Part 2:
From a broken past, a brighter future will emerge.
Chapter 6:
Miracles and Burdens.


Kana's POV/ Maria's POVs:
Kadingir Ruins/ F.I.S. Helicopter.


The Symphogear wielders of Section Two are left speechless by what had just happened to their ally Hibiki. Dr. Ver on the other hand was ecstatic as he watched the Nephilim devour Hibiki's arm. "Amazing!" The doctor shouted. "The Nephilim ate the Symphogear itself!"

Excluding Hibiki reeling in pain and Serena shaken by resurfacing memories, The wielders looked towards Dr. Ver with a mix of anger and disgust, but they were far from the only ones disgusted by the doctor. "That Psycho!" Kirika said, slamming her fist into the wall with anger. "Has he gone and lost his damn mind?!"

"When he said to feed the Nephilim fragments of different relics... Was this his end goal?" Shirabe asked, questioning Dr. Ver's moral compass.

As for Maria, she had seen this side of Dr. Ver before, when he used the Noise from Solomon's Cane to kill innocent bystanders without hesitation. Seeing him use their enemies as food for the Nephilim was just as gruesome, especially since that means her sister was in danger by the same monster that nearly caused her death several years ago. Maria wasn't going to let this happen as she began to head for the door, before Dr. Nastassja took notice. "And where do you think you're going?" She said. "You've been ordered to remain here."

"But he's using other people's lives for his own sick game!" Maria replies. "And we're supposed to just sit here and let that happen?!"

Dr. Nastassja doesn't answer Maria, returning her attention to the monitor that displayed the battle. "What... What we're doing is the right thing, Dess?" Kirika asked, questioning if Dr. Ver's means justify their ends.

"If that's the case, then why does it feel so wrong?" Shirabe added, sharing Kirika's unease.

"From this day forth, you must throw away your compassion." Dr. Nastassja coldly said. "Smiles are no longer needed for any of us."

Maria couldn't take any of it anymore, stepping out of the room, holding back the tears trying to force themselves out. When she's alone, she sits down and looks to the pendant that used to be all that remained of her sister. "Everything is falling apart..." Maria says aloud to herself. "And at this rate, it's only a matter of time until I do as well." Eventually, Maria cannot hold back the tears any longer, holding the pendant in her hands closer to herself. "Serena... I don't want to lose you again..."

Back to the fight, Kanade snaps back to her senses and frees Tsubasa and Chris from their trap, helping Tsubasa hold up Chris. "Tsubasa, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Tsubasa answered. "But Tachibana's the one I'm more concerned about at the moment..."

Meanwhile, Kana blindly tries to slash at the Nephilim, causing it to dodge her attack before going stationary once more. "Hibiki!" Kana shouts, before turning to Dr. Ver, enraged by his monster's actions. "You heartless bastard! This was your plan from the start, wasn't it?"

Dr. Ver laughed at Kana's insults, "Precisely! You see, the Nephilim, as a complete relic, is practically an autonomous-breeder reactor. By devouring other relics and absorbing them into itself, it increases its own energy output!" The doctor stated, watching as the Nephilim started to undergo a transformation. "And it's about to begin! Can you hear it? That heartbeat of awakening? This is the power that shall lift the Frontier into the skies!"

The wielders could only watch as the monster transformed from consuming Hibiki's arm, only able to hear the maniacal laughter of Dr. Ver. But suddenly, they heard another sound fill the air, Hibiki's groans. Slowly, they began to sound more and more distorted, catching everyone's attention, including Dr. Ver. "Hibiki?" Kana says, before her eyes widened once she saw what was happening to her friend.

The scar on Hibiki's chest began to glow and, just like it happened months ago in the very same place, Hibiki's body was coated in a black with a red tinge. As Hibiki began to stand up, her groans of pain turned into growls of rage. When she looked up from the ground, her eyes were completely red and her teeth were razor sharp. Following this transformation, the berserk Hibiki roars as she stretches what remained of her arm outwards. Not even a second later, something begins to regenerate in its place. Much to the shock of everyone, Hibiki had managed to regrow her arm as if nothing had happened to it.

