Hibiki laid her head down on the table, the fan above her and Miku spinning as Chris took a bite of her parfait. The trio sat within the bustling cafe, a new hangout spot they chose after the events regarding Shem-ha. They frequented Flower, but with how often they were going to S.O.N.G. to meet up with people for last-minute briefings, they ended up going less and less, even though they still tried to keep up with visiting the owner.

However, with a new shop opening so close to where S.O.N.G. was stationed, they figured that it was a better time now than never to check it out. Turns out, the place itself was immaculate for what it was, the old retro style and comfortable leather seats being something that pulled people in almost immediately, even them. Due to this, whenever they couldn't go to Flower, they'd show up here, getting a cute drink and dessert while they waited for further instructions from their officials.

"Man, I'm exhausted!"

Miku was the first to respond to Hibiki with her sentiment, knowing exactly why the poor girl was tired. "Maybe you shouldn't have crammed everything at the last minute," she chuckled, patting the top of Hibiki's head as she took a sip of her melon soda. Hibiki let out a sigh, making sure everyone at the table heard her. Obviously, it was being played up, but with the way Chris and Miku were to her, she liked entertaining them like this. "Well, you two were already taking the entrance exams, so I figured that I might as well…"

"You didn't expect it to be easy, did you?"

Chris crossed her legs under the table, leaning back as she took another swipe at the whipped cream on her dessert. Even she expected the entrance exam to be difficult, despite having stellar grades and being able to ace multiple things on the fly. If Chris thought the exams might be a challenge, Hibiki should have thought so too.

"No, but…"

Hibiki's response was all Chris needed to roll her eyes and respond with a snarky remark.

"Dumbass."

Of course, she didn't have to take the entrance exam. She didn't show any interest in college or higher education while her other friends did. However, with the way that her two friends were going ahead without her, she didn't want to be left behind. She'd just have to work extra hard for it, to make sure she wasn't falling behind too bad. Even if she did fall behind, she'd have Miku there, that bright sunshine that never failed to light her way. She'd always have someone like that to light her way…

"What's wrong, Hibiki?"

That faltering expression was immediately caught by Miku, who tilted her head down to meet Hibiki's eyes. While there was the assumption that her eyes drooping were due to the tests, Chris already knew what this was about. "She's probably thinking about that girl again," Chris guessed, shrugging her shoulders as she took another bite of her dessert.

Chris was right on the money, causing Hibiki to pick her head up and prop it on her hand. She gazed out of the window, wondering exactly what they were going to do about this new foe that Tsubasa and Maria had just fought. If she was just like the others in the Bavarian Illuminati, reasoning with them was going to be a difficult task, not to mention that they still had no idea if this one was similar to their last enemies or not. Realizing this thought process, Miku took Hibiki's free hand in hers, a way of comforting her partner after everything she had been through.

"Hibiki…?"

"Listen, we don't even know if she's like them or not. Worrying about it isn't going to do anything."

Chris pointed her spoon at Hibiki, even though she wasn't paying attention. Even if she wasn't listening, Chris still wanted to get it off her chest. She understood how Hibiki's turmoil was, the hand she reached out to Noble Red not being able to save them in time. They were turned into full monsters by God, then sacrificed their lives for the Adapters to get back to Earth. No one wanted another incident like that, there was no need for more unneeded casualties when they could all work together to find a solution to their issues.

"Right…"

Hibiki muttered to herself, but her eyes widened. While Miku assumed it was because she came to some sort of realization or plan to help this person, it only took a sight of the outside to realize exactly what captured the Godslayer's attention. Meanwhile, Chris continued to speak, albeit not to anyone in particular. Even if she was just talking to herself, it was another way of reassuring herself rather than just Hibiki.

"Plus, even if it did, we don't know the first thing about where she'd be. It's not like she's going to just be walking around the-"

"Uh, Chris?"

