Chapter One
"Kotone, want to head home?" Looking up from her desk, Kotone spotted her friend, Shouko as she walked over to where she was sitting. They had been friends for years now, meeting in elementary school before eventually attending Gekkoukan High together. Now in their fourth year of high school, the year had just started, and things couldn't seem to be better.
"Yeah, sounds good! Let's get going," Kotone responded, a happy smile on her face. Picking up her bag, she made her way over to where Shouko was waiting before the two began to make their way towards the exit. Since they had the day off tomorrow, the two had made plans to walk around at Paulownia Mall.
"Didn't you say you were interested in joining the volleyball club? They are holding an informational meeting next week if you want to check it out," Shouko suggested as the two made their way out of the school and down the street.
"Is that so? I'd definitely like to go..." As Kotone began talking, her voice slowly trailed off when she noticed just how dark the sky had gotten. Seeing the look on Shouko's face, it was clear that she wasn't just seeing things.
"What the hell is happening? Wasn't it as bright as day just a second ago?" Shouko asked while Kotone continued to look around, confused. On top of that, it seemed as though everyone around them had seemingly disappeared. Just what was going on?
"Hey, who is that?" Shouko asked, prompting Kotone to look over in the same direction that her friend was staring at. Sure enough, there was a figure in the distance, though the darkness had made it difficult to see them clearly. Regardless, the sight of another person was a relief.
"E-Excuse me, do you happen to know where we are?" Kotone asked, calling out towards the person as she began to make her way towards them. The figure didn't respond, simply standing still while remaining silent. As Kotone grew closer to them, she could see that the person was actually a young girl, standing alone in the darkness. With light blonde hair and a simple blue dress, she seemed more ominous than anything.
"Erm, hello?" Kotone asked again, the girl remaining silent and unmoving as she stared straight ahead. Confused about what was going on, Kotone turned to Shouko, who was just making her way over.
"Kotone, watch out!" Huh? Turning back to look at the girl, she was surprised to see that someone else had appeared right behind them. A cloaked woman no older than her, with silver hair and burning yellow eyes.
"No matter how many times you die, you keep coming back," The silver-haired woman murmured, while Kotone stepped back, beginning to grow rather scared.
"What are you talking about, who are you?" The woman didn't respond, instead raising her right hand before pointing straight at Kotone.
"Alice, Mamudoon." What was she saying? Was Alice the girl in front of her? Before she could respond, the girl in the blue dress gave Kotone a smile so wide, it became unsettling. Then, she watched as black spiky arms sprouted from the girl's back, all aiming right towards her.
"Be a darling and die for me, will you?" Kotone couldn't move, frozen in fear despite every inch of her body telling her to run. She didn't know what was going on, but it was clear that the two people in front of her weren't here to help. She needed to move, or else she was going to die. So why wasn't her body responding?
"Kotone, run!" Shouko's voice was enough to snap Kotone out of her state of fear, as she instantly turned around and began to run down the street, Shouko doing the same thing.
"There's no use in running, it will end all the same," The woman called behind them. As a black spike crashed into the ground right beside Kotone, she let out a yelp of surprise before doing her best to run faster, not wanting to be hit. These people clearly weren't normal and seemingly wanted to kill them, yet Kotone had no idea how they would be able to defend themselves.
"Kotone, take a right!" Shouko exclaimed. Looking over to where she was pointing, she could see a dark alley amongst many, which would hopefully provide cover against the people chasing them. This time without hesitating, Kotone followed Shouko over towards one of the alleyways, the two of them continuing to run until they couldn't hear the two behind them any longer.
"What the hell was that?" Shouko asked, the two of them panting for air while Kotone shook her head, unable to produce an answer. This all felt completely unreal. From how dark it got, to the disappearance of people, to these seemingly supernatural girls trying to kill them. Just what was going on?
"I don't know, but we need to get out of here," Kotone stated, her voice still trembling slightly from the incident. With walls on either side of them, the only way to move was forward. Nodding silently to each other, the two of them began to make their way down the dark alleyway, their only source of light coming from the radiant moon above them.
"Let's go to my place. It's close to here and we can wait things out inside until this weird stuff passes," Shouko suggested as the two entered a different street, dark and empty like all the rest. There didn't seem to be any better suggestions, so Kotone nodded in agreement. As the two of them began to walk down the street, they were immediately cut off as several dark spikes sprouted out of the ground, several nearly piercing straight through Kotone.
"Where are you running? Don't you want to play?" The young girl in the dress asked while the silver-haired girl appeared behind her. Without a second thought, Kotone and Shouko turned the other way and began to run, only to find a strange woman in an orange cloak standing in front of them.
"Nebiros, Tentarafoo." Immediately, Kotone felt every inch of her body go ice-cold, while her heart began to pound rapidly. What was happening? No, she knew this feeling well by now. She was frozen with fear with one glance from the being in front of her. Feeling her knees go weak, Kotone eventually fell back, unable to move. Glancing over at Shouko, Kotone could see that she was in the same state as well.
"Who are you? What the hell do you want from us?" Shouko snarled, trying to keep a brave front despite the dire situation they seemed to be in. The silver-haired woman gave a cynical laugh as she walked around to be in front of them, before coming to a stop in front of Kotone.
"And what significance is there for all these meaningless questions? You two will soon be dead enough, so is there really a reason for this idle chatter?" Flinching as the woman lifted Kotone's chin, the girl could feel her fear slowly beginning to subside, allowing herself to speak in a small voice.
"Then, why? Why are you doing this?" She asked, the woman's yellow eyes remaining emotionless and indifferent.
"Kotone, get out of here, I'll stall for you!" Shouko shouted, desperation in her voice while a scowl formed on the woman's face as she turned to look at her.
"Silence, you." Turning back to look at Kotone, the woman let out a small sigh, before a look of longing seemed to linger in her eyes.
"You even basically share a name with each other. I should have known that it really was you, Makoto." Makoto? Who was that?
"I-I'm sorry, I don't know who that is. But, why are you trying to kill us? What have we done to you?" Kotone asked, her voice beginning to tremble the longer she stared into those mysterious yellow eyes.
"Kill? No, no, you've got it all wrong. I'm simply going to make sure that I can't lose you again. This time, I'll make sure that we're always together so that I can protect you. Got it?" Kotone watched as the woman used her free hand to produce what looked like a blue book, though it was visibly worn and damaged. Opening to a specific page, the woman then released Kotone's chin before taking out what looked to be some sort of card.
"Now, be a good girl and stay still." She needed to move. She needed to run and get out of here. But would running be any good if she could simply be immobilized then impaled with a spike? Would staying still be better than facing a painful death? Watching as Elizabeth held up the card towards Kotone, the girl remained silent, feelings of despair beginning to swarm her mind. Maybe it was better if she just let the woman have her way, then maybe things might turn out better.
"Caesar, Maziodyne!" All at once, the dark city was illuminated as several lightning bolts came down from the sky, striking everyone around them but Kotone and Shouko. As the three beings stumbled back, Kotone felt a gentle yet firm hand grab her arm, before pulling her up to her feet. Looking up, she was filled with confusion and shock as she recognized a face that she had seen before at Gekkoukan High.
"Akihiko?"