MYSTIC/SECOND
HEART OF THE WORLD
""Sorry, Yuuka-chan. But... I'm sleepy."
"Noa! No, no! Stay with me!"
"...Gomen ne, Yuuka-chan."
"Noa...? NOA!"
Yuuka shouted again and again as Noa's eyelids fluttered... and then closed, fading away along with her halo as it blinked out of existence. Yuuka grasped onto her friend's torn uniform and hugged her tightly, her own heartbeat matching the unconscious secretary's as hot tears began to pour.
President Rio's drones had been destroyed, their weapons emptied of bullets… what awaited them now were the machines of destruction sent by the princess of the Nameless Gods.
"Noa... Noa..."
Yuuka kept calling her friend's name, trying to distract herself from the looming machines staring down at them without a shred of emotions. Tentacles raised menacingly as the sharpened, bloodied tips glinted in the light.
She felt her world crashing down for the second time. Her heart fell still, and her eyes were devoid of all hope.
It was the same feeling she experienced when Sensei was declared permanently bedridden and when Aris… Aris was gone. Stolen from their arms, and destroyed.
What remained was only that thing wearing her face.
When Aris-no… when Key ascended, Millennium…her friends… the maids, Rio's personal bodyguard, and… Neru… were the price forcefully taken for them.
Whatever remained of students, seminar or not, had been granted some time to escape thanks to their sacrifices, yet it still wasn't enough. The raging machines were everywhere, leveling everything in their path to complete their twisted mission.
Once, there was a party of five: herself, Noa, Rio, Koyuki, and another girl named Rei. Now, only three were left—or at least, what was left of them. Koyuki was gone, having fallen into a deep chasm after a gigantic explosion.
Her screams were the last thing Yuuka heard before… it was gone.
Rei, the part time Gym Department member, had bought them time when they got ambushed, leaving her fate unknown.
Rio lay unconscious with a large hole in her abdomen and a broken leg, and now...
Now, Noa had fallen as well, leaving Yuuka utterly alone.
She clutched the unconscious, bleeding body of her best friend, desperate for any response. But only the fading heartbeats answered her question.
There was nothing she could do.
Her SMGs were out of bullets, her personal calculator long since broken, and her body had been pushed to its absolute limits. Muscles aching, and a million tiny scratches and holes tore open her skin.
There were no more miracles left to hope for. No more dreams of youth she had longed for, no more… no more anything.
Looking back at the incoming horde of the murderous machines, Yuuka whispered her final apologies to everyone she had failed. For one last time, she held Noa close and closed her eyes.
She doesn't want to accept it. She wanted to scream and shout and yet… she had to accept the facts.
"JUDGMENT!"
Until something pierced her ears.
A thunderous shout forced her eyes to snap open widely.
A blur of blue, pink, and white erupted from behind her, ending in an explosion that shattered what had once been the crescendo of death and despair. When Yuuka inspected the newcomer, her heart stopped, and her eyes widened in a mixture of confusion, horror, and shock.
A thing in the shape of a man.
A faceless thing,a glowing, transparent entity radiating with power. Yet that wasn't what Yuuka focused on the most.
It was the thing's halo.
A pure white halo shaped like... S-SCHALE...
The machines of the Nameless Priests screamed in unison, interrupting her thoughts as they charged toward the interloper fearlessly. The entity glanced at her for a brief moment before charging into battle as well.
"Ahaha... HAHAHA! COME AND GET SOME!"
The sounds of combat and destruction rang in her ears.
Explosions followed by the mighty roar of a being beyond her comprehension. Yuuka's eyes remained locked on the thing… the entity… as it fought recklessly against the tide of machines. She didn't know whether to feel utterly terrified or strangely relieved.
The entity exuded overwhelming power, ferocity in its attacks, and a chilling laughter that echoed unnervingly from its… his… throat?
She couldn't stop watching, her thoughts laser focused on that thing until a sudden tap on her shoulder jolted Yuuka from her trance.
"!"
She stumbled back, still clutching Noa tightly in her arms as she turned hastily to the source of the tap. Instead of the awe she felt watching the translucent entity, the being that now stood before her was… disturbing.
Filling her heart not with strength, but with unrivaled dread surrounded by an eerie miasma of death, churning her stomach and overloaded her mind as she stared at its form.
It was a tall girl wearing a pitch black funeral gown, her mismatched, twin-colored eyes so hollow… so empty for a dying glimmer of life.
A cracked halo bobbed gently above her head, as if caught between life and death.
There was no mistaking it.
She was… a Harbinger of Death.
"Hayase… Yuuka?" DEATH ITSELF asked with a hollow, emotionless tone that sent chills down her spine, and raised her hairs in reflex.
