Private Eastern Brisshal Independence Day aka How I Learned to Stop Being Afraid of Everything and Love Arcanamancy (feat. Hyper Sense)

[Azykia]

The day had finally come, as foretold in ancient legends. More accurately, as Azykia said to herself around a month ago.

At first, she had intended to make this journey with friends. With a guiding hand helping her along the way to describe all the wonderful things she simply couldn't see. A lot had happened in the last nineteen days. It still hurt to think about Red Fever, and the sacrifices made just for the sake of the greater good, or keeping status quo. Back then, it had her bawling her eyes out and screaming pathetically about how it was 'too much', and how she 'couldn't do it anymore'. Now, her greatest regret was that she never truly got to understand what that woman looked like. Who she really was, perhaps a little bit, but Azzy would never have any sort of physical presence to liken to her aside from the uncomfortable mass of energy unlike anything she had ever seen in either side of reality.

She began to think about all of her friends, her loved ones, her sisters and brother, and realized that they could all fade into obscurity just the same with Azykia unable to carry along a simple memory such as what color their hair was, or a single time that they had smiled. She had seen Celestine, and Kaede, and that was it. That would remain it, unless she made herself able to fix it. She wasn't as powerful anymore as she had been at the climax of the Red Fever incident, but all that meant was that she could get up to that point again eventually, and this time with a greater understanding of her magic and how to use it.

That was why she had to go. That was why she had began pacing westward out of Honeyhome not ten steps ago. She would use her magic and knowledge to find her way, or she would die trying like some of her friends already had long before now. Then she would try once again, and again, because people had three chances after death in this world, and she was no longer too scared to make the most of it.

Without so much as her ar-cane in hand, she counted her steps away from town carefully.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

So much had happened in the final moments of the battle with the demon infected Kurungaar that Toko had simply lost track of pretty much everyone by the end of it—the Lepus having to concentrate all her focus into actually staying alive, something she barely managed to do in the end... and in a way thanks to pure and dumb luck. By the time the rabbit had come to again Azykia had been gone, logged out apparently from what she had managed to gather out of Celestine, and for the next weeks the hare would continuously send voicemails to the player in the hopes that one of them ever got through.

A lot of wishful thinking right there, Toko wasn't even sure if Azykia remembered the steps to access that part of her UI Hub, but it was all Nao could do aside from login into TerraSphere at any and all hours of the day in the hopes that the young blonde showed online once again in Toko's contact list.

Today had been one of such days, the Lepus having recently logged into the game as her body stretched in the small room that Toko rented from Mabelle. As usual she had opened her UI, browsing through her online contacts, before her heart just about stopped upon seeing a green bubble next to one particular name. "Azy-chan?!" Any plans for the day were immediately forgotten as the hare hastened in exiting her room, barely remembering to say hello and bye to the woman manning the inn's counter as Toko bounded out the door.

"Azykia...?! Azy-chaaan, doko ni iru nooo!?!"

For the bazillion time Toko cursed this game lacking any integrated map in their UI, or the ability to see where an online friend could be at in their general vicinity... she'd have to hope that Azykia was somewhere around Honeyhome, and that her voice carried far enough to reach the blonde.

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

"Thirty-two." Azykia said aloud so as to not lose her place as he attention was pulled elsewhere. She didn't quite hear everything, but she heard someone calling out across the town as loud as can be. That alone was pretty rare, as even the rowdier players didn't reach her ears from across town. Then again, just as her sense of taste had been sharpened by her blindness before losing it as well, only having a sense of hearing and feeling meant that her ears held half of her sensory aptitude. At least when it came to physical things.

...ia... aaaan? Azzy mentally repeated, trying to listen out for it again. She was only thirty-two steps away from town. It wasn't too late to turn back around.

At the same time, if it was someone who saw she was online like Celestine...

She opened her UI and followed the tingling sensations of the buttons as she moused over each with her hand. She was slow and deliberate, giving Toko plenty of time to run around half of Honeyhome looking for her. In the meantime, she did her best to remember which menu was which, and eventually made her way into the menu as she had previously endeavored to memorize. Now for the most difficult part.

"Aroda, Brutus, Celestine-" She continued muttering her way alphabetically down her friends list, hoping not to accidentally skip anyone. She paused just before Toko's name for a long time, but eventually moved her finger down and tapped it.

