Once Imposter answered what questions she felt the need too she stood up from her seat.
"I'm surprised you were willing to stop to ask questions…considering your friends' circumstances."
"Jackie said 'when' we meet again. I doubt she'd say that if she intended on dying."
"What a show of companionship. Well let's get moving."
"One last question if you would," Zilia said raising her hand. "...why are you helping us?"
"Half Crown paid me too."
"I'm guessing you mean the other Imposter."
"Correct. We're all called Imposter so a nickname felt proper. I'm only helping you once though, I was paid to hide your existence, not hold your hand. Granted I get paid double if you survive so I decided to help out once."
She held up a finger.
"Only once though, you get found again I'm watching you die. I still get paid after all, too much effort to help you like that again…oh and I wouldn't call him that to his face. I can't die but you all…well you get it."
"Noted."
"With that said I'll share one more thing with you, for being so entertaining."
Imposter stood up and made a motion with her hand to follow before walking into the office area.
"I've worked with each Echo, if given the opportunity Jackie could have easily revealed the truth of this world…but well with how fast things devolved the opportunity didn't present itself. Lady's a master at scouting, more so than the gray-haired one."
Walking over she grabbed the curtain.
"So I'll just give you the info in her stead."
Opening the curtain she revealed the outside, and the crew bore witness to the world they had found themselves in.
All around them were multiple towers within view on different islands, each one the same as the other but there was one thing each one had in common, each one looked exactly like Kane'arteum.
Surrounding the towers on the sea below were multiple navy ships and it was easy to tell they were also in 'Kane'arteum as well.
They were smack dab in the middle of enemy territory and on the run.
"They look exactly like the records…" Zilia said. "I haven't seen it firsthand myself but this is Kane'arteum right?"
Her eyes moved to Runali, then Luro until they rested on the Tashigi sisters.
"Aye," Luro said crossing his arms. "That's definitely that prison place…wasn't there only one though?"
"Very astute for you Makachi," Imposter said.
"This world has multiple ones…so you understand what this world is then right?"
"...A possibility," Zilia said staring out the window. "That means-"
"Anything goes…which is a bit unfortunate for you. You need to find the Vagrant…or CD or whatever you call the Core Discrepancy quickly. Are you ready to go? I'm not hiding you so good luck."
The visual of Jackie and her shadow rattled in Runali's mind, making the sudden change of scenery less jarring than it should have been. All of these versions of them, she had to remember, were ones that didn't see much of a choice until Imposter gave them one. She watched Cedric crumble with Zilia by his side and then over at Hanako clutching onto Alicia. Just for a moment, this other Imposter didn't exist. The captain looked at Alicia, sharing a brief moment of understanding that a sister's comfort would do more than Runali could. And when she looked at Jack, she straightened up and sighed as if reminding him of the reality they were in. They may have been in Facade, but they were not the ones that took that deal. She spoke to no one in particular when she mumbled, "Jones' deal sounds better the longer we stay here…" Even hidden away in this strange place, she could still feel the faint itch of a deal made ages ago on her hand and the odd and brief one in her heart. "We have to keep going." Her voice softened towards Cedric, Zilia, and those that surrounded him. "This place will drive us into the same madness if we don't."
When they began to follow the new Imposter, Runali thought about what Hanako had asked earlier.
What's wrong with this memory of Kane'Artem?. She turned her focus back to the actual prison, digging through the surface level memories. The stone walls and tall tower all looked the same, sure. And despite the silence there usually was when a navy officer wasn't on patrol, it didn't feel as eerie. And much to her surprise? Dismay? – As Imposter showed off more than one prison, she couldn't help the momentary grimace. "...The navy officer earlier said there was a tower for the ones with powers. And it was far too easy." She lifted her wrists just a bit. "When I was here, they kept me in cuffs chained to the floor. Limited movement, more difficult to try and fight back. Or you know, kick the door down." She looked at the varying towers again. "Hanako's right… if we do need to know whose memory this is to find the discrepancy, we're going to have to figure out if this is a memory of you guys breaking in or," She looked at the rest of them, specifically those that had been in Kane'Artem before, "Or if it's my memory of being in here until you guys got me out. And unfortunately, that was ages ago so I can't promise I remember all of the details."
"A possibility is born from a mix of memories, a cracked reflection of the truth, or collective misremembering generally."
Luro looked over at Zilia as she spoke, a small glow in the doctor's eyes that faded after a few blinks.
"Z?"
"Sorry, the information kind of just…poured into my head. Guess that's from my other self."
Zilia looked back out at the window.
"Which means this memory doesn't belong to any one of us. So there's no Central Moment to rely on…it means we're stuck at square one."
