228. The Weight of Unconfronted Expectations

Jester of Speech | HP: 10,000

< “Wishing for sweet berries. For the thrill of the hunt. For the butcher of our meats. To the sewing of old clothes. I always enjoyed frolicking along the flowerbeds you so loved mom.” >

< “Suffocating in all of this pressure. This expectation… Don’t they all know that I’m really just only one girl?” >

The last Atelier Shackle fell like the rest, and the egg within the center of the room began to resonate with a throbbing heartbeat. Frost, not knowing what to do, turned to Nav as she studied the Jester of Speech’s new form.

< [Ugliest Duckling!] >

< Made to eat the forbidden, she regretted seeking salvation from the snake and poisoning them all >

The attack was not an attack at all. Rather, it completely altered the status of the Jester of Speech and even its name. This ‘egg’ devoured the Jester of Speech.

Weight of Unconfronted Expectations
ATT DEF : Infinitas HP : 10,000 MAG DEF : Infinitas

< Frost. It has reached a sub-phase >

< CONDITION: The overbearing weight of it all traps the Jester of Speech within an impenetrable shell. Failure to break through will utterly destroy Ber’s State of Mind. When the Weight of Unconfronted Expectations reaches 0 HP, begin the final phase >

< SUBJUGATION REQUIREMENT: Weight of Unconfronted Expectations is defeated when its HP reaches 0 >

Frost, with a heavy heart, approached the ‘egg’ with solemn eyes. That egg was the manifestation of her duties. Her despair. The weight of expectations that no one should ever have to shoulder alone. Her speechlessness allowed it all to compile, and now that she was allowed to freely dabble in her state of mind, it became too much for Ber to handle.

Ber was first and foremost a girl that wanted nothing to do with combat.

That impenetrable shell represented her heart which had sealed everything out as she prepared for the inevitable, and even as Frost approached, the Ber within attacked with her cries.

< [Sobered Wail] >

< “Forever stagnant, I wait for the day I can become free.” >

But Frost refused to allow herself to be defeated. She pushed forward, scraping through the lake with her boots dug deeply into its mud.

< [Sobered Wail] >

< “Wanting a taste of the femininity I yearned since the start…” >

Frost gargled on her blood, dropping to her knees as she thrusted her fingers into the invisible soil beneath the ankle-deep lake and crawled her way towards Ber with unwavering drive to save her precious friend.

Frost | HP : 19,700

< [Sobered Wail] >

< “Wanting nothing than to smell the flowers and put on perfume… I always hated that I smelt of iron.” >

HP: 17,825

< [Sobered Wail] >

< “Can’t I ever just be me? I… want to scream…” >

HP: 15,950

< [Sobered Wail] >

< “So I ask the world… Can you hear me cry?” >

HP: 14,075

“… I hear you. Ber. I hear you…” The water of the lake washed over Frost’s face. Water dripped from her cheeks, hiding her tears that streamed down her face as she begrudgingly crawled to Ber, her body in complete disarray.

Outside she appeared fine, but within several bones had shattered. Fighting within this place took a toll on her physically as did mentally. Her only saving grace was Painkiller and Touch of the Black Dove which passively healed her. But it was nowhere near enough to amend major wounds.

Still, so long as she was a construct of mana…

… then dying was an impossibility.

Clouds of red followed Frost, seeping into the crystal-clear lake. It was the only thing that didn’t sink or disappear. When the Sobered Wails ceased, Frost pushed herself onto her feet, wobbling slightly as she approached the egg with cordial, passionate eyes. The golden glows glistened, reflected in the lake as small teardrops fell, breaking the surface of the lake more than her steps.

Frost cried because she realized that Ber, despite hiding in her shell…

“You’re crying… for help. Even inside of that shell, you want someone to save you…” Frost did not allow herself to weep or break.

Because there was someone else who needed her the most right now, crying alone somewhere in their darkest place. Every step she took thereafter became a mental struggle to keep her composure. Hearing Ber cry broke something inside of her. As someone who could pull the heartstrings of others, she wanted to laugh that hers was being tugged away.

“Ber. You’re… not alone. That weight’s always been anchoring you, hasn’t it? Inside you want nothing more than for someone to relieve you of it. Because you can’t yourself…” Frost spoke to Ber like she was a patient of hers.

It seemed silly speaking to an entity with less than higher level thinking. But from what she knew from Ignis and Jury, they were always aware even though they were a Corrupted. Like a coma victim, she believed Ber could still hear her.

And so, she offered the ‘sleeping’ Ber her words of comfort as she carefully approached the impenetrable egg.

“If you could, then you never would have ended up like this. I know it’s too late to say this, but… You’re not as softspoken as you believe you are. Remember in Wharftow? The people you taught? That was fun, right? You’ve gotten close to Ignis. You’ve opened up to me on our trip to H10. Ber… I… we all want to see more of that side of you.”

Frost placed both hands onto the egg and drew her face close.

The ‘infinite’ value of the egg’s DEF was but a value that meant nothing when met with her maw. Because there was nothing couldn’t break. Frost was the only one capable of freeing the despaired Ber, and so, before she bit in, she spoke to Ber one last time.

“When I break this shell and free you… I want to learn how to sew. Do you think you can help me with that?”

And so, she bit into the chained egg, and it peeled away. The Weight of Unconfronted Expectations were devoured one by one. As Frost’s MP restored, the HP of the egg gradually fell.

Weight of Unconfronted Expectations | HP: 6,325

< “… towards the end of it all… I wish I had the conviction to speak away. Not just to peers… but to everyone else.” >

HP: 2,650

< “To secure my future. To become the me I want.” >

HP: 0

< “… to be unburdened by this all…” >

Suddenly, a pale light shone from within the hole she carved out. And without thinking, Frost reached a hand within to reach the despaired Ber.

< [I Wanna Be a Swan!] >

< She never knew what she was in the end. As the ugliest, she snipped her hair and believed it. But in the faintest moment she realized that she was much more. Clasping at renewed aspirations, she turned to the reflection of the lake and understood that she was one of the swans she so dearly loved >

“SOMEONE PLEASE SAVE ME!”

Frost felt a hand clasp onto hers from within, and in that moment – everything turned black.

< The Weight of Unconfronted Expectations has been defeated >

< Ber’s Emotional State has risen >

< BER’S EMOTIONAL STATE RESONATES >