Enjoy!
Before I knew it, Kiana's week of imprisonment was finally over. Never had I seen such elation on her face when the ankle monitor was finally taken off of her. She even did a little victory dance as she relished in her freedom, as if the ankle monitor had weighed a ton.
Most of the agents that had been tasked with watching us had been dismissed, though a pair had been left behind as a precaution.
Lest the World Serpent get any ideas.
But the moment that the Kaslana was about to plan on celebrating her long awaited freedom, probably involving some sort of party where there would be alot of food, my grandmother was there to quickly bring her down to earth.
With a shit-eating grin might I add.
"Oh, isn't tomorrow when Chiba Academy resumes it's classes?" She asked offhandedly, freezing Kiana in her tracks as I could see all the color fade from her face. I resisted the urge to laugh at how comical she looked, but I didn't want to bring her down any more than she was feeling right now so I refrained from doing so
However my grandmother and Sora, who had visited that particular day to play, were very open about showing their amusement.
Chiba Academy had saw it as a precaution to close the school off for a week just in case that another 'terrorist' organization decided to make themselves known to the city. Coincidentally it was the same week that Kiana had her ankle monitor on, meaning that we did not have to worry about someone suspecting something when the white haired girl did not show up for class.
However it was established that Kiana needed to blend in more with her fellow classmates, which was something that would be hard to do since she stuck out like a sore thumb in terms of personality. It was almost impossible for a single student to not know of the bombastic Kiana Kaslana already.
Such infamy however was not so beneficial for a girl that needed to be under the radar.
So to deter any curious souls who wanted to know more about what had happened at the docks,and possibly know more about the girl, it was imperative that she had what appeared to be a normal life of a Chiba Academy student. And the first thing that I could think of that she needed to do…
Was to get into a club.
When I thought of this I instantly dreaded what was going to follow. My mind flashed back to the time that I had to pick a club, how hard it was to make a simple decision. Looking back at how I acted I definitely could have made my life much easier.
But there was no time to think of the 'what ifs' and 'could've beens'.
So when I handed Kiana the list of clubs that were still recruiting, as most clubs closed off their recruitment after Club Day, I walked away knowing that she would need time to come up with a decision. From what my past experiences taught me coupled with Kiana's pickiness there was no way that she would be able to-.
"This one!" She yelled out triumphantly.
…huh?
And so that's how I found myself sitting at the Chiba Academy's outside field on the first day back to school, sitting on the bleachers as I watched Kiana's first game with her new club. And to be honest…
She was really, really good at it.
The sound of a ball getting hit tore me out of my thoughts just in time to see a baseball clear the field with astounding velocity. Down at home plate, Kiana had a massive grin on her face. "Home run!" She yelled as she began to sprint towards the first plate whilst the other team was trying to catch the ball.
But from the looks of it this ball would be yet another tally to Kiana's growing home run count.
Where I was sitting at the bleachers it looked as if Kiana had been living and breathing baseball for entire life. From her technique down to how natural she looked wearing the uniform, was this some kind of sport that she got really good at before she got here?!
"Damm," Beside me Keji whistled as the two of us watched the ball disappear behind a building. We probably weren't going to see that particular ball ever again. "If I didn't know any better Kiana's probably shattering every record that the Baseball club had."
Watching Kiana getting swarmed by her new teammates, who were more than ecstatic with her addition to the team, I was inclined to agree with him. While my knowledge of the baseball club and the sport itself was fairly limited, I did know that we didn't have anyone remarkable there.
Kiana was like the equivalent of Mei's presence in the kendo club but for the baseball team.
"Kiana's strength is something truly to behold," Commented Apollo as if he hadn't been away to god knows where. I had just woken up one morning and the reclusive spirit popped back in as if he had been in my head all along.
And believe me I wanted nothing more than to know where he had been all this time. Where was he when I was out there risking my life? However any attempts that I made to know always ended up in failure.
"At least she didn't join a boxing club," Hyperion added his two cents in. "I feel sorry for the poor fool on the receiving end of one of her punches."
An image of Kiana absolutely knocking out her opponent in the first round now popped up inside my mind. This was my new normal now, having normal conversations with the voices inside my head. "Last time I checked, weren't you two at odds with each other?" I asked inwardly.
"What can I say," Hyperion's voice was nonchalant as I could feel him doing the equivalent of a shoulder shrug. "This guy's not so bad once you get to know him. He's the type of a guy to throw everything for his friends, even if it means the future of mankind. Real reliable person for the job."
"...Yes I suppose I am," Apollo responded as I couldn't help but frown at the not so subtle jab. Had something happened between the two of them that I wasn't aware of? "We have mended our relationship, you need not to fear us being at each other's throats-."
"Unless he does something stupid." Hyperion butt in.
"...Though I confess that I may not be able to keep my end of the bargain." The calmer of the two spirits added in.
I wanted to laugh at the dynamic that these two had seemingly built overnight. To think that just a few months ago these two were at each other's throats, making my mind their own little battlefield.
That they would drag me into at times.
"Haruto?" A voice brought me out of my musings as I turned my head to see the newcomer.
Standing to the side was Midori Aki. The black haired girl was still in her school uniform as she had both her bag and kendo slung over her shoulder.
"Midori?" I asked knowing that the Kendo Club was currently in session. It was around this time that the club was super focused with their training as the national tournament was right around the corner. Chiba Academy prided itself as the current champions of the tournament and was keen in keeping their spot at the top.
And a part of me knew that a certain heiress in that club played a huge part in that. She was the one to tell me of how she would be unable to hang out with us for a while.
"Aki-san?" Keji also was shocked at the girl's sudden arrival. "Shouldn't you be with your club right now? Isn't the national right around the corner?"
