Tesla's eyes shook as he sat back down in the cockpit, seeing Rui's transformation. "Impossible… I cannot accept this!"
He aimed the Achtzehn at her, firing a blast of energy. Rui opened her mouth… and began to sing.
(Insert Tsumugi -Rhapsody- by Aoi Yuuki)
With a single swipe, she backhanded the ball of energy, knocking straight back into the Achtzehn. Tesla barely moved back in time as it tore off the head of the machine, completely exposing him.
"Oneesan… She's singing again!" Hibiki realized.
"This song… it's her own." Tsubasa noted.
"A resonant melody… I can feel her will and determination." Maria said.
"It's a beautiful song…" Shirabe smiled.
"Yo go, Rui-san, dess!" Kirika cheered.
"Go, Rui-san!" Shuri called.
"You got this, Partner!" Maia shouted.
"Yeah, kick his ass! For real this time!" Chris yelled.
"Insignificant, ignorant and blind fools!" The Achtzehn tried blasting the girls, but Rui appeared there in an instant. He fired off the attack, but Rui held out her hands. Her armor completely absorbed the attack, drawing it into herself and empowering herself further.
"What-?!" Tesla widened his eyes.
In that moment of confusion, Rui had rushed forward at the Achtzehn Blitz. She grabbed its hand, pulling the fingers apart and tearing them off, while also splitting the hand in half.
"Damn it!" Tesla saw the parts of the machine continue to fall. "I can't repair it in time!"
Landing back on the ground, Rui looked up at Tesla. She didn't look angry. She looked… rather disappointed.
"Tesla, do you want to know something?" Rui asked. "People have dreams."
"What?" Tesla raised a brow. "Of course people have dreams. Nobody is exempt from this, as much as they believe."
"I never had a dream." Rui told him, clenching a fist. "I lived my life living for others, keeping their dreams alive. Protecting them and making sure they could fulfill them. But you… you took away everyone's dreams."
"This new world will allow everyone to fulfill their dreams." Tesla said. "Is that not what you and everyone else desires?"
"Hell no!" Rui shouted. "You ripped away everything and think you're the only one that can fix things! Dreams are something you need to work towards yourself! If someone else does it for you, there's no point to them! This new world you want to make, it would be empty lives built upon lies!"
"I will not let you call the world I shall create a lie." Tesla narrowed his eyes. "This world I create is the haven that Amelia deserved-"
"Oh, did she ask you to do this?" Rui shot. "She'd be so happy to see you doing this, wouldn't she?!"
"Silence." Tesla was furious, but kept his voice controlled. "You cannot stop me now. You are the only one left that even has a bit of power."
"Is that so?" Rui chuckled. "I might not have a dream, but… I can protect them."
"But why? What drives you to even do so for a world on the brink of collapse?" He asked.
"What drives my body isn't my duty or my mission." Rui said, stepping forward, hitting her chest. "It's my desire to protect people… I'm fighting because I love this world!"
Hibiki smiled at her sister's words. Oneesan…!
Wings spreading, Rui's eyes sparked before she disappeared in a burst of speed. Tesla widened his eyes, looking at the scanner. To his shock, Rui was unable to be sensed, as it picked up nothing. "What?! Impossible!"
CRACK
Tesla cried out, as a heavy force slammed into the front of the Achtzehn, sending it sliding backwards several dozen feet. The chest of the machine had several cracks on it, slightly sparking. Looking through the cameras, he could only see a blur of yellow and violet, before it disappeared again.
This speed… How is this possible?!
Every single punch just got faster and stronger, cratering the Achtzehn and tearing into the metal. The energy spilled out, as Rui absorbed it and powered herself even further. Coming in from below, Rui kicked upwards, launching the machine skyward. Flying faster than ever, she clasped her hands and slammed the machine with a downwards strike, sending it back towards the ground. As it crashed, Rui herself rose into the sky. The Actzehn barely managed to recover, as she stared down at the machine.
