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“Be careful. You’re playing with fire.”
The six words were on her consciousness as she stood in Link VRAINS on pixelated concrete. Her periwinkle irises stared at a specific Knight of Hanoi member’s back. She felt a sense of a type of dread along with a plethora of other emotions run throughout her mind. Her eyes slowly started to narrow as her hands became balls of fists; however, as quick as the spark of pure anger was in her mind, it quickly dissipated.
Blue Maiden continued to stare at Spectre’s back while Playmaker’s six words started to haunt her conscious. She could hear his voice repeating it, but the thoughts were immediately halted when there was a voice from the male in front of her.
“It’s rude to stare.” Although she couldn’t see his facial features, she could see movement from where his cheeks were. Along with the tone of voice, it sounded like there was a hint of a ghastly smile on his lips.
It made her blood boil.
“Says the one who watched me for who knows how long.” Blue Maiden immediately bit back.
Although Playmaker had been missing for a couple of months, Soulburner’s command to Revolver and his Knights of Hanoi stayed in place; however, Akira had a very small amount of suspicion. Thus, Aoi had volunteered to go after Revolver’s right hand man to try to extract any type of information.
“I can tell you.” It was a calm voice and he slowly pushed against gravity to stand up, his back immediately straightening in an elegant manner. His foot turned around first before his entire body mimicked the action, those cerulean irises standing out more with the artificial sun rays that blessed them with its touch.
There was a soft frown from Blue Maiden’s lips, her hand becoming into a tighter fist as she tried to contain her emotions. “No.” She answered, silently taking in a deep breath before letting herself relax. One hand slowly opened and the other soon followed, which didn’t go unnoticed by the man in front of her.
“What do I owe this visit, Blue Maiden?” It was in such a formal manner.
There were two paths in which she could choose how to handle this situation, but there was always an essence to Spectre in which she couldn’t avoid. Sure, she could dance around a particular topic, try to use her charm, but in the end, the perspective that Spectre had the upper hand would always overshadow her. Not to mention, that this was a specific mission for her brother and not her own self-interests.
Well, that was one lie.
In reality, it was a way to test herself to see if she could bring forth her set of skills to see if she could obtain information which was difficult to gather from the man in front of her. Sure, Ghost Girl could have done it with ease, but she was Blue Maiden. Aqua had believed in her from the very beginning along with Miyu which gave her a sense of justice and righteousness.
“Blue Maiden?” Spectre questioned once more, a quizzical look on his facial features.
Finally, she had snapped out of her private thoughts then looked towards him, but Playmaker’s words tried to scratch at the back of her mind to continue the long train of thought. She ignored it.
“I want to know what you’re doing here. There’s nothing meaningful around.” Blue Maiden opened her arms to gesture around in a circular manner to articulate her point in a physical manner. “There’s no threat unless if there is and my brother missed it?”
A tiny look of surprise had manifested as his eyes slightly widened, but there was a small softness before it disappeared completely into the façade. “No.” He answered honestly, placing a hand above his ribcage where his heart would have been. “I’m here because of a completely personal reason.”
“And what’s the personal reason?” The question slipped from her lips without it being coated by poison as curiosity was starting to get the best of her.
“It’s personal for a reason.” Spectre didn’t miss a beat as he said in a matter-of-fact tone, a small glint in his eye that was slightly threatening to not push the topic further.
It wasn’t the first time that she saw it. There was the glint and a specific way in which his smile had curved upwards. Although Playmaker had been a difficult individual to read, she could read Spectre in a finer way. It may have not been accurate majority of the times, but it was her own heart that was trying to give the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps that may have been a foolish thought by her.
“Why is your brother so interested in what I do?”
“Because of your history.” She immediately responded. “I’m hoping that you Knights of Hanoi keep your word to Soulburner.”
There weren’t any other words that escaped from his lips and instead, he started to slowly walk towards her in a calm and calculative manner. Although there was a polite smile on his facial features, he slowly opened up his arms in a vulnerable manner. “I’m not doing anything. Besides, if you actually stopped to think about the location, you might figure it out.”
