Hey there everyone! Tohka here, and let me give you a warm welcome to Sephira Chronicles, the first major Side Story of Date A Live: Altered Timeline!
We're about to see the backstories for all of the Spirits, between the birth of Mio to when she gave everyone else their Sephira Crystals, and everything in-between. I've technically already shown the latter via the "Daily Observations" side story over on AO3, but these are all expanded versions of said scenes, which are now non-canon in their current forms.
To start things off, we'll be beginning from Zero, and revealing the backstory of Mio herself. By extension, this is also the backstory for Shinji and Mana, since their backstories are so intertwined with hers that it made more sense to fuse all of them into a single segment.
Before we do that, though? There are three things I need to say about everything that will be shown in these backstories, so that no one gets confused:
First, there's... kind of spoilers in the story?
I say kind of because the only true spoilers are in Mio and Tohka's segments, and said spoilers stop being so after the first two arcs. So, as long as you've already read them, you're good. Everything else on the other hand... will depend on one's opinion, so fair warning for anything in the remaining segments.
Second, these aren't in chronological order.
Kotori and Origami are the key example of this, since both of them experienced the Nankou Fire, which is still the case in this story. Basically, the segments will focus on one character until their turn is done. Some backstories will intersect, though this will simply decide what scenes will and won't show in them.
Lastly, none of the Spirits stopped aging.
Because of the different reasons behind Mio's reason for making the Sephira Crystals, which her segment will help explain, the Spirits' aging isn't locked the moment they receive them. If the crystals have done anything to them? It's made their bodies healthier, which is partly why most are bustier than in canon.
That's all I need to say, so without further ado... let's get this story started!
[Chapter 1 - Mio, the Beginning]
The scene opened to the Takamiya House of 18 years ago, where Shinji was currently cooking a hotpot for dinner, while Mana was on the couch and snacking on some chips as she watched a game show on TV.
"Mana, you really shouldn't be lying down like that." Shinji warned, briefly turning to face her.
"Get off my back bro, today is my lazy Sunday." Mana replied, pointing at her lack of ponytail.
He blinked at that.
"But... it's still Saturday." He replied, pointing at the calendar.
"Not after school hours." She countered while grabbing a chip.
Shinji sighed and turned around.
"That's right, just keep cooking that hot pot." Mana smirked.
Right as she said that, static appeared all over the TV screen.
"What!?" She screamed.
Her body sat up as her show was soon replaced by the sight of a News Reporter as they stood in a helicopter, which was hovering over a damaged tower that was currently smoking as if it was on fire. Shinji briefly turned around again, then covered his mouth to hide the laughter he was letting out over his sister's currently annoyed expression.
"We interrupt this broadcast to-" The reporter stated to the viewers.
"Dumb news broadcast! Where's the damn remote!?" Mana growled.
She managed to find it after feeling around for a few seconds, then moved her thumb to press the opt out button for live broadcasts, but before she could...
"-part of Project Elysium."
Her thumb froze in place.
"As you can see right now, the large tower-like machine that was built by DEM Industries is showing signs of damage. At this time, we still don't know what's going on, but we've only seen a few people able to evacuate." The reporter continued.
'Wait, isn't that...' Mana thought, her eyes shaking as she kept watching.
She turned to face her distracted brother.
"Shinji... what was the name of the project our parents have been working on?" She asked, hoping he wouldn't say those dreadful words.
"It was Project Elysium." He answered.
He suddenly heard a loud sound as Mana dropped the remote onto the floor, a look of horror on her face as she watched the TV broadcast.
"Mana?" Shinji asked.
"Big bro... this news broadcast is saying something's happening with that project..." Mana revealed.
Upon hearing those words, his eyes widened in horror as he finally saw the words on the broadcast.
*"RING! RING!"*
Turning to see their phone ringing, Shinji saw their mom's phone number, and immediately rushed over to pick it up, hoping upon hope that she was about to say she and their father were OK.
"Mom!?" He answered.
"Shinji, is that you? Oh... thank goodness. When neither you or Mana answered your phones, I was so worried." Fumie replied, sounding a little teary.
"So, you and dad are safe? What the heck is going on!?" He questioned.
"I'm sorry Shinji, but... we won't be coming home. Take care of your sister... we love you both." Fumie responded.
"Won't be coming home-" Shinji repeated.
His eyes widened in horror at those words.
"Mom? Mom!? What are talking about!? Please, tell me what's going on!" He begged, stress filling every fiber of his body.
