This is the world of Shinga. Himemiko, a being with special powers, has vanished, ending peace throughout the world. The people of the non-human Gegga Tribes fight for unification. A group of enemies named after their leader, Finé, have demanded the Sacred Weapons of the Seven Goddesses with intentions of using a mysterious girl Runa, to be handed over, ending Shinga in a continuous turmoil.
◇◇◇◇◇
Dream:
"Princess..." A faint gentle voice called out. "Princess... you must wake up... You need to awaken Ichaival... To protect those you care..."
"Onii-chan...?" Runa opened her eyes, seeing her bangs blocking her view, but she didn't care. Her mind was in a daze. It was blank. She couldn't move. Her body felt like it was sinking in the darkness to the depths of its void. And when she came to, she saw a glowing red light, like a mini sun, shining in the distance.
It was then Runa realised the voice was female, and older. "No... You're not Onii-chan... then... Who are you...?" She weakly asked. She was drained. Mentally and physically. For some reason, the mana inside her was rather empty like her mind and soul. "Where am I?"
"Your death."
Runa's eyes held terror when she heard the voice. It wasn't the gentle woman's voice she heard before, this one was more malice, male and older. It was the voice she never wished to hear again.
"You may have destroyed me, but I will always be there in your nightmares." The familiar man declared. He floated out of the darkness, emerging into a figure he once was and roughly grabbed Runa's face, examining her features like last time. "No matter how far you go, or what measures you take to hide it, who - what you are will never disappear. Your true colours will surface someday."
Runa's eyes held terror but quickly turned into horror when the man's shadowed face, the beauty envied by many men, twisted and contorted hideously, replaced with the disgusting face of a black monster. His golden eyes going bloody red, his smooth silver hair turning white and growing longer.
"KYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
Dream ended:
'Runa's' eyes snapped open and her hands went to her mouth, quick to muffle the shriek of terror she let out. 'Her' eyes were filled with fear, the utter panic making her crumble. She shook, trying her hardest to keep quiet. She glanced to her left to see Hanbee fast asleep. The vampire stirred a little bit and Runa silently prayed that the man wouldn't wake up.
Hanbee hummed, his face scrunching in slight confusion before it went back to normal as he turned his back to his sister, curling up in his half of the blanket, snoring softly away.
Runa internally sighed in relief and pulled her hands away, keeping them in front of her. The memory stuck, blood on her hands, dripping past her fingers. Runa could feel 'her' eyes glowing, her mana oozing around her as she let out a loose whimper, her tears dripping down her cheeks.
Then Runa could hear the sound of fighting coming from outside, the running of soldiers with armour on, and the metal clinging against each other. She could somehow hear battle cries, pained roars and the stinging ring of metal on metal, but... it wasn't coming from outside.
No, it was in her head.
Vivid memories came flashing back, showing Runa the agony she went through. Even the voice's distorted words invading her ears. She blinked them away, fighting them, trying to return to who she was and where she was.
'I am not at war.' Runa reminded herself. 'I'm safe.' She clutched her head, trying to drown out the cries. 'They cannot get to me. They don't know where I am. She does not know where I am.' They were in her head, she could still hear them. They were loud, bellowing across her brain and she shut 'her' eyes tightly, her whole face scrunching up in pain. Runa even pressed her hands to her ears in attempt to block out the torturing sound.
She was scared. Her body was paralysed from the loud sounds of the screams and metal clashing one another. The screams of the people crying in agony, the yells of her father and sister to tell her to run away... Runa can't take it. She wished she had helped her family, who had fought for the sake of protecting others - but even though she thought that, Runa couldn't even stand at the time. And when she came to, it was already too late to change anything.
Flashback:
"'There is no such thing as an unchangeable fate', was what they told us."
Flashback:
'Why do we had to go through that?' Runa thought, something she had been pondering for years. 'We didn't do anything wrong.' More tears slipped as she removed her hands from her ears, which hurt from being pressed too hard, and brought her knees to her chest, burying her tearful face as she cried quietly through the rest of the night.
◇◇◇◇◇
The next morning...
Hideyoshi, Kanbee, Hanbee and the girls were having breakfast with the Sanada Army. Yuzuki sat next to Yukimura with Hideyoshi, Kanbee, Hanbee, Runa, and Stella like so. The four vassals of the Sanada Army and Nova sat before them, enjoying their delicious food.
Three days ago, Yukimura sent an urgent message to Hideyoshi, requesting him to come to Sanada territory regarding an anonymous tip he recieved. But he also told the vampire to bring Runa, since it clearly involved her.
Of course, Hideyoshi, being the curious monkey he was, was curious why the Sanada commander was urging him to bring Runa with him to the territory, only for a disturbing thought of how Uesugi and his army recieved an anonymous tip that somehow led them to the Goddesses to learn about their tribe's past, and what Faeries' real goals were.
And to find out if his suspicious was correct, Hideyoshi took Runa, along with Yuzuki, Kanbee and Hanbee with him to Sanada, and left Toshiie and Mitsunari to look after the castle during their absence. They arrived late at night, since they had to sneak into the territory to make sure Runa stayed out of the public eye, in case the Symphogear Wielders might be nearby.
"Thanks again for inviting us, despite showing up so late." Hideyoshi spoke, smiling at the Sanada commander.
"Anytime..." Yukimura returned the smile with his own."
"What a relief." Nobuyuki said, making the vampire turn their attention to him. "It would be worrying if the enemies attacked you on your way here."
"Yes, thank you." Yuzuki nodded. "It's all thanks to Hideyoshi-san, who snuck us here so quickly"
"I was the one who suggested on sneaking into the territory in the rain, though..." Hanbee complained with a small pout. The weather had been bad lately, so it was no surprised that it rained when the sun went down. But still, it was strange that the weather abruptly changed by the time they recieved Yukimura's letter.
"Hanbee." Kanbee said in a warning tone.
Stella sighed. "You sound like a kid. Geez, grow up..." She muttered under her breath.
Yuzuki smiled at him. "Oh, Hanbee-kun and Kanbee-san, thank you both as well."
"Since you say that, my ninja moves came in handy, right?" Sasuke asked, grinning.
"You're an idiot, Sasuke." Saizou said, causing the werewolf to pout at him with a scowl look. "There's no way your ninja moves could do a sneak up attack without making a sound." He smirked. "You definitely didn't do anything."
"What? Shut up, Saizou!" Sasuke griped.
"What do you mean, shut up?" Saizou snapped.
Kamanosuke yawned. "There they go again." He sighed before taking another bite of his food.
"My apologies." Yukimura smiled at the girls. "Sasuke and Saizou get along so well."
Immediately, the two werewolves turned to them. "We do not!" They declared at the same time.
Nobuyuki sighed whereas his little brother chuckled.
"See? They even speak at the same time." Yukimura said.
"We don't!" They declared again.
"They did it again." Nova laughed.
Yuzuki giggled at the seen whereas Runa stared at her untouched food.
"That's right, we have to decipher the note to find the Amalgam." Nobuyuki mentioned.
This caught the vampires' attention.
"Understood. Thank you." Kanbee replied.
Yuzuki blinked in confusion whereas Stella stared between the three Gegga Tribe members.
"So, where is it?" Hideyoshi asked, eager to see the clue.
Yukimura digged into his breast pocket and pulled out the piece of paper. He leaned over and handed it to Hideyoshi, who graciously took it.
The vampire opened it and his left brow twitched on how it was written. "You have got to be kidding me..." He grumbled.
"What is the matter?" Kanbee asked.
"It's written in that weird language." Hideyoshi held it to Runa. "Could you translate, Runa?" He asked.
"Hmph!" But Runa twisted her head in the opposite direction like a child was upset over one's mother.
"Oi!"
Stella sighed. "Give it." She snatched the letter and saw the same crest again. Her eyes narrowed before she opened the paper, seeing its contents.
Where trees stand tall, yet, cry alone, follow the path to head their moan. The earth that sings beneath the moon, peering earthward, never up, where butter's held within a cup.
When the Faery finished reading what was written out loud, everybody glanced at the Faery who served the Land Goddess.
"Hm?" The oblivious Faery stopped eating and looked up at them when she felt their intense gaze. "Yes?"
"What does the clue mean?" Everybody, except Runa and Kanbee, asked, unintentionally raising their voice.
"Huh? Oh... Ooooh! The clue merely encrypted the location of Terraria-sama's home."
"Terraria-sama's home?" Yuzuki wondered.
"She lives near the Hanging Gardens, right?" Stella asked. "Where the flowers hung in the trees?"
Nova eagerly nodded her head. "'Peering earthward, never up, where butter's held within a cup'." She quoted. "And what looks towards the earth...?" She inquired, having a cheeky grin on her face.
Hanbee thought about it and a light bulb lit in his head. "Oh! We don't look towards the earth, the flowers do!"
"I don't follow." Sasuke said when he did not quite catch what the vampire was saying.
But Nobuyuki does. "At the Hanging Gardens, there are flowers that produces on trees. And when they bloom, they are facing the earth."
"Wait, wait, don't those plants grow just outside the haunted forest?" Sasuke mentioned, freaking out a little.
"H-Haunted forest?" Hanbee and Yuzuki paled.
"How ironic." Saizou sneered.
"What was that?!" Sasuke growled.
"To think you'd be afraid of some dead trees." Saizou smirked. "And here you are chickening out, despite being a monkey."
"Who are you calling monkey?!" Sasuke griped.
"You heard me!" Saizou snapped.
"There they go again." Kamanosuke sighed before letting out a yawned.
"They are just rumours." Nobuyuki sighed, getting tired of the two's argument.
"But the clue said 'where trees stand tall, yet, cry alone, follow the path to head their moan'." Kanbee preminded. "It clearly stated that the place is beyond the forest."
"But it also includes about 'the earth that sings beneath the moon', so does that mean the moon needs to be out?" Hanbee pointed out.
"Then that's where we'll start." Yukimura said.
"No..." Runa spoke.
Everyone turned to her.
"I don't... want to... go..."
"Huh? You don't want to go?" Yukimura blinked in surprise. "But if we get it, we can protect everyone."
*Ba-dump!*
"The enemy wants a god-like weapon, we have to secure it." Nobuyuki pointed out.
*Ba-dump!!*
'No...' Blood splatters began to invade Runa's vision.
*Ba-dump!!!*
"We might learn something from the Goddess herself." Hideyoshi added.
*BA-DUMP!*
'No...' More blood splattered onto her vision.
*BA-DUMP!!*
"We have to go, Runa-chan." Hanbee gently insisted.
*BA-DUMP!!!*
"No..." Runa mindlessly blurted out.
*BA-BA-DUMP!!!!*
"Runa-san, please, we need your help." Yuzuki begged.
*Snap!*
Something snapped inside Runa.
*BA-DUMP!*BA-DUMP!!*BA-DUMP!!!*BA-BA-DU-UMP!!!!!*
"No... No...! No! No! No! No!! NO!!!" Runa lashed out. "I don't want to find and obtain the Amalgam! That thing is dangerous! You all don't understand a thing! I hate all of you!"
When those words were said, something broke inside the two armies. For some reason, her words really struck them in their hearts. They care for the girl, and when her angelic voice said those hurtful words, they thought they could handle it, but they were wrong. Runa's words really hurt them. It was as if her voice was hypnotising their thoughts into believing they can't survive without her. It was unbearable. Their heart felt heavy and it could just burst out of their chest at any moment.
Even Yuzuki and the Faeries were stunned, and hurt at the child's words.
