A/N: Chapter 3 of Eighty-Six. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except my own. Chrome Shelled Regios belongs to the rightful owner.


Chapter 3: Polluted Earth

After the match...

Nina walked in a brusque manner along the corridor, stomping the floor with force at each footstep. A girl passing by, holding a pile of documents and who seemed to be a member of the Student Council quickly moved aside for her and it was natural for the girl to be startled. Dust and soil particles were stuck to Nina's forehead and cheeks, her golden hair was dirty and messy, her Military Arts uniform was in tatters. There weren't many students who would walk around with that appearance full of anger. Reaching the door of the Student President, she raised a fist and pounded heavily on the wood.

"Come in." came the voice of the President but she allowed herself in without a second thought. Kalian smiled at her entrance.

"Third year, Military Arts, Nina Antalk is coming in." She said slowly as she closed the door. Looking around she noticed that she wasn't the only visitor today. Head of the Millitary Arts Department as well as Leader of the 1st platoon, Vanzeh decided to pay the president of the Student Council a visit as well.

"Congratulations on your first win." Kalian smiled broadly as Nina made herself comfortable.

"What was that?" She asked as her brow furrowed.

"Uh...what do you mean?" Kalian looked at her in confusion.

"Layfon Alseif and Rias Wolframite. You knew those two weren't normal people, didn't you?"

"Why do you think so?"

"This is all too strange. Layfon did really well in the opening ceremony while Rias was picked up before the school year started. Before their abilities were confirmed, you transferred them into Military Arts and nominated them to join my platoon. During that time, there must have been lots of people thinking you were just blinded by Layfon's brilliant performance. But you didn't take any action afterwards...your personality would've made that impossible." Nina looked at him in a way that dared him to deny the truth.

"But you accepted them." Kalian took a sip from his cup in a simple manner. "Don't you admire their performance today?"

"I tested them." Nina replied. She'd had Felli bring Layfon to the training room and had measured his strength and did the same thing to me. At that time, she didn't feel that Layfon nor I were hiding our true strength and felt that if we had more training, our strength could exceed that of the existing members. But that judgment was completely in error. Just by that match alone she saw my true strength as well as Layfon's true strength.

"You seem to know who they are. Did you know of their identities before the match?" Vanzeh asked and Kalian shook his head.

"It's not that easy to obtain intelligence on other cities." The other two people in the room weren't convinced. "I only found out about them by chance." He raised his hands in surrender. Continuing their discussion Kalian told them that he happened to chance upon a Heaven's Blade match in which Layfon was participating in. This enraged Nina because, knowing this little knowledge, she realized that he could have defeated her easily in their first training but instead he choose to lose to her and it felt like an insult to her.

"That was Layfon's current status. Do you know anything about the girl?" Vanzeh asked. At this, Kalian looked at them sternly, the atmosphere around the room dropped to the point of danger.

"As I told you, nothing in our records explain anything about her." He spoke in a very serious voice. "I have other researchers searching through all of the databases, entries and articles about her but my haunches tell me that her info...would be in a restricted file hidden within the confines of the data stream."

"Do you think there was something about her past that has been hidden from our eyes?" Vanzeh questioned.

"Whatever the case," Kalian placed his hands together in thought, "we'll definitely find everything and anything about our new student down to the bare bones."


Hospital...

Layfon groggily opened his eyes and looked around. What greeted him were white-washed curtains, walls and tile flooring. The smell of medicine hit his nose and he knew immediately where he was.

"I'm here again..." He groaned without enthusiasm.

"Ah, Layton's up!" Mifi said with a paper cut in hand as Meishen and Naruki filtered in behind her. "How do you feel? Are you all right? Speaking of which, you were incredible."

"I didn't know you were that strong, apart from the red-head." Naruki said as she stood at the foot of his bed. "The last two moves were amazing." Hearing that statement the bitterness on his face deepened and she noticed it because she also changed her own expression. Taking a juice box from Meishen's hand and poking a hole with the straw, he started to drink the sweet liquid which refreshed his thirsty throat and he felt rejuvenated in an instant.

