Chapter 28: Equilibrium
Synopsis: Everything whether in life or science must come to a cross road as everything must equal out in the end. The cycle is about to reach its end as events have now come full circle.
Now Kaede must face a choice whether to accept or deny her past, present, and future in order to bring the universe out of the chaos that was created from the simple choice she had made. In her choosing, she will discover what must be done to achieve the ending she wanted. However choice is never so easy when you come to understand what the full picture is.
Reminder: I do not own Elfen Lied or any characters associated with it
Special thanks to: Haru Glory, Gaius The Dagger Mouth, and OnyxSwarm for contributing to the construction of this chapter.
"talking"
thoughts
Kaede wasn't certain about how she was supposed to feel. She was happy to have been able to meet her mother again. But the problem about that was . . . . she was dead.
"In case you're wondering" smiled Mikomi. "You aren't dead" as she took a sip of her tea.
"I . . . ."
"You don't understand how you are able to be talking to me seeing as I am dead unless you were. But I can assure you that you are very much alive".
"But then . . . ."
"How are you talking to me? Well that part gets a bit complicated". Mikomi then waved her hand to her opposite side. "Would you like to take a seat?"
Kaede nodded slowly as she sat down carefully as if making sure she wasn't hallucinating or having a very bad delusional dream. "But then . . . ."
"Where are you?"
"Are you going to let me talk?" she then interjected.
The elder woman was slightly taken back as she let out a chuckle to her daughter's annoyance. "Sorry, force of habit of this place". Mikomi then poured a cup a tea as she passed it to Kaede. "I always forget that you were never the type to allow yourself to be in a disadvantage to anyone around you".
Kaede waved her hands in an apologetic fashion while taking her cup. "It's not like that mother. It's just that . . . ."
"This is all just a lot to take in".
The pink diclonius nodded her head. I mean it wasn't everyday that someone could talk to a loved one who has been dead for roughly five years. But in sensing how tense the atmosphere had gotten, "So umm, how . . . . have you been?" But she soon mentally berated herself. "Stupid! That was a very dumb question to ask!"
Mikomi gave a soft chuckle. "I've been well and I've been happy to see that your life has been turning out rather well".
"What do you mean?"
"I've been watching over you for the last five years and if I do say so myself, you have gotten yourself into quite a lot of . . . . 'interesting' experiences with Kohta-kun and your friends".
Kaede turned deep red as she looked away in embarrassment. But her head immediately flickered back as she looked to her. "But how can you even know about these things? But more importantly, how are you even here? Where am I? What is this place? And aren't I supposed to have been captured by that Kakuzawa group?"
Mikomi waved her hand to calm her down. "One question at a time dear as some of your questions are more complicated to answer then others". She then placed her finger on her cheek in a thinking pose. "But where should I start first . . . ."
But that was obvious for the horned girl as this one was the most important thing for her to know. "Are you really my mother?"
"Hmm, that is a very difficult question indeed". She then snapped up as she took a sip of her tea. "But if there was any simpler way of putting it, then the answer would be both yes and no".
". . . .Huh?"
"You see Kaede, what you see before you now is a residual self-representation of the person you once knew as Mikomi Hikaru. Although I share all of her memories, experiences, and feelings I'm not really her as the woman once known as Mikomi Hikaru has long since moved on from your plain of existence".
". . . . Then what are you exactly?"
"Another complicated question as there had been many words and phrases used to describe what I am exactly. However by the limited understanding of human consciousness then I suppose what I am would be by human terms an ascended being or perhaps even god to a certain extent".
"What? What exactly is that supposed to mean? And how exactly is that related to my mother?"
"That's another very complicated question to answer". Mikomi then thought deeply about it until she snapped her fingers. "Touch the lake and I believe you should more or less understand exactly what I am".
Kaede raised her eyebrow at the peculiar recommendation. But seeing as there was no harm in it as well as the fact her common logic really had no grounds in this place she might as well had complied seeing as she didn't exactly have anything to lose. Slowly as she got up to do it she made her way to the water's edge as she took a seat next to it. As she slowly dipped her hand into the cool liquid, a flash of images began to flow through her mind as she had to immediately pull back from the strain of the influx of information. She then slowly got back up taking her seat again at the table looking a bit shaken.
"It was pretty intense right?"
