The Nightmare Returns
Ugh, the world was so fuzzy as she came to. The air burned her nose with the smell of Rubbing Alcohol, and the sounds of machines shot through passed the ringing sounds in her ears. A blinding light up on the ceiling burned her eyes; but with time, everything seemed to simmer down back to normal.
Aimee had found herself resting in one of the beds in the Sick Bay. By her side in the two visitor's chairs was Dr. Sakaki and Ren. Both were relieved that she had finally woken up.
"Oh, have you come to?" Ren asked before Dr. Sakaki unintentionally cut him off.
"Have you come to?" Dr. Sakaki sighed in relief as she weakly moved to sit up on her bed. "Thank goodness..."
"?" Aimee was caught off guard when she was for the first time graced with something that was rarely seen by the Den. Dr. Sakaki's usual cheerful fox-grin, turned into an angry frown.
"Why are you always so reckless? What were you thinking grabbing someone's God Arc like that?" His voice wasn't raised, but she could clearly hear the anger and worried frustration in his tone. "Your body could've rejected the foreign God Arc. You could've been devoured by its Oracle Cells."
"I was under the impression that 'that' wouldn't happen. I had full confidence that I wouldn't get Infected, due to being a 'Universal Oracle Cell Donor'."
"... What?"
"It's a long story, Doc."
"Hm... Well a piece of Lindow's God Arc is stuck in your hand. You could've started transforming at any moment now, but that's not happening since it's not active. Maybe it's because you're an in-between factor of the different P Bias Factor dosages. Either way, you're really lucky things didn't take a turn for the worse."
"Hm..." Aimee looked at the tiny yellow glowing piece embedded into her hand. It had burned its way through her Oracle Cell enhanced glove just to get to her skin. Luckily she had many replacement gloves in her storage and these pair had no sentimental value. Her first pair of gloves were safely preserved in her room. "Looks like I'll be needing new fighting gloves."
"Yeah but this way I can actually fight alongside you now."
"Ren?!"
"What?! What's wrong?!" Dr. Sakaki asked, startled at her sudden outburst, thinking that she was in pain.
"Ren says that he can help me with my missions now. It just startled me... something about Ren feels... different."
"That's because I'm more in tune with you due to the slight Resonance my God Arc piece is having with your body. Not to mention the fact that I'm now closer to my physical God Arc form; so I have a more physical presence to you." Ren explained.
"I see..." Dr. Sakaki responded to Aimee, feeling like he was missing out on a conversation. "Well it's a good thing you've finally woken up, you've had us all worried."
"Surely it wasn't all that bad."
"Aimee, you've been out for three days."
"Three days?! What's going on with my teams?! What did I miss?!"
"Calm down, everyone's fine." Dr. Sakaki reassured her, gesturing for her to stay in bed. "They've all been taking care of your missions while you were recovering."
"Doc, did you-"
"I told the Den that you collapsed from exhaustion." Dr. Sakaki answered the question he all ready knew she was going to ask. Apparently he still felt that it was not safe to reveal the truth to the Den just yet. "Kota and your Guardians came to see how you were doing once, but Sakuya and Alisa have seemed to have locked themselves away in Sakuya's and each others room. They seem to have busied themselves with something."
"Oh..." Aimee replied, slightly saddened and hurt that the girls didn't come to check in on her at least once. Dr. Sakaki noticed that sad tone in her voice, like an abandoned child, so he tried to cheer her up with other news.
"But hey, Soma has been coming to visit you everyday. Sitting by your bedside for at least a half an hour each day before the day's missions begin and after the day's end. It's a relief to see him interacting with others like this. Makes me not have to worry over him as much."
"Really? That's nice..." Aimee smiled at the news, and her voiced warmed up to a soft happiness. But then she turned serious again. "How's he doing?"
"Completely stable and fully recovered, thanks to whatever you did in that crazy stunt you pulled." Dr. Sakaki answered, already knowing who she was talking about.
"Heh, all in a days work with the Resonance." Aimee lightly teased with a tired breath.
"Oh! I just realized something!" Dr. Sakaki happily exclaimed. Aimee could practically see the light bulb turning on on top of his head. "I think we can convert your Resonance into technology as Sensitivity. I'm not sure if it's even possible yet, but it'll be worth it. Can you come help me out with that when you're free?"
"Maybe some other time, Doc... When I'm not so tired."
"Hm, yes, of course. Take your time, I'm a patient man. You just focus on getting better. You've exhausted your Oracle Cells from that experience, it'll take another day until you completely recover."
"... Would you mind helping me out of here? I'd like to see how he's doing."
"What? You're not going to try and get out of that bed? You are, aren't you?" Dr. Sakaki gasped in disbelief as she stubbornly tried to get out of her sickbed. Her muscles shook in her weakened state, she could barely hold up her weight as she tried to get out of bed. All Dr. Sakaki could do was sigh as he realized that she wasn't going to budge, even for her own good. "(Sigh) Alright. I'll help you out."
"Thank you, Doctor." Aimee smiled at him as he placed a steady had to ease the burden of her own weight.
"But if we're going to do this, we're going to do this the right and 'safe' way. Once you're done, you are going straight back into this bed, young lady. Now stay in bed while I go roll over a wheelchair."
"Alright..."
"Hm, just wait a moment, please." Dr. Sakaki requested as he went over to the far end of the Sick Bay to get a wheelchair. Leaving Aimee and Ren alone to themselves.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart..." Ren genuinely thanked her for helping him save Lindow. "I made it that far only because of you."
"We made it together, my friend, I was more than happy to help."
"But you didn't have to help... You didn't have to talk to me... or be my friend. But you did... you actually talked to me. It made me feel so warm, I couldn't get enough of it."
"There are still more things in this world to talk about with each other."
"Yes... I'd love that..." Ren warmly replied with a smile. "Oh! And thank you for the Juice. It was delicious; much, much, tastier than Aragami."
"There will be more of that for us to drink together in the future, my friend. Much, much more..."
"Hm, yes... I'd like that... very much..."
"Good...!" Aimee happily smiled at him, before a curious look came over her suddenly. "Hey Ren?"
"Yes?"
"Since you're a God Arc soul with your own God Arc, does that mean your God Arc has a soul as well?"
"... That's an odd thing to bring up so suddenly."
"Well I just remember how you fought with a New-Type God Arc and it made me curious, but we had other pressing issues at the time for me to address it."
"Heh, well... I don't think it works like that. I mean, you're the one that's able to see me and you don't see a soul for my God Arc, right?"
"Yeah but, that might be because my P Bias Factor dosage might be off by the decimal. For all we know there could be a soul there that we cannot see. And what if that Soul has a God Arc of their own? Then it probably has a soul too with a God Arc as well. And it goes on-and-on into infinity."
"I think you're thinking too deep into this. Careful, you'll hurt yourself going so far back into infinity like that. It's probably more like a regular weapon for me, or more like an extension of myself."
"Hm, I guess I can live with that answer." Aimee happily conceded with a smirk when Dr. Sakaki had finally rolled back to them with the wheelchair.
"All right, let's do this properly. In you go then. Easy does it... steady..." He said as he helped her get out of her bed and into the chair. Steadying the chair along with her arms as she struggle to rest herself in it. Ren had also lent her a helping hand, making her seem slightly stronger in Dr. Sakaki's eyes as she finally safely landed into the wheelchair. "There! Now off we go then."
He had rolled her the short distance from the Sick Bay to his lab, with Ren following them by her side. The minor distance had probably helped with her getting Dr. Sakaki to agree to her temporary release. A calming silence had come over them during the short ride. Once he had finally shut his lab's door did they feel safe to talk she looked around his lab, she noticed that the little bundle of energy that use to grace his floor drawing pictures and eating snacks wasn't around.
