Part 4:
Through Many Tears, The Reality of Your Fate is Shown.
Chapter 9:
Breaking Down the Internal Wall
The Wielders' POVs:
S.O.N.G. HQ
The next day, following Chris and Maria's victory over Cagliostro, the Wielders were now more motivated than ever to perfect unison amongst themselves for any and every possibility that the remaining members of the illuminati would seek to separate them. However, Chris and Maria would not be able to join in today's training session...
"I'm so sorry!" Elfnein apologized to Chris and Maria. "I underestimated the effects of the annihilation barrier on your Gears, so now I need to take them in for maintenance."
"Don't worry about it. If anything, we should be thanking you for accomplishing what you did in such a limited amount of time." Maria says, reassuring the apologetic alchemist.
"Not to mention it helped me get a good amount of regrets off of my back, too." Chris adds.
Relieved that Maria and Chris weren't mad at her, Elfnein perked up. "I'll find a way to suppress the backlash as soon as possible!"
Chris chuckles as she pats Elfnein on the head. "For a little kid, you sure are one helluva life saver, shrimp."
"But, Chris-san, you're not that much bigger than I am..." Elfnein stated, confused by the little kid and shrimp comments.
"Okay, we're not that close in terms of heights!" Chris retorts.
Entering the room right as Chris says this, Kana snickers. "Well..."
"Finish that sentence, and you're sleeping on the couch until we're done fighting the Illuminati!" Chris interjects.
"...Yeah, joke's not worth going back to the couch..." Kana says, dropping her cocky smirk.
"Height insecurities aside... What are you doing here, Kana?" Maria asks, while getting an irritated glare from Chris. "Your Symphogear doesn't need repairs, so you can still train with the others."
"While that is true, I requested to sit out from today's training." Kana says.
"Why?" Chris asks.
"Well, after the fight yesterday, I felt unusually exhausted." Kana answers. "So, I figured it was best to take a day off from Gear-related training so I wouldn't run the risk of overworking myself."
"Well, that explains why you were here before everyone else, even the idiot..." Chris says.
"Are you feeling alright, Kana-san?" Elfnein asks.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Kana replies. "Like I said, I just felt exhausted after the battle. I just needed a good night's sleep and I was good to go again."
"Still, I wonder if this exhaustion has anything to do with that strange transformation you underwent a few days ago." Elfnein theorized. "That aside, if you're not going to be using the Yato Gear today, would you mind if I brought it back to my lab so I can ensure your Gear does not suffer the same issue Maria-san and Chris-san's are?"
"Sure thing!" Kana says, handing the Yato Gear to Elfnein. "Anyways, enough about me, how are the others doing?"
"Hibiki-chan and Kirika-chan are making some progress together, as well as Kanade-san and Serena." Lilith reported. "But as for Shirabe-chan and Tsubasa-san..."
As Lilith was about to finish her report, Shirabe shrieked as she was hit in the face by one of the simulated Alca-Noise that Tsubasa kicked in an attempt to coordinate a volleyball-esque strike. "I see..." Kana sighs.
"Even with Tsubasa taking the lead, Shirabe-kun is unable to match her..." Genjuro added.
Meanwhile, inside the simulator, Shirabe gets back up on her feet and destroys the simulated Alca-Noise out of frustration. "This training isn't working at all..." She sighs, before her self-inflicted frustration turned to surprise as a certain someone appeared from a gust of wind. "Ogawa-san?"
"I'll do what little I can to assist you." Ogawa replied.
"Ogawa's well-versed in the arts of the Hida Ninja Clan." Tsubasa states. "If we are to have any hope of landing a single blow on him, we'll have to work together, Tsukuyomi!"
Remembering just how insane of a fight it was with Genjuro, Shirabe was not about to take Tsubasa's words for granted. However, she was still slightly nervous. That is, until Kirika gave her some words of encouragement. "Shirabe! Show that guy just how much faster you are dess!" She says.
"Okay!" Shirabe replies, motivated by her best friend's words and ready to fight.
(Melodious Moonlight Begins to Play)
Seeing the resolved Shul Shagana Wielder ready her weapons, Ogawa got into his battle stance. "While I appreciate the enthusiasm, I would still like to leave this room in one piece." He joked.
Shirabe ignored Ogawa's joke as she pulled out her giant sawblades and began to slash at the ninja/agent. For the most part, Shirabe was doing a great job at keeping Ogawa on his toes, but this was all just to set him up for the real attack. Once she was sure he was in a position to where he wouldn't be able to evade, Shirabe jumped into the air and created a giant sawblade that was attached to her foot as she dove down on him. "You're wide open!" She declares as she brought the sawblade down on top of him.
