Before I say anything else, here's something for those who only follow the anime:
[Warning: Spoilers for content that won't be revealed until the anime's Fifth Season]
So, with that finally said? Yep, you're reading this correctly! I said that some of my old stories might revive from the grave, and this is one of them, so give a warm welcome back to... Another A Live!
I will admit that a month ago, while I did have the outline for this revival thought out to some degree? I wasn't actually planning to bring it back anymore soon, but when the S4 finale of Date A Live gave the shocking reveal that Season 5 was already in production, the excitement was so great that I just had to celebrate in some manner and chose to do so with the two DAL stories that had Mio and Kurumi (due to where S4 ends in the timeline) by at least getting their first chapters out.
Now a big thing to talk about for this revival is that the story is going to be very different because of how complex the original plot got after a certain point, and information that I didn't know when the original story began.
First is that this version of the story will only cover the events of Volumes 1 to 4, or the first season of the anime, since the new outline was made using my belief that it had been the best place to have ended the original story.
Second is that, despite the story will only go up to Volume 4 before it ends, it will have all of the Spirits present due to a reason that will be explained after Shido first meets Tohka.
Third is that the mentions of details from Date A Bullet will be expanded on, as how the DAB V8 ending has partial inspiration for how this story will end. It will only have the Quasi-Spirits who had major roles, however, due to how this applies, and the changes caused over Mio's actions.
And last but not least, to account for most of the Spirits being present at the start? When they turned into Spirits has been altered.
With that all said, hope you enjoy the revived story!
[Chapter 1 - Zero to Hero]
Shido stared at the sight before him with a mixture of shock, disbelief, and horror as the entirety of the war between DEM and Ratatoskr halted to a stop from the very thing he just witnessed. Not because of what he was seeing, the mere shockwave of what occurred killing all the former's tech either temporarily or permanently, and silencing the still active Nibelcole that were floating around the immediate area.
It was the sight of Kurumi, letting out painful whimpers from her throat as her two eyes were wide and shaking from horror, all because her body was trembling from an arm having stretched out of her torso despite no sign of blood coming out of it. Despite that, it was still clear the arm was coming out from within her.
"Kurumi, this isn't funny. Stop killing your clone in front of me!" Shido begged, refusing to believe the reality before her due to what it would mean.
"I can't... this is... the real me..."
And with those words, any doubts Shido still had faded as the hand continued to stretch out, and now the other Kurumi clones started rushing towards her, recognizing the danger the original was now in. Just as they got near her, however...
"Nuh uh."
A voice spoke through Kurumi's torso, one that Shido recognized from the memory she showed her the night before, and from his recent attempt of using Michael to bring back his lost memories of the past not long after that.
Realizing what was about to happen, Kurumi reacted.
"Z... d... e...!"
She barely choked out her words, as Zafkiel's clock appeared behind her, but no one saw what bullet it was she tried to fire as the hand moved and knocked it away from her direction. The bullet fired as her flintlock pistol was deflected and shot somewhere else as a second pulse shot out and made every clone of Kurumi's burst into black particles.
"No..."
It was then that the hand within Kurumi managed to push out its owner, and Shido saw her. An overly excessively beautiful girl with platinum colored hair, which was both long and glossy like threads of silk thread, translucent white skin, and crystal blue eyes that added the luster of perfection to her otherworldly beauty which highlighted her smile.
"Sorry about this, Kurumi, but thanks to you?"
She pulled out her other arm and drove it into the spot where Kurumi's heart was, making the black-haired Spirit roll her head back as a cold feeling started to envelop her body. One she had been the cause of many times.
"My goal is within reach."
At that moment, Shido's eyes widen as she jumped out of Kurumi's body, shocking all the nearby Spirits as she pulled out a black gem that a few of them recognized. A gem that Shido had seen in Kurumi's memories not long ago.
The gem known as the Zafkiel Crystal, in its shining glory.
"Kurumi!" He screamed.
Shido ran towards Kurumi as she fell backwards, the white of her pupils reverting to black, then fading away as both her eyes turned fully red. It wasn't long before her Astral Dress started to fade away and make it clear what was happening to her as Shido watched.
"Sawa... can you hear me? I'm... finally, finally... going to see you again..." She quietly cried.
At that moment, her eyes closed for the last time as her body slumped over. It was now an undeniable fact to the world. Kurumi Tokisaki, the Spirit who was called Nightmare, and the Worst Spirit... was dead.
Then, as if dealing one final blow to destroy any doubts that she was gone? Her body burst apart into sparkles of black light that would slowly fade away.
"It can't be..." Tohka breathed.
"Kurumi was..." Origami shook.
Kaguya and Yuzuru huddled close, more terrified than they had ever felt before. Terror towards, as Kaguya might word it, the Demon who looked like an Angel.
"Kurumi... I'm sorry, you trusted me, and I couldn't..." Shido sniffled.
As he was saying this, the girl who had silenced Kurumi's life walked towards him, clad in nothing more than a white dress and sandals with white straps, making Shido look her way and tense up.
"The time has finally come. We've waited for long enough, so now... I'm here to finally fulfill my promise, Shin."
Hearing her called Shido by Shin made the Spirits all gasp. Though the most notable reaction came from Origami.
"Wait a second... that voice, it's-" She realized.
It was the same voice she heard from Phantom when she briefly dispelled her veil 5 years ago, and now that she was seeing what she looked like and hearing her voice? Origami finally knew why it was so familiar to her.
