Date A Re:Live
S3 Chapter 68: Sephira Fury, Part 11
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]
Before we begin, time to sound usual alert about Vol 17 for this arc.
WARNING! MINOR TO MAJOR SPOILERS FOR VOLUME 17, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
And that's done, so time to begin the start notes. Last chapter dropped a pretty big reveal with me showing you all Chinami is a robot, and now this chapter's gonna go into further detail about her origins since I did mention that Westcott is unaware of this fact. As a result, I think it's pretty evident that Origami's gonna take the spotlight for a while... and that's all I can say without spoiling something ^^;
Well, as we've finally made it this far, I can finally reveal that aside from what happens in the Mayuri Judgment movie arc to connect this story to the crossover, Chinami is the final opponent of season 3. The rest of this season will be said movie, and this arc finishing up by revealing the final secrets of the series before S4 becomes the final stand against Westcott.
I'm still surprised how we ended up getting here so fast, when I began this story in April, I never thought I'd end up getting here so fast. Well, we're here now, so it's time this chapter helps start the countdown to the revelation of the final secrets in this story, and let this battle against Chinami begin and end... once and for all!
Oh, before we actually begin the chapter, since Vol 17's already important to this arc, I'd like to talk about my plans for one of my other DAL fanfics: "The Dark, but Not Evil." Most of you already know what it's about since I've mentioned a while back, so I'll skip the description about it. If you don't know it, then consider checking it out.
I mentioned in the story that I wanted to see if Volume 17 introduced any new info before I continued the story, and it did, more than I had expected... I mean the one thing I didn't expect the volume to answer? It actually did. Due to this, the original version of the story will stay as a one-shot, while I'll make the full-story as a different one.
Also, you may be interested in another planned idea I recently decided is a go, it's called: "Another A Live" and the best way to sum it up right now is that it's a Shido/Mio story with a focus on having a lot of bittersweet moments due to the backstory, but with my own twists to have Mio included much earlier in the story. I'll probably bring it up later on when I have more info on it decided, so it's mostly a concept for now.
With that all cleared up, now let's check out Mana's new data sheet, and then begin the chapter!
-Mana Takamiya (Full Spirit), Code Name: [Murakumo]-
Angel: None
- Powers: Mana's powers as a Spirit are of the Void element, which is opposite to her mother's Ether element. Where Rinne can create and heal, Mana's powers are more focused towards destruction, negation and/or disabling. However, according to Mana herself, her powers can't destroy living things the same way she could destroy objects, but she can still do some damage to them.
Risk Factors: SS
Spacequake: C
Spirit's Astral Dress: AA
Angel Rank: None
Strength: 190
Consistency: 140
Spiritual Power: 154
Agility: 217
Intelligence: 135
Chinami soon got up, slowly walking through the dust cloud.
"Damn you all!" Chinami growled.
Everyone turned to see Chinami exit the cloud, but soon the sight of what came out surprised all of them, namely what happened to Chinami's arm...
...or rather the lack of it one!
"Huh?" Chinami wondered.
Chinami looked, and soon paled as she it, up to above her elbow, her arm was missing, but the biggest shocker was the face mechanical parts and sparks of electricity were seen from where it was missing.
The rest of her arm was seen where the dust cleared, with the same sparks and machine parts attached to it.
"Her... her arm!" Miku gasped.
"O-Oh my god, that's why her reflexes aren't human, she's a... a... a..." Rinne stuttered.
Chinami grit her teeth, knowing her secret had been exposed, the secret that made her kill Karen was quickly as she had. The secret that she wasn't human at all...
...because she was a machine!
"How revolting, to think that I'd be exposed by something as unconventional as my attempt to attack your lowered guards." Chinami said, her eyes showing a dark look.
She slammed her remaining arm on her CR-Unit, causing Lancelot to gain a dark aura as Dark Maryoku began to transform it, and her arm slowly tethered itself back as her own transformation's magical power linked it back.
Origami's eyes shook as she saw this, remembering the events of their first encounter in Okinawa.
"...You said I was your cousin, was that just a lie you told?" Origami asked.
"A lie? Oh, not at all [Angel], I was telling you the full truth about that, the reason I'm a machine is completely different." Chinami answered.
"Basically, you're a cyborg, at least that's what I'm guessing." Marina stated.
"Hmm... you could say that, but I don't think I have much in me that's still human to use the term Cyborg, so saying I'm a machine or at least a Gynoid would be the more accurate term." Chinami admitted.
Marina growled a bit.
"The irony, I get tossed by that stupid Boycott, and yet he keeps you around despite we both had a machine body." Marina remarked angrily.
