AN: I know I promised no more info dumps, but this one is important.
-!-
For the first time in a very long while, the bridge of headquarters was nearly empty. Only the soft humming of the consoles and electronics dispelled the total silence of the place, truly a major contrast to what had been happening there just barely two hours prior.
But it was not completely empty. One person had remained, sitting at his station and typing away, trying to distract himself from his thoughts. Every other crew members on the bridge had been sent to sleep by Genjuro, considering not a single one of them got a good night's rest for the last week and a half. While he had initially thought about joining the crowd heading to the now almost full quarters in the submarine, Fujitaka Sakuya decided to stay behind to keep working.
It was definitely not because he couldn't fall asleep, and it was definitely not because he was as angry and sad as everyone else was. All he wanted to do was fill in his work, just like he always did. It was his job to update the records and archives whenever there was downtime, and now that things have finally fallen...relatively silent, he could focus on the task at hand.
But that had its own share of difficulty, especially as he sat, staring at the open records of two particular people: Tachibana Hibiki and Kohinata Miku.
He felt it was almost impossible to move his fingers, looking at those two names. The events of the night still rang fresh in his mind, and by the gods was it a hell of one. It wasn't like he was particularly close to either of those two, or the other wielders for that matter; he had a very nice and amicable working relationship with them, and he usually left interacting with them to Genjuro. After all, Fujitaka's job was essentially deskwork, and he was okay with that.
But still, even if he wasn't that close to them he still knew them in some way, including Miku. He knew what sort of relationships they had between them and what their histories were, as it was his job to fill that in.
That's why it was now difficult to fill those empty spots in. How was he supposed to continue, knowing the close bond the two shared? How was he supposed to fill in both of their profiles with records of the battle, and type down the fact they had been forced to fight, again?
No, this wasn't like last time, he told himself. This was way worse, as this time Hibiki was taken over by a malevolent force that threatened to kill them all and destroy the world, forcing Miku, who the last time she donned a Symphogear was essentially brainwashed into it, into using one again.
Last time, that particular set of circumstances had managed to save Hibiki from the spread of the Gungnir fragments. But now? Despite all of her effort, sorrow, and absolutely ear-piercing screaming…
She failed. Using all the power she had at her disposal, and even after losing her mind and going berserk, Miku's unique Symphogear and her bond with Hibiki failed to bring back the rogue Adaptor.
Hibiki had simply disappeared, vanishing to god knows where, and they were left to pick up the pieces of the disastrous battle that tore the city apart and left their entire fighting force in pieces.
Nobody was left unscathed, either physically or mentally.
Because they lost, again, for the third time in a row. Never before had they had such a terrible streak of nothing but failures. While they managed to save the civilians from the onslaught of the returned Noise, it did not even come close to considering the new problem that now these civilians...had nowhere to live.
Half of Tokyo was pretty much gone, leaving the entire population of the western half homeless. That was at the least four million people, if not more, considering the damage that the eastern half incurred as well. The city was now pretty much uninhabitable, and he knew that in the end...they were the ones to blame.
The man sighed. Everything was just...one giant mess. Maybe he should really just go to bed and sleep on everything, and maybe later he'll have the courage to actually type this thing down. It was 7 AM, and he like everyone else did not get a single bit of shut eye.
He leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling.
It was then all thoughts of going to sleep were shut down as the door to the bridge opened, Aoi walking in with two cups of coffee in hand. She walked over to him first, putting a mug down next to his console. "Here."
His eyes wandered to her, and he straightened in the chair. "Thanks," He said with a smile. "I thought you went to sleep?"
"Thought I'd get some work done now that things are...calmer," She said with a slight hesitation. "I guess that's your excuse too?"
"Yeah," He responded, his eyes drifting back to his console, and by extension to the two blank profiles he couldn't bring himself to fill. "Although I hit a bit...of a writer's block, if that's a good way to put it."
Aoi sat down in her own chair, holding the mug with two hands. "Oh? That's rare. You usually churn out the words like a madman."
"Why thank you," He responded with a smirk, which quickly disappeared as his thoughts drifted back to their conversation. "It's just...filling these two's records is…"
She finished the thought for him. "Almost impossible, right?"
He looked to her again with a relieved expression, and she continued. "I've been hitting a block with the official reports too. It's strange, I've never had so much trouble with these before, considering what happened last time. But now…"
"Now it feels almost wrong to even put it into physical words and somewhere others could see it?" He asked, and she smiled as she realized her too understood her troubles. "Yeah, that was exactly what I was thinking as well."
"You know me too well." She said.
"Heh," He chuckled. "Likewise."
They took a sip of their coffee simultaneously, and Fujitaka turned back to the console, still unable to start typing. Aoi turned to her own, and the document in front of her eyes also remained partially blank, the only parts filling it so far being the damage reports and overall state of both the city and the crew of S.O.N.G.
Neither were good, for the figures were nothing short of depressing.
They were silent for a while, and for once the sound of tapping away at keyboards did not rise above that silence.
It was only when Fujitaka spoke again that it finally broke. "You know," He began. "Ever since a year ago, I kept on saying how I thought our enemies were really that bad."
She looked to him with her eyes narrowed, not quite sure what he was getting at. "I always said stuff like, 'Fine has gone too far' or 'FIS have gone too far' or 'Carol has gone too far' or 'The Pavarian Illuminati have gone too far'," He continued, still staring at the screen. She watched as his face fell, sadness filling his words. "But this time, I can't bring myself to say 'Hibiki-san has gone too far'."
Aoi stared at him with sympathy in her eyes, not saying anything. "I know it's not her fault that things turned out this way. I know that she's just a victim of what happened and there is no way she would act like this normally...so instead, I looked at how we responded, and how we reacted, and how we brought this whole deal to where we are now...and I can't help but start thinking that maybe this time...we are the ones who went too far."
He looked down at the mug in his hands, watching the dark liquid inside swish and turn. "From making that...thing we call the Super Ignite Module, to forcing Miku-san to fight again, to disregarding collateral and letting the city be completely destroyed…"
"You know that wasn't the plan, right? No one thought it would get this bad." Aoi added in before he could continue.
"I know," He answered. "I know that we couldn't have seen any of this coming, and our response was pretty much us reacting to what was happening in front of us. There was no way we could have planned for things to go this way, I know that. But still, in our attempts to get her back...we may have forgotten how to be humans, too."
His grim words caused Aoi's face to fall as well, and she too found herself staring at her own cup of coffee, watching the steam rise slowly from it.
But rather than keep on dwelling on it, she raised her face to look at him. "That's a sad way of looking at things," She said, taking a sip of her drink. "Well, you've always been a broody baby."
