Gathering Thoughts

"What to do…"

Leaning against the rustic fence overseeing Rivet Town down below, Yuuto had a strange expression on his face as he stared at Cyrilla who sat down quietly on the swing right in front of him.

Seeing as the orphanage stimulated a response from her, he was at a slight loss after hearing just who she was.

The name 'Cyrilla' didn't foster an immediate reaction for him but as soon as he heard 'Cyrille', the memory of a side quest he had done before suddenly appeared in his head.

Vessel of Mediocrity 

A story about a girl named Cyrille who was nicknamed 'The Fool' after she became a puppet Supreme Guardian for the Minister of Internal Affairs. Her unqualified nature to rule and high dependence on this Minster made many people unhappy. 

In response to this, the Architects incited a coup to overthrow this fake duo and she eventually passed away after being locked up in a box.

Coming back as an echo due to her strong emotions from this incident.

However, this situation may have been entirely avoided if one person didn't disappear altogether. 

'And it's this person right in front of me.'

Yuuto looked at Cyrilla who was still adjusting her thoughts and let out a complicated sigh.

Cyrilla

The sister of Cyrille and in comparison to her sibling who had mediocre abilities, she was hailed as a prodigy at a young age which earned her the right to become a suitable heir for the next Supreme Guardian of Belobog.

But unfortunately, she mysteriously vanished when the Architects attempted to relocate her to Qlipoth Fort. Leaving behind her sister who was eventually manipulated.

"Did she finally regain something?"

Luka quietly spoke to Yuuto who was silent with his thoughts since he noticed Cyrilla's strange reaction just a few seconds ago.

"Yeah, thankfully by bringing her here she recovered a bit of her memories."

"Really? That's great then!" Luka felt happy he was able to help after hearing what Yuuto said.

Yuuto faintly smiled noticing his reaction and looked at Cyrilla sitting alone on the swing. 'Well, at least I roughly know where that quest took place so I can try to bring her there and see if I can help her reunite with her sister.'

Remembering how Cyrilla asked about her sister first when she got a portion of her memory back, Yuuto decided to help as he already had the information.

However, to do this he would need to bring her back to the surface but he still had unfinished business in the Underworld.

'I still want to fill my Stellaron and also improve the memories I have. Maybe get some new ones if I can.'

Feeling the ever-increasing energy passing through his engine, Yuuto wanted to see how much he could fill once he left Jarilo-VI. 

It was also a win-win for him and this planet since with each fragmentum he absorbs, the amount of corrosion flowing through the mines decreases.

Plus he would need this if he wanted to have enough energy to face Cocolia later on.

"Are you going to stay here for long?" Noticing that he was silent once again, Luka thought that fatigue was starting to catch up to Yuuto. "You should probably head back and sleep if you feel tired."

"Sorry, I was just thinking about what I should do tomorrow." Yuuto turned to Luka and waved his head around trying to show he wasn't tired.

In fact, he had a bit of energy to spare and felt like he would just toss around in bed if he went back like this. Thinking of this, an idea popped up in his head and Yuuto got off the fence he was leaning against.

"I usually work out before I sleep but since you're here why don't you teach me some of your mixed martial arts and spar with me?"

"Oh?"

Luka raised one of his eyebrows before he showed Yuuto a large grin.

"Sure! This is the first time someone volunteered to spar with me. I always ask the other people in Wildfire but they always say that they're busy…"

"Seele doesn't spar with you?"

"Well…" Luka paused before he showed an awkward look. "For the first few times she joined but after she would always divert my attention elsewhere whenever I asked."

"I guess that sounds like her alright."

Yuuto chuckled after imagining Seele's attempt to divert Luka's attention and followed Luka towards the open space where he could finish a quick spar before he rested up for the day.

Before he joined Luka, Yuuto kneeled down to Cyrilla who was still silent, and tried to meet her eyes. She noticed this and looked at him while seeing the comforting smile he had.

"Don't worry too much. I'll help you find your sister."

"....:"

"If you keep your face like that you might end up with wrinkles. I know a person who likes to frown a lot and I worry about her skin in the future."

Yuuto gave out an exaggerated sigh which made Cyrilla curious as to who he was talking about.

"If you need anything just ask. I will just be over there."

Noticing her relaxed expression, Yuuto stood up and ruffled her hair, which she allowed him to do. Cyrilla watched him walk off to the side and kept her eyes on him.

