A/N: Kore wa, fourth chapter desu. Btw, there are some spoilers below in regards to the Lost Christmas Visual Novel regarding one of its characters. The aftermath of that character's fate post-VN is of my own writing though. Some tidbits of the novel, "Guilty Crown: Princess of Deadpool" are also in this chapter.
Notes:
" " – a term in-universe, also used when a character is talking
' ' – character is thinking
* - has an explanation for the term at the bottom of the fanfic chapter.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Guilty Crown or its characters. If I did, by now, there'd be a 2-cour season 2, 3 movies, a light novel, and the Guilty Crown: Princess of Deadpool game would've been animated as an OVA.
A BOY, A GIRL, AND THEIR REUNION
Chapter 4 – Ties that linger.
"No one knows what the future holds.
That's why its potential is infinite."
Shu POV
Shisa-san relayed the events leading up to the present situation. She mentioned how my biological mother, "Saeko Shijou" was believed to have died while trying to give birth to me due to being heavily crystallized by the Apocalypse Virus. She clarified though, that this "Saeko" had not died but was instead left in a vegetative state. My father, Kurosu Ouma, was not made aware that my mother survived giving birth due to the interference of Da'ath.
Shisa-san went on to say that my mother had been snatched up by Da'ath and been forcefully relegated as one of the "Assassins of Da'ath" while being placed in a modified endlave cockpit. In this cockpit, she was made to control the various endlaves that Da'ath held in its arsenal. She was given the codename "Past", as she along with two others who were dubbed as "Present" and "Yet to Come" were to correspond as the "Ghosts of Christmas" while also sharing the "Assassin of Da'ath" epitaph.
Something occurred to me when Shisa-san spoke about my mother. 'Why was she knowledgeable about my mother to this extent? Saeko…Shijou. That was the name of my mother according to Shisa-san. Wait a minute….' It was finally clear to me, why I had felt that connection with Shisa-san. I would wait after she finished before I tell her of my realization though.
"And then when you had rejected Mana Ouma, Lost Christmas had commenced. Your mother, though not in a healthy state of mind, shielded both you and Gai Tsutsugami from the debris of the church you were in." Shisa-san said to me with a tone of voice that was devoid of regret.
"So that was how I survived that Lost Christmas." I noted upon confirmation of the reason I had survived the ordeal.
"Your mother was left in a desolate state. That is, until a group known as Exodus came to rescue her and was able to restore her mind to full-functionality." Shisa added with a smile on her face. My eyes widened at the mention of Exodus.
"Shisa-san, did you just say that my mother was rescued by Exodus?"I asked.
"Yes Shu, the very same Exodus, which that Yuu kid had mentioned to you." She answered. So it was them. Exodus was starting to sound like it wasn't an evil organization since they rescued my mother. Why did they want to bring back Mana then? That part baffled me. Yuu had said they possessed 'the key to Eve's permanent return' after all.
Shisa-san continued on, telling me about Da'ath's scheme to purge the whole of mankind to create an 'evolved' race with my sister and her chosen Adam as the template. She told me some facts about the 'Void Genome' like how there were only three samples produced. I had managed to use two of those, while the third one was used by a girl who had the alias "Overdose". Overdose huh? I think I already met her when I was still in Funeral Parlor…
(Flashback) 2039 A.D.
"I'm sorry!" I said as I plunged my hand inside the girl's chest where here void was supposed to be. Her void was some sort of violin based on its appearance.
Overdose. That was the supposed alias of the person that Gai had told me to extract a certain void from, the void which he named as "Melody*". Gai's description of the person matched the girl in front of me whom I had just extracted this "violin" void from. She had waist-length hair that had a faded-blonde color to it. Her attire consisted of a scarf, a blue shirt with a orange jacket, black short pants, and a pair of black boots.
Why Gai told me to extract this particular void, I wasn't made aware of. Gai just told me that it would be crucial to one of our operations to infiltrate GHQ.
(Flashback end)
So that was the user of the third sample of the void genome; that was a bit of information that I did not know before. Shisa-san then added that it is still unknown up to now how or where Yuu had acquired the King's power, and that Exodus was as stumped as the rest of the world.