"Actually, Sir Westcott doesn't even know, the only ones who did were killed by Choronzon manifested in original main branch of the DEM." Chinami stated, grinning darkly.
"Huh!?" Marina exclaimed in surprise.
Chinami sighed, cleaning her ear slightly, and then blowing on the finger she used.
"Simple, you see..."
Murdock was seen as the mechanical body of Chinami, but around the age when she saw Origami kill her parents, was being created. Only the top half of her mechanical form was completed, with the lower half of the torso to her legs having not yet been made to attach to her.
"Murdock, are you sure about this, will this really be something to use against Westcott?" A DEM staff member asked.
"I do, the signs of him becoming dangerous to this company are already starting to get evident, when the right time comes and he gets out of line... this will be our ticket to taking him down." Murdock answered.
Time began to fly by as Chinami's machine body was constructed, soon it was completed, and after it was, a certain electricity was shot through it, only moments after this... her eyes opened up.
Chinami walked in a training room, and soon unsheathed a simple steel katana as a Jabberwocky unit was transferred into the room. Taking a deep breath, she took a stance with her katana. The Jabberwocky came to life, and she dashed forward, soon managing to knock it towards the wall.
As Westcott, Ellen, Jessica, and Marina dealt with the fact that Murdock had managed to catch them in a trap to hopefully remove them from power in the DEM, they suddenly heard a crash in one room.
"Oh?" Westcott wondered.
The group of four soon walk back to see the training room Chinami was in, and then they saw the sight of her standing before a Jabberwocky, with Ellen quickly noticing her lack of a CR-Unit, any Wizard gear, or even a Wiring Suit.
"What the... why is she training against Jabberwocky!?" Ellen gasped, shocked at the sight.
"They aren't made to be fought as a training opponent, and why's she bare of any kind of wizard gear!?" She wondered.
She was right to think that, by all means the sight of this girl's choice of combat conditions could be seen as suicide, and it really was... or it would have, if they had known what Chinami really was.
"Hmm... hold on a minute, I'm curious about how this will go." Westcott replied, smirking as he stared at the sight.
At that moment, the Jabberwocky rushed forward as its arms, and legs, pushed against the ground, charging at Chinami.
Once she saw it coming, Chinami slowly shifted into a stance, and then... her eyes widened as she shot forward, suddenly going past the Jabberwocky with her katana gleaming in the air.
As she turned to face it, the machine shook before a single slash mark cut it down the middle, making it explode! The two elite wizards both stared in shock, while Marina showed some awe to her accomplishment.
"Well, well..." Westcott remarked, smirking heavily.
"Let this be a sign of good fortune everyone, we already have something new for us the moment the reins are truly mine again. Now let's cash in on it." He stated.
Westcott walks closer to Chinami, catching her attention as she turned to look.
"Welcome to the DEM... my new Adeptus 3." Westcott greeted, holding out his hand.
Chinami looked at Westcott, her eyes identifying him as the one Murdock wanted out of the picture, so she decided to act natural.
"...You realize that bed head of yours isn't very fashionable, right?" Chinami stated bluntly.
Ellen, Jessica, and Marina all went pale and white eyed at that comment, while Westcott's left eye twitched slightly.
"No, I don't believe they have... thank you for your honesty." Westcott replied sarcastically.
"You are quite welcome, I am Chinami Mikazuchi, it is a rare treat to see you Sir Westcott." Chinami introduced.
The three all looked at Chinami oddly as she started chewing on some of her hair.
"...Maybe this might be a bad idea?" Jessica wondered.
Chinami and Marina were walking across the hall, and this was happening around the time that Murdock's plan to drop the Humpty Dumpty satellites on Tenguu City was going on. As they were walking, Chinami was polishing her katana, until... she accidentally cut some of her skin, exposing some wires underneath.
"I'm glad you decided to take on our position as Adeptus 3, you'll be a great addition to-" Marina stated, moving her hand near the shoulder that Chinami cut.
Marina was suddenly pushed against the wall, shaking as she narrowly avoided Chinami kicking her, the shoulder in question being covered.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Marina screamed.
"...Ah, my apologies, I thought you were about to attack me." Chinami answered.
"Just what would make you think that?" Marina asked.
Chinami's eyes darken, and Marina sighs as she realized a dark past story was about to happen.
"Many years ago, I lost my parents when they died of an illness, I was about 6 to 8 years old at the time, and after a few years, an aunt and uncle of mine decided to adopt me as their second child." Chinami explained.
'And here comes the sad part any moment-' Marina thought.
