One Miracle at a Time.
Darkness.
That's all I can see.
Just pure Darkness.
To be honest, it feels nice, like I was lying in a nice and comfy bed. Turns out I was… Sitting in a bed, in a room. My room. Then I could see my parents, sitting next to me, smiling at me. I felt relaxed, like what happened before never truly happened. I then hear someone calling my name, then my parents disappeared in a cloud of smoke, that didn't bother me as much, I knew my parents were dead. I stand from the bed, seeing the door to the exit of my room was unlocked, the voice coming from the other side. I walk over to the door, looking down at the handle.
"Guess I have no choice." And with that, I opened the door, glowing white light showing itself. I then step through the light.
To the real world.
The first thing that greeted me was blinding light, and then pain. I slowly opened my eyes, to see the Neuroi particles, still floating to the ground beneath it. The sun was directly above me; the particles just became black spots in the sky. Then figures looked down at me, I felt one of them start to slightly shake me.
"Can you hear me?" The voice was very feminine, it sounded just like a soldier… just… it wasn't a male soldier. Anyone in the Karlsland Military spoke with manner and formally, but no women were allowed into battle, that is unless they are a Strike Witch.
"Can you hear me?!" The voice was a little bit louder, obviously whoever was talking to me wanted a response. I shook my head up and down, however the movement was very slow. It didn't look like I had shook my head in the first place, but whoever was talking to me got the response.
"What is your name?"
"Ar… Arnis… M-Mulker…"
"Alright Arnis, we are going to pick you up and put you in a truck. After that you will be on your way to a Hospital. Do you understand?"
I nod, but it was slowly becoming harder to do so.
"I can't… stay awake… much longer…" What I couldn't see, was that I was losing a lot of blood, if I wasn't looked at soon, I will die of blood loss. At least it is better than being captured by the Neuroi and be used for their purposes.
"Alright."
"1." The pain.
"2." Is growing.
"3!" I felt myself raise into the air slightly, the pain near my heart going to point where the pain will be too much for me.
Hands were grabbing at me tightly, not letting go. After a couple of semi-heavy footsteps later, I felt my skin touch cool metal and then a truck's back canopy covered the sun, making my vision go black for a second, before I was put up on the complete end of the truck, giving me the view to look outside. I saw the people that helped me into the truck hop out, not giving me a chance to see their faces. I then see one face look at me, sorrow etched on her face. I then know who it was.
Lucchini.
Then I faded back into the darkness as the truck started to roll forwards.
I wake up an hour later, at first, I heard only my breathing, then it was accompanied by 8… maybe 10 more breaths. I slowly opened my eyes, to find I was in a bed, but not only that, 10 other people were standing around my bed, looking down at me. I know these people, they are part of the 501st, the ones who liberated Gallia and Romagna from the Neuroi.
I blinked a few times, then sitting up very slowly.
"Where am I?"
"You're in a hospital a couple of kilometers away from the school." One of them replied, however I don't know all of them. But, I can tell that 2 of them is from Karlsland, one from Liberion, 2 from Fuso, one from Britannia, one from Suomous, one from Gallia and one from Orussia.
I shake my head, feeling like I was in a dream, that none of this is real.
"Everything that happened… was real?" My mind was still trying to find understanding on what happened a couple of hours before. I look at a clock not far from here, 7:49pm.
"Yes… everything that happened was real. That was real Neuroi, real destruction… real death…" The one speaking sighs.
"Well… now because I can, may I ask your names?"
"Alright then, this is Yoshika Miyafuji, Lynette Bishop, Erica Hartmann, Getrud Barkhorn, Charlotte Yeager, Perrine Clostermann, Sanya Litvyak, Eila Juutilainen, Francesca Lucchini and finally, me who is Sakamoto Mio."
They smiled one after the other when their names were said.
"Nice to meet you all, if you haven't heard, I am Arnis Mulker."
"Sorry kiddo, but after you have been fully recovered, you are going to go and be interviewed."
"For what reason?"
"We all saw what happened."
I look down at my hands, I was definitely worried on what they were going to say, but I know one thing. There is going to be a lot of questions.