It felt as if she was being tossed a small clue, but she didn’t want to play games. The emotions of irritation wanted to crawl into her mind once more, but instead, she watched as there was a different type of emotion behind Spectre’s gaze. She remained quiet and went with her intuition to look around the location.
There were a plethora of buildings, but her memory didn’t click until she looked up towards the artificial sky. A pang went through her heart as the jagged dagger had pierced inside. Her face started to look horrified as she reached upwards to cover her own mouth from making any noise of distress.
“Now you see.” It wasn’t the normal vocal tone of his playfulness or his mischievous side. Instead, the smile slowly fell as there was a different type of look that overshadowed his gaze. He didn’t look away from her at all. His face was slowly expressing a dark look along with hints of misery.
Finally, she flickered her periwinkle irises towards him, her brows pinching together to give him a look of sympathy. “This is where…” She began, a type of whisper that bloomed from sadness and agony.
“Where Earth was captured.” He finished her thought, using the sugar-coated words instead of what the true harsh reality of it was.
There was a wave of sadness that threatened to start to drown her in emotion, but she kept it hidden as best as she could; however, those sharp eyes of Spectre knew it was useless. A plethora of memories started to haunt her mind, engulfing her heart in nothing but pure misery as Aqua’s death started to replay in her mind.
Finally, her face started to scrunch in one of self-conflict as she tried to keep her face as neutral as possible, but she failed. When a soft and gentle touch had graced her shoulder, her periwinkle eyes slightly widened. She shifted her attention to look at Spectre. His facial characteristics started to blur as there were aquatic droplets that started to coat her entire eyesight.
“I…” Blue Maiden whispered in a soft, gentle tone that was immersed in nothing but pure sympathy. It felt like everything in her defenses slowly started to crumble as she couldn’t articulate the last and proper word to say it. Instead, her teeth sunk down onto her bottom lip.
Although her parents had been lost to a tragedy and Akira was the one that took the responsibility of both roles, there seemed to have been a pure disconnect. Miyu had been the child from the Lost Incident and not her. Days after everything that transpired and Playmaker had disappeared, the two girls started to speak even more frequently than before. She had managed to find out from Ghost Girl that Spectre felt as if he had lost part of himself.
She didn’t ask how Ema came to find out this crucial piece of information.
In the end, she started to question and wonder about how Miyu felt. There was a lot of dancing around the topic as she tried her best to hint at the information which she wanted to obtain, but it was utterly useless as Miyu knew that there was something that Aoi had been fishing for.
She had finally managed to ask her friend and it made her pause. Her words would haunt her.
“Like a piece of my soul died that day.”
It was the sentence that would continue to haunt her throughout endless nights of not being able to sleep until finally, there was a realization in which she couldn’t deny. Aqua’s death had hit her differently, mostly when Ai had confronted her about Pandor being in Aqua’s place; however, did it mean that she wasn’t fully connected with water attribute ignis like the rest of the Lost Incident victims were on their own?
After all this thinking, she flickered her gaze upwards, wondering what type of words to say. Her throat had caught onto it, squeezing itself to not let any words free. She wasn’t truly a victim, right? Either way, there was a tiny spark that ignited, but she couldn’t stop the two tears that formed at the corner of her eyes that threatened to slip out with each passing second.
In her own way, she had mourned Aqua and missed her. Miyu’s description of how she felt and the hollowness that followed was extremely similar. Even if it wasn’t the same exact manner, she knew that it still counted. Her mind started to coax her into thinking of an absolute falsehood along with Ai’s previous words of Pandor and Aqua.
These thoughts had taken full control and there was an insecure emotion that started to paralyze her into complete silence.
“Blue Maiden?” It was the lone question in a neutral tone that had managed to claw her out of the depths from her mind.
She flickered her gaze up towards him again and blinked a little, managing to focus. “I’m sorry for your loss.” Her voice had a slight quiver to it, but she had managed to verbalize it.
There was a slight movement of Spectre being taken aback after the words had registered in his mind, but his lips turned into a genuine solace smile. He shifted his attention towards the sky, but then turned to look towards her once more after a longing moment. “Thank you.”
