AN: This chapter marks the beginning of the second part of the story. This is the last big infodump we'll have. Everything after this will be a wild ride.

-!-

Miku opened her eyes, staring at the silver ceiling she thought she was used to by now.

A whole week had passed since Hibiki disappeared into the Treasury of Babylon. She did not appear once since then, keeping the entirety of S.O.N.G, as well as the rest of the world on edge. She wasn't sure how much other countries knew, but Maria did tell her that sometimes Genjuro disappeared for hours at a time, only to come out exhausted and sighing. Probably meetings without end he had to deal with and trying to explain exactly what was going on.

Yes, a full week. A week full of nothing but worry and tension that bore down on everyone. There were some rumors that Hibiki might have locked herself inside the Treasury with no way out, but Chris was quick to remind them that if she managed to force her way in, she could most definitely force her way out. And that it could happen anywhere and at any time.

It didn't help to make the situation any better, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

She rose, putting her feet down on the metallic floor. Shirabe had indeed cleaned the mess just like she promised, and Miku spent no small amount of time thanking her for her help. Shirabe just responded with a smile, and said: 'We are all friends here. We need to look out for each other, especially now.'

That sat well with Miku, who really began to appreciate the helping hands from everyone, including the sub's staff. Rising to her feet, Miku headed to the closet, taking out some clothes to wear and dressed herself. Unlike in her room, she couldn't walk around in her pajamas here freely. It wasn't a written rule, but seeing as it was a co-ed base, it might be a better idea to dress a little more normally.

She took the keycard she was provided from her nightstand and left the room, heading to the cafeteria to have breakfast. Seeing as she could not cook for herself here, she made due with eating the food they were providing.

It was a shame she couldn't enjoy the first meal she had here a week ago due to her depression, but since the week passed and she made her resolution, she managed to avoid anymore sorrowful episodes, to Maria's surprise. The elder confessed that she thought that Miku would be having a much harder time, and felt a bit remorseful for doubting her so. Miku simply responded with a heartfelt thanks for her worry, which cheered up the Airgetlam user.

It was amazing how much they all connected due to the circumstances. Other than Kirika, Shirabe, and Chris, who she went to school with, Miku did not have too much of a relationship with Maria, and now with Tsubasa now that she graduated.

All in all, despite everything, Miku managed to find a grasp on a measure of happiness. She had allies, friends, and comrades who shared her desires and vowed to help her in all of her endeavors. But she doubted her role in the bigger picture here. A week had passed and nothing of note had happened except the wielders finally having recovered enough. They had used this downtime to train as much as they could in the simulator, to varying degrees of success.

The one thing they had to wait for was for the briefing that was scheduled for later today, at Elfnein's insistence. She had claimed that she had something important to announce, and required all of the wielders, including Saint-Germain to attend. Strangely enough, Miku had also been invited to this briefing even though she was not a wielder. She initially wanted to remind them of that, but knew that if Elfnein of all people asked for her to come, then it was better to see what it was all about with her own eyes.

Other than that, the days have been fairly peaceful. A sort of halcyon days in tumultuous times, something that everyone agreed was appreciated. An opportunity to unwind slightly, to finally catch their breath and to be able to sit quietly and comfortably on what they know and what they should do.

A minute later, Miku reached the cafeteria, finding it as lively as the days before. Various staff members sat in their usual group, chatting about inane things that Miku never bothered to listen to. She headed to the empty line, grabbing a tray and cutlery. Once in line, she met the head chef's smile with one of her own. "Good morning, Ma'am." She said.

"Oh my, good morning Miku-chan. How are you today?" The lady asked in her usual amiable tone.

"I'm better, thank you. It's all thanks to your help." Miku answered humbly, bowing her head slightly.

The lady laughed. "You are always so polite Miku-chan," she said, causing the girl's cheek to redden slightly in embarrassment. "You can be a little more relaxed here. We are all friends here as you know."

Miku rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Yes, I know. It's a force of habit."

"Oh, I understand. Anyway, make sure to eat well, okay?" The lady said, placing a very humble portion of this morning's meal, scrambled eggs, into Miku's plate. "I know things have been tense lately, but do try to keep your spirits up. Everything will get better, I promise."

Miku nodded her head, giving one last smile to the chef. From what she understood, by now everyone on board knew exactly what sort of situation they found themselves in. Of how one of their own was now the enemy, sending waves of shock through the regular staff. It was then that Miku discovered that Hibiki made herself quite popular with them, especially the kitchen staff because of her appreciation for food and almost insatiable appetite. For them to find out that she became an enemy that wanted to destroy the world was nothing less than a blow in the heart, for all of them.

It was then that Miku also discovered that somehow she herself had somewhat of a reputation among them, as the 'sunshine that Tachibana-san would go on about for hours at a time'. It was a very embarrassing moment for the girl, considering she didn't know them all that well. It was weird seeing as all of them had been exposed and knew of her actions during the whole Frontier incident, yet none of them judged her for it, or even brought it up. They all simply gave her their own words of sympathy and motivation.