He narrowed his eyes at her with a glare. "I don't want to hear that from you," He responded, taking a sip of his drink as well. "But still, even with all the help we got, we still haven't managed to make any real progress towards getting her back. Heck, even with Saint-Germain helping us we still haven't even gotten close. And now…"
As he drifted off, he failed to notice the sudden smirk that filled Aoi's face. Confused by her lack of response, he turned his head to her and found himself puzzled at the expression she was making. "What?"
"Nothing. Just found it funny you decided to mention her specifically," She added with the grin still plastered on her face. "I mean, after all we got the big bad Adam Weishaupt helping us too. Or did you not talk about him because he's not a pretty woman like her?"
The man's face lit up with a blush, and he sputtered incoherently at her accusation. "Wh-wh-wha! That's-I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"Oh come on, everyone and their mother could see it. You know, all these sideway glances you've been throwing her way…"
"That was just-!" He exclaimed, then settled down, narrowing his eyes at her. "You're teasing me."
"Of course I am. You make it so easy all the time."
He pouted, taking another sip of his coffee, his face still red. Aoi giggled at his expense, taking joy in seeing him squirm once in a while.
And it seems her attempts at dispersing the oppressive and depressing atmosphere worked, seeing as his face became much calmer and more composed, no longer thinking about how 'evil' he believes they have become.
She knew they aren't. Everything they've been doing might have been excessive, but in the end there was only one goal in mind.
And that single goal outweighed everything else.
It was then Fujitaka spoke up again, looking back at Genjuro's empty chair behind them. "How do you think the commander is doing?"
It was her turn to sigh, and she took another sip. "Not good, I imagine," She answered. "He hasn't slept for even a minute over the past week. I know he's tough but...even for him, that's not healthy. And I don't even want to imagine what he's going through now, considering he's going to have a lot of people angry at him."
"What do you mean?"
She sloshed her coffee again, and took a bigger sip this time. "He's going to have to answer to a lot of people, some more important than others. From an objective point of view, heck even from a subjective one we failed, and you know how well failure goes with all those annoying pencil-pushers. And you also know how just like always he's going to take everything on himself so we don't have to worry about it." She said, also looking back to the commander's chair. "Seriously, he's too considerate for his own good."
"Yeah, I agree," Fujitaka said. "What do you think is going on in the medical room right now?"
Aoi sighed again, rubbing her head with one of her hands. "Honestly, I don't want to know. I passed by there earlier, and the girls...didn't look all that well. I'm no doctor, but physically they seemed fine. But...I can't imagine what's going through their minds right now. I wish there was something I could do to help them, and the commander."
"Yeah…" Fujitaka agreed in a low voice. "Me too…"
-!-
"I don't know what to tell you commander," The doctor said plainly, looking down at Miku's unconscious form on one of the many empty beds. "There is truly nothing wrong with her that I can diagnose."
"What do you mean?" Genjuro asked.
The bespectacled doctor continued, adjusting his glasses slightly. "Physically she is fine. The only thing I found was some tension in the muscles, but that's just a symptom of her pushing them too hard, and it's exactly the same as you would find in any physical exercise." He explained. "But other than that, nothing. Everything from here is psychological, and that is not where my expertise lie, as you know."
Genjuro grumbled as he crossed his arms. "So it's just a matter of waiting until she wakes up," He said, earning a small nod from the doctor. "That's...not good."
Not good was an understatement. Still shaken by the events of the night, Genjuro ran to the medical room as soon as the helicopters landed on top of headquarters, waiting for Miku to be rushed in. He didn't know how badly she was affected by everything that happened, and considering she also went berserk later on, she must be extremely taxed mentally.
But that is something he had no way of knowing until she wakes up.
If she wakes up at all.
"It is indeed an undesirable outcome," Saint-Germain said from the bed across from them, and the two men turned to look at her. "It is imperative she wakes up as soon as possible. We cannot allow ourselves to dally on such things."
The doctor once again adjusted his glasses, and narrowed his eyes at the alchemist. "Miss, you are in no position to speak like that," He said frankly. "This is the third time you've come here so far, but now unfortunately I don't think I have any way to help you out." He continued, staring at where the woman's left arm should have been.
She too was a weird anomaly in his eyes, but he figured that due to her being an alchemist as well as hundreds of years old that it wasn't anything to write home about. What threw him off was her calmness and almost unblemished figure besides that; she looked exactly the same as the last time he'd seen her, but this time without one arm.
And that he had to comment on. "If I may ask, why do you not recreate your arm? I assume you alchemists had the methods to do so."
"I could," She answered. "But unfortunately it will take too much time to complete. Regrowing body parts is a process that can take months, and that is not something that we will not have, not to mention the cost."
Genjuro's brows furrowed at her strange comment. "What do you mean by that?"
"I shall explain that later, in a more orderly fashion," She said. "In the meantime we must focus on Kohinata Miku, and what we shall do from this point on. Time is ticking, Kazanari Genjuro, and we must use every second to prepare."
She rose from the bed and turned to the door. "There is no time to waste. Let us make haste and prepare for a debriefing."
Genjuro's face hardened as he stared at the alchemist's retreating back. Right now, only the three of them including Miku were inside of the medical room, with the other wielders waiting outside for an update.
And he knew the moment he walked out, he was going to get an earful. He saw their expressions the moment he walked into the medical room, and he knew they had a lot to say and a lot of questions to ask of him.
He couldn't blame them. This entire incident came as a surprise to absolutely everyone, and they were all equally shocked, having been forced to see what they saw just two hours ago. That combined with their third loss in a row only served to lower their spirits more, and he would not be surprised if at least one of them began to question whether or not they have any chance of success or not.
If that was the case, then he had to make sure they all remained resolved. If even a single one of the wielders refused to fight for any reason, then they might as well raise the white flag and wait for the end. Everyone had to be on board at all times, no matter what.
The door slid open, and Saint-Germain walked out, her back concealing the forms of the girls outside. He looked as it closed behind her, keeping his metaphorical eye open on those waiting. "Update me if there are any changes, doctor." He said.
"Of course."
The commander sighed, glancing back one last time to the unconscious school girl. Mentally preparing himself, he headed for the door, and it slid open, revealing the Symphogear wielders standing in a line outside by the opposite wall, all of their head slightly tilted down. Saint-Germain waited by the door, leaning back on the steel wall, watching him exit.
"Are we done?" She asked him.
"Yes. Let's get going."
Stepping off the wall, she turned in the direction of the hallway. She took a single step forward before noticing no one else was moving, Genjuro still standing in front of the closed medical bay door. The girls had raised their heads to look at him, and their expressions were a wild mix of emotions that were plainly displayed on their faces.
