Vol 1. Chapter 4 – Awakening the Ogdoad

"What do you want now?' Serika snapped back at Nelson. She thought seeing the Adult twice today was bad enough. Now she was here a third time. Her nerves were about done with this meddlesome Teacher.

Nelson's hands came up in a placating manner, and the awkward smile on her face seemed genuine at least. She spoke, her voice lacking the usual bravado, "I had asked the Owner about when you would leave. When I mentioned it to your friends, Ms. Takanashi na… convinced me to see you home safely."

The Teacher was quiet for a moment before she sighed, running her hand through her hair absentmindedly. After a moment, she continued. "Truth be told, I agree with her. It is quite late right now and my experience with Kivotos at night has been less than ideal."

For a second, Serika wanted to believe the Adult was lying. But this was the exact type of harebrained scheme that Hoshino would do to get them to work together. The plan to ambush her at the restaurant didn't work, so this was her obvious backup.

She stared at the Teacher annoyed, and the Teacher stared back impassively. Finally, Nelson broke the silence without breaking eye contact. "I gave my word I would at least ensure you return home safely. Would you, at least, allow me to escort you back to your neighborhood?"

There was another moment of pure silence before Serika finally ground out an annoyed "Fine!" and stomped ahead, pushing past the Adult. She got a half dozen paces before pausing, turning to stare at Nelson. "But I want you where I can see you!"

"Of course," Nelson said, walking next to her at an arm's length. "Shall we be off?"

Serika answered with an annoyed huff, and continued her walk home. Of all the things to happen, Hoshino just had to stick her fingers into a situation where they didn't belong. She could see Nelson match her pace out of the corner of the eye. This was going to be a frustrating walk, but at least the Adult knew better than to talk to her.

Serika's face twitched as she caught the sound of sand crunching under metal heels. She was happy for the silence when this stupid endeavor started. But now, a whole ten minutes later, she had come to realize something: Nelson could be disturbingly quiet when she wanted to be.

She could only occasionally catch the quiet sound of breathing and footsteps next to her over the course of the last few blocks. She would have lost track of Nelson if she couldn't see her out of the corner of her eye. It was actually unnerving to her for the Adult to be so quiet, and more than a bit creepy.

Another quiet exhale, and Serika could feel her heart jolt from the unexpected noise. That was it. She didn't know if this was some elaborate ploy by Nelson to get her to talk but she wasn't going to deal with not being able to track the Adult any longer.

"This is so stupid," Serika griped, kicking impassively at a nearby sand pile. "I'm not a little kid, I don't need somebody like you to walk me home. I could look after myself."

Silence answered her complaint and, for a second, Serika swore the Teacher was going to remain silent. Then, out of the blue, Nelson answered, "Perhaps."

Serika waited for Nelson to elaborate. Seconds ticked on in quiet silence. It was clear no explanation was forthcoming. So, she would have to force one. "What, too scared of your own student to give me a real answer?"

"Is it so hard to believe that I wish to help you? That I simply wish that you avoid being accosted or abducted by thugs at night?"

"Yes!" Serika spun on her heels as she snapped back, frustration bleeding into her voice as she pointed an accusatory finger at Nelson. "Because we've gotten this far without anyone's help. We can bring the school back from the brink without your help."

Nelson matched her glare with an impassive one, her grey eyes glinting blue in the light of the street. For a second, Serika saw something in them. Then it was gone, and replaced by something tired. For all the evenness in Nelson's voice as she spoke, the tiredness did not leave her eyes. "Ms. Kuromi, I respect that Abydos has made it thus far on the efforts of you and your friends. But did you reach this point without help because you did not wish for help, or because it was never offered?"

Serika glared at the Adult, silent. Nelson stared back, tired. Serika spoke, slow to keep herself from shouting, "So what if nobody said they wanted to help? We don't need their pity, or yours."

Nelson hummed as she ran her hand through her hair, deep in thought. After a moment, she spoke, "I do not help you or your friends out of pity, Ms. Kuromi. I help because I understand how it feels when it seems as if you must face the world alone. It is not an experience I wish on anyone."