The undercover Valkyrie pointed to her head, where I knew some of the stitches she got at the docks still remained. "Got a head injury during the break, nothing serious but I need to take it easy." The Valkyrie claimed the spot next to me, setting her bag and kendo down.
"Don't worry though, I'll be good for the tournament." And I knew that statement held nothing but truth in it.
"What about you two?" She asked as she watched the baseball game happening in front of us. Now Kiana's team was on the field and the girl in question found herself in the back of the field, hands on her knees as she readied herself to run in any direction. "Shouldn't you two be at your clubroom right now?"
"Ishigami-sensei has some stuff he has to do," Keji answered her. "And it's not like the club can be signed up for any tournaments, there's only two of us after all."
That was a requirement for every club in the academy. In order to join any tournament the club in question needed to have at least ten members to participate.
Which we did not have, leading us to have lazy times on days where most clubs were training hard for tournaments.
"Still?" Midori asked as she turned around with a raised eyebrow. "I would've thought that someone would've joined your club by now."
I in turn raised my eyebrow at her. "...Have you forgotten who our sponsor is?" I deadpanned at her.
A tense second of silence followed as all you could hear was the sound of a baseball getting hit by a batter. "You're right." She took her statement back as she remembered Ishigami's reputation among the students.
He had rightfully earned the title of Demon, both in the classroom and on the battlefield.
Keji's phone began to ring before the brown haired student took the call. "Hello? Oh it's you...uh huh...okay I'll be there." My fellow clubmate hung up and looked at us with an apologetic smile. "Sorry something came up and I need to-,"
"Don't worry about it," I interrupted with a smile. It wasn't like we were doing anything important for the past hour in the first place. "You go do your thing."
Keji gratefully nodded before he picked up his stuff and made his way to wherever he was needed, leaving me and Midori alone on the bleachers to watch Kiana's baseball game.
A ball soared through the air before Midori was the first to break up the silence between us. "Has Ishigami-sensei said anything yet?"
I watched as the ball flew through the air until it was caught by Kiana, the girl throwing it to one of her teammates to try and get another person out before I responded. "At the end of the day, I have a meeting with him. I received the message only this morning."
"And does Keji know of this meeting?"
"Nope, for all he knows the club will resume like normal tomorrow."
"...Is that so?" The two teams switched sides once again as Kiana stepped up to the plate, a confident smirk on her face as she readied herself. And judging by how far the defenders were going, that confidence was not misplaced.
"What do you plan on doing with your personal meeting with Ishigami-sensei?"
I watched as the pitcher threw the ball before I answered.
"Well…"
Kiana hit the ball with perfect accuracy as she sent the ball soaring once more into the sky.
"I plan on asking him about everything."
When I entered the clubroom, the atmosphere was tense but not in a bad way. The sun had already begun to set which was reflected with how the dimming sunlight poured through the windows and accentuated the shadows of the room.
Such a scene would've made me apprehensive of such a lighting but the only thing that I was feeling at the moment was anticipation.
The feeling was mutual as sitting in the middle of the room, with a chess board already set up, the brown eyes of Ishigami watched my every step as I approached him. The both of us said nothing as I took my seat and stared at him unflinchingly.
After what felt like an eternity, the teacher was the first to break the silence. "Shall we play a game Haruto?" He offered as he motioned to the chess pieces on the board. Both sides of white and black stood imposingly as they waited for battle.
However, today would not be that day.
I smiled as I shook my head. "Forgive me Ishigami-sensei, but I believe that a chess game will simply waste both of our time. Not when we both know that you did not invite me for a simple chess game."
Ishigami simply smiled in response as he lowered his hand. "...Good, you've learned alot from your time here. You are correct that a game of chess would just be wasted effort for the both of us, so let's skip the formalities and go straight to the reason for this meeting."
His brown eyes glowed a bright blue for a brief second as he leaned in. "I assume that you know who I am?"
I nodded my head as I threw away all pretenses of hiding my knowledge. "You're a clone aren't you? Of the Anti-Entropy Sovereign, Welt Yang."
The clone simply nodded as he all but confirmed it for me. "You are correct, I am one of the clones of Welt Yang." He brought up his left arm and pulled the sleeve of his lab coat up, revealing a barcode with a series of digits printed upon it.
W-916
"It all starts after the defeat of the 2nd Herrscher," The teacher began as he leaned back into his seat. "Welt Yang was a shell of his former self, his defeat by the hands of Sirin on the Moon crippled him. Even with the state of the art technology and medicine he would never be able to utilize his full power again."
"But it just so happened that the Moon where he was defeated on also held what appeared to be the solution to his problem."
"You mean the cloning process?" I asked, knowing where this would be going.
Ishigami nodded. "Technically the cloning process was already known to humanity, more specifically to Otto Apocalypse. The expedition to the Moon gave us knowledge of the previous era, and it just so happened that the cloning process was stored in those soulium rocks."
The teacher looked towards the barcode on his arm with a bitter smile on his face. "So the idea of cloning Welt Yang came to life. Theoretically it seemed like a good idea at the time, I mean who wouldn't want to have an army of Herrscher powered individuals? And if somehow the clones were able to cure Welt back to full health, all the better."
"So the cloning project began, and soon enough I came into this world in a tube." The teacher could remember the first memory of his life as clearly as when it had first happened. Submerged in a strange green-like fluid, a breathing-like apparatus was stuck to his mouth that fed him oxygen.
Looking to either his right or left all he would see were rows of identical tubes that held clones just like him. The only way that you were able to tell who was who was by the cold serial numbers printed onto their skin.
"We were all addressed by our serial numbers, no name was given to us. Not like it mattered as all we knew in those cold laboratories was that we were meant to supposedly be 'the defenders of humanity'. That we were born to give humanity a fighting chance." He laughed sourly at the reminder of all the tests that they had to go through for the sake of 'humanity'.
