Chapter 16: The Conversation
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Bridget's counseling office seems to be dark and gloomy instead of bright and cheerful. Her room is Steampunk like, with the walls are colored in dark beige and has the design of clockworks. It is surrounded with many pocketwatches that has different time zones from all over the world. Her furniture is made of metal that has the designs of swirls and mechanical gears. Her bookshelves were hanging from above that only a ladder could only reach it. Her glass butterfly chandelier served as the light of her office. One of the most featured things in her office is her mechanical butterfly that lacks its hind wings, almost the same as 9's mechanical butterfly though hers is already dusty.
9 and Aliana are seated in the chairs that has the designs of butterflies, though Aliana is seating in a rocking chair that Bridget is always having fun seating while she is reading.
Aliana: Go back.
9: What?
Aliana: Go back to normal.
9: But how?
Aliana: Do what they did.
He remembers that his classmates touched their brooch or their badges to turn back to normal. He tries to touch his brooch, but it didn't even glow or something.
9: Huh? Why didn't it work? I saw the others turn back when they did it.
Aliana: That's because you forgot something in order to turn back.
9: What is it?
Aliana: Your most valuable possession: Memories.
9: Memories? I need memories to turn back.
Aliana: Not necessarily that you need memories, you can use your recent memories to turn back. Though you have to use a powerful memory that you ever had. Like what happened to Mr. Membrane, who used the memories of his friend's death that made him also powerful. That poor boy...
9: I still don't understand. I don't memories of my past, I can't overwhelm myself to use my recent ones. I don't know what to choose.
Aliana: Now that's tricky...
Of all the students she has, 9 is probably the most difficult. Not only he just woke up in 2012, but because of his missing past.
Then it hit her pretty hard.
Aliana: Of all of your memories, try to remember the last word that you will ever hear in your entire life.
9: What will happen if I don't?
Aliana: I have to force myself to hit you hard in the head until you pass out.
That probably scares him a little, he doesn't want to be hit in the head again. 9 closes his eyes and concentrates quite hard to think what he wanted.
And it was Hope.
Last hope...Last hope...
A glow of green light came to 9's brooch that surrounds him until it consumes his whole body with the light. He is scared and confused while Aliana was calm like she already knew what will happen to him. When the light already surrounds 9, it suddenly breaks down and the light scattered to the surroundings in a shape of butterflies.
And instead of 9's new suit, it reverts back to his usual lab coat but the sweater was excluded for some reason. It now exposed 9's arms with those strange markings. 9 hide his arms in embarrassment and worry. However, Aliana seems she didn't care but she still wanted to know where 9 got them.
Aliana: Elijah, where did you get those markings on your arms?
9: *looks to his arms* I…don't know. A comet hit me and all of a sudden I got this on my arms.
Aliana: The Alumni Comet?! *shocked* A comet?! When? How?
9: I went to the cemetery to visit Bridget, when a girl just attacked me. She said she was Bridget's sister.
Aliana: Salvacion...You disobeyed the principal's orders from being forbidden to go outside to Bridget's funeral?! Why?!
Aliana: I still can't believe Bridget chose him for a fragile doll! But why?! Why did she choose him?! After all of those accidents, why?! He already caused many accidents. *grabs 9's shoulders and squeezes it slowly* Elijah, I had to know. Why? Why did she choose you? Why did she gave you her necklace?
9: I don't know...She said that it'll be the Last Hope for the school before something bad happens.
Aliana: I see...The same reason that your classmates had.
9: What do you mean? My classmates had the same reason why they became Vigilantes.
Aliana sighs as she stands up to get the book on the bookshelf, the book that she chose was a brass colored journal that is designed with old century storybooks. There is a bookmark that lays at the end page of the journal. It seems to be very old since there are scratches and ripped parts of the cover.
Aliana: Have you ever heard of Inheritance? This isn't a Science topic, Elijah. It's something else.
9: ...No.
To tell the truth, he actually does. The term 'Inheritance' is when someone gave a similar trait to the other. Probably it is for Science!
Aliana: In Science, specifically Biology, Inheritance is what it is called because it gives a trait of one's DNA to the other. Like a Daughter Inherits Beauty from the Mother and Character from her Father...some of them...In this case that we have, that term is used when someone's powers were passed on to someone he or she is very close to. This is what I call 'The Inheritance Ceremony'.
9: Inheritance Ceremony?
Aliana: It's a Ceremony that when a person who is close to someone and dies, the person who is dead passes their powers to his/her beloved ones and use their powers for good and continue their legacy to their future incarnation and the cycle goes on until the end. At this case, Bridget passed her powers to you. The process of this continues until something very bad happens that will destruct the Inheritance Ceremony.
9: Would that happen?
Aliana: I'm not sure. But I think we should see the others now. My guess they're waiting for us for a long time.
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he two walked to the Section Anima room when they hear a screech.
When they opened the door, they met Kyoko's ridiculously angry face. It almost burst them into laughter from the looks of her face that she isn't satified whoever did that to her, specifically Lettuce. You see, Lettuce's friend , Jasmine Robins, is the school's nurse who cured the students...which ended up in a horrifying way. And now since Lettuce is the group's medic, she got Jasmine's ability which made the other members horrified.
