Chapter 29: Revelations and Resolve

In a place of a sprawling blue sky, green hills, and flowing water from hovering islands above, the leaders of the World of Mana were gathered underneath a gazebo that overlooked a seaside cliff. The unprecedented attack on Arzenal by the DRAGONs had immediately drawn their concern, Rosenblum in particular as Arzenal was under their jurisdiction. Misurugi as well, due to being in charge of Singular control. All in all, one could surmise this meeting as a source of two countries mucking up their jobs. And watching over all of it was Cipher. The presence of the masked man wasn't making the leaders feel at ease either. At its base, Embryo sat and read as the simulated Fauns of the Grotto clustered around him.

"To think the DRAGONs would launch such an attack." Grumbled the emperor of Galia, a gruff man in a brown uniform.

"These Para-mails…" the king of Rosenblum noted as he examined the red Para-mail with the Discord Phasers and the twin-drive machine. "They aren't really the DRAGONs' are they?"

"It's the Misurugi royal family's duty to manage the Singulars." The dusky-skinned Queen of the Velda Dynasty reminded them. "Holy Emperor Julio, please explain." 'If only they knew why.' Cipher thought, glancing back at the man sitting under the tree. 'But it's under your orders we leave that part out. May as well let the boy save some face.'

"There's no sign that the Dawn Pillar was activated." Julio said, his brow furrowed in irritation.

"That's impossible!" Snapped the general secretary of the Marmeria Republic, a short and portly man who compensated for his stature with his voice.

"We must restore Arzenal and reinforce it immediately. We're lucky the damage was kept to a minimum." The king proposed.

"We can't." Galia's emperor waved his hand, and two images were brought up: the Villkiss and Wyvern, both glowing in their empowered states. "Not when we know these two machines are active again."

"Those machines… they can't…" The leader of the Enderant Union gasped. "The Villkiss and Wyvern? But how?!

"They should have been destroyed in the revolt ten years ago!" The King stated.

"You!" The secretary-general snapped at Cipher. "Didn't you have a personal hand in that battle? How are those two units still around?!"

"It's likely they were salvaged after the fact." Cipher said. "Just because something is broken doesn't mean it can't be recovered." 'And besides, Master Embryo would rather not lose one of his prized possessions and the machine that's caught his curiosity.' "We are lucky that they weren't. Were it not for the Wyvern's presence, Arzenal would likely have been completely blown away. You ironically have the Norma to thank for keeping yourselves on the safe side of this disaster."

"You dare…?!" The portly man objected, freezing when Cipher's mask turned towards him. A chill ran down the man's spine and he went quiet, sitting back down. "Rosenblum is meant to oversee Arzenal, so how was it the presence of these machines went unnoticed?"

"The commanding officer never reported anything out of the ordinary." Galia's emperor remarked. "Was she duped by the Norma? And didn't you also send a special investigator to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary? Talk about incompetent."

"No wonder your daughter was so easily captured by Norma." The secretary general's dry remark brought Cipher to loudly sigh. He never cared for the squabbling between political leaders. It always devolved into this level of petty bickering and insults. 'And people honestly believe there's peace in this world. What a farce. These louts are only kept from going at each other by the fact they have a common enemy to focus on.' He thought.

"How dare you!" The King growled, slamming a fist on the table. "I won't allow Misty to be insulted by the likes of you!"

"Calm down, both of you." Julio said.

"Silence, boy!" The king snapped. "It was your sister who took my daughter!"

"That thing is no longer my sister." Julio said, his voice going cold.

"Do you think we'll accept such an excuse?" The secretary-general growled. "Were it not for your actions several months ago, she never would have been at Arzenal. Perhaps we would have avoided this chain of events!"

"And you'd say that knowing now she's a Norma?" Julio challenged. "If I hadn't exposed her for what she was when my foolish parents insisted on hiding her true nature, it could have turned into something far more chaotic for us."

"Tch, you and your family of criminals!"

"Enough!" The queen said. "We need to discuss how we'll protect the world instead of arguing amongst ourselves."

"If we can't rely on the Norma…" the Enderant Union leader said. "Will we humans ourselves have to do battle?" The statement brought silence among the leaders. Such a thought was unthinkable. The sudden clap of a book being shut broke the silence as Embryo stood up. His long blonde hair glinted in the sunlight as his green eyes glanced across his shoulder to the leaders.

"You're all hopeless."

"M-Master Embryo…" The king stammered.

"Truly hopeless." Embryo said, flicking his bangs to the side as he approached the table. "We have several options before us. One, to surrender unconditionally to the DRAGONs." The leaders gasped at the very idea. Truly the absolute worst-case scenario. "Two, to wipe out the DRAGONs."

"But that's unthinkable." The queen said.

"Quite right." Embryo nodded. "Then, that leaves us with option three: To remake the world. Destroy it all and reset it. Kill the pests, replace the dirt, and purify the world." 'The only real option he would allow.' Cipher thought.