"Yay someone finally got it, blue hair was way off but at least she considered two people played a part," Imposter said.
"Possibilities are really hard to deal with, since there are no hints to rely on, and none of you can sense Core energy so it's like looking for a needle in twenty haystacks, especially with this Vagrant. I know I lose out on payment but I love watching your failure so it's worth it."
"I miss Shay," Luro said moving his hands in his sleeves.
"One of you has fallen apart, the others on the brink of it. This is what Facade is, it preys on your weakness, it looks for those cracks in your armor. Put on whatever front you have, cling to that false hope of yours. The more it learns the more it digs. There is no tomorrow for you Stardusk. Accept it."
"Aren't you being paid to help us," Zilia said, turning to Imposter.
"I'm hiding your presence as promised, I never said I'd be your emotional support though. When you die make it funny so I have a story to tell."
Zilia was about to comment but stopped when the floor under them was suddenly enveloped in darkness, as if the shadows of everything around them had robbed the floor of all light, the act even caused Imposter's eyes to widen slightly. Black fog covered the crew's ankles and a few feet away from Stardusk, a back mass of smoke rose up and shifted until it took a human form, 'Cedric' had returned and it seemed the shadows belonged to him.
"...Cedric," Zilia said, straightening her body a bit.
Shadow Cedric's eyes moved between the crew before landing on his other half, they narrowed slightly at him before the smoke around it seemed to flare out slightly.
"A-are you talking?" Zilia questioned. "If you are, we can't understand you."
The other Cedric looked at Zilia, seeming to understand her.
"He said 'you need to get up'," Luro said.
Zilia looked over at Luro who looked back at her with a tilt of his head.
"Oh you can understand him too," Imposter said.
"You really are that far gone, aren't you? You know only the deranged can hear him right?"
"I can't understand him, I just kinda get what he meant. Is Jackie okay?"
The shadow shifted and Luro nodded and smiled.
"Good, I'm glad."
Moving closer to Luro the shadows 'arm' moved out, when it did the keys from earlier manifested in its hand which he dropped into Luro's. The shadow seemed to shift slightly, and Luro nodded as the two conversed, it was admittedly a strange sight, watching the smoke flare on its body and Luro responding or nodding to show understanding.
"Okay. I'm not gonna tell Cedric that though, if I'm hearing you right."
The shadow eyes moved over to his other half then to Jack.
"I think you're right, but it's not a nice thing to say right now. He can hear it when he needs to hear it…I'm not sure that's right now."
Other Cedric stared into the clear eyes of Luro for a brief moment, and in a blink the redhead's eyes were back to normal and he offered a grin to him.
The conversation seemed to end there as Cedric body flared briefly, which seemed to be acceptance on the matter.
Shadow Cedric turned towards Jack and Cedric once more, its form seemed to shift slightly again, when it did memories forced themselves back into the minds of the two brothers. The Other Cedric didn't seem to care about his cohort's state of being, whatever he wanted to say, whatever he needed to say, he was going to make sure he heard it, but from his glance at Luro he seemed to leave out what the redhead felt didn't need to be said.
Perhaps due to his connection to Jackie, Jack was also affected and memories forced themselves into his head as well, memories of the missing woman, and another piece to the puzzle. This time the memories were shared between the two of them, both brothers saw both siblings' memories, now connected.
The Entity eyed Stardusk as a whole, its eyes resting on Alicia for a brief moment, the creature's red eyes narrowed slightly at Hanako, not out of malice, perhaps it was a smile but it was hard to tell since it didn't possess a mouth. The shadows around them receded until they were directly under him once again. A small figure rose out of the other Cedric's shoulder however, revealing a completely white Chaos, who jumped off his shoulder and landed on Zilia's. Raising a 'hand' Cedric sunk back into the shadows, leaving the crew once again.
Hearing that it wasn't her own memory made Runali sigh in relief. "Makes things a little easier then." Though 'easier' was… easier said than done with everything happening in front of them. Imposter's taunting and desire for their downfall paled in comparison to the Other Cedric that loomed like a monster in the dark. She didn't say anything - there was nothing she could say about it - but she watched the figure interact with her spies in eerie silence. As much as she wanted to reach out to help, she had to trust that they'd both be strong enough to get through Facade on their feet. Still, it didn't stop her from coercing the two back to the present. It was a reality none of them wanted to be in, but if they were going to be in it and escape, they had to do it together. "We need you both if we're going to make it out of Facade." She looked at where the shadow disappeared. "That's not you. It
can't be you." With a little more resolve she added, "It
won't be you."
