Ch.12 Beyond time
With time slowed down around the area outside Zafkiel and the barrier, Kotori and Kurumi can't get help from the others. Kokoro begins the fight by activating the first bullet Aleph, to move at accelerated speed and appears to teleport. She moves behind Kurumi and slashes her across the back with both of her blades in an X form and knocks her forward. The blades don't cut through Kurumi's spirit armor, but cause intense pain anyway, like the feeling of being cut in half. Kurumi lands on her feet but cringes a little from the pain and thinks.
"It feels like my skin is being peeled off. What is she!?"
Kotori then begins her assault by swinging her Camael at Kokoro who simply moves out of the way leaving after images from her insane speed from using Aleph. Kotori attempts to use her flames to trap Kokoro and prevent her from moving too much but she dodges all the flames with relative ease. Kurumi summons her own Zafkiel and tries to charge up her own Aleph but Kokoro intervenes by dashing in front of her and spins with her blades and then knocks Kurumi skyward with an upward strike. Kokoro then flies into the air and combos Kurumi with her blades and hits her thirty times at a very fast speed and ends the combo by using a heavy downward slash and knocks Kurumi on the ground hard. Kokoro then lightly lands on the ground and Kurumi is knocked out from the violent impact to the ground. But before passing out, Kurumi notices that the Kokoro's clock eye isn't ticking.
Kotori runs up to Kokoro and slams her Camael on the ground to create a shockwave of fire with the hopes of hurting her opponent with the scattering flames, but she misses thanks to Kokoro's immense speed increase. Kotori then get frustrated and says.
"Come on! Quit zipping around like that!"
Kokoro then dashes very close to Kotori's face, and gives her a sadistic smile and gently rubs Kotori's face and creepily says.
"Such soft skin…"
Kotori then says in an awkward out tone.
"Okay, that creeped me out!"
Kotori swings her Camael again, only to miss since Kokoro back flips out of the way. Kotori's eyes then begin to glow red and she gets that serious look on her face and she sets up for the Meggido Cannon and calls out.
"Camael Meggido!"
Camael then begins to dismantle into its cannon mode and Kotori charges it to fire a powerful blast at Kokoro. The strange thing is, Kokoro just stands in one spot and then red and orange feathers flow around her body as her hair begins to turn red and her eyes remain the same, and a second wing emerges from her back, and it is also red, but has light orange as the second color. Kotori doesn't waste any time and fires the blast; Kokoro simply stands and actually extends her arm with her hand open and lets the blast come at her. The blast hits creating a smoke screen, and Kotori believes that she's gained the advantage and smiles rather sadistically since she's entered her more berserk mode, but when the smoke clears, Kokoro is still standing up straight and the only part of her that is abnormal is her hand which has smoke coming off it. She then places her hand close to her face, blows on it and says.
"I'm impressed; you actually managed to make my hand numb with that blast. I guess it's a good thing you can't actually hurt me with it or I might be in some trouble."
Kokro then gets up in front of Kotori again, and this time she summons a small red and orange sphere which she slams against Kotori's stomach creating a small explosion of energy causing Kotori to fall backwards. As Kotori falls, Kokoro charges another blast and rushes Kotori with it by making another explosion causing her to fall violently to the ground creating a dent in the ships roof. Kokoro looks down at Kotori and demands.
"Get up, I know you have more fight in you."
Kotori's eyes are still open but she has clearly lost consciousness. Kokoro then dispels her Zafkiel barrier since both Kurumi and Kotori have lost consciousness. Now in normal time, everyone sees that Kurumi and Kotori have lost and are injured. Afraid for their safety, Shido gets up out of his seat and dashes toward the roof to help them. Ellen tries to stop him since she doesn't want him to get hurt, but she can't leave the controls in case of an emergency and calls for Akane.
"Akane, talk some sense into him."
Ellen doesn't get a response and looks at her seat to ask again, only to see that she is gone. Shido makes his way to the roof and confronts Kokoro, who smiles and turns her face to looks at him, and snaps her finger to dispel the spacial quake which has been a threat this entire time. Shido has a serious expression and asks.
"Why did you do this?"
Kokoro simply responds.
"Because, I'm in love with a very special man."
Shido doesn't act hostile towards this woman since maybe she can be reasoned with. He still has desires to help her since he thinks she's a spirit, and he then asks.
"Who is this, special man?"
Kokoro closes her eyes and wags her finger towards Shido.
"I'm sorry, but he wishes to meet you in person first. I just came here to look at my merchandise."
Shido is confused.
"Merchandise?"
Before Kokoro can answer, Akane appears in her spirit form with her guardian and red flames ready and immediately starts punching at the woman garbed in white.
At the controls, Ellen sees Aki fighting with Geri in the ships training room, but realizes that in an emergency, she needs one other person besides herself at the controls and sends a message via the intercom to Mana and Hiro.
"Mana, Hiro, I need one of you to go to the training room in the bottom, and I need one of you in here with me. Aki is fighting with someone, but I don't know who it is."
