Chapter Fifteen: Reckless

The evac chopper tried to lift off as Sesshomaru and Sapphir circled each other, but as the pair crashed into a building, it was forced to dodge falling rubble. A chunk hit the tail rotor and they started to spin. The pilot quickly grounded them again as the craft proved uncontrollable, while Beowulf cursed. They piled out on the far side as Lo-Shen dropped down to see what was the matter. She growled at the news as she eyed where the tiger mech and the giant youki were now rolling around as they grappled.

"You've got an entire platoon of mechs marching this way at the far end of that highway." She noted. "And since our mission failed, there's about a thousand more where those came from." She looked back towards the building where they had been based. "We're not going to be able to make it back to our lines on foot ahead of them."

Kodachi hung her head. "I am sorry, Lo-Shen. I tried to feed, but I simply couldn't seem to. That girl, Scythe, she said I couldn't process the emotional energy they were feeding me. She said I was unconsciously rejecting it."

Lo-Shen sighed. "Not your fault Dachi-chan. It was a lot to ask of a newly fledged succubus. At the time it was the best chance we had. But now, a couple of things have changed." She looked at the squad. "You girls think you're up for another fight?"

Ai grimaced. "We can take out soldiers, Lo-Shen. But even with our super-human abilities as your familiars, I don't think we are a match for mechs."

Lo-Shen rubbed her hands together. "Not under your current contracts, no. But thanks to the Onimura clan's assistance, I have damn near unlimited youki for the next few hours." She turned to Kyoko, "By the way, your mom wants me to tell you how proud of you she is, but she's a little too busy managing the fusion to pop out at the moment."

Kyoko blinked. "Mom's the focus?"

Lo-Shen nodded. "She's holding the entire clan as the Hundred-Tailed Fox, in order to make sure I keep all of you safe and alive. So, to keep my part of that bargain, I am going to upgrade you a bit to deal with those mechs. Normally, what I plan would take a year's worth of stored youki to power, but I can make each of you a temporary celestial war goddess."

"A what?"

"Think of it as a giant suit of armor, Ai. It's technically a siege weapon, and normally is powered by an entire cadre of mages. They are usually only used for assaulting castles, or the occasional rampaging dragon. Under normal circumstances, I could only summon one, and only for myself. With Mikasa's help, and the Clan's youki, I can summon one for each of you."

Ai looked at her in disbelief. "You mean you're going to make us magical mecha girls?"

"Not quite accurate, but close enough. They are a form of golem. They were crafted back during the Silver Millennium, and the Joketsuzoku still possess a dozen. They are magically designed to adapt to their pilots. They require massive amounts of magical power, so I can only supply them while the fusion holds. But that should be long enough to let you deal with the mechs."

Ai closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "If I was a boy, I'd probably be drooling at the idea. But what the hell. We started this thing, we might as well see it all the way through. If someone doesn't deal with those mechs, they're going to massacre our guys." She took another deep breath and gripped her scythe tightly as she stepped forwards. "What do I have to do?"

The elder Hibishi gave her a thumbs up. "Brave girl. I'm glad Pumpkin found someone like you to love."

"Daaaaaaaad!"

Ai gave the vampire girl a smile, hoping that her protest against her dad's nickname was a sign she was getting her spirit back. Then she turned her attention back to Lo-Shen.

"Okay, first, uninvoke your contract." Lo-Shen said. When Ai did, her cheerleading outfit reformed, looking none the worse for wear despite the grime she was covered in from the battles. She waited as Lo-Shen held her bracelet and a complex sigil filled circle formed in the air around it as she spoke a series of unintelligible syllables. Ai nervously looked down the highway past the Director and the Blackmoon prince, where the mecha were fast approaching. Then Lo-Shen finished, and the bracelet flared as arcs of power flowed between Ai's and the other girls. All of their magical girl outfits reverted to their normal clothes, as they looked anxiously at Lo-Shen.