"Yeah? But you made it through. We can too." Serika spat out. Her answer was silence. Nelson just looked at her with a blank inscrutable expression. She tried to keep her glare up, but found it impossible as the silence dragged. Even as she deflated and some of the venom left her, the Adult's expression didn't change.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of silence, Nelson spoke. Her words were slow, careful, and measured. Her tone bade no place for argument. The expression she wore as she spoke was the flattest that Serika had ever seen on anyone.

"I never claimed to have made it, only that I experienced it."

There wasn't a lot of talking after that. We stared at each other for a bit longer before Serika walked away. I followed beside her, letting her stay out of arm's reach. The catgirl Student seemed to have something on her mind, so I let her have her space.

Or, at least, I was giving her the space until we made it halfway down the current block. Silence was all around us, even as the lights flickered and buzzed. Instincts flared, not just from my Crew's Memories but from my own experiences in Kivotos. Something was wrong here.

I slowed myself to a stop as I began looking for signs of a trap. Serika was so distracted that she kept walking for a bit further, but only a few steps. She turned to look at me, curiosity clear in her face. "What, tired already?"

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "Something is off."

Serika narrowed her eyes and also looked around, seeming to search for something. Whatever conclusion she came to wasn't favourable when the frown on her face went from annoyed to worried.

"We need to go," Serika said, starting to pick up the pace, "I don't like this."

I followed apace, but we hadn't made it more than a few meters when several figures walked out of the alley in front of us. I could recognize the helmet and gas mask of the Helmet Gang even in the flickering streetlights.

"Are you Kuromi Serika?" The red helmet wearing thug at the front asked.

"The Helmet Gang?! You have a lot of nerve coming back here!" Serika growled at the question. Then the look on her face went from annoyed to vicious. "Actually, I'm glad you're here. I've been in a bad mood all day. I'll make you reg-"

I cleared my throat, interrupting the byplay and drawing all their attention to me as I casually placed myself between Serika and the Helmet Gang thug. I put on my best smile, and kept my hands behind my back out of their line of sight.

"Pardon me, but it is quite late right now. Would you mind if we resume this tomorrow?" I asked, tone as casual as I could muster.

"What do you think you're doing!" "Who do you think you are?" Serika and the Thug's responses came at the same time.

I ignored them as I continued, taking another slow step towards the thugs. "I am Ms. Kuromi's Teacher, and she has classes tomorrow. Perhaps you could pick a better time for this?"

"Not a chance," The thug replied. The sound of more footsteps rushing towards our position echoed through the empty city streets as she spoke. "We got orders to get the girl. You think you can stop all of us?"

"Shame." I stated. My left hand lashed out without hesitation and the silver of my saber arced through the night in a horizontal slash. This red-helmed thug seemed prepared for it and leapt back. Her companion next to her, however, did not fare so well. With my initial target out of the way, I stepped into the strike and suddenly, the black helmeted thug found herself within my reach.

"Holy sh-!" The curse was half said when the sword smashed into her helmet, cleaved into the protective wear, and sent her flying. She tumbled across the street and into a sand dune. I ignored her and the scattering duo in front of me as I looked about.

There were thugs to our aft, thugs to the fore, and thugs to our port. They were trying to surround us, but the sudden violence caught them off guard. Serika capitalized immediately as she rushed past me with a wordless cry, pumping the other companion thug in front of me full of lead. She dropped and her Halo blinked out moments later.

"Come on, Nelson!" Serika shouted as she sprinted down the open path. I followed, pulling a pistol from my stores to suppress our pursuers. However, as I turned to aim, I was greeted by an odd sight. Despite having the advantage in bodies and weight of fire, not a single one had started to give chase. Bizarre, and above all concerning.

I forced my senses as far as I could take it, to see if there was anything missing. A piece we could not see. There, at the edges of my notice, I heard it. The faint shrieking whistle of large caliber artillery.

I pushed myself, surging forward to catch up with Serika. I ignored her pained shout of "What!" as I tackled her, forcing her off the middle of the street and into an abandoned storefront. Our impact into the store shattered the glass door but, before she could do anything more, I forced her under me.