It seemed like this was a completely different side of Spectre in which she didn’t expect. There was an odd sensation that went through her entire being when the hand was retracted from her shoulder. Although she couldn’t immediately identify it, there was a calmness that started to come from the peaceful interaction that felt comforting from that lone action. Perhaps this was the type of emotion that she was feeling?
“How are you?” The question had slipped from her lips before she could register what she had asked.
Spectre seemed to have been slightly surprised by it once more, but he immediately started to hide behind the polite smile of his.
For once, Aoi didn’t feel any type of anger at it. Instead, she quietly waited for him to respond, but it never came.
There was a tiny flicker as if the playful and controlled mask that was plastered on his face the majority of the time finally cracked. For a microsecond, there was nothing but a saddened expression behind both cerulean eyes. He shifted his attention elsewhere as they immediately regained their composure. A hand reached upwards, letting his fingertips go through the strawberry ash strands of hair.
“As you can see, I’m not doing anything wrong. You can leave and report back to your brother.” His words were sharp as a rose’s thorns.
A tiny, miniscule frown appeared for a tiny moment before her mouth opened to let out the emotion she had been withholding this entire time. Slowly, her shoulders started to lower as did her guard. She threw him a look of pure sympathy as she tried to articulate what else she could do to soothe the difference in emotions.
In reality, she could still remember the harsh words that Spectre threw during their duel. How every word he said held nothing but manipulative power to tug her towards the way of losing. She could immediately see the reasons why Revolver had picked him as a right hand man; however, this wasn’t the time for her to falter for a second time.
Instead, she shifted her attention in an upwards motion. There was a ghastly sensation that itched and whispered at her to speak her truth while being true to herself while still continuing to try to offer a hand, offer words of comfort, or her own experiences on the matter completely.
“I…” It was a beginning start with the word, knowing that although she wasn’t as careful as Spectre, she was still stubborn and headstrong. Even though she had started, the words continued to echo in her mind as she tried to grasp the perfect combination. “Don’t know how you feel.”
There was a tiny movement of a brow that quirked.
“I really don’t.” Finally, her brows knitted together. The verbalization of the realization from within was enough to make her hand close into a stern fist before it floating parallel to her ribcage. “But for one, I’m sorry for your loss.” She knew that she had repeated the phrase, but this time it was said with more conviction and confidence.
A second had passed with pure quietness then another before Spectre’s brow quirked more, yet no words would escape from the smooth lips as he kept his focus on her face. There was a very small quint of his cerulean eyes as if trying to analyze through Blue Maiden.
Perhaps it wasn’t as easy to speak from the heart as the decades of being self-guarded from different types of individuals seemed to have made a complete mask around it. She reached upwards, her palms pressing against her own forearms as a self-soothing gesture to try to console herself.
Yet, Spectre continued to be silent. Instead, he slightly squinted a bit further which would have made him look completely ridiculous if it weren’t for the fact that he was relaxing his gaze each time he did. There was a slightly thoughtful expression that started to wash over his face as he was trying to articulate what the other was doing. Yet, he would give it a few more moments of silence.
After becoming rather frustrated with herself, she let out a soft noise of irritation before turning her attention towards him. Her hands balled into complete fists against her upper biceps. There was almost an immediate click in which it felt like the confinements of her heart were completely broken and she could finally vocalize on what was truly in her mind and heart after the events had transpired.
“I don’t know what you really went through, but I know that we both had our differences in the past.” She shifted her attention to look down and elsewhere, her arms starting to self-soothe even more by squeezing herself into a tighter hug. “But, I know that Earth and Aqua seemed to have been a closer bond than the others.” Finally, she managed to be bold enough to flicker her gaze directly towards Spectre’s.
There was a moment of pause as she stared at his face.
Spectre was calm, there wasn’t any type of malice throughout his facial features. There was a tiny voice of doubt that made her wonder if she was doing the right thing, but there was a tiny miniscule reaction in which she saw his brows move upwards. In reality, he hadn’t moved an inch from his spot. His complete attention was on her and he was actively listening to every word she spoke.