"To destroy and rebuild it…" Julio murmured. "Can such a thing be done?"

"It certainly can." Embryo said, a finger brushing the bird perched on his shoulder. "Of course, first we would need all of the Ragna-mail and appropriate riders for them. Acquiring the Wyvern and its pilot will also be a priority. The abilities it holds are most valuable, and in the wrong hands it could become… problematic."

"Brilliant!" Julio said with an elated expression as he leaped out of his seat. "Then what are we waiting for? It was all a mistake to begin with. That Norma can exist at all, that the world needs them, it's all a mistake."

"Are you mad?" The secretary-general objected. "Are you saying we should just abandon our entire world?"

"Can any of you propose other methods?" Julio challenged. To no surprise, nobody answered.

"It may just be our only option." Galia's Emperor knitted his hands, a tense expression on his face.

"Then here. Feel free to use the tools in the yard." Embryo approached Julio and handed the young man a key. "I'll have Cipher accompany you of course. Do be careful, Julio."

"You can trust in me, Lord Embryo!" Julio said.

"And, Cipher, you know what to do." Cipher took a bow as Embryo walked back over.

"As you command, Lord Embryo. I will ensure the Villkiss and Wyvern are retrieved. Also…" he said as he rose. "I suggest we deploy those altered Para-mails that were being developed by Galia. The drones are effective, but with the forces Arzenal still has and the presence of the dissidents, we may need to act with extra precaution."

"A sensible suggestion." Embryo chuckled. "They've needed testing anyway. The mass application of Mana control systems in Para-mail has been a long time coming. See to it then."

"Sir." As Cipher bowed his head, the space around him and Julio, along with everyone else in it, faded away, leaving them in Julio's office within the imperial palace. And standing to the side was Riza. Cipher had to wonder just how much longer Embryo was going to allow the woman to keep her ruse going.

"We're leaving, Riza." Julio and the head guard left. Cipher followed and glanced back for a moment. A chuckle left him as he did. He'd long since found it out thanks to his mask's scanning functions that the room was bugged. 'Whoever was sly enough to plant a bug in this office must have heard everything… it'll make the coming battle more interesting. Would be a shame to have it easy. All the better to get our enemies in one place.'


Tusk let out a breath as he removed his finger from the button feeding the bug's receiver signal to him. He'd been camping outside of the palace for days waiting to get something out of his carefully placed device, and he was getting a little tired of sleeping in woods and waiting under the escape tunnel. At least back at the island, he had a proper shelter, even if it was literally a hole in the wall.

"They're playing a dangerous hand." He murmured, stowing the radio and hopping onto his Air Runner. "I need to get this back to Dission so he can warn Leon and Alain."

The Air Runner burst from the tunnel and shot into the woods. As he set off, Tusk felt more than a passing concern. He was confident in Arzenal's ability to hold its own, but like most, he knew they didn't have the resources for anything prolonged. 'Ange, Alain, it'll be up to you two to hold out until we can get there.'


With night arriving, everyone on Arzenal was busy attempting to recover what they could from the damages. As kept to a minimum as they were, with some functions of the base rendered offline, it meant staff members were working overtime to get things done. Repairing damage done to structures by the DRAGONs, gathering any dead, repairing Para-mail, and making sure everything was in form for whatever came next.

Topside, Jasmine was using a bulldozer to gather up the dead Schooners and shoving them into a dug-out hole. 'A mass grave is still a mass grave.' The older Norma thought. 'Gonna have to make sure none of them are around here once we light it up.' She hated the thought of it, but there was some secrets that had to be kept. She didn't want to think how some of the girls would react to learning what they were really fighting the entire time.


The infirmary was, to Maggy's annoyance, a complete mess as wounded were being taken in by the dozen. Her staff were moving as fast as they could, and she was close to passing out from exhaustion herself. She could only be glad that the pilot casualties were at a minimum. And then there was the problem of Emma. The young woman had been quiet ever since Leon had brought her to the infirmary amid all of the chaos, and Maggy was cautious as she approached her.

"You good?" Only to get her hand bat away as she reached forward.

"Don't touch me!" She shouted, hiding her face with her hands. Maggy sighed as she stood and put a hand to her head. 'Just what the hell even happened to her? Leon said she reacted to a DRAGON's roar in an odd way… is that why they have us Norma fight them?' she wondered. 'And then there's still our other problem… I hope we have a few days at least.'


After taking stock of their defenses, Jill called all of the pilots who were still in shape to fight to the hangar for a meeting. She was at least reassured that with their losses at a minimum it wouldn't require any serious restructuring.

"So this is everyone?" She asked as her eyes scanned over the gathered pilots. "Good to see most of you survived. Who here has command experience?" Hilda and the remaining squadron Captains raised their hands. "Good. Hilda, you'll be taking over as Captain for Garm Squadron from here on. Ersha and Vivian will act as your joint lieutenants."

"What?!" Chris gasped.

