'I don't get it. What are you doing?'
'Cooking. What do you expect?'
'Why? It's unnecessary and less filling than a core.'
I roasted a fresh deer over campfire, a result from last night 'patrolling'. It didn't have a chance. Single swipe was all it take to turn it into our breakfast. Marcy still hadn't got up yet so it was up to me to preparing this deer. By using my spikes I made a makeshift spit and roast it.
'This mostly for Marcy, although I will take some as well. Yeah I know it's pointless but there's no harm in doing it.'
'Why bother to help her? She nothing but annoyance. She didn't listen your advice, hard-headed, and cold as ice.'
'Because deep down she has a good heart, just like you Rei. Annoying and obnoxious but both of you cared for others.' I stifled a laugh as Rei grumbling to himself.
The sky brighten when sun slowly rose from the horizon. A sunbeam piercing through mist in the dense forest, creating impressive scenery. I sat in front of it, nibbling a chunk of venison while still mesmerized by unexpected display of nature. Such serene place still exist even in this devastated world. My admiration interrupted by a rustling sound coming out from the tent.
"Morning sleepyhead. Come, look what I got from my patrol last night." I gestured her to come closer.
Marcy immediately spotted the roasted deer beside me. She took a portion and sat down.
"We should get ready soon. You have materials to deliver, plus I kinda want to see what's Nemus Diana looks like."
"Yes."
Her reply was short and simple but still better than nothing. "Alright I'll pack up the tent, you just stay here and finish your breakfast."
All I got is a nod. Oh well, I still had a job to do. Few questions came up while I'm still dismantling the tent. Why did she so distant and cold? What happened in her past life? While its true that some people prefer to talk less, it almost looked like she actively avoids talking. The only time I got a full-sized conversation was when the first time we met, not like she had any choice anyway.
Unlike last night, morning in forest felt much less tense. Strange thing considering my senses were still the same regardless day or night. Perhaps because most critters active at day thus gave off 'crowded' vibe? And just as usual, she didn't speak to me in our journey.
We found a cliff after few hours of walking. The said cliff circling a part of the forest, forming a giant crater. Right at the center of the separated forest lies a large dome like structure with segmented glass as its roof.
"So that's Nemus Diana. Pretty impressive but it makes me wonder, how did they managed to build that in the first place? While it's not as large as Far East Branch outer wall it still require massive amounts of resources."
"I don't know."
"Oh well, not my business. Time to fulfill your part, give me your cloak."
"Why did you need this?" She took her cloak off and hand it to me.
"To conceal my most noticeable features, my eyes and uniform." I took her cloak and put it on. It was significantly shorter than before, barely reached my knees now. Not surprising considering how much I cut from the cloak for her chest binding.
"Alright it's time for us to part ways. Here, I give you some extra." I took most of my Cores and gave it to her. Only two Cores left in my pocket, not a problem since I could hunt anytime I want.
"I didn't hear nor see any Aragami around so you probably gonna be okay on your own. Good bye, try not to push yourself too hard kay." I waved my hand at her and walked away.
"Why did you helped me?"
"Was it wrong to care about humans?" I asked back at her.
She couldn't reply my question but there was no doubt that she still didn't believe me, not like I care anyway. She survived her mission, Nemus Diana got few cores for its wall, and I got a cloak. Not an equal value but still a win-win.
"... thank you."
Her voice surprising me. It still had a slice of distrust in it but that was the first time she thanked me out loud. Last night was an exception since she didn't know that I could hear her. I waved my hand again without turned my back. "Yeah, take care of yourself."
Walking alone was quite different than with a silent companion. While it was true that in both situations no conversation would ever made, a silent companion still made some unintentional noises like footstep, breath, and heartbeat. Unlike now which was complete quietness on my way back, except for nature-made sound.
'So you have fully accepting the fact that you are no longer human. Faster than I thought.'
'What are you talking about?'
'Your speech pattern changed. It almost like you never lived as human before.'
'Nope it's merely a ruse.'
'Yeah yeah sure.'
