Chapter Text
Arle looked towards the spitting image of herself. Outside of the manic grin and haunted look, and the mask she was hiding behind her back, she looked practically like a long lost twin sister. She then looked at the recently finished Puyo Puyo duel, which was overflowing with Ojama Puyo, both fields now full to capacity. So full to capacity, she observed, most of the excess was falling out and bouncing off the head of the still entranced Satan. A small part of her wanted it to stop, either the seemingly endless cascade of Puyo or Satan’s entrancement, she wasn’t sure, so she used the massive amount of mana being released to banish the Puyo, the twin picking up one of the Ojama Puyo that had bounced free and bouncing it off his head.
“Now, it is time for us to…” The other girl began dramatically, Arle tilting her head in confusion, then she realised exactly what they both needed. “What, Pierrot? Go home?” She asked. Well, She could then do some curry, they could compare their histories...
“What did you call me?!” ‘Pierrot’ asked, her entire demeanour deflating in seconds, the Puyo she’d been juggling absent-mindedly falling to the floor, notably avoiding more than three of any colour being in close proximity.
“Pierrot,” Arle stated, “It’s your name, isn’t it? You said it yourself when you first met me. You called yourself ‘Pierrot’, so obviously, your name is Pierrot, nothing else,”
Pierrot looked at her, then broke into a sudden bout of laughter. Well, OK, maybe not so sudden. She was terrible for them.
For ‘Pierrot’, this was the most hilarious joke yet. The blasted fake now was refusing to even acknowledge her as the one true Arle. She was naming her after the disguise that rolled in tatters around her. “I’m not Pierrot, I’m Ar...” She began, feeling herself being pulled by something. It was not a nice sensation. She even recognised the sensation. She’d felt it no-one knew how long ago. Partially since she’d dealt with God centuries ago.
“No, I’m Arle, You’re Pierrot. You just look very similar to me, but we’re clearly not the same person. That wouldn’t work out, Satan said so...” The doppelganger stated. The feeling fell away from her as she nodded, and she looked towards Satan, who gave a blank look back. Oh yes, she should break the trance. Eventually. Possibly. OK, She Didn’t Care One Bit. “What was it that he said...” She mused, “No two entities...”
She paced as she tried to figure out why nothing had happened then. There were two Arle Nadjas right there. She then froze. Up until she removed her mask, She’d not felt that pulling sensation. She’d not been Arle. she'd been... She'd been... Oh. While her doppelganger refused to acknowledge she was who she was, the universe was, to put it politely, incredibly confused, due to something more powerful than its creator declaring it was wrong . Admittedly, it still had something more powerful than its creator doing so, but in a different way. Either of them could flatten Satan on a good day. “OK, My name’s Pierrot. Would you like to be friends?” She offered, as she figured out how to get round Satan’s little ‘present’, and contemplated what she’d use for a name outside of the Puyo Circus...
Well, that was if she even kept using it as a home. She could just compact it back into a caravan and go explore, make mischief, slay a few hundred monsters, troll Satan, open a magic school, troll Satan, refind Carbuncle, troll Satan… Oh, she had so much she wanted to do. After curry. And maybe replacing Satan’s brain.
Several hours, including a coin toss over the logistical value of just leaving him a drooling zombie, a curry break and three more botched coin tosses, due to eaten coins due to Carbuncle, several clearly influenced tosses, at least one getting misplaced due to an errant spell and a magical duel where the both of them tried to keep the coin in the air as long as possible, Satan woke up, not knowing it was since his former pupil had pointed out that leaving him like that was not acceptable, he looked to see her. His eyes went wide, as he realised she’d not vanished. “Ar-...” He began, Pierrot noticing that the sensation didn’t come back. Probably since the universe had accepted the thought of the two most powerful people in it.
“Pierrot,” She corrected, “Well, I couldn’t possibly be Arle. She wears blue, has brown eyes and actually has a modicum of respect for you...”
She then paused, before chuckling to herself. “Meanwhile, I’m Pierrot. I wear red, have red eyes, and would probably end up eliminating a second Creator of my home universe if it wasn’t for the fact her and Car-kun would be very disappointed… Well, mostly Car-kun…”
Satan swallowed. Arle referred to Carbuncle as Carby. She always did, had and would for time immaterial. This Arle didn’t , she used her old nickname for him. Meaning this was the 'old' Arle. And she’d found a workaround for how he almost banished her. Namely that she was powerful enough, as was Arle, to tell cosmic law to go stuff it. “So, What are you going to do with yourself?” Satan asked.
