Chapter Text
Every day. Every single day when Orphie would look in the mirror while getting ready in the morning, Magus would see her metallic reflection, right next to the living breathing body she’s attached to, which was once hers.
In combat training, her smooth natural movements as she dragged Orphie around the battlefield felt like an aching constant reminder of her loss of humanity. Just a gun now.
And she was playing the part, too. What else could she do? Accept that she died and is just being used as a tool by the military now? That her entire existence has devolved into simply just doing the task assigned and doing it right?
Of course she didn’t want that. She was Magus now, Orpheus died. Orpheus died after the Hollow Zero incident; she had her last breath on her death bed shortly after being confessed to by the woman she loved. That’s all there is to it.
It’d just be psychotic to see your entire likeness stripped from you and plastered onto a whole new person and still say you’re yourself.
But then she came back.
Her stern yet soft voice, her mint green hair, her bright blue eyes, that secretly bitterly sweet personality.
It all just made her wish she was Orpheus all over again. But wishing is all she can do.
...
Another cold evening. Isolde watched as everyone trained. Not just contemplating how Orphie and Magus fought, but the other members, too; Trigger, Seed and Seed Sr.
She hadn’t been fully debriefed on everyone in the squad, or maybe she was but didn’t pay attention, just running on autopilot. Or else she would’ve know Magus was under OBOL in the first place, and also that they had a little girl piloting a mech fighting for the military.
Later on, she built up her courage and went over to Orphie. And consequentially Magus, too.
“Is training going well?”
“C-Colonel! Yes!” Said the staggered little goat chimera. Despite her large ears, she seemed always so inattentive...
“...Yes, Colonel Isolde.” Said Magus.
Since when they last talked, its felt like Magus has been wanting to talk more, but, unsurprisingly, she never gets a word out that doesn’t have to be said.
“Listen... about Seed... is it really okay to let a child fight like that?”
“Ah- umm-”
Before the clearly nervous Orphie could try explaining their complex situation, Magus stepped in to help her.
“She is in charge of fighting when Seed Sr. is in ‘sleep mode’... he’s shutting down.”
So then the military just lets the kid fight? Isolde thought of questioning that, but she already knew that wouldn’t be below their standards.
“But she’s a nice girl! She can be a little... eh... difficult to deal with, sometimes, maybe, but she’s nice!”
Orphie too... If she’s a clone, then she must’ve been made fairly recently... Even if she's the clone of a previously existing person, mentally, she's still a child.
“Are you really surprised, Isolde?”
“...No, can’t say I am.” Isolde smiled down at the gun.
“However, I didn’t come here just to gossip about your squadmates. There’s a mission and I feel you two would be well suited for it. Do you comply?”
Isolde knew maybe it wasn’t a good idea to assign Magus to a mission right after their reunion, but if they wanted even the slightest chance of being able to achieve regular duty with each other, then it was necessary.
Despite being a gun, Magus was still quite expressive in her body language. It wouldn’t be hard to grasp her feelings about a specific situation based on how she swayed her metal body, especially for the girl she was attached to who had to live with her every day, and could easily tell that Magus, currently, was feeling insecure.
“Don’t worry, nothing difficult, just the usual hollow patrol. Call it a quick stroll.” Isolde responded to both of the girl’s clear unease. Even though the gun’s body language was unusual, by the way she stuck to the redhead’s side, it was clear she worried about Orphie on the field.
“I can handle that! Right Captain?”
“Alright… thanks. We won’t let you down.”
She felt pleasantly surprised, enough for a smile to cover her face. It seemed that, despite how much she tried to become someone else, Magus was still Orpheus, always trying to get Isolde’s highest regards...
“Good to hear, Magus. I expect good things from you...”
Orphie could feel her tail’s heat canisters hear up so slightly upon hearing those encouraging words from Isolde. The poor redhead just had to accept it and go on with their shenanigans.
...
Disgusting.
Acting like everything is normal. Are you not ashamed of yourself, Isolde? Do you think just calling her “Magus” now changes anything?
You’re just playing into want they want. Don’t act coy now. You know you can’t.
