Chapter 22

Peorth walked into the main control room, where everyone awaited her arrival. She had just departed for a short break and breath of air, but so much could happen within 5 minutes. Sitting down in her seat of authority, she yielded to a yawn before inquiring once again of the status. Suddenly, a green spot appeared on screen.

                "Ere what's that? Can you get a reading?"

                "It's a poison of some sort…but I cannot say from which system." Ere responded, while Peorth jumped down to ground level. Elevating herself in the air, she floated over to Euterpe, who was manning the controls and keeping tabs on the system information.

                "Euterpe…there is a reading of a poison. Can you tell me whose system?"

                "Celestin's ma'am. Also, Urd and Skuld…there seem to be some dramatic changes in their readings."

                "…" Peorth looked worried, as she remained silent. Only one thing could cause that…regression… "Thank you…" Drifting over to her previous location, Peorth called upon Ex to scan something for her.

                "What is it ma'am?"

                "Corruption…"

                "It's over 50% now. Resting at 55% and increasing gradually. There is only a 26% chance of recovery. Could it be…?" Ex inquired, as Peorth looked off to the side.

                "Unfortunately, I'm afraid so. Regression…it's beginning."

                "And your superiors?" Chrono turned around for a brief second to catch a glimpse at Peorth peeking through her silver hair to find Peorth's brown hair shadowing her face.

                "System is locked down. Continue trying to prevent the total loss of all the files we have, and try to recover as much as possible." Peorth lifted her arm in a gesture to move along, turning around she returned to her seat and gave Urd and Skuld a call.

                "Hello, Mythalia and Aurora's residence." Keiichi answered politely.

                "Keiichi. I need you to do me a huge favor…" she said.

                "Sure what is it?" he inquired.

In Celestin's room, Aurora observed the vial that Mythalia had left behind, while Morgan tried to figure some antidote for the poison. Walking back and forth, she tried figuring out what kind of poison it could possibly be. It would only be a matter of time before Celestin would succumb to its full power and die surely.

                "There are many poisons that can result in death, but only a select few can do so with such a small amount…" Morgan watched the vial closely, as Aurora allowed it to touch the table and rest there.

                "What are such poisons?" Belldandy asked looking across at Morgan, and then down at Aurora.

                "There's the poison of Reanin, the poison of Wiare, the poison of Vilannia, and the poison of Riwara." Aurora stated briefly, "Wiare and Riwara don't cause death though."

                "Reanin and Vilannia do however. They both require the same ingredients for an antidote all exempt one that will cause death if not used to cure the appropriate poison. The Liane flower for Vilannia and the more rare Netria flower for Reanin." Morgan said, "There is one way to check though if I remember correctly. Reanin causes a clean death, whereas Vilannia causes one's body to become covered by the poisonous scales. That symptom is almost immediate." Morgan watched as Belldandy walked over to Celestin's figure, and pulled out his arm.

                "He's clear. It must be Reanin…" Belldandy said placing Celestin's arm back down. Suddenly, a knock was heard on the door. "Come in."

                "Telephone for you Aurora…" Keiichi said.

                "Thank you." Aurora stood up, and walked out of the room to the telephone, "Hello?"

                "Aurora?" Peorth called on the telephone line, "We have major problems back here. Regression has begun. Urd and Skuld are the ones most at risk. Belldandy will be fine though. Just make sure that they are alright, it can happen pretty quickly. In addition to that, our superiors have been shut down since the virus penetrated into the central command."

                "What's your status currently?"

                "55% corruption and 26% possible recovery. We are trying to recover some lost files as we speak, but it is proving to be a very difficult task."

                "We have some problems on our hands too. Celestin's system has been infected with a poison, and we can't figure whether it is Reanin or Vilannia." She held the phone to her ear while leaning against the wall.

                "I'm pretty sure we can match it here. Hold on." Peorth called out her command, while getting a reading from Euterpe, "Reanin…they have similar structures, but it's just a single code that differentiates the two. Anyway, this is just my warning to be aware."

                "Well, whatever you do, try to prevent the shutting down of Celestin's program and the three muses' programs as well alright? They are all vital and key to the whole process."