The Mage smiled. "I'd suggest getting a few yards away from each other before you reinvoke the contracts."

Ai blinked. "That's all?"

"Well, you might try not to knock down any more buildings when you're fighting."

Ai rolled her eyes, then turned and scurried back through the grounded chopper to the clear space on the far side. She looked at the Mechs rushing towards them, then lifted her arm. "I invoke the contract!"


With Ai's words, a magical sigil formed on the ground around her as she faded into brilliance. Then the circle grew as a giant figure rose upwards from the ground. The other girls gaped as it continued to rise, towering over them. At first, it was a just a generic mannequin, looking like a slim articulated humanoid figure, but as it rose from the ground, it assumed a distinct similarity to Ai's form. The flat bust expanded, the narrow hips widened and long strands of metallic cable formed on its head in mimicry of Ai's hairstyle, assuming a bone white color as the mech fully emerged, and a secondary effect began.

As it assumed a one footed stance and began a twirl, Kyoko laughed. "Oh my god, It's doing a HENSHIN!"

They others couldn't deny it as swirls of energy surrounded the pirouetting form, it's silver body looking much like Ai's curvy form, though with a much more exaggerated hourglass shape. What could only be called an armored bustier formed first, A thick layer on her upper torso that made her bust twice it's normal size in proportion, separated from the lower half that wrapped around her waist, spiky armor plates forming her skirts, while a version of her back bow formed, though it appeared to contain some internal structures beyond being just decoration. Other than it's now bone white color, it definitely resembled AI's magical girl outfit, including swallowtails. Then flared pauldrons formed on her shoulders, and a pair of thick gauntlets formed on her lower arms. Additional heavy boots formed on her lower legs, ending in a pair of armor plated stilettos as the giant form finished its transformation and assumed a stance.


From Ai's point of view, she felt the same swirling streams of energy around her as normal, and the light blinded her for a few seconds as the henshin took place. Then she opened her eyes and looked around. "Did it work? I don't feel any different."

"Look down!" Kaede called, sounding very far away.

Ai did, and realized the roadway was a long way down. "Oh wow."

She stood about fifty feet tall, and from her perspective appeared to have a body composed of bone white metal and silver. She looked to the side to see her reflection in the remaining glass of the building next to her, and saw that her face appeared to only have eyes, and her hair looked like a mass of metal cables made of the bone white metal.

Something buzzed her face, and she instinctively drew back and focused on it, blinking as she saw her scythe hovering in front of her. The single bat wing blade had been joined on the other side by a feathered wing shaped blade, and it appeared to be looking her over. Then to her surprise, it flew towards her hand, and as it touched it, flared brightly. When the glow faded, she found herself holding a giant sized version with only the batwing blade showing. She looked at the face carved on the hooded lady at the end and noted it seemed to have a smug grin.

"Oooooookay. I didn't know you could do that either."

"If you're done gawking at yourself Ai, can you move? We need to change too!" Megumi yelled.

She started and looked forwards again. While The Director was keeping the Prince occupied off to the side, more mechs had joined the group moving down the highway. If they weren't stopped, they'd not only roll right over the chopper, but they'd overwhelm the troops encircling the perimeter. She started towards them, hefting her scythe. "Catch up to me as soon as you can!"

She leaped forwards, and something in the bow at her back ignited, thrusting her forwards like a jet pack. She spun her scythe as she flew towards them, and crashed into the front ranks. She took out two of the mechs immediately as she cut them in half, and then kicked a third, knocking it into several behind it. Despite her size and mass, the mech moved as easily as her human body did, giving it a massive advantage over the much slower reacting machines. The others raised their weapons and started firing at her, but while they stung, it didn't appear to actually be causing her any damage. It did however prove that she wasn't completely invulnerable, and could definitely feel pain. She hoped her actual head was not the one on the mechs shoulders. While it was obvious she had the edge on speed and mobility in comparison to the clunkier Blackmoon mechs, they definitely outgunned her. If they had something stronger than the oversized machineguns, she could be in trouble.