9 sees the students on bandage on their injured parts, he notice Mirai isn't here anymore.
Kyoko is seen trying to resist the pain while Lettuce tried to heal her. When she saw the two, Kyoko jumped up exposing her injured part.
Kyoko: Finally! What took you so long?
Aliana: I think you deserve a good healing for a while.
Finn: But you know we heal quickly.
Aliana: That's because Lettuce 'healed' you, am I right?
Finn: *laughs sheepishly* It really hurts.
Kyoko: I really blame Jasmine for giving Lettuce her healing ability.
Aliana: Anyways, I hope you are ready for the initiation so we could do our training tomorrow.
Kyoko: YES! Let's go!
She grabbed Finn's backpack and race off to the door. Even though Kyoko never had any speed enhancement, she is really fast. 9 is dumbstruck by that, and not only the thing called Initiation.
9: What was that all about?
Mickey: *chuckles* Kyoko is just excited about the Initiation.
9: Initiation?
Phineas: When you became a Vigilante, you have to take the Initiation. Don't worry, you'll see it when we get there. But first...RACE!
9: What the-? Wait for me!
Aliana: Just make sure you don't run to trouble! *sighs, facepalms* My Goddess...
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TheThe students raced quite far away from their room, Kyoko and Finn were the first to get out but they caught on Tails who is using his tails as propelers. No one says that there is no cheating though, yet they were quite unamused. When they reached the faculty room, Tails was the one who finished first.
Kyoko: That's not fair! You cheated!
Tails: I didn't cheat, that's how my speed is. I'm not even good at using Enhanced Speed yet.
Kyoko: I don't believe you.
Tails: Where are the others?
Finn: There they are!
The remaining students came to Aliana's office; Mordecai-Lettuce-Dib-Phineas-Mickey-then 9 became the last one to come in exhaustion
Mordecai: We really need a shortcut.
Mickey: I'm with you...Phew!
Dib: We could have used the shortcut on the Corridor of Lockers.
Kyoko: I don't think so, Dib. There's an incident where the student went to there and she never returns!
9: Why? What happened?
Dib: That rumor is classified information!
Aliana finally came to them and opened the door to the office. The office seems to be very eerie fromthe inside since the faculty took a large amount of space which it is ver large, they stopped to a room that has a lock which only Aliana can open it. She detach her maiden ribbon which has a key that is hidden to a diamond.
[BGM: Incertus by Yuki Kajiura]
It reveals a room with a stone round table. The table has its each slots that somehow it fits to the students badges and brooch. There are chambers has its shape of either an animal or insect which also has their corresponding colors to it.
The only chamber that 9 noticed the most is the chamber that is in the middle has the shape of a butterfly, the chamber looks already abandoned. There were cobwebs and dust bunnies that were isolated to the chamber. Maybe the abandoned chamber really belongs to 9.
The students transformed and placed their badges and brooch on each of the corresponding slots. The badge light up and sends a path of light to the chambers. The light reveals the color of the students' chambers, revealing stained glass windows of their pasts that lead to the Fate they are in now.
Aliana: This...this is the place is called 'The Memorium' a place where the student mostly holds their memory of my previous students.
9: Does that mean Bridget is your student?
Aliana: Of course, a long time before she became the Guidance Counselor of the school. The chamber you saw is now yours. When one of my previous student...dies, he/she gave their necklace which made this...And now since you inherit Bridget's necklace, I suggest you do it now so we could start our training tomorrow.
9: Training?
Aliana: Yes, I want to make it tomorrow because your training would be a little bit different from the others. It might take a while to master your ability.
9: Why? Does Bridget's powers are hard to control?
Aliana: Not hard, DIFFERENT. You see, the power you have is based on the Human Soul, Energy, and Life. It's called Spirit Manipulation. The powers I have trained for the students were the most common powers like Mordecai's power to manipulate Fire with his own hands and Tails able to use gravity to control tides every night. This can be hard because my theory is that not all of my students had a good temper when it comes to be Inherited.
9: Oh...
Aliana: So, shall we begin?
The students backed away from a good distance to 9, he doesn't know why they should. But all he had to do now is to put his brooch on the slot and on with the training tomorrow. He transformed from his lab coat to his cloak. He removes his brooch (But his cloak was still intact) and placed it to his slot that connects to the abandoned chamber.
When he placed his brooch to the slot, the brooch glows blindly that it lit up to the place. The light travels to the abandoned chamber causing the cobwebs and dust to disintegrate and the light then lit the chamber that has the shape of a butterfly. The stained glass shows his recent history before his transformation without revealing his missing past.
9 stares in amazement until he saw something glowing near him, his arms that have the strange symbol glows to a green light. And then he feels something that something behind him is empty. He looked to his back and saw his cloak formed into a butterfly wing.
Then after that the light then disappears along with his cloak reverts back.
And it ends with his brooch the only one that lights up.
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I am...
The Spirit Butterfly of Hopes and Memories...
I am Elijah Oppenheimer!
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End of Day 8