Morality changes with time. No matter what you want to believe in, whether it's religion or something that's able to be proven right in front of you right away. There's always two personae someone dons on a regular basis, one is the necessary one for society, where he does what's expected from others and goes with the public opinion. This is also the true personality of most people. However, there is another side to everything. I learned this over the years, and this second side will not always be pleasant.
Chapter 4: Song of the Welkin.
The Den - Entrance
"You have a problem with me?" Kira seethed as he glared at Soma, who was only staring at the homunculus coldly. The eighteen year old scoffed and walked to the gate, heading off on his mission.
"And a good morning to you too…" the homunculus said dryly.
Two days have passed since Kira's first mission, and since then, he's encountered some of the other God Eaters. Most of them attempted to be friendly, but the homunculus gave them the cold shoulder, though women were able to elicit a "hello" out of him. Outside of his superiors, he only interacted with Erena, Alisa and Kuro, notably on a more friendly basis.
Most of the God Eaters thought of Kira as a second Soma, but apparently more scrutinizing.
Kira went to the Elevator and pressed the down button. He was on duty today, but was currently bored out of his mind, as well as troubled by the entity he dubbed Hannibal that resided in the recesses of his mind.
" I wish Alisa and Kuro were back from their mission…" he grumbled out loud.
"Something wrong Masamune?" Tsubaki asked from behind the unsuspecting boy.
Kira turned around and looked at his advisor while clearing his throat.
"N-Nothing's wrong ma'am." he replied while standing stiffly.
"Good, I have received word that your friend, Erena, has just become a God Eater, but she isn't a New-Type like you are. She will be assigned to the 2nd Unit. As for your itinerary for today, you are free to pick any mission available, however, the only assistance you have available is Soma." she explained.
"I'll do it solo then, ma'am. No offense, but Soma and I don't really see eye to eye…" Kira said bitterly. "I take it Alisa and Kuro are still on their mission…"
"Correct, but we received confirmation of them completing their objective, so they will be back before too long." Tsubaki replied.
Kira nodded before grinning. "If I may, could you give them a message for me?" he asked.
"As long as it's quick…" the advisor said.
"Thank you, please tell both of them that I want to talk to them when I return. They will understand what I mean." the artificial human explained.
"Alright. You better get going then." the black haired woman said as the elevator door opened.
Kira nodded and turned around and went to one of the terminals that were next to the entranceway to prepare himself.
Forgotten Carrier. Two Hours Later
The homunculus stood on a raised piece of pavement that was part of a ruined bridge that lead to an abandoned carrier. The ship was in disrepair and rattled with holes, some from gunfire years ago, others from hungry Aragami tearing into its hull.
"Seek and destroy three Cocoon Maidens…" Kira recalled his objective. "So, they're supposed to look like those old fashioned iron maiden torture devices… only fleshy… and they can fire spikes from a distance. "
The homunculus leaped off and landed on the lower segment of the bridge before the carrier. His God Arc was in blade mode and held in both hands. The homunculus then scanned his horizons before he eased his grip on the weapon.
"Weird… Cocoon Maidens are not the kind who do ambushes…" he noted before he heard a scream coming from the other side of the bridge.
"Crap! I must've been in the wrong area!" he cried out as he leaped up, grasping the ledge of the raised pavement before climbing up. He rose to his feet before running as fast as he could.
"That scream couldn't have been too far away…"
60 meters away
A trio of Ogretails, one of them missing a tusk, pinned a blue haired girl to the ground with their feet. Her clothes, mainly her slacks, were in rags, torn apart by the Aragami. The girl looked at her captives in terror as a Sariel descended before her.
"Wh-Why haven't you eaten me already?" she asked the Aragami, despite knowing that they don't understand her.
The Sariel landed next to the girl and held out one of its arms. The girl looked on as the limb reached out to touch the Aragami with a single tusk. After a few moments of silence, the Ogretail turned and growled at the other two as it stepped off the girl. The others followed suit, releasing the girl from their grasp, for lack of better terms. She rose up as she looked at the Sariel, who looked down at the girl with its orange cyclopean eye. The girl trembled as she watched the Aragami lower its arm to her. However, before the limb touched her, three glowing red projectiles flew past the Aragami's head, forcing its attention away as the Ogretails all screeched in anger at the unwelcomed newcomer as he shouldered his God Arc.
"Man… didn't expect a party here…" Kira said with a grin as he examined the sight before him.
The Sariel crooned before taking to the air as the Ogretails slowly stepped towards the homunculus. Kira quickly glanced at each of the grounded Aragami before his eyes widened a little.
"Holy… hell…" he said in amazement as he noticed a certain look within each of their eyes. "They got that look… the same look as Erena had as an Ogretail…"
The Ogretail with one tusk roared as the other two stepped to the side. The Aragami approached the God Eater as it focused its eyes upon his in curiosity. The Sariel flew overhead and landed behind the homunculus while cooing softly. It closed its single eye while keeping its distance. The Ogretail stopped right in front of Kira's face and growled softly. Kira smiled and lowered his God Arc to his side.
"Just as I thought… you guys are just like her." the homunculus said with a smirk.
