Chapter 10
Rest as long as you need, come see me when you are ready.
A simple hand written message that was left on the table next to Varen's bed. It was signed from Sister Margaret and he placed it back on the table. It was nearly seven in the evening, although he had only just woken up about twenty minutes ago. He was surprised that he felt no lingering effects from the incident that happened two days ago. He had been asleep for nearly two days straight and had no clue what had exactly happened over those couple days. The last thing he remembered was Attia carrying him through the thick vegetation of that ravine in the Lowlands onto the Interceptor. Everything went hazy and dark after that.
It was a bit colder today than the previous days and he noted his heater had been switched on. There were a few plates in the drying rack near his sink and a small stack of books and notebook paper on his desk. All things that didn't belong to him and raised questions. He walked over to the books and scanned over the titles. There were three in total and each one was various works on stigmata research and Pandora history. They were advanced books with scientific details and medical theories. Most of the contents he didn't understand he realized as he skimmed through the books.
"Whose are these?" He said out loud. The sound of his door opening answered every question he had about his room. "Are you even smart enough to read these?" He grinned waving a book at Chiffon whose shocked expression caused a small laugh to escape him.
"You're awake!" She exclaimed dropping her bag she had been carrying and running over. She ignored the playful insult he had dealt her and all but dove into him wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Varen took a step back from the impact of her pressing into him, but she buried her head in his chest and didn't respond. He relaxed his shoulders and took a deep breath placing a hand on the back of her head running his fingers through her hair.
"Your heart…it's beating fast." She said quietly letting one of her hands slide down over his chest. Varen cleared his throat nervously and grabbed her shoulders pushing her away a little bit.
"It must be from what happened the other night. I'm sure it's nothing at all." He said as confidently as he could. If there was any sign that she saw through his lie she chose not to show it and nodded.
"I'm sorry I left a lot of my things here this morning. I was running late to class and figured I'd clean up tonight." She said walking over and picking up her books stacking them neatly on the table.
"Why were you here this morning?" Varen asked following her.
"I've been here every day since you were brought back here. They weren't sure when you'd wake up and I wanted to make sure you had someone to answer any questions you would have."
"Ah, that makes sense. Presidential duties and all I suppose." He replied.
"Right…I was only doing it for that reason." She said quietly. An awkward silence crept into the room for a few moments as the two looked around.
"Is Arnette ok?" Varen said at last breaking the silence.
"No, but she will be." Chiffon answered. "She is still unconscious, but she should be awake in a few days and begin therapy."
"And the others?" He asked.
"They all have already mostly recovered fully. Morrison is still in a coma, but he should awaken any day now I'm told. Everyone else took injuries that were easily handled by Ms. Schmidtz and her team." Varen breathed a sigh of relief as Chiffon explained everything to him.
"Good, I should go thank them." He said and Chiffon shook her head.
"Tomorrow, tonight you need to relax. You just woke up so just take it easy." She said placing the books in her bag. She picked the bag up again and set the strap up on her shoulder.
"Leaving?" Varen asked and she nodded.
"You are awake now so you don't need me here. Tomorrow we can talk." She said and waved turning to leave. Varen took a step forward and stopped as she opened the door and stepped out. Without thinking he opened his mouth just as the door closed behind her.
"I need you." He said and instantly felt regret. He would have worded it better if there had been time, but she had just walked out and without fully giving it thought he blurted out what he was thinking. The door cracked back open and Chiffon's head poked inside.
"What?" She asked and Varen tried to formulate his thoughts quickly.
"I mean, don't go please. It's been the longest week of my life and it would be nice to have someone here." He explained and her eyebrows rose slightly above her closed eyes. She stood there for a moment as if in thought before opening the door fully and coming back inside.
"Alright, thank you for having me." She said slipping her shoes off. She moved back to the table and sat down on the couch and Varen did the same across from her.
"Why are you reading those books?" Varen asked as she set her bag down next to the table. Chiffon's mouth tightened a bit as she set the books back on the table.
"What happened two nights ago is unheard of. Up until that night it was impossible even. You not only held a Pandora's volt weapon, but wielded it. You moved as fast as a Pandora, as a strong as one, and attacked like one. You are not a Limiter; you have no stigmata which makes this all the more surprising. If you had been a proper Limiter there would be the chance of an unexplained reaction the stigmata had with you in that situation. However, since you have none to speak of there is no explanation at all. I've been looking over the information in these books for anything to give even a shred of reason behind what happened but there's nothing." She explained.
"When I took her scythe, I felt it fighting me. It knew that I wasn't Arnette and I think it tried to attack me and stop me from wielding it. Then, all at once it stopped and I felt like I understood it. I felt like it had been with me since I was born and that I had fought with it over and over." He replied and she nodded.
"That is what happens when a volt weapon answers the call of a Pandora. I told you before we know its name, its secrets, and how to wield it. How do you feel now?"