It made her heart jump within her chest, but she ignored it. Although she usually fought her brother to listen, here was a man who was doing it. Even when they were dueling, it felt like a similar reaction, but the only difference was that he wouldn’t use this information against her. At least… she secretly hoped so.
Either way, it gave her the courage although there was a voice that echoed throughout her mind that she was butchering this interaction completely.
“Aqua and I bonded for a very short time, but, maybe we can try to be the same. Maybe we can keep their memories going.” Now, she was starting to stumble across her words and she couldn’t help but awkwardly drop her arms to her side. She felt her cheeks start to warm up with a garnet hue due to embarrassment. Blue Maiden reached outwards with her palm extended upwards as an olive branch. “If… if you want.”
At the complete display of it, there was a moment in which Spectre blinked once before a noise of laughter erupted from the base of his throat. He dramatically threw his head back as his palm pressed against the temple of his forehead.
Blue Maiden’s periwinkle eyes quickly blinked twice in succession, her frown returning to her lips. She felt a spark of irritation and anger, trying to contain herself, but she couldn’t. A tiny scoff escaped from her lips and although she truly wanted to let out her frustration and anger on him, she wasn’t given enough time for it. Instead, Spectre interrupted her train of thought.
“Thank you.”
The two words had completely caught her off guard, but she continued to stare at his face with a look of confusion starting to form on her face. “What?”
“I said thank you.” Spectre’s smoothe smile had been on his face, but stopped to look towards her as his hand immediately dropped to his side to rest peacefully. “Blue Maiden, you’re still trying to show the kindness that Blue Angel wouldn’t have originally shown until after she gained friends. We’re from different worlds, but you’re here, extending friendship.”
She frowned a little in confusion, trying to follow his train of thought. There was a hint of wanting to vocalize a question at the tip of her tongue, but it never came as Spectre continued on.
“I’ll accept it.” Finally, it was Spectre’s turn to extend his hand into Blue Maiden’s as he gasped it and let their fingers intertwine.
“What?” She asked in a quizzical manner. “Why?”
The question went ignored for a couple of seconds before he shook his hand although hers was limp. “Because I’m still a fan of Blue Angel.”
Although it was a simple sentence, she couldn’t help but frown and nearly immediately demanded, “What’s the real reason?”
Spectre pulled his hand away before he placed it back onto his side once more, his brow raising in slight amusement even though his lips weren’t curled up into a smile any longer. “I need one? I thought that’s what you were implying when you offered to keep Earth’s and Aqua’s memories going, unless if you’re taking back what you just said.”
“W-What?” Blue Maiden stuttered, her lips continuing to stay in a frown. “Of course not.”
“Then?” He said in a teasing manner as he leaned in, their faces becoming too close for comfort.
Blue Maiden’s cheeks started to get dusty with a garnet color once more, but she moved backwards. There was a tiny sense in which she was grateful that her brother wasn’t actively watching each of her movements, but the more Spectre leaned in, the more she stumbled backward. It was the last time her shoe took a step backwards to create more distance between the two in which her periwinkle eyes widened with shock as she let out a tiny yelp.
Gravity harshly pushed her down as the misstep caused her body to immediately fall backwards. A hand reached out and curled around her wristlet, Spectre’s quick reflexes making sure that she hovered in the air.
Everything seemed to have been well, but due to the center of gravity along with the different weight distributions and her desperate attempt to steady herself, she felt herself tug on him rather too tightly. Soon, she let out another tiny help as the different skies of Link VRAINS surrounded them completely.
It was such a quick and intense reaction that her eyes immediately shut out of instinct before she could articulate that she could save them both. When two arms protectively wrapped around her, she felt rather puzzled, but shifted her attention towards Spectre’s face that was rather close to her own.
A moment of admiration soon turned as she started to drastically maneuver their bodies in a way that her wristlet was free from any touch.
“Hang on!” She yelled out the immediate order.
“Well, I would hope so!” the response was nearly immediate in her ear.
