Sometimes in our attempts to keep our inner monsters out of our head we fail to notice that they're already on the other side of the door.

Monster Inside Her Head

They had returned, one driving on a rush while the other was tired and in pain. The God Arc Soldier was gentle with its injured partner as it supported its partner to its charging and maintenance area. Once the injured God Arc Soldier was attached to its back charger and the maintenance railing were rolling back in the God Arc Soldier marched over to his charging area.

The God Arc Soldier made a groan like a whale of the deep sea as its charger was attached to its back. The God Arc Soldiers went limp as they began to relax.

"Resonance is faltering to 80%... 55... 30... 20... Resonance disengaged." One of the Engineer informed as Abel's and Umiko's monitor screens went off. "Damage on No. 2's Soldier are minor burn damage. Abel's Soldier has received heavy damage in the knee area, replacement parts will be acquired."

Soma rushed out of the room the moment Umiko had went off the screen. He gripped on the railing bars as he looked down at the God Arc Soldier she had submerged into, waiting for any sign of Umiko. This Empty Eyes that she was so in sync with felt a little bit strange to Soma. He tried to find the reason why, but the answer always seemed to evade him. But for some reason... he trusted that thing. Like... he knew it would keep Umiko safe. How strange it was for him to immediately trust a man-made chimera of Aragami parts with something so dear to him... that wasn't like him at all.

Soma was kicked out of his pondering when he heard the sound of Empty Eyes chests opening up. He rushed down the stairs and headed toward its Docks.

"Soma, wait." Alisa called out, following after him. She had first kept an eye on him from the front window, but when he decided to run off that's when she gave chase. The last thing she needed was him running off in a foreign Branch, God knows what kind of trouble they could find.

Soma stopped in front of Empty Eyes as the core in its chest glowed a warm light blue. Slowly Umiko had reemerged from it, intact with no injuries. She was unconscious, most likely exhausted from the Resonance. While a lift was being use to gather Abel out and strapping him down to a medic carrier. Umiko had no lift, and would have a pretty good 80 feet fall if no one caught her.

"Ah!" Alisa let out a scream as Umiko's unconscious body came falling down from the core.

But the giant hand of Empty Eyes automatically caught her, and slowly lowered her as far as it could while still attached to its charger. It angled its hand toward Soma to the best of its ability, as if begging him to take care of the rest. It was only a 5 foot distance between her and Soma, so Soma opened up his arms as Empty Eyes gently slid Umiko down to him.

Once Soma had her secure in his arms, Empty Eyes leaned back on its charger and began to relax into more of a sleep mode. So the Colossal trusted Soma with Umiko too... what a strange coincidence. This was sad really, six months apart and he finally made physical contact with Umiko... and she was unconscious for it. Sometimes Soma felt like life just loved being a big dick to him.

The sound of something crashing down brought Alisa's and Soma's attention to what was behind them. Soma instinctively held Umiko closer to him protectively at the possibility of a threat approaching. But they saw that it was Sora, he had jumped down from the extracting upper railing way just to get to them sooner. His usual blank face had a serious look to it than what they deemed to be normal now. He almost looked angry.

"Give her back." Sora demanded to Soma, which Soma responded by holding Umiko closer and slanting his eyes at Sora.

"No." Soma growled at him, tightening his grip on Umiko.

"I will not ask again. Hand. Over. Umiko." His pupils slitted as his eyes began to glow with unchecked rage.

"No." Soma didn't back down as their foreheads collided. Sora was slowly slipping into a Blood Rage and Soma couldn't care less.

"She is too unstable right now to be around others." Sora growled at Soma as he wrapped his Borg Camlann tail around Umiko to yank her away from Soma. "You can't handle her, now give her back before she awakens."

"What's that suppose to mean?!" Soma snarled at Sora as he refused to let go of Umiko.

"Guys stop fighting! You'll hurt her!" Alisa tried to break up the two before they yanked Umiko apart as they played toggle-war with each other using her.

"!" Soma gasped as he felt a heavy pulse come from Umiko. He looked down to see her eyes shoot wide open. They softened with a tiredness that clouded them as she looked up into Soma's eyes. She slowly reached up a hand toward them, but it cringed and came back to her as she fully awakened.

"Remove your hands from me at once." She said, getting up on her feet and pushed Soma away from her. "I believed I already told you not to touch me."

"I'm surprised you were able to remember that." Soma mocked cruelly in his attempts to cover the pain of rejection from her. But it didn't make him feel better when he in return made her hurt by his reaction. He had expected her not to be able to feel anything due to the experiments done to her, but something from the Resonance had made her empathetic.