Her mouth hung open like a goldfish, hugging Noa tightly through shaky fingers and arms as though her friend was the only anchor to reality she had left in this nightmare she faced.
"Y-Y-Y-Yes…?" Yuuka stammered through trembling lips.
"Sensei… told me to bring the injured to Abydos. Come with me, if you want to live… Hayase Yuuka."
Death…?
Bring the injured?
Abydos… wait. Hold on… did she just said...
"S-S-Sensei?!"
KABOOM!
"NICE TRY!"
SCREECHHH!
"KEEP THEM COMING!"
"A-A….S-Sensei…?" She refused to think that whatever dots she had connected were the truth, yet when… when the Harbinger pointed… to the thing…
"Nn."
The revelation came crashing down upon her like a whole ten tons of weight. It was no longer just a bombshell that had been dropped on her. It was a full on, 600 pound thermonuclear bomb coming down right at her, leaving the treasurer behind in the impact zone.
The very entity that was cursing, laughing, and happily pounding and breaking apart machine after machine with his bare hands—stacking the destroyed things so tall, she wondered… if by the end of it, the heap could rival the height of the Sanctum Tower itself.
"H-How…?"
The harbinger looked away. Guilt? Anguish? Her silent and distant expression didn't give much for the treasurer to read. Whatever it was, the flicker spreading in her eyes displayed one true thing. It was eating her from the inside like a gnawing cancer.
Aching, and tearing her heart apart from the weight.
"I don't know. But… I won't hurt you." She said firmly.
"Have we… um, have we met before?" Yuuka asked timidly, trying to understand the pale skinned woman.
"We have. Lifetimes… ago." With a raised hand, a great tear appeared in reality. A gaping wound as it trembled and came into existence, shimmering stars, and the groaning of the fabric of time and space itself howling in protest.
Glimmering, flickering anomalous stars blinked in and out until it was replaced… by a populated infirmary.
They all turned to the tear and waved their hands. Ushering Yuuka to get into the small sanctuary at the end of the world, all ranging from different schools. She saw some familiar faces in her SCHALE duties with sensei and when they're going around Kivotos. Some are simple mobs, some civilians, and some are even thugs.
Though, who cares about that anymore in this hellscape?
What matters was… there were still people surviving. Breathing.
"Go Hayase Yuuka." The harbinger pointed with haste. Though her expression did not change, Yuuka knew the haste in her tongue.
"But… President Rio-"
"Tsukatsuki Rio is already there." She interrupted immediately "I had brought her before I came to you. Go, now."
President Rio… was safe. Then there was nothing else to do. Salvation was right in front of her. Waiting with open arms.
"…. Thank you…" Yuuka raised Noa gently. Feeling the strain in her aching muscles and creaking bones as she stood up slowly. Everything about it hurts for just a moment.
Because in fact… miracles still exist.
Limping to the portal, she turned on her back, watching the entity standing tall among corpses of machines, and the pale skinned harbinger no longer of death… but of miracles. Her lips curled into a gentle, thankful smile as she muttered one last time.
"See you later."
Then with a wave of a hand, Shiroko closed the portal. They… were saved.
"Phew. That's all of them. Good job, Shiroko."
"Nn."
CHECKPOINT
Shiroko raised her hand, and closed another tear in reality. Saving two girls with… a little resistance. One was a cat girl, and the other was a timid one with the stench of mint. She was a little banged up, but she would be fine.
…The resistance came from… the cat girl.
The blood lust radiating off from her, the clear hatred and wrath as she snarled and left her comrade's side, out of nothing but the burning hatred towards Shiroko. Teeth gnashing, and lips curled into a fierce snarl.
Fists raised, as she screamed on the top of her lungs,
"YOU! YOU'RE THAT HURT REISA! I'LL KILL—"
Yet if it wasn't for sensei's interference, she would have fought Shiroko to the bitter end.
There was no beating around the bush. She had done something to this… Reisa. Something that had filled the cat girl with so much hatred and grief enough to match her own previous hatred… for herself.
The sad part was, Shiroko couldn't remember her rampage as much as she wished she did. Though the feeling that she might have done something absolutely horrific still remained. The weight of the blood that marked her soul said so—wishing for her to face retribution by flame.
Even with his hand on her shoulder, the immense guilt still ate away her heart bit by bit.
"Shiroko. Don't… dwell on it too much. What's done is done."
"...Nn."
Sensei nodded and returned to the tablet, flicking through any more signatures the AI could track but as far as it goes, the duo was the only two left here, yet sensei was still… a little stubborn.
"ARONA…"
"Affirmative. Re-scan complete. There are still no more signatures in the district." ARONA reaffirmed. "Ibaragi Yoshimi and Yutori Natsu are still MIA."