Sigma Style: Giant Blade's Fall
...Or so she thought. Just as she was about to make impact with the ground, Ogawa vanished from sight, taking the Wielder by surprise. "No way!"
"I'm over here." Ogawa said, reappearing on a lamppost right behind Shirabe. Wasting no time, Shirabe threw one of her Yo-Yos at him, aimed square at his chest, but once again, he vanished and reappeared on the ground, before showing off just how much faster than the Wielder he truly was. "You'll never catch me with your speed alone."
"Don't rush into things, Tsukuyomi!" Tsubasa shouts, trying to get Shirabe to stop being reckless.
However, Tsubasa's plea fell on deaf ears as Shirabe continued to chase after Ogawa alone, too distracted by her own thoughts. "Kiri-chan can do it with anyone, but I can only do it with her..." Shirabe says to herself, frustrated by her inability to sync up with the other Wielders the same way she can with Kirika. "I have to fight, even if it's all by myself!"
"We need to work together, Tsukuyomi!" Tsubasa says, catching up to the distracted Wielder. "It's the only way we can pin him down!"
"Then I'll just blanket the whole area in blades! He won't be able to run from that!" Shirabe replies, jumping into the air to unleash a barrage of sawblades onto the fleeing Ogawa, which made everyone watching worry.
Alpha Style: 100 Saṃsāra
"Don't do that, Shirabe!" Kirika shouts. "Just let him get away before-"
But the Igalima Wielder's warning was too late, and everyone watched in horror as one of Shirabe's sawblades cut through Ogawa's waistline, slicing him in two.
"...You do something you'll regret..." Kirika says, finishing her statement as she watches Ogawa's body fall to the ground... Until she realized that the ninja was not bleeding after the attack. "Huh?"
Suddenly, the two halves of Ogawa explode into a cloud of smoke, before being replaced by Ogawa's jacket over a log of wood, which was equally as surprising to everyone, especially for Shirabe. "I used my clone technique out of instinct." Ogawa said, appearing once again behind Shirabe, this time without his jacket on. "You've got the power. All that's left is for you to learn how to use it properly."
With this, Shirabe fell to her knees both in defeat and in recovery from the shock of thinking she had killed someone who trusted her, and the simulator was powered down seconds later.
"Shirabe-chan!" Hibiki gasps, seeing the Shul Shagana Wielder fall to her knees along with Kirika.
"Are you alright, Shirabe dess?" Kirika asks.
Meanwhile, Kanade and Serena walk over to Ogawa and Tsubasa, the former letting out an audible sigh of relief. "Geez, it had been so long since I've seen you do that trick that I honestly thought she got you for a sec, Ogawa." Kanade says.
"In fairness, Kanade-san, the last time I had to fight someone with more effort than a common criminal on missions was when Finé showed herself at our old headquarters." Ogawa replied. "Even then, I never had to resort to that."
"Fair enough." Kanade shrugs. "But now I gotta know, did he ever teach you to do that, Serena?"
"I mean, while I think he could teach me something like that, it's hard to find time between missions, being the assistant manager at yours and Tsubasa's concerts, and, you know, massive threats that tend to appear every three months ever since Finé happened." Serena answers.
"Also fair." Kanade says, before turning to see Tsubasa sadly gazing over at Shirabe. "You alright, Tsubasa?"
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Just lost in thought is all." Tsubasa replies, which Kanade shrugs as she returns to her conversation with the ninja and younger Airgetlám Wielder. As for Tsubasa, she goes back to the thoughts she had as she watched Shirabe try her hardest to fight alone. "She's just like how I used to be..."
S.O.N.G. Agents POVs:
With the simulation ended, the Agents and Wielders who were spectating the fight reconvened in the command center while the Wielders who were training got washed up in the showers. "With that, we've tested all the possible combinations for unison between the Wielders." Aoi states.
"However, Shirabe-san was the only one who was unable to increase her phonic gain through teamwork." Elfnein adds.
Genjuro strokes his chin. "This was very unexpected..." He says
Suddenly, a notification buzzed on Sakuya's desk. "Commander, there's a call coming in from the Cabinet." Sakuya says.
"Put them through." Genjuro orders, which the agent does without hesitation, which brings up a video call with Yatsuhiro. "Yatsuhiro. Did something happen?"
"I have some intel for you from the Shrine Association." Yatsuhiro said.
"From the Shrine Association?" Aoi wonders.