"Thanks for pulling me out of the school after the Neuroi was killed, if I was left alone for a while… I might not be here right now."
"It was the least we could do after you destroyed that Neuroi, and may we ask, how did you do it?"
"Its… hard to explain… Out of pure instinct, I grabbed a rock and threw it to at least distract them… Then it went faster than any human can throw…"
"Alright, that's more to add to the information about you." Sakamoto took out a small clip board and begins writing on it with a pen. "Everyone else, get some sleep, we're taking him to the main Military base in the area tomorrow."
"Yes ma'am." The 9 other girls then walked off, one of them yawning. Guess they are tired…
"What about you?" I asked Sakamoto.
"I have to stay a little bit longer and record your vitals."
"Say… how long was I out for?"
"A day."
"W-What?"
"Yes, a day, some people believe that you are more of a corpse due to the amount of blood you lost yesterday. How you are not dead, we're not sure, I feel like your unique than I first thought Arnis."
"Hmm…" Questions were racing through my mind, yet too quick for me to catch any… I might as well sleep, too tired to even speak.
A New Day.
I wake up, at first, it was blurry, but then it cleared out, looking to my left to see Sakamoto sleeping in the chair, the clipboard on her lap. Guess she was also tired but stayed up late. Then the door to the room opened slightly, someone poking their head in. I found that it was Miyafuji, one of the Fuso witches that I saw last night.
"How late did she stay awake?"
"I don't know; I was asleep before she was."
Miyafuji walks over to Sakamoto, shaking her slightly to wake her up.
Sakamoto wakes up slowly, her head lolling from side to side as she struggled to get out of the grip of sleep deprivation.
"What… time is it?" Sakamoto seemed to speak just a little bit louder than a whisper.
"It's 8:27, you need to get ready." Miyafuji's voice was very passive.
Mio jumps out of chair, chanting, "I gotta get ready!" as she ran out in panic.
I smiled at her slight distress.
"If you don't mind me asking, where is your parents? Do you have any family?" Miyafuji asked, obviously curious.
I look down at the sheet covering me.
"They died when I was 12, as for other family… I don't know…"
"Oh… sorry for asking."
"Its fine, I've told that story so many times I don't feel anything after saying it."
It was quiet in the room for a bit, until I heard my stomach grumble.
"Guess you're hungry?"
"I have been sleeping for a day, so I guess I could be."
"Alright, I'll go make something for you to eat." And with that, Miyafuji walks out of the room. Leaving me alone once again.
A couple of minutes later, Miyafuji came back in with a small tray of food, on the tray was a bowl, a small loaf of bread, probably as big as my fist, maybe smaller, and a glass of water. I look in the bowl, I could see that about a quarter of the bowl had rice, then it was covered by some vegetables, some beef and pork. She places the tray onto my lap.
"Hope you enjoy." Miyafuji gives me a sincere smile. I nod, then taking the fork on the tray and begin eating. After finishing the bowl, the bread and the glass of water, I sigh with relief.
"That hits the spot, thank you."
"Glad you enjoyed, I'll take these back to the kitchen, we'll be leaving in about 10 minutes." Miyafuji picks up the tray and walks out once again.
"I'm glad everyone here is nice, it's a lot different than my old life." I lay back into the bed, waiting until I have to go.
10 minutes later.
As I stare out the window in the room, I hear the door to the room open. I look over to see Sakamoto, and 5 other Karlsland Military personnel enter the room.
"Time to go Arnis." Sakamoto spoke in a strict manner, obviously this is no joke.
I nod, slowly standing from the bed I was in and walked over, since I had not moved for 2 days, I struggled to walk properly. Sakamoto then walks out, a Soldier grabbing me but not roughly as he moves me so that I was behind Sakamoto. Obviously the message was to follow her. I follow without hesitation as the guards fell in behind me, I look back occasionally.
"Where are we heading?"
"Can't tell you, its classified, sorry."
"It's alright."