She nodded slightly as she attempted to recall everything that she could remember from that brief experience. Simply where she was could not be articulated in a few words as it was a place both somewhere and nowhere at the same time. If she had tried to formulate a description for it then this place was where all consciousness tends to drift too. Any further then that would take a few lifetimes to explain. In addition, the 'person' in front of her was similar to this place as 'she' was both everything and nothing at the same time. But likewise before, it would take a few lifetimes to explain exactly what she was. But that didn't exactly answer the question she wanted to know. "Why do you look like mother?"
"Because what you see before you now is that of a fragment of her existence. A part of her she left here in the event of what would eventually occur".
Kaede tilted her head in confusion as she didn't know where this was heading. "What are you talking about?"
Mikomi smiled at her while taking a sip of her tea. "You see Kaede, this isn't the first time we have met nor was it your mothers as things have played out".
". . . .!"
"You see, hmm . . . . Perhaps it would be better if I just show you". She then pointed to the lake to which the pink diclonius looked too and in that instant another flash of images entered her mind as she gasped at the sudden intake of data.
"I . . . . I really did meet you. But it was in another lifetime . . . . But I don't understand why or . . . ."
"As I said this is where things get tricky". Mikomi took a breath in as she prepared herself for the explanation. "Every choice made in existence brings about a different event in the grand machinery design of the universe, and with each possible choice made in the universe generates a new possibility of a future that could potentially occur. Humans came to understand this idea from the physicist known as Einstein on his theory of relativity, but later by accordance to many timelines this idea would further evolved and came to be known as the butterfly effect". Kaede nodded her head as she was following along thus far. "In that lifetime where I had met you, I had completely rewritten the universes existence. In the context of branching off a different timeline based off the choice of a single individual in your universe".
"A single individual?" as Kaede took a sip of her tea.
"That individual was none other than your mother. In her initial search for you in the universe you came from, she failed to find you in the fourteen years she had been looking as her only reward in the end was ending up in Kakuzawa's hands as she was forced to produce a son for him and not long after taking her own life in despair of what had happened".
Kaede's eyes widened at the explanation as she couldn't believe that such a thing could have occurred. "What are you talking about? You found me! Mother found me when I was seven years old!"
Mikomi shook her head in a sense of sadness. "Not in your original universe . . . ." In that moment another flash of images went through her head as the pink diclonius understood exactly what she was talking about.
"It . . . . It can't be . . . ."
The elder woman nodded as she continued. "In that event, I had slightly influenced her course of action guiding her to you to which where this new timeline is now existing. But because of my interference, the human known as Mikomi Hikaru became aware of my presence to which in that brief chance encounter our consciousness made contact in which your mother had then gained a heightened ability to which she wasn't supposed to have".
"Ability she wasn't supposed to have?" Kaede reiterated.
"Yes, you see your mother had gained the vague sense of seeing the leylines of the future for every cause to effect event that could have possibly played out in the domain of her existence".
The horned girl immediately took note of that as a certain event then came to mind. "But that can't be right! If you . . . . mother had the ability to see the future then why did she die knowing full well it was going to happen!"
Mikomi simply sipped her tea at the outburst. "I'll get to that, so please allow me to continue with my explanation" Kaede calmed her nerves even though there were now so many questions surging through her mind. "Of course the choice of allowing Mikomi to find you wasn't the only possibility I had created within each branch timeline. In every version, a series of complications occurred stemming from events inputted within the systematic of choice".
Another flash of images passed through her mind as Kaede saw different versions of herself stemming from the different choices that were made creating the new parallel universes.
"Initially, I had believed that silencing 'the voice' from your existence would have allowed you a better life as your sub-consciousness would have been clear of any influential thoughts tempting you from making any decision that would have negative repercussions with your life. However, it proved not as favorable as you still repeated the same mistakes in some universes while in others which turned out to be one of the worst case scenarios got you sent into human trafficking. Additionally . . . ."
"Wait! What do you mean voice?" Kaede then interjected. She remembered something about it as Nana had at one time referenced to it. As far as she knew in her current life, she had never really heard 'a voice'. "But maybe it was that thing I first encountered when my powers first developed. Although that incident only occurred once . . . . could that have been it?"
Mikomi gave a soft smile. "Don't worry, that portion I will explain in time for there is still much to say". The elder woman took another sip of her tea as she then continued. "Additional attempts were also made is trying to give you an early preconception of what your future might entail through inputted thoughts. This situation proved to have rather high rate of success with a fewer repercussions as most of the possibilities that had been generated were promising results. However some of them did not end quite favorably as . . . ." another flash of images entered her mind "you could not handle some of the things you came to learn. However your life came to be one extreme dynamic after another as your life radically changed from one end of the spectrum to the other no matter what change was implemented. That in itself was rather surprising to see how the life of a single individual could have possibly have been so complicated. But in your complexity laid the answer of simplicity to how your life could have been changed for the better, and do you know what that was?"
