Part 3:
Chapter 13:
Believe in your justice and follow the path it creates
The Wielders/S.O.N.G. HQ's POVs:
The TRUE Final Battle with Carol Malus Dienheim
Descending from the clouds, the nine wielders came face to face with Carol as she ascended into the air to meet them. "One on nine..." Maria comments.
"She's an Alchemist." Tsubasa interjects. "There's no point in counting the numbers!"
"And we've got the X-Drive to finish her." Chris says.
"It's as good as over!" Kanade adds.
Hearing their overconfident comments, Carol chuckled. "You truly think wielding a miracle is enough to defeat me?"
"We all created this power together!" Shirabe answers.
"It's more than just 'a miracle' dess!" Kirika adds.
"I beg to differ!" Carol retorted. "Miracles are worthless. When my father saved our village from a plague, the foolish villagers called his work a miracle."
"How could they be foolish if they called it a miracle?" Kana asks.
"They burned him at the stake for working miracles they thought he had no right to!" Carol shouted, shocking the group.
"Your father..."
"Lifting the veil over reality's fundamental principles and recording them in the Château de Tiffauges was my task. In other words, bringing about the Apocalypse of All Things." Carol continued. "But..."
"Carol-chan is crying?" Hibiki notices.
"Miracles are a plague, no different than the one that struck my village! That's why I swore I would destroy them..." Carol said as she pulled out several Alca-Noise crystals. "That's why I refuse to lose to someone wielding a miracle!"
With that said, Carol summoned so much Alca-Noise that they practically flooded the ruined city below and the skies above the wielders and herself. "What is she trying to do?" Serena thought aloud.
"Carol still has..."
"So many Alca-Noise" Sakuya and Aoi report in shock.
"Even without the Château de Tiffauges, she has enough to destroy the world?!" Genjuro said, taken aback by how prepared Carol was to carry out her plan even if her main plan failed.
Even Ogawa was surprised by Carol's determination to end the world. "What can we do against power like this?"
As everyone was lost in the shock of the Alca-Noise, one person's focus was on someone else in the room. "Hibiki... Hibiki!" Hibiki's father shouts.
"That voice... Dad?" Hibiki asks.
"Hibiki, a child is crying here!" He continues, referring to the unconscious Elfnein in his and Lilith's arms.
Hearing this, Hibiki was confused as to why Elfnein would be crying. However, in that moment, she found her answer when she saw tears start to form in Carol's eyes, realizing what she had to do. "If a child is crying, you have to reach out your hand to them, right?"
"Forget it!" Carol angrily shouted. "I'll just destroy everything!" On her command, the Alca-Noise began to destroy everything in sight. However, this did not faze the wielders, as they knew exactly what needed to be done.
(Hajimari no Babel begins to play)
"Tsubasa-san!"
"I know, Tachibana." Tsubasa answers, knowing exactly what the young Gungnir wielder was going to say as she pulled out her sword.
"It isn't the first time I've went along with your screwy way of fighting." Chris adds as herself and the other wielders arm themselves with their respective weapons.
"We'll split up and destroy the Alca-Noise individually!" Maria states as she pulls out a sword from her breastplate.
"And I'll provide support for everyone as best as I can!" Kana adds, summoning her mask and charging into the fray with everyone.
And so, with their X-Drive Gears and boosts from Kana's augments, the wielders went around town dispatching every last Alca-Noise they could find. All the while, their thoughts were on their opponent, or more accurately, her reasons for fighting.
"She's just like us dess." Kirika thought as herself and Shirabe sliced up all of the Alca-Noise on the ground with their combined Gears.
"She was oppressed and downtrodden." Shirabe adds.
"However, despite it all, she kept struggling, trying to change things." Serena continues.
"The only difference is that she was alone!" Maria says, slicing down a giant Alca-Noise with her blades.
"I have to save her." Chris says to herself as she filled the sky around her with lasers that demolished every Alca-Noise in her vicinity.
"Because I was saved, too." Kanade thought, remembering how she was when she first activated Gungnir, grateful for the friends she had to pull her out of her vengeful rage.
