Chapter 28
"Get off me!" Varen screamed as Roxanne pushed him back onto the ground. He fought against her furiously, but the Pandora proved stronger than he imagined.
"You'll only get in her way stay down!" Roxanne yelled back at him. Far ahead of them Chiffon dashed back and forth avoiding blasts of energy being directed down at her from the Nova. A large orb of energy formed around the center mass of the Nova gathering strength as she closed the distance.
"No…" Varen gasped feeling his implanted stigmata pulse violently. Long black protrusions grew out of Chiffon's back similar to the Pandora who lost themselves to Amelia's resonations. Hers grew longer until they shifted outwards to either side of her body. The shields that were rotating around her body maneuvered behind her as well interlocking with the protrusions until they formed a fixed pair of wings.
"That form…" Arnette said in awe watching as Chiffon blinked out of sight and reappeared floating in front of Amelia.
"The first Nova clash was stopped by a single woman. A woman who fought the Nova off until she sacrificed herself to stop an unknown Nova type. She did so using the same weapons Chiffon now wields." Ticy said as much to herself as to everyone else.
"Anti-Nova." Attia said to which Ticy nodded slowly.
"The weapons of Maria Lancelot, the most powerful Pandora to ever live." Ticy finished.
"Please, let me go!" Varen cried. Roxanne pinned him to the ground as Shi-Jing kneeled down pressing a set of gauze against his wound that was still bleeding heavily.
"I get it! You want to help, but you can't! All you will do is die from your injuries before you can even get close! Don't you get it? She's fighting for all of us! Don't make it all for nothing by dying!" Roxanne screamed in his face.
The sphere of energy erupted from the center of the Nova racing towards Chiffon who floated high above the ground. Just before it hit her the beam deviated off her in multiple directions causing small explosions wherever they impacted. Miraculously they were all diverted away from the people in the open field.
"She took that head on and it didn't even scratch her." Arnette said amazed. Chiffon teleported forward slashing her gauntlets at the Nova with all her strength. A section of the chest shattered revealing the core of the Nova. The single weak point that would ensure the death of it. She shifted again using Illusion Turn, but a pulse of energy shoved her back and the broken section reformed closing off.
"Please, Roxanne don't do this!" Varen yelled tears falling down his face.
"I'm sorry. I won't let you die for nothing." She responded holding her grip firmly on his shoulders.
"Why? Why are you doing this?" Chiffon heard the voice, but it felt like it was something within her. Not an audible voice, but rather something coming from her subconscious. An intense feeling of anger and even worse, hate, filled her and it buckled her mind.
"What's happening?" Attia asked as the Nova stopped as well as Chiffon who once more floated in the air before the Nova.
"I don't know." Ticy responded watching on.
"I understand your anger." Chiffon said facing Amelia. The two faced each other using their Nova energy and stigmata to project themselves into each other's subconscious. They floated weightlessly in a void, Amelia's face tear streaked, while Chiffon looked on in sympathy.
"You know what they've done to us. They used us as rats, took everything from us, and killed us!" Amelia screamed.
"It is human nature to hurt one another. It is one of the many flaws that make up the human race. But, we aren't human…are we?" Chiffon said making Amelia stop.
"You aren't human. Then you understand!" Amelia stated.
"I do. You saw your friends in pain, even die. All for the greed of humanity in a foolish pursuit to find more power. You want to exact revenge for those sins and make them pay." Chiffon answered and Amelia nodded, tears still falling down her face.
"Yes! They deserve to die for what they've done!" Amelia shouted.
"I'm a selfish woman Amelia. Very selfish and possessive. I always have been, since I was born. The things I have, I cannot part with. The people I love, I will never give up. Maybe, I'm more human than I thought." Chiffon said smiling.
"You know what they've done! You can't do this!" Amelia roared.
"The sins laid against you are great Amelia. So great that I understand why you cannot see past your hatred. Destroying everyone will not bring your friends back. Nothing you do here and now, will ever bring them back." Chiffon answered sadly. Amelia clawed at her head shaking back and forth.
"I hate them! I hate them all!"
"Please, just this once…forgive them." Chiffon begged. Amelia glared at her full of fury.
"I'll make it all disappear!" She answered throwing Chiffon out of her subconscious bringing her back to where she floated above the ground. The Nova ahead of her shifted shape curling down into a giant sphere that pulsed with energy.
"No…no!" The Chevalier Pandora near them shouted pointing at the scene before them.
"It's preparing to implode! The blast will destabilize this entire region!" Another Chevalier Pandora yelled in fear. Chiffon continued to float above the Nova that continued to pulse and gather energy. Varen arched his back feeling the stigmata on his back send a wave of pain through his body. Roxanne struggled to keep him in place along with Shi-Jing.