Although she knew that she could immediately bite back with a comment of her own, she had ignored her intuition to do that completely. Instead, she let her palm grasp over the wristlet to make sure to activate the wings on the avatar. It was a success.
Even if it was sloppy, there were two pixelated artificial lights that sprouted from her back that manifested in a sky blue and white glow that metamorphosed into two types of wings. Once the glow had transitioned to show their white, feathery texture, they started to immediately guide them towards a different location that was lower in altitude.
Feathers started to softly fall and settle throughout them, but they immediately started to flap once then twice to gain momentum. Blue Maiden’s arms tightly wrapped around Spectre’s body until she used their weight to change the velocity of their pace. When Spectre’s feet softly touched the concrete rooftop of another location then her own did.
Once they both stabilized themselves with their balance, she slowly let go, her becoming oblivious about the tiny distance between the two of them. It wasn’t until she turned to look at Spectre’s face that her own cheeks were assaulted with an extremely vermillion hue.
Everything seemed as if it was going to repeat itself when her body flinched backwards in surprise, but this time, the pale wrist that wrapped around her waist pulled her close. Her body immediately pressed up against his own, their faces starting to hover over one another. She could nearly feel his artificial breath on her own cheek.
One major difference this time was that Blue Maiden took a pause to admire how both of his demeanor had drastically changed. Slowly, her shoulder tension started to disappear as she took in his facial expression that was coated with pure sadness. There was a look of desperation as if he had been trying to keep any type of negative emotion within.
The smile that was the façade and mask that he was easily known for was nearly nonexistent now. It was an automatic gesture as her hands reached upwards onto those pale cheeks before her thumbs ran against the transparent droplets of water. Her own facial muscles started to mimic his own in an act of sympathy and empathy.
Although his name was at the tip of her tongue, her body held completely still when the instant reaction was to flinch when the other let out an audible sob. It felt like a domino effect started as the chain reaction continued. Her periwinkle eyes watched as aquatic tears started to form at the corner of his eyes as another sob escaped him.
An invisible trail of tears started to create themselves as he closed each eye to let himself manifest each emotion he kept well hidden. Her arms went around him as she pressed his own body closer to her own, a hand reaching up to be softly placed onto his strawberry blond hair. She could feel how his body was tensing and relaxing beneath her different touches.
Every sob that reached her ear felt like a different blade pierced through her heart. The hand on his hair began to stroke and go within the different strands. Even though she knew that the right action and thing to do was to offer words of comfort, there weren’t any.
The mourning of Earth and Aqua had been different. Instead, she squeezed her arms around him tightly in a comforting manner before she gave into her own sadness and let her own eyes glisten with a thin amount of fresh tears.
It felt like time would continue for the two until a few moments of silence passed. Spectre’s hand reached upwards, but her delicate fingers wrapped around it to halt his movements completely before her own went to his soaked cheeks to rub away the residue of tears. Her hand continued upwards afterwards, letting her fingertips run through his hair and followed the natural arch that it had been.
She was only met with a soft squeeze around her torso. The two arms that were around Spectre remained there. When she could feel his cheek on her shoulder, she didn’t even turn away.
Sometimes there isn’t any need to comfort as someone’s presence was enough.
At least, those were Ghost Girl’s words to her at some point. Blue Maiden started to indulge in the feeling, shifting her attention towards the sky. Everything felt artificial and while there were individuals that were floating around in the distance, they went completely ignored. There was a tiny little beep that indicated that her brother was trying to contact her with the report.
It went ignored.
“You should answer that.” Spectre’s voice softly cracked, yet he didn’t pull away at all.
“He can wait a few minutes.” It was an immediate answer although she could hear the fatigue in his voice. There was a question inside of her mind if Ryoken would have comforted this way, but it wouldn't be verbalized as she knew that it didn’t concern her.
A soft, rare and genuine chuckle escaped from Spectre’s lips before he pulled away. Two hands reached upwards to wipe the rest of the tears away. When he turned to face her, his lips showed a very gentle and genuine smile that reached his eyes. There was no malice behind them and she nearly felt breathless at the tiny natural twinkle in his eyes. “No, he can’t.”
