Date A Re:Live
S3 Chapter 57: Nia Storybook, Part 7
By : Tohka_Yatogami
...
Summary
Even a similar story can take it's own path. Shido and Mana are amnesiac siblings living with their friend Kotori, however the past catches up to Shido when he nearly runs into a space quake, and his world changes as one girl asks... "Are you here to kill me?" (Stronger Ratatoskr, weaker DEM, games & movie are canon to story) [Shido/Tohka/Harem]
Welcome back everyone, before we start I have an announcement. Volume 17's cover was released (ironically, had I finished the last chapter later, I could have shared that detail with all of you ^^;), so you might be wondering, who's on it? Well... to the surprise of many fans, it isn't Inverse Kurumi, Reine OR Mio! It's actually one of the one of the Nibellcole, the minions Westcott made in Vol 16.
I think there's a reason for this though, Tachibana confessed in Volume 15's afterword that Inverse Mukuro was his original choice for the cover character, but he decided not to use her because he didn't want to give away she would undergo an Inversion during the volume's events. It makes sense when you considering how our first few Inversions appeared.
When Inverse Tohka appeared on Volume 7's cover, we didn't know about Inversions yet. I myself honestly thought Westcott created an evil Tohka because cover's corner listed her as "Spirit No. 10i", nor had I ever heard of a demon named Nahemah. Inverse Origami appeared in Volume 10, so Volume 11 only spoiled anyone who didn't read Volume 10, and Nia's arc was a single volume, so he managed to slip hers in without anyone expecting it.
That likely means either Inverse Kurumi will be appearing, more secrets about Reine and/or Mio (such as if they're one in the same or not), or maybe even both. Ultimately, we won't know what'll be revealed until it comes out next month. I just hope if Inverse Kurumi does show up, we actually get to see an illustration of her, we still haven't seen Inverse Nia and Mukuro and that makes me worry that history will repeat here... please show us Tachibana T^T
Well anyways, this is the last bit of the Nia Storybook arc. It's time for Miku and Origami to finally reunite with everyone who finally regroup, and most of all... everyone's about to face the many story villains and Silver Bullet's ultimate villain. Most of all, you'll learn who the true identity of who's Fatima in this story. So, without further ado...
...Let's begin!
-Nia & Souji's Story, Chapter 4-
"So, I can ask you anything and you'll find the answer?" Souji asked, looking at Raziel.
[Well... sort of, I'm near-omniscient, but there are some questions that I just don't have an answer to. To give you one example... ask me about the history of the Spirit Dimension and you'll see what I mean.]
"Uh... OK, then tell me some of the Spirit Dimension's history." Souji asked.
Souji looked at Raziel had writing form on it... but not in English, it was some alien language.
"Is... this the language of the Spirits?" Souji asked.
[It is, there's some info that I can only show in this language, and... unfortunately the Spirits are... extinct.]
"Extinct? What happened?" Souji asked.
"Yeah, now I'm curious." Nia asked.
[Well... Phantom didn't tell you everything, I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk about it. True Spirits no longer exist, there's only Phantom and you now, so this language is undecipherable. I mean, I could tell you, but that would still show in Spirit language and I myself can't exactly...]
Souji pats the Angel's upper cover.
"It's alright, don't force yourself to talk about anything painful." Souji smiled.
Nia gave her own tooth smile in reply.
An entire year soon passed, and Souji was currently making an announcement where she publicly unveiled Silver Bullet as her upcoming work. Nia was currently getting some additional items for the presentation and wasn't with Souji at the moment.
"I know how afraid we've all been with the Spacequake threat plaguing us, but I know that Humanity will stay strong. We will find a way to survive... and we will see another day for years to come. This series is my message to how even in this dark time, we will not give in." Souji announced.
Everyone clapped in reply, but unaware to anyone... someone was on the roof. That someone was Ellen with the precursor to her Rhongomiant and Pendragon CR-Unit.
She readied her weapon at the ceiling.
"Ike, I'm in position. Am I clear to fire yet?" Ellen asked via a communicator.
"Not just yet, we need the right moment. Everyone's too crowded and as much as I'd rather work under the Law of the Jungle, remember we've never found a Spirit that was formerly Human. I still don't truly know their limits after the First Spirit left me this way." Westcott replied.
"Is that why we're still only engaged, or do you just get cold feet in big events?" Ellen joked in a stale manner.
Westcott chuckled at that.
"Very funny. Don't worry, you'll get your chance soon enough, I just want no interruptions. After all... I doubt you want a battle with [Sister] to end prematurely. Am I right?" Westcott replied.
"Fair point. Alright then, I'll wait." Ellen nodded.
After a bit, the next stage of the announcement was being prepared, and Nia brought the needed props before getting some food. Everyone began moving back as Nia prepared to unveil the protagonist of Silver Bullet.
"And now, I'd like to introduce the concept of the story's hero, Fatima! My protege helped me create the basis of her character, so... it is my honor to reveal her, the one I based her appearance one... Nia Honjou!" Souji announced.
Nia saw a spotlight near her, and suddenly she went red, moving to a wall and looking at it so no one saw her blush. However, the spotlight followed her, and eventually Souji giggled as her protege went into the hall to avoid it.
Meanwhile back on the roof, Ellen was still waiting with her weapon, and then...
"Ah, the lights just went off. Fire at will Ellen." Westcott smirked.
"With pleasure." Ellen replied, a battle hungry grin on her face.
Ellen blasted the ceiling, causing a cave in as everyone gasped and Souji looked up in surprise. As the lack of lights, debris and dust veil made visibility hard to see, Souji made out someone flying down to attack her.
Nia noticed this, and quickly turned to get back in the room and make sure Souji was OK.
"Help, someone please help me!" Souji called out.
However, no one came... they were too afraid. Everyone was too traumatized by the many Spacequakes and the currently inability to avoid them, the building's destruction just registered too much like Spacequake damage.