"Where's Shio?" Aimee grew concerned as a sad worried look came over Dr. Sakaki's face.
"Shio's been... she's been not doing too well I'm afraid. Ever since Lindow's armlet was found... for some reason, Shio's behavior worries me a lot."
"Oh no..." Aimee said in concern as she looked to Shio's room. Dr. Sakaki could've practically see how she was trying to roll over to Shio's room, so he put the little extra force he needed to keep her in place. Aimee was unable to budge his normal strength due to her weakened state.
"Don't worry about her right now, she's safe in her room. Just do whatever you can to make sure the Branch Director doesn't find out she exist. Of course I'll pull what strings I can as well..."
"See that you do what you can to make her feel better."
"Oh I will, but you can visit her another time. Remember, just a quick visit to Lindow. Say what you need to say and then straight back to bed, Missy."
"All right."
"Good." Dr. Sakaki praised to her as she complied before opening the door to Lindow's room. Lindow was looking much better now; and his Aragami arm was no longer wrapped in chains. But what made her happy was the fact he no longer looked like he was in pain as a warm yellow glow came from the large shard embedded in the back of his Aragami hand. "Hey Lindow, you've got a visitor!"
"?!" Lindow turned to the Doc in surprised at the news of a visitor, but his face softened as he realized it was her. "Oh, it's you. You're finally awake..."
"Yeah, apparently." Aimee jokingly chuckled to him.
"I'll leave you two be for now. Try not to take too long, Aimee."
"Kay, thanks Doc." Aimee said to him before he left the room with Ren so that the two of them could talk alone.
"Ren told me about what you did. Damn... I don't believe you... how could you have gone all that way to help me."
"That's what friends do, they look out for each other. Besides, I could've never done that alone. Not without Ren's help."
"Hmph... Well, uh. This feels kinda weird trying to tell you this in person. I honestly didn't think I'd end up owing you this much... I'll be sure to repay you in all the battles to come. Either way, yeah... Thanks, Aimee."
"Hmph, no problem. Fixing friends is my specialty." That comment got a laugh from the both of them. Once their chuckles died down, Aimee began to talk again. "So... how are you feeling?"
"Fine, aside from the feeling of someone calling me in the back of my head, I feel better than ever actually. The Aragami-Transformation has stopped, but my Oracle Cells did not shutdown, so I was able to regain control; which was very unexpected." He answered before looking down at his Aragami-Transformed arm. "My arm now carries materials thought to belong to my God Arc. Instead of going through my armlet, now I can directly communicate to the Artificial CNS."
"CNS?"
"It's the core that makes our God Arcs what they are, it's actually an Aragami that's man-made. God Eaters control their God Arcs through their armlets, using intravenously injected P53 Bias Factor as a catalyst." Lindow explained. "But I don't need an armlet anymore; and, I can create a God Arc with my own arm. Old man Sakaki has been requesting to do some research on me, but I told him not a chance. I'm tired of being others Guinea Pig, or their Lapdogs for that matter."
"Great, Lindow!" Aimee happily said to him, before concern came over her. "But... does this mean... you'll no longer use Ren in battle?"
"Nah, I'll use both of them. The more the merrier. Besides... he's been looking out for me all this time. I would never just abandon my closest comrade and my oldest friend."
"Thank you, that's good to know..." Aimee had let out a sigh of relief she had no idea she was holding in.
"Hmph, but seriously... you two gave me my life back. I can't thank you enough..."
"How could I do anything else, my friend...?"
*** A day later ***
Dr. Sakaki had rolled Aimee back to the Sick Bay, where she had stayed bed written for the entire day. She had tried to stay up long enough, in the hopes of catching one of her visitors. But no one came that day after Dr. Sakaki dropped her off. She had hoped that Sakuya and Alisa would've visited, but she had sadly fallen asleep as neither of them showed up that day.
Even her morning was sightly gray as she woke up to realize nobody came the day before. She knew such thoughts weren't good for her during her recovery, but she couldn't help it... she felt forgotten.
But... that's when... Kota showed up. Honestly, she didn't care who it was. She was just happy to see someone from one of her teams.
"Oh! You're awake... thank God!" Kota said in relief as he noticed her finally sitting up on her sickbed, wide awake.
"Kota! It's good to see you!" She happily greeted him, practically bouncing in her mind as he went to sit in one of her visitor's chairs.
"My bad... you got exhausted, because we've been working you too hard..."
"No, no, Kota. It's none of you guys' fault. I'm the stubborn one who doesn't know when to quit."
"Tsubaki says you should take some time off, since you collapsed and everything. Try not to wear yourself out and get some rest."
"Ugh, but I'm so bored in here..."
"Hey! Since you're stuck in here, I'll lend you the whole Burgurally series!"
"Hm... thanks for the kind gesture, Kota." Aimee chuckled to him as she nodded in gratitude. Just then, Soma showed up. Her mood had lightened a little bit more. Aimee found it funny how Soma made her happy to see him and terrified at the same time. His angry look on his stone face made it feel like rain on a slightly clouded sunny day. Some cultures said that such weather conditions was a sign that God was fighting the Devil, and if the sun out shined the rain God was winning. Others said this was a sign that the Devil was beating his wife. Either way, both meanings were a sign for trouble. She suddenly founded herself slightly sinking under her covers at his presence. "Soma...?"
"Whoa, Soma?! I didn't think it was your style to go on 'Sick visits'!" Kota said in sarcastic shock.
"Tst, can it will you." Soma growled at him, slightly blushing in embarrassment as he crossed his arms in his place at the front door.
"Yikes, alright, you're the boss." Kota jokingly saluted to him before getting up from his seat. "Well, I should be going now anyway."
"So soon, Kota?" Aimee said, slightly pleading for him not to leave her alone with the wrath of Soma waiting to unleash on her.
"I've got a mission to get to this morning."
"Aww..." Aimee whined.
"All right, see you around!" Kota waved at her before passing Soma to the door. "Email me if you need anything!"
"Kay, bye. Be safe..." She gave him a small farewell wave before he had left her alone with Soma.
"..."
"H-h-hey, Soma..."
"Oh, right... so you survived?" He smirked at her nervousness as he came over to stand over her bedside.
"A-aren't you going to sit down...?"
"I prefer standing."
"Oh..."
"Tst, what do you think you're doing, working yourself down like that?" Soma growled at her in irritation and concern.
"Soma..."
"Sure, risk you're life for your subordinates. But don't end up like our former leader..."
"Uh..." Aimee didn't know how to react to that, because Lindow was doing pretty well for himself. But the others didn't know that...
"Think before you act. You're not that easily replaceable." Soma growled at her.
"Aw, so you were worried about me." Aimee had happily concluded by the hidden message behind his words. "Thanks for caring, Soma."
"W-what the?!"
"Ha! You're so cute when you blush like that."
"S-shut up!"
*** The next day ***
Aimee had finally been released from the Sick Bay, where she had returned to active duty. Once she was out of the Sick Bay the first thing she did was return to her room to change her clothes and take a bath. She had been trapped in the same outfit for over three days, she wanted to get ride of that icky feeling she was having. Once that was done, she had immediately went down to Dr. Sakaki's lab to visit Shio.
She was staring at the wall in her room with her eyes in daze. The poor child looked high on crack as she remained unmoving in her spot on the floor. The lack of the child's usual happy energy worried Aimee.