"You fool!" Tesla aimed with the Actzehn's remaining hand, firing another blast of energy at Rui.
In response, Rui aimed her right hand, shooting a bolt of lightning that pierced and dispersed the energy blast, before tearing through the fingers of the machine. It was sent stumbling backwards, as Rui got ready to finish things.
"No! I cannot accept this!" Tesla shouted. "Changing the world, it's my fate!"
"Then I'll fight fate…" Rui clenched her fists. "And win."
Tesla was rapidly pressing buttons and pulling switches, concentrating as much energy as he could into attacking as he drew it all together. The Actzehn raised its arms, creating the massive orb using what remained of its hands.
Rui looked down at all the other girls, giving them a brief nod. They all grasped their relics. Even though Tesla had depowered them to be useless pieces of rock, they sent their prayers towards Rui. It wasn't only the pendants however; as the Kamen Rider keychains that Rui had gifted all of them seemed to glow as well, resonating with Rui in particular. The man widened his eyes, seeing the power flow into Rui.
"That should not be possible! I took away the phonic gain that empowered them! They cannot have any power!" He shouted.
"I think you should get with the program, Tesla." Rui said, feeling the wishes of her friends. "The power of songs makes anything possible!"
Holding out her arms, she moved them in a circular motion. She drew them back, clenching her fists and charging phonic gain within them.
"I'm ending this." Rui declared. "Now!"
Rui slammed her gauntlets together, extending her Armed Gear at her elbows tremendously. She took off at Tesla, firing two halos from her fists, entrapping him. She pulled a fist back, as it started glowing with flaming power.
"No, no, no!" Tesla frantically tried to make the Achtzehn move, but nothing was responding.
Rui spread her wings, before shooting off at the Achtzehn Blitz, disappearing in a burst of speed, before punching straight down the chest, cracking open the torso of the machine. She quickly flew backwards and upwards, raising and drawing her fist back as she concentrated all her power into a singular strike.
"MY LIFE! IS BURNING BRIGHT!" Rui screamed. "EAT THIS, TESLA! RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
FIRE SCREAM
Tesla tried to bring up the Achtzehn's arms to defend himself, but they practically refused to move. Sighing quietly, he closed his eyes as Rui dove at him, piercing straight through the crack in the Achtzehn Blitz with her fist. Landing on the other side, she raised her arm and brought it down…
"GOTCHAAAAAAAAAA!"
…as the Achtzehn exploded behind her.
Tesla was sent crashing to the ground, the wires on his suit still connected to the barely functional remains of the Achtzehn. Gjallarhorn crashed into the ground several dozen feet away. Surprisingly, it did not take any damage from the fall or Rui's last attack. However, the lights on it died, as it was seemingly deactivated.
Landing back on the ground, Rui stared down at Tesla. "The winner in the end is me."
Looking at the ruins of the Achtzehn, Tesla leaned back, breathing out. "So it is… I've been defeated."
The others all walked up to them, as Tesla looked at them all. Surprisingly, there wasn't anger behind their eyes. Only… pity?
"I don't understand…" Tesla muttered. "You've all gone through so much suffering… Why would you choose to not forget it? A world where you've never had to experience that pain, a paradise?"
"This world is the one that we live in. Nothing can replace it." Chris said.
"All those that have sacrificed themselves… their lives would have been in vain if we changed everything." Maria said. "We would not be who we are today without it."
"Just because you suffered, doesn't mean the rest of the world will believe the same way you do." Shirabe said.
"That's right, dess!" Kirika said. "I don't want to live in that kind of world!"
"We do not wish for an easy answer out of all the pain we've been through." Tsubasa said. "This world of ours, it is one that we must defend."
"You probably think you're being all humble and that, but… you're honestly kind of being idiotic. Something that your friends probably tried to make you realize." Maia said.
"We want to see the world change with our own eyes, not because of someone else." Shuri said.