"And to do that, I shall wield a miracle and rise as many times as I must!" Tsubasa declares to herself as she cleaves through one of the carrier Alca-Noise in the sky.
"We've come too far to give up on Carol-chan now." Kana says to herself as she blasts away countless Alca-Noise with an extremely powerful Dragon Shot.
"And so, we'll sing a song in this war-torn sky!" Hibiki declares, piercing through wave after wave of Alca-Noise.
With the same goal in mind, the wielders fill the air with the explosions of every Alca-Noise on the scene, a sight which amazed S.O.N.G. HQ.
"With the X-Drive's power, victory is assured for them!" Ogawa cheers.
"But Carol's been building her phonic gain while they were busy." Genjuro states.
Having finished off the last of the Alca-Noise in the city, the wielders return to Carol and come to the same realization that Genjuro did. "Those Alca-Noise were just a distraction?!" Hibiki thought aloud.
"Is she planning to burn every last memory she has?" Chris asks.
"If only everything was gone..." Carol said aloud as blood ran down her face from the strain of how much power she was conjuring. "The world, miracles... And my memories!"
Shouting this, Carol let out a massive burst of power that forced the wielders to use everything they had just to not get blown away.
"I swore to myself I'd save her!" Maria declares aloud.
"That's right!" Tsubasa agrees, knowing herself and the others have the same promise to themselves. "Come with me, Maria!"
Together, Maria and Tsubasa combine their strengths by creating a sort of drill with their swords and charging at Carol with all of their might. However, Carol was ready for this as she placed several barriers between herself and the approaching duo, easily stopping the drill's advance. "Begone!" Carol shouted before easily sending both wielders flying.
"Senpai!/Tsubasa!" Chris and Kanade shout in concern for their friend.
"Maria!" Serena, Kirika, and Shirabe shout in concern for their friend.
Without any hesitation, Kanade and Serena dashed through the sky to catch Tsubasa and Maria. But as everyone watched on, Carol began to coat herself in tons of harp strings, shaping those strings into massive golden appendages upon a giant green metallic beast. "What is that?" Chris asks upon turning to see the monster, followed by everyone else who gasped at its presence.
"I'll return everything to the void. I don't even care anymore." Carol said to herself from within her alchemical beast mech. "But if I don't do it, the ache beneath my belly won't stop."
Upon completion, the beast roared as flames started to pour from its mouth. "Incoming!" Chris shouts before the beast let out a powerful burst of flames that tore through several buildings below them.
"Gods..." Kana says, speechless at the destruction caused by one attack. "Just how strong has she become?"
"We need to get her..."
"Before she gets us dess!" Shirabe and Kirika shout before charging towards the monster that was Carol despite their senpais' pleas not to.
As expected, their attempt to attack the beast as she was served to be fruitless as they too were sent flying before being caught by Kana and warped back to the rest of the group. "Her defenses are impregnable." Maria states. "Unless we focus our fire, we won't break through!"
"Then we'll gather our X-Drive energy into our Armed Gears, and push through!" Tsubasa says.
"It's a huge risk, but it's our only hope of winning this!" Kanade states.
"And we can concentrate it all into one!" Serena adds.
"Chat later!" Chris interjects. "We've got incoming!"
True to Chris' word, Carol sends a massive barrage of beams towards the group. However, just as the beams are about to collide with them all, Hibiki blocks them with her gauntlet. "Now! While I'm blocking it!" She shouts.
"Let's do it!" Maria shouts as herself, Tsubasa, Chris, Kirika, Shirabe, Kanade, and Serena cast their Armed Gears into the sky before using their power to pierce through Carol's alchemical beast, revealing the alchemist inside.
Despite this now massive opening and some minor bruises, she chuckled. "I expected a bit more from that, despite the fact you were short an Armed Gear..." However, at that moment, she realized why their attack wasn't successful in stopping her: It wasn't their main attack.
From her beast, Carol saw Hibiki gathering the wielders' power within her right gauntlet, becoming angry as she watched it grow in size as it absorbed the ball of power hanging above it. "I'll destroy miracles! Every last one of them!" Carol decreed as she charged up another powerful blast aimed directly at Hibiki.