Chris finally took herself down from her high horse, now seeing Miku and Hibiki both looking out of the window in the booth after hearing Miku call her name. She turned her head to that window, seeing a bundle of dark brown hair heading straight through the shopping center in a gray hoodie amidst the crowd. While it seemed purely coincidental, the moment the girl's face turned, Chris swore under her breath. She didn't think that they'd have to deal with this so early after their last event, but to be fair, it wasn't like they could plan these encounters.

"Oh, me and my big mouth…"

Leia strolled out of the shopping center, a bag of food in her hand as her feet dragged her to the edge of the city square. Her walk wasn't intended to send her down this path, but once she realized that it was a perfect time to grab a bite to eat, she figured that it was better to simply get something while her headache faded. She hadn't eaten anything since yesterday, a bad habit she had when she was fixated on something new. She had gotten over it for the most part, since her sister would always come in and force her to eat when she didn't hear from her, but there were still those times where she wouldn't even go so far as to eat a granola bar. However, the times where she went days on end without so much as a bite of food were behind her.

The bag in her hand contained two orders of pancakes, something Laya had requested when Leia asked her what she wanted through a text. Of course, Laya replied immediately, asking for pancakes from a specific shop on the opposite end of the city. Apparently, Laya's words were that the pancakes were "the greatest she's ever had" and were quite cheap, so the alchemist figured to get an extra order for herself. Not only was this cost-effective, but it also made for less of a trip with more than one stop.

She migrated past the crowds of people, a stone water fountain on full display as various bystanders enjoyed their day. It was a nice day for most, since it was a weekend where most people decided that it was time to hang out. People roaming about, discussing what movie they were going to see, what the next game they were going to play, what the best restaurant was within the area, everyone was having a fantastic time with a smile on their face.

Well, everyone except for Leia.

Even though the sky was clear and the birds were singing their tunes, Leia didn't have a reason to be smiling. She hated social settings, which was why she only left for necessary things. Even this trip to get fresh air was seen as unnecessary in her eyes. Talking with others was much more of a hassle than it was worth, so just being in-and-out of a setting like this made her tasks go all-the-quicker. At least the trip got rid of her headache.

She turned the corner down into an alley that had no witnesses, a divide between two different shops. The alley was closed off by a concrete wall, one that connected the two buildings on either side. From what she could guess, it was likely that the two buildings were one store at one point, but split apart for whatever reason. Due to this, this space was clearly relegated to garbage disposal, seeing as how there were two separate dumpsters with different labels on them, one for each individual store.

She waved her free hand, a trace of alchemy leaving her fingers as a small portal appeared in front of her. She was grateful to herself that she learned how to access something like this, a miniature space that she was able to manipulate outside thanks to alchemy. It wasn't the first thing on her mind, but she merely stumbled across it when reviewing information on the Alca-Noise and the Château de Tiffauges.

From what she read, there was a special type of Alca-Noise that could create its own pocket dimension, though it was only used to split up the Blades of Zababa by the previous Controlling Director's lackeys. In addition, the Château de Tiffauges, the megastructure that lay as a monument of a clash towards the end of the world, had remained undetected until it descended on that fateful day, as if it shattered the very sky itself. Reading about them felt like they were completely otherworldly, but a part of her mind wanted to apply it.

After some time, she would learn to condense this pocket dimension theory, allowing her to create her own little space that was entirely maintained without thought. Granted, she couldn't make it any larger than a space the size of a deep freezer, but it was still progress, nonetheless. Any larger and it would have fallen apart, though she didn't need it to do anymore. This was more than enough to hold multiple things, so she mainly used it for practical purposes, like holding things she didn't want to carry around. The purple void she conjured up was able to be heated, so it wasn't like their food would get cold or anything.

The only issue was doing it in front of people, since seeing a girl open a rift in space-time was bound to have people asking questions. As she got ready to put her food into this space, she heard Nidhogg speaking to her, something she hadn't heard throughout the entire trip.

"Looks like we've got company."