“Befriend her, That’s the easy bit, probably take her on a tour of the dimensions, corrupt her innocence in mutually beneficial ways, Probably commit one of the most confusing cases of twincest in the multiverse...” Pierrot declared, before giggling, “Oh right, What am I planning for me personally… Sorry, but me, myself and I are going to a place which you don’t control… Arle Nadja, period, is no longer under your influence. I am a god slayer, remember that, Anti-Christ... You are the one true Creator in this world, and, well, I already left you a drooling, brainless vegetable. Only one person is stopping me leaving your brain in a deep, dark hole… and she could easily change her mind,”
She then laughed, before vanishing, seemingly deliberately leaving just her mask, slowly rotating out of existence, as a kind of calling card. Satan sighed. So, now he had one Arle who likely would no longer be apprenticed under him, and one Arle who just stole his apprentice and promised pain upon him if he even contemplated getting her back. Why did he have to get it wrong years ago? Oh yes, Arle was not playing ball on the whole ‘Slay God’ plan.
Pierrot reappeared beside Arle, who was ladling out two bowls of curry, before placing the pot next to her, completely ignoring the fact Carbuncle ate the entire pot. Including the pot. She then motioned towards the table. “So, How’s Satan?” Arle asked, Pierrot tapping her finger against her chin. “Slighty smarter than the previous time we met. He didn’t try to ‘test’ me. Which is unfortunate. It means he’s still going to be breathing tomorrow,”
“Piero-chan!” Arle exclaimed, “You do not put the fear of God into my magic tutor!”
Pierrot thought for a moment. God had been much more terrified when she met him, rather annoyed by the fact she was functionally immortal. And no-one else was. ‘She’s so innocent, so clueless about the reality of the world... ’ Pierrot mused as she looked at Arle, before stating, “OK, So if he’s your magic tutor, can you care to show me some magic? And you’re not to use any Puyo as boosters...”
“What do you mean by that?” Arle asked, causing Pierrot to laugh. Oh, Satan, He probably never even told her this. “Why is it that spell-chaining works so easily when you Puyo Battle? I thank whoever changed the spell chant for Owarimo from its name to just declaring the intent to battle, it made it so much easier...” Pierrot asked, letting the question hang in the air for a moment, “Several centuries ago, a young magister discovered there was a spell that caused Puyo, themselves practically speaking a form of strange run-off on magic being cast, to self-destruct when three or more got stuck together, creating untyped mana, which could be then used to cast another spell, which the side effect was the creation of more Puyo… therefore Puyo Battles happened,”
Arle tilted her head. She’d never heard this story. “So, What happened to that magister?”
“ We are that magister, Arle Nadja, who likely based the current spell off one someone else granted her, I think Satan’s wife from longer ago than we’re going to ever look, If you ever want to get his attention, ask him about Lilith,” Pierrot stated, “That’s part of why I was displeased with how Satan clearly didn’t teach you anything of value… You managed to recover your original spells, but you’re using Owarimo in it’s current form as a massive crutch. Probably since he didn’t want you to become as powerful as you could be. Follow me…”
They soon arrived outside a forest near to where Arle’s birthplace was, Pierrot breathing in and sighing. “Why are we at the Hajimari Forest?” Arle asked, “Not been here in years...”
“Unlike you, I can actually remember the early days of our precursor...” Pierrot stated, “And how many years has it been since you were home? Not the cabin you have near Satan’s castle, your birth home,”
“...That’s odd. I can’t remember,” Arle replied. Pierrot muttered something, scowling before she sat on a tree stump. “That’s because this world is in a time loop. A very discreet one, and, since everyone who can be questioned on it is in it, no-one notices the repetition or lack of memories before a certain time...” Pierrot offered, “You then were given just enough memories of the old world to make you think your existence isn’t limited to a few months or so...”
She then paused. “Do you trust me?”
“I don’t see why not… If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?” Arle offered, reminding Pierrot she was only called that because of the fact she couldn’t exactly use Arle’s name. She was using it as a very effective mask, like the one that she tapped against her knee thoughtfully. “Satan can’t be trusted,” Pierrot stated, not even giggling to emphasise how much this was a huge thing, “Let’s consider that he specifically set up a screening system in this fabrication of our world in case another version of anyone appeared...”
