Have started first ever playthrough of Sonic Unleashed (…I have discovered that my reaction time is not as good as I thought it was); updates may be, as usual, somewhat sporadic, especially considering the recent starting of fall semester (I hate math; I'm taking Intermediate Algebra (MATH-040), which I have already failed about two years ago (well, D-minus), and I have the same too-quiet, thick-accented instructor who goes way too fast for my math-inept brain as last time, so my hopes aren't high this time around, either).

SEE CHAPTER 1 FOR MOST DISCLAIMERS

DEAD SPACE 2 (MARIE'S GAME) IS THE PROPERTY OF VISCERAL GAMES

-CHAPTER START-

The Pelican flew down into the deserted park. Mai walked up closer as it touched down, moving her hood back as she walked. It set down, and the other five members of Gamma Team stepped out (Ahsoka wearing her 'Don't-Notice-My-Oddness' enchanted cloak). A few seconds later, Marie gave a signal, and five others exited the vehicle: her mother & sisters, her little sister's boyfriend, and Mai's little friend.

True to Sarah's prediction, the jump between dimensions had triggered the pouring of knowledge and skills into the minds of her, Erika, Timmy, Kizuna, and Veronica. They had assimilated it well enough (after about an hour of headaches), and during the three days of slipspace travel they'd already started training, especially Sarah & Erika. They'd already all determined their elemental affinities, even: Water for Erika, Wind for Sarah, Lightning for Timmy, and Fire & Earth for Veronica and Kizuna… and the latter also had the Lava Release kekkei genkai.

"I remember this park…" Kaede said, sad nostalgia in her voice.

"Mirage, how much time has passed here since Kaede left this world?" Teana asked her Device.

"Scanning…" Cross Mirage replied. "Locally, it has been eight weeks since Gamma-3's departure from this planet."

"Whereas for me it's been nearly half a year since I left this realm" Kaede said. "Guess the flow of time really is screwed up…"

"We've got company" Ahsoka said, pointing to a group of people visible running toward them in the distance.

As the group got closer, most of them slowed a bit… except for Primula, who ran full-tilt and tackle-hugged Kaede so hard that the taller girl almost fell over, crying and clinging to her for dear life. After a few seconds of shock, she quickly returned the hug, feeling the smaller girl sobbing in her arms.

"Rimu-chan…" she said softly. "It's good to see you again."

"K-Kaede" Primula whimpered, her face buried in the other girl's chest.

"She's been a wreck since you left" said a blue-haired girl with long, pointed ears as she and the others caught up.

"Nerine-san" Kaede quickly recognized the mazōku walking up to her… as well as the shinzoku who shoved her way past and threw her arms around Kaede.

"Kae-chan!" Lisianthus cried. "Thank God! You're back! You're back… You're alive…"

"Sia-chan…" Kaede added the redhead to the hug, an arm going around her shoulders while the other held onto Primula.

It wasn't long before the rest – Rin, Asa, Ama, Mayumi, Itsuki, and Sia & Nerine's fathers – caught up. As the hug disengaged, Marie shot a dark look at Rin and Asa… which was nothing compared to the positively murderous glare Kaede hit them with as Marie moved in close to her. The others felt as if the air chilled a few degrees as they took notice, while Asa felt a brief flash of fear-for-her-life panic, and Rin immediately put his decision to welcome Kaede back on hold for the foreseeable future. Teana put a hand on Kaede's shoulder, though she too was looking at Rin and Asa with a bit of contempt. Veronica and Ama quickly moved to clandestinely distract the involved parties, stopping a fight before it could start by redirecting Kaede's attention to Mayumi, who acted her usual boisterous self to further help defuse the situation, pulling Kaede into a slightly rough one-armed hug while good-naturedly berating her for worrying everyone so much.

For once, Itsuki chose not to try hitting on any of the new arrivals, mainly for fear of what Teana might do to him.

After several more minutes of mingling, Mayumi and Itsuki had to head to their homes while the rest of the group headed off together, Nerine's father insisting the group hole up at his house for a while. As they got there, the Sun had almost set, and a few of them volunteered to fix some dinner (Mai: "You know how to cook, boss?" Teana: "Hey, with how hopeless Subaru is with food preparation, I had to keep my skills sharp or the two of us would've had to live on take-out during our academy days." Asa: "Why did your girlfriend look a little down when we came in here?" Kaede: "I don't let Marie in the kitchen anymore. Not after last time. …Sweet mercy, it was everywhere! And she messed up ramen! Ramen! How do you mess up ramen?-! I love her, but God, she's a disaster in the kitchen!" Sarah: "…Okay, you've got to tell me that story sometime."). The meal was mostly uneventful, but the hostile tension remained between two certain girls.