"I arrived at Tenguu City, on the same day the Tenguu Fire broke out, the day the current [Efreet] and [Angel] were born." Chinami stated.
"I rushed to find my parents and my adoptive sister among the fire, and when I did... I saw [Angel] murder them with my own eyes!" She shouted angrily.
Marina suddenly showed surprise at that, not expecting that at all.
"I didn't even see my little sister, I bet she was killed before she even realized it, ever since I've seen the Spirits for what they are and want nothing more... than to kill [Angel] to avenge them." Chinami said, glaring forward as if to kill a hidden Spirit.
Marina soon wondered about something, and decided to ask about it.
"Uh... this adoptive sister of yours, what was her name out of curiosity?" Marina asked, wanting to see if a guess she made was right.
"...Origami Tobiichi." Chinami answered.
Marina's eyes widened, that was the real identity of [Angel], and because of this, Marina kept silent.
"I see, then you fit right in with us." Marina stated.
Chinami watched Marina as the let Murdock and the others fall into the DEM's special prison, and as she did, her programming altered itself.
'Murdock didn't have any power, I have no need to follow his plan, so from here on...' Chinami thought.
Her loyalties were assigned towards Westcott.
'I'll fight for the strongest, until I can find and kill [Angel], without any mercy.' She thought.
"And that's taken care of, so... ready to make things official Adeptus 3?" Marina asked.
Chinami soon walked in, and soon nodded to the Spirit based AI.
"...Yes, and I shall kill those Spirits myself if I have to." Chinami replied, with a cold stoic voice.
'Although, I'll keep me being a machine a secret, better to have a secret weapon that way.' She thought.
Chinami cleaned her ear again as she finished.
"And that's pretty much it, I'm not sure how I got into this machine body in the first place, but I don't really give a damn, not as much as taking out all of you Spirits, especially you... [Angel]" Chinami stated.
"You little piece of-" Marina shouted.
Origami held out a hand, surprising Marina, and everyone else as she took a step forward, taking a deep breath.
"...Chinami, your only opponent will be me, it's time we end this once and for all!" Origami declared.
"Oh?" Chinami inquired.
Everyone else showed shock at that, Tohka especially.
"Origami, what are you doing, we should be facing her-" Tohka stated.
"No Tohka, this is something I have to do on my own, a battle that I have to fight, a battle that I have to end... along with the unbreakable hatred in her heart." Origami stated, a sad look in her eyes.
Tohka stared at her, a worried look on her face.
"B-but Origami, you're still weak from me defeating you while you were in your Inverse Form, you don't have the power to win right now, not to mention she's using Dark Maryoku to enhance her CR-Unit!" Tohka warned.
Origami breathed, turning to her best friend.
"Even so, I can't run... because if I do, how will I ever be able to face myself?" Origami asked.
Tohka's eyes widened, remembering how she and Origami met after she was sealed.
"...Origami, you have the promise to not die, you hear me!?" Tohka shouted, tearing up a bit.
"If I break that promise, feel free to drag me back from the dead and kill me again as punishment." Origami smiled.
Taking another deep breath, Origami walked forward and soon held out her hands.
"[Ehyeh]"
"[Metatron]"
Origami felt her Astral Dress materialize on her body, and then her Angel form on her head, the golden feathery pillars shooting out of the ground soon after.
Chinami cracked her neck, soon unsheathing the Dark Arondight into her hands.
"This is it... Chinami, I'll free you from your curse, right here and now!" Origami screamed loudly.
Reine ran around, looking for where everyone had gone, and finding herself where everyone had been earlier before moving to go help Mildred.
"Rinne!?" Seigo snouted.
Seigo hopped a bit, hoping to see them somewhere.
"Shido!?" Seigo shouted again.
"Mana!?" He shouted once more.
"RIO!?" He shouted for the final time.
...the wind blowing was his answer.
"...None of them, where are they?" Seigo asked, a bit saddened.
"Maybe they aren't here anymore, I guess we should go and-" Reine answered.
"No."
Reine and Seigo looked as Isamu floated out of Reine's hand, hovering in place.
"Isamu?" Reine asked.
"Reine, it is time for you to learn the truth, and you must heed it... for the sake of the world itself, and the world that couldn't be saved long ago."
Reine blinked, no less confused by Isamu than she had been since their reunion.
Isamu breathed deeply, and soon looked at Seigo.
"Seigo, you know of what I mean don't you?" Isamu asked.
"Yeah, well... kinda sorta, I know the Spirit Dimension's real name, but do to this state I'm in, I only seem to recall it if I'm under heavy stress, and with all the Reiryoku keeping my current form manifested without a struggle..." Seigo answered.