Kaede looked to her mother as she slowly shook her head because simply she really had no idea what it could've been.
Mikomi then laid her head on her hand as she planted her arm onto the table displaying a wide and brilliant smile. "It was love".
"Love?" as the pink diclonius twitched her eyebrow.
The elder woman nodded. "If there was any one constant that had always remained the same no matter what choices were made in the world, love was the one thing that had kept you from hurting anyone. In every possible world that was ever created Kohta was that one constant no matter what choice was made that had given you some semblance of happiness in your life. At seeing that, it became quite clear that all you really needed in the end no matter what choices were made, you just needed someone to be there for you and love you sincerely through all the happy and sad times of your life".
As another flash of images crossed her mind, all Kaede could do was smile fondly as her statement held the highest truth for her in every lifetime she had ever lived.
"However in your reality, an anomaly had occurred which by all sense should never had happened . . . ."
Kaede looked to her mother quizzically as she didn't understand what she was talking about. "What do you mean by that?" she asked hesitantly uncertain if she wanted to know the answer.
"During the formation of your reality, whether it was your conscious or unconscious decision this was an event that was never supposed to happen . . . ."
The pink diclonius began to feel the agitation of anticipation. "What decision? What was never supposed to happen?"
Mikomi then looked to her sadly as it was clear to see she was visibly having a hard time on what she wanted to say next. "You . . . . really don't understand what it is . . . . do you?"
Kaede's face scrunched as she really didn't like being poked around like this. "What is it?" as she stood up. "What was never supposed to happen in my existence?"
The elder woman looked away quite visibly shaken before looking back. "Whether it was a conscious decision or not . . . . the person known as Nyu Hikaru . . . . was never supposed to exist".
". . . . What?" the horned girl then took a seat again as she gave a low strained chuckle. "What are you talking about? Of course she was supposed to exist. She's my precious sister after all".
Mikomi shook her head as she then looked to her sadly. "I'm sorry Kaede . . . . your sister . . . . my daughter . . . . was never supposed to exist . . . ."
She then stood up again feeling angry at that statement. "Of course she exists! She was there standing right beside me all those years!" At that statement memories of her childhood came flooding back as she recalled all the times she had ever shared with Nyu. "How can you say she doesn't exist?"
The woman however calmly drank her tea before setting her cup back down as her expressions seemed unreadable from the mixture of the fact she was both her mother and an ascended being. "The universe exists on a set equilibrium to which everything in reality must always exist in a balance with one another. However in the case of your universe, Nyu was never suppose to have a separate existence from you as she was only supposed to exist as an alternate persona of the original host body 'Kaede'. Due to this confliction, reality was forced to create a new balance as the existence of the original host 'Kaede' was split in half in order to counter balance the new karmic values of your world. However your choices continued to unbalance reality as things went on . . . ."
"What do you mean my choice? What choice are you talking about?"
Mikomi closed her eyes in contemplation before reopening them. "Initially it was fine for the both of you to exist so long as the universe was balanced. But then another anomaly was created when you weren't able to make that choice . . . ."
" . . . . and what would that be?"
". . . .That night when you first met your father, if you had killed him . . . . that would have been enough to create the necessary balance for you and Nyu to exist together. But in choosing not to do it an impossible event occurred in which another being was born from you . . . ."
". . . . Wait! You can't mean . . . .!"
She nodded as she saw Kaede understand exactly what she had done. "Yes . . . . in your decision of not wanting to take that man's life . . . . Lucy was born to take the role you couldn't handle . . . ."
". . . . What I couldn't handle? What is that suppose to mean?"
"Kaede . . . . Lucy was a part of you. But when you rejected that part of your existence, you created Lucy to take all things you didn't like as you pushed all your despair, anguish, and sorrow onto her . . . . One of those things you pushed onto her was 'the voice'".
" . . . ."
"You see, like all living creatures we all have a sense of self-preservation as it is natural for any sentient being to fear the possibility of death. However for a diclonius, the instinct for self-preservation is far much stronger than any existence on Earth to the point where your kind would kill simply out of the lowest statistical chance of a threat to your life".
"That voice . . . . when my powers first developed . . . . that was the thing I pushed onto Lucy?"
"Yes because it was something you refused about yourself along with many other things, the existence known as Lucy was forced to endure in your stead . . . ."
