Expression

"And that is our report."

Tsubasa finished providing the details of her encounter with this new girl, the group now perplexed at this information. Even though they heard the story and watched the playback of the fight, the rest of S.O.N.G. couldn't believe the words that came from her mouth. Not only did Tsubasa and Maria encounter a brand-new Candidate, but they were also pushed a bit farther than they initially expected.

When the group heard of this, they couldn't believe it, especially after all their previous encounters. Granted, they weren't going all out, but it was still a shocking tale, nonetheless. Even the staff had an issue believing this, but the footage was right there in front of them. Not much they could do about it, they thought to themselves. On the right terminal, Aoi continued to pound away at her keyboard, brushing away some of the dark blue hair from her face as she noted their situation, "Just when we thought we could have a time of peace..."

"Hey, we got a month or two out of it," the greenish-brunette on the other side of the room quipped, leaning back in his chair. He was always a bit more laidback than his partner, but anyone could tell that his joke was laced with a bit of stress. He held his hands behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling, the blueish green tint the exact same as it always was when he needed a break from the screen.

The tension in the room would be layered onto by another voice, this time belonging to a blonde child who hadn't given up in her incessant typing, just like Aoi. "But another Gear... and a Relic we don't know about..." Elfnein couldn't help but be a bit curious at this. The Disaster Relief Squad had information to all the Relics that they could get their hands on in Japan, whether it be through connections or through the research in the files they managed to obtain. However, their system never displayed an "Unknown" reading before, so it was all the more fascinating.

"We had an Aufwachen waveform reading before, could it be related to that?"

Sakuya gave his input, which was only one of the many questions they had bumbling in their minds. He was informed by the duo at the terminals that there was a sudden reading of an Aufwachen waveform in a remote area, completely away from the main city. However, it was very brief, only for a portion of a millisecond before being cut off. The two were shocked, though they were a bit disappointed that he wasn't there to see it, since they wanted another set of eyes to confirm what they saw.

Sakuya sat up, taking his eyes from the ceiling to now look back down at his system. Meanwhile, the other Adapters called to the meeting had their own questions too. While Maria and Tsubasa witnessed this person firsthand, none of the other Gear users had a clue as to who this person was or what their plans were. The one to break this silence was Maria, who spoke as if to ask the same question in everyone's mind.

"More importantly, who was that girl and why was she in that hole?"

The one to answer her was the Commander of S.O.N.G., standing firm as he tapped a key on his keyboard before going back to crossing his arms. "We have an answer for who she is, at least," Genjuro informed, the screen ahead of them displayed a picture of a girl, seemingly around the other Adapters' ages. The girl sported a lab coat, alongside a large brown ponytail that seemed quite comical, like it should have been trimmed a while ago. Another image displayed right beside it, a frozen frame from Tsubasa's prior video footage with the same girl in the Symphogear system that they weren't able to identify. Based on the photos, it was a complete match.

Underneath the two photos, a name flashed up, finally providing the name of their new foe... Leia Noire.

"Leia...?"

The one to speak this time was Hibiki, her eyes wide as she took note of the girl's photo, which was quite reminiscent of a mugshot rather than a profile picture. Genjuro provided further information, since providing just a name wasn't going to be enough to satiate curiosity.

"Apparently, she's the daughter of an alchemist who was working under the Bavarian Illuminati."

Another photo showed up, introducing a woman with the same hair color, only this woman looking a bit older than the girl. This woman was also dressed in a white lab coat, but unlike the other girl, this woman's hair was not tied up. The only noticeable thing about her was her bangs, the right half of them pinned up by a gold hairpin that freed up sight in her right eye. The name being displayed for her was Stella Noire.

"I didn't think you'd be able to get info like that so quickly," the second-shortest Adapter scoffed, her hand resting on her hip as she remarked the speed of their intel. She had been with S.O.N.G. for a while now, but usually, there was a bit of time before they had any sort of information out there for a foe. The fastest time they had information provided to them was with Elfnein, who told them about the Lapis Philosophorum. However, the difference was that Elfnein was an alchemist, so the apex of all alchemists was something she would have already had in her mind.

It was only a day, but S.O.N.G. seemed to have a lot more about this Leia girl than usual, though Chris had some suspicions about this girl. "Why does it feel like I've seen her before," she thought to herself. As he watched the girl ponder over the photo, Genjuro could only help but gauge the reactions of the other Adapters. It wasn't every day that they saw a new Symphogear, especially considering the last time they saw a "new" one was back in the Frontier Incident.