After dinner, it was decided that the girls of Gamma would stay at Kaede's house (which had been left untouched out of respect during the eight weeks she was presumed dead), as would Marie's group, Kizuna, and Primula; the others would return to their homes for the night.

That night, around 11:15, when everyone else was already in bed and either asleep or trying to fall asleep, Marie was still up, the dark living room illuminated by the television as the controller was clutched in her slightly shaking hands. On the screen, Isaac Clarke followed the commands of Marie's fingers, nervously stalking through dark corridors with plasma cutter in hand. Unearthly whispering became audible in-game, and Marie's heart-rate went up with nervousness and fear.

Suddenly, just as something innocuous moved in-game, Marie felt as arms wrapped themselves tightly around her from behind, and a harsh whisper was blurted into her ear:

"Make us whole!"

The resulting scream woke everyone in the house.

-SCENE BREAK-

8:15 AM

The next morning, the group sat at the table as Veronica and Teana prepared breakfast.

"I am so, so sorry, sis" Marie was profusely apologizing to her elder. "It was an instinctual reaction. I-I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Sarah, for her part, gave a tired grin, Mai's glowing green hand hovering over and healing her black eye.

"Eh, I was kinda asking for it, when you think about it" Sarah replied. "I should've known better than to do that. I'm sorry."

"At least the boss let me sleep curled up next to her to keep nightmares away…" Marie murmured, a light blush on her face at the memory of waking up being held close and cuddled by the sleeping redhead… and that upon waking up, Teana had continued holding her like that for at least 15 minutes. Sarah gave her a grin in response, causing Marie's blush to deepen a little.

"It could've been worse" Kizuna said while admiring how cute Mai looked in that apron she'd put on before breaking off her breakfast-making to fix up Sarah. "She could've hit you with a spell or a jutsu."

"Yeah, I d-don't think Kaede would appreciate having a new hole in her wall" Erika said, nonchalantly resting her head on Timmy's shoulder while he had an arm around her shoulders.

"…Hey, speaking of Kaede, where is she?" Ahsoka asked. The others, taking notice of the Togrutan teen's query, looked around and at each other.

"I haven't seen her, either" Shion replied. "She's not in or near the house; I can sense that much."

"…Oh, I remember now" Timmy said. "I woke up a little early, when the Sun was just beginning to rise, and when I stepped out to get a drink I caught her heading out. I asked, and she said she needed a walk to focus her thoughts for something. I… wasn't wholly awake at the time, I confess, and I went right back to bed afterward. …Erika was already starting to toss & turn after only eight minutes without me to snuggle with."

He said the last part with a bit of a grin. The girl in question blushed at her boyfriend's remark, letting out a quiet, annoyed grumble at his tease that was more cute than threatening.

"…Hey, Boss?"

"Yeah, Ahsoka?"

"…You don't think she could be…"

"…Crap. Alright, as soon as we finish breakfast, everyone, we're going out to look for her."

-SCENE BREAK-

11:30 AM

Asa and Rin wandered through town, just the two of them, enjoying each other's company. Kaede's confirmed survival and then return had taken quite a load off their shoulders; last night had been the first time in two months either of them had gotten a good night's sleep. Although, as they went on their 'it's not a date, honest' date, they couldn't help but feel like they were being watched.

As they cut through a park on their way to lunch, a lone figure dropped out of a tree, landing in front of them. Kaede stood in their path, body held in a slightly limp position, head bowed to hide her face.

"You two look so happy together" she said, her tone low and positively venomous. Rin was shocked; not even when she'd hated him growing up had she spoken to him with such hate in her voice.

"It must be funny to you on some level, Shigure" she continued. "Spend all those years teaching me how to impress and care for your old childhood friend, only to steal him right out from under me. How many years were you planning it, huh? Y'know, if you'd just stated your intentions from the start, it wouldn't have hurt me as much, since it wouldn't have been such an unexpected betrayal. Stealing the boy I love, and making it so he could never love me or anyone else other than you…"

"I…" Asa was a little afraid now. "I-If you had just talked to me, we could've worked something out. I would've shared h-"

"LIAR!-!"