The Aragami all exchanged glances amongst one another in confusion. From prior experience, the Ogretails believed that he would've attacked them by now. The Sariel held out its arm and crooned loudly to catch the single-tusk Ogretail's attention. Kira raised an eyebrow in curiosity upon seeing the bipedal Aragami nodding in response to the larger one. The Ogretail stepped forward and carefully pushed Kira with its snout, taking care not to impale him with its tusk. The homunculus understood what it was trying to do before he began walking towards the Sariel. He took a brief moment to notice the human features it had and couldn't help but find it alluring to him.
"Wonder what it would've been like as a human…" he thought out loud as he approached the Aragami.
Once he got close enough, he looked up at the Aragami who held out its arm again and began lowering it towards the God Eater's head. Kira smirked and dropped his God Arc before holding out his right arm. His fingertips gently touched the fan like hand before he felt his body beginning to tingle.
His dormant hybridized cells began to awaken and speak amongst one another, relaying messages at unfathomable speeds. Kira's eyes widen as he heard the countless conversations that were going on within his head. The homunculus couldn't make sense of any of them before tuning them out the best he could. However, he then heard a voice speak in his head.
"Are you able to hear us?" the voice, not surprisingly feminine, asked.
Kira didn't know how to reply, it took him a moment before he settled on nodding "yes", knowing that the Aragami apparently knows what the gesture meant.
"That is most convenient. We were wondering if you or your brethren could communicate with us in some way." the Sariel stated. "Try to communicate the same way as us."
The homunculus nodded again and closed his eyes, presuming to settle on trying to speak with his mind.
"Okay… can you hear this?" He thought, feeling certain that the approach will fail.
"We can." the Aragami replied.
"Well I'll be… I thought that wouldn't work… anyway… why are you or your lackeys not eating either me or that girl?" Kira asked cautiously.
"We are learning about you, smaller ones." the Aragami stated bluntly.
"So that you Aragami can devour the rest of the human race?" Kira thought angrily as he growled.
" I won't let anything like that happen while I'm around. "
"We here all have no intentions of devouring your kind. And what is Aragami and human race? You speak things we do not comprehend."
"Kuro and Alisa are going to kill me for this…" Kria muttered under his breath. " That's if the Director doesn't get to me himself before sending my ass to be dissected by Sakaki first…"
The Den- Kuro's Room
Kuro yawned as she staggered into her room. She made a beeline to the bed before falling face first into it. The God Eater remained still as she wondered what was happening with her newest friend.
I remember Tsubaki telling me Kira wanted to talk to me and Alisa when he got back… was it about that weird dream? I wonder what that was all about…
She heard a knock on the door from outside. Groaning a little, the black haired girl raised her head to speak.
"Kohta, if that's you, I already put your stupid Bugarally movie ontop of that giant mountain of crap in your room!" she said in annoyance.
"Wrong. It's me Kuro." Alisa replied with a giggle.
The scarlet eyed girl smiled a little bit before she got up from the bed and headed to the door as it opened.
"What brings you here to my humble abode?" she asked.
"I wanted to talk to you about something regarding Kira." the Russian girl replied.
"Ooh…did you came here in hopes for me to give you some 'advice'?" the blackette teased in a sultry manner, eliciting a deep blush from her friend.
"N-No! It's nothing like that!" Alisa protested, immediately feeling a little uneasy.
Kuro stifled a laugh before she nodded.
"Alright, what is it then?"
"I was wondering what Kira really is." Alisa said. "I know we can trust him… but he's definitely not human after we saw him transform."
"Oh is that all?" the black haired girl said before she grabbed her friend's hands and led her to her bed.
"I agree he's not human, but don't start thinking he's a monster. He's placed his trust in us both after all."
"I'm not… I'm just wondering how someone like him even exists. I did a little research on what a homunculus is in the Norn database… it appears that a homunculus was a human being who was created through Alchemy, an ancient and unscientific precursor to chemistry which sought to change lead into gold, find a life-extending elixir, and an universal solvent. But the weird thing is, a homunculus is supposed to be a very small person…" Alisa said. "Yet Kira is our size."
"Who knows… maybe Kira came from another world." Kuro quipped. "Different world, different rules."
"That might actually be possible…" the German girl said while adjusting her plaid cabbie hat slightly. "After all, Oracle Cells appeared out of nowhere one day. Anyway, getting back on subject, other than the transformation abilities, what else could he do?"
The blackette fell silent before she let go of Alisa's hands.
"Hmm… maybe he could turn another human into a homunculus. If he could, I wouldn't mind being able to live young for a really long time." Kuro said.
"That would be quite convenient…" Alisa admitted. "But what else could he possibly do?"
Kuro put a finger to her chin and thought before a cheeky grin formed on her face.
"Maybe he's morally loose. Imagine this. Kira and Soma in a candlelit bedroom, the both of them with their shirts off…" the girl said as a faint blush formed on her face. "And then he-"
"STOP!" a flustered Alisa shouted while covering her friend's mouth. "Please don't speak of such things!"
Kuro removed her friend's hand, revealing a triumphant smirk plastered on her face.