"I'LL BECOME A MURDERER OF MIRACLES!"
With the final shout, Carol sends the blast towards Hibiki, who was unable to dodge it without losing the power they were gathering, which scared the wielders on the ground. "Tachibana!" Tsubasa shouts in concern as they all watch the blast connect with Hibiki, a sight which gave the alchemist special satisfaction.
Unfortunately for her, that satisfaction would be for naught.
(GLORIOUS BREAK begins to play)
Hibiki managed to successfully gather everyone else's phonic gain from their Gears and combine it with her gauntlet as Kana boosted her strength with her Gungnir Augmentation. "This hand, which connects with others, is my Armed Gear!" Hibiki retorts.
"And, unfortunately for you, Carol-chan, two Armed Gears weren't used in that attack." Kana adds as her armor starts to disappear. "Hers... And Mine!" In one swift motion, Kana puts all of her power into Hibiki's giant gauntlet, coating it in draconic scales similar to her dragon form, only this time with yellow accents where the black accents would've been.
"If this fist connects, it's going to hurt." Hibiki warns Carol. "But Miku taught me that it can do more than only hurt!"
Carol grimaced at Hibiki. "I don't care what you say! Your end will come all the sa-" Carol said before being cut off by another sharp pain that surged throughout her body. "Another rejection? Now?!"
In that moment, the kind face of her father from her memories showed up in her mind. "No... These memories of Papa are trying to stop me!" Carol realized as tears streamed down her face. "I refuse to accept that... I refuse! I have no need for memories that will defy me! I'll burn them all and turn them into power!"
In that moment, Carol's beast started glowing as all of her memories were burned into pure power. At the same time, however, Hibiki harnessed the power lent to her by her friends, causing her giant gauntlet to undergo another transformation, modifying pieces of the armor to match the colors of her friends' Gears as multicolored energy surged beneath it.
Once their transformations were complete, Hibiki charged at Carol's beast, who in return fired at her with its full power, which slowly started pushing back Hibiki. "Everyone!" Kana shouts to the other wielders. "We need to give Hibiki all the power that we can!"
"Kamui's right!" Tsubasa agrees. "Lend your power to Tachibana!"
"Ame no Habakiri!"
"Ichaival!"
"Shul Shagana!"
"Igalima!"
"Airgetlám!/Airgetlám!"
"Yato!"
With their power sent to her, Hibiki started to push through the blast again, which scared the alchemist.
"GUNGNIR!/GUNGNIR!"
With everyone's power at her side, Hibiki was able to completely overpower Carol's blast and shattered her alchemical beast mech.
Glorious Break
With the finishing blow landed, the wielders watched on in shock as both Carol's mechanical beast and Hibiki's gauntlet started to break apart. However, now that the beast mech was broken, the power Carol controlled it with began to surge at an alarming rate.
(Exterminate begins to play)
"The energy's lost its outlet and is going out of control!" Aoi reports.
"Estimating damage now." Sakuya says as he and Aoi begin to type at their computers.
"Sixty seconds until the energy reaches criticality!" Aoi reports in a more concerned tone.
"The surrounding twelve kilometers will be caught in the explosion, and any buildings within three kilometers will be badly damaged!" Sakuya adds, which greatly worries the commander.
"It's like a miniature sun." Ogawa states.
"Lilith-kun!" Genjuro shouts. "Get the wielders out of there ASAP!" Without any hesitation, Lilith quickly nods as she teleports away from HQ.
"She can teleport?!" Hibiki's father asks, surprised by Lilith's abilities.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Lilith arrives amongst the wielders on the ground. "Everyone! Quickly! Before that thing explodes!" She says as most of the wielders hurry over to her, except for Kana. "Kana! Hurry!"
"Go on without me!" Kana says, running off towards the sparking beast. "I need to save Hibiki!"
"Kana!"
"Let her go, Lilith." Chris calmly says. "If there's anyone I trust to save that idiot, it's Kana." While everyone was shocked that Chris of all people said this, Lilith decided to do as Chris requested and left the battlefield with the other wielders in tow.