A pitch-black aura erupted around Kaede, the pavement beneath her cracking. She looked up at them, teeth bared beneath eyes that now sported golden-yellow irises and pitch-black sclera. Rin suddenly remembered the scenes from the vids – when Evangeline had lost control against Klaus and Setsuna, and Negi against Gödel.

"You took everything from me!" Kaede roared, her attention focused solely on Asa, no longer even aware Rin was there. "My reason for living! The only person who gave my life meaning! Now… I'll take what I can from you: revenge for robbing me of my life!-! People like you… DESERVE TO DIE!-!-!"

In a blur of motion faster than the untrained eye could track, Kaede lunged forward, landing a punch that sent Asa hurtling backward through the air; only the abundance of untapped mana within her kept it from being a fatal blow. In a rush of speed, Kaede rushed her, her right arm sprouting several spikes of bone and coming down for a strike as Asa picked herself up, wiping the blood from her cheek. The green-haired girl was now thoroughly terrified as the situation sank in, and as the enraged bloodline-bearer charged at her, her automatic survival instincts overcame and took precedence over the years-long promise made to herself to avoid making her mother unhappy, and she threw her hand forward, conjuring a shield of raw magic that stopped the attack. Kaede's black eyes widened in surprise, but then narrowed in anger as she tried to force her way through the shield.

Within a few seconds, the shield failed, shattering like glass, and Asa instinctively made a magic-charged leap away, barely avoiding being skewered. A barrage of finger bone-bullets bounced off another hastily conjured shield, which gave the Darkness-imbued Kaede enough time to form a Humerus Sword and lash out:

"Tsubaki no Mai: Kakei!" (Dance of the Camellia: Stem (of a flower))

Kaede's left arm became a blue of movement as she unleashed a high-speed barrage of stabbing strikes, battering the shield and quickly overwhelming it, the last few strikes landing glancing blows on Asa, drawing blood. The green-haired girl in question flash-stepped backward… and as soon as she came out of it she found herself victim of a lariat move that slammed her into the ground. Kaede raised her bone-blade high to stab downward… and Asa near-automatically fired a compressed blast of raw magic that sent her upward and back, landing on her feet a few meters away. She got to her feet, her breath short and with fear gripping her heart. Bones emerged and shifted around Kaede's right arm. Soon, they formed an armored and spiked gauntlet that covered her forearm and hand, with each finger housed in a large, sharp claw.

"I have been waiting for this for a long, long time, you traitorous, backstabbing bitch" the darkness-corrupted girl snarled.

And then she charged.

Over the next 15 minutes, as the duel played out all throughout the quickly-evacuated park, it quickly became clear exactly how one-sided this battle was. Every burst of magic Asa fired was dodged or simply ignored; every shield she cast was battered and broken through. And all the while, Kaede subsumed herself in her rage, her darkness, never faltering, never slowing down, throwing out jutsu and physical strikes that proved without a doubt she meant to kill. The girl's fury was terrifying and relentless, and Asa had never felt more scared before in her entire life. Now, Asa poured as much of her long-held-back magical energy as she could into a single burst, and let it fly. An explosion went off on impact, obscuring Kaede from view.

"I'm sorry, Kaede" she muttered sadly, feeling the gashes, slashes, stab wounds, and burns covering her body, her battered bones aching.

"Not as sorry as you are about to be" came the vicious voice from behind her. Asa spun… and blood flew as Kaede's rising bone-blade strike sliced across Asa's left eye, virtually destroying the sensory organ in question. Asa's scream was cut short by a devastating uppercut that lifted her off the ground, followed by a downward strike that slammed her hard into the ground; she felt as some of her ribs broke on impact. With her one good eye, she looked up as Kaede pinned her, the girl's eyes still that terrible black, the irises glowing gold, as her orange hair was now partially turned to an unnatural pale silver. The girl drew her gauntleted right arm back, and then brought it down into Asa's gut, knocking the wind out of her. Then, the gauntlet shifted and changed, transforming into a power first with a piston mechanism. At this point, she could no longer notice the calls of her team as they ran in approach, nor of Rin as he came as fast as his legs could carry him. She saw the terror and pleading in Asa's eye as she looked up, begging for mercy.

Mercy that was not given.