"Hey, Shio..." The sound of her name being called finally made Shio move to turn her head toward Aimee.
"Aimee...you're okay..."
"I'm fine. How are you feeling, Baby...?" Aimee softly said to Shio as she knelled down to her level and gently rubbed her head.
"Strange... Mm... Are you hungry?"
"No, Sweetie, I'm not hungry."
"... I see... Then, I'm happy!"
"I'm glad to hear that. I have to go for awhile. We can go on a Play date with the girls when I get back."
"Okay... come back soon..."
"I will..."
*** City of Mercy ***
"I heard about... you guys finding Lindow's God Arc and armlet..." Yummie sadly pointed out as Aimee and her fought off two Fallen Chi-You in the open area while Nonna and Ron took on the Dyaus Pita. She sounded so sad, and so apologetic at the news.
"Should we call off the Search Missions?" Nonna asked while flipping backwards to avoid the Dyaus Pita's claw before firing at it with her pistols.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. We found Lindow ages ago, I just wanted you guys to keep searching for his God Arc." Aimee honestly confessed to them without batting an eye. It was like she was commenting that they sky was blue.
"..."
"What?!" Ron and Yummie exclaimed in outrage, putting more force into their attacks from their anger. Yummie's Fallen Chi-You was downed and she had taken to start working on Aimee's in her fury.
"Yeah, we've been hiding Lindow in Dr. Sakaki's lab for weeks now as he slowly recovered. He's doing a lot better now."
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?!" Yummie was fuming, her throw attack with her ring blade tore off the Fallen Chi-You's wing armor and dropped it to its knees.
"I couldn't trust talking to you guys about it while we were in the Den. The walls have ears."
"You had plenty of time to tell us while we were out on missions." Nonna pointed out. She spoke calmly, but the anger could be seen in her merciless shots as she took off the Dyaus Pita's head armor. Yummie was steaming too as she decapitated the last Fallen Chi-You with one of her smaller ring blades. Ron wasn't a happy camper as well, his crushing blows nearly chopped off the Dyaus Pita's paws along with its claw armor. It felt like they had been betrayed.
"I'm sorry guys, I would've told you sooner. But Lindow was in really bad shape and couldn't handle the stress of many visitors. Also, his Oracle Cells have been infected so he lost his right arm to a more Aragami-Infected arm. The Den is not ready to know that he's still alive and well, or the fact that he's changed a little."
"You could've still told us, we would've kept the secret!"
"Pfft, please Yummie. You can't keep a secret when you're excited."
"What?!"
"Well... she kinda has a point there, Yummie. You have given away a lot of our secrets, even mine..." Ron awkwardly pointed out, rubbing the back of his head in defeated admittance while the PARs devoured their targets cores.
"N-no I haven't!"
"Yes, you do." Nonna agreed along with Ron.
"No I don't!"
"It's not your fault. You're just a social bug by nature, you can't help it." Aimee stated to Yummie, coming to her defense. "And I refuse to tell my team a secret if I can't tell them all. I would rather keep the secret to myself than single out a single one of you guys."
"Aimee..."
"But we can't talk about this at the Den, I honestly don't know who we can trust. Tell the other Guardians about this only when you're out on a mission, and 'only' to them."
"Can't we tell Sakuya, or the others in the First Unit?" Ron asked, remembering how heartbroken Sakuya was when Lindow had first gone missing and after they had found his armlet again.
"No... they're not ready to know yet. I think it's best to wait until we know that it's safe to bring Lindow back to the Den..." Aimee said. She hated keeping secrets from both of her teams that trusted her so much, but she also hated favoring one team over the other. So now the First Unit can have their secret about Shio, and her Guardians can have their secret about Lindow. That made things even... but none the less deceptive. "Remember keep this a secret, we've got to keep Lindow safe. I mean it, Yummie, no spilling the beans."
"Ugh, alright, alright! My lips are sealed."
*** Forgotten Carrier ***
The girls had just gotten done taking down a new breed of Kongou. It was stronger than a normal Kongou with its Divine bolts, and it fought like something fierce. But the girls were able to take it down without a problem, using its clumsy footing against it. While the girls waited for Shio to eat up, they stared at the island on the other side of the sea... with the large dome on it.
"It's so big." Sakuya commented. "The key to the Aegis Project, human kinds last hope... Aegis Island."
"How? What exactly are they doing over there?" Aimee asked.
"I don't know, it's top secret." Sakuya looked over toward Aimee and Alisa, noticing that Shio was no longer by the Aragami... but up on the carrier. "Shio... is something the matter?"
"?" Aimee turned toward Shio at the sound of Sakuya's question. How did she get up there? That's when Aimee noticed the glowing Oracle Cell enhanced lines that covered all over her body almost like a tribal tattoo. Shio wasn't answering them, she just kept looking toward the island... almost like in a trance. "!"
"Shio! What's wrong with you?!" Sakuya asked her in concern.
"It's calling... I want to eat... I want to eat... that's what it's calling." Shio answered in a transparent voice. "Looks delicious..."
"Shio!" Aimee called out to her in alarm as she fell into the sea.
*** Dr. Sakaki's Lab ***
And so here the girls stood in Dr. Sakaki's lab, tired and disappointed in themselves as Sakuya explained to Dr. Sakaki what happened to Shio that early morning. Duke quietly rested on the couch.
"And then she plunged into the ocean and vanished from sight... is that what happened?" Dr. Sakaki summed up.
"I'm so sorry..." Sakuya guilty apologized for the group. They all felt like it was their fault, they noticed that Shio wasn't doing very well they should've been watching her better when she started acting strange.
"No, no. The most important thing is that you're all safe and sound." Dr. Sakaki assured to them, they already looked beaten down enough they didn't need any extra help from their conscious. "Sakuya, you're sure that the location is at the north end of the carrier, near Aegis Island?"
"Yes... That child... what in the world do you think happened to her?"
"I really can't say at this stage."
"I see... Very well, then."
"At any rate, I might be calling on you to search for Shio. If I find anything, I'll let you know. I hope you'll get some rest now." Dr. Sakaki suggested, noticing the black rings around their eyes. They had stayed out all night looking for Shio after she had plunged int the ocean, and had not returned back to the Den until that morning to sadly report Shio's disappearance to him.
Sakuya and Alisa nodded as they left the lab to get some rest in their rooms. Aimee stayed longer to see if Dr. Sakaki had more to say. After the door closed, his face took on a more serious look than his usual fox-grin.
"Sooner than I thought... This doesn't bode well at all."
"Doctor-" Aimee was going to ask what he meant when her cellphone went off, pulling it out of its stash in the back of her corset she saw that she had gotten a text message from the Director. "Hm... seems that Director Johannes wants to see me in his office right now. I'll be back in a little bit, Dr. Sakaki."
"Alright, I'll tell Soma about Shio while you're gone." Dr. Sakaki would've told Kota as well, but Kota had left the Den on his leave to check-in on his family.
"Kay, that'll make things easier to add to our search power." Aimee agreed as she left Duke to sleep on the couch, since she would be back soon anyway, and left out of the door. The long walk to the elevator to the Executive's Floor wasn't long, but it was tiring. She had been out all night and now she would most likely have a Secret Mission added on to her worries about Shio. If anything she would make this quick and swift so she could continue searching for Shio. Finally making it to the Director's Office, she walked inside and stop at the Directors desk as he waited for her in his seat. His elbows were resting on his desk; his fingers entwined together in front of the lower half of his face. "You wanted to see me, Sir?"