"Must be the ley line information we asked for a while back." Sakuya says.
"They spoke about something called 'The story of the Divine Gate'." Yatsuhiro continued, which made everyone in the command center fall silent in surprise.
"Divine... Like the power sought by the Bavarian Illuminati." Elfnein states.
"It would be best if you heard the details directly from the source." Yatsuhiro said. "I'll be sending you the necessary paperwork shortly."
With that, Yatsuhiro hangs up the call and Genjuro sighs. "What should we do, Commander?" Lilith asks.
Hearing this question, Genjuro looks over at the monitor that was replaying footage from the training room earlier, and an idea came to mind. "Perhaps it's time for a change of pace..."
The Wielders' POVs:
Saitama
With the information they received from Yatsuhiro, the Wielders were sent off in two cars driven by the Cadenzavna Eve siblings, with Tsubasa opting to follow along in her motorcycle. On their way, Elfnein called the Wielders to inform them of where they were going.
"The Tsuki Shrine in Saitama?" Hibiki asks. "Is there something there?"
"Many shrines are located on ley lines, and this one is no exception." Elfnein stated. "It's also related to the legend of the Divine Gate."
"So we're hoping to find something that could give us an advantage over our enemy." Serena states.
With that, Elfnein hung up the call, having caught everyone up to speed. "Well, this should be a fun little detour from our usual missions." Kanade says.
"How do you mean, Kanade-san?" Kana asks.
"I mean, aside from the main goal of learning more about our enemies, this could be a good time to chill." Kanade states. "After all, shrines are supposed to be relaxing, yeah?"
"I guess so." Kana replies, looking over to the other Wielder-filled car, seeing Kirika chow down on a bag of chips, Chris looking back at her in a mix of confusion and genuine surprise, and Shirabe, who was staring out the window despondently. "I'm sure some of us could use a moment to relax..."
Shirabe's Flashback:
The White Orphanage
While the others were talking amongst themselves, Shirabe thought back to her time in the White Orphanage, the place where herself, Kirika, Maria, and Serena had spent the majority of their childhoods.
Shirabe was very secluded back then. While there were more than enough people there to talk to, she could just never bring herself to start a conversation. However, one fateful day, while she was putting away her things, a girl with short blonde hair and a special X-shaped accessory in her hair walked over to her. "How do you read that name?" The girl asks.
Shirabe was surprised by the girl's sudden question. "They said it's Shirabe Tsukuyomi." She answers.
"Shirabe..." The girl says. "So it's kinda like Yajirobei! What a cool name to have dess!"
"I can't remember my real name." Shirabe says. "They gave me this name because of the things I had with me when I got here."
"They did something similar for me! I forgot when my birthday was, so they just made mine the day that I arrived here dess!" The girl says. "We both have something in common, so let's be friends!"
"Shirabe!" Kirika calls out to Shirabe, snapping her back to reality. "Are you doing alright? You're not getting carsick because of how different cars are from your sawblades, are you?"
"N-No, I'm fine." Shirabe replies with a small chuckle.
Tsuki Shrine
After nearly an hour of driving, the Wielders finally arrived at the Tsuki Shrine. Once they stepped out of their vehicles, they took a moment to take in all of the rabbit-themed décor, which they all found to be very cute to varying degrees. However, not long after their arrival, a Kannushi who worked at the shrine walked over to them. "I was told about your arrival beforehand, but I did not expect you all to be this young." The Kannushi chuckled.
"Are you the priest here?" Hibiki asks.
"That I am." The Kannushi replied. "Pardon me for going off topic in saying this, but when I look at you all, I am reminded of my granddaughter."
"Aww. That's very kind of you to say!" Kana says, appreciating the compliment. "She must be a nice young lady."
"She was." The Kannushi said. "Unfortunately, she died in a car accident with her parents many years ago."
All of the Wielders' hearts sank in their chests upon hearing this. "O-Oh... You have my condolences, and my apologies if it's a touchy subject." Kana apologizes.
"There's no need to apologize, young lady. While I still miss them greatly, they're in a better place." The Kannushi replied. "Although, if my granddaughter were still alive today, she would've been around your ages."
While it relieved Kana to hear that the Kannushi had moved on, Chris was rather irked by the last statement. "Hold it right there! I'll have you know that we're all very different ages!" She shouts. "Is this some kind of joke to you?"
"Right on the money! It was merely a priestly prank! A sense of humor really helps a lot with human relations!" The Kannushi chuckled. "We've only just met, and now look at how much that conversation alone has broken the ice between us."