Mana soon saw the tower beginning to spark on the broadcast, causing the sound and audio to become slightly distorted.
"This is... shit! Get the helicopter away, before it's-"
Before the reporter could finish speaking? The tower immediately glowed, shining a few rays of light from its structure, and then exploded! The reporter in the helicopter let out a scream as it was made clear it was struck the blast recoil before the signal disappeared.
It didn't take Mana too long to realize the helicopter had crashed, and turned to look at Shinji.
"Quick! Try to call-" She shouted.
Her words faltered as she saw her brother staring at the screen, which still showed [No Signal] on it, right before he dropped the phone to the ground. He fell onto his knees, with his stare was locked in place as if he had passed out.
Looking at the phone, Mana saw the caller ID listed on it.
"That's-" She gasped.
She picked up the phone, hoping to hear her mother asking Shinji why he had gone silent, but instead...
*"BEEEEEEP!"*
Mana moved a hand near her mouth as she put the phone back on the holder, then felt tears in her eyes as it finally sunk in. The explosion of the tower on TV meant that if anyone was still inside? They couldn't have survived. So, when combined with the horrible sound her mother's phone number was currently emitting... there were no doubts.
Their parents were dead.
Realizing this, Mana closed her eyes, and then she sobbed.
~ March 27th, 2003: Tenguu City - Keisei Junior High
A few days had passed since the accident at the Project Elysium tower had occurred. Counting the news team that had been in the crashed helicopter, over 90% of the people who had been part of the project had died, with the few who survived simply having been able to get out fast enough since it was confirmed no one had been absent that day.
It made the day after even rougher.
On Sunday, a good portion of Tenguu City's residents came to the funeral/memorial for Fumie and Rintaro Takamiya, which came in the form of a massive gravestone listing everyone who died. Mana had tried to give a speech... only to break down during it, to no one's surprise. After all, they made Tenguu city, so it felt like a part of it had died.
"Sigh..." Mana said.
Right now, she was at school, folded across her desk.
"Hey... Mana?"
Hearing her name having been called, Mana turned to look at a girl with fiery red hair tied up in pig tails, which were held by a pair of yellow ribbons. This girl was known as Haruko Homura, the girl Mana called her best friend.
"Do you want me to ask the teacher if you can be excused from class for a while?" She asked.
"No... I'm good." Mana replied.
"Then things are... OK-ish?" Haruko asked, trying to be tactful.
Mana let out a sigh.
"Far from it, but... it's not due to anything with me. My brother, he... he's just shut down entirely. It's like he's sleepwalking, but... if he were in a coma." Mana explained.
"Then things are a little tense at home right now?" Haruko realized.
"Yeah... he's stopped speaking and cooking and food, he only eats the bare minimum, and when he isn't doing that... he just stares or sleeps. I don't think he's gone to school either." She replied.
Haruko said nothing, but she knew that the last part might be true. After all, his own best friend and her boyfriend, Tatsuo Itsuka, had a lonely look on his face as of recently.
"As such, I'd rather be here right now..." Mana sighed.
"Yeah, I can see why you'd say that." Haruko admitted.
She crossed her arms and tried to think of something she could do to help Mana feel better, but the challenge was that as long as Shinji stayed the way he was? Things wouldn't get any better.
So, what could she do?
Alarms were going off in an unknown facility, but instead of guards, a group of scientists and workers were running across its halls to find the person who had triggered them.
"Damn it! Where are they!?"
In one of the hallways, the sight of a teenage Elsie was seen as she ran through them with a steel briefcase in hand.
"Maria, please tell me you've mapped out our escape route?" Elsie asked.
"Analysis is currently at 95%, I'll need another two minutes." Maria replied.
She tensed a little as her run quickly broke into a full-blown sprint, knowing that two minutes was more than enough for anyone in DEM to catch them.
"Found her!" Someone shouted.
Her eyes widened as she saw two scientists behind her, prompting her phone screen to flash.
"Elsie, turn left!" Maria warned.
"This better work!" She replied.
Pushing her leg muscles to the limit, Elsie made said left turn, and just as the chasing researchers were about to grab her...
*"WHACK!"*
Both of them fell over and landed on their stomachs, making Elsie briefly turn around to see a pair of malfunctioning security cameras had fallen on them. It didn't knock either of them unconscious, but the cameras were fairly heavy.
"That there is why you always watch your back!" Marina stated.
"I have no idea how you pulled that off, but thank the stars that you managed to do it!" Elsie praised.
Marina smiled and giggled.