The amount of times he had a needle stuck through him, the amount of times that he cried out in pain from the countless experiments, the amount of times that he wanted to say no.
But for someone who had never known any other life than that in the laboratory, who had only known of the words of the scientists that told him how he was helping humanity.
What choice did he have?
"But while the records of the previous era gave humanity the means to cloning, they weren't complete on how to exactly transfer the powers of said individual. What point was there in cloning Welt Yang if none of the clones could replicate his powers?" For in the end all you would have is cannon fodder.
"When it became clear that we could not call upon the powers of the Sovereign, they decided they needed to become more barbaric in their tests in order to try and force an 'awakening'. They never killed us off but the pain that they inflicted upon us made most of us yearn for it." He had lost count of how many times he had blacked out from these extreme trials and to wake up back in his bed with only hours of rest before the next trial began.
I remained silent as the teacher continued telling his story. "Yet no matter how far they pushed us, not a single one of us showed the aptitude that they were looking for."
"As they increased the tests done on us so too did the whispers spread of what was occurring there. Whispers that were finding their way to the ears of those who would detest such methods of science." The black haired teacher clenched his hand as the memory of him and his brothers walked in a straight line to a single room, unaware of the fate that awaited them.
"So those in charge decided that they needed to get rid of all the evidence before they were caught, which included every clone that they made."
"But then how did you…" I trailed off as I tried to think of how the person sitting in front of me was able to escape such a death sentence.
Ishigami just smiled sadly. "Escape? When we were all forced into that single room and that thick gas began to fill the room, I thought that was it. Clones that I had grown up with since I first awoke fell right beside me, their eyes permanently open wide in despair as they choked to death."
"And when I lost all strength in my legs and joined the growing pile of my dead brethren, I thought that was it for me...or so I believed."
A young W-916 fell to the floor with a thud, trying to gasp for air as the effects of the noxious gas in the room continued to wear down on his body. All around him the bodies of identical looking clones were falling faster by the second.
"Is this it?" He whispered as he felt his eyes beginning to drop. It was so hard in keeping them open that he was so tempted to simply embrace this oblivion. After all, what point was there to fight if there was nothing to fight for? For a life full of pain and misery, what would resisting accomplish in the end.
More prolonged suffering?
Yet a clone's dead body fell right in front of him, dead identical brown eyes that seemed to be staring right into his soul. He had no idea who this was but at that moment the young clone had an epiphany.
Was this all that their lives were worth? To die in a cold, worthless place? Never knowing what laid beyond the white walls of this lab?
…
No, W-916 would not accept this ending.
He refused!
He wanted to see what lay beyond this place!
He wanted to know what it meant to truly live!
Without even thinking about it, the dying experiment raised his hand. All that he could focus on was his hand as a strange power began to rush through him. It felt as if a blazing fire had seemingly been lit in his soul, giving him newfound strength. "Ignite…" He muttered as dark red tendrils of energy began to build in his palm.
"Star of Eden!" The foreign words just seemed to spill out of his mouth by instinct as a dark red orb shot into the wall.
The barely charged attack had enough power in it to blow a hole into the wall that his hand had been facing. Cold air immediately began to rush through the opening, while the noxious gas began to also leave through that same opening.
Pushing his weak body off the ground, W-916 immediately ran through the opening. He couldn't hear what had happened to the rest of his brethren as the one and only thing that was on his mind was survival. As his non-covered feet touched snow for the first time, he stumbled his way forward in the howling winter night.
Though if he had thought to look behind him for a single second, he would've seen that he had been the only one in that room filled with clones to have moved a single muscle.
"In hindsight rushing out into the wilderness with barely any knowledge of the outside world was a foolish idea but at the time it was the only option I had left." Ishigami remembered the harsh biting touch of the cold as he trudged through the knee deep snow. Not the best introduction to the outside world.
"So how did you know…survive?" I asked.
"I ended up finding a cave that I stayed in with the hopes of surviving till the sun rose, unfortunately I severely underestimated my body's resistance to the cold." He smiled wryly as he knew that experience was the sole reason why he avoided cold places like it was the plague.
"I was so sure I would not get to see the rays of morning light...that was until he came."
"Hey you okay there man?" An unfamiliar voice jolted the young W-916 from his stupor like slumber. Brown eyes blinked at the sight of the cavern walls before he remembered that he was trying to find shelter and came to this place. The exhaustion of running and trying to stave off the cold quickly had him falling asleep.
The lab garb that he was wearing was ill suited for dealing with temperatures like these, a fact that was made apparent as a breeze came through the cave opening. The biting cold made him instinctively bring up his hands to his arms in an attempt to warm himself up.
"Shit let me help you with that," Before the runaway lab experiment could turn to look at the newcomer, a surge of heat suddenly filled the cavern. The rapid change of temperature was much appreciated as W-916 breathed a sigh of relief.
But relief quickly turned into curiosity as the brown haired clone turned his head to look at his apparent savior.
Standing at the entrance of the cave was Siegfried Kaslana. In his hand was the crackling claymore that was known as the Judgement of Shamash. The Divine Key's flames casted a bright light in the dark cavern.
"You okay there buddy?" The Kaslana asked to which the experiment slowly nodded his head, wary of this stranger. "I see that's good, definitely wasn't expecting something like this." The white haired Knight did not see the clone's skepticism as he turned around to look at the howling winter storm that had yet to die down in intensity.
"Still they could've told me what I'm exactly supposed to be looking for," Siegfried complained as he tried to see anything in the snow covered valley. "A 'runaway experiment' description barely helps me out here."
W-916 stiffened as the Kaslana turned around with a bright smile on his face. "Don't worry, once the storm dies down I'll get you out of here and into a warmer place." He brought up a finger to his chin in contemplation. "Now that I think about it, there's this really good pub not too far from here that serves the best clam chowder I've ever had. It'll warm you right up, and…"
The white haired man leaned in and grinned. "There's also this waitress whose number I'm dying to-!"
