Outskirts

Karin waved goodbye to Sera as she turned to go, shooting a glance at Seifer before rushing off.

It would be a bit of a trek back to the HQ, but nothing compared to the trudge through the snow to save a life. Nothing more than a brisk jog for her, really. And so, off she went back to the HQ, to learn what she could from her superior.

"Yeah yeah, that's a thing. Don't remind me." Sera's excitement so to speak at his appearance was something Seifer actually appreciated. It didn't feel like there was much joy to go around anymore. Then again they were still in a war it seemed. "I've been... Okay, I guess? I've been kind of... Out of touch with everyone." Placing his hand on his hip, just above the deck case the air around Seifer seemed to... bug out a little bit, only for a moment and barely noticeable at all but...

"In any case I'm back now. And unfortunately for me, I have an apology to give. I'd rather do it face to face than over text though." he gave a light sigh as he shut his eyes. The lecture might not be pleasant, if she even had time for that. "Well... Sera, have you been a good boy in my absence?" this time when Seifer spoke he seemed to be in a bit happier spirits, giving a light friendly tease. To Seifer, Sera was like Yukino or Haruka. Like family. It's pretty much all he had left, as yet again, memories of someone important to him was ripped away.

"Of course I have! It's the only way Haruka gives me ice cream anymore. He makes me go out to random places and do errands and claims its helping but all I see him doing it making more coffee. Weirdo..."

Sera puffs up his cheek playfully, then returns to his energetic state of mind.

"So... what's the big deal with your deck Seifer? It looks different."

Kid, how would you know that? Oh right, Sera, as air-headed as he is, has a nearly microscopic level of detail portrayal and has a nearly perfect memory.

"New cards? S'the deal?"

"Am I really ready for this...mom..dad..brother...?" were the words that echoed in his mind as he sat next to the graves of his parents, he felt helpless but he did not want to show it.

This was how Haruto spent the time he had ever since the last time he appeared out of the blue, he needed some space from everyone to rethink if he is ready for what is to come, but hiding won't help so he decided to return now.
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He had finally, but was still a bit far away from his destination, as he continued down his path through the outskirts. On his way he spotted two individuals that he personally remembers, Seifer and what looked Haruka.

Haruto pondered whether he should go up and greet the two at first he wanted to just continue on his way but that would be against what he wants to achieve being alone is not something he enjoys. "It's good to see the both of you again, Haruka, Seifer i'm glad you recovered nicely." he said, giving a wave as he walked up to the two.

Right, should of known Sera would of noticed... It won't hurt much though. "Right... I was doing a little... experiment I guess, and this wound up being my result." pulling the deck out of the black deck case, the black glow appeared again as Seifer extended the deck for Sera to see and look at. "...It's nothing to special, just... My final deck from our time. The one I'd originally made to beat you back then when I was a bit... Revenger." did he just make a pun?

At the new voice however, Seifer turned his head, and a bit of pain hit his chest. It was Haruto. He remembered his older brother, who sacrificed his life for them in the previous war. Even so... Seifer put on a smile. "It's good to see you to Haruto. How've you been? And yeah, even if I'm comatose, I recover quickly." Shut up, it took you three months to recover from the last one.

The second that Haruto appeared

...

Sera's heart sank. A feeling of regret and utter depression overwhelmed him. The smile he had was deteriorating at the seams and all he could do was mimic Haruka by pocketing his hands and letting the hair cover his eyes. Apparently the boy, Haruto as he said, only recognized Sera as Haruka. His best bet was to get away with it.

"Evening, Haruto. It's good to see you!"

Sera mimicked Haruka's voice even, to a near perfect degree. Seifer might notice this, but in order to protect Haruto and Sera's own self from mental self-destruction, this was the front he had to put on. After all, Sera was the reason that Haruto's older brother had to die, and in the end Glendios was only reborn as a human; Sera took the spot that was rightfully Haruto's brothers. There was a hole in the heart of the puppet that pretended to be a friend to the young boy. He felt torn.

Is this what repentance is?

Immediately something struck as odd, though it was too faint to go by, so for now he decided to just keep things going he did not want to pester the two after just coming back.

"Try not to push yourself Seifer, according to-....Yukino you get yourself into a lot of serious situations." he said, jokingly, he had to end his statement with such a tone so as to avoid any depressing mentions. "You too Haruka, I have not seen you in a long time, what have you been up to the both of you?" he asked.

His attention was drawn to Seifer's deck and he could feel his own deck responding with it's own heat, but he decided to hold his curiosity for now. What struck him as odd though was the fact that Haruka was not looking directly at him as he spoke...why?

