Currently, somewhere...
It is I, Emilia! It's been two days since I left my old friend Squall and her 'associate' in the harsh winter desolates outside the city. Now I should be able to move forward with my continued goals of collecting dark mana.
With those two gone, I began mulling over how I could increase the intake of the mana I needed. After a night or two of that, I was forming a solid idea of what I can do next...
Emilia thought to herself, ''Hmm... That...could work... (Minor chuckling) Why didn't I think of that before? It's perfect! After all, what happened before worked to some degree, ...so this should work.....
Without further ado, it's time to go out! (Echoed chuckling)''
Meanwhile, in Squall's room...
It's been a day for us, since we came back from being abandoned outside the city... I took my younger self's advice and tried to 'harp' less on everything...
Soon after I got back, I couldn't stop thinking about one sentence I said in my mind before... Previous Squall's words, 'Stay away from us. (Inside mind) -_My friend!-_'
Squall thought to herself, ''Why did.....my mind say that? . .Hmm..... Am I..... Beginning.....to think...of her... as.....my friend? (Deep in thought)''
I couldn't stop myself from staring at the doll of Jizelle I made... I wasn't sure what to feel, how to act... How to actually move forward..... Words of my younger self were constantly echoing in my mind as well...
Squall thought, ''We're...not friends... I know that... However..... Why.....does my heart...feel so.....agonized? . .Hrm... It never...occurred to me before, but.....what is she...in my eyes? How do I feel about her?''
Then, I heard my earpiece click from my desk, telling me that Jizelle...is on the other side of it, trying to talk to me... I walked over and put it on.
Squall said, ''What is it?'' Jizelle replied, ''I need to report some things to you. Could you please come to my office if your not busy?'' Squall replied, ''Hm... I will be there...shortly.''
A bit later, in Jizelle's office...
Jizelle said smiling, ''Greetings, Squall. Now, let's sit down well I tell you some information...'' Squall nodded in affirmation.
Jizelle said, ''Do you remember how I agreed to do research on those bizarre dreams you were having?'' Squall nodded in agreement.
Jizelle said dejectedly, ''With as much details as you told me, I intensely researched every angle I could..... Unfortunately, I came up with nothing...''
Squall replied despondently, ''Umm... Alright... I didn't expect you would be able to in the first place... (Lost in thought)''
Jizelle said hesitantly, ''However, There was something...I hoped to ask you, if you're okay with it?'' Squall questioned, ''What?''
Jizelle said nervously, ''Before, after I was losing hope in finding anything, my mind thought of a question, I was surprised I didn't think of before...
Umm... All this time, we never solved where Emilia has been staying. Think about it. Have you ever gotten a clue where she has been living?''
Squall thought with surprise, ''No... I haven't... Mm..... She never said anything about it...'' Jizelle asked, ''All this time... We have been looking for any signs...to where she could be in this vast city...
But maybe, she isn't in the city after all, don't you think so?'' Squall hesitantly said, ''(Surprise) . .I never thought.....of that.....possibility..... (Thinks)''
Squall thought, ''How did...that never...occur to me... If so...where has she been...since then... (Small hyperventilating) . . . .'' Jizelle asked with worry, ''Squall? Are you alright? What's wrong?''
Squall quietly shouted, ''I'M FINE!! (Calming down) . . . .Don't concern.....yourself.....with me.....'' Jizelle asked, ''Are you sure, .....you're fine?'' Squall said anxiously, ''Let's get back.....to the subject.....''
Jizelle asked, ''Alright... Let's.....continue... (Groans) . . If we both assume, that she isn't living in the city, she must be living somewhere else outside, wouldn't that be correct?''
Squall nodded in agreement. Jizelle said, ''Now that I look back on it, ...she talked like she knew how the winter desolates were like... (Thinks and said.) . . . .She could only be staying in a few places...''
Squall had a expression of shock. Jizelle said, ''she might be staying either in a unknown cave, abandoned building, underground, or somewhere else unexplored.....''