Although she truly wanted to argue, she knew that he had a point. After letting out a subtle huff, she opened her wristlet and moved her hand in the air to make sure that the message she had typed would be sent back. After it, she read the immediate response from her brother. It seemed like a satisfactory answer, but when she turned to look towards Spectre, he had already turned to walk away.
Blue Maiden didn’t hesitate to jog a little after him, her hand reaching out to hold his hand in her touch. “Wait,” She hurriedly said, giving him a small look of sympathy. “Will you be okay?” It sounded rather idiotic but she wasn’t sure what else to voice. Instead, she immediately added, “Should I call Revolver?”
At the mention of that specific name, he paused and turned towards her. There was a small frown that manifested on his lips as his brows furrowed in a specific manner to emphasize it. “No. I’m not going to bother Revolver-sama with my issues.”
“Issues?” Blue Maiden frowned, “There are no issues. You’re mourning and he should be there to comfort you.”
“What we do shouldn’t concern you.” It was a deep, harsh, and commanding tone that came from their right.
Blue Maiden’s and Spectre’s gaze flickered to the audible source, but he immediately pulled his hand away to place it over his own heart and gave a small bow. “Revolver-sama.”
“You said you were going to only be gone for a certain amount of time and it exceeded that. I came to see what was keeping you.” It was said in a calm and controlled manner. His gray irises turned from him towards Blue Maiden’s avatar. “Now I see what it was. I’ll let you be, but I need you to hurry back.”
“Understood.” Spectre’s automatic response came from his lips.
Revolver shifted his gaze towards Blue Maiden then turned his back towards both of them. He was about to become pixelated, but there was an upset voice that halted his movements and caused the reaction of his shoulders slightly tensing up.
“You should be comforting over his loss.” Blue Maiden frowned, her hand becoming into a tiny fist. “He lost his ignis and you should–”
“He didn’t have an ignis.” Revolver corrected, shifting his head to look towards her. His brows furrowed as a sharp frown thinned his lips. “I’m not sure what you are insinuating, but you’re wrong.”
“Of course Earth was part of Spectre–” She fought, but was immediately interrupted.
“We’re all aware of how Spectre was connected to Earth. Now that ignis is gone. Whether he’s talked to me or if I’ve comforted him is none of your concern or business.”
“But–” She protested.
“Just how it isn’t my business whether that’s what he was seeking from you here.” Although Revolver’s voice was controlled, his facial expression showed nothing but annoyance with a hint of anger in it. “Whether he talks to me about specific things like the ignis is his decision. I was well aware of where he was.”
Blue Maiden couldn’t help but frown a little more, knowing the other had a point. She had jumped to conclusions, but there were untapped emotions within that she couldn’t help. What surprised her, however, was Revolver’s white-gloved finger that was raised.
“One: I know Spectre more than you.” He lifted another finger, “Two: Not everyone has the same way to emotionally communicate.” Finally, the last finger lifted itself, “And three: Just because it was my mission to eradicate ignis’, it doesn’t mean that I won’t be there for when he needs me.”
She paused at his reasons and couldn’t help but remember Playmaker’s quote. It was nearly eerie as she could see Playmaker’s actions, voice, and mannerisms being mimicked by Revolver.
Be careful. You’re playing with fire.
Was this what he meant? Blue Maiden didn’t have enough time to articulate another thought as Revolver turned his head before his body started to pixelate in front of her. A tiny scoff escaped her lips even if a wave of feeling embarrassed had passed through her.
“Blue Angel,” Spectre spoke up and she frowned a little, wondering if there would have been another verbal lashing that would have come from it; however, Spectre slowly stepped closer until he was in front of her. “Thank you.”
Those were the only two words said as she was stunned by soft lips pressed against her cheek. The next vision she saw was Spectre’s smiling avatar becoming pixelated and she was left alone in Link VRAINS.
Her fingertips came upwards to her pink cheek, giving it a very gentle touch.
Had she done the right thing…?
A tiny smile started to spread as her heart started to fluidly dance with the mere action of pure affection.
You’re welcome, Spectre.