Dear Leerin,
Sorry I haven't written to you yet. I hope I didn't have you worried. It's just a lot that has happened in the week I've been here. I was accepted into the Military Art, and assigned to the seventeenth platoon. It's the newest group that's formed. Apparently they formed near the end of last year, but couldn't participate because there weren't enough members. This year we have five people in the group and so now we are able to participate. The seventeenth platoon is pretty cool. The captain is very strict when it comes to training, but aside from that, I think she's pretty cool. There are a couple people that slack off sometimes and surprisingly I'm not one of them! Can you believe it? I've been to training on time, sometimes even earlier! Well the training paid off well.
We won our platoon match. While we were heading out as the decoy, we realized that they baited us and were aiming for the captain and so I was ordered to fall back. If the captain falls, then the match is over. So we always have to keep an eye out for our captain. Though, I must say, Nina is a very good fighter, but I feel that she can be too reckless at times, especially when she starts to get frustrated. I'm hoping that she won't get too reckless though.
Anyways, unfortunately, my Dite broke near the end, making me useless. I hated it, but Harley said that he would make a new one that would work better. (Harley is our Dite management.)
I think training with Savaris is getting to me. You should thank him for me if you can because thanks to him, I have an A Rank scholarship now. The President was very impressed with the fight. He called me in right after the match and that's where he promoted my scholarship.
Also, guess who else I met while here. Layfon! Yes it's Layfon! Can you believe it? I mean I know that he ended up going to Zuellini, but still. It's surprising to see him again. Don't worry. I haven't forgotten the promise I made you before leaving. I'll be nice to Layfon, especially since we have a few similar classes; I'm going to have to.
Well that's my story of my adventures at Zuellini so far. Anyways, how have you been? I hope you're not mad at me for not writing right away like I promised, but I was tired when I arrived and then I had school the next day and… well I could go on, but I don't think you're going to accept that.
Well write back when you get a chance! Oh and don't forget to tell your father I said hi and make sure he knows that I'm doing well!
~ Lyra
-x-
It had been three days since the platoon match. Lyra had gotten congrats from many people while walking to class. It surprised her that they would compliment her. Lyra didn't feel she did much. That night was spent evaluating the match and the more she thought about it, the less satisfied she was with the outcome of the match. In the end, she wasn't able to protect the flag. That, and she ended up depending on Nina to stop the last man from getting to the flag. Lyra knew that was a risky move. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in the captain, but it was still risky. One wrong move and Nina could have easily been unable to battle, thus the team losing. It was thanks to Layfon that they won. He managed to get to the flag on time.
Lyra gritted her teeth, as she thought that. The fact that they depended on Layfon bothered her. Had he not gotten the flag, there was a possibility that they would have lost. It wasn't a huge possibility, but the percentage was up there.
However, as disappointing as Lyra felt, she knew she should be happy. Three years ago, she was struggling with Savaris to actually learn proper footwork. Now here she was in a platoon and won her first match.
Suddenly she heard her name being called, interrupting her thoughts. Lyra turned around to see Harley jogging towards her.
"Hiya, Harley," she greeted him, as he stopped next to her, "what's up?"
"I've managed to fix your Dite." He started, "I had to modify it a lot so I need you to stop by the maintenance room to finalize it. Think you can stop by tonight at the dojo?"
Lyra thought for a second, but then shook her head, "I can't tonight because it's my first day working at the machineries with Captain. So I need to be there," she explained.
Harley frowned, as he thought, "How about tomorrow? I know Nina has training scheduled that afternoon. You could come in an hour or two before?" he asked.
Lyra nodded her head, "I have classes in the morning, but I'll come right after they finish."
Harley nodded, "sounds like a plan, tomorrow then," he then looked at his watch, "Well I better be going. Don't wanna be late for class."
Lyra tensed and nodded, "yeah. Good point. See ya later Harley." She waved to him as he walked off.
Lyra watched him walk off. Then she turned around and was about to walk off, but ended up bumping into someone, which ended up surprising her. Lyra would have apologized instantly for suddenly turning and running into them, however, seeing whom the person she didn't bother to and instead frowned.
"Jeez, you could've said hi or something." Lyra frowned.
"Oh, hello." Sharnid waved to her. Lyra just stared at with a deadpan look.
