Ch 26: The Calm Before The Storm

The sound of wailing sirens and screams was the first thing Celia heard as the morning light hit her face. She got up slowly, afraid perhaps that her body was still ill from yesterday's battles. She was glad to find out that while her body still ached from the physical wounds, the poison apparently was all gone. She went to the mirror of the hotel room, judging her appearance in it. While her body did ache, it wouldn't interfere with the final act she planned to commit. The murder of Lucy Elfenliar.

Placing a tender hand on the side of her head which would have contained a horn.

"Hello?" She said aloud but softly to herself. There was no answer and she did not expect an answer. She had left The Voice, obliterated it from her mind and body. She was no longer connected with it, she was Queen Celia of the Diclonius, alone in this world and with one, only one final reckoning that needed to finished. There was no need to look for Lucy if she was smart she would not have returned to that house, none of them would have done it. Searching her would have been too much of hassle also, so the best plan was just to bring her out.

She left the room, the other Diclonius jumping to her side immediately as her own personal guards. The act was gracious but unneeded. Her new powers greatly ascended any normal Diclonius and definitely any human with the exception of Jericho. Since she had already killed him, there left but only Lucy to stand in her way. How tough the battle would be she could not place it. She had the feeling despite her new powers that Lucy would be just tough, if not tougher than Jericho had been. Traitorous she might have been but she still had royal blood running through her veins. There could only be one Queen in this world.

Placing on a thin periwinkle dress she hardly looked like someone who was going to murder. What gave her away was the black eyes which showed nothing more but a desire to achieve her goals. She left the hotel and headed back to the war torn city.

Having changed drastically from long ago, from a tortured little girl who was ridiculed for her horns. Having gone from a murderess to a wife, Lucy didn't dare make any objections to Nana's nightly crying. She had lost not only her best friend but someone she had once thought of as a friend. She, Lucy, would have no right to criticize her. She, Nana and Kouta (Who had survived the onslaught of the Diclonius in the city) had discovered an abandon cabin within the forest.

Slowly getting up, Lucy stood over the edge of the bed looking out the windows of the cabin. She gave one look at the sleeping man she loved so much and thought of how he was her inspiration to finally achieving salvation with herself. She knows will she will have to do today, they all do.

"Awake I see."

Kouta's voice was kind but also uneasy. He doesn't have to be a Diclonius to know what will happen today. He picks up the T.V remote, turns on the TV and the news comes on. The news is on every channel now and they are lucky to in fact to even have electricity as of now. They watch as Nana continues to sleep. The entire country of Japan had been reduced to a war zone with the Diclonius holding the advantage. Kouta switches the channels and a new broadcast comes up from a different location, a reporter hiding in the rubble trying to give a report. He continued to flip through the channels and if possible each scene was worse than the previous. It brought Lucy back. Back to a time of just how lonely she had felt.

She wondered…just how lonely that young girl was truly. But she also thought of her friends. While she may not have admired Mayu to the point of sisterhood, she cared for her as a friend. Getting up, she went to the door and was stopped as she felt something tug on her shoulder. It was a vector produced by Nana whose expression was as serious as it could have been. "I'm going with you."

She wouldn't have argued even if she could, that was not the point of this ordeal. Kouta gave a nod of his head which is wife returned. He knew exactly what was going to happen. Lucy, his dearest lover and Nana were going to find Celia and kill her. He knew that both of them may not make it, he knew the possibility of their deaths was higher than it could ever have been. He knew from the bottom of his heart that they were not going to kill her to satisfy their own needs but the needs of every human out there.

And at that moment he hugged them both, leading them both in a group hug.

He would stay in the house, watch the T.V for them and wish them luck.

They left.

It wasn't hard to find her and in reality it wasn't supposed to be hard. Celia had released her vectors producing the powerful wave of Diclonius energy. Lucy and Nana had found her easily as she stood there in the middle of the streets with more than a hundred Diclonius spread out around her. The young ones looked at the two with envious eyes. The older ones rapt with fury. The looks they gave Nana were murder and borderline on specifically dragging her down to hell if the feat was ever possible. Lucy however there was no description. Diclonius had their own history and Lucy was regarded more or less as a goddess. She was the second known Pure Queen Diclonius. The first of course being the biblical Eve and all others were lost and forgotten. Now she stood there to oppose the New Queen. An act, unforgivable to her kind.

Her kind?

No. She, 7, 35, any one of them who would give up their instincts to help humans. It would never be allowed again.

"Please Celia you don't have to do this."

Her words had caught her off guard and for a moment Celia wasn't sure how to answer this statement. As to make her total point clear though she concentrated and brought out all 50 vectors.

"I do. Humans chose to betray me so I chose to kill them. There is no point in discussing this Lucy."

What words could Lucy have possibly used to explain it? Celia was ready to kill, those black eyes said it all. There and then she abandoned her pretext as all watching soon gazed at the power of Lucy Elfenliar. She was engulfed in a thick whirlwind, teeth grinding against each other. The horns on her head had extended, she was an expert, a true pure Diclonius who had mastered this form. Her eyes remained their crimson coloration. At this point the vectors of both of the combatants crisscrossed so as to impossible to tell who could hold the advantage.

"Back away Nana." Lucy strictly said, moving her back with one of her vectors anyways. "If I die, take Kouta and run…please."

Such tender care. It felt strange almost for Nana to see someone who had ripped her arms and legs apart do something so unselfish.

"Yes…Kaede."

At that Lucy had to smile, a serene curve of the mouth which turned back into the frown as she faced the current Queen of the Diclonius. The world watched in baited breath. Eyes glued to the T.V. Ears glued to the radio. Every breath beating as one as Queen and Queen faced off.

Right before the battle started.

One could hear a pin drop.