Ground beneath me suddenly trembled, a tremor followed by a roar echoed in the distance. Few birds flew away from nearby tree. It was not my imagination, even wildlife could sense that.
'What the hell is that?'
'Something large and heavy, a rare massive sized Aragami.'
'Okay let's check it out.'
'Be careful and avoid any unnecessary conflict. Not only its core worth less than the trouble it caused, there's a good chance that you'll get wounded in the process.'
'Yes mom.' I rolled my eyes.
To said that was a living hill is not an overstatement. That thing literally a small hill sized Aragami with multiple tendrils as it limbs. It was the largest Aragami I ever met, definitely way larger than both Susano'o and my Aragami form, even its head was larger than adult human. Most of its skin covered in moss, except its tendrils and multi eyed head. Fenrir surely made a good job in updating their Aragami database. In just ten days I had met two Aragami that not listed in it.
The giant roaming around Wailing Plains, more specifically area around endless tornado. This place really attracted a lot of Aragami, something to do with the endless tornado perhaps?
A distinct footstep caught my attention and almost made me fall from my hiding spot. A certain brown coated happy-go-lucky guy charging right at its feet with large red chainsaw like God Arc in his hand. Idiot Lindow, he taking on another absurd Aragami without any backup again. I jumped from the cliff and flung few spikes at the giant's eyes.
"Rena? What're you doing here?" Lindow dashing out of the giant range while it still staggered from my spikes.
"That was my line you idiot! Nevermind, kill that thing first chat later." My body changed. Not as large as that thing but better than stayed in human form.
"Whoa... Is that you Rena?"
"Yes now shut up we got a giant to kill."
Lindow running at my side and slashing its leg. I slamming my fist at its head but merely chipped a bit. It jumped and tried to crushed us with its body. My booster taking me to a safe distance with Lindow in my right hand. An idea crossing me. I stretched my right arm, he immediately noticed my intention.
"Are you kidding me?"
"Nope." I replied his shout with a grin.
I swung my right arm and threw Lindow upward. He crashed right on top of its back and began hacking it. My booster armed along with my wrist blade. One of its front tendril severed as I cut through it and landed behind it. It swinging its tendrils in revenge. I was forced to retreat but not before cutting off another one of its tendrils. Lindow secured himself by using his God Arc as anchor. He continued to hacking its back after its stopped stomping around.
I tried to severed another tendril. It suddenly turned its head on me and shot a pillar of extremely hot beam. It destroyed my shoulder armor. I spit a torrent of searing blue flames at it tendrils. A part of it charred and turned black. It swung its tendrils at me. I raised my arms in attempt to blocked it. Suddenly the giant stopped moving.
It collapsed after few moments of stillness. A lone figure stood on its back with a green core in its God Arc. Lindow successfully extracted its Core while he still mounted. He stepped down and stopped in front of me.
"So... can you turn back? It's kinda awkward talking to a large lizard."
"You owe me an explanation." My Aragami form crumbled into liquid oracle and absorbed back.
"First a black scorpion, now a hill sized Aragami, what's next? And how outdated Fenrir database was? In just 10 days I've found two unknown Aragami." I glared right at his eyes.
"Chill down will ya. That monster is Ouroboros, a rare and dangerous species. I believe NORN had an info about it, maybe you accidentally skip it? As for Susano'o, it's indeed classified, only a handful of people knew that species existence."
"Classified? Why did they do that?"
"Susano'o is a new species, we barely have any info about that. Publishing an info based on speculation alone can do more harm than good. There's also a nasty rumor regarding that Aragami."
"Hm? Rumor?" That piqued my curiosity.
"They said Susano'o is a God Eater that succumbed to infection. I don't know about that, but it surely a highly dangerous Aragami. That's probably why director sent me to exterminate it."
"That two-faced bastard again. I hate that man, he looks like a normal leader but I highly doubt his motivation and this accident make me even more wary at him."
"Why?" Lindow inquired.
"He was there when I was... Infected. He was disturbingly calm, as if he already knew what happened to me." His calm borderline eerie voices replayed in my mind.
"You're right, I don't trust him either." Lindow put his God Arc on his shoulder. "So, wanna come with me? My offer still stand."