A second later the street outside exploded in a fury of fire and violence. The concussive force shattered the rest of the windows and I could feel a few shards of glass slice through my clothing. Serika coughed as she crawled out from under me and I rose to my full height, ignoring the mild scrapes. In between the coughs, she managed to speak. "An anti-aircraft gun? No… Could that sound have been from an improved Flak 41?"

"Most definitely," I replied, shaking the glass out of my hair and clothes. "That is a significant improvement in firepower."

"They aren't messing around this time. This is dangerous…" Serika muttered.

"Can you contact your friends?"

Serika pulled out her phone and clicked her tongue in annoyance. "We're in a dead zone. They planned this ambush so I wouldn't be able to call for help."

I activated my ear piece, and switched the connection from my phone to the Chest. Arona's panicked cries greeted me but I couldn't let that distract me; we had important matters at hand. "Arona, where's the nearest safe harbour with cell service?"

"Let me check!" Arona's voice echoed in my ear piece.

Serika screwed up her face as she processed what I said. "Safe harbour?"

"You may have called it pointless," Serika flinched at the reminder, but I pushed forward regardless, "but I spent the last few days preparing buildings as fall-back points with ammunition and defensive positions. Just in the event there was ever a need for a rally point or defense point while off school property."

A thug burst through the open door. Serika's automatic rifle was up and she made her displeasure known. Even as the first thug fell over unconscious, another rushed in. They raised their SMG up to take their shot at Serika. My pistol came up and thundered as I dumped the entire magazine into them.

"How much longer before your map finds one of these buildings?!" Serika shouted as a spray of rifle fire knocked out another thug.

An annoyed harrumph crackled in my ear piece. "I'm not just a map! Be sure to tell her that when you have the time! You'll have to fall back southwards to get to one of your prepared buildings, it's about twenty minutes away!"

Another twist of my will and my panoply of weapons and bandoleers fell into place around me. I unslung the SMG from under my left arm, unfolding the wireframe stock. "We must move south, Ms. Kuromi. Follow my lead!"

With that, I dashed towards the shattered doorway. Yet another black helmeted thug, this one with a shotgun, tried to stop me. Rather than slow down, I tackled her, forcing all my weight and speed into my right shoulder. I slammed into the girl with the force of a light van and sent her flying across the street.

I turned down the street to see a crowd of approaching thugs, even more numerous than the mob Wakamo had rallied. Without a second thought, I squeezed the trigger and dumped the magazine. Some ducked, others took cover, and a small number of dedicated thugs pushed ahead. I shouted as I reloaded. "Move!"

Serika leaped out of the store behind me, her rifle fire joining mine in spraying down and suppressing the large group of thugs approaching the store. They were tenacious, but even the dedicated ones were forced to stop. In that moment, it was all the two of us needed to slip into the night.

This was too much, Serika thought to herself. The Helmet Gang had never pushed so hard before, and never in such numbers. They fought in small raiding numbers to weaken Abydos before, but this? This wasn't a force to weaken. It was a force to try and end Abydos. Whatever they had planned must have hinged on taking her. When Nelson's presence disrupted them, they must have elected to double down and capture her by any means necessary.

She paused as she leaned against a nearby wall to catch her breath. She and Nelson had fallen into a steady rhythm as they retreated across the night of Abydos, one always ready to fire while the other reloaded or caught their breath. Not that Nelson seemed to need much. She looked up at the Adult, asking between breaths, "How much further do we have?"

"Another fifteen minutes by my estimates." Nelson answered from beside her, voice as even as steel as she kept her strange hand cannon at the ready.

But... "You said it was twenty minutes away. It's been twenty minutes!"

"The initial route put us through too many open spaces," Nelson answered quietly, blue-grey eyes watching both ends of the alley they were in. "Cutting through alleys and corridors like this keeps the artillery from landing near us."

Serika looked out at the end of the alley they were moving towards, a frown on her face. "Open spaces like that?" Past the alley was what had once been a parking lot. However, neglect and desertification had rendered it into an open pitch of sand with only a few abandoned cars and dunes to act as cover.

Nelson sighed, disappointment clearly etched into her face, "Given the way our enemies are moving towards us, this is the only way left. It is almost certainly a trap, but one we will have to push through."