She found it extremely heartwarming, and thanked them for their kindness.

It surprised her to find out that the Section, despite its government connections, ended up being something akin to a small community, with all the regular drama and gossip that goes around in one. Seeing as the entire Section was pretty much built around the six Symphogear users, they ended up being extremely popular with the general staff.

It warmed her heart to know that Hibiki was so appreciated by so many people, especially after what she went through. That fact only ignited Miku's resolve further, as she truly wanted to remind her that there were many, many people who liked her and wanted to be friends with her. It was entirely possible she didn't notice, didn't know, or simply didn't care, but Miku wanted her to know nonetheless.

Now just to find a way to hammer it into her skull. That was the real challenge.

Miku looked around the cafeteria, hoping to find somewhere to sit. It was then her eyes fell upon a familiar figure, one whose back she had seen plenty of times already.

"Motoyasu-san," She said, walking up to him. The older man smiled up at her from his seat. "May I join you?"

"Ah, yes of course Kohinata-san." He answered. She smiled, and placed her tray down across from him and took a seat. "I see you are alone this morning."

Miku took a bite of the eggs. "Yes. They said they had some training to do, and right after that there is a briefing that we all must attend. I still don't really understand where I fit into this equation."

Motoyasu took his own bite of his food, chewing slowly. "Well, you said it yourself two days ago that it would be better to find out for yourself rather than just not attend. They have been keeping it under wraps for a while now, so not one of us really knows exactly what is going on. I guess once the briefing ends, they'll let us in on it as well, as usual."

Miku poked a cherry tomato with her fork. "I know, but still…"

"I wouldn't worry about it too much right now. It's definitely important, but there is no use wracking your brain over it. Jumping to wild conclusions won't do you any good." He said.

Miku cringed internally. Yeah, jumping to wild conclusions. How she wished Hibiki would understand that already.

"Yeah...I know…"

The man smiled again, realizing that it would be better to drop the subject for now. He should strike up a conversation about something that she would appreciate far more. And he had the perfect idea.

"Oh by the way, Kohinata-san," He said, causing Miku to look at him. "We've all been wondering, but how exactly did you meet Tachibana-san?"

Her eyes widened, surprised by his sudden question. Memories of her childhood surfaced, and she found herself smiling and blushing lightly. "Well," She began. "It's kind of a long story…"

-!-

"Ow ow ow ow ow!" Kirika exclaimed as the hot shower stream washed over her and her newly acquired bruises.

"Kiri-chan, please settle down." Shirabe told her, joining her in the showers. The four Symphogear wielders as well as Saint-Germain had just finished a very intense training exercise, one that caught them all by surprise. They managed to defeat all of the spawned enemies, but that did not make it really any better.

"But it hurts Shirabe! He could have at least told us it was coming!" Kirika complained, nursing her wounds. There wasn't anything life threatening or even anything that was bleeding, but the blue patches over her skin were really, really annoying.

"It was part of the surprise," Maria said upon walking into the showers as well. Once their training had finished, they realized all of them reeked from sweat. It wouldn't do to go to the briefing smelling like a rotten sock, so they all agreed to go take a shower first. "I have to admit it was quite a challenge for a simulation. If we want to get better, we need to make sure we complete it without being hurt in the process."

"After all, that's what training is for." Chris added as she walked in as well. Four of the six of the available shower heads were now occupied by the Symphogear wielders as they washed away the grime, sweat and dirt off their bodies.

"All this dirt is annoying too! Can't Elfnein add something to the Gears that can get rid of that as well?!" Kirika said loudly. Shirabe facepalmed at her childish suggestion.

But Chris grinned. "Of course, why doesn't she make them so they can make us some coffee too?"

Apparently Maria found Chris' answer hilarious, and she involuntarily let out an amused chuckle. As the four of them chatted amongst themselves, the door to the showers slid open again, and Saint-Germain quietly joined in as well, taking the spot to Chris' left.

The first to acknowledge her entry was Kirika. "Let's see what St. Germain-san has to say!" She said. The alchemist remained unmoving as she cleaned herself off. "What did you think about the training?" Kirika asked her.

"It was challenging," She answered. "But not all that unpleasant."

Kirika found her response surprising somehow. "Wha-!"

"See Kirika, even she agrees." Maria said to her younger, causing the blonde haired girl to pout to herself, eliciting a laugh from Chris and Maria. Shirabe patted her back gently.

As the girls continued talking, Saint-Germain at some point drowned them out as her mind wandered. She remembered the girl as the one who had teamed up with Hibiki to defeat her that fateful night, pulling off a Unison combination that knocked her to the ground. She remembered her courage as she stood against Adam's blast all on her own, pumping herself full of LiNKER and tanking the blast by using her Superb Song. She remembered that the girl very nearly died from the endeavor as well.

It was strange to suddenly have her be friendly with her. No, it was strange to be friendly with all of them. A week ago she had agreed to work with S.O.N.G in order to rescue Hibiki, but she never quite imagined it looking like this, taking showers with them and cracking jokes.