"But she's a deserter!" Rosalie shouted. "You'd make a deserter a captain?"

"What about Salia?" Chris asked.

"She's in confinement for disobeying orders." Jill said.

"If you have a problem with it, then do it yourselves." Hilda said, making Rosalie flinch.

"W-Well, if it's the Commander's orders…" Rosalie stammered. "I guess we have no choice. Right Chris?" Chris hurriedly nodded along as Alain shook his head and sighed.

"For now, para-mail troops are to organize themselves and stand by on alert. Dismissed." The pilots saluted to her, and Jill returned the gesture as she turned away, lighting a cigarette and pulling out a slip of paper. It was somehow fitting that amidst all of this she should get a message from Tusk. "Destroy and rebuild, huh?" 'I imagine he's also gotten this through to CROSS… damn that boy. They're going to shove themselves into this no matter what I say now.' To Jill's ire, as if on cue, Leon entered from the stair well, absent his disguise now that there wasn't any real need for it. "What now?"

"I know you got Tusk's message too." Leon stated. "At this point neither Arzenal nor CROSS have a choice but to do something. They'll be coming here, and it won't be peaceful."

"So, something is going on." Jill turned, being faced with Ange and Momoka. "My detention is over, right?"

"It is."

"Then tell me everything. You said you would."

"Right now, when we're busy as hell?"

"Jill." Leon said. "She released Villkiss's final lock. She deserves to know. All of them deserve to know what's really going on."

"He's right." Ange said. "Who do you think saved everyone?"

"If we're being honest Alain did half of that." Jill countered. "It was him and Wyvern that kept the base from being damaged. You just made sure they didn't get a second chance."

"Well not like you have to tell him anything." Ange said. "So, tell me what I need to know."

"Fine. But ditch the maid." Jill and Ange left, Leon watching them, sighing as he turned to the gathered pilots off the other way.

"What are you going to do now, Sir Leon?" Momoka asked between a yawn, her eyes drooping from sleepiness.

"What I said; tell them the truth about what this world is." Leon said, stepping past Momoka. "Oi! Alain, you lot from Garm, mind holding up?"

"Eh? Now?" Hilda turned as they were setting off, Naomi, Ersha, Chris, and Rosalie stopping as well. "In case you've forgotten, we've got a lot going on. Can't you to save it until later?"

"What I've got to say is important." Leon said. "You wanted answers too, right, Hilda? Well, this is it."

"Hold on?" Rosalie asked. "You're… the same guy from before right?"

"You… look kind of familiar." Chris murmured.

"There's a reason for that." Leon remarked. "And now's the best time to tell you what's going on. Right, Alain?"

"He's right." Alain agreed. "No use waiting around even if it's going to be busy. We've got some time."

"Alright then Leon, what's this oh-so-important deal?" Hilda folded her arms.

"Huh? Wait a second, where's Vivi?" Ersha looked around, and then they realized Vivian wasn't in sight. "Did she already go to bed?"

"We'll get her later. Probably already asleep if she did run off." Hilda said. "I wanna know what this is about first. I've been waiting to get answers anyway."

"Of course. Well then, follow me. We'll talk by Wyvern." Leon gestured at the group as he walked off. "You'll want to hear the AI's input too."


To Ange's bemusement, Jill had taken her from the hangar all the way to the bath. Why the woman was choosing to tell her what she wanted to know in the onsen was beyond her.

"Why here?" Ange asked, Jill chuckling as she raised her prosthetic out of the water.

"Secrets should be shared when completely exposed." Jill said. "So, what do you want to know first?"

"Everything, from the beginning." Ange said. "About the DRAGONs, about those two me and Alain saw. About Villkiss and Wyvern. About my mother's song, and…" she smirked a bit. "your relationship with that Leon guy and his people. Everything."

"Alright." Jill said, clearing her throat. "Long, long ago, there was God. God was tired of seeing war after war, of seeing people do nothing but destroy themselves and the earth in ruins."

"Wait, what?" Ange said, an annoyed look on her face.

"Everything from the beginning, right?" Jill responded, throwing Ange's own words back at her.


Once Leon had brought Garm and Alain to Wyvern, he'd leaned up against the machine and began his story. And he wasn't surprised when the girls gave him questioning looks about the topic at hand.

"A God? Really?" Hilda muttered.

"This isn't some fairy tale is it?" Chris asked.

"It's not. Just shut up and listen." Leon murmured. "Peace, equality, friendship. We talk a good game, but human history is full of violence and ugliness. Even this world we're in now covers up its ugly side with a façade of peace. Cycles of war, hatred, and prejudice probably define humanity even more than those qualities. You could say it's humanity's true nature. God found it terrible and saw that something had to be done about it, or else they'd perish."

"So, God decided to create anew." Jill said. "A new humanity. A gentle one with no desire for conflict and free of prejudice. The advanced information technology, Mana, allowed things to be manipulated with the mind. This ended suffering of all kinds and led to the creation of an ideal state, where people wanted or nothing and could have all they desired. All that was left to do was watch over humanity's development. At least, that was the plan."