It wasn't as if Seifer noticed it, since it was rather hard for him not to. It was the fact that he couldn't do anything about it that made this awkward situation even worse. Sera looked like Haruka, and could mimic his voice, but was very much indeed the cause of Haruto's brother's death. However, he managed a smile, trying to protect both Haruto and Sera... Going along with the act, and choosing not to correct Haruto.

"She's right... Crap, I'm not looking forward to apologizing to her face to face." a rather long sigh escaped his lips as he pushed back his hair. He had to try and bring the mood of this situation up, even if he was failing at the current moment. That's when the sensation struck him. Something felt odd in response. His deck was responding to something?... "Hm..." tapping his chin he caught himself staring at Haruto's deck case before clapping his hands together. "Hey guys, instead of standing out here like a bunch of weirdos, why don't we go into town for ice cream? My treat, how's that sound?"

"Ice cream sounds fine, I suppose."

Sera didn't miss a beat. He also forced himself to roll down the sleeves to his shirt to keep the minor stitching from being noticed if it hadn't been already.

"Sorry Haruto, it's been awhile is all. I've been good, hanging out Yukino and the gang as usual..."

Who was the gang? Sera, who are you fooling? Regardless, Sera made the best attempt he could at staying focused without giving anything away. Maybe he should apologize? Not now though, it's too soon. Maybe after ice cream? No, Sera wouldn't have the courage to do it then.

Perhaps... perhaps another day...

"So, shall we be off? I'm hungry."

It was almost eerie how well Sera did the Haruka impression. Due to having nearly identical bodies from host to the copy with a conscious, he could probably fool most people into believing he was the real deal, if not for the change in eyes and the stitching, but the hair did the job. Sera still did not even dare look in Haruto's direction, for fear of a mental breakdown.

"Ah...oh okay sure some ice cream sounds good actually." he said, as he put his hands in his pockets and started walking with the two.

Seifer's deck was still on his mind and so was the way Haruka was behaving but for now he decided to just roll with, besides ice cream is a guilty pleasure for Haruto, where vanilla is concerned. Hopefully the mood lightens up a bit for them he would hope.

This time it was Haruka outside of the main city, instead of Sera. He was finally able to walk and function again, and he had been thinking about contacting people for a meeting and briefing so he could quickly get back into the action. However, due to fear of over-protection of his peers, he decided against it. He would work and defend other ways, if not with the Resistance.

Now, the main problem at hand... His memories. Haruka keeps forgetting very big picture things about the day before, and has been since he woke up from his dream. Also, him and Sera have been incredibly in sync recently with actions and even speaking. Occasionally Haruka would find himself speaking and saying what Sera was saying, for no apparent reason.

Trauma causing memory loss might be one thing... But why the connection with Sera? Maybe because they're the same person?

Haruka also pondered Mizumi's behavior this morning. She was extremely venomous when he tried to enter her room. Being upset would be okay if she has personal things in there, but she nearly locked Haruka up in his room because he knocked on her door. What is in there?

There were many unanswered questions running through his head, and even the quietest place in the area wasn't helping him clear his thoughts. A bad start to the day, for sure. Maybe those nightmares would start clearing up soon too...

Karin found herself in the Outskirts yet again. She was coming here more and more often, maybe due to her kinship with Haruka and Sera. Regardless, she had come here after leaving the shop an hour or so ago, deciding it better to leave the other drones be, or at least to get away from that awful deadpan singing girl.

She pulled out her phone again and checked her messages. Nothing new, but her text to Yukino had at least been read. Karin wondered if Yukino hadn't responded due to being busy, or thought it to be some ploy by the Reapers. She wondered if Yukino considered her a traitor, if she hated her. Ultimately it didn't matter, but just like her fight with Haruka... It still hurt.

But there were other things Karin needed to do. She'd warned most of her "family" at this point... Except for one. She opened a new text to Sera.

Wait, she had Sera's phone number? Haruka must have given it to her at some point.

She tapped a short text to the Link joker entity. "Meet me where we talked before."

She hoped that would get the point of the location across. It would have to do either way. She sent the text off and stood there, waiting.

It took little-to-no time at all for Sera to appear at the outskirts of town. He wasn't particularly eager to be here, so the faster he showed up, the faster he could go home. Although there was somebody he was interested in seeing here... the Reaper version of Karin. He had a side agenda to bring her back to her senses, but if it isn't possible then he wouldn't push it. The past 24 hours were stressful as it was.

"Karin."