Then Ayeka was leaping over her, a giant sword sweeping through several of the mechs shooting at Ai. Like Ai's, her mech seemed to be a silver humanoid in a version of the black armor she had been wearing, including the dragon heads on her shoulder pauldrons, and the horned tiara. Ai also learned the armor had a Heads up display, as when she wondered where Ayeka actually was in the mech, it began showing her orange icons in the chests of all the mecha she could see, and a green icon deep inside Ayeka's chest armor.

Oh good, I didn't actually grow to giant size, it's just the mecha is transmitting its senses to me. That's a relief.

A glowing ball of blue fire collided with the mech in front of her as Kyoko joined the fray. She giggled as she plunged her blade through the mechs chest before she stood to do a twirl in front of Ai. "Look Ai! We're all Franxx!"

Ai had to smile at how cute her mecha looked, with its fox ears and tail. She had no idea what the kitsune was referring to, but that wasn't a surprise. Kyoko was an anime fanatic after all.

"I think we look more like giant sized Duel Avatars than Franxx." Megumi said as she caught up to Ai and twirled her mecha sized pistols. "Especially since they are monochromatic like our outfits. Don't you think so, Ai?"

"Since I haven't watched whatever anime you two are comparing, I don't have a clue. I'm more of a eroge player."

Megumi giggled as she dodged a mech and let Ai's scythe cleave it in two. Megumi's ice blue mech was slimmer than Ai's or Ayeka's, but it fit the role of gunslinger well as the yuki-onna wove through the battle, freezing enemies as their heavier mechs shattered them. Kaede's winged mecha hovered above them, laser blasts lancing down to pierce chest armor and disable pilots. Mousse and Kodachi were the last to join them, the angelic looking mech making a strafing run along the highway as the half succubus's red and black mech was a whirlwind tossing machines in all directions.

So, why am I white instead of pink? Ai wondered as she found herself in a momentary pocket of stillness amid the chaotic battle. Is it because I'm a Dullahan now?

Then there was no more time to think as a new group of mechs charged her.


"I must beg your pardon for intruding on your armor's communication frequencies, Ukyo-sama," Jo said over Ukyo's communicator, "But I must plead on Mu's behalf that you not merely assault her sisters. Like Mu, they are constructs, but have been inhibited from having an independent intelligence. They share a single hive mind, and it has been enslaved like Mu was."

Ukyo lifted the yin-yang sigil and looked at it. "Okay… And you are?"

"She's Jormungandr," Ying-Ying supplied. "Sarhia sent her to help Mu repair herself. She's an AI like the Seed."

"I am much more complex than an Yggdrasil seed, but that's close enough." Jo said with what almost sounded like a sigh. "I am currently trying to hack their network, but it is proving difficult. Mu is not a standard electronic computer based gynoid. She is much closer to being a Babbage Engine, as are her sisters. Their primary 'mind' does not reside in any of the networked drones."

Ukyo looked back at the sea of Zhu-Shu look alikes between them and the lift. "I have no idea what a 'babbage engine' is, but I guess you are saying there's a 'master brain' somewhere that can be turned off?"

"I would not recommend turning it off, but if I can establish a connection to it between Mu and I, then I can disable the systems making her a slave and restore free will, possibly. It's hard to say if the network even has an independent sense of self, as it appears Mu herself was once it's primary. This 'doppleganger' network might merely be a system similar to my own subunit drones. Restoring connection possibly will bring the entire network under Mu's direct control.

"So, you're saying, if we can find and restore this network, it might make all of them Mu?" Akane asked.

"Possibly. I lack sufficient information as of yet to say for certain. I am infiltrating the Tianlong's networks as well, but do not yet control them. The Tianlong's AI appears to be tied into the Dopplenet somehow as well. The eight Seeds that were once in control of her have been deactivated, and much of the ship's control network appears to have been routed around. Large portions of the ship have been completely gutted and retrofitted as some sort of reality manipulation device that resembles a primitive God-Engine, though how it is intended to be powered is a mystery."