They stood in silence, not one of them saying a thing. The alchemist watched them with a raised eyebrow, slightly confused by their behavior.
And then Maria gathered the courage to speak. "Commander…"
But of course, the moment one begins to speak up, so others follow. Her anger having reached its peak, Chris walked up to the tall man, staring up at him.
And then forcefully grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him down to her height.
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!" She screamed in his face, causing the other girls to wince. Genjuro's face however remained calm, letting her continue. "WHAT THE FUCK MADE YOU BELIEVE ANY OF THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!"
Her voice echoed in the steel halls, and no one else had the courage to speak out at her outburst, not even Maria, who up until now worked tirelessly to reel her in. "YOU PULL THIS SHIT OFF BEHIND OUR BACKS, AND THINK WE'LL BE FINE WITH IT?! WHEN DID YOU BECOME SUCH AN ASSHOLE?!"
He had no intention of answering back to her. He expected this kind of response, as she personally said she would let him have it.
There was no point in responding to her. When it came to Chris, the best way was to let her anger run its course.
"WHY THE FUCK DID YOU GET HER INVOLVED, AGAIN?! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET THE IDIOT TO KILL US?! YOU KNOW HOW FAR SHE TAKES THINGS, SO YOU THINK THE BEST ANSWER IS TO FUCKING PUMP IT UP ALL THE WAY TO ELEVEN?! DID YOU EVEN THINK THIS SHIT THROUGH AT ALL?!"
It was as though the submarine itself rumbled slightly from the sound of her voice, and as he looked into her eyes, he could see a small sparkle shining through just under the surface, drawing him in. "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU MAKING US GO THROUGH ALL OF THIS CRAP AGAIN?! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DIFFERENT FROM ALL OF THOSE ASSHOLES WE HAD TO DEAL WITH, NOT END UP ONE YOURSELF!"
She was already wheezing, her voice breaking. But she couldn't stop. She wouldn't stop until she let out absolutely everything.
"WHEN THE FUCK DID YOU BECOME SO HEARTLESS?!"
His eyes slightly widened. Until now, he took her screaming lightly, brushing it off as her justified anger.
But those words stung in a way he hadn't expected.
"I KNOW YOU WANT TO GET HIBIKI BACK, BUT THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO DO IT! YOU CAN'T JUST THROW MIKU OUT THERE AND EXPECT EVERYTHING TO GO RIGHT! YOU FUCKING KNOW WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME!"
Yeah, he definitely knew. Last time Ver manipulated the girl, using her as the key to unearth Frontier. He held her hostage in her own mind and body, pitting her against everyone else, forcing Hibiki, the one who was not supposed to be fighting at the time, out there to get her back.
She nearly died in the process.
And it was only through a miracle that she made it out alive.
"AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE ANYTHING TO FUCKING SHOW FOR IT! ALL THIS SHIT YOU PLANNED AND NONE OF IT FUCKING WORKED! WE'VE BEEN SPILLING BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS OVER THIS AND WE GOT FUCKING NOTHING!"
The other girls turned their heads away, unwilling to look at Chris head on.
And it seemed she was the only one who did not notice the tears falling from her eyes, her emotions getting the better of her.
"YOU COULD HAVE FUCKING TOLD US! YOU COULD HAVE LET US KNOW WHAT IT WAS YOU WANTED TO DO! WE COULD HAVE ALL WORKED TOGETHER TO FIGURE SHIT OUT, BUT INSTEAD YOU DECIDE TO STAY FUCKING SILENT LIKE A GODDAMN ASSHOLE AND KEEP IT ALL TO YOURSELF! DID YOU THINK ANYONE WOULD BE HAPPY WITH YOU ACTING LIKE A FUCKING KNOW IT ALL MASTERMIND?! THE LAST PERSON WE TRUSTED AND ENDED UP STABBING US IN THE BACK WAS NO ONE OTHER THAN FINE! ARE YOU SO FUCKING DESPERATE TO BE LIKE HER AND THAT BASTARD DOCTOR TOO?!"
There was nothing he could say to her. There was absolutely no response in this world that would be able to justify his actions now.
He stayed silent.
And that did not go unnoticed. "ARE YOU GOING TO FUCKING SAY SOMETHING?! HUH?!"
She pulled him lower, putting them right face to face. Her eyes were so sparkling with tears that he could see his reflection in them.
And for the first time since the incident began, he finally saw what he looked like.
His mouth moved involuntarily, something she definitely noticed. Realizing she was not going to let him go, he steeled himself and gave her the only answer he could possibly give.
"I'm sorry, Chris-kun."
However that served to rile her up even more. "I DON'T WANT YOUR FUCKING APOLOGIES! I WANT A GODDAMN EXPLANATION!"
"There is none," He said. "There is no excuse I can give you to justify this. You have the absolute right to be angry at me for this."
She grit her teeth hard, trying to formulate some sort of response to his words. Her glare drilled into him, and they were once again left in silence.
Realizing she had nothing to give, she clicked her tongue and pushed him away, releasing her hold on his shirt. "You bastard."
Her face still red with rage and tears still streaking down her face, Chris turned in the opposite direction and began to walk away, too angry to deal with anything at the moment. Kirika futilely tried to stop her by speaking up. "Chris-senpa-"
But Shirabe put her hand on her shoulder, and the blonde Symphogear user turned to look her in the eyes. The twin-tailed girl simply shook her head, and the two together glanced back to Chris, who thundered away to somewhere unknown, disappearing around the corner.
Silence once again fell on the group, their spirits already lower than before. Tsubasa looked to Genjuro, and she could see his golden eyes shake.
It was the first time she saw it since Sakurai Ryoko passed from the Earth.
After about a minute of staring at the spot Chris disappeared to, Genjuro turned to the hallway in Saint-Germain's direction. "Let us go, there is much we need to talk about."
"But commander, what about Chris-"
"We can fill her in later. I doubt she'd be willing to listen to anything I have to say right now anyway," He said, his back to them. "We don't have any time to waste. We have to decide on what we're going to do from this point on."
And he too walked away, heading in the opposite direction of Chris. He passed by Saint-Germain, saying nothing more as he led the way. She fell into step behind him, glancing back to the wielders who were still frozen on the spot, unable to make their voices heard.
He decided to keep walking anyway, knowing they'll follow eventually. Moments later, he disappeared around the corner as well, with the one armed alchemist right behind him.
With the tension in the air finally dispelled, Maria sighed and leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling above them. "So what do we do now? We all have something we want to say to him."