"I'm suffering from amnesia not short-term memory loss." Umiko retorted, turning her back to Soma as she crossed her arms. "Don't mock my symptoms."

"Hmph, you're just running away from your past." Soma taunted at her. "You're just scared you won't like what it holds just like Sora is."

The mere mention of Sora from Soma's voice made her turn back toward him in anger. "Don't talk about Sora like that. You don't know him."

"I'll talk about whom ever the hell I want." Soma huffed back at her in defiance as he saw that he was getting a reaction out of her after so long of blank indifference. What he didn't expect was for her to respond so strongly.

"Draw. Your. God Arc." Umiko ordered to him as her pupils slitted.

"What?" Soma wanted to get a spark out of her, he didn't want to pick a fight.

"Pick up your God Arc!" She roared at him as she changed into Blood Rage form.

"I'm not going to fight you, Umiko. We're comrades!" But Umiko ignored him. He refused to take out his God Arc from the strap on his back, so she engaged him abruptly. She gave him a chance to defend himself but he didn't take it. Tackling him to the ground she held him down with her tentacles as she looked at him eye-level. She roared at him with her sharp Aragami teeth and widened mouth, when he refused to look away she changed her mouth back to normal.

"Comrades?!" She hissed at him. "Why do you keep behaving like you know me?"

"Because I do."

"What you claim to know is merely what you've denied." Umiko said accusingly down to him. "You still contain your precious memories, but what are you doing with them? You had failed to hold on to this person and lost them, abruptly. And now it looks like you've used me to succeed in another's role."

"You are my Umiko." Soma insisted which only angered her further.

"You are the most persistent, hot-blooded, unyielding, unreasoning, over-feeling, hell-raiser I've ever met."

"At least you have some form of feeling for me. Although I would've preferred a better recognition than that."

"I would need a better reason than that to think better of you." Soma flinch at the honest and spite in her voice. "I am on the verge of just being done with you."

"... You don't mean that." But Umiko just looked down at him still seriously.

"Your reminiscing cannot be stopped, but there is still much to be done." She then waved her hand around as she continued on. "Your view is concealed by tragedy. The whole truth you claim to see alludes you, because you failed to look at what's around you."

"!" Even if her memory was gone, her words still rang with truth. He denied his feelings for her for so long that he failed to see what was in front of him before it was gone.

Umiko lifted him up, still gripping him with her tentacles as his feet dangled in the air. She looked him directly in the eye as she held him slightly higher than her head level.

"There is no method in this madness." She hissed at him. "Your emotions are chaotic and control you like a doll. Acting like the authority figure in your actions."

She pointed a long finger with a sharp nail at his heart. The sharp tip hovered a centimeter away from making contact with him. "Authority must be obeyed." Then swiftly she moved her finger to point at the center of his forehead. "Or it must be overthrown."

"Stop it, Umiko! Please." Alisa pleaded with her.

"!" Umiko's eyes widened as Alisa came-in to grab her wrist.

"Wait, Stop! Don't touch her." Sora warned to Alisa. "New-Types aren't suppose to make flesh-to-flesh contact with her, especially during a Blood Rage!"

But it was too late, Alisa had already grabbed on to her wrist. Everything went bright to Alisa and Umiko as they experienced a Resonance.

*** Inside Umiko's Mind ***

Alisa gasped as she was transported into a sterile white room. The place was large, or colored to the point that she couldn't tell where the walls started and ended. The place was full of aluminum-steel storage shelves stacked with boxes.

"What is this? Where am I?" Alisa went over to one of the shelves and opened one of the boxes. "Files?"

"Those are the records that could be saved." Alisa jumped at the sudden appearance of another person.

"Umiko?!" Alisa realized when she turned toward the voice.

"Oh, not to worry Alisa, this isn't a memory. You have been brought inside my mind." Umiko assured to her while gesturing her hands in a way to say remain-calm. "The same happened with me when I Resonated with Lindow when he was undergoing his Aragami Transformation."

"Umiko! You... you remember." Alisa exclaimed with joy. She was overjoyed that her friend was back.

"Only the memories that I was able to save."

"Save?"

"(Sigh)" Umiko went to the box Alisa had opened and pulled at one of the files as she flashed through its documents and images for Alisa to see. As she did this, Alisa could hear and see the images of the memory happening before her eyes before Umiko closed the file again. "Each file holds a memory of a time, person, or place in my experiences in life."

"Whoa there are so many." Alisa did a twirl around as she observed the many rows and columns of shelves with boxes.

