As written in history, international superstar Maria Cadenzavna Eve embarks on the path to become a Symphogear Adaptor worthy to stand beside her fellow heroes. Plagued by the ghosts of her past, many times has she considered abandoning her dreams, aspirations, and duties. Even so, this woman stands before hardships as she treads the line between hope and despair. Perhaps her plight has caught the attention of the multiverse itself, and as a result, her path leads her to a world where she reunites with lost loved ones. The threat of the Nephilim is the reality of yesterday, and the mystery of tomorrow still remains. Now, how will you write your story, Wielder of Two Relics?
Shizuka found herself adapting to the "Tachibana Boarding House" fairly quickly. In the short time she spent there, the dark-haired girl had become a crucial part of the household. Every moment of her free time is spent with Akira, helping the older man with all sorts of chores.
Figures that frequent the Tachibana house outside of Akira include the sardonic self-deprecating Hibiki, the quiet smiling Miku, the sharp-tongued beauty Chris, the prideful pink Maria, and the phoenix-like elder sister Kanade. Yesterday, Maria's eccentric little sister came by to visit as well. Fortunately for the two housekeepers, Hibiki and Miku were at work during the unexpected visit.
It is tiring to cook and clean for the inhabitants and visitors, but Shizuka welcomes the work. It keeps her mind off of all that happened recently. She doesn't think she could ever forget the look on her classmate's faces as they abandoned her. Even if things return to the status quo, the broken friendship can never be mended. Not after that.
No, Shizuka doesn't want things to go back to how they were. She doesn't want to grind through daily life without purpose and direction. In a sense, being thrust into the world of Noise, Symphogear Adaptors, and Sacred Relics is the best thing to happen to Shizuka. However the dark-haired girl isn't fine with everything that's been going on either.
She has noticed that Hibiki treats Akira rather dismissively or, at times, even harshly. Of course, she isn't about to let this slide, now that it's clear that Hibiki always treats her father that way. As far as Shizuka is concerned, you only have one family. You can always choose your friends, but you can't choose your parents, you can't choose your siblings.
With that in mind, she approaches Hibiki. "Tachibana, may I ask you something?"
From her position on the couch, the disfigured girl with grey-white hair looks up at Shizuka. Her right eye remains empty and soulless while her left eye seems to shine with interest.
"Just Hibiki is fine."
"I know it's not my place to pry, but I want to ask you anyways."
Hibiki raises an eyebrow. "Oh? Please do."
"Why do you treat Akira like this? Why do you act like he's some sort of insect? Do you really hate him that much?" asks Shizuka. With every question, her voice rises in volume. There's no doubt that there is a spark of anger behind her brown eyes.
"Let me tell you a story, and then you tell me if you still stand on his side," the Gungnir user sighs as she sits upright. "There was a girl who attended the fateful Zwei Wing concert. Caught up in the chaos, she was shot through with a fragment of an angel's armor. She resolved herself to bleed out and die, but an orange angel begged the girl to not give up on living. With those last words, the orange angel gave her life to give the wounded girl a chance to survive."
This story is a rumor that Shizuka had heard many times before. Legendary armored girls who would rescue civilians and guide them to safety. Of course, that urban legend is much closer to reality than one would expect. When she moved in to the Tachibana household, Shizuka never expected the residents to be the mythical valkyrie themselves. Having lived there for a few days already means she is privy to a fair bit of their secrets. Yet this is the first Shizuka has heard of Hibiki's origin story.
"The girl spent months trying to recover from her injuries, confined to a bed, her legs numb and useless. She was unable to even go to the washroom without help. Even if the doctors said that she won't be able to exert herself physically due to the remaining shrapnel in the walls of her heart, even if the doctors told her that she was unlikely to ever walk without assistance, she kept on going through therapy. Why? Because if she recovered, then everyone would be happy, wouldn't they? Life would go back to how it was before, right?"
Shizuka knew this story, but had never heard of it from the person in question. The tale of the sole survivor of the Zwei Wing tragedy who was blamed by society for the incident.
