A mother fears nothing more than harm to her child. It can cause a parent to act irrational and unreasonable. Ch'en in the future timeline knew this better than anyone...
Swire and her team consisting of Yua, now nearly fifteen, Shirayuki, Franka, Liskarm, Jessica, and several novice operators were currently on a rescue mission in an abandoned city in Ursus.
They were searching for the group that used to be called the Ursus Self-Governing Group. Rhodes Island had received no contact with them for several days; when they had been dispatched on a scouting mission. Kal'tsit, Ch'en, and Amiya ordered Swire to lead this team to find them.
The area was reported to be a hotspot for seaborn, so it was of utmost urgency that they were found as soon as possible. Ch'en herself wanted to go with them, however, she was in charge of coordinating an evacuation of another city that had been recently hit by the seaborn, so she was unable to come; instead, Swire was put in charge.
As the group searched the city looking for the team of former Ursus students, Swire could notice that the area was quiet, too quiet for her liking. "Something isn't right here," she thought while looking around. "I was told that the Seaborn would be all over this place, but we can't seem to find a trace of them."
Seeing no immediate danger in the area, Swire stopped her team, then turned to face them and give them a plan of action on what to do. "Okay, everybody," the feline began, "We will split up to look for the Ursus group; we can cover more ground this way. Franka, you, Liskarm, and Jessica, split off and search the area to our right. Yua, you, Shirayuki, and two of the new operators will split off to our left and search that area. I will take the rest and continue straight ahead. If you find any of the Ursus, let the rest of us know over the radio, and we will all meet back here. Any questions?"
Something about this didn't feel right to Yua. The young lung didn't feel that it was a good idea to split the group up, even though they hadn't encountered any Seaborn yet.
"Swire, I don't think this is a good idea," Yua said. "If we come across any Seaborn, we could be torn apart. You told us that this place is crawling with them." The white-haired expressed her concerns to her surrogate aunt, Yua never called Swire her aunt when they were dispatched on a mission together.
The feline replied, "I understand your concern, Yua, but while it is quiet, this gives us a chance to cover more ground. We have to find the Ursus group as soon as possible; time is of utmost importance here." Yua still didn't agree with the plan, but reluctantly, she relented.
Her mother, Ch'en, was one of the people who put Swire in charge. Yua wouldn't go against her orders...
Seeing that nobody else had anything to say, the feline ordered the groups to split off and move out. Yua and her faithful bodyguard Shirayuki, along with two novice operators, split off to the left as Swire ordered them to and began searching all the buildings, hoping to find any trace of the former Ursus students.
As her group was searching, Yua could notice that the two new operators with her and Shirayuki looked scared and nervous; the lung could understand why. These two had been thrown in the deep end - Yua herself remembered how she felt when she was dispatched on her first operation.
The white-haired lung believed that she could die at any moment, but her mother was with her, providing the girl with some comfort. These two new operators had no such luxury." Is something wrong, young madam?" Shirayuki asked her charge, noticing Yua looking at the two new operators.
The lung shook her head and replied, "No, I'm fine, Shirayuki. Just remembering something, that's all." Satisfied with this answer, the ninja nodded and continued searching.
After some time without finding any clues on the Ursus group's whereabouts, Yua told her team to take a quick break; she would get in touch over the radio with the other two teams to ask if they had any luck with their searches.
However, just as she was about to call over the radio, someone else beat her to it—it was Franka, and she sounded frantic: "Everybody! We have found the Ursus group, but they are all dead! Seaborn approaching our position! Dozens of them! We need to evacuate out of here!" Hearing this over the radio, Swire replied, "Understood! Everyone get back to the vehicles we came in ASAP! Yua, get your team moving! There's nothing more we can do here!" Understanding the situation, Yua ordered her team to leave immediately and to get back to the vehicles.
As they were running back to the vehicles, Yua could see many seaborn start to appear all over the place. "Dammit! I was right! They were waiting to ambush us! We never should have split up! If we get cornered by these monsters, we're done for!" Yua thought to herself while she was running towards her escape.
As her group was running, one of the new operators she was with was caught by a seaborn that had been hiding under a sewage lid. Yua noticed the operator caught and attempted to rescue him; however, before she could reach him, the seaborn dragged him down into the sewage system.
The sound of his screams echoed through the air as he was dragged down to his unfortunate demise. This caused the other new operator with Yua to panic, and he ended up running in a completely different direction from Yua and Shirayuki.
