Five minutes had passed, and Xu wondered what would happen next. Her hands and legs were still bound, and the tape over her mouth prevented her from screaming. It was evident that the person who had disabled her knew her well, even going so far as to take away her hidden razors for situations like this.
Suddenly, the box that held her captive creaked open.
Nida?
"Xu? Oh, Hyne, she's not lying, you're okay…"
Quickly, Nida took off her binds and duct tape. Xu was shocked to realize that she was trapped in her very own dorm room.
"Why are you here?" She asked Nida.
"Someone impersonated you and took control of the garden. I came to find you but got attacked. You won't believe who did this to us..." Nida explained.
Xu's eyes narrowed at the familiar weapon pieces pooling out of her hands. "The lasso..."
"That's right." Nida nodded. "It's her."
"We're fucked… very hard," Xu muttered. "Come on, they said the garden is going to crash. Third floor!"
Without wasting another moment, the two of them rushed out of the room. Xu quickly put on her martial arts gloves which she always brought despite not being actively in the field for years.
As they passed by the infirmary, Xu nearly collided with Shrewdya, who also seemed to be in a hurry.
"Miss Xu… Do you have a second…" Shrewdya asked, but the headmaster and the head instructor continued running.
"I have no time to waste," Xu yelled.
"We're going to crash. Stay in the infirmary!" Nida explained, and although he thought he heard Shrewdya say "No," her words were drowned out by an explosion somewhere, and he didn't really have time to follow up.
"Nida, come on!" Xu shouted, retrieving her assassin gear, which aided their ascent to the third floor.
"Wow! This is faster than taking the elevator," Nida exclaimed.
"I know, right? It's an invention from Joker. Damn, I don't know if he's involved in all of this," Xu swore, remembering how her secret razor had been confiscated as if the culprits knew exactly where to find it.
They reached the Garden's control platform without encountering any enemies and quickly maneuvered the flying structure to avoid a collision with a nearby mountain, just a dozen miles away.
"Hyne, that was close." Nida finally had time to catch his breath and asked the crucial question. "Who knocked you down?"
Xu murmured in anger, "Galbadia!"
Shrewdya observed as Xu and Nida proceeded towards the third floor. Her destination was the second-floor classroom, but using the elevators or stairs would not be wise since they were likely guarded by Galbadia soldiers. Though she couldn't fly or have fancy equipment like Xu, Shrewdya was fortunate to have a reliable flyer at her disposal.
"Tiamat!"
Upon reaching the second floor, Shrewdya felt relieved as there were no guards in sight. They must have gone to the basement to confront her classmates. She hesitated, considering whether to go down to the basement, but she imagined most of the garden staff would be there. Moreover, she wanted to prove herself as a capable mercenary and capture Acma, who she believed the main traitor behind all the chaos. At least when facing Acma, she had the element of surprise.
Shrewdya realized the classroom door was locked. She pressed her ear against the wall but couldn't hear anything. She speculated that Acma might be inside, attempting to escape through the large window.
Using her lock-picking skills, she worked on the lock, spending a few tense minutes before gently tapping it open, holding her breath and her guns at the ready.
Suddenly, something rushed out of the door, causing Shrewdya to instinctively fire a shot.
BANG!
The loud noise startled more of whatever just knocked her down and they even more frantically escaped the classroom. Fearful, Shrewdya hurriedly retreated to a corner, taking a moment to realize that only one of the things was left behind dragging itself on the floor. It was the one she had shot moments ago.
"Who are you?" Shrewdya cautiously approached the small, cloaked figure while keeping her gun aimed.
Realizing Shrewdya was behind it, the creature became frightened and tried to drag its feet faster, just as she noticed that she had hit one of its knees.
"Stop running, or I'll shoot your other leg!" She warned, daringly.
Knowing there was no way to escape, the creature halted and turned to face Shrewdya, repeatedly bowing its head on the ground.
"Take off your hood," Shrewdya commanded, bracing herself for the sight of a terrifying monster.
To her surprise, the face beneath the hood was not what she expected.
"You're... a kid?"
A little girl with long scars covering her face appeared terrified, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"What's your name? What are you doing here?"
The girl shook her head while muttering something. It was evident that the girl couldn't talk well, for her tongue had some problem, but she understood what Shrewdya said. The girl dipped her index finger on the blood flow out of her knee wound, and began to write down something on the ground.