"I knew it! You are interested in Kira!" she said while placing a hand onto the Russian's shoulder.
Alisa's cheeks adopted a shade of pink as she cleared her throat, attempting to regain her composure.
"That reminds me. I haven't asked you about that night. What were you doing in Kira's room in the first place?" she asked her friend.
Kuro's eyes widened before blushing deeply.
"I-I wanted to just see what anime he was into. Yeah, that's it!" she lied.
It was Alisa's turn to smirk.
"Oh really? Was he into that Bugarally show you and Kohta enjoy so very much?" she asked.
"He… He never seen it." Kuro said as her voice faltered slightly.
"You never were a good liar, Mayumi." Alisa said while crossing her arms in front of her chest. "If I didn't know any better, you too are interested in him…"
"Alright! I confess! I am interested in him!" Kuro admitted while raising her hands up in surrender. "What are you going to do about it?"
"I…I don't know…" the platinum blond replied with uncertainty before falling silent.
"To think we are into the same guy…" Kuro said with a solemn smile.
Alisa only nodded in agreement.
Forgotten Carrier.
"You God Eaters attack us, the Aragami, only to ensure the survival of their race." the Sariel recapped what it had learned. "And despite how you appear, you are not like them."
"Correct. I am a homunculus. I was created by humans, but I am not one of them." Kira said. "And to think there are Aragami like you. So… what are you going to do now with me and that girl?"
"The human is one of you God Eaters. However, we have made the human harmless to us. During our examination, we had a great deal of difficulty removing the object on one of the upper appendages." the feminine Aragami explained while Kira looked at the girl who was on her knees, not moving in place with a defeated look on her face.
"She's a God Eater?!" the homunculus cried out loud. He immediately removed his hand from the Sariel and ran over to the blue haired girl. "Hey… are you alright?"
"Everyone… Everyone's dead because of me.." the girl said in an emotionless tone.
Kira sighed and shook his head.
"Poor girl's in shock…" he muttered before he looked at her right arm. Her wrist was bruised and had an impression of the now missing armlet. However, Kira was taken back when the girl screamed without warning, her left hand grasping the right. She began to spasm slightly as tears flowed down her face nonstop.
"Why? Why did everyone die but me?" she asked. "Why…"
Thick black veins appeared on the back of the girl's right hand before it immediately transformed, black protrusions exploding from the wrist and going up to her elbow. The girl screamed in agony as the fingertips became sharp talons. Her head shot up to look directly into the God Eater's eyes
"Make it stop! Please! Make it stop!" she desperately pleaded to Kira. "Please…"
With that the girl immediately collapsed to the ground on her side, slipping into unconsciousness. The right arm began to revert back to normal, the protrusions retreating back into the skin.
"What the hell happened?" Kira asked while looking at the Sariel who held out its hand. The homunculus nodded before touching it with his right hand.
"We began to sense the human slowly becoming one of us once we removed the object on the appendage." the Sariel explained. "Before you arrived, we were about to try making contact with the human. The smaller ones were restraining the appendages so that we wouldn't be injured. "
"I see… well, if she becomes one of you, things will get really bad. I was told that God Eaters will kill their comrades if they began transforming into Aragami." Kira explained mentally. "But I will not allow that to happen to her."
"What shall you do then?" the Aragami asked.
"I'm going to try transforming her into what I am…" Kira replied before he turned to face the unconscious God Eater. Kira broke contact with the Sariel and rose. He went to his God Arc and picked it up, the cord materializing and connecting the weapon to the armlet.
"At least I hope I can …" Kira said as he walked over towards the girl.
The Ogretails surrounded the girl in curiosity as the homunculus knelt beside her. The Sariel watched from behind him, intrigued by what was about to happen. The artificial human carefully rolled the girl onto her back before taking a deep breath.
"Here goes nothing…" Kira said before transforming his God Arc into sword form and holding the oversized weapon with one hand. Kira held out his left arm above the girl's head, specifically her partly opened mouth. He closed his breath and counted to three before pressing the sharp edge of the blade against the palm of his hand, breaking the skin enough for scarlet blood to ooze out .
Kira winced in pain as he applied more pressure to the hand. He held it in place for a few seconds before removing the God Arc and setting it down next to him. He then clenched his fist and caused a few drops of blood to drip into the girl's mouth. He waited until several drops fell into her mouth before he lowered the injured hand. He pulled out a small first aid kit and pulled out the gauze and wrapped it around his left hand.
The homunculus inspected his work before nodding approval. He gently placed his right hand ontop of the girl's own and closed his eyes.
"Now I have to wait to see if it works…" he said.
However, when he opened his eyes, he felt his entire body pulse before he fell unconscious, falling ontop of the girl as black veins appeared on both God Eaters' hands.
The Ogretails all looked at one another in confusion as the Sariel floated over to the pair and landing next to them. The feminine Aragami crooned while looking at the veins with its single orange eye as thin black cables appeared and connecting with each one.
Kira's Mind
"What am I doing here?!" Kira screamed out as he wandered through the black abyss. "What are you up to this time Hannibal?!"