Nia came back in and noticed the silhouette of someone attacking Souji's. She looked around, surprised that no one was helping, unable to notice they were all being affected trauma induced panic attacks due to the veil of dust and the distance.
"...Why aren't they helping her? Why?" Nia wondered aloud.
'Dang it, this is bad... wait, no one can see! I can fly out without suspicion!' Souji thought.
Before Nia could move to help her mentor, Souji assumed her Astral Dress and flew outside with Ellen following, Nia covered her eyes as the wind blew dust at her.
She soon opened her eyes to see they were both gone.
"Souji? SOUJI!?" Nia called out.
Up in the air, Souji stopped to catch her breath, thinking her attacker couldn't follow... only for her to suddenly cough out blood as she felt something stab through her. She looked down in horror to see she had been stabbed and was bleeding.
She turned to see Ellen flying in midair with a smug look on her face... and Souji's eyes widening as she noticed the DEM logo on her armor.
"Oh my, it seems you didn't know you could be followed. I'm guessing you're not meant for combat either. Killing you will be easier than I fought, I wished for more, but I'm more excited to kill my First Spirit right now that I'll let it slide." Ellen smirked.
'She's with the DEM, oh my god... this is what Phantom warned me about! I've gotta do something or this bitch is gonna kill me!' Souji thought worriedly
Souji prepared her Astral Dress' pen, but Ellen fired at her with her cannon and blew her back faster than she could react, sending her flying the sky and into a building, she grabbed Souji by the head before throwing her up and swinging the same sword she had stabbed Souji with moments early.
Souji screamed as her Astral Dress was quickly cut to ribbons and her entire body was struck with deep cuts that left quickly left her a red stained mess as she fell onto a building's roof. She shook and panted as she tried to get up, staring at Ellen who held the red stained energy blade in her hands, licking her lips as she readied the final blow.
'I... I can't win, I have to run!' Souji gasped, flying away as she prepared some writing in Raziel.
"I don't think so!" Ellen exclaimed.
Souji soon finished her writing, which was {make an escape portal now!}, but before it formed for her to go through... Ellen thrust her blade forward, and Souji's eyes widen as it struck her head, and the feeling of a lightning bolt striking her brain went through before she went stiff and fell through the portal.
Ellen frowned a bit, realizing she lost the Spirits.
"Oh well, no matter. There's no way that Spirit will be able to survive." Ellen said to herself, wanting to have some satisfaction over this fight's result.
Souji landed somewhere heard, and her vision began to blur, as she began to realize this and something else... she grabbed Raziel, who had been heavily damaged, and began writing something inside of it.
"This is... all I can do now, I have to tell her... please Nia, please make it here in time." Souji gasped out.
She collapsed, and a slight bit of red was seen underneath her. At that moment, Nia finally found where she was... and her face widened in horror.
"SOUJI!" Nia screamed, running up to her.
The group of Natsumi, Mayuri, Rinne and Kurumi all were flying near the castle, crossing over an area of a snow wasteland which left all of them shivering a bit. Mayuri sneezed loudly, her nose running a bit afterwards.
"W-why is there a castle around this kind of area?" Couldn't they have had the gap between it be more grasslands?" Mayuri asked while shivering.
"B-Beats me, I don't remember any fairy tales with a castle near a snow field." Kurumi answered, rubbing her hands over her arms.
After a bit, they found themselves past the snowy fields and back in green grasslands, the quartet sighed in relief as they felt the warmth of it hit their skin.
"Much better." Natsumi smiled.
"Hey wait a second... hey guys!"
The four all turned to see the Yamai twins, Arusu sister, and Kotori wave to them as they ran closer.
"Hey, you all made it! Good to..." Rinne shouted.
However, she trailed off once she witnessed the state of Kotori's face, which still hadn't healed from the Yamai twins forceful wake up call.
"What?" Kotori asked.
"What do you mean what!? Do you not know how badly injured your face looks?" Mayuri exclaimed.
Kotori blinks, and Mayuri grabs some of the treasure in her bag to use as a mirror, causing the Flame Spirit to scream as she saw it.
"Kaguya! Yuzuru! What did you do to my face!?" Kotori screamed angrily.
"Don't yell at us, you were about to die of snow sleep!" Kaguya countered.
The rest of the group all sweat dropped at the sight, and Kurumi cleared her throat to stop everyone as they looked at her.
"Shouldn't we focus on trying to find the others? We think we found out Origami's at the castle somewhere." Kurumi mentioned.
"Strange, we also heard Miku might be there as a mermaid." Yuzuru mentioned.
"Then we already know where two of our friends are, after that there's only Tohka, Shido, Mana, Rio and Yoshino left to find." Kotori replied.
"Onward we go!" Kaguya cheered.
The group resumed their trip to the castle, now only Mayuri on her magic carpet.
Mana growled at the castle guard standing in their way, they had tried to get in the castle using the fact Shiori was Kaguyahime to get them in since being a princess, she would have likely been allowed inside and brought them all in as guests.
Apparently, the guard did not consider clothing that wasn't a formal dress as royal or fancy clothing, and was refusing them access to the rage of the elder Takamiya sister.
"You wanna say that again!? I'll have you know I'm the God of Storms Susanoo and I could easily zap you to death if I wanted to!" Mana shouted.
"Oh right, you're a god! And I'm the Lord of the Belly Dancers! I'm not falling for your tricks, get out of here before I throw you all in jail!" The guard shouted back.
"How about I just stab you with my blade then!" Mana exclaimed.
Right as Mana was about to draw the Kusanagi...
"Look, there they are!"
The group of five turned to see the rest of their friends minus the still absent Origami and Miku, confusing the guard slightly.
"Mama!" Rio shouted happily, running into Rinne's arms.
"Rio! Are you OK, did your big brother and sister keep you safe?" Rinne asked.
"Yep, thought Shido's Shiori right now." Rio giggled.
Everyone finally noticed, and Shiori sighed.