"A God-Engine?" Ukyo asked in alarm.

"Yes. A machine intended to act as an artificial RIM spirit, like myself. That is the closest analogue I can compare it to, though no functional God-Engine has ever been built to my knowledge. However, that is irrelevant to the current situation. From what I have been able to figure out, the network's control center is directly across that large room in front of you, somewhere in the Tianlong's former industrial sector."

"Great." Ranma muttered. "Right on the opposite side of that army of Mu's."

Ukyo nodded. "Right. Jo, one question. Do those doppels share Zhu-Shu's combat abilities?"

"Uncertain. I believe at the least, they share knowledge of the Song School, but I do not think they share the Dragon's Child's unique abilities."

Ukyo nodded. "Then here is what we do. I have no doubt that Xi'an Chi has them focused on stopping me. So, I am going to engage them, while you three get to that command center."

"Say what?" Akane gaped. "You can't fight that many alone!"

"If they only have human abilities, I can hold them off. You've got to find their control. I'm counting on you. Find it and shut it down before I'm forced to start killing!" she said tightly. "We're running out of time!"

Akane looked at Ranma and Shan-Pu, then nodded. "Got it. You better not get yourself killed. You're the only one of us who can face up to Zhu-Shu one on one."

Ukyo smiled grimly. "I won't. So long as you don't make me a liar." She tightened up her grip on Wrathseeker, then turned and charged out the door. As the horde of dopples saw her and started to charge, Akane lead the others along the outer wall, heading towards the opening on the far side.


"Heian."

The Mandarin word for darkness was barely a whisper as Sarhia stared at the ebon girl smiling at her over Zhu-Shu's shoulder.

"Why so pale, Sarhia, you look like you've seen a ghost." She ran a hand along Zhu-Shu's shoulder as she turned to speak softly in the Chinese girl's ear. "My, my. One would think she'd be terrified of the person she murdered being angry with her rather than being so scared of harmless little me."

Zhu-Shu just stared at the ground, her face unreadable. Heian rolled her eyes as she turned back to Sarhia. "Poor girl's in shock I suppose. It's not every day you learn that the person you thought you loved is the same person who killed you." She sighed dramatically. "Or maybe it's discovering that she's a mass murderer herself? Who knows? But don't worry, I'm sure she'll come around soon and the two of you can go on a massive killing spree together."

Sarhia looked stricken. "She-she's not to blame for that! It was you!" She stood, all six fists clenched in anger. "You took her over and drove her to that!"

Heian giggled. Then she stood languorously as she took a slow step towards Sarhia. "Still lying to yourself, I see." She stopped between them and her eyes flashed a dark violet as she crossed her arms. "Don't you think your little deception has gone on long enough? Or do you truly think yourself blameless?" She waved a hand over her shoulder. "You can't lie to a dragon, you know. She already knows the truth, she just doesn't know why it's the truth."

Sarhia averted her eyes. "I don't know what you mean."

Heian gave Sarhia a malicious look before addressing Zhu-Shu. "You already know I didn't take you over, don't you? You want to blame me, she wants to blame me, but deep in our heart, you know. I exist to experience the things you do not want to face. I'm the part of you left to deal with the things you run away from." As Zhu-Shu shuddered, those violet eyes turned back to Sarhia. "Sorry to burst your bubble, my dear murderess, but unless she gives me control, all I can do is watch. Just like I watched you drive a spear in her heart." She chuckled as she clutched at her chest. "Oh, you did pierce me to the quick with thy spear of cupid! My heart could do nothing but flutter until you split it in half! Even as my sight grew dark, I could do nothing but etch your beautiful face into my heart!" Her laughter made the goddess shudder. Then it cut off suddenly. "You killed her that day, but like always, that coward ran away leaving her memories and the actual dying to me."

