Chapter 2
"Hiro?" The girl said, staring at the blue eyed boy in front of her.
"Yeah..." He said.
His cheek flushed red when he got a good look at her face. Her long flowing hair matched the color of the flower petals in the air. He thought her cyan eyes were extremely unusual, but also extremely beautiful.
"It's rude to stare." She said after a while.
When he realized he was staring, he immediately sat back down and began to read the book he brought with him. He was painfully aware that the girl was still there, making it hard for him to concentrate on the illustrations.
"What's that book?" She asked.
"It's a picture book I got from home." He replied, still not looking at her.
"Can I read it with you?" She asked, already sitting next to him.
"S-Sure." He said, still blushing.
He opened the book to the first page and they slowly began to read the story. Hiro was embarrassed to be reading such a romantic book. With a beautiful girl next to him, no less. However, as he kept reading the book, he somehow felt a sense of happiness and relief that she was there with him.
When they reached the last page, they were surprised to see a very poorly made drawing of the prince. It made them laugh as they wondered why such a bad drawing was in a book filled with beautiful illustrations.
In the bottom right corner of the page, there was some writing that the girl noticed after they stopped laughing at the illustration.
"My beloved darling..." The girl said to herself.
When she spoke the last word in the sentence, her head began to start hurting. It was an immediate sharp pain that only lasted for a few seconds. When Hiro turned to look at her, she was staring at him with a blank face.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"Darling..." She said quietly.
"What?" He asked with confusion.
In only a few seconds, she seemed to snap out of whatever trance she had been locked into. She seemed very tired, with her body falling limp and her laying her head on his shoulder.
"H-Hey. What are you doing?" He asked.
But she had already fallen asleep. She looked very peaceful, so Hiro decided to let her rest. She only slept for a few minutes before waking up. She immediately got off of him when she realized she had slept on his shoulder.
"Sorry!" She said, bowing towards him.
"It's fine." He replied. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." She replied.
At this time, Hiro's parents came to take him home.
"I have to go." Hiro said. "It was nice to meet you."
"It was nice to meet you too." She said, showing him a bright smile.
He blushed when he saw her smile and started to walk towards his parents. Before leaving, however, he turned back towards her.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Kūkyo Ni. You can call me Kūkyo." She said.
"Kūkyo. That's a nice name." He said. "See you later!"
With that, he left with his parents to go back to their home in the countryside. On their way back, the girl Hiro met in the park was the only thing he could think about..
"So, Hiro. Who was that girl?" His father asked.
"Oh, just a girl I met. Her name is Kūkyo." Hiro replied.
"She was cute, right?" His mother said, teasing her son.
"Y-Yeah." He replied, his face flushing red.
As they enjoyed their conversation, they noticed that the ground suddenly began to shake. It wasn't very severe at first, but soon became quite violent. Hiro's father pulled over on the side of the road, waiting for the shaking to end.
After several minutes of earthquake, the shaking finally stopped, leaving Hiro in a vast amount of fear. He hugged his mother, waiting for her to explain what happened.
"What was that?" His mother asked his father.
"I...don't know." He said
Human Command Centre: Mistilteinn Branch
A red haired woman with teal-green eyes quickly walked through the hallways on the top floor of a tall building in Mistilteinn. She was holding a stack of papers close to her chest as she hurried to a command room, wearing a worried expression on her face.
When she entered the room, several massive screens that spanned across the room from floor to ceiling displayed a representation of the crust of the Earth. There were several disturbances being displayed in the Earth across the world.
She quickly walked to the side of a man with very short hair and a scarred right eye. He wore a constant serious expression and seemed extremely concerned.
"What's happening, Hachi?" She asked.
"There have been simultaneous earthquakes around the world." He said. "We are investigating their cause."
"Could it be because of our past use of magma energy?" She asked.
"We don't think so. The planet seems to be recovering well." He replied.
As they spoke, an alarm sounded throughout the room.
"What's happening?" Hachi asked one of the engineers in the room.
"It seems we are detecting activity from the dormant Klaxosaurs." She replied.
"They're waking up?" Nana asked herself.
"This must be what caused the earthquakes. But why?" Hachi said.
"You don't think...those two failed do you?" Nana asked.
Hachi didn't respond to her question since he also asked himself the same thing. If indeed Hiro and Zero Two failed to destroy VIRM, the humans no longer had Franxx to fight back. Of course, even if they did, they had no one who could pilot them.
As he thought to himself, another earthquake shook the massive underground complex which housed the command center. He held Nana, stopping her from falling down from the intense shaking. When it finally stopped, they could see that the Klaxosaurs were starting to move closer to the surface.
"How will we respond?" Nana asked.
"It's safe to assume that if the Klaxosaurs are becoming active, then they are reacting to some kind of stimulus." Hachi said, looking at the wall of screens. "There is no strange activity being reported from within the planet, so my best guess is they are reacting to something from space."
"Could it be VIRM?" Nana asked.
"The satellites that orbit the planet have not detected any alien presence." One of the engineers said.
"We should not rule out the possibility of VIRM returning." Hachi said. "I believe we ought to prepare for a worst case scenario."
"The Franxx program was discontinued once we stopped using magma energy." Nana said. "If it is VIRM, we have no way to defend ourselves."
"Not necessarily..." Hachi said. "The Franxx from back then are useless now. We no longer have magma energy, but if we can find a way to create Franxx without the use of that energy..."
"Such a thing is not possible." Nana said. "Using wind power to fuel the Franxx was a failed experiment."
"We have found a way to create rechargeable batteries with sufficient power and range to power the Franxx. The batteries aren't perfect, but we can develop them further." Hachi said. "If these Klaxosaur's movement is a sign, then we must take any steps necessary."
"To make children use such machines again..." Nana thought rather sadly.
"It is necessary to ensure humanity's survival." Hachi replied.
"We do not even know if VIRM is returning. This is all speculation." She said.
"It is better to be safe than sorry." He replied. "Have funding for the electric Franxx project increase. If the Klaxosaur activity means anything, they may be necessary in the future."
"And how we go about recruiting pilots?" She asked.
"Monitor the students in each of the world's sectors between ages five and nine." He replied. "Those that exhibit extraordinary ability will be taken for training."
"I understand..." Nana replied, although she was still against the idea.
She walked away to begin preparing to recruit pilots. As she walked through complex's hallways, she passed by a row of large windows. Through them, she could see a massive assembly line, each with some part of a Franxx in production.
It gave her flashbacks of the fight for Earth so long ago and the squad of kids she held so dear. Despite not wanting a repeat of those events, she pushed those memories out of her head and continued onward to follow her orders, beginning the process of organizing recruits to pilot the humanoid machines.