"Don't... just don't." Shiori said.
"I bet this has to do with how you seem to be stronger as Shiori." Rinne noted.
"Huh?" Shiori asked confused.
"Well the True Spirits were an all-female race. I think that means being female lets you use more power... I'll explain more later." Rinne explained.
Natsumi looked at the others.
"Let's see... Shiori's Kaguyahime, Mana's Susanoo, Rio's Issun-Boshi based on the giant sowing needle, Tohka's Momotarou, and... oh my goodness Yoshino, you look so cute as Little Red Riding Hood!" Natsumi gushed.
Yoshino blushed a bit.
The guard was now really confused, scratching his head.
"He,y wait a second, I think you might be able to get us in. The guard won't let us through despite Shiori's character is a princess." Tohka mentioned.
"Allow me, I'll charm him into putty." Natsumi stated.
Natsumi walked near the guard who blushed upon gazing at her beauty.
"Oh, hello ma'am, go right in." The guard said before giving a deep lovesick giggle.
"About that sir, those five you were so unkind to are my friends. Could you please let them come in as well?" Natsumi asked.
"U-uh... sorry ma'am, but rules are rules." The guard said, refusing to budge.
Natsumi had a small vein form on her head, and then Mayuri got an idea as she grabbed the remaining treasure bags before appearing near the guard's side.
"Hey, what are you-" The guard growled.
"Let us all in and you can have all the gold in these bags." Mayuri stated, opening the bag as proof.
The guard's eyes bugged out in shock, soon looking around.
"...This guard say no non-nobles walk past him." The guard coughed, taking the bags.
"Score!" Mayuri said, giving a fist pump.
Soon everyone walked into the castle, and once they got in they saw how fancy everything was, Marina's mouth became a wide flat frown from the shock.
"...This is overkill." Marina said.
"Well right now we're basically in the time of the 18th century, so overkill was kind of a thing." Shiori replied.
"May I have your attention!"
Everyone turned as the master of ceremonies walked into view, causing them all to focus at her.
"In a moment, we shall be given the privilege to witness, in person, a seldom seen mermaid princess' enchanting serenade!" The emcee declared.
"Looks like we're about to see Miku." Rinne stated.
"Wait, what did you say?" Tohka inquired.
"Oh right, we forgot to tell you. He heard Origami and Miku might be here, and Miku is likely the Little Mermaid because she apparently keeps saying darling." Kurumi explained.
Shiori's group blinked.
"Yeah, that's definitely Miku." They all answered.
Soon enough, the emcee moved as an area of the castle's wall opened up, revealing a fish tank Miku with a mermaid's tail and wearing nothing but a seashell bra. Shiori went a bit red faced at the sight of the Spirit idol being half naked.
"Huh!? Where is this place? Where's Darling! Where did everyone go!?" Miku asked confused to her surroundings, almost as if she just woke up.
"Quiet down, you have an audience!" The emcee said irritated.
"Struggling is useless since you've been purchased by our generous King. You should serve the King by singing a song, I heard that mermaids have very pleasant voices, so let these honored guests indulge in your singing."
Miku gave the emcee a "who do you think you are" look, frowning and shaking her head with her eyes half closed.
"I refuse." Miku stated, crossing her arms and turning away.
The crowd gasped.
"You're the castle's property now. If you aren't obedient, the King will not be pleased." The emcee growled.
"I don't care." Miku replied, refusing to drop her defiance.
"...A mermaid that won't sing is good for nothing. Guards, prepare her to be tomorrow's soup stock!" The emcee declared.
Miku and her friends all go wide eyed at that, with Miku in particular going blue in the face.
And once again, due to her status as being Susanoo in the story world, Mana acted without a plan once more.
"You hurt my friend and I'll fry you with my divine lightning!" Mana exclaimed.
This action caused the emcee and guards to turn towards her, making the others go white eyed in panic.
"Seize them!" The emcee exclaimed.
"What's going on here?"
The emcee and the guards freeze, while the others recognize the voice that just spoke.
The entire crowd shows awe as the King made her appearance, and the queen was none other than Origami! Though for some strange reason, she had her cape closed and held it that way tightly, blushing red in embarrassment.
"Origami!" Tohka shouted happily.
"O-Oh, nothing important my lord. These hooligans were just attempting to take the Mermaid we caught for you because she-" The emcee said nervously.
"Those hooligans are my friends, as is that mermaid. You'll leave them alone." Origami said, still blushing.
"B-but my lord, I-" The emcee replied in shock.
"Do it or I'll fire you." Origami said with calm anger.
The emcee flinched at that.
"...Yes sir." The emcee sighed in defeat, soon opening the tank's lid to let Miku get out.
Origami walked over to the others, and Miku soon came over as Mayuri lent her the magic carpet due to her current lack of legs.
"Finally, the gang's back together!" Kaguya exclaimed.
"Uh... Origami, why are you beet red?" Rinne asked.
Origami whimpered, unable to answer.
"In fact, why are you covering yourself like this?" Rinne wondered.
"No Rinne, don't-" Origami screamed in horror.
Rinne opened the cape up, and soon she went white in shock along with the others before Origami shrieked in embarrassment. The crowd themselves gave their own shocked expressions.
"I-Is that the rumored?"
"Y-Yeah... what a fantastic dress!"
"E-Exactly! Simply mystifying!"
All of those claims were forced however, because Origami... had nothing under the cape!
She was the King of The Emperor's New Clothes, and unlike that story's king, she was clearly aware she was basically naked.
"...Oh, the King of the Emperor's New Clothes, that explains a lot." Natsumi said, her right eye twitching.
"Someone please give me clothes.
Mana took off part of her jacket, while Rinne ripped part of her dress, giving Origami a makeshift shirt and waist cloth.
"I've never been more mortified in my life..." Origami cried.
"There, there." Tohka comforted, patting her back.
"Well, now that's everyone, so the only thing that's left for us should be..." Shiori remarked.