"He's going to die if we don't keep him down!" Shi-Jing said. Arnette and Attia fell to their knees and held him in place fighting off their tears. Roxanne leaned down near his face looking him in the eyes.
"Everything is going to be alright." She said softly. It brought back memories of when he saw his sister and what she had said making him break down further. Chiffon looked back over her shoulder from far away and lowered her head.
"So…a price must be paid." She said out loud. "Alright, I'm ready."
Varen blinked and found himself lying once more in that world of pure white nothingness. All his pain and wounds were gone and he quickly jumped to his feet frantically looking around. Chiffon stood behind him watching him with a smile.
"What, is this?" He asked and she stepped forward grabbing his hand.
"A Limiter's power comes from the Pandora's stigmata he inherits. You gain the ability to create a field that affects those with stigmata. That is how it can be used as a weapon, but it is so much more than that. Normal Limiter's lack the stigma cells necessary to utilize it for what it really is. A tool to communicate with those who carry stigmata." She explained.
"I don't understand." He said.
"You will, with time. It is why Attia and Arnette continue to see you when they sleep. Why you have your visions that you struggle with. You don't know it, but you are reaching out subconsciously and touching them. You alone can do it as you share not only the abilities of a Limiter, but the necessary stigma cells needed to enact it." She continued.
"Then this…" He trailed off and she nodded.
"Yes, this is the very same. I'm so very happy to see you one more time." She said still smiling.
"What is happening outside of here?" He asked and Chiffon looked around for a few seconds.
"Time continues, so we do not have much of it left. I cannot help Amelia like I hoped. She has been lost to the anger that consumes her for what Chevalier has done to her. I wish things did not have to be this way, but there is no calming her." She said.
"It's over then." He said defeated.
"No, it's not over. This is only another beginning. I…told my father about you and me. About how I'd found what human love was. He was very upset it was quite funny really." She giggled. Varen squeezed her hand and pulled her close.
"Yeah, too bad I didn't get to meet him." Varen answered and she looked up at him.
"You will. Please tell him that I found happiness with you and everyone. Tell Arnette and Attia to stay strong and keep pushing themselves. Hold nothing back. Let Elizabeth know she is the strongest Pandora I've had the privilege to be friends with." Chiffon said her voice beginning to crack.
"Chif what are you doing stop it!" Varen argued as tears fell from her eyes.
"And Ticy…please tell her. I'm so very sorry." She choked burying her head in his chest. Varen gripped her back pulling her against him hard.
"Chiffon! Don't you do this!" He screamed as he felt her form beginning to dissipate and lose substance.
"I can only give you one last gift. When the time comes you will know when to use it. No matter how hard things get, if you smile true happiness will always find you." She said reaching up and holding his face.
"Chif!" He cried as she leaned forward kissing him.
"You can't save everyone my love." His eyes snapped open as the Nova reached critical and exploded in a huge ball of light. They shielded their eyes from the harshness of it as they waited for the energy to wash over them. No one could hear Varen screaming over the sound of the explosion echoing across the landscape.
A pillar of light raced towards the sky pulling in the energy from the Nova and sending it high into the heavens. The ground shook as the vast amount of kinetic energy passed into the pillar and disappeared. As the explosion receded everyone dared to take a breath trying to understand what had just happened. Beneath them Varen sobbed violently covering his face with his hands.
"You…why?" Amelia asked seeing Chiffon once more within her subconscious.
"I'm sorry for the pain you've felt Amelia. No one should endure what you have. So I have chosen to bear the burden of accepting your revenge on behalf of all humanity." Chiffon said as her skin began to disintegrate.
"Chiffon…" Amelia cried reaching out for her.
"Let's just call it even for now, alright?" Chiffon said with a smile as her form broke apart and vanished.
A large swath of land where the Nova once stood was now a charred section. The snow and upper layers of dirt blown away by the explosion. In the center a young woman lay curled up unconscious, but very much alive. Her white hair with a single red streak covered her face as she lay silently.
Roxanne took her weight off Varen and looked out in the distance taking a deep breath. The others did the same only now realizing they were still alive. Small traces of light flitted through the air like flakes of snow landing on them. It filled them with warmth and Attia pulled the slice in her tactical pants open in astonishment as the cut on her thigh closed.
"Whoa!" Attia cried out feeling no further pain and flexed her leg to test it.
"What is all this? Have you ever seen…" Arnette said looking back down at Varen seeing him still wracked with emotion. He didn't notice or care that his chest no longer hurt. Or that he could now breathe without trouble. None of that mattered to him and instead he wished the pain would return. He wanted any sort of feeling to return as he desperately reached out for Chiffon through his stigmata and received nothing in return. The link they had shared for over a year was no more. He clawed at the snow covered ground as everyone watched and began to understand what had happened.
"Chiffon…" He choked out knowing that the woman he had loved more than life itself. Who he only just planned to marry, was dead.