"Tesla…" Rui looked at the man with pity. "If you rewrote the world to prevent any suffering, you wouldn't have met Amelia at all."
"What…?"
"You met Amelia when you were at your lowest point. If suffering was wiped from this world, I don't think she would've been anything other than your household servant." Rui said. "And even if you changed it so that you met her differently, does that still make her the same Amelia that you know?"
"That's… I… So everything I did… was for nothing…?" Tesla realized.
"Not everything."
They all saw Forte and Lala walking up. Forte's human body was damaged more from the overcharge, as Lala helped carry her.
"If it wasn't for you, Lala wouldn't exist, and I'd have probably died under that rubble." Forte said. "Starlit… I think she would say the same thing. If you weren't there for her…"
"And yet… I betrayed her… betrayed you all." Tesla said quietly.
"Lala knows Starlit. She probably already forgave you." Lala said.
"Tesla… you really did some dumb things but… you're still family to us." Forte said. "So maybe… if you could…"
Tesla smiled at them. "If only it were that easy… but I cannot rejoin you two."
"What do you mean?" Rui asked.
"The dimensional walls I tore through with Gjallarhorn have weakened." Tesla said. "It won't be long before more damage is caused, potentially destroying multiple worlds."
"What-?!" Chris shouted. "How the hell do we stop it?!"
"Reverse the flow." Tesla said. "I used the Elekleids to filter energy from Gjallarhorn into myself. Thus, the Elekleid must filter the energy back through towards Gjallarhorn. Doing so should also restore all of the changes I made once I gained that power, restoring all the souls used to power the Achtzehn since Susanoo's first attack."
"But what happens to you?" Maria asked.
"Do not worry yourself with what happens to me." Tesla said. "Rui Tachibana… you know what you must do."
Silently, Rui reached over and grabbed the wires attached to Tesla's Elekleid Weltraum, as she ripped them out of the Achtzehn remains and stuck them into Gjallarhorn. Tesla took the moment to speak to the members of TEC.
"Lala, Forte… I'm sorry for everything. Please… live for me." Tesla requested.
"We have our own sins to make up for." Forte said, eyes shadowed. "We will. We made the same promise to Starlit."
"...goodbye, Tesla." Lala said quietly, tears falling.
"And Rui Tachibana… everything I said… I take it back. Thank you for allowing me to see how wrong I was." He thanked her.
Rui wordlessly looked at him, but gave him a nod and thumbs-up.
"SONG…" Tesla looked at all the wielders. "Keep looking forward… Never stop moving… Continue to progress… You have tough battles ahead of you… but I have no doubt you'll make miracles to overcome them."
All of them nodded, as Hibiki spoke up. "Thank you for saving my sister, Mr. Tesla."
"Lead humanity to a new age…" Tesla smiled as he closed his eyes. Rui's wings pointed upwards as they sparked with electricity. With a shout, she filtered the energy from Tesla back into the machine, covering the entire world with white light…
Opening his eyes, Tesla found himself in a blank space. Nothing could be seen for miles.
"So this is it, then…" He said quietly.
"There you are."
Tesla turned to see Starlit. The woman was smiling at him.
"Starlit, I-" Tesla started, before she held up a hand.
"Not just yet." Starlit said. "Someone else is here to see you."
"Someone else?" Tesla asked. "Who-?"
"Tesla, sir. It's been quite some time."
Tesla froze at those words, as he saw a young woman with green hair and yellow eyes. She was dressed in the same maid outfit that he remembered her in.
"Amelia…!" Tesla said, stunned.
She nodded, smiling. "I've been waiting for you."
"Forgive me, Amelia… and you, Starlit… I've been completely foolish…" Tesla apologized. "I do not deserve to be at your side."
"She's been waiting here for so many years." Starlit said. "You know it doesn't matter to her."
"But still, I-"
Amelia reached out, grasping one of Tesla's hands. "The fact that you chose to return everything to normal was enough."
