Blanc was trying her best to not stare at the buzzing black spot at the edge of her vision. If she ignored it long enough, maybe, just maybe, it would go away on its own—
The next second, the beetle was hovering right in front of her face.
"Get lost," she muttered, which came out weaker than she intended.
Dammit. This was just like that one time she accidentally flipped to the end of a book, and saw the worst downer ending ever, when the parts she had finished were nothing but lighthearted adventures with some touching moments sprinkled in. Whatever memories she would see next, she already knew the ending.
So what was the point of seeing the rest of the story, if she couldn't change a damn thing about what happened in the past? In another dimension's past, nonetheless?
...But she did finish that book. Just to swear at the author for being a sadistic prick while she was at it. As much as the ending irked her, not knowing how it got there was even worse, and she had spent so much time not knowing how her own nation's past had shaped its present. And now she was seriously planning to keep herself in the dark?
Plus, not being able to save the girl was already shitty enough. At the very least, she needed to know just what the hell made Ryll so determined to die.
"Understanding..." She stared at the black, beetle-shaped spot, before clenching her hand around it. "Is part of my duty. So bring it on, you little shit."
"I don't think you should fight their Goddess."
Blanc couldn't quite believe that those words were coming out of Elizabeth's mouth. The solemn worry in her voice was that of a concerned parent or sibling, and after everything she had saw, the woman's sentiment was either ingenuine, or...very misguided.
For the next few seconds, Ryll remained motionless, staring at the lead-grey sky and sea outside. Then, she suddenly turned back, like a spooked animal.
"Why? But—" Shock and confusion soon morphed into hurt, "Did you think I'm still not strong enough?"
"No. The Shift Period would really jeopardize a CPU like Amber Heart. With so few adherents, even the old rivals she defeated might stand a fighting chance now," Elizabeth answered. "Which was why her people had been more trigger-happy than usual when it came to strait traffic and outsiders. But raw strength alone will never win a fight."
"I know! That's why I've been listening to General Matsushita's advices. We must fight smart, conserve our forces, and—"
"Please, don't recite other people's lectures to me." Elizabeth raised a hand. "You are just hiding behind what sounds right, and the very fact that you are doing that...makes me worried for your safety."
Ryll looked away. When she made eye contact with Elizabeth again, her expression had hardened into the same emotionless mask of her HDD Form. "You have nothing to worry about. The Council has made their decision, and their enemies are my enemies. I know what is expected of me, and there will be no weaknesses this time."
"But you don't believe that decision is the right one, do you?"
Ryll flinched slightly. "Why does that matter? I can't go against the people's wishes."
"And I'm not asking you to. But if you are doing this because you have to, not because you want to," Elizabeth spoke the next sentence at an intentionally slow pace, "You are going to lose. And the Coalition deserves nothing less than total victory."
"I—"
"Amber Heart is nothing like that sheltered child of Tari. Even when weakened, she has centuries of experience on her side. If your conviction isn't stronger than hers, if you are doing this out of some grim acceptance, instead of a burning will to take her down with you, you are underestimating her." A sigh, "If you think we are in the wrong, your fate is basically sealed."
Ryll shook her head frantically in response, but her shifting gaze and nervous fidgeting said it all.
"Shin-Nikin just wanted to keep to itself. Stay out of the wars of the tyrants. How sympathetic. Anyone who have a problem with that must be no different from the invaders they fought off over the centuries, right? Why can't we be allies?"
"You are asking the right question for once," Blanc muttered.
"If only they'd stop beating up every envoy, and greeting every ship that edged just a little too close to their island with cannon fire," Elizabeth continued. "And what are they protecting? The right to be holed up on their tiny backwater island forever, to put all of their efforts and manpower into military defense, even if it means starving themselves and strangling all attempts at reforms and progress?"
Blanc scowled. Honestly, if she had to rule alongside giant asshats like that Venus girl, she'd be pretty defensive and angry too, but her people...she could have gone overboard, couldn't she?
And if her people didn't have a problem with that, if they were cheering her on and telling her to beat the crap out of everyone...
Ugh. Why did this Elizabeth woman talk so damn much? The last thing she needed was more reasons to doubt herself, or Lowee's people.
"They have no concern about the continental nations, nor do they want to topple the tyranny that drove them onto the island in the first place. Yet they see it fit to treat the strait like their own backyard, to violently drive away everyone who stepped into their borders, regardless of circumstances. To sicc their ill-mannered bully of a Goddess on your envoy. On our representative."
Elizabeth clenched her fists together, "To have the strength to put a stop to the tyrants, yet choosing to stand by and do nothing? That does not make Amber Heart innocent. She is just as guilty as the adherents of Venus and Rubis, who can shake their heads and say, oh, we don't know what they are doing to the heretics, but they probably had it coming."
