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[3rd POV]
Arrows whizzed through the air as they narrowly missed a running mint-haired figure, "Gotta report, gotta report, gotta report!"
Phosphophyllite was quickly speeding through the frozen isle as fast as her agate legs allowed her. If it were not for the Lunarians shooting at her she would've probably stopped and taken a moment to take in the beauty of the thawing ice as the winter season was slowly coming to an end. An arrow passed by her cheek, narrowly grazing some white powder off her body but dealing no serious damage. The school building slowly came into view, the sight of her goal being so close already put a smile on Phosphophyllite's face as she worked hard to avoid being hit by the oncoming hail of arrows.
She saw a faint glimmer of red in the distance, "Y/N! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"
The crimson-haired male continued to stroll towards the running Phosphophyllite with a neutral, perhaps even tired expression. Red Matter began to seep from his body in large quantities as Phosphophyllite neared his location with Lunarians still hot on her tail.
"Hurry up, I don't have all day," annoyedly commented as Y/N the surrounding crimson liquid slowly began to take a shape of a wall in front of him, leaving just enough room for Phosphophyllite to through if she hurried.
"Wait for me!" hurriedly yelled Phosphophyllite as she just barely made it past the Red Matter barrier before it closed.
A hundred arrows attacked the liquid wall protecting Y/N and Phosphophyllite who hid behind him while looking over his shoulder to see the action unfold. Y/N merely sighed as each and every arrow fruitlessly struck against the crimson liquid and fell to the ground. He then extended his hand towards the Lunarians as the Red Matter barrier began to ripple.
-SNAP-
In an instant, the previously rippling Red Matter barrier suddenly shot forward in the shape of tens of pincers that pierced the Lunarians and the platform they stood on with incredible speed. All of this happened in the span it took Y/N to snap his fingers.
Y/N looked at the fading bodies of the Lunarians with disappointment, "What a waste of time, just an Old Type."
He and Phosphophyllite have been on the prowl for the New Type of Lunarians that utilized the stolen shards of their comrades in order to fight. No matter how foolish it may seem the two of them hoped to retrieve Antarcticite before the winter ended as they would have to wait until the next winter to begin if they wanted to be able to retrieve their fallen comrade.
"Let's go back," with the Lunarians taken care of for the day, Y/N and Phosphophyllite slowly returned back to their home, the school.
As they walked Phosphophyllite couldn't help but steal glances at Y/N and adopt a saddened look in her eyes. Ever since Antarcticite's unwilling departure from the land, neither she nor Y/N has been the same. While she tried to liven things up with her usual happy-go-lucky mood, Y/N didn't buy her forced happiness at all and simply chose to act like a mixture of Bort, which was slowly becoming scary, and Antarcticite. Phosphophyllite could still see that sliver of his pre-winter personality shine through at moments, like when he compliments her by patting her head. He doesn't smile as much, not that he used to before but now his smile feels too rare for her liking. After arriving at the school the two of them separated as Phosphophyllite went to report to Kongo-sensei while Y/N went somewhere.
"Hello, Antarcticite..." the crimson-haired male stood in front of a bowl of water with a couple of small and medium-sized shards of Antarcticite's body, the only ones they were able to collect, "Today... has been a day. Thirteen days have passed since your... departure. Lunarians came today, but it was just an Old Type."
Y/N slowly sat by the wooden table, placing himself on the hard ground, "Please wait just a little longer. I'll bring you back. I'll bring everyone one... I... Promise..."
Y/N's eyelids started to feel a little heavy, his eyes closed just for a split second, "You failed, again."
Y/N's eyes shot open as he jumped slightly at the introduction of another voice, "WHO'S... There..."
Y/N's voice died in his throat as his eyes locked with the source of the sudden voice, and for just a moment, all life vanished from Y/N's features before he adopted a serious look. In front of him stood a male, just as tall as him with the same colour of hair, the same colour of eyes, even the same face as he has. But there were three major differences between Y/N and this... other guy. His hair was shorter, his clothes were different and had a more regal appearance, and the look in his eyes spoke of horrors unknown to even Y/N. This intruder simply looked at Y/N's lying form with pity, a single stream of crimson liquid spilling from his left eye and trailing down his cheek.
"You again..." Y/N's voice was filled with venom as he looked at his lookalike.
"Yes, did you expect anyone else?" the other Y/N's voice devoid of emotion, the sheer sound of his words sent a shiver down Y/N's spine.
"Why are you here?" Y/N clenched his teeth as he stood up from his spot on the ground, ready to fight at a moment's notice, "And who are you? You will answer me this time."
That's right, this wasn't the first time Y/N came into contact with his lookalike. A couple of days after Antarcticite was taken to the moon, this Y/N simply appeared before him out of thin air, like a ghost.
"I've already told you before. I am you. You are me. We are, no, we will be one and the same," Y/N didn't like mysteries, and judging by the way Y/N was speaking his irritation only seemed to grow.
"Stop messing with me!" a spike of Red Matter shot at Y/N, but it merely passed through his body like it wasn't even there.
"Looking back at you, I realize how naive I used to be. Thinking that I could bring Antarcticite back when I couldn't even fix the one that mattered to me the most..." Y/N's eyes widened as he stared at his "future" counterpart with shock and confusion.