Holding up her hand, the mysterious platinum-haired girl opened her palm towards Shido, who felt his eyes widen as he briefly held his head as hundreds of images flowed.
"AH!"
Shido fell onto his hands, panting as all his lost memories returned, and stayed with him this time. He then looked up, now recognizing the girl standing before him as one of his most precious people. Someone he had failed when it mattered most.
"Mio... is that really you...?" He asked, trying to confirm it was really her.
The other Spirits, who had already realized who she was, only gave further shock as the heard the name only Mana had mentioned before now.
Inside the Fraxinus's command room, the crew all showed shock at what they heard with the exception of Reine, who showed no reaction at all.
"That... that's Mio, and..." Kotori stuttered.
Her eyes moved towards Reine, who sighed.
"Reine, I'm begging you... say something! Anything! Please say it was just my stupid idea! Just laugh and say it is a coincidence, and then ridicule me in your usual tone!"
"Sorry Kotori... but there's no point in my hiding it any longer, not when my time is up." Reine answered.
At that moment, her body started to emit particles of light and slowly become translucent, leaving the crew shocked at the sight. Even Maria was left shocked at what she was currently seeing.
"What... what is going on here!?" Maria questioned, feeling her scanners register countless errors.
"The sight of a doppelganger whose fulfilled her role finally achieving it, to be exact." Reine answered.
"Doppel...ganger?" Kotori repeated.
"As you've clearly seen already, the girl standing before our there, the one you've learned is Mio Takamiya, is me. However, the me you see here is a mere ghost of her power meant to keep myself invisible to Ratatoskr and DEM alike while keeping tabs on everything Ratatoskr was doing so there were no surprises that would interfere." She began.
Hearing the mention of the word ghost, Kotori's eyes widened in horror.
"Phantom... all this time, she was you. You've been the Spirit of Origin... hiding in plain sight within our ranks." She said, putting the pieces together.
"The time we spent together was fun, and I did consider you all my friends. However, I'm afraid that even with that in mind?" Reine reluctantly admitted.
Her body fully disappeared.
"I will erase even my friends for the sake of my goal, to be with Shin again."
At that moment, Nia finally found her voice as she suddenly fell onto her butt.
"Maria, we're screwed... aren't we?" She asked.
"Despite my intentions to lie? Yes." Maria agreed.
Staring at the seat where her best friend, or perhaps supposed best friend depending based on Reine's words, Kotori felt her mouth tremble as her black ribbons fell off.
The commander had gone silent.
His doubts had been fully erased by this point, the girl standing before Shido was none other than Mio Takamiya, the girl he met 30 years in the crater of a Spacequake.
And... the girl he fell in love with.
"It really is you, Mio..." He stated.
"Since you died, I've missed you so much. Always wanted to see you. Until now, I've had to rely on those things to survive." She said, tears filling her eyes.
She held out both her hands to him, surprising the Spirits as they watched it all.
"There are so many things I want to talk about, so many things I wasn't able to tell you. Things that will take forever to finish. It's OK, though... no matter how much time it will take? No matter if it will be a few days, a few years or more?" Mio continued.
Origami felt a twinge of jealousy as Mio spoke such poetic words that made her love for Shido, no... everyone's love for Shido, seem miniscule. However, something felt off.
'Why do I only hear sadness and pain?' She wondered.
"Because this time... let's be together forever, Shin!"
As he heard those words, Shido, now with all his memories as Shinji Takamiya, felt truly pained for multiple reasons that hurt more than any blade.
"Me too Mio, I'm sorry that I left you behind. Sorry that I made you feel so lonely. To have gone away, and failed you." He admitted as he teared up.
"Shin, it's OK-" Mio reassured him.
"But! What you did to resurrect me?"
Mio felt her words stop, while the other Spirits felt a twinge as they sensed Shido's regained memories flow through him as they spot, freezing them as the revelations struck them like thunder.
"That... it's not right, none of it! Why was it you had to hurt so many people to achieve that!?" He shouted.
Hearing that response? Mio immediately was brought to tears, letting out a forced laugh that surprised Shido.
"You think I don't know what I've done?" She asked.
Looking at her eyes, Shido felt a sudden sensation, bits and pieces of Mio's memories over the past 30 years.
"But there was nothing else for me to do! I was left with just one path if I didn't want to suffer!" Mio sobbed.
The tears flowed out of her without control.
"Ask me to move on? Ask me to somehow follow you into death? I tried that, and nothing! It couldn't be done! I'm not weak like a human... even though I wanted to die and be with you in the next life, no amount of poison could silence me, no weapon could pierce me until I lost enough blood to cease breathing. However, I also wasn't strong like a human. I tried to just forget you and live for myself, but every time I tried to close my eyes and sleep? I saw it again. Over and over, any instance I tried to rest for the last 30 years my sole dreams was the living nightmare of seeing you die when Westcott shot you! I couldn't even go insane and feel my mind wreck itself to mentally silence me!"
Shido was left speechless.
Right now, after hearing all of that, a silhouette of gigantic Westcott having grown claws that he dug into where Mio's heart was standing before Mio, and it was horrifying.
"Wait, I'm confused... what's she talking about?" Tohka asked, having heard so much.
"Mio is immortal. Unable to move on through death, and frozen in time." Origami realized.
Mio Takamiya wasn't some heartless girl who cared nothing for life, or some kind of yandere refusing to let anyone take the man she loved. She was just a girl.
One that had been imprisoned by her pain for 30 years.