"Hardly." Umiko huffed the comment off. "I'm 18 years old and I only have this much in storage. Your memory storage goes as long as Central America. Most of my memories have been taken and devoured."

"Devoured? What do you mean 'devoured?'"

"... Somewhere inside this place, beyond where my whole life exists, grows an evil secret that's slowly eating me away." Umiko somberly said. "All I can do is board up this place, keep my feet on the floor, and lock that thing on the other side of the door."

"So... what you're saying is... you're trapped here?"

"Yes, in a way, I'm only the subconscious of me. The ego if you will. All my remaining memories are trapped in here away from the true me."

"So the real you will never be able to remember us?" Alisa's voice began to crack.

"Any memory that leaves this place will be devoured by the monster on the other side of these walls." Umiko sighed. "It feeds on fear and paranoia, I can't even get nervous around it without attracting it. The only relief is I get to feel whatever I want when the monster is distracted by blood lust inside Empty Eyes. He does such a good job keeping the monster at bay, but I'll never truly know the feeling of being alive."

"You're jesting. There's no way your mind would intentionally harm itself."

"No, this beast is a foreign monster. It came with the damnable experiments and that dosage they shoved in my neck." Umiko corrected her. "You don't know the reasons I'm running scared. You've never met the monster inside my head."

"Umiko-"

"It's not enough, it never stops coming! I mine as well take a breath and say goodbye!"

"Umiko, calm down! What do you mean?!"

"Once that thing gets in here it'll devour everything and me until what makes me 'me' is completely destroyed. My skin is always crawling in fear. The shadows on the ground terrify me. I jump at any sound made, always wondering 'dear God, what was that sound?!' The fear is paralyzing! I'm going mad in here, the room starts to spin. I'm trapped here inside myself! My will to live is slowly dying, it's dying, I'm dying!"

"Don't talk like that! There's so much for you to live for."

"Like what? I'll never know the feeling of being myself."

"That's not true, you've got to live on! You're the only one here that can protect your memories!" Alisa insisted. "Look around you, read them, there are so many happy memories you have here. Of your family, of us, even of Soma."

"No!"

"!"

"Soma is a forbidden file."

"What?! Why?!"

"Any memory with him causes happiness and agonizing pain at the same time. Not a good combination if I want to keep the monster from getting on the wrong side of the door."

"But it's Soma, you lov-"

"Don't! I can't feel pain or it'll draw the monster!"

"But Umiko-"

"He rejected me, okay! He rejected me for someone I can never compete with!" She began to cry.

"O Umiko." Alisa comforted her into an embrace as she cupped Umiko's head between her hand and shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"I feel like I'm falling to pieces, Alisa... The memories hurt me, and yet I covet them like they're cherishing. What's wrong with me?" Umiko asked as she slowly calmed down to Alisa gentle rubs.

"Shh, that's just the way the heart works. It's a heavy burden that we love and hate at times, but it's the only thing to remind us that we're human."

"I know I want to get over him, I want to move on... but I can't."

"It's okay, that feelings natural. It'll all get better in time."

"Thank you, Alisa... It's been so long... since I've had someone hold me."

"Anytime... But what about Sora, doesn't he embrace you?"

"Sora's trapped just like me. He tries to reach out to me, but he can't."

"You love him?"

"Oh course."

"You seem a lot closer to him than you are with Soma."

"Of course I would be, why would you question that?" Umiko pulled away from Alisa's embrace to look at her questionably.

"You hold Sora close to you to the point he challenges and possibly beats Soma. What is he to you?"

"Isn't it obvious? He's my-"

"Hold on, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That sound. It sounds like a dripping water pipe."

"!" Fear coated her face for a second before nothingness came over it. "The monster cometh. It must have sense my vary of emotions.'

"What?" A banging sound went out through the room and shook the floor. "!"

"Just ignore it. And whatever you do, don't be afraid." But the banging got louder. Alisa looked toward the noise and saw that a window had appeared on the wall behind her.

"!" Out side it was a murky forest. The land was soaked and the trees were dead, it just look eery outside the room. And the worse part about it was with each bang... the window was getting closer. "(Gasp)!"

"Alisa don't!" Umiko could detect the fear building up inside Alisa and she needed to crush it before it grew. But it was too late, the monster had already gotten its clutches on Alisa.

Soon she found herself on the other side of the window, with Umiko looking out at her. The air was cold and the world was deadly silent. Fog revealed her shaky breath as her eyes frantically searched for the thing that was hiding out there. And then there it was...

"!"

"Alisa!" Umiko began to bang on the window.

"My God..."