After her attack dissipated, Hibiki was snared in Carol's strings as the beast began to reach critical levels. "Let me engrave it into your very soul: That, in this world, songs can't save anything."
"I won't give up." Hibiki retorts. "Even if it takes a miracle!"
"Miracles are nothing more than curses." Carol retorted back. "All they ever do is kill those who cling to them."
In that moment, the beast began to implode, which also knocked Carol out of her adult form and freed Hibiki from her binds. However, instead of running away to save herself, Hibiki dives after the falling Carol. "Carol-chan! Take my hand!"
The Alchemist made no attempt to grab Hibiki's hand. Instead choosing to smirk as she watches the wielder desperately try to save her. "Your songs can't save me." Carol smugly said. "They can't save anyone!"
"That's never stopped me before, and it won't now!" Hibiki retorts as she grabs onto her pendant.
"Drawn Blade!"
"Dáinsleif!"
Hibiki activated her Ignite Module over her X-Drive form, but at the same time, someone else appeared to the Alchemist over Hibiki: Elfnein. "Carol!" She shouts as she too reaches out for the Alchemist with both hands.
However, Elfnein wasn't the only vision she saw over Hibiki's reaching hand. The next person she saw reaching out to save her finally broke through her stubborn attitude. "Carol... Know more of the world."
"Papa!"
"The task we've been given is to ensure that, someday, people can understand one another." Izak said as his daughter started tearing up just seeing him. "You're smart, you know this, right? And you know what you have to do."
"PAPA!"
At that moment, Hibiki reached Carol's hand and grabbed onto her, but at the same time, herself and Hibiki saw someone coming at them from the ground.
"Awaken!"
In a sudden flash of light, Kana quickly warped over to Hibiki and Carol right as the mechanical beast's full explosion happened. "Fólkvangr don't fail me now!" Kana said to herself as she quickly teleported to a random location, just barely avoiding the blast.
Hibiki's/Kana's/Elfnein's POVs:
Three Days Later
Following the end of the battle, S.O.N.G. began to search for Kana, Hibiki, and Carol. Thankfully, they were able to find the first two with relative ease, as for the latter. "I see. Then no one knows where Carol is yet?" Genjuro asked Ogawa over the phone.
"It's been seventy-two hours since the battle ended. If she's still alive, then there's a good chance her trail's gone cold." Ogawa stated.
"Understood." Genjuro replied. "Call off the search and return."
"Roger." Ogawa said before hanging up the phone.
"Since Hibiki-chan and Kana-chan were safe when we found them, she's probably alive." Aoi said optimistically.
"Honestly, Carol's whereabouts aren't my biggest concern at the moment." Sakuya said as he looked at an X-Ray scan in his hands.
While S.O.N.G. Command ended their search for Carol within the crater, the wielders and Miku were at the hospital checking up on Elfnein, who had been bedridden since the battle's conclusion. "Thanks for coming to visit me." Elfnein says. "I'm sorry to make you all come every day."
"No worries, Elfnein-chan." Miku reassured Elfnein. "It's summer vacation, so we're all good."
"Summer vacation?" The Alchemist asks.
"It's a lot of fun." Shirabe said.
"And it's our first one, too dess!" Kirika added.
"You get to sleep in as much as you like, and you can stay up as late as you want." Hibiki explains.
"That's literally just your lifestyle, Hibiki..." Kana sighs as Miku nodded in agreement.
"Don't go teaching her your weird habits!" Chris lectured Hibiki, who chuckled nervously.
"There's also summer festivals that take place in the shopping districts!" Kanade added.
"They're the best!" Hibiki says. "They serve all sorts of yummy food! Yakisoba, cotton candy, takoyaki, even grilled squid! By the way, when she gets excited, Maria-san's Gear plays a Bon Odori song."
Elfnein was surprised by the sudden tidbit about Maria. "Is that true?" Elfnein asked Maria, who was bright red with embarrassment.
"Of course not!" Maria quickly denied. "Besides, that would be something that Tsubasa's Gear would do anyway..."