"That's not tr—"
Blanc choked the rest of her sentence back. Mostly because she didn't know a thing about this "Shin-Nikin" nation, either. She still suspected that this woman was bullshitting Ryll, despite how...logical her arguments were.
Despite knowing how fucked-up this world's Planeptune and Lowee had to be.
"So prove her wrong. Prove to her that fighting for your own, as admirable as it is, will never be right, if it means turning a blind eye to the suffering of everyone else. That the will to die for a greater good, for this continent's future, shall triumph over the will to keep a single island safe at the cost of its own inhabitants."
Elizabeth walked to the window and opened it. Wind surged in, sending her scarf flying. In the distance, Blanc could see the vague outlines of ships, and the little flocks of dots below, lifting cargos onto their decks.
"You should still expect a difficult battle. Perhaps the most difficult one of your life," Elizabeth said. "The strongest CPU of the previous generation is worthy of every single bit of your respect, but once you make an example of her, the tyrants will understand that even sheer power cannot protect them forever."
"...I will."
"And you won't be alone in this fight." Elizabeth turned back, with a smile on her face, "Despite the whining from some of my fellow Lastation City bureaucrats, the people are all too delighted to help out. Even from a purely business perspective, an open strait without the threat of cannon fire hanging over it will be beneficial to everyone, right?"
The narrow stretch of sand she was standing on was barely visible in the torrential downpour. Blanc was a little glad that she couldn't really feel the rain; the real cave she was in was already wet and miserable enough as it was.
When she turned around, searching for signs of people in this new fragment of memory, there were a few flashes of light behind the distant hills, and occasionally, faint gunfire noises could be heard over the roars of waves. Yet, on this beach, the battle seemed to fade into the background, obscured behind the desolate tranquility of the wilderness. Which only made her more restless.
"Where are you?" She mumbled to herself. "Come on. Get it over with."
As if answering her, a shrill, metallic screech came from behind the hills. Seconds later, a glowing projectile sailed over her head, cutting through the veil of rain in a high arc. It crashed into the grey sea beyond. So far away from her, she couldn't even hear the splash—
The familiar dissonant noise rippled through the air from above. The rainbow light explosion that followed barely lasted a second, before her entire vision erupted in a brilliant burst of red hot flames.
She dodged back, out of reflex, into the waves. The flames met the water head-on, creating a giant wall of steam cloud at the point of collision. For a brief moment, it seemed like the flames would not stop burning until it vaporized the entire ocean. But eventually, its light died down, smothered by the ocean tides and rain.
Even as the flames disappeared, the heat stayed. Raindrops evaporated before they could even touch the sand, which was now glowing red under her feet. Thank goodness she wasn't actually there to walk on the melted glass. Or be on the receiving end of...whatever the hell that attack was.
When that blur of orange appeared in her vision, Blanc almost mistook it for another burst of flame. Initially, the orange hair was all she could see, but as she walked closer—
"What the hell?!"
She knew this woman! Asa, that was her name, she was working for C-Sha's old friend or something, and she was too occupied to remember anything else, other than the fact that she seemed really grumpy and didn't talk much.
But right now, Asa looked positively murderous.
The purple flames around her fists were giving out an eerie blue glow, and her entire body was tense with anticipation, but she wasn't moving. Even as another figure scrambled up in the distance, she remained a motionless statue.
Ryll's HDD Form wasn't showing any signs of pain, yet Blanc still winced when she saw her. Her wings were gone, ripped apart, fragments scattered around the glowing sand like pieces of scrap paper, and what remained of her Processor Units had melted onto her skin.
A single summoned chain was wrapped around her wrist. Instead of making an attack, she was stepping backwards, cautiously keeping her distance. She was definitely wary of Asa's flames, especially after that previous attack, but if Asa was so powerful, why was she just standing there, doing nothing—
Oh. Oh.
She was that "Amber Heart" CPU they spoke of, wasn't she?
Blanc slapped her forehead. Great. Now she felt like a complete dumbass for not seeing it sooner.
If this wasn't another Rei situation, where only her alternate self was a Goddess, this woman must have also been resurrected alongside Lynka and Ryll. For real, if there was any more CPUs from this world that ended up in her dimension, she was so going to flip a metaphorical friggin' table—!
Ryll finally moved. With a flick of her wrist, she flung a crystal shard in Asa's direction. Just as the projectile was intercepted by a fireball, she dashed away, and sent more crystal shards flying towards her opponent's undefended back. The woman spun around, batting the shards away from her with one spinning kick.
