とある敗北の味
Toaru Haiboku no Aji
A Certain Taste of Defeat
August 15th, 10:32PM
Inside the Windowless Building:
"I don't understand why that girl is in charge of such a major facet of law enforcement as rehabilitation, especially the rehabilitation of a level 5. She is a level 1, why leave something so important up to someone so weak?" the associate asked as Aleister finished his call with Avon[1].
"While her ESPer power is weak that does not mean that it is not the right one for the job. But her power is not the reason. The reason is because I can trust her to do it. As several psychological experiments over the years have revealed, the job of prison warden is one that is ripe for all manner of corruption. However her... circumstances lower the chance of that happening to a negligible percentage," Aleister explained.
The associate nodded though he knew that Aleister was withholding information, "so once #5 is rehabilitated and under the control of Avon and, by extension, you, what do you plan on doing with her."
"She is... a safety net, in case things go wrong. Her ability of mind control that can affect even numbers 1 and 2, and the more powerful magicians is a fantastic backup plan if anything goes wrong."
"it will be awhile before she can be deployed at this rate though."
"She is not necessary at the moment. For now the only active conflicts are with #3 and the child in their own personal battles. the priests of Set will be arriving tomorrow as well as those of Ma'at several hours later. With the abilities the priests of Set have they will be able to easily infiltrate the city but Ma'at would not have such an easy time so I'll need you to arrange transport."
"Yeah yeah, rely on me to do all the footwork. Just like my father... making his kids do all his work for him... It's not like these guys are a threat. Your seals are powerful, They wouldn't be able to do anything unless they had... wait... are you saying..."
Aleister nodded, "From Gibraltar to Phoenicia to Alexandria. Now perhaps you see the importance of this, as well as the reason I am sending the child rather than anyone else. Not only can I trust her to keep the knowledge a secret as it must be kept, but, while she has powers, that is not the only source of her combat capabilities so she will be able to fight them whether they use it or not."
"Quite a gamble. This may be entertaining..."
August 15th, 10:32PM
Flouer de Temps Apartment complex
Despite Konori-senpai's valiant and successful attempts to cheer Kuroko up, by the time she went to her nightly lessons she was filled with gloom again.
Her Onee-sama had been out. All day she had been reassuring herself that, once she got home, the one she loved would be there waiting for her. When she wasn't it ended up hurting more than the rest of the day had. As soon as she arrived at her lesson she relinquished her body to Kuro in an attempt to dull the pain for now.
Unlike her more resilient alter-ego, Shiro often needed to run and hide from her problems within her world of memories where the pain of the present and fear of the future wasn't as daunting to the fragile teleporter.
From within Kuro's hard set features no pain or fear or feeling escaped. The world was dulled and shadowy to Kuro. Emotions were nothing but quickly passing ghosts that left traces but were impossible to grasp. Her movements were as quick as the other girl's and her control over the body was strong, but every sensation was dulled. Just like with emotions she was disconnected from any pain, seeing it as nothing but a passing unpleasantness. Trauma and heartache didn't affect her at all, for she had nothing she held dear. Kuro was an empty void where feelings went to die.
Which is why this particular exercise was so stupid.
"I have told you before that I do not believe in souls," she said, "so why exactly am I searching for something that I don't understand in something that doesn't exist?"
Lammington sighed, "All magicians have special names that are carved onto their soul when they become magicians. These names are composed of three sections, the name itself, a number, and the title. For example: mine is Conditivus888, "He who holds still the world". Aleister's is Deus100, "I shine Heaven's light upon the darkness." Kind of tedious I know but he was a different person when he chose it."
"Normally the name is chosen by the magician shortly before he becomes a magician. But because you became a magician unconsciously at an unknown time your name is unknown so you are searching your soul to see if you can identify it."
"And what purpose does it serve?"
"It will serve as a way to identify yourself to those on the magic side."
Kuro sighed, "Very well. If a magician can choose I might as well make it match who I am... Shinkuu0[2]."
"It's traditionally in Latin, not Japanese."
"Fine... Nihilis0[2]."
"Also it's usually three numbers, and 000 is already taken. But you can't really choose anyway. You're already a magician, you already have one. But if finding it really is hard for you then wait here and I will get something to help. I will be a short while so feel free to do something else in the meantime."
Kuro nodded as Lammington left the room. "Rough day?" Vyers asked.
"A busy one."