She was about to swear under her breath, the voice of the dragon plaguing her mind yet again. She got out so she didn't have to hear it, even if she knew that it could appear at a moment's notice. Surprisingly, the voice was completely silent, not even opting to make any comments on how she acted with the woman in the shop or any other people she just shoved past. It was really tempting to call her out, but figured that being quiet was the best course of action to an introvert like her. Before she could make a snide remark to the voice in her head, she heard another voice. The only problem was that this one wasn't in her head.

"Leia!"

Leia turned around, noticing three girls standing at the end of the alley she was already deep in. She didn't have a way out, considering her only entrance was blocked, but it wasn't like she was expecting anyone to intercept her. However, she noticed that the three that cut her off were familiar to her. She did her research on each of them, so it wasn't hard to tell who this group was, especially the brunette in the middle.

"Those three are..."

"Yeah, they're more S.O.N.G. Adapters."

She wondered why this trio called out to her, but more importantly, why they were following her. She tried to figure out what led them to do so, but realized where she was, as the plaza she was in was suspiciously close to the opening of Yggdrasil that they investigated the other day. She wasn't planning on going back there, since they already got enough information, but it looked very suspicious now, especially since she turned her head to her name being called. She didn't question how they knew her name, since they were part of S.O.N.G. and their intelligence department.

There was a non-zero chance that they already knew everything about her, so she had to approach this carefully.

Before the trio could say anything further, she turned to them, dropping the meals into the space before sealing it off. "What do you want," she asked, her attention now directed towards the new set of individuals. The trio tried to examine the situation, seeing how the girl didn't look scared or threatened when they confronted her. Chris was the first to notice this, her grip now firmly on her Gear, ready to activate Ichaival at a moment's notice. "We have to be careful, this girl could be-" Before Chris could finish her sentence, Hibiki blurted out her own question, rather bluntly. "Why were you at Tsubasa-san's place?"

Chris nearly fell to the ground, Miku on her other side also close to facepalming. "This idiot couldn't come up with anything smoother?" She had half a mind to reprimand Hibiki, since she wanted to test the waters before getting to any big questions. Despite the other two trying to tiptoe into getting more information as unsuspectingly as possible, Hibiki was always one to be blunt, though that was part of her charm. As the two were recovering from Hibiki's outburst, Leia looked on, confused at her question. It wasn't her that flew into the Yggdrasil System; it was her sister.

"What is she...?"

It was at that point that it hit her. The twins had gotten mixed up, and to be fair, it wasn't hard to do so. Same height, same hair color, even their faces were identical. It was like someone copy-pasted the other twin into existence. When she realized this, she muttered under her breath. "I get it now."

"Seems they've got you boxed in," Nidhogg mentioned, still reminding her of her current situation. Leia looked unperturbed, her mind still piecing everything together. She was thinking about using a teleport gem to get out of there, but she had a plan. "It doesn't matter," she responded, her eyes now locked with Hibiki's orange ones. Hibiki opted to ask her question again, only this time, in a more direct approach. "Leia, was there a reason you were looking into the Yggdrasil System?" Leia took issue with this question. Not because it was a bad question to ask, but there was no other reason for her to be asking aside from to hinder her. At least, that's what she thought.

"Why should I tell you? You don't know me."

Leia's answer was crude, but it provided her a chance to stump Hibiki. If Hibiki didn't have an answer to that question, that would have told her everything she needed to know. However, she knew that Hibiki wouldn't have an answer. She had analyzed enough human interaction to know what this conversation's true purpose was. "O-Oh, right! I'm sorry! In that case, let's introduce ourselves! I'm-"

And that was the expected answer.

"Hibiki Tachibana."

"Eh-"

"Seventeen years old, one-hundred and fifty-seven centimeters tall, birth date is September thirteenth, your blood type is O and..."

The trio went completely silent. While the three knew about her, they didn't think that she knew anything about them. Leia was correct, they didn't "know" each other. This was their first conversation, so demanding information from her sounded very confrontational. Even if that was the case, Leia having this information told them that she really did her research on the group. However, it was the final thing that put the group on the defensive, their fight-or-flight response kicking in as she raised her finger to point at them. With a directed gaze, she let out the final point of her summarized analysis, "Your associated Relic is Gungnir."

