"Are you okay?" He whispers, fear in his voice. Poor Rin, leave it to him to get all worried about others when he gets nervous XD
"Y-yeah, I'll be fine," Shiawase whispers back. "It just. . .it just burns a little. It's nothing to. . .to worry about. . ." Her breathing speeds up despite her trying to keep it down. "It just burns."
That's Rin - Isorin - but that. . .why does that matter to you as well? Itami asks. He's not from here.
Hitari wheezes. "Sorry, that's just. . .'he's not from here'. 'He's not from here'! That's. . .oh, that's a funny one." He glances at you again. "You do realize, assuming that I know what you're talking about, the kid being here would upset some cosmic balance. Or something like that." He shrugs. "A world gets sick and weakens when something that's not supposed to be there is. I would've thought you know that, Itami. Most of you do."
Gee, thanks?
Mystiria827
Level 69
The Perfectionist
Joined: 12/21/2019
Threads: 40
Posts: 5,901
Posted: 12/30/2020 at 10:57 PM
Post #1113
Rin clenches his fists, trying to regain control of himself. He's terrified, to say the very least.
Rin clenches his fists, trying to regain control of himself. He's terrified, to say the very least.
"It's like a sickness," Hitari says, continuing forward. "When an illness arrives, it may not do much, but it will make you vulnerable. Vulnerable, say, to a virus that tries to clean everything up best it can, making everything it infects pure as it was when it started."
. . .so you're a janitor? Itami asks.
Hitari tightens his grip on the fragment. "Never call me that."
Noted. . .
"I simply take away what isn't needed." Hitari throws his hands in the air. "And what isn't needed - or doesn't belong - usually ends up being everything. I ensure everything goes back to a clean slate."
"That. . .is that why this hurts so much?" Shiawase murmurs. "Just a scratch. . .and. . ." She wobbles again. "I'm. . .going to sit down. . ."
Mystiria827
Level 69
The Perfectionist
Joined: 12/21/2019
Threads: 40
Posts: 5,901
Posted: 12/30/2020 at 11:11 PM
Post #1115
Rin is frozen in place. What does he do? Does he run? Does he fight? Negotiation doesn't seem like the best option, especially for someone as blundering as himself.
Rin is frozen in place. What does he do? Does he run? Does he fight? Negotiation doesn't seem like the best option, especially for someone as blundering as himself.
Running. . .probably isn't the best choice, considering he's just a little faster than you. Just a little.
Hitari waves his hand dismissively. "Long story short, this version of the world is. . .disgusting. Absolutely riddled with mistakes."
Itami sits there, thinking, before he speaks. What happened to your world?
Hitari narrows his eyes. "What do you mean?"
What do you think I mean? Something clearly happened to you, to your world. . .who knows.
"Oh, you're a story-teller, aren't you. I always hated people that try fabricating some new reality," Hitari says as he drives the shard into the ground. The earth around it turns empty - like a void. "All you need know is that I'm the first. The original. Every other world, every other 'me'. . .all we need is one universe with the best of them all." He looks at you with cold eyes. "It just happens to be that the original is best. That's a quote, isn't it?"
"The. . .original? Does that mean the first with alternate timelines and universe following, or someone cloned?" Shiawase asks herself out aloud.
Mystiria827
Level 69
The Perfectionist
Joined: 12/21/2019
Threads: 40
Posts: 5,901
Posted: 12/31/2020 at 9:06 AM
Post #1117
Rin's heart is pounding fast. He shrinks back a little at Hitari's gaze.
Rin's heart is pounding fast. He shrinks back a little at Hitari's gaze.
"Now, that's a good question, Shiawase," Hitari says. "But why not both? Every alternate timeline - every alternate universe - is a clone of the original, but with something slightly changed." Another shard blooms into his hand. "For example - I've come across many that are. . .developed. Bustling. Then I find places like these - completely empty and desolate." He frowns. "Except, in this case, it's not empty. Which means this line must've fallen."
"Fallen"? Itami asks. His arm's finally stopped its bleeding as he moves his hand from it. What is that supposed -
"You ask that a lot, you know? It means that this version's fallen - fallen right from how it's all supposed to be." Hitari frowns. "Right now, altogether, there are about twenty alternates of the original. The more you have, the more different they gradually become from their starting point. But, this one. . .it's an outlier. It must be fixed."
The void around the crystalline thing he drove into the ground groans and expands. "But first I want to see what this place is made up of."
