Arcaea's Story (1 to 3.5)

<Luminous Sky>
>Hikari wakes up
>has no memories
>doesn't even know her name
>finds floating pieces of glass around
>'how nice'
>somehow knows that they're called Arcaea
>plays with the shards and enjoys them
>one day, she decides to start collecting them, because it made her feel happy
>as she collected them, she created a sky above her
>commanding the shards she found to move up above her
>hence creating a sky of light Arcaea of some sort
>one day, on her journey of collecting light arcaea, she does the usual collecting, except she looks at them with indifference
>different happy scenes are ones she's seen so many times already
>it's dull
(at this point two things can happy, if the anomaly fracture ray doesn't happen, this happens)
>she looks up in the sky
>it's bright and blinding
>she hasn't thought much in awhile, or at all
>she couldn't feel happiness anymore
>she didn't feel sadness either
>she was empty
>and so was her mind
>her mind ended
>and so did the rest of her story along with it
(this is if Fracture Ray happens)
>while the sky was beginning to blind her
>one different looking shard stands out from the rest
>it floats down to her
>a special shard, it was dyed in a tinge of red
>she looks into it and is shocked
>it's a memory of herself, when she first woke up in the world of Arcaea, happily playing with the fragments
>Hikari realises that she's no longer happy
>she was pointlessly collecting these shards now
>with that realisation, the sky above her breaks apart and falls
>a waterfall or a tornado of falling arcaea
>a beautiful sight but Hikari was too busy despairing over the anomalous shard
>she grips it tightly and begins to cry
>and from then on, she sets herself off to understand the world of Arcaea, because it's mysterious that happiness almost killed her

(Hikari goes from default Hikari at the start, to Zero Hikari while she builds the sky, to Fracture Hikari after seeing the red fragment)

<Vicious Labyrinth>
>Tairitsu wakes up
>she has no memories
>she can't even remember her name
>she notices fragments floating around her
>she looks into them and winces
>horrible memories
>although, she knows their name is Arcaea
>she looks around her
>a ton of fragments that were drawn to her were conflict Arcaea
>disgusting
>she decides to begin collecting these fragments
>they're awful, so they're better off gone and destroyed
>hence began her journey to destroy all the conflict arcaea she collected
>one day she stumbles across a labyrinth
>had a bad aura emitting from it
>she decides to go in anyway
>an avalanche of preeetty dang shitty conflict arcaea was present in there
>it was also a maze
>and deep down inside of her, she could feel that there was something terrible in the middle of it
>eventually she does reach the middle of the maze
>the most heartbreaking arcaea floated ominously before her

>it was the memory of a world ending
>she winces but gulps down the feeling of dread, and puts the world end arcaea along with the rest of her collection
>however, the tower around her begins to collapse as she took it
>normally anyone would feel extremely afraid while falling off a building, but she only felt confusion
>she could see better arcaea in a distance
>she had just overcome the worst possible memory, there was no way she couldn't take anything else on
>but as she was about to hit the waters below, all the glass fragments she collected formed a sphere around her and took the shock of the fall
>she was alive, but now her surroundings was eventually filling up with conflict arcaea
>they shrouded her
>the world around her now black
>the worst arcaea floated before her
>her resolve broke
>there wasn't a point to anything since nothing but awful things happen in the end
>she didn't feel anything anymore
>she couldn't feel happy
>she didn't feel sad
>she didn't anything
>she emerged from the fragment cage as a different person
>she changed
>she was apathetic to everything
>but when she did feel something
>it was anger
>she wanted to hurt someone, something alive, something breathing

>she could form tools from conflict arcaea, she created ravens and sent them to look for anything in the world
>they came back saying there was nothing
>she exploded the creature
>and continued travelling, before stopping in front of a giant ruined church
>she leans against a wall and closes her eyes

(She starts off as default Tairitsu, and then becomes Axium Tairitsu during the labyrinth, then Grievous Lady after getting broken)

<Meeting Scene>
>Hikari continues her journey to understand arcaea
>while travelling
>she notices someone standing against a wall, asleep
>she was surprised
>she didn't know if what she was looking at was a memory, or something else
>but the girl she was looking at opens her eyes, and looks back at her
>the girl smiles
>it was a real person she had just met

<Adverse Prelude>
>Hikari suppresses the urge to smile or speak up too quickly
>wouldn't know if this person was friendly or not
>but seeing the other girl smile at her, she beams back
>Tairitsu asks her for her name
>Hikari doesn't know
>Tairitsu doesn't know either
>Awkward
>Hikari began to feel her enthusiasm sink to Tairitsu's levels
>Hikari looks around, normally light shards would be attracted to her, but all fragments were frozen into place
>"Maybe... Maybe we could work together?" She asks
>"Maybe." A half hearted answer from Tairitsu
>Tairitsu felt a small bit of hope shimmer in her
>maybe the old Tairitsu was alive after all, she was still fighting for a second chance, against giving up
>"Do you know the name for these glass?" Hikari asks again (boi she's going in hard)
>"Yeah, for some reason I know they're called Arcaea"
>"I'm the same"
>"What memories do you see in these Arcaea?"
>"Almost only pleasant ones"
>"So we're opposites huh"
>Tairitsu points out that if they're opposites, maybe their meeting is a bad thing because they're on the ends of the spectrum
>Hikari leans slightly towards Tairitsu, "You only see bad stuff? I'm sorry..."
>"It's alright. But from what you're saying, even happy memories didn't give you a good life here, did it?"
>Hikari shook her head and began explaining her story
>Sure she didn't start off terribly, but she was this close to her demise, out of just happy memories
>They decide being honest with each other was best
>They began sharing their journeys with each other
>Tairitsu interestingly admits that she had always wanted to meet another person in this place, but except now, she wanted to meet someone else to take her frustrations out on
>she admits that during this entire conversation, she wanted to hurt Hikari
>Hikari replies, "That's fine. I think if I went through what you did, I might've been the same too."
>Tairitsu is shocked
>she then feels something brew in her
>Hikari could be her very last ray of hope
>there might be better things out there
>and so, she decides, she should work with Hikari

>but at that moment, something strange happens
>an anomalous shard floats between them
>a one way shard, a vision only Tairitsu could see
>it was the vision of the future
>a vision of herself, impaled by a long glass pillar
>on the other end of the pillar, was hands grasped onto it
>those hands belonged to the girl that she just met
>although from the angle of the memory, her expression was obscured
>Tairitsu reeled back in shock
>of course this would happen
>there's nothing good
>she was almost too naive to trust this girl
>Hikari suddenly sensed the change in atmosphere around them
>she felt danger
>she looked at Tairitsu with anxiety
>on the other hand, Tairitsu looked at her anxious face with the thought 'oh, shocked that your plans have been exposed and foiled?'
>at this moment, Hikari makes a damning mistake
>the lone red shard that quietly follows her around, the reminder to her current resolve
>Hikari grabs the shard and pulls it to her chest
>Tairitsu eyes widen, before she scrunching into a glare
>she plunges at Hikari
(end. yep. a cliffhanger)