Runali turned back to Imposter and then back at the windows. "Cloaking us is one thing- thanks by the way - but are you also helping us get from one building to the next? Would be helpful if you could just," She snapped her fingers in theatrics. "And you know, we're there. You'd get to watch us blow up stuff and potentially fail and we get to fast track the running from soldiers."
"I do love the idea of things blowing up and you failing…but regretfully there's no point in that anymore. That echo of Adelaide is pretty smart. I'm sure Jackie would have figured out her intentions sooner had she not lost herself."
"Can you…just not speak in circles for one moment," Zilia said. "I get you like our confusion but what do the keys go to so we can just be done with this."
"Who said the keys went to anything?"
"Pardon?"
"Did Adelaide ever say you were going to use the keys? She just said you'll 'need' them."
Imposter pointed at the keys.
"Cedric found them, that is the Core Discrepancy or it is now."
Zilia stared at the motionless keys, her eyebrows lowering, as if sensing her question Imposter held up a hand.
"It's a Core Discrepancy that's an inanimate object, not a person. Much harder to find, especially in probabilities. Adelaide gave you those keys so it would attach itself to them. She made it smell like a 'Core' so to say. Least that's what the other Cedric said, probably from what Jackie figured out, I imagine right after you 'lost' them. They can take any form after all… it's extremely troublesome when they don't choose to be people."
"...so the CD attached itself to the keys and…ran off. Luro didn't lose the keys…they left him."
Zilia brought a hand to her head feeling a headache suddenly coming on.
"Pretty much. With Jackie's skill finding the keys would have been simple enough…well you know until she lost her mind. Honestly, if you had you know…not been so gung-ho you would have been done with this Realm in probably about five minutes. I'm not openly blaming anyone for that, just saying it out loud as a reminder."
Imposter motioned to the keys.
"Destroy the keys, and the world will collapse. You get out, and I get my double pay."
"What about Jackie?" Luro asked spinning the keys on his finger before dropping and picking them back up. "You're helping her leave too right?
"Sure I'll get her out of here, part of my job. You might wanna you know…hurry though."
Imposter glanced over at Hanako and Cedric and smiled.
"I think their humanity is wavering…or maybe not. Perhaps that message from that other Cedric is just what-"
A shrill scream echoed in the room and Imposter stopped talking as Luro burned the keys in his hand, the screaming came to a sudden end as the keys fully dissolved and a glowing orb rested in his hand afterward.
"Cedric can hear it later," Luro said smiling at the Imposter. "You're bad with words so you can't tell him or Jack. I'd trust Alicia to say it though, she knows all the right fancy words."
Luro shoved the orb into his body and patting his chest moved his hands into his sleeves.
Zilia took in a deep breath and looked out the window, the skies suddenly turned from blue to grey, and large red cracks decorated the earth and sky, both being ripped open as the cracks expanded, proof the Realm was starting to collapse on itself. Zilia noticed the Shepherd standing in the air outside, staring up as the sky broke apart above them, blue light filtered in through the cracks, and Zilia noticed that the sun…seemed to be getting closer, also that it was getting hotter, to a point the glass of the window was melting along with a few objects in the room.
"Luro I apologize for assuming you lost the keys, but for the sake of my sanity, I'm going to just go with that until I sort this out," Zilia said.
"Okay Z. I probably woulda lost em anyway so that's fine. Anyway let's go. Oh wait, sorry Captain. Can we go now?"
"Hey Zil," Even Runali was rubbing her temple at this point, trying to keep up with it all. She couldn't help but be relieved about a shorter trip though. They were strong, they were durable, but they would've lost stamina at some point with how many swarms of soldiers were in one building alone. "I think it's fair to say
I've never caused this much stress before for you. Even nearly dying a couple of times." She pointed over to Luro as the orb disappeared into his chest. "And we're sure it's safe for him to keep doing that? I'd like to keep my shipwright intact as well…" That mattered just a little less when everything started to get hotter. Runali quickly whipped up a barrier of ice around them, just to stay standing but even that started to melt. "At this moment, I've never wanted anything more, Luro. Let's hurry up before it gets hotter than Coral's lava." As the windows melted, she added, "And before we end up like that."
"I don't know Captain…you've gotten close but no not by any individual moments. If I combine some things though…"
Zilia looked over at Luro as he poked his chest as she pondered her question.
"I'm…looking into it. I gave him a look…if that even matters in these bodies and he's fine."
Hearing the Captain's go he looked over at Imposter who shrugged and snapped her fingers.
"Wait is it hot in here?" Luro asked before the shadows in the area surrounded them.