"Alisa, you have to get out of here!"

"?!"

"I'm forced to survive here, you don't have to be."

"!" The thing was closing in on her.

"Alisa!"

"!" Alisa turned around to see Umiko on the other side of the window with her... out of her sanctuary.

"Just go!" Umiko pushed her.

*** (*) ***

Umiko pushed her... toward Soma. During that whole time Umiko and Alisa had become so numb, Umiko had let go of her grip on Soma as her tentacles slid back down to the floor. Then suddenly Alisa began screaming in hysteria until Umiko pushed Alisa away from her.

Even when Umiko pushed Alisa out of the Resonance, Alisa continued to shake. She slid to the ground and began to puke out a black substance as Soma held on to her shoulders.

"Alisa?! What's wrong?!"

"Oh God! Ugh!" Alisa groaned as she tried to pull herself together.

"I told you not to touch me." Umiko frigidly said to Alisa. They both looked back up to her, seeing that the emotions that she was displaying before were slowly fading back behind thick-skin and stony-eyes. Even still, she was in just as bad shape as Alisa. Sora had to support her shoulders as she embraced herself and shook uncontrollably.

"No. 2."

"!" Umiko's eyes widened at the sound of her Director's voice. She turned her head to see him approaching them, arms crossed behind him as Dr. Sakaki followed along.

"I hope you aren't causing our guest any trouble." Umiko stood tall, away from Sora's supporting hold as she faced her Director.

"Of course not, Director. Our guest just Resonated with me, a dangerous feat in itself."

"Hm." Garland then turned to look down at Alisa, who was still lightly shaking. "My apologies, Ms. Amiella. No. 2 tends to be... 'unstable' when she goes through an after-rush of emotions. It happens all the time when she first gets out of her God Arc Soldier. She usually calms down after a Resonance mission when we give her time in her 'Pleasant spot.'"

"Really?! I get to go today?!" Umiko happily cheered as she circled around Garland on her tentacles.

"You will if you behave."

"I'll be good, I promise." She said as she stood still and started to change back to normal.

"Hm, good. I think you deserve some kind of reward for the great work you did today."

"Yay!" Umiko cheered, clapping as she jumped up and down on her feet.

"Head over to the purification area before you go there." Garland reminder her as she ran off to the labs far back. Garland then turned to look back to Soma and Alisa. "You should take her back to her room to rest. I can only assume what she saw in No. 2's mind was... disturbing."

*** Hour's Later ***

"How are you feeling, Ms. Amiella?" Garland asked to her as the group finally decided to meet back up with him, once Alisa finally recovered.

"Much better, Sir."

"Care to tell us what it is you saw in No. 2?"

"No..."

"Hm, very well. Perhaps that can be saved for another time when you're ready."

"Where did Umiko go?" Soma asked, interrupting Garland's inquiring about Alisa before it drove him too far as to go through whatever means necessary to get the answer.

"Umiko is in the only place that she experiences the true feeling of 'happiness.'" Sora answered Soma, irritating Soma for reasons unfounded.

"And where is that?" Soma snorted back.

"This way." Sora said, leading the group to the labs in the back.

They entered a small room blocked off from the lab and the outside hallway. They were all sprayed with disinfectant, it caught Alisa off guard and annoyed Soma.

"I do apologize." Garland said to them as the lab door finally started to open. "We need to make sure no one brings outside germs to this sterile environment."

"Amazing." Alisa gasped in all as they entered a lab full of nothing but fresh water tanks filled with various aquatic life.

"I see, these are all organisms that can only survive in fresh water." Dr. Sakaki observed.

"Yes, most of these fish can't survive in their regular habitat due to the presence of Aragami." Garland explained. "This lab was created so that as many species as possible can survive extinction."

They all watched the fish swim around, allowing the calming effect of Fish Tanks sink in, when they saw something big move in the water.

"Umiko!" Alisa gasped as she saw her former Leader swimming downward with the fish.

"Get her out of there." Soma demanded to Garland with a slight panic.

"Relax, she's fine." Garland said. "She's enjoying herself in there."

"It's the only place when she can let herself go." Sora commented as he watched her follow a school of fish around. "She's so at home in there, it's almost like she is a child of the sea."

"Just leave her be in there, give her time to unwind." Garland explained.

"One day I'll give her a bigger place. Someday I'll take her to swim in the sea." Sora thought aloud, showing some signs of expressing himself for the first time.

Alisa looked at him then back at Umiko. Both of them were trapped in their own bodies, and if Sora was like Umiko there was a monster inside of him too. And if no one did anything to help them... they could be gone forever.