Without giving much thought, Runa jumped to her feet, ignoring the wave of dizziness overwhelming her, and stormed out of the room.
"Hime-sama!" Stella immediately rushed after her.
"Runa-chan, wait!" Hanbee got up and chased after them, but stopped right outside the door and looked over his shoulders. "Um... You all go ahead to the Hanging Gardens. Stella-chan and I will stay to keep an eye on Runa-chan." He told. "Excuse me." After bowing respectfully, Hanbee left.
Yukimura was the first to snap out of it. "R-Right! And please look after the castle!" He requested.
After the awkward moment Runa created, the Sanada vassals and Toyotomi vassals made preparations with Yuzuki, while the commanders talked with Nova on the quickest route to the Hanging Gardens through the supposedly haunted forest.
And conveniently for them, the place was just beyond the town.
The two armies departed with Nova leading the way. The Faery sat with Yukimura as Yuzuki sat with Hideyoshi. The two commanders took the lead as the rest of the vassals followed behind. Travelling through the 'haunted forest' was... interesting. Just like Saizou said, the whole forest was made of dead, decaying trees.
The moment they reached they reached the edge of the forest outside of the castle town, the entrance to the haunted forest was nothing but dead trees. The place emitted a weird fog, that was green, but it never spreaded further outside the forest. And the deeper they went, they could hear strange moaning sound coming from the trees.
Nobuyuki explained that when Shinga was at war two thousand years ago, the haunted forest was what remained of the battlefield. They grew but never produced any living plants that not even the animals could inhabite. The entire place could be summarised as 'gory'.
Nova wasn't fazed. She had seen the place far too many times to be scary. She told them to take the next turn around the oldest tree in the haunted forest before they reached the exit.
A vegetative forest entered everyone's view, much to Yuzuki and Sasuke's relief, as they exited the haunted forest.
"Welcome to the Hanging Gardens." Nova greeted.
Just like the name suggested, flowers and other plants were hanging from the trees that produced them. Flowers, berries, leaves of many kinds, herbs, etc. It was a sight to behold.
"Wow, amazing!" Yuzuki was blown away at the beautiful sight.
"Isn't it?" Nova smiled.
"So where does Terraria-sama live?" Nobuyuki asked, bringing back the main topic at hand.
"There's an entrance to the underneath lands near the garden." Nova replied, hopping off Yukimura's horse.
"The underneath lands?" Yuzuki asked.
Nova nodded. "It is where the Earth Unicorn lives."
"The Earth Unicorn?" The Sanada Army questioned.
"Guardian of the rocks and the soils, and all the life that comes from them. After Himemiko-sama and the Gegga Tribes came to this world, the Goddesses, including Terraria-sama, went into hiding." Nova explained as everyone else got off their horses and tied them to a nearby tree. "Nobody has seen them for centuries, but she lives..." She led them to a large mouth within a large hill and pointed down to the dark tunnel, that was decorated with woven tree roots. "... down there. She is very powerful, connected to the earth itself. Terraria-sama sees and hears all."
"And she's guarding an Amalgam?" Hideyoshi asked.
Nova shrugged.
"Is this where you tell us you can't help us beyond this point?" Kanbee questioned, but already know the answer.
"All you had to do is talk to Terraria-sama." Nova replied. "That is, if she is willing to listen to you~" She sang before skipping down the tunnel.
"Do you think she'll listen to us?" Yuzuki asked Hideyoshi as they began to walk into the dark cave. A cave, of all places. Why can't the Goddesses settle in a place that wasn't creepy or dark. After all, Stacia lived on top of a summit with a dangerous path, but at least she was safe.
"No." The Toyotomi commander flat out answered. He smiled and pointed at her. "But she might listen to you."
Yuzuki had a nervous look as she took in the decor of the cave. It's beautiful, but rather gothic at the same time.
As they walked, the light to the entrance got dimmer and dimmer until they had to rely on their senses to not trip over the tree roots or bump into the cave's walls.
Yuzuki was frantically looking around, frightened something might pop out from one of the roots. She stayed close to Hideyoshi for comfort until she couldn't take the silence. "Is she... dangerous...?" She asked.
Nova, who was far ahead, hummed. "Who knows~? Terraria-sama is one of the protectors Shinga. She can crumble entire mountains with one stomp her hoof." Nova could still remember those times where people feared her Goddess' powers they had witnessed.
Kanbee was impressed. With that kind of power, taking down an army like Oda will be child's play.
Yuzuki shivered at the thought.
"That is dangerous." Yukimura muttered.
They continued to walk until Nova stopped all of a sudden, causing Yuzuki, Yukimura and Sasuke to bump right into her. But when the others caught up, they all gasped on what's ahead of them.
Before their eyes was a dead end with a large lump of soil dyed silver grey, decorated with vines that stretched out to the walls with glowing buds hanging from them, making it look like a royal bed made directly from the soils. The lights glowed as they were tinted gentle pink, giving a home feeling as the curled up roots gave accents as they were hung on the ceiling.
"It's a dead end!" Sasuke exclaimed.
"This is Terraria's resting place?" Kamanosuke questioned with disappointment. "We walked all the way here for this?"
It wasn't long until Nobuyuki's ears twitched. "Shh! Something is here." He cautiously walked closer to the 'bed' with his hand near his sword's hilt.
The others followed suit.
When they got close, Saizou sniffed the air. "Oh my, that is a beautiful fragrance."
"Fragrance?" Yuzuki wondered. 'Could it be perfume?' She took a sniff, but she didn't smell anything. 'Ah, it might be too dense for me to smell it.'
"Hm?" Nova took a whiff. "Ah, Terraria-sama's perfume. It is called 'Forest Eau de Parfum'." She said with an accent. "Very Psycho from the Valley of the Stars."
Nova's use of words caught Hideyoshi's attention.
The Faery sensed his stare and internally sulked at her mistake. But when the perfume got stronger, she knew who was coming. "Terraria-sama!" She called out.
A golden light came out from the soil bed and the little strings within it began to woven each other before they began to take shape of hooves. The light then further stretched into long fine legs, a tail made of wooden branches appeared, a peach body until a mane made of the same wooden branches, twigs and leaves appeared throughout until a beautiful face appeared with a horn, made of wooden branches, sticking out of its head, appeared.
(Appearance.)
Nova smiled happily as Yuzuki and the two armies gawked at the sight of the creature.
"That's her; the Earth Unicorn!" The hedgehog Faery clarified.
When the Earth Unicorn saw a familiar Faery, she smiled and walked up to her. A neigh erupted from her throat as the Earth Unicorn bent her neck to lay it on Nova's shoulder, hugging the Faery, she gladly wrapped her arms around her master's neck in return.
"As usual, she's a good little girl to have around." Hideyoshi quietly commented, smiling at their reunion.
But they weren't here just for the reunion. They need the Earth Unicorn - the Land Goddess, Terraria's help.
Nobuyuki urged the brown-haired girl to go talk to the mythical creature and Yuzuki gave him a nervous look before forcing her feet to walk.
When the Earth Unicorn saw Yuzuki nervously walking towards her and Nova, she separated from the Faery and glared at the human girl.
"P-Please..." Yuzuki stammered, stopping before the Earth Unicorn. "We only want to ask for your help."
But the Earth Unicorn wasn't buying it. She stomped her front, right hoove, causing the entire cave to shake. She began neighing very loudly, making comments she knows the Gegga Tribes and the girl couldn't understand. But alas, her Faery understood her.
Nova had a wry smile at her Goddess' comments. "Um... Terraria-sama, is there a need for that kind of language?"
"It makes you wonder what she said..." Kamanosuke whispered, yawning at the loud noise.
"We apologise for abruptly showing up in your home, but you need to hear what we have to say." Yukimura insisted, walking up to the creature until he stood beside Yuzuki, who was shaken up from the aura the Earth Unicorn produced. "Shinga's future depends on it."
The Earth Unicorn was stunned at their bravery. Usually, whenever past travellers or generals managed to find her, she easily scared them off. She had to say she was impressed.
"Please, Terraria." Nova begged, making her Goddess turn to her. "Hime-sama is not well, and is in need of your services."
This got the unicorn's full attention.
"That's right!" Hideyoshi spoke. "There's this enemy that's been trying to kidnap her for roughly over a month now."
"Hime-sama is broken." Nova added. "If she forced herself to kill them anymore, I do not think her heart can take it this time."
The Earth Unicorn - Terraria, saw the fear and sadness in her Faery's eyes. She was worried about this princess she mentioned. And the way how she described this girl's condition, Terraria could already tell the princess was mentally disabled and emotionally traumatised.
This was serious.
Terraria glanced at Nova, then at the Toyotomi Army, then Sanada, before circling back to Yuzuki before eyeing the Gegga Tribes once more. She gave them a nod. She was willing to listen.
Yukimura smiled in relief. "We thank you." He bowed respectfully, having his army and Hideyoshi's doing the same.
Hideyoshi stood straight and walked up to the unicorn. "This is what you need to know." He then began to explain the situation about Finé and the information they had about her plans. He then further went on explaining the troubles of the Noise and how it left massive casualties when they were unable to do anything. After all, unlike the Faeries or Runa - they do not donne a Symphogear.
◇◇◇◇◇
Meanwhile...
After placing fragments of agarwood on the ashes of the incense burner she brought forth, and waited for a a while, thin smoke slowly drifted from the burner. A strong fragrance filled the courtyard.
Runa stepped away from the burner and sat down on the floor before it, leaning her back against the rock behind her. The one of many that surrounded the koi fish pond she was at. The scent was was comforting, but it didn't clear her head. Or rather... doesn't need to.
'Yes... It's better that way.' The voice agreed with the child's daze thoughts.
'They're a bothersome.' Runa thought. She could put up with them for a couple of hours, but spending every grueling days with their discussions of war strategies, preparations and involvement that clearly does not benefit her in any way was extremely bothersome. 'They should just stay away from me.'
Runa rubbed her chest through her frills. It was the area where her only physical injury that never faded. The scar never faded no matter how many years had past. It was frozen in place as a constant reminder of what happened to her.
The scar appeared after the wound had closed, six months after Runa woke up from her coma. Apparently, the scar was placed as some kind of seal to protect the alternative for her heart, so that just about anything couldn't detect it. But having narrowly survive from the war, enclosed within her home for the past 10 years and made to devote herself to therapy, and training, Runa didn't know the details about the war going around in Shinga, and she had no interest in them either.
And yet, they involved her.
"Ah! I finally found you!" Hanbee's voice frantically exclaimed from behind.
Before Runa could even look over her shoulders, a pair of arms abruptly wrapped themselves around her neck from behind as someone's body was pressed against her back. The sudden force made her let out a yelp of surprise before tensing when she realised who it was.
"Seriously, I was so scared when you disappeared from everyone's eyes!" Hanbee exclaimed, weeping as he pressed his cheek against Runa's.
"..." The child didn't say anything or gave a reaction. She stayed in her place with an emotionless face she always had, that absentmindedly stared into the koi fish pond. When she feels detached from the world, she was like an imperturbable winter mountain. A winter mountain that quietly slept until spring, silent and unmoving.
Hanbee glanced at the incense burner, that was emitting thin steam and scented fragrance of agarwood filled the air, before glancing back at his silent sister. "Are you okay...?" He softly asked.
"I'm fine..." Runa whispered back, still not daring to look at her brother, who still had his arms wrapped around her.
Hanbee's eyes gently narrowed. He knew she was lying. "No, you're not. Not after what happened this morning."
"What do you want me to do? Idly agree with everything that monkey says?" Runa spat.