"Close enough, knowing is the only part I need for this to work." Isamu replied.
Reine looked at the two confused.
"Sweetie, why are you and my big brother acting so weird? If you just let me try helping you revive with Rinne's help then-" Reine stated.
"SHUT UP!" Isamu screamed.
Reine went silent at that, nearly tearing up.
"...I'm sorry for doing that Reine, but the situation Westcott's brought us too has become too severe, I can't just hope to forever hide you form the truth, and I knew I couldn't because I'd never come back despite that Seigo does have a way to revive." Isamu explained.
Reine's eyes widen as she looks at Seigo.
"Well, that's what he says, but I don't really believe him because he hasn't revived me yet." Seigo answered.
"I keep telling you that it won't work yet, there's a reason why I had to make you inherit the sealing ability to Shido when you got your soul smashed apart! Isamu screamed angrily.
Seigo went silent before "turning" away from Isamu, and "pouting" in response.
"Reine, it's time for you to know, and to start this I should tell you the most vital part..." Isamu said, clearly showing pain at shattering the world Reine had come to know.
"Seigo is not your brother, and... I'm not your husband... we never were." Isamu revealed.
Reine's eyes widened and shook, and she began to panic slightly.
"W-what are you... no... no, no, no, you're lying... you have to be!" Reine exclaimed in horror.
"I'm not... in fact, Isamu Murasame doesn't even exist, he's... just an alias I created when I altered you and Seigo's memories." The being known as Isamu explained.
"...Wait, you did what to me!?" Seigo shouted.
Reine put her hands to her hand as she shook, pulling down on it as she unknowingly pulled her hair band off into her hand, causing her side tail to spill out.
She breathed heavily, trying to avoid having a panic attack as the info before her registered and her mind tried to deny it... Seigo wasn't her brother, and Isamu... wasn't her husband, and was just an alias someone else used?
"...You still deny it, and I don't blame you, this is the world you've known all your life, and that's because you can't remember your time in your true birthplace, after all... I erased those memories myself." Isamu grimaced.
"What... no... you're... this is..." Reine mumbled.
"Uh... maybe you should show her the images, at this rate words will make her head explode!" Seigo muttered.
"Yes, perhaps you're right." Isamu noted.
Isamu breathes, and soon his form as a sphere of light shifted into that of the one from Reine's memories, and he soon tapped her shoulder. She, and Seigo, noticed the landscape around them change and become a replica of the Spirit Dimension, but from a time even Seigo hadn't seen it.
A time many, many, years before Seigo had ever arrived there, and before Reine had ever been born in it.
"This is... the Spirit Dimension?" Reine asked.
"Yes, that's the name you know it as, but..." Isamu explained.
"...That is not the true name of this land, it was one it gained after the people here forgot about it, and the original name was lost." He answered.
Origami, and Chinami, both jumped into the air as they began their battle in the sky.
"[Round Table, equip!]"
"[Mal'akh - Heavenly Wings!]"
A realizer shaped like a disc attached to Chinami, activating like a propulsion system to aid her flying movement and mobility.
Many of the Metatron pillars fly before motioning themselves into a wing-like formation, and then folding themselves behind her back.
"Here goes!" Origami shouted.
Origami flew at Chinami, and the Adeptus 3 wizard readied her blade.
"[Dark Arondight!]"
Chinami slashed down her sword, and created a slash wave that origami narrowly dodged with her enhanced speed.
"[Kadour - Sword of Light!]"
The remaining pillars all fling themselves Chinami, making the DEM wizard dodge them, slashing against a few with Arondight.
Taking the chance, she rushed at Origami, smashing her sword against, her, and sending her near the ground.
"Origami!" Shido screamed.
'Come on, don't fall now, imagine you're like a bird...' Origami thought.
Origami imagined herself as a bird flying through the sky.
'...And fly!' Origami mentally shouted.
"GO!" She screamed,
The Metatron pillars on her back fired beams of light, propelling her back up, and smashing into Chinami, which caused the brown-haired wizard to be launched higher into the sky.
Origami motioned her hands forward.
"[Artelif - Crown Cannon!]"
The pillars fire a comprised beam towards Origami, and she held her hand out to form a territory barrier against it.
"[Dark Arondight!]"
She slashes the air, causing a dark energy wave to fly at the Light Spirit.
"[Zohar - Heavenly Gate!]"
The pillars move and become an asterisk shaped shield that blocked the attack before Origami flew at her, causing the two to have a hit and run tactic as they flew, chasing and trying to attack each other.