"But… of course something didn't fit in." Ange murmured.

"Norma." Alain said. "The anomaly of the so-called perfect world."

"Only natural." Hilda sighed.

"And it was that anomaly that got used." Leon said. "It was a random occurrence. When babies that rejected Mana were found, it became a cycle. The system was rebuilt countless times, yet no matter what measures were taken, girls kept being born that had this quirk to them. A mutation expressing and old gene, one that was thought to have been snuffed out with the new humanity. As with anything unknown, this led to fear among the people. But God saw a way to use this anomaly by propagating the notion that these girls had rejected the world they were born into. And that if left unchecked they would go on to destroy their world."


"So the world united in attempting to manage the Norma. People took solace in knowing who to discriminate against and focus their hatred onto. And in doing so, stability was maintained." Jill looked at Ange with a wry smile, the girl looking to the side. All of them at Arzenal knew the results of it. "Sacrifices, scapegoats, necessary evils… Call us whatever you want. But we were created all the same. To bring stability to the world, to be discriminated against. The Norma's sole purpose is to be the evil the world needs to rally against. What's wrong? You're being quiet."

"Can you blame me? It sounds ridiculous." Ange snarked. "You really expect me to believe some 'God' is the reason this twisted world is the way it is? I'm impressed you could come up with something like that."

"I didn't make it up." Jill said. "I heard it straight from the man himself."

"So? There's more, isn't there?"

"No need to rush me." Jill chuckled. "So, the World of Mana became stable. And, it seemed to be the beginning of a prosperous new era, but…"


"There was still an element that didn't fit in." Leon was a bit impressed by how rapt the attention he had was. He was at least glad the girls were taking this in. "See, the humans that could use Mana didn't just come from nowhere. Humans hadn't been able to use it before. The old gene the Norma express is actually simple. It's the gene that makes the difference between the Mana Humans, and the Ancient Humans."

"Ancient Humans?" Naomi repeated.

"The people from the Pre-Mana Age." Alain said. "The humans who couldn't use Mana, who were regarded as flawed and warlike by God. Naomi, Chris, your fathers were Ancient Humans. Same with mine… same with Salia. Leon's one of them."

"Wait… what?!" Rosalie gasped as Naomi and Chris went into quiet shock. "You're telling me… this is seriously about those people who came here ten years ago? Your guys' parents?!"

"No way…" Ersha gasped. "But then… if there were others who couldn't use Mana, why didn't…"

"That's where this story keeps going." Leon said, placing a hand to Wyvern. "The Ancient Humans, feeling rejected by the world and with no place to call their own, began striking out against the Mana Humans who had forced them into hiding. Outcast and without a place of their own, they fought against God many times to try and reclaim their world. And, thirty years ago, they found a weapon they thought could aid them in that. Wyvern."

"No way! That machine is that old?" Naomi gasped.

"It is highly likely this frame is even older." Wyvern said. "The machine Alain and I fought against was like this one. It was powered by the same twin particle engines. I do not know why, yet I also know it. What this machine is… the Ancient Humans believe it to be a weapon created by a people even older than them. Something meant to fight this 'God'. It is perhaps the explanation for the systems I have been gaining access to. The family that found me took to using me in their fights against 'God'. The first to do so was Alain's grandfather, Michaelis Pasternak. He was the first 'Knight of Wyvern'."

"Though I never met him." Alain said. "According to my dad, he passed away after a battle when he was my age. But the big guy wasn't the only weapon the Ancient Humans managed to get their hands on during all their fights."


"The other would be the Villkiss." Jill looked amused when Ange's eyes widened. "After a long war and many fallen comrades, they were able to find it. One of God's 'Angels', a Ragna-mail. One of the mechanical angels of destruction and creation. An ultimate weapon that was the prototype to the Para-mails."

"Wait, so Wyvern isn't a Para-mail?" Ange asked. "And Villkiss is one of these things?"

"We only call Wyvern one out of convenience, but in honesty, it's far closer to a Ragna-mail." Jill said. "And yes, you're right. With these weapons in hand, they could fight God on his level. The Ancient Humans boarded the Villkiss, but, unlike Wyvern, they found a problem when they tried to use it. They couldn't handle it. A lock had been placed on it that kept it from being used. You saw the results when Salia tried to pilot it. So with only a handful of survivors, the Ancient Humans could only wait for their own demise. But that was when they learned that the Norma being sent off to the ends of the earth to fight the DRAGONs with Para-mails. So, the two abandoned humanities made contact, formed an alliance, and prepared for when someone who could open the lock would appear."

"And just what kind of person did they have to wait for?" Ange said.

"I'm getting there." Jill said, waving a hand. "That girl did appear. Alektra Maria von Loewenherz, the first Norma to be born of royal blood."

"I've heard that name before." Ange said. "She was the First Princess of the Galia Empire. I heard she'd fallen ill and died when she was ten."