"Yeah, for you and Oneeni both it seems. She came back not too long ago looking quite upset. Locked herself in the bathroom immediately. Well... she doesn't actually seem to understand how to lock doors so she didn't quite lock herself in but that phrase fits best in the circumstances..."
"I get it," she interrupted standing up, "Shiro would be mad at me if I didn't see what was disturbing her," she explained and left to the bathroom.
She walked up to the door and knocked. She heard no answer but that didn't was to be expected. So she simply opened the door and entered. The air was still humid and the floor was still damp from a recently taken shower. Oneeni sat near the mirror at the opposite end of the room looking quite distraught as she examined her hair and body for any signs of damage.
Oneeni glanced to see who had come in and was surprised to see that it was... she glanced quickly at the eyes to confirm and saw that it was the piercing, muted gaze of Kuro that met her own. She had been to frustrated, annoyed, and distressed to really have been keeping track of time but judging by her presence it must be time for Kuro's lesson. She half-scolded herself for losing track of time and being late though she did have a perfectly justifiable reason. She stood up quickly to get ready.
However she got up too quickly and she slipped on the damp floor. As ever Kuro was quick to react, sliding along the floor to catch the clone before she split her head open on the hard tiled ground. She caught her successfully, breaking her fall.
It took a second to realize the position that they were now in. Kuro was currently holding a clone of Misaka Mikoto who had just gotten out of the shower and was still naked and dripping wet tight enough to her body to feel the heat through her clothes with their faces mere centimeters apart from each other. More than that though she knew that the person she held had no shame and would likely go along with any request that Kuro made.
Even dulled and numbed as it was, the arousal that this particular position caused was enough to shake the ever stoic Kuro to the core, causing her to temporarily lose control of herself. She closed the gap between her and Oneeni kissing her deeply as her tongue darted inside the other girl's mouth as her hands slid up and down savory the softness for several seconds.
Then, as suddenly as it had started she stopped as she shook off the invasive desires, emptying herself of feeling once more and regaining control. She was slightly disturbed by the loss of control and wondered if Shiro would be angry at her for her actions.
Luckily for Kuro, Shiro was too busy going over happy memories of the past to pay attention to the present. That was a relief, now the only person she had to apologize to was Oneeni who was probably disturbed by her sudden actions.
She looked up to the clone and opened her mouth to speak when she saw the same vacant stare as always greeting her. The kiss hadn't fazed her at all.
'That's right...' the girl thought to herself, 'Something like a kiss has no meaning to her. I might as well have been shaking her hand for all she cares... for me too. A kiss is nothing but a method to change back into Shiro, there is no point to it if I don't even do that. I don't even know why I did it in the first place...'
Since she had nothing to apologize for she simply stood up without a word.
Oneeni was slightly confused, though a bit relieved as well. When Kuro had kissed her she thought that perhaps the lesson was already over and Kuro was switching back with Shiro, but it seems that Kuro was staying in control.
Of course that brought up the question of what the kiss had been for. Before coming here kisses were just another item in the fairly long list of social activities that only partially understood. She had seen scientists doing it when they thought that no one was watching and she had even experimented doing it herself with a few of the other clones, but she still could not see the reason for it beyond the minor rush that kissing brought. Considering how intimate an activity it was treated as it must have some purpose beyond simply enjoyment right?
She had found an answer when she had come here. Kissing apparently could alter one's persona if someone had multiple personas to choose from. It was a confusing reason that wouldn't seem to apply too often, but it was a reason nonetheless.
So what was the reason of kissing without that transition? Why, when Kuro run her hands along her body, did it feel like something more than an examination? Why did the clone enjoy it? why was the younger girl's touch so much more pleasant than that of the researchers and scientists that she had known thus far.
"Thank you for today. I am sorry for causing such an inconvenience and upsetting you as I did... Is what Shiro wanted to say to you."
"You didn't upset me," Oneeni responded after typing it in to the device on her wrist, "where did you get that idea?"
"I heard you were upset and I didn't see any other factor that could have caused it. If you say it wasn't me then what caused it?"
"My hair was ruined, my face was a complete mess, I got dust and dirt on my suit and hat, and I broke a nail." Oneeni listed off, "it took me 2 hours to get presentable again. 2 hours of looking into a mirror I can't even break."
"How enviable that your only worry is your appearance. Either way you look fine now so get dressed and come on out."