"Hideyoshi-sama wanted to create a world where everyone can live in peace." Hanbee explained, his arms tightened slightly. "A world Shinga should be, right?"
"..."
"If you cannot say your thoughts out loud, then you would rather let others say it for you?"
"I do not need to be around others." Runa bluntly stated.
Hanbee's eyes saddened at this. "If you don't need anybody, why do you stick around?"
"That is-" Runa turned towards Hanbee without thinking. She stopped what she was about to say before she turned back to the pond again. "I want to see what you all are up to."
"If you are... then why are you trying to push them away?" Hanbee finally asked, removing his arms from her neck and sat down beside her. The scent of agarwood was soothing and it cleared his head no matter the conversation they were having. Even if Runa was stressed her went into a panic, the scent helped to calm the nerves. Hanbee had to admit he was surprised to find Runa sitting near the pond with the burned incense beside her.
Her bangs shadowed her upper face as Runa let her arms limb dead on her side, giving her a figure of a living antique doll that's just sitting on a shelf, motionless. "Someone like me does not need to be around other creatures. We do not desire nothing. We must desire nothing, form no close relationships, and never abandon our duty. There is nothing for me to do. I cannot change Shinga's fate." Runa clarified. "With all the dignity of the consort, the Purebred Astral Mage shall maintain her silence in order to protect the secrets and prevent unnecessary harm." She then glanced at the vampire, who had been intently listening to her words. "We may hold a title but that was buried long ago. Once you have signed the contract, there's no turning back. If you go back on your words, it would be like you are betraying those who have saved you. They hold your life in their hands. If both parties do not agree to the terms to break it, the server dies."
"In other words..." Hanbee's voice was solemn. "... you suffer and die alone, no matter the cost. A Faery may be there to protect you, but it binds you to your duty without fail. You serve your master until the day you die."
"That is the Faery's objective. Being alone is the last option when one could not take it anymore." Runa coldly stated. It was rude and blunt, but she had to get it off her chest. Her lips were moving on their own, and she doesn't understand why she was telling Hanbee all of this. He already knows, so why?
The vampire glanced at her, feeling how her aura becoming colder and darker, more distant as if it was trying to erase Runa herself in order to leave an empty shell behind. However, Hanbee won't let it. Runa was the person who saved him, so it was his turn to save her.
"You do not want to be alone." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I don't want to be alone either. That's why I was really happy to be with you and Nee-chan." A nostalgic smile came to him. "Not only I get to live a happy life, but I also got a new family. I was really scared at the new change, too, but..." Hanbee smiled gratefully at Runa, the setting sun's golden colour elegantly bathed his features, polishing them perfectly. "...your smile showed me the warmth of that place. I was really happy I got to be your friend. And even more when I get to legally became your brother."
Runa was lost for words. She couldn't say anything. This was how Hanbee was feeling despite having amnesia? Even if the memories were gone, his heart reminded him. And when Runa thought of how amazing that was, her chest tightened. She felt responsible for his memory loss, yet, she was... happy? Happy that he still remembered fragments of the memories that was important to him?
"Have you thought about making up with the others?" Hanbee asked out of the blue.
"Huh?" Runa blurted out. He changed the topic so suddenly that Runa didn't know why he was talking about for a moment.
"You should reconcile with them." Hanbee advised. "You and Hideyoshi-sama are already at it, but making the others feel bad for what they said... You should have just say so if you didn't want to come from the beginning."
Runa answered after she understood. "We have no need to reconcile. Beside, your commander did not give me time to explain." She deadpanned.
"Even so, you shouldn't push us away. It will only disappoint you."
"It would be-"
*KA-BOOM!!!*
"What was that?!" Hanbee got up from his spot in spite when he heard the explosion. It was so loud his ears rang for a moment. It was close. Not too far from the castle, but far enough to cause little damage.
Then the shaking of armour was heard as the feet of a soldier pounded against the ground.
"Hanbee-sama!"
The siblings turned around to see w solider of Sanada came rushing over to and knelt down before them.
"Noise have appeared in the castle town!"
The two gasped at the news.
◇◇◇◇◇
At the same time...
The Toyotomi Army and the Sanada Army, along with the Earth Unicorn and Nova, who was riding on her back, were galloping at max speed through the haunted forest, before they rushed right into the regular forest connecting to the castle town.
*Beep!*Beep!*
A holoscreen appeared before Nova as the distressed alarm continued to ring. And when the Faery saw was causing the distress call, her eyes widened in horror.
"Noise are attacking the castle town!" She exclaimed.
Everyone gasped at the news.
*Beep!*Beep!*
Nova looked and saw Stella's relic readings have appeared on the screen and watched as it rapidly headed directly into the swarm. "Stella is going to fight them right now!" She reported.
"We need to hurry!" Nobuyuki stated.
"What about Runa?" Hideyoshi asked. If she's a Symphogear Wielder like the Faeries, then shouldn't she be down there to help? "Is she with Stella?"
"No... I am not picking up any readings from her Gears. It's possible she's not in the town yet, or..."
"Or?"
"Or she is forced to go into hiding or is refusing to fight."
"If that's true, we need to get there! And fast!" Yukimura urged and sped up his horse.
The Earth Unicorn neighed and increased her speed as the others did the same with their horse. They all could only pray they could make it in time before something bad happens. After what the vampires and Yuzuki have witnessed, Runa might likely be cornered and forced to fight. And if that happens...
◇◇◇◇◇
Meanwhile...
"Eat a billion bullets!" Stella yelled, firing her gatling guns at the Noise before her.
The Noise on the front turned into bullets and shot at the Faery, only to be turned into carbon when the bullets punctured their bodies. It wasn't long until the bullets shot the rest.
"Too easy." Stella smirked, lowering her weapons before she checked the nearby houses and stores, making sure all of the townspeople had evacuated to the castle.
"Stella-chan!"
The said Faery turned around to see the Takenaka siblings running up to her.
"You're late, you two." Stella scolded them right off the bat. "It would be bad if these Noise get to rampage freely. Who knows what kind of havoc they could cause if they escape."
"We're sorry." Hanbee said. "We'll make sure it won't happen again."
"Sorry to tell you, but there won't be an again." A voice identical to Stella's resounded the area.
Hanbee and the girls quickly looked towards where the voice came from. Down the street, the moon shined the way as a girl in a silver armour with purple chain-whips, which hang off each pauldron, walked out from the shadows, revealing herself.
The armour was silver and covered most of her body, a visor on her face and the undersides of her breasts. The purple chain-whips hung off each pauldron as her lavender hair hung loosely behind her.
Runa, knowing what the armour the girl was wearing, was in complete shock. "The Nehushtan... Armour...?"
◇◇◇◇◇
With the others...
*Beep!*Beep!*
The screen cleared to show a code.
Code: NEHUSHTAN
Type: Intact Relic
Nova and the Earth Unicorn was shocked, and surprised at the word that appeared on the screen. Nehushtan, the intact relic that was supposed to be sealed had a twin, appeared right in front of their eyes.
"Nehushtan?!" Nova questioned, stunned.
'Impossible. The enemy had one in their possession?' The Earth Unicorn narrowed her eyes at this.
"What's wrong?" Hideyoshi asked, speeding up to be beside the female creatures.
"We have to get there. Now!" Nova shouted in return. "Hime-sama might be in big trouble!"
◇◇◇◇◇
"Oh? So you know where this armour's from." The Nehushtan girl smirked, placing a hand on her hip. "Do you know who's wearing it, too?"
Runa glanced at her amethyst, seeing it glow before it transferred some data to Hanbee.
"Of course." The vampire smiled, taking a step forward in front of his sister protectively. "It is important to collect information regarding your enemies, right, Yuk~ine Chris-chan~?"
The Nehushtan girl, Chris, was taken aback that the vampire knew her name.
Suddenly, the sound of swords flying could be heard behind the trio, coming closer to them. In a hurry, Stella managed to dodge the flying swords that threatened to kill her as Hanbee managed to grab Runa, and get them out of the way, as well.
The swords hit the ground, creating a small explosion with a smokescreen where the three once stood. When it cleared, they got a good look on who attacked them.
The person who attacked them was a tall girl, around 18-19 years old, with long blue hair and dark blue eyes. She had a side ponytail, that was held by a white comb, on the left side of her head that was longer than the rest of her hair, which falls just above her waist and it was cut straight. She wore a black and blue bodysuit with a tight skirt wrapped around her waist, and white accents. She doesn't have much armour, but had long white blades on her ankles and matching headset.
(Appearance.)
"Ame no... Habakiri..." Runa rasped before she passed out. The impact of being pushed out of the way knocked the air out of her, and with her mental exhaustion, it only added her to slip further away from reality.
Hanbee glanced at the new enemy before looking down at Runa, who was beneath him, to see her unconscious. "Runa-chan! Runa-chan!" He called out, trying to wake her up.
"What? Just from that impact she's out? Unbelievable." Chris mocked, smirking at the site.
Stella glared at her copy and stood protectively in front of the siblings.
"Do not forget about your mission, Yukine." The blue-haired girl preminded, walking up to the lavender-haired girl. "She may be weak in this state, but don't forget what she did to our comrades."
Chris tsked. "I know. No need to remind me. I'm gonna take that kid to Master. Injured or not."
The taller girl smiled. "I see."
"It seems the Black Ichaival and Ame no Habakiri have finally showed their faces. How kind of you to come to us." Stella mocked, lowering her weapons. "Did you come here to torture Hime-sama, or to be tortured by her?"
The two Black Symphogear Wielders glared at her.
"Don't flaunt your power like you're a big shot!" Chris shouted, pulling out the Solomon's Cane from her waist.
"Oh my, your secret weapon right off the bat? You Wielders seriously can't do anything without it."
"Do not underestimate our powers!" The taller girl spoke, aiming her long katana at the Faery. "We, Kazanari Tsubasa, and Yukine Chris, will be taking that girl back to our master so she could create a world of peace."
"Where have I heard that before?" Stella muttered, getting sick of hearing that line over and over. It was getting old.
Hanbee helped Runa, who managed to wake up, but still woozy, and glanced at the Faery. "Be careful, Stella-chan." He told her. "Do you need any help?"
"You just make sure they don't get to Hime-sama." Stella responded. "Their top priority is to get the kid. They'll destroy the town to taunt her into fighting. Take her away and go into hiding if you have to."
Hanbee pursed his lips and looked at Runa, frustrated. He knows as well as Stella do that if they want to get out of this mess, one; they would use their Symphogears to fight Chris and Tsubasa, or two; one of them takes Runa and go off the radar.
Runa groaned before her dazed eyes saw the Faery and the duo in their fighting stance. And the sight brought fear and anxiety in her that caused her heart to race. "Don't do it, Stella!" Runa shouted, trying to get out of Hanbee's hold, but couldn't. "They're human! They're humans like any other people!"
"This is a battlefield! What's wrong with you?!" Stella and the Wielders snapped, glaring at the raven-haired beauty.
"Whoa, they're in sync." Hanbee stared at them with wide eyes.
The trio looked at each other in surprise, also. They truly were in sync.
"I think we're going to get along quite well." Tsubasa smirked.
"Let's have some fun!" Chris send a whip towards her enemies.
Stella dodged while the siblings lost hold of each other; Runa got sent flying to the town's forest entrance, while Hanbee quickly founded his footing, sliding back a bit until he was a couple of feet near a store.
At the same time, Stella, who was still in the air, unleashed a barrage of 24 missiles from the missile launchers that opened up at her metal skirt sides, towards the two Black Wielders.