The piston rammed downward, and the ground cratered beneath Asa as several of her organs were all but pulverized. Blood flew upward from her mouth, wide open in a silent scream, and seconds later consciousness left her. Kaede stood upward, looking up to the sky… and then keeling over backward, her hair and eyes returning to normal as her Heart's Darkness returned to its slumber, and exhaustion claimed her. Immediately, Teana, Shion, and Rin rushed forward.

"Control, this is Gamma-2!" Shion radioed. "We need an immediate MEDEVAC! Situation critical!"

Within a minute, a Pelican flew into the clearing, medics jumping out and scooping up both girls, Mai coming along with them to continue trying to stabilize Asa and keep her alive. The dropship closed up and rocketed out to sea, making a top-speed beeline for the Starshot.

-SCENE BREAK-

Starshot Medical Wing

2:30 PM

Everyone was gathered in the lobby of the destroyer-class vessel's hospital wing. The girls of Gamma (minus Kaede, obviously) anxiously gathered, while the 'home group' (Rin, Ama, Sia, Nerine, & Primula) were positively consumed with worry. Marie had known that Kaede still harbored a grudge toward the Shigure girl, but… well, this had been way more than a grudge. That she had apparently been partially consumed by her repressed Darkness helped to explain it somewhat, but the thought that her sweetheart of a girlfriend could be so murderously, insanely rage-filled and violent scared her. Ama was inconsolable with worry and fear, Veronica holding the shorter and younger mother, trying to keep her together. Rin was in little better shape, blaming himself for the utter clusterfuck this had become.

A UNSC medical technician came out, and everyone's eyes were on him.

"How are they, Doctor?" Sarah asked.

"Neither of them are in any danger of dying anymore, if that's what you're wondering".

Everyone breathed sighs of relief, Ama almost collapsing as the tension left her.

"Give us a damage report" Teana said.

"Right. Warrant Officer Fuyō is suffering from effects similar to light-to-mild chakra exhaustion, despite the fact that her reserves are still at two-thirds of normal; we believe it's a side effect of that corruptive Darkness that had a hold of her. Also, the fight wasn't entirely one-sided; she has plenty of surface wounds, and her healing factor seems to have slowed a bit, likely until she recovers.

"Ms. Shigure was in considerably worse shape, but she's out of danger. She has a handful of broken bones. A lot of her organs took some serious damage, but we repaired the ones we could and – thanks to our flash-cloning tech – replaced the ones we couldn't, so she's more or less fine in that regard. We… could not save her left eye; she'll need to be fitted with a cybernetic replacement."

"She… lost her eye…?" Ama's voice trembled, having not been informed of the nature of her daughter's injuries.

"I'm afraid so" the doctor replied. "Not to worry, though; we've long since developed extraordinarily advanced synthetic replacements, with vision as good as an organic eye. Once she's fitted with one, she won't even be able to tell it's a cybernetic replacement unless she looks in the mirror. …Though, as that sentence implies, we've mastered function but not yet form when it comes to artificial eyes; anyone who takes a close look will be able to tell it's a synthetic eye. It's already being manufactured by the ship's forge, and we'll be able to fit her with it in a couple of hours."

Ama looked relieved.

"Also, however," the doctor added, "we discovered something quite interesting with Ms. Shigure. Until recently, she was suffering from the effects of a long-term excess of mana within her body."

And then Ama shot right back up into alertness. "What?-!"

"It's like what happened to the Springfield boy after Konoe used her healing spell on him, but chronic. We believe Asa has been suffering from borderline mana overload for years now. We… had a Protoss on hand, and a psy-scan showed that she was deliberately avoiding any and all usage of her rather stupendous magical power because she remembered you, ma'am, showing the signs of trauma from whatever past you had, and felt that using her magic might remind you of those days and cause you more of that pain. …Little did she know that over too much time, and if it isn't vented properly, the amount of mana buildup she had could eventually prove fatal, causing a catastrophic overload and failure of her Linker Core that would spread to her vital systems."

At this, Ama was nearly overcome with guilt. All those times over the years, whenever Asa got sick with an unidentifiable, inexplicable illness… and she also remembered the few times she couldn't stop herself from crying due to the flashbacks, thinking and hoping that little Asa was asleep or out of earshot. She'd failed, and her daughter had nearly killed herself to try and spare her feelings. The normally cheerful woman collapsed into the seat behind her, tears streaming down her face as it all sank in.