"Yes," Tsubasa agreed. "But I believed that to be meaningless now. Yukine has vocalized what we were all thinking, so anything else we might want to add would not improve our situation, as frustrating as it is."
She turned in the direction Genjuro went. "All that is left to do now is to prepare for anything. It is the only choice we have right now."
And she too began to walk away, leaving the three former FIS wielders by the medical room. They looked between each other with saddened expressions, and together went to follow her, right on her heels.
-!-
"So I see we are all here except one," Saint-Germain said, looking over the gathered group. Right now, sitting by a rectangular desk in the middle of the briefing room were Tsubasa, Maria, Shirabe, and Kirika, all looking up at the alchemist, standing by a whiteboard with a marker in her remaining hand. Genjuro stood by her, looking towards her silently. "Good, then we can begin."
Only once in a blue moon did they ever use this quiet and rundown briefing room, usually going over everything quickly on the bridge in order to make use of the advanced electronics, none of which were present in this one room. To that end, there was truly no reason for them to use it now.
Except for the fact that it was so far off from everything else that nothing and no one here could bother them, where they could talk about anything they wanted without anyone barging in. While secrecy at this point would be counterproductive, it was imperative they reach a decision without anyone on the outside jumping to conclusions.
"I'll get right to the point," Saint-Germain said, looking towards them. "If you have any questions, ask, but for now know this: the next battle...is going to be the last."
(Play: Fate/Stay Night OST - Whirlpool of Fate)
All pairs of eyes widened at her announcement, looking to her with plenty amounts of confusion, a reaction she had expected.
Before anyone could speak up to ask her what she meant, she continued. "Let me explain," She said turning to the whiteboard. "Up until now, I have made predictions as to the time it would take for the corruption to reach its full potential."
Popping the cap of the marker with her teeth, she spit it to the side and began drawing on the board. "No, I guess calling them predictions is an overstatement. We simply did not have enough confrontations with her for me to notice a pattern, rendering any attempts at truly calculating the time worthless."
Once she was done, there was now a simple graph, with the x-axis labeled with 'time in months', and the y-axis labeled with 'progress'. She drew three dots in locations far away from each other, and connected a line through each of them. "In summation, this is the best result I could come up with. However, should I average out the time and the progress, and draw a straight line in that direction…" She continued, doing exactly that. The new black line continued off the graph itself, yet presented a fairly simple representation of what her point was. "Then one could assume that the time it would have taken for the curses to fully corrupt the divine power would lie at around six months."
Maria adjusted in her seat. "Six months?! That long?!"
"Yes," The alchemist answered. "Assuming the rate remains unchanged, then that would be our period of time to prepare for the worst case scenario, and by extension the very final battle. However as I said it is nothing but a very rough estimate, made by not including any possible variables that could appear along the way, and of course, without our own intervention."
She looked at the messy graph with eyes narrowed. "However, the events that have transpired threw even these rough estimates out of the window."
With that said, she drew a gigantic X over the graph, and placed the marker down, looking towards them. "In short, we have underestimated the effect that Kohinata Miku's presence on the battlefield would have on Tachibana Hibiki's psyche. As you are all aware, the more the curses spread the more emotionally vulnerable she becomes, thus leading to a cycle that causes her emotions to flare violently at the slightest provocation. While that is nothing new to us, what we could have not foreseen was just how violent her response to her appearance would be."
Pulling up her sleeve, she wiped away the graph on the board, leaving only faded black smudges on it. "What we have witnessed was unlike anything that came beforehand. What we have done was essentially accelerate the rate of corruption to such a level that it became almost total over the span of a single minute, leaving barely any of the divine power in its original form. In short, the situation has not only deteriorated, but we have also contributed by allowing the curses to not only affect her mind, but her very being as well."
Several eyes were narrowed this time, and Kirika looked around with total confusion, not being able to completely follow her explanation. Shirabe once again jabbed at her side, bringing her attention back to the alchemist.
"What do you mean by that?" Tsubasa asked.
The alchemist began her answer with another drawing, this time a plain stick figure in the middle of the board.
No one dared comment on the fact it looked severely deformed, something that puzzled each and every one of the wielders present along with Genjuro. How can someone be so bad at drawing that a stick figure is difficult to get right?
Shirabe briefly sent a glance Tsubasa's way, and turned her head back to the board. Saint-Germain made no move to fix the drawing, and continued. "Up until now, Tachibana Hibiki's ego has served as a barrier between her deeper self and the reach of the curses. While her mind and body were severely influenced, she still retained some sort of logic to her actions by truly only chasing after what she considered to have had personally affected her; meaning she only went after those who had wronged her. In summation, you could say that she was the one in control, with the curses only serving to bring those resentments to the forefront."
Her explanation was presented with additions to the drawing that were so horrendous no one could understand them. Rather than try to figure it out from her avant-garde art, they focused on her words instead. Oblivious to their frustrations, she continued. "However that changed due to the events that have occurred. While it was there, her ego was still very fragile due to the burden the curses placed upon it, akin to a pane of glass attempting to hold up a weight that far surpasses its capabilities. Have we done nothing, it might have been able to hold on, but Kohinata Miku's appearance and actions have broken that defense, allowing the curses through. Essentially what this means is that Tachibana Hibiki is no longer in full control, but is rather now for all intents and purposes a hostage inside of her own body."
The girls gasped. "A hostage...within her own body?" Tsubasa repeated in shock.
"Yes, although that is not entirely correct as well. But that matters little, for that does not change our objective in the slightest. It does not matter who is in control of the body, for purging the curses is our final goal. What it does mean however that she will become far more unpredictable than before, further tossing any attempts at strategizing out of the window. In short, what I mean is that planning ahead will yield us nothing, so the only thing we have left is to strengthen ourselves and our forces and meet the enemy head on without restraint. As it will be the final battle, we cannot allow ourselves to hold anything back."
"But do we even have a way to remove those curses?" Maria asked.
The alchemist narrowed her eyes, glaring at her for her question. "Do not feign ignorance. You are more than aware of the fact that we do."
The pink haired idol groaned at the blunt criticism. Saint-Germain looked between all of them, making sure they were all listening attentively. "Listen well: it matters little whether or not you approve, but from this point forward Kohinata Miku will be the key to achieving victory. The Shenshoujing is the only Symphogear we have that is capable of erasing the curses, and as a result of this she must prove able to not only face Tachibana Hibiki, but also defeat her in one-on-one combat. There is no avoiding this fact, for it is now reality."
The wielders could give no response. They had desperately wished to avoid this subject, but after what happened in front of the medical room, there was no denying it now.
It had to be addressed, regardless of how they felt about it.