Saint-Germain was never one for jokes. She led her life from peril to peril, risking everything to make sure she could accomplish her goals. Nothing about that path was amusing or funny in her eyes.

Well, she wasn't one to judge. She hasn't smiled or laughed in centuries.

But there was something else that occupied her mind. When she went back to the mansion which they used as their base to gather everything she needed, she made a very startling discovery...

-!-

Four days ago, September 18th.

Saint-Germain reappeared in the mansion's courtyard, having set it as the waypoint for her teleportation crystals. She made sure to make one that will bring her back to her room in S.O.N.G headquarters, giving her leeway in the time it would take to gather her things.

The mansion was quiet. Dead quiet. No one other than the five of them lived in it, and considering three were dead and the other was a decapitated head in her now-allies headquarters, it made sense that no one would come by this place again.

She made the way back to her room on the eastern wing, checking to see if anything along the way had been touched while she was gone. She wasn't surprised to find out nothing was different, considering that following Prelati's death, they had already began the ceremony to bring down the divine power and as a result never returned to the mansion. She was glad the two circular wounds she suffered on her back were already gone. She did not want the Symphogear wielders to see them.

After the few minute walk, she finally reached her room and headed inside. As expected, untouched. She briefly compared it to Kohinata Miku's room in her mind, and found it to be extremely lacking. Maybe it was because she never spent that much time in here, but in the end it felt like a hotel room rather than a home.

Well, last time she had a home her mother died in it, so she'd rather not experience that again.

Saint-Germain never had that much to begin with. She could synthesize clothes for herself almost instantly, only using this place to sleep and to research. All of her notes regarding their Faust Robes were here and including other projects she had worked on over the centuries, along with classified documents from various governments. Those she should probably burn, seeing as it wouldn't be a good idea to hand them over to S.O.N.G.

However, that reminded her of something else. Prelati had stated she was working on a new Lapis, and the last time she had seen it was before Cagliostro's death.

Perhaps she should investigate that as well.

She quickly packed up everything she needed into her satchel, and headed towards the underground, where Prelati had worked on the Lapis. It was a secret that only the three of them shared, and it was something even Adam Weishaupt was not allowed to know. She entered Prelati's room, briefly glancing to the glasses of milk and wine on the small table sitting in the middle of the room. She made her way around and touched a very specific book on the shelf, causing a section of the wall before her to shimmer and disappear.

She headed down towards the darkness, and the stairway lit up on its own as she descended. Prelati made sure to line the entryway with various traps if anyone other than the three of them attempted to breach this place, so of course once she entered none of them would activate.

She eventually reached the bottom and headed into the research room…

And froze.

The Lapis, the red gem that should have been brimming with power in the very heart of the room…

Was gone.

Automatically various scenarios ran in the alchemist's head, each one more unlikely than the last. Adam could not have possibly found it, as the rest of the traps that lined this room would have triggered as well. Seeing as the mansion was still standing, no one other than the three of them could have possibly taken it.

But that was impossible. Prelati and Cagliostro were dead. Maybe Hibiki somehow found it? Ridiculous, she didn't even know this mansion existed.

Then who could possibly…?

She studied the stand where the Lapis had been, seeing absolutely nothing wrong with it. No, it was as if someone simply took it and left, and she had no idea how to tell who it was.

She spent over an hour checking out the room carefully, and nothing about it seemed to indicate anything was room. This was far too peculiar to her liking. Everything lately was, which put her on edge. She hated being in the dark about things, considering she was used to being behind the scenes many times before in various nations and as such knew even more than some of their leaders, many of which she toppled. Even now she knew more than the wielders knew about the situation.

So why was there a mystery she couldn't solve right in front of her eyes?

No, it wouldn't do to dwell on it now. In fact, Saint-Germain decided to take a much more extreme approach. Seeing as no one would ever use this mansion again, and seeing as there were far too many things in it that shouldn't be known in the world…

Then it was better to erase it from existence and bury everything inside it forever.

With a newfound resolve, the alchemist chanted a spell, and instantly the entire room caught on fire. She stood in the middle, unphased by the flames, and headed back up to the surface. Once in Prelati's room, she chanted the same spell again, and it too began to burn bright. She repeated the process in several of the rooms, making sure enough of the mansion was burning. She would let the flames take care of the rest on their own.

She went back to her room and stood on the balcony. She took a final glance at the room, making sure she did not forget anything important behind, and then lit it on fire as well. This was the point of no return.

Her eyes narrowed, Saint-Germain smashed her teleportation crystal against the floor and was whisked back to S.O.N.G headquarters.

And the mansion once used by the Pavarian Illuminati burned to the ground, leaving nothing behind.

-!-

"Sa...Main!" A voice called.

The alchemist blinked.

"St. Germain-san!" Kirika called out to her.

The older woman looked down to the Ig-Alima user. "Yes?"

"Are you alright?"