Mana and Hiro get the message and decide what to do, Hiro is going back the bridge to help Ellen, and Mana is going to help Aki fight Geri. Speaking of which, Aki is still laying on the ground while Geri waits and hopes that Aki draws Azael. Instead, Aki decides on a different approach; he gets up rather fast and Geri tries to retaliate, but Aki summons his guardian who pushes Geri back, hands Aki his second sword, and assumes her position. Aki then thinks to himself.
"I can't rely on Rending Saber. No, I'll fight more strategically."
Geri regains her balance and says with a smirk.
"Someone learned a trick or two since last time."
Aki retorts seriously.
"Attacking an unarmed guy getting some milk for his mom is pretty low Geri."
Geri's smile becomes smugger as she says.
"Momma's boy."
Aki gets a little angry and notices that his sword is glowing.
"Wait, maybe I can…."
Geri begins to rush at Aki, and he responds by concentrating and then swinging his sword and releases an energy slash from the blade at a very fast speed. Geri can't react fast enough to dodge and instead attempts to block the slash wave by quickly pulling out her small axe to block it, but as soon as the attack makes contact with the axe, it shatters and Geri receives a damaging blow across her chest and she gets blown back against the wall.
Seconds later, Mana makes her way into the room already equipped with her realizer. She stands next to Aki and says.
"Need any backup?"
Aki thinks that Mana will be a great help since he thinks that getting help with anything is a good thing. Geri regains her balance and sees Mana; this causes her to growl underneath her cap and say in frustration.
"It's you!"
Geri then materializes a new sword in her opposite hand; this sword is a katana with a red blade and platinum edges, with a platinum guard, red hilt, and a gold tassel. She then says a deadly serious tone.
"Glad you have someone to comfort you Mana, because this is the end of your pathetic life!"
Aki is little confused and asks Mana.
"Do you know this girl?"
Mana shakes her head.
"No, or maybe; I can't see her face."
Geri growls again and get ready to charge and Mana asks Aki.
"Have you seen her before?"
"She attacked me back in my time, but I have no idea why."
Geri makes her way over to Mana and Aki, and then swings both of her swords but both Aki and Mana block with their weapons and spread out.
Back on the roof, Akane is still trying to land a punch on Kokoro , but can't. Kokoro continues to dodge by just moving her body until she says.
"Little wretch."
Kokoro then elbows Akane in the stomach very hard and knocks her to the ground. She then grabs Akane by her hair and pulls her up to finish her off and says in a threatening voice.
"I have no obligation to let you live, and I won't let anyone stop me from getting what I want."
She readies her energy blade which now glows brightly and crackles of energy can be heard. Shido once again tries to summon Sandalphon out of desperation to help her, but then something unusual happens. Akane's guardian unwraps her arms around her and flies over to Shido and gently places hands onto his; he feels a warm feeling from her touch, and then, in a flash of fire, Camael appears in Shido's hands already in its cannon mode. The guardian smiles at him and he can feel a desire to protect from Akane from danger, Shido nods, and they both grab the cannon and aim it at Kokoro. The cannon begins to charge with flames that appear from around the guardian's body and the they glow bright gold instead of red or blue. Kokoro pays no heed to the flame and instead, her hair turns red again and she holds out her hand to block it. Shido and the guardian prepare to fire the blast and Shido decides to shout out.
"Camael Megido!"
The cannon fires a massive blast the shoots out in the shape of a phoenix and the sounds of a phoenix's cries echo through the air, and when it connects with Kokoro's hand, the blast persists and even starts to burn through her glove. Now realizing the threat Kokoro throws Akane to the ground, and puts up her other hand to block. However, the blast manages to burn through her hands and creates an explosion with a lot of smoke. Shido keeps on the offensive just in case Kokoro managed to successfully block the attack. When the smoke clears, Kokoro is standing in the same spot but her hands and most of her arms are scorched from the blast. She has an irritated look, but immediately warps away without saying anything. Shido wanted to talk with her before she left, but now he has to get Kotori and Kurumi to the sick bay to have their injuries checked. Akane is still conscious, but only because the blow to her stomach only stunned her for a minute, and she is flabbergast at Shido holding Camael with her guardiam, who fades away in flames and takes Camael with her. Akane thinks to herself.
"Was that…my mom's Camael?"
Akane stands up and exits her spirit form to gather her thoughts on what just happened. Shido smiles because the feeling he got as the guardian held his hand made him feel very happy. Shido proceeds to lift Kurumi off the ground and carry her on his back, and Akane does the same with Kotori since she insisted on being the one to handle her mother's younger self.
Back to the fight down in the training area, Aki and Mana overpower Geri, and Aki launches her through a wall with more powerful version of his energy slash. He walks over to continue the fight, and Mana stays in place ready to fight more. Aki goes through the hole in the wall Geri made when she got launched, and he steps on something, then picks it up and says to himself.
"Is this her hat?"
Geri walks up with her swords ready and Aki gets a good look at her face and shocked beyond belief as he says.
"You!?"