Kaede then looked down as guilt began to weigh on her. "Lucy . . . . was forced to take my burden . . . ."
"There is no need to blame yourself as you weren't aware of these facts. However because there existed three versions of yourself in the exact same time and place, reality was once again forced to play the numbers game as your existence was then broken to a third to compensate for the irregularities. But this is where things continued to get complicated . . . ."
"What do you mean?"
"Events that were never supposed to happen happened while certain events that were supposed to happen didn't occur. Simply . . . ." as another flash of images passed through Kaede's mind. "You caused one big mess within the dynamics of causality".
The pink diclonius began to heave at the stress of having to see so much in such a short amount of time. Although most of it seemed like a blur, there did appear a few images that were recognizable. "Mayu looked . . . . so happy . . . . and Nana . . . . why does she look so young?"
"This was the world that was supposed to be created if you had accepted your role. Since then, you would have been able to control 'the voice' in which some people didn't have to die while others never had to become infected by the diclonius virus". Mikomi took a quick tea break. "In your friend's case, one of Lucy's victims both in this reality as well as in your last lifetime happened to have been Mayu-chan's father. If her father never died then he would have been able to protect her and in some other versions of reality had managed to give Mayu-chan the happy family life she had always yearned for".
Kaede looked down guiltily, "I . . . . caused Mayu's suffering?"
"As for your friend Nana, by the event of the ripple effect she would never had been born a diclonius in which she would never had to experience the horrors in her early life. Much to every other diclonius locked up in that hell hole of a facility".
"I . . . . I caused all this? Is all this suffering my fault!"
Mikomi shook her head as she gave her daughter a reassuring smile. "It's not your fault. It's not like you knew this was going to happen. In your own actions you changed a lot of people's lives for the better as your influence even now back in your time and space continues to shine on towards other people".
Kaede looked down in thought before looking back to Mikomi. "But why did mother have to die then? What relevance could that have been to me . . . .?"
"That bit was rather complicated. But simply she saw in every possible event in your future that her death was the only way to set you off on the rest of your life". She then gave a grim look as she was nearing the end of what she had to say. "But this is where everything must now come to meet its end". She then took a breath before continuing. "Here is a question for you, who do you think you are in the world based on what it is now?"
"Who am I?" said Kaede. She then took a moment to speculate this after everything she had learned. But simply that was the problem as she had learned far too much. At this moment she had wished she could remain ignorant over this matter as she would have preferred to continue living believing Nyu was her sister and Lucy was just some random psychopath in the world. But unfortunately, life would not allow itself to be that simple for her. As it stood, if Nyu represented one end of her spectrum while Lucy represented the other then . . . . "I am the balance that holds everything together".
"And it is for this reason that now a conclusion must come to pass". She then gave a sigh as the next part was going to be the most difficult to explain. "You see Kaede, due to the instability of your world created from your three versions . . . . the only way for your world to continue as it is . . . . only one of you may be allowed to exist . . . ."
"What . . . . What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she then said in a somewhat threatening manner. "I hope I just heard you incorrectly, but I think you just told me that I had to kill my sister!"
Mikomi shook her head as she too was having difficulty relaying what she had to say. "She was never your sister to begin with. At the threat of your reality collapsing, the three of you must become one in order to stabilize your world. It would be then that your world can be saved".
"That's insane! If there was any real piece of my mother inside of you then she would not tell me to do such a ludicrous thing!"
"But there is something else you don't understand yet . . . ."
"What's more to understand? If I just had to get rid of Lucy that is something my consciousness can live with. But you're telling me I have to kill my sister! My own flesh and blood! Because I don't think you understand that whether what you say is true or not, it doesn't matter to me as Nyu has already become far too important to me to ever let go!"
". . . . Nyu . . . . already understood her fate long ago . . . ."
For another time that moment Kaede was taken back at her mother's response. "What?"
"Maybe not on a conscious level, but the existences of Nyu and Lucy both understood that in time they would have to return to the source as it was their fate when the three of you came into existence".
"So Lucy was aware of this too? Is that why she was always attacking me?"
"I can only interpret her actions as I cannot see her intentions. However it is the most likely reason why she has been so aggressive to you". Mikomi then looked towards the sky before looking back to Kaede. "There is not much time left as you now must return back to your body".
"Wait! There is so much I need to know! So much I need to understand! You can't just tell me all of this and expect me to figure out the rest on my own!"