Tsubasa leaped over to dodge and went to deal with the vampire while Chris merely used her whip to deflect the missiles. They all went crashing into the buildings near her, creating a big explosion as Chris smirked at the Faery, who narrowed her eyes that her attack was deflected.
Tsubasa did an overhead swing at Hanbee as she landed onto the ground, but the vampire dodged it. Tsubasa then started slashing at him and even used her ankle blades to attack, but Hanbee dodged them all as if he anticipated all of the Ame no Habakiri's moves and abilities.
At the same time, Stella was firing billions of arrows from her crossbows as Chris used her whisp to block and deflect a few bullets while smirking at her counterpart. She then used her whips to smack the ground in front of Stella like a lion tamer, and swung her other whip towards the Faery's head.
But Stella was quick to duck in time, only to get kicked in the stomach, sending her flying. 'Is this the potential of an unbroken relic?' She thought, having difficulty breathing from the pain in her stomach. She felt like she's going to be sick. And now Stella knows what it's like for Runa to feel nauseous after eating a meal.
"Don't underestimate the power of Nehushtan, okay?" Chris said, straightening her posture as the smirk never left her face. She was really enjoying beating her opponent up. "This is far from my best game!" Chris declared as Stella found her footing as she slided back a few feet. The lavender-haired girl leaped into the air and sent another whip attack towards Stella.
The Faery dodged and jumped onto a roof of a shop, but didn't stay long when Chris sent another whip attack. She jumped, watching the chain-whips break the shop in half from the whip's impact.
As Stella continued to dodge the barrage of whip attacks sent towards her, each attack destroyed more and more of the ground as one nearly hit Tsubasa and Hanbee.
The Black Ame no Habakiri and the vampire leaped in opposite directions to avoid getting hit. But Tsubasa took this opportunity to send a rain of swords towards Hanbee, but the vampire skillfully maneuvered his body into dodging them like he was dancing through danger. However, it didn't take long until he noticed, he and Stella nearly bumped into each other.
Chris and Tsubasa were trying to corner them into one spot, and do a simultaneous attack. And Hanbee, and Stella fell right into it.
"Stella...! Nii-chan...!" Runa hushly exclaimed. From where she was standing, she could clearly caught on, on what the Wielders were planning. Stella might be able to defend herself, but Hanbee won't have time to dodge or get his Gear out.
"Don't worry." Chris retracted her whip and pulled out the Solomon's Cane once more, aiming it at Runa. "I'll keep you entertained." She shot two beams at either side of Runa, and once the green beams hit the ground, four tall, duck-like Noise appeared.
Runa gasped, shocked and frightened on what just happened. "Th-Those are... Noise... She summoned them..." She whispered. She could feel her heart spiking every second her anxiety grew.
Hanbee did a backflip to dodge another attack from Tsubasa, and that was when he caught sight of Runa being cornered by the Noise. "Run, Runa-chan!" He shouted when he saw the Noise started walking towards her.
Runa didn't need to be told twice. She quickly turned around and began to run away, however, because of her weak constitution and clumsiness, she didn't get to go very far. She stumbled in her step and that's when the Noise spat out some kind of slimy substance from their beaks, trapping Runa in their web of slime.
(Like so.)
Runa tried to break free, but no vail. "No..."
With their eyes fixated on the captured girl, Stella and Hanbee took this opportunity to attack the Black Wielders. However, that wasn't enough when the Wielders managed to block their attack.
"Forget about us when you were busy?" Hanbee questioned, smiling impishly before he swiped his feet beneath Tsubasa's, making the girl lose her balance.
However, Tsubasa quickly regained her balance just in time to avoid a blade before using her arm to block Hanbee's leg when he tried to kick her in the face.
Stella kicked Chris in the ribs, sending the girl crashing into Tsubasa before she pointed her right crossbow at the Nehushtan girl. "And who's the sitting duck, now?" Stella joked.
Chris pushed Tsubasa off of her and glared at the albino, frustrated. "Get off your high horse!" She grabbed Stella's leg, lifting her up before throwing her to the ground like taking care a heavy bag of rubbish.
The girl threw the Faery so gard that Stella bounced off the ground twice before collapsing on her back. When Stella tried to get up, Chris arrived behind her and stomped her right foot on her head, holding her down.
"Don't get your hopes up, you beast!" Chris spat. "Nobody'd miss you!"
Stella gritted her teeth as she eyed her copy from the corner of her eyes.
Chris smirked at the Faery's position. "You seem to think you're the main character here. You're wrong. Our goal was to..." She jerked her thumb in Runa's direction, who was being guarded by the Noise Chris summoned and was still trapped by the slime web. "...abduct her from the beginning."
Runa's lips lined together as she suppressed her whimper. She hated it when she's being targeted. Because, when she's targeted, she puts other lives in danger than her own. Exchanging their lives for her own. Their safety for her own. It was always like that. And Runa hated to think that way.
"Stella-cha-!" Hanbee was about to help the Faery, but a silver katana was placed at his throat. He could feel the cooling metal against his skin as Tsubasa's presence was behind him.
"One move, and I will slit your throat." The Black Ame no Habakiri Wielder threatened in a low tone.
Hanbee pursed his lips as he glared at the Wielder over his shoulders.
"Is this all you can do to protect your comrades and yourself?" Chris taunted, having a deranged look on her face.
Stella narrowed her eyes. "Do you think I'll just watch? I swore I shouldn't!" She raised her right hand and summoned a large number of Noise towards the Nehushtan girl.
Not wanting to die, the lavender-haired girl jumped out of the way, having Stella doing the same before charging at her.
Both of them continued their clash through the town's main street, sending blows of furious attacks that created explosions whenever they collided, and can be seen throughout the battle.
Hanbee wanted to help, but due to his predicament, he could do nothing but watch. 'I could call for my Gear, but...' He eyed the blade, that pressed against his neck. One slip up, and he's good as dead. Hanbee glanced to see how his sister was doing, and saw she had a frightened expression as she was suppressing her sobs. 'Runa-chan...' His eyes softened. Hanbee wanted to help her. He swore he would. But right now, he could do nothing. 'If only Hideyoshi-sama and the others are here, then...'
*KA-BOOM!!!*
The next explosion shook the ground, creating a few cracks. Tsubasa and the siblings looked at the direction where the explosion came from to see a smokescreen. When it cleared, it showed the two copies in a deadlock.
"She's not just playing with me." Stella murmured. She could feel the power through their clash. Each contact, she secretly took a small portion of the Nehushtan's power to keep herself going. By absorbing its power, she can raise her fighting capabilities and keep her Gear intact. This was the second time she fought this long, and Stella was glad Runa supplied her with large amounts of mana for precaution. She can go all-out as much as she wants. "Her power is real."
"Do you really have time to think about that?" Chris questioned, seeing that her copy finally got the tip. "You don't!" Smirking, she broke the deadlock and tried to kick Stella.
But the Faery bent her back towards the ground to dodge and backflipped away. As she did, Chris used the Solomon's Cane again and shot multiple beams near the Faery. The beams summoned a bunch of Noise in different shapes and sizes, and they all rushed in to attack Stella.
The Faery raised her arm to block an incoming Noise's claw and used her right gun to shoot it, turning the thing into carbon. Leaping into the air, she transformed her crossbows into a pair of gatling guns and shot rapid-fire of billions of bullets at all the Noise, killing them. But she didn't stop there. Stella, keeping herself afloat, fired a line of bullets to the Noise she summoned, letting the golden rain hit them all. Including the Nehushtan girl.
However, Chris blocked it with her whip and sent the purple chain at Stella for another whip attack, only for the Faery to swat the chain away before doing an overhead swing. Chris caught the large gun with her hands and pushed the weapon away.
Chris tried to kick Stella, but she ducked and tried to slash the girl, only for her dodge. They then tried to elbow each other at the same time, only for their arms to block the attack.
Stella tried to kick Chris again, but the girl duck. The two went into hand-to-hand combat, throwing punches and kicks at each other. But since they were counterparts, their strength and skills were pretty much even. Stella dodged from Chris, and Chris dodged from Stella.
Having enough, Hanbee elbowed Tsubasa in the ribs, right where her lungs. When she gagged for air, he did a 180° turn on his feet and grabbed her arm, that had the katana, and threw her over his shoulders. And when Tsubasa landed on the ground, having her face facing the soil, Hanbee twisted the arm, he still grabbed onto, over Tsubasa's back, restraining her as he hovered over her, restraining her legs before doing the same with her other arm.
"Never underestimate our powers, right?" Hanbee smiled impishly at Tsubasa, who grunted and glared at him over her shoulders.
Hanbee's impish smile only widened. Locking her hands on her back with one hand, Hanbee reached over to the armour on Tsubasa's thighs and pulled out three throwing daggers. He glanced over to see the copies still at it at each other, and waiting for the right angle, Hanbee threw them at the Nehushtan girl.
Seeing the daggers, Stella kicked Chris to adjust the target in the right place.
And it was then Chris noticed the throwing daggers, also. "You gotta be kidding me!" She shouted, using her whip to deflect the daggers, not knowing one flew above her.
The Nehushtan girl then jumped into the air and created a large white energy sphere, crackling with black electricity within at the end of the whip.
Once it had gathered enough energy, Chris, who had a devilish smirk, fling the energy sphere towards Stella.
Stella gasped and used the width of her crossbows as shields to block the attack, however, the power was overwhelming.
"Stella!" The siblings exclaimed.
Stella struggled to keep up. Even if her feet were firmly planted on the ground, she was being pushed back. The attack easily overpowered her.
*KA-BOOM!!!*
The attack exploded, and having been directly beside it, the attack sent Stella flying before she harshly landed, heavily damaged upon impact.
Chris landed a couple of feet before the damaged copy, and snorted. "We done here yet?" She asked in a bored tone.
"I must admit... that I was done for." Stella admitted as she used her arms to push her upper body up.
Chris smirked.
"Although I see myself as nothing more than a sacred artifact that has a human form, it shames me to admit I survived back then." Stella struggled into a sitting position as she gripped her left arm to suppress the pain. "That's why... as a Faery of the Treasury of Babylonia of the Sacrea Universe..." Setting her left foot flat on the ground, Stella slowly stumbled to her feet. "... I will protect the person who has the purest heart with my existence!" She declared. "I will protect her from those who had been tainted by deception!"
"Stella..." Runa whispered, tears forming as she internally begged the Faery not to make such a promise. Why can't she just disappear right on the spot, get out of everyone's lives, and free herself from this misery she was forced to go through?
The smirk never left Chris' face. "Oh, really?" She wondered, doubting fully as she was confident that the Faery won't be able to beat her. "Give it your best shot."
"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPP!!!!" Runa screamed.
When Runa screamed at the top of her lungs, the starless sky cracked above them like glass, and shard of the place shattered. A golden light peered through and within the broken shards of the sky was an old stone-looking sword, that's just floating in the air.
Everybody stopped what they were doing and looked up to see the old stone-like sword in the air, with a golden light enveloped it.
Suddenly, pounding footsteps came from the forest and seven brown horses, with one peach, leaped out of the woods, and landed near Hanbee, who continued to hold down Tsubasa.
Nova looked up and her eyes went wide when she saw the sword. "That's...!"
◇◇◇◇◇
At the same time...
Finé smirked, as Hibiki, Maria and Shirabe, gasped when they saw the sword on screen.