"Thanks. I feel much better." He smiled at her. Meishen's face reddened and she lowered her head.

"...Um, if you're hungry, I've got a bento..." She stuttered and held out a neatly packaged basket.

"Uh, thank you." Sitting up in bed, he watched as she carefully unwrapped it and placed it in his lap. He saw that it was divided into two sections. One held sandwiches; the other had things wrapped in paper that seemed to be baked biscuits. "I am hungry." Taking a bite, his eyes widened in surprise and he wolfed it down in two bites. "It's delicious!"

"Oh, almost forgot." Naruki said as she and Mifi were about to go buy some juice. "Your platoon's going to celebrate the victory and we've been invited as well."

"Got it." Layfon replied as he got started on his third sandwich. Once they were alone Meishen lost her composure and started to fidget, play with her fingers and her eyes were darting around the room. This didn't go unnoticed by Layfon and he gazed at her in question.

"Is everything alright?" He asked her.

"Uh...ye...yeah." She stuttered quickly. "E..eve..everything is okay. Really."

"I'm sorry for making you make the bento." He apologized, thinking that was what making the situation awkward and embarrassing.

"...Not at all." She said pleasantly. "It's a...th...thank you."

"Thank you?" He asked.

"...You saved me." Recalling what he did in the opening ceremony, he shook his head.

"That was nothing."

"...But I was still saved."

"Then I'll gratefully receive your goodwill, but I've almost eaten it all." Layfon looked at the almost empty basket. Meishen laughed lightly at the joke, covering her mouth with her hand.

"...Lay...ton. You're strong." She whispered as he finished the last sandwich in the basket.

"No...not at all." He spoke. Even though he wanted to deny it, he knew inside him was another "him" who couldn't deny himself. He understood he had extraordinary strength in Military Arts and he also knew that I also possess a different kind of power than everyone else in the city. Layfon tried his all to hide it and he didn't know how the Student President found out, but he thought he could solve this issue since Kalian didn't seem to have leaked the secret. The two of them continued their little conversation until Naruki and Mifi came back and they all decided to attend the party that was happening that night.


At the work place...

I scrubbed the floor with the brush in silence, the sound of the brush scrapping against the tile floor was the only soothing to me at the moment. I had some bandages here and there but I really hated to be confined in the hospital so I asked the nurse for an early release. She was resistant at first but finally let me go after giving me directions on how to tend to my wounds. Some of the workers around me kept their distance, eying me carefully in case I turned into a monster but I paid them no heed as I proceeded to go up to the next level. Looking at the nearby clock on the wall I knew that the party probably ended but since I decided to hang around just for a little bit, I asked my boss before the start if I could work overtime. He was a little worried since I was still healing but decided that it would be okay as long as I don't hurt myself.

I'm really happy that we won but...I shouldn't have showed off my power like that. What would the other students think that I have mutated arms? I thought as I wiped the sweat from my brow. But more importantly...Gazing up at the ceiling I decided to take a break and leaned against the wall, pulling one knee close to my chest. How will my team mates think about me later down the line? I know that Harley and Sharnid were okay with it, Layfon and the girls were okay with it but the Captain...Lifting my hand up to my face I placed if over my eye-patch, feeling the warmth pulsing through the leather. I'll have to be careful from now on and learn how to control my power more efficiently. Releasing a sigh, I closed my eyes and dozed off, dreaming all sorts of things but not the one I dreamed near the lake.

Lazily I opened my eye slightly and saw a small blue girl floating in front of me, the same blue girl that was fluttering around Nina the first time we met. She smiled and started to play with my hair, making cute cooing sounds.

"You're...Zuellni aren't you?" I asked and she sat on my knee, swinging her legs back and forth in a calming manner. "How are you not afraid of me? ...why am I not afraid of you?" She looked at me with her big eyes and smiled. Gently picking her up in my hands I walked towards the railing and just stared off into space. The calm winds that flowed through the openings were always soothing for me so we stood there staring at nothing, the silence between us were enough.