"Hold... still!" Chinami roared.
"You... first!" Origami shouted.
They clashed in midair, creating a wave of Dark Maryoku and Origami's white Reiryoku to burst out as small recoils of force, making everyone feel the fierce winds blow towards them.
"Look at that, she's actually handling herself in that weakened state!" Miku gasped.
"Amazing..." Mukuro breathed.
"I should have known, when we fought as Inverse Spirits near the start of Spring, she could always adapt to me, Chinami has nothing on her, and that's because Origami will figure out how to fight back once she gets the right understanding." Tohka smiled.
As the two clashed more, Origami suddenly pushed away and neared the ground.
"So, leaving yourself wide open?" Chinami smirked darkly.
"Actually, you did." Origami countered.
Chinami blinked, and soon realized she didn't see the pillars Origami was using offensively.
"[Shemesh - The Sun!]"
Chinami looked up, and soon the pillars, which were floating and spinning in a circle above her, rained down a rain of light blasts, all of which hit her as she tried using her territory barrier against it with little success.
Origami panted as she did this, coughing as she felt fatigue start to catch up to her.
[Oh no, are you alright Origami?]
"I'm alright Metatron, I'm just a bit more tired than I thought, I need to slow down with my attacks or I might be in trouble." Origami replied.
Soon a grunt was heard in Origami's head.
"Say what you want, you humans are all the same, even when you turn into one of us." A voice said in Origami's head.
'Wait, are you... my Inverse self, the Metatron region's collective will?' Origami thought.
"Hmm, let's see... "are you the Metatron region's collective will?", my god... you sound like a broken stereo." Inverse Origami mentally replied.
Origami sweat dropped a bit.
'Wow, she's... cruel.' Origami thought, soon hearing something.
She focused on the ground to see Chinami cracked her neck before flying back up at her.
"Was that it!?" Chinami shouted rhetorically.
"Guess it's time for round 2." Origami said to herself.
Reine looked at Isamu with surprise as she heard him say that, wondering what he met. The curiosity to what the Spirit Dimension could have been really called quickly won over her mind, and a certain question came to light.
"Not its original name, what do you mean, what was this place called before?" Reine asked, hoping for an answer.
"Its name was..." Isamu replied.
Reine stared at Isamu, waiting for the answer, after a few moments... the answer was spoken.
"HEAVEN"
Reine's eyes widened, her mind briefly shutting down to properly register what she had heard.
"W-what... did you say? This is... Heaven, the actual home of the Angels in the Bible Heaven!?" Reine gasped.
"That's right, you heard me right, why else do you think a concept connected to God was so linked here, or why the Spirits had weapons named after some of the most powerful Angels, with their Astral Dresses as alternative names for God?" Isamu questioned.
Reine took a moment to think on that, and when she did... it made complete sense, it was no different from saying an animal was meant to breath in water because it had come from, and/or evolved in the ocean, on Earth.
However, now a new question crossed her mind, what were the Spirits... and if Heaven wasn't a land of the dead, just what was it really? Most of all, who was Isamu really, and how did he know all of this.
"Isamu, what-"
"I think I know what you're going to ask." Isamu interjected.
"The Spirits are essentially, no... exactly, what you've known them as, evolved Humans who lived in another world. Heaven is, or rather was that world, and both were created by God, who observed them and hoped to find a unique path for both, but also having them learn and grow together. Now, as for who I am, that's actually quite simple... but I'll answer that later." Isamu explained.
Isamu sighed.
"For now, this is what you need to see." He continued.
Seigo moved to Reine's shoulder as she saw a horrific sight, they zoomed out of the world of Heaven, and appeared in one that was... the exact opposite, it was dark, nightmarish, and terrifying to the both of them.
Neither of them even had to ask what this place was, where they had been before clearly spelt it out to them, if they had just witnessed Heaven... then this place could only be the land that opposed it, Hell.
"So, there's another world, and that one's Hell!?" Reine asked.
"Watch before you ask anything.
The sight of various monsters, none of which resembled humans at all, were seen doing things that could only be described as awful and evil, and watching over all of them was a black horned figure with a reddish tint at the tips of his horns, and glowing red eyes, with the inside of his mouth being the same.
This creature was the Devil, and the ones before him were all Demons.
"I... I think I'm gonna be sick!" Seigo shook, hiding in Reine's hair to avoid looking.
"Yes, the ultimate nightmare, there was once another world God had made, but he realized quickly it was becoming too twisted and stopped before he created anything that would become the horrors he knew could come... but he had been too late, and they thrived in the shadows without his notice." Isamu stated.