"So first week here and you already have a date huh?" he smiled at her.
Lyra blinked a few times. "What are you talking about?" she tilted her head in confusion.
"You know what I'm talking about." He replied indicating Harley, who was entering one of the buildings.
She raised a brow looking from Harley and then back to Sharnid, not understanding.
"'Sure thing tomorrow then?' 'See ya later Harley'," he suddenly attempted to imitate in a high girly voice.
Lyra just sighed, shaking her head. "First of all, that's not how I sound; secondly, Harley was just telling me that he finished fixing my dite and was asking when would be the best time I could stop by so we could modify it," she explained, though she was starting to realize there was no point in explaining, as Sharnid still had the same expression.
"Sounds like a date to me." he shrugged.
"It's not! Besides, I don't even know Harley," She replied with a straight face.
"Mmhmm…" Sharnid nodded slowly.
"It's true," Lyra replied, annoyed.
"Then who do you like?" he asked.
Lyra thought for a second before realizing. She quickly shook her head and then stepped back.
"Why am I having this conversation with you? I need to get to class now," she said marching off.
"Yeah, you probably should- especially since this is the same class that you were late to last time, right?" he asked.
Lyra nodded, obviously not happy, "and that was your fault."
"Oh Lyra, don't deflect blame for your tardiness," Sharnid remarked.
Lyra scowled, "excuse me? You were the one who was stalking!"
"Yeah, but not you. I was testing to see if you would notice me," Sharnid replied.
"Which, I did," Lyra objected.
"And then you-" with that the bell rang, notifying the hour.
Lyra frowned, "aaaand I'm late."
"You know, if you weren't so determined to win the argument, you wouldn't have been," Sharnid remarked.
"You're the one arguing as well!" Lyra protested.
Sharnid lifted a finger, "correction, I'm just bullshitting with you because it's funny seeing you get so worked up."
Lyra went to retort and then stopped herself, realizing the stupidity of this conversation. She pouted, letting out a sigh through her nose, "I hate you." With that, she turned around and hurried off towards class. She glanced up at the clock that was hanging from the wall, as she passed. Yup. She was late.
Arriving to class, Lyra entered to see that it was mostly full. The instructor was there as well. She glanced at Lyra and nodded her head. Lyra sighed. The only available seats were in the ones in the back. Lyra frowned and was about to head there, not wanting to delay the class from starting, but then she noticed Layfon, waving.
Instantly her face brightened and she hurried over to where. Leave it to Layfon to save her a seat as well.
"Hiya Lay-chan," she greeted him, as she sat down next to him.
"Hey there. Did you get lost or something?" he asked, moving his things over.
"I'll have you know, that I know this place very well now," she replied.
Layfon just chuckled, "I'm sure you do."
Lyra pouted at that. She knew he was mocking her sense of direction from the past. There had been times where Lyra got lost in the city and here Layfon was expecting her to get lost again.
"Actually I needed to talk to Harley about my DITE and then I had a little chat with Sharnid." She explained the conversations, to which Layfon laughed quietly.
"That would be Sharnid…" he remarked shaking his head.
"I swear he's annoying." Lyra grumbled.
"Meh… he's not that bad. Just seems annoying in the beginning, but trust me, he's very helpful." Layfon replied.
Lyra just shrugged, turning her attention towards the professor, who had begun his lecture.
~xXx~
The rest of the day went by slowly for Lyra. She had gotten very impatient, wanting to get to work. Even though, both Layfon and Nina said that it was hard work, Lyra was still looking forward so when her final class of the day had ended, she hurried home and changed out of her military uniform into casual wear.
Nina had told her to dress casual and wear something she didn't mind getting dirty. For that reason, Lyra just stuck with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt along with a jacket in case she got cold. She then hurried off towards the machineries.
Once there, she looked around to see Nina was already working on a level below her. Lyra stared in awe at the huge machines. It was big, but at the same time, she couldn't help but note how it looked smaller than the one she had seen back in her home city. Lyra then looked around to see where Nina had moved to.
"Captain!" she called up to her, as she hurried over and leaned over the rail. Nina looked up when she heard her name and then smiled, waving to Lyra.
