Infinitely Zero
Chapter VIII - Interstice of Time
Flames licked at the floor, not burning but simply existing. I felt tired, while I could still fight if necessary I'd used quite a bit more energy than usual for Ragnarock. If I hadn't, I was unsure on whether or not I'd be able to stop Beelzebub. Thinking about her made me think about what exactly she was to begin with. She didn't quite feel like a Shadow, her presence was something much different, and she was most definitely not a Persona. The closest thing that I'd ever felt to it was that strange woman who had helped me get to this world...just something else I needed to get answers to. However, I'd deal with the current situation first; I had to get Taylor away from that thing. Using a simple Garu spell was enough to blow away the lingering dust and small amount of smoke in the area. Looking around briefly, my eyes were drawn towards the figure that stood motionless amongst the lingering embers.
Her form was sleek, much larger than a normal human, but nonetheless being humanoid in form. Its skin was pale from what I could see as its body was covered down to the knees by a black robe, the long luminous silver hair that hung down to it's lower back was curly down near the ends, however the most important thing was its face. It was Taylor's face. This being had Taylor's face.
"It seems you have much more strength than I thought possible if you were able to defeat the being summoned by designation Natas. It would seem that he was wrong. You have much more strength than you should, not enough to match one of the stronger beings however if his statements were to be believed. Not yet anyway." The odd dual tone voice managed to send a slight chill up my spine as I stopped the slow movement towards her that I had been making.
"Who are you?"
"My designation is Queen Administrator, but as I am now...that wouldn't be a proper term to explain what exactly I am, which is the unspoken question I believe. I am a Shadow, the true self of you human beings...or I should have been. I suppose that's not exactly a good description of what I am in hindsight. Perhaps it would be better to call me the culmination of a human, a unit, and a shadow." Poking her arm, I could see what looked to be a glimmer of fascination in her eyes. "Even more important is the link I have to my Originator, something that makes me wish to know more about my own newly made existence."
"What do you plan to do then?"
"Well, I believe I wish to understand humans better. My only experience is from Taylor so I'd like to go and see the world myself, perhaps help administrate the different units given to you human beings. As for the situation with the Originator, I am...unsure of what to do. From Taylor's own experiences I think that my previous way of going about things would be...incorrect. However, I don't know what the correct action is. Thus, I wish to experience the world more before I come to a conclusive decision. If that is all I believe I shall take my leave for now." I unconsciously reached a hand out towards her as a look of focus appeared on her face for a moment before she disappeared, if I had to guess it was through some sort of teleportation ability.
I clenched my fist as I stared at the spot where she had been. Was this it? Couldn't I have done something to prevent her from leaving, more importantly could I have done something to prevent this from happening to begin with? Why had I froze up? Could I have protected Taylor for all of this? Shaking my head I stopped that train of thought from continuing, there was nothing for it now. Thinking about maybes wouldn't get me anywhere. What was important now was figuring out a way to find wherever she had went, if I could track her down...maybe I could fix whatever had happened to her. I didn't like the feeling in my gut...I felt useless for the first time in a long time.
Focusing on the lingering flames that enveloped the area, I drained the magic away from them. There was no longer a point to them being there. I walked away from Auditorium and gradually made my way through the building. The hallways that were usually filled with life, now felt oddly barren. Perhaps it was just the lack of people, but it felt like it was something else. Maybe I had just gotten used to others being around me...yeah, that had to be it. Approaching the main exit of the building I barely reacted as the doors were flung inwards and multiple entered the building.
Each of them were uniquely dressed. The one who was in front of the group wore some type of body armor that was dark blue with silver highlights and there was a sharply angled v-shaped visor covering his eyes and nose. With only the lower half of his face exposed, I could see a beard trimmed to trace the edges of his jaw. If I had to judge, with only the lower half of his face to go by, I'd guess he was in his late twenties probably. He held a halberd in his hands firmly, probably in anticipation of some sort of potential threat.
Then there was a female off to his right that wore what was stylized army fatigues and had a bandanna and sash patterned after the United States' flag. Her skin was olive and her hair was dark, if I had to take a guess at her nationality it'd be something Mid-Eastern. In her hands was some type of pistol.
Finally there was one other person with them, there costume was as simple as the previous one and was just a red costume with racing stripes down either side and two stripes meeting in a 'v' on the chest.
The one in the blue body armor seemed to tense up as he saw me, gripping his Halberd tighter he seemed to be scanning me up and down. As if coming to some sort of conclusion he nodded to himself relaxed the grip on his Halberd slightly and spoke.
"Citizen, you shouldn't be here. There is a dangerous parahuman here, and still presumably present somewhere in the building." His voice was a bit gruff, but there was sincerity in his words. I suppose as a hero, Armsmaster was used to talking to civilians that were probably in danger.
"I dealt with it." I said, staring at him with a blank look.
"What?"
"I said I dealt with it."
He took a few seconds to take in what I said before he responded.
"You're telling the truth. I'm going to need you to come with us then, after we take a look-throughout the school to ensure the truthfulness of your statement."
"Whatever."
I guess it wasn't every day that you got to see the local heroes at work but...who cares?