224. Ber, the Unloved Duckling

224. Ber, the Unloved Duckling

Nav’s message was the last thing she ever wanted to hear. In that moment Frost turned on all heels, dropped every last Impuritas, quenched all flames that were not a part of her body and shouted at the top of her lungs.

“BER! CALM DOWN!”

“WHAT’S UP WITH YOU ALL OF A SUDDEN!?” The hairs along Cer’s tail and ears rose like the quills of a porcupine as all eyes immediately fell onto Ber.

“WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR VOICE BOX JUST A MOMENT AGO!?” Res complained, spiting Frost for having remained silent up until now. “Ber – She’s still fighting, Frost! She isn’t injured!”

“LISTEN TO ME! STICK CLOSE TO BER! HER EMOTIONS ARE HEIGHTENING!” Frost warned, and the triplets immediately heeded her warning without another word of defiance, as if something had flicked inside of them.

“Tch – What’s happening to your emotions Ber!? BER! ARE YOU OK!?” Cer shouted, moving to her sister’s side, who dragged a pair of crying Fragments in her arms along the shattered cobblestone.

Their wails never ceased. The bear paws clawed with futile effect against the original Ber. No matter how many dared to pile onto her she’d always prevail, rendering them down to their pages. But the screams were far from the falsehoods of their paper flesh.

“PLEASE SOMEONE HEAR ME!” A Fragment cried and had its head torn off.

“WHY CAN’T I JUST DO WHAT I WANT!?” Another wept and was reduced to ribbons.

“IT WASN’T MY FAULT THAT I JUST WANTED THEM TO LOOK AT ME!” Several cried at once, and she annihilated a group with multiple swipes as she burst straight into the Heart, tacking on whatever she saw like a berserked animal.

“SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUP!” Ber hoarsely screamed at the top of her lungs as her sisters followed suit.

“BER! Tch – BEEEEER! SNAP OUT OF IT!” Cer shouted, failing to keep up with her as the Memory Bistro’s voice began to speak with omnipresence.

“There is finally enough fingers inside of this City’s greatest Heart. History supplemented by the raw, untapped emotions associated with the severed hands. A trauma resurfacing. Do you know the maxim of the Blood Festival, Oh Amalgam? Oh soon to be fallen Moons?” It hymned with the voices of countless.

The faces engraved into the fleshy walls of the egg-shaped Heart moved, reciting these words silently, as if the Memory Bistro had stolen their voices. Frost aided in the destruction of the Heart, seeing it as the only way to stop Ber, but that didn’t stop her mind from combing through other drastic methods.

NAV! Can I use Torpidity stacks to put her out!?

“I am afraid that rest would only intensify the emotions!”

We won’t know until we try!

Frost, removing her gloves, exposed her bare fists as her Touch of Golds wreaked havoc. Mounds of flesh let loose a toxic plume as the walls began to crumble. The Complex Heart was at a mere 2,000,000 HP.

It would not be long until it was over.

“I HATE YOU RES! I HATE YOU! WHY DID YOU ALL PROSCRIBE ME FOR WANTING TO PICK BERRIES!?”

“WE’RE IDENTICAL SO WHY – WHY DID EVERYONE PRETEND THAT THEY COULDN’T HEAR ME SHOUT LIKE I WAS SPEECHLESS –!”

Res embraced her sister, bearhugging her as Cer took over and staved the Fragments away. Ber froze in her arms, as revitalized by the familiar warmth. The woman trembled and looked down to see the pleading face of her sister, whose eyes glistened with tears.

“BER! It’s ok! I’m right here like always–! So – SO –!”

“Why... is it always you Res? Does anyone know how much I tried? I sacrificed so much to protect you... But when I wanted just a small piece of what you had... what I wish I had, everyone looked at me like I was the ugliest thing they ever laid their eyes on.” Ber’s voice softened, her body still trembling as she spoke from the bottom of her heart.

“WHY DID MOTHER CHOOSE YOU!?”

“MOTHER NEVER TOLD ME SHE LOVED ME! BUT I LOVED HER MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE!”

“WHY WAS I NOT ALLOWED TO STAY WARM AT NIGHT!?”

“WHY WAS I PUNISHED FOR TAKING THAT STUFFED TEDDY BEAR!”

“That... Ber... Ber.” Res, after being at a lost for words, managed to find her footing, knowing well how important it was to keep her mind straight in this trying time. “Frost – Get the fuck away! Please... Get away. You... You’ll only make it so much more worse!”

“Sorry Frost, but you’re really going to tip her over the edge... You’re... just like her to all of us. I’m begging you, please don’t come any closer!”

Cer suddenly began to send electric slashes at Frost, understanding exactly what Res meant by this. Frost, heeding both the advice of the triplets and Nav, clicked her tongue and focused on the Heart instead as the soft heartbeats became rapid.