"Durandal." The nuded woman said. "It is one of the few complete relics." A mischievous smirk displayed on her lips when she saw Runa managing to free her left arm off the Noise's slime before killing it with a punch. "My, this is an interesting turn of events. It seems the little one's voice has caused it to awaken."
"Impossible..." Shirabe stammered. How can Runa possess such an atrocious amount of Phonic Gain? Enough to awaken, Durandal? There's no way.
◇◇◇◇◇
"Durandal?" Tsubasa questioned when she saw the complete relic. She was surprised it showed itself.
"A complete relic?" Hanbee murmured, having a frustrated look as he eyed Durandal.
"Wow, what is that?!" Sasuke stared at the glowing sword in the air as he got off his horse.
"That's a sword, you idiot." Saizou sassed, getting off his own horse.
"It's glowing." Kamanosuke boredly pointed out as he hopped off his horse.
"It looked like a carved stone to be a sword." Nobuyuki observed, never taking his eyes off of it as he dismount from his horse.
"What ever it is, we can't let the enemies have it." Hideyoshi stated, getting off his horse also, as Yukimura did the same with his.
Chris eyed the sword before glancing at Stella. She caught her opponent off-guard by kicking her in the stomach, sending her sliding back a bit before Chris turned her body to face Durandal properly. "Is that Durandal?" Chris smirked. If she took control of the sword, she could fulfil her master's wishes and get praised. And with Durandal's powers, she can pay Runa back for what she did to her comrades. Dearly.
The thought made Chris jump towards Durandal and stretched her arm towards it.
Stella spat out the dirt that got into her mouth and gasped when she saw Durandal, with Chris reaching out to it. "Crap! She's gonna get it! I won't make it in time!" She gritted her teeth in frustration. It was frustrating that she couldn't do anything but watch as her counterpart was about to reach a dangerous weapon, that could turn the country into a wasteland.
Just as Chris' hand was about to grab Durandal's hilt, Runa, who came out of nowhere in her Gungnir form, tackled the Nehushtan girl away from the weapon.
"It's mine!" Runa exclaimed and grabbed Durandal.
The moment the raven-haired beauty's hand grabbed Durandal, the flow of the atmosphere changed from determinationaly violent to exclusionary perception. It was as if Durandal had turned everything inside out.
It didn't take long for the sword to envelope in its golden hue once more.
Runa lightly landed on the ground, holding Durandal with both of her hands as the aura on the sword brightened. As it did, she began to feel funny. Runa could hardly feel her hands. 'Her' golden zodiac-symboled eyes widened as if she saw something she shouldn't have. Her elongated fangs threatened to bare itself despite her attempts to hold them back. Even with her conscious was being consumed by a maddening void she was so familiar with, only this time, it was trying to suffocate her into doing its bidding. Durandal was transferring its energy into her. Or rather, its forcing her to send her atrocious energy into it.
Seconds later, a pillar of golden light bursted out from Durandal, blinding the entire castle town in its burning light. The pillar stretched so high, it was endless, as the light glowed brightly like an enormous candlestick.
The Gegga Tribes and the Black Symphogear Wielders' eyes widened in shock, as they momentarily forgotten how to speak. Only a stream of gasps escaped their lips.
Not even the Earth Unicorn and the Faeries could hold their shock.
The heat around the area rose dramatically as the pressure tightened that made breathing difficulty for everyone. Even if they look at Runa, they couldn't see her face since her upper body was blackened by the scorching light emitting from Durandal.
Runa raised the sword over her head as it continued to absorb energy, the sword of the stone version of Durandal expanded and changed from a stone sword into a golden sword with blue accents.
However, due to the overwhelming power of the now fully awakened Durandal, Runa couldn't retain her presence of mind. An unearthly-like growl escaped her lips as 'her' eyes turned red, along with her upper body got enveloped in darkness; Runa went into a berserk beast-like state.
"What power!" Hideyoshi exclaimed, awed at the power of Durandal he was witnessing.
"You can say that again." Nobuyuki blurted out. He was blown away by the tremendous power he was feeling from the sword.
"So this is the true power of Durandal?" Nova wondered, frozen in shock as she couldn't get off of her Goddess' back.
"Runa-chan!" Hanbee called out, worry and distress laced in his voice. When saw her in her berserk state, he feared Runa might try to destroy the town with everything and everyone in it without realising her actions. And when she comes to... he doesn't want to even think of the inevitable.
Tsubasa saw the vampire on top of her distracted, and used that opportunity to knock him off of her, by twisting her body so her back was on the ground.
"What the hell is she doing?!" Chris murmured. She was also surprised by the power Durandal was displaying, but it would be reckless to activate it, much less using its power to fight. Chris looked back at Tsubasa, who thought the same thing, before she saw on her visor, Finé smiling and admiring Durandal's power. Her master's expression brought forth rage within her chest as Chris was infuriated that Runa's voice activated the complete weapon instead of her. "Don't flaunt your power!!" Chris yelled, raising the Solomon's Cane at the child.
Beams shot out of the Cane's gem and Noise appeared before Runa to attack her. But the child merely took her time just to look back at the monsters with her red, glowing eyes.
The state of the child was in caught Chris off-guard.
An earthly growl voiced from Runa was unleashed as a purple glow emitted from her chest. From her scar. Ribbons of light entangled themselves around her arms, but they didn't stop there. They continued to recoil up to her fingertips and expanded onto Durandal, intoxicating the gold, warm light, into a cold, darkened waves of purple and red, that cursed all to the very depths of any living thing's soul.
The purple light died all the gold, spreading itself to the very top before crashing waves of red rings across the sky, dying the colour above in an abyss purple with each wave the power of Durandal, combined with Runa's Astral Energy, released.
(Like so.)
"W-What's happening?!" Yuzuki asked, frightened on what was happening. One minute, the pillar was gold and pure, but now its purple that looked very poisonous and evil.
The Earth Unicorn glanced at the older Takenaka, seeing the distress and panic in his eyes, and followed his gaze to see why; Durandal had absorbed Runa's Astral Energy to amplify its power and its light enveloped the younger Takenaka's figure. And because of that, she can't retain her presence of mind, and became a mindless puppet for the relic to control.
'Durandal took her power and now its powers have doubled.' The Earth Unicorn thought. 'If I am going to set her free, I need to get close to her.' Her eyes trailed up to the monstrous pillar entangled by the excess lights, and they narrowed at the state the child's in. 'That will not be easy.'
More unearthly growls and roars came from Runa as she slowly planted her left foot more on her front, with her right more on her back. With a firm grip on Durandal's hilt, Runa mindlessly pulled Durandal down, unleashing a ginormous slash, that extended to the end of the street. Not only that not only obliterated all the Noise before her, but destroying some of the buildings along with it.
Everyone else managed to escape their deaths by moving out of the way, before the light crashed in the place they previously stood.
Chris, seeing the power Runa displayed, finally got the hint now that she got to see why Serena, Miku, and Kirika died in the raven-haired beauty's hands. 'You're too strong to abduct... I...' She lost focus when one of the ribbon-like lights whipped her, sending her crashing into a line of buildings as more explosions defeaned the area.
*KA-BOOM!!*KA-BOOM!!*KA-BOOM!!*KA-BOOM!!!*
After the giant explosion occurred, the Earth Unicorn ran towards Runa, leaping into the air, shape-shifting into her human form and created an energy field to protect the now unconscious Runa from harm.
The Earth Unicorn - Terraria, in her human form, had bright green eyes and long blonde hair, that went halfway through her shins, as it was tied by a beautiful piece of fabric with a holy symbol on the hairband, with matching fabrics on her braided framed hair. Her skin was peachy pale as she wore a grassy-coloured jacket-like dress with slits reaching up just below her waist, with yellow and white accents. She wore a silver breastplate, with matching arsenals. Terraria wore thigh-high pale green socks with yellow accents and matching 2-inch heels. Her green sword rested on the back of her left hip as it dangled in a diagonal angle.
(Appearance.)
Now being up close, Terraria could see the scar on Runa's chest was still emitting a gentle purple glow as it went on and off like a rhythmic heartbeat. 'You're already...' Recognising the purity power of the Shénshòujìng's Amalgam, Terraria could only determine that it was trying to deceive the girl's heart. She glanced up ahead to see Stella and Nova working together to create a large energy shield, to protect everyone and their horses from Durandal's overwhelming attack.
When all the dust has settled and everything had calmed, the Land Goddess and the Faeries lowered their energy fields.
Shortly after, Runa woke up. However, having a large sum of her mana being taken, moving took all she had. But when she remembered the image she was in when Durandal took control, Runa's body shook, petrified as tears silently streamed down her face.
Terraria knelt down before her and gently placed her right arm around Runa's shaken figure as her left slided under her legs, carefully hoisting the child into her arms. "Shh... It's okay... Everything is fine now..." Terraria softly whispered, attempting to sooth Runa's nerves.
Runa, still in a daze, not fully aware who was carrying her, thoughtlessly grasped Terraria's shoulder, hugging the woman out of fear.
Terraria eyed the child with pity before glancing behind her to see what happened to the Black Wielders. Tsubasa, the Black Ame no Habakiri Wielder, was nowhere to be seen, but the Goddess could definitely spot Chris within the smashed buildings she got sent crashing into. The power of Durandal sent her flying a little far than Terraria expected; four buildings were split into two because Chris went flying past them and crashed into a small river further up the town, all beaten up.
Amplifying her eyesight, Terraria immediately took notice of the Nehushtan Armour had already began to regenerate itself. However, the cost for the Wielder was the immense pain she was feeling through her nerves when the armour tried to fuse itself to her. Terraria saw Chris' veins on her skin as the cracks on the armour closed themselves.
The faster the regeneration was, the more pain Chris feels. Her scream was all the proof the Goddess needs.
"It must hurt, right?" Terraria asked, drawing the teenager's attention. "The Nehushtan Armour may be a full intact relic, but it is actually very weak, defensively." She explained. "Its primary abilities instead lie in its infinite regenerative capabilities. While easily broken, the relic can completely heal itself within seconds of taking damage, and can regenerate from near-complete destruction. For offense, the armour is primarily equipped with a set of long chain-whips which hang off each pauldron. These whips are not exceptionally strong in battle, but can extend to virtually infinite lengths."
"Hey, why is Terraria-sama giving a lecture about the Nehushtan Armour to that girl?" Stella asked the Land Goddess' Faery with a questioning brow.
"This is Terraria-sama's way of scolding and warning Yukine Chris about the armour she is wielding." Nova responded, unsure herself on why her Goddess was rambling on about the armour. After all, it has been hundreds of years since they last seen each other, so her memories are a little hazy.
"Wielding the Nehushtan Armour is something of a gamble for the user, like yourself, as the Nehushtan's regenerative properties cause the armour to invade and start fusing with its user via any open wounds they obtain while wearing the armour. If this process is not halted, the armour will continue fusing with the wearer until it consumes their whole body." Terraria concluded, her eyes snapping to a certain whitish-blonde-haired vampire.
The Goddess' words seriously pissed off Chris to the core. "Are you trying to piss me off, you wannabe Goddess bitch?!" She snapped before grunting in pain at the Nehushtan's regenerative properties. Even so, Chris got up and did a whip attack at Terraria with the only intact chain-whip that wasn't broken.
Nova, doing her job, appeared in front of her Goddess and Runa, quickly crossed her arms to block the attack. Her invisible shield activated as electricity sparked when the whip hit it and retracted back to Chris.
"I'll beat that dumb little bitch!"
Something snap inside the raven-haired beauty. "That isn't my name!" She shouted, getting out of Terraria's hold, despite her protests.