"The only out she thinks she has, and maybe it really is the only one she has... is to spend that immortal life with the person she loves." Origami finished answered.
Mio soon held up her hand.
"Forgive me Shin, but... I'm afraid this is the only option I have left to me." Mio apologized.
He suddenly felt himself being pulled, and gasped, trying to reach out before he disappeared.
"Shido!" Everyone shouted.
"Tell the AST to leave, now."
Origami looked at Mio as she stood before the group, light surrounding her form.
"Shevirat ha Kalim."
In an instant, her outfit was replaced by a beautifully elaborate dress with the same transparent color as water droplets. There were flower ornaments, designed like cherry blossoms, around her bosom and in her hair, all made out of a mysterious material of light. Gold jewelry adorned her neck, shoulders, and torso, the last of which held her infamous teddy bear in place, with only her now bare feet without clothing.
The Spirits all felt as much awe as they did dread, feeling her Astral Dress exuded a radiance similar to the Northern Lights, reflecting her power was both the beginning and the end of all Spirits.
"You should be well aware of what I intend to do with you and the ten remaining Spirits, but I'd rather not involve anyone else. If you truly care for them... tell them to flee, or I make no guarantees about their fate." She warned, emphasizing the limits of her kindness.
Holding out her arms, a golden ring formed before it spun into the shape of a distorted halo.
Ten circular spots formed on it as the spinning came to a stop, some of which were hidden behind her, right as the Zafkiel Crystal floated in front of her. Grabbing it in her hands, the most upper right circle suddenly glowed as it was filled with a black orb that had the twinkle of a star shine within it. The first of ten she would slowly reclaim.
"So, that's her plan." Origami realized.
She immediately tapped the second headset Ryouko had lent her, and the moment she heard her former captain speak.
"All of you, run!" She demanded.
"Wait, what!?" Ryouko responded.
"The Spirit of Origin is here, and just killed Nightmare with no effort. She intends to do the same until she's the only Spirit left. If you don't leave now, I can't guarantee she won't kill you too!" Origami continued, shutting her eyes as realized what might follow next.
And her worries were confirmed as Mikie overheard what she just said, and predictably...
"No, don't do it Origami! Please-"
She crushed the headset before Mikie finished, hoping that they heeded her warning.
"If that isn't enough? This will be." Mio claimed, floating high into the air as she said it.
Her arms rose.
"Ain Soph Aur!"
Everyone looked to the sky as a flower bud formed, then slowly bloomed one petal at a time, with the Spirits all gasping as they saw someone familiar sprout from the center.
"That's... Mayuri!?" Tohka shouted, her eyes shaking.
Meanwhile, from where he now stood? Westcott smiled.
"You finally came out, Deus... my beloved Spirit." He announced as his eyes widened from pure delight.
She silently lowered her left arm while her right stayed outstretch, her palm now facing towards the sky.
"Fire."
Flipping her right arm around, then swinging it to the ground, Mayuri's eyes opened before she let out a morbid melody, which signaled orbs of light representing flower pollen firing out of Ain Soph Aur's form.
The people of Ratatoskr and the DEM Wizards, who were the only two groups she didn't target, watched as they quickly fell as quickly as they rose.
*"BAM!"*
*"BANG!"*
*"BOOM!"*
The armada of DEM airships, their Bandersnatch forces, and the remaining Nibelcole were instantly hit and erased from the world as the lights burst upon impact and silenced them from this world. Nearby Wizards who got hit by friendly fire put up Territories, but only those who had strong ones survived as the explosive energy swallowed them up.
"She... she just..." Tohka gasped.
In that one moment, Mio made her incredible power known to both armies.
Everyone on the Fraxinus watched in horror as they witnessed the casualties Mio left in less than a minute, with Kotori and Nia both aware that she was likely hiding more to make sure she reclaimed their Sephira Crystals.
"She just destroyed the entire DEM army, there's no way the wizards who survived would even try to fight something like that." Kannazuki said, now absolutely petrified.
"And if she intends to take the Commander and Nia's crystals as well, then she might go after us too." Shiizaki realized, all of her fingers shaking above her keyboard.
There was silence from Kotori, who was still without her black ribbons.
While the crew continued with their shocked silence, Nia suddenly saw Rasiel appear before her, and open to a page as something revealed itself to her.
'This is-!' She gasped.
Ignoring how Rasiel managed to tell her anything, or subconsciously just chalking it up to Mio's presence fixing the glitches her Angel had from it existing simultaneously with Beelzebub, she immediately ran up to Kotori and shook her shoulders.
Without even giving Kotori a chance to reply, she forced Rasiel before her.
"Eh!?"
Upon realizing what Rasiel said in its page, Kotori was quick to understand the position she and Nia had been forced into, and took a deep breathe. Commander persona or not, there were people she had to protect.
"Maria... activate emergency teleportation."
"Activating, shall I send everyone away from the battlefield?" Maria replied, waiting for her action perimeters.
Kotori shook her head as she shed a tear.
"No, cause Nia and I will be staying here."
The rest of the crew all looked at her, with Maria quickly realizing what was going on.
"Acknowledged." Maria stated.
"Commander, what are you-"
Kannazuki's words stopped midway as he and the rest of the crew were teleported to safety. Now it was only Kotori, Nia, and Maria left in the Fraxinus as a whole.
"Maria, if Mio's as serious as she's claimed? She will come, and when she does, this ship will fall. You realize there's no way we can save you, right?" Kotori asked.