"U? Your code name is 'U'?" Shrewdya asked. Of course, A for Acma, T for Timeth, now I meet U.
The girl nodded her head repeatedly, then placing her palms together in a pleading action. As if she scared that Shrewdya wouldn't realize that she was a harmless puppet, she used her blood one more time to draw a heart shape on the ground.
"Okay… I understand. But you are invading my home, so don't think I'll let my guard down. If you do anything shady, I'll blow your head off, understood?" Shrewdya warned, but she really didn't know what to do next with this little girl except for bringing her back to the infirmary, which could have either the guards or Timeth being rescued by whoever his party was.
Just when she was debating what to do with the little girl, the window of the classroom was crashed open from the outside, and the sight of the military guards and some oddly familiar monsters terrified her.
The red monsters looked very similar to the orange monsters that amputated her arms.
Triggered by fear, she grabbed the little girl and began to run.
"Tiamat!" She summon the thunder GF which blasted a few thunder shots, but the red monsters kept following her. She recalled the orange monsters were somewhat immune to thunder. Fear overwhelmed Shrewdya again.
She briefly turned around and the worst had come to her, a red monster showing its claw and ready to slide her junction device now attached to her right arm.
She didn't want to lose this arm, too.
"ARGHHHH…"
Shrewdya was sent to a shock due to loss of blood. When about to pass out, she heard the guards talked.
"A Balamb student with a GF… We can use her to kill the rest. That way, we are not involved." The blue guard proposed.
"Good plan. Make that bitch Acma her main target, and kill anything moving on her way." The red guard acknowledge. "Ulma… come here…"
And with a clack of metal, they inserted something cold into her head.
Balamb Garden's transportation area.
"Why is no one here yet?" Acma asked Elutia and Lina as they reached the aircraft.
"They might be running late. What should we do?" Lina inquired.
"Balamb students can stay... but Timeth..." Acma pondered. "You two stay here. I'll go and find them."
"But how? You've run around a lot, I think every party would capture you at the first sight. Besides, you're bleeding badly," Lina pointed out, glancing at the blood staining Acma's uniform. "I can locate our friends on the first floor and find another aircraft. You both go to the second floor as planned and retrieve the children."
"But…" Acma hesitated.
"I'll be fine. I have both Balamb and Galbadia uniforms," Lina showed Acma her bag. "I can morph into anyone. If they find me, I'll figure something out," Lina reassured Acma.
Lina was an expert in disguise, and time and time again, she had proven her ability to escape even after being captured.
Reluctantly, Acma agreed. "Be careful, Lina. Find Timeth in the infirmary first. He must have gone there." I hope neither Timeth nor Shrewdya encountered any X-97. Shrewdya still has the current junction device...
Acma squeezed Lina's shoulder once more before heading toward the cockpit and taking off.
Acma maneuvered the aircraft with Elutia's assistance, bringing it close to the second-floor classroom from the outside. As they approached, they noticed the shattered window.
Hovering the aircraft by the window, Elutia held it in place while Acma jumped into the classroom, only to be confronted by a horrifying scene of bloodshed.
"No, no, no, no, no…"
She screamed as she crawled toward each child hidden beneath bloody cloaks. Only a few showed faint signs of breathing, while the rest had their lives brutally taken away.
"Murderers..." Acma found herself at a loss for words, tears streaming down her face. She glanced back at Elutia in the cockpit, shaking her head. Elutia covered her mouth in shock.
"Acma... we have to go," Elutia called out.
Acma shook her head.
"I can't let more people die. You go first. I'll meet you at the rendezvous point," Acma insisted.
"I can't go there without you. Acma, this isn't the time to change the plan anymore. We tried our best to keep everyone alive, but it was impossible. We all know that and have accepted this risk for the sake of freedom. Please, come back here. The others will catch up with us," Elutia pleaded with her sister. "I can't survive in my current state, not without you."
Elutia's words struck Acma with a wave of sadness. She couldn't bear to lose her sister, despite her growing attachment to Balamb Garden over the years.
"Okay..." Acma reluctantly stood up and made her way toward the aircraft.
Just as she was about to board...
"Found you."
A familiar voice reached Acma's ears, causing her to turn around in shock.
"Shrewdya? Your..." Acma gasped, noticing that Shrewdya's left arm, previously in a cast, was now completely gone, leaving a gruesome, blood-soaked scene. Despite the horrific wound, Shrewdya seemed unfazed, her other arm holding a small gunblade as she approached Acma.
