Arrival

[Arle Nadja]

Arle snapped to attention at Warren's question. Once again he'd sent her down memory lane, but this time in a radically different direction. She stood in a sacred blue temple, staring into a mirror in the midst of an arcane maze. A mysterious doppelganger had stepped out of the mirror and threatened her with the wrath of the gods. Lightning fell like rain from sky, intense blizzards blinded her and flame tornados threatened to end her existance. Her own attacks bounced right back at her. Yet, she'd somehow won. Arle remembered the doppelganger's words and the odd way she spoke to Arle. In hindsight, she believed she understood the oher better now than she did at the time. Drifting back into reality again, Arle would nod in acknowledgment of Warren's words, gathering her thoughts and considering her words carefully.

"...Honestly, I never really considered myself a hero! Why, are they really unbearable..?" Arle replied in mild embarassment, gingerly tapping her pointer fingers together in a mildly anxious manner. She'd met a self-proclaimed hero in her time. She decidedly didn't care for him, and she doubted he cared much for her either. Being upstaged by the girl next door wasn't usually those hero types' idea of a good time, especially in her world. "And I mean... power's great and all when you really need it to stop someone from hurting you or something you care about, but it's not what makes me 'me', you know?" the mage went on to explain, framing power as a bit of a minor note in the grand scheme that was her life. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'd rather make friends and enjoy a normal life. ...As normal as I can, anyway." Arle finished explaining, rolling her eyes a bit at that last part. One got the impression that she had to put up with a lot of shenanigans. After this, however, Arle's expresion abruptly turned more serious. She lost her awkwardnes and began to speak a bit more softly.

"...One time I met someone who had all the power she could ever dream of. She could do anything she wanted. Anything. But somehow, it wasn't enough. I think by the time I met her, she'd come to regret ever having taken that much power. She must have learned that there were some things not even unlimited power could grant her. One of those things was happiness. She seemed really happy when I told her I didn't want to follow in her foosteps. She was relieved, even." Arle began to explain, recounting her memories aloud and raising some questions about what exactly she'd been through. "...And in a way, she was me." Arle went on to remark before falling silent, drifting off into thought again for a moment.