Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Though he was tempted to stay inside much longer, Vahn knew it would be easier for them both if he left sooner. They had already drawn the attention of the challengers who had gathered on the near-side of the gorge so, after embracing for several minutes, Vahn ultimately released his hold on the Memory Fragment. This action broke through the last vestiges of his defense, tears flowing freely as he smiled and forced himself to say, "I pray for your happiness...I'm not sure how long it will take for me to forgive you for this but, no matter what, I will do my best to protect the legacy you left behind..."

With what could only be described as a bitter and pained smile on her face, Scáthach nodded her head in understanding. This action caused a single tear to escape her left eye, tracing the curve of her face before collecting as the point of her chin. She made no effort to wipe it away so, before they parted ways for the last time, Vahn reached out, liberating the single droplet and freezing it using his Source Energy. Though it wasn't a 'real' tear, he could even manifest objects within the Virtual World so, with his Source Energy to sustain it, Scáthach's tear had been immortalized for perpetuity...

If her were being honest with himself, there was a lot Vahn wanted to say but, knowing the person he wanted to speak to was no longer with him, he ultimately turned away. This caused the knot in his throat to become even more painful, but, as this was the path she had chosen, he decided to respect his Shishou's decision. He would probably never agree with her choice, but, in the grand scheme of things, it was hers to make.

With Vahn turning away from her, Scáthach learned what it meant to have your heart broken as, in a vain attempt to have him stay just a moment longer, she reached out her hand only for his body to vanish into thin air. As a result, she moved through the location he had been standing moments prior and, nearly tripping over despite her usually perfect balance. Part of her couldn't believe he had just left so suddenly as, at least once, she wanted them to be together as lovers...

Feeling an indescribable bitterness well up inside her, Scáthach fell to her knees, and, to deter the group nearing her position, she created a pitch-black barrier to obscure her figure and the sound emanating from within. She couldn't even remember the last time she had experienced such pain as, due to her nature as a Memory Fragment, she no longer possessed her troublesome Innates, including her [Wisdom of the Haunted Ground]. Though this had been part of her intentions from the start, as she wanted to live her life without their influence, Scáthach, for the first time in a very long time, experienced true regret...

Though injuries didn't translate between a spiritual simulation and the real world, Vahn wasn't surprised to find his real body had been shedding tears. Even the calming caress from the young woman whose lap he had borrowed was within his expectations so, for several minutes, he just lay there without saying a word.

Now that he had left the orb, an extremely powerful seal prevented access so, unless he went to great lengths to break it, there was no way for him to meet with the memory fragment belonging to his Shishou. Thus, with the flow of time inside matching the central time axis, it would likely be years before they were able to meet again. By then, she would have undoubtedly changed more than he could imagine, but, as he too was bound to change, Vahn repressed his urge to forcibly unseal the memories of the young woman showing concern for him...

Fortunately, as Arcueid had been comforting him throughout the inexplicably painful parting, it didn't take too long for Vahn to regain his composure. Despite this, he continued to lay on the younger Scáthach's lap, organizing his thoughts and, though it wasn't exactly fair to them, shifting his negative emotions toward his enemies.

Had Musashi not cut off Scáthach's arm, Vahn wouldn't have been so easily convinced to summon five additional versions of her. If she had never learned about her Lily versions separation from the Land of Shadows, the chances of her putting this plan into motion were negligible, at best. Thus, without a 'simple' solution, there was a chance that several years would pass, time enough for him to potentially change Scáthach's mind on the matter.

Now, Vahn had learned a hard lesson about what it meant to respect the intentions and desires of those around him. He had once convinced himself that, if the people he cared about chose to die of natural causes, he would not interfere. He had even gone so far as to decide that, unless they put in the effort to obtain it, he wouldn't grant anyone immortality. These were both sensible and relatively simple promises to make but, now that he experienced the bitterness that accompanied the reality he pursued, Vahn realized he had been childishly optimistic.