Serika didn't need to be told that. She was hoping the Adult would bring up another option or path, but it sounded like there wasn't. With a frustrated grunt, she pushed herself off the wall and walked up next to Nelson. "OK, I'm ready."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, we might as well get through this as quickly as possible."

"I shall cover your back then."

"Are… you sure?" Serika asked, looking over Nelson. The Adult was slower and larger than her, and consistently put herself in the rearguard. Serika was usually entirely eclipsed by the Teacher's large frame and anyone shooting her usually ended up hitting Nelson instead whether by choice or by chance. The Teacher had weathered the attacks with unnatural resilience, but her uniform was burned and even torn in a few spots.

Still, the Adult answered her with a confident smile that didn't fit their situation. "Consider it a part of my duties."

Serika didn't argue. They didn't have time to argue. She could hear the faint sound of feet at the far end of the alley. "Alright, then let's go!"

Serika dashed out of the alley and crossed the street in moments, Nelson behind her. By her estimates, it would be just under 150 meters to get to the other side. Weapon fire came as soon as they hit the edge of the parking lot. An entire floor of the building off to their left lit up with various automatic weapons.

Thunder roared behind her, the hand cannon louder than anything Serika had heard before. The impact was immediate as the floor above the Helmet Gang's firing position burst in a fireball, the entire building shuddering.

135 meters to go and gunfire poured out of buildings behind them. Serika heard Nelson click her tongue in annoyance. Thunder roared again and she heard concrete shattering along with panicked shouting.

115 meters left and the first enemy squad showed up in front of her in an attempt to block their escape. A squad of six by her count. The thunder roared again and the dunes just behind the enemy squad billowed into a fireball. The concussion knocked them onto their faces as Serika dropped a few rounds into each of them to ensure they stayed down.

But with the third round, she heard the sound of metal shattering behind her. Instead, the familiar staccato rattle of an SMG took its place as Nelson emptied a magazine to keep the next squad from getting closer.

100 meters away, and the first artillery shell slammed into the ground near them. The detonation covered her in sand and the concussion caused her to wobble, but not fall. She heard Nelson shout from behind her "The thugs will stay away during the artillery! Keep moving!"

85 meters. They were just under halfway there as artillery fire picked up. They had to have had more than one gun. Serika cursed everything she could think of, and swore revenge against the Helmet Gang gunners when Abydos found them.

60 meters. A near hit off to her side sent a chunk of rock into her side. The blow knocked the breath out of her and she almost tripped. As she stumbled, she felt a hand push into her back and push her forward. "Hardly an ideal place to slow down!" Nelson shouted. Serika growled her annoyance, but the push kept her moving.

40 meters, only a third of the distance left to cross. The sand dunes opened up into the paved remains of the parking lot. Serika focused on her breathing and the alleys in front of them that would get them to safety. They were almost there.

20 meters. Two things happened. A ping on her headset notified she had connection again and she slowed down for a moment to grab her phone out of her pocket. Just as she was about to hit the emergency call button, she felt Nelson tackle her and the device slip from her grasp.

Then an entire barrage, focused on the parking lot, tore into the ground around them. One particular near hit detonated within a few meters of them, the blast knocking the two of them into a roll. She heard Nelson grunt in pain as the pair bounced over the ground, the Adult holding her tight and absorbing the blast as best as she could.

When the two came to a stop, she felt the Adult let her go. Serika pulled herself into a sitting position and looked about. An absent part of her noted how they just had to cross the street and they were clear. Nelson, meanwhile, stood up with a cough. Serika turned to face the Adult for the first time since they started the run and paused at what she saw. Burns and cuts covered the Adult and parts of the combat webbing were torn off or missing. Still, Nelson smiled and reached down to her. "Come on, we have only a bit further to go."

Serika grabbed the offered hand and tried to pull herself up. Her feet gave way as her vision swam from the sudden movement. Exhaustion and shellshock compiled at once as she tried to shake the dizziness away. She could see Nelson frown when a second attempt sent her into a spill over the ground again. Then, as she pulled herself together for a third try, Nelson's head snapped up and to the side.

"Ach, damn."