"Alright, my analysis is complete!" Maria announced.
"Nice timing! So, where do I go next?" Elsie asked.
Before she could get an answer, more workers suddenly appeared from the hallway ahead of her.
"We've got her now!"
"Crap!" Elsie panicked, stopping as she held the briefcase close.
"Hurry! Box her in!"
Looking behind her, Elsie sweated as the scientists had already pulled the cameras off them, leaving her cornered from two sides. Realizing that this might be it for her, Elsie closed her eyes as she waited for the worst.
However, before they could reach her, she heard walls rise from the ground and leaving both stuck at dead ends.
"Maria? Marina?" She asked.
"That wasn't me. I couldn't access those systems." Maria replied.
"Same here." Marina added.
"But we did." Someone said.
Recognizing the voice, Elsie turned around and smiled as she saw Ellen and Elliot come into view, the former wearing Pendragon and pushing the latter's wheelchair.
"Ellen! Elliot! Thank the stars you came when you did!" She exclaimed.
"It took a while, but we've got the cameras and a lot more are all messed up and offline thanks to Rintaro's scrambling program." Ellen replied.
"Did you get it?" Elliot inquired.
Elsie nodded and showed them a part of the briefcase, revealing the Takamiya insignia.
"I also had Maria verify all of the registered users on its scanner as well." Elsie added.
"Good, now let's get out of here." Ellen stated.
The three began running as Elsie grabbed the phone Maria was connected to, following the escape route the AI had made.
As this was happening, the scientists behind the rear door were seen shouting as their fists continuously struck it in vain.
"So, she got away..."
Both scientists went pale as they turned around, seeing Barrett standing before them.
"Our apologies, Commander Barrett!" The first scientist shouted.
"We had Elsie cornered, only for someone to interfere with the system and cut us off." The second scientist apologized.
Barrett crossed his arms.
"This isn't good." He stated.
"Sir, we know she stole something important, but... we were in such a big rush that we didn't learn what she stole. Do you know what it was?" The first scientist asked.
Barrett said nothing as he tightened his fists.
"The one thing that, if ever exposed to the public, will put everything we've been working for in jeopardy." He finally revealed.
Both of the scientists' eyes widened as they heard those words.
"You mean it's-" The second scientist asked, completely mortified.
"Stop wasting time! Get to the R&D lab, and tell everyone there that we'll be mobilizing all units!" Barrett ordered, holding his right hand out.
Neither scientist asked anymore questions, immediately running towards a certain area. As he stood there, Barrett took out a cigar, and lit it.
"Damn traitors..."
He placed the cigar in his mouth, and quickly let out a huge puff of smoke.
"If this is the path you've have chosen to take, know this..." Barrett stated.
A murderous glare formed on his face.
"The three of you have chosen death."
Having escaped the facility, the trio of Elsie, Ellen, and Elliot used the dead of night to stop in a nearby forest and catch their breath.
"I can't believe we pulled that off..." Elsie breathed.
"Uh... think it's too early to say that." Marina warned.
At that very moment, the sound of whirring steal and heavy steps reached the trio's ears. They looked from behind a tree, and saw some robots of either black or red color that resembled knight armors and large mechanical bees flying across the sky, all of which paused as they emitted lights to search across the forest with. They all tensed up.
"They can still use security drones!?" Elsie questioned.
"Looks like they weren't linked to the same server the scrambling program hit." Ellen realized.
The trio looked at each other.
"I think it'll be best if we split up, and reunite at Tenguu City later." Elliot suggested.
"Here." Elsie offered.
She held the phones that housed Maria and Marina to Ellen and Elliot.
"You handle these guys, and I'll head to Tenguu City first." She stated.
"Can you do it alone?" Ellen asked.
"If anyone knows how my big brother will act and react best, then it's obviously me." Elsie smiled with confidence.
Ellen and Elliot smiled, then nodded their heads as the latter took both phones, and the former readied Caledfwlch.
"You better survive." Ellen stated.
Elsie nodded, remembering all of the dead bodies she saw, and the last look Fumie gave them before she died.
"Same thing to you two." She smiled.
At that moment, she used the briefcase to slide down a hill. Once she reached the bottom, Elsie did a somersault and immediately broke into a run without losing any speed, pushing the sounds of Ellen fighting to the side as she made her way towards Tenguu City.
~ March 30th, 2003: Tenguu City
Sunrise had come to Tenguu City, and right now, Shinji was sitting on a bench in the park. He wanted to somehow try and finally get his mind off the death of his parents.