Soon, the image continued as the sight of the Devil and the Demons attacking Heaven was seen, before it quickly fell onto Earth and caused things like various landmarks such as the Grand Canyon, the destruction of continents believed to be myth in the present, and worst of all?
The Devil stabbed into the Earth, introducing the essence of himself into some Humans, the essence... of evil, negativity, sin and etc.
"Long before the Spirits existed, the Spirit Dimension only had God and the Angels, and the Earth still had Humans, but the land that would become Hell would grow to not just create the Demons... but one so dangerous it became the antithesis to God himself, the Devil." Isamu explained.
"The Devil infected this world, and God couldn't stop it or undo the damage, so the only thing he could do... was to stop it from spreading any further than it already head. This is that moment before us..." He continued.
Reine noticed the slight regret in his voice, confusing her slightly.
Soon a figure emitting light, wearing a light blue and white robe clashed with the Devil, and the king of Hell soon dealt what looked to be a fatal blow as he smashed his claw into God's body, but God did not falter... and motioned himself to let the Devil stab himself.
The king of Hell roared in pain, and as the Devil removed his claw, God smashed his palms over the wound and unleashed a power resembling the modern day Reiryoku, but much more potent and divine looking, and it destroyed the Devil forever.
Reine gasped as the entirety of Hell soon compressed and exploded, the nightmarish realm, and all of the Monsters inhabiting it, were erased from this world.
"In the end, the Devil was destroyed and Hell was annihilated, that was it... or so God thought." Isamu stated.
"...Or rather, so I thought." He revealed.
Reine's eyes widened, and soon enough, Isamu's form shifted to show the same robe as before, but now the light hiding God's form was dispelled. He resembled a handsome young man with pale, almost light-gold, colored hair (A/N: Think the illustration of younger Elliot & Ellen from Vol 17) and eyes that changed color every few seconds.
"Uh... surprise, Isamu is God!" Seigo stated, chuckling oddly.
"...Seigo, don't help me." Isamu groaned.
"Yes sir." Seigo obeyed.
Isamu sighed, soon continuing his explanation.
"The battle had been... the damage had been unreal, the Earth was mostly unscathed, but Human was in shambles, and for everyone's safety, I disconnected Heaven from Earth except for a one-way spot that people like Seigo would find and fall into, the one tether I could not break." Isamu mentioned, showing a brief image of the area.
"I realized then, I was dying, and the damage was too great, the Devil had done more than doom me to death, but I was outright cursed, and in a way that would always keep me dead, not even if my soul was broken and then repaired would I revive." He explained, crying a bit.
Reine gave a saddened look, putting a hand on Isamu's cheek, with Seigo floating up and touching his other one.
"The only thing I could do after, was unsure that something would keep both worlds safe, so before the curse destroyed my ability to live forever... I gathered the Angels who had survived." Isamu continued.
Reine and Seigo watched, and soon the 10 angels were seen, the ones that the Spirits' Angels would be named after... however, Reine soon noticed something shocking, they all looked exactly like their current possessors!
"They... they look like Tohka, and Origami, and... and..." Reine gasped.
"Yes, it was no coincidence that the ones possessing the crystals now became their final wielders. Before my demise, I asked those 10 to become the new world's foundation, under a tale as their legendary heroes and guardians, becoming the Sephira Crystals shaped on their weapons in the great battle, and I sent pieces of their soul to Earth where one day, they'd reincarnate as Humans." Isamu revealed.
"However, I had three last acts to do, ones I had to accomplish before I truly vanished from the realm of the living." He continued.
God, in the form of Isamu, went to a certain part of the world and helped establish a secret village of wizards, ones that would end up forming the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn under the ancestors of Westcott, Elliot, and Ellen.
"There, now for the next part." Isamu whispered, soon coughing a bit.
Isamu would soon find himself in the area of land that would one day be the city that would be replaced by Tenguu City, the home of a certain family line.
Standing before said family's ancestors, Isamu placed a strange light within man of the two.
"I know it may not make sense now, but promise me you will keep that safe, in the future, your descendants will need to carry that "key", and when the time comes, then the world will be guided away from the plagues I unknowingly brought to it." Isamu explained.
"That is the mission that the Takamiya family must carry." He continued.
Reine's eyes widened, and soon looked at Seigo.
"Wait a minute, Seigo... your family is-" Reine gasped.
"Yeah, shocking huh? That's the real reason Shido has sealing powers, that memory where he things I got it from DEM chemicals was put in me by Isamu because he wouldn't be ready for the truth." Seigo verified.
