Curriculum 07: Help From Above

The observatory couldn't hold out any longer, as one last shockwave sent the glass flying. 'No, not now!' Arie thought, grabbing onto the railing as the gravity began to suck her into the outside void. Her hands began to slip as more and more of the glass was sucked away.

"Ah-!"

"Hold on!" came a voice to her side.

"Huh-..!"

She turned to face the unknown voice to find a pilot candidate rushing to her aid while holding tight to the rails. He reached out his hand towards her, his green hair blocking his face from her.

"Take my hand, hurry!" he shouted to her, as he reached further. Arie looked at him for a few moments, unsure of what she would do, but then without question she nodded and grabbed hold of him. As he was pulling her back towards him Arie lost her footing and her grip to the boy. She was soon swiftly swept into the pull of the outside space, struggling to reach out for the help of this unknown candidate.

Rusai was still trying to figure out a way to evade all of the Giseisha's attacks when he heard a tremendous crack. He turned around to find that one of the transport's windows were broken and Arie was getting swept into space. Although, that one moment of lapse in his attention cost him because the Giseisha tackled him, sending him flying into the side of the ship.

"Ugh...I feel like some kind of insect on a windshield..." Rusai muttered, having all the wind knocked out of him from the force of the blow. He then spotted the stranger who was trying to help pull Arie in. Knowing that he couldn't get close to Arie without putting the ship in danger, Rusai had no choice but to leave Arie in the hands of this new candidate. "Hey! Make sure Arie doesn't get hurt!" Rusai yelled and with that, flew right before the Giseisha smacked head first into the ship.

"Dammit!" yelled the candidate as he struggled to reach for Arie, but failed. He turned to face the railing then gave a heavy sigh as he let go and jumped after her. "I'm coming!" he shouted as he finally got a hold of her and pulled her into his reach. He had secured an emergency rope from the hallway he come from around his waist and used it to pull them to safety as he brought Arie to his side. "Just hang tight, kay?" he said to her. It was the first time she could actually make out his voice, it had an interesting tone to it.

"Okay..." she whispered back to him, not expecting him to have heard her answer. Slowly but sure enough they had finally made it back to the hallway, as the pole the candidate had used to keep the doors pried was sucked into the space. The doors slammed shut and returned to their earlier lock down state.

The boy, who was still holding onto Arie's side, gave another sigh of relief as he took a deep breath and turned his head in her direction. She saw his penetrating emerald eyes and the clear smile of victory plastered over his face. They looked at each other for a few moments until the boy realized that he was still holding onto Arie.

"Ah, uh..!" he stammered as he clumsily fell back into the wall from his embarrassment. Arie held in a slight giggle as she smiled at him. She couldn't help but wonder where Rusai had managed to get himself now as she stared at the wall with concern.

Rusai was still engaged with the persistent Giseisha that was stubbornly pursuing him. He was quite relieved to find that Arie was back inside the transport and turned abruptly to face the Giseisha.

"It's your time to go..." Rusai growled. He hadn't realized it, but a red aura began to surround him. He felt more pain as his hands began to shift into claws. The feathers slowly fell to reveal pitch black devil wings and both of Rusai's eyes shifted to a demonic yellow. He finally regained his composure after the pain subsided and glared at the Giseisha. "Why don't you just die!" he shouted and with one swipe of his newly formed claw, slashed the Giseisha and half. All at once the Giseisha began to attack from all sides, Rusai just kept savagely tearing them apart one after the other. "Just disappear!" he hollered as he finished off the last of them.

He slowly glided back to the docking bay and closed the gates. His eyes had returned to their normal colors, but the claws and the wings still remained. He didn't want to face Arie at the moment, knowing that he wasn't there to save her when she needed it the most. He was staring at his blood soaked claws in shame.

"What would Arie think of me if she saw me like this? I hate my EX..." Rusai murmured. "I let it get out of control again..." Upon hearing footsteps coming from the hall once again, Rusai dashed into the nearest room, wanting to keep hidden and be alone all at the same time. There he waited, hoping that no one would intrude before his EX had a chance to wear off.