After a few more bits and pieces of information, and confirming that Yuu was telling the truth when he said Inori wasn't needed as a catalyst anymore, Shisa-san said that she had told me all that was needed to know.
"Thank you for enlightening me Shisa-san." I thanked Shisa for the information.
"Shu I have one last thing to tell you-"
"What is it Shisa-san?"
"-when I disappear from your mindscape, close your eyes. When you open them, you will be awake in your room and whatever you do, do not be surprised." was the final statement that Shisa-san gave before vanishing.
I did as I was told, and closed my eyes. After taking a deep breath, I opened them and was not met with the familiar darkness that greeted me when I was awake. Instead, the sight of my room greeted me. I looked to my left, and I saw Haruka sitting on a chair. She was asleep. On my right, Shisa-san stood, looking at me while smiling. She held a syringe in hand. One thing that stood out was that she had some sort of patch on her head, the patch being riddled with wirings. Now that I think about it, I felt something stuck on my forehead, most likely the same patch that Shisa-san had.
"I wasn't expecting the surprise you were mentioning to be the return of my eyesight and you being here in my room. I assume that the patches on our heads was how you entered my dreamscape, and that the syringe you're holding was made by Exodus to restore my vision, mom." I flashed a knowing smile while removing the patch on my head to Shisa-san, or rather, Saeko-san my biological mother.
"You're right Shu, the syringe contains a regenerative serum for optical nerves. The patches were for me to be able to enter your subco-" Saeko-san froze.
"Did you just call me "mom", Shu? How did you know?" She asked, getting a bit teary-eyed during the question.
"Your story about my mom saving me, when I put it together with you appearing before me, it made sense; and your alias "Shisa" is a portmanteau of Shijou and Saeko. It wasn't the most creative nickname for disguising your ident-" before I could finish, Saeko-san pulled me into a deep hug. I felt her tears flowing freely on her cheeks.
"You don't know how long I've wanted to do this Shu, my son" I returned the hug with equal fervor.
"Thank you for saving me during Mana's outburst" I graciously thanked my mom. We held the hug a bit longer, and then we broke it off. We smiled at each other.
"Shu! Who is this?!" Haruka exclaimed at the sight before her.
"Hello to you, Dr. Haruka Ouma. I am Saeko Shijou, an acquaintance of Shu here." Saeko-san spoke before I could tell Haruka the truth about my mother.
"Saeko…Shijou?" came Haruka's nervous reply.
Shu's room, 5:30 AM, Haruka POV
"Saeko…Shijou?" I asked with a tinge of anxiety in my voice. That name had come up during one my talks with Kurosu. It was his supposedly deceased ex-wife. The biological mother of Shu.
"Shu? D-do you know who Saeko-san is?" I asked Shu. I feared the worst.
"Saeko-san, is it okay if I tell Haruka?" Shu asked Saeko-san, who gave him a nod of approval.
Shu then relayed to me how he had encountered the "Envoy of Da'ath" in his subconscious. 'That explains the intense sweating' I deduced. Shu continued on that after this "Yuu" left, Saeko-san appeared under the alias 'Shisa' and informed Shu on the origins and facts regarding the apocalypse virus. He also told me on how upon waking up, he had his eyesight restored and how he learned of the medium used by Saeko-san to enter Shu's subconscious, and that he had deduced Saeko-san's identity. I marvelled at this.
"Not even with my research at Sephirah Genomics, was I able to restore Shu's vision" I remarked with awe.
"Haruka-san, thank you for taking care of my son. I hope he hasn't given you too much trouble." I then saw Saeko-san bow in gratitude to me.
"It wasn't a problem, Saeko-san, I love Shu like my own flesh and blood." I replied to Saeko-san.
-Chapter 4 END-
A/N 2: Shisa's identity is revealed! Reviews good or bad are welcome, thanks for reading. See you next chapter.
*Melody – Overdose's void was unnamed in the novel. Since its ability was to counterattack via its melody, I have named it as such.