Don’t act like that’s still the same Orpheus. Not after everything they put you two through. Fucking unforgivable.
They thought they could just sweep everything under the rug. That you wouldn’t find out. Could they be any dumber?
Lorenz really thought that he told you all the information you wanted. You’ll get revenge soon.
It was a lie. It was all a bunch of lies. No one in Agamemnon squad died protecting anybody, they were just making the higher ups’ wallets fatter.
All you had to do was just snoop around a little in some decade old file records. I guess nobody cares about cyber security when you’re constantly fighting against life threatening hollows, or maybe you were just too mad to notice their dumb little attempts to keep any integrity.
You’ll show them.
You’ll bring Orpheus back.
...
Isolde was in her office, reviewing confidential documents about various threats to the military and New Eridu. This time, these were just documents she had in hand, nothing she had to snoop around in order to acquire.
“Miss Isolde, may I come in?” Asked a meek voice from the other side of the door to her office.
“Sure can, Orphie.”
The sound of the careful sliding of the door and the coming in of Orpheus’ now familiar figure didn’t pull Isolde away from her studies. She was coming into something big.
Exaltists...
“So, umm... this is a bit of a difficult topic, but me, Trigger, and Magus already discussed with Seed Sr. And we figured we should let you know...”
Growing cult... The creator... Secret experiments... Ties to organizations...
Power...
“I already mentioned to you a while ago that Seed Sr. Was shutting down, well... we’d like it if you kept that a secret from Flora, the girl. Seed Sr. Is basically a father to her, and we don’t know how that’d affect her considering she’s already... you know, a bit... different?”
If they’re a cult, there’s a fair chance they’ll be willing to embrace Isolde in without doubting her intentions too much. “Military veteran”, “survivor’s guilt” ... classic reasons someone would be defenseless enough to get preyed on by a cult. It’d be easy to trick them into thinking she’s vulnerable.
“I know it’s a bit of a weird request, but you are our Colonel, so if you could please help us with this, everyone would really appreciate it!”
“You’re asking me to lie to a clueless little girl and tell her that her father figure isn’t dead, twisting her idea of life and death even further simply because it would be tricky for us if she actually faced reality?”
“E-Err... it’s not-” Isolde’s sudden contribution to the no longer one-sided conversation caught the nervous girl off-guard, who quickly tried defending her point.
“It’s not because of us. Seed... Flora, she was rescued from a hollow by Seed Sr., and that is what’s causing him to shut down now, she already has a bunch of mental things from... whatever happened to her, some weird diagnosis I can’t remember now, i-if she suddenly got hit by Seed Sr.’s death, and especially if she saw it as her fault, t-that could seriously mess with her!”
The room sat quiet for a few consecutive moments.
“Is Magus asleep right now?”
“H-Huh? Oh, yes, she is. I didn’t realize...”
Isolde laid back in her chair, setting the documents she had been reading on her desk, faced down. Filled her lungs in with air... and emptied them. Steadily, rhythmically.
“Sorry Orphie. I know what you meant. I still don’t think it’s the best course of action, but you’ve all known Seed longer than me. I won’t say anything, but I doubt this lie will hold out for long.”
“Ah! No worries, Colonel! Seed Sr. Told us he’s thinking of a way to tell Seed, but only after she’s matured a bit more. I probably should’ve said that...”
For the first time in the whole conversation, Isolde actually looked over at Orphie. Still in military gear, despite it being however late it already was. Getting up from her seat, she made her way over to the redhead.
“Were you training until just now?”
“Yes... Captain Magus is very strict with my training specifically; she keeps saying I’m not ready to deal with the big ethereals yet, only letting me handle the small stuff.”
Orphie looked so much like Magus, but still just different. Not just the robot parts, replacing parts of her horns and her entire neck, even if Orpheus had those, she would be able to tell it was Orpheus and not Orphie. Maybe it was just how she presented herself, the way she talked and acted... she seemed more like if Orpheus had a little sister than a clone. Or maybe...
“Do you resent her for it?”
“No, not at all! Captain is just worried, I can tell. When you have someone attached to your tail all the time, you get to know them pretty well! It’s her way of showing she cares, right?”