She blinked once more, surprised by Kirika's worry. "Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"

"You seemed to be a bit sad just now," the younger girl said. The alchemist raised her head and realized the other three were staring at her as well with varying degrees of concerned expressions on their faces. "Are you okay?"

Saint-Germain sighed, raising her head back to the showerhead, letting the water flow down her figure. "It's nothing," She answered. "Nothing you need to worry about. Just a few things on my mind, that is all."

She could tell the girl wouldn't buy it, but she truly did not want her to pry.

It seemed Kirika understood her intentions, to her surprise. "Okay...if you say so. I'll trust that you're fine."

The alchemist turned off the water, having had enough of the shower for now. "I'll be heading out first," She said. "Make sure you aren't late for the briefing."

Kirika saluted her comically, making the silver haired woman huff as she left the showers, the door closing behind her.

Kirika lowered her hand and looked back to her comrades. "Do you think she's okay?" She asked.

Maria stared at the door evenly. "I don't know, but at least she answered us. It took a while to get her to open up to us even a bit. I'd say now was a step in the right direction."

"I still can't believe we're working with the people who were our enemies." Chris commented, crossing her arms.

"You could say that applies to all of us," Shirabe said. "Hibiki-san gave us all a chance, so I want to give St. Germain-san one as well. If she took Hibiki-san's stretched hand, then I know she will be a great ally. Hibiki-san hasn't been wrong about that yet."

"She really does know how to win people over," Chris said as she washed her hair with shampoo. "That's why we can't stop. We have to bring her back no matter what. I can't sit still knowing the person who saved me is suffering."

"I agree, and we can start by getting to the briefing on time." Maria said as she turned off the water in her own shower. "We have maybe ten minutes. We should hurry."

"Right."

-!-

"St. Germain-san," Miku said upon seeing the alchemist next by the door to the bridge. For some reason, it had an A4 paper taped to it that said 'No entry', puzzling the woman. "Good morning. How was your training?"

"Kohinata Miku," Saint-Germain said, acknowledging her. "It was satisfactory. It provided a challenge that we were required to improvise to surpass."

Miku pouted cutely. "I told you that you can call me just Miku. You don't need to use my full name everytime," She said, then smiled. "Really? What was the challenge?"

Saint-Germain saw no point in hiding this fact from her, considering from what she knew...the girl might have to undertake it as well at some point, if the situation proceeded the way they planned. "The simulation first pitted us against the Noise as usual, but then to our surprise it also included several of those black beasts that we faced in the school."

Miku's eyes narrowed slightly, then widened to as wide as dinner plates when she realized what the alchemist was referring to.

They had to...fight the copies of Hibiki? In the simulation? Have they already gotten to that point? It wasn't like she hadn't thought about it. Hibiki did tell her sometimes about the training she underwent and how the commander tended to surprise them with a few missions during them to spice things up. With the way things were going, it was just logical that they would have to gain some experience fighting against them.

But it didn't sit well with Miku. She didn't like how it only further demonized Hibiki in their eyes. She knew they'd never actually look at her that way, but Miku knew one thing for sure that she wouldn't budge from.

Hibiki is not the enemy.

So they shouldn't treat her like one.

"Ah...I see…" She let out, then went quiet.

The two stood by each other in an awkward silence, not really willing to say anything more. Saint-Germain did not quite understand why, but figured she might have said something out of place. To her credit, she wasn't one for socializing. Friends came and went as the years passed, and quite frankly she never cared about having them. She did however find the girl to be a reasonable person to speak with, figuring as she was the one most used to the others' antics and had a fairly level head on her shoulders.

People like that are hard to come by, especially when it comes to anything dealing with relics and world ending catastrophes.

A pitter patter of footsteps signaled the arrival of the Adaptors. The two raised their heads as they watched them come down the hallway in their casual clothes. Miku smiled in their direction. "Good morning everyone. How was training?"

Chris was the first to approach. "Hey, morning. And it was fine I guess? Kind of hard but we managed to beat it in the end."

"Yeah, we were really surprised! But we are the strongest after all! There is no challenge we can't beat!" Kirika added happily.

Miku kept smiling. She could see in their expressions that they weren't talking specifics, probably trying to hide exactly what the challenge was. She knew that they were doing so for her sake...but still.

It seemed however that Saint-Germain noticed their reluctance to speak as well, and decided to comment on it. "I have already told her the specifics," She said, causing Kirika's face to fall and Maria shoot her a glare. "There is no point in hiding that now. Awareness is a key factor in forming strategy and claiming victory. Withholding information because of sentimentality is a meaningless effort."

Chris wanted to argue, but she glanced to Maria, remembering what she told her a week ago and held her tongue. "The briefing is about to start," The alchemist added. "Mentally prepare yourselves for what you are about to hear."

Shirabe tilted her head in confusion. "Why? Do you know what it's going to be about?"

"I know enough. The reason I'm not telling you now is because you will be given all of this information in an orderly fashion in just a few minutes." The alchemist answered, leaving no place to argue with her. They had to admit...she was methodical.