In more ways that one, Vahn had become a very selfish person but, as he only ever wanted the people around him to be happy, he never considered this a bad thing. While this wasn't exactly wrong, it had done nothing to actually prepare him for the loss he was doomed to experience, so, in the future, Vahn realized he would need to be more resolute and decisive. Though he would never stop dedicating himself to the things he believed in, the final lesson bestowed to him by his Shishou was not one he would soon forget...

After organizing his thoughts, Vahn surprised Scáthach by suddenly rising to a seated position without notice. Then, before she could make any inquiries, he turned to her and said, "From now on, I am your Master in both name and purpose. I have been entrusted with the task of training you to the best of my ability so, if you choose to follow me, I will dedicate myself to guiding you in all matters, both martial and domestic. Tell me, Scáthach, will you accept me as your teacher...?"

Though she was overwhelmed by a sudden bout of confusion, Scáthach wasted not time before bending the knee, her right hand covering her heart as she bowed her head and answered, "It would be my honor. I will not waste this chance you have given me, Master. With your guidance, I will aim to become one of the strongest in the world, second only to yourself..."

Hearing Scáthach's affirmation, Vahn nodded his head approvingly before saying, "Listen carefully, as I am about to impart to you your first lesson..."

Not expecting to begin so soon, Scáthach was momentarily caught off guard but, in spite of this, she managed a resolute, "Ha!" before raising her head and paying close attention to her Master's next words.

Seeing how obedient Scáthach was, Vahn felt a host of incongruous emotions but, borrowing a page out of his Shishou's book, he kept a mask of abject calm as he stated, "My only desire is that you learn what happiness means to you and, so long as it doesn't infringe upon the happiness of others; I would encourage you to do everything in your power to obtain i. It is only when people have something they want to protect that they are able to obtain true power so, in order to avoid straying onto the path of corruption, find things worth cherishing. These things will become heavy burdens along your path but, without them, the only fate awaiting you at the end of your path is loneliness..."

Though what Scáthach had done wasn't something he could easily forgive, Vahn knew she wasn't wholly to blame. If he hadn't changed his mind many years ago, forcing her to acquiesce to a life he had chosen, none of this would have happened. He was reaping the harvest of his own greed and, while he didn't regret the choice he had made, that didn't stop him from feeling bitter about it. Now, his only way forward was to move on and, though it wouldn't be easy, he would take care of Scáthach's legacy so that when her two halves became a singular whole, she would be able to see that there were other paths available to her.

Hearing her Master's words, Scáthach committed them to memory while mentally carving them into her heart. She already knew the importance of using her power to protect and, though she had a feeling of incongruity while thinking about it, plenty of things worth cherishing came to mind, first a foremost being her Master. Thus, with a resolute look on her face, Scáthach took a deep breath before answering, "I have received your wisdom, Master. I swear, I will not let you down." in a solemn tone.

Resisting the urge to educate her on the many ways her counterpart had let him down, Vahn just nodded in response to his eager pupil. Then, after telling her to pay attention to her lessons and ordering her to continue protecting the children, Vahn alighted to Avalon. In the future, he would train her alongside the others but, for the time being, Vahn had a strong desire to retreat into the Inner Sanctum. He still needed to explain the situation to the others but, afterward, he intended to hole himself up in the Menagerie until he was calm enough to interact with his children without causing them to worry...

Unaware of the mental anguish his mortal enemy was going through, the shaggy-haired man, Archimedes, was tirelessly typing away on a terminal within his laboratory, this one located so deep beneath the earth's Surface that it was possible to cultivate and rear various mythical plants and animals.

After collecting information about Vahn, Archimedes had determined that he had a fixation on Spirits and other creatures so, rather than rely on golems and automatons, his next strategy was to infiltrate Avalon using artificially created Fae. The island was rumored to be a haven for all Spirits so, while humans may have trouble invading, it seemed relatively simple to send in a few Fae to infiltrate. He already had some success probing the waters around the island so, in the hopes of obtaining actual information about Avalon, he didn't mind investing the time required to nurture a few Spirits...