"Thanks for keeping me company but I have to get back to work." I said as I dipped the brush into the bucket, about ready to scrub the tiles. "Just because I asked to go overtime doesn't mean I should slouch at my job. Maybe on my next break, why don't the two of us just hang out for the entire day?" Zuellni floated right beside me with that smile on her face, nodding her head at the wonderful idea. Suddenly the ground shook and I held onto a ledge to keep my balance. "Woah! What's happening?!" The sound of the siren reached my ears and when I looked up, Zuellni was gone. The sound of grinding pipes echoed all over as the violent shaking of the floor got more and more intense. The bucket with all of the water splashed everywhere and I groaned because I knew I would have to clean it up but with this much shaking it was impossible for me to move an inch.

"Rias!" I looked to see Nina running up to me, a little breathless which indicated that she was probably looking for me. Another shake caused her to lose her balance but I caught her just in time, pulling her close to me as we waited for it to settle down. Unfortunately the shaking continued so we just stood together as close a possible.

"Are you...mad at me or...Layfon?" I asked her and she stared at me with a tight-lip. Since the party she's been giving Layfon and I a wide birth, avoiding eye-contact and even offered to have a sleep over with Felli tonight.

"...there's nothing for me to be mad about." She said slowly. "Besides we need to help the others as soon as possible, 'they' have returned."

"Who are 'they'? And what were those tremors?" I asked.

"Those were called city-quakes." She replied as I nodded. "Anyways, there should be an emergency call! We have to return, quickly!"

"But the floor is unstable," I pointed to the now uneven ground. "we shouldn't move too much."

"Even so, we still have to go back!" Taking the lead, she dashed through the gaps between the pipes thanks to her enhance body movement by using Internal-type KEI. There was a passageway that was suspended in mid-air and she disappeared through it. Although it was the shortest route to go to the surface, it was risky because it was swinging left and right. Gazing around I noticed some footholds on nearby pipes so I transformed my arms and latched onto the pipes. Apparently beneath the corridor was the heart of the machinery, where the Electronic Fairy lived so as I was climbing my way up after the fleeting Captain, the corner of my eyes spotted Zuellni, an existence pulsating with dim light. Still in the child-form, she was gazing at the deep earth with a terrified expression.

"Uuuughhhh!" Jumping off the last pipe and landing on the corridor, my right eye started to throb and hurt. "...what...what is this feeling?!" Just as Nina was about to run pat me, I held onto her wrist to stop her. "Wait..."

"Let go!" She exclaimed but stopped when she noticed that I was in pain, "What's wrong?!"

What is this feeling? I thought as I tried to control these strange urges from within my body. It feels familiar and yet it feels foreign. Whatever it is...they must be stopped. Suddenly I stood erect, my gaze looking at the deep earth as well. "Hurry and go to a shelter. Don't worry about me." Like a robot I started to walk on my own, my legs refusing to obey what my brain was telling it to do.

"What are you talking about? Hey!" She stood in front of me and placed her hands on my shoulders, stopping me in my tracks. "Just where do you plan on going?!"

"Something is coming..." I told her with a daze-like expression on my face. "Creatures are rising from that hole in the earth and if they aren't stopped, we're all in trouble." News spread fast through the school as students immediately dropped whatever they were doing and made their way to nearby shelters just like they had practiced for emergencies such as this. After being informed of the situation through the phone in his dormitory, Kalian immediately left and went to the school building. He wasn't headed to the Student President's office but instead he entered a conference room in the middle floor of a tower that was surrounded by the Military Arts buildings. The few students in the room turned their gazes on him, including Vanzeh.

"Situation?" Kalian asked curtly.

"One-third of Zuellni's legs are trapped in the ground, unable to escape." A thin, tall male student replied to his short question.

"Escape?" Kalian's eyebrow rose in questioning.

"Yeah...it should be able to move on its own under normal circumstances, but now...Well, the legs are stuck."

"How's the evacuation going?" the Student President directed that question towards Vanzeh.

