that she did, training with them, laughing with them, crying with them. At least, that was what he observed that time ago.

He shook his head. "You succeeded in the front that Yugure here failed, but..." Satoshi looked up, a more serious look on his face than prior. "The way you describe and carry yourself...are you sure that's the only difference in your time? You lightened off of destiny a bit in my time before destiny caught up with you again. You...kind of lived like..." He scratched the back of his neck trying to think of the best way to describe it.

Then it hit him. She wasn't going to like hearing it, but it was once again the truth.

"Like a normal woman with friends." Satoshi haunched himself up on his legs so he was still close to the ground but as if he were kneeling down to look for something in it. "Success, failure, it almost seemed like it didn't matter anymore because you had something you seemed to never anticipate having beyond your cards." A weak smile came across his face once more. "I guess...that sort of thing didn't happen in your time."

Queen Yukino stayed quiet for a moment. Then she began laughing once Satoshi was finished, almost hysterically. This was too much, her alternative self basically achieved nothing. How fitting for a failure. "Normal is for the lower class", the imperial retorted, still giggling. "I'm successful and still have friends. It probably doesn't matter to her because she's a hollow shell of a woman lost in her own misery."

They were truly opposites that hated each other for being the opposite. Queen Yukino loathed the fact that there was a time where she lost everything and fell into an never ending whirlpool of depression. Yukino Espoir is a strong, gifted woman given destiny and also given the power to defy destiny if she saw fit. So there was no excuse to be weak.

"There's plenty of differences beyond that, such as me ruling the world, and me not feeling sorry for myself."

Another moment of pause.

She scowled.

"You and my Satoshi seem to talk to me in the same way. As if trying to lecture me unintentionally."

Satoshi slowly rose up. "It's likely because of something I told Yugure a while ago that put her off so much." He chuckled. "She told me Yukino Espoir was dead and that she, Yugure, was all that remained. When, in reality, they're both the same person."

He stared into her eyes. "Successful or not, you both act the same, self-centered way a lot. I mean, sure, in a way, Yugure considers herself a martyr now...but that's just about as selfish as considering yourself a goddess and the rest of the world peons."

It immediately sunk in for Satoshi that he had straight up said that to Yukino of all people. That basically, the whole reason that he ever started to criticize Yugure's actions was because he just didn't see what the hell the point of riding your own selfish wagon was when there were other people in the world. He continued, regardless.

"I can't speak for myself in your world, but if I were him, I'd notice my 'friend' treats real people like crap when real people are part of the reason we fought Link Joker here in the first place." He held up his marked hand. "You can also hike a difference that I learned what it was like to be hollow. It wasn't exactly the bee's knees, sure, but there's a chance the clan could be changed in the future." He sighed. "From what I can tell, you don't believe that, and I'm guessing most of the others who came through that horizon didn't, either."

Once again, unbeknownst to Satoshi, his mark had started to glow. It still wasn't acting in a way that was getting his attention, but it was lighting up with his words and focus on confronting Queen Yukino, even if he had no intention of fighting her. It was as though his spirit was bringing the energy of the rings back.

"Don't be an idiot, I treat my subjects fairly. I'm not a tyrant with no heart. However, if they do not bow before me and show respect, I have no reason to show respect in turn", the imperial irritably responded to the notion that her Satoshi would notice cliche drivel. Seeing the mark of Link Joker on him was further evidence that this timeline has no competent Vanguard to prevent such happenings. All the more reason for her to take over. The Espoirs are both egotistical, sure. However, Queen Yukino will always assert that her ego is with merit. Entirely deserving for everything she's gone out of her way for. Statements of otherwise don't register in her mind as anything but envious or rebellious slander.

"We're the same person, and it's disgusting."

The same thing Yugure said.

"As for the clan itself, I could care less if it changed or not. If it threatens me or my Kingdom, it'll be destroyed in this timeline too." Yukino gazed upon the mark with a challenging glare. She assumed the glowing was the will of the invaders reacting to a threat. However, it was clear she'd take great delight in completely stomping on them all over again. Just give her an excuse.

As for the others...

"The others had their timelines ruined because of that clan, even if it's mostly their faults after they defeated it. That's their own problem."

Satoshi chuckled again, shaking his head. "Friends don't bow before friends, you dork. And as for the invaders themselves, you're a bit late." He shook his marked hand around a little. "I was in charge of one of the ringleaders. The rest of them that could possibly be left aren't much longer for this world. If anything, we're already at our endgame."

This was a bold claim, of course. Satoshi hadn't a damned clue where the Joker of the Star-vaders had gone off to since they had last had contact, and there was still the notion of the big baddy, which he had come to understand, while under the influence of Nebula Lord, was Sera's doing, at least to some degree. Still, the farmboy held his ground a bit. It was true, at the very least, that the final battle was approaching ever the more quickly.

The rings continued to glow, and started to react with Satoshi's deckbox. The golden box itself began to glow a bit, as though it were trying to communicate something. Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed these events transpiring. "What the..."

"Sure they do. After all, you did it for me back before I beat Jellal. You and Haruka..." Queen Yukino recalled the times before becoming the supreme ruler of her planet. Back when her two friends pampered her as they were all bonding. Though, they were also getting paid, or at least Satoshi was. That aside, she didn't seem to care much that this world was at their endgame. As it stood, nobody in this world had a ghost of a chance against Link Joker's final gambits. Though... she herself could just do it.

Taking over this world was the goal anyway.

Her Majesty looked upon Satoshi's deck curiously when it began to glow.

Satoshi flipped open the case, trying to see if something in particular had happened. Nothing really had; the deck remained the same, as if something had tried to change but decided against it at the last minute. Still, the mark was glowing rather intensely.

He put everything back and resumed the conversation at hand. Yukino wasn't wrong necessarily; that was, in a nutshell, a lot of the time that had occurred before she had grown fond of the boys. Yet...another thought crossed his mind.

"What about Haruka? Your so-called failed self decided to date him." His hands were in his pockets now. Honestly, he was starting to run out of things to say.