“Sure is.” Isolde chuckled.
Isolde put her hand on Orphie’s red soft hair. Feeling its soft strands tangle around her finger, leaving the poor girl confused, looking up at Isolde with her big green eyes.
“Let’s get you over to your quarters, hm? It’s about bedtime anyway.”
“O-Okay?”
Isolde led Orphie out of her office, guiding the girl gently, and locking the door behind her once they left.
...
“You know Orphie, back when Captain Magus wasn’t yet a captain, I used to wear her out in training just like she does to you.”
Orphie and Isolde walked around the military base slowly while talking. The sky was a bright orange as the sun set past six p.m. That and the fact that the air was still warm and humid even at this time of day were signs it was already summer.
“Really? ...Did she ever complain?”
“Oh, all the time. She would always say I was messing with her – which I was – and that she’d be able to handle any ethereal that would be thrown at her. Thinking back on it now, maybe I should’ve trained her a bit more...”
Walking around and chatting with Orphie as she is doing now made it impossible for her not to wonder what their lives could’ve been. After the Hollow Zero incident, they’d probably be able to retire without too much struggle, move into a quiet area in New Eridu, live their life with each other, still paying respects to their fallen comrades... maybe they could’ve grown another life together. Raised some cats maybe, since Orpheus never liked dogs. Or they could adopt. Though “Orphie” didn't sound like a fun name for a kid.
“...Was she like me in any way?” Orphie wore her emotions on her sleeve, so it was easy to tell that she was feeling quite nervous when asking that.
“Believe it or not, no. Not at all.”
Hearing those words, it was like a great weight was lifted from Orphie’s chest.
For the next couple of minutes, the two continued walking while Isolde, more than Orphie, talked. Talked about her past, about Magus mostly, but it just seemed like she was opening up to the girl in a way.
They then finally reached the entrance to Orphie’s quarters. It really wasn’t too far from Isolde’s office, but the talk was good, so they walked slowly.
“Thanks for walking me over here Isolde, though you really didn’t have to...”
“It’s fine. Go wash up and rest, Orphie. I doubt Magus will go any easier on you tomorrow.”
With that, they waved goodbye, and Orphie closed the door, leaving Isolde outside.
“...You don’t have to keep pretending to be sleeping anymore, Captain.”
“Huh? You knew? But you told Isolde-”
“I lied because it didn’t seem like you wanted to talk to her just then, of course I’d know if my tail is awake or not!”
The gun shifted around, embarrassed. A tick Magus only developed now that Isolde became their Colonel.
“But why were you pretending to sleep? I get that you might be nervous talking to her, but she’s been our colonel for a week now and you’ve already talked to each other a bit, I don't know why’d you go back to avoiding her now. Did something happen?”
“No, no, I’m not avoiding her specifically. It's just because I felt a little guilty. Telling her to keep Seed Sr.’s condition from Seed... I wasn’t sure how she’d take it.”
Orphie hums acknowledgedly. Taking away her puffy jacket and setting it aside, finally getting comfortable after a long day of training.
“It’s what Seed Sr. Wants us to do, we shouldn’t go against that.”
“I know, it’s just... she’s never been fond of lying and keeping secrets. And I imagine lying about someone’s death might hit especially close to home for her considering no one even told her about me.”
The redhead continued to listen to her captain as she began sorting through her stash of comic books, trying to choose which to read tonight. A hobby she picked up after Magus kept insisting for her to read something to help with her development.
“Honestly, I was glad when she told me that no one told her I was put into an intelligent construct.”
“Huh?” Orphie exclaimed, confused. “But wouldn't you want your friend to know that you’re alive?”
Friend. Maybe if that were the case it’d be easier.
“Of course I would, that’s not my point! What I meant was that I thought she had already known all along.”
The girl resumed looking through her comics after having briefly stopped in surprise earlier.
Trigger would normally be the one to recommend comics for her, but Magus would occasionally join in too, so Orphie chose one of Magus’ recommendations: A super-hero comic.
“So for all this time, I thought she was just avoiding me. I had already come to terms with that. Honestly, part of me still wishes that was the case, so it’d be easier for her to move on.”