"The City Police are evacuating the students, but it's too chaotic; they don't have the situation under control yet." Vanzeh shook his head with a scowl.

"That can't be helped. We don't have enough people here with real fighting experience. But I hope you can speed up the evacuation as much as possible." Kalian then directed his attention to the representative of the Alchemy course. "Release the safety setting of all the DITEs of Military Arts students, and please hurry and activate the city's defense system."

"We're already on it." was the swift reply.

"Gather all the platoons. We must fight with them as the core."

"Do you think we can do this?" Vanzeh questioned with a stiff face and everyone looked at the president. The problem of an Academy City was that it lacked experienced fighters. Everyone in it was a student and there were no adults in any of the grades, from seniors down to freshmen. These factors caused the greatest pressure and doubt in its citizens.

"Only a dead end awaits us if we don't do this." Kalian spoke. "Not only will the Military Arts students die, but everyone in Zuellni." Everyone in the room was holding his breath. They understood the situation and under the shadow of death no one wanted to say, "Let's run away". If they ran out of the city, they still couldn't survive on the polluted earth. "We have to live no matter what. This is for everyone's – no, also for our own future. Please understand this fact and act accordingly."

"Yes sir!" the council of students responded before leaving the room to get ready.


Back to the pipes...

"What kind of creatures are you talking about?" Nina asked. Strangely the pain in my eye subsided and I had full control of my body again, though I couldn't shake off that eerie feeling.

"They are beings known as filth monsters." I said. She paused for half a second, taking time to digest my meaning.

"How could that happen?! The city should be moving and avoiding the filth monsters. This can't be happening..." She paced around anxiously.

"A city can only avoid the filth monsters on the earth, and even then there are limits." I explained. "What Zuellni encountered this time is likely a mature mother-form sleeping beneath the ground...or at least I suspect that is what had happened." The female filth monsters had eggs inside their bodies. The mother hibernated until the eggs mature into a larval stage and since the young ones that hatched can't absorb the pollutants, the mother would provide them clean nutrients she had stored in her body during her hibernation. If this still wasn't enough food, the babies would devour each other. The mother would choose a few of the leftover ones and care for them till they fully matures. If that isn't enough, the mother herself will become the food for her young.

"So you're saying..." Nina's hand trembled as realization donned on her, "The people of Zuellni would become food?"

"Please head for the shelter..." I urged her.

"Stop it!" She snapped and I blinked as if she just slapped me in the face with her reaction. "You're telling me to evacuate!? You're telling me to run away!? Do you think I could do that!?" I stared at her, lost. Then something bright enveloped her, the light of KEI which symbolized her fighting spirit. This was the first time I have seen something this beautiful and radiant, it made me want to protect it with all the fibers in my body.

"You're too naive..." I muttered, too low for her to hear since she was still yelling at me.

"What is our power for? What is the purpose of this power within us?! Isn't it for times like this?! Not for fights between people, but for our survival! Do you think we are allowed to run away at a time like this?! Stop joking!"

Now I understand why she is trembling. I looked at her with a knowing expression. It wasn't fear, but the drumming of the heart waving away that fear. Her honest and determined heart had overcome her horror. That was the drumming eliminating her fear. And that's why it was so bright...her fighting spirit.

"...You are despicable...just like Layfon." She said in a low growl, suppressing her violent emotion. "You two have great power so why don't you use it for something useful?"

"...I gotta go..." I had to get out of there quick, the last words she said fell deaf to my ears as I hurried back to the now empty dorms as students were already making their way to the shelters. Slamming the door shut I leaned against it, my breathing ragged. Striding into the restroom I took off my eye-patch and stared at my reflecting again. The dragon's eye, a gleaming yellow gem gazed back at me in challenge, provoking me to take action.

You two have great power so why don't you use it for something useful? Nina's words repeated through my mind and I braced myself against the sink, my knuckles turning white. Her words and the eye were both provoking me, taunting me even. Steeling my resolve I placed my eye-patch back on and stormed out of my room, running through the corridor back onto the field.