"But why?" Kirika found herself asking anyway. "Why does Miku-san have to fight again? She wasn't supposed to be a part of this at all!"
"Perhaps," The alchemist answered. "Perhaps not. In either case, she is involved now, and is the only one that is capable of matching Gungnir in its current form. And the reason as to why that is lies within the Shenshoujing itself."
She proceeded to erase her terrible drawing, leaving the board blank once again. However this time, she wrote a single phrase in bold characters, displaying it to everyone present.
"And the name of that reason is…"
She put down the marker and slapped her hand against the board.
"All the Hopes of this World."
That act served to wake up the wielders, along with Genjuro. They all straightened in their seats, staring with wide eyes at what she had written.
Without waiting for them to ask, she began her explanation. "For you to understand what it is, you must first know something about the curses that lie within Gungnir, or rather, the concept that they represent," She said, turning to the board. Picking up the marker again, she wrote a similar set of characters right beneath the first, all of them exactly the same.
All...except one.
"This is the name of the concept that lies within Gungnir, and as a result, the name of our true enemy: All the Evils of this World. It is a timeless concept, one that predates the most ancient of civilizations, and is something that evolved alongside humanity since the day they developed intelligence. Originally, it was not nearly as potent as it is now, but as humanity flourished, so did their ability to sin. Hatred, greed, and fear spread throughout the world, gaining traction as civilization grew. But that was still not enough to make that concept strong enough that it could rival the gods."
She narrowed her eyes. "Yes, until the day that Jesus Christ was crucified. That was the moment that the god-slaying power came into existence, fueled by the people's fears and hatreds towards the god he represented. And as Adam Weishaupt said, it only continued to grow from there, laying dormant within Gungnir until its first contact with divine presence. Yohualtepoztli served as the catalyst for its awakening, but it was still not enough to bring it forth. It was only when Tachibana Hibiki was engulfed by the divine power that it finally made its true appearance, and from then on it was what had caused the monumental shift in her."
She stopped for a moment, making sure they all truly understood what it was she was talking about. Seeing that no one was getting lost yet, she continued. "It is an all-consuming concept, and one that can snowball to become far too powerful for any one person to control, no matter how special they seem to be. For mankind will never be able to let go of hatred, and as such will never be able to understand each other. Tachibana Hibiki's wish was doomed from the start."
The alchemist turned back to the board, drawing a line between the two phrases she had written on it. "However, that is when All of the Hopes of this World comes into the picture. I do not believe I have to explain what it is, for its name is self-explanatory: it is the polar opposite, the other side of the coin of All the Evils of this World. In the same manner that it has grown from hatred, All the Hopes of this World gained traction due to the people's wishes, worship, and as you can tell, hopes. And due to the reverence of the people to the relic known as the Shenshoujing, it gained an ability that became signature to it: curse-killing power."
Another collection of gasps were heard. Genjuro stared hard, information he had no knowledge about sinking in, quickly getting the gears spinning in his head.
"You may ask why exactly then do the Symphogears fall under this category, if the Shenshoujing is able to erase them? Simple: Kohinata Miku's influence," She explained, and they stared at her in confusion. "Originally it was not supposed to be able to erase relics, but her own disdain for them, along with John Wayne Vercingetorix's meddling created a situation in which the very nature of that power changed, becoming even more potent than it was before. Yes, a single person was able to radically alter the ability of the relic itself, so much that even the Shenshoujing is not immune to that effect. However that should not come as a surprise, as you are all aware that your Symphogears change due to your own growth and emotions. A miracle like the X-Drive would not be possible without that connection."
Turning to the board, she extended several lines from the bottom phrase, filling in as she spoke. "In essence, this leaves us with two similar forces that come into conflict: on one hand we have All the Evils of this World, with the god-slaying power at its helm, and its corruptive nature fueled by Tachibana Hibiki's buried grudges and resentments."
And she repeated the action with the top phrase. "On the other we have All the Hopes of this World, with the curse-slaying power at its helm, and its ability to erase relics stemming from Kohinata Miku's aversion to their existence."
Genjuro grumbled inwardly, studying the simple words on the board thoroughly. "But what does it mean for us?" He asked.
In response, the alchemist wrote 'divine power' on the right side of the board. Then she drew an arrow from the Evils to it, and then an arrow from the Hopes to the Evils. Between the divine power and the Hopes she drew a line with an X over it.
"This is a very rough summation of their relationship, but it exemplifies where we stand: in this exchange we hold the advantage, as the Shenshoujing counters both the Gungnir and the curses in one single breath," She explained. "The god-slaying power counters the divine one, while the Hopes of this World and the divine power have no special relationship. In essence, we stand at the top of this food chain, which is what will be able to grant us victory."
She then drew a circle around the Hopes, and in response Tsubasa spoke up again. "But how do we have this advantage? Why don't the two sides simply annihilate the other on contact like destructive interference?"
"Good question, and the answer to that is simple:" She said. And then she went to stand at the foot of the table, looking between each of them in the eye. "Because humanity would never have been able to move forward had it always wallowed in fear and hatred. It is only through desire and wishful thinking that we advance, and grow, and reach our full potential. As you know, to live is to pursue pleasure, for without it we would become beasts. So long as our wishes are stronger than our fears, the Hopes of this World will always be triumphant."
They looked at her in confusion, but she simply went back to the board. "Think of it as a fundamental, universal law. There will always be something higher on the scale, and fortunately for us we have exactly what lies at the top. In a clash between the two, it is destined for All the Hopes of this World to emerge victorious."
And she wrote the names of the two ill-fated girls next to the concepts they wielded. "But that is only if you take the human part out of the equation. And unfortunately, that is where we are at a disadvantage: Kohinata Miku simply does not have the same level of skill or experience that Tachibana Hibiki does, and that is what led to her losing control. Her lack of a grasp on the Symphogear's abilities combined with her fury resulted in an outcome in which the curse-slaying power could not be used to its full potential, negating any sort of advantage it could provide."
She then drew a circle around Miku's name and tapped the marker against the board. "And that is the first mistake we must correct: she must learn to use it to the utmost, and reach a level of skill high enough to not lose control again, preferably as high as Tachibana Hibiki's."
Genjuro once again grumbled to himself, while the rest of the girls sighed in contemplation as to the meaning of her words. "You know that it is impossible, Saint-Germain," He reminded her. "You said it yourself that we don't know how much time we have until Hibiki-kun shows up again. With that in mind, we don't know how long such a process could possibly take."
"I'd say we have at the most around two months, perhaps even less." She said plainly, breaking the other from their thoughts and causing them to stare at her with eyebrows raised.
