Side Note

Hello there, it is me, Madeleine Arcus. According to my memories, I used to address voices that resided within my mind, as if my perspective on things were of interest to them. I can see why I would do such a thing in my maddened state, but I am currently of sound mind. Unfortunately, as you can tell, the downside is that I am rather… boring. I assume that is what my… hmm… I shall say true self, would say to me. The only reason I am doing such a thing is that I am currently bored. Incredibly bored. So bored, I can remember why I drove myself into insanity like the rest of this forsaken world.

If you are confused about why I am acting like this, then you should remember what Myka said. To paraphrase, my soul is being eaten, and thus I am reverting. If I were to hazard a guess, six sentient shadow clones should have been eaten by now, which explains why I am like this. If one shadow clone is equal to one year, then the Madeleine I am now should be the Madeleine halfway through her Maid School education. The Madeleine who devoured the knowledge of an entire academy's worth. The Madeleine who destroyed a legion of teachers. The Madeleine scorned and outcasted as a monster due to her actions and circumstances out of her control. The sole survivor of the cursed class, the deadliest student to have stepped foot in the Maid School, the weird one… and much, much more. Whatever. My own thoughts I have heard a million times, thus, they bore me. But what is to come, I will surely be entertained with. 

Right now, we are approaching the Headmaster's room of the Maid School. The stares from the surrounding students… I wonder if it's because they recognise me or because there's a non-Maid School maid walking around. I tried to tell Myka she should wear a uniform similar to mine, but she refused because she was used to discriminatory gazes. Or maybe it's the fact that Melanie is carrying me over her shoulders. Why am I being carried? As it turns out, having your soul get eaten piece by piece may or may not cause paralysis. I cannot feel my legs.

"We should be nearing the Headmaster's room right now."

"Geez, you even sound monotone now." Myka lets out a sigh. "It's like my role is being taken away."

Mel stays quiet, not wishing to join the banter due to being in deep thought. Is she conflicted right now? I wonder how she'll react to how I was origina- URK! There goes another one. I'll need to eliminate the source of this… but if I return back to how I was… I'll need a countermeasure for that. Before I could even think up something, Myka kicked open the door to the Headmaster's room and was immediately kicked out through at least five walls. Unfortunately, I could hear her screaming profanities while flying through the walls. To think Myka could survive a kick from Moira. I still remember that eventful day in Merida's office… the pressure she let out could kill. I couldn't imagine what a kick could do.

"Ah! My daughter and her cute lover. Finally here to defeat me?"

"No!" Mel gently put me down, leaning me against the huge doors, then prostrated. "Save her, fix her, do whatever!"

Moira turned to me with the coldest of eyes. Ah… this, I remember this. No longer is she my mother. This isn't even the Headmaster of the Maid School. This is the only person more bored than me. "What a disappointment. To think you would become weak this quickly, even after breaking my programming." She turned to Melanie. "You would have had better luck getting help from the Creator, wherever she is." 

She turned and walked away, leaving behind a frozen Melanie. Haa… what a terrible outcome… I'm going to be dead, Melanie might as well be dead inside, and Myka is unfortunately not dead. Well… whatever. I'll probably be fine since this wouldn't be my first… who is that whispering in Melanie's ears? She looks… familiar. Ah… the villager from Side Character. It seems whatever she whispered got Melanie up. Good on her… wait a minute… why is she grabbing out her bow? Is she planning on attacking Moira? That's a death sentence. 

Melanie fires a light arrow at Moira, who catches it without even looking, and then turns to Melanie. "Impudent. For that, you will perish." Moira dashed forward, launching a punch right at Mel, and everything froze. 

Silence filled the room. The villager had disappeared, the students that were previously peeking from the door and holes in walls had dispersed, and there was not a single movement, except for a single blood drop that spilt from my mom's hand… not Mel's blood, though. Her own. Somehow, with what little strength I had left, I managed to throw a dagger into mom's hand before she touched Mel, pinning her to the wall… man, that makes me feel kinda loopy, both types of loopy. The "Holy shit, she's batshit insane, and she fucked my daughter!" kind of loopy, and the "Holy shit, I feel dizzy like I fucked a daughter while incredibly drunk!" kind of loopy. 

Mom stared at her hand, watching the blood drip. She took out the dagger, examined it and her wound, and then put the dagger back in the wound. Geez, what a weirdo. She then grabbed a light blue orb from somewhere and threw it next to me. "That will heal your soul to how it was before it was damaged and protect it from any damage until the end of the next day. That should be enough time for you to deal with the threat." Then she walked away, dagger still in hand.

Mel wordlessly faced me, then slowly but surely, walked over to me, giving me a hug once she reached me. I'd hug her back, but I haven't touched the blue orb thingy yet, and I feel very paralysed. A bit like that time I found out Mimi's Sacred Power. Mel and I stayed quiet and in each other's embrace for a while when it was ruined by the appearance of our other comrade.

"Man, that punch was a bitch… did I seriously miss out on a power of love moment?"

Chapter namesake: Fix You by Coldplay