Immediately, everyone thought about it, and they all laughed... That is, except for Tsubasa... "I see. I see. So that's what my Ame no Habakiri means to you." Tsubasa said in a quiet rage while Kanade gave her a comforting pat on the back.
"C'mon, Tsubasa. It's all in good fun." Kanade said, doing her best to hold in her laughter. "Even if it's pretty on the nose."
"There's still so much I need to learn about the world, isn't there?" Elfnein asks as she wipes a tear of joy from her eye. "If I could learn more about the world, about you all, would I be closer to you than I am now?"
"Of course!" Hibiki answers for the group as she holds Elfnein's hand in hers. "So you have to get better soon, alright?"
The Alchemist didn't say anything in response, but her warm smile was more than enough of an answer for Hibiki. With that, however, visiting hours were over and the wielders had to leave.
"See you tomorrow!" Shirabe said as they left the room.
"Get well soon dess!" Kirika added before the door closed behind them.
Once the door closed, Hibiki let out a sigh. "I gotta use the bathroom..." She says.
For a brief moment, Chris and Tsubasa looked at the younger Gungnir wielder and knew what she meant. "Very well." Tsubasa said.
With that said, Hibiki smiled before quickly running off in the other direction. "Let's get going." Chris said to the others.
"Aren't we going to wait for her to come back?" Kirika asked.
"It's fine." Maria answered as she walked towards the hospital exit with Tsubasa and Chris, the latter of which grabbed the Zababa duo's hands and led them out with her.
As for Miku, Kanade, and Kana, they did not follow the group.
Once she was in the bathroom, Hibiki started the faucet on one of the sinks and began to cry. A short moment later, Miku entered the bathroom to check in on Hibiki. "I'm sorry..." Hibiki says in a quavering voice. "I didn't want to cry in front of Elfnein-chan. She'd never get better that way..."
Now that Miku was here, Hibiki turned off the faucet, letting the water drain from the sink while tears still ran down her face. "The only problems you can solve with your fists are the easy ones... The only things I can do are so small." Saying this, Hibiki's fist began to clench up on the countertop. "It's so frustrating..."
"That may be. But you know..." Miku said as she walked over to Hibiki and held her clenched fist. "When you're doing what you think is right, your clenched fist is special."
Hibiki looked up from the pool of water and tears in confusion. "Special?"
"It's the gentlest fist in the world." Miku answered. "Someday, I'm sure it will solve everything that's wrong with the world."
"Miku..." Hibiki faintly says as Miku's kind words make her start to tear up again before she pulls Miku in for a hug. "Thank you. You really are my sunshine."
Seeing that her sun was feeling better, Miku returned the hug. At the same time, Kana and Kanade watched everything happen and they both smirked before leaving the girls alone in the bathroom for the moment.
"I'm glad someone as kind as Miku-chan is in Hibiki-chan's life." Kanade sighed. "Honestly, they remind me of myself and Tsubasa sometimes."
"How so?" Kana asks.
"Well, for starters, we've almost always got each other's backs both in life and in combat, Tsubasa tends to get flustered when I make romantic compliments, the list goes on for a while." Kanade answered. "But honestly, you and Chris-chan are the more accurate portrayal of Tsubasa and I than them."
Kana became flustered by that comment. "EH?!"
"C'mon, it's so obvious you two have a thing for each other." Kanade teased. "But, ever since you were found after the battle, you two have been strangely tense together, and I mean 'Comedian with a dark sense of humor performing at a funeral' tense."
Kana sighs at her senpai's observations. "That may be thanks to me confessing my feelings to her right before I went into the Château alone... By kissing her..."
Kanade was speechless when she heard that. "Wow. I mean, I figured you two would've kissed eventually, but, yeah I can see why things are tense between you two now."
"Did I screw up?"
"Hardly." Kanade said. "It was risky to confess with a kiss, yeah, but it's still clear that the feelings are there. You two just need to talk about it once the moment's right."
"How will I know when that is, Kanade-san?" Kana asks.
"Oh, trust me. You'll know." Kanade chuckled as she playfully patted Kana on the back. "Now then, how about we go grab Hibiki-chan and Miku-chan and go get a bite to eat? Now that all this crap with Carol and her Autoscorers is behind us, I'd say we deserve to celebrate a little, yeah?"