It wasn't working.
"Damn it, why? Why does this continue to plague me!? Why... why did you have to say that to me, mom?" Shinji begged.
As he curled up on the bench, the tired form of Elsie was seen walking into the area, taking a moment to catch her breath.
"I made it, finally..." Elsie breathed.
Though now her real trial had begun.
'Only issue now is I need to somehow get this to their children without any of DEM's goons finding out where they live, but that's easier said than...' She wondered.
She let out a gasp.
Her eyes had looked towards the direction of the bench she was on, and widened as she saw a boy of High school age that looked just like Rintaro if he had blue hair.
'Thank you, lady luck!' She praised.
She immediately ran towards Shinji's direction, and once she got within walking distance...
"Your name is Shinji Takamiya, right?" Elsie inquired.
Hearing his name, Shinji turned his head to see Elsie, with his eyes noticing the briefcase she held.
"Uh... I am?" He nervously answered.
"Good, because I'm here to bring this to you." Elsie answered, holding up said briefcase.
"Hurry up! We've gotta find her!"
Hearing that voice, Elsie pulled Shinji behind the trees near the bench. Right as a few people in black suits walked across the path they had been standing on moments prior.
While he didn't know what was going on, Shinji knew that men in black suits were usually a red flag for something bad. Knowing she was running out of time, Elsie released a heavy breath, and looked at Shinji.
"I don't have enough time to explain everything, but in this case lies something important. Something that, in the wrong hands, has the potential to destroy all of Humanity, if not the whole world." She explained.
'It could what!?' His thoughts yelled.
"No matter what, don't let this end up in the wrong hands!" Elsie warned.
She forced the briefcase into his arms, despite him not understanding why.
"You have to promise!" She emphasized.
"Hold on, why me? I know you can't explain, but... at the very least, tell me why you're giving this to me!" He begged.
Elsie sighed and grabbed his shoulders.
"All I can say is that you've been involved in all of this, longer than you could have ever realized. Hopefully, I'll be give you the answers you're looking for soon, about the truth of the Eurasian Sky Disaster... and your parents' deaths." Elsie answered.
Shinji's eyes widened as he heard a mention of his parents' recent deaths, and how this woman knew they were present to see the Eurasian Sky Disaster when it happened.
"How do you know my-" Shinji questioned.
"I'll get their attention. Just head home as quietly as you can, right now!" Elsie interrupted, looking towards the goons.
Unable to waste any more time, she ran off.
As she ran, Elsie intentionally hit a bush, using the rustling to attract their attention.
"Did you hear that?"
"Look, there she is!"
All of them turned as they saw her from between the trees, prompting all of them to chase after her.
"We've got her! Don't let her escape!"
Taking a few breaths to try and calm himself down, Shinji slowly walked through the trees and headed home, without a single black suit ever even realizing he was there to begin with.
Back in the Takamiya House, the sight of a tired looking Mana without her usual ponytail could be seen at the table, with a similarly tired Haruko and Tatsuo having joined her.
"Thanks for... coming to talk with me so early, you guys." Mana mumbled, yawning halfway in.
"No prob. After all, what better time to talk about helping Shinji while he's... out." Haruko replied.
She shook her head to wake up a little, her untied hair swinging.
"I think we might have... picked an hour too early though. Oh, here's the milk Haruko." Tatsuo mumbled, holding it out to her.
He was aiming too far left.
"Just gimme." She groaned as she grabbed it, and held it over her bowl.
Only, she forgot to open the carton, so nothing actually came out of it.
"Oops." She realized.
As she moved to open it...
*"SLAM!"*
Mana and Haruko screamed in surprise, with the latter swinging the now open milk a little and splashing it on Tatsuo's face, who had since fallen back asleep. This made him gasp as he fully woke up.
"That was actually really refreshing." He admitted, grabbing a napkin to wipe his glasses.
"The heck!?" Mana shouted.
She got up, with Haruko and Tatsuo following to see what the commotion had been, and saw the sight of a panting Shinji at the doorway. He was holding the briefcase tightly in his hands, and now drenched in sweat as the stains under his armpits made clear.
"Bro, why do you look like you ran a marathon, and what is that?" Mana questioned.
He took a moment to regain his brief.
"Look! You see this?" Shinji exclaimed.
He moved his finger and pointed towards the insignia on the briefcase, making Mana's eyes widened as she saw the symbol of the Takamiya Family on it.
"This is... mom and dad's!?" Mana asked.
"Give me a minute... to breathe again, first! I'll explain after that." Shinji answered.