For the past few minutes, she had been collecting her thoughts and going through the memories she had. Knowing pieces of her family and knowledge she previously had, Cyrilla tried to figure out who she was.

Where was her sister? Why was she here? Who was she?

She tried to find what she had.

However, gaps within those memories brought an unsettling feeling within her heart and caused her head to pound whenever she tried to figure out the root cause of this feeling.

–THUD

Still, the presence of people around her brought a relieving feeling within her as the darkness she experienced within that box still stuck with her despite her best not to show it.

The sight of people made her realize that she was no longer in that cramped dark box she was in before.

She watched Yuuto who was a few meters away from her, duck his head and slowly step back trying his best to avoid Luka's coordinated punches. 

Although faintly, she noticed that a thin layer of what seemed to be crystal wrapped around his fist and she was surprised to see his hand colliding with Luka's metal arm. 

"Be sure to rotate your hips and torso whenever you punch!!"

"Alright…"

Yuuto raised his guard, noticing a shift in Luka's footwork and how his legs began to shuffle around. A series of jabs followed and Yuuto moved his head around.

His eyes didn't close for a single second as he intently watched Luka's movements and watched how he twisted his body around.

'That punch is heavy…' Yuuto felt the vibration as a metallic fist met his own and he moved backward to reset his posture. Luka noticed this and smiled brightly.

"I should have asked you to join me sooner!"

"I just met you today."

"Ah, I forgot."

Yuuto ignored what Luka said and slowly organized the movements he saw from deep within his mind. 'I should get more before I group them up into a memory I can use…'

Thinking of this Yuuto moved towards Luka and threw a few punches of his own while avoiding Luka's attempts to block his attacks.

Cyrilla who was still watching remembered seeing a similar scene like this before. "The Silvermane Guards also did this…"

When she was chosen as an heir, getting acquainted with the Silvermane guards was not something out of the ordinary and she witnessed what training was like for them

"I remember they would get hurt and sometimes bleed…"

Cyrilla looked at the heavy punches Yuuto was blocking and a hint of worry began to sprout within her eyes. Being the first person she met ever since she opened her eyes, she had fostered a slight attachment to him.

Like how a duck would imprint on a person if they saw them on the day of their hatching. 

"There might be some supplies around here…"

She looked around and tried to match the scenes from her memory but it was a bit hard considering how different the orphanage looked compared to before.

—CLINK

As she was overlooking the edge, Cyrilla heard the sound of metal hitting against a wooden wall and wondered if a monster was nearby.

She peaked past the railing and saw a small hint of white hair alongside a person wearing a vibrant red coat.

'A girl?'

Cyrilla was surprised to see a girl that was close to her age and wondered what she was doing. She was tempted to go down there and looked at where Yuuto was to see if he noticed the sound.

Unfortunately, he was still sparring with Luka and had his mind elsewhere.

"I'll just go see for a quick second…" 

Cyrilla turned one last time to see if Yuuto was still busy and after seeing that he was, she went down the stairs to meet this girl she saw.

"There should be some supplies here…"

"Excuse me."

"Eeek–!"

The girl or Clara suddenly flinched when she heard a voice pop up from behind her and quickly turned around to see who it was.

Clara saw Cyrilla and her eyes widened after seeing that a girl her age was also here alone with her.

"Umm.. are you lost?"

"No, I was just curious to see that you were here alone. I noticed you when I was looking over there." Cyrilla pointed at the ledge right above them.

"Ah. Sorry if I was making too much noise…"

Clara bowed her head and Cyrilla shook her hands to tell her that it was fine. Her eyes glossed over what Clara was doing and noticed that on the table in front of her, a box with a combination lock was placed on it.

"Are you looking for something?" Cyrilla asked while she still looked at the box sitting in front of Clara.

"I was just wondering if I can find some supplies to treat some injuries here…"

"Just like me then.."

Clara looked at Cyrilla and wondered why she also needed some supplies. "Did.. someone you know get hurt?"

Cyrilla shook her head and walked to the box that Clara was looking at.

"He.. might get hurt after his fight so I wanted to help him out.."

Fidgeting with the padlock on the metallic box, Cyrilla began to turn the knobs and enter a 4-digit code that came to her head after feeling like this box was familiar to her.