Reine blinked, and then shook her head.
"Wait, hold on a second, then have you only shared certain details when we have seen you appear before now!?" Reine demanded, now feeling confused.
"Uh... my soul was fragmented, remember? I could only remember certain bits and pieces related to the fragment that the others met with, it was luck that Tohka met the one that knew the Ethereal Form's source."
Reine hung her head in defeat, unsure what to understand anymore.
"The third and final thing however? That I must directly show you, or you won't believe it." Isamu stated.
Isamu motioned Reine to take her hand, and she did, causing the visual illusion to take them to a specific area.
The two combatants flew across the air once more, and soon enough... Origami found an opening!
"[Kadour - Sword of Light!]"
Chinami suddenly saw the pillars near her again, and she slashed Dark Arondight at them... unfortunately, she realized to late that Origami had pulled a feint on her, charging at her directly while detaching the pillars she used for the Mal'akh formation.
"GO!" Origami shouted.
"Shit!" Chinami screamed.
[Fire!]
Metatron blasted all of its beams at Chinami point blank, with the pillars tossed by Origami's last use of the Kadour formation also turning to fire at her, causing her to be slammed with a massive amount of light.
"She got her!" Kotori cheered.
"Alright!" Mana shouted happily.
"You go girl!" Natsumi screamed excitedly.
Origami smiles.
'This is it!' Origami thought.
"...[Inverse Workings!]"
Suddenly an area on the Dark Lancelot opens up, and Dark Maryoku floods out, pushing Origami away as all of Chinami's damaged is healed, and the Adeptus 3 wizard cackled menacingly.
"No... this can't be." Origami gasped in horror.
Chinami grabbed Origami by the throat, preparing to choke her.
"That's what you call saving your best trick for last, I can only do that once every few hours, but never got a chance to use it against that Karen girl I killed, but this is what real power is, and now you'll die [Angel], so say goodbye!" Chinami cackled.
"Everyone, I'm... sorry." Origami apologized.
Everyone stared in horror as Chinami prepared Dark Arondight, but... suddenly Chinami's eyes glitch up, and she shakes before they suddenly turn from amber to green, surprising Origami.
"Ori...ga...mi..." Chinami spoke, her voice sounding younger.
"Huh?" Origami wondered.
Suddenly, Chinami began to tear up, her whole body shaking.
"Ori...gami... it's me, the... real Chinami!" Chinami cried.
Origami's eyes widened.
"What!?" Origami gasped.
"The... the story you just heard form... this robot me... isn't the full story. The truth is, my... mom, and dad... didn't die of an illness, they were murdered by... the DEM, and... I was killed too!" Chinami sniffled.
Everyone down below heard this, and showed surprise to it.
"She... she was what?" Shido gasped.
"Oh my god, the DEM... just what sick boundaries have they failed to cross, if any at all!?" Nia growled, her fist shaking.
Chinami cried.
"They... took my soul, and... some man named Murdock... put me in this body, he rewrote the machine to overtake my personality... run on most of my memories, but it's... own set desires! Worst of all, one of those orders... was to... kill your parents!" Chinami revealed.
Origami's eyes widened.
"The misfire that Metatron caused, you mean..." Origami realized.
"It wasn't Metatron's mistake... or you, it never... was!" Chinami confirmed.
"They were... killed because, they worked as part of a business that DEM wanted... to purchase, but they refused the offer, so... they were killed just because they could be a threat of ally with Ratatoskr, your parents died because... because I was used like this!" She sobbed.
Origami's eyes shook, watering slightly.
"And... and now, my soul is... being broken apart, I can't rest in peace, and... soon, I might be too broken to rest at all... Origami, please... destroy this machine, end my suffering, I beg you!" Chinami cried out.
At that moment, Chinami's eyes reverted back to amber, showing the machine persona regained control.
"Oh, how annoying, for the real Chinami to reveal all that, well... then I guess I just have to confirm it's all true, how's it feel to know how your parents really died!?" False Chinami cackled.
"Now, die... die with your despair [Angel], killing you while you Inverse will be fun!" She laughed.
At that moment, False Chinami thrust her Dark Arondight forward as planned, and everyone watched in horror as it was about to hit... only for it to break into pieces!
- (*Silvery Wings - Accel World*) -
"W-what!?" False Chinami gasped.
"...I knew it, all along, the way her hatred was strong was too unnatural, and now I know it was because that hate wasn't' even hers." Origami cried, shedding happy tears.