"When she left the hospital, she was confronted by the world that everyone around her had so desperately tried to hide. A world that despised her. Classmates bullied her to satisfy their own sense of justice. Neighbourhood children stoned her like a filthy criminal. Her own father became a monster himself and cast her aside. It was then that she came to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, it was better if she died."
Horrified by the tale, the listener objects, "But—"
"Surely, if she never came back from the concert, then all the problems would be solved. There wouldn't be anyone attacking those related to the Zwei Wing Killer. The girl's mother wouldn't cry every day over losing the husband she had loved for all those years. The girl's father wouldn't have lost his job over the simple fact that his daughter survived," — Hibiki points at the dark-haired girl — "Now tell me, Shizuka Nakamura. Is that Old Bastard still a good man to you?"
The outsider's brows furrow as she struggles to make sense of everything. On one hand, Akira is her savior. He came back to rescue her when no one else would. On the other hand, he himself abandoned his own family when they needed him the most, which goes against Shizuka's values.
Steeling herself to look Hibiki in the eyes, the dark-haired girl gives her answer. "Akira Tachibana may have done unforgivable things in the past. But the fact that he's come back and decided to live in this house with you shows that he's willing to change. He even reached out to help me, a stranger who had nothing to do with him. The old Akira would not have been able to do that. Doesn't this say that even if he became a bad person in the past, he's doing his best to right his wrongs? So yes, to answer your question, I believe that Akira is a good person."
Hibiki stares at Shizuka for a while before bursting into a harsh laugh. "You're naive. You're a silly girl, you. However, I don't dislike that. A person like you definitely has their heart in the right place to be able to see the good in everything, even if it's a fleeting glimpse."
"But if you can understand things like that, then surely you know that you shouldn't treat Akira the way you do? People in our lives don't live forever, and once they're gone, all that's left is regret for not treating them better… I know I can't ask you to forget what he did, and I know it's none of my business… Hibiki, isn't it time that you forgave Akira?"
The grey-haired girl pauses yet again.
"Shizuka, you are right. Forgiveness is long overdue. Even so, I will not give it to him," says Hibiki. She stands up faces the informal housekeeper. "I will hold on to my grudge. Why? Because the man in question hasn't forgiven himself. If he wishes for me to punish him, then I will. I will do so until the day he decides he has paid for his sins. And on the day he can bring himself to look in the mirror without cowering, I will forgive him."
My name is Kirika Akatsuki. I'm a first year high school student who is currently experiencing the wonders of youth, like waking up in the morning super early, freshening up, and putting on my best clothes for a date with Shirabe!
I'm unexpectedly popular, you say?
No, that isn't the case. Everyone at school has heard of the great Kirika Akatsuki, even though I've never really hung out with anyone outside of the girls at SONG.
To everyone else, I'm the silly clumsy classmate who's a breath of fresh air in their lives! As forgetful as I may be, everyone can rely on me to always pull through! I would never be late for a date or anything like that!
… I'm sorry. It happened. I must have pressed the "snooze" button on my alarm while I was half-asleep. I'm reflecting on it even now.
Because our last trip to the art gallery was interrupted, Shirabe and I planned a second trip to make up for it. Unfortunately, Shirabe was busy this morning. Unfortunately, I didn't wake up on time. And unfortunately, I missed my bus.
As if to answer my prayers, a black and white motorcycle pulls up beside me. It is the same model as the bike from that movie. You know, the tokusatsu movie where an aged veteran from the 1970s hero gets to meet the protagonists of the current ongoing series of 2015— Eh? I don't remember the name of the 2015 series. It's like it was super bland and there was nothing memorable about it. Actually, I do remember three things however. The sweetest grandmother to ever exist, a really cool dude wearing green, and a floating eye that sounds like Hibiki.
Erm... as I was saying, the bike. It's a black and white F6C with thin blue and red lines running along the edges of the white parts of the chassis. The thing even has its name written on the fairing. Let's see… that's the kanji for "mountain"... the kanji for "wind"... yama... kaze... I've got it! The bike is called Yamakaze. Now, the Yamakaze is not exactly my style, but it certainly is a pretty cool ride.
