33 Crisis of Identity

'I love you' She says, but what does that mean?

Ai sat up in her bed, looking at her bandaged stumps.

'Why does she love me? Who am I to her? Was she still insane to some degree? No, I could feel her essence. She wasn't corrupt anymore, she was back to normal, whatever the hell normal was to that girl.'

"Aaaaarrgh!" She slammed her body back on the bed, holding her head with her stubs.

"None of this makes any fucking sense!" She pulled the pillow over her face, a single strand of silver hair tickled her nose.

'I don't get it. Who am I? Who the hell am I?'

She threw the pillow across the room, knocking over a bowl of soup that was sitting on a table on the other side of the room.

'I only remember a few things, like Aiya's life with Amari, and parts of His and Her lives. But I don't have the first fucking clue about who I am, who is Ai? Why does Andromeda love Ai? And who the fuck is my husband?'

"Wait, my husband!"

"You're husband?" Amari said in an annoyed tone as she had just walked through the door.

"Oi, sis, you should knock, what if I was doing something inappropriate, ah?" Ai responded in an equally annoyed tone.

Amari smirked and snickered. "Then I would have teased you about it for a few weeks."

"Oi, remind me to knock you upside the head with one of Hoat'l's hammers when I reach Level 20."

Amari hopped on the bed with Ai and pulled her in for a hug. "Yeah, yeah, now what the hell'r you on about your supposed husband?"

"Ah, well, I'm trying to figure out who I am as Ai. I have Aiya's memories, but I don't know the first thing about Ai." She said as she returned the hug, stabbing at Amari's stomach with her stub arm.

"So you don't remember anything about yourself? Haven't you always been Aiya in some way or another?" Amari played with Ai's hair as Ai nodded.

"Actually yes, It's a bit complicated, but in essence, we have always shared the same body, even..." Ai stopped as she realized it might not be a good idea to reveal the fact that Andromeda was a part of her or the fact that she was back, albeit inside of her personal domain.

Amari sat back and looked at Ai with a serious expression. "Even Andromeda." Amari finished.

Ai's eyes widened.

"Don't give me that look, she looked just like you. There was no way that was a coincidence."

Ai nodded and dropped her head. "Yes, but again, it's complicated."

"Don't give me that shit. It don't need to be complicated." Amari flicked her forehead.

Ai covered her forehead with her stub. "Che! That stung! Oi, I can't help that it's complicated. Me, Aiya, and Andromeda are all the same person, but each of us has developed our own personality. I remember who Aiya is, and I have a basic understanding of Andromeda now, but I have no clue who I am."

Amari leaned back and smiled. "Well, I know exactly who you are."

Ai looked up at her with a puzzled look as Amari winked. "You're my little sis!"

She stared at Amari, dumbfounded, before giggling. "I guess so. I can tell the difference between what's Aiya's memories and my feelings, and I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that I really care about you."

Amari hopped up out of the bed and grinned. "Y'see? It don't need to be complicated when you got your big sis!"

Ai smiled, but the truth about her identity would still weigh heavily on her mind, for now, at least, Amari was right. She had become a strong rock for Ai to lean on, and for now, that was good enough.

"Should be right about now." Amari said as she walked toward the door.

Ai looked at her in confusion. "What's right about-"

*KNOCK KNOCK*

A heavy knock on the door interrupted Ai as Amari opened the door. Hoat'l walked in with a chest decorated with ornate carvings, he walked up to the bed and set it down.

"Ah? What's all this about?" Ai tilted her head, a gift?

Amari walked up with a shit-eating grin on her face. "Well hurry up, bushbeard! I can't wait any longer!" She said in excitement.

Undoing the latches, Hoat'l opened the chest, revealing a pair of metal... hands?

"My latest creation! Mana-powered automaton gauntlets!" Hoat'l bellowed out with pride as Ai sat there, speechless.

"Well whaddya think, lass? These babies are made from sky-steel, with a refined mana crystal within the palms ta allow you to cast yer magic again!" Ai choked up on her tears, she dreaded that she had lost everything to a grave misjudgment. When she had lost her hands, the entire world seemed to lose color, not only did she lose the ability to cast magic, but with the tattoo destroyed in the blast, she had lost access to the system as well.

"I... I don't know what to say... Thank you, Hoat'l." She smiled with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Ah sis, you cry too damn much, suck it up and try em on." Amari said as she too started to cry a little.

Ai nodded and held her stumps up, Hoat'l grabbed one of the hands, getting a better look, they looked as though they would fit perfectly, taking up the missing third of her forearm. The hands themselves were covered in metal plating with a few small openings revealing the mechanical nature of the hands as well as a small, shimmering blue mana crystal located just underneath the palms. The palms themselves had a small magic circle painted over them, a quick use of her sight told her that these were artificial focal points.

Placing one over her stump, Hoat'l secured it with a series of belts and buckles that wrapped around her arm just above the elbow and a pad that sat on her shoulder, there was an additional strap that would connect to the second one that ran across her back, that would balance the load.

After tightening the buckles of the first one, Hoat'l grabbed the other hand and secured it the same way on the other stump, now connecting the strap across her back. It felt a little uncomfortable having her new hands secured so tightly, but she felt she could get used to them relatively quickly.

"Now, you'll have ta channel mana into this circle, which, seein' as your eyes went all glowy, I assume you know what it is. The downside is ya hafta do this constantly, so you'll hafta get used to maintainin' a constant supply of mana or else the hands'll go inert."

Ai nodded as she looked at the circles on her new palms. Focusing on the circles, she struggled at first as she was trying to find the path from her core to her arms, she felt like she was shooting in the dark, until finally, she felt something.

With a metallic creaking sound, the fingers started to move, one by one, until she was able to clench both of her fists. She understood what Hoat'l meant when he mentioned the downside, because as soon as she got too excited, the fingers stopped moving.

"Ah, I guess this will take some getting used to." She said as she looked up at Hoat'l with a gentle smile. "Thank you." She said earnestly.

Hoat'l nodded and grinned. "An' thank ye fer testing my newest invention."

"Heehee~ just make sure I'm the first one to test out the engine blade when that is finished." She said with a smirk.

Hoat'l laughed and nodded. "O' course, o' course, miss Ai, you'll be the first fer sure."