Both of them tried to stop him, but when he turned a corner, they heard his dying screams as he came into contact with some seaborn. Both operators knew they had to escape and fast; more seaborn were starting to close them down, and every second they stayed was one less second they had at a chance of escape. So, the two then started to run again in the direction of the vehicles.
As they were running, they managed to find Swire, the feline had several marks on her uniform and she was on her own; clearly, she had come across seaborn and had lost her team in the process.
Seeing Yua and Shirayuki, the feline shouted, "Yua! Shirayuki! The vehicles are not that far away! We have to go!" Yua nodded at what Swire said; they were nearly there...
When the trio had arrived at the vehicles, they were not alone—Seaborn were there as well, and in large numbers. "Dammit! Looks like we have to fight!" Swire shouted. All three of them drew their weapons and began charging at the seaborn; they didn't have time to wait—more seaborn were behind them and would be here any second.
Yua stabbed her sword into the first seaborn that was in her range; the monster tried to retaliate, but the lung didn't give it a chance. The white-haired lung quickly pulled her sword out and stabbed it again before it could attack her.
Shirayuki threw her shuriken at the seaborn, giving as much ranged support to the two other operators as she could without inadvertently hitting them. Her giant shuriken would cut the smaller seaborn in half, eliminating them from the battle. Against the larger enemies, it caused a good amount of damage, allowing either Swire or Yua to finish them off.
Unlike Yua's sword, however, Swire's weapon could extend, allowing her to put some distance between herself and an enemy if needed. The three in unison were effective against the seaborn they were fighting against; they were thinning the enemies' numbers.
However, the seaborn that had been trailing them earlier had caught up to them. "Dammit! We are surrounded! What do we do?" Swire asked no one in particular, seeing the situation they were in now, the feline believed they were doomed...
It was then as if a spark was lit in Yua's very soul; a hot burning fire began to rage inside of the white-haired lung. Yua could feel this power wanting to be set free...
The wind around the three began to speed up; Shirayuki and Swire could feel everything around them getting warmer and warmer. The blood in Yua's veins had felt like it had turned to gasoline, and somebody had put a match to it - the pain for her was unbearable.
When the two of them turned to where they could feel the heat coming from, they could see Yua glowing a bright blood red. The pair couldn't believe what was happening; only one possibility came to their minds…this was Yua's originium arts.
When Yua felt ready to unleash this power, she looked at Swire and Shirayuki and simply shouted, "Get down!!" Both of them did as instructed.
When they both got down, Yua unleashed a shockwave around her. When the shockwave made contact with every seaborn around the lung, it burned every organ and nerve system within each seaborn. It incinerated them from the inside out, killing them.
When they were sure they were safe, Swire and Shirayuki stood up. When they looked around them, they could see all the seaborn creatures around them were still and lifeless; Yua had destroyed them all. "I can't believe it! You did it, Yua! You saved us!" Swire congratulated her surrogate niece.
She wanted nothing more than to hug the lung right now. But, when Swire turned to see Yua, the feline could see that her eyes had rolled into the back of her head, and the white-haired lung then vomited blood and collapsed on the ground, "Oh no! Yua! Yua! Talk to me!" Swire shouted as she reached where Yua had collapsed.
Swire did what she could to try to get a response from the lung, but the feline didn't get any response. Seeing the condition her charge was in, Shirayuki spoke, "We need to get the young madam back to Rhodes Island now! We can't wait! We need to leave this instant!"
Swire was torn. Franka, Liskarm, and Jessica were still out there, and she couldn't just leave them if they were still alive. However, the feline knew that she couldn't wait, as Yua was in a bad condition. If Yua died because of a decision she made...
Ch'en would never forgive her for it...
Swire tried to contact Franka over the radio but got no response. Knowing that time was against them, Swire decided that Yua was more important, and if Franka, Liskarm, and Jessica were still alive, they would have to get back to Rhodes Island on their own.
The feline and the ninja then carried the badly injured lung into one of the vehicles they came in. Swire started up the vehicle while Shirayuki tended to Yua the best she could with what medical supplies they had in the back.
The feline then sped off, leaving the abandoned city as fast as she could. When she was sure that they were clear of the city, Swire changed the channel on her radio to contact Ch'en, she gulped before getting ready to talk to her, knowing this would be a difficult conversation...