There wasn't any other warning. One moment Serika was holding onto the Adult's hand. Next moment, she found herself pulled to her feet as the same hand grabbed her by the front of her uniform. Then, with casual ease, Nelson lifted her up and threw her. She shouted indignantly at the Teacher as she sailed across the street and slammed into a pile of sand.

As she rolled onto her back, Serika looked at Nelson with an annoyed, confused glare. The Teacher looked back at her with a firm smile. Then she vanished from Serika's sight as artillery fell right onto where the two of them had been standing no less than 2 seconds ago.

I shook the ringing out of my ears and forced myself onto one knee. The last thing I remembered was spinning to try to deflect an 8.8cm shell from hitting me with a punch. Then a flare of blue polygons an-

"Arona!" I shouted, patting my back, "Are you okay?""

"I'm ok, Sensei! The backpack held!" I heard her on the internal radio, the shout actually clearing some of the fuzz. She sounded panicked though. "I managed to get a shield up in time before the shell hit us directly but some of those other shells landed really close to you!"

I checked myself quickly. This uniform was definitely ruined, as was the firearms webbing. Any flesh I saw had some amount of bruises, scrapes, or cuts. A familiar slickness on my right side informed me that the shrapnel from one of the strikes had made it through the deck plating, a notable injury.

'No serious injuries,' I radioed back. I pulled myself into a standing position; a jolt of lightning sharp pain ripped its way up my leg and spine before sending me back onto my knee again. I swore loudly and looked at my left ankle. It looked bruised and swollen to my human eyes. To my internal damage assessment, my port propeller shaft had been torn apart by one of the near hits.

I heard a gasp of horrified shock from behind me. I turned towards the source and saw a Helmet Gang thug gaping at me. Before she could say anything else, I had drawn my handgun and it was on target. Seven shots, four in the torso and three in the head. The girl slumped over unconscious.

Another popped up before I could reload. As she raised her shotgun to fire, a burst of automatic rifle fire stitched up the dune and struck her. She fell backwards, similarly unconscious, as Serika ran up to me.

"What the hell were you thinking!" Serika shouted at me; eyes frantic as she took in my current condition. "You could have been killed!"

"It would take more than that to kill me." I assured her, smiling confidently even as I knew the only reason I avoided any more serious injuries was because of Arona's intervention.

Serika didn't look like she believed me. She looked around nervously as she asked, "Can you still walk?"

I groaned, exhausted, as I tried to pull myself to a standing position. I stumbled, gritting my teeth to ignore the pain. "Slowly. We need to get into the building."

I took another step forward and almost stumbled to my knees again, only to be stopped as Serika slipped under me to prop me up. "Damn it!" I heard her shout as she visibly strained at my weight. "Let's move already!"

With that, the two of us crossed the street into safety, but still far away from where we needed to be.

Serika swore frantically in her mind as the two of them took shelter in a nearby abandoned convenience store. This was bad. This was very bad. Nelson, frankly, did not look good. The Adult was currently slumped against the wall. She was still all smiles and trying to reassure her, but Serika could see the wounds and how much Nelson grimaced with each step they took to get here. She wouldn't be moving quickly anytime soon.

"Do you have your phone?" Serika asked. "Mine got destroyed in that artillery barrage."

Nelson shook her head, flinching slightly as something clearly settled wrong. "It did not survive nearly as well as I did. I have... other means of contacting your friends. They said they would need half an hour to get to the safe harbour."

Serika's heart fell at that. Half an hour was a long time. They barely survived 20 minutes, most of which was when Nelson was in good shape. With the shape the Teacher was now, there was no way they would make it the last third of the trip.

"Ms. Kuromi."

That was before she considered the fact that she would have to help support the Teacher on the walk. Serika considered herself fit. She wasn't the strongest, but all her part-time jobs had given her plenty of strength training. But even she found it difficult to support Nelson into the building. She wouldn't be able to fight at the same time.

"Kuromi."

She briefly considered dragging the Teacher along but discarded it as quickly as it came. The store was long abandoned and she couldn't see a trolley anywhere nearby. They only had a few minutes before the Helmet Gang would be upon them again. She didn't have the time to search for it, load the Teacher onto it, and try to get out.

A cool hand grabbed her own, as she heard Nelson's voice cut through the darkness of the store. "Serika, please listen to me."

