A New Star Shines Over Concerto "Come with me" I hear the real Amughar Crystalbud say to me. How dare he?! Just says to go with him!? No apologies?! Nothing?! "What, finally done ignoring me now?" I snarl at him. I hate him. Being able to look happy. Being able to not be not be known as the clone or twin! Having to eventually fuse back! "Yes, we need to actually talk. You were wondering about fusing back with me or not along with that self-loathing you feel." How did he know?! How!? "How did you-" I say before being cut off "Come with me and you'll find out." He extends his hand towards me. I take it. He leads me to the beach where nobody is noticeably nearby under the full moon. I flinch at the sight of it. "Let me see all of it. Your memories and feelings from the loops. Show me." he plainly says. Is he insane?! Does he not know what happened?! WHY?! "Wai-". Before I can finish, he grabs my face. It all comes rushing back. The taste of the water. The Moon. Angus. The Crowd. The Child. The Lady. The blood. The screams. makeitstopmakeitstopMAKEITSTOP. He lets go of my face. I fall to my knees. I can't breathe. I look up, I can't see his eyes. "You've suffered a lot in there, haven't you?". He says to me in a soothing voice. Why does he look so sympathetic?! Why do you look so upset?! Do you not get it?! Why? Why? WHY? WHY!? "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT LOOK ON YOUR FACE FOR!? I'm terrible! I'm awful! I'm the worst! A killer! I ripped a baby out of a crying mother's womb and stabbed them! I gave up! I listened to the Moon and I coerced Angus into doing it too. I should be punished! So what do you know Mr. Perfect about being so terrible and suffering!" I yelled it. I screamed. My face feels wet. I'm sure some people here would have heard that. Amughar is silent. Good maybe he finally understands it, I need punishment. I need- My thoughts are interrupted by a Light-Infused punch to the face. I'm on the ground. I can feel my face trying to reform. "You wanted punishment right? There you've been punished. Now sit there and be quiet." My real body's tone has shifted. It's angry. Strained like it's desperately holding something back. He continues to speak. "First of all, Amughar Two. Never say that I don't know suffering again. You have my memories and I have yours. Do you not remember where we grew up? Do you not remember our travels with Nola, Luce, Ambrose, and "Princess"? Well let me remind you then! We rampaged across Dolce and stalked the streets of Nocturne! Some Oni clans in Dolce still fear us for what happened, and those "nobles" we stalked in Nocturne did not die quickly or quietly. I'm sure you remember that." Amughar waited for me to respond. "Yeah...I remember two figures leaving me for dead in a dungeon. I remember looting corpses to survive. All the injuries and near-deaths. If it wasn't for regeneration, I'd have more scar tissue than flesh. Then Ambrose and his party found me. They got me out of there and took me to the orphanage I now run. I'll never forget that." I smiled remembering how Ambrose taught me things about Harahel I still use to this day. As I remninscing, Amughar spoke up. "Then I left and met Nola. The day I found Nola dying under the moonlight was the day my life changed. I remember sitting next to her and holding her hand as we talked. I remember her revival and her pledge to stay by my side. We traveled together and met Luce, the way he danced inspires me to this day with his bladework. We cut through the ones trying to force Nola into marriage though some of the women there acted weird around Luce and I and Nola's parents gave approval about something. She still won't tell me what it was. I remember when I met Ambrose again and cried my eyes out." I laughed at that last part. "Yeah, Nola and Luce were so confused about that. I don't think you've ever cried in front of them before except for when you first met Nola." I told Amughar. "Yeah, that was nice wasn't it?" Amughar spoke then gestured for me to continue. My face grimaced remembering this next part. "Then we met "Princess" and made it to Nocturne. We found those "nobles" who did that terrible shit to Nola and made her a Vampire. We found their slave pens, their breeding farms, their "experiments". No staff member left there alive and we made sure everyone suffered. Those poor men, women, and children that suffered under those "nobles" didn't deserve what happened to them and no one will remember it because a few missing "nobles" in Nocturne is a drop in the bucket." I shuddered remembering the things I saw there, it was that moment I thanked Unbreakable Mind for helping me push through it. That we five years ago if I remember correctly. "Yeah...now do you know why I had us take this trip down memory