"I am aware. If this is to be my end, then I will fight to the end." She confirmed.
Shedding tears, Kotori forced out all the courage she had as the three turned the ship around, and began flying away.
Shido winced as he stood up.
"Damn it, Mio..." He winced.
"It looks like I was able to fish out my catch, lucky me." Westcott stated.
He felt his eyes widen as he turned around, seeing Westcott walk into view.
"Crap..." Shido breathed.
A smirk formed on Westcott's face as he manifested Beelzebub, looking like a spider about to approach and devour the ensnared pray that fell into his web.
"One thing I've learned is while Deus seems to think she's smart enough to trick me? There's a single thread of predictability in her planning." He stated.
"You mean me?" Shido realized, holding out his hand.
Sandalphon manifested in his grip as he readied himself.
"Oh, so you remember now? It's quite the relief to no longer watch myself from saying your former name. Not only that, but it's quite fitting..." Westcott stated.
Beelzebub started to glow.
"Yes, to kill you again while you remember what I did and the anger you must be feeling over it? It's quite fitting indeed." He smirked.
"So you knew Mio would send me away and managed to use enough of Beelzebub's power to guide me here..." Shido replied angrily.
Now that his memories as Shinji were back, so was the hate he gained as he died.
"Half of that is right. After all, you're not the only Takamiya that I have a history with." Westcott stated as he pointed towards the sky.
"Big brother!"
Shido turned around and then saw her flying towards them.
It was Mana, wearing a now slightly damaged Vanargandr.
"Mana!" He shouted.
Mana landed beside him, panting a little as tried to refill her lungs with the oxygen she had used to make it as fast as she had.
"Why are you-" He asked.
"I remember." She replied.
His words faltered the moment he heard that, as it answered almost every question he could have asked.
"About Mio, about our past, about what DEM truly did to me... I remember every second of it." She stated.
"Must have been when Mio restored my memories." Shido realized.
Mana soon turned to face Westcott, readying Wolftail as the madman gave a chuckle at the two siblings.
"Finally, the pieces are here." He stated.
"You can talk tough now, but you'll be the one whose lying on the ground when this is over!" Mana declared.
"This ends here, Westcott!" Shido stated.
He formed Halvanhelev through his sheer anger and willpower, and Westcott smirked as Beelzebub's pages flew out and created a small army of shadowy monsters.
Kaguya and Yuzuru flew as Ain Soph Aur fired at them.
"Ha, hah! Try all you wish, but no matter what, your attacks will never strike the Hurricane Children!" Kaguya declared.
"Concern. Kaguya, don't take this lightly." Yuzuru warned, keeping her eyes on Mio.
The Spirit of Origin continued her onslaught against the Yamai twins, Tohka, and Origami as they dodged the attacks of Ain Soph Aur, knowing how dangerous any hit would be. While the Territory of certain DEM Wizards implied it wasn't lethal for them to get hit? They couldn't risk how long any attack would leave them open for Mio to get close.
"Never strike you, huh?" Mio stated.
She held out her hand towards Kaguya, who immediately saw this and moved... only for Mio to shift her body.
"Ain Soph Aur: Henet!"
Ain Soph Aur quickly closed before it shrunk to the size of Mio's palm, and then immediately reopened to fire a concentrated beam of particles. It fired at a speed so fast that Kaguya, who had just moved to where Mio had predicted she'd move...
Was immediately hit by the blast, widening her eyes as it cut through her.
"Then what was that?" Mio inquired.
Yuzuru made the most expressive face she ever had as Kaguya gave her one last look, before her eyes closed and she burst into sparkles of orange light.
"KAGUYA!"
Staring at Mio with a face full of anger and hatred, Yuzuru made recklessly charge towards the Spirit of Origin.
"How dare you!" She screamed.
"Yuzuru, no!" Origami warned.
"If you do that, she'll-" Tohka shouted, trying to stop her.
With her rage blinding her, Yuzuru prepared to attack Mio.
"Goodbye... Yuzuru." Mio said.
Yuzuru immediately felt her eyes widen, the feeling of something stabbing through her entering her body as everyone saw an extension of Mio's Astral Dress had pierced itself into her torso. It soon pulled itself out and revealed a now complete Raphael Crystal, once again whole after Kaguya's death. Yuzuru's tear filled eyes dulled and then closed.
Tohka and Origami watched her body vanish like her sister's as Mio absorbed their crystal.
"Is... is she even trying? Is this her... when she's holding back?" Origami questioned in terror.
Mio turned to look at them.
"Both of you are among the Spirits with stronger affinities to their powers, but don't think that will make any difference here." She stated.
Holding her arm out, the two tensed as she readied another use of Henet while her Astral Dress stretched out to further reduce their cover.
"Rataibu!"
A familiar portal opened up, getting Mio's attention as Henet and her Astral Dress went through. She pulled back the later as another portal opened overheard, and Mukuro flew out before thrusting Michael towards her.
"Segva!"
Mio felt her Astral Dress stop moving, while Ain Soph Aur's shrunken form disappeared.
"Mukuro!" Tohka shouted with a smile.
"Sorry we're late." She smiled in return.
It was then that Origami saw Yoshino, Miku, and Natsumi all exiting the portal and floating besides them.
"All of you?" She asked.
"We felt what was going on through the paths we share with Shido, and decided we should all come. Kotori and Nia should still be on Fraxinus due to their situations." Miku explained, focused on Mio.
Yoshino gave a sad look as she and Natsumi looked at Tohka.