Starlit nodded. "You've planted the foundation to allow SONG to continue protecting their world."
"You two make it sound like I did most of the work while I know the truth." Tesla sighed, shaking his head. "But still… I am ready to accept whatever judgment awaits me."
"I'm willing to believe this sacrifice means something." Amelia said. "It means something to me, after all."
"I'm starting to see why Tesla sacrificed so much for you." Starlit chuckled, as Tesla sighed. "Come now, there's someone I want to introduce you to. You two will have quite the time talking together, I guarantee it."
The two walked alongside him, as the light around him grew brighter and they disappeared.
Inside the bridge of SONG, Miku lowered her arm as the light died down. Looking around, she widened her eyes, seeing all of the SONG members had returned.
"Ugh…" Jeanne sat up with a wince, rubbing her head. "Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé?"
"Jeanne." Aiba hopped off Miku's shoulder and landed on her user's lap. "I am glad to see you're back."
"Back?" Ogawa asked, standing and helping Jeanne to her feet. "What do you mean by that?"
"Last thing I remember was seeing that white light…" Fujitaka said.
"It feels like I've been asleep for so long…" Aoi said.
"That sensation… What was that?" Elfnein wondered.
"Miku-kun." Genjuro said. "What exactly happened?"
"Well… it's a bit hard to explain." Miku admitted.
"We can help there."
The Symphogear-users all walked in. To the surprise of SONG, the two remaining members of TEC were there with them… along with Rui.
"Rui-kun…" Genjuro said, surprised, before realizing who was the one that had spoken. "Maia?"
"Hey, Uncle." Maia walked up to him. "Sorry for worrying you."
Smiling, Genjuro hugged his niece, gently patting the back of her head. Maia smiled and returned the hug, glad she was physically able to. Tsubasa hugged her sister from the back, allowing the three Kazanaris to share the moment.
"So the remaining TEC members are here, and so is Rui." Jeanne said. "Aiba, can you give us an explanation?"
"Gladly." Aiba said with a nod. "Thankfully, everything was recorded."
"You're gonna wanna get out the popcorn for this." Maia chuckled.
"So… that's all that happened." Genjuro said, as the recordings all finished.
"Indeed. While I am unsure about the exact circumstances on how, as it is outside my processing capabilities, this world has been restored back to normal." Aiba said, sitting on Jeanne's shoulder. "The wielders have retrieved Gjallarhorn for Elfnein to study at a later date."
"I'll do that, yes." Elfnein nodded.
"So that leaves what to do with the two remaining TEC members." Ogawa said, as they turned to the two of them.
Due to protocol, Forte and Lala both had cuffs on their wrists, with their damaged Elekleids confiscated. They didn't fight it at all, allowing themselves to be detained. They were ready to accept whatever decision SONG made.
"Well, I believe that they deserve a chance to redeem themselves." Maria said.
"Maria?" Forte asked.
"Forte was a former member of FIS like several of us, guided down the wrong path." Maria said. "If we all got that chance, it's only fair, right? And with her friend as well."
"That's… Thank you." Lala said with a bow.
"Hmm… these two weren't as public compared to the former FIS members during the Frontier Incident, so it should be easier to pull something like that." Genjuro noted. "I'll be sure to see what I can do."
"S-Seriously?" Forte questioned. "Just like that?"
"Well, you'll have to be detained for a few months, dess." Kirika said.
"But they give you good food." Shirabe added.
"I helped someone close to me wipe out almost the entire planet's population." Forte pointed out. "How the hell is that getting a slide?!"
"That's how SONG does things." Jeanne said. "You get used to it. Besides, Maria almost did the same, remember?"
"Please don't bring it up." Maria sighed, a bit embarrassed at the recollection.
"So with this, we can all be friends again, dess!" Kirika went over, putting an arm around Forte, as Shirabe walked up as well.
"God you're as annoying as I remember…" Forte muttered, before smiling.