From Azykia: w​

She wasn't even certain who was looking for her, but the pitch of the voice and emotional energy such a call carried simply reminded her that hey, maybe it was a good idea to keep in touch with friends. A concept that would take Kaya a long, long time to recall naturally.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

She probably looked like an idiot, running up and down the streets of Honeyhome while shouting the name of the blonde, but right now Toko couldn't be bothered with appearances. Besides she was pretty sure most of the villagers were desensitized by now to her, given the shenanigans Brutus and the rabbit often got into in the very same village. Never a dull moment with Travelers walking around...

"Azy-chaaan—"

Her calling was suddenly interrupted as an alert popped in the Lepus' UI, Toko immediately hitting the breaks on her steps upon seeing the single 'w' typed to her from the small blonde she had been struggling to find.

Voice Mail

"Azy-chan?! Oh thank the gods that you're alright...! Where are you right now? I'll come find you!"

The message was quickly recorded and sent, little to no thought given about who might be around to hear as Toko impatiently bounced from one foot to the next—awaiting a reply from the human before deciding through which town path she'd head towards next.

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

Since she had kept the friend message menu open, she was able to pretty easily listen to the voice message she had just received, and carefully moved to reply in kind. The problem was that she didn't remember which button was to 'reply' and which was to 'dismiss'. She took a chance and figured that the left side would be the 'yes' option and pressed it, speaking without recording. "Outside of Honeyhome on the west side."

She didn't hear anything to confirm that it had sent, nor could she find anything other than the menu as she felt at it. From this, she assumed that she had hit the wrong button entirely, so she moved to send one more text message, carefully counting the keys and giving it her best shot. A, S, D, F, then G came before H, so...

From Azykia: Hh​

With another message sent, she decided that she should remove some of the risk of sending the wrong signals out and just make a landmark. After all, Arcanamancy was a variety of magic that specialized in creation, so whatever the girl made could last a while. Even if Toko didn't get here today, she could leave a mark of some sort overnight for someone else to recognize, and that person could help her send a message to Toko later on. She didn't want to make Toko wait when she sounded so worried, but she also couldn't help it, so in this case, c'est la vie.

With a deep breath and some calculated concentration, Azzy held her hands up and moved them in a spiral. Moments later, a giant coned spiral made of bright blue magic towered over the west side of the modest town of Honeyhome.

She stood in place and took a few moments to just think, and be patient. Patience. She had to rely on patience a lot today, she couldn't let it run out before the journey had even began.

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

The Lepus waited impatiently for a reply, anything really, and for a second her face lit up as a new message came in... before she frowned in confusion at the two Hs staring at Toko from her UI messaging hub. "Nanda...?" Oh fuck, had she never taught Azykia how to do voicemails in the UI... or maybe it had been so long that the blonde was having issues remembering the menu? It had been a good few weeks since Toko had last seen the human girl online.

Voice Mail

"Try again Azy-chan... eeehtoooh, ah, the reply button should be on the right side of the screen when you get this message—uwaaah!!! Okay that works too, I'll be right over, Azy-chan!!!"

The giant cone of blue spiral magic was impossible to miss, the rabbit having been at the south portion of the village before she quickly retraced her steps towards the western area of Honeyhome. A few gasps could be heard now from Landers as Toko got closer, before the small figure of Azykia was finally visible at long last.

"Azy! I'm so glad to see you're well!!!"

Without thinking much about it the Lepus crossed the rest of the distance between them, scooping the blonde into a tight hugh as she twirled the human around fir a bit before setting her back onto the ground.

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

As she was called out to, she turned herself to face Toko and began to let the spiral of magic dissipate into a slow burn of sparkling dust spreading through the air as she was scooped up into a hug. Almost all at once, those feelings of being missed and the gratitude of seeing her again that Toko held felt as though they now pried at the younger girl's heart. "Toko-ane'!" As she began to giggle and more or less allowed herself to be at the mercy of Toko's hug, by the time she had been set down her eyes had begun to water. With a softer giggle she smiled up at the height she assumed Toko's head to be at, though she wasn't really on the mark (as always).

"I'm sorry. You were really concerned about me, weren't you?" Despite how valid her reasons felt this time around, she was used to living that life of hers without the right to complain, and this felt no different since everybody else also obviously had their own things going on in the time she had been gone. She felt even worse as her emotions began to overflow. She hadn't felt this much since she had Red Fever, and it certainly was making her face red.