"It's gone. Thinking about it now that weapon seems foreign to me. I would most likely hurt myself before anyone else if I tried to wield a weapon like that again." He answered.
"I would say we should try again, but from what I was able to surmise the stress of fighting against the volt weapon while also straining your body to do what you did almost killed you. Actually to be precise it did kill you for twelve seconds. Perhaps the weapon transferred some latent power from Arnette into you. With no stigmata to regulate the increase in Nova energy it used your own human energy to fuel it. That would explain the overload and minimal time you were able to do what you did before your body began to break down." She said tapping her chin.
"That actually makes a lot of sense. It explains everything." Varen agreed.
"No, not everything. The biggest question still has no explanation." Varen thought a moment and then understood.
"Right, how was I able to even hold the weapon to begin with?" He said to which Chiffon nodded.
"Precisely. Why did Scythe Machina not only allow you to hold it? Next, why did it fight you instead of simply vanishing? Lastly, why did it yield to you and lend its power to you? Three questions that have no answers." She said.
"So…let's try it. This is a controlled environment and we can stop if it gets too dangerous." Varen said and Chiffon sat back in surprise.
"Absolutely not! The danger involved is astronomic! We have no idea how you would react to another volt weapon. It could have worse consequences!" She yelled.
"It's my body and I want to know what's going on! There's no one else I can trust with this!" He yelled back.
"It's my body too I will not sit here and watch you act as a guinea pig to find answers!"
"Just summon your damn volt weapon and give it to me!" Varen yelled leaning forward.
"Summon your own damn volt weapon!" Chiffon yelled back equally leaning forward inches from his face. Varen's frustrations disappeared and he sat back his mouth open. He looked around deep in thought and Chiffon showed confusion.
"What if I could?" He asked at once.
"Huh?" She asked tilting her head to the side.
"A volt weapon. What if I could summon one?" He asked and even behind her eyelids he could tell she wasn't taking him seriously.
"Preposterous you have no stigmata to begin with which acts as a conduit for such an act. Furthermore the stigmata interacts with the XX chromosome differently than the XY. It is impossible for a male to summon one just as it is impossible for a female to activate the freezing field." She said.
"I know that, I'm not saying I can, I'm asking what if I could?" She thought about the question a bit recalling all the knowledge she had.
"You were able to wield Scythe Machina. If you could summon one then in theory it would answer you. If you have the ability to even hold another Pandora's weapon, then logically one would believe you could wield your own."
"Right, so now what if the reason I could wield Scythe Machina revolved around a connection or conduit the formed between Arnette and I. There were those animals in the area that caused unknown effects on the Pandora and Limiters. Perhaps another unforeseen effect occurred that created a bridge between her and I in that moment tricking the stigmata into thinking I was her. The weapon knew I wasn't, but the stigmata didn't." He said.
"That's…actually clever. It would explain the weapon and complete the puzzle. We're grasping at straws though that is unheard of." Chiffon said.
"So are those creatures. Whatever those people are doing with the Nova genetic material is something we have no intel on. Give me your hand." He said reaching out. Reluctantly she reached out and placed her hand on Varen's. He closed his eyes trying to concentrate on anything that seemed out of place. He ran his fingertips over her palm realizing how soft her hands were. Her wrist and forearm felt the same as he ran his hand along her arm, but still nothing seemed to be amiss. He opened his eyes sighing and shaking his head.
"Nothing, I thought maybe I could replicate it with you or even feel just a little something, but there was nothing." He said. Chiffon pulled her hand back slowly her cheeks turning bright red.
"Yes, well, of course it wouldn't be that easy." She said quickly.
"What's wrong with you?" He asked seeing her fidget a bit.
"Nothing! Mind your own business!" She yelled standing up suddenly.
"You are so weird sometimes." He laughed and she stomped a foot down.
"Shut up! I'm going to make something to eat." She exclaimed and stormed off into the kitchen. Varen flipped through one of the books detailing the history of Pandoras and noticed a name that kept showing up.
"Hey Chiffon, who is this?" He asked holding the book up towards the kitchen area.
"Hm?" She asked leaning forward from the kitchen counter. It still unnerved him sometimes when he wanted to show her something and her eyes remained closed as she looked. After half a year though he had become mostly accustomed to it and simply accepted it.
"Her." Varen said pointing to a picture of a beautiful woman sitting on the edge of a bed. Long blonde hair framed her face as she stared at the camera with a passive and serious face.
"That's Maria Lancelot. The mother of all Pandora. She was the first of our kind, and very special. She was the only natural born Pandora who developed all the skills we use today. Most believe she may have even come from wherever the Nova originates from. Regardless she battled the Nova alone until we were able to develop a method to recreate fractions of her power in human girls. She died fighting an unknown type of Nova at the time by allowing her stigmata to fully take control of her body. The power shattered her body and Nova alike." Chiffon explained.