Just by looking at the rage in her eyes, Kana knew she'd be killed if she tried to stop Hibiki, knowing she was hell-bent on killing the Nephilim. Quickly, she ran away from the two monsters that were about to clash, using this time to help her other allies.

Without any delay, Hibiki began her relentless assault on the Nephilim, ignoring all of Dr. Ver's cries for her to stop. "I beg you! Stop it!" He pleaded, "We need the fully-grown Nephilim for our new world to be realized!"

But the pleas for her to stop fell on deaf ears, leaving the doctor no other choice but to use more Noise from Solomon's Cane to try and stop her, but even this failed. Hibiki's rampage eventually even made the Nephilim scared for its life as it tried to run away. However, the berserk wielder was quick to immobilize its prey. The Nephilim tried with all its might to escape, but Hibiki wasn't going to let that happen and, without hesitation, reaches into the monster's back and rips out it's beating heart and tossing it away.

With it's prey falling to the ground, Hibiki jumped into the air, forming her right hand into the shape of a spear, and pierces the hole where she ripped the Nephilim heart from. As she did this, Kana began to notice a bright red glow emerging from the Nephilim's body. "Run for it!" Kana shouts, grabbing Serena before running with the others who carried the unconscious Chris to cover. Just as she thought, an explosion erupted from Hibiki's attack.

Back on the helicopter, Maria and the others could feel the shockwave of the attack, causing even more worry in Maria for Serena's safety. Meanwhile, the others watched the action unfold on the monitor. "It seems that her near-death experience caused the relic in her chest to go berserk." Dr. Nastassja stated, but before she could continue her train of thought, she started to have a coughing fit, concerning Kirika and Shirabe. When she finished coughing, she looked to her hand and saw blood, causing Nastassja to join in on the concern for her life. "No... Not now..."

Quickly, Kirika got on the nearby intercom and called for Maria. "Maria! Hey, Maria! Can you hear us?!" Kirika said in a panicked tone.

"Mom's taken a turn for the worse!" Shirabe added, causing Maria to turn her worries for the doctor's life, rushing back to the control room of the helicopter.

Back to the battlefield, Chris finally woke up. "W-What's goin' on?" she asked, only seeing the others look in one direction, towards the berserk Hibiki.

Having completely annihilated the Nephilim, Hibiki began to set her sights on killing Dr. Ver, who of which began to scurry away in fear. Before she could give chase to the fleeing doctor, she was pinned down by an unseen force, Kana in her dragon form. "Hibiki! You need to snap out of it!" Kana says in a distorted voice. "Killing the Nephilim is one thing, but I'm not going to let you take the life of another human being!" Hibiki ignored Kana's pleas, struggling to free herself from the dragon's grasp, screaming to be let loose, but Kana did not let up.

Eventually, Hibiki stopped resisting Kana's grasp and reverted back into her normal state, albeit falling unconscious in the process. Seeing this, Kana too reverts back to normal and begins to heal any wounds Hibiki may still have from her fight, taking note of the fact that the arm she lost from the Nephilim was truly back and not just a manifestation from her berserk state. "That's... Odd..." Kana says, unsure what to say about it.

"Kana!" Chris shouted, heading towards her while the others followed close behind. "What the hell just happened?"

"Hibiki went on a rampage against the Nephilim and killed it." Kana states. "Had I not intervened when I did, Dr. Ver too would've been added to that body count."

"So you decided to just let him get away?!" Chris lectured.

"Better to let him get away than to let a berserk Hibiki loose on the public!" Kana retorts, "Besides, I highly doubt he'd run straight back to his allies, He ran off before I could immobilize Hibiki. That can only mean he has no choice but to hide until they find him. For now, let's get Hibiki back to base." While she wanted to argue about it more, Chris knew Kana was right. Reluctantly, she leaves with the other wielders to return to base.