Azzy reached up and covered the right half of her face with a hand and laughed nervously as her left hand was used to fan off her face. She could both smell and taste her own previously dissipated magic in the air now, and though she had a lot to think about it, she was vastly more focused on her honorary older sister at the moment. "Ha~ah... Please forgive me, nee-san. I didn't mean to make everyone worry about me."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

The relief she felt upon hearing the blonde girl giggle were almost indescribable, that smile on Azykia's face worth a billion yen easily as the Lepus knelt down to be at a more equal level with her friend. "No crying, unless those are happy tears from seeing your aneue~" A hand reached over, the rabbit's fingers carefully wiping away at the corners of Azykia's eyes to remove the lingering tears.

"That's okay, Azy-chan, after all a lot happened..."

She still had some reservations about how old her little imouto might actually be, but regardless of that fact the things they had experienced and seen during that battle were not easy for most to digest. A hand rose to pat the blonde atop her head softly, trying to offer comfort when she saw how red Azykia was turning, before she pulled the girl into another deep and comforting hug.

"I'm just glad you didn't die out there... I'm sorry I was a terrible aneue and lost sight of you back there."

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

She buried her face into Toko's shoulder with her right hand still pressed against it.

"No, I... You saved me, Toko." Her voice softened, and she trembled for just a moment as she processed the moment, both now and back then. "Without thinking about it, I almost did something reckless. By the time I realized what I was doing..." She gulped, pressing the side of her head against Toko like an armless hug, though she did finally squirm her left arm around to hug the Lepus as well now. "Your magic narrowly saved me from certain death. You're the best aneue I could have ever asked for." Her tone of voice sounded just a bit dead inside, but also carried the childish whine of someone who was about to cry.

To make a long internal monologue short, the girl decided she wasn't showing enough love and gratitude to Toko for such an important and emotional reunion. That was why two large cerulean arms made of magic grew from each side of her and gave her an even tighter hug. Not crushing, but too firm to press back without effort. It was S-tier magic, after all. "I couldn't really see what I was doing too well, but I hope I was helpful in some way to you, too."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

"Really? Oh, I'm so happy I decided to protect you then..." Considering the rumors floating about since people had experienced their first death the knowledge that her asteroid belts had kept Azykia safe helped give the rabbit some relief. "You definitely don't need to be experiencing in-game deaths any time soon."

The magic arms of cerulean energy manifesting were definitely something new, but the hug Azykia provided was strong enough without actually threatening the physical safety of either of them. Softly she patted the back of her imouto's head. "I bet your actions no doubt helped save a lot of people too, there were quite a few of us that were tip toeing that death line at the very end... including myself." Looking back on it the Lepus could appreciate she had been too reckless given the circumstances, her mind having entirely forgotten about any consequences as Toko had gone all out against the boss fight.

"So, have you been feeling better now Azy-chan?"

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

Since Toko seemed ready to move along to the brighter side of the reunion, she dismissed the magical hug and let out a soft chuckle for effect as she finally let her hand down from her face as it slowly but surely became less flushed over time. "I'm not sure if I am better, but I'm ready to try and be. That's why I'm here again."

Her head tilted down in recollection with a small if not sad smile remaining on her face. "A lot has happened between then and now, back in the Starcalled Realm, and... I realized something pretty extraordinary." Calmly, she raised her head to look vaguely up at Toko's face again, then suddenly grinned playfully. "Not that I'm going to tell Toko-ane' what it iiii~is!"

"But, maybe Toko-ane' can help me with a few things anyways! And... maybe I could ask Toko-ane' for something out of the blue, whenever she feels ready."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

Azykia's response was understandable given everything that had happened, overall the rabbit was just happy to see the blonde was taking things in stride and seemingly staying positive. "Yeah, that's pretty much all we can do... after all it's kind of hard to put this game down once you've had a taste of it." Toko was pretty sure she'd be back on the saddle in no time even if she had actually experienced a death in the major event... regardless of whatever price and consequences the game tried to cash in from the woman's mind and body.

"Ah, I see... my kawaii imootoh keeping secrets from her aneue now?"

She grinned back at the human, a hand softly ruffling the top of Azykia's head in response, before Toko's ears perked up when the blonde mentioned needing some assistance with things.

