"It held up pretty well… considering you drove it directly into a missile."

- Julian Wilkes

"Your nine lives are up, you little Florince shit!" The shadow of Tomoe's towering bardiche descended on Kazuya and Akane's helpless forms as the Valkyrie leader screamed in murderous rage.

They were alone. They were abandoned. Akane couldn't even gather the strength to Materialise her GEM for a final defensive. This was going to be the miserable end of their lives. The end of all of their failures.

Suddenly, metal clashed against metal when it should have cleaved through flesh and bone. Kazuya's hazy eyes looked up from the rubble and saw Ahn Lu blocking Tomoe's swing with her battle staff.

The ground beside the fallen couple rumbled like a miniature earthquake as another stout green Otome landed beside them. Haruka spun her enormous chain flail over her head to ward off the eight Valkyries.

Arika and Nina descended from the dreary sky on Kazuya's other side. The charred gray dust surrounding him and Akane seemed to come to life as Chie and her three Delta Otomes crept out from their camouflage. The most powerful guardians from Windbloom, An Nam, and Aries had all combined forces to support the couple in their desperate hour.

"Cardair's staying on our side! When you attack our friends, you're attacking us!" Arika shouted as she hovered three feet off the ground in her Sapphire Robe. "Sister Akane might not be perfect, but at least she's not working for Nagi like you creeps!"

"I won't let this happen again," Nina coldly vowed as she pointed her Neptune Robe's tuning fork toward the Valkyries. Akane wasn't the only one who knew what it was like to have her castle ransacked. Akane wasn't the only one who remembered Erstin.

"Don't give up yet, guys! You can always count on the Windbloom Coloration!" The Continental Orb Topaz exclaimed to Kazuya and Akane with a proud wink.

"Haruka, dear… You mean the Windbloom Coalition," President Yukino's nervous but formal-sounding voice chimed through Haruka's GEM. Everyone in close proximity wearing the special ear studs could hear her broadcast.

Dorothy of the Delta Otome team formed a protective line along with Chie, Haruka, and Ahn Lu. She glanced down at Kazuya with a courteous nod.

"Akane did a pretty good job hiding you. We couldn't pick up her signal anywhere after the palace was evacuated. We had to wait for those Valkyrie wackos to lead us to you. Old trick we learned from Sister Mahya."

Delta Gigi knelt in the rubble on Kazuya's left. Akane had hardly moved in his arms since she passed out. Gigi carefully rested her gloved palm over the frail Otome's sweat-soaked forehead, and seemingly entered a trance as her microscopic nanotech communicated with Akane's.

"It's just fatigue," Gigi reported in a quiet voice. "Really, really bad fatigue. But she'll be fine."

Delta Jessica knelt toward Kazuya's right. Her eyes leaned toward his with concern.

"You've been connected to her GEM for a couple days. You must be feeling some of it too, Master Kazuya."

The young powerless emperor nodded in defeat. He felt like he could black out at any second, but he still tried to sit up in the rubble. In his borderline delirium, he suddenly felt the urge to give more of his life to his Otome so she could keep fighting, even when he had nothing left to give.

"Akane and I can…"

"Akane and you aren't moving an inch until we've got the site secure," Chie firmly instructed from the center of her group. "Just stay with her and keep doing what you're doing for her. You're the best recharge station she's got."

Kazuya bowed his head obediently and closed his eyes. What little strength he had left was devoted to holding Akane's limp and curled frame in his lap. He could lose her at any moment, and he couldn't risk letting go of her now.

Arika, Nina, and most of the Deltas were already in a skirmish with Tomoe's band of black pseudo-Otomes. Haruka was about to send her mace sailing in the enemy's direction, but not before she gave Kazuya and his partner one more good shout.

"What were you two thinking hogging the whole fight for yourselves? Akane's never going to become Mrs. Kraut-zaku without our help!"

"That's Krau-xeku, Haruka…" Yukino timidly corrected her on the radio.

Ahn Lu glanced over her shoulder and offered Kazuya an encouraging smile just before she sprang into attack.

"You're awfully lucky you ended up with my Little Sis as your Meister." An Nam's royal princess playfully chuckled from the corner of her mouth. "She's cute when she sleeps."

The heroic defenders launched into battle against the barbarian invaders. Eight divine Meister Otomes against eight artificial Valkyries was more than a fair fight to protect Cardair's future.

The exhausted Pure Heart Malachite stirred against Kazuya's heart. Her voice was too weak to make out the words, but she was murmuring in fear.

"We'll be okay, Akane," Kazuya whispered as he pet and kissed the top of her head, trying to comfort her over the sounds of the intense battle surrounding them. "It's all just a bad dream. We'll tell our kids all about how Otomes saved us when they're growing up."

Akane's shivering faded. Her resting face started to glow with a small hopeful smile as she purred.

"Kazu… mm…"

Author's note: This is an "alternate" ending set in an "alternate" timeline from the first chapter. The main difference is Akane isn't even strong enough to morph in this version. It gives you a more definitive ending, but I think it cheapens the emotional weight from the first chapter. I personally consider it as "This COULD be how it ends, but probably not."

Author's note 2: Maybe this is the version that happens in the "Heimermoon Hijinks" universe. The foreshadowing is certainly there.

Author's note 3: You might be wondering what happened to Yamhure and Izabel, the OC Otomes mentioned in the first chapter? Unfortunately, they're still being two minor characters named named Yamhure and Izabel stuck in a Teito Moyu-like situation. Things probably aren't turning around for them any time soon. :(