–CLINK

"It opened…"

Clara was surprised to see this unknown girl suddenly open the box she was looking at and felt even more shocked when she saw the contents. Inside were a few rolls of bandages alongside a few dressings. 

"So the code my teacher told me still works," Cyrilla whispered and handed a few rolls to Clara who was still shocked. "Here."

"T-Thank you."

Clara bowed her head and looked at the supplies that were given to her. "Now the people at the camp should be alright with these…" 

A small smile grew on Clara's face and Cyrilla watched her expression intently. Her arm began to rise on its own and went towards Clara's head but she stopped herself.

She quickly hid her arm behind her back and scolded herself after she caught herself almost rubbing this stranger's head. 'She reminded me of my sister for a bit…'

The way she thanked her felt similar to the way her sister did and she subconsciously did what her sister always liked. A small pat on the top of her head.

"Umm, should I help you go back to your family?"

"Family?"

"Mhm. You're here alone so I wanted to pay you back by helping you get home safely…"

Clara had a serious expression as she appreciated what Cyrilla did for her.

"Well—"

"There you are!!"

The two girls flinched when they heard a voice aimed in their direction and saw Yuuto running down the stairs.

"I thought something happened."

A relieved sigh came out of him after seeing Cyrilla looking at him with a stunned expression. A few minutes into his spar with Luka, he glanced in the area Cyrilla would be but was shocked to see that she had disappeared.

"S-Sorry I just wanted…"

Yuuto saw the guilty look Cyrilla was wearing and a wry smile grew on his lips. "You don't need to act like that, I was just worried. Next time tell me if you're going to leave."

"Mhm.. sorry.."

He patted her on the head and looked at the person who he was surprised to see standing next to Cyrilla.

"Is something stuck on my face?" Yuuto said after he saw Clara looking at him with a stunned expression.

"Ah! No, I was just surprised to see Mister here.."

"Mister?" He raised his eyebrows after hearing what Clara called him. It sounded like she knew him but Yuuto thought back and never recalled meeting Clara once.

Becoming aware of what Yuuto was thinking she softly spoke of the time he did the show at Boulder Town and how she saw it for a brief second.

"So that's how it is…" Yuuto nodded as it made sense. 

Finding out that an act he did on a whim, turned into getting unknowingly associated with Clara was something he didn't think would happen.

'If I can somehow set up a meeting with Svarog then that would be great…'

Yuuto clenched his fist and a dense mist began to circulate within his palm. After waiting a few seconds for the mist to disappear, Yuuto opened his palm to expose a transparent pearl that had some movements inside.

He handed this pearl to Clara and she curiously looked at what this object was.

"Since you only saw a small part of the show, here's something that can make up for it."

Clara saw the sights of a calm lake with trees swaying to the winds placed upon them within the tiny pearl. The scene repeated and she was fascinated with how it worked.

"Thank you!"

"No problem."

Yuuto waved his hand as he watched Clara bow her head repeatedly and make her way back to her camp where she was tightly guarded by a robot of her own.

Just as he was about to tell Cyrilla that they should return, he felt a tug on his sleeve and saw how she handed him something.

"This is?"

"Bandages in case you get hurt from sparring...."

Hearing what she said, he was a bit surprised by her kind gesture and he felt touched by this girl's consideration.

"You really are a sweet little one, aren't you! Hopefully, you stay the way you are."

Yuuto laughed as he walked up the stairs, having Cyrilla follow closely behind him.

***

After a long night of sparring with Luka, Yuuto returned to the hotel where he slept pretty well. At the time Seele was still up so she offered to have Cyrilla sleep with her and Yuuto agreed.

Finding the time to rest, Yuuto was preparing to continue his task of filling up his Stellaron but first he needed to do something before that.

Tidying up his appearance, he knocked on the door of a certain person and slowly waited for them to open up.

Waiting a few minutes and still no response, he raised his fist to knock again but stopped when he heard the sounds of a person moving on the other side.

"...Morning.."

"You look like you slept well."

Stelle had bits of disheveled hair sticking out and Yuuto was pretty confident that she just woke up a few minutes ago.

"So why are you meeting me so early?"

Yuuto sat down on the chair near an empty desk whereas Stelle stood up trying to get a glass of water.

"Can I look inside you?"

"Let me get my bat first and ask that question again."

***

Now who tf is Boothill and why did I expect to see Sam instead of him?