"You should've just stayed in your own world. Do you realise what you've set into motion by stepping into this realm?" She muttered as tears started to flow from her eyes.
'Tears?' Shiro blinked her eyes in confusion.
"What's started can't be stopped anymore… As expected, not even you can escape the cycle she's set out for us hahaha… What's done is done. I'm sure you can track me down whenever you want now. Make it quick." 'Shiro' chuckled in defeat. Her eyes seemed to be devoid of hope as a wave of sadness could be seen on her expression.
"Find the other foreigner that arrived. I can only delay things for so long and she's already overstayed her welcome years ago." Looking at her own phantom body that seemed to fade away some more, the Shiro from the side of creation forced a smile before snapping her fingers.
Suddenly time resumed its flow as Gazir looked at Shiro with confusion since she suddenly stopped walking.
"Sorry, was just thinking about something." Shiro dismissed with a wave of her hand before leading the group again.
As she was walking, her expression was serious as she was thinking about what her other self was trying to say with her words.
'I can assume the foreigner she mentioned is probably Lyrica. Seems like it's the Lyrica from our world after all.'
[Seems so. But the main issue is what's been set in motion. She mentioned a cycle that someone has set out for you? Well… I assume she means the different 'Shiro's'.] Nimue frowned as she had expected the other Shiro to be fully hostile towards them.
After all, their last interaction was a matter of life for death.
'Let's just call her Shiro. C or something. Last time we saw her, she wanted me dead. But now that we've invaded her world I suppose, she's suddenly not hostile anymore? What's more is that she seemed saddened by it. If I set something in motion by stepping into this world, shouldn't the same rule apply when she entered the world of Destruction?' Shiro thought to herself as there were too many mysteries surrounding Shiro. C.
Too much information she didn't know about yet.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt[Do you think there's a chance that the 'she', Shiro. C mentioned is referring to Chaos?] Nimue asked curiously as there probably wasn't anyone ranked higher than Shiro except for Chaos. After all, Shiro was originally the First Born of Destruction.
'Maybe but I highly doubt it. As for the cycle, I have half the mind to think that she's mentioning the life and death of worlds. With this being the final world before everything is reset, maybe she's talking about that.' Shiro shrugged.
However, without a proper conversation with Shiro. C, she won't be able to figure out what she meant. But as Shiro. C had said, it's relatively easy to track her down. Especially now that they've come face to face.
Shiro had memorised her aura and energy signal. If she wanted to track her down, it'd be a simple task. But the first thing on her agenda was to take these civilians to safety then find Lyrica.
Leading the civilians to the safe house wasn't too difficult since it was just a matter of walking.
None of the puppets seemed to have an interest in them which made the journey a lot safer. There was one instance where a puppet came close but turned around and flew the other way. Almost as though they've been instructed to leave the group alone and avoid at all cost.
'Strange… perhaps I should capture one of them to read the code then rescue the souls.' Shiro thought to herself.
[At least wait till you finish resting. You've been spending every moment recovering from the side effects. And if you weren't resting, you were trying to track her down.] Nimue said as she felt as though she was about to collapse from exhaustion. While Shiro got to rest, she had to spend every moment repairing her body and mind.
'That's true. I should also give you some time to rest since you've been working non-stop.'
[You don't say. It's basically slavery at this point, urg.] Nimue complained as she continued to heal Shiro's body. She was looking forward to the break she was going to get. After all, the role of 'Healing Shiro' was about as stressful as things can get. Shiro is always on the verge of breaking down and it's a miracle she's even lasted this long.
Once her body had been healed fully, Shiro called for the group to rest so that she could take this time to satiate her curiosity over the puppet's behaviour.
"Now then… where's the closest test subject." Shiro muttered as she conjured up four scouts.
Sending them out, it wasn't long before they spotted one.
Waving her finger, the scout that spotted the puppet transformed into a net and captured it in an instant. Retrieving the puppet was no issue.
However, just as Shiro was about to read its code, the puppet's history seemed to be completely blank. It's almost as though it was just created the moment she captured it. There was not a single record of interaction except for the one right now.
Furrowing her brows, Shiro frowned slightly before massaging her neck.
"Seems like someone's trying to mess with me. Though that's to be expected considering the fact that the puppets are trying to run away like I'm the plague." Shiro shrugged.
[I mean… That's not incorrect.]
Shaking her head, Shiro set aside the puppet before snapping her fingers and sent more scouts to survey the area. The moment her scout discovered a puppet, she traded positions with it.
"Boo!" Curling her lips into a grin, Shiro reached out and grabbed the puppet by the head.
Circuits exploded out from her arm and injected themselves into the puppet, copying the full history of its code in one go.
[F*ck! I thought you were going to give me some time to rest!] Nimue shouted out in anger as she noticed the pressure Shiro was putting on her brain.
'Slight change of plans, don't worry too much about it.' Shiro reassured, causing Nimue to hold back the urge of throwing something at her.
Once she was done with copying the code, she grabbed the puppet and teleported back to her original spot. With two puppets now on hand, she separated the souls, repaired them and gave them the same options she gave to the others.
All while Nimue was hurling curses at her for giving false hope of a break.
With the group now expanding in size, Shiro gave them a rundown of what was happening and started to guide them towards the safe house once more.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmReviewing the information in her mind, Shiro was confused once more.
'Shiro. C is instructing them to avoid anything resembling a certain mana signal which is mine. And if they are caught by anyone, their 'history' will be reset so that no one can get any information from them. Is she doing it to stop me from finding out anything?' Shiro thought to herself.
[It seems like she has her own reasons. Even if you two were enemies before. She did tell you to track her down so she'll most likely explain in due time.]
'Possibly. Though it seems like she's doing all of this to stop the flow of information in any region we're in.' Shiro frowned. Shaking her head, she decided to take her time with the information she gathered to fully digest it and figure some things out.
###
Sighing softly, Shiro. C glanced down at her hands. While her right hand seemed normal, her left was akin to cracked porcelain. Breaking away slowly with each passing second.
Snapping her fingers, a wave of energy washed over her and hid her wounds.
With Shiro's movements and the 'extermination' of several puppets within the area, it's bound to create a commotion. Even if she tried her best with covering up the actions.
'Are all the foreigners this reckless? I have to cover for both of them now.' She thought to herself in annoyance before taking a deep breath.
She had some hope that things could be resolved peacefully when there was only one foreigner. But now that a second one had arrived, and it's Shiro no less, resolving things peacefully was no longer an option.
Standing up, she made her way out of her room and glanced at the mountain in the distance. Teleporting to the top, a lone woman sat on a stone throne while glancing at the moving clouds.
"Some of the puppets have died. I went to check out the situation but they move fast. They managed to evade my detection." Shiro. C said as the woman opened her mouth slowly.
"Another incident? Just make sure it doesn't affect paradise."
Wanting to say something, Shiro. C just nodded her head and left the area.
"Paradise huh…" Shiro. C muttered before letting out a hollow laugh.