"Of course, you can ask me help with anything you need, Azy-chan." It made her happy to hear the girl seek her help with things, especially considering how very guarded Azykia had seemed when they had first met during the expedition. "I'm ready whenever you are, we can even start right now if you'd like~"

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

With playful grin intact, the girl nodded a couple times. "It's very important that you don't tell anybody though, okay? I'll never forgive you if you do." She punctuated her words with a blink, then clasped her hands together, resting them down in front of herself. "You see, ever since I arrived in the world of Terrasphere, I've met all sorts of people, and as I once asked you about, I noticed that most of them are playing a separate side. You and I, we're not the people we appear to be, are we?" She tilted her head up a bit to let the light of the afternoon sun pour over her face, to sparkle in her hair, and to really make visible the words spilling from her lips while the sun itself dots her pupil-less eyes.

"There's something I've been trying to do on my own, and I was told that I'd get there on my own if I just get existing like this, but I'm far too impatient to remain complacent in the matter. Before I confess my wishes to you, aneue, let me ask you a simple question."

"Forget this face and this voice for a few moments. Based on my behavior alone, how old do you think I am?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

"Yaksokune~" The Lepus sung back at Azykia softly, a hand reaching over to gras the girl's own before Toko entwined their pinky fingers together. "Promise I won't tell a soul, Azy-chan~"

It was clear this was important for her adopted imouto and so, once the promise was made, the Lepus adopted a serious look as she took in Azykia's words carefully. The blonde certainly wasn't wrong in many things, something that earned a nod from Toko in agreement, before she paused to ponder on the question that the human proposed.

"Hmmm, how old huh..." Toko would be lying if she said to have never suspected the player from being older than she portrayed herself physically, and after some moments of thinking the Lepus finally felt she had an answer. "I'm not sure on an exact number... but I'd say somewhere in your early or mid twenties perhaps?"

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

<Pinky Promise Acquired!>

Azykia couldn't help but to begin a long fit of mostly stifled giggling after hearing Toko's guess.

"Hihihihi~! To-ko-a-ne'~!" She paused to let her laughter subside before finally continuing.

"If I could simply let my heart speak for a moment, I truly, truly loathe how accurate your guess is." She kept her right hand in her lap as politeness measured of her, and raised her left in front of her chest in a loose fist as she usually did when speaking from her 'out-of-character' heart, not that it was too obvious. "When I first came to this world, and I asked Celesis how old I seemed to be, she replied 'thirteen'. Until just several weeks ago, I spent the last seven years of my life in a prison of perfection. Alive, but emotionless. Without struggle, or purpose; dead inside. I was... a caged bird sharing a box with Schrödinger's cat." The younger girl gave a wry, thin, bitter smile. "Thirteen... Fourteen... That was about when I died. When I lost my mother."

She closed her eyes and slowly raised her right hand. She reached forward, and though her hand began to press against Toko, it seemed like she was lost in something entirely different.

"Now for a second time, I... The reason I left. It was because... I felt like I had lost her all over again."

"That woman, Shane. Haha, how dare somebody make me cry like that after so long." She pulled her hand back. "But she also... along with someone else just a couple nights ago, made me realize a few things. One such thing was that one day, this--Azykia--could be me for the rest of my life. I could be this, and I would be happier."

"But I'll never be happy like this until I stop showing people who I used to be."

Her far-too-long explanation tapered off, and she looked off to the left in silence for a few long seconds.

"I'm quite desperate, Toko-ane'... Can you help me... pick up where I left off, seven years ago?"

"Help me be Azykia, so I can finally... live."

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

She couldn't help the soft chuckle that escaped as Azykia confirmed Toko's intuition had been on the mark, though the Lepus remained quiet as she listened to the blonde's words. There was a pang of sympathy as the girl revealed losing her own mother when she was a young teen, the wry and bitter smile that tugged at Azykia's lips feeling unnatural on the face of such a young looking child.

"I see..."

Her hand had instinctively reached for Azykia's as the blonde's pressed against the Lepus, offering a comforting squeeze as she listened to the next words... the mention of Shane no longer a surprise, after all by now all travelers that had been present on that final fight had learned of the woman's sacrifice.

"I'm not sure I'm smart, or wise enough, to have all the answers you're seeking Azy-chan..." Another soft squeeze was given to the girl's hand as Toko spoke, her free hand reaching over to move some of the blonde strands away from the girl's face and behind her ear. "... but I will do my very best to help you reach your goal, even if it changes as time passes."