Tatsuo took the case as Haruko and Mana helped him to the couch, and he sat down.
"This kind of feels like TV drama." Tatsuo said.
Haruko looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
"What? Shinji goes out, brings a briefcase belonging to his family who died recently, and you aren't questioning how this is usually something you see in fiction?" He asked.
After hearing that, Haruko held up a finger... only to put it down.
"OK, I guess you aren't wrong about that." She reluctantly agreed.
Shinji wheezed a little.
"Here, I'll get you some milk." Mana offered, heading to the kitchen.
The sound of pouring was heard before she rushed back in with a glass.
"Thank you..." Shinji coughed out.
And he downed the whole glass in seconds, feeling the dryness in his throat disappear, then placed it on a side table.
"OK, this is what happened. As I was sitting on a bench in the park-"
Shinji relayed everything that happened, up to when they found him.
"She mentioned that there was more she'd tell me later. With how she was looking for me or Mana, I think she already knows where we live, but knew it was too risky to drop it off here directly." Shinji finished.
"Hmm... and you said she had messy, ash blonde hair?" Mana asked.
"Yeah, why do you ask?" He replied.
Mana immediately pulled out her phone and did some searching, and then turned it around to show him her results. A page showing some of the people who had worked with their parents before the accident.
Her picture was listed as one of the people higher up, above a name that said Elizabeth Camille Westcott.
"Hey, that's her!" He confirmed.
"I knew it. This girl is listed as an official student of our mother's, so they definitely knew each other. The question is... can we trust her?" Mana replied, looking at her picture.
Everyone paused to think about it, while Shinji looked at the case.
"Maybe this is some kind of trap, but I don't believe that's the case. Not after what mom's last words to me were." He stated.
"Huh?" Mana blinked.
"I didn't tell you this, but... when mom called me right before the explosion happened? She said that she and dad weren't coming home. At the time, I thought she had given up and was just trying to fulfill a last regret for the both of them. Though, if something of theirs is now in our hands? Maybe that accident... wasn't an accident." He revealed.
Mana, Haruko, and Tatsuo all gasped in response.
"Then the explosion was... sabotage? Betrayal? A third word I can't think of?" Tatsuo questioned.
"Possibly, and maybe when she called us... escape was no longer an option for them." Shinji added.
He put the briefcase down and looked at the locks.
"So, if this was something they saved? Something they made sure didn't fall into the hands of whoever caused the tragedy... I'm going to trust in it!" He declared.
Mana looked at her brother, and then.
"Alright then. I'll trust your decision." She decided, looking at the case.
"You've got my support as well." Haruko smirked.
Tatsuo nodded his head, with a sound of approval.
With everyone's support on his side, Shinji reached for the lock, making a green glass circle surrounded by a black ring start to glow.
"INITIATING USER AUTHORIZATION!"
Shinji saw a green light move across his face from top to bottom, leaving Mana, Haruko, and Tatsuo nervous as they watched it move. The light eventually faded, and then...
"USER ID - SHINJI TAKAMIYA: VERIFIED!"
Everyone let out a sigh of relief as the briefcase's locks released themselves, letting out some kind of white mist from within the box. Shinji pushed the briefcase's lid off to reveal what was inside, and they saw what it contained. A spherical crystal that glowed with the colors of the rainbow, along with a folded note that was written by what was likely Fumie or Rintaro.
"A crystal?" Tatsuo said.
"I doubt it's something so simple, let me see what the note says." Mana replied.
She grabbed the note and unfolding it until she could see the handwriting on it.
"This is definitely mom's handwriting." She smiled.
Clearing her throat, she started verbally sharing the contents of the letter to Shinji and their friends.
"To the authorized users."
"If you're reading this note, then I'm afraid something terrible has happened. Enough that Rintaro and I... are likely no longer of this world. Due to the small chance that someone may forcibly bypass the lock and get the contents of this briefcase, I can't share too much information. So, hopefully, at least one from the golden trio we trust will arrive to explain what I can't share here. What I can say is we died making sure you, and so many others were safe."
"Whatever you do, never, and I mean never trust the man known as Isaac Ray Westcott, for what happened to us was his doing. Elysium was a lie, and we only found out just in time to have any chance of stopping it from happening. The crystal you see in this briefcase is no ordinary gemstone. It was what allowed him to construct that tower for its true purpose, for its really a living, organic hybrid between a supercomputer and a natural energy source that can create unlimited power."