"I guess this time, it was Oneesan who was the one to reach out to them." Hibiki chuckled. "Isn't that right, Oneesan? …Oneesan?"
There was no response, as they realized that Rui was gone. The Elekleid Drei bracelet and Gungnir pendant had been left on a nearby countertop.
"Huh?!" Chris looked around. "Where did she go?!"
"She left rather quickly…" Tsubasa realized. "Neesama and Shuri are gone too."
"Then we'd better go look for them!" Hibiki said.
"No worries. The camera footage should find them in due time and you can go once it does." Aiba said.
Oneesan… where did you go now? Hibiki wondered.
Rui stood on a tall hill at the edge of the city, overlooking the entire place. Night had fallen, and most of the lights had been turned on to give her a beautiful view.
Letting out a long sigh, she turned and started to walk away. But before she could get too far, she saw two people waiting for her by a tree at the hill base.
"God dammit…" Rui muttered to herself.
"Man, you just always gotta be a total pain, don't you, Partner?" Maia asked, arms crossed.
"Rui-san… why are you leaving us?" Shuri asked.
"I… after all the crap I pulled, I don't deserve to be with you guys anymore." Rui said, looking at her hands. "Even if you say it's alright. After what I did… it doesn't sit well with me."
"Rui-san…" Shuri said quietly.
"So I was thinking of just… going somewhere. Anywhere." Rui shrugged. "Try to figure out what- Maia?"
Maia wordlessly walked up to Rui, putting a hand on her best friend's shoulder. Rui looked up at what she thought was Maia trying to reassure her.
So naturally, she wasn't ready for Maia to deck her in the face.
"Maia?!" Shuri shouted in surprise as Rui hit the ground.
"There, are we even now?" Maia asked as Rui got up, wiping the blood from her chin.
"Maia, what the fuck was that?!" Rui yelled.
"Oh, not enough?" Maia asked. "Okay then."
She followed up with a kick to Rui's shin, causing the girl to stumble. "What the hell is your deal?!"
"Maia, stop!" Shuri shouted.
"What, are you just gonna sit there and take it?" Maia asked. "Didn't know that your new body came with you becoming a total pussy. Even if it does come with a new pu-"
Maia was cut off as Rui punched her in the gut, causing her to step back a few steps and gasp for air. While winded, she still chuckled.
"That's more like it." Maia said. "But I'm pretty sure you got more than that."
"I'm wiping that smug grin off of your stupid face." Rui declared, holding up her fists. "For good, this time!"
"Bring it, Partner!" Maia shouted.
"You two, cut it out!" Shuri yelled.
Rui ran forward with her fists, but caught Maia off guard with a rising kick to her jaw. Rui threw a punch, but Maia blocked it, before grabbing the arm and dragging her over her shoulder, slamming her into the ground. Rui quickly rolled out of the way of another kick, before tackling Maia. But the Kazanari stood her ground, driving her fist into Rui's back. She grit her teeth as she took the hit, spinning Maia around and suplexing the girl into the grass. The two broke away, ready to continue the fight.
"Stop it, both of you!" Shuri ran up to them both and grabbed their arms. "I said stop-!"
She got cut off, as the two of them threw a punch each… but missed due to Shuri's outburst. One after the other, Shuri got slugged in the face. The girl fell onto the ground, facedown in the grass.
"S-Shit, Shuri!" Rui said.
"Oh crap…" Maia paled.
While Shuri's Ignite abilities didn't activate, she gained an extremely scary aura as she slowly stood back up. Her eyes were closed, but what was most terrifying was that she was smiling. A kind smile full of anger. The small growing bruises from the punches started to turn red.
"So that's how you two want to do it…" She cracked her knuckles as she opened her eyes. They weren't glowing red, but it looked like they were about to burst into flames. "Fine. I'll just knock some sense into both of you."
"Not good… always forget she took the old man's training seriously like Hibiki." Maia remembered.
Rui on the other hand, chuckled. "Then it's a fair fight."
