Real Reality (Yandere!Hero x Reader)

XXIX

"Home sweet home," Syren mused while wandering towards the luxurious house that once belonged to her. It almost was the size of a manor; the cliff side was part of the backyard. She laughed in agony at the reminder of how she had lost everything she had ever cherished. In her long lifetime, she had already lost the ones closest to her. Her lonely life would have been dull if it wasn't for her occupation as a well-known heroine. She thrived whenever people cheered for her; in those moments, the hole in her chest seemed gone. So when their praise turned into insults, it was almost as if her whole world had shattered.

She shuddered deeply, taking a deep breath as she stared at her own reflection on one of the nearby windows. Even after two centuries had passed, there still were no wrinkles evident on her youthful face. Her eyes drifted downward, eyeing the casual clothes on her body nervously. It's been a long time since she's worn anything other than her costume. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the familiar doorbell beside the front door.

"Coming!" a bright voice chirped. She heard footsteps coming closer. Syren was scared to face her past-self — the cheerful and optimistic heroine that everyone in Halo City adored. A shudder ran down her spine as the door was pulled open, a woman with a happy yet empty smile appearing in the doorway. She held a glass of water in her left hand. Her grip on the cup wavered as soon as she raised her gaze to meet the person who had knocked on her door. "Wait— who are you?!"

"I'm Hailey Diamond," Syren muttered under her breath, her walls breaking for a moment. At the sight of her past self, she was close to tearing up once she realised what she had become. The glass of water fell to the ground as the female's grasp on reality loosened for a moment. Syren jumped a little bit, looking down at the puddle forming at their feet. "Hailey, I'm you — from the future..."

"How... how is that possible?" Hailey freaked out as she stared at her future self with wide eyes. Her expression made it clear that she was unable to believe the words her ears had just picked up. As soon as Syren noticed the water soaking into her boots, she flicked her wrist to suck the water out of the leather. In an instant, she raised the water up and tossed it into the grassy soil behind her.

"I... I need to talk to you immediately," Syren explained, trying to keep up her trustworthy smile. Hailey nodded, her green eyes trained on Syren's hand that had just controlled the water on the ground. Stepping to the side, Hailey allowed Syren to enter her abode. "Today, something very important will happen... Something that changed my life forever, Hailey."

"I'll make you some tea," Hailey suggested before Syren shook her head, grabbing her wrist in the process. Biting her lip, Syren let out a regretful sigh. Hailey looked up at her. "You look younger," she commented, a horrified expression making its way to her past self's face. "Did you— did you kill innocent people to suck out their life force, Hailey?!"

"I'll explain everything!" Syren exclaimed as she shut the door behind the two of them, giving them more privacy from the prying eyes of the media or the many fans of theirs. "It's been such a long time since somebody has called me 'Hailey', dear..."

"Why is that?" Hailey looked at Syren's youthful face, afraid of the words that were to come about her future. Hailey and Syren needed to kill people in order to maintain their youthful appearance, but while Hailey just used the life force of the many criminals she had to kill, Syren had resorted to other less morally accepted ways to maintain her radiating youth. "What happened to me in the future?" Panic was evident all over Hailey's face.

"You know, a wise man once said the following words." Syren laughed emptily, her hand gently landing on her past self's shoulder. "You either die a hero—"

"—or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain," Hailey finished, tears already running down her cheeks at the dark assumptions her mind had created. Syren nodded with conflicted, pained eyes. Hailey started to sob wildly, burying her face in her hands. "I-I become a villain in the future? I become one of them? Why is this happening to me!?

"Everything will be fine, Hailey." Syren pulled her younger self into a hug, all of the pain she had hidden inside of her emerging from its abyss. A single tear escaped her eye as she comforted her past self. "That's why I've built that time machine — so that the regret and need for vengeance will finally go away... Now we can prevent that dilemma from happening, together. You just have to do what I say, alright?"

"To think that I'll kill the people I've sworn to protect," Hailey muttered, her whole body shaking as despair filled her mind. She seemed broken — like her worst nightmare had just come true. "I don't understand, Hailey... why?"

"—they expected too much," Syren muttered under her breath. Her eyes closed automatically once memories of the event flooded her head. "I... I wasn't able to save them and they... they never forgave me. All I did was save them — aside from that one time I genuinely failed — and that's how they repaid me?"

"So you became a villain?" Hailey screeched at the top of her lungs, her judging eyes trained on her future self. Syren bit her lip, nodding as guilt flooded her head. Hailey laughed maniacally, which shattered the glass of the many windows. Syren winced a little bit, trying her best to avoid being cut by the many shards.

"You don't know what I've been through." Syren's fists shook in anger. Her eyes narrowed as she took a deep breath. "They threw all their hatred at me — blamed me for the deaths of their beloved ones! I was trapped in a cage of self-hatred. That was until a woman made me realise that my anger shouldn't be directed at me, but instead towards all those fools that tried to ruin my life!"

"You'll help me prevent all of that from happening, right?" Hailey asked with tears streaming down her cheeks. Syren stepped closer to her and raised her own hand to wipe the salty tears away. At the sight of Hailey crying, she felt a deep sense of pity inside of her. How could she ever let it get this out of hand? But she'd make things right; she'd have the one thing that she needed and craved — the people's love and adoration. That's the only thing that has ever stayed consistent and inwardly, she hoped that it would give her the joy of life again.

As long as Feline and Shadow were following the plan, things would go alright.

"I will save you, Hailey." Syren smiled as she caressed her past self's cheek. She tried her best to comfort the broken woman. "You'll just have to listen to me, alright? Do everything exactly as I'll say. We only have this one chance to save ourselves..."

"Save me from my future, Hailey."

》In order to save others, you have to save yourself first.

"Ugh... where am I?" Mary asked herself as she stumbled through the crowd of people that swarmed the mall. Rolling her eyes, she rubbed her bruised arm gently. She winced at the thought of her flesh turning blue from her earlier rough landing. Her arrival hadn't gone well and she had ended up on the rooftop of a large skyscraper with both Shadow and Feline by her side. The two of them didn't seem interested in fighting her though and luckily left her alone. Whether this should be considered unnerving or lucky, she didn't know herself.

Now she was aimlessly wandering through the skyscraper that had turned out to be a busy mall. Throughout her search for information or the exit, she received weird stares left and right because of her ruined costume. She took a deep breath, wondering how she'd get out of this situation again.

"Yes, just don't get yourself in danger— yes, I know you're a lieutenant, but still. Evan, you're still—" The blonde gasped as she bumped into a woman with dark brown hair and warm chocolate eyes. Mary squinted her eyes, preparing herself for the scolding and insults she'd probably receive. Instead, the woman grabbed her by her shoulders, making Mary's eyes snap open. The woman scanned her whole body with her eyes, worry and shock all over her face. "Oh my, what happened to you, girl?"

"I-I'm fine..." Mary started, but didn't get to finish before the throbbing in her head became too much, resulting in her body falling into the unexpecting arms of the stranger. Darkness shrouded her vision as she slowly lost control.

"No way you're fine..."