Oneeni nodded, obeying the "order" immediately as Kuro went back to the living room. Lammington had returned with something that looked similar to a ouji board, though far smaller.
Kuro remembered seeing a ouija board once before:
May 17th[3], 1:07PM
Benny's Diner
"So what did you call us for?" Misaka asked, "does it have something to do with what's in that bag."
"How observant of you," Saten grinned as she got out a large rectangular box from the bag, "Ta-da!"
"A board game?" Kuroko was hardly impressed, "Not exactly very exciting."
"Nope, not a board game this is a..." Saten began.
"A ouija board?" Misaka finished, seeing the box.
"Oh I've seen those before, they're supposed to answer your questions right?" Uiharu said.
"Exactly! I borrowed it from someone in my class who said that it worked great, that all of the answers turned out true. Apparently it works even if you're not a precog."
"I think I've done it before... how does it work again?"
"Well," Saten began getting it out, "apparently it has something to do with AIM fields but I don't quite know. I know you're supposed to ask a question then rest your fingers on it and let it move by itself. The letters it moves to spell out the answer to your question."
"Ridiculous," Kuroko scoffed, "such an unscientific thing could never work. The reason it moves would only be because people moved it, and then they retroactively fit the answer to the question like people do with all prophecies. "
"But it does work. My classmate said so. She said that the next day there was a pop quiz in class just like the board had predicted and that all the answers to the homework she was assigned that she asked the ouija board turned out to be true," the level zero testified in defense of the board.
"As I said, it's ridiculous. You can count me ou-"
"Oh, she also asked it if there was anyone who was interested in her and the next day the very same person the ouija board named confessed to her," Saten added.
Within a microsecond the teleporter's fingers were on the planchette, "let us try it out immediately." she said. The others sweatdropped at the girl's excitement considering her skepticism moments before. Kuroko cleared her throat, "now then. Who is destined by the red string of fate to be my eternal lover and eventually wife who I will be with forever while doing this and that to her and-,"
Misaka sparked and blushed, "Stop looking in my direction while talking about such di-" she began yelling at the younger girl until she was hit in the face by the iron planchette she had accidentally magnetically attracted to her.
"See Onee-sama, it's fate that we're going to be together forever," Kuroko grinned as she pounced on the electro-master, "don't fight destiny!"
Back in the Present:
"A ouija board? That's kind of cliché isn't it?" Kuro stated.
"It isn't a Ouija board." Lammington said, getting out a knife as he set the piece of ivory on the table, "it's a method of identifying a person's magician name for purposes of identification. Since there are various ways to disguise appearance with magic this is used when security is of utmost importance. It was designed by Aleister Crowley back in his magician days and he never revealed how it worked but it does work. What you need to do is provide a few drops of blood and a stream of mana. The blood will spell out the name."
"I see," Kuro said and walked over to the table. She held out her finger, letting Lammington cut it and watched as the blood dripped out. They both watched intently to see what it spelled.
T-E-N-E-R-E-1-1-1.
"Interesting. Remember that name and the number. The title is yours to choose but you have plenty of time to mull it over if you want. Now, to get onto more important matters, your training..."
August 16th, 2:21AM:
Inside the Windowless Building:
"Another successful mission, with no casualties. You continue to impress me."
You are too kind Aleister-sama," Kuroko said humbly, though as always she glowed at the praise.
"I would like you to see Heaven Canceller after this however. Though you heal physical damage quickly, the radiation you suffered during the duration of this mission is a different matter and needs to be tended to immediately. Speaking of that I'm guessing you stored the uranium from the reactor in your little spell correct?"
"Of course. Otherwise it would have polluted the water. That was the reason the sinking ship was such a disaster in the first place, along with the crew who were in danger."
"Good. In which case it can be recycled Drop it off in one of the power plants in the city after you are released from the hospital. And one more thing, be ready for tomorrow, I will contact you when I hear word of the arrival of the cult I mentioned the other day. I need you to head there immediately once I have. And do not forget what I told you earlier."
"Don't worry Aleister-sama, I have a plan to deal with that," she said and disappeared.
August 16th, 11:26AM
District 21:
A light breeze wafted through the warm summer air as the sound of restrained water raged out to the heavens.