We keep walking for about 5 minutes until we reach a large room, it had a long table at the other side of it, about 4 men sitting there, on the left was a table as well, having the 501st JFW sitting there. There was nothing on the right side of the room. Sakamoto went for the table on the left, I went to follow, but a Soldier stops me and then I was moved forward to the center of the room, the JFW and the men at the large table stared at me as I kept walking, then stopping. The Soldiers still stayed at my side, I could sense the paranoia in the room, I was something that wasn't recorded in history, and when I tell them that the Neuroi wanted to capture me, that paranoia will skyrocket.
"Your name is Arnis Mulker, correct?" I heard one of the men start talking.
"That is correct."
"We were told that two days ago there was a disaster revolving around a Neuroi Stealth type and you. We are here to discuss what to do with you, you are a valuable, but volatile resource. We need to know if we can trust you, or not. You now have to tell what has happened before, during, and after the event. Begin."
Is my fate decided by that of what happened? This is a good week for me…
"Alright, before it happened, I was spending my time in the forest near the event, after a while I meet Lucchini. We talked for a bit and then asks if I want to walk with her back to the event, I declined but when I did, I start to feel… 'Sick'. My head started to hurt, then I heard someone speak in my mind, it sounded mechanical and deep."
"What did the voice say."
"it said 'Phantom, destroy the human gathering' and 'find and capture the human Arnis Mulker'."
Whispers could be heard from both tables, but at the Main table, the men are whispering furiously, one finally slamming his fist onto the table. Finally, the whispers subsided. From what I could tell, this is slowly not going to my favor.
"Continue."
"After the voice, I passed out due to the dizziness I was experiencing. I woke up a couple of minutes later to find that the event and the school was in ruins, before I could check out if anyone was alive, the Neuroi found me and tried to make me immobile. I started running as fast as I could. After hitting 200m, I realise that by now I would be panting heavily, but I felt fine. I managed to elude the Neuroi and find some survivors, I went back out to find more people, but when I stepped out, the Neuroi was heading towards me. I managed to find a place to hide and watch two Witch-like Neuroi hover down from it. They checked the building I was previously in, and murdered the survivors. They then found my hiding spot, I tried to run but I got shot on the back of my calf. I felt excruciating pain, but after a while the pain went away, like it was never there to begin with."
Then the whispers begin again. I heard one of them say, 'Is this the right kid that killed the Neuroi?'. Then they turned back to me, signaling me to continue.
"I ran as quick I could away again, finally reaching a place where I could go no further. I then see the Neurois following me. Out of pure instinct I grabbed a rock and threw it at the approaching Neuroi, at first nothing happened, then it when past the sound barrier under a second, colliding with a Neuroi Witch, knocking the head off of it, killing it. Then the other Witch Neuroi shot a beam at me, due to pure instinct once again, I put my hands out infront of me, I expected pain but didn't receive any. I look to see a blue, semi-transparent shield infront of me, it protected me from the Neuroi's miasma. I then killed the Neuroi Witch the same way I had done to the one previous. I then noticed that I had grown a tail and ears of a German Shepherd, I was completely shocked by what I am looking at, but I was knocked from my thoughts. I then finally killed the last Neuroi after getting hit in the chest, just missing my heart. A few days later I am here still breathing. That is all I remember, that is all I can say." Now this is where I wait, whether they kill me or let me live. The question was about to be answered.
They whisper once again. It went from whispering to quietly screaming as they complained on what should happen to me. They finally reached a conclusion.
One that I was going to hate.
"I'm sorry Arnis Mulker, but we believe that even though you are a rare resource, we still believe you are a liability." That is when I felt a firm grip on my shoulder.
I shrug the grip off.
"Y-You can't be serious! I nearly died 2 days ago and now my fate was decided because I could be a liability?!" I felt rage, but I also felt betrayal, and loneliness.
"Like I said, we are sorry, but it is better to have something that is not a liability rather than having one."
Then a Soldier roughly grabs my arm, starting to pull me away, but then I somehow managed to get out of his grip, running a couple of steps away, glowing the same blue from before.
"S-Stay away!"
The Karlsland Soldiers aim their weapons at me, unsure of what to do.
"Do it." I heard the man from the table say, then I felt searing pain. I was shot from 5 different weapons, but somehow, I still stayed alive. I look over to see one of the large windows, my only escape.