Riding the Yamakaze is a girl about my age wearing an outlandish olive green overcoat with a long grey scarf. Her coat's sleeves seem to be of the detachable sort, but she only has the buttons by the armpits done. Her pale skin can be seen through the sleeve… window… things…
She removes her helmet, and to my surprise, she's actually Itaba from school, my one comrade when it comes to talking about tokusatsu and anime!
"Itaba, why are you dressed like a time traveller from 2068? Am I going to be a Queen in the future? And how did you manage to fit sunglasses under your helmet?" I ask.
"Perhaps I am a traveller from 2068. No, you won't be an overlord in the future. Last but not least, if you learn the technique for it, almost anything can fit under your helmet, like these twintails."
Sure enough, her twintails are in perfect condition after taking off her helmet.
"No, no, no! This isn't an anime! You can't just take off your helmet and have perfect hair and sunglasses underneath! Technique doesn't matter when it's simply impossible to fit anything bigger than a pair of earpieces under that! At least obey the laws of physics!"
She reaches into her coat and pulls out a small notebook. "Indeed, this isn't anime, this real life. As such, I've come here with a warning. According to this book, today you are running late for your date with Shirabe at the art gallery."
"Ack! I know I'm late! That's not the Twilight Chronicle at all! You can tell I'm late just by looking at me!"
"Though you will likely make it to your date on time, do not expect it to go without issue."
"Eh? What does that mean? What issue?"
"I'll let you figure it out yourself. You'd probably react differently if you knew about it, so things would change, butterfly effect, yada yada yada, future becomes unpredictable… well I'm a hypocrite for saying that when I showed up just so I can warn you of said future — Anyways, hop on. I'll give you a lift."
As I climb onto the Yamakaze—
"Hey Itaba? Why did you name your bike 'Yamakaze'? It sounds like the name for a ship."
Or rather I'm fairly sure it is the name of a ship.
"Yamakaze?" replies the girl in twintails. "Ah, you're supposed to read it as one character. It says 'Arashi'. I named this baby 'Tempest'. Storm. Tempest. Close enough I figure."
Japanese is a difficult language.
"Oh right, the next days will be quite eventful, so here's some advice for you: People lie, machines don't."
"Maria Cadenzavna Eve."
A ragged voice calls out my name, fishing me out of the land of memories. Resurfacing in the real world, I find myself sitting on a worn out stool in the backyard of the Tachibana household.
The day after the dinner with Ma'am, Serena, and Adolf, I went to tell everyone at the Tachibana household about my plan to return to Branch 797.8, my home world. A return home was long overdue, and neither of us knew when we would be coming back.
When Hibiki heard the news, she left the house to buy groceries saying that there were too many sad goodbyes in life, so we should make sure the goodbyes we can plan for are pleasant. Before I knew it, everyone in the house was preparing a farewell party for Chris and I. The more I interact with her the more I notice the similarities between the Hibiki Tachibana of Branch 777.0 and the version of her from home.
After the feast, I escaped to the backyard for some fresh air and alone time, which is when the host herself found me.
"Hibiki? What are you doing here at this time?"
The grey Gungnir user sits herself down on a second stool. "I see you're drinking Old Bastard's fermented potato juice."
"Oh, erm, he—"
The tanned girl silences me with a wave of her hand. In the moonlight, her grey hair glows white. Instead of showing age, the radiant hair now returns years of the owner's life, turning back time and giving her a youthful air.
"It's fine. I don't mind. Pass," she beckons. Upon receiving the bottle, she presents it to the moon, the brilliant silver light passing through the alcohol.
"Aren't you too young to drink?"
A barking laugh escapes from her chapped lips. "Of course I am. But what can a little bit of alcohol do? Kill me?" — with that remark, she takes a hearty swig from the bottle — "Well. It's not like I can taste it. It might as well be sparkling water if you're talking about taste. But there's the carbonation, there's the burning feeling, and there's the scent. What I'm getting at is that there's always other ways to enjoy things."