Outside...

The sound of heavy movement pierced the atmosphere, as if the entire world was twisting into another form. A number of Zuellni's legs were stuck in the ground and the metallic sound of the joints struggling to move filled the air. There was another noise, the sound like water oozing forth coming from under the earth and twisted the world more intensely than the metallic lamentation. Something was climbing up from the ground that Zuellni stood, they came one after another...dots of red light lit up the deep night. One, two, three, four...one after another, red lights climbed out of the hole in the ground. Soon, Zuellni was drowning in a sea of red light. They were those larvae parasites, heeding their mother's call to eat and become stronger and so they made their approach towards the inhabitants of Zuellni.

The platoons stood ready as they watched their enemies approach them.

"Artillery, commence firing!" She shouted into her transmitter. The artillerymen, led by Sharnid, fed their KEI into the cannons on the outskirts of the city and fired. The condensed energy hit the larvae's front-lines and detonated. Shells shattered and small metallic legs scattered onto the ground. The surviving larvae landed, folded their wings and stored them underneath their shells. "They can't fly for extended periods of time. Sharnid, target those that fly. Don't let any reach the city."

"Roger." Sharnid replied, "I can't die here. I still have a date tomorrow." Usually, she would have been irritated by his joke but this time his laughter made her smile. She relaxed, and restored the two DITEs she took out from her harness. The KEI flowing through the iron whips with their safety locks released looked more vivid and clearer than usual. Out of the 17th platoon, only Nina and Sharnid were at the front. Layfon was no where to be found, Harley was probably in one of the shelters and Felli had not heeded the call of the Student President. Nina heard that the Psychokinesist had not been spotted at the shelter. She couldn't think about the white-haired girl because the larvae continued to climb up Zuellni's legs. Wasting no more time she launched herself at her enemies, slashing at them with her iron whips. Shots rang out around her as Sharnid and his crew backed her up.

One of the larvas suddenly came too close for comfort and Nina bent down to avoid its horn, flicking out her iron whips to strike at its head. Rolling back, she narrowly escaped the fate of being trampled by other larvae but another larva was already waiting at the spot where she would roll to a stop. The tension and pressure in her head made her act reflexively, her External KEI burst out and using that momentum she widened the gap between her and her enemy. She regained her fighting stance and entered the fight once more. As a shell covered the larva's body, the head was the easiest target. Her strike was off by a few millimeters but it broke one of the larva's forelegs. Shifting its movement the bug readjusted itself and headed left, avoiding confrontation with her.

"Captain!" A voice shouted through the transmitter in her ear just as she was starting to relax a little.

Whose angry voice was that that came through the transmitter? Sharnid? Without the time to determine who the owner of that voice was, she instinctively leaped to the side. A presence kept closing in from behind, and pain flared in Nina's shoulder. Her body flipped through the air before crashing to the ground, the things in her vision were spinning. Her wound brushed against the earth and she stood up, delicately holding her wound. The loss of blood took away the vitality of her KEI and her body felt heavy. Anxiety halted her steps and made the iron whip heavy in her right hand. The spasms running through her left fingers irritated her while her consciousness was starting to fade.

I'm about to die...She thought as the vibration in the air from a nearby larvae hit her first before she actually saw the creature crawling towards her. As soon as she accepted her fate with sheer calmness, a wintery gust of cold air descended onto the battlefield. She could see the stirring of air particles stop, as if the coldness had frozen the water vapor in the larvaes' bodies and halted their movement. The entire world was holding its breath for what was to come.

"Flame..." A shadow sailed over Nina's head in a burst of exploding flames. "Stryker!" The larvae before her was split apart, its huge body exploded upon impact. One by one, the mechanical insects around the area were exploding into a million pieces. Soon the entire corner where the larvae had gathered became desolated.

"What..." Nina gasped, trying to support her body and remain conscious through it all. Someone was dragging her aside, could be someone from her team but she weakly pushed him away from her.