The elder woman then stood up as she walked to her daughter. "Do not worry over the trivial matters like that. Like your mother, you too have the power to shape your destiny to whatever you want it to be". She then slouched over as she gave Kaede a deep hug. "But before you go your mother left one message for me to give you . . . ."
Her eyes widened as tears almost seemed imminent. "Mother . . . ."
Kaede could feel her smile against her cheek as she whispered into her ear. "Whatever type of person you decide to be in your life, know that I was proud to be your mother and I have no regrets in the choices I made in raising you along with your sister. So as my final message to you Kaede . . . . my daughter . . . . my strong little girl . . . . my maple light . . . . know that I'm very proud of the person you grew up to be and that I love you . . . ."
As the horned girl wrapped her arms around her, even though she knew this woman wasn't really her mother it was fine as she was happy to have been able to receive her message.
" . . . . It's so dark . . . ." Kaede's eyes fluttered open as she looked around at her surroundings. In her area of observation she was in a dark dank like cave with some light penetrating some areas. In her current state, she was apparently naked as she was bonded to the wall to some sort of device. However she didn't seem at all the bit surprised as she soon removed her bindings before making her way to the heavy door attempting to force it open.
"Now . . . . I understand . . . ." As the entity had said before her 'departure', she had the power to shape her future. Even before her current situation, she always had this power as it was always with her since her youth with those strange dreams she used to have. Now, she understood everything that did, will, and could happen as the future now almost seemed to lay bare before her.
But the most troubling part about it was also the fact she remembered her last life and what kind of person she used to be. As the door slowly began to open, a mixture of several negative feelings began to weigh heavily on her. She remembered all the horrible things she had done in her last life during the time she was known as Lucy. The weight of how many people she killed made her want to gag as she didn't want to believe she used to be that monster.
Kaede grunted as she clenched her teeth while holding her face at feeling the overwhelming memories. " . . . . This was . . . . the person I used to be . . . .But no more. I . . . . am Kaede, and this is my story. I will not allow anyone else to suffer for my mistake".
As the door finally opened she was met with the sight of a decapitated old man and a giant monstrous creature as its body parts were littered all over the lake. This image was déjà vu to her as this was exactly what she had done in her past life. However the difference was her little half brother wasn't lying dead next to Kakuzawa, the old bastard who couldn't understand that all he and his family were was just a bunch of humans with a strange bone mutation. In his arrogance, he never realized he and his family was drowning in a misery that never really existed.
"So you finally understand now . . . . "
Kaede looked up to see her other sitting on Anna's supposed corpse as it still lay motionless within the lake. But as her eyes met her, she couldn't look into them as she was forced to look away in guilt.
"Soon everything will meet its end as it should have been the day I was born into this joke of an existence".
From her contact with the entity, Lucy was an anomaly of this world and because of the special quality of her existence she was able to retain all the memories of their last life.
Lucy soon stood up as she then lowered herself down from the enormous corpse with the use of her vectors. After finally levitating her way down, she slowly made her way to her. "You're going to pay for everything that you did to me . . . ."
". . . . I'm sorry" as Kaede still couldn't face Lucy as she was visibly shaking now.
"You're far too late to say something like that to me! You stole the life that was equally supposed to be mine!"
" . . . . I'm so sorry . . . ."
"You can't possibly understand the life you forced onto me. I was forced to be the discarded product of some girl who couldn't live with herself".
" . . . . Please forgive me . . . ."
"I was created to be the child who was always hated without reason or care. So tell me my dear sister! Why was I made to be your horse as you lived as my queen riding off my pain?"
" . . . . Please Lucy . . . . Don't . . . ."
"But soon all this will change as everything you took from me will soon be mine" as Lucy now stood face to face with Kaede.
As she stood before her, the pink diclonius dared not to look at her. Now it had finally became clear to her at the feeling she always felt when Lucy was around. During those times when she faced her she had always thought it was fear that gripped her. However the truth could not be further than that. For the truth was . . . . "it was guilt I felt at what I had forced onto you . . . ."
"You should remember that this was the day we were supposed to die. How fitting it would be that everything came to end at that moment". The sadistic girl gritted her teeth as she continued to look at Kaede. "I refuse to return back to you as I would rather see this world reduced to nothing before that happens. But you should already know that there is another way out of this for me".
Kaede continued to look away as Lucy was also aware of what she came to learn from her encounter with the entity. Although she herself was the original that did not necessarily mean their essence had to return to her. The fact was their existence was broken evenly between the three of them. To now properly exist in the world all that really needed to be done was for all the essence of the being known as 'Kaede' to exist in one container. This simply meant . . . .