"How do you...?"

Hibiki muttered, complete shock on her face as she was told about her entire life. Chris forced herself in front of Hibiki, putting her arm out in front of her as she clutched Ichaival a little tighter. "I don't know who you think you are, but you-" Leia noted Chris' defensive tone, but she took this as a sign. As a challenge. However, she wouldn't stoop that low, since she knew that she was above that. Fighting with a person just because they looked at them weird... Leia found that trivial and idiotic.

"I don't have time for this," Leia responded, starting to turn around so she could leave. The teleport gem was in her pocket, so all she needed to do was drop it and she'd be home. Chris saw this girl's indifferent reaction, but they couldn't leave without at least one answer.

"Hey, we aren't done here!"

This resistance irked Leia. It wasn't just that Chris wasn't taking no for an answer or impeding her. It was something about her that put her into a combative state with her. Even Nidhogg realized this, but said nothing. Turning back to the trio, Leia's death glare was active. "In that case, stop me." She made sure that this response had venom in it, like she wanted them to know that she meant business. When the three heard this, something shook in them, since this girl was much more visceral than before. Her sour eyes now displayed hostility, even if she had just told herself right beforehand that she was above such a stupid reason for fighting. However, they all froze up the moment she opened her mouth.

"Keios franzell Nidhogg zizzl..."

"This reading, it's..."

The staff of S.O.N.G. looked down at their monitors, a red dot flashing in the middle of the city square. They had many readings before, but this time, it was ever so different. Not only was it unprompted, but it was also a waveform that they didn't recognize. Sure, it was one that was generated by a song, but it had a slight variance to it, one that made it unique. Sakuya was the first one to speak.

"It's an Aufwachen waveform, but this...!"

Elfnein noted his hesitation, so she sat up, her eyes now glued to the screen as her curiosity peaked. If it was an Aufwachen waveform, then they should have been able to read it easily. However, one glance at it made Elfnein's mind flare up. She knew this type of reading from anywhere, especially since they had dealt with it before. However, to be prompted by an Aufwachen waveform...

"It's... a Faust Robe," Elfnein exclaimed, being reminded of Daur da Bláo.

Aoi brought up video from the affected area, seeing the three girls standing against Leia. However, when they saw where this surge of energy was coming from, they couldn't help but think to themselves. "But that's impossible! A Gear and a Faust Robe are made up of different energy, so how could it...?" They saw their new foe in a Symphogear beforehand, so there was no way that it could be a Faust Robe. It was the very reason Fudo did so much to change the Shénshòujìng into a Faust Robe from a Symphogear to control Shem-ha.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

The energy coalesced around Leia's body, refitting itself into a garment that was similar to the Symphogear her sister wore. However, there were major differences. Unlike her sister's four wings, Leia's armament only contained two, though they weren't as clunky, being two foldable metal rods held together by a ring at the top. When the rods unfolded, the true wings appeared, a clear projection of three segments displayed on each wing. What's more, the other most noteworthy aspect was the flowing cape behind her. Just like her sister's wings, hers weren't directly attached to the Faust Robe, but instead, seemed to be held in place by some invisible force, allowing the cape to flow freely without issue. Leia didn't have any worries. She always took things like this as a learning experience, but she was brimming in confidence once she finally activated the Faust Robe. "Why not? This is a good enough reason."

"Suit yourself!"

Chris saw the girl's new form, watching as she floated into the air. She wasn't going to let her go without answers, so she looked over at the other two, who both knew what they had to do.

"Killter Ichaival tron..."

"Rei Shénshòujìng rei zizzl..."

"Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron..."

Oh, boy, another fight coming up? I would have never guessed that would happen in my mecha tokusatsu mahou shoujo fic, that's really surprising. Anyways, if you want to know exactly what the Symphogear and Faust Robe look like without needing to read the descriptions, I've posted them on Twitter already, so have fun with that! Anyways, I'll see you next week for the fight between Leia and S.O.N.G.!