Squall thought, ''I suppose... that would... make sense...'' Jizelle said while standing up, ''Well, I will start looking up possible locations outside the city she could be, ...and you can leave now... (Laughs) Thanks for listening, Squall.''
Squall stood up and said hesitantly, ''Um... Thanks...for your help... (Turns around) I will leave now...'' Jizelle said, ''Squall..... Hmm! Let's get started, for her sake!''
With that, I went back to my room to process what we learned... Following that, I decided I would craft a doll of Emilia, how I remembered her when she was still my friend.....
Thereafter, a questioning thought kept echoing in my thoughts. Squall's mind asked, 'Emilia..... Where...have you...been living.....all this time.....?'
The next day afternoon, in Squall's room...
Squall thought, ''It's...complete... A doll...of Emilia... before she changed..... (Moans) Before...they.....''
Afterwards, I began ruminating on my parents deaths again... Luckily, that time, my trauma didn't get triggered again.....
Soon after, her ring on my desk began flashing once again... In the corner of my sights, I noticed it. I quickly got up and ran to it.
Squall thought, ''It's flashing faster this time... (Gasps) Is...she... close by? It might be my chance! (Rushing)''
I began rushing down the stairs as fast as I could. I kept paying attention to the status of the ring, and a massive amount of thoughts were going through my mind.
I thought if I could catch up to her, I might've been able to ask her some pressing questions. After I passed the mansion's courtyard, the ring's flashing was starting to flash consistently...
I took that to mean, that she must have been close... The ring guided me in the southeast direction away from the mansion. After I ran through a couple of blocks, something happened...
I saw the familiar back of Emilia walking further down the street... In that moment, she turned around, took a stance and as she looked ahead, she saw me and had a expression of pure shock.
Emilia thought, ''No... She can't be-'' Squall thought, ''Ahh!! It that her?!''
When she had that expression, she vanished once again... I was in shock, just like she was... After I gained my composure, I ran down the street and tried to investigate if there was any clues to help us...
Unfortunately, I didn't find a single clue... Soon after I realized there was nothing, behind me, I started hearing various mumbling. When I turned around, I noticed something was amiss...
Various chatter, 'Is that right?' 'I...never thought of it that way...' 'Huh? Who is that?!' 'No! No! That can't be right! It can't be!'
I noticed that only a few civilians were walking around, like everything was fine, while some others acted like they were being tormented. In that moment, it hit me.
Squall urgently thought, ''(Gasps) Don't tell me she- she did something to them! . . . .What's going on?!''
In that moment, I decided it would be best to prepare my guns and see what would happen. Right after I pulled out my guns, I heard screaming from other streets nearby...
Various nearby shouting, 'Argh! What's wrong with you?!' 'Get away from me!' 'I thought you were my friend!' 'What are you doing?!'
Squall realized, ''Wait! . .This seems too similar to when I fought all those enraged civilians recently. Was she... Was she responsible for those events too?!''
Raging male shouted, ''Your right! Why shouldn't he die for what he did to me?! He betrayed me and he doesn't deserve it!''
Enraged girl said, ''Ever since mommy married that new odd man, she never pays attention to me lately! (Sniff) Doesn't she love me anymore?!''
Jealous woman cried out, ''I know who that other woman is! He is going to regret that decision!''
Since it was similar to what happened to that night, I attempted to bring out those strange wings that grew out of my back once before, but I couldn't get it to happen...
Once I was convinced, the only thing I thought would work in this situation was attempting to use my new skill once again... I ran to the middle of the street and...
Squall said in her mind, ''Firing... EMP Bullet! . . . .(Sounds of people falling)'' After I made my shot, the burst was bigger this time. I noted later that it must be proportional to the mana I put in...
Like I assumed, it seemed to work. Oddly enough, after it worked, my ears picked up on static before I was overflowed with more memories...
Squall questioned painfully in her mind, ''Urgh! . .Are these...more...memories? (Various recollections) . . . .Wait! . .This sounds like... all these...victims were...betrayed...by one another.....''