Floating on the wind like a dandelion's seeds was a single grain of course sand. The gentle wind guided it to a massive pile of sand that rested next to the reservoir in case of overflow. The grain, its journey over now that it was alighted upon the pile, glowed and a voice resonated from it, the deep voice speaking in a tongue unfamiliar to the region.
"Called forth to the sand and the divine storm raging upon the horizon by our god in his might and knowledge. Deliver us to the foreign land where you will yet reign and let us, your servants, do your bidding."
Once the last syllable had been spoken the entire pile of sand glowed and shifted and from its depths sprung 20 people in strange white robes and one in a golden tan hoodie and pants that looked like a lion's pelt. On his back was a large pack.
"God damnit I hate that spell," the man said in greek as he shook out his body, "it gets sand everywhere. abso-fucking-lutely every-fucking-where."
"Just keep your eyes on our goal," one of the people in white robes said. Unlike the others his robe was silken and decorated with elaborate markings and trimmed in gold. The man's skin was a dark tan in contrast to his fairer skinned friend. he carried a staff with a base like the pincers of a beetle and a head like the curve of a gazelle's horn in which was embedded a large jewel. "Once we have succeeded in our mission and have taken over the world with the power of the incarnation of our god Set you may have reign over the kingdom of your ancestor. Minus Egypt of course."
"No no no, I get Alexandria. Alexander the Great's kingdom isn't complete without it."
"Yes, I know. You will get Alexandria as well, but first we must find the incarnation of our master Set," now he turned and spoke to his 19 brethren, "scatter and find the one known as Tome."
They bowed and left. "You're with me Alexander. Let us be off."
"Sure thing TV," He replied.
"My name is Seti the Fifth, not 'TV'" TV said in frustration.
"And my name is Alex. Alexander was my great great times a large number grandfather," Alex argued.
TV shook his head and headed off.
August 16th, 11:23AM:
District 7:
"Hey there Prometheus," Kuroko greeted as the bird appeared on her shoulder suddenly, "what's up."
"Egyptian magicians."
"Ah yeah, the people from the cult of Set or whatever. They should be arriving today... I had a question for you actually. Why do they worship the aeons? They aren't really a thing are they? And people who can use their power are few and far between."
"That was not always so. It used to be that people could manifest the power of the aeons in small amounts using magic. Since there is a powerful ley line running through the Nile magic flourished there and the magicians divided themselves into groups based on the power they displayed. Since there wasn't elemental magic at the time that was the only thing that set them apart. The magicians soon became priests and magic soon became their god. Which is actually what makes the cult of Set an odd one."
"You see, the aeons were named after the cults not the other way around so that makes it kind of odd why they would choose Set when the form of the power is more similar to Apep. The answer to this is because, though the power and form is more similar to Apep when at full force it is quite different at lower levels. Since the power of Set is more powerful when more tightly controlled, rather than worship the power itself they worshipped the ability to control and contain it. Thus spawned the image of Set, the godkiller, who kept Apep from swallowing the sun each day."
"Interesting," Kuroko said as she got out her cell phone, which was ringing, and answered it. "District 21, got it. I'll be there soon Aleister-sama."
"Oh, and it would be best if you went as a member of Judgment rather than the black knight."
"Understood." She said and he hung up. She put her phone away and teleported towards her destination. Unfortunately she did not have a precise location so she ended up just teleporting around. To make it more difficult Aleister had said that they might be hiding their presence with magic.
After half an hour of unfruitful searching she sat at the edge of a building and sighed. "My delusions need to be more convenient than this. It's like those damn ninjas all over again..." she sighed again as she summoned the band she had pilfered from the head ninja of the rival clan and thought back to the experience. The golden emblem glowed in the sunlight.
Then the light from the sun was momentarily dimmed out by a particularly large cloud. Yet the emblem still glowed as brightly as before. Kuroko cocked her brow and brought it closer to get a better look. When she did the light dimmed ever so slightly. She moved it away again and the glow intensified again. She stood up and began walking, following the glow. It wasn't' too long before it lead her to a construction yard where a pair of shadowy, as in literally shadowy with dark blurred edges, walked.
It makes sense for ninjas to have illusions detectors. Kuro rationalized. "Handy," Kuroko said as she teleported down onto in front of the two figures. "This is Judgment, please state your business."
"Judgment, those those Ma'at guys?" the bigger one said to the other in Greek, which Kuroko, unfortunately, did not understand.
"Did you not study up on this place? Judgment are the student cops."
