Wuthering Waves: For The Future of Me, Myself and I

"I wonder how they're doing right now. I did say that I would be going into seclusion as I was grinding for Asterites. Do they still think I'm in seclusion?" Katsuri began talking to herself in boredom.

Since the rain was picking up pace, she had already thrown away any thoughts of just brute forcing through the environment to catch up with her companions.

Perhaps they would've noticed that she's missing and is already coming back to pick her up.

That surely would be ideal.

"Big sis Katsuri!"

"...?"

Did anyone else hear that?

It sounded like someone had called for her.

But she can't really be so sure with herself as it sounded extremely muffled, as if it's being voiced from the other side of a thick wall.

It might even be hallucinations!

...She hasn't had that in quite a long time.

Surely it's not coming back for round 2?

"Big sister Katsuri! Can you hear me~?"

There it is again, is there perhaps a ghost nearby!? Oh come on! She hasn't killed anyone yet!

Why the hell would any evil spirit haunts her!?

"Ouch!"

It was then that she felt an impact to the back of her head, albeit a lot weaker than she had expected.

Turning her neck quickly, she saw her, Faith Havensith.

Gone was the terrible appearance trapped under the burning rubbles, it was not replaced with a small and gentle child who doesn't even know what a frown mean.

"You finally noticed me! Hello, big sis Katsuri!" Faith waved her hand enthusiastically.

In a confused manner, Katsuri responded, "...Faith? When did you get here?"

Faith sat down beside Katsuri as she also hugged both her own knees. Tilting her head a little, she answered, "I was always next to you. But for some reason, you never took notice of me! You have no idea how lonely it was to talk to yourself even with a person next to you!"

"Is that so? I'm sorry then."

So she had been conscious all of these times?

...Well, all of these times were not that long anyways. At most, a couple of hours.

"When did you wake up?" Katsuri asked.

Without missing a beat, Faith answered, "I think it was right before you got into that weird floating thing..."

"Weird floating thing?"

"Um, that thing. The one that could float on water!"

"...?"

What is this child talking about?

"That one that looked like a big fish!" Faith began stretching her hand, trying to emphasized on the size.

Ah, could it be...?

"You're talking about the Boat-Echo? The Gondola?"

"Yes! That one! I woke up right before you got squeezed in with the pretty black haired and pretty white haired lady!"

Katsuri twitched at the memory, '...Have I always been this enthusiastic? Why does it sound like she's never gone through anything traumatic?'

"Then, have you been trying to attract my attention this whole time?" Katsuri asked, finally realizing one crucial detail.

"Well, at first, yeah. But when I realized that you can't see me, I gave up and followed you around instead. Speaking of which, where is this place? There's so many different kind of animals!"

"They're not animals, they're Echoes. There's a very distinct difference between the two. Try not to mistake them for one another."

"Ay ay! Understood!" Faith saluted like a soldier.

Katsuri simply watched Faith for a moment before finally asking her question, "Since you know that I can't see you, why did you suddenly try to talk to me then?"

Katsuri realized that since Faith knew that she can't be seen nor heard, she had probably given up trying to bring an attention towards herself. In that case, what led to her reattempting gathering attention?

"Eh? You don't remember? I thought you knew the reason since you were the one that asked me to try talking to you at this time?"

"...Huh? What does that mean?" Katsuri felt her heart thumped.

"Hm? What? Wasn't it you who told me to talk to you at this time? Something about telling you about the-"

"Ok, wait. Let me make sense of this situation for a second." Katsuri pressed her temple, trying to stop the headache that's forming.

"So, I told you to talk to me?" Katsuri asked, still confused about what's going on. It was such a simple question yet it holds many different question inside.

"Yes! You told me to tell you about the Outbreak! About how you needed to watch out for the tentacles!"

Katsuri's smile was stiff.

Doesn't this smaller version of herself know how illogical her own words had been!? Why are you saying this with such an innocent smile!?

"Since I didn't get to talk to you much previously, I thought that talking to you now would be fun!"

Was she talking about herself from the fire, or was it another situation she couldn't remember?

"...Hah." Katsuri sighed. If only there was someone here that could lead her to where she needed to go, she wouldn't have to think this hard about some random stuff a child was talking about.

...Wait, does that mean she's talking nonsense to herself since she's talking to her younger version?

Why does that sentence sound so weirdly incorrect?

"Wait a second, what did you say about the tentacles?"

Crash!

As if on cue, the house she had taken shelter in had its wall caved in by a massive creature, brimming with predatory hunger.

Katsuri's eyes widened as she hugged Faith instinctively, rushing towards the outside.

Fortunately, they had sat near the entrance.

The rain poured heavily on their body, soaking them almost in an instant.

The world around them glitched, as if corrupted by a virus.

Images overlapped against one another. One time, it was a bright sunny day, the other, it was overran by hordes upon hordes of Tacet Discord inside a torrent rain.

"What the actual fuck. Can I not rest for a moment in this world!?" Katsuri growled towards nobody.

She knew it wasn't anyone's fault, she was an anomaly after all.

It was quite a common plotline, the world rejecting the outsider.

She had almost no doubt that the world was also rejecting her at this moment.

'Well, good for you! I didn't choose to be here anyways!'

If the world was rejecting her, that means even if she survived this encounter, the world would still try and throw things at her to make her submit.

'Like hell I would. You can go fuck yourself.'

"Big sis! There's another thing you told me to tell you." Katsuri's gaze turned downwards towards the person trapped in her arms.

That innocent smile took away her entire vision.

"You said to tell you to think about a protector! Someone you believe could shield you from harm!" Faith smiled as she began talking about some lost memories.

"It doesn't matter who or what you imagined, just think about them! As long as you believe you could survive, help will come!"

Katsuri responded in a low tone, "...Stop with the puzzle and just tell me straight, god damn it!"

"Hehe!"

Stop smiling like you're not part of this predicament, Faith!

"One final thing! She said to tell you... 'Good Luck'!" With one final sentence, Faith's body evaporated into light particles which had rushed back into her Tacet Mark.

Meanwhile, Katsuri finally took notice of the many monsters surrounding her. It was a stampede of Tacet Discords.

But for some reason... They are not attacking, simply observing.

Katsuri's face became stiff.

"...Why is it that even myself is sabotaging me!?"