"Gimme me a minute. I'll be right up there," she called and then pressed a button, allowing the lift to move up. Lyra watched it come and then she stepped back, allowing Nina to jump over the rail.
"Hey there, glad you could make it." Nina said once she was on the floor.
"Yeah… I kinda got lost getting here, sorry," she explained apologetically.
Nina nodded understanding, "Well let's get you the supplies you need and get to work, shall we?"
Lyra nodded following behind her. Once Lyra had her supplies, they went back to the spot Nina was cleaning. Nina explained to her the basics of how they needed to make sure that everything was the best it could be.
"After all, this is the heart of the city. If something goes wrong here, then it can affect the entire city. It's our responsibility to keep it right," was what she said. Lyra understood the seriousness of the job, but even so, it didn't intimidate her. She just started to brush away.
After the teaching, there was silence between the two, as they worked.
"Soo Lyra, I heard your scholarship was raised to rank A." Nina suddenly started, breaking the silence.
Lyra just nodded her head, "yeah. I got it updated after the platoon match," she explained and wondered why that was coming up now. It had been a while now.
"Just wondering, I mean I understand why the president would do that. He did the same to Layfon," Nina replied thinking, "Even though he doesn't need to, Layfon still continues to work here."
"Well… yeah my tuition is paid for, but there are other things to pay for as well and it's always good to have money just in case." Lyra added. Nina nodded understanding.
"There's just one thing I don't understand," Nina started again. The way she worded it, made Lyra nervous. She glanced at Nina, waiting, but then went back to scrubbing.
"Why would you leave such a powerful city like Grendan and come here?"
Lyra shrugged, "honestly, I tried to enroll in the Military Arts program in Grendan, but they rejected me even though I knew how to fight. It almost felt like, they didn;t want me to since I already knew a lot."
She noticed Nina stop and looked at Lyra, "what do you mean by that?"
Lyra let out a sigh and continued to scrub, "Before Grendan, I lived in a city called Noemi. I was born in that city and raised there. My parents fought to protect it and so did my brother. One day something went wrong and filth monsters attacked. While I knew how to fight, I was forced to leave," she explained, pausing in her scrubbing, "to be honest, I don't like that I had to leave. I had been training for those types of incidents from a young age, and yet they did not let me stay and while I went to school in Grendan, they would not let me enroll in the Military Arts academy. So that's why I'm here…"
"I see…" Nina nodded slowly, thinking. She then shook her head, continuing scrubbing.
"What about you Captain? Why are you so determined to protect Zuelleni?" Lyra asked.
Nina paused closing her eyes. Lyra could tell she was thinking back to the past.
"It was when I was young… Some thugs, or whatever, tried to steal a newborn electronic fairy. I stopped him, but I fell off a ledge down in a deep pit." Nina stopped for a second gripping her brush tighter, "I would've died had the electronic fairy not come. She gave me her energy and let me continue to live."
Lyra just nodded listening. "That's why, Lyra. That's why I want to protect this city. I got a second chance to live, and I will do whatever it takes to defend Zuellini," Nina declared.
Lyra nodded again watching as Nina continued to brush the side. Lyra looked over at the machine. They had done a pretty good job. Looking back at Nina, she noticed the captain in deep thoughts. Lyra frowned slightly. Man, now the mood was dark.
She suddenly let out a yawn. "Oh man… I'm so tired…"
Nina jumped from her sudden mood swing.
Lyra stood there with her hand on her hip looking at the machine with a grin, "Well that looks pretty clean, don't you think?"
Nina took a step back looking up at it then frowned, "It looks the same to me."
"No it doesn't! It looks shinier!" Lyra declared.
Nina looked at Lyra who stood there with her arms crossed ready to argue. She then sighed, letting out a laugh, "Are really willing to fight me?" Lyra just grinned as a response. Suddenly the place shook causing them to stumble forwards.
"What was that?" Lyra asked looking around.
"Zuellini has stopped." Nina jumped up, realizing something was wrong. She then ran off towards the stairs.
"H-Hey!" Lyra called out running after her. Just then she heard Nina call out Zuellini's name, which meant something bad happened.
"Captain!" She arrived at the bottom of the steps where she saw Nina standing there facing a group of men. In front of Nina, stood a man with red hair.