And just like that, the mood turned from calm and peaceful, to sad and somber, to a mix of straight up confusion and shock. "Actually, this whole conversation has only built a Great Wall of distrust between us." Chris sighs.
"That, and I think it mentally broke Kana-chan." Kanade adds, looking at the Yato Wielder, who was at a genuine loss for words. "You feelin' okay over there?"
"I... I don't know how to feel right now..." Kana says, still trying to catch up emotionally after falling for the Kannushi's "Joke".
"Well, with that out of the way, let's get down to business." The Kannushi said, turning to lead the Wielders to a more private area. "Tell me, are any of you at all familiar with the Hikawa shrines?"
Once they were inside, the Kannushi opened an old scroll that had a special design marked inside of it. "Is that... The constellation of Orion?" Maria asks.
"In a way, yes. However, this is a version of the constellation that has been mirrored by the arrangement of the seven Hikawa shrines in this area." The Kannushi answers. "It's more traditionally known as the Tsuzumiboshi no Kamudo, a gate where gods were known to descend onto the Earth."
"It's still just guesswork, but many aspects of this gate line up with the Bavarian Illuminati's goal." Tsubasa states.
"Wild guess or not, it's probably best for us to follow this lead." Kanade adds, getting a nod from Tsubasa in agreement.
"A gate where gods were known to appear..." Hibiki thought aloud... Before her train of thought was rudely interrupted by her loud, growling stomach, which promptly made most of the Wielders give her disapproving looks, whereas Shirabe was more surprised by the sound, Kanade was more impressed by how loud it was and Kana seemed unfazed.
"Well that was loud dess." Kirika says, speaking blatantly for all of the disapproving Wielders.
"I-I promise I was paying attention!" Hibiki replies nervously. "I just can't control the beast within me..."
"In that case, let us break for dinner." The Kannushi said as he got up from his seat. "I'll have you know that my quiche is quite the delicacy."
"Shouldn't you be preparing food that's a bit more Japanese?" Chris asks. "This is a shrine after all."
"It's a kind offer, but we really shouldn't..." Tsubasa kindly interjects.
"If you're hoping to get through all these ancient scrolls, it'd be best to do it on a full stomach and plenty of energy to boot." The Kannushi insisted. "I'll be back in a moment."
"In hindsight, he does have a point." Serena says as herself and the others get up from their seats. "After all, it's better for us to eat before we've started than for it to become an issue later on."
"I guess..." Chris sighs, before finally noticing Kana's thousand-yard stare at the open scroll. "Hey, Kana, you doin' alright?"
Hearing her name, Kana snaps out of her trance and sees Chris looking right at her. "Oh. Yeah, I'm fine." She says, getting up as well. "Just lost in thought was all."
Chris could tell what that meant, but instead of drawing attention to it, she just shrugs. "Alright. Well, in case you didn't hear the idiot's stomach just now, the Priest is making us dinner before we get started with what we came here for."
"Sounds good to me! I was starting to get a little hungry myself." Kana replies, which promptly made Chris roll her eyes. However, once Chris had gotten up to leave, Kana replayed the encounter with the giant monster in her nightmares once again, briefly remembering the pain she had felt, even if it was only in her mind. "Even that alternate me from the Château didn't haunt me like this. So why does that... Thing... keep coming back into focus?"
Taking a deep breath, Kana finally stood up from the table and shook her head to stop thinking about the nightmare. "If that has anything to do with the Illuminati's plans, I need to put all of this effort I've put into worrying about what could happen into making sure it doesn't."
Prelati's POV:
Alchemists' Hideout
Later that night, having fully recovered from her battle with the Zababa duo, Prelati mourns the loss of Cagliostro by pouring a glass of Vin de lys wine for her fallen comrade... While pouring herself a glass of 2% milk. "That fool... Who did that former fraud think she was fooling, pulling off a dramatic final stand like that?" Prelati thought aloud as she clinks her glass on the one meant for Cagliostro.
At the same time, Prelati recalled the final words she heard Cagliostro to her while she was recovering...
"He wants to transmute one of us into the remaining life energy that he needs for the ritual."
"It doesn't sit right with me that Adam is ready to sacrifice his comrades without hesitation."
"He has to be hiding something... At least, that's what my woman's intuition is telling me."
"Your woman's intuition, huh?" Prelati thought, chuckling at her fallen comrade. "Listen to yourself. Even though you were only given a woman's body later in life, so that you would be basically biologically perfect, you always found a time and play to bring up your intuition..."
