Although he felt an extremely bitter taste on his tongue, Fate at least listened to his copy, while vowing to take every word with a grain of salt, of course...make that a pound.

F2-It’s not exactly a lie to say that I’m fading...hehe...but that’s just because I’ll have to retreat back into that…*shudder*...sh*thole sea down yonder to recuperate. However, there’s a certain something that you can do to benefit both of us...instead of just waiting for me to stop you from falling in.~

His doppelganger’s face was still solemn and with a saddened smile, showing no apparent change despite branching out to Fate, while the Witch looked upon it without a glint of emotion in her eyes.

-So you stopped me from falling in...dare I ask why?

Fate had begun to quickly think over this strange situation, this doppelganger, his copy, had attempted to drive him into insanity and possessed him, only to get soundly defeated by the goddess that it dared to pick a fight with. No matter how he tried to spin it, the creature didn’t seem to have any sense of self-preservation, based on its previous actions and complete disregard for its safety and Fate’s, so why would it suddenly pick this time to make a turnabout?

F2-Couldn’t it just be that I want to preserve our unique charm and handsomeness, that I wish to protect us both from…~

-Cut the sh*t and speak up! You didn’t care when I suffered, you didn’t care when your weird...f*cking...nightmare body and my mind were getting torn to hell in a fight that you started, and now you’re bullsh*ting me by trying to act as if there’s some mutual benefit that we both seek to gain from me doing what you say!!! So what the hell do you want?!!

As Fate screamed internally, frustration began to engulf his eyes, causing the Witch to turn to him for a moment, eyeing him with a raised eyebrow as a massive chill ran up his spine…

He quickly assumed a meek expression, erasing his previous fury from his vision while lowering his head, so as to not meet her gaze. The Witch, seemingly satisfied with this response, returned her attention to his copy, as he internally sighed in relief.

F2-Don’t you want to not have to deal with her, not have the possibility that she’s looking over your shoulder, reading your every thought like a book?~ I’ve already set up the play, now you’ve just got to get your game on, and get paid!~

-...Was that f*cking All-St…?

F2-Silence, b*tch, the b*tch has ears and god-powers, plus the copyright-desperados might come a’ calling!~ But regardless, I mean it when I say that it will benefit both of us, and that I just need you for the finishing touches…~

Fate gazed at his copy and the Witch, who now pointed her staff at it…

Witch of Fate: “Do you truly wish to fade? If so, I might see fit to grant you a less painful end than the one you’ve needlessly set out for yourself...supposing that you answer a question that I wish to know…”

The bloodied image of the young man raised its head to meet the Witch’s gaze, a mildly amused smile replacing its solemn one as it chuckled…

Fate #2: “Oh, goddess, I’m just dying to share that information with you, but I need to know something first…~”

A look of mild disdain crept across the Witch’s face, but soon vanished as she calmly responded to the doppleganger.

Witch of Fate: “You have my undivided attention. However, do not believe for a moment that any query you might have, could match the weight of my own…”

The copy nodded, hanging its head low, as its voice now began to run through Fate’s head, once again…

F2- Am I good or what?~ Now, what I need you to do, while I distract her, of course, is to whip that chain at my head at the precise moment when the decay reaches my head.

-Hey, I didn’t agree to this just yet, and you still haven’t told me what I’m supposed to get out of this!

The doppelganger, if only for a moment, shifted its lowered vision towards Fate with a lifeless glare, somehow exerting an aura that made it seem impossible to refuse, before quickly sliding its eyes back towards the ground…

F2- You...will obtain the freedom that you do not yet know you seek, and I...shall no longer fear the inevitable return to that horrid, lifeless, empty blackness…!

Its voice had now become distorted and gruff, forcing Fate to suffer through its strange, grinding tones as it spoke of things that eluded them both, a life the way one wished to live and a life that would never return to its perpetual nightmare…

Though he was not quite convinced, he knew from his copy’s now rapidly deteriorating body that he didn’t have much time to think this through, as he looked at the chain that was strung over the edge of the platform with a mix of panic and excitement…

He then turned his gaze towards the Witch, eyeing her with a hateful gaze…

-She’s the reason that I’m here...why I’ve suffered...why this f*cked up version of me exists...why I didn’t get to live out my life, to find out who I was going to be, to overcome my fears…! I really don’t believe this damn jokester copy for a minute, but that said…

Fate clenched his fists tightly, grasping onto the chain that extended into the black sea…

-I don’t want to live as an unknowing slave to a fate that I have no hand in controlling!

Witch of Fate: “What would you ordain to ask me, vile manifestation of a mortal psyche?”

Fate #2: “On second thought, you can take the lead on that one...I kinda need a bit of time to...uh, sort out my thoughts with all the...disintegrating going on in my downstairs department...kinda itches.~”

Fate’s hand was now firmly clasped onto the chain, feeling the strange weight at the end as he dragged it up slightly…

The Witch hadn’t seemed to have noticed it, but she did appear suspicious, though more of the doppelganger, rather than himself.

Witch of Fate: “Very well, I shall interrogate you as you...regain your mental faculties...What did you seek to gain by removing this, and how did you manage to release it from its scattered locations throughout the relic?”

The creature suddenly looked as if it had swallowed a knot, as the Witch now held a strange handful of indigo-blue powder in front of the copy, with a displeased expression. She also glanced at Fate’s hands and the chain that they were clutching furiously, much to Fate’s displeasure…

Witch of Fate: “Quite impudent, aren’t we, my disobedient little familiar?”
...