"Sounds good to me!" Kana agrees. "But shouldn't we see if the others want to celebrate with us?"
"Eh, they've probably all gone home by now." Kanade shrugged. "Besides, we can just celebrate again with them once Elfnein-chan's all better, but Tsubasa might kill me if I don't at least bring her home something..." Sharing another laugh, the girls grabbed Hibiki and Miku and left the hospital for a mini celebration before going back home themselves.
Later that night, in her hospital bed, Elfnein was fast asleep. That is, until a girl with short blonde hair and a red dress entered the room. "Carol..."
Somehow, Carol had managed to survive the explosion just as Hibiki and Kana had. However, other than her missing coat, hat, and braid, something seemed off about Carol. "Carol? Is that my name?" She asked.
Hearing her response, Elfnein knew what was wrong. "Amnesia..." She says. "You burned almost all of your memories."
"All I have left are fragments, like they're covered up in a foggy mist." Carol said. "Just who am I? Every time I close my eyes, I see you. So I thought you might know, and I came here for answers."
"You are... The other me."
"The other you?"
"Yes." Elfnein answers. "The two of us followed the words that Papa left us."
"Papa's words? How did I forget something so important?" Carol gasped. "Please, tell me everything! Even as we speak, I can feel myself slipping away!"
As Carol begged to learn the truth, Elfnein started to cough up blood. "I want to start from the beginning, but I can't manage that as I am." Elfnein explains. "You can see the state my body is in."
"So you're fading away, too, just like I am?" Carol asked.
"...Yes... At first, I thought I was fine with that, as long as I could save the world..." Elfnein says as tears start to stream down her face. "But... Right now, I don't want to disappear!"
Hearing this fear in Elfnein's voice, the amnesiac Alchemist knew what she had to do. "In that case, the two of us can do it again. Together!"
Without warning, Carol climbed onto the bed and kissed Elfnein on the lips as she grabbed onto her hand. Shortly after Carol closed her hand on Elfnein's, the dying Alchemist did the same. As this happened, flames started to engulf Elfnein's body and the heart-rate monitor she was connected to flatlined.
With the monitor flatlining, it didn't take long for all of the wielders and Miku to get notified and rush back to Elfnein's room in the hospital. When they arrived, they were all shocked by what they saw: Elfnein was gone and a familiar girl in a red dress stood in her place. "C-Carol-chan?" Hibiki asks.
"Carol" doesn't move from her spot, but she shook her head at Hibiki's question before turning to face the group. Once she did, the wielders and Miku were met with a kinder expression than Carol's naturally cold one.
"I am..."
The girls were surprised when they heard the voice that came from Carol's body. "I can't believe it..." Kana says as tears of joy start to well up in her eyes.
The girl that stood before them was no longer that of Carol Malus Dienheim, but rather... "Elfnein-chan!" Hibiki cries out in joy as she rushes over to Elfnein to give her a big hug as everyone else follows suit.
Kana's POV:
Astral Plane
With Elfnein's life saved by the amnesiac Carol in her final moments, the girls could now rest easy, knowing the world was safe once again. That is... Most of them could rest...
"What happened to our fun summer vacation?" Shirabe asked aloud as herself and Kirika are stuck in the Astral Plane doing homework.
"You'll still have a fun summer vacation, Shirabe-chan." Kana reassures Shirabe. "But in order to do that, you need to do your homework so you don't have to stress about it when school starts up."
"'Stress us out' dess?" Kirika asked. "Then why doesn't Chris-senpai seem worried, Kana-sama?"
"Well-"
"I got this, Kana." While Kana was helping the Zababa duo with their homework, Chris was eating a popsicle and was lounging on the bed that used to be Kana's before she let Kirika and Shirabe use it. "This is a perfect opportunity to tell you something." She said as she pulled out a report card with very high grades on it. "I may not look it, but I get pretty good grades."
"No way!" Shirabe gasped, which earned her and Kirika an irritated glare from Chris.
"S-Shirabe said that dess!" Kirika snitched.