Saying this, Prelati drank her glass of milk, and smiled.
"However, this time, your intuition brought about something worth looking into."
Tsubasa and Shirabe's POVs:
Tsuki Shrine
After spending the past several hours reading through every scroll at the shrine, the Wielders chose to spend the night at the shrine and return to HQ in the morning. And so, they were given a room for all of them to sleep in and collectively passed out, that is, all but Tsubasa and Shirabe.
Before she could sleep alongside her allies, Tsubasa first needed to call HQ and report everything that they had found during their visit, which she rightfully did. "The power of the gods, emanating from a gate, huh?" Genjuro asked.
"Working together, myself and the others were able to learn several things from the ancient scrolls at the shrine." Tsubasa reports. "If we're right and the enemy is working on a plan that uses the ley lines, our only choice for a counterattack is the keystones."
"We lost a few of the keystones in the battle against Carol and her Autoscorers." Ogawa stated.
"But they should still function as a safety value for the ley lines." Elfnein added.
"Regardless, we cannot allow the Bavarian Illuminati to realize their goal in attaining divine power!" Genjuro said. "We must stop them by any means necessary!"
"Of course. That's the plan." Tsubasa replies before disconnecting from the call to head to bed with the others. However, before she left, she looked over at Shirabe sitting in front of a bunny-shaped fountain, knowing how she was feeling after the training exercise earlier that day.
Tsubasa was about to try and talk with Shirabe to try and get her mind off of it, but before she could follow through with it, someone else came over to talk with her. "My, my. Going for a stroll this late at night?" The Kannushi asked Shirabe, taking the Wielder by surprise with his sudden appearance, but she quickly composed herself and faced away from the man. "Is something troubling you, my dear?"
"That's none of your concern." Shirabe retorts.
"I find it helps to get one's troubles out in the air." The Kannushi stated. "After all, no one man is an island."
"You think I don't already know that?" Shirabe says, snapping at the Kannushi. "But... I..."
"This is a shrine, you know? I can't imagine a better place for one to talk about their problems than here." The Kannushi said. "Follow me."
And so, Shirabe followed the Kannushi to the altar at the front of the shrine. She watched as the priest cleansed himself by bowing twice, clapping his hands twice, and finally doing one last bow. Despite this, Shirabe stared at the Kannushi with a confused expression. "I suppose the younger generation isn't as familiar with this as their elders are." The Kannushi said.
"Yeah..." Shirabe replies. "It's kind of a pain."
"Is that so?" The Kannushi asked.
"I'm not the best when it comes to rules, traditions, or adjusting myself for others in general." Shirabe admits, before doing as the Kannushi did to cleanse herself. "No matter how hard I try, it never works for me. I can only understand what happens in the tiny world I know. And in my weakness, I put up walls that end up driving away the people I care about. I fear that, one day, I'll even drive away my best friend."
Listening to Shirabe's frustrations, the Kannushi smiled. "...You're a good person."
"'A good person'?" Shirabe asks. "Why would a good person wall themselves away from the world as I have?"
"While it is important to break down those internalized walls and open up to others, I also believe that walls are not only for pushing others away." The Kannushi answered, which confused the Shul Shagana Wielder.
Meanwhile...
Back at the Alchemists' Hideout, Adam and Tiki were relaxing in the pool as they waited to hear Saint-Germain's progress on preparing the ritual. "I wanna be a real girl!" Tiki begs Adam, catching the man by surprise.
"Well now, that came out of nowhere." Adam chuckles. "What brought this up?"
"I'm just saying, when you get your hands on divine power, I wanna be human like you are!" Tiki states. "I can't be your wife if I'm just a doll, can I? Besides, when I'm human, we can start a family, with lots and lots of kids! So many kids that we could have our own baseball team! So quit wasting time and just turn one of those third-rate alchemists into energy so we can- Huh?"
Tiki stops herself when she sees Adam look away from her, seeing that Prelati was standing at the edge of the pool, having just arrived to listen to their conversation. "Oh, please, do go on." Prelati taunts. "I'm basically dying to hear this plan of yours."
"We've been over this plenty of times already, and don't act like you don't know the plan through and through." Adam says, standing up in the pool, much to Tiki's amusement. "Your life, and Saint-Germain's life, both were intended to be sacrificed for the sake of this plan from the very beginning."
"Well that's basically news to me!" Prelati retorts as she fires three ice blasts at Adam, who counters with a simple slash of wind at the snap of his fingers. "What else have you been hiding from us? What's your real goal?"