I sprinted for it, ignoring the pain inside. I hear my gunshots, feeling more pain, but it didn't stop me. I wanted out, I wanted to be alone.
Alone.
I then jump through the large window, shattering it as I fell a few meters onto fresh grass. I look back at the window to see that it was a 5-meter drop, and I knew that it was Red Alert across the board. I look back to where I was facing to see a forest.
A place to run and hide.
I sprinted for the forest, feeling that I was only going faster and faster. I heard my name being called, but I blocked it out. I don't want to be near anyone. Noone. I was just about to reach the tree line, but I get shot in the foot, making me fall over in pain. I clutch the back of my foot, looking back seeing a Sniper in a tower nearby, he hasn't stopped aiming. I then see the glint in his scope. He intends to kill me. I shut my eyes, waiting for the pain, but nothing came, I only heard shouting. I open my eyes once again to see the JFW are shouting at the sniper to not shoot.
This is the time.
I then get back up, limping as I finally reach it. I didn't stop, I kept running as I hear the JFW shouting my name but nothing made me stop now. It's Run or be Killed.
After running for 5 minutes, I finally stop. I could've ran 10 kilometers and not realise but if I keep going, I am going to collapse. I find a large oak tree, perfect place to lay down and slowly watch my life drain away from blood loss. I sit down, blood soaking the clothes I was wearing. I rest my head against the hard wood, slowly closing my eyes as I felt life slowly losing its grip on me. I then hear footsteps, but these weren't heavy, they were light, like a little kid walking through the forest. I don't mind if someone sees me like this, they can judge, as long as I am not awake. Then I heard more shouting, I slowly open my eyes to see Lucchini and the rest of the Witches running over. Due to the Blood Loss, it was becoming harder and harder to stay awake. My vision fades in and out, I see Miyafuji using her magic to heal my still bleeding wounds, but these efforts will be useless. I'm going to die either way. Then I felt something hard hit the ground around me, I slowly open my eyes again to see that the Witches have backed up from me, 2 Neuroi Witches walking past me. I hear them speak English for a brief second.
"Leave now if you want to live, he is ours now."
One of the Neuroi pick me up, feeling the cool metal. I look up enough to see the Witches, which were watching in shock and fear. I then feel energy growing in me, like I was only taking a break to breathe. I felt the strength in my arms come back.
I bring my elbow down the Neuroi carrying me, it's head shatters into metal fragments as I jumped with such strength that I didn't realise I had jumped 10 meters into the air. I look over to the other Neuroi, seeing that the beam was coming straight at me, I put up my shield, blocking the beam, then charging at him as I still blocked the beam. I jump up, the beam still firing, I then come down on the Neuroi, slamming my fist into the chest of it. I stare down at the Neuroi as I punch it once again, killing it. I was panting heavily as I finally stand, and just as quick as the energy came, it went away. I fell to my knees, looking at the ground as the Witches crowd around me, their questions were neverending. I feel more of the energy being sapped away, until I could longer think straight, or even stay awake. I get extremely disorientated, keeping myself from vomiting infront of me. The pressure, is all too much.
My vision slowly falls into the darkness that threatens to consume me, and I let it, passing out.
A few Hours later…
I wake up, my head feeling like someone dropped a stone brick onto it. I slowly open my eyes, yet again seeing the JFW looking down at me. I sit up again, I then start thinking of before, fear slowly etching on my face.
"Are they going to kill me still?"
"No, we managed to convince them after you ran away, welcome to the 501st Arnis."
"W-What?" I was deeply confused.
"You heard me, welcome to the 501st."
"Huh, so it is official?"
"Pretty much, tomorrow we'll be leaving to head to a Strike Base near Britannia, so rest up. Everyone else, pack up for tomorrow."
Sakamoto was given 'Yes Ma'am.' As their answer.
So it happened, I'm in a group which many people wish they were in… Guess I am lucky… in a way."
"If you act nice, they'll be no problems, try anything and you'll never see the end of the day. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am."
So, tomorrow is a new day, a new life.
A life where I am a Strike Witch.