"Kaslana-san," A new voice interrupted him and to W-916's horror…
It was a voice he was familiar with.
"Ah it's you guys," Siegfried turned back around to where a scientist and a squadron of soldiers were occupying the entrance of the cavern. "Took you guys long enough," He jerked his head towards W-916, unaware of his trembling form. "There's this guy here that got stuck in the storm, need you to look after him while I go and look for-"
"That will not be necessary," The lead scientist interrupted as he pushed his glasses up to his nose. "The subject has already been found."
Siegfried raised an eyebrow at the sudden revelation. "Really?" He questioned as he tried to look over the scientist's shoulder to see if he could find this mystery subject. "Well if that's the case where are they? I mean if you were able to get them so easily then why did you have to call me-"
"It's me," W-916 spoke for the first time as he stood up from his position and glared at the scientist with barely concealed hatred. "I'm the one that they're looking for."
The white haired Kaslana instantly narrowed his eyes. "...What is the meaning of this?" He demanded from the scientist.
"Nothing to concern yourself with Kaslana-san," The scientist was unfazed by Siegfried's demands. "It was just an unexpected outcome that I failed to account for, rest assured that you will be compensated for your time here."
"Unexpected outcome?!" W-916 snapped as he leveled an accusatory finger at the scientist. "Was my brothers dying by the waves an unexpected outcome for you?! Was stuffing us in that room and releasing that gas an unexpected outcome?!"
The clone could care less what could happen to him right now. He could be shot by one of the soldiers present yet the looming threat of death was not a concern for him. All he could think about was getting justice for his fallen brothers.
"You are our property W-916," The scientist reminded coldly. "Your lives were given to you by us, your fate is what we wish for it."
"Screw you!" W-196 shouted in retaliation. "We didn't ask to be created by you! We didn't ask to die for humanity's sake!"
"Such a temper, how unlike the Sovereign." The scientist shook his head sadly. "It matters not, you two apprehend him." He pointed to the two soldiers closest to him. "Perhaps there is a single positive from this failed batch of clones."
The soldiers nodded as they moved to take the clone into custody…
Only to stop when Siegfried Kaslana leveled the twin barrels of the Judgement of Shamash at the soldiers, who froze in terror.
"What are you doing?!" The scientist demanded from this sudden show of opposition. "Why are you-!"
"I don't know what exactly is happening here," The Kaslana admitted as he tensed his body in preparation for a fight. Even if he was outnumbered there was a smile still on his face. "But I do know one thing…" He turned around and gave W-916 a reassuring nod.
"You have the right to your own life, just like the rest of us."
"The scientist did not take kindly to Siegfried's opposition and thought he could take out the Kaslana before he attacked. A couple of shots from the Judgement of Kaslana quickly took care of them all," The teacher finished the story as he took off his glasses, which I now had a startling realization of where they might've originated from.
"You're right, you know." Ishigami answered as he seemingly read what was on my mind. "These glasses originally belonged to the head scientist, the person responsible for my upbringing into this world." His brown eyes narrowed as he trailed his finger on the frame of the glasses.
"He was also responsible for murdering every single one of my brothers. Even to this day I wonder why I was the only one to survive that night, why it couldn't have been someone else." He moved the glasses so that he was able to see his reflection in the lenses.
"But I suppose I will never get those answers, the dead don't tell tales in the end." The teacher placed the glasses back on as he gave me a sad smile. "So I wear these as a reminder of where I come from, from what I have survived, how lucky I am to be here…"
He gave me a wry smile. "It also serves as a great form of disguise."
I smiled in return at that joke. "What about Anti-Entropy?" I asked, not understanding how exactly my teacher went from being an experiment to someone who could hold a lot of sway in the same organization that had made his life miserable.
"That would be a story for another time unfortunately," The teacher chuckled as he leaned back into his seat. "Lest I fear we will be here the entire night." The brown haired experiment turned his head towards the clock on the wall.
I followed his gaze and widened my eyes when I saw how much time had passed since the teacher had told his story. What had felt like a few minutes had actually been an hour in real time. The sun was already casting its last rays of light and it wouldn't be long before night time.
"But it wouldn't be fair if I was the only one to tell my story today," The teacher looked back at me, his brown eyes twinkling with curiosity. "So Haruto…"
"What is yours?"
I took in a deep breath as I thought of where to start. Not once did the thought of trying to lie cross my mind. Ishigami-sensei had been completely honest with me, I had to return that level of trust.
"Well," I began as I thought back to how this all started. How this crazy life of mine began.
"It all starts in a world so similar to this one, yet so different at the same time. On a cold dark night a student was on his way home..."
It was a bright and sunny day at St. Freya Academy. The temperature was just right, neither too hot nor too cold, the birds were chirping, the students were enjoying their respite as it was currently a weekend and no classes were taking place.
Everything was perfect.
…
"EH?!" Someone screamed.
...well almost perfect.
While St. Freya Academy was primarily a school meant to train the Valkyries of tomorrow, it was still a Schicksal Branch and as such needed the facilities of one. The layout of St. Freya had the actual academy located right in the heart of the land, whilst surrounding it were the workshops and laboratories.
Most of these were open to students to build whatever gadgets or weaponry they so desired, engineers and scientists were more than willing to sit down with a student to try and bring their desires to life.
It was a testament to how much resources Principal Theresa poured into the academy, for no expense could be spared in making the best Valkyries.
Yet it was also home to many Research Divisions that were originally part of the Far East Branch before ownership was given to the current Principal of the Academy. The purpose of these Divisions ranged from developing the most cutting edge Honkai powered weaponry to even the domestic usage of such a volatile power.