Serika turned to face Nelson. The Adult smiled. It was a tired, exhausted, and firm smile. She listened, stock still, as Nelson spoke. "You need to leave me behind."

Serika stared in silence at Nelson. The Adult met her gaze. She could only ask a choked, "What?"

"Your pace was being set by me before this," Nelson answered, voice even and calm. "We both knew that. Now? I doubt I will be going anywhere anytime soon. The Helmet Gang will catch up with us before your friends get to us. So, you need to leave. Now."

"We don't leave people behind!" Serika shouted at Nelson, holding back the sense of betrayal gnawing at her heart. "We're better than that!"

Nelson shook her head sadly, grasping Serika's hand with both her own. "That is a noble sentiment." The Adult said, voice soft, "But I am your Teacher. The responsibility of your safety falls to me, and me alone. I would be failing my duty if I let you come to harm here."

"You can't be seriou-" Serika began, only to be cut off as Nelson shoved something into her hand. She looked down to see a roughly scribbled map, detailing where to go.

"There is no time for this." Nelson said firmly as she stood up, grimacing in pain from the act. Even with the ruined clothes and wounds, there was an indomitable air that clung to the Adult. "Find your friends. Bring them here. I will do my best to hold them here for as long as I can."

Serika gaped at the Adult. Nelson simply smiled and pushed her in the direction of the back door. "Hurry. If you find them early, you can bring them back early."

Serika took a few steps towards the door, before pausing and looking behind her. Nelson stood there, illuminated by the moonlight, a confident smile on her face to see her off. She made it a few more steps before stopping again. She turned, pointing at the Teacher. "Fine! I'll go find them! Then I'll come right back! Don't you dare d-"

"Never fear," Nelson interrupted. "You will not be made a liar by my failings. I will still be here when you return. Now go."

Serika turned and pushed through the back door. She ignored what she was doing, what she was leaving Nelson to. She dashed away, the familiar blue flames enveloping her as she followed the instructions even as frustration tore at her heart. She ignored the wet feeling on her cheeks as she ran into the night.

The smile fell from my face as soon as Serika was gone, replaced with a grimace. The blown propeller shaft was causing me immense pain even while standing.

"Sensei… will... will we be OK?" Arona asked, the concern in her voice almost palpable even through the connection.

"We will be." I answered as I browsed through the list of weapons in my inventory. "I am certain of it. How many more of those shields can you summon?"

"I don't think I can protect you from another direct hit from the artillery, but I can keep you safe from bullets?"

"It will have to do." I concluded as I finally found what I was looking for. A large bulky weapon fell into my hands. A belt fed machine gun. I detested using it. It was large, heavy, and cumbersome to use. I preferred closing in for decisive strikes and, in normal circumstances, this would not let me do so.

But it was big, it made a mean noise, and it was terrifying to face. It would draw the thug's attention, and buy Serika more time. It was a naval mount so it lacked a bipod or grip to carry. With no other options, I grabbed it by the barrel shroud. The heat would hurt, but it was better than trying to control it one handed.

I could hear them now, storming up the street. One woman, harried by a chase, and forced to stand against a mob after being crippled. I reflected on the situation, and laughed.

"… Sensei? Is everything OK?"

I shook my head, even though I knew Arona couldn't see it. "Just reminiscing about valiant last stands. It seems I am drawn to them no matter where I go."

"But we'll be OK, right? So, it won't be a last stand."

I hummed in thought, thinking of the differences. There certainly were plenty. Not least of which was the fact that I was currently a flesh and blood human. "I suppose so. I will face this with an ally this time as well."

They were close now. The time for levity was over. I sighed as I stopped, took a deep breath, and held it in before breathing out. I steeled my nerves, forced the sensation of pain away, and started my slow march to the front. "Well then, shall we greet our guests?"

AN: Nelson wouldn't have needed much convincing to agree to escort Serika home with Suzumi's interlude loaded. So, her appearance in the attempt to kidnap Serika was fairly loaded since then.

This is the first time I've had to split a chapter in two because the original was significantly longer than I wanted. Not quite happy with my inability to compact things but, that's the way things go sometimes.

Thanks again to my friend for beta reading.