Kirika let out a yawn, the doors in front of the blonde opening as she made her way into the briefing room. Even though they were all called in the day prior, Elfnein made this specific call-to-action sound much more urgent than usual. Having two days back-to-back with big meetings on top of the catchup on their personal lives, it was no wonder why she was so drained of energy. When she got inside, she rubbed her eyes, standing at her usual spot beside her partner as she declared her arrival.
"I'm here, dess..."
The Adapters and staff turned to her, a somber smile on each of their faces as they heard Kirika's tone. Maria was the first to call out to her. "You sound tired," she pointed out, ready to walk over and console her friend. However, the girl with the black twintails beside her was already one step ahead, softly patting her partner's head. Kirika released another yawn, but Shirabe was the one to answer, since she already knew the situation. "Kiri-chan has been catching up on homework."
Miku let out a light chuckle after hearing that, watching how Zababa comforted each other. It was very reminiscent of how she handles Hibiki, though her comforts had a bit more of a scolding tone to them from time to time. "I guess everyone's life got a bit delayed with all that's happened," Miku commented, though it was ironic coming from her. The entire reason behind their lives feeling any sort of "delay" was because of the events involving Shem-ha, who was using Miku as a vessel for her advent. Because of that, having it come from the mouth that condemned humanity had a certain air of comedy to it.
As the group took this interaction lightheartedly, Genjuro directed his eyes to Elfnein, making sure to get everyone back on track.
"So, Elfnein-kun..."
Elfnein nodded upon hearing her name, her hands now typing inputs to display the footage they received, the entire reason for this meeting. "Right." The screen before them revealed a scene, one that was in the middle of the city square with multiple battle scars on the area. The reel played for the group to evaluate, showing the fight that had went on the day prior and revealing the girl that Hibiki, Chris and Miku encountered.
"That's..."
The Adapters all muttered in unison, even though they knew exactly who it was. The group recognized that face, only this time, adorned in a completely different weapon than before. What's more, the way she was fighting was dissimilar to the fighting style she was using the last time they saw "her". Last time, the idol duo had to deal with a melee fighter who was constantly bouncing back from a situation. This time, however, their enemy felt more like a zoner in a 2D fighter, keeping her distance from the Gears as she attacked from the air.
"Correct, that is Leia Noire," Elfnein explained, her confirmation only working to bring more tension to the room.
The group looked on with bated breath, but when half of the group saw the Adapters that were fighting, they all glanced towards the trio. While HIbiki and Miku wore faces of determination, a lingering aftereffect from their encounter, Chris' expression had a hint of anger within it. It wasn't that much different from her usual face, but any of her friends knew that this was an expression where she was fed up with something.
They could tell why, watching the playback to see Chris using her Gear's Amalgam function and firing her arrow. Despite having a power that's a fusion of the Symphogear and the Philosopher's Stone, the attack she launched was blocked quite easily. On top of the reflector at the tip of the arrow, the attack was sure to hit, even if there was a counterattack or a way to deflect it. Instead, a dragon head manifested, just like the fight with Tsubasa and Maria, only this time, it was used as a defense to take in the arrow rather than to overpower them. The group was silent for a moment, but the first one to break that silence was Kirika.
"She looks different compared to before."
The observation was blatantly obvious, but it led to the gears in the others' heads to turn. Last time they saw her, the girl had four different plates working as wings and a mechanical tail, but now, the number of wings were cut in half. On top of that, the tail no longer existed, but it was replaced by a long cape. Because of these observations, Tsubasa was the next one to chime in, "Did her Gear evolve?"
That was an explanation that made sense, seeing how many upgrades their Gears underwent. Going from the Ignite Module to undergoing Rebuild and getting access to Amalgam, they had their fair share of improvements. It wasn't an outlandish assumption, but that required them to find out who was upgrading the Gear. Elfnein shook her head, another analysis appearing on the screen.
"No, that's not the case. The explanation is much simpler, yet more complicated than that."
The screen brought up two graphs, similar to that of audio equalizers. The first one displayed a small curve upwards from the base line, only rising slightly before dropping back down immediately. Meanwhile, the other graph showed a different story, with there being multiple different reactions at many points in the equalizer. There were no indications on what either graph meant, so the crew were left up to interpretation.
Maria crossed her arms, one of her hips jutting out as she leaned to the side. "Then what," she queried. The alchemist simply sighed, turning around in her chair as she finally provided the exposition that the group was sorely lacking.
"She's wearing a Faust Robe."
Not a single one of the Adapters in S.O.N.G. had an expression that wasn't of absolute shock, since it went against what they learned about the differences between Symphogears and Faust Robes. Not only were they not made of the same energy, but the activation condition was also vastly different.
"A Faust Robe? But wasn't she-"
Shirabe had begun her question, prompting Elfnein to lean back in her seat, reaching back for the braid in her hair to fiddle with it. "Yes, that's what makes it more complicated," Elfnein returned, pressing a key that finally gave text to the graphs on the screen. The graph with rarely any activity was a graph that read Symphogear readings, analyzing energy conversion from a holy chant, while the other graph displayed text that was labeled simply as "Transmutation Reading". It made more sense as to why they were so vastly different, but something was still off here.
"She was a part of the Bavarian Illuminati, so I guess we should have expected alchemy at some point, dess."
Kirika gave her comment, but as the group pondered this information, Chris made herself known, despite usually being the loudest one in these meetings. She was awfully quiet, that anger of hers only flaring up the more she didn't mention anything.