"I… see. Thank you, ARONA." He huffed and handed the tablet to Shiroko, who tucked it right into her personal pocket dimension.
Shiroko could feel the anguish radiating from him—the same anguish as when the AI spoke of any deceased students. His reassuring words didn't… heal her as much as she hoped. No matter what, blood still tainted her hands, and no matter what…
A part of her still wished for her to just… disappear.
She felt uneasy at receiving his warmth. Even if he had been turned to… whatever he was now, he was still sensei. Still him.
Still sensei.
"Oi. Earth to Shiroko?" A snap of his fingers woke her from her quick self-loathing session.
"Y-Yes… Sensei?"
"You're moping again."
"…Sorry."
Sensei huffed and flicked her forehead.
"Nn!"
"I swear… girl…" He said affectionately as he went to hug her. "What did I tell you?"
He was so warm.
Shiroko held back the dampness rising in her eyes as she leaned closer to the beating heart of her teacher. Resting her head on his chest, she matched her own heartbeat with his as the utter warmth of his new form radiated over her like a cozy fireplace. She could just drift to sleep like that.
But she knew she shouldn't. She could still see the faces of those she had wronged.
"...W-What's done is done…"
"And we can only move forward." He finished for her, followed by another sigh. "No matter what Shiroko, I'll be right beside you. Even if the world hates you."
She slowly nodded. Nuzzling herself in his form.
"If you're still at it, Shiroko, there is still so much to do. Let us distract ourselves with the still-lingering armies of the Chroma, waiting to be crushed between our fingers, even if the priests are no more."
The prime soul clenched his fist, raising it up while the other still affectionately resting on her back.
"That is… if you're ready."
"...Nn. I am." Shiroko raised her head and met the smooth, pure white translucent face of her teacher.
"Hah! Then face first, fists ahead, my dear. BECAUSE WHEN WE ARE DONE, CHROMA IS NEXT."
CHECKPOINT
An existence made for meaningless struggle turned into meaning. To find gold among the filth he had been shoved into.
This was what his amusement led into. To spit in the face of that fucking shiny ball. Death couldn't contain him, and it couldn't do the same. The chains that were once coiling around him like a noose, utterly broken apart by nothing more but sheer will and spite at those bastards.
"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE!"
Based on Shiroko and ARONA's report, Abydos was already filled to the brim with survivors—yet there would always be someone that needed their hand. Whisking them to safety one by one until ARONA had said exactly… there was no one else that needed saving.
Though through it all, there was an awful feeling… of joy in it. It was a horrible emotion, to think that he… he was having fun in the apocalypse. What kind of a person he was to find joy in tragedy?
Maybe death had changed him. Or maybe he is just him all this time. Either way, it hardly matters.
Because… in his reflection,
If there was something that still brings him joy,
it was destroying those that dared to hurt his students.
"YOUR END IS NOW!"
As long as he could swing his fists, as long as he could fight, If he could protect his students, that's all that matters.
He'll struggle again and again, suffer again and again, die over and over again, and spit one more time in the face of the Nameless God just to see his students smile and grow happy.
Just to see… Shiroko smile again.
Raising his leg to make a stomp, sensei drop-kicked an enormous machine corrupted by the chroma. Glowing brightly with glimpses of the cosmos until it fades into a dull black… and disappearing into nothingness with a burst of mystic and terror.
He let out a laugh, raising his hand at his accomplishments stained with oil and flakes of metal before it vanished into the same void. Crimson veins were still pumping, and adrenaline still flowed right into his head.
"Ahh… marked and felled. Dust in our boots to trample,
and utterly obliterated by a teacher."
In mere hours after this revival, they had been quite busy. Offering their hand, tracking down those that had been separated, and everything he had been doing before as sensei.
Though with… some differences.
A mighty crusade.
That glorified ball of scrap? IMPLODED.
The enormous dune worm? SNAPPED.
The squirming squid of technology? CRUSHED.
The creation of the two-head? DAMMNED.
Those carnival clowns? BURNED.
The fucking mentally challenged, slobbering, brain dead, strabismus diagnosed chicken? DINNER.
He relished in their destruction.
Laughing as he fulfilled his first promise.
Now, rising above the broken Sanctum Tower was another part of the Chroma's anchor in this world, manifesting as a great structure that defied all nature.
"The lonesome princess in the highest tower."
MYSTIC
[F-1]
[F-2]
[F-3]
[F-4]
MIRACLES
[F-F]
Author's note:
Well, there it is. I've debated on giving sensei-prime a name before eventually giving up. It is what it is :P
For images check out my Ao3 and, my Pixiv/Twitter for one more rendition of Sensei Prime~
See you in the next one~