"The golden trio knows how the crystal works, and will make sure you stay safe. Despite one of them shares the same last name as that man? She isn't the same as him, for she has a heart. If there's anyone who has the knowledge to fight him as his own game, it's her. Especially once she tells you everything I can't. I have to go now, and make sure this crystal is able to make it to your hands. Just know that one day... we will meet again, in the stars above."
"Best wishes, Fumie and Rintaro Takamiya."
Mana's tears were dripping over the top of the note by this point, with Shinji also crying at the message that pretty much confirmed what Shinji had said. Their mom and dad were dead... because of a single madman's selfishness and lies.
"Why is it that the people who are the best always die due to the worst? All they did was help people, and they were..." Tatsuo sobbed.
"That bastard! I always felt DEM was too good to be true, and I was right! How dare they do this!" Haruko screamed, hitting the couch.
Shinji sniffled as he placed one hand on top of the crystal's form.
"Mom... dad... I don't know what kind of work you did and how this Isaac guy managed to use it for, but..."
He tightened his other hand.
"I will protect this!" He swore.
At that moment, the crystal started to dimly glow, getting Shinji's attention as he got a closer look at it.
"My only regret is that I'll be leaving the two of you behind. Please, forgive me..." Fumie's voice echoed.
At that moment, Shinji shouted as he got shocked.
"Whoa! Big bro, are you alright!?" Mana panicked.
"I'm fine. The crystal apparently has a lot of static electricity around it, so let's not touch it until that women or the others mom and dad talked about show up." He said, wincing slightly.
"Yeah, that's a-"
Mana felt her words falter as the gem started to glow white, and her upper face turned blue as she saw it grow an arm.
"Mana, what's..."
"Is... is that a..."
The arm was now a pair of arms, and soon the whole of an upper body.
"Hey guys, what's wrong? It's like you're seeing a ghost." Shinji asked.
"We are! Look behind you!" Mana warned.
Shinji felt his expression go flat as he turned around, and saw a glowing white body as it grabbed onto him, making him scream in response.
"I'm gonna die!" He shouted.
However, the glowing figure didn't do anything. It just stood there as it held Shinji, until the glow finally faded, and everyone let out a gasp.
"Holy..." Haruko started.
"Freaking..." Tatsuo continued.
"Crap!" Mana finished.
Standing before them, and holding onto Shinji's body, was a girl that looked to be his age. She had long, silvery-white hair that reached down to her waist, and porcelain skin with a clear complexion that made her look incredibly beautiful. No one said anything as the girl slowly opened her eyes, revealing bright orbs that were as blue as sapphires.
"The crystal... it turned into a girl!" Tatsuo stated.
Mana and Haruko continued to stare without a word, moving to get a look at her from the side. They immediately regretted it once they saw how voluptuous the girl was, and briefly looked down at their complete lack of boobs.
'So unfair...' They thought.
Shinji didn't move, half of him afraid and half of him entranced at the girl whose eyes moved to meet his own.
"H-Hi...?" He slowly greeted.
The girl simply stared at him, then closed her eyes as he slumped onto him further, briefly making him blush as her incredible bosom unintentionally pressed against his body.
"Hurry! Someone grab the inflatable mattress and a pair of our mom's pajamas!" He panicked.
"Oh... oh! Right! Tatsuo, Haruko, you two grab the mattress! I'll get the pajamas!" Mana shouted.
All three of them ran upstairs.
Within the next ten minutes, the inflatable mattress was brought down, with Tatsuo and Shinji getting it ready while Mana and Haruko got the unnamed girl into the pajamas. Said PJs were somewhat baggy on the girl, but Mana and Haruko would rather have that in place of the boys ogling her because it was too tight around her sizeable chest, as they were all too familiar with.
Hours went by, with the group of four watching her sleeping form as her face... and chest (to the girls' continued jealousy and annoyance) made the subtle movements that proved she was breathing. Eventually, Tatsuo let out a loud yawn, feeling the fatigue of their continued watch hit him.
"I probably should have asked this earlier... but why are we not bringing this girl to a hospital?" He tiredly questioned.
"Bad idea." Haruko replied.
Tatsuo blinked in confusion.
"This girl has no registry, so there's no way we'd be able to take her without the law getting on our backs. Especially if they think we kidnapped her or something." She added.
"Plus, this girl was the crystal that our parents left in our care." Mana added.
"So, if anyone should be taking care of her? It's the four of us." Shinji agreed.
Hearing that, Tatsuo let out a sigh.