"So the official story went." Jill commented. "Instead, she got thrown into Arzenal, and ultimately fell into despair. But, her royal blood and the royal ring she bore unlocked the Villkiss. And many people rallied to her side. Armorers to service the Villkiss, Knights to fight alongside her. Doctors, weapon makers, dogs, hell, even a kingdom that was sympathetic towards the Norma and who'd been secretly sheltering all they could for decades."

"A kingdom… do you mean the Solus Kingdom?!" Ange gasped. "But… it was dissolved ten years ago! They said it was because of an attempted coup that killed the royal family."


"That seriously happened?" Hilda asked. "I mean I've heard a bit about Solus when I was a kid, but that place was so far away from Enderant it didn't mean much. The place was sympathetic to Norma? How did they get away with that?"

"Solus was a small nation without a lot of power on the world stage." Leon said. "And since they had no power to manage any blocks of the Norma, working together with the Ancient Humans and Arzenal, they ensured that once they sent off all the Norma they were required to, any others found would be sheltered there, in a city that they were helping the Ancient Humans create: Farbanti."

"Weird… I know that name." Naomi murmured. "Have I… been there?"

"I remember it too." Chris muttered. "Mom and Dad mentioned it before, saying that… that once it was over, we'd be able to leave this place."

"Farbanti was the hope of the Ancient Humans and Norma." Leon said. "If Villkiss and Wyvern were the weapons meant to liberate them, Farbanti was the land meant for them once they earned their freedom. That was the beginning of the revolt of the people abandoned by the world, Libertus."

"But this story obviously doesn't have a very happy ending." Alain said, looking to Wyvern and setting his hands on the machine. "The day we call the Disaster of Farbanti… the day Libertus failed."


"While in the pits of hell, I and the others around me found our calling." Jill lifted her prosthetic, flexing the fingers. "To destroy this made up, piece-of-shit world. But… I wasn't good enough. I lost everything. My arm, the ring, my friends… everything. But I can't let Libertus end. Not with so many dead friends. Not when the children of so many of them are still living."

"Wait… no… you're Alektra?" Ange gasped, Jill nodding as Ange finally connected the dots. "Leon did say it… that you were Villkiss's former pilot."

"Indeed I am. The lost princess of Galia in the flesh." Jill said. "And +that was when you showed up. You've done what I couldn't. Villkiss's final lock is opened. You'll be the one to destroy it, Ange. This world, with that song."

"So that's why you gave me back my ring." Ange said, lifting her hand from the water to bring the item into view.

"Yes."

"You kept me alive for Libertus?"

"That's right." Jill stood from the bath, her prosthetic hand relaxing. "I needed you to be stronger."

"Princess Alektra, huh?" Ange sighed and stood. "I'm grateful, at the least. Thanks to you, I learned how spoiled, pampered, and sheltered I really was. So, my answer is no."

"Oh?" Jill's tone got cold as she turned around.

"Even if everything you say about God and Libertus is true, my path is my own to choose." Jill gave Ange a raised look as the girl put a hand to her chest. "No matter how glorious the duty may be, I'll see things with my own eyes and decide for myself. I won't let anyone make me do anything."

"So you won't join Libertus?"

"I don't hate the idea, but…" Ange looked away, a smile coming to her. "I don't dislike this life I have right now. Killing DRAGONs, making money, and buying what I want."

"I see." Jill mused.

"By the way…" Ange realized. "In that story, you never mentioned the DRAGONs…"

The smile Jill gave her didn't make Ange feel right about it.


"Yeah… where do the DRAGONs factor into all of this?" Hilda asked. "If they're such a big deal, why don't they come into play here?"

"Well, that would be because…" The blare of the alarm cut Leon off before he could say more.

"All units, Red Alert! It's a DRAGON! There's a survivor in the base!"

"Say what?!" Hilda gasped. "Some lizard got left behind huh? Let's go!"

"What…?" Alain paused as the other's ran off, Leon glancing at the boy as his look tensed up. Then Wyvern's terminal pinged, the boy pulling it off his belt. "Who's calling?"

"Alain!" Maggie's urgent tone crackled over the line. "You heard the alert yeah? You need to get moving."

"No shit!"

"Not for that reason! I needed a chance to warn you, but the plant's down. It's a Code V situation." Leon raised a brow as Alain's eyes widened out, his arms tensing up. "I thought we'd have more time. You need to hurry, before anyone else finds her. Get Vivian to me ASAP!"

"Got it!" Alain was stopped when Leon grabbed his shoulder.

"What's that about? Code V? What does this have to do with that Vivian girl?" He asked. Alain's hands balled up. "Alain?"

"Vivian… Vivian's a DRAGON." Alain muttered, Leon drawing his hand away as a wave of shock went through his body. "And if I don't find her before anyone else does, they'll kill her without knowing. I'm not going to let anyone make that mistake!"