"There is some good news, however" the doctor said. "During the… battle… Asa's survival instincts overcame her conscious restraint. She used her magic. And she used a lot of it. Granted, she's untrained, so her shields and bolts were unfocused, and she had to use much more mana for them than a trained mage would. But that may have been a good thing, because it allowed her to burn through all of the pent-up magical energy inside her body. In fact, she's showing signs of slight mana deficiency right now… which can be cured by eating a good high-calorie meal, don't worry. The point is… if you can convince her to stop holding her magic back, she'll likely never have those 'episodes' again. And, well… she'd probably make a pretty powerful mage if she chose to be."

The room was silent for several seconds.

"May we see either of them?" Shion asked.

"Of course" the man replied. "Follow me."

The group followed down the hall, and crowded into the (surprisingly spacious) room where Asa lay in a bed, bandages wrapped around her chest and limbs, along with one covering her left eye. She was asleep, a heart monitor beeping steadily. Ama knelt down at her side, gently caressing the right side of her face. In response, the girl let out a light groan, and her eye opened.

"Mom?" she mumbled weakly.

"Yes, baby" the woman whispered. "I'm here. We're here."

Asa looked around, and her eye focused on Teana.

"Please…" she said. "Don't punish Kaede."

The redhead's eyes widened, surprised at the request. She looked a tad unsure.

"Please" Asa repeated.

"…Alright" Teana finally replied. "We'll need to have a talk with her, though. …Preferably someone other than me, because… I plan on doing to Takamachi exactly what Kaede did to you, so I'd be a hypocrite to say anything about this."

This confession of Teana's plans drew a little worry from the rest of her team.

"H-How are you feeling, Asa-senpai?" Rin asked from the other side of the bed.

"…How come I can't see you, Rin-chan?" Asa said, a slight playfulness to her voice. "Hiding from me?"

"Your… Your left eye is gone, senpai. The doctors couldn't save it."

Asa's face fell. "I… I see…"

"They're constructing a cybernetic replacement eye right now" Shion said. "It should be ready to go in your socket in a couple hours. You're still gonna have the scar, though; it cut down to the bone."

"This is my fault…" Rin said.

"I agree" Teana replied, catching the locals by surprise, and she then raised a hand to stop any objections. "You failed to take Kaede's feelings into account. You failed to notice that she was in love with you, despite the signs. You completely ignored her in favor of Shigure-san, and then announced your intention to move out of the house you & her had shared for years, which only exacerbated her serious psychological issues with dependence and abandonment – issues you should've known about considering your history with her. And when she finally returns, you don't even greet her and then ignore her for Shigure-san again."

"In Rin-chan's defense on that last part," Sia's father said, "I think he was too scared of the evil look Kaede-chan was giving him to say hi."

"So yes," Teana kept going, "I'd say it is your fault, Tsuchimi."

The young man was silent as it sank in just how thoroughly he had fucked things up.

"…Are you guys alright enough for us to go check on our teammate?" Marie asked.

"Go ahead" Asa said before anyone else could say otherwise.

With that, the girls of Gamma left, along with the Swansons (& Timmy), Kizuna …and Lisianthus, Nerine, & Primula. As they left, Ama turned to face Asa again.

"A-chan," she said, "I think we need to talk about something."

"What, mom?"

"Why didn't you tell me you had magical power?"

Rin looked thoroughly shocked. Asa froze up like a deer in headlights, her mother's concerned face filling her vision. "I… I didn't want you to…"

"Putting your mother's past traumas aside," the doctor interjected, "your self-imposed avoidance of using your magic would have caused her much more pain in the long run."

At this, Asa looked utterly confused. "W-What do you mean?"

"You had too much mana built up in your body" Ama replied. "All those times over the years, whenever you got that strange illness? That was the overload of magical energy adversely affecting your body. Because you never let yourself use any of it at all, it steadily built up more and more over the years. Hitting puberty lessened the strain for a while, but recently it reached dangerous levels again. …Asa… If you hadn't used a huge chunk of your magical energy when defending yourself from Kae-chan… the build-up and strain would've eventually killed you."

The injured teen was shocked and horrified at this point, as was Rin. "W-What?"

"Eventually," the doctor explained, "your Linker Core would've failed catastrophically, taking most of your body's vital systems with it. All the build-up raw mana would've burned you out. …Fortunately, however, you used a significant amount of the stored mana in your battle against Warrant Officer Fuyō, such that you're going to be out of danger of mana overload for at least several months even if you don't use any magic whatsoever from this point onward."