Geri then sees her hat in his hand and gets upset as she threatens Aki.
"If you tell anyone about my face, I'll go to your time again, and I'll kill your mom!"
Aki gets mad and readies his sword and drops the hat. Geri runs towards him, and he swings, but she dodges by jumping out of the way, drops down, grabs her hat, and teleports away using one of the dark crystals; something Aki or anyone has seen in a while. Once she leaves, Aki is back to being stunned by her face. She looks exactly like someone he knows, but with difference of having Azure eyes, and a tattoo above her right eye that says, CWM-M. After reporting back to Mana, Aki can't help but wonder even more about the people who are causing this, and then reverts back to his normal form.
An hour later, Shido and Akane place Kurumi and Kotori in the sickbay. Their injuries aren't even bad, but they are unconscious. Hiro is currently acting as their bodyguard until they wake up and sits in the sick bay with them. Shido is applying bandages to Aki for some very basic first aid which really can do. Akane is taking the helm of the controls since her own injuries are nothing now. Saori woke up a little while ago and joined the others in the bridge. Mana is talking with Ellen on the bridge since she's been curious about her for a while now.
Mana talks with Ellen while they sit and casually talk about Ellen's time. Mana starts by asking.
"So let me get this straight, you're my brother's wife in your time?"
Ellen nods.
"Yeah, and we have a beautiful little girl."
Ellen talks more about her daughter and about her origin about meeting and falling in love with her husband. Mana enjoys listening to her talk and says.
"You know, the Ellen I know is arrogant and…"
Ellen interrupts her as she swiftly says.
"That's because she's an idiot."
Mana is a little confused as to why this sweet and caring Ellen is so hostile towards her younger counterpart since she's also insult her younger self in various ways, and asks.
"I get you're not proud of your past, but why are so mean to her?"
Ellen wastes no time and says very seriously.
"Because she reminds me of how stupid, selfish, arrogant, and blind I used to be. It's like looking in a broken mirror, and I hate it."
Mana is a little silent because she understands better now, and she changes the subject by asking.
"So, are we good friends in your time?"
Ellen puts a smile back on.
"Oh yes, we're very good friends. I'd be as prudent to say, we're the best of friends. Being the president of a gaming company can be exhausting, but it makes it worth more to come home to a good family and good friends."
Then something hits Mana.
"If you're the president, then won't your company be in a bind without you?"
Ellen shakes her head.
"No, my sister Karen took over for me in my absence. Without DEM around anymore, she has a lot of free time to help out."
"Oh, I see. It sounds like you live a happy life."
Ellen nods with content smile in complete agreement. In the bedroom where she has been during this entire incident, Saori smiles since she intends to have fun in the next timeline. Not long after, Kurumi and Kotori wake up and are immediately greeted by Hiro, who is relieved that they are awake. They go to the bridge where everyone else currently is. Kotori is brought up to speed about the situation, and doesn't find it as strange as anyone else would or has. However, she is then told about the spirit children themselves and looks at Akane, who she saw earlier but had no time to interact with, and says while pointing her finger at her other timeline daughter.
"So wait, she's…with…..me…daughter!?"
Kotori erupts with a blush and an absolutely flushed look and looks as if she's about to pass out. Mana walks up to Kotori and pats her on the shoulder as she says with a slightly jealous tone that she has been holding back for a while.
"Well, at least…this proves that you can get closer to Shido than I can…in manner of speaking."
At this moment, everyone's stomachs begin to growl at once. Hiro brings up that he and Mana found a kitchen a bit earlier, and Shido suggests.
"Hey if there's kitchen, then I'll make for us to ea…"
Before Shido can finish his sentence, everyone except Mana, Kurumi, and Saori book it towards the kitchen with excited looks on their faces. Shido then rubs the back of his head with an awkward look as he says.
"Well, I guess my cooking can be a secret weapon to increase morale."
Shido then proceeds to follow the others to the kitchen and is followed by Mana, Kurumi, and Saori. Once in the kitchen, Shido is pelted with requests for foods. He gets requests for curry, hamburger steaks, cakes, rice omlettes, and fried chicken. Even feeling overwhelmed, Shido says yes to all the requests because he hasn't cooked in a while and he wants to feel relaxed again. So he prepares a feast of everyone's favorite dishes before they decide to move on to the next timeline. Aki remains silent on Geri's face because he's not going to ignore her threat, but at the same time, he's proud of himself for fighting more efficiently. Everyone has more wonder about the mysterious Kokoro, her true abilities,and her so called "Special Man", but is just willing to take a break and enjoy some of Shido's home cooking, and thankfully, the kitchen has everything they need.
Author's Note- To clear up something that really nobody could have known without asking me, I am aware of the events in the light novels, but I haven't read them yet and therefore have no true grasp on the novel only characters like Natsumi or Nia. I am currently trying to read them so that I can do fics involving other characters I haven't done yet. I say this because people didn't know or couldn't have known that I am aware of the events in the light novels. I also thank readers for taking their precious time to inform me of these facts since they didn't know I knew.