As for Maria, she arrives in the control room of their helicopter to the sight of Dr. Nastassja unconscious with blood on her chest. "Hang in there, Mom!" Maria says before quickly turning to her allies. "Find the doctor and get him here ASAP!" The other wielders of F.I.S. are unsure about this. "I can do emergency first aid, but we need to have him take a look at her! Okay?" Nodding, Kirika and Shirabe leave the room in search for Dr. Ver. "This only happened because I'm too weak to carry on Finé's legacy..."


Tsubasa's POV:
Section Two HQ


Returning to base, Kana and the other wielders watch as Hibiki is brought to the Medical wing of the Section Two ship. While the wielders have done all they can about the situation at the moment, Tsubasa couldn't help but feel guilty about Hibiki's condition, something the other wielders took note of when Tsubasa made that guilt visible by slamming her fist into the nearby wall of the corridor.

For now, all they could do was wait and leave the situation with the Moon to Genjuro and the government. The next day however, following Hibiki's release from the medical ward, Genjuro met with Tsubasa and Kanade privately to discuss Hibiki's condition. "Thank you for coming on such short notice you two." He said.

"No need to worry about it, Boss." Kanade replied, "So... What exactly did you need to discuss?"

Genjuro remained silent and handed the girls a glass container holding a strange mineral on a piece of cotton. "What is this?" Tsubasa asks.

"A piece of Hibiki-kun's bodily tissue that was collected during her medical checkup." Genjuro answered, before raising a picture of an X-ray scan of Hibiki's body.

"Is this part of the Gungnir fragments in her chest?" Tsubasa asks.

"Her constant use of the fragments by materializing and dematerializing it as her version of the Gungnir Symphogear has caused it to spread further throughout her body." Genjuro stated.

Seeing the X-ray, Tsubasa and Kanade begin to become concerned about Hibiki. "Her body and her relic are fusing together?" Tsubasa says.

"That's the reason for her explosive power as a wielder." Genjuro said.

"How does this affect Hibiki-chan?" Kanade asked. "Does it threaten her an any way?"

"Before long, it could kill her." Genjuro solemnly stated, causing the duo's concern to turn in to fear for her life. "On the off chance it doesn't, and the fusion process continues within her, can we even say she'd still be human?" As much as they'd hate to admit it, if Hibiki did live despite this fusion occurring within her, they couldn't begin to comprehend what unimaginable pain Hibiki would have to suffer. "It's ironic. It was thanks to her going berserk that we were even able to find out that her live was in grave danger."

"Much like the Moon, Tachibana is breaking..." Tsubasa says solemnly.

"F.I.S. may talk about this grand plan to save humanity, but their carefree use of the Noise to take the lives of other humans stains their promises." Genjuro said. "We can't let them do as they wish any longer. But, without Hibiki-kun's help, even with our strength in numbers, how long can we hold even that advantage?"

"Regardless of that, we can't allow Tachibana to fight anymore." Tsubasa says. "Any threats that oppose us shall be met with my protector's blade."

"Ever the lone wolf, Tsubasa..." Kanade teased her partner. "Just don't forget people like myself, Serena, Kana-chan, and Chris-chan are still here. I agree that having Hibiki-chan not fight may be the best thing for her, but that doesn't give you the right to work yourself to death alone out there."

"Of course, Kanade." Tsubasa replies. "As long as you're by my side, we can fill the hole that is left by Tachibana's absence." While it wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, it was good enough for Kanade. "Now then, all that's left is to make sure Tachibana stays away from combat."

"For now, let's keep the information of Hibiki-kun's condition away from the others." Genjuro suggested. "The less people that know of this at the moment, the better." The girls nod before leaving the base to head to Lydian, uneasy about having to keep secrets from their allies/close friends, but determined to keep their friend safe from herself.