"Gathering intel is our job," Genjuro replied, though a man beside him in a black suit that contrasted his untucked button-up, Ogawa, would give additional input. "We did also have a bunch of stuff that came from dealing with them, that made it a whole lot easier."

"Guess that kind of explains why she was in the hole," Miku chimed in, rubbing her chin as she took in the explanation. It didn't explain everything, but knowing that the girl was linked to the organization with the Controlling Director whose sole goal was to stand with the Gods... it gave a good hypothesis as to why they were seemingly tampering with something that a God had brought about.

"But there's nothing down there," Sakuya mentioned, recalling the aftermath of the fight with the Custodian from a few months prior. Gungnir had already taken down God with the power of deicide, then they destroyed God's creation with the power of Unison, so there was nothing left to be investigated.

"Maybe they know something that we don't," Elfnein provided a theory, her eyes scanning the files they had from the Yggdrasil System that they retained from before. They planned on investigating the remnants of it before, but due to government affairs, as well as the personal lives of the Adapters themselves, they never found the time for it.

"Wait, didn't we already take all those guys down? How are they still around," Chris asked, the hands on her hips now moving to mirror Genjuro's crossed arms. The group had already defeated Adam Weishaupt, the previous Controlling Director, on top of taking out the trio of alchemists that worked as his subordinates. As such, it made sense to think that the organization was taken out, especially after the name faded out of relevancy.

"It's... a bit more complicated than that," Ogawa began, pulling out a remote control, aiming it towards the display monitor. After a couple of button presses, the screen revealed a diagram, one that put a crude drawing of Adam at the center, elaborate suit and all.

"After you guys beat Adam, the rest of them split and went their own ways."

The drawing of Adam disappeared, splitting into several red dots across a map with arrows pointing at each one, allowing Genjuro to continue the explanation. "That's why Noble Red used that chance to strike, especially after we lost something like the Ignite Module." At the mention of Noble Red, another set of drawings appeared, only this time, they were much cleaner and looked like someone put more care into them. The three heads of Noble Red appeared, the group of Vanessa Diodati, Elsa Bête and Millaarc Cranstoun all moving to one of the dots before vanishing.

The group was reminded of the "monsters", formed after the collapse of the organization. A woman who was forced with a mechanical body, a girl who was combined with animal DNA and a modern-day vampire; all three were unfortunate souls struck by tragedy that wanted to get back to being human.

"There were many groups like Noble Red, but they kept hidden, so they weren't found out."

While the statement was mainly directed towards the assumption that Leia was a part of the Bavarian Illuminati's remnant groups, someone had a different thought process when the "monsters" were brought up.

"Do you think she's... like them?"

The group turned to Hibiki, who had a look of worry on her face. Last time, they couldn't save Noble Red from their demise, even though it was their choice to give their lives to help the Gear users return to Earth. She wondered if there was anything they could have done differently, since it would have been nice to find a way for them to return to normal. If there was another person who suffered a tragedy like them, she'd want to help them the best she could. Tsubasa responded, an attempt to ease her friend's worries, "I didn't notice anything like that, but it is a possibility."

It wasn't a "no", but the only way they would know was if they got more information from her. Miku noticed Hibiki's demeanor, so she took her hand, as if to assure her that everything would be alright. She usually did this whenever Hibiki needed support ever since their fight with Shem-ha, though it was only for things that were very miniscule. This time, it was completely justified.

Cutting through the tension in the room, Genjuro gave out an order to the seven Candidates before him, "Listen, we still have very little information about her, so be sure to tread carefully. I want all of you to be on alert. The moment you see her again, get as much information from her as possible, even if you do have to fight." Most of them responded back with a silent nod, though the rambunctious one out of the group jumped up with a salute.

"You got it, dess!"

Kirika would be the one to try and lift everyone's spirits, so a goofy maneuver like this was an attempt to try and lighten the mood, at least a little. Everyone got the instructions, but one person had something to ask.

"Master."

The attention was once again on Hibiki, a silence permeating between her and Genjuro as she called out to him. Their eyes met, Hibiki clenching her fist on her free hand as she stared forward with a look of determination. He knew exactly what this girl was going to ask, he'd been around her long enough to know exactly what she was thinking without her needing to say anything. "What, do you need me to tell you to do what you think is right?"

"Eh-"

Hibiki was dumbstruck for a moment, but the moment he put his hand on her shoulder, all the worry she had just faded away. Alongside his following statement, her heart and decisions had no further doubts about this new girl.