Everyone looked at Shiori in agreement, the only thing left now...
...Was to find Nia.
"So where should we look?" Miku asked.
"I get the feeling she'll come to us. On the way here, we got attacked by one of the villains in Silver Bullet. The demonic vampire Nosferatu." Mayuri replied.
"You got attacked by a Silver Bullet creature too? We dealt with the undead slime, Nesuferitu. We only got away because Kotori tricked it into diving into the river." Maria added.
"We all got attacked, the Dead Raze-NIL8 came after us. The only reason we got away is because Tohka realized some of powers are still present as long as they're tied to our bodies directly." Mana followed up.
That made some of the others go silent, and Mana blinked.
"...You guys didn't figure that out, did you?" Mana chuckled nervously.
"I HATE THIS WORLD!" Marina screamed.
"Um... about that, there was something strange that me and Mayuri encountered." Natsumi mentioned suddenly.
"Really, what was it?" Shiori asked.
"Well, this Nosferatu said this, so we're not fully sure, but... apparently Fatima is here. She saved us from Nosferatu when he was about to get us." Natsumi answered.
This surprised everyone, especially Mana.
"Fatima!? B-but how? I mean... well, all of us are here and none of us are her? Who could be Fatima if that's the case?" Mana asked in shock.
"No idea, we didn't get to see her. Though now that I think about it, her voice was familiar, it sounded like-" Natsumi wondered.
Suddenly at that moment, a loud howl is heard before the sound of shattering glass loudly echoed throughout the filled hall. In moments, a familiar wolf was seen in the castle. The same one that was chasing Yoshino and Shiori earlier.
"T-the wolf? But how, I thought my dumpling pacified him!?" Tohka asked in shock.
"It's possible he digested it already, without it in the stomach it lost its effect! Give it another one." Origami answered.
Tohka nodded and threw another, but before it could reach him, a witch appeared from the shadows and stopped it. The Yamai twins gasped as they recognized her.
"Your carelessness will be the death of you stupid mutt!" The witch claimed.
"Oh no, it's the witch hag from the candy house!" Kaguya groaned.
"Wait... if Yoshino and the Yamai twins' voice just gathered here, then that would mean... oh crap." Mana gulped.
Everyone suddenly connected the dots, and the castle had some of its walls break as even more villains/antagonistic force(s) crashed into the room, each once staring at their respective character directly.
On the left of the castle came the soldiers of the moon people who wanted to bring Kaguyahime home, the Oni that were to be faced by Momotarou, Orochi who wanted the Kusanagi back from Susanoo, the illusion of the Little Match girl's grandma, the Buddhist monk who would exorcise Tamamo and the evil fairy who tried to put Sleeping Beauty to sleep.
On the right of the castle stood the sight of Cinderella's step sisters and step mother, the Scylla like witch that tried to take the Little Mermaid's voice and lead to her becoming sea form when her love was unrequited, the boy who said the King was actually naked, the leader of the 40 thieves, the ogre like Oni that had the mallet that grew Issun-Boshi, and... the hill well from Jack and Jill?
"Hold up, how the hell is that wall moving!? I call an ass pull here!" Marina complained.
"Uh... sis, you do realize Nia can do that with anything in this world, right?" Maria asked.
Marina's eye twitched.
"I give up!" Marina yelled in anger, her hair fully frizzing.
"Well, at least we've already got our stories' villains here, I doubt Nia has anyone else to throw at us from our tales... Mana, there's no more Silver Bullet villains, right?" Rinne asked with a nervous sweat.
"Well..." Mana trailed off.
Suddenly streams of darkness all swarm together before none other than Necuratu manifested into view.
Everyone turned white in shock.
"Mana... which Silver Bullet villain is that?" Natsumi asked in horror.
"T-The only one I barely have any info on, because Silver Bullet's 100th and final volume has yet to be released, so there hasn't been anything about her that's been revealed other than her name. That's the Necuratu: The Ancestral Deity! She's the central antagonist and final enemy of Silver Bullet!" Mana exclaimed.
"That thing's a god!?" Mayuri gasped.
"...We're dead, we are so freaking dead now." Kotori breathed.
The entire group moves backwards towards the remaining castle wall as all of the villains neared them, and soon a dark silver flash appeared as Inverse Nia finally revealed herself to the group with a dark look.
"Nia! Please stop this, why are you even trying to hurt us? Aren't we your friends!?" Shiori called out.
"Shut up! I will... I will never accept it, I will never accept there are people like you! Not when there weren't any people like that when it mattered most to me! I'll show you all... show you how the world works, the rules you dare to ignore! Everyone, take them out now!" Nia screamed.
The villains all charge forward.
The entire group readies what little weapons they have, and expected the worst to come, but right at that moment...
"SILVER BULLET!"
"Say what!?" Nia said in surprise.
A bunch of silver blasts all fire off and aside from Necuratu, all of the villains were struck and disintegrated into silver spirit energy.
Nia stared in shock at the act, completely flabbergasted to see Fatima's signature attack fire off and take down all the villains she gathered. Soon from up in the sky, the mysterious Fatima dropped into view, revealing her identity was...
"Hey there, I miss anything?" Fatima asked.
Despite the real deal was standing before them, Fatima was none other than Nia herself!
"HUH!?" Everyone exclaimed in shock.
"H-How!?" Nia stuttered in shock.
"I'm really confused here, how are there two Nia's!?" Rio asked as she held her head with her hands.
"Well, to answer that I'm Nia, but I'm also Fatima. After all... Nia did design me in her image, so it isn't to strange I look like her." Fatima smirked.
"But how? I thought that Fatima was designed after protege, how could..." Mana said before gasping.
Fatima nodded.
"That's right Mana Takamiya, the one named Souji Hasegawa? She was the true creator of Silver Bullet, but the series only happened because her protege gave her the means to develop and complete it, that protege's name... was Nia Honjou." Fatima smiled.