"Mm... I see you have made a full recover after your little exhaustion collapse. I hear that you went right back into action immediately after you were released from the Sick Bay. Good job, I'm glad to see you up and about again. This Den cannot afford to lose fighters like you."
"Thank you, Sir, that was rather kind of you to care."
"I summoned you here for a reason. At this time, I'd like to charge you with a Special Mission, which is your top priority."
"Oh?"
"The other day, the core of a unique Aragami was detected around Aegis Island, near the Pacific coast." Director Johannes explained. "You're mission is to subdue this Aragami, which is thought to possess superior intelligence."
"I see." Aimee was starting to lose the usual excitement in her voice than she usual had when it came to Special Missions. She thought she was going to go after another Colossal Type Aragami again, not track down who she thought he wanted her to track down...
"If you do manage to find that Aragami..." He said, leaning back into his seat. "Extract its core immediately, ensuring that it's absolutely intact, and bring it back with you."
"I see..." Now she understood what Lindow meant about the Director. The man was up to something... something that would harm Shio...
"This Special Mission is of the utmost importance and should be given top priority." He explained further, returning back to his original position.
"I'll see what I can do, Sir, but I can't make any promises..."
"Hm, I suppose it'll be much too difficult to launch a search all on your own... So take Soma with you."
"... (Sigh) Alright..."
"That's all I have to say, I wish you Godspeed." Director Johannes dismissed her, she waved him a back-hand-goodbye as she left his office. Making her way back to Dr. Sakaki's lab with a little more energy as the news shot her awake again.
Dr. Sakaki was there where she had last left him, and Soma had made it to the lab while she was gone. He was sitting on the lab's lecture couch as they both turned to the door at her entrance. Surprisingly, Aimee had expected for Soma to just kick Duke off the couch as he sat down, but to her happy shock he just sat in the space around Duke, leaving the tired PAR to peaceful sleep.
"Good to see you so soon, Aimee." Dr. Sakaki greeted to her as his nervous turned into relief as he realized it was only her. "All is well, I hope?"
"Good news, Doc. Looks like Director Johannes did most of the work for us. Let's go pick up Shio before someone else does." Aimee said before turning to address the other guy in the room. "Come on Soma, we have a 'Special Search Mission' to get to."
"Right..." Soma slightly groaned out as he got out of his seat.
"We'll bring her back, Dr. Sakaki." Aimee said to him before going over to finally wake up Duke. He was a little drowsy, but he still complied to his partner's wishes.
"Be safe you two."
"Right," Aimee complied before Soma and her left the lab. As they moved down the hallway toward the elevator, Soma had decided to talk again.
"When we reach the Special Mission destination, can we talk? I need to tell you something." Soma asked as they walked towards their mission.
"Yeah, sure, let's get going."
*** Forgotten Carrier ***
They stared out into the Forgotten Carrier as the sun was about to rise. A beautiful orange had hued the sky and coated their surroundings. Aimee had remained silent and still, waiting until Soma was ready to talk. It took him awhile before he finally said a word.
"... I bet you've already figured this out... but the Aragami with the special core that the Director wants us to find... it's got to be Shio."
"Yup..."
"All my life I've let that S.O.B father of mine send me on these Search Missions. But no way... no way am I going to hand Shio over to that bastard."
"I'm happy to hear you say that news, but... He's still you're father... Can't you talk about him a little nicer...?" Aimee said sadly, the idea of a tension between a father and child's relationship was unbearable to her.
"Hmph," Soma grunted at her before he pointed his God Arc's tip at her face. "Don't get me wrong. I just don't like how he manipulates me and Shio as if we're his goddamn toys, that's all."
"..." Aimee remained unmoving, showing no signs of fear as she looked toward him. Mostly she would never fear him, no matter what he did, and that made Soma a little happy inside. A smirk came over his face as he pulled his God Arc away from her to rest it on his shoulder.
"Come to think of it... I've jabbed you with my sword the first time we went on a mission together too. You were just a stranger then... and now you're a Leader... and so much more..."
"Soma..."
"There's no question she's around here somewhere... but I hear other Aragami are on the loose as well... Don't let your guard down."
"Right... let's bring her home."
They had both jumped off of the Starting Point and headed down the bridge. Once there, they were greeted by a new breed of Quadriga that looked straight out of an Aztec legend. The Aragami was persistent and as tough as nails. Aimee had tried to punch through the Aragami's defenses as she took on her self-induced burst, but its armor was relentless. Her knuckles were beginning to bruise through her efforts.
"Ugh, this Gingersnap's got some crunch to it." Aimee grunted out as they point dodged it's satellite Divine Lasers and its missiles in between attacks.
"What do you think you're doing? Fall back." Soma ordered to her with a frustrated growl as he noticed how her knuckles were starting to bleed through her fingerless fighting gloves. "Leave this to me. You can't damage the Tezcatlipoca's armor."
"Says you. I'll break down its defenses sooner or later. I just have to keep PUSHING!" Aimee shouted as she finally broke through it's chest armor. "Ha! How's that!"
"Ngh, just get them already."
"Alright, sourpuss." Aimee pouted as he wouldn't let her soak in her victory. Once the chest armor was destroyed, the Tezcatlipoca went down without much of a fight.
Leaving Duke to devour its core, they continued on toward the carrier to look for Shio.
She wasn't too hard to find, following the trailed of core-less Ogretail corpses. They could hear the faint humming coming from on top of the carrier, leading them right toward Shio. She hummed the song in her head so cutely as she sat innocently around the massacre of Ogretails. Her tune sounded so sweet... and yet so sad...
For the first time in her existence, Shio began to cry. Picking up the startling tear on her finger, she looked at it with curiosity.
"Oh... What is this, I wonder...?" Soon more tears began to escape from her eyes. Not liking the feelings they caused, she began to aggressively wipe them away. "I don't... like this one..."
"Because it's a song of parting, that's why." Soma explained to her, recognizing the song she was humming.
"A song of parting...?"
"I'll never see my loved one again... that's what the words say."
"!" Aimee was taken aback by Soma's explanation, his words pulled a painful cord in her heart. It took everything in her to hide the painful gasp and the hurt from her face... why did the past always come back to break her to pieces again?
"I see..." Shio said in understanding. "But... we did meet again."
"Jeez, that's because I came looking for you!" Soma said in complaint as he tried to hide his embarrassment. Soma was lucky Aimee's heart line was long and thin or else Aimee would be the jealous and possessive type. "Let's go home, Shio."
"Okay," Shio was about to get up when the Oracle Cell lines returned to her body. The experience made her cringe in pain as she curled into her body like a caterpillar. "Aughhhhh!"
"!" Aimee gasped in concern.
"Shio! Is it happening again?" Soma asked to her as she got back up to her feet and looked toward Aegis Island, not even addressing them.
"I've got to go..."
"Hey, come back here!" Soma called out to her as she started to walk away. "Shio!"
"..." She turned her head to look back at him for a second. Suddenly the lines disappeared and she collapse on her feet.
"Hey, what's wrong? Hey!" Soma called out to her, but she was unconscious. Aimee and Soma had made their way up the rubble to her. Checking Shio's condition as they knelled on both sides of her. "Damn! I don't get what's going on, but we're heading back to the Den!"
"Right!" Aimee agreed as she placed Shio gently on her back as they ran back to the Starting Point. Whatever was wrong with her, they would have a better chance at finding out with Dr. Sakaki.
*** The next day ***
Shio had calmed down from her outburst, but was locked into her room until her conditions disappeared. Dr. Sakaki had noticed that Lindow was experience similar symptoms as well. Saying that someone was calling him, and he kept getting dizzy. He kept asking where Aegis was... This did not bode well with Dr. Sakaki.