Leon grit his teeth as Alain sprinted off, a hand to his head. 'He knows? He knows the truth about this damn fight they've been forced into? Alektra… why would you put something like that onto his shoulders alone?'

"Then don't think you're doing it on your own." Leon said, taking off after Alain. "If it's that big then let me help you. Where should we go first?"

"We'll start the residential area." Alain said, leaping up the stairs as he reached them. "She probably went to her room after the battle!"

"Got it!"


At the emergency command center, everyone who could fit in the room was gathered in front of Hilda. 'I'm not much for barking orders but, gotta do what we gotta do.' She thought. She'd just gotten through the other squadrons search areas and was getting to Garm.

"Rosalie and Chris will cover the residential area." She said. "Ersha, bust Salia out of her cell and search Jasmine Mall."

"Yes ma'am." Ersha nodded as Hilda threw her the cell keys.

"Naomi and Vivian… tch, where's Vivian?" Hilda grumbled. "Damn it, where's Alain on top of it!? Wasn't he with us?"

"Vivian wasn't in her room when I checked." Ersha said.

"And I didn't see Alain after we left the hangar." Naomi added. "Same with that CROSS guy."

"For crying out loud…" Hilda groaned. Ange at least finally arrived as well. "Took you long enough! Naomi, you come with me and Ange to sweep the maintenance deck. Alain's probably already searching so we'll let him do what he pleases. Everyone else without a post, stand guard at any spot you think the DRAGON could move through. All troops, move out!"

"Yes ma'am!"


Jill knew what was going on as soon as she'd heard the alert go off. Jasmine had said there wasn't a single DRAGON left in Arzenal after she swept the place. So the only reason there could be one now was the exact thing she and Maggy had worried about. She'd made her way to the infirmary and found the medic, who was currently tending to some of the wounded.

"Maggy, did you contact Alain?" She asked.

"Of course. He'll find her." Maggy said.

"Good. Get all the suppressants you can and let's go."

"Right."


Vivian's morning had been a strange one. She'd done what she would normally do after such a big fight, gone back to her and Salia's room to sleep. It was a mess when she got there, no doubt from when Arzenal got hit, but that hadn't been much of a bother for the girl. All things broken could be replaced if they were minor. Though those suckers Maggy had told her to always make sure to munch on every few hours had been smashed up from the fall. But, she hadn't paid mind to that. Maggy always gave her more when she ran out.

But then she'd woken up, and it was odd. She'd felt bigger, heavier. Moving felt slow and sluggish and she nearly kept hitting her head on the hallway's ceiling. 'Did I have a sudden growth spurt?' she wondered. 'Nah, that's way to extreme.' As she turned a corner, she finally found someone. Just up ahead, Inspector Emma was fiddling with her Mana screen and muttering something about a bad line.

When Vivian had tried to call out to her however, the Inspector had shrieked at the top of her lungs and passed out. And when she'd tried to help her up, that was when it got weirder. She'd reached her hands out, only, she didn't see her arms. Instead, she saw scaled limbs and wings tipped in claws. 'What the? That's weird. Am I dreaming or something?' Then a broken hallway mirror had shown her more. A Schooner, but when Vivian moved, it moved. 'No way! Is that really me?!'

And then the operators had come around the corner, and it became a mess. As the girls screamed in terror, Vivian had taken off to try and find someone who she hoped wouldn't freak out. 'Alain, Ersha, Naomi, Salia… someone at least! They'd know it's me even if I look like this!' And as she was making her way somewhere, she saw someone darting around the corner. Vivian felt a flash of fear for a moment, but her hopes lifted when she saw Alain dart out. 'Big Brooo!'


Alain's mind was racing as he sprinted through the halls with Leon on his trial. Worry and adrenaline forced his legs to move as fast as he could. As he went shooting around a corner, he skid to a halt when a screech carried through the air. Greeting him was a Schooner, small enough to fit in the hallway with some room to spare and the stub of what once had been a tail.

"What the…?!" Leon caught up, yelping when he saw the Schooner. "You were serious!"

"Vivian!" Alain shot forward without hesitating, the Schooner lumbering towards him and letting out a whine. "You alright? That's good. You didn't run into anyone else, did you?"

"No." While all he heard was a whine, Alain felt like he knew what Vivian was trying to say even if she was like this. "Big bro, what's going on? Why the heck am I a DRAGON? Is this some weird dream?"

"It'll be alright." Alain assured her. "Look, we need to go. Maggy will get you back to normal, but we need to avoid running into anybody else. So don't make too much noise, alright?"

"Whoa wait, hold on here!" Leon said. "Do you know what she's trying to say like that?"

"More or less." Alain said, gently putting a hand to Vivian's snout. "Let's get somewhere she can take off without being seen." Alain pulled out his terminal as they started off. "Maggy!"

"Here! Did you find Vivian?"

"Yeah. Leon's with me. We're going to try and get her topside, so start heading there!"