"Mhmm."
Hibiki hands the bottle back to me, and I take a drink before giving it back to her.
"But maybe if you're too focused on finding a way to enjoy something and make the most of what you have, you lose sight of what truly makes you happy. By building a facade and telling yourself that this is fine, you end up blinding yourself to other possibilities," she continues, "Perhaps I've been cradling this world of mine for too long. Huh, I'm not sure I made much sense there... Ah, what I'm getting at is that I want to visit your world."
Her words catch me by surprise. What caused her to make the decision— Actually, she just told me why. That aside, there's still so much that hasn't been accounted for. It's not like she can simply pack up and leave this world, right?
"Hold on, what about Miku? Are you sure you want to leave her side?"
"She's coming with me. Flower can close for a few days too. It's not like I run the place for profit," — she swallows a second mouthful of fermented potato juice before offering the bottle to me again — "Maria Cadenzavna Eve, show me what reality you live in. Show me why you feel my story is a 'bad end'. Let me see what a world with miracles looks like."
"Adolf, why am I having another adjustment so soon?" asks Serena.
Adolf takes the pencil out of his mouth and sighs, "You're not the only one who doesn't want to be here at two o'clock in the morning."
Strapped down to a reclining chair, the girl continues complaining, "I haven't had any issues since the last adjustment. Honest!"
"You can never be too safe," he replies as he fits his patient with a mouthguard. "As usual, it might hurt a bit."
Serena gives the doctor a thumbs up.
Checking the restraints one last time, Adolf throws the switch on his terminal. Immediately, the small girl thrashes in the chair. Her howls muffled by the mouthguard, but spittle still dribbling down her face as usual.
After a short thirty seconds, the ordeal finishes, and the restraints release.
The blond man pulls the rubber guard out of Serena's mouth and asks, "Hello? Do you remember who you are?"
"I'm the modern Renaissance woman, one-of-a-kind polymath, Eighth Wonder of the World, the absolutely fabulous Miss Serena Cadenzavna Eve."
With another sigh, the scientist starts writing his report, "Everything checks out. Alright. Fill out this form and then you're good to go."
The Airgetlam wielder hops off the chair and wipes her face down with tissues. "So, Adolf. You haven't explained it yet. Why another adjustment?"
Looking up from his report, the doctor answers with a question of his own, "You were planning on going with your sister to the other world, weren't you? I don't like the thought of you going, but I know I can't stop you. So as your doctor, I can try to make sure you come back in one piece."
The petite girl proudly sticks out her chest, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm the genius Serena Cadenzavna Eve! Not even the Nephilim or a falling building could kill me! In fact, seeing as the wonderful me turned out alright even after seven years as a popsicle, I might just be immortal, you know?"
"I'm not sure you should be proud of your near death experiences. Besides, I thought you were the one who had this whole thing about being dead and coming back different?" retorts Adolf as he adjusts his shades.
Their doctor-patient conversation had long since devolved into casual banter between friends.
Serena shrugs, "Well, if my doctor insists that I've never once been dead, then it must be true."
"Don't die on me, kiddo."
"Likewise, little boy."
The brunette leaves the room, no doubt heading back to her cabin for some much needed rest. With his patient out of the room, Adolf begins reading through Serena's records again. The period between adjustments has shortened to the point where one is performed every three days. In other words, they weren't working anymore.
Unusually frequent adjustments aren't the red flag for Adolf. The precocious Serena's pattern of speech, her extensive knowledge on topics that aren't covered by the FIS archives, and the fact that her writing style has been slowly changing are all rather concerning for the blond scientist.
A loose page drops out of the file and the man picks it up. He had never paid too much attention to the paper before. It is a handwritten report on Serena Cadenzavna Eve's condition as a Symphogear Adaptor dated to about eight years ago. At an instant, Adolf recognizes the handwriting.
He strides back to the desk and picks out the form Serena filled earlier today. Both papers were filled out in English. More peculiarly, both sets of writing share multiple common elements. Flipping over the eight-year-old report, he scans the page looking for a name, initial, or signature — looking for any clue to the writer's identity. At the very bottom of the page, he finds it.