"Your hands haven't led us astray before."

The times they put their faith in Hibiki, she always made the right call. Reaching her hand out to others led everyone to where they were now: the Receptor Children becoming a part of S.O.N.G., Carol changing to fight alongside everyone to beat Shem-ha, Saint-Germain, Cagliostro and Prelati all coming together with their wishes to overpower Adam. Even the mighty "Remodeling Surgeon" had her opinion swayed by the light that not even God could know. There wasn't a heart those hands of hers couldn't sway. With a reaffirmed smile, that fist of hers was held up to her chest, only providing one word as a response.

"Right!"

"Why didn't you tell me she was gonna' be there!?"

The brunette screamed at her sister, though she could tell that her sister was indifferent to her outburst. Leia continued to notate on her computer, saving several files in a folder before finally responding to the commotion that her twin was causing.

"Quiet down. You're lucky that you got out of there without straining yourself too hard."

Leia didn't have to raise her voice here, since she already knew how her sister was going to react to this information after she returned. Of course, she knew that Tsubasa Kazanari was one of the Symphogear users in S.O.N.G. beside Maria Cadenzavna Eve, but the reasoning for not telling her sister was quite obvious. Instead, she chose to deflect the question this time, instead of giving her a concrete answer to shoot her down. Laya hated that deflection tactic, since trying to fight back against Leia's deflection was even worse than dealing with her definitive answers, so she demanded again, "Answer the question!"

Hearing her sister's command, Leia rolled her eyes, but she didn't swivel her chair to face Laya. Instead, she opted to use the reflections of the screens in front of her to view her sister's reaction. She had a furrowed brow, but her face wasn't completely twisted up in anger, still having some semblance of understanding behind her eyes if the alchemist gave her a good enough reason.

"You already know why."

Instead of giving her a direct answer, she kept it vague, but it was just specific enough to know exactly what she was alluding to. She knew that if Leia told her that Tsubasa was going to be there, her resolve would have wavered. While she would have denied that, the results were right in front of them, with Laya getting giddy and happy over just standing in front of the two idols despite their attacks on her. She still wanted to save face, so she got ready to reply to Leia's snide comment, but before she could, a wave of dizziness fell over her. She put her hand on the lab table beside her, the black dragon floating on her other side turning its head nonchalantly to witness this.

Leia knew this was going to happen, especially after seeing that the compatibility values reached above one-hundred and fifty percent with her last fight. Even with immediate rest, her first encounter took a lot out of her, which the dragon beside her confirmed.

"Get some rest. You expended a lot of energy," Nidhogg informed, its voice having a caring energy as Laya pushed some hair out of her face to wipe her brow. Getting stressed out was not helping her, so it was best for her to go back to her bed to lie down before she reached the point of collapsing. She still needed to get used to the Symphogear entirely, even if those "joyrides" she partook in gave her the chance to become adept with the Gear's energy outputs outside of combat. This was something she would need to keep in mind for later, but her mind right now was on Leia.

She was going to go out of her way to make some sort of retort, whether it be to defend herself from being seen as incompetent or to accuse her sister of not having faith in her, despite giving her this power, but her sister had a quick tongue.

"It's right, you know."

Laya's mouth went silent, her thoughts of responding to her swirling down the drain of her mind. As much as she wanted to go off on her, she could tell that this comment from Leia, while not being in a comforting tone, still had some concern behind it. Leia never dropped that serious glare or aggressive tone, but those subtle cues told her that she still had emotion behind that stone face. What's more, she didn't have the energy to remain upset. The only thing she wanted to do now was lie down in her bed and catch up on some shows or scroll through social media.

Without another word, she stood herself up straight, making her way to the door of the lab. Leia could see her sister slinking back up to her room, taking her silence as a victory as the computer screen confirmed a successful Save screen with Nidhogg's data on it. Before her sister could leave the room, the alchemist informed her of one final thing as she began another program, trying to activate the holy sword.

"I'll let you know the next time I need you for something."

A slow burner chapter for now (and you get it on the same day as the fight chapter, yaaaaaaaay). While I did post the prologue and the first 5 chapters on a weekly basis, that was just to make sure I could catch everyone up steadily rather than just throwing it all out there at once, so while I will continue to try and post weekly updates, these will mostly just be released whenever I feel like it (meaning you can potentially get 2 chapters in a week or a chapter after 2 weeks, depends on productivity). I will be consistent though, so don't worry about that. Anyways, see you next week!