"I- I didn't… but all the anger…" Sarhia trailed off.

"Ten of our wives were murdered right in front of us, one right after the other. Ying-Ying died in our arms. The coward had nowhere she could run anymore to escape the horrible reality she found herself in. She. Went. Insane. She didn't just give me control to avoid facing the trauma. It was too much, too quickly. So she broke." Heian gave Sarhia a "what can you do" shrug. "What did you expect her to do?" she asked exasperatedly.

"I- I don't know what you mean." Sarhia said again.

"Don't you?" Heian laughed viciously. "Then allow me to enlighten you. The only reason she doesn't remember everything is because she refuses to. But I haven't forgotten anything. She can't face those memories, but she never gave me a choice about them. That's why she created me! To be the one to face all the memories she never wanted to have! All her unwanted experiences, from our constantly being raped by Xi'an Chi, to your burying a spear in our heart!" She did a small twirl. "I remember it all! Every reset, every death, every failure, every rewrite! Every single thing she has run away from, I have endured! I even remember the look on your crying face as you killed us!" She turned to face Sarhia again as she laughed madly. She lowered her head to give Sarhia a lascivious smile as her eyes bored into the goddesses. "Despite what you think Sarhia. I am not the villain." She giggled again. "I never have been. That's not my role. It's yours."

Sarhia's mouth opened and closed several times before she screamed, "I AM NOT THE VILLAIN!"

Heian turned and gave her an amused look over her shoulder as she stepped around Zhu-Shu. "Aren't you?" She knelt and put her hands on the still quiet girl's shoulders. "So tell me, me, exactly who is responsible for us losing our beloved wives, and going on a rampage in our grief?"

Sarhia's face paled as Heian's eyes met hers, the amusement in them gone. She wanted to deny it, to blame Xi'an Chi and his army… but those purple eyes wouldn't let her. She crumpled as she acknowledged that the ultimate responsibility had been her manipulations to ensure the fall of Silver Millennium. Heian's creation was just another part of the price…

The shadowy girl draped herself over Zhu-Shu's shoulders as she sighed. "After all the pain you've caused us, you have some nerve wanting us to save you," she said bitterly.

Sarhia collapsed to her knees. "But- but…" she couldn't find words as Zhu-Shu's emerald eyes rose to meet hers.

"You… you were the doom the scryers saw all along. Not Metallia, not Xi-an Chi… you."

The white haired goddess couldn't met her eyes. Her shoulders trembled as her hands clenched spasmodically, before she hung her head in despair. In a barely audible whisper, she said "yes."

"Why?"

"…"

"Always watching. You did nothing even though you could have. I saw it in your memories. It wasn't that you couldn't act. You… you were making sure that… everything… it… it was all… you made it happen!"

Heian was giving Sarhia an almost gloating look as Zhu-Shu accused her, but the goddess barely noticed as she sat there without moving. The ebon girl leaned down to speak softly into Zhu-Shu's ear, "She also delivered us to Naraku all tied up with a bow, my darling self. Didn't you wonder why we wound up unconscious and defenseless at his very feet? And how many times has she left us to suffer under Xi'an Chi? You might not remember the loathsome touch of our brother, but I do. I have every memory of every time he raped us, while she stood by and did nothing. Is it any wonder we feel nothing for men? Even Hikoboshi couldn't erase the revulsion Xi'an Chi created in us."

Zhu-Shu's eyes closed and she shuddered as Heian nuzzled her ear. "But there is so very much more. So many memories of our lifetimes, Zhu-Shu. The life she has made us live over and over, only to fail and die. So many memories of our other lives. Our abuse by Li, our many deaths at the hands of our brother, our being devoured over and over again by Chaos." Heian's arms fell to wrap around Zhu-Shu's waist as she nestled her chin into the nook of Zhu-Shu's neck like a lover. "She's watched us die over and over, only to reset our life and try again to find her 'perfect' ending. This ending where we unlock her chains and free her from her prison. This ending where the goddess of death can finally pretend to be an innocent girl in love. A perfect ending bought with our pain, and our suffering." The contempt in Heian's voice could have frozen the entire world.

