Darling in the Franx: Alternate Core

Chapter 18: Partner Shuffle; trials of Alstroemeria, Genista, and Chlorophytum.

Raven: "I'm still way too young to stop... well, to be fair it wouldn't be a bad thing, I was always thinking of... wait, that's for later, I still have a mission here!"

As he tried to get up, he felt a weight on his left side and looked towards Naomi who was waking up because of him...

Naomi: - Hmmm? Is it morning already? –

Raven took a quick look at the clock: - 7:50 actually... -

Naomi: - Why so early today, Raven? It is Saturday... -

Raven: "Damn... she even got that detail about me... should I tell her? *Tries to think of a reason to say no but remembers his promise to her about his burdens...*" - *Sighs* I had a weird dream tonight... remember what I told you about the LYNX Syndrome? –

Naomi: - I do... you said it meant to many... wait *gets alarmed* but you're so young! –

Raven: - Relax, relax! I'm not saying I have it... but what I dreamed of was unnerving... -

He then proceeded to explain her what he had dreamed, how he saw everyone's memories and how in the final moments he saw White Glint in his old version piloted by his mentor... and how that corridor seemed to be filled with memories related to the NEXT...

Raven: - And that's when I woke up... I don't know why but it felt familiar... like I knew about that place before... -

Naomi: - Could it be that it is something that was blocked? Like with Hiro? –

Raven: - No, it cannot be. First, I wasn't wiped, and those symptoms would be headaches, fever, and others that involve the body. The LYNX Syndrome is more about illusions, lucid dreams, hallucinations, and others of the mental nature. This one felt... like neither... -

Naomi: - You think so? Wait, you said you saw everyone's memories... including mine? –

Raven: - Yes... and to be fair, I already saw yours when we first linked together back at the bunker, remember? I just saw them with more detail... -

Naomi: - Oh... I see... -

She looked distracted at this, and Raven soon asked: - Is something wrong? –

Naomi sighed before she cuddled close to him and answered: - Is my 'sense' again... in my dreams too... -

"I was standing on a dark place with blue lights illuminating it in patterns that indicated it was a city in ruins... but it wasn't like any I had seen before. It wasn't in the surface meaning it wasn't made by human hands... and yet the designs I could see in the darkness closely resembled them... then the place went dark and a corridor light up right in front of me, guiding me to a room... as I walked through it, I saw weird contraptions of black and blue that at first looked humanoid but as I progressed through, I saw them deteriorate and becoming more beast-like until I realized that they became klaxosaurs! Klaxosaurs were literally Franxx at the beginning and that meant that SOMEONE had to pilot them! Before I could think more deeply into what I discovered... the lights turned off and the floor moved and that's when I realized that I was on top of one: it was a HUGE snake-like creature and looked intelligent like Wolfblade... and for some reason, I was calm as it took me towards another section of the caverns where I saw a white tree with black leaves... and as I looked at it, all of the leaves started to fall in big numbers until one was left but eventually, that one fell too. For some reason, I was saddened as I felt the tree was dying and that was when the serpent spoke to me through my mind...

Serpent: "The line of the ravens is dying... you two may be the ones that will mark its end... or maybe a new start... the fate of this war of millennia rests upon your wings... Jians... Soon enough, your big trial will come... and the world will judge you worthy of flying..."