"...What are you talking about?" Y/N merely gave Y/N a look of pity.
"Did you really believe you could fix Padparadscha? You naive fool," Y/N continued to look at Y/N, he wanted to talk, but when he opened his mouth no words came out, "Sigh, living beings are quick to change, they want to make the most of their short life. But what about us?"
The older Y/N started to slowly walk towards Y/N, keeping eye contact, "It's the rule of nature that everything changes, our body becomes harder as time passes, but we are ultimately indifferent."
Y/N now stood in front of Y/N, looking into his eyes with a neutral look, "Can we really say we are alive? What is life without death? If life is a series of events leading everyone and everything to the same conclusion, that being death, then by that standard, we are neither alive nor dead. We simply exist for the sake of existing."
Y/N slowly brought his hand to Y/N's head and started to pat it while the other male continued to just stand there, speechless, "Because we have no reason to exist, no greater good to accomplish, we have to find our own reasons to continue. Those reasons left me a long time, just like everyone... If I truly am alive, even if just a little, I hope I can find my rightful end."
Y/N's hand moved from the top of Y/N's head, he poked the centre of the other male's forehead with his index finger, "There will be moments that you won't be able to explain. Moments that, no matter how hard you try to comprehend will always be outside of your mind's reach. Moments when impossible things happen... We call these moments miracles."
Y/N then moved his hand from Y/N's forehead and placed it by the side of his hip before walking backwards, stopping when he was a few stays away from Y/N, "If you truly feel like you are alive, even for less than a split second, cling on to that feeling. It will help you find a reason to continue existing. And should that reason abandon you, then know this... All things that life die. If you can proudly say that you lived, then death will come for you too."
..."Y/N"...
..."Y/N!"...
..."Y/N!"
"Y/N!"
Y/N suddenly awoke with a jolt, he found himself lying on the cold hard ground in a pool of Red Matter. He quickly pushed himself off the floor and into a sitting position as he quickly started to push the puddle of the crimson liquid back into his body.
"Y/N," Kongo-sensei's voice caught Y/N's attention, he saw the bald male standing not too far from him as Phosphophyllite was peaking from behind him.
Y/N looked around for a second, seeing that he was in the same place he last remembered himself being at, "...A dream, huh?"
Y/N's absentminded comment didn't escape Kongo-sensei, "Did you have a nightmare?"
The crimson-haired male picked himself off the floor, "Yeah... Don't worry about it, this happens sometimes."
"That is precisely the reason for worry," retorted Kongo-sensei, Y/N didn't have a proper reply so he only chose to sigh in defeat and move onto another subject.
"Do you need me for something?" Y/N tried changing the subject, and it worked, somewhat.
"Not necessarily. We came across you sleeping on the ground," idly commented Kongo-sensei.
"I see..." awkward silence overtook the trio as Y/N quickly thought of something to say, that was when he noticed how tattered Kongo-sensei's kimono was, "Do you want me to fix your clothes? Red Beryl is going to flip if she sees you like this."
"...Very well. Phosphophyllite," Kongo-sensei turned to the hiding mint-haired girl and placed his gloved hand on her head, "Return to your duties."
"...Okay, sensei. Sweet dreams Y/N!" and like that the girl ran off, waving at the duo as she disappeared behind a corner.
Y/N and Kongo-sensei both sighed at the same time before they walked into one of the school's vacant sewing rooms. Without Red Beryl around it was bound to be empty almost all the time during winter, only being used in situations like this when they needed to fix their clothes. Kongo-sensei changed from his kimono into a plain white yukata as Y/N quickly got to work in repairing the large piece of attire. He was sitting by a window, having a clear view to see as the seasons slowly changed.
"I never noticed before, but the seasons... they change really quickly, don't they?" Y/N's tone was absentminded, Kongo-sensei silently looked at the crimson-haired male as he continued sewing, "It's... scary. I feel like I'm going to get left behind by the world."
"You're changing too. Your whole composition is changing," Y/N blinked in response to Kongo-sensei's words, the taller bald man didn't quite seem to catch the meaning of Y/N's words.
"...It's terrifying to see everything change, move on, leaving you behind..." much like the nightmare version of his dreams, a single tear of Red Matter slowly trickled down Y/N's cheeks as some of the crimson liquid fell onto Kongo-sensei's kimono, "Ah, sorry. It seems that I am unable to control this."
The red tears were suddenly stopped by Kongo-sensei's gloved hand, "It's a defect of ancient lifeforms, it's not your fault."
Kongo-sensei was unable to see it, but Y/N's eyes narrowed for a moment when he mentioned the "ancient lifeforms". With a sigh, Y/N wiped his eyes with his sleeve, collected the Red Matter from Kongo-sensei's clothes and quickly finished fixing them.
"The winter is going to end soon. Everybody is going to wake up one of these days," commented Kongo-sensei as he clad himself in his usual clothes again.
"...Yeah..." Y/N looked out the window to see the snow slowly melt away only to be replaced by patches of green grass and colourful flowers.
[[TO BE CONTINUED...]]
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Braggski: Welp, there it goes. Another chapter. If you are wondering, then no, that is not Y/N's ACTUAL future self. It's merely a hallucination created by his mind in response to recent trauma. And yes, it's Enryu from Tower of God.