"Huh?" Runa's sudden outburst surprised the lavender-haired girl.
"I'm Takenaka Runa, age 12! My birthday is February 14th, my birth stone is an amethyst, and my blood type is O-! According to my latest checkup, I'm 144 cm tall! I'll tell you my medical history if we get to know each other better!" Runa ranted, oblivious of the many dumbfounded expressions around her. Sure, she was timid, shy, secretive and clumsy, but there are times she can be bold, blunt and daring. And this time was one of them. "My hobby is helping others, cooking, singing, robotic technology creation, learning and discovering new Astral Arts and relics, and I love baozi buns filled with red bean paste and lotus seeds, I live for hugs as I love my family very much! Also..." Her eyes narrowed under her blindfold. "Just like you, I am not from this world!" Runa declared.
The child's declaration surprised those who were present.
Yuzuki's eyes were wide open. 'Sh-She's just like me?!'
Hideyoshi had a stupid face as if he misheard the girl. "She's from another world?" He wondered. "That does explain a couple of things."
"Did I hear that right?" Yukimura asked no one in particular, thinking he had misheard his friend.
"No, I heard it." Nobuyuki said, glad that he wasn't the only one losing his mind.
"Ooh, a different world from here?!" Sasuke exclaimed, eyes widened in surprise at the thought of it. "I wouldn't have imagined that at aaaaaall."
"But she doesn't seem to be lying either..." Saizou said, seeing no hesitation or deception on the raven-haired beauty's face. Then again, it was a little difficult to tell because of her blindfold.
"It sounds like a dream but it might be true, huh." Kamanosuke chimed in.
"What the heck is she saying?!" Nova exclaimed, panicking as she pulled her framed hair.
"Okay, did she finally snap, or what?" Stella let out a dark, hollow laugh. She's really going to have it from her master and her friend when they hear this.
Hanbee on the other hand, was freaking out. "Nope, nope, nope! Somebody please tell me I have gone deaf and did not hear my little sister admitting she is from another world! My sister is just delusional!" He frantically ranted, grabbing his head.
"Calm yourselves." Terraria told them. She didn't want to admit it, but even she was surprised the child would give valuable information to the enemy herself. Runa was brave, Terraria will give her that.
Chris herself was taken aback at Runa's declaration. "Wh-What the hell are you talking about?" How the heck did she figure it out? She nor the others had said anything about being from another world, much less receiving information about their target being from another place than their own, or Shinga.
Runa spread her arms out. "We're not like the Noise or the Gegga Tribes!" She stated. "We can understand each other if we talk! I want to talk to you! Not fight you! I truthfully do not want to fight anybody!"
"This isn't the time or place to be so naïve!" Chris shouted, lunging at the girl and began punching and kicking her as Runa used her arms to protect herself.
The child ducked when Chris came in with another kick, before spinning in her feet and kicked the Nehushtan Wielder in the stomach, sending her back to her original place.
"Let's talk! We mustn't fight!" Runa reasoned before coughing when her throat began to burn.
Chris gritted her teeth.
"We can talk, so we should-"
"SHUT UP!!!" Chris screeched.
Runa jumped at the sudden outburst
"People can't understand each other! We're not made like that! I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!!! I HATE YOU FOR BLABBING ABOUT STUFF YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT!!!!"
The sudden outburst of rage from the girl surprised the raven-haired beauty. Was that how she was when she lashed out? Taking her anger out on the Sanada and Toyotomi Army when she was so upset? Sure, she was mad, but not just them. She hated the idea of the Gegga Tribes fighting for the sake of a future they don't know the outcome of.
Runa thought that must be how Chris was feeling when she started talking about how they could understand each other. But she should have known better. People like Chris and her could never understand each other. She should just discard herself and just ignore what happened. At this rate, Runa does not think she cares what happened to them at this point.
Chris took a few deep breaths as she glared furiously at the shorter girl. "I was ordered to kidnap you, but I don't care anymore." She admitted, raising her hands to show her clawed armour. "I'll beat the shit out of you with my two hands! That way, Serena, Miku, and Kirika will be avenged! I'll reduce you to dust!"
"Not with me in your way!" Nova, in her Gungnir form, lunged at the raging girl, the thrusters on her back fired up, giving her tremendous speed. The gauntlet on her right hand extended to her forearm as she punched Chris in the stomach. The gauntlet closed back up upon impact and sent a shock wave through her power, enough to crack the Nehushtan Armour even more.
*KA-BOOM!!!*
Nova leaped out of the smokescreen, standing guard of the raven-haired beauty, who went silent and frozen still in her place like a statue, protecting her.
The smoke cleared to show Chris back on her feet as the Nehushtan Armour continued to slowly repair itself, causing more pain to shoot into her body.
'I need to finish this before she tears me apart.' Chris then looked at Runa, who began to ignore the situation in front of her. "Are you mocking me?! Me, Yukine Chris?!"
"I see..." Her legs gave out as Runa collapsed on her spot, not noticing how Terraria caught her before her impact became more painful. "So, your name's Yukine." She whispered, beginning to feel her eyes going heavy. "Hey, Yukine. Let's just stop this fighting. We're not Noise." She reasoned. "We can talk to each other. We can understand each other if they talk!"
But that only angered the Lavender-haired girl more. "You're pissing me off! Your lies are pissing me off! Your naïveté is pissing med off!"
Chris charged towards Runa, only for Nova to get in the way. Even so, the Nehushtan girl punched the Faery, who blocked it with her arms, followed by kicking her stomach, sending Nova crashing through two buildings. Chris then charged towards Nova again.
The Faery pulled herself together and stood up just as Chris jumped, and spin hook kick her, sending her back onto the ground.
Chris landed behind the vulnerable Faery and looked down at her armour, that's slowly regenerating back.
Catching herself for a moment, Nova picked herself off the ground, catching Chris' attention. "Chris..." The Faery murmured, giving the girl an empty face, void of all emotions, reverting back to how she was before she was given this personality she called her own.
"Take this! Armour Purge!!" Chris screamed, a blinding light enveloping her body.
Suddenly, multiple rays of light appeared, shrouding the lavender-haired girl as the Nehushtan Armour broke apart.
The fragments went flying everywhere. Terraria raised her hand and turned her palm upwards, summoning another energy field to protect her and the motionless Runa. She glanced over to see Stella did the same to protect the others as Nova had to use her unbreakable shield to block some of the fragments that were sent towards her. As for the rest, they all crashed into the buildings and grounds all over, destroying the rest of the place near Chris.
(Play video.)
Killiter Ichaival tron~
"What is this song...?" Nova whispered as she lowered her arms when she thought it was safe.
"What the heck is going on?" Sasuke questioned when he heard Chris singing in the distance.
Hanbee's eyes widened. He knows that Holy Chant. "No way! Don't tell me...?!"
When the smoke cleared, it revealed Chris in a coral green sphere with two rings wrapping themselves around her body.
"I'll show you the power of Ichaival!" The girl declared.
(Play video.)
◇◇◇◇◇
At Finé's mansion...
"Ichaival?!" Hibiki exclaimed, shocked that Chris was going to use her Black Symphogear.
"She's going to sing?" Shirabe questioned.
"She wants to avenge those who have been lost." Maria murmured, biting her lip for being a coward. She wished she could turn back time and did the same for Serena. Better yet, save her before Runa got the chance to slit her throat. However, it didn't take her long to realise one Wielder was missing. "Just where are you... Tsubasa?!"
◇◇◇◇◇
At the damage castle town of Sanada...
When the light died down, it revealed Chris in a different Gear, that's consisted of a black and red bodysuit with a metal skirt around her waist, having her chest exposed. Armour pieces and crossbows sat on her arms, over her shoulder-length dark velvet red gloves with matching thigh-high socks complimented her looks with matching black Mary Jane shoes. To finish off her looks, Chris had a dark red headset with black accents as a red shard was placed right at the centre of her collarbone.
(Appearance.)
"The bow of Odin... Ichaival..." Terraria mumbled as she take in the Black version of Ichaival, Chris now donned.
A gust of wind went thrashing into Nova's face, making the Faery use her arms to shield her eyes. When it calmed, she looked back at the Black Ichaival Wielder before her. "Chris... So you are the same..." Nova murmured. Seeing Chris in her new form, confirmed her suspicion of her being a Black Symphogear Wielder, just like the others. Her, using the Nehushtan might have been a ploy to kidnap Runa since it was an intact relic, unlike the ones the child wields.
"You made me sing." Chris growled.
"Huh?"
"You made me sing my song! If there's one thing I hate, it's singing!" Chris shouted.
"You hate singing?" Nova questioned, furrowing her brows in confusion. To her, it doesn't sound right. If Chris hated singing, then why don a Symphogear that clearly required you to sing?
Gimon...? Gumon! Shoudou insupaia (A doubt...? That's suspicious! An impulsive inspiration)
Chris began to sing as she extended her right arm, turning the gauntlet into a crossbow and did the same to her left.
Rokkan furu de kanjite mina (Feel it with all 6 senses)
Chris fired five arrow-like energy beams at Nova.
Zetsu! Understand? Konma san byou mo (Cut off! Understand? Come on, 3 seconds)
The Faery gasped and began running into the forest's direction to avoid the deadly arrows, that missed her, but to avoid destroying more of the town.
Se wo muketara Die (Die when you turn your back)
Nova had to move fast if she doesn't want to end up like the destroyed trees caused by the arrows, that went flying past her.
Shinjou...? Enjou! Goujou matorikusu (Feelings...? Burning! Stubborn matrix)
An arrow landed before Nova and exploded, sending the girl to the ground, giving Chris the opportunity to run towards her.
Futten piiku de kudake chire (Dispersed only that at the boiling point's peak)
Just as Nova got up and turned to face her enemy, Chris was already in front of her and kicked her deeper into the forest.
Motto (And more)
Motto (And more)
Motto (And more)
Motto (And more)
Motto (And more)
Break!! ... Outsider (Break!! ... Outsider)
Stella clicked her tongue. Nova isn't getting anywhere like this. "This is bad." She said, lowering her energy field. "If this fight continues, Nova won't last."
"Ain't there anything we can do?!" Yukimura asked, frustrated that they couldn't do anything but watch the fight play out. This was Sanada territory, and as the supreme commander of the Sanada Army, it's his duty to protect his people. And yet, Nova was doing the fighting as he stood aside with the others from a safe distance.
Kizu goto egureba wasurerarerutte koto daro? (Will I be able to forget all the wounds that pierce my flesh?)
Chris leaped back and transformed her crossbows into a pair of gatling tri-barrel gatling guns.
II ko-chan na seigi nante hagashite yarou ka (You and your childish justice, I'll rip it to pieces)
"Hey, aren't those the same guns you use, Stella-chan?" Hanbee asked, bending forward to get a better look at the black version of the gatling guns.
HaHa!! Saa It's showtime (Haha!! Come on, it's showtime)
The gatling guns began to rotate as they began to fire billions of bullets at Nova, as Chris had a dangerous aura, like a wild beast roaming the badlands.
Kazan no you satsubatsu Rain (A rain of blood like a volcano)
Nova began to run in a full circle, leading Chris to unintentionally follow her as she dodged the bullets, watching them easily destroy everything they hit.
Saa omaera no zenbu (And now I'll blow you all off)
Zenbu (And you)
Zenbu (And you)
Zenbu (And you)
Zenbu (And you)
Zenbu (And you)
Chris then opened up the missile launchers at her sides and fired a barrage of them towards the running Faery.