"And just like I said before, no thanks. Don't wanna become a test subject, and don't forget about that creepy director of yours."
"This time is different. I'll help you to enter Den undetected and hide yourself in Dr. Sakaki's lab. It's the only place in entire Den that has its security camera disabled."
"Why should I?" I raised my eyebrow at him.
"If you come with me you'll be able to meet up with your sister. Dr. Sakaki promised that no test will be done without your consent so you don't have to worry about becoming a lab rat." Lindow said.
I frowned at his explanation, if only everything was so simple. My sister probably going to reject me. I must win her trust first.
"No Lindow, thanks for your offer."
"Why?" He asked.
"It because my sister. She probably thinks that I'm a fake, an Aragami that pretending to be her sister."
"Nope that won't happen, your sister was the one that reques... no, she literally begs for my help right after I told her about you."
No way, I must've misheard him. "Did you said my sister begging for your help?"
"Hey, put some faith in your sister. She cried for entire night on that day. Do you really think that she won't believe you?"
'I don't understand much about your problem but at least we can escape from that place again if things go south.'
Rei had a point and I trusted both of them so there shouldn't be any problem. Did I worry too much? I could only hope that Lindow was right about my sister.
"Fine, I'll give it a shot." I finally made my decision.
"I know you'll understand." Lindow smiling at me and press a button on his radio. "Hibari connect me to Dr. Sakaki."
"Right away." A woman voice which presumably an operator named Hibari coming out from his radio.
"Yo doc, I met her and she agreed to your offer. Send the chopper immediately."
Now all that's left is to wait for extraction chopper. I'll just put on my cloak when it arrived. Wait, cloak? My cloak was missing. The last time I had it was when I switched to my Aragami form, shit...
'My cloak is gone now isn't it?'
'You just realized it by now? Unlike your uniform, it was created using normal fabric. Of course it would get absorbed.'
'Note to self, make a new oracle infused clothing when I have time to spare.' I released a sigh.
"Hm? Something on your mind?" Lindow noticed my sigh.
"Nothing important. Any idea how to get me into Den without raising suspicion?"
"I've taken care of it."
My eyebrow raised at his overly simple answer.
"Just wait for the chopper."
I couldn't believe it. His so called solution was a hoodie and sunglasses. I didn't know whether I should smack him for being overly simplistic or smack myself for thinking too much.
"This is your solution?" I stared in disbelief at him. He sat in a vacant seat in front of me and inhaling his cigarette.
"You are a perfect copy of your sister except for your hair and eyes. You can disguise yourself as your sister with that. Simple yet perfect solution if you ask me." Lindow shrugged.
I released another sigh.
'You sighing a lot lately. You took this too far.'
'Probably, but I can't help it.'
'You can punch through this helicopter door and run away if you like.'
'Running away doesn't solve anything.'
'Indeed it doesn't, but it allow you to make a better plan.'
I released another sigh, again.
"Nervous?" Lindow spoke to me. A trail of smoke leaking out from his mouth.
"No, but this is bound to fail. What do you think will happen if I meet my sister?" I stared at him.
"Impossible, right now your sister is on a mission with the rest of my team in City of Mercy."
"And your operator? There's no way she doesn't notice me."
"She already knows about you."
"Fine... You will take responsibility if something goes wrong." I put on my sunglasses and hoodie. This is one of the most ridiculous idea I ever agreed on.
"Relax, got it covered." He took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
No, he wouldn't have it. I smirked mischievously at him and created a pen-sized needle. Few seconds later his cigarette had a brand new hole near its filter, courtesy of my needle.
"Hey, what was that for?" He yelled at me.
"Smoking is bad for your health you know?" Which was a blatant lie. Oracle Cells in God Eater body rendered them completely immune against any kind of normal illness. A necessity since they worked in some of the most hostile environment that Far East had, from the hellish Infernal Subway up to the bone-chilling Tranquil Temple.
"Since when did you become so impish like this? There goes my last cigarette." Lindow threw his cigarette away.
"Since the moment I was born." My smirk widen into full-blown grin.