Yet a third wave of attack soon came from another position, followed by a fourth. Ryll sped into a blur, circling around Asa, who was entirely on the defensive now, dodging and blocking the incoming crystal shards.
Blanc gritted her teeth. Ryll was just dragging it on at this point, trying to exhaust her and wear her down before moving in for the kill. Why wasn't she attacking? She could do hella' better than that in her human form.
Or maybe Asa didn't actually know where Ryll was.
Because she couldn't see a damn thing after that rainbow light attack, and would only hear the projectiles cutting through the air, right before they were about to hit.
Even while blinded, she was intercepting those attacks with a scary degree of accuracy. As the projectiles increased in numbers and speed, more shallow cuts were appearing on her skin, which quickly healed themselves, but she was getting slower. Exhausted.
Just as she dodged another lone flying shard, Ryll leaped up into the air. With a single motion, a hail of crystal shards rained down on Asa, lodging themselves deep in her flesh, impaling her torso and limbs. She didn't even try to dodge, and when Ryll landed on the ground again, her chains, now covered with crystal spikes, were whipping towards her.
Blanc squeezed her eyes shut, grimacing. But the gasp of horror she heard next wasn't Asa's.
Asa grabbed the chains with one hand, and gave them a swift, violent pull. Ryll stumbled. When she let go of the chains, she was already yanked to Asa's side.
What happened next was quick, a blur of motions that Blanc could barely make head or tails of. But Asa's right hand shot forward, and a cracking burst of purple flames engulfed Ryll's upper body. In one blood-curdling scream, she was back in human form, grabbed by the face and flung across the beach like a ragdoll, just as another flame beam shot forward, and caught her in mid-air.
After another shriek, her body hit the ground with a resounding thud, smoking and spasming weakly. Mere seconds later, Asa pulled her arm back, and punched the ground, sending out an arc of flames in her general direction. It missed by a tiny margin, leaving a trail of molten sand behind.
"...Holy shit."
Human form. She slam-dunked Ryll out of her HDD with one hit, while in human form. Blanc didn't know if she should be amazed, or horrified by that feat.
Asa grunted and shifted into another punching stance, the flames around her fists glowing brighter and brighter. Just as she dropped lower, ready to send out a second flame arc, her entire body twitched, as if struck by an invisible lightning. She clenched her fists together and barely avoided falling down, but her flames soon faded into dull blue sparks, before fizzling out entirely.
"Took out my Sharecite, huh? And what's left of...them?" She squeezed the words out through gritted teeth, as if she was in great pain. "Well, lucky...for you."
Blanc doubted that Ryll was hearing any of her words. She wasn't even trying to crawl away and was just lying there limply, clamping a hand over the charred remnant of her face.
"Too scared to talk, brat?" A laugh, "Terrified?"
Asa's knees were shaking, despite her best attempts to remain upright. Her breaths came in shallow, labored gasps, as she took a small step forward.
"Remember this fucking feeling." Another wave of tremors washed over her. She knelt over mid-step, head lowered. "Remember it...for the rest of your immortal life, until you get cut down..."
Rain trickled down her face, drenching her soot-covered hair, washing the blood off her mangled left hand and scarred lips.
"By another brat with too much ambition, or become the next power-hungry bitch..."
Slowly, she raised her head and stared into the sky. But there was no anger or grief in her eyes, as her form began to flicker. Only exhaustion and...relief, accompanied by the faintest trace of a smile.
"And don't you ever forget it."
Just like that, her whisper faded into the pouring rain, together with the rest of her body.
The sun shone straight into Blanc's eyes, after the darkness faded into the next memory fragment, earning a loud curse from her.
The fully geared soldiers around her weren't faring any better. Every single inch of their exposed skin seemed to be drenched in sweat as they trudged down the muddy slope, with two familiar figures in their midst.
Some time must've passed after that last battle. Long enough for those severe burns to heal. Ryll was noticeably more jittery, even with Elizabeth's hand on her shoulder, and the faint insect noises in the distance only made her flinching more visible.
"Hey." Elizabeth leaned closer, and whispered into her ears. "Just so you know, if you want to go back and rest, you can speak up at any time."
Ryll shook her head.
"It's only a quarrel between soldiers, from the looks of it. Not serious enough to require your presence."
"No. I'm not going back."
"You've been awfully stressed lately, and I'm worried—"
"I know." Ryll flashed her a tired smile. "But duty must always come first, and I'll manage. I've seen worse. Trust me, alright?"
Elizabeth fell silent, but the guilt and...pain in her eyes were clear as day. Blanc wasn't sure how she should feel about that. Before she could ponder further on her observation, however, she heard a loud yell.