The homunculus expected to see the familiar glowing eyes of the dragon he quickly grew to loathe. However, what replied was nothing he expected.
"Who are you?" a girl's voice asked nearby.
Kira blinked in confusion before he opened his mouth to speak
"I'm Masamune Kira." the artificial human replied. "What's your name?"
"Itaru." the girl called out.
"Just Itaru?" he asked. "Nevermind, where are you?"
"I'm right behind you." Itaru said.
Kira immediately turned around, noticing the blue haired girl looking at him with a face devoid of any happiness. The homunculus was taken back by her state of attire, which was a blue bikini top and black shorts that clung to her curves tightly.
"What's wrong?" he asked the girl.
"Do you know why every one of my friends had to die?" she asked the homunculus.
Kira frowned and shook his head.
"Gomen asai, but I can't answer that" he apologized.
"That's alright, I already knew the answer." the bluette said with a sad smile. "It's because I am alive."
Kira immediately slapped the girl in the face.
"DON'T YOU DARE THINK LIKE THAT!" he barked before lowering his voice a bit. "I can relate to losing people you care for. But you can't blame yourself for what happened. It wasn't your fault…"
The girl chuckled dryly before rubbing her red cheek.
"You're wrong, I was the one who suggested going after those Ogretails."
"You didn't know what was going to happen!" Kira pointed out.
"The only time I make any friends, and they get killed because of me. I don't deserve any happiness." Itaru said as tears formed in her eyes. " Guess it's suited for a monster like me…"
"I see… so you've been alone most of your life." Kira said before smiling a bit. "but you're wrong, if anyone's a monster, it's me."
The blue haired girl looked up and stared at the homunculus in confusion.
"What are you saying?" she asked.
"I'm a real monster. I murdered countless innocent people a long time ago. I never liked it even once, yet I still did it." Kira explained calmly.
"You… You can't be serious…" Itaru said in disbelief.
"As serious as the Aragami existing." Kira remarked before a malicious grin formed on his face. "Now tell me this. Do you want to die?"
"No… I…I don't want to die!" the girl said while backing away from the homunculus in fear.
"That's right, cling to your heart's desire as you dance to the Symphony of Despair. " Kira said as he stepped forward. "Prove to me how much you want to live."
Itaru felt her body pulse with each step Kira took, as if something inside of her was trying to tell her to get up.
"H-How do I do that?" she asked the homunculus.
"Remember your friends. Mourn for them and move on, no matter how painful the road ahead is. And don't be mistaken, you are not alone. You just have to look around." Kira instructed.
As the homunculus spoke, Hannibal's eyes appeared as it glared down at the pair.
"So… found another mate huh?" the serpentine monster quipped before taking a second glance at the bluenette "No… it's obviously something completely different. That human is changing… changing into something very much like you…"
Itaru's eyes widened in fear as she saw the monster's eyes. She crawled backwards, her body trembling involuntarily.
"Not another one…" she whimpered.
Kira blinked in confusion before looking up at Hannibal briefly before returning his attention to his fellow God Eater.
" What are you talking about Itaru-san?" the homunculus asked.
" There's a monster that wants my body…" the girl explained the best she could. "And the worst thing is… I can't do anything about it. "
"The glowing eyes belong to Hannibal, who is MY monster. And I think it's not here to take over my body." Kira reassured the God Eater as he stepped towards her.
Hannibal only hissed before turning its attention towards the abyss behind Itaru.
"It's coming… and it's a strong one…" it warned the God Eaters.
Kira nodded before going to the horrified girl and hastily helped her up to her feet.
"So… what now?" he asked her.
"I… I'm afraid…" she said.
"Don't be, remember that you're not alone Itaru. Stand tall, and fight." he advised the girl before offering her his left hand. "So, are you ready to dance to the Symphony of Despair?"
Itaru looked at Kira's hand before steeled resolve appeared on her face. She took his hand with her right and nodded.
"Let's do it." she said with a slight smile.
The pair turned to face in the same direction as Hannibal was looking at as it growled loudly.
A loud hiss was heard as Itaru's monster came into view.
It was a monstrous knight like scorpion that towered over the pair. The Aragami stood on four arachnid like legs covered in a grayish black armor like exoskeleton. The body had a human shaped upper body, excluding the head, encased in the same colored exoskeleton, stylized like a knight's armor. Running in a single filed line of helmet like protrusions along each shoulder.
The arms were somewhat thin compared to the rest of its bulky body. Replacing the hands were halves of a shield as large as the upper body, shaped like sinister skull, complete with glowing white eyes. A large fluffy mane of orange hair protruded from the back of the upper body.
The scorpion like tail that came from the rear end of the lower body was raised above the "head" of the monster. The stinger was replaced with a long sword like needle, ending with a very small point.
"A Borg Camlann…" Kira said, recognizing the Aragami from a bestiary regarding the known Aragami.
He turned his attention towards the glowing eyes.
"What do you want Masamune?" the dragon asked.
"Hannibal. I know we don't see eye to eye, but I need your help!" the homunculus pleaded to the monster.