"Alright then. Guess me and Haruko are already deep enough in this pool anyways, so we might as well keep swimming." He stated.
"Uh... Tatsuo, please don't use that analogy ever again." Haruko begged.
The sound of the door unlocking was heard, making everyone flinch a little.
"Sorry for the wait!" Elsie apologized.
Shinji showed a face of surprise, which the others noticed, as Elsie opened the door and let herself in. On her right cheek was a little blood, caused by a non-scarring cut.
"Did you fight off all those black suits!?" Shinji questioned.
"I did. The only reason I wasn't able to deal them earlier was because it's pretty impractical to fight while carrying a heavy briefcase in your hands." Elsie confirmed.
"And all they did was nick you!?" Haruko questioned, pointing at the cut on her cheek.
"As pragmatic as it might be to use a Realizer to fight? Using one against one of the personal students of its inventor made it fairly easy for me to exploit, since they lack a style based on its use." She explained.
"That I can believe." Haruko replied.
"So, you're Elizabeth Camille Westcott, if this info I found is correct?" Mana inquired, showing her prior search.
"Everyone calls me Elsie, but yeah. That's my name." She confirmed.
"And the other two our parents called the golden trio?" Shinji asked.
"Huh, so that's what she calls us in code? Neat name. As for where Ellen and Elliot are... I have no idea, as we split up for me to get here." Elsie admitted.
She saw everyone tense up.
"Relax, I'm positive they're alive. For now, at least, did you get the crystal out of the briefcase? I need to make sure it's undamaged." Elsie asked.
"We did, but..."
Mana trailed off as she showed a video recording she had taken of the crystal turning into a girl, in case the unnamed girl had been some kind of killer ghost trying to harm them, and Elsie's face went blank. Her face slowly turned to the girl.
"The crystal... became a girl. That's what you're saying?" She asked.
Everyone nodded.
"Well, while I'm not exactly sure how much? That'll definitely screw with my older brother's plans on some level." Elsie said, scratching her neck in response.
She walked towards the unnamed girl and took a closer look at her.
'This girl does kind of look like Fumie, but I don't think she's a clone. Is this something she planned... or just a lucky accident?' She thought, lacking an answer.
Elsie turned to look at Shinji and Mana.
"While I'm no doctor, I do have some medical knowledge. I'll make sure she's OK." Elsie promised.
"Thanks, that helps a lot." Shinji replied.
"Now, do you have a home phone here? I need to call my friends without using mine." Elsie asked, looking around.
"Here you go." Mana replied.
Elsie turned to see Mana hand her their home phone, smiling as she took it.
The scene opened to the same park where Shinji had met Elsie hours prior.
"Damn it, to think my little sister showed up. The little piece of shit and her stoic attitude doing this to me. Next time I see her, she's gonna wish she had never tried to pick a fight with..." Ellen muttered.
She winced as Elliot finished wrapping her right arm, which suffered a slight fracture from protecting Elliot against her sister's sword.
"There you go." He smiled.
"Thanks..." Ellen said quietly.
"You shouldn't feel too bad about a feint. If Karen only managed to hurt you because of one, then it's clear you're still leagues ahead of her." Elliot reassured her.
"I know, but that doesn't fix my pride or the fact we haven't heard from Elsie yet." She sighed.
Right as she said those words, a loud beeping sound was heard from the phones Maria and Marina were in. This prompted both of them to grab the phones and answer.
"Hello?" They replied.
"Hey guys, sorry for the wait!" Elsie replied with a cheery tone.
"Thank the stars! So, does this mean you-" Ellen quickly asked.
"Yep!" She verified.
They let out a sigh of relief, knowing she made it to Tenguu City.
"So, you found their kids?" Elliot assumed.
"I found their son, technically, but I am in their house right now, so that isn't technically wrong either." Elsie replied.
"Right, we'll meet you there ASAP." Marina promised.
"Before you guys leave, there's an... unexpected development of the just plain and unexpected kind." Elsie mentioned.
"What do you mean?" Maria asked, sounding confused.
"Well... the crystal evolved into a girl." Elsie revealed.
Both Elliot and Ellen froze in place, as did Maria and Marina, with the latter two even having hourglass symbols to reflect their reactions had causing self-induced lagging.
"I'm sorry, but... what!?" Ellen asked.
"Not sure how to explain it, but their daughter recorded the whole thing on her phone. Feel free to watch it when you get here. Either way, I'm not kidding." Elsie responded.
Both Ellen and Elliot looked at each other with an odd look.
"Right... we'll just take your word for it. Bye." Elliot replied.