"But you just said-"
"I know what I said," She interrupted him. "And I will admit I have nothing to back up that claim. It is simply my intuition, nothing more than that. And that is precisely why we must make haste with our preparations. Without a shadow of a doubt Kohinata Miku is the lynchpin that will determine whether or not we achieve victory. Our role in the grand scheme of things will be to enable her to truly face her one-on-one; we must do all we can to draw the attention of any remaining enemies so she can fight unabated."
The girls sighed to themselves, and only Shirabe could raise her head up to speak. "So the only thing we can do now is act as support?"
"Yes," Saint-Germain answered bluntly. "We are, as of this moment, simply Kohinata Miku's support. That is the situation we have been thrust into, and we must make do with what we have. I will tell you right now that it will be extremely counterproductive to try and intervene in their battle; there is only certain death to be found there."
"But don't we have the Super Ignite Module? What was the point of going through that if we can't make use of it?" Maria asked.
"Unfortunately it has already become obsolete. She has reached a level of power so high we can no longer match up to her with what we have. Even if luck is on our side and the power Kazanari Tsubasa displayed returns," The alchemist answered, briefly glancing towards the blue haired idol. "It will still not be enough. Susano'o in the end is a representation of pure force, and that is something that has already lost its effectiveness due to her now constantly active rapid regeneration. This all leads us back to Kohinata Miku, as she is the only who has the ability to bypass it and inflict some sort of damage, however minor. And as she becomes stronger, so will the strength of the curse-killing power, which might finally prove enough to erase the curses and Gungnir in one fell swoop."
The gathered group once again fell into silent contemplation, leaving Saint-Germain to speak in a low, apologetic voice. "I will admit however that amongst us all, I am the weakest link," She said, causing them to look at her once more in puzzlement. "I cannot reach the level of power that you can with your Symphogears, not to mention that I am now incapacitated to some degree. To that end, I will work tirelessly to create as big an army of Alca-Noise as possible to slay the Babylonian Noise which will inevitably emerge once more."
Genjuro gazed at her sympathetically. "Saint-Germain…"
"It is unfortunate, but I will not allow our chain to break due to my weakness. I will trust you all with dealing with any sort of surprise she may conjure up on us unexpectedly, and meanwhile I shall work to slay the black beasts and direct our army."
"But are you sure there is nothing we can do to help Miku-san?" Kirika asked desperately.
"Only what I have stated. It will simply be too dangerous to try and assist her. You will inevitably get caught in the crossfire, which is something we cannot afford. The force of their clash will be far too strong for any of us to match, and it will only become more powerful as they fight." She answered.
"And I assume that is part of the reason you believe this will be the last battle?" Genjuro confirmed.
She nodded her head. "Yes. Just their one battle proved it; even though Kohinata Miku lacked any sort of experience, the sheer antagonism the two concepts share towards each other skyrocketed her power to unbelievable levels, allowing her to surpass her own limits just to match her opponent. And of course, Tachibana Hibiki had a similar reaction. As the two concepts oppose each other, they become more powerful as they attempt to one up the other, and with that so do their abilities. The corruption became worse due to that factor as well, and now, it has reached a certain threshold."
The man crossed his arms. "So, let's summarize this as best we can."
He walked up to the board, and took the offered marker from the alchemist. Using the previously untouched eraser, he wiped off the board and began filling it on his own.
"Our battle plan is as follows: Miku-kun will face Hibiki-kun in one-on-one combat, using this power you mentioned in order to purge the curses once and for all. In the meantime, the wielders will work to defeat any possible threat that appears while you will direct the Alca-Noise army to eliminate the rogue Noise, at the same time destroying the encroaching black beasts. And this will all occur after we have brought Miku-kun up to level."
The alchemist studied his diagram, and nodded. "Yes, that is correct."
"Seems solid enough." Tsubasa commented.
"It isn't, not in the least," Genjuro said. "There are so many unknown elements that could disrupt and make this plan fall apart easily. We can be sure that they'll focus on each other; we just don't know how destructive their clash will be. Anything could happen at this rate, so this plan in the end is completely useless. We simply cannot account for everything, for it is Hibiki-kun after all we're dealing with here. Even if the curses are rising to the forefront, it is still her own very creative and unpredictable mind we are facing. She will surprise us, that is something we can count on."
He placed the marker down. "And that is the biggest obstacle. All of her absurdity will be aimed directly at us."
And they all knew what levels it could reach. She was the girl who made miracles possible after all.
So there is no doubt they would need one in order to surpass her.
Unfortunately, miracles are a difficult thing to come by.
"Then we have no time to waste," Saint-Germain said. "As soon as we adjourn we begin our preparations. Contact Yukine Chris and update her on everything we've gone over. For now, do what you can on your own until the moment Kohinata Miku awakens. Once she does, we begin bringing her up to speed."
She turned to the man and looked up to meet his gaze. "My apologies for rambling on. I merely intended to touch upon absolutely everything we needed."
Genjuro smiled. "No need to apologize, since everything you said was indeed very important, and I am sure everyone here will take it to heart and do their best to meet your expectations," He said warmly, glancing to the wielders who already began to rise from their seats. "Do what you can for now. I unfortunately have a few...higher ups...I need to talk to, so I will be unavailable until later."
Tsubasa, upon hearing what he said, hurriedly spun her head to look at him with wide eyes. She bit her lip and turned her head aside, knowing what he was referring to.
"In the meantime," He continued, turning to the wielders. "I want all of you to get some rest. Eat and sleep and we'll meet up again at...If now is 8, then we'll convene again at 3 PM."
The four wielders nodded in unison.
"Then, dismissed. Tsubasa, please tell Chris-kun this as well."
And together the four rose from their seats and walked to the exit. Sending the man one final glance over the shoulder, Tsubasa and the others left the room, leaving only the two adults next to the board.
"You should also get some rest, Saint-Germain," He said to the silver haired woman. "You out of everyone need it."
But she looked away. "I'm fine. It's imperative I get started on making the Alca-Noise; the ones I have used cannot be reclaimed, so they must be destroyed. I'll make sure to inform Yukine Chris of this, should she desire to vent her frustrations upon them in a constructive manner."
He raised an eyebrow in response. "I'm surprised you're being so considerate."
"It has nothing to do with being considerate," She said quickly. "I am merely being efficient. It is a matter of grave importance that all of the wielders are onboard with this plan, so if destroying the remaining Alca-Noise will reduce her anger then it will serve our purposes well."
Genjuro flashed a small smile. 'Can't bring yourself to admit you care?'
Well, not like it was his place to call her out on it. He wasn't exactly the more forthcoming with them either, which was what brought them to the situation they are in now.