Ch'en was currently a passenger in a vehicle with Hoshiguma as the driver; the evacuation had gone better than they believed it would. The Ursus army had shown up to give Rhodes Island much-needed support in helping evacuate civilians and fighting off the seaborn.
Ch'en wondered how the rescue mission went. While she worried about her daughter being on the ground fighting, she trusted her old friend Swire. The blue-haired lung knew that Yua was in safe hands with her friend in charge.
Ch'en's radio in the vehicle went off, and the green-haired oni answered it. "Hello, Hoshiguma speaking." The oni said. After a brief talk, Hoshiguma handed the radio over to Ch'en and said, "It's Swire; she said she needs to talk to you, Ch'en." Ch'en took the radio from Hoshiguma and spoke into it.
"Ch'en speaking, what's up Swire?" the lung asked. Swire replied in a frantic tone, "Ch'en! It's Yua! Something has happened! She's hurt! Bad! We are on our way back to Rhodes Island! She needs urgent medical treatment!" Ch'en's eyes widened when she was told this.
"Yua?! What's happened to her?! Is she alright?! Tell me, Swire!! What's happened?!" The lung shouted down the radio. "I don't know! She started glowing red and then let off this blast of energy! She then vomited blood and collapsed! We are trying to get back as quickly as we can! Shirayuki is doing what she can to help, but she needs medical attention!" Swire replied.
Ch'en really started to panic. The blue-haired lung was terrified that she could lose her daughter. "Swire!! Please, I beg of you!! Make sure she gets back to Rhodes Island!! Don't mess with me on this one!! I can't lose her!!" Ch'en begged her friend. Swire replied that she would and ended the radio call.
Hoshiguma had heard what was said and knew the situation of what was going on, so she put her foot down and sped up.
Looking to her side, she could see Ch'en was struggling to hold it together; the lung looked like she could burst into tears at any moment. "It must be difficult being a parent, I can't imagine what you are going through," the oni thought to herself.
The green-haired oni never had any children herself; she couldn't even begin to imagine what the blue-haired lung was feeling right now...
Hoshiguma wanted to say something to try to comfort her friend, but she knew it wouldn't work; all Ch'en would want was to be back at Rhodes Island with her daughter. After what seemed like hours, they arrived at Rhodes Island.
When Hoshiguma stopped the vehicle, Ch'en immediately flew out of the vehicle and ran up the landship entrance as fast as she could.
The lung headed towards the medical wing of the landship; she knew that's where Yua would be. "Please be alive!!" Ch'en was telling herself as she made her way towards her destination. When she arrived, Ch'en found Amiya, Swire, and Shirayuki.
When the three noticed Ch'en had arrived, Amiya walked up to her and spoke, "Ch'en! Yua is currently being treated by Doctor Kal'tsit; you can't see her yet." Ch'en, however, was having none of it. The lung wanted to see her daughter.
"I don't care! I want to see Yua! I want to see my daughter! I'm going in there whether you all like it or not!" She declared in front of everyone. Ch'en started marching towards the door, but the other three occupants of the room did everything in their power to stop her.
This got the lung angry; she wasn't in the mood, and she was willing to do anything to see her daughter. "Get out of my way! Or I swear I'll move you!" she warned them. Amiya, Swire, and Shirayuki stood firm despite the blue-haired lungs warning.
This only made Ch'en even more angry. She was about to lash out at the trio in front of her, but Amiya then decided to speak in an attempt to calm her down.
"Ch'en, this isn't helping. If you go in there now, you could get in the way of whatever it is Doctor Kal'tsit is doing to try to help Yua. I know you want to see her, but you have to be patient. Would the doctor want you to do this? Put your daughter's life at risk?" Amiya tried reasoning with the lung.
Ch'en realized what Amiya was saying; she was right. Her husband, the man she loved, would not want her acting like this. If he saw her now, he would be disappointed with her actions.
Ch'en then collapsed onto the ground and began crying; she still missed the doctor to this very day. Amiya then knelt down beside her and began comforting the lung. "I know you still miss him, we all do, and I know you're worried about Yua, but she is a strong girl, she will make it, I promise."
Ch'en then embraced Amiya, letting the tears that she had been holding back fall freely. Amiya let the woman release all of her grief, while Swire and Shirayuki could only watch, knowing that no words needed to be spoken.