Maria mumbled something about lack of delicacy under her breath. Right then, the door to the bridge opened. "Ah, good morning everyone," Elfnein said from the doorway. "Please come inside."

They nodded and followed after her silently. The bridge looked the same as always, except this time there was a table and chairs for everyone to sit on and get comfortable, something that was quite unusual in their eyes. There was even a pitcher of water and some glasses for them.

"Hey old man, what's with all the secrecy?" Chris asked as Genjuro got up from his seat to greet them. "You're making us all nervous."

"I know, sorry about that Chris-kun," He said. "But we had to make sure there were no information leaks. We can't have you all jump to conclusions without hearing the whole story."

Miku cringed again. How many times has she heard that this morning?

Chris didn't really buy his explanation, but didn't say anything more. "Alright, if you say so I guess."

He smiled, and gestured to the chairs. "Take a seat, we have a lot to go over."

Heeding his words, the four Symphogear wielders, Miku, and Saint-Germain sat down and looked ahead to the large screen on the bridge. Genjuro stood at the head of the table, his arms crossed. The door to the bridge closed, locking them in.

A mysteriously heavy atmosphere fell on them as they caught his serious expression. Elfnein came to stand by his side, placing Adam's head on the table in front of them. He was strangely quiet, something that made Saint-Germain curious. It was as if he was lost in thought.

"First, I'd like to say good morning to all of you," Genjuro began. "I know I caught you by surprise with the exercise today, but it had a purpose as you all know. I will go over this purpose today with you, so please sit tight. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask."

Shirabe noticed that the bridge was surprisingly empty today. None of the usual crew members were down by their consoles save for Aoi and Fujitaka.

"The first thing we'll do today is recap. We will go over what we know so far." Genjuro stated. Images of over a week ago appeared on the screen, displaying the cocoon that Hibiki had originally been trapped in.

"As you all know, in the late night hours of September 11th at around 11:30 PM, Hibiki-kun was engulfed by the divine power that was brought down to Earth by Adam Weishaupt's efforts," He said, making sure to lay the blame on the one truly responsible. Adam did not heed him. "After Hibiki-kun destroyed the original vessel meant to hold it, the divine power then went to her and formed this cocoon around her, trapping her inside."

Miku remembered that night vividly. She felt no joy at the fact that her prediction came true. Whenever cocoons were involved, whatever was inside would not be in its original form when it came out. "She remained in this state for roughly two days until 11 PM of September 13th."

The screen flashed again, this time showing a model of something they have not seen before. It had a feminine human shape, its whole body grey and red. For those who had seen Tiki's form as the divine weapon noticed the similarities between them. "Our original calculations stated that Hibiki-kun would emerge from the cocoon in this form. We predicted she would have no control over her actions and would be essentially asleep within this giant you see on the screen; we originally believed that the god-slaying power of Gungnir would prevent the divine power from fusing with her directly. Our original plan involved arresting her movements and then injecting her with large amounts of Anti-LiNKER in order to separate the divine power from her. Once she was vulnerable, Miku-kun would call out to her, freeing her once and for all from it."

The mentioned girl would have blushed if there was a place and time for it, but right now she knew it was not. The screen changed again, showing the very first images they got of what Hibiki truly looked like when she emerged. "However, an unknown factor changed the outcome in a way we could not have foreseen. Rather than forming a shape around her, the divine power had indeed fused with her, eliciting a reaction from the god-slaying power of the Gear. What we did not know at the time was that that power found its origin in curses from two millennia ago; these curses overflowed from the Gear and influenced Hibiki-kun herself, bringing her to the state you are now familiar with. In this state, she manifested an Armed Gear as well as incredible amounts of power, bearing them down on all of us."

More images from that night appeared on the screen, showing exactly what he was talking about. "At around 5 AM of September 14th, after defeating me, Hibiki-kun disappeared for around four hours. She reappeared in the courtyard of Lydian Academy of Music where her form changed further and engaged Maria-kun in battle."

The relevant slides appeared on screen. "Even when Maria-kun eventually received reinforcements, Hibiki-kun was shown to be capable of holding back four Ignited Symphogears as well as a Faust Robe all by herself. Later, she showed the ability to create shadow copies of herself, codenamed 'black beasts'. After a battle that lasted roughly two hours, Hibiki-kun once again emerged victorious, only to retreat when Miku-kun presented her with an ultimatum. The next day, September 15th at around 7 PM Hibiki-kun reappeared in the ruins of Kadingir, only then to ascend to low Earth orbit and to tear her way into the Treasury of Babylon, where she supposedly remains until today, September 22nd. Does anyone have any questions about the timeline of events?"

Not one of them offered a response, and Genjuro nodded. "Good. Now, we will go over what we know of her power and abilities."

A scanned image of Hibiki from before and after the change appeared on screen. "The Symphogear itself showed many signs of change to its shape and function, becoming far more durable and powerful than ever before. It seems that also due to this change, Hibiki-kun is not able to remove the Symphogear, or is not willing to."