"Stop!"
Blanc squinted at the direction the noises were coming from. Up here on the small hill, she could only make out a cluster of grey silhouettes, gathered around what looked like a shallow hole in the ground, half-concealed by shrubs and fallen branches.
"You are gonna be court-martialed—"
In close pursuit of the soldiers, she moved further downslope. Now she could see another blue silhouette behind the grey ones, who kept getting pushed back as he tugged at them.
"Like we care! Now fuck off—"
"That's no way of speaking to your superior!" The man in blue made a few more futile tugs, before turning away from the group, waving frantically towards her direction, "Finally! Quick, subdue these grunts, before they—"
The soldiers around Ryll moved, slamming into the group head-on. A flurry of motions and curses ensued. Before long, Blanc could see the people in grey, struggling to free themselves from the clutch of...their fellow soldiers.
Yes, they were wearing the same uniforms, only in different colors. The bloodstains stood out like a sore thumb on the light grey fabric. Soon enough, it became clear that the blood didn't come from the wearers.
A small, bony body was curled up on the ground. Underneath the matted hair and the bruises, it was hard to tell if they were a boy or a girl, or if they were still breathing. One of the soldiers in grey, right after breaking free from a headlock, lunged forward and made another kick at the body.
The sight alone was enough to make Blanc see red.
"...Bastards."
Before she knew it, she was running, making a swing at the man.
"BASTARDS!"
Her fist went right through him, and slammed into the nearest solid surface.
She didn't stop at the first punch. Who cared if it was a memory fragment, if she couldn't punch those sadistic scumbags who deserved to be punched, at least she was punching something—
Suddenly, Elizabeth's voice rang through the air. "Explain this, Regiment LS-11."
The few soldiers in grey who were still struggling stopped moving. Their gazes were no less fiery than before. The man in blue officer uniform wiped the sweat off his forehead, before hurrying to her side.
"Thank goodness you arrived in time, miss! These Lastation City folks have no respect for my authority, and once they were done with the kid, they plan to—"
"Respect is earned. Not given. Unlike your rank." One of the soldiers sneered. "And you are barely in these hills for a week."
"Did you hear that? Barbaric, I'm telling you! Barbaric!" The man was sweating so much now, it looked like a bucket of water had been poured over him. "Miss, I know your city has been an invaluable ally in the Shin-Nikin campaign, and I can sympathize with your soldiers' losses, but a line has to be drawn at some point."
"You don't know shit!" Another soldier screamed. "We're making your guns, smelting your steels, wiping your asses because your Council thought this backwater island was worth fighting a war over, but when we want revenge on the bastards that killed our buddies, oh, we are over the line—"
"Over the line?!" Blanc and the officer yelled in unison.
"You are beating up a kid! A fucking kid!"
"A fucking kid." A female soldier repeated in a low voice. "Right. What do you think this helpless, innocent, poor little kid here has been doing in the past two months?"
"I—"
"I don't know either, but we all knew what he did a week ago. He walked up to our real commander," The female soldier put a venomous emphasis on that word, as she gazed towards the officer, "Asked him where the refugee camp was, while crying crocodile tears about being separated from his family."
"Then he emptied an entire magazine into the nice, trusting man's chest." She pointed towards the shallow hole. "And ran back to his real family."
Slowly and shakily, dirt-smeared faces appeared in the gaps between branches. Most of these faces were covered in wrinkles, and their sunken cheeks and dim eyes made them look more like mannequins than real, flesh-and-blood people.
"...Old folks and kids," The officer mumbled. "They were the only ones left in these hills. It's gonna be over soon. You've already had your revenge, just leave the rest of them be, alright? Take them back to the camps?"
"Oh yes, the camps! Some of your Oracles should really come here with ours! See for themselves how these fanatics like the idea of being taken alive!"
"They can afford mercy, 'cause they're all sitting in that comfortable little meeting room—"
"Pure chickenshit, that's what it is—"
As protests erupted from the group, one of the faces in the hole suddenly disappeared into the shadow. The next second, there was a "swoosh" sound. Blanc didn't even see the object that was hurled out of the hole, only a blue and white silhouette dashing across her vision, followed by a deafening boom.
When the dust settled, everyone was flattening themselves against the ground, hands over their head, except for Ryll and Elizabeth. The former looked like a rabbit caught in the headlight, while the latter still had her arm extended in a throwing position. It took Blanc a while to see the crater in the distance. When she shifted her glance back towards the hole, the shock on those mannequin-like faces inside was quickly replaced by dread and spiteful disappointment.
"Oh gosh, that was close...they are..."