Nia growled.
"Shut up... don't speak my mentor's name like that!" Nia screamed.
"Poor Nia... you've let your guilt at anger blind you." Fatima sighed.
"What do you mean... what happened?" Rinne asked.
"It was half a year ago, right after Rinne used the revival wave to bring back all the previous hosts of the Sephira Crystals using the Cassiopeia's stored power..." Fatima answered.
Shortly after she began, the nature of the story world's power caused the tragic tale to enter and play through everyone's minds.
Nia's eyes shrunk and shivered, her hands shaking as she saw the information Raziel had just presented to her.
Having realized Rinne awakened upon sensing her unique spirit power from her revival wave, she asked Raziel to learn what it was. The answer had taken a while get through since Raziel didn't want to risk the First Spirit sensing its search of her plans.
After Rinne's brief period of being 'dead', Raziel finally managed to get the info using the brief period she had been gone to safely get the information without any risk of being caught, and what the Angel found? It was just as shocked as its master was.
"Raziel... tell me you're kidding, tell me this is just some joke. If not... then please tell me I'm awake and this is real!" Nia said, tears welling in her ears.
[I'm not kidding, this is the real deal, and you are totally awake. Using a large amount of stolen power... Rinne gave back the stolen lives of every past host of the Sephira Crystals. I can feel her, Souji's alive again, she's come back to this world!]
Nia's voice shook as she started crying, and soon she wiped her tears, she wasn't ready to shed them.
"Raziel... tell me where she is, please!" Nia begged.
[She's at the Qilin Memorial hospital in Osaka. Go to her Nia, go and don't hesitate!]
Nia quickly took that advice and flew through the sky in her Astral Dress, quickly getting herself to Osaka without taking the time to think she could have used Raziel to just draw up a portal and shave most of the time she was using now.
Upon arriving at the hospital, she rushed inside without wasting a second, catching everyone's attention as she breathed heavily by the counter.
"I... I heard someone silver hair and blue eyes was brought in. I think I know her, do you have any pictures of her?" Nia begged.
"Oh, so you think you know this patient? Alright, let me see... ah, is this who you're looking for?" The counter lady asked.
She was without her glasses and her hair was a big mess, but the he picture was definitely of Souji.
"Yes, that's her! Please, what room is she in, that woman's m mentor... I thought she was dead for the last few months!" Nia asked while tearing up a bit.
"Whoa, calm down miss. Just calm down. You'll find her in room 183, it's on the second floor and the 4th room to the right of the right wing's elevators." The counter lady replied, handing her an access key.
"Thank you so much." Nia smiled.
Nia quickly rushed up to the room, smiling as she was about to see the face she worried had silenced forever.
Soon she stood by the room's door.
'Maybe... maybe there's still reason to hope in Humanity, if the people here were so willing to help Souji this quickly... then mankind can't be as bad as I've led myself to believe all these years.' Nia thought.
Nia put the key up to the door, and soon it unlocked. She turned the handle and walked into the room.
That's where she saw her... the same short silver hair and blue eyes she had remembered, and the same young-looking face, while her whitened pupils and glasses were gone... nothing could tell Nia that this wasn't Souji she was looking at.
"Souji!" Nia shouted happily.
"Huh?" Souji blinked, turning towards Nia.
Nia panted a bit, smiling at her mentor with teary eyes as Souji looked at her own.
However, Souji didn't smile back, she just looked... confused.
"Um... I'm sorry, but... who are you exactly?" Souji asked.
Nia's smile instantly turned into a frown, and her eyes widened in horror at that dreaded sentence shattered everything she had been expecting.
Nia's eyes gain a dark ring around them, and shrink to a small size without any light in them as she stared at what Raziel just told her.
"What... did you just say?" Nia asked.
[I... I said this isn't just memory loss. It's memory obliteration, when you make memories, cells are responsible for storing and managing them. It's how head trauma can leave someone with permanent damage, even if just a loss of recent events. When Souji was killed... the severe damage she received was... the only comparison I can give you is it was like her skull was cracked open and a stun gun was shoved inside. Who knows, maybe what killed her had the same power as such a voltage, I mean you remember how badly wounded she was, right?]
Nia's teeth gritted.
"You were the one fighting by her, shouldn't you have known this from the start!?" Nia screamed angrily.
[I was damaged Nia! I wasn't even conscious for her last writing, I could only subconsciously cause what she wrote to happen, if I had known I would have told you! I was just as horrified to learn this! I don't even remember who murdered her or what was the finishing blow that ended with you finding her as she bled to death!]
Nia shook, and soon held Raziel closer.
"What... did she write? Show me what she wrote to you. Show me!" Nia demanded.
Raziel silently did so, and soon the words appeared on Raziel's pages.
Nia saw the message, and soon dropped Raziel to the ground, revealing the message without the blood stains blotching out the full sentence was... { Before my death, allow me to keep all my memories of Nia until the very end, no matter how much it shortens my remaining time }, causing Nia to fall to her knees.
As that one sentence took over her thoughts, Nia held her head, recalling all the questions she asked Souji before leaving the hospital, hoping she just had amnesia and would answer them once she remembered.
Souji noticed how Nia was staring at her, and became a bit worried at the expression on her face.
"Hey, are you alright? You look like you've been through a lot." Souji asked.
"Nia, don't you remember? I met you during your work at a fan event... I snuck in your room, then you saw my work, and told me... if I wanted to be your protege. We made the Silver Bullet series together, and you designed Fatima after me... even left the message for our readers that you designed her after your beloved student?" Nia asked, crying a bit.
"Don't you remember how I was an orphan, but you treated me like a little sister? You were like the sister and mother... I never had, and never knew. I helped create the villains in the story, we became co-creators... I helped your story idea go through and get finished, causing me to save your job. I became... important to you, and... you entrusted everything to me when you went away." Nia asked with a shaky voice.
Nia cried even more, the tears flooding down her face.