Both of them hung up, letting silence briefly fill the room as they tried to process the odd phone call they just had.
Maria and Marina were still lagging.
Using a combination of her phone and a Realizer, the group of friends watched as Elsie examined the unnamed girl.
"Hmm... nothing seems to be unusual, both in general and health wise. My diagnosis is she's just a baby." She stated.
"I don't get it?" Tatsuo asked.
"I mean, despite how old she looks both physically and biologically, her mind is probably no different than an infant's right now. After all, she was just born." Elsie explained.
"So, she fell asleep because she doesn't have any energy." Mana remarked.
Right at that moment, the girl felt a slight tickle in her nose, and she sneezed.
"Hmm?"
Everyone looked to see the unnamed girl sit up, rubbing her nose before moving to look at everyone. Her gaze eventually settled on Shinji, who was the only one the girl had recalled seeing before she fell asleep.
"Is this a first contact?" Elsie inquired.
"Yeah, she was the only one she saw when she first opened her eyes." Mana confirmed.
"Uh..."
Shinji looked to the side for a moment, then cleared his throat and met her eyes again.
"Hi there, I'm Shinji." He greeted.
The girl continued to stare at him.
"Are you... are you able to talk, or... do you not know how?" Shinji nervously inquired.
"S..."
Everyone looked at her in surprise, waiting to see if she could actually speak or not.
"Sh... in..."
She blinked.
"Shin." The girl finally said, successfully speaking.
"No, it's Shinji." He clarified.
"Shin." The girl then repeated.
"Ji! My name is Shinji, not Shin!" Shinji repeated, now getting a little annoyed.
Hearing that, the girl let out a faint noise at his reaction, and her cheeks puffed.
"Eh...?" He blinked.
The girl turned her head, closed her eyes, and then covered her mouth as she laughed at his prior reaction. She had no idea why she was doing it, just that it felt... right.
"Alright, you can call me Shin." He gave in.
At that moment, she stopped laughing and looked at him with her first ever smile. The sight of it made Shinji feel an unusual warmth in his heart.
'S-So... cute!' He thought.
Elsie looked at her phone.
"I don't see any kind of change, although... now I'm starting to wonder about something." She admitted.
"And that be...?" Haruko asked.
"Well, this is just a hypothesis, but... if she can already talk, then perhaps her mind may be naturally inclined towards learning, like her former crystal form was. If we give her the right materials, she might be able to communicate with us and reveal how she was born." Elsie theorized.
"OK, but... how do we teach her?" Mana questioned.
"Maybe we could lend her some of these?" Tatsuo suggested, pointing towards the shelf.
Specifically, a shelf that had Shinji's video games and consoles, anime DVDs, and manga.
"Really?" Haruko asked, giving him a deadpan stare.
"Actually... as Shinji was the one who touched her gem before she was born? I think Tatsuo might have the right idea." Elsie confessed.
Haruko stared at her in surprise.
"Well, I might be wrong, but there's still the smallest chance it could actually work. As such, I say we should try it." She explained.
"Fine, but I'm saying that I told you so if it's wrong." Haruko sighed.
'This day has officially gone from weird to insane...' Mana thought.
She then turned to look at Shinji, recalling how silent and distant from everything he had been until this morning, when he first met Elsie and was given the briefcase.
'And yet...'
She smiled, looking at the still unnamed girl who had broken the mold and allowed all of this to happen.
'Maybe, just maybe... this is what we need for us to move forward again.' She wondered, feeling hopeful.
With that thought? A new story had begun.
A story starting not from one, but from zero.
Quite the fitting sentence to end this chapter with, don't you think? Especially since it's pretty literal in this case as Mio herself is the Zero of Date A Live.
There are quite a lot of changes and just as many things that are unchanged in this adaptation of how Shinji and Mana first met Mio, but the major change is that Mio has been in the form of her Sephira Crystal for more than a decade. The reason for it is because of her intent to be used in that tower, and the dark secrets it was hiding.
Why was Elysium a lie?
Exactly what did Fumie and Rintaro have to do at the cost of their lives to stop it? Only the AE trio know the truth, but they won't be sharing that story for a long time. Not only did it mentally scar them, but the truth is something that Shinji and Mana wouldn't be able to handle with how recent their deaths were.
Luckily, Fumie and Rintaro were better at chess than Westcott realized, and he managed to screw him over despite this. While he and the rest of DEM try to regain their bearings? Mio love story has begun!
Until next time everyone, and stay awesome! ^^