"Shrew... I can explain. But where is Timeth?" Acma's mind raced with the worst possible scenarios.
Without a word, Shrewdya dashed towards Acma, who quickly threw her lasso to latch onto the floating aircraft. However, Shrewdya anticipated the move and swiftly sliced through the lasso, causing Acma to plummet to the ground. The impact jolted Acma's already injured torso, intensifying the pain.
"Elutia... run!" Acma shouted desperately to her sister. "Please!" She begged, knowing that Elutia wouldn't want to pilot the aircraft alone.
To Acma's relief, Shrewdya seemed uninterested in pursuing Elutia's departure, making no attempt to stop her. Instead, Shrewdya continued to charge at Acma aggressively, disregarding her pleas to cease the attack.
"Shrew, please. I can explain..."
Acma was determined not to harm Shrewdya with her magic, so she focused on evading the onslaught of attacks.
[Fighting scene]
samaqi: I'll skip the details for now, trying to think of a sequence of reasonable actions from both girls here.
[End of fighting scene]
Some moments later…
The two of them grappled with each other, teetering on the edge of the remaining classroom wall. Below them, the deep blue sea stretched out, while land was visible in the distance as the Garden flew across the ocean, preparing for an emergency landing.
Xu and Nida made it... Acma thought, briefly finding solace in the knowledge that some of her friends had reached safety.
With no other viable options, Acma knew she had to rely on her magic to separate herself from Shrewdya. Once the Garden landed and the battle between Balamb and Galbadia forces concluded, escape would become nearly impossible for Acma and her companions.
"I'm sorry, Shrew..."
Summoning her remaining strength, Acma pushed Shrewdya away and unleashed a powerful Thundaga spell.
In that moment, Acma saw a smirk on Shrewdya's face, unable to predict what would come next.
"Goodbye, Acma," Shrewdya uttered before the electric current surged through her body.
However, the ordeal was far from over. The current abruptly redirected itself toward Acma, and it was then that Acma realized something was attached to her chest.
"These... EKG electrodes?"
The irony of being a secondary elemental magic caster was that they often junctioned their secondary element in Attack mode, leaving little room for defense when faced with the same element. For Acma, that element was Thunder.
An intense electric shock surged through Acma's chest, causing her heart to abruptly stop beating and rendering her immobile. She began to free fall from the second floor, her gaze briefly fixated on Shrewdya, who approached the cliff's edge to revel in her sinister triumph.
In that moment of clarity, Acma realized that Shrewdya had also succeeded in taking down Timeth. Acma had always been aware of Shrewdya's formidable abilities, but she never fathomed that the girl could single-handedly overpower both Timeth and herself, even with her injuries.
Defeated and resigned to her fate, Acma accepted the inevitability of death.
"Freeze!"
A familiar voice pierced through the chaos, and Acma found herself suspended in mid-air, no longer plummeting towards the ground. For a few heart-stopping seconds, she remained suspended, her body weightless in the air. Then, something struck her with force, altering her trajectory and propelling her downward. Her descent came to an abrupt halt as she landed on the seashore, the impact jarring her already injured body. Waves crashed against her, their relentless power threatening to submerge her fragile form.
Timeth… you're alive…
A thunderous noise resonated from nearby, indicating the crash landing of the Garden.
Acma waited anxiously for what she felt an eternity, her weakened heart beating faintly within her chest.
The waves grew stronger, rising higher with each passing moment. Acma, immobilized and vulnerable, faced the looming threat of being engulfed by the relentless tide. Time seemed to stretch on indefinitely, each passing second increasing the risk of drowning if no one arrived to rescue her soon.
Zyma… I'm coming… Somehow I'm not afraid…
Her thoughts drifted to Zyma, reminiscing about the first time they met and the undeniable connection that ignited between them, though it took them a while to acknowledge it. The memory of the previous night lingered in her mind, their hearts intertwining as they finally embraced their feelings. Every touch served as proof that their souls fused together in perfect unity, like a graceful and synchronized dance.
Was Zyma screaming within her consciousness, tormented by the pain of witnessing her impending death? Or was he patiently awaiting the moment when they would peacefully belong to the same world again?
Acma surrendered herself to the relentless waves, embracing the possibility of reuniting with Zyma in their next life where she would love to sacrifice her life become his GF.
You were embraced by lava and me swallowed by the sea. How romantic… I'm coming for you, babe. I, too, want to see Hyne…