Kana's POV:
Lydian


Later that day, the wielders met up to discuss something that Tsubasa vaguely mentioned over text. "Heya Tsubasa-san and Kanade-san." Kana says.

"What was with the vague text message?" Chris asked.

"I'll explain once Tachibana arrives." Tsubasa answered. "Speaking of, have either of you seen her?"

"As far as today, not yet." Kana replies. "Though considering she just got out of her medical checkup, I wouldn't be surprised if she's just taking her time to get here."

"Sorry I'm late!" Hibiki said, arriving moments after Kana's comment, seeming practically as if nothing happened to her at all. "I bet you were all worried sick about me." Hibiki bows, apologizing for her lateness.

"You seem to be doing well, all things considered." Chris commented, saying what everyone else was thinking. "Well, this is a good opportunity for you to relax."

"Not to worry! Slacking off and relaxing are Hibiki Tachibana's specialties!" Hibiki said proudly. "Leave it to me!"

"Are you truly alright, Tachibana?" Tsubasa asked. "You aren't just acting like everything is fine so we don't worry, are you?" This question caused Chris and Kana to become suspicious of Tsubasa's reason for gathering everyone here.

Hibiki, however, started to become flustered, "N-no, everything i-" out of nowhere, Tsubasa walks up to Hibiki and grabs her arm, as if to inspect it for something, unaware of her grip strength, "T-Tsubasa-san... That hurts..." This causes Tsubasa to let go of Hibiki's arm and apologize for hurting her ally.

"What's up with you?" Chris asked Tsubasa, "You're not being dumb trying to act like this idiot, are you?"

"I'm sorry." Hibiki said, feeling bad for making Tsubasa worry.

Seeing this, Tsubasa realizes that she may have gone at bit too far. "As long as you're okay, that's all that matters..."

"Hey..." Chris said, "Did that geezer say something to you?" Chris was referring to Genjuro.

Quickly, Tsubasa changes to a more serious tone in her voice, "All he said is that, a warrior who can't control their power in a battle against their strongest enemies, is worthless on the battlefield." This causes shock in Hibiki, Kana, and Chris. "Myself and the other wielders shall handle the situation with F.I.S. while Section Two's intelligence investigates Dr. Ver's whereabouts. As for you, Tachibana, you are to never fight again. You are nothing more than a burden that will slow us d- owowowowowowow."

"Excuse us for a moment." Kanade said, grabbing Tsubasa by the ear, "I need to have a quick discussion with Tsubasa. Alone." With a firm grip and a Tsubasa pleading to be let go, Kanade walks off to talk with Tsubasa.

"The hell's her deal?" Chris said. "One moment she's worried about that idiot, the next, she acts like a complete asshole..."

"Chris-chan!" Hibiki said, "It's fine... She's right anyway. I lost control out there, and I'm useless because of that..."

As Chris looked at Hibiki with concern for her, she notices Kana walking in the same direction Kanade and Tsubasa left. "And where the hell are you going?" Chris said.

"They aren't telling us something. I'm going to find out just what that is." Kana says. "Sensei may be a serious man from time to time, but even he wouldn't go as far as to call his pupils worthless. Not to mention Tsubasa's been acting suspicious ever since the incident..." Saying this, Kana runs off to find the answers she's looking for. "I'll meet up with you later, Hibiki."

Kana searched for Kanade and Tsubasa, eventually finding them talking underneath a big tree, giving her déjà vu, to when she listened in to Kirika and Shirabe's private talk. "Why did you do that, Kanade?" Tsubasa asked, rubbing her ear.

"You know damn well what you did back there!" Kanade replied, obviously upset with her partner. "What were you thinking with that whole 'You're just a burden' crap?"

"I figured the best way to keep her off the battlefield was to be blunt with her." Tsubasa answered.

"'Be blunt with her'? So your whole plan was to make her feel horrible? At that point, you could've just told her that she was putting her life at risk with her Gear and it would've had the same effect!" Kanade lectured.

