The inside of her room, however, tells a somewhat different— but not so farfetched— story...
"Investiture..." she muttered, forming some sort of black crystal sphere before pulling something from atop her desk. A small cube upon which surges lots of compressed electricity— kinetic battery— before opening the small hatch on the sphere, inserting it, and causing the black circle to light up, with certain patterns illuminated to give the impression of a circuitry inside. Whether it is magic or technology, maybe it's a combination of both.
"Given Investiture feeds on the emotions and willpower within the person's psyche, it's impossible to replicate, making any form of nullification— except for those outside of Investiture— ineffective...
However..."
She snaps her fingers, and another "Noah" appears. "This is incredible" said the apparition. A memory replayed from Yoshioka's own mind, now embodied by an individual— a close friend of hers.
"Memories can convey what happened in the past. Sure, Investiture are indeed impossible to replicate by using magic, but... I've been able to replay Noah's powers through the use of memories..." she muttered to herself, dematerializing the apparition of 'Noah' before pulling something from her bag.
Long pink hair, hazel eyes, and... no body. It was the deceased head of the long gone member of the Red Hand, one of Pythia's mages— Konoe. Alongside the decapitated head were the glass shard containing the memories of Konoe — from the mission briefing to meeting her parents, and towards the eventual meet-up with the group.
Placing the head on the table with the glass shard Yoshioka would stand up and take a step forward, reaching for her forehead as a glass disc came out. "So if I duplicate this..." a memory from her fight with the witch, she'd place the disc on the table.
Yoshioka would then slowly make a crystal doll— one without a head that is— sculpting it to match the body and physique of Konoe. The image formed from her mind replayed the approximate weight, calculated to match a full 1:1 ratio of her, making it imperceptible from the original. The movement of said doll was just the same as her clones, just applying that logic and implementing it.
Of course, as per privacy and dignity, she also bought the exact same clothes that the mage wore, from the robes to even the hat. Its intricate design is woven with the best quality, made for the utmost comfort of the wearer.
After that's done, here comes the difficult part. There weren't some impending risks given she could destroy the dolls through ability deactivation, its only risk is the possibility of it not working. But there's no use getting cold feet now, it's either she finds out or not... and reports the attempt to Grandfather and maybe Miss Sasha.
"The replay with Noah was the conceptualization of this idea. Maybe it could work with Kessler and the Skeleton, but... there's gotta be a more concrete discussion about that after this..." she muttered to herself, looking at the head and back at the headless doll. "I saw the memories of you, Konoe, and it's not really because I'm doing this just for an experiment, but..." she first inserted the disembodied head, connecting it to the doll as the neck fused with the body.
"...but because I feel your pain..." she secondly inserted the artificial core/heart, one powered by her Investiture— Blue: [Godspeed]. "I-I know the pain of not being able to see your family, m-maybe they know about your passing, or... they still believe you're looking for the shard.." the artificial heart began to power the body as the lifeless cold doll gained normal temperature.
"W-when I fought you, it felt like you were doing it out of duty. The anger you feel, the way you acted, all felt like you were desperate in getting the Shard for your family..." she murmured, reaching for Konoe's hand, feeling the fingers as they were real— flesh and human— synthesized by the glass to imitate the real thing. With two hands, Yoshioka held the doll's hand before looking back at the yet lifeless eyes, "And I envy you... you still have your family with you, I don't even know where my sibling still is. Maybe they're dead, but... I'm hoping I'll find them..." she murmured, before letting go and gently walking to grab the two glass shards.
"This is just an apparition, a simulated memory made by my calculations and the assumptions I've made using Fool Believer..." she regained her composure and shook off the emotions aside, slowly placing them on each side of Konoe's head, "You don't really have any will since you're a puppet made by me, meaning you won't have any Investiture. However, the memory replay of your attacks like: [Exelsius], [Reach of the Archdemon], the shield, levitation, and your other spells are replicated via Memory Replay. Plus, since you're empowered by my electricity, it's like using two Investitures at once." soon, she'd fully insert the two memory discs, with the core inside Konoe's chest making a whirring sound— it's working.
"Though Memory Replay only copies 25% of the original, simply stacking it should be enough, making it just as powerful— if not even more, given you also have Godspeed with you!" she said happily, waiting for Konoe to do something.
Soon, there'd be a twitch in the doll's fingers, then a slight shiver in the arm, and finally a slight shock as the eyes on Konoe slowly brimmed with artificial life. As if necromancy wasn't a thing, Konoe blinked and slowly took a look around.
"W-where am I?" the doll asked, glancing at Yoshioka.
"Would she remember me given I've fought her?" Yoshi thought as she tilted her head and placed a hand on her chin.
"Y-Yoshi! Where are my allies?!" even the doll acted accordingly seeing she never was shown the state of her comrades. Konoe tried to resist, but her own conscience was completely controlled.
"They were long dead, Konoe. You too died along with them. I simply brought you back..." Yoshioka said honestly, making Konoe be stunned in silence.
"Then that means—"
"Yes, you're now considered either missing or assumed dead by Pythia. I saw in your memories that Lady Tiamat assumed that some of you will indeed die, meaning that she must've told Pythia about your condition..." Yoshioka explained, moving her hands on about.
"I see, then... My family..." Konoe looked down with a saddened face.
"Your family knows you'll be back, but... I assume they've also been told about your death..." she replied.
"B-but... I need to come back—" Konoe tried to reach her hand out, but couldn't find herself able to move.
"At this point, you're just a clone of the original Konoe of the Red Hand. The memories I've implanted are just a simulation of what happened and the possible leading factors according to my current knowledge. I'm sorry to tell you this, but... you no longer exist..." Yoshioka interrupted the mage's words as she spoke seriously, walking slowly towards her as she removed the restraints of the apparatus.
"E-even so..." Konoe insisted, as if she gained sentience, "I... I couldn't really stop you know given you must've gained the Shard. And I'm pretty much powerless since you created me..." she looked down and clasped both her hands. "I know what I've done to you and your group was bad. And I served Pythia since it was for the better of my family and the people under her rule. But..." her eyes trailed to meet Yoshioka's, "You've shared your memories as you did with mine. You showed me just how cruel both Rassilon and Pythia could be. Even if I don't believe that, even if that's false to my eyes, what you showed me was the truth..."
Konoe slowly walked and kneeled down towards Yoshioka, her hands holding hers.
"From the moment I woke up, I heard you talk to me about my family and how you too lost yours. The pain you felt, the suffering you endured, it all felt so... so real. And I felt like, even if we don't know much about each other, it feels like we've met ever since we were kids. I-it felt like you and I shared the same pain, that — although different— still connected the both of us..." Konoe murmured, some tears running down her eyes.
"So thank you... Thank you for giving me a chance to live again. Thank you for giving me a way to rethink my actions, Yoshioka..." she couldn't hold back the tears and wept silently into the girl's legs, with Yoshioka patting her head.
"It's okay. It's okay..." she slowly shifted down and hugged Konoe, "There's always a second chance. A way to change who you are..." she murmured, before slowly shifting back and placing both hands on Konoe's shoulders, "Now, let's save the world?" she asked, smiling.
Konoe, now given a new opportunity in a body, wiped the tears off of her eyes, and smiled.
"Yeah...!"