"I will soon kill both you and that annoying other as I will become the original allowing me to be the sole existence known as Kaede".
The horned girl's face then became dead serious as she faced Lucy with full intent. "You will not touch her".
However, Lucy couldn't help but grin at her others reaction. "How funny, you still defend her as if she were really your sister. But because of the three separate actions of one individual, this world has already reached its maximum entropy to which this reality will soon collapse. So there really is no point whether or not if she lives as this world will disappear as if it never occurred". A thought then came to mind as her grin soon became a maniacal smile. "But perhaps I'll hold my plans of killing you to allow you some precious time with our 'dear beloved sister'. If you can actually kill her you might have some chance in beating me to which I 'might' not mind being a part of you again".
Kaede's breath began to become shallow at Lucy's words.
She then turned about as she began to levitate again. "You know where this all has to end. So I'll meet you there at the appointed time. Don't be late now".
As she watched Lucy ascend higher towards the main levels of the facility she saw every event that had just been played out. That sadistic girl was soon going to sink this island underneath the ocean along with everyone else on it. During her trip towards the lower level, Lucy killed every guard and scientist that was in her presence before destroying the main power grid that kept every silpelit in the facility under lock and key.
Even without needing to connect to them, the combined telepathic presence of every diclonius in the area formed one mass as it screamed one unifying thought. "The humans must die for hurting us!"
But she wasn't surprised at this as she felt all their pain. But as the current situation stood neither the disclonii or the surviving humans could be saved as there were too many them as they were sweeping through the compound, and simply they couldn't be allowed back onto the mainland as they were all far too gone to care who they were killing so long as they were human.
However there was one problem as Kurama and his trusted colleagues were still on the base. For just recently they had finished developing the vaccine to the diclonius virus. But the problem was, at this very moment they were currently trapped in the facility as they were fending off a hoard of angry silpelits who were instinctively attracted the presence of the 'cure'.
"I need to go make sure they get out of here safely before I proceed on" and with that she made her way up through the institution. While ascending she gathered a few items she was going to need before going on any further which were namely cloths, flashlights, and a radio.
As she quickly proceeded through the corridors it soon became apparent that the silpelits were now purely acting on instinct as some walked right by her without reacting. So long as she wasn't acting antagonistically against them they wouldn't do anything to her.
Concerning her course direction, there wasn't really any point to trying to radio Kurama or really needing to depend on future sight to find him. The vaccine they developed seemed to have been resonating as if calling out a danger signal to every diclonius in the area. Simply by sensing it, the stoic man was on the move along with his team as they were more or less realizing they were running around with a bull's eye in their hand.
"I better hurry before they get killed".
"No! Please someone help! I don't want to die here!"
"Someone please help us!"
Kaede ears immediately picked up the S.O.S. as she clearly heard two females yelling for help. Seeing what floor she was on, it was most likely some secretaries as they were s**t out of luck concerning the situation. She didn't have time to stop and help people as she had to get Kurama's group out of the building with the vaccine or else humanity would be doomed to extinction by the hands of a bunch of homicidal psychics whose sense of ethics and morals were no more than animals. In addition to that, she had no reason to care. For every human in the facility was guilty of doing these inhumane things knowing full well that it was wrong. So following the signal she continued to move.
The two secretaries held each other as the room they were in was now filled with disclonii as they sat around them. They knew they were going to die and there was nothing they could possibly do to stop it nor was there going to be some rescue party to save them. All they could do now was pray that their deaths were swift and painless as it didn't take a genius to realize that they were angry and that they would want to make them suffer for as long as possible before their deaths.
As the silpelits deployed their vectors, the two scared women held each other close preparing themselves for the worse. But soon a huge crashing sound was heard as they both flinched in reaction to the sound. At seeing they were still unharmed they both opened their eyes to see a clothed diclonius as every silpelit in the room were crashed on opposite sides of each other appearing to have been completely knocked out.
The two women looked fearfully at their savior as she looked back to them with some contempt.
". . . . But . . . . why?"
"Get up" said Kaede angrily. "And stay close. This place is still very dangerous and I'm in a hurry. So if you want to live don't do anything stupid and follow my instructions exactly" as she then turned around exiting into the hallway.
They looked at her fearfully before looking at each other at what to do.
"What should we do?"
"She's like them, a diclonius. We can't trust her!"
". . . . But she saved our lives. So we might be able a good person . . . ."
"Don't be a fool. She might just be saving us just to kill us herself".
"Hurry up!" then shouted Kaede. "Or you can find your own way out!"