"What happened to the Kiri-chan who was supposed to protect me?"
"JUST FINISH YOUR DAMNED HOMEWORK!" Chris roared, which made the duo of kouhai begin to work twice as hard on their homework than before.
"Is everything okay in here?" Lilith asked as she walked into the room. "I hope Kirika-chan and Shirabe-chan have been doing their homework like Nastassja asked?"
Kana nods. "Chris and I have been making sure of that." She answered.
"Thank you, Kana." Lilith said with a smile. "If there's anyone I knew could help them, it's definitely you."
"What can I say? I've got to be as good of a Senpai to them as you were a teacher to Serena and I." Kana replies, which causes both dragons to laugh.
"Speaking of that, how about you and Chris-chan go and have some fun?" Lilith suggested. "I'm all done with work for the moment, so I can take over and help Kirika-chan and Shirabe-chan with their homework now." While saying this, Lilith winked at Kana.
"Are you sure?" Kana asks, receiving a nod from Lilith. "Alrighty then! Let's get going, Chris!"
"Okay." Chris shrugged as she got up from the bed. "You two better be done with your homework before we get back, got it?"
"Y-Yes Ma'am!" The Zababa duo replied.
Meanwhile with everyone else
With the battle with Carol over, The wielders went about summer vacation in their own ways. For Hibiki Tachibana, that meant going with her father, Akira Tachibana, to her hometown where her Mom and Grandmother still lived. "I shouldn't have any good memories of this town." Hibiki said as she stopped to catch her breath. "But right now, it feels like I do."
"Maybe it's because you've become stronger than you used to be?" Akira thought. "After all, I gotta do my best, too. Right?"
"Yeah, Dad!"
"It's alright! Everything's just fine!"
As for Kanade and Tsubasa, they were free to go back on tour now that the world was safe once again. However, as they walked through the airport to get to their plane, someone was waiting for them. "Onee-san?" Serena asked aloud, which drew the Zwei Wing duo's attention to the long pink haired woman leaning against one of the pillars in the hallway.
"You know, I also go to England every now and then." Maria said.
"Every now and then, huh?" Tsubasa chucked.
"You can just admit that you'd be lonely without us, y'know." Kanade teased, which made Maria blush.
"L-Let's just get going, shall we?" Maria said, trying her best to change the topic.
As the four wielders and Ogawa left the airport in their plane, Genjuro and Yatsuhiro watched them leave from the parking lot. "Don't you think you're a failure as a father, not being able to see her off in person?" Genjuro asked his brother while leaning on his car.
"This is enough for us..." Yatsuhiro replied, paying no mind to his brother's jab. "More importantly, Gen, what's your take on this Magical Girl Incident?"
With this question asked, Genjuro became serious. "Since the US fell from power, trouble has been brewing in Europe."
With this statement, Yatsuhiro adjusted his glasses. "Or perhaps..."
"Sorry I'm late!" Elfnein apologized as she rushed into S.O.N.G. HQ's command center.
"You'd better be." Sakuya replied, not even looking away from his monitor as he did.
Elfnein, however, chuckled nervously at this. "I really am sorry." She repeated before mocking him behind his back with Aoi.
"Now then, let's get back to our analysis." Aoi said in a friendlier tone as herself and the other agents pulled up the data retrieved from the chip left behind by the late Dr. Ver.
Kana and Chris' POVs:
Astral Plane
As Lilith took over making sure the Zababa duo did their homework, Kana and Chris left the main fortress of the Astral Plane. However, Kana stopped for a moment after they left. "You good, Kana?" Chris asks.
"Yeah..." Kana replies hesitantly. She knew Lilith was trying to make it so herself and Chris could be alone so they could talk, but she was still nervous. However, in that moment of nervousness, Kana thought back to what Kanade and Miku told her.
"You two just need to talk about it once the moment's right."
"How will I know when that is, Kanade-san?"
"Oh, trust me. You'll know."
"That will be up to you to decide. But you need to promise me this: When that moment comes, you won't allow your fears to hold you back."
"Easier said than done..." Kana thought to herself. But she didn't have any other choice but to confess again. So, Kana swallowed her fears and began to speak. "Actually... Chris?"