"Roger. Be quick about it, Hilda's got everybody sweeping every place they can."

"Got it!"

They moved quickly but carefully. Their best bet would be to get Vivian to the cafeteria so she could fly topside from the veranda. 'This is going to be a bitch to explain later…' Alain thought, his eyes sweeping around as they made it to the cafeteria, thankfully abandoned for the time being.

"Alright, we should be good here." Leon said. "Vivian, you think you can fly out? Ugh, why am I asking? I can't understand her."

"I can try… but I'm also really hungry." Vivian whined as she looked off towards the kitchen, Alain sighing.

"You can eat plenty once your back to your usual self. For now just…" But then Vivian scrambled off the stairway and to the floor below as she sniffed around. "Vivian! There isn't time to go sniffing for food, get back here!"

"But I smell curry!" Vivian protested, wiggling her way over the counter. On the stove was pot that was likely abandoned the previous day during the chaos. "I knew it!"

"Vivian!" Alain growled, reaching over and smacking her on the neck. Though admittedly it hurt him more to hit her scales than it likely did Vivian. "Eat. Later! Right now, we need to get you to Maggy!"

"Yeah but…" Vivian picked up the pot, though the metal screeched and crumpled in the far stronger grip of her new limbs. "Eh?"

"There seriously isn't time to mess around!" Leon snapped. "You're wasting time Vivian, so please get moving!" Before Vivian could argue, a bullet pinged off the kitchen wall, Alain and Leon diving as Vivian yelped. From around the corner, Salia and Ersha came running, smoke trailing from the muzzle of Salia's rifle.

"There it is! Alain, Leon, get back!" Salia shouted.

"Stop, just stop!" Alain shouted, Salia and Ersha looking at him as if he'd gone crazy as he leapt between them and Vivian with his arms spread. "Slow down and hear me out! This isn't what you think it is!"

"What the hell are you saying?" Salia said.

"You're defending a DRAGON?" Ersha gasped.

"It's… it's complicated, okay?" Alain grumbled. A part of him felt insanely guilty for not being able to say it outright. "Just trust me! We need to get this one topside. Once we get her to Maggy I'll explain everything."

"Do you know how crazy you sound right now?!" Salia snapped.

"Alain, please, step aside." Ersha said, when a gunshot then suddenly hit the ceiling, knocking out one of the lights. The girls flinched as shards of glass fell like sparkling diamonds to the floor, a plume of smoke trailing up from Leon's sidearm.

"Everyone calm down!" Leon snapped. "Just lower your weapons and let us handle this!" seeing her moment, Vivian bolted for the veranda. Salia and Ersha adjusted their aim, but Alain and Leon rushed over and yanked the girls' rifles up as they fired.

"Why are you stopping us?!" Salia shouted.

"It's Vivian!" Alain screamed. "That DRAGON is Vivian!"


Searching maintenance had proved fruitless so Ange had been sent to look topside while Hilda and Naomi gathered the others to meet her there. And as she was checking around, she spotted the Schooner flying up from below. It was smaller than what she was used to and it was making a lot of noise, but it didn't sway Ange much as she took aim at it, tracing its path to get a bead.

Until the whines it made suddenly changed.

The DRAGON sounded like it was singing. Or at least attempting to. And Ange lowered her rifle when she recognized the melody. 'Endless Story?' Ange couldn't think of a reason a DRAGON would know that song. Then again, she had just run into someone who'd sung a variant of it. And as she listened, an idea came to her.

"The hourglass El Ragna that does not turn. Time does not flow from it lu la la li la." She sang in return, and the DRAGON matched the melody. And as it circled overhead, for a moment, Ange swore she heard Vivian's voice in its cries. 'What?!' She ran forward as it lowered. "The flames of countless lives, fall through and become stars…"

In the midst of coaxing the DRAGON down, Hilda, Chris, Rosalie, and Naomi ran out onto the field.

"What's that idiot doing?!" Hilda growled. Rosalie raised her rifle to fire, only to jump back with a shriek as Ange fired a shot into the ground right by her foot.

"Is she trying to kill me?!" Rosalie yelped. "Bitch!"

"Something's weird." Naomi murmured. "The DRAGON's singing with her?"

"They fly beautifully and fade away in the cradle of life and death." Ange turned as the DRAGON finally touched down as Alain, Leon, Salia, and Ersha came sprinting up from the stairwell, Alain bolting forward.

"What the hell is going on?" Salia muttered, raising her rifle again, only to stop when Jill rested her hand on the barrel. "Jill?"

"Just watch." Jill said.

"Vivian!" Alain called, Ange looking at him in shock as he met them. She reached out for the DRAGON's snout, its body vanishing into a puff of smoke before she touched it.

"Quiz time!" Vivian's voice rang out from the smoke. "What's a DRAGON, even though it's a human." The smoke cleared, and in place of where the DRAGON stood, was Vivian. A relieved smile came to Alain's face, and Ange could swear he was tearing up a bit. "Oh, wait… a human, even though it's a DRAGON? Huh? I don't get it…"

"It's alright." Alain said, stepping forward and pulling Vivian into a hug as she started to cry. "The answer's Vivian. That's all that matters."