There was a pause before the rabbit looked around, finding a nice spot not too far away from where they stood before tugging at the blonde's hand gently to guide her in the direction. It would take them away from the village and its bustling noises, the shade of a tree providing cover from the rising sun. "Give me a moment..." She would let go of Azykia's hand then, her palms instead flattening against the earth by the base of the tree, before an influx of magic would erect two earthen stools for the girls. A small pulse of green energy would follow afterwards, causing a soft and cushiony layer of moss to spread on their surface, before the Lepus invited Azykia to sit down with her.

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

She gave a much gentler smile and a nod of acceptance at Toko's response, before allowing the Lepus to pull her along to a much cooler, magically-seated spot. With the practiced grace of her other life, she sat down and crossed one leg over the other, placing her hands in her lap as she stared forward at all the nothing she could see elsewise. "Thank you."

"You know, it wasn't easy to ask you something like that. I hope you don't think I'm too bizarre. After all, it's not as though I chose the way my life would pan out in or out of Terrasphere. It's just that I want to make the best of it, in my own strange meaning of the phrase." She took a deep breath and began to concentrate. She made a motion with her hands, and softly uttered a few magical words. Before the two knew it, a giant umbrella had appeared and placed itself in all its Arcanamancy-d glory in the ground, shading the two from a sun the blind girl couldn't really tell wasn't shining on them in the first place. If nothing else, it caused a pretty nice breeze.

"Before you help me anymore, though, forgive me for being so selfish."

"Toko-ane', it's been forever, hasn't it? What have you been up to?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

"Iie, not at all." There was a soft shake of her head as the Lepus watched Azykia, before having to remind herself that the girl wouldn't be able to pick up on normal social cues do to her unique circumstances. "I don't think it's bizarre at all, and I'm happy you feel comfortable enough with me to bring this topic up in the first place."

They might have different backgrounds, but even then Toko wanted to believe she could understand part of Azykia's drive towards her goal. There was just something about this place that drew people into it, even after knowing of all the risks the game carried under it's realistic surface. Anyone that kept playing after knowing about it was doing it consciously, because deep down they were willing to accept the game as a new reality if things ever went south in its entirety.

"Mmm...? Ah, where to start," The sudden question caught the Lepus off-guard, a hand scratching the back of her neck before she took a moment to think. "Well I got offered a ride back from the crater site by Madison; she took Brutus, Magdalyn and I through a stagecoach found in an underworld plane... it was quite the interesting ride, but in the end we made it back three days before the rest of the expedition."

@Azykia

 

[Azykia]

"I'm afraid I don't know a Madison, nor a Magdalyn. I'm glad you all are okay though, regardless."

She softly sang another incantation, and with a gesture a stable wall appeared behind Azykia's seat, as always made of bright blue magic. Afterwards, she leaned back against it and closed her eyes. "But I wouldn't mind meeting more friends of yours. Maybe you should introduce me to them one day, or maybe I'll walk right into one of them, if either of them frequent Honeyhome." She hummed a soft giggle. "I tend to make about half my friends that way."

"Although, I'd rather not be so off-putting as to come off as a twenty-something-year-old pretending to be so young. So, if that happens again, what do you think I should say?"

"Actually, perhaps that's a bit too narrow of me to hone properly for the time being. Perhaps instead, I should be asking you, what are my worst habits in the matter? What stands out so apparent to you as disjointed in my behavior?"

@Toko

 

[Toko]

.

.

"Hmm... I don't think they hang around Honeyhome much, although Madison is a Lion Arms' member if my memory serves well." That sounded about right... kind of... maybe. "Tell you what though, next time I get a quest from the Guild we can go together~"

There was a soft laugh accompanied to her words, before the Lepus' hands reached for her new dog tags and pulled them over her head. "Also, your aneue recently got promoted—I'm a platinum adventurer now~" The object was softly placed on Azykia's hands so the blonde could feel them.

"Hmmm... who says you have to tell them anything about your age? After all, you want to be Azykia fully, right?" There was a pause as the Lepus considered this, before nodding to herself as she continued. "Let them think my kawaii imootoh is just a very talented and mature fourteen year old~"

Thinking back on it Toko was pretty sure it was mostly a fluke that'd she'd managed to catch on to the fack Azykia seemed to know more than your average teenager, but even then the Lepus had chalked that up to some life experience... not the blonde actually lying about her age.

"If I'm honest nothing you ever did truly tipped me off... not until our conversation today kind of confirmed my suspicions." There was another pause, before the rabbit continued. "Say, Azy-chan, how old do you think I am?"

@Azykia