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Black… White… Black… White…
He watched white pages drifting through the air and settling between black. Where were they coming from?
He felt movement inside his cover as another page slowly separated from his spine.
Oh.
It didn’t hurt but the world felt blurry and unreal.
Another page removed itself and settled between the black pages of another book.
Black… White… Black… White…
It was so hard to think…
And so much easier to simply let it happen…
“Weiss, you dumbass!”
…Weiss?
Weiss… White… Weiss… White…
The voice was still talking, loud and annoying, “Start making sense, you rotten book or you’re gonna be sorry!”
…So loud… Who was it? He… couldn’t remember.
…Why?
“How can someone with such a big, smart brain get hypnotized like a little bitch, huh? ‘Oh, Shadowlord! I love you, Shadowlord! Come over here and give Weiss a big sloppy kiss, Shadowlord!’ Now pull your head out of your goddamn ass and start fucking helping us!”
…Kainé.
The name drifted through his mind.
Kainé. Filthy words and ridiculous clothes…
Kainé. Sharp swords and sharper tongue…
Kainé. Cold shell around fragile heart…
Kainé. Friend.
“Please, don’t go, Weiss!”
Another voice, so small and sad.
“It’s okay, I’ll understand. I’ll understand if you forget us.”
…Forget…
Pages drifted past one by one.
Black… White… Black… White…
“But I promise… I won’t forget you!”
…He didn’t want to forget.
“I’ll remember you, no matter what! I will keep the memory of Grimoire Weiss alive forever.”
Weiss… White… Weiss… White…
“And that’s not all I’ll do! I’ll… I’ll… I’ll chase you to the end of time and I’ll bring you back to us!”
…Back… He wanted to go back…
“Weiss, please! Please! Come back to us!”
…Emil.
Another name.
Emil, a child carrying a terrible burden…
Emil, who would rather suffer himself than hurt others…
Emil. Friend.
“Dammit, we need to stop him! If we don’t do something, that black book will absorb Weiss!”
So few pages left…
Black… White… Black… White…
“Weiss!”
Kainé…
“Weiss!”
Emil…
…A single page left…
“Weiss…”
…Nier?
“We… We’ve got to…”
…Save Yonah.
His last page moved, trying to tug itself free from his spine and he moved with it, floating closer to the laughing Noir.
“For the last time,” he rasped, struggling to keep himself afloat. “My name is Grimoire Weiss-”
-his cover snapped open-
“-And it is NOT to be abbreviated!”
-and slammed shut over Noir.
“What are you doing?” the black book cried, trying to break free.
“These are my friends and I shall fight by their side now and forever. So give. Me. Back. My. Pages!”
“Impossible!” Noir struggled in his grasp but Weiss only tightened his grip.
He pulled with all his remaining magic and was rewarded with one of his pages sliding out and connecting to his spine.
He could do it.
For Kainé…
Another page slid out.
For Emil…
And another page.
For Nier…
Page after page returned to their rightful place, filling him with power…
For Yonah.
Noir screamed, disbelief coloring his voice more than the pain, and Weiss felt a black page attach to his spine. A sudden burst of power it brought nearly made him laugh. Turnabout was fair play, wasn’t it?
Noir thrashed in his grip but Weiss kept pulling, ripping out page after page and absorbing their magic. He needed it to protect his friends, to help Yonah, and to keep everyone safe… And he certainly wasn’t going to leave all this power to some moth-eaten magazine!
Weiss opened his cover, filled with twice as many pages as before, and Noir clattered down, empty.
Weiss called upon his magic, long spear of blood and darkness forming between his pages. He looked down at Noir and let the spear fly, piercing through his cover and shattering him into pieces.
Weiss stumbled suddenly in the air, his pages fluttering. Something… Something was wrong. What-
The floodgates of his mind opened, Noir’s memories rushing in and pulling his own to the surface.
He remembered…
White Chlorination Syndrome…
Luciferase… Hamelin… Legion…
World Purification Committee…
Project Gestalt…
Human restoration…
Decoding system ‘Weiss’…
Project Replicant…
…He remembered everything.
Weiss trembled, his pages, grey now instead of black or white, folding in pain.
He understood everything.
So much went wrong over the centuries, he didn’t even know where to begin…
The massive doors leading to the basement shuddered once again and Kainé groaned, struggling to keep them shut.
…Right. He’ll have a nervous breakdown later.
Weiss opened his cover fully, straightening his pages. He formed an enormous arm out of his magic and slammed it over the door, creating a seal over it for good measure. He didn’t have the time to marvel at how easy it was to use magic now. Instead he created another seal, pinning the Shadowlord down and taking Yonah from him with another two hands.
Shadowlord- No, Gestalt Nier cursed at him and struggled to break free.
Oh, he could understand Shade language now? How nice. It would make things easier.
“Now, everyone shut up and calm the fuck down!” Weiss yelled, wobbling unsteadily in the air. “We are going to sit down and talk like actual adults before this clusterfuck gets anyone else killed!”
Hmmm… Maybe Kainé really was onto something with all the profanity she spouted. It did make him feel a little better.
Weiss wobbled again, spinning slightly. He was probably in shock.
Weiss shook himself, fluttering his pages and trying to get a grip. He had to keep a clear head and solve this problem before his dear idiots leapt into another fight.
Hopefully, if he played his cards right, nobody would have to die.