A chill runs down Adolf's spine.
The FIS Headquarters was in a frenzy as officers of the understaffed agency rushed to their stations. Flanked by Shirabe and Kirika, Nastassja stood at the bridge looking over the situation.
"Put the Commissioner on the line," ordered the indigo-haired woman. Seconds later, a holographic screen pops up with the face of yet another blue-haired lady.
"Director."
"Commissioner Tomosato. Are you absolutely sure everyone has been evacuated?"
"Yes Madam. Our forces have made sure that not a single person or animal was left behind."
Nastassja bit her lip. "Let me remind you that Doctor Ver will not discriminate between civilian and target. Now I will ask you again. Are you absolutely sure everyone has been evacuated?"
"I am absolutely sure," Tomosato answered through gritted teeth. "However, I must question your choice of personnel—"
"There are no other choices. No matter how immoral, that man is still one of the best in his field. As long as I'm the one holding his leash, he will listen."
With that, Nastassja hung up.
The current operation was to capture the rogue Symphogear Adaptor. Nastassja couldn't have that stray interfering with her plans. While that Gungnir wielder did help fend off Noise attacks on occasion, the fact that she saw the FIS as her enemy was problematic.
Just as Nastassja steeled herself to start the operation, the bridge received a video call. The caller overrode all permissions and patched itself through.
On the other side of the line was a hawk-like man with bone white hair. "Good day Director."
"Lord Kazanari," the indigo-haired woman returned the greeting tersely. "We were about to begin the operation to subdue the rogue Symphogear Adaptor. Perhaps you would like to stay and watch?"
"What you choose to do about Relic Fusion Specimen One interests me not. You and your FIS have lived in Japan for nigh onto three months, Director. You tell me that the Moon is falling from orbit, yet I see very little progress towards preventing it."
"I understand your concerns, Lord Kazanari. However it is very important that we get this rog—"
The old man cut Nastassja off, "Save your excuses, Director. I have already fallen as low as to cooperate with a foreigner. If you cannot give me satisfactory results in the next month, I shall cut funding to your organization and let you run yourselves into the ground. Our conversation is finished."
The cantankerous noble hung up before Nastassja could protest. The Director of the FIS clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Ma'am—"
"Quiet!" Nastassja barked at the blonde girl on her left. After taking a deep breath, Nastassja apologized for her outburst, "I'm sorry Kirika, I shouldn't have taken out my frustration on you."
Shirabe replied with an understanding smile, "It's okay Ma'am. Kiri and I know how hard it is for everyone at the Japanese branch of FIS. The American faction looks down on us and the Kazanari Institute only associates with us because they have no other choices. But we don't want to be on the bottom forever, which is why we will do our best to support you Ma'am! Right Kiri?"
"Of course!" the blonde chimed in.
"You girls…"
On the display, Doctor Ver seemed to look at the Director and her girls as if he could see through the drone's camera lens. "It's not my style to interrupt touching moments like this, but it seems like the target has arrived already."
Sure enough, a figure wearing a grey hoodie and face mask stepped out from an alley. "What do you want, Doctor Ver!"
"You should have taken your time, that way I would have time to play with my toys," sighed the white-haired man. He pulled out the Solomon's Cane and the Nephilim's heart from inside his lab coat.
In her unusually deep voice, the girl in grey retorted, "If I didn't come here right away you would have caused a racket to get my attention!"
"Why, I don't mean to brag, but I did get permission to demolish the surrounding eight blocks if that's what it took for you to notice me."
Nastassja slammed the table. "Vercingetorix, what are you doing with the Nephilim's heart?!"
"Relax, Director. I know what I'm doing. Trust me on this."
"I'm monitoring you precisely because I don't trust you!"
Doctor Ver ignored the Director's scolding and continued with his performance. "Now that you've arrived, our two little friends will be coming to join us shortly. In the meantime, let me entertain you."