"Oh yeah, Dr. Sakaki said you must refrain yourself from using your Oracle inside the Den, it will trigger a false reading or something. Dunno about that stuff but the point is don't make any spike okay?"
"Mhm... don't think I'll need it anyway." I nodded in agreement.
We almost arrived at the Den, probably in half an hour at most. The Far East outer wall stood tall on the horizon. This felt like the first time I left orphanage, except it was Lindow instead of Rina that accompanying me now.
"How it feels like?" Lindow suddenly spoke to me.
"Like what?"
"You know, about your body?"
"Oh, it's improvements actually, for the most of it. I can fight without relying on God Arc which give me advantage in combat. My senses improved beyond measure, I can hear your heartbeat for example."
"Seriously? You will become our best scout with that kind of hearing." His eyes widen in surprise.
"Scout? Nope, they'll dissect me instead. My strength and resistance improved as well. The only thing that can harm me is either a God Arc or Aragami.
"Yeah, you've proven yourself week ago. You crossed a lava lake barefooted and almost crushed me like a tin can after that." He smirked at me.
"Whaa... Stop it, that was an accident. I've told you I'm sorry." I put my hands on my face. That was one of my most embarrassing mistake I ever made. "However, there're few drawbacks though. I don't and can't sleep. A minor annoyance compared to the other thing."
"Other thing?" Lindow asked.
"My new diet. I can eat normal food but it barely sate my hunger."
Strange, I didn't feel anything even though I told him that I ate other Aragami. Wait... food? I reached for my leg pocket. Damn it, only two cores left. How could I forgot that I gave Marcy most of my stash.
"Uhh... Lindow? I got a problem..."
"Hm?" He gave me a questioning look.
"I'm running out of food. This merely enough for two or three days at most." I showed him my cores.
"Is that Araga-"
"Yes, Chi-You and Vajra Core." I interrupted him.
"I see, what kind of core do you want?"
"Anything will do. I suggest the easiest one like Ogretail or Cocoon Maiden."
"Alright I'll try to slip some tonight."
"Thank you Lindow but don't push it too hard, I still have few days worth food."
Aragami Core was completely useless for a God Eater, unlike its body parts. They gave it to engineer and maintenance crew for strengthening Anti-Aragami Wall or as a foundation of new God Arc. It definitely suspicious for God Eater to kept even a single core.
"Don't worry about me. If anyone asks I'll just tell them it was Dr. Sakaki's request." Lindow put his hand on my head and ruffled my hair.
The Den lobby filled with civilian, operator, God Eaters, and even a vendor that set up a shop near operator desk. That was way more crowded than the first time I arrived here. The vendor tried to offer restore pills to God Eater that checking his stand. He got a pretty good selection, few different kind of medicine, uniform, materials, and few... GODDAMN RPG warhead?!
"Lindow? Who gave that vendor permission to bring RPG into Den lobby?" I tried to keep my voice down, not an easy task considering my intense urge to kick that vendor butt out.
"Oh that's replica. Do you think our security was that sloppy?" Lindow smirked at me.
Great, an embarrassing blunder on my first day in the Den, just great.
'Cover your right hand.' Rei voice booming in my head.
'Huh? What?'
'I can't believe it, my host is an airhead. You are pretending to be your sister, yet you don't realize that you have no Armlet? Good job.' He gave out a mocking sigh.
'Well, sorry for messing up my FIRST disguise attempt... jerk.' I crossed my arms and hid my right wrist.
"There you are. Director was looking for you Lindow." A girl with auburn hair called him. Probably an operator judging from her uniform.
"Oh? You don't see me." Lindow waved his hand in dismissal.
We rode an elevator down few levels and stopped at laboratory section. This area was restricted to Fenrir members so I never sat a foot in here. I followed Lindow and heading straight to the end of the corridor. We stopped in front of a door which presumably Dr. Sakaki's office.
"The girl who called me earlier is Hibari, our only operators. A good girl but tend to overworking herself."
So my guess was correct. She was the one that answered Lindow earlier. A young operator, probably around my age I guess.
"Here we are, doc? Are you in there?" Lindow knocking the door.