But it was home to a rather...irregular engineering division that had a notorious reputation. Nothing scandalous of that nature but to put it lightly it didn't function like all the other divisions.
In the workshop that they called home, everyone present was grouped around a certain table with various looks of horror and shock as they all collectively stared at the same thing.
For Marie Barlow, the assistant of the head scientist, it felt as if she was watching her worst nightmare play out right before her eyes. Her mouth was opening and closing at a rapid rate as she tried to comprehend the scene in front of her.
"H-H-How," She stuttered as she fell onto her knees, now being eye level with what was responsible for her predicament. Her red eyes looked close to breaking into tears as she continued looking at the problem.
"How did our prototype become like this?!" She demanded.
On the table in front of her, was the ruined and burnt remains of the prototype armor that they had labored day and night to even get working in the first place! Blood, sweat, and a lot of tears had gone into the creation of the gauntlet and when they finally had finished it the scientist thought the worst was over.
Apparently not.
"Dammit, who the hell was the one responsible for shipping the damm thing?!" A scientist shouted.
"We were so close too!" Lamented another scientist. "All it needed was some fine tuning from the Taiwanese Branch and it would've been good to go!"
"C-Can't we try and rebuild it?" One of the scientists optimistically offered. "We've done it all before so surely it won't take long to do it again?"
"It won't matter," A scientist dejectedly said. "Did you forget that this was our last opportunity? How are we going to justify the funds that would be needed to create another gauntlet from scratch?
Marie barely registered her colleagues' conversations as her mind was racing like a horse that took too much caffeine. Oh what was she going to say to the Principal? That they lost track of their prized prototype and they had just received it this morning, when it was meant to arrive a month ago.
Oh what would she tell the committee?! That their gracious funding had just gone down the drain?! They would eat them alive when they found out the state of their prototype!
Oh what was she going to tell her family?! That their daughter who had preserved through years of hard work at the academy was now about to lose her job? Oh god what was she going to do now? Would she be homeless now?! What if the committee decides to take more than her job?! What if they-!
"How is everybody on this fine morning!? A familiar voice broke her out of panic thinking, as well as everybody else's, as everyone present turned their attention to the entrance where the head scientist was standing.
Christopher Asplund was head scientist of the Yggdrasil Advanced Engineering Corps, YAEC for short. A scientist in his late twenties, he was the engineering prodigy of the academy. There was not thing in the world that he could not build and such intellectual prowess had caught the eye of the Overseer himself.
He was someone that Marie held in the highest regard, and who wouldn't? She could still remember the days at the academy where a day would not go by without the scientist, who was also her classmate, being praised by the teachers.
He was someone that she strived to become.
But while his intellect was something of envy, his manner of interacting with others was... less so.
A fact that Marie quickly became aware of when she took his offer to be his assistant.
"Asplund!" She cried out in shock as she jumped up from her position and raced over to the scientist. "Oh it's horrible, the prototype finally got delivered and we're trying to figure out who sent it-."
"Oh, that?" Christopher pointed to himself nonchalantly. "I was the one who did that."
After that admittance, the workshop became a deathly calm. No one dared to speak as they processed the information that they had just heard from their head scientist. The tension was so thick that you could cut it with a blunt knife.
The reason for this nightmare playing out...was because of him?
"Christopher…" A shadow covered Marie's face as she held a twitching fist up. You knew it was serious when she called someone by their first name, especially if said person was her boss. "May I ask why you did such a thing?"
The white haired scientist was oblivious to his assistant's mood as he closed his eyes with a smile on his face and brought a finger up. "Why for efficiency of course. If I had shipped the gauntlet through the Schicksal delivery system it would've taken months to get here."
Marie's eyebrow twitched. "...There's a reason why that delivery system exists in the first place, so that the deliveries are guaranteed."
Christopher waved his hand nonchalantly. "Do you know how many times I've lost my equipment with that delivery system? And those prices alone would take over half of our budget."
"Delivery costs are covered by the Far East Branch, remember."
"Really? Then why is it when I go and get something delivered-"
"...Only deliveries pertaining to the Engineering Division are covered."
"But-"
"Deliveries for pudding are not considered essential to the Engineering Division."
"Hah?! I will have you know that the successes that the Yggdrasil Advanced Engineering Corps have experienced are solely due to the majesty that is the pudding. Did you know when it was first created that-" The scientist quickly fell into a long tangent about why the pudding was the greatest thing that mankind had ever created.
The scientists present quickly sweatdropped as Christpher went into yet another one of his spiels where nothing but pudding mattered. You could have someone run in and scream that a Herrscher had awakened and he would ignore that before telling them why pudding would boost your longevity by five years.
It definitely was an odd quirk that the head scientist possessed but they had all been on the receiving end of one of these 'lectures' to the point that they had gotten used to it.
"That is all good and well but the problem still remains," Marie quickly interrupted her superior before he could go too far into his spiel. 'The prototype is in ruins right now and we need to tell the committee that-".
"That it's a failure?" Questioned Christopher, his voice suddenly slipped into his serious scientist mode. "That there is no value to be found in such scrap?"
Marie was not expecting such a sudden shift in tone. "Y-Yes?"
The white haired scientist closed his eyes and shook his head. "Where you see total failure, I see a resounding success." Calculating teal colored eyes opened back up as the scientist began to walk towards the table that held the ruined remains of the prototype.
The crowd of scientists parted away from him, giving the head scientist free access to the charred gauntlet. When he walked up to the table, a smile formed on his face as he bent down and leaned his head closer to the prototype.
"You were my most beautiful creation, and the fact that you are in this state is my fault. I shall endeavour to create an even stronger body for you." He spoke fondly, like if he was talking to a baby, as he ran his hand down the charred surface of the once pristine gauntlet.