"But wait, I thought a Gear couldn't also be a Faust Robe?"
The group knew that Faust Robe and Symphogears were different, but they heard Leia sing before it transformed. With every other alchemist they dealt with, not one of them sang to activate their Faust Robe, since the energy was transmuted through alchemy rather than through song. The alchemist already considered this, her fingers now twirling her braid as her mind ran through all the scenarios. "It can't. What's more, she did recite a holy chant for it to activate, but..." As Elfnein's apprehension took hold, Hibiki was the one who prompted for more information. "But...?"
"Something else that's worrying is her use of alchemy."
The group wondered exactly what she meant by that, since Elfnein's comment didn't make any sense. They just fought, so they were able to tell that Leia used alchemy the same way every other alchemist did, so what made hers so special? "What do you mean by that," Hibiki asked, wanting more of an explanation to this concept. Elfnein pointed upwards matter-of-factly, ready to provide her with an answer.
"Have you ever noticed anything about the alchemists you've dealt with?"
Hibiki thought hard about this, the only noise in the room being from the ventilation of the HQ. While the other Adapters also had this on their mind, they waited for Hibiki's answer, since the question was primarily directed at her.
"Hm... they all have English names?"
As she said that, Chris facepalmed. Even if she didn't know what Elfnein was referring to, everyone knew that was the last thing Elfnein was referring to. "I don't know why you asked this idiot that question," Chris groaned, running her fingers through her hair.
Elfnein gave a giggle, even if it wasn't the answer she was looking for. "I see... Anything else?" Hibiki thought long and hard, but she couldn't think of anything else, so she shrugged. If it was just with the alchemy, nothing was different to her. The gusts of wind still felt the same, the fire burned just as much as the others, there wasn't anything special there. The only thing about the alchemists before her was that they used some sort of outside source to transform if they used a Faust Robe, like a Spellcaster or a Relic itself.
"Hm... not that I can think of..."
Elfnein turned back around to her desk, responding, "I didn't expect you to." After a couple of keys were pressed, she displayed five more images, each of these being of a different symbol and color.
"Those are..."
"The symbols of alchemy. Each of them corresponds with a different element that can be transmuted," the blonde explained, the circles flashing every so often while they were up on the screen. The group looked on in confusion, since they already knew this information, so Chris interjected, "Yeah, we know this." Elfnein nodded, thankful that Chris provided her an affirmation like that. "Correct. However, the thing is that all transmutation takes energy, which is why alchemists only use one element at a time. One of the only people that could do it..."
The group realized where she was going with this, since they went to recall every alchemist they faced up to this point. Saint-Germain, Cagliostro and Prelati all channeled alchemy through their Spellcasters, but they only used one element at a time before switching to another one outside of regular silver alchemy. Even the first man, Adam Weishaupt, didn't use multiple elements at the same time, despite being able to use Golden Transmutation.
Leia, however, was different. Hibiki, Miku and Chris saw it firsthand when Leia mixed elements together, her power being exponentially stronger when mixed. Once they came to this realization, they came back to Elfnein's review, remembering the only person who could use multiple elements at once. Hibiki was the one to finish Elfnein's thought.
"...was Carol."
Elfnein swiveled back to the group again, only this time, with a much more somber look to her face. After the realization of who came to Elfnein's mind, the rest of the group began their own murmurs about this situation. Sure, the girl could use multiple Octaves of Aristotle, but to think that the only person who was comparable in strength enough to do that was Carol...
It wasn't an exact inference in strength, but their minds correlated them together, which led to an inference on how she was able to use said strength. "That energy came from burning away memories, but that was a trait that was completely hereditary," Elfnein continued, but it led to a few more questions. As if on cue, Tsubasa inquired. "Are you saying that this girl could be Carol's relative?"
A mysterious member of the Dienheim family that no one knew about. If that were the case, then they could have another situation on their hands just like with the Château de Tiffauges. If this girl was an alchemist linked to Carol, there was a chance that the reason she was doing all of this with the Gears was to plan some sort of revenge. Thankfully, Elfnein shook her head, denying any relation to the girl previously on the screen.
"Definitely not. I have no record of Leia in anything from the Dienheim family."
That seemed like a lead, but it really went nowhere. They didn't have further information about Leia as a person, the only thing they knew about her was the fact that she was the daughter of some random alchemist and that she had mysteriously gained a Relic. They had not a single idea of her true motives or how she could perform alchemy on a level like this.
"Then, how could she...?"
Shirabe murmured, her arms also crossed as they continued to try and find a conclusion. However, those thoughts ended up bouncing back and forth in her mind with no solid evidence. Elfnein watched the group pondering over the information, her mouth once again opening to provide more of her analysis, assuming it was of any help.
"I thought she was burning away memories, but it seems like it was different than that."
Miku put her hand up, curious to Elfnein's words. "In that case, what was it," she asked, Elfnein's eyes looking over and acknowledging the curiosity of the wielder of the Shénshòujìng. "I don't know, but if she can use multiple Octaves at once, as well as use phonic gain..." Elfnein paused before finally letting out a single judgment call.
"We have to be extremely careful."
This will be the last "filler" chapter for this type of scenario, though it's mainly to show what the group is dealing with (as well as their own confusion). After all, these two look the exact same, how are they supposed to know that Laya and Leia are two different people wearing two different weapons? You may see one of these at the end of the arc, but that won't be for a bit! Anyways, come to your own conclusions on how this arc ends (if you don't know already) and I'll see you next week-