"Yes, come in."
Lindow opened the door. A familiar middle-aged man wearing glasses sat behind multi-monitor computer. He immediately stopped typing and staring at us, well... at me to be precise.
"Wait... I know you!" There is no mistaking it, he was the one that stood behind Johannes in the observation room.
"Yes, I believe introduction are in order. I'm Dr. Paylor Sakaki, Far East Branch head scientist." He introduced himself.
"I have other business to attend to, see you later Rena." Lindow walked away.
"Okay, good bye"
Lindow closed the door. It was quiet for few minutes. Kinda uncomfortable, Dr. Sakaki Inspecting every inch of my body like I'm some kind of specimen.
"Can you take off your hood and glasses?"
I did as he said, leaving both my hair and eyes exposed to him.
"Incredible," Dr. Sakaki continued to scanning every part of my body. "Do you realized that your very existence alone have invalidated at least few hypotheses about Aragami?"
"No but all I know is you've promised me-"
"There'll be no test performed without your consent. Yes I know, it's a promise." Dr. Sakaki cut me off. He walked to the strange red door at right side of his computer.
"This is room is specially tailored just for you. The wall lined with Anti-Aragami material and jammer, that way you can do anything without getting detected." Dr. Sakaki put a card on the door handles and pushed the door aside after a single beep.
My new room was quite spacious, much larger than my shelter. Its wall and ceiling painted in white, reminds me of clinic. It had furniture such as bed, table, wardrobe, sofa in its corner and a mini kitchen on the other side. It also had two normal looking doors on my sides.
"That door on your left is leading to bathroom, the other one to training room."
"Training room?"
"Another custom-made room. It had various reading instrument to calculate your strength and its wall thickness is doubled just in case. You must know that any data collected during your training will be used as research material."
Well at least he was honest, unlike that creepy director. "I don't mind as long as your research is safe to anyone."
"Of course. I may be a scientist but dangerous experiment is something I tend to avoid. Here, this is for you." He gave me the card that he used earlier.
I took his card and put it in my pocket. Is it me or he immediately cheered up after I told him it's okay?
"You are free to wander around but don't leave my lab. It will be disastrous if someone outside of First Unit find you." I nodded at him.
"Now, please take a seat. I have few questions to ask." He took few papers and a pen from his pocket and sat in one of the sofa.
I took a seat in front of him. "Alright, what is it?"
He was ecstatic. Dr. Sakaki rained down questions upon questions on me. Trivial questions such as how it felt like, to absurdly difficult questions like how I could stay sane. There's no way in hell I told him it was Rei that helped me, so I told him I don't know.
Like a true scientist, he somehow managed to keep up with our discussions while relentlessly wrote every single details down to his papers. How the heck did he fit in all these stacks of blank paper in his pocket?
Talking about training room, did it had any Oracle scanner? If so I might find out how I could make floating spikes appeared out of thin air. "Doc Sakaki? Did the training room have any Oracle scanner?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"I'm curious, how can I do this?" I made a pen sized spike and let it circling me.
Dr. Sakaki stopped scribbling and eyeing my spike immediately. He wrote few notes on his paper before reached for my floating spike and plucked it. He examined it closely for few moments.
"Impressive... come Rena, I'll prepare the test immediately." He took out a plastic bag from his other pocket and wrapped my spike with it.
[Attention God Eaters: 7th unit has successfully slain an Ouroboros and taken the core. All engineers report to Lab No. 5]
Hm? Ouroboros? Why they said 7th unit instead of Lindow? Whatever, not my business.
"What's wrong Rena?" He noticed that I stopped following him.
"Oh nothing, just wandering why they said 7th unit instead of Lindow."
"What are you talking about?" Dr. Sakaki put my wrapped spike into his pocket.
"Huh? The announcement about Ouroboros?"
"Announcement? There's no speaker in this floor." He abruptly stopped and appeared like in a deep thought for a while. "Incredible... The closest speaker is on R&D lab, two floors above us. How sharp actually your hearing miss Rena?"
"Sharp enough to let me hear your breath. Your computer is beeping."