"Asplund," Marie stepped up. "As much as I know that you care about the gauntlet, the committee needs to know what happened to-."
"Do you remember the last time someone tried the gauntlet?" The scientist interrupted as he continued inspecting the gauntlet.
Marie gravely nodded as she was reminded of the disastrous results of the last time they activated the gauntlet. "Schariac-san is still in a coma, the doctors say that her condition hasn't changed a bit." The black haired assistant looked at him in confusion, trying to understand why he had brought this up. "What does that have to do with-"
"The Schariac family, one of the three founding families of Schicksal. Usually when one is harmed there are dire consequences for the one responsible but when it came to us what happened exactly?"
It took a moment for what he said to sink in before Marie's red eyes widened as she pieced together what the scientist was getting at. "You don't mean…"
"They may not have said it outright but it was clear that the prototype's initial activation and the data that we were able to get was more than worth it in their eyes, enough to sweep the Schariac's tragic fate under the rug," Christopher smiled sadly. "Such is the politics of the Schicksal families."
But before they could continue any further into this somber topic, the white haired scientist clapped his hands loudly. "Point being that if signs of progress are there the committee will do absolutely nothing bad."
Without hesitating the white haired scientist reached into the gauntlet, catching everyone off guard as he began to essentially dismantle what remained of his beloved project. "What are you-!" Marie shouted in surprise at the sudden move.
"Where is it...a little bit to the right…ah there we go!" Christopher shouted in triumph as he pulled out what appeared to be a data chip from the confines of the ruined gauntlet, the only thing that appeared to not be totally damaged.
Humming a victorious tune, the scientist marched over to the main terminal of the workshop and plugged the data chip into it. The console glowed a bright blue before the screen began to display various windows of data on it.
To an outsider these various windows of information might as well have been seen as a foreign language. Charts and charts were overlaying over each other alongside paragraphs of data that it almost made it impossible to make sense out of it all.
But with just a single glance of it all, Marie's jaw opened in shock with what she was seeing. "I-Impossible, someone was able to activate the Luminous Blaze System?!"
Christopher was all but ecstatic as he drank in the information that was being displayed. "Hahaha yes! Look at that! A compatibility rate that far exceeds what we predicted possible. Today truly is a magnificent one!" Christmas had come early for him, actually no scratch that.
This was even better than Christmas!
The scientist whipped around and pointed at a random scientist with an almost maniacal look in his eyes. So much so that it unnerved the scientist in his crosshairs. "You there! Find me where this was shipped from! I want to know the name of anyone that has so much as even given a simple glance at the shipment container." He turned to the rest of the scientists who were just staring at him.
"As for us we begin the complete assembly of the battlesuit with the data that we now have!"
Marie looked at the scientist as if he just grew a second head, a sentiment shared by the rest of the scientists with varying degrees of shock. "W-Wait are you sure?" She asked, knowing full well the resources that they had at their disposal. Sure they had more than most divisions but it wasn't infinite.
Building the prototype gauntlet had been expensive...
And now Christopher Asplund wanted to build the entire battlesuit.
"Will we find a better opportunity than this?" Questioned the head scientist. "Schariac-san was barely able to get a 50% compatibility rate and that was pushing her ability. Throwing away such a perfect candidate would be a waste!"
His assistant was still trying to be the voice of reason here. "B-But with our resources at the moment we will only have one chance at this!"
Christopher just grinned wildly as he turned around to the center of the workshop, where on a podium was the framework of a battlesuit in the making. It was barely more than a metal exoskeleton but already in his mind he could see what the completed battlesuit would look like. "The future waits for no one my dear assistant…"
"And I am not one to sit idly by."
In one of the World Serpent's countless hidden bases, the Gray Serpent stood with Jackal as the two watched Owl's surgery take place through the view of an adjacent room. The comatose gray haired officer had a multitude of machines working on him, repairing the damage that was done to him.
"Not only do we have to replace most of his cybernetic enhancements," Jackal was reading off of the report of the work needed to be done on the officer. "But we also have to add new ones in, courtesy of the Phoenix's strength on his already frail body."
"I suspect that he won't be fielded for some time then?"
Jackal shook her head as she lowered her tablet. "It'll take at least a month for him to get used to his new enhancements, and while he's proven resilient to his upgrades the next time he ends up on my operating table with these kinds of injuries will most likely be his last."
Yes the human body could only take so much of a beating, it was a testament to Tianwu's perseverance that had gotten him this far. Pain that would make men crumble was just but a nuisance for the officer as he marched onward.
The World Serpent however would lose a promising member if the hacker decided to push his luck. "After the surgery inform him that he will resume his data collecting duties for the foreseeable future, Raven will be the one responsible for retrieval missions." The masked hacker knew that Owl would be more than happy with being tasked with his old duty.
Though speaking of Raven, the hacker turned his attention to Jackal. "Were you aware that she would unlock a new form of the Divine Key?" It was an unexpected boon when the mercenary had reported that she had unlocked a new form of the Key of Sanction, a form much stronger than the previous forms.
Gray Serpent had to wonder if it was coincidence or fate that the Key of Sanction had decided to transform into a bow of all things, Raven's weapon of choice.
"I had a feeling that the Key of Sanction might act up again, but I did not think that it would play out in our favor." She admitted before she looked around the room, noting the absence of the hooded mercenary. "Where is she anyway?"
"Off training with the Key of Sanction," Gray Serpent replied. "She wishes to capitalize on the newfound trust the weapon has gifted her, perhaps she will be able to unlock even more abilities of the Divine Key."
"...Speaking of abilities," The canine masked scientist swiped on her tablet, pushing away the report of Owl's injuries and loaded in a photo that held a massive amount of fascination and curiosity for her.
A photo from Iudex's last moments as the Soulium Juggernaut stared down it's last adversary.