The gun peeped her eyes over to the table Orphie was facing to check out what the girl was doing while they were talking.
“Wow, that comic’s already at that edition... it’ll take a while for me to catch up with it.” Said the gun, looking through the pages as Orphie flipped around them, trying to find her bookmark.
“Honestly captain I was a bit surprised when you recommended me this one, didn’t think you liked super-heroes!”
“Ehh... I don’t really like the super-heroes themselves. It’s honestly a bit embarrassing but I don't think I would’ve even been a soldier if it wasn’t for these comics.”
“Really? How so?” Orphie asked curiously. She was always interested in these little quirks her usually strict Captain has.
Magus cringed, thinking back to old childhood memories. “Just the thought of fighting for justice, all cool-like, doing the right thing no matter the cost... really got a hold of me as a kid. It’s good for you to read right now, but don’t get too star-eyed by it please, Orphie.”
The girl giggled. “Sure, Captain. But... I do think you’re wrong.”
“Huh? About what? It’s true you know, these dumb little comics are why I’m even here in the first place.”
“No, not about that. When you said that part of you wishes Isolde had already moved on from you. I think it's a good thing she hasn’t!”
Magus tensed up. “But... but I already died. Wouldn't it be better for her to move on? Attach herself to someone who hasn’t already died? An actual person and not just a bunch of code put into a gun?”
“Don’t say that, Captain! You... did die, but it was while protecting all those people in the hollow zero disaster! You’re like a hero, kinda, so it’s good that your death stick to someone. Especially if they loved you! And also, you’re here right now and so is Isolde, so just be happy about that, too!” Orphie had put her comic aside and had turned to Magus just to say that, as she had had enough of her Captain beating herself up.
“A-Alright, alright, sorry. You’re right.” Magus was caught off guard by Orphie genuinely getting mad on her behalf. though it did get in the way of her self-loathing, it made Magus proud seeing the girl stand up to her like that.
For the next couple minutes, they just read the comic silently. “Starlight Knights”, a staple of Eridu media, so it’s no surprise it has been active for so long to exist even during Magus’ childhood.
“Aaaand... that’s it!” Said Orphie, closing the comic book contently. “I get why you were into these as a kid, Captain, it’s great! Trigger showed me a few days ago that they were making some figurines of these new characters… n-not that I wanted to get them! That wouldn’t be reading after all!”
Magus didn’t want to comment on Orphie’s fan-girling behavior for now.
“...I don’t remember them being this corny. How did this make me want to join the military?” The gun sounded disappointed in herself.
“Come on Captain, you liked it!” Orphie giggled, putting the comic back in her collection. It was light-hearted enough to put her back in a good mood, which Magus did appreciate.
“And you should really learn a lesson from it too, Captain! No matter the hardships these heroes face... what they lose along the way, it always has a good ending!” Affirmed the girl, trying to use the light-hearted super-hero comic to cheer her military Captain up.
“...Orphie, that’s probably because it’s a kid's book.”
“S-Still! I really do think you shouldn’t be worried about Isolde, Captain. The fact that you two managed to reunite right now after all this time isn’t a curse, it’s a sign your good ending is coming! Even if it took all that hardship to get to this point!” Orphie continued to try to cheer Magus up with the moral of a comic’s story. Something which the captain did find endearing.
Despite how light-hearted Orphie had managed to turn the situation, it still managed to move Magus. This whole time she felt chained down by the past, thinking that if things couldn’t be just the way they were before, then they shouldn’t be at all. But the sheer existence of Orphie proved her otherwise.
“Thanks, Orphie.”
The girl seemed a little surprised, but then smiled at Magus.
Maybe things will turn out just fine after all.
...
Isolde went back into her office, closing the door tight behind her.
She then went to her computer and erased anything that could signal at what documents she was researching just before. If anyone found out how she was about to get in contact with the Exaltists, it would ruin her whole plan. She had to do this as soon as possible.
Justice had been waiting long enough to be served. Given enough time, it would be easy to deal with the ones who killed Agamemnon all those years ago. Now she could finally begin the first step of her plan.
Just wait a little longer, my Orpheus…