He called out through the night. The dust was creating a miniature fog cloud around the area, causing it to be a bit difficult to see.

"Why did you call me out here?"

He was prepared for anything, in all honesty. It's not that he didn't want to trust Karin, he just couldn't. Watching Haruka in last nights events, he was prepared for anything.

Super Saiyan Sera was very close to emerging if he had to.

Karin turned to face Sera. Just as expected, he got the message loud and clear. And better yet, it looked like he was alone. That was good. She held up the deck box in her hand.

"This."

As she spoke, Karin felt a strange sensation wash over her. She was speaking like she normally did, but something felt... off. She was speaking normally, but there was a certain weight to her words, something she didn't remember feeling before. Something that wasn't there when she had fought with Haruka the previous night, or Cero a few days ago.

She had no way to notice it, but one of her eyes had turned back to its original blue color. One orange, one blue.

"Miss Hikari knows, Haruka knows... You're the only one I haven't come into contact with since then. So fight me, like we did before."

Sera was already flicking the locks around his body off. Generally this was only used against Reapers, not normal people. But Karin wasn't a normal person anymore. Trust was off the table until he brought her back to them. To Haruka, to the family, and the Resistance.

"Prepare yourself. I won't let you get away like Haruka did."

The eyes flashed red as the red cosmo-boards appeared, Star-Vader style.

Karin and Sera went at it for the second time. For Overlord and Link Joker, it may as well be their second hundredth time. With Dragonewt leading the charge against the emperor of Lock himself, Dark Zodiac, Overlord's forces seemed to overwhelm the old invaders.

That is, until another miracle Heal trigger pulled them out of the darkness. Just like last time.

But it was exactly what Karin had expected- no, what she had anticipated would happen. She wanted this. She had been fighting as hard as she could against Sera, holding nothing back, but she wanted this loss. At least... That's what something in the back of her mind told her.

And so Zodiac's scythe swung high. Karin's rearguards locked without resistance. The scythe fell, and Sharyu was put down for a third time.

Karin closed her eyes as the Scythe fell. She heard the cry of Overlord all while it had been in play, when it stood and restood, and when it tore apart Zodiac the first time and deleted him. But when the scythe fell and the sixth damage turned over... Silence.

Everything was quiet, save for the gentle breeze that was signature to this part of the Outskirts.

Karin packed her deck back up, turning away from Sera.

"...Thank you."

She left without giving Sera a chance to respond, just as she had the last time. She walked back into the city, leaving yet another of her friends, her family, behind.

Yukino ran out with number of those from the Resistance. They all turned to see Gotem City completely wiped out from a distance. Morale plummeted, hope was in tatters. The defenders of the worlds and humanity were... staring with jaws hanging - mouths agape. The Chosen Sword was more destroyed than most soldiers here. After discovering the traitor, they were put in an unwinnable battle. They just watched their efforts go up in smoke - literally. There was nothing left of the land. The commander... dropped to her knees. Those big blue eyes begun to have tears pour out of them. Rain poured down, the sky itself crying over the disaster that took place. Exculpate's voice wouldn't even come out for her to begin wailing, choked down by the shock of it.

The Paladins were just... in the same state. Ahmes and Alfred did not cry, but they wanted to after bearing witness to utter devastation. Ahmes and Yunos didn't even fully escape, a piece of them both gone into the void.

They can't kill Harbinger. They can't kill the one behind everything. They can't kill the leader. They can't defeat the one that matters.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" Yukino finally screamed, lying down on the wet grass, sobbing loudly.

Haruto was frozen the entire time, he could not lift a finger against the opponent due to him being frozen with fear. At this point he was even starting to get disgusted by his weakness, especially after watching Yukino's reaction to the situation in front of him as well as the devastation of gotem.

"..........Yukino...." he thought, as he stood there watching her cry her eyes out.

How could he face her at this point, how could he help if he too is torn and being torn every second at this rate. All he could do was walk up to her and hand her a tissue for her eyes.

"...Please don't cry...I know you're upset but, at least you can get back what you lost, I believe in that." he said, as he sat next to his teacher, feeling guilty and tormented at how he could not help her at all...

After the removal of Nouvelle, Seifer lost all of his strength, becoming nothing more than baggage as he couldn't move on his own. ...However thanks to Yunos he was moved to safety, here with others... Thanking Yunos weakly, he tried to separate himself, only managing to fall to his knees in weakness. His dull violet eyes were half shut as he looked up at those who'd made there way here. ...He'd failed them all, losing Nouvelle in the process. Bowing his head, he shut his eyes more, tears flowing quietly... It was more than failure... Harbinger had brought up Rosalia. That hurt more than even losing Nouvelle... His spirit was thoroughly crushed, Tarayev and Sheer couldn't do much more than look on awkwardly at the crumpled heap that was now their Vanguard. They understood his pain, but didn't know how to help him.