"What the hell then. How can she see us. Your spell's faulty."
"It is not the strongest in my arsenal. Now be quiet and let me handle this," he said then switched to clumsy Japanese, "hello. We look person name Tome. You know where find?"
"I'm sure we can help you down at the station if you follow me," she said. Figuring she should take a chance to avoid conflict if possible. If she could convince them to follow her to the station she could just teleport them into a cell and let Marshall deal with it.
"What she say TV?" asked Alex as TV deactivated the hiding spell since apparently it didn't work anyway.
"She said that she'd bring us to the police station and help us." TV told him in Greek again.
"Hell no, the only reason I'd go near a police station is to burn it down or something. Let's just go."
"It's against the law to burn down buildings in this city," Kuroko said in English, understanding the greek word for fire and building from the similar words used in the English language. His aggressive tone hinted at his reason for pairing those two words together, "Since you are clearly intruders with violent intentions I'm afraid I'll have to take you in regardless of your co-operation. If you simply agree things will be easier for you."
"Yeah...no..." Alex said in English, glad that he could finally understand what this girl was saying. He rested his hand on a nearby backhoe, "you see i have a couple of little friends with me that says you won't take me in." He lifted up the backhoe with ease, "meet Nemean Lion's Pelt and Super Strength. Now meet backhoe." He said with a grin as he threw the massive machine as easily as one would throw a baseball, sending it crashing down where the girl was and raising a huge cloud of dust. "That'll show you to talk down to a child of Alexander the Great."
"Clumsy," came a haughty, arrogant voice from on top of the wreckage of the backhoe. As the dust cleared Kuroko came into view, sitting on top of the pile of twisted metal looking none the worse for wear, "your friends aren't the most impressive bunch are they." Then she disappeared from view. Suddenly the same self-absorbed voice echoed in Alex's ear, "and is this supposed to be a lion's pelt?" a hand rested on his arm and suddenly the entire right arm of his hoodie vanished, "it's nothing but a cheap looking sweatshirt that comes apart at the slightest provocation." Kuroko sighed in disappointment, slightly surprised that only the arm had vanished. She had been hoping to get the entire sweatshirt and remove the possibly dangerous item from the equation before the battle began. Unfortunately for her the original form of the pelt was a suit of armor split into several segments, and even when its manifested form was something like a hoodie where the entire thing was one piece, the "pelt" was still segmented by nature.
Kuroko ducked as Alex swung at her. Despite his alleged super-strength, his arm moved at the same speed that a normal humans did. So his strength was similar to Kuro's in that it only affected the power, not the speed. That gave Kuroko the advantage.
"You dare mock me?" Alex said as he continued swinging only for the girl to dodge each and every blow. Still he was a skilled warrior and he did not leave any openings with his attacks for her to exploit, "and you dare mock the pelt worn by the great Heracles himself."
"You seem to use the word great a little too easily. Onee-sama is great, you're just a common delinquent," she said and punched him in the face. Then before he could counter she teleported behind him, "Pride comes before the fall."
Suddenly a stick entered her peripheral vision and she barely had time to grab it before it hit her in the face. The white robed priest stood there. Now that he was this close Kuroko saw that every inch of his flesh was covered in bandages. The shapes underneath gave the impression that under those were bones but no muscle or flesh to speak of. "You fool, exposing your back like that." This time a blow connected with the distracted Kuroko. She felt the rough linen cloth slide against her cheek as the hard bones underneath left a nasty bruise.
Then Kuroko was grabbed and thrown by Alex. The speed at which she left his grip was impressive and it was all she could do to try and slow herself down with her hands and feet before a collision with an object. Unfortunately, though her feet were protected by her shoes her hands were vulnerable and the entire palms were effectively ripped off by the friction.
While not a major injury it was an extremely painful one. Figuring she wouldn't be able to teleport for the duration of the battle with it, Kuro took over. Shiro had done her part, successfully completing the secondary objective that only she could do.
Kuro retrieved a small device from one of her horns and pushed the button on it to signal for Oneeni to come here so she could switch back once she had defeated these guys. Then she retrieved the newly acquired sweatshirt arm, slightly surprised to see it returned to its normal form of golden armor.
"Nemean lion's pelt eh?" she put it on, "you're right, I shouldn't mock it before I try it." She reached over and grabbed a crane that was nearby and found that she could lift it. She could still feel the weight and the strain on her muscles but despite every muscle in her arm crying out they did not break. Moreso, despite the sandy ground, she did not sink in any more than as if she was not carrying the weight.