After all of the painful memories stopped, I fell to my knees on the cold city street... When I regained my strength, I decided to check the streets nearby.
I quickly ran through each block making sure everything was over. Presumably, my attack worked on the nearby blocks. I saw a few civilians fainted on both streets...
Though when I extended my search northeast, I found two more close-by blocks with raging victims. I decided to try the same strategy once again.
Squall said in her mind, ''Focus... Firing..... EMP Bullet! . . . .(Sounds of people falling once more)''
Once more, more of the victims intense memories overwhelmed my mind... I realized that it seemed I was taking in more feelings of people betrayed by others...
Squall thought while in pain, ''Why...ugh! . .Why...are...these.....all memories.....of betrayed ones? . .How did.....she...accomplish this? (Groans)''
Soon after I was briefly still overwhelmed by everything, I could hear the civilians I saved a few minutes prior nearby, were back to raging once again, meaning it wasn't over...
Squall questioned in her mind, ''How! . .How...did...it...not work?! . .They fainted..... If it didn't.....truthfully work..... Can.....I do anything...to solve this...situation?''
As I was questioning what I could do, on the street I was on, the civilians that fainted only moments ago were now standing back up and were furious anew.
I was in complete shock, not knowing what to do... I was unable to move from that spot... At that moment, I.....
Squall said to herself, ''...Jiz.....elle...'' When I said her name out of desperation, something happened...
While in a trance, my body unexpectedly was floating up to the air and paused... Without my consent, my hands came together, accompanied by my bangs parting, and my glowing eyes in view...
Following, bright massive wings sprouted out of my back, once again... Various raging victims asked, 'Huh? What is that?' 'Who is that girl?' 'What is she doing?'
A voice through Squall proclaimed, ''All of you..... You have forgotten... forgotten how to have faith in something... beings which have long since been forgotten in mankind's hearts...
Various people, influenced and normal were questioning what it's words meant. Emilia's victims were mostly upset and beginning to grow more frustrated.
The voice through Squall said, ''-_-You all need healing and cleansing... I urge you to recollect. -_-_-_-_Remember what mankind h-_has long forgotten... -_-_Be saved b_ by our pure light-_-_-_-_''
When, the being speaking through my voice was done with it's speech, there was more static, following one more action...
My hands relaxed themselves, succeeding that action, my body filled itself with with bright mana so pure, I couldn't understand how it felt...
My wings were pointing upwards holding that position for a few brief moments, before they let go a massive flutter and a supreme flash of light...
Various civilians, influenced and normal questioned their inexplicable situation. Enraged victims began fainting one after the other, while average people felt oddly healed and at peace...
Somewhere else...
Emilia shouted in pain, ''(Massive sounds of pain) WHAT-IS-HAPPENING?!?! IT PAINS-ME!!!!''
Meanwhile, back with Squall...
During the whole event, I could hear what was being said through me, however I couldn't see anything but pitch black. I could feel everything as well...
After the extensive flash of light mana was complete, I felt my body slowly return to normal... In the moment, I was retuning to myself, I heard a single sentence said in my mind...
Voice laced with static said, ''-_-_The time...will-_-be...s_on...-_-_'' Squall asked, ''Soon.....?''
I slowly fell to the ground as I fainted in the streets, which did not...feel cold.....oddly enough.....
Next time...
[Time with Jizelle]
Jizelle said with glee, ''Hello!! After all of that, I am here to lighten the mood with my glorious presence! I know precisely what I can tell you all today! (Clears throat)
Today, I will share more about the inspiration of my friend, Squall. Like I said recently, our author had the idea of her character for a while, but wasn't sure how to implement her right.
The author is into a variety of different media and has tons of sources for inspiration when it hit's correctly.
If you know it, both our names are very similar to two protagonists from a 'certain retro military-fantasy RPG video game' they favor massively... However, that isn't her only inspiration. (Giggles)
Her inspiration also stems from the ideal of a stereotypical dark heroine with massive personality issues in a world that she feels, rejects her existence... Well, that's all for now! See you another time! (Giggling)''