lane for stuff that happened four years ago?" Amughar said to me. It was four? Damn those loops messed up how old I think I am. I keep thinking I'm 23. "Well since you aren't answering, I'll just continue and before you say it. No its not to talk about how Chunni we were back then! I'm brought you down this trip to remind you that I know about going through terrible stuff, Two and that we've seen what terrible people do and you aren't them. But I also did to remind you of the good we've done." ...what did he just say? "Look Two, you seem so hellbent on punishing yourself and wallowing in misery that you are forgetting all the good things you did today as well. And that's pretty damn stupid! Aren't you supposed to be older than me now?! Be more responsible! You did take care of Angus, you helped make sure that people wouldn't feel too bad about what happened to you, you even helped save the Lady and her Child finally. And I know you said to Angus that you didn't do anything, but you did. Whisper consoled you, Alice consoled you, hell, even Angus thanked you for everything you did! And yet you wished that you got "weathered away" instead!? That you are a terrible person who deserves punishment? No, Two, you did everything you could and I know that for sure because I know exactly how you felt and what you were thinking." Amughar finishes talking to me and waits. I...don't know what to say to that. I feel like I should be punished for being in that crowd. "Stop." Amughar tells me stop. Was I thinking outloud? "You weren't actually there, it was an old dream from a being that has been long dead. You aren't them. They sunk beneath the waves long ago." Amu is right...I...didn't actually kill her. I...saved her. "You saved her, Two. Never forget that. Now, stand up and dust yourself off. You have friends waiting for you right? You aren't alone in that dungeon anymore with no one to relate to." Yeah, Amughar is right! I'm not alone anymore! I'm not a bad person! "Now, let's cut to the chase shall we? Do you want to fuse back with me? And don't lie or I will punch you again." Amughar suddenly spoke coldly to me. I can't breathe again. I feel cold. Those eyes...I remember those eyes from Nocturne... "I...I don't know to be honest. I...I..." I can't say it. Why can't I say it? "Oh, then I guess I'll just have you fuse with me. Since you can't decide I'll make it for you. Amughar says. He's moving closer, he's reaching towards me. I don't want to! I don't want to! "I DON'T WANT TO! I WANT TO BE ME AND ONLY ME! I WANT TO SHOW THE WORLD THAT I AM A GOOD PERSON AND THAT I AM NO LONGER ALONE! I WANT TO SEE IT ALL, I WANT TO DO IT ALL!" I finally yelled what has been building in my chest for so long in Dolce. It feels...good "Then lets figure out a name for you!" Amughar says to me with a pure and innocent smile like the kids at the orphanage. I'm confused. Why so easily? I voice this. "Are you sure, you'll be weaker than your peak y'know? And what about the orphanage, who will protect that?". I say to him yet he laughs wholeheartedly "HAHAHAHAHA, your face was so funny. D-Don't worry about the orphanage, I know you have backup plans for when you left. I implement them. Besides, we have friends stupid, we'll ask them for help if it comes down to it." Yeah, makes sense that he'd know that...I still hate him. "Now you wanna know the name I thought of for you?" Yes, tell me I want to know already you idiot! "Before that though, giving Yulia and Eden flowers? You sly dog you! How does it feel to be inside Eden and get shot down?" Amughar slyly says. I return the punch he gave me earlier. It felt good. "Ow! Worth it!" says the idiot knowing that neither of them can feel pain. He starts laughing and I start laughing along with him. We continue to talk about certain things. Where I plan to go. Who I plan to visit. Its really nice. Then as the conversation ends, Amughar speaks up. "Alright, time for your name. Are you ready?" Yes...I can't wait. Amughar begins speaking like the Vampire Lord he technically is. "For the clone who suffered at the hands of a cursed Moon, I name you this. For the boy who saved the Sea, I name you this. For the man who cannot embrace the Sun I name you this. For the friend who became a pillar of Earth for those he loves, I name you this. For the explorer who found the grave of a Child he saved that represented the Dark above, I name you this. May your name represent the Stars that lead the weary to salvation and shall return those lost home. May your surname remain the same to remind you of that very home. Your name is..." "Polaris Crystalbud" I finish for him. I feel tears run down my face as he pulls me into an embrace. And so a new Star was born and finally saved. Smiling as bright as the Star he was named after.