                "We'll try our hardest." She said signing off, as Aurora placed down the phone. As she walked through the hallways of her residence, she kept thinking of a strategy for the next battle, but her mind was too preoccupied with other topics to worry about it at that direct moment. When she entered the room, Belldandy sat waiting for Aurora's return, "Where'd Morgan go off to?"

                "She went to get the items necessary for the antidote. She was hoping that you would make the errand to retrieve the simpler items and prepare them for her. She had a good idea of where she could retrieve the Netria flower, and went in search mainly for that." Belldandy spoke with a solemn expression on her face, "What's the news from Peorth?"

                "Regression…" Aurora said when suddenly she heard the door slide open. "Come in…"

                "Umm…do you happen to have any clothes that can fit me?" Skuld walked in looking more like Urd's age, "Or maybe some ice cream? That sounds nice."

                "Okay I'm having major problems with this outfit…" Urd walked in smaller than normal, around Skuld's previous height, "However, some sake sounds nice…" Belldandy and Aurora looked at each other with worried looks on their faces.

                "I think I have an extra bottle of sake somewhere in the cupboards of the kitchen. Belldandy could you do me a favor and fetch me the ice cream out of the freezer while I look for Urd's drink?" Aurora dashed outside.

                "Sure why not? It'd be nice if things were normal as always." Belldandy complied heading to the kitchen in a frenzy right behind Aurora, while Skuld and Urd followed suit, Skuld patting Urd on the head as she glared at the "oldest".

Through the hallways, Mythalia walked to Viviane Melusina's chamber. As she approached the throne, she curtsied out of respect, and looked up at the fairy. With the simple gesture of her fingers, Mythalia walked forward slowly but her head held high. When within arms length of Melusina, she bowed deeply.

                "I have failed you milady."

                "Yes you have…miserably. However, I commend you on your victory over Celestin. Now everything shall go according to plan I believe?" she smirked cunningly.

                "Yes it will…"

                "We will make this the third strike, and take the victory home." She said standing up from her seat, and walking down the stairs to the walkway. "Prepare." she stated all she needed to say in one word as she exited her chamber. Disappearing to her own room, Mythalia lay herself down in the air. Slowly, subconsciously, a tear rolled down her cheek and another following another. What's this I'm feeling? She inquired of herself mentally, as she dried her eyes. Her heart was weak; the penetration of emotions through a thought-to-be emotionless barrier was simple in her case. She was a sympathetic person, and somewhere in her heart she knew that, but refused to believe such a thing. Who…was I before all this? I…I don't remember a thing… Looking up at the dark walls that held her captive like a dove, she took her finger and wiped away the final tear that graced her cheeks.

Hours later, Morgan returned with the ever rare Netria flower, whose blues and purples shone vibrantly like the night sky that remained dark outside. In the kitchen, talking could be heard, as Morgan walked over to Celestin's room to find Keiichi holding a sleeping Belldandy in his arms as he rested his head atop hers. On the opposite wall, Aurora sat watching as Morgan stepped inside.

                "You're back…and with the flower…"

                "It took me a while to find a whole one for the antidote."

                "Everything else is mixed on the table, and the amethyst that you wanted is sitting next to it." Aurora stood up, as Morgan added both the gem and flower at the same time. A puff of blue smoke rose out of the container holding the antidote. Morgan reached inside revealing a deep violet gem and taking the chain next to it. As she strung the gem onto the chain, Aurora walked over and tapped Belldandy on the shoulder.

                "Hm?" she looked up, and opened her eyes in utter surprise, "Morgan!"

                "Belldandy. Quickly, I need you to do this for us. We need to embed this jewel in your hand to heal Celestin…" Morgan explained, handing Aurora the gem.

                "What do you mean?"

                "No time to explain. This is the only way in which we can use the antidote. You must trust us." Aurora said pleading with Belldandy, as Keiichi opened his eyes as well.

                "Very well then." She placed out her hand, as a flash of light brightened the room while the gem disappeared into her hand. Aurora took Belldandy's hand, and placed it over Celestin's heart, where he had been hit with the poison and a miraculous light shone throughout his body. "Now we wait I suppose? For how long?"

                "Possibly three days or less…or more…that depends on if we healed him in time." Morgan watched as Aurora left the room, a momentary look of relief on her face.