The man turned around looking at Lyra directly in the eyes. Instantly Lyra tensed. Who was that? He only stared at her for a second, before letting out a groan of frustration, "time to change locations," the man suddenly remarked.
Before Lyra could say anything, the robed men and he disappeared along with Nina.
"Captain!" Lyra called out. What was going on? She needed to contact someone. But who? Layfon duh!
Lyra quickly ran to the nearest phone, which was back where they were first cleaning. On the third ring Layfon picked up.
"Hello?" the tired voice answered.
"Hey Lay-chan! Sorry to bother you this late, but you need to come fast!" Lyra said with urgency in her voice loud and clear.
"Lyra, is something wrong?" Layfon asked.
"Yes! I don't know what happened, but these masked people came and attacked Zuelleni- I'll explain later, just get here fast!' she protested.
"Ok, I'll be there." he replied and then hung up.
By the time Layfon had arrived, Zuelleni was safe, Nina was lying unconscious, and the hooded figures along with the mysterious man were gone. Lyra wasn't sure what had happened, she stood there impatient, pacing. However, realizing that that wasn't helping, she closed her eyes, trying to focus on Nina's Kei or any sort of energy from Zuellini, but there was nothing to detect. It was as if the two didn't exist.
It didn't make sense... but just minutes before Layfon arrived there was a bright light and an unconscious Nina appeared on the floor.
Lyra instantly ran up the stairs to check. In Nina's arms, a small girl, glowing bright blue laid curled up, and unconscious. Lyra suddenly flinched as an image of Noemi appeared in her mind. The small, yellow girl... it always looked as if a single flower dressed her... Lyra shook her head to focus.
"Captain?" she called out hesitantly. It was the small girl's eyes shot open. Lyra fell back as the girl suddenly floated up into the air and soon flew off.
Lyra wasn't sure what to think at first, but then quickly realized that that was an electronic fairy, Zuellini. Whoa... she thought. She then turned to see Layfon running up the stairs. Behind him were a few medics.
"What happened?" Layfon asked, crouching next to her,
Lyra shook her head, "by the time I came back, she just appeared here," she explained everything to him.
Layfon nodded, "well, let's move back so the medics can work." he remarked. The two watched as they put Nina on the stretch and wheeled her to the truck to take her to the hospital.
"Come on, let's follow them," Layfon decided.
Lyra nodded her head in agreement.
They were both at the hospital now, where Nina was recovering. The doctor said that she would be fine and just needed some rest.
"So what exactly happened?" Layfon asked, turning towards Nina.
"I don't know…" Lyra replied thinking, "We were both cleaning the machines, when suddenly the place shook. Nina said that Zuellini was being attacked and we both hurried there. By the time I got to the top, there was a group of people standing there, all covered in cloaks and had some sort of mask. They had Zuelleni in their hands. Suddenly all of them disappeared and then I went and called you and a bit before you came, Nina appeared again, only she was unconscious and yea…"
"Hmmm… that's weird." Layfon thought.
"There… was another person." Lyra remembered.
"Another person?" Layfon repeated.
Lyra nodded thinking, "I think I knew him too…"
"Who?" Layfon asked.
Lyra paused thinking, "I don't know… I mean he looked at me and recognized me instantly, but I didn't recognize him at all."
"Could it be that man from your dream?" Layfon asked.
"I don't know… I mean I can't even remember that man…" Lyra replied uneasy. She thought back to the look he gave him. It was an expression filled with relief. But from what?
Just then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Lyra looked over to see Layfon.
"Don't worry over it too much Lyra. Like you said before, you don't know much about your past. Maybe this is why the queen sent you. And remember, you can always talk to me or Leerin. She may not be here, but you can still write to her." he smiled assuring her.
Lyra stared at him before nodding her head. "Thanks Lay-chan." she smiled.
Layfon just nodded looking up at the clock. "Well I have to go. I told Naruki I would help out with the investigation. I'll let you know if we find out anything."
"Ok, well have fun with that. Don't do all the work. Let the police men do their job." she remarked. Layfon just let out a chuckle leaving.
It was quiet after that. Lyra just sighed sitting in a chair. She thought about what Layfon said. Maybe I should write to Leerin… she thought. She then glanced down at her captain. Her expression was calm, which meant she would recover well. I guess it's time I leave as well...