The glowing, emotionless eyes of Haruto Nakamura as he was clad in an almost ethereal suit of armor.
"It seems that your little pet project continues to defy all expectations."
The hacker nodded. "While it is unfortunate that we were unable to retrieve Kiana Kaslana, fortune smiles upon us with the Nakamura's revelation."
"And I suppose that our next step involves us 'recruiting' this highschooler?"
"Of course, it would be a waste to squander such potential."
Jackal folded her arms as she rested her back on a wall. "But how do you plan on doing that? Anti-Entropy and Schicksal are closely monitoring for any signs of our organization, with Anti-Entropy having a firm foothold in Nagazora. Not to mention that both a clone of their Sovereign and an undercover Valkyrie have close ties with him."
The scientist honestly didn't see how the Gray Serpent was going to pull it off. It wasn't like they could do a repeat of another disastrous operation, Anti-Entropy alongside the efforts of Raiden Ryoma were watching all possible points of entry to the city.
And even if they had somehow snuck in a sizable force within the city, they still had to worry about the clone that was known as Akira Ishigami who was more than a match for some of the strongest members of the World Serpent.
That was excluding the undercover Valkyrie who could take care of their soldiers with ease and the Anti-Entropy garrison stationed there. She could try and create another Iudex, which would take time and a fair amount of resources…
They still had to worry about the wildcard that was Haruto Nakamura.
The demonic mask of the Gray Serpent did a really good job of hiding what he was feeling, you couldn't even tell his emotions from his artificial voice. But years of working together with him gave Jackal some semblance of how to guess what he was feeling at times.
And now she could tell that the Gray Serpent was anything but discouraged.
"Nothing lasts forever Jackal, no defense is impenetrable. There is always a way to through…" He turned his attention to the sole terminal in the room and began typing in a specific code. Once he was done the mainframe of a certain company was revealed to him, alongside all the secrets that he needed.
"And it's about time the King fell from his throne."
Deep in the Sea of Quanta, all was quiet in the multi-dimensional plane. Not a soul could be heard, which was impossible as no human being could possibly survive long periods here.
Well, almost everybody.
In a random part of the Sea, a part of reality began to flicker in and out of existence before a human being was shot out of the dimensional tear. "Ow," A petite dark indigo haired girl picked herself off the ground. "I was so close," She lamented as her azure eyes began tearing up. "If I held on for a bit longer then-"
"Baka," A voice that sounded a lot like her own spoke in her mind, scathing in tone but beneath all of that was a hint of concern. "If you kept going we would've really died then and there Seele."
The now named Seele brought her hand up to her chest, where a bright red stigma was emblazoned on her skin. "But if I kept holding on then we would've been able to get out of here, back to the real world."
A dark red butterfly began to fly in front of the dark indigo haired girl. "We've been stuck here for a very long time, we both know that. A few more years spent here won't change that. However there's a reason why we don't take unnecessary risks."
Seele thought back to how they even got here in the first place. Time was hard to judge in the Sea of Quanta but it had only been recently that dimensional ripples were being sent through the Sea. At first they were hardly noticeable, like a passing breeze.
However as time passed by those passing breezes began to evolve in intensity, up until quite recently where it felt akin to a raging hurricane. Seele did not know what was going on but a part of her knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
An opportunity to somehow be able to escape the Sea of Quanta and return back into the real world.
However in the end she just wasn't strong enough to be able to get out of here. If she had been strong enough she would've never been in this position in the first place.
If she was strong enough she would be back at the orphanage with Bronya, where every day was a beautiful day to look forward to. Even with people like Sin Mal, nothing could dampen any day with Bronya.
Now she only had the memories of such cherished times to soothe her lonely heart.
The dark red butterfly picked up on the petite's girl brooding. "It's not your fault, trying to survive these kinds of dimensional ripples is next to impossible."
Seele shook her head. "But Bronya-,"
"Do you think Bronya would approve of you putting your life in danger? I'm sure that she would agree with me on this." They interrupted.
Seele could find no fault in the butterfly's words as she closed her eyes, the thoughts of Bronya weighing heavy on her heart. What was she doing right now? Was she well? Was she still trying to save her from the Sea of Quanta or had she-
"Okay this is getting ridiculous," The butterfly glowed a bright red as it began to transform. From the form of a butterfly, an identical copy of Seele took shape. It was an exact copy even to how their hair was combed, with the sole difference being that where there was meant to be dark indigo there was instead a dark red.
"First off this is getting bothersome," Her clone berated with a frown. "Do you really think that Bronya would abandon you? Have you forgotten the lengths that she went for you when the X-10 experiment failed? That she would be willing to throw the entire world away just for you?!"
Seele thought back to when she had participated in the X-10 experiment, where she had initially mastered matter manipulation.
Seconds later her body forcibly entered the Quantum State.
She thought she had failed, her punishment for not being as strong as Bronya. She feared that she would never get to see her again, to never see the ocean with her…
To never see her smile again.
Then as what felt like an eternity had passed Bronya was suddenly standing right before her, so suddenly in fact that she could not voice her surprise when she was suddenly embraced. She could still remember what Bronya had said when she was still in her arms.
"Nyet! I'm not leaving you again!"
Wiping her eyes of the unshed tears, Seele gained a much more determined look. She was right, Bronya wouldn't give up!
And neither would she!
"Finally," Her doppleganger appeared to be unimpressed by Seele's newfound conviction. "If you continued moping any longer I would've gotten angry." They turned around and began to walk around the still sitting Seele.
"Now that you finally got past your little stump we should now focus on what to do next." Seele still found it quite strange to see someone look exactly like her, but act completely different. Not that was a bad thing or anything, just simply strange.
And that was especially true when she saw the smug smirk that was currently on her doppleganger's face. "And I might just happen to know how to finally get out of here."
Wait...huh?