Karin looked across the barren field as the rain poured down on her. There she was... Yugure's shattered and broken form, crying her eyes out and screaming to the heavens.

This... This was what the end looked like.

Karin stepped up next to Yukino, sitting herself down next to her. Putting a hand on her shoulder, Karin gently patted the broken leader. Rain drizzled over the two of them, washing away the tears- From both of their eyes. "I'm sorry, Yugure... I'm sorry..." Karin wanted to tell her about all that had happened- Karin's own mistake to try and take Overlord back, the new Overlord allying with the Reapers, her attempt to warn Yugure of Harbinger's invincibility... Karin wanted to tell her about all of it. But when she tried to mouth the words, she found herself frozen in terror. And so Karin wept with her former commander, friend, and sister, the brother who held Nouvelle's grace, and the scraps of the Resistance that made it out of Gotem unharmed. Not even the faintest glimmer of hope could hold them together.

A faint image of Overlord stood over them, as even the mighty warrior of the Dragon Empire couldn't help but weep over the destruction the Twin Tower Erasers had brought, both upon the world and upon their holy goddess Nouvelle. Today was a day of despair, even for those called "Drones".

"THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS!" Yukino hollered at Haruto. She didn't mean it, but the emotions of the stone cold soldier that was so ready to finally break the spell Link Joker cast on her life and others poured out like a waterfall. The Chosen Sword was broken once again by the sight of her goal being a simple impossibility. She had her power back - she was on the verge of enlightenment. Ahmes and Yunos were here, Haruka was alive, all her friends and family were here except Hana and Rosalia. So badly did the queen want them back - to have a lasting smile for once. Yet, fate would never have it. Soldiers and paladins watched her beat at the ground fruitlessly, her crying getting worse. "We did the impossible! We kept doing it! It kept working after tears and blood! We suffer and suffer, and we finally get over an obstacle after so much misery! I've been unhappy for years, so when do I get it all back?! How do I get it all back from an invincible Reaper?! HOW?! HOW?!" Exculpate continued screaming, reminding them of the obvious: the queen has been depressed for years. When a silver lined cloud was spotted, it would close very soon afterward, transforming into a typhoon of emotion.

Whenever she won, something was lost or still lost. Now, they lost more and gained something that destroyed her heart: knowledge of Harbinger, the ultimate enemy, is indestructible. They just got Seifer back. The trade? They lose an entire city, several units, and Nouvelle the God Dragon.

"When do we get to win?! I don't mean win with a trade off, but just WIN! A real victory!! WHEN?!"

Yunos cringed next to Seifer, unable to help any of them emotionally like his Perditions couldn't. He gritted his teeth and stared down at the earth... wondering how long it would be there. Yukino continued to cry her eyes out as Karin, another backstabber came over. But unlike Harbinger, she was sorry. She was sorry all this happened. Sorry all this had to happen.

"Why..." Yukino asked Karin.

"Just because humans do the impossible once doesn't mean they can just keep doing it again in succession." Chronos' voice stated, the spirit of time appearing above them all, levitating high in the rain.

"FUCK YOU! You knew about this! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?!" The Chosen Sword screamed.

"Because I wanted to believe."

"... What...?"

"I stand by what I said... but a part of me wanted to believe you would all simply overcome like you did other times. I may have had to tell you Kraken's weakness, but after seeing you all cleanly do away with Scorpion and Gigaton... I wanted to believe you all would pull off the impossible anyway. ... I was wrong, and I was right before. You're all going to die."

Seifer could hear all of the conversation, all of it... And for some reason he... "Y-You're wrong..." it was soft at first, his voice weak.. But he struggled to stand. "You're wrong..." a bit louder... continuing to struggle... Tarayev and Sheer rushing over to help him up but he just... held up his hand, stopping them in their tracks. He was now... somehow standing fully, his legs visibly shaking from the stress. His dull eyes stared dead at Chronos, and even in his weakness... There was determination, a strong burning flame... Rage. "You're wrong!" he shouted, this time his voice echoing.

As his legs continued to shake he tried stepping forward, almost falling again. "There's no w-way we can just lose hope. If that's the case then what'd I let myself stay alive for? ...I'm calling bullshit. There's no way that we can't win." he stood, glaring at Chronos now, Tarayev actually shrunk back away a bit. "And when we do win I'm going to make you take back every wrong that you've done to my sister."