A list appeared next to the scans. "In regards to what she can do, she has so far displayed the ability of: unaided flight, short range teleportation, tearing through space, creation of black beasts, and access to sealed off dimensions. We can predict that all of these abilities can and will evolve further and that she will be able to develop even more."

The scans disappeared to show more images of Hibiki from various angles, specifically from the fight in Lydian. "In terms of her mental state, she has displayed extreme amounts of paranoia and has been shown to change moods erratically, bordering on bipolarism. She has also shown great animosity towards the world and to her allies, having no restraint in using her newfound power, bordering on sadism. We can assume that the reason she acts this way is due to the influence of the curses, twisting her mind to have her act on whatever grudges and resentments she had kept hidden under the surface."

Miku did not like where the explanation was going. Everything he described felt wrong on so many levels it began to make her physically uncomfortable. Talking about Hibiki's mental state was also a sore spot for her. If he noticed, he didn't comment on it.

"As a result, she is extremely volatile and prone to bouts of emotional outburst. The only person she has not raised her hand against so far is Miku-kun; whether or not this is temporary is anyone's guess at this point. These outbursts also further cause a deterioration of her mental state, creating a vicious cycle of her becoming more and more unhinged. As to what her goal is, she claimed that she wishes to cleanse the world of the sinful and bring about the world of understanding she desires by force, rather than benevolently as we are used to her doing. Again, whether or not the Lunar Ruins are a part of this scenario is also unknown."

He waited for the information to settle in their minds before continuing. Unbeknownst to Miku, he had notice her discomfort with this topic, and his heart went out to her. However, she would have to deal with it for now. The wielders needed to know everything they can before they can engage her in battle again.

"Her usage of the Treasury of Babylon can be inferred to be for one of two scenarios: either she is going to simply open it up and let the Noise pour out again, or establish it as her main base. Either of these two scenarios are detrimental to us, considering we do not have Solomon's Cane to seal back the holes. We must be vigilant and see where this leads. Does anyone have questions so far?"

No hands were raised and no voices cut in. He nodded. "Good, that is all for now about Hibiki-kun herself. Next we will talk about the divine power and Gungnir. Adam Weishaupt, you're up."

Genjuro moved aside, forcing the girls' attention to the head on the table.

Adam began speaking, a serious expression on his face.

"As you all were fighting against your dear comrade out on the battlefield, I made the effort to take a very close look into something that puzzled me for a while now. See, these Aufwachen signals that your Gears have say quite a lot about their power and the current state of your abilities. As the Symphogear evolves and changes, so does the Aufwachen signal. Of course, in the usual circumstances, these changes are almost purely cosmetic and do not actually embody anything about the Gear itself." He said, then his tone became grim. "At least, that's in the usual circumstances."

Behind him on the large screen Gungnir's Aufwachen signal appeared. "As you can see, this is Gungnir's regular signal. You Adaptors are quite familiar with it by now I assume. Make sure to remember it well."

Right then, another signal appeared right next to the first, causing the wielders to gasp in shock. Miku put her hands over her mouth and Saint-Germain narrowed her eyes, all of them responding to the twisted shape they were seeing. "And this is the same signal right after she emerged from the cocoon. As you can clearly see, it is quite different from the normal one. For your understanding, the black hole represents the god-slaying power, the black veins the curses, and the blue veins the divine power. Make sure to note their number."

Another signal appeared next to it, showing more of the radical changes. Shirabe couldn't believe what she was seeing. "And this is the signal after her emotional outburst in the school's courtyard. The black hole grew in size, the black veins grew in number, and the blue veins decreased in number. Beneath all of that, the original signal is beginning to warp."

And finally, the final signal and the answer to Adam's original dilemma appeared on screen. "And this is the signal from when she appeared in Kadingir's ruins. While the changes are not as extreme, they still occurred, showing the same patterns as the rest. Now, if you remember what I said, the blue veins are representations of divine power within the Symphogear. Now, you might be asking yourselves why exactly the divine power is disappearing?"

They wouldn't phrase his question like that, but now that he said it they noticed the difference. There was barely half of the original amount of blue veins in the final signal while the black veins had spread out like a disease. "The divine power, according to these signals, is disappearing from Tachibana Hibiki. Following that logic, what should have happened is that her power would decrease, eventually putting all of you back on an even playing level with her. However, the exact opposite occurred; she became stronger and displayed far more abilities than usual, something that makes very little sense in the long run."

With the four signal flashing behind him on the screen, Adam finally revealed what he found out. "This final signal sheds light exactly on what is occurring: the curses are not eliminating the divine power. They are corrupting it. The god-slaying power is making use of the divine power to increase its own strength. Abilities that she should not have been able to use became available to her because she became able to understand them in an instant. It brought the divinity down to Earth and used it to become more powerful."