"Thank you for telling me, please wait for a moment."
He left my room. Hm... maybe I should use this spare time to changing my cloth. I never got a spare cloth in more than a week. I opened my wardrobe. It had few sets of different sized standard Fenrir uniform, not bad for a freebie. What should I take? The hooded black and white one? I took off my dirty cloth and put on the new one. The soft fabric of Oracle infused uniform brushed against my skin. Yep, a perfect fit. It matched my white hair and black sunglasses. This cloth seems sturdy and comfortable, definitely a high quality uniform. Dr. Sakaki knocking my door just as I finished changing my cloth.
"Hold on, I'm coming." I pulled my door handle. "Yes Dr. Sa- eeeh?" Something or rather, someone tackles me down. We both crashed to the floor.
"Sis!" A very familiar voice followed by soft sobbing entered my ears.
WHAAAT? It was Rina!? Shit... 'Reiiii what should I do?'
'You asked me? An Aragami? About human interaction? I don't even know whether you're mocking me or serious about this.'
Damn... I had forgotten about it. What a great sister I was. First I left her alone, now I made her cry.
I put my arms around Rina and hugged her tightly. She kept crying while muttering some grateful filled word.
"I'm sorry sis, I left you alone this whole time." I whispered to her.
It took good ten minutes before she stopped crying. Her eyes puffed and her voice hoarse, not surprising, ten minutes is quite a long time after all. I took her to bathroom and let her washed herself while I'm preparing a cup of iced tea and milk tea. Dr. Sakaki was quite generous, he filled this small kitchen with common ingredients. Not much, but enough for few kinds of different dishes and drinks. I should make some for him later.
She finished washing herself right after I put both cup on the table. She took a seat in front of me and sipping her tea.
"Milk tea? You still remember my favorite drink sis." She beamed at me.
"Of course, how can I forget that when you literally hoarding our week worth stock of milk tea powder back at the orphanage." I smirked at her.
She maintained a calm expression, a failed calm expression. Her cheek betrayed her, it was colored in red. Yeah, she was clearly blushed from embarrassment. She took out a small cardboard box and put it on the table.
"This is for you sis, I gather that myself." She pushed the box and put it in front of me.
"This... This can't be..." My tone laced with disbelief. It filled with at least six Aragami Cores. Was this mean she accepted me? How did she know about this? Oh who am I kidding, of course it was Lindow.
"Um... sis? Lindow told me when I'm still on a mission that you almost run out of food, so I take on few extra Aragami for you. I hope you like it..." She playing with her finger, a sign of nervousness.
"Thank you so much sis." I grabbed her hand.
Suddenly a bright flash filled my sight.
I was crying loudly, my pillow drenched in tears. Wait, why am I crying? Scratch that, I couldn't move, like this is not my body. What the hell was happened? I'm talking with Rina few moments ago.
"Why did you leave me sis..."
Ah I see, I'm in my sister's memories, that explained everything. Shit... I felt that. Her sorrow, despair, anguish, desolation, I felt everything. I knew she would end up like this, but not to THIS extent. It almost like her will to live had been snuffed out.
"Rina? You haven't had your dinner yet." Lindow voice coming out from the door.
"No, I don't want to."
"I know you're still grieving over your loss, but stop eating will only hurt yourself even more. Do you think Rena want you to grief over her like this?"
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" My sister screamed.
That was unexpected. She is a gentle girl, for her to screaming loudly like this... How distressed she was? Damn it, I'm an idiot.
Another bright light filled my eyes.
The scenery changed, she still crying, but over her bed instead. She didn't hug her pillow like before. Someone knocks her door.
"Rina? You haven't eaten anything since last night. Come out Rina, you can't keep crying over your sister like this." Sakuya called her.
"No, leave me be." My sister couldn't even screaming now, she had exhausted herself.
"I bring news about your sister, she still alive despite being listed as incompatible."
Sakuya words sparked a new hope in my sister's heart. "What do you say? Don't lie to me! Incompatibility always leads to death."
"I'm not lying. Come out and eat, I'll explain everything after your breakfast."
