1120. Clothina

“I trust your work is done?”

Michaela landed by Frost’s side, her feet stopping an inch short from touching the ground.

“Haaah… Haaah… I… I can’t confirm it yet.” Frost hugged her stomach. She was exhausted from the sheer mental strain of invading a Beholder’s State of Mind. “I… Got lucky… that she ingested my blood… Urgh. Where’s the blue blob?”

“Executed.” The Arbiter flaunted.

“Anything specific?”

“Annihilated.”

She took Michaela’s word for it and gave her a firm nod.

Nav

<

The Director’s completed his work. His strings should be tethered to her, according to him… And congratulations for surviving. I did not expect you to win so easily

>

“I didn’t think so either.” Frost admitted. “Michaela, have you spoken to the Director yet?”

“I have, though he prefers to speak only when necessary. I suspect I must have crossed him in the past.”

“Did you?”

“I doubt it. I don’t recall fighting a threadspinner. We must have crossed paths at the place Beyond the Veil. Otherwise, their character must have been forgettable.”

“I see… Nav. Can you confirm something with Lailah with me?”

“What do you need to confirm?”

Frost placed a hand on Marionette’s chest. Her eyes had not opened, and she could sense a presence stirring inside. The Light Clothina carried was brighter than she remembered, and Frost held her breath as she called out her name.

“Whether Clothina Crystalized an Ego.”

She remembered the blinding light. But nothing much after that. Everything had faded to black before she could see the results. It was at least confirmation that she didn’t succumb to Elysia.

And speaking of which–

“Elysia must have really fucking wanted her, huh.”

Her method of salvation would have caused Clothina to succumb to what she yearned to escape. She would have been an incarnation of purpose, more than she already was as Marionette.

Marionette’s eyes suddenly peeled open. A soft hiss came from hidden seams beneath her garbs, and her arms slowly lifted it aside. Her chest yawned open.

“… Hello…”

And the first thing Frost saw was a hand.

“… Amalgam… This is… an Ego…”

“… Yes. Yes it is.” Frost acknowledged it with a soft, pleasant voice. She kept her voice steady as to not startle Clothina, who was already struggling to breathe outside of her shell. “… Did you make it?”

Clothina stared intently at her hands. She herself didn’t seem to know whether she did, or if she had suddenly grown them. Furthermore, they were indistinguishable from a living arm. They were pale, and full of color, but they flopped from side to side unnaturally.

Since they were not made from flesh, they did not have bones to stabilize them.

Indeed, these limbs were made from her string.

Lailah confirmed it with her.

Desidia Reach

<

May The Strings Bring Us Together

>

ORIGIN :

Fate Threadspinner (Half-Manifested)

AFFINITY :

Purpose

TYPE :

Transformation

ATT :

8,500,000

MAG ATT :

8,500,000

EFFECT:

When used against Sloth Sins, deal 5x damage. Threads may be used to create Purpose-Affinity Virtues (Ascendia) at full manifestation

Clothina

Beholder Marionette

<

Beholder of Act X

>

LEVEL :

275

ORIGIN :

Nephilim

HP :

1,500,000

ATT :

0

MAG ATT :

0

ATT DEF :

0

MAG DEF :

0

MP :

500,000

RESIST :

0 (+30,000)

AGI :

5

A transformation-type Ego Crystallization. It was not immediately obvious what part of Clothina had changed, aside from her ability to create limbs. No further inspection revealed anything of note.

But it did not matter.

“… I can hear… The Archetype of Ego… And he… who calls himself the Director… The Benefactor’s voice has become so small…”

She trembled. The voice of the Star was her comfort. For it to be replaced landed her in unknown territory. She was so used to being guided that she did not know what to do, and she began unraveling as her limbs flopped around with her tremors.

“Clothina. The voices won’t ask you of anything. They’re going to help you. What you hear are the Archetypes. They won’t always talk to you. But I’m sure they will if you need them.”

“… I am not… a child…”

“I know. But child or not, this is how I talk to people. Don’t let pride stop you from wanting my help.”

Frost carefully placed a hand on her head. There wasn’t an ounce of awkwardness in her heart. This person was a Beholder. An ancient, enigmatic being who had abandoned their heart in pursuit of their philosophy. For others, it was a matter of greed.

But Clothina was not Beholder Marionette.