And to make matters worse, Sakuya and Alisa had somehow made it on Fenrir's Most Wanted List last night. Aimee had to secretly call in Soma and Kota into her room when she had finally got into contact with the girls. They had explained everything... about Aegis Island, about the Ark Project...
"So that's everything we know about the Aegis Project and the Ark Project." Sakuya finished up her explanation. "And that sheet there... is a list of all the people... eligible to board the Ark."
Aimee had printed out a copy of the files once Sakuya had sent to her Terminal. Kota was devastated by the news as he sat on the couch. Soma was unreadable as he leaned on Aimee's window-screen; a foot resting on her wall, and his arms crossed.
"Every single one of our names is on that list." Sakuya continued to explained. "Also, relative to each passenger, up to the 2nd degree will be permitted to board. And one other thing, since we broke into Aegis, Alisa and I have been taken off the list. Even so, if things go as planned, you guys will be on the side of the saved. Whereas Alisa and I are probably fugitives now, as far as the Branch is concerned."
"The Aegis Project... was a lie? But how... how can that be?" Kota said in devastation that the one thing he had put all his hope in to secure his family's safety was a farce.
"I was never going to follow that tyrant's orders anyway." Soma commented with a grunt. "Besides, unlike the rest of you, my body is half Aragami. You really think they'll let someone like me survive in the next world?"
"Soma..." Aimee hated when he would get like this, it would tear her heart out a little.
"Even so, the Director... I mean your father... put your name down on this list." Sakuya pointed out.
"What do I care." Soma grunted out.
"Let me say this one more time... I refuse to allow this boat to set sail." Sakuya said with determination.
"She's right," Alisa agreed on the other line. "We have to stop the Director from carrying out this heinous crime! First of all, we're going to stay hidden and find a way to infiltrate Aegis again."
"That's all we thought you should know..." Sakuya said, finishing up. "And I'd like for you all to decide on your own what you're going to do. Don't worry, even if you end up joining our enemies, we won't hold it against you."
"Although if you get in our way, we'll do everything we can to eliminate you."
"Alisa!"
"I'm only joking... But still... if at all possible, I hope that doesn't come to pass."
"I'm going to disconnect now. Think it over carefully... you don't want to have any regrets." And so Sakuya had hung up; Soma had left the room; and Kota still sat in his spot on Aimee's couch. She looked upon him in concern. She knew it was foolish of him to put all his hopes on one thing that wasn't even in his own power. But... that doesn't mean that... she enjoyed seeing him like this. So broken down and so... vulnerable.
"..." She waited for him to speak, not saying a word. She did not want to force him if he was not ready.
"Sorry..." Kota finally spoke, still keeping his head down. "But I'm... I'm going to board the Ark."
"..." She said nothing as he finally looked up at her.
"Hey - I do know what the consequences will be. But now that there's no Aegis Project, I have no other way to make sure that my family is safe."
"..." She waited for him to say all that he had to say as he looked down again.
"I decided long ago... to protect my family, my mother and sister, no matter what it took. That's why I became a God Eater..." Finally he looked back up to her again with determination. "And that's why I'm going to board the Ark."
"... You must trust in your power..."
"?" That's all she said to him as she left the room. She was going to have a busy day that day, now that the Director's plan was coming out. Her First Unit was broken in two, but that doesn't mean that the Aragami will stop devouring...
*** One who Devours Tomorrow Mission ***
Since the Den was in chaos as the Director was summing everyone one-by-one and Kota was off duty for awhile, Soma and Aimee had to handle the Unit's missions on their own. Not to mention gather the food supply to keep Shio stable and calm. Lindow was more manageable for Aimee, she just had to sneak in some beer rations to him while the others weren't looking and Dr. Sakaki would keep him fed with normal food rations. Aimee would even give Ren and Shio some First Love Juice, it seemed to help calm Shio down a lot. Whatever Dr. Sakaki had put in that stuff it was working wonders.
But now here Aimee and Soma stood in the church inside the City of Mercy. Duke stayed behind, to look after Shio, as Aimee and Soma faced off with the legendary Gods Eater Eater Aragami, the Susano'o. Aimee had already faced this Aragami before, unknown to everyone except Ren and Lindow, but they weren't going to tell anybody that. She had already known all its moves and all its weak points. Soma had once had experience with this type of Aragami, but that was a long time ago and he was a little rusty. It took him by surprise to see her facing this new Aragami so flawlessly.
"You seem to be handling yourself pretty well..." Soma pointed out to her as they both dodged the Susano'o's jumping legs. They had already taken out the extra Blaze and Frost Fallen Zygote, so they had the Susano'o all by itself after Soma had extracted their cores. "Have you faced this Aragami before?"
"Not really..." Technically Lindow faced it, and she faced the same one in his mind. But Soma didn't have to know all the details - he'd probably think she was crazy either way. Oddly enough, the one inside the Resonance was much stronger than the one they were facing now. Not even its God Arc claw bites could compare to the other ones. This one was like comparing a stray cat to a tiger, it just didn't seem like a good match up.
"Tst, be honest with me. Did my bastard of a father send you on an Assisted Suicide Mission?" Soma growled at her. Putting up his shield, while Aimee jumped in the air, as they blocked and dodged the Susuno'o's swinging needle tail.
"Assisted Suicide? What kind of mission is that?!"
"Hmph, that's when over excessive amounts of Oracle Cells inside a Gods Eater mutate and trigger an Aragami Infection. The human soul is practically lost as the Gods Eater is driven by the desire to consume. That's what most of these Susano'o once were. It is the task of the Gods Eater Unit Leader to dispatch the Gods Eater if that should ever occur with an 'assisted suicide' and information cover-up' duties."
"What?! No!" Aimee gasped out. "God, Soma, that's terrible! Why would you even think that?"
"Knowing my shit of a father, he would probably send you on missions like that without a second thought, since you most likely could get the job done without having to use the Gods Eater's own God Arc to do the job."
"Quit talking about your father like that! I know the man's not perfect, and he's done some terrible things. But he's still the man that gave you life!" Aimee yelled at him as she broke off the Susano'o's claw armor.
"What the hell do you know about my old man?!" Soma had growled at her in rage that she would defend his bastard of a father. He had delivered a heavy blow on the Susano'o, knocking it down off its legs and out of the way for a while as he faced Aimee. "I've been around him for my whole life, what do 'you' know?"
"Have you? From what I've seen so far, you can't even be in the same room as the man for more than once a month!"
"Quit acting like you know the man! What kind of father sends his own son to fight off Aragami when he's only twelve?! I've never seen that man as my father!"
"At least he's been there for you, you ungrateful brat!"
"Tst, what the hell is so grateful about that?!"
"AT LEAST YOU STILL HAVE A DAD! I NEVER EVEN GOT TO SAY GOODBYE TO MINE!"
"!" Soma was taken aback as she started to cry.
"I didn't get to say goodbye... (Sniffle) When we parted that day. I am never... never going to see him again..."
"..." Her anger had drained the energy out of her, she was so tired.
"Your dad has made some big mistakes and some wrong choices, but he was still there. He's not perfect, but he's only human. You only get one father in this life, and yours is still here. Don't lose him... like I've lost mine, or you'll regret it..."
"Aimee..." Sometimes Soma would forget that she was still a young woman seeking the guidance of her father. But... her father was no longer there to hold her hand through it all. He had even been ripped away from her too early before she had even come this far. It was cruel of him at times to flaunt what he had in front of her like he didn't want it while she would give anything to have it. That was just like him back then, when he wanted a family and friends to fight with; to celebrate the holidays with; and, just create memories with together, when everyone else was just too afraid to be near him. God... he felt terrible.