"Which isn't going to happen" Ama said with unusual seriousness. "I'm not upset that you have magical power. Asa… I know you're worried about me, and that's why you put yourself at such risk, but… it has to stop. In order to prevent that buildup from happening again, you're going to need to learn how to use your magic."

"B-But… All those times I caught you crying! And everything that… I can't do that to you, mama! I can't put you through that!"

"You won't!" her mother shouted, grasping her daughter's hands. Rin jumped in surprise; this was the first time he'd ever heard the kindly woman raise her voice. "Knowing you can use magic, seeing you use it, will not trigger those awful memories in me. It won't. I promise you that. And… even if it did, it would hurt a lot less for me than having my only child die a slow and painful death from mana burnout before she's even 20 years old. Okay? I'm not upset that you can use magic. In fact, I'll teach you some of the spells I know! Most are defense-type or support-type spells, but even routine telepathy and physical enhancement magic will be enough to prevent the buildup of mana in your body. Please… let me teach you."

Asa was quiet for several seconds, unsure of what to do. She startled as she felt Rin's hand grasp hers.

"Asa…" he said simply.

"…Okay" the teen said quietly. "Alright. As long as it doesn't cause you any suffering, I'll… I'll let you teach me, mom."

Ama let out a sigh of relief as she hugged her daughter, who returned it.

-SCENE BREAK-

The next few days were calmer, mostly because everyone worked to keep Kaede (who was back on her feet by the end of the day) as far away from Rin & Asa as possible (though even Kaede was a little shocked upon hearing just how deeply into darkness and rage she'd delved, claiming that her memory of the fight was fragmented and hazy). Asa was quickly gotten used to her synthetic left eye; its quality of vision was such that she was already forgetting it was cybernetic from time to time. When Asa finally got out of the hospital two days after the incident, Ama revealed that she as a mazōku, and thus Asa was half-mazōku; she had also started teaching her daughter the basics of proper shield spells.

Ahsoka and Shion had collectively had a Force Vision that showed that the "local group" (Asa, Ama, Lisianthus, Nerine, & Primula) were going to eventually be targeted by the mysterious enemy's forces no matter what, and if they stayed on this world the collateral damage would be unacceptable. However, if they joined the Starshot's people in realm-hopping, they'd be amongst powerhouses who could fight off the encroaching threat with minimal or no innocent-bystander endangerment. Thus, they would need to come along for the ride; already they were all hammering out the details with those they had connections to who were staying here (friends, teachers, family, etc).

The pickups from the previous world continued to throw themselves into training, especially Marie's sisters. During sim training in which they were tricked into thinking had disabled safeties, Erika showed surprising courage that seemed quite at odds with her usual timidity. However, Ahsoka was quick to remind everyone about Nodoka Miyazaki, who was shy in social situations but unflappably brave in dangerous circumstances. Sarah, meanwhile, showed surprising tactical aptitude, often coming up with solid plans, taking initiative, keeping soldiers' morale up, and working well with the other girls of Gamma. Teana had an idea that she'd be keeping in mind as she watched the girl's future developments.

During a routine physical, it had been discovered that Rin's vision in his left eye was somewhat impaired. Examination revealed an old wound that had not fully/properly healed. Some prodding got him to confess the details of his & Kaede's childhood, including the incident with the boxcutter that had caused the damage. Fortunately, Phoenix League medical nanobots were able to repair the damage, fully restoring proper sight in that eye.

-SCENE BREAK-

12 days after Starshot's arrival

It was fortunate that the degree of automation contained within the Starshot meant that there were significantly more quarters than there were people to live in them, and the ship's inherent customization meant that these quarters could be made fairly luxurious of the occupants so desired. Such it was that Asa & Ama Shigure, Rin Tsuchimi, Nerine Forbessi, Lisianthus Eustoma, and the still-surname-less Primula settled in aboard the vessel, affairs sorted out and ready to play among the stars. Kaede was less than happy to have "that Shigure bitch" along for the ride, but was all too happy to have Sia & Primula aboard.

The 1600-meter vessel soon left the outer edges of Earth's atmosphere. As the slipspace drives kicked in, Shion stared out into the void.

"Here we come, Satoshi…" she murmured. "I promise I'll be with you soon…"

-BOOK END-

Next Time: Book 9 – Break the Cycle (to be found in Nanoha/Higurashi X-over section)