"Yeah, that's your answer." Ange said. "Welcome back, Vivian."

Maggy came forward and pressed an injector to Vivian's arm, Alain gently handing her over to Maggy as she passed out a moment later. The other's approached, and Alain felt that guilty sensation bubble up as they all looked at him and Ange. Though, he seemed to be the focus since it was obvious he'd known all along.

"What the hell is going on?" Rosalie murmured.

"Did Vivian just come out of a DRAGON?" Chris gasped.

"You weren't seeing things." Alain said, turning away as Maggy carried Vivian off. Ange was surprised to see the tense expression on his face, and she followed his eyes off. He was looking off to Jasmine a ways off, the old woman tossing gas into a pit with DRAGONs carcasses piled up to its rim. What Vivian said ran through Ange's mind. And she felt a horrible realization come to her.

Ange ran off, and the others followed her towards the hole. 'It can't be…' she thought. 'Something like that… if it's true, then it would mean I've…' Ange didn't like the gross feeling she was getting as she neared the hole, right as Jasmine finished covering it in gas and readied a lighter. Vulcan started barking when he saw everyone approaching, and Jasmine groaned as she turned.

"Stay back!" The woman warned, tossing the lighter into the pit. But it was already too late.

"What's going on?" Hilda said. A wave of shock went through all but Alain was they approached the burning pit. The bodies inside it weren't the DRAGONs they'd seen before. They'd changed. Instead, it was humans.

"What… is this?" Ersha stumbled back as her face twisted in horror.

"The… the DRAGONs… right?" Rosalie stammered.

"Alain…?" Naomi looked to him, and the air around Alain was heavy with sadness. His expression highlighted by the flames was somehow mournful, tinged in regret as the flames flickered in his eyes. But even with that regret, there was a resolution. Like in his head, he was only reaffirming something to himself.

"What's happening?" Ange muttered.

"You know how the story goes." Jill said, blowing out smoke as she approached. "'The monster was human all along.'" Ange looked back to the pyre as she felt something horrible rise in her. She thought back to her days on Tusk's island. Of the DRAGON she'd so violently killed back then. And then of the dozens more she'd thoughtlessly been killing for the past few months of her life. 'If they're really human then it means I…' And she retched right there as the sickening realization finally hit her.

"Lady Angelise?!" Momoka put a hand to Ange's back, and the look of horror on Ange's face made the maid flinch.

"I was killing humans?" Ange muttered; her breath was shaky as she looked at her hands. "With these hands, I…"

"I thought you liked your life?" Jill said. "Killing DRAGONs and making money."

"Jill." Leon said.

"Go to hell you bitch!" Ange yelled. "I won't use Villkiss anymore! I won't kill more DRAGONs! To hell with Libertus and to hell with you!"

"So you'll just stop fighting? All over this?" Alain questioned.

"Why shouldn't I?!" Ange snapped. "All of this… you've killed hundreds! Some sham title you have! Ace of Aces… you're just a murderer! You'd see this and still say you'd fight?! What kind of person are you?!"

"A soldier." Alain said, Ange flinching at the lack of denial. "Murderer, demon, monster… call me what you like. We may not have been given the choice to fight or not, but that's our reality. War has no justification. One side comes out a winner, and the other is exterminated. Everyone becomes a murderer."

"So why?!" Ange screamed. "Why… why don't you look horrified?!"

"Because I settled this a long time ago." Alain replied. Ange didn't like the shadowed look the flames gave him as he turned to her. It made his bright blue eyes stand out like chips of ice. "If they're humans, and they could have communicated with us, they obviously chose not to. They made the decision long before we did that we're enemies. Human, DRAGON, to me there isn't a difference. An enemy is an enemy. And if they threaten me and the people I love, I'll gladly take on the title of a demon in order to protect that."

"You should take his words to heart." Jill said, answering Ange's disgusted expression with a smirk. "Unless you'd rather live and die as God's pet."

"Is this what you were going to tell us?" Hilda looked to Leon as Jill left. The man had a grim expression as he nodded, moving to the edge of the pit and looking down into the flames.

"At the end of the day, a conflict is a conflict." Leon said. "In order to fight for your place in the world you have to be willing to get your hands dirty if need be. If there was a chance for us to ally with the DRAGONs, they threw that into the trash before we could even decide for ourselves. An enemy is an enemy, human or DRAGON. If you don't have the resolve to face that harsh truth, then I'd suggest never getting into a cockpit again."

Ange turned back to the pyre as Leon left. Her mouth was still sour from retching, and her mind fractured like the glass in the cafeteria. 'I actually said I was happy with this. If I'd known… would my thoughts really be different?' she thought. 'I had to survive but… am I really fine with doing it this way? With staining my hands even more in order to live?'