"So, it is true? Are Kaguya and Yuzuru both...?" She asked.
"They are..." Tohka nodded.
She pointed at the halo on Mio's back, where the orange orb representing the Raphael Crystal now stood.
"Damn idiots, why'd you get killed?" Natsumi said as she lowered her head, hiding her tears under her hat.
"So, you came to me instead of running?" Mio realized.
All of them made serious expressions and readied their Angels, making Mio smile as she saw the sight.
"Quite the heartwarming sight." She admitted.
"Keep talking tough! Now that Mukuro's sealed off your Angel, the rest of us finally have a chance!" Natsumi declared.
"My Angel?" Mio repeated.
She wigged a finger at her.
"Sorry, but... when did I ever say I had one Angel?" She inquired.
All of them gave a confused look as Mio rose a hand in response.
"Answer? I didn't." Mio stated.
The Spirits all let out gasps of disbelief before noticing area around them gain a purple tint, and Mio's Astral Dress regained movement.
"Impossible..." Mukuro breathed, stepping back in disbelief.
"The world where all of you went whenever you became Lost? That world, the Neighboring World, is both a personification and extension of my powers." Mio began.
She began raising her left hand.
"What you see around you is just a small release of it that was the inspiration behind a Wizard's Territory, but now..." She continued.
"Ain Soph!"
With those words, a huge rip formed in the ground. From that rip, a large mechanical looking tree that warped the sky and landscape into a monochrome, chessboard-like appearance.
"You stand before the Angel that manifests the full extent of its power." Mio finished.
"She doesn't just have one Angel. I didn't think that was possible." Miku said in shock.
"And she might have more..." Tohka realized.
In response to what they saw, Mukuro and Yoshino chose to act, with Mukuro placing Michael on her chest and Yoshino pulling out of Zadkiel.
"Michael: Shifuru!"
"Zadkiel: Shiryon!"
Now clad in their strongest forms, Mukuro and Yoshino immediately launched an attack. Yoshino shouted as she launched her icy tornado towards Mio, who showed no sort of reaction, while Mukuro aimed Michael in the direction of the cyclone.
"Jerez!"
She fired a thin beam within the cyclone's center, turning it a hot pink color as it approached Mio.
"If we don't know what you're capable of!?" Yoshino started.
"Then it's best to fight you at our strongest!" Mukuro finished.
Mio smiled.
"Your idea is a smart and sound one... had it been used before I summoned Ain Soph, that is." She replied.
She moved her left hand up a little more, holding out her poking finger before air drawing a U towards them.
'What is she-?' Tohka wondered.
In an instant, both attacks did a U-turn, surprising their casters as they split and moved at tenfold their former speed, striking both of them before they could even react to the split and acceleration. Due to how Yoshino's ice could punish use of mana and Jerez was capable of decomposing it... both of them burst into sparkles before they knew it.
"Y... Yoshino?" Natsumi stuttered, her eyes shaking as her mind nearly shut down.
The Michael and Zadkiel Crystals soon formed and were pulled towards Mio, who held out her left hand as she absorbed both of them.
"Ain Soph's power? The ability to rewrite the laws of reality in this space to my whim. In this field, I am the law." Mio soon revealed.
"So, if we try to fight back at all, then..." Origami realized.
"I would be able to counter your every move." Mio confirmed.
It was at that moment part of Ain Soph's form opened, forming a large knothole where the sight of Rinne in her Ruler form could be seen, which made Tohka and Origami's heads briefly feel pain.
"That's... Rinne!?" Origami questioned, said pain being their memories coming back.
"First Mayuri and now her? How is this-" Tohka questioned, fearing she already knew.
Mio closed her eyes.
"When the incident with Rinne in Eden, and the incident with Mayuri's Kerubiel both happened... I was testing Ain Soph and Ain Soph Aur, which I had yet to properly train my use of, in a way that kept Westcott from realizing what I was doing. The two are nothing more than extensions of myself, acting as avatars by using the two Angels in weaker forms." She revealed.
Tohka felt sweat go down her face, realizing how deeply Mio had involved herself in things.
"Now... let's finish this." Mio decided.
Moving her left pointer finger up, Mio commanded the chessboard-shaped ground beneath the remaining Spirits to start rising as a myriad of blocks.
"Ain Soph: Anaph!"
As the remaining Spirits were thrown into disarray, some of Ain Soph's branches moved as Rinne's eyes opened up, and she threw her arms forward. The branches split and sharpened themselves into katana-like forms that headed towards the group.
They tried to run and flee, but with the paranoia of Ain Soph's main power in their mind, they were too afraid to use their Angels to aid them. Eventually, a pair of blocks hit Natsumi and Miku.
"No!" Tohka shouted.
As the two fell in midair, the bladed branches shot forward and stabbed through them.
"Tohka... Origami... don't try to fight her." Natsumi coughed out, feeling herself fading.
"Run..." Miku begged.
As Tohka and Origami had seen six times already, the two Spirits' bodies burst, leaving only their Sephira Crystals as they flew towards Mio.
"They can't. I've already caught them." Mio stated.
Hearing what she said, Tohka and Origami turned around right as parts of Mio's Astral Dress pierced their chests.
"Shido..." Both wheezed out.
Mio closed her eyes, with the tree and realm of Ain Soph fading away as the Metatron and Sandalphon Crystals floated towards her. Holding out her hand, they too were absorbed into the halo that now only had the two circles between Metatron and Raphael's empty. Her next target was clear before she could reunite with Shinji and Mana.