"Don't you remember Souji? Don't you... remember me? I'm Nia Honjou, your... your protege! Please, please tell me this is a joke... please tell me you really haven't forgotten me, please!" Nia begged.
"Souji... is... is that my name? I'm sorry... with how upset you are right now, I believe what you're saying, but... I don't remember you at all." Souji asked.
Nia's lip quivers, and she looks down.
Nia's head slowly lowered to the floor, and then... the dreaded moment came.
Nia rose her head back up and screamed so loud, one wouldn't have been surprised if they had soon learned after she had been pushed to insanity. Her eye rings deepened and her pupils shrank into black dots.
[Nia...]
Raziel only stared at the screams it's master gave, it was clearly she had been already fragile and cracked from Souji's death, but now?
She was broken... without Souji's memories, her identity was gone. By all means in Nia's eyes, her mentor hadn't come back to life... her body was here, but not everything that made her Souji Hasegawa, a nd with that realization... her already low standard of mankind truly hit rock bottom.
After her scream, Nia's eye went back to their usual form, but now... there was a cold almost jaded feeling to them. It was like she had truly given up on the world, and yet... Raziel felt it, deep inside of her part of her still wanted to believe, the one small glimmer of hope.
Everyone stared in shock, now it all made sense, why Nia was acting the way she was...
...She was crying, but also so angry at the world she wasn't able to let people help her, because of the huge scar in her heart.
"Oh my god..." Rio gasped.
"Those words really were more important than they initially sounded." Tohka said with tears in her eyes.
"Nia..." Shiori breathed.
Nia growled, tears in her eyes as she stared angrily.
"Yeah, that's right... everything she said is true... and when she cried for help before she was murdered, no one came to help her!" Nia exclaimed.
"Nia, back then people were terrified of the Spacequakes, some barely escaped them alive! I'm sure they only didn't help because that fear froze them, they-" Rinne explained.
"Don't give me that excuse! 75% of Humanity had died from the Spacequakes before methods to prevent outright extinction came from the shelters! She begged for help, not one gave it to her, what excuse was there not to save a life when so many had been taken already!?" Nia screamed.
Rinne couldn't say anything to that.
Fatima sighed, soon looking at Nia.
"And yet, part of you still believe. The whole reason you mad Shiori have a meltdown was because you wanted to see if they truly wanted to help the last spirit of their own free will rather than convenience. If you didn't believe that, you'd have never started it, even with how you reacted." Fatima replied.
"Shut up, you don't know what you're talking about!" Nia screamed.
Fatima's eyes were shadowed for a moment before she raised them back up, showing determination in them.
"I do know, because... that bit of hope glimmering within you? The reason I'm here despite you didn't form me like the Silver Bullet villains is because I'm that hope! That part of you is what brought me here, as long as I exist... you can't stay that you don't still believe!" Fatima revealed.
Nia's eyes widened.
"Everyone, together... we'll stop Necuratu! Shiori, this is it, you need to reach Nia... you need to save her! It's the only way to win against Necuratu and escape this world! No one can leave unless Nia herself wants to go back!" Fatima declared.
"Right!" Everyone shouted.
Nia gritted her teeth and screamed loudly, her dark spirit power flaring out. She ripped out a bunch of Beelzebub's pages and created shadowy minions, some converging into monsters of black steel, the villainous mooks of the Silver Bullet series as Dark Spawns.
"I'll destroy you, I'll end you! All of you!" Nia roared.
"Well then, I promise I'll save you!" Shiori shouted.
Shiori rushed ahead, rushing through the shadows and Dark Spawns as they charged at her, using Origami's powers to boost her thoughts and calculate the right movements to make. Necuratu prepared to attack her when Fatima aimed her guns at the shadowy deity.
"SILVER RAIN!" Fatima shouted.
A bunch of silver blasts hit Necuratu, causing her to turn towards the others, only for a crackling to be heard above her as Mana swung Kusanagi down and unleashed a burst of lightning on her. Tohka followed up with few sword slashes and then a fast right hook.
The so called Ancestral Deity tipped over, barely managing to keep her balance.
"Alright!" Kotori cheered.
"Come on, even if it's just sticks, we've gotta keep that thing down!" Rio smiled, holding her giant sowing needle up.
"I've got some sticks here!" Kaguya smirked, holding the firewood she and Yuzuru hadn't used up.
Necuratu soon found itself being hit by sticks, and while they did nothing, they still annoyed her greatly and left her distracted as she had to keep switching focus. Especially as Fatima kept firing her guns at her.
Shiori fired off her moon blasts, switching between Tohka, Kurumi, Natsumi and Origami's powers to evade and fight the Raudskinna shadows and Dark Spawn copies. Eventually, she soon stood in front of a surprised Nia.
"No problem, I can just-" Nia stated as she went to grab her Astral Dress' pen.
"Not so fast!" Shiori shouted.
Instead of firing at Beelzebub, Shiori blasted Nia's pen, snapping it in two as she saw the broken pieces get flung far before her.
Shiori soon grabbed her hands, locking her in place as she pinned her to the ground.
"Get... off... me!" Nia roared.
"Nia, listen to me! I know you're in pain but-" Shiori replied.
Nia headbutt her before she could finish.
"Shut up! Shut your damn mouth you-!" Nia screamed.
Nia soon felt Shiori headbutt and interrupted the Imagination Spirit the same way she did to her, the two now with their heads locked as Shiori kept holding her down.
Seeing this, Fatima realized what she needed to do.
"Guys, hold her back, I'm gonna help Shiori end this!" Fatima stated.
Fatima soon rushed over towards Shiori and soon put her hand on Nia's head, confusing Shiori a bit. Fatima looked at her and smiled.
"I'm just making sure her hope isn't too far to reach you." Fatima smiled.
"Nia, I get how you feel! You're mad, angry, afraid... so many emotions that make you lash out because you don't know what else to do, but this isn't all you can do! There's another way, multiple ones even!" Shiori stated.