The women looked to each other before nodding in agreement. They then got up as they followed the horned girl closely. Simply they really didn't have any other choice as they were unarmed, had no combat training, and it was either her or getting out on their own. At seeing the odds they were better off staying with Kaede then trying to get out on their own.
As the pink diclonius began to move she had a mixture of feelings for the action she had just performed. In her past life, she knew these people were responsible for breeding this misery as they allowed it to continue knowing that it was wrong. If they were killed here that was fine seeing as that was karma at work if they were going to be buried by the hatred they made. But if she were to leave them to die like that then, "I would be no better than Lucy".
She refused to allow herself to think similarly to that sadistic girl. This was her proof, her proof that she was different from her past self as she was capable of forgiveness. But that didn't change the fact she didn't like it. However the righteous road is not the one easily taken.
As she went along she started to gather a small pocket of survivors. Although a few of them were more complicated than others as some of them tried to back stab her in both the metaphorical and literal sense, she still wanted to believe in her path of righteousness as she made her way towards her objective.
Kurama and five other scientists were racing down the hallway as they were escaping the silpelit hoard that was after them.
"Chief Kurama! They're right behind us! Let's just ditch the cargo and escape already!"
"No!" he then commanded. "If we lose the research we'll be set back by years before being able to recreate the vaccine. We can't afford to lose it". He then took out his gun armed with .50 caliber rounds as he began to open fire. Some of the silpelits were easy to take down as their vectors weren't strong enough to stop them. But the troublesome ones were the silpelits who were capable of doing so. "S**t! I'm almost out of bullets". He then spotted a hydrogen tank. So taking aim he fired at it causing it to instantly combust consuming that portion of the hallway in flame.
"Did you get them? Are we in the clear?"
"I slowed them down for now. We need to get to the emergency pods. If we can get there we'll be fine".
As they accessed another corridor they opened a door only to be surprised by what was behind it.
Kurama's eyes widened at seeing another hoard right behind the door that was between them and the escape hatches. "Get back!"
It was too late as the male scientist was cut down as the four remaining backed towards Kurama as he took aim with his weapon. But before he could fire, his gun was crushed as now his group was completely defenseless. They then turned around to run only to be completely flanked on both ends by another hoard.
"What a way to go" the stoic man then thought.
But like a miracle out of heaven, a pink angel had descended onto them as she cleared the hall smashing one of the flanking groups into the wall.
"You know if you hadn't blown a few hallways up along the way I could've gotten to you sooner. God knows how angry Nana and Mariko would be at me if you even got one scratch on you".
"Kaede! What are you doing here?" asked Kurama in surprise as he looked to her and then saw the assorted survivors standing right behind her.
"Long story short, captured, escaped, and now helping you and your colleagues get the hell out of here" Kaede responded.
"Captured! What happened to my daughters? Where are they?"
"Don't worry, they're fine. They escaped during my capture". She then pointed to the box one of the scientists was holding. "Is that the vaccine?"
"Yes, but how . . . ."
"If you haven't already noticed that thing is calling every disclonii to you and if you haven't forgotten I'm a disclonius too".
Kurama mentally faced smacked himself at his stupid question. "The escape route currently is being blocked by them" as he pointed to the silpelit hoard. "Do you think you can clear them?"
"I could" said Kaede. "But we have more problems than that" pointing out the aggressive group that have appeared behind them.
Everyone watched as they all had different feeling at what they saw but most commonly fear.
The horned girl saw the problem to which she was stuck with a pain in the a** choice. If she decided to attack one flanking group then the survivors on the opposite side would get killed. She then looked down as she placed her vectors into position. "Kurama, are there escape hatches on the floor below us?"
"Yes, why?" But his question was soon answered as he along with the survivors felt a force pull them together as the floor gave out below them. They then landed to the next floor as Kaede took point.
"Kurama take the lead! I'll take care of keeping the group safe and escort you all to the escape pods".
"Wait! Chief, we can't trust her. She's a diclonius for gods sake!" At that statement the survivors began to twitch as realization sank in that they were following the enemy. With that, Kaede began to feel annoyed at how stupidly they were behaving. "I don't have any god damn time for this nonsense!" But this problem was soon quelled.
"Just shut up and follow her!" Kurama then said. "She'll get us out of here safely!"
"But we can't trust her! She's the enemy!"