"Soon Shin, it won't be much longer." She swore.
She took off into the sky, looking for the Fraxinus.
Kotori and Nia felt their hearts drop as they saw the Spirit signatures of Tohka and Origami vanish, and knew what was coming.
"Maria... she's coming." Kotori stated, clenching her fists.
"Deploying all Yggdra Folium Realizers and initiating System Blot link." Maria announced in response.
Nia moved over to the terminal to add her power to System Blot, right as the Yggdra Foliums detached.
"Contact in 3... 2... 1..."
Mio arrived in their airspace, prompting the Yggdra Foliums to emit a Territory to slow her down.
"Readying Gungnir for fire" Maria declared.
Kotori lowered herself in the bottom chamber, and charged what she could into a single shot, knowing that was all she could manage to slow Mio down. Seeing the cannon ready to fire, Mio let out a sigh in response.
"It seems this is your poetic way of representing the bridge I've burned between us." Mio said.
She didn't slow down in the slightest, with her Astral Dress sliced the Yggdra Foliums and then...
"Fire!" Maria announced.
The blast fired, though it never even directly touched Mio as some kind of aura from her Astral Dress parted it around her. Kotori and Nia both stared at the result in shock.
"We didn't buy any time... did we?" Nia solemnly realized.
"Goodbye, my friends." Maria said as she accepted her fate.
Mio soon flew straight into the Fraxinus, causing it to explode from the impact, crashing onto the ground as Mio saw the Camael Crystal float into view.
"Strange, where is Rasiel?" Mio wondered.
The flickering of the Rasiel Crystal slowly came into view, and she looked at it with confusion. Reaching out to touch her, a sense of shock flooded into her as she saw where the last bit of it still was. An image of Westcott fighting Shido and Mana, the former Mio had been certain she had sent to one of the shelters so the DEM wouldn't reach him.
"No..." She panicked.
She immediately dashed in the direction where Westcott was, before it was too late.
Westcott was knocked back as Mana's Wolftail fired off, and caught him off guard.
"Big brother, now!" She shouted.
"Roaring... Flash... Blast Wave-"
His eyes widened as the remnants of his spirit power faded, quickly followed by Vanargandr sparking before it went completely offline.
'No...' Shido realized.
His connection to Nia and Kotori had disappeared. He didn't have any of the Spirits' powers now, and without Fraxinus, so had Vanargandr.
"Just as I predicted, and now? Time for the coup de grace." Westcott smirked.
Shido and Mana both paled as he pulled out a gun of the same model that shot the former's past life, realizing what Westcott was about to do as his hand began to pull on the trigger.
"No!"
He briefly glanced to the side as he saw Mio rush into the area, still unaware of his gun, as parts of her Astral Dress moved pull Shido and Mana away.
*"BANG!"*
Mio's heart sank as she heard that sound, and saw the Takamiya siblings fell to the ground.
"Are you seeing this, Deus? You've failed. Once again, the boy is dead" Westcott declared.
She slowly lowered to the ground.
"I long figured what the reason for giving him the power of the Spirits was after seeing him and Diva in their attempt to rescue Princess, so once only Nightmare was left? I simply had to push a situation for him to be in danger. I didn't expect her to delay me for so long, but in the end, this war... gave me everything I needed." Westcott smiled.
Mio ignored him as she kept staring.
"The moment these two are involved? You become so predictable, prioritizing them over everything else. Had you just killed me at the start, maybe you would have managed to do what you set out to, but now they're gone, and this time... I've made sure it sticks." He revealed, clicking a hidden switch on the gun.
Within the span of a few seconds, the bullets lodged within both Shido and Mana revealed their real nature with a single, horrifying sound.
*"BOOM!"*
Mio felt the iris and pupils of her already widened eyes shrink. What remained of Shido and Mana were consumed in the fires, leaving it impossible for her to revive either of them, for now she had nothing to revive them from.
Her breath started to go heavy, shrunken eyes shaking as if trying to confirm what she was real even now, and light sounds leaving her voice as if trying to repress a scream.
"You have absolutely, and completely failed against me, Deus." Westcott smirked, hammering the truth in.
With those words, Mio's repressed screams finally escaped as she released a wail that made the one Origami released in response upon realizing the Spirit that killed her mom and had been herself seem quiet.
"No! No, no, no, no, no! NOOOO!"
"There isn't anything left for you to protect or preserve now! It's time you fulfill your role!" Westcott continued, staring at her with a smirk.
Hearing those words, something in Mio snapped as she gave her a furious look.
"Yeah, there's nothing left now... which means there's no reason to leave nothing!"
She raised her hand and a ripple formed.
"Hmm?" Westcott said with a confused look.
Suddenly, a strong pressure hit the area, causing anything that remained of DEM to start falling to the ground. Following this, the remaining buildings suddenly started to crumple like the first signs of a squished soda can as any glass shattered. Only now did Westcott feel something was wrong as a dreadful chill slowly crept across his body.
"Do you know the reason why I never tried to kill you before now?" Mio questioned.
It was only then that he saw it... Mio's face, now completely swallowed by her rage, leaving no trace of its normal beauty as her emotional state and mind became just as ugly as said fury.
"It's because... it was too good a punishment for you. After all, I've never seen you as my favorite person." She seethed, crushing her hand into a fist.
"AIN!"