Hitei shite yaru... (All too tiny pieces...)
Sou hitei shite yaru (All too tiny pieces)
Nova dodged them the best she could by running away, but it wasn't enough. Multiple explosions emitted around the Faery as Chris continued to fire her guns just as reassurance the missiles got the Faery.
After a while, the Black Ichaival Wielder stopped firing to catch her breath. Her eyes fixated on the smoke, just like everyone else's, and once it cleared, they saw a gigantic boulder in place of what supposed to be Nova.
"A boulder?" Chris blinked in confusion.
"An Astral Art." Terraria corrected, her hand still extended in their direction before lowering her palm in a command for the boulder to sink.
And it did.
Behind the boulder revealed an unscathed Sacred Hairpin of Terraria in human form.
Gritting her teeth, Chris began firing another round of bullets.
Bigaku...? Hagaku! Rasetsu insutouru (Aesthetics...? Breaking outta school! Ramming installed)
Nova did acrobatic movements to avoid the bullets as her barrier blocked any bullets that threatened to pierce her body.
Kirei goto ga niottenze (Everything smells beautiful)
Metsu!? Delete&Delete! Sugatte miro kokoro kara Stomp head (Destroy?! Delete&Delete! Wait, hold on and stomp ahead heartily)
"No matter the variety of form or attacks you throw, my barrier will block them all!" Nova informed as she did a tuck and roll move to dodge a bullet, that aimed for her chest.
Hakai...? Zenkai! Banshou kuraishisu (Destruction...? Completely destroyed! A Bansho crisis)
But Chris didn't listen.
Otona toka... shinjirareru ka? (Adults... can you believe it?)
Zutto (All together)
Zutto (All together)
Zutto (All together)
Zutto (All together)
Zutto (All together)
Love... Unknown (Love... Unknown)
*Ba-dump!*
"Do you want to protect everyone?" A familiar voice asked. "The power of Ichaival's Amalgam."
'Why...?' Runa never asked for it. She didn't want it. And yet, it is being given to her.
Itami no shurui ga fuete yuku dake darou? (Will the types of pain just increase?)
Nova lunged over to Chris and punched her in the chest, sending her crashing into a tree.
Nukumoritte mono ga shiritai dake nano ni... (I just want to know what warmth is...)
When the dust cleared, Chris began to randomly fired at Nova, catching her off-guard.
HaHa!! Saa It's lesson time (Haha!! Come on, it's lesson time)
"Whoa!" Nova stopped to avoid herself running into a tree as her barrier blocked another set of bullets, that came for her back.
Ryousei no you misairu Party (The meteor is like a missile party)
Nova then appeared behind the lavender-haired girl and tried to slash her with her lance, but Chris ducked to avoid the lash.
Saa oshiete kure ai wo (Come on, tell me love)
Nova took this opportunity and hit Chris' guns with the hilt of her lance, causing the girl to stumble back.
Ai wo (Tell me love)
Nova vanished.
Ai wo (Tell me love)
Ai wo (Tell me love)
Chris frantically turned her head to look for the girl.
Ai wo (Tell me love)
Shiawase toka donna aji nanda...? (What does happiness taste like...?)
Nova reappeared behind Chris again and had her lance against the girl's neck.
Kizu goto egureba wasurerarerutte koto daro? (Will I be able to forget all the wounds that pierce my flesh?)
'This bitch...' Chris glared at the Faery from the corner of her eyes.
Dattara namida nante... jama na dake nano ni... (If so, the tears... they're just a hindrance...)
"Nova!" Terraria called out, gaining the Faery's full attention. "Be careful! She's..."
"I know!" Nova got the message. Chris was a trained Wielder, so her backing down so easily would be a joke. 'But where is that other Wielder?!' Nova had been running around to find Tsubasa while keeping Chris busy, but the Black Ame no Habakiri Wielder was nowhere to be seen. Was she hiding? What was she waiting for? An opportunity to grab Runa?
"Damn it!" Chris used her right gatling guns to shove it into Nova's stomach, swating her away before leaping into the air.
HaHa!! Saa It's showtime (Haha!! Come on, it's showtime)
Staying up in the air, Chris did another rapid-fire round of billions of bullets at the Faery.
Kazan no you satsubatsu Rain (A rain of blood like a volcano)
Nova dodged the best she could, but tripped over a rock she didn't see, stumbling to the ground in the process.
Chris then opened up the missile launchers on her sides and fired a barrage of missiles from where she was falling.
Zenbu (And you)
*KA-BOOM!!!*
Zenbu (And you)
*KA-BOOM!!!*
Zenbu (And you)
*KA-BOOM!!!*
Zenbu (And you)
*KA-BOOM!!!*
Zenbu (And you)
*KA-BOOM!!!*
Hitei shite yaru sou... (All too tiny pieces...)
Chris landed and looked at the mess she made before her, that shrouded in the smokescreen, with Nova somewhere in the pile.
Hitei shite yaru (All too tiny pieces)
"Nova!" Terraria gritted her teeth, but knowing what the girl was, she would be fine.
Chris smirked as she lowered her guns. "That takes care of that." Then a frown took over. "So much for your help, Tsubasa." She turned around to see the Gegga Tribes had their swords out and was ready to charge at her. This brought the smirk back. "Which weapon is better? Gun vs swords." Chris pointed her guns at them.
"Lower your weapons." Terraria told the armies, earning looks that thought she might be crazy.
"But!" Hideyoshi protested.
"You will not last even 10 seconds with someone like her." Terraria stated, her voice holding authority. "I will say it again. Lower your weapons."
With frustrated looks, the armies reluctantly put their weapons away.
Chris' smirk widened. "Good, now hand over the kid." She pointed her gun at the Goddess, who had been holding the motionless beauty in her arms.
"No." Terraria bluntly refused.
"You think you have a choice?" Chris laughed at this. "Goddess or not, you are going to hand her over to me."
"..."
Chris stared at Terraria before a devilish idea popped into her head. "You may risk your life, but I doubt you'll..." She then pointed her left gatling gun at the brown-haired girl. "... risk hers."
Yuzuki gasped, shivering in fright.
Hideyoshi and his vassals quickly stood in front of her in a protective manner.
Chris looked back to see the Goddess had widened the distance between them when her head was turned. Runa was being supported to stand as her bangs shadowed her upper face.
"You are strong, I will give you that." Terraria said. "But-"
*Bang!*Bang!*Bang!*
Stella zoomed in front of the Toyotomi commander, and blocked the stream of bullets with her barrier, watching the air in front of her spark whenever a bullet got more than six inches from body.
"Hand the kid over. Now!!" Chris commanded, her patience growing thin.
But Terraria didn't responded. She merely gave the lavender-haired girl an impassive look.
(Play video.)
Killiter Ichaival tron~
"What?!" Chris gasped.
"This song..." Terraria looked down at the child she's supporting.
"Is she crazy?!" Stella shouted, her eyes widening as she looked in her master's direction.
"Don't do it, Runa-chan!" Hanbee pleaded, panic was in his eyes. If Runa continued to kill the Black Wielders, she's going to break. Hanbee doesn't want her to be more broken than she already was. The deception of the Shénshòujìng's Amalgam power would just make it worse.
But it was too late.
Chanting the last note, a flash of bright bloody red light manifested from Runa's chest. Her clothes had been converted into nothing by the bloody red light, shrouding Runa within its light, her hair swaying everywhere, covering her naked body from everyone's view.
The Gegga Tribes' eyes widened and they immediately looked away. All of their cheeks went red with blushes.
As she opened 'her' eyes, they were turned into a chaotic mash of rainbow in her hue. "People like you are a pain..." Runa whispered, her voice converted into two as if she wasn't the only one talking. "I asked you nicely, yet you continued. This place really is not the time for people to understand each other."
"What? Blabbing on again, are we?" Chris taunted, smirking as she pointed her guns at the child.
Runa merely huffed. "I'll show you the real power of Ichaival!"
(Play video.)
In place of her frilly dress, Runa donned the Ichaival Symphogear. However, just like any other Gears she had donned, they all looked more advanced than the regular Symphogears that had come to light. Runa's Ichaival was consisted of a red-themed bodysuit with white colour schemes. She had a two layered front open skirt with a butterfly-shaped metal skirt around her waist, down to her thighs, decorated with red and gold diamond-shaped jewels. She wore thigh-high white socks with red accents and matching Mary Jane red shoes. Thrusters were on her back waist with four light pink/red wings, two on each side, sprouting out of it. She wore long white and red gloves with fingerless shaping under her red wristbands, and a matching red and white butterfly-shaped headset. Lastly, a small red pendant was placed as at the centre of her collarbone with long, magenta pink butterfly-like wings sticking out.
(Appearance.)
Hana wo kusuguru Gunpowder and smoke (The smell of gunpowder and smoke tickles the nose)
Runa placed her hands on her chest and pulled out two, red and white pistols from her body. She pointed them at Chris and began firing bullets, each engulfed in red beams.
Jarara tobikau Empty gun cartridges (The clatter of empty gun cartridges)
Chris merely jumped in the air and began countering with her gatling guns, firing them at the child.
Akai hiiru ni mihorete ukkari kazaana hoshii yatsu wa kyoshu wo shina (Anybody who's in love with the sight of my red heels and wants a bullet in the brain, raise your hand)
The ground not too far away from the lavender-haired girl shook, and Nova plunged right out. She immediately saw the two Ichaival Wielders at battle and raised her fist to punch from behind.
Chi wo nagashitatte kizu ni nattatte (Even if I shed blood, even if I'm hurt)
Just as she landed, Chris took notice of the Faery's presence and used her gun to block the incoming fist.
Nova gritted her teeth before leaping over to Runa's side.
Toki to iu nano kaze to nakama to iu kizuna no basho ga (The winds of time and the bonds I have with my companions)
At the same time, Runa transformed her pistols into a pair of gatling guns of her own, and didn't hesitate to fire at Chris.
Itami wo keshite kasabuta ni suru (Will erase the pain and turn it into a scab)
Chris countered the bullets with her own rapid-fire, each one hitting head on with each other. No bullet grazed each other. Runa's bullets disintegrated Chris'. Even the slightest contact dissected them when they were slightly off course.
... Attakee! (It's so warm!)
Chris saw this and grinned her teeth in frustration. "Eat this!" She retracted her guns and pulled out the Solomon's Cane from her waist, pointing it at Runa.
Ima wo hyakunijou paa de ikite ikya ii (Just live your life at 120%)
Beams shot out of the gem and Noise appeared before the child.
Chris kepted the Cane pointed at Runa, commanding the creatures to attack her.
Sou surya chittaa mashi na kako ni mirai wa itsudatte kono te ni aru (If you do, a better past and future will always be in your hands)
The Noise turned into bullets and shot towards the raven-haired beauty.
Runa raised her hands, hundreds of thousands of black thorns appeared above her, creating an ominous cloud before she lowered her arm to the Noise, commanding them to devour the monsters.
(Fire!)
The thorns zoomed across the battlefield and collided with the bullet-shaped Noise.
Gimon? Gumon daa! (A doubt? A stupid question!)
Nova took this chance to lunge at Chris.
(Fire!)
The lavender-haired girl snapped out of her shock when she saw the Faery coming at her.
Aisatsu muyou (No need for introductions)
"You bitch!" Chris hissed, raising her gatling guns and fired billions of bullets at the Faery.
(Fire!)
Nova gasped.
Zenshin kyouki no (My whole body is a weapon)
But Chris wasn't finished. She fired missiles from the missile launchers that opened up at her sides, sending them all directly at the stunned Faery.