"Shut up! You... you couldn't ever understand how I feel, what losing Souji meant-" Nia shouted back.
"YES I DO! My father... when he was killed, his soul was destroyed, my mom couldn't bring him or my uncle back despite she intended to!" Shiori screamed.
Nia paused after that, and as that happened... Necuratu spun and knocked everyone away. The all watched as Necuratu prepared an attack, only for a glowing light to shoot out and deck her in the face.
Everyone gasped at the sight, and soon Rinne noticed someone extend a glowing hand to her, her eyes widening as she saw Seigo's will standing beside her.
"I never got to fight by everyone's side, I gotta thank this world for the opportunity. Mind if I lend a hand here?" Seigo asked.
"Father!" Mana and Rio smiled.
"Yeah... you don't even have to ask." Rinne smiled, tearing up a bit.
"Then I'll help out too!"
Everyone looked to see another glowing figure by Rinne, one with blonde hair and purple-pink eyes. Mayuri gasped as she quickly realized who it was.
"You're... Isamu Murasame!" Mayuri stated.
"Uncle Isamu!?" Mana gasped.
Isamu smirked, and soon he and Seigo readied themselves as Necuratu prepared for another strike. Shiori stared at Nia, tears streaming down her face onto Nia's as she did, but her face having a determined look.
"And then, I nearly lost my mom right after she came back! I know damn well how it feels to feel like you've lost someone twice over! It's painful, but... you've not alone! We're your friends Nia, you fought by our side, still tried to protect the world, you were kind to Mana despite she was just another fan!" Shiori shouted.
"I... I... no, I can't! I can't let go! Souji may be alive, but without her memories he's-" Nia replied.
"You wanted people to help her back then right, then why wouldn't you do that now!?" Shiori screamed.
Nia's eyes widened.
"You're right, she'll never remember... but I saw that memory. Even if she didn't remember... she was concerned! You were a stranger to her mind, and yet... her heart still cared, even if you can't get back what you lost, you can still have her in your life! You can start over, but that depends on your efforts!" Shiori said as cried.
Shiori's tears soon flew into Nia's eyes, and soon silhouettes of the other Spirits extended their hands on top of Shido's, all giving her a different look of encourage and their unique smiles, and Nia's eyes began to shake.
As her feelings began to reach Nia, Shiori noticed the world beginning to crack, and Necuratu began to groan in pain as its body slowly dissolved away.
Taking the chance, Seigo and Isamu rushed and attacked Necuratu, and everyone else soon dealt one last strike. The Ancestral Deity froze in place before shrieking as its body burst apart, the story's world losing its power to keep Necuratu in existence.
Seigo and Isamu soon noticed their forms vanishing.
"Well, looks like that's it. Back to being lingering wills I guess." Isamu chuckled.
Isamu looked at Mayuri and rubbed her head.
"Make Reine happy when the adoption finally goes through, she'll be lucky to have you as a daughter." Isamu smiled.
"...Dad." Mayuri sniffled, taking his hand briefly.
"Seigo, please... answer me this. Is there a way you could come back to life?" Rinne asked teary eyed.
"Do you believe there is? If you do, then have faith you're right. Until next time Rinne." Seigo smiled as he hugged her.
Both vanished, leaving the Spirits a bit teary eyed at the sight.
Nia and Shiori still stared at each other, Shiroi shifting back to Shido as the world's power no longer was able to force him into the form of his female counterpart.
"How... how can I believe? What if the same thing happens again!? What if I only get hurt more by the fact Souji will never be as I remembered her?" Nia begged.
"You remember her, that's what important, and if the same thing happens again... then just try again! Besides, this time... you don't just have one person to reach out, there's all of us! If one of us is in danger, call for them, and we'll all come! Please Nia, believe!" Shido exclaimed loudly.
Nia's eyes trembled, more tears falling out.
"Remember... remember what your message in Silver Bullet was?" Shido asked.
"There is... There is no darkness if... no light casts its shadow. This sight doesn't mean... there's no light, it just shows how brightly its shining... to cast this shadow to protect us!" Nia said as she cried.
Shido smiled and nodded, still teary eyed.
"We're here for you, and that... is a promise. Tell me, do you believe me? Can you believe me?" Shido stated.
"Shido... I..." Nia said as her voice shook.
With that, the cracks formed even larger as Nia's Inversion began to flicker away.
"I want to believe, please... show me... show me I'm right to believe! Show me... by stopping that mad man Westcott, so Souji's lost identity can finally rest in peace!" Nia cried out loudly.
At that moment, Nia felt Shido kiss her. Her eyes shook as Fatima saw her herself fade away.
"Hold onto that hope Nia, I know you won't regret it." Fatima smiled.
Fatima soon faded into silver sparkles that flew into Nia's body, and soon Nia's Astral Dress finally began to dissolve away, Shido quickly took off his jacket and put it around her as he did. With that last act... the world created by Ashufiriya finally shattered.
Everyone on the Fraxinus crew watched as the dome of Reiryoku faded, and everyone had disappeared, including Nia... and they had no idea what had happened.
"No... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Reine screamed in horror.
"Quick, someone do something! Get readings... anything! Find out what just happened!" Kannazuki ordered in a panic.
From afar, Chinami was watching in shock.
'If I had intervened, then [Sister] wouldn't have forced an Inversion... I actually made the right choice by staying away. Now we'll have her dark spirit power, and that leaves [Zodiac]'s left.' Chinami thought, soon heading off.
Though before she did, she looked around and tossed something at the ground.
Everyone's worries kept growing... until the Reiryoku dome reformed, and everyone suddenly reappeared, falling to the ground. Reine and the others all just blinked in shock at what just occurred.
"What... just happened?" Reine asked.
"Commander, I think it was a time distortion. What was about a minute for us was likely much longer for everyone in that dome. If that isn't proof enough... reading show Nia's powers have been sealed!" Shiizaki answered.