Said ripple ceased, then condensed as it exploded into a massive burst of light spreading from where she stood. Westcott's eyes widened as he briefly saw it, the Angel that resembled a seed of light he could only compare to God's judgment, and felt himself do the only thing he had never done since he lost his village 40 years ago... feel afraid.
Losing his mom had awakened something in him. A feeling that wanted to experience death, be the cause or the effect, but this? What he saw told him he was about to feel something worse than it, and a frown formed on his face as the light finally reached him.
"Everything here... can just disappear!" Mio screamed, the light emphasizing her expression.
Right now? She looked like the Devil.
As the light consumed him, Westcott felt it for the brief moment he could. He wasn't dying... Mio was erasing him, and swallowing all of the city with it, no longer in the state of mind that made her spare everyone she had kept out of her goals to revive her precious Shinji Takamiya.
His body was fully swallowed before many screams reached Mio's ears, until every one of them was silenced.
*"DRIP!"*
Standing in the middle of Tenguu City, or rather what used to be Tenguu City, now stood a broken Mio Takamiya who had lost everything. Her lover... his sister... her home... her hope.
All gone because her desperation to complete her goal on the edge of its fruition.
"Now I have nothing." Mio whimpered.
She let out a loud sob everything finally sunk in, and kneeled in one of the many craters she had made 30 years. The one that had been her beginning with Shinji, not now their absolute end. There was nothing left for her than to live forever in this world, this prison of her own making, now without the first and only person she could ever love.
"Oh dear, it seems I was too late..."
That voice made Mio freeze, and she slowly turned around to see something unbelievable.
"An hour was too long." She frowned.
It was Kurumi Tokisaki, who had been the first Spirit she had killed, somehow alive and still kicking despite she could feel the reclaimed Zafkiel still connected to her.
"Surprised to see me here?" Kurumi smirked, noticing Mio look at her.
"How could I not be? I should have already-" Mio replied, still shocked.
Her words faltered as her mind drift back to when she took Kurumi's crystal, when she had redirected the bullet that Kurumi had tried to fire at her while she escaped from her shadow realm.
Or rather, what she thought had been a shot at her at the time.
"Yud Aleph... she was aiming for a clone!" Mio finally realized.
Kurumi giggled in response.
"Looks like you win a prize. Yes, I am one of her clones, one she chose to send an hour in the future to help Shido by reminding him he was in possession of Vav, a power he had already learned of through a fellow clone." She confirmed while giving her a mock clap.
Though she soon stopped as a frown came to her face, being reminded of the ruins around her.
"It didn't matter though..."
"Because of me." Mio said.
Kurumi opened her mouth to speak, as if to degrade Mio, but seeing how broken the Spirit of Origin was silenced her tongue. It was hard to say anything when it seemed like Mio had already been broken in a way she'd never have been able to achieve in the present. Instead, taking account of the ruined Tenguu City having no traces to tell her of what transpired, Kurumi did something she hadn't done for 27 years.
"Once the effects of Yud Aleph fade, I'll disappear, so... what happened?"
Mio looked at her.
"If I'm going to end up dying, might as well finally get some closure to bring back to my real self an hour ago. Tell me why you did all of this? What goal did you have that left Sawa, and so many others dead for it to become a reality?" She questioned.
Mio stared at her for a bit, and then finally, opened her mouth as she explained.
By the time she was done?
"Shido was..." She breathed.
Kurumi took a step back and put a hand to her forehead, needing a moment to process what she heard, and once it had? Everything suddenly made sense.
"So, it didn't matter at all. I wanted to make you suffer... and yet I met you after you had already had plenty. That was why you didn't stop me." She realized.
She pulled her hand off, laughing a little.
"You let me run wild because for as much as you wanted to be with him? Tohka and I... you hoped maybe we could actually cause you to die. You made us hate you, so we wouldn't try to save you." Kurumi stated.
Mio said nothing, just staring at the ground as her hair covered her eyes. Now that she knew everything? Kurumi didn't know what to feel, as while she couldn't forgive her for the action that left to Sawa's death? What she just heard allowed Kurumi to understand Mio for the first time.
'In the end, it was all due to Westcott... he's why all of this happened.' She thought, now hating him even more.
She gripped her fist at how everything ended.
"You and I aren't so different. We both were chasing a dream that was never completely going to come true." Mio suddenly said, still unmoving from her spot.
"Hmm?" Kurumi raised an eye.
"Despite everything I did, deep down... I knew Shin was gone. Shido might be his body reincarnated, and had his memories, and yet..." Mio quietly revealed.
Kurumi said nothing as she pieced the rest together, just turning her head to the side.
"Guess this is our future now... because I can't turn back the clock anymore." She stated.
Mio's eyes widened as she lifted her head.
"Wait a second. Even though you're a clone of Kurumi, you were still made by her powers, so..." She realized, moving her hands into view.
This got Kurumi's attention as she saw it in Mio's eyes.
Hope, the same hope she had to change things for the better. The hope that made her able to endure nearly 30 years of struggles, all for her goal to kill Mio.
"What are you saying?" Kurumi questioned.
Mio didn't reply, and simply lifted her left hand.
"Ain Soph!"
Kurumi gasped as she saw the Angel and the field it created as the former's tree form rose from the ground, and then a familiar sound behind her, making her turn around to see none other than Zafkiel's giant clock.
"This is... Zafkiel!?" She said in disbelief.
"Ain Soph lets me rewrite the laws of reality in this space to my whim. In this field, I am the law. One of the laws I'm currently rewriting... is the one that kept Kurumi's clones from using Zafkiel's bullets." Mio explained.