"Retreat, you fool!" the voice of the Student President resonated through the air. "We're entering the final phase. All Military Arts students, follow my instructions and retreat behind the fence." Searching for the source of that voice, Nina saw petal-like things floating in the air.

"Flakes?" She murmured, holding one of the delicate petals in her hand. A Psychokinesist uses flakes to interact with other people as well as analyzing information from their surroundings and transmit messages from far away. As the voice of the Student President calmed his student's down, I made my way towards the outskirts of the city, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. My heart was fluttering with excitement as I could hear it beating wildly in my ears.

Rias. Felli's voice whispered into me ear and I looked to see the flakes dancing from the corner of my eye. I found where the mother is hiding thanks to FonFon's information. Heading 1305. Distance, 30 Kilomel. Depth, 12 Mel. I'll lead you in.

"That won't be necessary," I replied as I made a turn and dashed off in that direction. "my sense of smell will guide me there. And besides, " I chuckled, " your nickname for Layfon is 'FonFon'?"

Shut up. Came the soft whisper. I bet you anything that her face was a red as my hair. It's much better than 'Layton', and he gave me special permission to use it. No one else is allowed to call him that.

"Not that I'd ever call him that personally." I snorted as the drop end appeared in my line of sight. "It has 'embarrassment' written all over it."

You're just jealous. She scoffed. I'm warning you though, you have about 5 minutes, any higher then that your lungs won't hold.

"I probably don't have to tell you this but," I skidded to a stop at the very edge of the city and looked into the massive hole in the earth where the critters were crawling out from. "my lungs were specially made for this kind of task. You just wait for my successful return!"

"Hey! Wait up!" I turned to see Layfon landed next to me, his feet hitting the ground softly. "I suppose you weren't thinking about a back-up now were you? I heard everything Felli said so I'm up to speed."

"Back-up? You?" I looked at him skeptically. "Never in the slightest. If most I'd say you would be like my associate. C'mon, let's not waste anymore time."

Remember FonFon. Felli's voice floated around us. You also have 5 minutes but knowing you two, you probably wouldn't need that long to get the job done.

"Understood!" He replied and grinned. "Let's go hunting."


Outside the city...

The moment Layfon and I left the air shield, the air felt really sticky and uncomfortable. Layfon leaped down from the edge, controlling the KEI-filled threads with his fingers. I scaled down one of Zuellni's legs, anchoring myself so that I wouldn't get blown away by the rough winds. Soil particles danced around our eyes while the pollutants ate at our flesh. We found the dark cavern thanks to the tracks left by the larvae and ventured in, every single cell in our bodies on high alert. It was hard living in the real world after being sheltered by the sealed off cities, and the only way to communicate with the outside world was through the danger that hid in the shadow of the roaming bus. Yet humans continued to live in a world that did not permit their existence.

The mother's right behind this last corner. Felli said and we turned the corner, coming face to face with the mother form of a filth monster. Layfon released his threads and turned the DITE back to its original form while I got ready in an attack stance, my claws gleaming in the dimly lit cave. The mother's abdomen was two-thirds of its bulky body and it looked like its been damaged. The uterus in the abdomen was were the larvae were nurtured and the earth buried the immobile wings above its shell. In its head, so much larger than a larva's was a compound eye.

"Restoration 01." Layfon said and the DITE turned into a blue green sword. "Perhaps, our will to live is the same." He spoke to the mother without fearing the waste of breath. I watched him cautiously while waiting for the opportunity to strike. "Perhaps, the feelings of not wanting to die is the same too." He strode towards her, every step increased the light of KEI in the blade, driving back the darkness. "Those people who aren't satisfied with that alone, are probably too rich."

"Layfon." I whispered urgently, noticing that the mother had senses imminent danger, its jaw started to open and close rapidly, and the sound of friction deepened. She was calling for reinforcement.

"We still want to live on," Layfon raised his sword above his head, "I don't plan to apologize." Taking my cue I leaped forward just as his blade swung down and we ended her live in a flash, her cries echoing along the walls of the cave before it died down into nothingness.