While Archimedes was busy analyzing the data on his monitor, the woman Vahn and Co correctly presumed to be Musashi was busy performing routine maintenance on her cherished katanas. At the same time, the white-haired girl that served as the template for the entity known as Betty was sitting nearby with a large picturebook on her lap. She was accompanied by a haggard-looking man with deep-set eyes and a long face but, as if his presence didn't disturb her in the slightest, she happily read the contents of the book while he stared, unblinkingly, at the pages...

After reaching the end of the picture book, Betty? snapped it shut and, with a smile on her face, turned to the man and asked, "Did you like it? This one was called Little Red Riding Hood."

In response to her question, the gaunt man dutifully nodded his head and, though it didn't suit his face in the slightest, a crooked grin spread across his lips as he said, "I liked the part where the Huntsman cut open the wolf's stomach..."

Though Betty? smiled in response to the man's words, Musashi spontaneously stopped polishing her katana to remark, "You're a real weirdo, you know that? You might not be so haunted by your thoughts if you stopped focusing on the morbid parts of every children's story you read. I mean, seriously, are you trying to infect Alice with your creepiness?"

Hearing Musashi's words, the gaunt-faced man hung his head in shame but, in an effort to defend him, Alice jumped to her feet, shouting, "Mu-chan, don't be mean to Love-chan! He hasn't done anything wrong...!"

With a little girl screaming in her face, Musashi raised both hands in a gesture of surrender before picking up her katana and saying, "You're right, Alice. I was wrong. Will you please forgive me?"

Though she continued to puff out her cheeks for several seconds, Alice ultimately nodded her head after Musashi brought her hands together in a pleading gesture. Before she let her off, however, she stated matter-of-factly, "You have to apologize to Love-chan, not me. If he doesn't forgive you...I...I won't forgive you either!"

Fortunately, even without Musashi's insistence, Lovecraft immediately chimed in, saying in a deep and brooding tone, "Alice, Musashi was only saying what was on her mind. You needn't go out of your way to defend me. I am well aware of my peculiarities and do not begrudge others for how they view me. Come, let Musashi go about her business. I hid away a slice of cake earlier so why don't we head to the kitchen to eat it...?"

Hearing Lovecraft's response, Musashi gave him an appreciative smile and a thumbs up but, despite the temptation of cake, Alice wasn't appeased. She didn't like how everyone else was mean to Lovecraft just because he was different so, rather than let Musashi off the hook, she held up her oversized picture book, showing that the title had changed from 'Little Red Riding Hood' to 'Hansel and Gretel'. Then, before Musashi could 'escape' to go patrol, she stated in a firm tone that didn't leave room for argument, "Read for us. If you read for us, I will forgive you."

Seeing no way out, beyond forcing her way through, Musashi ultimately ended up releasing a profound sigh before accepting the picture book from Alice's hands. It was her fault for saying something insensitive but, as Lovecraft was just too strange, she couldn't help herself. Since she didn't want to upset Alice too much, Musashi decided to just acquiesce to her demands as, while patrolling was important, it was also incredibly boring.

While doing her best to ignore the palpable chill radiating from Lovecraft's body, Musashi took a seat on the nearby lounge, allowing Alice to sit in her lap while the gaunt-faced Lovecraft lingered over them like a ghost. This gave her a strong urge to refuse Alice's request but, as she didn't like being called a coward, Musashi opened the book to the first page, reading, "This all happened a long time ago, in your grandmother's time, or in her grandfather's..." in an exasperated tone.

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Two selfish people','The clash between ideals and reality is rarely without its fair share of victims...','Life goes on, whether you like it or not')

(A/N: I left a comment if you'd like some insight into why Vahn seems to be acting like a prick.)