"Hibiki's in danger from her Gear?!" Kana says to herself, shocked by the news.

"I understand that my method of keeping her away from the battlefield was not the best. I'm sorry." Tsubasa replied. "I'll be sure to apologize for my behavior when I see Tachibana again."

"Damn right you will!" Kanade barked.

"So Tsubasa-san didn't mean to be rude to Hibiki, she's just trying to save her from herself." Kana says to herself, leaving to find Hibiki. "Regardless, it may be best to not tell her this right now, the last thing she needs is to feel worse than she already is."


Dr. Nastassja's POV:
F.I.S. Helicopter


(Maria sings Apple)

Days after her collapse, Dr. Nastassja wakes up in a bed, seeing Maria sing the song that she and Serena always sang. "Such a gentle girl." Nastassja thought. "And it's not just Maria. I'm forcing all three of those gentle girls to carry my heavy cross. Forcing them to face a member of their family without a second thought. Perhaps... I am the one in the wrong..." Reflecting on everything that's happened, forcing her cold-hearted approach onto the F.I.S. wielders, even against someone they used to know, Nastassja begins to have a change of heart towards their entire mission. Suddenly, a call comes in, which she decides to answer. "It's me."

"Is... Is that you, Mom?" Kirika asked over the call. Even Maria was relieved that Nastassja had woken up.

"Are you doing okay?" Shirabe asked.

"Thanks to Maria's efforts, I've managed to get through the worst of it." Dr. Nastassja replies.

"That's good to hear." Shirabe said, relieved that Nastassja was doing better.

"Yeah." Kirika added. "S-so, Mom... I know we're supposed to be on standby, but we're away from the base beca-"

"I know." Nastassja interjects. "Maria's orders, right?" Kirika sighed as a response.

"The doctor is the only one that can help you get better," Shirabe said. "But we can't seem to get in touch with him."

"Thank you, both of you." Nastassja says. "When you manage to find him, get in contact with me as soon as you can. I'll send you the rendezvous point."


Kirika's POV:
Suburban Area 6


"Roger that!" Kirika says, ending the call and breathing a sigh of relief. "Gonna be honest, I was not expecting Mom to answer."

"I'm just glad she's doing alright, to be honest." Shirabe replied.

The two wielders agreed on that. Suddenly, Kirika's stomach began to growl. "I didn't realize how hungry I was until I calmed down." she says, chuckling while being slightly embarrassed.

"I mean, we haven't eaten anything since this morning." Shirabe replied.

"Then how about we find a bite to eat real quick? What do you say?" Kirika asks.

"Yeah." Shirabe said. "But we really should find the doctor as soon as possible."

"That's true..." Kirika says, figuring it would be better to help Nastassja first and foremost. "Very well, let's continue the search, Dess!" With a renewed sense of determination, Shirabe and Kirika run down the empty city street, running past one of the Section Two wielders' favorite restaurants, Flower.


Hibiki's POV:
Outside Lydian


Following the conversation with the wielders, Hibiki thought about the things Tsubasa said to her. "Hey girls!" Kana said, running to meet up with Hibiki and their friends. "Sorry I'm a bit later than I would've liked..." She said, catching her breath.

"Hey Kana." Miku says. "Is everything okay? Chris mentioned Tsubasa-san was acting strange but she didn't know why. Do you know anything about that?"

Having learned about Hibiki's condition slightly through overhearing Kanade's lecture to Tsubasa, Kana decided to twist the truth about what she heard. "Tsubasa-san was just worried about Hibiki fighting for a bit after our recent battle with F.I.S." She said. "Kanade-san gave Tsubasa-san an earful for her approach to the matter, so I decided to give them some privacy."

"Tsubasa-san can be a bit too serious from time-to-time." Miku said, buying Kana's lie.

"Regardless, Tsubasa-san didn't mean to be rude to you Hibiki, she's just worried about you." Kana said to Hibiki.