Karin turned her head to look at Chronos directly. This was the first time she had seen him up close... She recognized him from the fight against Kraken- He was the source of the blue light that first cut through the monster's skull and opened the way for humanity's future. But now he was here, practically mocking them.

"...So you're just going to sit back and let them destroy everything, huh? No different than the rest of the Reapers..." Karin spoke angrily, tears rolling down her face, covered with a cold and bitter expression. "You helped us once. You gave us hope. And then what? Now you're going to sit back and do fucking nothing? You may as well go join Harbinger's side, since you clearly want us to suffer... Just like she does." Karin's tone carried all of her rage, all of her bottled-up anger. It might not be right, it might not be fair, but at the very least, she had someone to direct her hate towards, and so she did, speaking her mind to the otherworldly demigod before her. The man who, like Solis, had wanted to believe in hope one last time.

Chronos, the man who had given hope to humanity... only to let it be swiftly swept away in Harbinger's rampage.

Sera was approaching from a distance, pulling is hair back with the rainwater to keep his bangs out of his eyes. There was no smile on his face today, and no frown. He was here for his daily dose of prayer and sorrow. Instead what awaited him was a Queen crying her eyes out, the divine blaze losing his flame, and...

"Karin..." Sera whispered, letting the rain soak him over. It was refreshing, after having been through so much turmoil after recently. Tears flooded the eyes of many, despair creeping into the bones of the Resistance. But Sera felt... nothing different. Something else filled his brain at this time.

What was it?

Jealousy.

He simply walked past the group, only a few feet away. He nodded to Karin, unable to look her in the eye as usual. She was yelling at Chronos anyways. A wave to Seifer as usual---

Wait Chronos?

You're all going to die. it said.

Karin was giving a fit about it, yelling about how Chronos might as well be part of the Reaper's side if he was no longer going to assist the human's but still decide to be around. Sera agreed with that notion, but didn't want him to actually go aid the Reaper's. That'd make their efforts all for naught so, no thanks.

Sera raised his eyebrow, giving a very light nod a wry expression before walking past the Queen. While he wanted to hit her in the face and tell her to shut up, he knew that she has a right to be pissed off this time. Her crying had something to do with the end of the human race and Sera was now part of that populace. Therefore, in a way, Yukino was crying for Sera.

While that wasn't the exact correct logic, Sera felt a tinge, if only the smallest amount, for Yukino. He simply did not have the words to express how he felt because saying anything to Yukino meant she win in their little battle of wits from them.

He kept his pride, and sat down... roughly half a meter away from the Queen, crossing his legs and starting his speech to Tsubasa he always gave.

A bit quieter this time, but nonetheless, he began.

"Hey Tsubasa... good to see you again. How's it been..."

He opened his left eye, looking at the Queen again...

Then at Chronos. Now he felt awkward. Maybe he should just wait 'til they leave before furthering his progress about this. Seifer wouldn't care, but obviously Karin was too steamed and Yukino was about to murder a man if she couldn't figure out how to kill the Reapers.

The way chronos addressed them was.....too heartless for Haruto's taste, especially after what Yukino has gone though and her reaction to it all....

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP YOU HEARTLESS MONSTER!!!" shouted Haruto, standing up from his crouch and facing Chronos, with tears streaming down his eyes.

"...You think we actually like the way things are...you think it was easy for us to just get through these things...losing the people we cared about???!! IF YOU'RE SO HIGH AND MIGHTY WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I LOST MY BROTHER?! WAS HE NOT WORTH SAVING?! WERE YOU TOO BUSY TO LIFT A FUCKING FINGER TO SAVE THE ONLY FAMILY I HAVE AFTER ALL HE DID FOR YOU AND THIS WORLD??!!" at this point Haruto's words were echoing across the outskirts, even cray could hear his cries of anger. "....I'm speaking to the wrong person.....You wouldn't understand after all you're just an observer, you give your shit for other people to do and that's that.."

With those words Haruto fell to his knees and grasped at the ground, tears falling from his eyes, "We lose everything, and you with all your might don't have the logic to realize that with your help this could be resolved sooner, lazy and heartless...is what you are Chronos."

As he calmed down he heard a voice he recognized mention Tsubasa, it was Haruka...or was it? Whoever this person was he was speaking about his brother, apologizing? No idea, all Haruto could do was try to listen and calm down, he would speak to this person later about this if he has to.