"The divine power the doll dreamed of." Adam answers. "The same power that resides within the dragon of S.O.N.G."
"What does that even- !" Before Prelati could finish her question, Adam fired another slash of wind at her, slicing her frog plush in two as she dodged out of the way, quickly reaching within the broken plush to make sure her faust robe relic was still intact.
Thankfully for the Alchemist, her kendama was still in one piece. So, without wasting any more time, Prelati ran for the edge of the building overlooking the city below, jumped off, pulled her kendama out from the broken plush, activated her faust robe, transformed her weapon into a vehicle, and drove away from the hideout.
"She's got away! She's gonna snitch on us to Saint-Germain!" Tiki gasps. "What are we going to do?!"
Adam chuckles. "We aren't going to do anything." He says. "The Symphogears will surely be on her trail before she can make it to Saint-Germain, so they can deal with her as they see fit."
"Saint-Germain! Saint-Germain!"
Prelati said telepathically, trying to warn Saint-Germain about Adam's true plans. However, Prelati was unable to get a response from Saint-Germain, and it didn't take her long to figure out why that was. "Dammit! He's jamming the signal!"
With no other option, Prelati continues towards Saint-Germain's location, hoping to avoid the Wielders if at all possible, even if her presence in the streets may have already sealed her fate at their hands...
Back at the Tsuki Shrine...
Suddenly, Tsubasa received an urgent call from S.O.N.G. HQ, and she was shocked by what they had to say. "An Alchemist?!"
"She's heading north at high speed along the Shin-Kawagoe Bypass!" Sakuya reported.
"We're receiving reports of heavy damage to the surrounding area!" Aoi added. "If she reaches a residential area, who knows what she'll do..."
"No worries! We're on it, Boss!" Kanade says.
"Where are you all off to?" The Kannushi asked, seeing the Wielders up and about.
However, out of the corner of her eye, Kirika saw someone running off behind the Kannushi. "Huh? Shirabe?"
"Master! Shirabe-chan just ran off!" Hibiki reports, which surprised the Commander.
"A helicopter is en route to your location!" Genjuro said. "Do not rush off! Wait for it to arrive!"
"If I had the Yato Gear with me right now, I could go after Shirabe-chan so she wouldn't have to fight alone..." Kana sighs in frustration, before realizing something. "Hold on a second... Where's Tsubasa-san?"
Shirabe and Tsubasa's POVs:
Shin-Kawagoe Bypass
Overhearing the report, Shirabe activated her Shul Shagana Symphogear and took off towards the highway. "I can catch up to her with the Shul Shagana." She said to herself.
It was quiet at first, with only the sounds of her sawblade-skates accompanying her, but it wasn't long before she heard the sounds of a motorcycle engine getting closer and closer as a light grew brighter behind her. "You're not the only one who can travel quickly at a moment's notice, you know." Tsubasa says, much to the Shul Shagana Wielder's annoyance.
Despite this, the two continue towards the highway, thankfully finding Prelati on her kendama-vehicle as soon as they merge onto it. "Where are you going?" Tsubasa asks Prelati. "What is your plan?"
"Basically, I don't have time to deal with you two, so back off!" Prelati shouted, shooting off a burst of flames at the Wielders to try and get rid of them, but when that failed to drive them away, she then opted for another approach: Tearing down the road dividers with her vehicle and blocking herself off from the Wielders.
"She doesn't care about us, huh?" Tsubasa thought aloud, before coming up with a plan to force Prelati to listen to them. "Tsukuyomi, we need to use Unison! If we use an Ignite Double Boost maneuver, we can catch her!"
"But... I can't use Unison..." Shirabe replies.
"Tsukuyomi!"
"Kiri-chan can do it, no matter who she's paired up with. But I... I can only do it with her!" Shirabe continues. "I don't know how to work well with others. I have to get strong on my own! Alone!"
"...The walls you've built around you are tall, Tsukuyomi." Tsubasa says, which made Shirabe think back to her conversation earlier with the Kannushi. "I nearly lost Kanade once. Had we not received help from a certain masked warrior when we did, I would've lost her for good. But even so, that experience drove me to push myself to my absolute limits, so that I would not need to be saved, nor would I ever risk losing Kanade again. That became my wall, and it isolated me from reaching out to others for a long time."
"Masked warrior?" Shirabe thought aloud as herself and Tsubasa followed Prelati into a tunnel. "Does she mean Kana-Senpai?"
"But unlike with me, your walls aren't for keeping others out!" Tsubasa continues. "Your walls are there for their protection, because you care about them!"