Ber needs those two more than anything else right now. I want to believe that they can do something about it.

“Frost... I regret to inform you that ‘you’ cannot heal everyone.”

I know. I know... I KNOW!

The heartbeat played in the back of her mind as she reluctantly listened on. Die Agnosis did not work on Ber, even though her emotions were beginning to take a drastic turn. The only function it seemed to have at all were the visions it created.

“Her chapter... is now complete. O Ber. Do you recognize the anguish? Pretending to be someone else when you wanted something simpler in life? Isolated and forgotten since the day of your conception. Hunted by humans. Neglected by your kin – Left in the cold of the night all for the sake of someone else’s happiness... O Ber. From the mere voices alone, I interpret your chapter as the intro of a tragedy –”

Complex Heart | HP: 300,000

Frost’s Touch of Golds had nearly reduced the Complex Heart to nothing but a mound of smoldering corpses. The Memory Bistro was nowhere to be seen afterwards. The egg-shaped Heart collapsed into itself; the paper ball long incinerated alongside all traces of mounds that produced the Fragments of Ber.

She deeply bemoaned that there was little she could do to help. But the one other thing she hadn’t tried was to touch Ber’s heart with Die Agnosis again. With the HP of the Heart rapidly dwindling, and as the world beyond began to reveal itself as the mounds of flesh cleared their horizons –

– She threw her Atelier Item at them without a single word, keeping her presence as invisible as possible from Ber. Cer caught it, glanced at Frost and, to her relief, nodded with worried eyes. She wanted to ask for help. Cer truly did, but she also understood the ramifications if Frost approached any closer.

“Res... I... Am the strongest wolf, right?” Ber questioned as their embrace turned into a circle of clasped hands. Cer was involved as well. Sandwiched between her and Ber’s hand was the stethoscope.

And yet nothing happened. Nothing changed... No.

Somehow, everything seemed to mellow. The heartbeat, which she now realized belonged to Ber, returned to its gentle sinus pulse. There were no threats anymore. Just silence, and the crackling of fire. In the distance Ignis and Jury continued on with their onslaught, and Ignis could be seen waving when Nav delivered the good news.

Ber had seemingly calmed down, her breathing now stabilized all thanks to the warmth of her sisters.

“Mm. That’s right. Ber. I’m sorry. I know it’s all back in the past, but it still feels like a fresh wound. To all of us. My eyes. Cer’s jaw and tongue. We all suffered. But – It’s ok now! We’re... we’re slowly getting back. Building ourselves.” Res spoke with a voice filled with hope as Frost silently watched on.

< “Can anyone hear me...?” >

< “It’s so cold...” >

< “Someone please hold out a hand. I desperately want to be noticed.” >

< “I don’t wanna be alone...” >

This is... This is Ber’s mind!? Her heart!?

Her question was immediately answered by a passing prompt.

< BER’S EMOTIONAL STATE >

//////// < WARNING > ////////

< HAILSTORM >

< THE ARBITER’S TRUMPET SINGS >

< ALL HP IS FORFEITED WITHIN A CORRUPTED’S EMOTIONAL STATE >

< MANA WILL REPLACE HP >

< YOU WILL BE EJECTED FROM BER’S EMOTIONAL STATE IF YOUR MP REACHES 0 >

< ALL STATS HAVE BEEN CUT INTO 1/4 OF THEIR ORIGINAL VALUE >

“That’s... Ber... Can we – Can we save her!?” Frost demanded, causing the girl to shudder.

Status!

Unloved Duckling

Ber

< Born without knowing wherein my beauty lays, I allow the world to become my mirror, forever wishing to become the swans I adore >

AFFINITY : Lament

LEVEL : 90ORIGN : Trauma

HP : 60,000

ATT : 600MAG ATT : 0ATT DEF : 250MAG DEF : 0

MP : 0

RESIST : NilAGI : 0

< CONDITION: Unloved Duckling will enter the next phase when HP reaches 0. Ignoring the Unloved Duckling will cause it to enter a Breakdown State >

< This means Ber will become a husk of her former self... In the same vein as the Wandering Healers. This is what becoming a ‘Shell’ must mean >

< This will not be a standard fight. You are also considerably weakened within this bizarre mindset of hers >

< SUPPRESSION REQUIREMENT: None. The Unloved Duckling cannot be suppressed while inside of its Emotional State >

< SUBJUGATION REQUIREMENT: Unloved Duckling will be defeated after its final phase reaches 0 HP >

“I CAN’T REALIZE OR SAVE BER!?” Frost nearly despaired, but Nav, like the good friend it was, mentioned that there was yet another way.

< I am not finished just yet! >

< SALVATION CRITERIA: Engage with the Unloved Duckling and all its subsequent phases. It wants nothing more than to know that you are there >

< Have hope Frost! Go save Ber! Don’t let the Impuritas have their way! >