"The hell are you talking about?! I was winning against you!" Maia yelled.
"Sure, Partner." Rui said. "Let's focus on staying alive."
"I'll make both of you eat dirt." Shuri said, smirking.
With that, the three members of SOUL charged at one another for an all out brawl.
"There they are." Maria said.
The wielders and Miku had all arrived at the hill. The cameras had shown that Rui had left towards the outskirts of the city, with Maia and Shuri not too far behind. They had banked on the two stalling Rui long enough, but weren't expecting to see the three, lying on the grass.
"Whoa… What happened to them, dess?" Kirika asked.
"Let's go and ask." Shirabe said.
As the girls all got closer, they saw that the SOUL trio were bloody and bruised. While none of them seemed to have broken bones or anything serious, they were surprised to see them… laughing?
"God, you two really don't fight fair." Maia laughed.
"Oh what, you salty that Shuri grabbed you so I could get a ton of free hits on your dumb face?" Rui asked.
"In all fairness, you asked for it the moment you kicked between Rui's legs." Shuri chuckled. "That was a literal low blow."
"Well you bit me, so I thought it was fair game!" Maia said.
"You thought it was fair game to kick me because she bit you?" Rui asked.
"You're such a fool, Maia." Shuri sighed.
"What the hell did you three do?!" Chris yelled.
"Oh… took you long enough, Oneesama." Shuri said.
"Don't "took you long enough," me, Shuri!" Chris shouted. "What the hell did you three do?!"
"Oh, we just got all the stress and pent-up frustration out." Maia explained. "Just a little fight."
"A little fight?" Shirabe repeated, looking at how they were all bleeding.
"Wow, that's a really nasty black eye, dess…" Kirika noted, looking at Maia's face.
"Turns out, both Rui and Shuri had a lot of reasons to beat me up." Maia admitted, wincing.
"I'm not surprised." Maria said.
"Maria!" Tsubasa said, shocked.
"Oneesan, you just got your body back and you do this?" Hibiki asked, kneeling down.
"So you're still this reckless." Miku sighed.
"I'm in a lot of pain, yeah." Rui admitted. "But I'm glad I can actually feel it now."
"So… Are you still gonna run away?" Maia asked.
"...nah." Rui winced as she sat up. "I belong with you idiots, don't I?"
"Honestly, you've been the biggest idiot out of all of us, recently." Shuri pointed out.
Rui saw the others all nod in agreement, before laughing, slightly crying from both the pain and emotional relief. "Yeah… I guess I was."
"No "was", you still are." Chris chuckled.
"...man I missed all of you." Rui smiled, wiping her tears.
"We missed you too, Oneesan." Hibiki said, gently hugging her sister.
"Now… you mind carrying the three of us?" Maia asked. "Everything kinda hurts, so treat us like queens."
"We'll take Rui-san and Shuri-san back first and come back for you later." Shirabe said, as the others got to work.
"Guys, come on! I was kidding!" Maia shouted. Everyone was laughing before they all agreed to take Maia as well.
"So this is Gjallarhorn…" Elfnein said, amazed.
"Yeah, we didn't get a lot of time to really fully look at the thing when we got it." Forte admitted.
She and Lala were speaking on a video screen, currently detained due to the actions they had done alongside Tesla. It had been a week since the battle against TEC, and the world was recovering. Thankfully, the restoration went without much issue since everything managed to helpfully revert back to how it properly was.
SONG had taken the time to retrieve Starlit's body to allow the two TEC members to get a chance to properly say goodbye. Lala had buried Starlit's last recording with her. Afterwards, Genjuro had managed to talk to several higher-ups about their status. They would be detained for a while, before undergoing supervised rehabilitation as SONG employees.
"Lala isn't sure what it can really do aside from connecting to worlds." Lala admitted. "But it looks like it could be able to do something else if it powered the Achtzehn Blitz."