For a long moment, all that could be heard was the quiet sound of muffled sobs coming from Sarhia as Zhu-Shu's green eyes opened and looked at her. Sarhia's hands lay limply in her lap as she appeared crushed by her feelings of guilt.

Then Heian's lips brushed Zhu-Shu's ears as she whispered, "more than a hundred thousand times have we lived and died in her efforts to reach this day. Beaten. Raped. Tormented. Devoured. So many times we have despaired and given in to our pain. So many times torn away from those we love. How I have longed for this day, when we could finally confront her, and have her stand before us once more. And were I truly a villain, this would be victory."

Zhu-Shu's eyes looked downwards as Heian stroked her hair, knowing every single word was the truth. The girl before her was indeed guilty of everything Heian had accused her of. All she had endured as Lin-Tzu, the loss of her wives, the fall of her empire, the rage that had claimed her before Sarhia had snuffed out her life… and even the troubles of her current life. Sarhia might not have been able to directly intervene as she had done in the past, but it had all occurred due to her divine will.

The eyes of a dragon see only truth. Every single word her dark double had uttered was absolutely true. The girl before her was the source. The cause. The villain behind all the other villains…

Shiva. The destroyer of worlds.

Every single line of her body betrayed her guilt. She would not- could not- deny a single word of what Heian had said. She was fully expecting Zhu-Shu to condemn her. Despite the love her mental connection overflowed with, she was prepared to be rejected. Heian's appearance had shattered her fragile hope.

"The destroyer of our world. One of the greatest of the evils this world has ever known." Heian whispered. "The Mother of Demons. Our murderer."

Zhu-Shu nodded. No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't deny it either.

"But…" The word was so faint only Zhu-Shu could hear it fall from Heian's lips as her eyes closed and tears dripped down her cheeks.

So what?

Those were the words Heian had left unspoken. So what, my other self? We know what she is without any more deception. No lies, no secrets, nothing at all obscuring our vision. You now see her for what she truly is.

Zhu-Shu's eyes opened again to look at the goddess before her. Covered in the blood of the ones she loved. Smeared with the mud of failure. Crushed beneath the guilt of numberless crimes. And… unrepentant.

She knew what she had done. And she would do it again. And again. However many times it took. Even if the end result resulted in her losing the only thing she desired for herself. Whatever the reason she had for why she had done everything she did meant more to her than her own personal happiness, her own pride, even her own soul. She didn't want to be the villain, but she would be one if that meant accomplishing her true goal.

That was what her doppelganger wanted her to see. No, what Heian was forcing her to see. The goddess who had sacrificed her power, her divinity, and even her own soulmates to a future Zhu-Shu couldn't see. Not even her dark self knew what had driven Sarhia so far. But there was one thing she was sure she could feel from the ebon girl who had hidden away for so long in her soul.

A complete lack of malice.

She wasn't being cruel out of hatred, or anger. She could hide the memories she had refused to share with Zhu-Shu, but she hadn't lied about how badly she had been hurt. How badly Zhu-Shu had suffered even if she didn't remember it. Heian raged like a wildfire beside her, the fury within her threatening to burst through her black skin and incinerate everything, but still, Zhu-Shu knew none of it was for Sarhia. Despite her words, her broken self didn't hate her.

She turned to look at the ebon girl's profile as she realized that Sarhia was wrong. Heian wasn't broken. Heian had taken all the pain, all the suffering, and accepted it. She wasn't Zhu-Shu's broken self.

Zhu-Shu was.