When the blue-haired lung had calmed down, she apologized for the way she behaved; the other members understood why she acted the way she did, so no harm was done.
Meanwhile, Hoshiguma had arrived as well to check on her friend and offer some help if she needed it. Thankfully, the situation had already been defused before she arrived, so all everyone could do now was wait.
The waiting for everyone was agonizing, especially for Ch'en. She wanted to know whether her daughter survived; the blue-haired lung wouldn't see any point carrying on living anymore if Yua died - she would have nothing left to fight for in this world.
Eventually, the door opened and out stepped Doctor Kal'tsit. Everyone waited for what she was going to say; the ancient feline then spoke, "Yua is stable, but is still unconscious. She has lost a lot of blood. It could be sometime before she wakes up. She isn't out of the woods just yet." Doctor Kal'tsit told everyone.
Ch'en was beyond relieved that her daughter was still alive, but she couldn't relax until Yua was awake, and the older lung didn't know when that could be...
Ch'en then walked up to Doctor Kal'tsit and asked, "Can I see her? Please Doctor Kal'tsit, I want to see her." The lung begged the ancient feline.
Kal'tsit knew how badly Ch'en would want to see her, so she allowed it. Before she stepped in to see her daughter, however, the ancient feline stopped her. "We need to talk first; this is important." Kal'tsit then turned her head to the others in the room.
"This is private and personal; I understand you all want to see Yua, but I need to talk with Ch'en. I need you all to give us some privacy." The others wanted to see Yua, but if Kal'tsit needed to talk with Ch'en in private, they knew it must be important.
They respected Kal'tsit's wishes and left the two of them in peace; they would try to see Yua tomorrow—it had been a long and trying day for everyone.
When they were alone, Kal'tsit looked Ch'en dead in the eye and spoke to her. "Ch'en, I've done some tests on Yua. What I have found won't be easy to tell you, so please brace yourself." Ch'en couldn't understand, Kal'tsit had said her daughter was stable, yet the lung wanted to know what the ancient feline meant.
Kal'tsit took a deep breath before speaking. "So you know what Yua used today was her originium arts, correct?" Kal'tsit asked the blue-haired lung.
Ch'en understood what Swire had told her earlier; Yua had managed to use her originium arts for the first time ever today, and it sounded like it had a great deal of power...
But if Kal'tsit was talking about it, then it must not have been good...
"Yes, Doctor Kal'tsit," Ch'en said. Kal'tsit nodded, then spoke again. "Well, I admit it, it was interesting what I was told as well. However, Yua using her originium arts is the reason she is in the condition she is now. Let me explain, Yua's originium arts has a great amount of power, but it has put a huge strain on her body, it has caused internal bleeding and what looks like minor damage to her internal organs and nerve system."
The blue-haired lung did not like the sound of that. "What are you saying, Doctor Kal'tsit? What could happen to Yua?" Ch'en reluctantly asked.
Kal'tsit then took another deep breath before telling Ch'en what she needed to know. "Ch'en, her originium arts have caused damage to her body. Yua's arts are dangerous not just to others but to herself as well. If she keeps using them, it could completely damage her organs and nervous system beyond repair. It will cause irreversible damage… or even kill her." Ch'en felt her heart go into her throat when she was told this; it sent fear throughout her entire body.
"Yua… could die? This power could kill her? No! I'm not going to let that happen! I've lost too much already! I'm not losing Yua as well!" The thought of losing Yua was unbearable for the blue-haired lung.
Enough was enough as far as Ch'en was concerned; she had already lost her husband, her sister, and many friends and comrades fighting the seaborn over the years.
The lung wasn't going to lose the last thing on Terra that meant so much to her. Ch'en would protect Yua from anyone, including herself...
Ch'en knew that from now on, she would have to take extra measures to make sure Yua never used her originium arts ever again...The lung decided that whenever Yua was dispatched on an operation, she would go with her regardless of what Amiya or Kal'tsit said.
The blue-haired lung knew she would have to ask Shirayuki to be extra vigilant to make sure Yua didn't use them and to let herself know if she tried.
Ch'en would even inform Swire and Hoshiguma of the situation as well. "I know it's extreme, but it's for her own good!" Ch'en thought to herself. "I can't lose her! I can't! I'm tired of losing those I care about!" Ch'en knew that her daughter could end up being resentful towards her for putting this much control over her life. But she would rather Yua be resentful and alive than love her and end up dead...