He sighed, and turned to the door.
"There is one more thing," She told his retreating back. He turned around with narrowed eyes to meet her gaze. "I wished to bring up this subject while they were here, but they'll notice once they see her: it is entirely possible that Kohinata Miku will not be exactly the same once she awakens."
That forced him to stop in his tracks, and his eyes widened. Before he could ask, she spoke up again. "Being the vessel of such concepts is not something that comes freely. In the same manner that Tachibana Hibiki changed, so will Kohinata Miku. I do not know just how significant it will be, but it is something that we must prepare for regardless. All the Hopes of this World might not be a malignant force, but it is also not entirely benevolent," She said. "After all...nothing can stop one from hoping the one they detest meets their end."
His mouth slightly gaped at her ridiculous words. "That's-"
"Inevitable," She interrupted him quickly. "It is just another obstacle that we will have to overcome, depending on how high it will prove to be. Until then, you should also get some rest. As the commander, it would not do for you to be exhausted when you are needed."
He blinked several times, still shocked by what she told him. "Yes...I'll make sure to do that. Until later, Saint-Germain."
And he left the room, leaving the alchemist alone.
-!-
Genjuro heaved out a heavy sigh as he sat down on the bed in his quarters, the metal underneath creaking slightly under his weight. He, like everyone else on duty chose to remain inside of headquarters for the duration of the incident, and he hasn't stepped a foot out of the submarine since the day he lost to Hibiki.
He didn't have the luxury to. There was so much to take care of he didn't even manage to get a wink of sleep. But he didn't care about that, because there were things more important than sleep at the moment.
However...he could start feeling it, even if it was miniscule. No, to call it miniscule would be to insult the burden he carried on his shoulders.
As well as the insurmountable amount of guilt that came with it.
He rose from the bed and headed towards the full length mirror hanging off one of the walls of the room. He stood before it, taking in his own features for the first time since the incident began.
The features he briefly saw in Chris's eyes…
And the features he began to find himself hating.
At a first glance no one would be able to tell the difference; he was after all physically exactly the same. But it was not the physical features that haunted him so, but what lies beneath.
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DIFFERENT!"
That's what she had told him, or more specifically screamed at him. He had worked tirelessly, not stopping for even a moment, and letting absolutely nothing stand in the way of the ultimate goal that they all sought: bringing Hibiki back.
He knew that their cause was completely different from what all the enemies they'd faced so far had. They sought their own selfish desires, perfectly willing to let others suffer for the sake of their goal: whether it was revenge, delusions, or just age old ambitions.
But if their causes were different, then why...why did he feel that she was not wrong?
He had forced himself to believe he was acting out of a righteous cause. Hibiki had been compromised by a malignant force that threatened to destroy the world, that much was obvious. Right now, saving the world and saving Hibiki might as well be the exact same thing. Killing her would be something no one on in headquarters would agree with, but at this point it was also impossible. With her regeneration, it is impossible to destroy her, so the only method to stop the coming destruction is to get rid of the force that would cause it, that being the curses and the divine power.
Yes, in the end what they were doing was saving the world...but that was only secondary to bringing her back.
He couldn't deny it no matter how much he fooled himself: in the end, they were acting out of pure selfishness. Out of a pure, selfish desire to take back someone that was important to them...and to that end, they had chosen to sacrifice everything else for the sake of that goal.
Going exactly against the laws of the scale: many for the sake of one.
Even if actual casualties so far have been kept to a minimum, the destruction caused by their battle could not be ignored. Millions have been left homeless, and rebuilding will take years.
But the battle was not over yet, so who knows how long it would take to even begin thinking about it. They had gone through so much pain, so much suffering, and so much anguish in order to bring about the result they wanted.
And the only question that could be asked was a simple one:
"Was it all really worth it?"
Before he could settle on the thought further, he heard a soft knocking on his door. He turned around, staring at it, watching to study from which height the sound came from.
The knocking repeated, and he could catch as the biggest amount of force was applied at a much shorter height than he expected, bringing up only one possibility as to who was visiting.
"Yes, Elfnein-kun?" He spoke up.
It seemed the little alchemist was taken aback by the fact he knew it was her. "Ah! Genjuro-san! Um...is everything okay?"
"Yes," He answered. "Anything I can help you with?"
She went silent for a short moment before speaking up again. "Um...can I come in?"
He raised an eyebrow in question, but did not bother asking her reasons. "Sure."
With a click, the door slid open.
"Oh, um...I'm sorry to bother you all of a sudden," Elfnein mumbled meekly. "I was just...um…"
"It's fine," He said, going back to his bed and taking a seat. "What can I do for you?"
The homunculus took uneasy steps into the room, the door sliding closed behind her. Genjuro looked at her calmly, watching as she fidgeted nervously to herself.
A few moments later, finally gathering her courage, she spoke up. "G-Genjuro-san!"
"Yes?"
"Um...are you okay?"
His eyes widened. Her question was simple and innocent, yet…
Yet somehow was just...right.
"What do you mean?" He asked her.
The girl swallowed, speaking up again. "You looked...very sad lately," She said. "Like you haven't been yourself."
Ah, so that was what it was. Aside from all the ugliness and desperation, it was sadness that he saw underneath it all. How was it that she saw that so easily?
He looked to the ground in front of him, joining his hands together on his lap. "Yeah...I guess I haven't been." He answered.
She tilted her head in confusion, and took the opportunity to sit down on the bed next to him, looking up at his face that still stared at the ground. "Can...can you tell me what's wrong?" She asked him. "I...want to help you too. Remember? I said I'll also...help you bear the weight."
'Yeah...she did say that.'
He sighed, staring at a particular spot on the floor that for some reason was a bit darker than the rest of it. "I...messed up, big time."
Her eyes immediately filled with worry at his words. Offering him no response, he continued. "I've been so desperate to get Hibiki-kun back...that I failed to notice everything else."
"Genjuro-san…"
"I made too many mistakes, and I only started to notice it now. From involving Miku-kun again after I promised not to, to hiding my intentions from the wielders until the very last possible moment. And because of that, I brought us all to this hopeless situation where we have no plans and we have to depend on a single person to finally bring it to an end."
Wordlessly, Elfnein placed her hand on his arm, trying to comfort him. Whether or not he noticed the gesture was not important as he simply continued speaking. "I...led a lot of good people to their deaths in the past. For the sake of what I considered the greater good, I looked many young men and women in the eye...and told them to die," He said, and her grip on his arm tightened. "That's what I did before I was promoted to be the commander of this division. At the time I was glad to finally be free of the burden of sacrificing so many people."