The stoic man looked to the horned girl before looking back. "Because I know this girl and I trust her with my life" and with that the argument was settled as they followed along without complaint. He then took care of the navigation while Kaede chose the safest paths with the least amount of silpelit concentration in the area. In time the group made it to the escape hatches with a few unfortunate casualties which couldn't be helped considering the situation.
As the survivors jumped into the pods one by one, Kaede and Kurama decided to go last to make sure everyone made it out safely. Finally it was the two secretaries turn as they were getting into a pod.
One of the women then faced her as she took a slight bow. "Thank you . . . . for everything . . . ."
"Fine! Just hurry and go!" and with that the two made their escape.
Kurama then placed the vaccine case into the pod as he got in himself. He then looked back to see his pink compatriot just standing there. "What are you doing? We have to escape now. If what you said was true then this facility will be ten-thousand feet below in just a matter of minutes!"
"Go first" Kaede replied back softly. "I'll get going in a moment. So make sure to get that research to safety".
"But . . . ."
"Just go!" she then said more sharply. "I'll be right behind you . . . ."
The stoic man stared at her before completely getting into his pod. "See that you do . . . ." and with that he left.
Kaede watched as the facility came crashing down all around her, and to be frank she was happy to see it go. If she ever had to thank Lucy for anything, it was for destroying this abominable place. That place was the definition of misery and she was happy to see that it will soon be buried in the ocean where a monstrosity like it should be. She then jumped into her pod as she soon made her escape.
As her pod was launched into the ocean, the facility along with the entire island itself was soon swallowed underneath several tons of water thanks to her other destroying the infrastructure of the small landmass. As the detestable place soon disappeared so with it every murderous psychic and possibly some survivors that were on it. In her coffin like box, Kaede laid in it calmly in the dark as she contemplated whether she should feel regret or sadness for them. Those silpelits had only known a life of pain and death. However, they never deserved their current fate. But allowing them to rejoin society would be impossible as the environment would not allow them the peaceful life she would have wanted for them to which they would begin killing again. Concerning the survivors she couldn't save, she could not say that she was either happy or sad for their demise. In the end, they got what was coming to them.
As her pod continued to drift along the oceans currents, she reflected on how life for her had suddenly become so heavy. In making contact with the entity she now had the weight of reality resting on her shoulder at which she now had a difficult choice to make. Now from a simple logical perspective, it was basically utilitarianism in which the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few to which with the death of two people it would save this reality from non-existence. However in counter to this was the value of life as one of the people she was forced to erase was someone she had loved, protected, and looked after for most of her life. Kaede then wrapped her face in her hands in a futile attempt to resist the urge to cry. "Nyu . . . . what am I supposed to do?" Whatever choice she would make would forever reflect on the rest of her life.
Now finally reaching the shores of Kamakura, the escape pod automatically ejected its hatch as the pink diclonius sat up to see the sun and sky once more. As she looked around she was surprised to see that two people were waiting for her on the beach at that very moment as they soon began to walk up to her.
Kaede then exited her vessel as she got up to meet them half-way. However a sense of dread would not disappear off her face as she got closer to them. But after what seemed like an eternity between them, she finally stood in front of the smiling faces of both Nyu and Kohta as they seemed relieved to see her.
"Thank god you're OK" said the tanned youth as he then immediately hugged her.
However the pink figure could not react as her gaze was primarily focused onto her sister as she herself only continued to look back.
"Hello oneesan" smiled Nyu. "Welcome back".
To be continued . . . .
Author's notes: Almost at the end soon. Now in the manga, Kakuzawa wanted to use Kaede/Lucy/Nyu as the new Eve of human life while using her half brother as the Adam for it (yeah I know, incest . . . . .). But without hesitation she killed both him and the child followed by the annihilation of the institution. It was also here that she learned of the fate of her biological mother. As this part came to a close, Kohta waited for her on the beach where things were coming to their end.
Now concerning the chapter, I hope everything made sense since there was a whole lot to take in at one go. But if there are any questions, you're more than welcomed to ask since I might have missed a detail unintentionally that I did not address before.
Snowy-Sonya – Thank you for your patronage to this story, and I hope you've enjoyed what you've read thus far. So I hope everything turns out well in the end.
TURP – Yeah like most anime/manga, things always gets darker before the dawn.
redrain8696 – I'd like to thank both you and your sister for reading thus far, and I do hope you enjoy how this story will soon come to end.
ShadowKittenMewFan – Yeah, I was never good at summarizing. But thank you for giving the story a chance, and thank you for your compliments. So I hope you'll stick around to see how it will soon end.
So I thank you all for reading this fic and I further extend my gratitude if you can review it as well.