"Fine. We'll help, only because if you're devoured here, we all can't return to our body." the Aragami said with reluctance. The monster's white arm appeared from the abyss, the hand clenched into a fist.
"Alright homunculus, devour part of my flesh to gain my strength."
Kira grimaced before nodding as he began running towards the dragon Aragami. The lower portion of the Borg Camlann's upper "torso" opened to release a screech, revealing its maw and the pair of mandibles, the insides of each filled with multiple spike like teeth. Its needle began to spark before it lowered its tail and spun in a circle, knocking the homunculus off his feet and onto his back. Itaru managed to jump in time to evade the attack as Hannibal withdrew its arm just in time while growling.
"Are you alright Masamune?" Itaru asked.
Kira quickly got to his feet before eyeing the scorpion knight before he once again made a dash to the dragon.
The Borg Camlann screeched again and put the shield halves together in front of it with its stinger propped just above it. It then began to blindly charge towards the trio.
"Hurry up Masamune!" Hannibal said while reaching out to Kira.
"HANNIBAL!" Kira screamed as he thrusted his right arm towards the protruding limb. Without thinking, Kira's arm quickly turned black and split in half, becoming the maw of the God Arc. The row of glowing eyes appeared as it stretched out and sunk its fangs into the middle of the dragon's forearm.
"That's it. Accept us!" the Aragami said gleefully before the God Arc maw retracted, tearing a chunk of flesh from the forearm. As it retreated, it transformed back into an arm, however, it became an exact copy of Hannibal's own with a golden arm bracer that went slightly up past his elbow and down to his wrist. Bright orange ornamental fur protruded from the sides and top of the bracer. Then the Aragami's long tail then erupted from his lower back, followed by Kira's skin becoming the chalk white. Completing the transformation was his right arm becoming the same as the left, only lacking the arm bracer.
Itaru dived out of the charging scorpion's path before catching a glimpse of the transformed homunculus as he stepped forward with Hannibal following close behind, its large body coming into view from the abyss.
"Wh-What happened to you?!" she cried out, fearing that Kira was turning into an Aragami.
"I'm just borrowing Hannibal's powers. I'm a homunculus after all." he reassured the God Eater before turning his attention towards the Borg Camlann. "Alright you overgrown bug, Let's rumble!"
The arthropod like Aragami screeched in challenge, prompting both Hannibal and Kira to crouch, slamming their left arms to the ground before opening their mouths to release synchronized roars at their opponent.
Kira was the first to move, running towards the larger Aragami with his arms held out at the side as he slouched forward slightly. The Borg Camlann thrusted its stinger forward, only for the transformed homunculus sidestepping and slashing at the Aragami's legs, forcing it to lose its balance as the talons scraped against the metal like hide. The scorpion collapsed on its right side at an angle, its stinger sinking into the ebony ground as it was stunned.
"Hannibal, you're up!" Kira called out to his Aragami.
Hannibal roared before rising up on its hind legs, its arms were then held crossed against its chest before swinging each of them one at a time, summoning a sword of fire within each hand. It charged forward as the Borg Camlann rose up and erected its shield in time to block the dragon's slashes. The flame swords failed to leave any mark on the scorpion's primary defense.
The dragon growled in annoyance as its opponent began its counter attack. Its tail began sparking before it began repeatedly stabbing at the dragon, causing it to shriek in pain from the electricity. The Borg Camlann stabbed its opponent one last time, impaling the Aragami in the center of its head and all the way through its lower jaw.
Kira sneered at the sight before he held out his right arm, noticing that something was off regarding the Aragami. He summoned his own fire sword and ran forward before leaping up into the air. He pointed the blade of the sword down towards the "head" of the Aragami as he began to descend upon his foe.
Kira's eyes widened as the Borg Camlann began to change color. The dull dark gray turned into shimmering gold as the orange mane became pink. The tail stinger began to spark violet electricity on occasion.
Kira grinned as he recognized the Aragami turning into what was known as the Fallen Borg Camlann
of the charged variation. It definitely paid to do research on the Norn Database.
" Even if you evolved and gotten stronger, you just screwed yourself over." he said before he plunged the sword into the top of the Borg Camlann. "Let's turn it up!" The Aragami screeched in agony as the fire intensified, burning its way through the golden exoskeleton like it was butter.
It attempted to pull its stinger out of Hannibal's head, only to notice the dragon grasping onto it with both hands as it glared furiously. with a twist of its hand, it easily broke the tip of the stinger off and tossed it to the side towards Itaru.
The gold scorpion finally got its stinger free, before screeching in fury. It staggered backward and began thrashing around, attempting to shake off the homunculus. It then spun around in a circle, striking Hannibal in the face with enough force to knock it to the ground dazed. Meanwhile, Kira lost his grip on his sword, having it dissipate into thin air as he was sent flying. The Aragami turned its attention towards Itaru, who was frozen in place in awe by the fight. It opened its mandibles to screech loudly before leaping forward, generating a shockwave as it landed nearby the bluenette.
The girl was knocked off her feet by the shockwave, landing on her rear as she looked up at the golden monster in fear. The Fallen Borg Camlann kneeled downwards before releasing electrified needles from its upper torso at the girl.