"That's a relief, thanks for telling me Kana." Hibiki says, being slightly cheered up by Kana's words.

"Now that you're here, Kana-chan, would you like to join us? We were about to go to Flower for some okonomiyaki." Shiori asked.

"Sure thing." Kana replied. "I don't have much else going on right now, so I'd be happy to join you all."

With that said, the six friends head towards Flower. However, while Kana's words were comforting to hear, she couldn't help but think about Tsubasa's words, not to mention those bad memories from before she had met Kana that had resurfaced while she was unconscious. "By the way Hibiki, aren't you eating more carbs than a young high school girl usually should?" Yumi asked, but Hibiki was too lost in thought to answer. "Hey!"

This was enough to snap Hibiki out of her thoughts. "Y-Yeah... But that old lady makes the best okonomiyaki! I just can't help it!"

"It's a good thing we invited you, then." Shiori added.

"I'm honestly glad that she's been doing well, too" Miku said.

"After all, we can't just see her as often as we could before." Kana added.

"And I'm sure it's helped cheer you up, ey Bikki?" Kuriyo teased, noticing Hibiki's brighter expression than just a moment ago.

Hibiki, however, was oblivious to the comment, making the friends chuckle in response. "You know, you can be denser than a protagonist of a harem anime sometimes!" Yumi said.

"A certain someone's been really worried about how you've been down lately Bikki," Kuriyo said, referring to Miku, "So we figured we could have an okonomiyaki party just like old times."

Hearing that this party was practically suggested by Miku, it helped cheer Hibiki up more. From the actions of her friends, Hibiki remembered what Kana said a few weeks ago.


"You always have our backs, Hibiki. It's only fair that we're always there to have yours."


However, the mood is quickly changed from happy to serious as three black cars with what looked like agents in them passed by the group. "Well that was... odd..." Kana commented, before screeching tires and a loud explosion could be heard in the direction the cars went. "And that is worse..."

"What was that?" Kuriyo asked, before everyone quickly ran to investigate the crash, Kana and Hibiki taking the lead.

When they reached the crash site, they were met with several crashed cars, piles of ashes that could've only been humans moments ago, and at the center of it all, Dr. Ver and several Noise summoned by Solomon's Cane. "No matter who they are, I won't let anyone take this from me." The doctor said, laughing like mad while looking at the wrapped object in his left hand.

"Dr. Ver!" Hibiki shouts.

"So you finally show yourself!" Kana added.

"W-What the hell?! What are you two doing here?!" The doctor said, clearly freaking out at the sight of two of his enemies, let alone the one that killed the Nephilim in a blind rage and the one that could transform into a dragon. In his panic, he sent the Noise that he had recently summoned towards the group, but Kana and Hibiki were not going to sit by and let the Noise hurt their friends.


"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir trooon!"


Hibiki punched the Noise charging at her, without her Gear having activated. Everyone watched to see what would happen to Hibiki because of this, but nothing happened to her. Despite being mid transformation, Kana was able to see this happen clear as day, and remembered what she had heard Kanade say.


"...you could've just told her that she was putting her life at risk with her Gear and it would've had the same effect!"


"Something about this isn't right..." Kana said to herself. "I figured Kanade just meant she needed to rest before using Gungnir again... But this... This is worrisome."

(Seigi wo Shinjite, Nigirishimete begins to play)

Seconds later, Hibiki's Gear finally activates, obliterating the Noise she had punched, letting out a huge shockwave as a result. "My fists... My life... They are my Symphogear!" Hibiki says, clenching her fist tightly, making Ver even more worried for his life, as Kana is left to worry about Hibiki's, realizing just what Kanade and Tsubasa were trying to hide.

A/N: I think this is a good place to leave off for now.

If I'm gonna be honest, I would've released this chapter a bit sooner, but I ended up getting myself a bit distracted. (If you've been on the Symphogear subreddit, you know why.) But regardless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will see you all in the next one!