"Because I care about them?" Shirabe thought about Tsubasa's words, thinking about how much she cares about her friends, especially her best friend, and it was starting to make sense to the Shul Shagana Wielder.
"That must be a sign of your kindness." Tsubasa states.
"My kindness..." Shirabe says, gaining a boost in confidence when she thought about what it truly meant. "It's not my kindness, but the kindness of everyone near me. That's why you're looking out for me. Allow me to return that feeling in kind!"
"Would you shut up already?! I'm basically asking you to leave me the hell alone!" Prelati shouted, sending out another attack, but this time, she aimed for the generators on the ceiling above them, engulfing the Wielder duo, as well as the tunnel, in a ball of fire. Seeing the destruction as she drove away, Prelati smiled. "Heh. Good riddance."
However, that happiness was short-lived, as one word echoed from within the charred tunnel...
"Dáinsleif"
(Fūgetsu no Shissō begins to play)
Emerging from the tunnel, Shirabe and Tsubasa appeared unharmed by the flames, and were now both in their Ignite forms. "Oh come on!"
As they caught up with Prelati, Tsubasa noticed the road sign above them, and made a realization of where they were heading. "There's a residential area straight ahead!" Tsubasa gasps. "We need to strike! Now!"
Leading the charge, Tsubasa gets between Prelati and the wall, using her Symphogear-modified bike to push her away from it. "Get out of my way!" Prelati shouted at Tsubasa as she prepared to hit her with an ice attack at point-blank range. However, before she could pull it off, she was knocked off balance by an attack on her other side by Shirabe, who used a chainsaw attachment on her monowheel to strike the other side of her vehicle. "Dammit! They're perfectly in sync!"
"We're not going to let you create divine power!" Shirabe shouts to Prelati. "No one in the world deserves such a power, much less the Illuminati!"
"On that, we're basically in agreement!" Prelati agreed, confusing the duo as she got up on her kendama-vehicle and conjured a flood on the highway to push them away. "Good luck singing while you drown!"
"Is she trying to block our path?" Tsubasa thought aloud.
"Then we'll just have to break through!" Shirabe states, firing an Alpha Style: 100 Saṃsāra through the massive wave of water, using her sawblades to break off parts of the highway dividers to give herself and Tsubasa a ramp to jump over the water and catch back up to Prelati.
"GO AWAY!" Prelati screamed, reconstructing her hammer while atop the kendama ball, and striking at Tsubasa and Shirabe.
Tanking the hit and landing in front of her, Tsubasa and Shirabe stop and turn towards the oncoming Alchemist. "Now's our chance! Let's stop her here and now!" Tsubasa shouts as she combines her bike with Shirabe's monowheel, creating a massive sword on the front as Shirabe adds two giant spiked wheels on the back with two booster engines to ram at Prelati with as much speed as they could.
Swift Unison of Wind and Moon
"I have to warn Saint-Germain! I can't die here!" Prelati shouted, as she once again transformed her kendama into a vehicle, but this time, much like Tsubasa and Shirabe's Unison, her vehicle was given a bladed front and a massive engine on the back. "I need to tell Saint-Germain that Adam is planning to kill us!"
With their vehicles powered up, the opposing forces charged at one-another with the intention of coming out on top, and much to Prelati's dismay, it was very apparent that she was not the one who was going to survive this encounter.
"Saint-Germain! SAINT-GERMAIN!"
As she tried one last time to get in touch with Saint-Germain, Prelati was defeated, engulfed in an explosion caused by the destruction of her kendama-vehicle at the hands of Tsubasa and Shirabe's Unison strike.
Moments later, Tsubasa and Shirabe emerge from the explosion and skid across the ground as they tried to stop themselves. "Did we win?" Shirabe asks.
"Yes." Tsubasa replies. "We've claimed this victory, together."
Having triumphed over Prelati, Tsubasa and Shirabe smile at one another as they wait for the others to arrive, knowing they were probably on their way anyways.
Meanwhile...
Unaware of what was going on as she had been working on the ritual, Saint-Germain suddenly got a call on an old-fashioned telephone materialized by Adam. When she picked it up, Tiki was the one who answered. "Prelati was run over like a frog on the highway!" Tiki said in her usual unnervingly excited tone, the news of which shocks Saint-Germain. "We can't even use her as a sacrifice in the sorry state she was left in. Talk about a waste, am I right?"
"Unfortunately, her report is correct." Adam said.