Kuro almost smiled at this newfound durability and proceeded to flatten Alex with the crane, using the long arm as a lever to slam the heavy main body onto his form. She was surprised to see that the arm did not snap off or even bend despite the strain that the action should have caused on it.
Still it did the job and she quickly let go of the crane in order to run up and attack the other person up close, figuring that he was probably far less durable and would be easily killed by such a hit, unlike the other person who probably only had several shattered bones.
Kuro vaguely heard a muttered chanting coming from the priest as he held his hand up like he was making a fist of defiance. She guessed that he was casting a spell, all the more reason to knock him out post haste.
She reached him before he managed to complete the spell and punched his chest with restraint.
She was surprised when her hand was suddenly up to its shoulder through his body. She had felt no resistance to her punch, the only thing she could feel was the warm wetness of blood on her arm. She had heard no sound when it had passed through, no squelch of pulverized flesh or crunch of crushed bone, all she heard was the man's low chanting.
'How can he still be chanting...' she thought as she looked up to see the man entirely unfazed despite having her arm through where his heart should be.
Then the chanting stopped and Kuro heard a sound akin to breaking glass as the man clenched his fist then opened it . Kuro's gaze was drawn to the sound but she could not see what had made it because the next second a cubic foot of sand blasted into her face at 20 miles an hour. Her mouth was closed but her eyes were open and the grains of sand embedded themselves up to several centimeters into the fragile orbs, destroying her corneas, lenses and much of the sclera.
"Foolish to think that that pitiful attack could hurt me," the priest said grinning as he stepped backwards as Kuro withdrew her arm with a scream as she clawed her eyes trying on instinct to stop the agony she was experiencing. Kuro's punch had torn a hole through the fabric revealing a pulsating orb of red where his heart should be. The blood pumped through orb to the rest of the body in lieu of a heart.
"It seems this girl is really underestimating us," Said Alex as the dust cloud cleared revealing him holding up the crane, none the worse for wear. He dropped it off to the side and kicked Kuroko hard, sending her flying back , hitting the crane hard and caving in the metal.
'4 broken ribs, 3 broken vertebrae, a collapsed lung, and I've lost all feeling in my legs,' Kuro mentally couldn't fight any more, she could barely breathe. All she could do was cast her shield spell and hope to weather their blows. On her lips she found an unfamiliar word, a word powerful enough to transition from thought to word without her consent, "Help..." she quietly called.
"A shield..." TV said condescendingly, "how quaint. But a pointless effort." The man switched to Egyptian as he chanted, "foul demon of the underworld, he who swallows the sun, I call upon your power." the priest held out his hand and a small snake burst from his palm right towards Kuroko.
The moment it touched the shield it vanished, the magic dispelled with a brief graze. Then the snake wrapped around her neck. It had no solid form and so she could not feel it, but she could feel all her power drain away and even her regeneration stopped in its tracks. She could also feel the skin on her neck very slowly dissolve where the snake touched it, as if a powerful acid had been dipped on it. It stopped a second later but the relief from that was short lived as another intense pain took its place. The sand on the ground formed itself into vibrating whips that tore at her skin. leaving several deep gashes before falling back to the ground.
"What was that you said?" Alex taunted as he grabbed the arm of the crane, "pride comes before the fall right? Well.. happy fall.' he slammed the crane, and the embedded Kuroko into the side of a building, sending a good portion collapsing on top of her.
Alex grinned as he saw it collapse and began walking towards it, planning on getting the pelt segment back from the puddle that would be the girls corpse. His plans were interrupted when 5 million volts each hit him and TV, flinging them backwards as a person in a tuxedo screeched along the ground, a thin sword in one hand and the sheathe in the other.
Though Alex's lineage protected him and TV's lack of vital organs protected him, they were hardly uninjured from the blast, with Alex's arms nastily burned and very numb. TV had expended a lot of power attacking Kuroko so he did not have the strength for a second such fight.
"Tactical retreat," they said simultaneous and began running.
Oneeni could catch up with them if she tried. Indeed that was her mission. She was ordered to aid in these people's capture. She had no orders to help Kuro or anything of the sort. Her orders were to chase after those two, and Oneeni always followed her orders, it was her entire purpose in life.