And true to her vow, she was willing to forgive the sins of a Healer, like they were her own child. To begin with, she had no intention of killing Beholder Marionette. Furthermore, she expected to bend negotiate with Marionette to bend Act X’s methods by a fraction.

What occurred here couldn’t have been more perfect. Aside from severing her from that Star, of course. The fact of the matter was that the Director was now in contact with Clothina.

And if by some chance he couldn’t convince her to change, nor Frost, then she was confident that Lailah could.

“It will not be easy. You’ll have to learn how to walk and use those hands. It’ll be hard to make amends. You’ve done too much damage. But it’s not irreparable.”

“… Despite my… resistance, you will… forgive me…?”

“You’ll be punished accordingly for the twins. But I will not punish you retrospectively for what happened before that. Clothina. There’s surprisingly little I need to tell you. You managed to Crystalize an Ego.”

An Ego Crystallization meant that she had embraced herself. It was considered the best possible outcome during a Corruption Event, barring an Awakening. Frost thanked herself for managing to find the right words to tell Clothina in her State of Mind, and she also considered herself lucky that Clothina was relatively normal when she was separated from her shell.

“A persona of my own…” Clothina still couldn’t believe it.

“The Ego is different. The persona is what you wear to protect the Ego. The Ego is

you

.”

Clothina’s eyes trembled. They quickly stabilized. Her hands slumped by her side, and her legs deflated into clumps of thread. She could not hold their forms for long, and her lips were beginning to turn blue due to the lack of oxygen.

“… In accordance with the Nexus’ Code of Conduct… How… can I–”

Frost cleaved her arm before she was able to finish. Blood poured into Clothina’s vessel from Frost’s severed stump. Additional blood spilled from blood crystals that protruded from her coat. She filled it till it was overflowing. The sheer amount of blood was enough for thirty people. Such an amount was a droplet to Frost.

“We’ll consult the Blood Angels for a specialized suit. The sooner we remove your dependency on Marionette, the better. Use my blood for now.”

“I require a… living slurry. The leftover… will work… Your blood… can last me several days… at the minimum…”

“Are you sure?”

Clothina wore a perplexed expression. Her eyes searched behind Frost’s. They were a reflection of her own uncertainty. The voice of the Celeste Star Fate never failed to relay predictions to her. For it to be replaced by the Director caused her to question it before eventually accepting it.

“… It is my first prediction… coming from the Director.”

“I see.”

Oi. Are you feeding her false hope or is this legit?

The Director

<

I assure you that this comes from a most legitimate source. I would not jeaportize my Beholder. Hm! I’ve longed to have the ‘Beholder’ section of my status filled! Oh, how complete I feel!

(Aside: Now I must wait for Purpose Main Sequence Corrupted!)

>

Her shell creaked. The vertical incision sealed as red mist sprayed from where Marionette’s prosthetics connected with her body. After a deafening click, light returned to Marionette’s eyes, and she lowered her head slightly in surrender.

“Clothina.”

“I prefer the name Marionette in this form. Though, it is acceptable from you. I will not accept it from anyone less than an Archetype.” Her formalities and mannerism returned.

“Can we save the twins?”

She nodded, albeit reluctantly.

“It is possible to retract the Script for good. The procedure takes little effort. But it applies maximum suffering. It depends on you.”

“What do you mean?”

Marionette’s expression darkened. Each vertebra of her spine snapped as she erected herself to full height. Her voice lowered in pitch as she asked Frost:

“If you are unwilling to devour memories because you are afraid of your nature, then, can you ask another to do the same?”

“I’ll do it myself if it’s necessary.”

Satisfied with the answer, Marionette pointed a finger in the direction of the Grand Stage.

“We must contact Lachesis. My strings are disorganized. She will come to despise us if we ask her an unprompted favor.”

“What exactly are we asking her to do for us?”

“Mothlinen can devour any string, be it mine, or that of a Star. Your maw erases. It has a particularly potent effect on souls. The Mothlinen, by comparison, absorb information they consume. Scripts carry knowledge that no living being should know. Beware, Amalgam. It is as addictive to Mothlinen as what memories are to you. She will consume the Script containing the Commandment–

–and it shall be rendered void.”

* * *

< Your Resonance with Beholder Marionette | Clothina Has Grown Considerably >

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Benefits will be gained the next time you interact with a Whitelight Apparatus

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Don’t forget about your [Nex Refinement] Ability!

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