"Itaru!" Kira cried out weakly, holding out his right arm as he laid on the ground.
"No… I… I …" Itaru said in fear before closing her eyes shut before raising her voice. " I want to…I want to see tomorrow... I WANT TO LIVE~!"
The electrified needles were immediately stopped midair by an unseen force. Itaru opened her eyes as she felt her body pulse once again. The bluenette rose to her feet and stared at the perplexed Aragami with newfound courage.
"I won't let you terrorize me anymore… You will not succeed Aragami." she declared. "I will not allow you!"
The charged Borg Camlann screeched in protest before a pillar of fire erupted from beneath it. The God Eater turned her attention towards Hannibal, who had its right hand placed down on the ground as a faint glow radiated from below the appendage.
The gold Aragami screeched in pain as it flailed in place. Hannibal raised its hand, ceasing the attack before closing its mouth and briefly raised its chin up, The Borg Camlann regrouped before charging forward, only for the dragon to lower its head while opening its mouth, unleashing three fireballs simultaneously in a spread. The Scorpion erected its shield, blocking the attack.
However, it didn't see Kira closing in from its left, brandishing another fiery sword. The Homunculus closed in and drove the sword into the shield with all his strength. The Oracle Cells composing the Aragami's main line of defense became unbound, resulting in shards of the outer shell to break off in pieces, revealing a glowing orangish red layer underneath. The Aragami roared in pain as it staggered backwards.
"Itaru, devour him!" Kira instructed the girl. "You have the power now!"
Itaru nodded without thinking before looking at the scorpion as Hannibal charged in and tackled it to the ground and stunning it. The blunette took a deep breath and ran towards the Aragami that was the source of her recent torment. She raised a fist up and put all her strength into it as she aimed for the area that connected the lower half of the Fallen Borg Camlann to the upper portion. Hannibal immediately got up and did a backflip on one hand to get out of the way.
"GO TO HELL ASSHOLE!" she screamed as loud as she could. As the fist got closer, it turned into a God Arc maw before it opened wide and drastically and rapidly grew in size. The mouth became large enough to engulf the entire Aragami in one go before it closed its jaws upon it. The Borg Camlann screeched in defiance as the maw began to chew on it. It then tilted upwards and swallowed. A few minutes passed before the transformed hand soon returned to normal, taking the devoured Aragami with it into the bluenette's body.
"What… What just happened?" the girl asked while inspecting her right arm meticulously.
"You assimilated your inner Aragami with your new abilities as a homunculus." Kira explained calmly as he began reverting back to his human form. " Still… the whole Fist-Turning-Into-God Arc-Maw gimmick is new. Must come with the territory…"
Hannibal only growled before calmly retreating into the black abyss, disappearing into the shadows.
"I… I'm a what?" Itaru asked.
"A homunculus." Kira explained. "You're not exactly human anymore."
"Am… Am I an Aragami?!" the blunette gasped in horror.
"Far from it." Kira reassured the girl. "Still… I don't know what you can and can't do… since the abilities of homunculi vary person to person, except for three things. Accelerated healing, able to assimilate some form of intangible object, gas, or liquid into your body, and transform into a body that utilizes the properties of what you can absorb."
"So… I've just got superpowers?" Itaru asked.
"if you want to put it that way, then yes. However, keep in mind, you are not immortal. So don't expect to dive into molten lava and come out unscathed. You'll actually die from that. " Kira said. "however, since my cells are now more…unique… you may have some Aragami abilities now. "
"Wait… you said I wasn't an Aragami…yet you say I'll possibly have their abilities?" she asked in nervous laced confusion.
"It's complicated." Kira groaned. "I'll explain things in detail when we get back to the Den."
"Umm… how do we do that?" Itaru questioned while blinking in confusion.
"Seeing how Hannibal was here with us, we're in either your mind or my own." Kira guessed. "We just got to wake up."
City of Mercy
Erena stood on the ledge that revealed a ruined metropolis that was quiet and in decay known as the City of Mercy. Skyscrapers had curved indentations within their frames, as if something gigantic had taken bites out of them. Smaller buildings were partially collapsed or missing walls all together with. Vehicles in various states of disrepair littered the broken streets, some in relatively good condition outside having patches of rust, while others were crushed flat.
She was wearing the same kind of black microvest that Kuro wore when they first met, but was wearing the bottom half of a black bikini with black sandals. She had no understanding the purpose of her wearing such a bizarre outfit, but her instructor was very adamant that she wore it or else be disciplined.
Standing next to her was a male God Eater who had a perverse grin on his face. His dark green eyes ogled the former Ogretail's physique as she wore the revealing outfit he tricked her into wearing.
The weird ones are always so easy to manipulate. He thought smugly as he held up his long blade God Arc.
"Alright, Erena was it?" he said, deciding to speak up. "Today we're assigned to take out a single Ogretail. Something easy for a rookie like yourself."
"I am aware of our objective already." Erena said with a stoic face.
She raised up her god Arc, examining the glistening silver axe like blade. It was shaped in the image of a beast's head from the side with a curved inward gap that acted as its mouth with two protrusions pointing towards each other to emulate fangs. An oval indentation in the middle of the large axe shaped end of the blade, with the curve of the blade acting as the front.