…Was...
She turned around, sheathing her sword and tossing it aside as she ran to the pile of rubble that Kuro was buried beneath. She began frantically pushing aside rocks.
Kuro was surprised that she was alive. Though not without a cost. Intense pain racked her entire body. Even dulled and muted as everything the pain was almost unbearable. She was still unable to see but she could feel the intense energy coming from the right side of her head that had activated right before her impact with the wall slowly fading away.
Then she heard something. The clack of two rocks colliding and the dull shift of the pile she was under as someone began digging her out by hand. she heard another sound, an odd hum that sounded almost like a choir singing in horribly disharmony, a cacophony of notes with no rhyme or reason,
Almost every part of Kuro's body felt numb with paralysis, but she was surprised to feel that her right arm, though not uninjured, could still move. She reached forward with it and used it to push the crane that was pinning her off. She could not see the sunshine that now bathed her face but she could hear the choir far more clearly. then it stopped and she felt a hand clasping her own. Despite the situation Kuro actually felt relieved as she realized who it was.
"You actually came to help Oneeni..." she said
The choir stopped and was replaced by the sound of frantic typing. "Are you alright?"
"I...hurt...?" Kuro responded, slightly confused. She felt odd, she felt... feeling. The feeling of Oneeni's hand in hers was clear, unmuffled by the haze that shrouded Kuro's every feeling allowing her to take in the full experience of Oneeni's soft hand in her own. But the lifted haze seemed to extend to the pain as well and the once dull echoes were now coming at her with full force.
Oneeni looked from side to side, not sure what to do. She didn't want to leave Kuro and she couldn't dig her out further. She needed a doctor.
The next second she was startled by a voice. "I came as quickly as I could," Heaven canceler said as he walked up and snapped his fingers, seemingly having appeared out of nowhere, "Aleister called me, said it was urgent." He glanced at the girl in the wreckage.
"He was not exaggerating," The doctor frowned. Still she was alive and his spell would assure that she stayed that way for now. Still this was basically a worst case scenario. The power of Set that the priest had used had halted her mana flow. When it had resumed the body that she had at that point became the new baseline meaning that all her injuries from up to that point would not be healed by her regeneration and could not be healed with any normal magic or science. added to that was the fact that the injuries she received afterwards basically comprised of every single part of her body save for her head and upper spine being completely crushed.
Were he anyone else she would be unrecoverably dead within half a minute. But he was Heaven Canceller.
"I can fix you in about five minutes," he said with a sigh as he put his hand on her head. He hated using this power but he could not let his patient die, "this will hurt."
Kuro heard the words as if they were a million miles away as she quietly slipped into unconsciousness. Just before she fell asleep she though she heard the choir once more but it was gone the next second with Kuro following close behind.
Between the Lines: 5
A solemn air hung in the windowless building between the associate and Aleister.
"I'm sorry," the associate said with an actual air of guilt in their voice.
"It is not your fault alone. I sent her out ill-prepared to deal with them and without reinforcements. in the future I will be sure she can handle herself before I let her go."
"Still... at least she's still alive. The protection enchantments you put in her ribbon kept her skull and spine from being destroyed."
"It seems that way."
A silence descended over the two for a couple of minutes before the associate spoke up again, "Would you like me to go hunt them down?"
"No... They are still her targets. If i allowed someone else to handle them then she would not grow."
"Understood."
[1]: Pronounced aw-vone. Very different from the cosmetics, though it is a reference to something. I wonder if any of my readers know what.
[2]: Empty and Nothing respectively.
[3]:Remember that, due to my other story all dates of arcs that occurred before the Sister arc are set back a couple months so this is before the beginning of my other story and around the time of the poltergeist/level Upper arc and before the other story.
Author's Note: The thing about stories is that the protagonist generally doesn't die until the end, if at all. It kind of ruins the story because you know that the person will get out of this alive, else there wouldn't be several more chapters in the book. The protagonist usually wins and when they lose they don't die.
The way around this is, when they lose, you make them lose hard. Sure, don't kill them, but beat them to a pulp. Make them be beaten up so hard that your audience forgets that the hero survives and actually wonders if they will.
Of course I may have gone a little overboard with this. It's not graphic enough to warrant changing the rating to M, but it is quite... powerful.
Be sure to post a review if you think I went too far or if you liked it the tension it created, as this will help me determine what I do in the future.