Reine stared at her surprise.
"Get everyone back into the base, we'll need everyone to explain what happened... and I need a pain killer." Reine sighed, slowly slumping onto the floor.
After getting Nia a new change of clothes, everyone let her cry for a bit until she calmed down.
"I'm... I'm so sorry, I... I wanted to believe that... people like you existed, but... the pain was just so bad. It was like my identity shattered in half, and my anger... my regret... my hatred... it dominated everything else." Nia sniffled.
"It's OK Nia, you went through something I doubt anyone else in the world will ever experience. Not in the way you did at least. You didn't do anything wrong, you just didn't understand what you were doing." Rinne said as she rubbed her back.
Rinne sipped her coffee and soon exhaled a bit.
"That must have been a painful burden to bear, I'm sorry... if only Ratatoskr had been able to reach you back then..." Reine apologized.
"We can't change the past, what's done is done, but we can learn from it." Elliot stated.
Nia soon tightened her fist.
"I... have a favor then." Nia asked.
Souji stared at the window, soon hearing the door unlock as Nia walked inside, a look of fear on her face. She looked behind her as Shido and the others all gave her looks of encouragement.
Nia breathed, and soon walked forward.
"...Hey there Souji, I visited you about half a year ago. I'm not sure you remember though." Nia said sadly.
"...Nia Honjou, that's your name, right?" Souji asked.
Nia showed surprise.
"It was strange, I don't remember anything... or I thought I did, but the doctors told me that there was one bit of my memory that didn't get destroyed. It was one small thing, but... I remembered that name. Then I recalled you told me after you visited me." Souji replied.
Souji slowly turned to Nia.
"You were... important to me, enough that for some reason, seeing you leave here sad made me... hurt." Souji admitted.
"Souji..." Nia breathed.
Nia cried, and soon hugged Souji, and soon she returned the hug.
"I... I know you'll never remember anything else, but... please... at least be part of my life, just one more time?" Nia asked.
"I'm not sure what you mean by that, but... I will try." Souji replied, smiling a bit.
From the door, the other smiled as Shido turned and laid his back on the wall, shedding a single tear.
Soon, everyone was back in Ratatoskr, with Reine working on papers to have Souji transferred to Tengu Hospital at some point in the future. Everyone was gathered, all looking at Nia, unaware of the sight of a robotic bug crawling on the wall and listening.
"Alright... I promised, didn't I? The identity of the Spirit you all know as [Zodiac]... but first, who's the one who thinks she might be her younger sister?" Nia asked.
"That's me." Mildred replied.
Nia looked at her, noticing Mildred as she was currently tinkering with some kind of invention.
Nia took a deep breath.
"Her name is... Mukuro Hoshimiya." Nia revealed.
*SHATTER*
Everyone turned as they heard Mildred drop the gizmo she was working on, staring in shock at Nia's answer.
For 5 years, for 5 long years... Mildred had been searching for the answer to one simple question, was her younger sister a Spirit? Had she found where she was the day she saw that image of [Zodiac] in the DEM?
Finally, she had her answer... she had found her little sister. She moved her hands to her mouth as her mind finally processed the information, and began to sob with tears quickly flowing down from her eyes.
"Mukuro... I've finally found you!" Mildred cried.
"Oh my god, so it really was Mildred's sister all this time!" Matthew replied in shock.
Reine guzzled more of her coffee and nearly swallowed than she could handle, soon focusing on Nia.
"Tell us Nia... where is she?" Reine asked.
Nia pointed a finger up into the air.
"The same place she's been the last 5 years, above Earth's atmosphere..."
"...In space."
Wow, I did not expect this chapter to be as long as it was, but... there you have it. Nia's finally had that wall around her heart shattered, had her powers sealed, found a bit of peace, and most of all... she's revealed Mukuro's identity, ended Mildred's long painful and wait for an answer about if her little sister is indeed the Spirit that made her decide to leave the DEM 5 years ago.
Now the only Spirit left is Mukuro, and Ratatoskr's learned exactly where she is... but based on that robotic bug crawling on the wall, it looks like someone else did too. Oh boy... things are about to heat up, and I'll say it right now, the remainder of Season 3? It's all about the group's attempt to seal Mukuro before the Mayuri Judgment adaption officially ends it.
So, Fatima was none other than Nia herself, or rather the small bit of hope that led to her causing the Shido Countdown arc before her trauma overpowered that feeling and caused this arc. The reason I did that was because while I could have used Souji... that felt too much like a repeat of what I did with Saya back in Kotori's arc, and it seemed like it would be a little too predictable.
For Shido and Isamu appearing? You might think that was shoehorned in, but recall how I said they were a bit more important this arc? Let's just say being in the Ashufiriya world will have an after affect that will come to play in the group's attempts to seal Mukuro. So, while it seems random now, I promise it'll make more sense later.
That's it for now, see you next time when start Mukuro's arc! Until then... stay awesome ^^
-Spirit Bond Levels & Passive Abilities-
Tohka - 100%, MAX (Form a mana barrier automatically)
Origami - 99% (Teleport Dodging)
Yoshino - 99% (Dampen enemy territories)
Kotori - 99% (Healing from fatal wounds minus losing his head, doesn't work on wounds caused by blunt force)
Kurumi - 99% (Hide in his shadow, and only his)
Rinne - (Summon a weakened copy of Uriel)
Natsumi - 99% (Transform into Shiori)
Kaguya - 99% (Flight)
Yuzuru - 99% (Weight Manipulation)
Miku - 97% (Pain Reliever)
Maria - (Restore dying/withered/dead vegetation and plant life)
Marina - (Remove toxins or other harmful substances, either from a living creature or an object)
Rio - (Create a soothing aura of Reiryoku to reduce a sealed Spirit's anger)
Mana - (Allow Mana to use Spirit Ascension at its weakest level without Angels)
Nia - 95% (Photographic Memory)