Attached to each side of the weapon underneath the blade was one half of a circular shield covered in tan-white fur with a bluish gray, triangular adornment that was shaped like half of the flat end of an Orgetail's tail with two more triangular spots going down the center at the other end in a neat line. Unlike Kira's, Erena's God Arc lacked a gun barrel, replaced with what looked like some kind of ribbed exhaust in the shape of an elongated rectangle.
"I am surprised you were compatible with that God Arc out of all the available ones. You sure have some bad luck." her instructor said in a half-joking manner. "That one is called the Rookie Reaper amongst the veterans, since everyone who used it always died on their first mission. "
Erena turned to face the teen with an analytical look on her face.
"Why do you say such a thing? The God Arc is incapable of such a thing." she explained in an emotionless tone. Therefore it had to been errors of judgment that resulted in all their deaths."
Her instructor bit his lip, realizing that he couldn't unnerve the girl at all.
Damn… she's going to be difficult to get. He thought before sighing.
"Never mind that, let's get going." he said. " If we finish early, I can treat you to lunch."
"I will have to decline, as I am to speak with Masamune Kira about something quite important when I return." the black haired girl replied, causing the man to grit his teeth.
That damned New-Type again?! He always gets the Girls! True, the Blowback Queen is cute herself, but no one in their right minds would be with that air headed bitch!
Grumbling to himself under his breath, the instructor leaped off without a second look to Erena, who followed soon after.
The pair walked towards a pile of rubble that was once the wall of a building. As they gotten closer, an Ogretail walking at a leisurely pace appeared from behind it, immediately noticing the pair. It opened its mouth and screeched.
The instructor was caught off guard, due to him being sidetracked. The Aragami took this moment and charged towards him with its mouth open, intending to devour him. The man panicked as Erena stepped in front of him, holding her God Arc in front of her horizontally.
The black haired girl kept a stoic face as she kept her weapon still when the Aragami collided with her, the blade connecting with the tusks. She then glared at her quarry before exerting more force, driving the monster backwards a few steps.
The Ogretail screeched before raising its tail above its head, firing several needles towards her. The instructor dove behind a pile of rubble while Erena rolled to the left, avoiding the majority of the projectiles as they embedded themselves into the ground. The hybrid instinctively winced as she felt one of them pierce into her left forearm. Undeterred by the pain, she grasped the protrusion and pulled it out as some of her blood began to ooze out.
Erena glared at the Aragami as her blood began glowing as a brilliant scarlet aura radiated from it. She felt every cell in her body becoming excited and alert, causing her body to feel warm. The aura then began to surround both herself and her God Arc. She kept a stoic face while holding her God Arc above her head, causing the scarlet aura to generate two ethereal scarlet copies of the blade.
"Sunder." she said before bringing her weapon down onto the Aragami, causing the three blades to slash into its face. The Ogretail screeched in agony before stepping backwards, the majority of its outer skin of its head removed for the most part, revealing the glowing under layer underneath. As the ethereal blades vanished with the scarlet aura, Erena swung once again, catching its snout within the main blade's "mouth".
"Eviscerate." she instructed before causing the blade to retract, causing the "mouth" to "bite" down on the Aragami, causing blood to spray as Erena retracted the blade, leaving a deep gash within its snout. The God Arc immediately morphed into Predator Mode, its giant black maw appearing and lurching forward, biting down on its prey's head.
Caught firmly within its grip, the black haired girl pulled as hard as she could on her God Arc horizontally as the core of the weapon began glowing a brilliant white, causing the Aragami to be swung into the air and colliding into a nearby pile of rubble as more of its blood flew into the air. The God Arc began chewing, slowly finishing off the Ogretail.
"I accomplished the mission. The target has been eliminated." Erena reported to the man as he came out from behind the pile of rubble.
"What… what the bloody hell are you?" he asked incredulously, completely stunned by what he saw a moment ago. "Nobody can't kick an Ogretail's ass like that. Not even Soma from the First Unit!"
"I have been instructed to not talk about myself outside of my name, rank, and unit I'm assigned to." she explained, focusing her attention upon the man. Her God Arc finished devouring its meal and returned to its original state. With that, she began walking towards the extraction point. As she moved, blood began to seep slightly from the corner of her mouth.
"We must get going, we don't have much time left before we are stranded. I will not have any second thoughts about leaving you behind." she licked her lips, cleaning them of the scarlet fluid that perfectly matched her eyes.
"She's… She's a goddamn monster…" the man said as he watched the black haired girl walk ahead of him. His eyes widened and gasped upon realizing something pertaining towards something he heard.
"If she's a monster, then what does that make her friend, Kira?"
The Den: Infirmary
Kira groaned as he came around, he opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. His nostrils were filled with the familiar sterilized scent that told him where he was immediately.
"Here again?" he asked weakly before he slowly sat upright.
He struggled to remember what happened to him. His brain was hazy, and any short term memories couldn't be recalled. However, when he looked at his armlet, it all came back to him.