ROAR!
"!" And how could they forget that the Susano'o was still there? It was back on its feet and angered for being ignored. Bracing themselves, they got ready for another fight when a sword came flying through the church's upper window like a spear from heaven. Impaling the Susano'o with its long blade like a stake in the center of the church, instantly killing it. The light from the window shinning on its corpse. "!"
"Oh God..." This blade... sent a chill down Aimee's spine. It's length was longer than any Galacier Kanata X Soma has ever seen before, and much more colder. Aimee had seen this blade before, once so long ago. And she had prayed with every being inside of her that the world would never see it again.
"Good to see you... Aimee." Came the smooth voice of a man from the window.
"!" Both of them gasped at his presence on the Aragami's makeshift entrance inside the church. Soma was shocked that the man had found his way out there without getting eaten by the Aragami, let alone climb all the way up the church to actually reach that window. But as he looked closer and his eyes adjusted to the light coming from outside, his blood nearly froze as he recognized the man. Aimee knew who he was the moment she heard his voice. His hair was longer than before, rivaling Aimee's length as it reached down below his back, but he still looked the same as the last time she had saw him.
"Seth!" She gasped in shock at his magical defiance of Death.
"You look the same as I last saw you." Seth commented as he looked down at her, slightly smirking. "That's too bad... I was expecting you to be an old hag."
"Same goes for you," Aimee grunted getting into a defensive stance. "You haven't aged a day."
"Hmph, the last of my humanity had been destroyed as I devoured the Aragami throughout these many years." Seth answered as he look off into the distance of the back of the church as if looking at a memory. "Choking it... Corroding it... until there was nothing left, leaving me ageless and fully Aragami."
"You abandoned your humanity for madness?!"
"No..." Seth answered, jumping down as if he were floating as he landed to retrieve his blade from the Susano'o's back. "I abandoned my filth for Divine power."
"How, Seth?" Aimee growled, getting aggressive as he got closer to them to get his blade. "How are you still live?!"
"Hmph, did you really think that bullet could actually stop my Oracle Cells?" Seth coyly mocked.
"!" Aimee was shocked that the shot didn't kill Seth; Soma was just shocked that she actually 'tried' to kill him.
"The fall only temporarily left me incapacitated for a couple of days." Seth continued to explained as he looked at his blade and its shinning tainted glory. "I've been staying in the shadows since then until the opportune moment had arrive to reveal myself to the world again and continue on with my plan."
"And what plan is that?"
"Why the destruction of mankind, of course, little sister."
"You've gone mad!"
"No, I have become one with the world and everything in it. Mankind has destroyed and tainted this planet with their petty squabbles and their greed. The planet is better without them, little sister."
"Don't call me that! You've lost the right to call me that the moment you killed Charlie and all those people!"
"!" So that's why Aimee despised Seth so much...
"Hmph, he was in my way."
"He wasn't in your way, he was trying to make you see reason. You are nothing like the man you once were."
"I will take that as a compliment... and I was hoping that you had change your mind about joining me, little sister. Together, with the others, we can build a new world over this putrid husk that humanity as beaten this planet into."
"Never! AHHHH!" Aimee charged at him, going into a burst as she readied her hardest hit.
"Hmph," but he jumped out of the way, and back onto the church window with his blade in hand. "In time, you still need more time to think about it."
"SETH!" She screamed out to him in rage as her blood red eyes looked up at him from her spot. The colorful lights from the remaining pieces of the broken window, and the light from outside, had shined upon her as she faced her Fallen fellow Guardian.
"The time has come, dear little sister, for the Guardians to guide this world into a new era." Before Seth jumped out of the window, facing them as he leaped back, he said these few final words to Aimee. "Come see me if you and the others change your mind. You know where to find me. Heh ha, heh ha Hahaha hahahaa!"
"Seth!"
"Aimee! Let it go!" Soma growled at her, grabbing her arm as he noticed she was about to chase after him.
"Let go, I have to destroy him." Aimee said before struggling out of his grip again as she cried out toward the window. "Seth!"
"Give it up, Aimee!" Soma barked at her as he was forced to drag her back to the Starting Point, to the Chopper, and all the way back to the Den.
*** A day later ***
A cloud of fear had come over the Guardians at the news of their former Rank 1 still being alive. Soma didn't know what to do as they sat around the Entrance, silent as stone in their fright. Yummie was curled up in a ball in the corner of the railings as she shivered in fear and she buried her face in her arms. Ron and Jack had sat on the railings with their heads down to hide the frighten look on their faces. Azuma and Kamali had sat on the floor by the railings, Azuma in seizan and Kamali in Indian-style, as Azuma comfortingly held an arm around her. Kamali was deep in thought and was closed off from the world around her. Nonna was in a similar state as she lied on the couch like Aimee did on the other side, resting their heads on each others shoulder.
"That devil is alive..." Yummie finally spoke, her voice quivered with fear. "W-w-what are we going to do...? If we don't stop him soon, people will... will get hurt..."
"Do not stress yourself, Yummie. We took him out once, we can do it again." Aimee comfortingly said to Yummie from her spot.
"Yeah, but... you were the only one that could take him down, and he's 'still' around."
"We'll get him this time, I promise. I will not allow the job to be left half done this time."
"But... I'm scared, Aimee... I'm so scared..."
"You'll be alright. I promise... I won't let him hurt any one of you, Yummie..." Aimee assured to her soothingly from her spot, the others couldn't help but believe her from the determination in her voice. "What are big sisters for anyway?"
"Sis..."
"Do you guys mind keeping an eye on things?" Aimee said, gently getting up from the couch so she didn't joist Nonna. "I have to take care of a mission with Duke."
"Alright but be careful, child." Kamali said to her, finally coming out of her thoughts as she looked up toward Aimee. "There is a darkness that draws the Fallen on to this place."
"Hm," Aimee nodded to her before she headed to the elevator to go get Duke from her room.
"Come back soon, Aimee."
"I'll try, Yummie." Aimee said before going into the elevator. As the doors closed, Nonna left her with three words.
"Be safe, Aimee..."
*** Hours later ***
Soma was interrupted from his break as someone had started banging on his room's door. Tired and a little frustration that whomever was on the other side kept hitting at his door even as he was getting up to answer it. Once he got to his door he was going to give whomever was on the other side a piece of his mind.
Angrily, he opened the door only to lose the edge in his anger when he saw the nervous fright in Yummie's face. Kamali and Azuma were waiting for him to answer Yummie's knock, resting their backs on the opposite wall as they waited.
"Ugh, what do you want brat?" Soma groaned out.
"Aimee went out for a mission in the Wailing Plains, we need your help to help get her back."
"She had a mission with that Poseidon Aragami today, didn't she? Aimee can handle herself, she'll be back on her own."
"She went on that mission hours ago and hasn't returned yet." Yummie insisted. "I think... I think she went to face Seth on her own..."
"!" That got Soma's attention.
"She probably went to fight him on her own so the rest of us wouldn't get hurt. Please, we have to get her back before he kills her." Yummie pleaded.
"He wouldn't do that, he's a Guardian like you guys."
"Charlie was Guardian too, and he cut him open like a butcher." Kamali pointed out to Soma.
"!"
"We have to go, now," Yummie started to yank on his jacket's sleeve. "The more time we waste, the less likely we'll bring her back alive."
"Nh, alright!" Soma growled out, yanking himself out of Yummie's grip as he left his room to run toward the Hangar with the others. "Let's go!"