The scenery changed once more. She sat in a corner of Den canteen, just like that day, the day when this is all began. She eating a bowl of milk added corn flakes. Sakuya and Soma sat in front of her while eating their own dessert, pudding and flan.
"Um... Sakuya? What kind of news you mentioned earlier?"
"I have a good news and a bad news. The bad news is she was infected instead of devoured."
"No way... that's worse than death." Another sorrow struck my sister's cracked heart.
"The good news is she retained her sanity. I'm not sure about that but Mr. Grouchy and I managed to held a short conversation with her before she escaped."
"Leave me alone," Soma interjected.
"Yeah it's true, I met her in my date."
The fourth person took everyone attention. Lindow came out of nowhere and sat beside my sister.
"White hair and yellow slitted eyes, everything else was still the same, isn't that right Sakuya?" Lindow asked rhetorically.
"Yes that's right." Sakuya nodded.
"Oh Rina, I have a message from your sister, she said she is okay and promised you that she'll meet you again."
"Where did you meet her? How did she do? What happened to her?" My sister uncharacteristically throwing her questions at Lindow repeatedly.
"Slow down will ya. I met her in Infernal Subway. She's fine really. She was infected and changed but only physically."
The spark of hope brighten in my sister. "Thank goodness she's okay. I don't care what happened, as long as it still her I'm fine with it." A tear of joy rolled down on her cheek.
I sensed that too, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off from her shoulder. How low I'm, she cried in joy when she heard that my mind still intact, yet I doubted her?
"In that case, this is another bonus. She still looks the same, minus her hair and eyes." Lindow spoke.
"This probably a selfish request but I beg you, please help her. I don't want her to live alone out there. She has suffered a lot, especially after her infection. I'll do anything for you, please help her."
"Relax, I'm going help her anyway. I asked her to come here but she refused. She didn't want to become a test subject, or that's what she said. I'll have a chat with Dr. Sakaki later."
"Why Dr. Sakaki?"
"He's the one that can help her. You see, Dr. Sakaki's security camera was disabled, he can hide your sister in one of his lab, if he agreed to it though."
"Thank you, thank you so much Lindow. This is the second time you saved us, I don't think I can ever repay you." She bowed at him.
The scenery warped... Oh it's not over yet?
I'm inside a half-ruined building. Soma, Sakuya, and unknown boy wearing a cap stood around my sister. This place... City of Mercy. So this is where my sister gone on her mission.
"I'm done." Soma unleashed his God Arc predator mode and ripped off a Zygote Core.
"Oh yeah, we rock!" A boy wearing yellow cloth cap suddenly exclaimed. He reminded me of certain one-way radio named Romeo.
"Mission complete, send the transport Hibari." Sakuya said.
"Hold on, incoming call from Lindow to Rina, patching him through." Hibari voice ringing over my sister radio.
"Rina? Dr. Sakaki asked you to bring few Aragami Core, anything will do."
Eh? Dr. Sakaki? Oh yeah, the communication line probably bugged, it explained why Lindow didn't mention my name.
"Oh okay, I'll try to find some more." She closed her line. "Um... everyone? Dr. Sakaki want me to bring some Aragami Core, will you help me?"
"No need to hide it from us, it's for your sister, am I right?" Sakuya asked.
"Uh... yes, so... will you help me?"
"Of course Rina." Sakuya replied.
"Err guys, I have no idea what's going on here." The young boy spoke.
"None of your business." Soma answered.
Everything around me started to shimmering and blurred. Another one? How long this gonna be?
I'm in a white-painted room while sat on sofa. Oh I'm back, I'm here, in my own room with my sister crying in front of me... Damn... she saw my memories as well.
"Ten days... You wandering alone for ten days while I'm enjoying myself in this place... I'm so sorry sis..." She let out a sob between her words.
"No... that was my fault, I'm a coward. I choose to run away instead of facing you sis. I had my chance in Wailing Plains, but I hid myself instead. I'm sorry."
My tears fell on her shoulder. We hugged each other for a while. No, no more, I swore this was the last time I ever left my sister behind. No more running away from now on.