"Sounds like you admire her a lot." Varen said and Chiffon smiled slightly.
"More than you know, yes." She said going back to preparing dinner.
They put aside the talks about the previous day's events while they ate. Varen listened to Chiffon talk about her last two days and all that happened with her. He realized how nice it was to just sit and talk without worrying about the conflicts in the world. Forgetting about the ever potential threat of a Nova invasion and simply being normal. By the time they had finished the clock showed well after ten at night. Varen stood next to Chiffon drying the dishes as she washed them when she noticed the time.
"Oh no! Is that right?" She asked pointing up at the clock.
"Yah I think so, why?" Varen asked.
"Curfew is why of course! Ten is curfew and anyone not in their dorms is subject to disciplinary measures. Why weren't you watching the time?" She yelled. Varen opened his mouth to argue, and closed it just staring at her in disbelief.
"Are you kidding me right now? How is this my fault you weren't paying attention?" He argued back.
"I was ready to leave hours ago, but you made me stay and now look what happened!"
"I didn't see anyone twisting your arm you could have just left. Also, whose idea was it to make dinner and sit around talking casually?" She sighed and shook her head.
"I can't break curfew as the student president. It would be disastrous."
"Then what?" He asked and she looked down shifting her weight from foot to foot awkwardly.
"Um…well, can I just stay here tonight?" She asked and Varen once more just stared at her waiting for her to say she was joking. She just stood there nervously turning shades of red waiting for him to respond.
"Wouldn't that be just as bad staying at a guy's room?" He asked realizing she was serious.
"No, not exactly. It's not terribly uncommon for Pandora and Limiters to sometimes share a room together. In fact when a Pandora and Limiter first become a pair and a Pandora gives one of her stigmata to her Limiter they spend the night together." She said as if trying to convince herself.
"But, I'm not your Limiter, or anyone's Limiter for that matter." He said.
"We're friends though so it's fine right? You don't mind do you?" Her voice sounded like she was pleading. Her bottom lip quivered and she stuck it out just a little bit to emphasize the guilt trip she was pulling.
"Yah, yah I get it. I don't have an issue with it." He said and she smiled.
"Thanks I owe you one. Do you have an extra shirt or something?" She asked looking behind her around the room.
"Uh, yah I do, but why?"
"Well, I can't sleep in my uniform and I need to shower still…" She trailed off sounding embarrassed once more.
"Can't that wait until tomorrow?" He asked and she slammed her hand on the counter.
"No! I can't go to class tomorrow like that! Personal hygiene is important and I have appearances to keep up!"
"Fine princess do as you like!" He yelled as she stormed off towards the bathroom.
He was flipping through the pages in one of the books long after she had closed the door behind her in the bathroom. He kept coming across the name of Maria Lancelot in many of the books Chiffon had brought. He figured this material was taught to the third years as it was very detailed and difficult to grasp as a first year or even second.
"Do you have that shirt?" Varen had been absorbed in the book he was reading he didn't notice Chiffon approaching.
"Yah it's…"He trailed off seeing her standing a few feet away clutching a towel wrapped around her. His eyes reflexively passed over her body lingering longer than they should of below her neck and on her legs.
"The shirt Varen…"She stammered impatiently.
"Sorry!" He said jumping up and grabbing one of his plain t-shirts from a drawer. He tossed it to her and she retreated back to the bathroom quickly. Within moments she reappeared wearing the shirt he had given her. It draped down past her waist and stopped a bit above her thighs.
"I'm sure I have something for down there too." He said opening the drawers again.
"I'm ok, this is fine. We're going to bed anyway." She said shyly.
"Right, you can have the bed the couch will be fine for a night." He replied.
"No, you need to rest comfortably." She argued.
"Sorry Chiffon, but I don't feel right doing that." He said and she shrugged.
"Then we can both use the bed. It's plenty big right?" She asked innocently and Varen tried to keep his heart from racing.
"Alright…" Was all he managed to say. By the time they were both laying down he could barely control any rational thoughts. He felt a pain in his chest that until meeting Chiffon he had never really experiences or understood. Or rather he never had the luxury to really think about. He could not stop thinking about the girl lying next to him and each breath she took sent another wave of emotion over him.
"Your heart is beating fast again." She whispered and he swallowed hard. Even her voice seemed irresistible right now.
"I'm sorry." He answered back unsure of anything he could say.
"I'm flattered." She whispered and laughed softly. He turned away from her sighing and closed his eyes trying to force himself to sleep. Behind him Chiffon laid facing his back her eyes open watching him struggle to sleep. She placed a hand up over her chest above her heart. Her chest rose and fell quickly from her own emotions she battled with. She could feel the beating of her own heart quicker than even his.
"Idiot." She whispered quiet enough so only she could hear.