"Huh? What… did you say?" it felt as if Emilia's head was spinning.
"Think about it for a minute," Ryu pointed his index finger to the side of his head, tapping it twice against it. "Asaru's desire to survive was so strong that the artificial vessel that was Ace anchored itself and created an ego. In a way, it's the same process as how Concepts are born."
"N-no… That's not…" Emilia's words came out in a broken voice of disbelief.
"But here's the catch. He's human but at his core he's a Concept," Ryu did a V sign with the index and middle finger of his right hand before moving them as if they were scissors. "But that's where the problem is, Concepts don't have physical bodies, and by extension they aren't human souls. A human body but inside he's a Concept born from a human's singular desire."
"And in the process of that, the ego born from it, retained a little bit of humanity due to that fact. He learned to act and live as a human. But isn't being in such a state unstable?"
"That's…" as Emilia's words remained unfinished, Ryu's voice came out once again.
"Anyway, thanks for the help. I'll take it from here."
"What?" Emilia was surprised by his words as a new pop-up appeared before her.
[Notice: Event Quest has been completed.]
[Ejection Process initiated.]
Emilia's body started fading into digital, static cubes that went upwards from her legs.
"What's happening?! Ryu? Wait!" Emilia panicked as the process went on.
"Don't worry. Everything's going to be alright. I'm counting on you for afterwards, okay?" Ryu simply waved at her happily.
"No! Wait!" Emilia's body completely vanished as Ryu then turned towards the dark-blue sphere with a bothered expression.
"Ugh~" Ryu's expression was like that of a child who was forced to take bitter pill. "Well, gotta do what needs to be done, I guess."
"Haaa…" Ryu let out of long sigh. "This is going to be such a pain."
---
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---
With a gasp, Emilia woke up abruptly from her slumber.
"Eh? I-I'm back?"
She then looked around her. The same room, same bed, the same person beside her still plunged in his slumber, confirming that she was back in reality.
'Why was I chased out?' her mind then remembered the message she saw before.
'Even Quest complete…' her slowly drifted towards the still comatose Ace. 'Does that mean Ace is going to wake up?'
Suddenly, a strange mix of anticipation and anxiety gripped her heart.
'But then what?' she thought to herself before being surprised by what she saw on her left hand.
"!?" her eyes widened. 'The ring? How is it here?'
She then felt warmth around her finger as the gem embedded in it glowed with a subtle red hue.
"What's going on?"
---
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---
During that time, sitting alone on top of what seemed to be a glowing blue water body, the silver-haired Ace saw a familiar boy with a fox mask entering the dark space he was stuck in.
"Yo! Yo! Yo~!" Ryu greeted Ace excitedly. "How's it going, friend?"
"What do you want?" Ace stared blankly at Ryu without wasting any time.
"Oh. What's this? Is our poor Ace grumpy because it's not Emi who came?" Ryu tried to tease before being shot down by Ace coldly.
"Just tell me what you want already? I'm tired."
"I've got no business with you though," Ryu tilted innocently with both hands clasped behind as an amused laugh escaped his mouth.
"Then go away."
"No can do, sport."
"…" Ace simply stared at him, his dark and empty gaze not showing a shred of light.
"Wow. You sure ain't got any sense of humor," Ryu shook his head with a sigh. "I just came to have a little heart-to-heart with y'all."
Ace simply remained silent as Ryu also joined him on the ground.
"I've got a question for ya. What is normal to you?" Ryu's question made Ace's eyes slightly widen.
"What did you just say?" Ace muttered, Ryu repeating his question.
"I want to know what is normal to you?"
A static sound glitched in Ace's ears.
"Get out of here."
"Nah. I'm comfy here," Ryu refused with a mischievous smile etched on his face.
"I said get out."
"Why? What're you tryna hide? What is it you're not saying? I'm just oh so curious about it," Ryu then chuckled like a little gremlin while hiding his real thoughts behind his smile.
'That's it. Just lose your temper and let Emilia finally get all the answers. I'm just here put on a little bit of pressure on you, after all.'
"C'mon~" Ryu sounded like a brooding pesky child. "Just tell me. Please?"
"Shut up."
"Please~?"
"Shut up!"
"C'mon, please just tell me?"
"I SAID SHUT UP ALREADY!"
Ace's expression, which had been completely indifferent up until now, had lost all composure.
"Would you look at that? As white as a baby's clean diapers" Ryu referred to Ace's appearance as his clothes were no longer tainted with red, the whole in his chest was now nowhere to be seen, and his pale complexion had finally regained some colors.
"Long time no see, am right… Ace?" Ryu tilted his head with victorious grin etched on his lips. "I never thought that you'd break apart after I'd released the second seal."
"I guess just pushing you to anchor yourself to Emi as your reason to live was too crass of a plan," Ryu cheek rested in his palm as his head leaned on his arm.
"But still, I guess it was my fault for being too impatient. One should learn from their mistakes, and in this case, my mistake was actually a good opportunity to use," Ryu admitted proudly.
"In the end, no matter what I say or how you came to be, you're still just a human."
"Are you kidding me right now?" Ace's voice carried a tinge of growing annoyance. "Unless proof of the contrary, didn't you just show me that I wasn't human?"
"So just…" Ace's silver-white bangs hid his expression. "So why won't you just leave me alone already?"
While Ace and Ryu were confronting each other, back in reality, tears started running down Emilia's face.
"Ace…"