Her confusion must've shown on her face as her twin was more than happy to explain. "Well when you were off trying to hold on for dear life, I was busy figuring out what these 'fluctuations' were. And I'm happy to say the next time this happens we can finally get out of here!"
They turned around and continued talking out loud. "Now I won't say that it is guaranteed but after getting a bit familiar with the ripples I'm sure we can ride them all the way until we-AH!" The red haired twin shouted surprise when she felt a pair of arms suddenly embracing her. "W-W-What are you-!"
"Thank you so much!" Seele thanked profoundly. Words could not describe her gratitude to the twin so the dark indigo haired girl poured all of her emotion into the hug. She would be able to get out of here!
She would be able to see Bronya again!
Her doppleganger's cheek became an inferno as she turned her head away in embarrassment. "B-Baka, if you die attempting the same thing again then I will die as well. It's not like I actually care for you or anything," She denied, though it sounded like she was assuring herself more than anything. "Yup definitely not because of that!"
However the two girls were not the only ones plotting their escape from their quantum prison. Off in another part of the Imaginary Space, a lone male was planning his own escape. "It's almost time then," Kevin Kaslana mused as he lifted his hand up where a green leaf rested on his palm, a reminder of an old friend.
And the person who put him in this prison in the first place.
He wondered how he was doing. Was he still striving to complete Project Valuka? Had he succeeded or had he ultimately failed in finding an answer? The white haired MANTIS wondered how differently things might have played out all those years ago in the Seed of Sumeru, where Su beseeched him to delay Project Stigma.
What if he had tried to convince his fellow MANTIS to see reason? To see that Project Stigma was their only hope as the other plans that they had in play would end in failure. Would Su have tried to help him if he knew the Kaslana knew no other way than this?
What if he had listened to his words, stopped his plans with Project Stigma and continued on with their roles as pioneers? Would it have made a difference in the long run? Would they have eventually found the answer that they were searching for?
...
...But such thinking was more of Su's forte, to question the what-ifs. For Kevin Kaslana he had only one way of doing things.
To move forward without hesitation.
"Forgive me old friend," The Kaslana crushed the leaf in his hand before he opened his palm back up, letting the crushed remains of the leaf fall to the ground. "But for the sake of humanity's future…"
"The Honkai must be destroyed, no matter the cost."
It was a very lazy Sunday morning. I was sitting with Sora on the couch watching some cartoons on the television. Kuro was peacefully napping on her cat perch as the sounds of the morning commute could be heard in the distance.
The peace and quiet that I was experiencing would soon come to an abrupt end when the door to the apartment swung wide open as a grinning Kiana made her presence known. "Haru-senpai!"
The black feline was rudely awoken by the white haired girl's outburst and responded with a hiss. The Kaslana ignored the cat's hiss as she simply waved at the cat in greeting before she walked over to the couch and claimed the free spot next to me.
"Kiana," I greeted as if this was completely normal, which it was. Kiana just loved to drop in univinted and I didn't want to have to deal with the potential of her accidentally kicking my locks off so I just let her have my spare key. "What brings you here?"
"This!" She showed me the paper that was in her hands. "We're going right?! For Golden Week?!"
Oh yeah Golden Week was almost here, a week free for pretty much everybody in Japan. A time meant to be spent in relaxation and with family. I knew Kiana would be more than happy about the time off school but she was really excited for the flier that was in her hands.
Looking at the flier in her hands, my eyes immediately found the purpose of the paper. Sora also looked at what the flier and was immediately supportive of Kiana's suggestion. "I forgot about this! You have to go Haruto-niichan!
"...The Annual Nagazora Kitsune Festival Celebration?" I read out.
I'm almost done with this semester! The day after this chapter goes live is my last final and then I'm home free!
AND I CAN GO BACK TO WRITING THIS STORY!
Sorry this took so long to get updated, I wanted to save this story for my final test. Get some good motivation in before the big test. Also I needed to think of what my upcoming chapters were going to have by making sure I wasn't doing something that would break my plan.
How did you enjoy this chapter?
Seele took me some time to write ashamedly, such a nice girl but why is it so hard to write her character?! Also I just realized that mostly all the inner spirits that are in the story are all tsunderes!
I think all of you know what Haruto's battlesuit will be, I've practically presented like the biggest hint for all of you guys. Some might call me lazy for simply plucking it out but honestly nothing is going to change my mind about this.
Also I've dropped an easter egg for the future...can you find it? If you think you got it PM me and I'll tell you if you're right or not.
How did you like Ishigami's backstory? I think I made it pretty well and don't worry it'll be expanded more in later chapters.
I hope you guys are excited for the Golden Week Chapter, I've got some really good scenes planned for the next chapter…
And let's just say things finally start to kick up.
Oh and one more thing, I know that this story isn't perfect. There are plot holes all throughout and there are decisions that made that probably aren't for the best. That's why I ask for criticisms so I can improve on the story.
But to this one guest reviewer who bashes every decision that I've made...do you really think I give a damn about your opinion when you write like an immature child? It's even more sad that you choose to hide behind the guest reviews.
But don't worry, I gave your 'reviews' a very quick look before promptly banishing them to the Shadow Realm. I don't even remember a single thing that you wrote about to be honest.
And if you think spamming a bunch of hate reviews is going to change anything, all you're doing is cementing how pathetic of a person you are to me and wasting about ten seconds of my day when I give it a quick read and deleting it.
So basically what I'm trying to say is you're wasting your time here.
Welp that's all for this chapter. If you enjoyed it, drop a fav/follow/kudos as they really help me out with creating great chapters. Reviews are deeply appreciated and if you have a question or a really interesting theory I am more than happy to reply. Please be patient if I don't respond to you super fast. Even if I don't respond to your comment for whatever reason, know that I read each and every one of them!
Peace!