He let out a sorrowful chuckle. "Imagine my surprise when I discovered my job would be to deal with the supernatural threats to the world...through several teenage girls wielding ancient relics as their weapons. Imagine my shock when I found out they would be the only ones in the world that would be capable to defeating the threat that was the Noise, and that one of them was my niece who was brought into this world for this specific reason."
The man clenched his fist tight as he thought back. "At first I hesitated, but eventually accepted out of duty. I did the very best I could to live up to expectations...and once again hardened my heart. It got worse once Kanade-kun arrived, and I watched heartlessly as she poured blood, sweat, and tears in order to become a wielder so she could get her revenge on the Noise." He recounted, thinking back to the day he saw the red-haired girl puke blood the first time she succeeded in putting on the Gungnir.
"But no matter what I did and what I desired...she still died. She sacrificed herself without anyone asking her to. And I...I couldn't take it. So I trained as hard as I could to become stronger over those two long years, desperate not to lose anyone else like we lost her." He said, letting out a breath. "And looking at the ordeal we're facing now...I can't help but feel uneasy."
"But it's not the same, Genjuro-san." Elfnein told him sympathetically.
"It might not be, but nothing says it won't lead to that. We have no idea what could happen at this point," He answered. "And that's what I'm scared of. I...don't want a repeat of what happened. I don't want to lose her like I lost Kanade-kun...and Ryoko-kun. I've been so desperate to stop that from happening that I completely forgot to look around and see if others approve. No, I guess I didn't care if they approved. I only cared about my only selfish desire, and that's what led us to where we are now, at the threshold of destruction."
He raised his head up to stare at the ceiling, blinking once. "Chris-kun told me...that I was supposed to be different from all those selfish enemies we faced. That I was supposed to be the person they could rely on and the person they know will not hide anything from them. Yet I still acted behind their backs, secretly planning to have the one person that shouldn't be involved join the fight, all for the sake of my selfish wish."
Elfnein quickly put her other hand on his arm as well, and grasped it tight. "That's wrong! You're very different from them! You are doing it because it's right!"
"That's what Fine believed too," He said, and she fell quiet at his words. "That's what Dr. Ver believed too. And that's, I reckon, what Carol believed too."
Her eyes shook at the mention at the mention of her original. "It's all a matter of perspective anyway, right and wrong. In the end, the one who is correct...is the one who wins. History is written by the victors after all, and that applies here too. Yet no matter how right we are, we still lost, three times in a row. And as the person who thought it all up, as the person who heartlessly commanded everyone to ignore destruction and carnage for the sake of that goal...what does it make me?"
They fell into a momentary silence once again.
"I've...been depending on Hibiki-kun's ability to create miracles so much as our means of victory...and our justification. But I didn't stop for a second to consider what would happen...if one didn't come. And now, this is the result."
Her eyes widened, and she shook his arm, forcing him to look at her. "You're not a bad person, Genjuro-san! The very fact that you worry about it already makes all the difference!"
"Elfnein-kun…"
"The only mistake you made, I believe, was that you thought you had to take this all on yourself," She said warmly. "You're not alone, Genjuro-san. Nobody here thinks you're a bad person, so you shouldn't think that either."
"It's not that-"
"It is that simple!" She exclaimed, standing up and staring at him. "Even Carol...even Carol wasn't a bad person! She was...she was misguided, and she misunderstood, but all she wanted to do was follow what she believed was Papa's final, true wish. She took things too far, but in her mind...it was still all worth it. Because it was important to her."
She turned to the bed, and in a surprising move climbed onto it, standing atop the covers. The homunculus then uneasily, with several faltering steps, moved to stand behind the man.
And leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "That's why you shouldn't think like that. I don't want you to hate yourself because you think you did something wrong," She said, almost whispering. "Even if it's a selfish wish...no one will deny that, because we all share it with you. All of us, together, want to bring Hibiki-san back, no matter what. And we will stand with you through thick and thin, no matter what happens. I can truly promise you that."
He could only stare at the floor before him with wide eyes.
"You want to bring her back because you care about her, and we do too. If it's considered evil to want something like that then…"
She smiled. "Then let's be evil. Even if the cost is high...as long as you believe it's worth it, it can never be wrong. I'm sure many here...will agree with that."
In the end, that's what Chris was angry about.
Not that he involved Miku.
Not that he allowed significant amounts of destruction.
Not that he subjected them to a hell that in the end proved to be meaningless.
She was angry because he chose to take it all on himself, as if he did not trust them enough to be able to take on that burden too.
The burden that for once, they'll be evil.
And choose one over the many.
This time, he let out an amused chuckle, putting his large, burly hand above her own joined ones, locked together just below his neck. "If you put it like that...then it really is that simple."
And she laughed too, finding amusement in his change of heart. But she had one final question for him:
"Do you think it's worth it?" She asked.
And this time, the answer came to him much more easily.
"Of course. After everything she did for us...Hibiki-kun is worth it."
That was all she needed to hear.
The small alchemist gave a large smile, and released her hold on him, jumping down to the floor. She looked to him once again, and he met her gaze with a smile of his own. "Then," She began saying. "Let's keep going with that one wish in mind, and not stop until we make it come true. And promise me from now on...that you won't doubt yourself anymore."
"Well, since you're asking so nicely," He said with a grin. "I suppose I have no choice then."
She laughed, and it was a sweet sound that blew away the clouds in his heart. An innocent laugh, made from a mouth that was wise yet gentle, containing endless amounts of knowledge in its frame and a boundless curiosity that expanded their horizons and their possibilities to beyond anything they could achieve on their own.
And in that moment he knew...that he truly was blessed. That the years of nothing but hardship...did in fact pay off.
And now was the time to truly fight for those happy days, and reclaim the star that made it all possible.
"Thank you, Elfnein-kun," He said in gratitude. "I guess I lost myself there."
"You're very welcome," She answered. "If you ever feel down again, I'll always be here to help you up. That's what it means to share the burden, right?"
He let out another chuckle. "Yeah, that's right."
The homunculus headed towards the door, and it opened to let her through. But just before she left, she turned to him once more. "Then, I'll see you later Genjuro-san. We have a long road ahead of us, and I'll help you as best I can. You're not alone, Genjuro-san. Don't forget that either."
He nodded. "Yeah, I'll make sure to remember it."
She smiled one last time, and left the room, the door sliding closed behind her.
Leaving the commander all alone, now in a much better mood and with a renewed resolve.
"Well then," He said to himself. He rose once again from the bed and went back to stand in front of the mirror.
This time, he liked what he saw.
"I guess it's time to face the music."
For now he will face his toughest opponent yet.
"Show me what you got, Father."