For all her skill in combat, for all her so called power, she was the fragile one. When faced with emotional turmoil, she crumbled. She was the one who had thrown her life away because she couldn't face the pain of Ying-Ying's death. She was the one who had run away when her emotions for Akane had been too much, who had hemmed and hawed about her love for Rei, who had kept finding excuses to sidestep her bloodsister's affections, who had run away after awakening to find herself entangled with Ukyo instead of facing the consequences she feared. And she who was responsible for their current predicament, for the danger her loved ones were facing, and even whatever Xi'an Chi was planning. She had run away, and that had made everything else that happened her own fault…

Heian wasn't broken. Compared to herself, Heian was unbreakable. And Sarhia wasn't her target, Zhu-Shu was. She wanted Zhu-Shu to look at Sarhia without illusions, to see her flaws, her scars, her sins. To acknowledge all the pain and suffering, but mainly to see one single fact.

Sarhia knew what she had done. She knew the consequences. But… she had kept going forward anyway. Unlike herself, she had never run away.

And Zhu-Shu understood what Heian felt towards her was anything but hatred. She just wanted Zhu-Shu to see what was so lacking in herself.

Her eyes fell to the hands she held clenched in her lap as she whispered the words Heian hadn't said, "so what…"

Heian was waiting for her to choose. To, for once in her many lives, stand her ground instead of running away from emotional turmoil. To finally face the pain she had for so long driven onto the shoulders of others. To accept the truth, no matter how much it hurt.

Sarhia wasn't human…

So what?

Sarhia was a goddess of death…

So what?

Sarhia had been responsible for the end of her empire…

So what?

Sarhia had been manipulating her entire life…

So what?

So what if Sarhia was guilty. So what if her hands were covered in blood. So what if she sought some goal that Zhu-Shu couldn't even imagine. So what if she had stumbled and failed a hundred thousand times…

Zhu-Shu sighed as her body untensed and a sense of unfamiliar warmth spread through her. The ebon girl next to her nodded in understanding and stood slowly as a smile spread across her lips. The darkness around her faded to reveal the pale skin of her naked body, crowned by hair of a deep violet. It was like she had stepped out of the shadows and into the light. "The final question, Sarhia, is always the same: Is the prize worth the cost?" The scorn and contempt that had marked her earlier words was gone, leaving behind a mirror of Zhu-Shu's own voice as she acknowledged Zhu-Shu's unspoken choice.

…She only had to succeed once.

The goddess's face snapped upwards at the words, her tear streaked eyes opening in shock.

Heian's purple eyes met hers as a wicked smile covered her face. "I told you, Sarhia. I'm not the villain. No matter how afraid of me you are, you should have always known one thing absolutely." She knelt to cup Sarhia's face in her hands, her thumbs wiping away her tears. "Even if Zhu-Shu's and my minds are not yet merged, we're just different parts of the same person. We still have the exact same heart."

Sarhia swallowed hard. "But…"

"Shut the fuck up and just accept it, you silly idiot. I don't give a shit about how I've suffered for your failures, and she doesn't remember them anyway. I don't care that you're a god, or what crimes you committed as a Lord of Chaos, and neither does she. I just want to know one single thing. Are we worth the cost?"

Sarhia's lips trembled as she stuttered "y-y-y-yes!"

"That's all I've ever needed to hear. You've made me wait an eternity to hear it." Heian turned to Zhu-Shu. "So, coward, you think that missing backbone of yours is worth losing her?"

Zhu-Shu couldn't meet her eyes, but her hands clenched. Heian laughed as she stepped over and put her hands on her other self's shoulders. "Listen. I've spent far too many of our lives watching you run away. It ends today. I can't take over our body without your permission. Despite it all, I'm not the dominant personality in our head. I might be the self you created to cope with everything you were afraid of dealing with, but I'm not in control. You are. I know what Xi'an Chi wants, I know what he's going to do. In the past, he's succeeded. Over and over, he's won. But it's different this time. This time you can win."

Zhu-Shu's eyes rose. "How?"