"I'll keep it in mind." Elfnein said. "I'll also work on restoring your Elekleids as well."
"You sure about that?" Forte asked. "I mean, we're fine staying on the sidelines now."
"Well, we can never be too careful." Elfnein said. "And besides, it's a sign of our new friendship."
"Friendship, huh…" Forte said.
"Lala thinks that Starlit and Tesla would be proud that you can make friends without them helping." Lala smiled.
"Wha-?! Shut your trap!"
Elfnein laughed, before looking at the cracked bracelets on the table. The crystals on the front seemed to glow in anticipation.
Shuri was sitting down, looking at the violin. She was taking several deep breaths as she prepared herself. She didn't get a lot of time to practice considering recent events, but she did a refresher and saw she was still doing fine. It was just a simple presentation for the school. Nothing to get worked up about.
So why was she still nervous?
Rui and Maia could do it in front of a crowd. So could her sister. Kirika and Shirabe did too. Tsubasa and Maria do this as a profession.
So why was she so nervous?
"Shuri, you're up next." Said one of the school's stage directors.
She nodded, swallowing as she picked up her violin and bow. Standing up, she made her way to the stage front.
Garbed in a red dress, Shuri walked out onstage. She heard the claps from the audience, but could barely process things as she made her way to the music stand. She felt the pressure getting to her, but then noticed a few people in the crowd.
Chris, Hibiki, Miku, Kirika and Shirabe were all there, cheering her on. But to her surprise, Tsubasa, Maria and Maia were present as well. She had expected they'd be busy, but they had made the time to be here.
Her eyes met Maia's, as the elder Kazanari smiled at her. All the stress and worry seemed to melt away. With a curt nod, she turned to the rest of the crowd.
"Before I begin my main song, I would like to spare a few minutes before for a different one." Shuri said. "This is a song I feel a few of you will be familiar with. Its name is Wataru."
A few quick claps were made, before she started to play the song. The mystical yet soothing violin solo began, enamoring the entire crowd.
"Shuri-senpai… she's really doing it." Shirabe smiled.
"Look at her go, dess!" Kirika added.
"And it's a wonderful song." Maria said.
"I can tell she practiced quite a bit for this one." Tsubasa noticed.
"Chris, are you crying?" Miku asked in concern as her friend started to sniffle.
Chris didn't even deny it as she took in the song. "Mama… Papa… do you hear this…? Shuri… She's following in Papa's footsteps!"
Maia didn't make any comment, enjoying the song. It gave her a feeling of comfort… something unique that only Shuri did for her. I'm the luckiest girl in the world.
Hibiki had her phone up, but she wasn't recording. She instead had a video call on.
From one of SONG's containment cells, Rui watched Shuri's performance on her phone screen. She sat on her bed, smiling at the song that she knew Shuri had prepared for her.
Rui would have to remain in confinement longer than Lala and Forte, as her turning on SONG was a fairly large offense. Genjuro had to do his absolute best to argue with higher-ups to cut down on her sentence, but she didn't mind it. Some time to think to herself and reflect was what she needed. Better than wandering the Earth with no plan.
She was fumbling with a keychain of Kamen Rider Kuuga in her fingers as she watched. It was a gift from all the girls before she had been locked away.
As the song resonated in her ears, for the first time in several years, Rui Tachibana felt completely at peace.
A/N: Fun fact, the chapter title was originally Next New Wφrld, but with how amazing Gotchard's new insert theme ended up being, I decided to change it.
But yeah, and with that, Symphogear X2's Lost Song arc comes to a close. We still have the Supplementary Plan (with the QnA) and the Interlude to go.
This was a unique experience to write going into an original arc while partly adapting events from XDU. It was a lot of fun to do, changing a few things here and there to match that of X2's story. Thanks for all the support on this one, folks.
AXZ's already finished being pre-written, so I won't be taking a break for it. There likely won't be any further hiccups as we continue.
Feel free to leave a review. I'll see you all next time.