The grimness of his explanation dawned on them, and he could see the nervousness in the younger girls' eyes. Saint-Germain merely eyed her former leader carefully, attentively listening. He smirked at the irony of her finally obeying his words. "How is this possible, you may ask? To put things into perspective, imagine the divine power as a kitchen knife. In the hands of a chef, that knife can be used to create magnificent feasts that can satisfy the greatest of kings, and could also be used to feed the hungry. However, in the hands of a killer, it becomes nothing more than a murder weapon. It is important to remember that the divine power is nothing more than a tool and has no will of its own. It will become whatever its user wishes it to become. For Tachibana Hibiki, who had her mind twisted by the curses, it became a source of ever increasing strength, dyed in the hellish emotions that were imprinted on the spear."

Maria cradled her head with her hand, and she could see a headache starting to develop. "To think such a thing was possible…"

"It is not only possible, it is also getting worse. It is another factor of that vicious cycle your commander mentioned. Her emotional outbursts cause the curses to react, corrupting more of the divine power every moment. No, even without that it is happening. Make no mistake, the divine power she wields is mighty, and she has plenty of it to spare. If left unchecked, she will become so powerful that even destroying the planet will not be enough to kill her. In fact, it would be easier to say that should such a situation arise, she'll even do so herself. Everything will be gone and we'll have a godlike entity with endless hatred prowling the universe. Not a very pretty picture to imagine I'm quite sure. Although I guess by that point she'll lose her human form and become something akin to a cosmic horror."

Not a very pretty picture to imagine, he said? What an understatement. Miku imagined it, and was incredibly horrified by just the thought. She could see it in her mind: Hibiki becoming a swirling cloud of black chaos floating through the stars, devouring everything in its path. A truly living black hole.

Just like in the dream.

The girl shuddered, hugging herself in an attempt to keep calm. Just listening to these grim explanations was taking a toll on her mind. As if noticing her distress, Kirika put her hand on her leg, sympathizing with her plight. She raised her head to look at her underclassman, and noticed that she too seemed to be fearful of the possibility. Kirika nodded to her and turned back to Adam.

Adam seemed to be taking joy in causing them pain, even if it's just a mental one. "Of course, that is only the very worst case scenario, and I quite imagine that you will not allow such an outcome. Now you might be wondering what exactly you can do in order to combat this monstrous transformation she is undergoing? Well, no one other than your friend the homunculus will be able to provide you with that answer. Although I can't gauge how much you'll like it."

On cue, Elfnein took her spot in front of the table and gulped. This was beginning to look a lot like what happened during the conflict with Carol. They are definitely not going to like what she has to say.

But there was no choice. It was do or die time.

"As Adam said, we have devised a method to bring you up to level and possibly counter Hibiki-san's divine power. We came up with it after we found a severed arm of a black beast in the school's track field, and analyzed it."

Behind her, a detailed image of one of the beasts lit up the screen. "The beasts are, at their core, made of three things: divine power, the curses, and blood. As you can see on the screen, the pulsing dark blue core in the center of their chests is essentially their heart: a cluster of divine power that allows them to move. Their outer layer, or what essentially would be the skin, was found to have the remains of red blood cells, possibly due to some remaining after their original layer molted away. Everything else, from their limbs and head, are composed of nothing more than god-slaying power, or curses as we identified them. While they seem to have no mind of their own, it does look like they retain some of Hibiki-san's memories, if what happened with Miku-san is any indication."

Everyone looked to Miku, and she shrunk under their gaze. "Y-yes. The one that I met responded when I called it by Hibiki's name, and it also saved me when part of the school came down right above me. It kind of felt like it...recognized me, in some way." She explained.

Elfnein nodded. "Yes, and that confirms one of our theories. But in the long run it doesn't matter nor does it help us. That information doesn't explain how we are supposed to stand against them if she can make them in such large number, or how we can face Hibiki-san without losing outright."

The homunculus took a deep breath and prepared herself mentally. "This is my answer."

And the screen behind her flashed, displaying three words in a huge, stylized font.

'SUPER IGNITE PROJECT'

"Super…" Chris began.

"Ignite?" Kirika finished for her.

"Yes," Elfnein responded. "I picked this name to emphasized that it is essentially an upgrade to the existing Module in every aspect. This will be what will help us level the playing field against Hibiki-san."

A large, detailed scan of the black arm that they had recovered appeared on screen, and Elfnein clarified what she meant. "The process is simple: we will be inserting bits and pieces of the god-slaying power that makes up this arm directly into your Gears, giving you the upper hand against the divine power that both Hibiki-san and the beasts have in their core."

She looked to Chris, who last time had responded in fury to such an announcement. The white haired girl noticed her gaze and narrowed her eyes, not at all pleased by what she was suggesting. "This will work by binding that power to Dainsleif, so it will not be active until you release the Module. When you do, your power will increase and you'll find that your strikes will be much more effective against anything with divinity in it."

And then came Chris' complaint. "What's the catch?"

Everyone looked to her, but she brushed it off. "Last time there was a very, very big catch. What is it this time?"