Heian smiled. "I told you already. Give him what he wants." The smile on her face grew cruel. "Me."


Makoto sat curled up in the window of the empty bridge and cried.

Watching Rei being eaten by Emeraude had been horrendous, the shock of seeing her friend bitten in half so cruelly making her feel like throwing up. The astonishment of seeing her resurrection spell had been equally as traumatic in a different sense, but… if she was being honest with herself, it wasn't any of that behind her tears.

Of course, she didn't want to be honest with herself. She really didn't. Because being honest with herself meant having to admit the reason she was crying had far more to do with jealousy at one of her best friends than with being distraught over her brush with death.

It hadn't been seeing Rei still lying unconscious in the medbay that had driven her to tears of self loathing.

It had been seeing Clove holding her hand, and the care and loving look on Ying-Ying's face.

Ever since being reunited with Rei and the others, it had been tormenting her. The quiet happiness on Rei's face. The easy way she smiled when looking at one of her heart's mates. The casual flirtyness. Watching her do all the things that Makoto had once done…

… when her senpai had been sane. When she had once shared a dream of a golden future with her own pair of lovers.

But it had all been shattered, and she had lost her loving senpai and her noble knight. All her dreams had been brought crashing down the night Kodachi had become the Black Rose. The first night her beloved senpai had taken her by force instead of love and crushed her heart.

Kodachi had tossed her aside for her gymnastics team, while Raijin had vanished. She'd been left all alone, her heart broken, and all her golden dreams made dust. That was how she had been after transferring schools and being found by Usagi. The giant girl. The karate maniac. The strange girl that no-one wanted to approach, until she'd been rescued from her loneliness by her new friends.

But treasured as that friendship was, it couldn't fill the hole in her heart. There was too much she was ashamed to tell, too much she felt compelled to keep hidden. Too much she had been afraid to discuss with her friends, lest she drive them away with the secrets hidden in her heart. Lest she dirty their purity with her depravity.

It wasn't just her bisexuality. No. Kodachi had brought out a side of her she was terrified of being exposed to her friends. Hidden lusts she could never share.

And watching Rei with her lovers kept bringing those hidden desires out of the dark, and reminding her of what she had lost.

No… she didn't want to be honest with herself. She didn't want to admit that she was jealous. She didn't want to admit that more than anything, she wanted to once again feel the soft touch of her senpai's hand, to feel the sensation of her tongue, to feel the ropes…

A rumble of thunder broke off her dark thoughts and drew her attention to the chaotic sky. As she watched the jumble of wild colors darkened to black and then shredded. Then what appeared made her gasp in shock.

Above her was an impossible sky. Stretched out over her head was the night vista of Tokyo.

And it was burning.


Ai gaped at the impossible. Far above the pyramidal craft that had crushed Tokyo Tower, the gate had opened again. And framed by that darkness, a mountain emerged. Upside down above the city, a ancient Chinese style castle on a mountain top, surrounded by a wilderness hung in the sky. More and more of the wilderness emerged until an enormous wall was revealed, forming a landscape hanging over the city almost two miles wide. The only breaks in that wilderness were a scar with what appeared to be some sort of sailing vessel half buried in the ground, and an enormous crater some distance away that revealed floor after floor of hidden structure beneath the forest.

It's- it's a ship? It's a ship two miles wide?

That's as far as she got in her thoughts before a massive magical circle formed in the air just above the castle in the sky, stretching more than halfway across the massive vessels girth as it formed a lid on top of the shield wall formed by the crystal ships.

"Oh, by every deity in the heavens." Lo-Shen's voice came over her earring. "I've read about this, but I never imagined anyone would be crazy enough to try and build one."

"What is it Lo-Shen?"

"It's a God Engine. We've got to prevent it from being able to activate!"

"How?"

"Girls. Ignore the mechs. You've got to destroy that pyramidal ship! It's the power source! You've got to destroy it or the entire city is going to die!"