❄️Chapter 30👑

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You.

Wren frowned in her sleep. 

Hey, I'm talking to you!

What was this? 

Look at me!

A rough hand grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked upwards. Wren let out a sharp cry of surprise, her eyes snapping open. "Who the hell are-" She froze. It was herself. A perfect image of herself, the blond highlighted white hair, the blue eyes. Staring angrily down at her, a fire blazing in her eyes. Wrens hands tightened around the stranger's fist. "Let go." Wren said. The girl did nothing, continuing to stare. "Let go," She demanded again. This time, the girl hesitated, her fingers loosening their iron grasp. Finally, she gave in, releasing her and throwing her onto the hard ground.

Wren gasped as her body made contact with the stone. Stone? She quickly got to her feet, wincing as the blood rushed to her head. She pressed a hand to her temples and sighed. "Who are you?" She said tiredly. The girl scoffed, staring at her with contempt. "I'm Wren," She said simply. Wren frowned. "No. No you're not. I'm Wren." The girl laughed. "That's where you're wrong." Suddenly, she was right in front of her, her fingers wrapped around her throat. Wren gasped. "There is only one Wren in this world," She said softly. "And that's me. You're only using my body, temporarily. You imposter. Y/N." Her eyes widened. How long... how long had it been, since she had heard that name? It sounded so foreign. But... but it was hers, right? It was... "You. You need to stop messing around," The girl hissed. "Finish this, quickly, so I can have my life back." Wren felt a sudden surge of annoyance.

"I'm trying," She snapped back. "But it isn't that easy, you know." "What?" The girl laughed. "Playing with people's feelings? I could have done it easily. But the system chose you, so what can I say?" Wren narrowed her eyes. "You know the system?" "Of course! The system is the true god of this world. Not the archons. Not Celestia. Celestia will fall, anyway. The system decides everything. Who dies, who survives, who gets to live the way they want. And us. Their puppets." She let go, and Wren almost dropped to the ground. She allowed herself a few seconds to gasp for air, before straightening.

"Why now?" She asked. "It's been more then a decade! Why didn't you come before?" "I would have come if I could have," The girl rolled her eyes. "Especially seeing you have so much fun," She sneered. "But I couldn't. I could only come now because I found glitches." "And now that you're here, is there anything important you want to say?" Wren cut in. "Or did you just come here to annoy me?" The mirage stopped and glared at her. "I already told you," She said. "You need to hurry up. Stop playing around and doing useless things. Every day you do nothing is another day wasted. And also, stop being so reckless! It's not your body, your life you're using." For once, Wren saw a flicker of sadness flash through the girl's eyes. "You can die here. Don't forget that, Y/N. If you cross the line, if you go too far- the system will, with no doubt, let you go. You're just a pawn, after all." Wren made a noise of protest. "I am not a pawn. I'm living how I want to!" "That's what the system wants you to think," The girl said airily dismissing her words with a wave of her hand. "Oh well, you don't have to heed my warnings if you don't want to. And maybe, just maybe..." She giggled. 

"If you die, maybe I'll have my body back..." Wren stayed silent. Was that really all true? All this time, she had just went along and completed missions. Because of what? What did she fear? If she failed to complete a mission, she always just assumed... that she would die. But what if that was not the case? What if, this was the system's way of manipulating characters in the game? "Well, all that aside..." The girl reached up, carefully pressing her index finger to Wren's forehead. The contact sent a wave of sharp pain through her body, and although she struggled to get away, it was as if she could no longer move. Like she was frozen on the spot. "It's time for you to wake up, Y/N."

~❄️👑~

She gasped as she bolted upright in the bed. Her fingers spread in the bed sheets next to her. Soft. So unlike the hard stone she had fallen on minutes ago. As she rubbed the base of her spine, she could almost feel a bruise forming. But that couldn't be true. Because... that was a dream, right? She took a deep breath, pressing a hand to her rib cage. She could feel her heart pounding. No, it wasn't, she decided. It was real. And that was that. She got up, slowly twining tresses of her hair into a braid and tying it off with a ribbon. She walked into the powder room, turning on the sink and splashing her face with water. She threw her head back and sighed, feeling water droplets drip into her hair. And when she faced the mirror...

She reached up to touch her face. Huh. It seemed that overnight... she had grown. She was around 12 years old now. 5 years older than she had been before. Apparently her emotions had finally kicked in, triggering the effects of the potion. But what kind of positive emotions had she felt? Or, did it have to be positive emotions, or just very, strong, passionate ones? She turned once more, opening the window and lifting her legs over the edge. She always began her days like this. Jumping out the window. But today, something was different. She could almost feel the burden of a shadow on her shoulders as she landed into a dark alleyway. The spiteful words that Wren had told her before she had woken up came to mind. "You are just a fake. A replacement. Never forget that." And for once, she was shaken. For once, she genuinely didn't know what to do. "Miss Wren?" Y/N. She turned to the source of the sound, where Kaeya stood in the middle of the street, calling for her. "Hey Wren, good morning!" Y/N. Beside him, Jean. Neither of them seemed to have noticed her sudden growth spurt yet. 

Now, she almost didn't answer to that name. The name that she had, for so long, accepted as hers. But now, there was a sense of doubt that lingered every time she thought about it. She was not Wren. Last night had proven that. So who was she? 

"You imposter."

Who was she, if not Wren? Y/N? The girl she had abandoned when she had died in her old world? Wait. Wait, this was all wrong. Why was she having these thoughts, anyway? In the first place... why was she following the system's orders? Because she feared death? She didn't really care for it, she had died before. So really, what was the point?

Screw it all, She thought, as she headed towards the waiting duo. From now on, I do what I want. She stopped in front of them, shakely bringing a bright smile to her face as she stared at their astounded expressions. "You grew!" Kaeya said. She laughed. "Way to state the obvious." She lifted a hand. "Heh. One of these days, I'm gonna catch up to you," She said deviously as she measured the distance between their heads. "As if!" He spun around and took off. "Well, I'm going to start my morning patrol," Jean said softly. "Please... look after Kaeya for me? Please?" She nodded. "Already on it. Who knows what he'll do without me?" With that, she and Jean went their seperate ways.

Dear Wren. 

You can have your name back. Your identity, I don't want it. I'll keep your body a bit longer though.

She caught up to Kaeya. "Hey! Why are you walking so fast? Tall people and their long legs, its no fair..." She muttered the last part under his breath. He laughed, and sped up just to spite her.

I don't care anymore. I don't want to follow the system's rules. I... I want to live as myself, even for just a little bit. Even if I die, I want to die as myself. As Y/N. As the person I've always wanted to be. Wren... Wren was just a persona I was hiding behind, all this time, because I was afraid- afraid of what could happen if I went against the system. But now, now I know- that the system sucks and it's messing with me and every character around me. They aren't game characters. They're real, breathing people. Friends. Thank you, for helping me realize that. For the wake up call. Really. And now... I bid you adieu.

She caught up. "Rude," She said in a sing song voice. "I'll race you to headquarters!" "No fair!" But he didn't sound mad. She looked to the sky as she ran. A clear, blue sky, with only a few wispy clouds dotting the horizon. A perfect day for a new start.

Sincerely, 

Y/N.

~❄️👑~

A/N You see? There is a reason for anything. I did not make Y/N Wren for nothing. It was mainly for a side story that I wanna do (so look forward to that 👀) Yall are so impatient smh (jk I love you guys) Anyway, thats that. She's back now. 👍

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