"Why would she have gone off on her own?" Saint-Germain asks, sensing something was wrong with Prelati's sudden death at the hands of the Wielders, especially after having just recovered from her previous battle that ended in a way they didn't expect.
"Return immediately, before the Symphogears notice the ritual." Adam said, ignoring the question and hanging up the phone soon after, leaving Saint-Germain to mourn the loss of her other ally before she returned to the hideout.
"First Cagliostro, and now Prelati, too..."
The Wielders' POVs:
Tsuki Shrine
The following morning, after getting some sleep following Tsubasa and Shirabe's victory over Prelati, the Wielders packed up their things and prepared to head back to HQ with their findings. "Thank you for everything!" Hibiki says to the Kannushi.
"You're very welcome." The Kannushi replied. "Was I able to be of service to you all during your time here?"
"We were able to learn lots of stuff dess!" Kirika answers.
"Such as how to cover up falling asleep and looking like you're reading?" Kana asks Kirika.
"Y-You knew that I was sleeping?!" Kirika gasps, embarrassed that she was found out, which made everyone laugh.
"To be fair, it's easy to know those habits by heart when you've had them yourself." Kanade states.
"You were sleeping, too, Kanade-san?!" Hibiki gasps.
"Nah, I was wide awake when I was doing my part of the research. I'm just saying that I have done it before." Kanade answers. "And, if I were to have done it, I've practically mastered the art of sleeping while studying and making it believable."
"Why does that not surprise me..." Chris sighs.
Meanwhile, sitting next to the cars, Tsubasa and the Cadenzavna Eve sisters were in a call with Genjuro back at HQ. "So that means we were right about where the Alchemist was heading?" Tsubasa asks.
"She was heading straight for one of the shrines in the mirrored Orion constellation. Situated on a ley point, no less." Genjuro confirmed.
"They just keep proving our suspicions with their every move." Maria says.
"So what should our next move be, Commander?" Serena asks.
"Well, if we want to catch them before it's too late, doing so there is going to be the best way to go about it." Genjuro answered. "We can discuss this further once you're all back here."
"Understood." Tsubasa says, ending the call and signaling to Kanade that it was time to leave.
"Well, it's been fun." Kanade says. "Thanks again for the help!"
"I'm glad that I could be of service." The Kannushi replied. "Please feel free to come back and visit the Tsuki Shrine anytime you like. Hopefully you'll visit while this old timer is still kicking, yes?"
"Maybe next time we can teach you jokes that are actually funny for more than just yourself..." Kana mumbles.
"You're really not gonna get over that, are you?" Chris asks.
"Don't act like you didn't feel sorry that this man could've had relatives that were killed in an acci- Oh..." Kana stops herself when she sees Chris and Kanade giving her a raised brow out of disapproval.
"Care to finish that argument?" Chris asks.
"...I probably should not if I know what's good for me..." Kana replies. "Regardless, his 'joke' was bad and he should feel bad about playing with my emotions like that."
"Whatever you say, Kana." Chris says, rolling her eyes at her girlfriend's stubbornness.
"Huh... Usually Kana's the witty one and Chris is the one that gets heated easily." Kanade thought aloud. "Odd seeing the shoe on the other foot this time around."
Everyone laughed at the irony of that situation, except for Kana and Chris who both looked flustered by the realization of their role reversal. As that was happening, the Kannushi had one final gift to give to Shirabe, handing her an omamori with a picture of a white bunny on it. "Take this." The Kannushi said, which Shirabe gladly did.
With that, everyone gave one last goodbye, giving a thankful bow to the Kannushi as they walked over to the cars to head back to base. However, on their way to the cars, Kirika noticed something odd about the kanji used for the shrine name. "That's odd... It says 'Tsuki Shrine', but how can you read that as 'Tsuki'?" She thought aloud.
"Kiri-chan! If you don't hurry, we're going to leave you behind!" Shirabe calls out to Kirika.
"R-Right! I'm on my way dess!" Kirika says, brushing off the odd spelling in the kanji for the "Tsuki" Shrine.
A/N: And with that, we end the chapter!
Again, nothing too notable from the norm this time around, aside from the banter between Chris and Kana, and an altered version of Tsubasa's speech to Shirabe for the obvious reason of someone still being alive, but aside from that, you probably get what I mean.
That aside, I can assure you all that the last few chapters of Part 4 will have some additions and changes that are a bit more than dialogue from characters who weren't there originally. (especially in the final three chapters, as I have been hinting at it since near the beginning of the part)
Anyways, thank you all for reading this chapter. I shall see you all in the next one! (Also, because this is coming up before the next chapter, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!)