"ITARU-SAN!" Kira cried out as he scrambled out of the bed. He pulled open the curtain, and stopped upon seeing a familiar face.
"Get the hell out of my way Soma." he said venomously. "I don't have time for you."
"If you're looking for that blue haired girl, don't bother, she's dead." the white haired teen said bluntly. "She was turning into an Aragami, therefore I had to eliminate her before she became a threat to you or anyone else. Someone had to save your damn ass while you were unconcious."
Kira immediately saw red before grabbing Soma by the collar of his jacket before head butting him as hard as possible.
"YOU BASTARD!" he screamed before driving his fist into the loner's gut. "I SAVED HER FROM BECOMING AN ARAGAMI! BUT YOU STILL HAD TO KILL HER?!"
"Kira… Calm down." Soma said through his gritted teeth as he winced in pain. "You're overreacting."
"OVERREACTING?! I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU MURDERER!"
The homunculus attempted to punch Soma in the gut again, but his fist was easily caught by the white haired teen's own hand. He quickly applied pressure and twisted the limb before putting his knee to the back, causing Kira to grimace in pain as he was forced to his knees.
"I didn't want to kill her either, but I had no choice." Soma explained. "The Director gave me a direct order. It was either her or us..."
"There's always a choice!" Kira hissed as he calmed down. "Everyone deserves a chance to live… even monsters like myself…"
Soma frowned upon hearing Kira calling himself a monster.
"I'm the monster, not you." he said flatly.
"What do you mean?" Kira asked while looking over his shoulder.
Soma released his grip on Kira's arm before walking towards the door.
"Listen. Alisa, Kuro, and that weird Erena are all waiting for you in your quarters. They have been waiting for you to wake up." he explained before leaving.
Kira fell silent as Soma left him alone in the Infirmary.
"Itaru-san…" he muttered weakly before slamming his fist to the cold metal floor. He didn't move for a good five minute, silently mourning for the blue haired girl he tried to save earlier. He couldn't bring himself to blame Soma for what he did. He knew that something like this would've happened sooner or later. In the world he was now in, people had to do whatever they had to in order to survive. It still didn't change how he felt.
Even after living for over eight hundred years, Kira never grew accustomed to the death of someone he knew.
NORN Database
Name: Masamune Kira
Sex: Male
Age: 16
New-Type (Short Blade/Assault) God Eater
Temporarily assigned to First Unit. A mysterious boy who was found within an abnormal Ogretail with his (supposed) sister, Masamune Erena. No records of his past exist. He is known for not interacting with anyone socially outside of his fellow New-Types Mayumi and Alisa of the First Unit. Despite being recently recruited, rumors have been going around of him not being human.
Name: Erena
Sex: Female
Age: unkown, apparently 15 or 16
Old Type (Long Blade) God Eater
Assigned to the Second Unit. Supposed Sister of Masamune Kira. Lacks any records of past. She was found unconscious inside an abnormal Ogretail with her brother. Due to her lack of understanding morals and habit of addressing people by their full names, a few people question if she's been raised in isolation or is an Aragami in disguise, despite DNA tests confirming her to be human.
Final Thoughts: Devouring Edition
Blazorna: Welcome to another edition of Final Thoughts: Devouring Edition. And I am in a REALLY excited mood.
First off, for those who haven't noticed yet, there's finally a cover for Devouring Requiem! I want to thank the talented Lushard, aka deviousxgirl on Deviantart for taking the time to do it. For those wondering, the characters featured on the cover are Kira and Erena. If you want to see the full image, head over to her DA account to see it. Also check out her fanfics if you haven't already, she's also a really great writer on top of being an artist. I really like her GE fanfic specifically.
Secondly, this is for those who don't pay much attention to announcements regarding videogames. It has been recently confirmed that the crossover game, Project X Zone, for the 3DS is getting localized! It's currently slated for Summer 2013 and only the text will be translated. That means, the characters' voices will still be in Japanese, and to the best of my knowledge, the graphics will remain untouched too.
Anyway, QUESTION TIME!
Will there be themes of God Eater 2 involved in this story?
Blazorna: I can answer that without any hesitation. *clears throat* HELL YEAH!
I actually used one of the new mechanics from GE2 this chapter, the Blood Arts. However, due to limited info on how they work in game lore, I am going to wing it on how it works. Erena is going to be the only one using Blood Arts, for now anyway. Unlike Kira, who's not only a New-Type, but also can transform himself, Erena's an Old-Type God Eater with no other abilities, so I figured the Blood Arts would work better with her. For the record, any Blood Arts I use will be of my own creation until more info about them are released.
For the TWO Blood Arts that were utilized this chapter, the first one was obvious, yet the second was a bit more subtle.
The first one is triggered when Erena's blood is drawn. For the second one, basically Erena is able to excite her cells to increase her strength to levels where she can swing an Ogretail like she did with a bit of effort. I'll go into more technical details within the story.
Anyway, I'm cutting this one short. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hope to see you all next time. Once again, thank you Lushard for doing the cover. It means a lot to a lowly writer like myself.
Hope you all leave a review. I need feedback so as to know what I need to improve more upon.