Such a revelation made the Worst Spirit's eyes, and she was left speechless. In this seemingly hopeless situation, this grim future, Mio found a way.
"Yud Aleph won't last much longer, 5 minutes I'm guessing at this rate. Use that time to borrow some of my power... and return to the past." Mio stated.
"Are you seriously!?" Kurumi shouted in disbelief.
"We don't have time to waste! If you disappear now, then this is going to stay our future!" Mio shouted.
She gripped Zafkiel tightly.
"Do you not understand the situation? If I want to, I can use Vav to go back and go to before the war began to tell everyone what will happen. I could even achieve the goal I've always set out and kill DEM's founders before you were ever born. I have everything to gain while you have everything to lose, and no reason to send you back in time!"
Kurumi glared at Mio, who paused for a moment.
"Then I'll have deserved that. In the end, I just... I just don't want to live in a world without Shin in it." She replied, accepting her potential fate.
Hearing that left Kurumi surprised, to hear Mio said that was almost foreign to her.
"Nearly 30 years and only the first six months had happy memories for me. As much as I wish that were longer, if... if I'm just going to hurt this world because I'm not able to let go and move on? Then I'd rather have never been born to begin with." Mio stated.
Kurumi said nothing.
She just closed her eyes, making her choice as Mio closed her eyes, awaiting whatever fate the Spirit of Time had chosen for her.
"Zadkiel..."
Mio shed a tear, ready to face all her sins in this one moment.
"Yud!"
Hearing that left Mio shocked, right as she felt the bullet hit her, and Kurumi saw a single memory from 30 years ago. The memory of how Shinji's shooting went. When she saw what she needed...
"He didn't die instantly. Shinji was shot, but not where it would kill him the instant it would hit." Kurumi stated.
"W-What...? Why are you-?" Mio stuttered, looking confused.
"I hate you Mio! As I am now, I always will!" Kurumi shouted.
She tightened her first as she briefly made an angry face, then scrunched her mouth as she looked away, still surprised that this was the choice she had decided to make.
"But... I now know you did what you did to me as a victim, one who saw the same thing." She admitted.
Mio felt her eyes widen as she heard that. Kurumi, who should be picking the option to kill her, was instead showing her mercy. She was giving her a chance to save Shin!
"So, go! Go back and save what's left of his soul before it fades! Even if I did go back, who would I know if it would work? I might fail for all I know! Origami's parents still died despite we changed her past, so Westcott could always try again and it wouldn't be someone with a heart. So, if I have to let a devil be born... better the Devil that I know." Kurumi stated.
"Kurumi..." Mio sobbed.
"And if you somehow fail? Meet me in 3 years, and try again! If the future can't completely change... at least change how it ends for us the best you can!" She continued.
Wiping her tears, Mio held out her hands and activated Ain Soph again.
"I've added one more law to Ain Soph, you can now fuse Yud Bet and Vav into a single bullet! Use it now!" Mio stated.
Kurumi nodded, feeling Yud Aleph's time limit near.
Mio closed her eyes once more as she readied herself.
"Yud Bet!"
The first stream left the clock, and began to swirl the flintlock pistol, with Kurumi feeling some strain.
"Vav!"
The second stream followed and both energies moved into the pistol, ready to fire as she fell on her knee.
"Fusion!"
She pulled the trigger, and right as she did, Yud Aleph's effects faded. She returned to the past, knowing that while she would die like the other clones... this horrible future had a chance to neve happen. There was a chance for her past self to be happier.
And maybe, just maybe... this time she and Mio could end up becoming real friends.
'Be the Hero of Justice for real this time.' She thought.
Those were her last thoughts before she ceased to be, and Mio vanished, returning to where everything first began. To where she'd start over and earn her redemption.
From a Zero... into a Hero.
And the title has dropped!
Quite a few changes came together to alter how Volume 18 ended, and they had quite the impact. Having seen a tragedy of her own making, Mio now has a chance to change the past, one that Kurumi chose to give her despite having every reason not to for the same reasoning she gave Shido a chance to try and seal her in Volume 19. There's a lot that will follow this decision, and thing won't be easy as will Mio see a butterfly effect.
Now, one thing I should address from the start is that Mio won't be as powerful as she was in canon, though I can't say what the case of this is as of yet. As Mio will be in the limelight a lot more, it only makes sense to nerf her, or she'd be able to end the story way too fast. At the very least, I can say said reason has nothing to do with her trying to be careful.
Another major change is that while her actions in the past will weigh on and affect her? Mio won't be as negative as she was in the original story. I feel part of why things didn't work out is the sudden shift in tone when Mio finally overcame it so early in just killed all of the tension. It might have made sense not to drag out things, but it only served to prove why I felt it should have concluded as of the V4 adaptation and not let events run a similar course as a whole.
In other words, rather than letting guilt guide her, Mio is actively redeeming herself.
The greatest change that follows with said redemption is we will get to see how Mio interacts with the other Spirits not as Reine, but the way Tachibana gave insight to at the end of Volume 19, so the story indirectly highlights that "What could have been" he gave us. The title of the story is Another A Live after all, so it only makes sense that we get to see Mio in the way she was focused on during her final moments. The part of her most fans fell in love with.
Get ready for the next chapter, where we'll finally see Mio's arrival to the past and everything it will begin, because I guarantee you'll be shocked by it.
Until next time everyone, and stay awesome! ^^