"What... why are you crying? How can you smile like that, you saw a Human treat another of their kind like a tool, I don't see how the will of the Sandalphon could ever believe in your kind!" Inverse Origami questioned, incredulous to her reaction.
Origami sniffled, and giggled a bit.
"Because, you're looking at it all wrong, I thought my own family was my enemy... but she's not, she's trapped and now I know I can save her. Yeah, we Humans aren't the same as Spirits, and we make mistakes, but we do our best to admit to them and move forward." Origami replied.
"Just like... just like someone showed me how to live, when I wanted to die long ago." She smiled.
Inverse Origami's eyes widened, surprised at that.
"You wanted to die, but... found reason to live? How could someone push you like that, how could you keep going, I don't get it, I... is this because of our hatred?" Inverse Origami asked.
"No, it's because that person gave me hope, the hope named... Shido Takamiya." Origami answered.
At that moment, Inverse Origami took another look at the words that Sandalphon spoke to the Inversions, and then... she understood it.
That hope wasn't just some kind of promise, it was a revelation that their future was one beyond a single-minded hate, that she could live by the path she chose to walk, not one decided by forces beyond her.
"I... I get it, I think I get it now, what you were trying to say... if that's the case then... to you who's inherited the power of the Metatron region, allow me to see your strength and let me know if its right to believe!"
"I will... thank you." Origami thanked.
At that moment, False Chinami was pushed away as suddenly, Origami's white Reiryoku manifested, but brighter than ever before.
Shido's eyes widen.
"That light, she's..." Shido breathed.
Soon the bright white Reiryoku exploded, forming a pillar of it that everyone saw.
"Whoa!" Mana exclaimed.
"Origami..." Mukuro breathed.
"You did it Origami, you've... Ethereal Shifted!" Tohka sniffled happily.
- (*insert song end*) -
Slowly but surely, the light of Origami's transformation ended, and the silhouette of her Ethereal Form appeared under the bright light she had created, soon looking towards the False Chinami.
"Chinami, don't you worry... I'm here to save you!" Origami exclaimed with determination.
That's right, you just saw it, Origami's just undergone an Ethereal Shift, and as such she's become the second Spirit to gain her Ethereal Form! Unfortunately, I'll be teasing you a bit longer with how she looks like and putting up her data sheet, so you won't know what Ethereal Origami's like just yet, considering the rest of the reveals on Reine's side, its better I give you it then so you experience all of it at once.
Also, you did hear that right, this story's version of the Spirit Dimension was none other than Heaven! That's a twist I've had in mind since day 1, because it just felt like one I had to use when the Angels are named after actual important angels, the Astral Dresses are all various names for God, and then Da'at is essentially God himself, how could I have said no to this idea?
Now, on the part of Isamu being God? Had it planned as long as the Heaven thing too, notice how throughout the series that I always brought up Seigo when I had the chance to, and showcased his story, but Isamu was heavily neglected in comparison? Exactly, his character had too many secrets, but I also didn't want to imply that, so I barely brought him up to disguise the mystery through him appearing as a flat character.
Well, the one thing I don't think I can hide is the part of Isamu's explanation about the Devil... I think you'll probably have a good idea where that's leading to no matter what I say otherwise ^^; *chuckles* Well, considering the remaining secrets of the series are starting to unravel here, I guess that's not too big of an issue, when you make these reveals, it's easier for some info to be linked to something else in the process.
Last thing I've gotta mention before we close things up is this. The one side-story for the series, Date A Re:Live - Encore? I mentioned a while back that it might not continue due to trouble with it, but after some thought, I realized the problem was I just attempted to do it way too early, and since there's only two Chapter I'd like to redo with the Spirits that have been introduced since, I'm just gonna redo the story when I complete this one.
Basically, the first story with the hot springs will now include everyone instead of the first 5 Spirits, and I'm also gonna drop the whole story voting aspect, that might have made it a bit harder for me than I had realized too, so I'll amend that issue as well. Alright then, I guess that's all I really have to say for today's chapter, so...
Until next time everyone, and stay awesome! ^^
-Spirit Bond Levels & Passive Abilities-
Tohka - 100%, MAX (Form a mana barrier automatically)
Origami - 100%, MAX (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 second copy of an Angel)
Natsumi - 99% (Transform into Shiori)
Kaguya - 99% (Flight)
Yuzuru - 99% (Weight Manipulation)
Miku - 99% (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 - (Share a mental link that can be turned on and off at will)
Nia - 99% (Photographic Memory)
Mayuri - (Disrupt any Reiryoku near him with a special magnetic field)
Mukuro - 99% (Safely use all 100% of his body's physical power)