"What's up?" Chris asks with a confused expression.
"There is... One thing that's been on my mind lately..." Kana starts off.
"Oh?"
"That moment before the fight with Carol-chan... When I kissed you." Kana says, which surprises Chris at first, but then her expression quickly turned into a soft smirk. "Since then, we haven't really been talking as much as we used to. And..." Kana took a deep breath. "I-"
Kana was suddenly cut off by a surprise kiss from Chris, which froze the dragon girl in place. "You don't have to finish that sentence, I know you meant what you said that day." Chris says upon breaking the kiss. "To be honest, I was going to confess how I felt on the night of Senpai's concert after the Idiot, her friends, and our kouhai left."
"Y-You were?!" Kana asks in shock. "I was going to confess that night too!"
Chris and Kana laughed over the irony of that. "God, it really was that obvious that we both had feelings, huh?" Chris sighs. "And here I thought that Idiot was just talking out of her ass."
"Wait, what?" Kana asks. "You told Hibiki you had feelings for me?!"
"Well, not exactly." Chris says. "She told me that everyone else knew just by how we acted around each other."
"And let me guess, you smacked her upside the head?" Kana asks.
"Do I even need to answer that question?" Chris retorts.
"Fair enough." Kana replies before changing the subject back to what it was. "So, does that mean... Y'know... You and I are..."
Chris blushes at what Kana was trying to ask. "Dating?" Chris asks, receiving a nod from Kana. "I don't see why not..."
With that said, Kana and Chris celebrated finally confessing to one another with another kiss that lasted much longer than their first two. Once they stopped, they just stood there, quietly smiling to one another. "Gods... It feels like a heavy weight's been lifted from my shoulders." Kana sighs. "So, what do you want to do now?"
"I could care less as long as it's something we do together." Chris replies. "If anything, we could just go back and watch over those two again."
"That... Might not be a good idea right now..." Kana says in a slightly concerned tone. "Especially since Lilith's currently watching over them..."
"Why? I thought your aunt was a kind person." Chris says.
"Don't get me wrong, Lilith's as kind as they come." Kana reassures Chris before fear retakes her face. "But when it comes to teaching and tutoring..." Kana shivered.
Chris was speechless at the thought of someone like Lilith being that brutal. "O-kay then... How about we go see a movie?"
Kana shakes off the chill she had from her memories of Lilith's teaching. "I'd love to!"
And so, the girls left the Astral Plane and went to their apartment to go to the movies, thus beginning what would become one of the most memorable summers of their lives.
Meanwhile
After the now dating Chris and Kana left the Astral Plane, Lilith stepped outside of the fortress, having watched everything between them unfold. But she wasn't the only one that watched. "It's safe to come out now, Miku-chan." Lilith said.
With Lilith's signal, Miku emerged from the bushes along the wall of the fortress and let out a sigh of relief. "I'm happy they were finally able to confess their feelings, Lilith-san." Miku said. "Thanks again for your help!"
"No worries, Miku-chan. It's the least I could do for them." Lilith replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, there are some other girls that need my help..."
"Have a good day, Lilith-san!" Miku said before she too left the Astral Plane.
?
"So... Project A.K. failed to meet our hopes?" A black haired man in a white suit asked over a refurbished rotary phone.
"I'm afraid so, Controlling Director." A woman's voice answered.
The man let out a sigh. "Very well." He said. "Put him with the others and rejoin your subordinates. I've received word that they have found the Antikythera mechanism in your absence."
"Understood." The woman said before hanging up the phone.
"So... Her power remains a mystery still... No matter, if it comes down to it, I'll force out your secrets myself!"
A/N: And with that, we end Part 3!
At long last, Chris and Kana finally officially opened up to one another! And don't worry, just because their relationship won't be a major plot point anymore, I plan to still add some moments for these two in Parts 4 and 5 (Especially the latter part).
Other than that, all in all, I'm very happy with how things turned out in this part and I can't wait to start working on Part 4!
That being said, thank you all for reading the story thus far. I shall see you all in the next part!