"Right," Kamali and Azuma agreed with him.
"Tst, why the hell didn't she take that Mamba thing with her?! It would've made the fight much easier!"
"Pfft, as if," Yummie huffed at Soma's logic. But Azuma was the one to explain to him why she didn't do it.
"She's going to fight against Rank 1. He could automatically void her control over Mamba and take over, leaving no one to over-ride his command until he ceases himself. Bringing Mamba into that fight is like giving the ultimate weapon to the enemy. And knowing Seth, he would use Mamba like a savage massacre."
"!"
"We have to go now. A storm is coming..." Kamali said.
*** Wailing Plains ***
"So, you finally showed up... Aimee..." Seth said to her, continuing to look toward the raining gray skies as Aimee approached him. The wet ground soaked her feet in mud and her hair weighed down on her as she look up toward Seth from the circular arena around the twister. He had placed himself on top of one of the crumbled buildings outside the arena as he refused to take his eyes off the crying skies to look at her. The Poseidon in the area was long since dead, now it was just her and him. "How did you know I was here...?"
"I took a guess knowing that you'd be attracted to the ruin and the desolation."
"Hmph, how clever of you." Seth mocked with a chuckle. "Have you change your mind about my offer?"
"You know my choice will never change, the answer is no."
"Really? I'm willing to forgive your past transgression against me if you turned to my side, my Guardian sister."
"Heaven is willing to forgive all the sins that you've done, but I am not." Aimee answered as she got into a for defensive stance. "You've fallen too far for me to ever look upon you the same way again."
"Oh? And what of my other Guardian brothers and sisters?"
"They fear you, Seth. But they will never side with you."
"Is that your choice?"
"It is 'our' choice."
"I see... well, no matter. I have survived this long alone without you all, I can survive alone in the new world as well."
"You will never create this new world."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"I will stop you."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Hmph, heh ha HAHA Hahaha!" His shoulders began to shake as he laughed, Seth hissed in a breath of air as his laugh came to a stop. "By all means, Aimee, try."
"AHHHHH!" Aimee cried out as she leaped into the air toward Seth. Changing into a burst as she was airborne, she brought her fist back to deliver the first punch to Seth. But as she was just about to connect her fist with him, a giant mountain lion had leaped in on her from the side. Knocking her away from Seth, and under its weight. Jen... so she survived too... "!"
Aimee had feared what had become of Jen as she leaped into the crack in the earth after Seth. She didn't seem to have fallen into madness like her partner, as she looked down at Aimee with apologetic recognition, but she was still loyal to the death. Loyal enough to remove all obstacles in his path... even Aimee. As Jen was about to bite into Aimee's jugular, Duke had leaped on Jen to knock her off of Aimee. The PARs had a toggle-war with each other as they rolled over the ground, fighting for dominance. Knowing that if any one of them had lost, their partner would be in danger of the other.
While the PARs were busy with their own fight, Aimee had gotten on her feet and continued on with her charge at Seth. But with the wave of Seth's hand a Fallen Sariel and an Aether charged at Aimee at his command. Refusing to waste anytime with them, she jumped in the air to grab both of their heads and bashed them together, destroying their crown armor along with their skulls. Aimee landed back on the ground before the Aragami even fell from the sky.
"I see that you've learned some new tricks over the years, Seth."
"Hmph, indeed I have..."
At last they had met in arms. It was not a fair fight. Seth not only had a range advantage over her, he also had the better, sharper weapon. Aimee had to struggle to get in close to Seth to even land a punch, and even then he would dodge her with ease. It wasn't a fair fight; but, life wasn't fair, Aimee knew that better than anyone. All she could do was dodge his swings and push her way through. His blade was longer than normal, but he was still quick so she'd have to be careful.
"Why, Seth? Why have you fallen so low?"
"Low?" He raised an eyebrow at her as he leaned back from one of her punches. "No, I have risen higher than humanity has ever imagined."
"So you willing threw your humanity away for the pursuit of power?"
"I threw away my humanity long before I desired power. Call my heart hardened, I don't care how high the cost may grow. My will shall still be so, I will never stop until the last man is dead."
"How could you be so cold. All this pain and devastation you've unleashed, how it tortures me inside." Aimee cried out to him as she delivered a crushing blow to the building below her to try and crush him in the falling rumble. "All the innocents that suffered from your insanity and crimes!"
"Hmph, there is no such thing as an 'innocent human'." Seth hissed at her as they both had fallen into the building and had taken the fight in what had once been an office building.
Striking from behind dusty cubicles to catch the other by surprise. The dust cloud they raised didn't help much for their surroundings or their lungs. But the dust did nothing to dilute their Bias Factor enhanced eye sight. Throwing a cubical wall at her, Aimee had kicked it down and out of the way to the surprise of finding Seth right in her face. Grabbing her face, he dragged her along side the other cubical walls, slamming her into the floor afterwards where she slid a good whiles, destroying the floor's tiles.
"Why would you do all this, Seth?" Aimee asked one last time as she got back on her feet, wiping the blood off her lips with the back of her hand. "Why have you betrayed humanity like this? Rose wouldn't want this."
"Humanity betrayed us first, along with Rose!" Seth growled at her. After all these years, Rose was still a soft spot for him. His anger had made him distracted, leaving himself open for Aimee to sneak in and land an upper cut on his chin. She had knocked him through the wall and out of the building again, where she had jumped through the hole he had created to catch up to him.
"What are you talking about?"
"Did you honestly think that it was an unfortunate accident that the UN had blown up Rose along with the Aragami?" Seth mocked to her with a venom she hasn't heard from him in a long time. "Do you honestly think it was just a foolish mistake on the Higher-ups parts that they had sent Rose on that mission alone when we were in the area as well?"
"What... what are you saying...?" Aimee didn't like where this was going, but she couldn't afford to lower her guard now.
"They didn't just send Rose out there on her own by accident, they wanted her to be alone!" Seth shouted in rage as he brought blade down, leaving her only one second to dodge it, in his rage he had split the building in two. As the building was falling apart into two pieces, Aimee had to jump to another damaged building. Seth had followed after her, swinging at her with a deranged technique that had her on her toes. "The people that we fought so loyally for had sent Rose to her death!"
"!"
"They feared us, they feared what we were capable of. So they tried to find a way to get rid of us, while only sacrificing one of us to find out since we were still needed! They couldn't afford to lose their Number 1, so what could be better to try it on than Number 2?!"
"How do you know this?"
"I hacked their files" he said with venom.
'So that's why he destroyed that computer.' Aimee thought to herself before speaking aloud again. "You have to stop this, Seth. Not everyone should have to pay for the sins of a few. You've killed the Higher-ups that have wronged you, you've already avenged Rose. So be done with this."
"No, I have become more than an avenger. I have become an executioner." Seth said with a dark determination. "Humanity has destroyed countless innocents ever since their appearance on this world. And they never learned to stop. Rose was the last innocent I will stand. Humans have become an Infection on this planet, and the only cure is their death."
"... I can't believe you were once a hero to me. You use to give me strength when I first started as a Guardian. You were like a big brother, I wanted to be brave like you." Aimee admitted with sadness before she was filled with hate and rage as she looked at Seth with her crimson eyes. "But now that I look at you, I can see that the Seth I once knew is long gone. You have become nothing more than a husk of what you once were, and have been replaced for a beast. You are nothing but an Aragami to me now and I will stop."
"If you get in my way, I will kill you."
"Sorry, but... I simply can't afford to lose. As the last of the Romani, I refuse to die here."
"You aren't the last Romani, you fool."