The crew's vision was obscured by darkness courtesy of the Imposter, and the searing heat that filled the area suddenly vanished. The floor under their feet seemed to shift until it softened, the Imposter's chuckle filled their ears before their vision returned and they found themselves outside the Realm, back in Facade, the temple crumbling to the ground nearby.
Looking around a familiar figure was a few feet in front of them, Jackie was kneeling on the ground her glasses back on her face, she was gripping her head with both hands and breathing heavily, the red in her hair was gone and 'Cedric' was no longer there.
Another person was also there, the 'Captain' of Stardusk Nali herself stood a few feet from Jackie in between them, her back was to the crew.
"Welcome back other Stardusk. Good to see you again."
She made no effort to turn around keeping her attention on Jackie, whose eyes raised to look at them, her eyes were bloodshot and unfocused and while she stared at them for a brief moment, her attention returned to the earth in front of her immediately after. Zilia's eyes narrowed slightly remembering the woman's earlier words.
"I got Jackie, you should deliver that Core to Avnia, as a sign of good faith."
Zilia's eyes moved to Jackie then to Nali's back before she spoke.
"Hello again Nali…is Jackie-"
"She's okay, but you should head the other way."
Nali turned to face Stardusk, at this point Zilia could tell when the woman was looking at them even with her blindfold, she still had a hard time reading her expression but the 'air' around her seemed different. Something in her instincts kept her from stepping forward.
"At the moment, our Impulse are acting up. I'm barely suppressing mine as it is. So it's best you not come this way, and I can't move from here. Jackie's a sitting duck while she's recovering."
"What do you-"
Nali took her boot and drew a line in the dirt before pointing down at it.
"If you cross that line you'll die, so long as I'm here. Don't try going around either."
"You're…blocking our path," Zilia said looking past her to Imposter's castle.
"Not purposefully I promise…just please go the other way. I don't have time to explain why. If you stay here the space behind that line won't help you either. Mine and Tashi's Impulse are…complicated. Consider it a favor and just deliver it to Avnia. You're not getting to Imposter. I know it may not seem like it but I am barely holding on here."
She smiled at the crew and waved her hands, which in a normal situation would make Zilia raise serious doubts, but after a sudden chill ran down her spine she took a small step back and held her neck for a moment. She realized what her instincts were telling her, if she had to put it into words, it was like staring at a predator in a cage with the door slightly ajar.
"I'll be gone by the time you get back. It'll be some time before we meet again…but I'll make sure to treat you for the trouble."
"It's gonna be a real bummer not being able to snap and be places when we get back home. But then again, slow and steady travel is nice." Runali had her hands behind her head until she saw Nali and Jackie in front of them. "Oh good, you're-" Runali's head tilted slightly as she observed Nali. It didn't take much for the captain to recognize that Jackie was… better than before but still not fully recovered. But what caught her attention was just how calm Nali was. She recognized it despite the unfamiliarity. Even though she couldn't put it into words, she could empathize with the sincerity of not hurting the crew. This was Imposter's domain, but Runali knew herself well enough to motion for her crew to head towards Avnia without the fanfare. Her curiosity made her linger a few steps behind, watching Jackie and Nali by each other. "You know, when… Jack and I have our troubles, if we're not sparring our feelings out, sometimes we get drunk and see who can steal the most valuables. Feels like one of those times." Runali shrugged and gave a thumbs up. "You still owe me answers, captain. We'll see each other again!"
"Haha I'll have to bring that up to her when she's fully back, it may be just what she needs."
Nali seemed to relax a bit seeing Stardusk move away from her.
"Thank you Runali."
She spoke the words quieter but said them nonetheless, whether that was for the suggestion or the silent understanding of her counterpart was left unspoken. The woman's body turned to fully focus on Jackie having said her peace.
Luro started moving the moment Runali motioned to them, Zilia right behind him. The redhead didn't look back, he walked away with the same smile on his face as always.
"See you later Nali," he said raising a hand to her.
Zilia watched Luro walk away trailing a bit behind him, she really wished she had that level of carefree some days, but it was a relief to see Jackie was okay. She had an abundance of questions, far more than she would receive answers for but now wasn't the time. That feeling that ran through her earlier didn't belong to her, it belonged to the other Zilia, and for a moment she saw Nali's movements. It was so real she moved back on instinct. She didn't even realize it was a memory until afterward.
"Tyrant's Caress."
That was the name of Nali's Impulse, the name popped into her head, more than likely from the other Zilia and every part of her seemed to understand it was something not to mess with.
She chose not to speak it for the time being and continued forward, gently scratching the other Chaos head as she walked.