The girl and the Doctor began their fight. One side summoned Noise while the other destroyed them as soon as they attained solid form.
Back at the FIS headquarters, Nastassja gave out her orders, "Girls. Head out to subdue the rogue Symphogear Adaptor, but keep that Doctor Ver alive even if it means losing our target."
Of course, there wasn't a single person inside the command center that would mind Doctor Ver coming back missing a limb or two. Everyone hated his attitude, yet they could not deny that the madman was extremely valuable, even if it was only for his intellect.
"Yes, Ma'am!" replied Kirika. "We'll be back so fast that it will be like we never left!"
Shirabe nodded in agreement.
Nastassja called out to the two as they began to leave. "Kirika. Shirabe."
"Yes?"
"Promise me," she said. The words caught in the Director's throat as she looked at her two girls. "If things ever get too dangerous out there, promise me that you'll retreat. Promise me you'll come back alive."
A silence fell over both parties. In the absence of their voices, the sound of the FIS officers on their terminals seemed deafening.
Kirika smiles, "You're making it sound like we won't win! We're the two Symphogear Adaptors trained by the Director of the Japanese branch herself! With both of us, Doctor Ver, Team Seven, and the police force on site, there's no way we could lose against one person!"
"Don't worry Ma'am," adds Shirabe. "If we do get in trouble, I'll look after Kiri for you."
At the site of Gjallarhorn's rift, the personnel involved in the operation sat at a makeshift base, waiting for the right moment. Overnight, Adolf had ordered a scaffold to be set up around the rift and the entire patch of land around the site to be quarantined.
From the dark circles around his eyes and messy hair, it is quite obvious that the head researcher had spent the entire night without a wink of sleep. Earlier today, Adolf swore he heard someone's raspy breathing. Since no one in the area is an old man or a chain smoker, the only explanation remaining would be fatigue is taking a toll on him.
The disheveled blond scientist clears his throat, "Everyone! The rift's activity will peak in five minutes and forty-two seconds. When it happens, you should be able to see a portal open up over there," — he points to an area in the middle of a ring of scaffolding — "You're not going to be able to reach it from the ground, so it's best if you jump down from the top of the scaffold. The portal will only open up for about five seconds, so make haste."
"Thank you for everything, Adolf. I'll make sure to contact the staff at home regarding possible collaboration between our worlds as discussed," says Maria.
Wasting not even a minute, the girls hurry to their positions on top of the structure. Chris hollers from the top of the scaffolding at Adolf, "Hey, are you sure we won't break our legs jumping off this thing?"
"Positively. Aim for the 'X' in the center. I'm not sure how big the rift is, but we don't want to risk having parts of you clipped off by accident."
"... That doesn't sound too safe to me, but hell, I've done riskier things."
Serena waves at the scientist. "Don't worry Adolf, I trust you completely!"
"As your doctor, I would be worried if you didn't," he replies. Looking at his stopwatch, he begins counting down. "Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Now!"
On his signal, the girls leap off the structure. As soon as they jumped, a white halo facing upwards appears in the air below them. Inside the halo is a swirling rainbow vortex. Presumably that's how the interdimensional void looks like.
The multicolored rift closes up shortly after the travelers passed through it. With a small grin on his face appearing as the operation turns out to be a success, Adolf runs back to the laptop he left on his chair. The device was set up to record the rift's energy levels throughout the entire event. Traveling between worlds is an event that not many people get to witness, much less document, after all.
All worries from the past day vanishing from his mind, Adolf excitedly plays through the video feed and matches it with the recorded data. Each time one of the girls passed through the portal, there would be a spike in the graph. However...
"Briggs," the blond man calls out to his colleague who is working with another piece of machinery. "There were only three girls entering the rift right?"
"I believe so," replies Briggs as walks over to Adolf's side. The two scientists look over the data once more. "... I would say the changes in the data happening to match the footage is just a coincidence. The intervals between each peak are fairly consistent after all."
Adolf scratches the stubble on his chin and evaluates the two possibilities. With a sigh, he concedes, "Aye, maybe I'm overthinking things."