"What?" Aimee had gasped at the news, foolishly stopping in place in shock. She wanted to believe him, but she feared what it would do to her if he was lying.
"Your people are known as nomads for a reason, they have traveled the abandoned roads and avoided the Aragami and my radar for years now. Different caravans of different tribes, always slipping away from me before I can crush them. Hmph, no wonder your people keep surviving like cockroaches."
"Hey!" Aimee growled at him in rage at what he had called her people.
"Hmph, that was practically a compliment considering how lowly I think of humans."
"Regardless of what you think about them, humans are still living beings. They deserve to live!"
"What use are your gifted powers if you waste them on useless sentimentalism?! You're still weak just like your father!"
"(Gasp) What...?" She squeaked, weakened by the thought of her father.
"Stubborn old man, eventually died from grief before he was even sixty. I knew he was your dad because you had his eyes." Seth explained, enjoying sadness that came over her as her eyes widened with grief. "He always stayed one step ahead of me, keeping his caravan away from me and alive for another day. I'm amazed how he was able to keep the Aragami away from his caravan when the towns with actual defenses and buildings couldn't even stand a chance. Eventually he retired and raised up an apprentice to take his place as Chief. The new guy wasn't as fun as your father was, he was too sloppy."
"... Da...d...?"
"Aimee!"
"!" A voice had called out to her, bringing her out of her daze. But a moment too late as Seth's blade impaled itself into Aimee's stomach. "Gh!"
Time had seemed to slow down, her heartbeat sounded loudly in her ears. Aimee's eyes widen in shock as she gasped like her breath was taken from her. Not even reacting as Seth removed his blade from her slowly, steadying himself by resting his foot on her as he extracted it before he heartlessly kicked her to the ground. Aimee had rolled a bit to the edge of the building, where she had stopped on her back.
Half of her upper body hung over the edge of the building while she looked up to the sky as the rain came down on her. The rain made it look like she was crying as she was frozen in shock, only letting out a few gasping noise in pain. Seth had walked up to her, placing a foot where her wound was and mercilessly pressed down on it. Resting his blade at the side of her neck for a second, he readied himself as he was about to chop it off.
"Nh!" Was all Seth heard before he was forced to jump back as a Buster blade came swinging at him horizontal, trying to cut him in half. He was backed away from Aimee as a boy from his memories came to her rescue.
"It can't be? If it isn't the boy from the caravan massacre. Come back from the dead I see."
"Tst, shut up!" Soma growled at Seth as he got into a defensive stance in front of Aimee.
"Regardless, you're too late to save her. You were too late then, and you are too late now." Seth chuckled at him.
"Grr, you're going to pay for what you did to her, Asshole!"
"Ahh!" Yummie shouted at Seth, moving in before Soma could as she jumped toward him and threw her ring blade.
"Hmph, Aimee was too soft on you, child." Seth said to her as he moved to the side and nonchalantly spun her ring blade on his blade before flicking it to the ground like a hula-hoop. "You lack the will to kill."
"But I don't"
"!" Azuma had silently made his way behind Seth and almost got a good chest blow if Seth hadn't jumped away in the last second. Soma wasn't going to give him a break as he moved in on Seth before he even landed on his new spot. Flipping out of the way, Seth had jumped further back into the desolate city beyond the Wailing Plain arena. None of them would be able to jump as far as him to catch up, his time out in the wastelands had made him something nonhuman. Jen had followed after him, breaking away from her fray with Duke. "As fun as this was, I have other task to do. Things to find, people to destroy. Bye."
And with that he leaped off, fading into the fog and rain.
"Tst, damn bastard!" Soma growled at his retreating path.
"Aimee?! She's not healing!" Kamali called out to them from her place at Aimee's side.
"!" Soma had rushed to kneel at Aimee's side along with the others at Kamali's announcement. Kamali had moved Aimee away from the edge and onto a flatter surface while they were fighting as she tried to stop the bleeding. "What do you mean?!"
"I mean her wounds are not closing. The bleeding should have stopped by now." Kamali explained, looking down where her hand covered the wound to stop the bleeding. Blood still leaking out passed Kamali's hand to mix with the rain. To Soma's sick disgust... her wound was in the same spot as last time. Once again, he had come too late to protect her. Time had a sick humor of repeating itself...
"I-I don't understand, Kamali. Why aren't her Oracle Cells healing her?" Yummie cried out with a whimper.
"A-ah... Our weapons..." Aimee finally got out the words with a struggle. "Stop Oracle Cells..."
"!" How could they have forgotten...
"I'm going... to bleed out..."
"Like hell you are!" Soma growled at her, placing a hand on her as he tried to get a Link-Aid to kick start her Oracle Cells back into gear. But it wasn't working, so he kept the Link-Aid going, regardless of how it kept draining his health.
"Kamali... where are you...?" Aimee weakly moved her head around, looking for Kamali with tired eyes until she found her.
"No, Aimee. No." Kamali said to her. Ignoring her outburst and shaking head, Aimee took her hand in a strong binding grip. "No."
"I hear by... give over my command... to the next highest rank... as Rank 4. In my... unfortunate departure."
"No, Aimee, don't do this."
"Look after them... Kamali. I'm sorry that... I wasn't strong enough... to stop him... or avenge Charlie. Promise me you'll stop him... Finish off... what I could not."
"Quit talking as if you're dying!" Soma growled at her.
"But I am dying..."
"!"
"Soma... I..." She weakly reached a hand up to his cheek, cupping his warm flesh as the world was starting to feel cold around her. The rain made it look like she was crying. "I'm so sorry..."
"!" Her eyes closed as her hand started to fall back to the ground, but Soma caught it before it could hit. "Aimee...? Aimee!"
"..." Yummie began to cry as they all went silent.
"Why does it always have to be her?" Soma hissed silently to no one directly before he looked up to shout at the sky. "Do you hear? Why does all the suffering have to fall on HER?!"
"There's no need to shout." Kamali said to him. "God can hear you just fine."
"Can you save her?"
"Is that a question or a demand?"
"Can you save her or not?!" Azuma got a little defensive as Soma shouted at Kamali. He did not like the rage in Soma's eyes as he looked at her.
"Calm yourself, I cannot save her. But there is someone who can."
"What? Then what are we waiting for?!"
"Her pulse has weakened, but... If we can get her to Nonna by our Vault in the Hangar, we might still be able to save her." Kamali explained before pointing at Soma. "But only if you can keep... the Link-Aid."
"Fine! I'll do whatever it takes! Let's just get going!" Soma said as he lifted Aimee up in his arms. His right hand still kept the Link-Aid going from its spot on her back. Duke was out of commission from his fight and had to be carried on Anzi's shoulder, so Soma would have to run back to the Den on foot. Azuma had already called ahead to Nonna, giving her time to get ready for their arrival. Her chances of surviving were better at surviving than Charlie's was since the base was closer to them than it was for Charlie's case. Not to mention the fact that the Link-Aid Soma was having with her kept some of her Oracle Cells active to help slowly heal most of the wound before they'd shut down. But she was still bleeding out and Soma had no hands to stop the flow as he ran. Her chances of surviving were leaking out as we speak. "Don't you dare die on me!"
*** Author's Notes ***
Aw, thanks for the lovely Review DAngel18. You're such an angel... no pun intended, seriously, thanks for the nice Review. I'm sorry for the late update, Readers, but my internet wifi crashed so I haven't had time to upload my chapters for two weeks. But luckily that still gave me time to still write down the chapters on my LT, so thanks for your patience. I promise I won't leave this story or any other of my stories 'incomplete'.