Before the officer, still shaking and gasping, could utter the rest of his sentence, the Lastation City soldiers stood up, readied their rifles, and aimed them at the hole. Quite a number of them turned and made a bow in Elizabeth's direction, as she helped the officer up. One of them yanked the boy up from the ground, and, with a swift kick, sent his limp body tumbling into the hole.
"Fanatics. Not innocent civilians. This isn't the first bomb thrown at us." The man turned back, and pointed at the rest of the soldiers. "At you. If not for our Oracle, at least one of us will be splattered all over the ground now.
"I'm not gonna pretend that I know 'bout your cities, or your hometown. But we've been stuck on this island together for months now, and I dare you to tell us—no," He jabbed his fingers at the officer, who was still wiping mud off his uniform, "Tell the good sir over there, that if your captain was the one lying in the morgue now, you wouldn't mow these fuckers down."
"Yeah!" Another man stepped forward, breathing heavily. "It's not his buddy who was so close to coming home, and some brats just jumped out, and now he's never coming home again, because these fanatics wouldn't stop even after their Goddess is DEAD and their nation's GONE—!"
His voice broke down into wails, then howls, as the man fell on the ground in a heap. More Lastation City soldiers gathered around him, patting him on the back and whispering into his ears. A few soldiers who weren't in grey uniforms exchanged glances with each other, and joined them too. But even amongst those who stayed, there were plenty of nodding and looks of sympathy.
"I'm really getting sick of this place."
"Why are we even taking prisoners?"
"You are our representative, miss! We've been fighting the Coalition's battles for so long, it's only fair that they let us have our way for once!"
The officer's face turned ashen when he heard the last sentence. His lips moved, but not a single sound came out of his throat, as he gave Elizabeth a pleading look and shook his head.
"Indeed." After gazing at the crowd for a while, Elizabeth finally opened her mouth. "As Lastation City's representative, I have to look after our citizens' interest—"
"No," Blanc sucked in a mouthful of air, as cheers erupted amongst the soldiers, "No you don't!"
"But that doesn't mean I'd disrespect the ideals of the Coalition. Hold a single city's interest over Mr. Hawkens' vision. The will of the people must always come first." Her lips curved up slightly when the officer heaved a sigh of relief. "So let the will of the people speak for itself."
Blanc's heart sank. Will of the people. Nothing good had ever come out of these four words, every time she heard it in the memory fragments.
"Even though we made the most contribution to this campaign, the soldiers here came from all over the Coalition, and suffered alongside us." Elizabeth continued. "I trust the majority to make the best judgement in the final hours of our wipe-up operation. Those who agree with LS-11, who believe we should not be taking prisoners, raise your hands."
One by one, the hands raised up, despite her silent pleading for them to stay down stay down stay the fuck down.
It wasn't an overwhelming "yes", but definitely over half. Maybe some of them just needed time to think, and once they realized what the hell they were actually deciding here, they'd put their hands down, any second, any second now—
"The people have made their rightful decision. It is done."
"No! Hell no! Rightful my ass!" Blanc gritted her teeth, "You can't be serious, these are old people and kids..."
They are fanatics.
"I know they are trying to kill you! But you...you should be better than THIS!"
Emptied an entire magazine into the nice, trusting man's chest—
"You are not doing this, you are not..."
The crater, the ringing in her ears, this isn't the first bomb thrown—
She was glancing around frantically now. There were people who hadn't raised their hands, not everyone agreed to this, someone had to call them out on this horrible, horrible decision...
But even the officer just averted his gaze, with a look of grim resignation on his face, as the circle of grey moved into position again, closing around the hole like a tightening noose.
Right at that moment, she saw Ryll, still standing there like a statue, lips minced into a thin line.
"You! You are the friggin' CPU here! Say something! Do something! I don't care if you have to beat them up, your people are wrong wrong WRONG! Stop them!"
Ryll closed her eyes and nodded.
"Why the hell are you...?!" She was yelling now, making wild grabs at the girl and catching only fistful of thin air. "Just because enough people said 'Yes' doesn't make it right! You know it, you know it too, that bitch's bullshitting you, this isn't right, the will of the people...isn't right!"
A sneer came from behind them. "Time to reunite with your Goddess, motherfuckers. Three, two..."
"Don't you stand there like a coward! Stop nodding and do something, you little shit! DO SOMETHING!"
Ryll kept on nodding, like a robot, and didn't even slow down when the first shot was fired.
Even as her swearing faded into incoherent screaming, and tears started coming out of her eyes, the rat-a-tat-tat of rifles didn't stop, wouldn't fucking stop. Each shot sent a wave of nausea through her body, until she was on her knees and clutching her head.