This was the part that Elfnein was not looking forward to explaining, but they had the right to know. "The Module's timer stays the same, so that downside doesn't change...but everything else does. You will be subjected to a very watered down version of the curses Hibiki-san is experiencing. If you think that what Dainsleif originally did to you was bad enough...this time I can only describe it as nothing but pure hell. It will be very, very bad, but the payoff if you succeed will give you a huge boost in power. Conquer it, and you'll be stronger than ever. Fail...and you will truly become raging berserkers."

Elfnein's heart was beating a mile a minute. She finished her explanation, and now she was nervous by the fact that not one of them seemed to respond. They were all thinking, dwelling on the fact, trying to determine if it was worth it.

Kirika was the first to raise her voice. "Can we...can we really handle it?" She asked. "The way you described it makes it look really scary. Can we really use something like that?"

Despite herself, Elfnein smiled. "I think you can," She said honestly. "I might have over exaggerated a little bit, but I truly believe that if all of you managed to conquer Dainsleif then you'll be able to beat this as well. I have faith in all of you that you'll succeed. Not just because you already did in the past, but because I know your will is strong and that's you'll never let something like that take you over, not when there is so much at stake."

There was a short moment of silence after she finished speaking, the girls taking the time to think over the new information. Chris continued to glare, which unnerved the homunculus. However, instead of lashing out, she sighed. "Do we really have a choice?"

Elfnein was taken aback, not expecting such a calm response. "Ah...kind of, but not really."

"Yeah, as I expected," Chris said. "Alright, I guess we'll just have to do it, right?"

She sent looks over to her comrades, and all of them sported the same, half-defeated half-resolved expression.

"If this assists us in our endeavors, then I suppose there is no place to argue." Saint-Germain said.

Elfnein beamed, and continued on. "Before that, we are going to do some controlled tests in the simulator. I don't want to send you out to battle with it before you are ready. What we will do is we will release the new Module and have you conquer it there. If you succeed, you'll know how to do it every time. If you fail, we'll have enough firepower to knock you out and try again some other time. We'll do it one by one, not all at once. Is that okay with everyone?"

Everyone nodded sans Miku, who felt more out of place than before. She did pray for their success, but the fact that she was not part of it did not help her sympathize with what they are feeling. She never used the first Ignite Module; she only ever watched when Hibiki did it and was unnerved by what it was doing.

She had faith back then when Hibiki succeeded, so she'll have faith now.

"Very well then," Genjuro said as Elfnein moved aside to give him space. "We know our plan of action. We'll begin the first test tomorrow at noon. Is there anyone here...that would like to volunteer to go first?"

Before they could even begin thinking about it, Maria raised her arm. "I will."

The commander nodded. "Good. Remember everyone, tomorrow at noon sharp we start. Don't be late." He said. "Dismissed. Be sure to sleep well tonight."

And with that, the meeting was adjourned. The Symphogear wielders, tried from the difficult training and the loaded briefing, went out first; Maria needed every bit of rest she could take if she wanted to retain her sanity during the tests. She was expecting it to be extremely tough, and she was already wracked with nerves, but held her head high.

There was a goal to be achieved, and she would definitely not falter on the path to reaching it.

Following after them was Saint-Germain. She had nothing more to say, deciding to keep quiet as she thought about what had been revealed.

And what was not. Genjuro had deliberately kept a very crucial detail out of his explanation. He had said nothing about Miku's involvement in the bigger picture, choosing to keep it a secret from pretty much everyone. She briefly questioned the wisdom of doing so, but remembered what his intention was: to approach her at the right time so the impact will be much greater.

It was a tactic she was more than familiar with: by deceiving your allies you deceive your enemies. The commander's seemingly cold hearted tactics did not feel as heartless to her anymore; she could sympathize with him, understanding his own internal turmoil at having to resort to such tactics. This situation was hard on everyone, and someone had to keep a calm mind during it.

And Saint-Germain knew that out of everyone...that was not him.

She left the bridge, leaving Miku the only one remaining of the group. The girl had remained seated, her mind swirling with the new information they received. Everything looked so bleak and hopeless, and she felt so powerless. What was she supposed to-

"We'll save her, Miku-kun. You can count on that."

Instantly the fog in her mind cleared, and she looked up at the commander as he met her gaze. His expression was warm, yet as firm as a mountain. He looked filled with resolve, and she could see the fires burn in his eyes.

He had faith. Just like she did.

The girl answered him with a nod.

She wanted to ask more. She wanted to know what he thought about all of this. What he believed the outcome would be. She had so many things to say, things to ask, and had many words she wanted to hear from him.

And he answered all of that with a single sentence.

Hope blossomed in her chest, and for the first time in awhile, a genuine smile crept up to her face. "Thank you." She simply said, and followed the others out of the bridge.

'Hibiki...please, wait for me. I'll do everything I can to bring you home. I'll do everything I can...to get back our happy days.'

And that day, she made an oath. An oath she would stand by until the day she died.