She watched as Arle ran into the nearby ruins, finding only skeletons and the stench of decay. There was no doubt this wasn’t a trick. The air was still, not even wind blowing. It was eerie. Time had stopped here… no-one could tell how long ago. “The original Arle Nadja rendered this world functionally inert over half a millenia ago after killing The Creator. It’s why a valid nickname for us is ‘God Slayer’...” Pierrot stated, no longer using her mask or clown costume, now outright Arle , since this world was not affected by Satan's power, “Oh, Puyo still manifest. In fact, It’s teeming with them in areas. I think this is where they actually fall out of, but have never proven it,”
Pierrot then headed to one particular house, the skeleton of what was clearly Carbuncle clearly visible collapsed by one of the dust-caked windows, Arle stood there with shaky legs, looking slightly queasy. She counted to five, before conjuring a bucket as Arle threw up upon realising this was her house, in the dead timeline and the reason it was centuries old… was that she’d been repeating time for the entire period. “I don’t exactly know what I am, personally...” Pierrot mused, “Never found any sign of Arle herself, but I doubt I am her outright. I am more than you, but only in that my memories go back that far naturally, instead of being patched together from what Satan recovered...”
A quick thought, and she considered a spell Satan kept in his study. Pierrot abruptly disappeared, reappearing with Arle’s Carbuncle and a scroll, the paper weathered and worn. The skeleton was placed on one side of a hastily made magical pattern, Carbuncle sat on the other. Both Arle and Pierrot chanted the words of the spell, a ghostly haze passing into the skeleton. Time seemed to roll back as it changed, until there were two Carbuncles where there had been one. Pierrot scooped up the new one, who looked puzzled, then gave a little ‘Guu!’ as Arle fished in her pocket and took out a small biscuit of some kind, tossing it Pierrot.
“Yes, I have one for you too...” She stated, giving one to her Carbuncle, “Curry-flavoured cookies. When you have a bottomless stomach like Carby as a pet, you keep something like them around,”
After a pause, she took out the bag from her pocket, offering Pierrot the bag, allowing her to grab a handful before taking one herself. “I was about to ask...” Pierrot admitted, “Still, I doubt Satan left an exception for Carbuncle,”
“I know him. He left an exception for Carbuncle. He’ll do anything for Carby...” Arle stated, and they transitioned to the house, which looked a lot less ruined, Arle refilling the bag from a jar on the counter. After about an hour of waiting, Pierrot looked at the two Carbuncles goofing around with each other. “He left an exception in cosmic law for Carbuncle...” She sighed, “He doesn’t leave one for me, but you mention his pet, and he’ll do anything for it...”
Satan frowned as he peeked in on Arle and Arle. Whatever she might call herself. She must have resurrected the original Carbuncle from the old world. Annoyingly, the magical aura of the second Arle was enough to render it impossible for him to listen in on them, and they’d spent a good hour or so in another dimension. And yes, He left a gap in the cosmic law of the universe for his pet, in the impossible situation that somehow more than one entered the world. Was it so bad?!
“So...” Arle asked. “The world ended, centuries ago. Arle killed The Creator, after she outlived practically everyone she’d ever known, which was her destined quest...” Pierrot offered, sighing, “Arle herself… She had her soul ripped in two...”
The colour drained from Arle’s face as she pointed first to herself, then to Pierrot. “Yep. Satan found the spirits of everyone from the old world, resurrecting them in a snapshot of the world long before the fateful series of events that resulted in that apocalyptic duel...” Pierrot stated, “He even found you. But he didn’t know Arle’s soul had been ripped in two…”
“So, why did you attack me?” Arle asked, “We’re practically sisters!”
“Do you think I wanted to be stuck in limbo for several centuries? Without Car-kun, without anyone?!” Pierrot snapped, “You might be stuck in a little bit of my life, but it’s still my life ...”
“Our life,” Arle stated firmly. “And I don’t want to spend another minute here...” Pierrot sighed, summoning a staff, “OK, Let’s find a random dimension!”
“Pierr...” Arle began, only for them both to be pulled towards a portal she summoned, Pierrot pausing, before she muttered something, finding the thread of magic that held time at bay, and pulled, dislodging the enchantment as she disappeared. The Madou World’s time began again... and several people had similar bouts of nausea as the two timelines merged and they found their past selves. And Satan collapsed as his brain was banished by another spell Pierrot left waiting for the perfect moment.