Namari dama wo kurai yagare (Time to eat the ball with the lead)
"Nova, run!" Terraria shouted.
The Faery didn't need to be told twice. She ran into the woods to lessen the damage as she summoned large boulders from the ground, to let the missiles hit them to lessen the impact.
Zandan kara ni Hyaha shitara (If you run out of bullets)
*KA-BOOM!!!*
Runa glanced back at the forest.
Gou de bokoreba iitte koto daro? (It's okay if you go and beat yourself up, right?)
"You think by having someone can help you?!" Chris questioned, lunging at the distracted girl and kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying a little.
Jikan genshu surya rouru wa nee (There are no rules if you're punctual)
Just as Runa was about to crash into the ground, she transformed her Gear into a large cannon-like armour, filled with guns, missiles, and rockets, to launch an omnidirectional barrage of red beam at her surroundings.
Kousei e to kakko tsuke misero (Show off to future generations)
*BOOM!*BOOM!!*BOOM!!!*
The red beams crashed to the ground in the immediate area, creating small crates as others went flying into whatever remains of the broken buildings in the area, obliterating them to little bits and pieces. Even the Goddess and Stella had to protect the armies from getting blown into piles of meat.
Se de katare (Speak on your back)
Five missiles got a direct hit on Chris, sending the girl flying off the ground before landing and rolling across the rough surface.
Seichoutte no wa owari nante nee to (There's no end to growing up)
Chris coughed as she pushed herself up a bit. She turned back to see the advanced Gear on the raven-haired beauty, who only recieved minor injuries as she floated in mid-air. "What the?!" She gasped at how little to no wound the girl had. She was practically fresh as a daisy!
Paisen zura kamaete (As is I am a senior)
*Ba-dump!*
'Kill her.' The voice told the child.
Kouhou demo menchi kitte yare (Even if it's a black gun, cut it off)
'Shut up!' Runa, who wasn't thinking straight, fired another round of her omnidirectional barrage attack at Chris. Only this time, she used her telekinesis to focus the attack on her enemy.
Ato ni tsudzuke yo saa hiyokko domo... (Continue after me, come on baby boy...)
Chris got up and jumped into the air, firing her own missiles to hit the red beams, instead of them hitting her. However, a beam slipped past the missiles and hit her left shoulder, cutting her skin open deep enough for blood to seep through.
Paati da! (It's party time!)
The pain pushed the Black Ichaival Wielder back a little and stopped her from blocking the incoming beams.
The beams all hit Chris' body, hitting the central nerves on her arms and legs, causing her to fall to her knees from the pain.
Kako wo koeta kyou ni atashi wa tachitai (I surpassed the past to stand to this day)
Runa retracted her barrage Gear and charged towards Chris, and punched her chest, causing red sparks to emit upon impact.
The attack sent Chris crashing through a window and landed back outside the building, when Runa yanked her body back with vines. When she got up, pain shot through her chest that she had to hold it before punching the ground.
"Damn it!" Chris cursed.
Buppanasu baretto no ketsu wo motte (Blow up the bullet and keep holding is my responsibility)
Runa casually walked towards the broken buildings just as Chris got up, and started shooting at her with her crossbows. But the energy arrows did nothing to Runa. Or rather, they didn't reach her body. When they got close, around four feet away from her, the arrows hit an invisible barrier that electrocuted upon impact.
Torigaa hikutte koto wa souiu mon da (That's what pulling the trigger is)
But Chris didn't give up. Her sides opened and launched the missiles at Runa.
*Ka-boom!*
A small explosion happened once it hit Runa's barrier.
(Fire!)
"How's that bitch?!" Chris smirked.
Chakudan ten ni (At the point of impact)
However, when the smoke cleared up, Runa was just standing there with no damage taken. She didn't even bothered to block or move the attack. She just took it head on.
(Fire!)
"Is this all you've got?" Runa telepathically asked, boredom laced in her tone.
Kisu wo suru made (Until I give you a burning kiss)
"You've got to be kidding me!" Chris exclaimed, surprised, but her rage being fuelled up even more.
(Fire!)
Ai wo komete ute (Shoot with love)
Chris charged towards Runa and fired her gatling guns at a close-range angle, but once the bullets were inches away from the kid's body, they disintegrated.
Yaru tame ja naku mamoru tame ni (Not to do love, but to protect)
Runa flew into the air, and did a flying sidekick as her right leg was engulfed in flames.
The young Wielder hitted Chris and sent him crashing through one of the town's buildings, reverting her back to her regular clothes, that was deep dark red dress with puffed shorts, and black accents, making her look like she's from the victorian era, as she rolled onto the ground.
When she stopped, Chris struggled to find her bearings to move.
Toki ga tatsutte no mo warukunee mon da na (It's not so bad that time passes)
However, once Runa landed back down, she felt an immense surge of pain from her right leg. It felt like curse marks have burnt their away onto her skin, forcing themselves to show and recoil around her leg, down to her ankle right up to her thigh, once it touched the ground.
Hitori dake ja wakaranai (I don't know if I'm alone)
Runa flinched, kneeling down to hold her leg, her face scrunching in pain.
The child's pain did not go unnoticed by the others.
Ikiru imi wo toikake aeru (We ask about the meaning of life)
"People died because you failed!" Chris yelled. "Just die already!" She summoned a pinkish-looking Noise with a bunch of balls covering its back, at the child.
Naite nanka inee mada owacchai nee (Don't cry, it's not over yet)
Runa glared at the pinkish-looking Noise through her pained expression, as it lunged at her just as it unleashed a bunch of balls from its back. 'Her' eyes widened when she realised it had the ability to detonate the place with the balls it had just unleashed.
And all of them are all flying straight at her.
... Attakee! (It's so warm!)
*KA-BOOM!!!*
"Runa!" Everybody exclaimed, while Chris smirked at her victory.
Tsunaida te wo hipparu kurai nya natta (I've come far enough to pull along the hand that holds my own)
However, when the smoke cleared at the place Runa was last seen, it showed the raven-haired beauty had been protected by a golden cocoon that enveloped her, as she took in a red Amalgam dress.
"What?!" Chris exclaimed, shocked.
The others were flabbergasted, as well.
Massugu erabou Futurism (An honest, foolish futurism)
The Amalgam dress was consisted of a red and white open front skirt dress with black accents, and black diamond-shaped tight shorts. Small gold gems were set on her shoulders, elbows and on her front waist. A golden pad with a sunflower jewel rested on her right hand. She wore thigh-high white boots with red accents and magenta pink butterfly-shaped headset over her ears. To finish off her looks, Runa had a magenta pink butterfly-shaped jewel decorated on her chest with a shard rested at the centre of the butterfly.
(Appearance.)
Kasaneatta rekishi ga michishirube ni (The histories that came together will guide us)
"The Ichaival's Amalgam?!" Terraria exclaimed, shocked that the child had gotten possession of the weapon she was supposed to be guarding. How did she get her hands on it?!
"Impossible!" Nova exclaimed, stunned also.
(Fire!)
"But it's still a weak point for you!" Chris had summoned more Noise, that does long-range attacks, and ordered them to attack the girl.
Saidai shutsuryoku (Output to full)
Runa clapped her hands together before raising her right hand, that held the golden padding, up above her head. The jewel on the back of her palm activated as the sunflower transformed into a large feathered-like fan, that's enveloped in a golden hue as some of the 'feathers' fall around her; Runa's entering Imago Stage.
(Like so.)
(Fire!)
And when the light died down, the feathers gathered to form a gigantic red bow with a golden armour, decorated with magenta pink jewels, in Runa's hands.
Shoujun kuria (Locked on)
Runa formed an arrow and placed it on her bow, aiming it straight at the Noise that were coming for her. She pulled back the string with the arrow's tail, and fired a powerful beam of red light with the arrow enveloped in it.
(Fire!)
The arrow rushed across the battlefield vigorously. It flew through the air, creating wind, and hit the Noise, who all turned into bullets. But the arrow didn't falter or lightened after the impact.
Kaihou buttobe (Let it go, let loose)
Terraria looked closely and saw a small gold diamond right at the tip of the arrow. "She's putting the Reflector at the front?!" She exclaimed, surprised at the tactic the child pulled.
The arrow shot right through the Noise, destroying them all and directly hit Chris.
Zenbu nose wo kurai yagare! (Take everything that I've got!)
*KA-BOOM!!!*
At that moment, The scream echoed from the depths of the earth, shocking the air and piercing the skin. A stormy gale blew through, rocking the whole area.
A tremendous roar rang out. Not a roar, but a moan. It was the screaming of one's last moments. Chris was screaming at the intense pain from the arrow that pierced her heart.
And it finally died down.
The screams disappeared.
Everybody lowered their arms, they had used to prevent them from going blind, and stared at the remains of what was left of Chris, stunned.
The ground where Chris once stood was burned through, having smoke rising from the centre as something shimmered against the light.
It was her pendant.
Runa casually walked over to it. Sparks flailed around her as her expression looked dead, making her look like a dead body was walking with no goal in mind, only proceeding to walk in an endless cycle of no consciousness. Runa bent down and picked up the pendant. She stared at it before she was about to turn around, when suddenly two Noise came spiralling down at her, missing her by a few inches.
"..." Runa stared at them with an impassive look, sweat trailing down her face as her heartbeat bellowed in her ears.
A third one was about to hit Runa when Hanbee sent out a blue fire stream of talismans at the Noise, destroying it.
"Are you okay, Runa-chan?" Hanbee asked as he ran to her.
"Yes..." Runa gave him a small nod, causing more sparks to flail around her. "But... why...?"
Hanbee looked at her as if she just asked a stupid question. "Why wouldn't I help you? Protecting my sister is my duty." He smiled.
"..."
"Looks like this mission was also too much for you." A familiar voice interrupted, echoing throughout the area.
Everyone tensed.
"It seems not even Chris could live up to my expectations."
"Where is that voice coming from?" Nobuyuki wondered, having his eyes peer around the damaged section of the town.
Yukimura looked around before he peered up, and saw a figure among the trees. "Over there!" He shouted, pointing to the forest.
Everyone looked towards the direction Yukimura pointed and saw a woman with long blonde hair, dressed in black, and was holding the Solomon's Cane in her left hand.
And soaring above the woman were three pterodactyl-like Noise, spinning in a circular motion.
"Finé!" Hideyoshi exclaimed, glaring at the woman.
Stella formed her Gear and pointed her crossbows at the woman. "What are you doing here, Finé?" She demanded. "Did you come here to take Hime-sama yourself? Or came to spread more havoc in the Sanada territory?"
But Finé sighed in absolute boredom instead of answering the Faery's questions. "I have no business here anymore." She said, seeing as the Amalgam have been taken.
"What do you mean?!"
Finé didn't say anything. She raised her free hand and her palm glowed.
All the pieces of the Nehushtan Armour began to glow the same pale blue colour, before turning into light particles, floating in the air and gathered in Finé's hand.
The woman then turned towards everyone and raised her glowing hand at Terraria.
The Goddess was about to draw her sword if it wasn't for the light beside her gained her attention. Looking down, Durandal that was left beside her glowed and bursted into light particles that went over to Finé for her to absorb.
Terraria's eyes widened when she realised what Finé was after. 'If she couldn't obtain the Amalgam of Ichaival, she would take Durandal as its substitution?!' Her eyes snapped back at the woman just in time to see her raising the staff, commanding the Noise to attack.
The Noise tightly wrapped their wings around their bodies and started spinning like spinning tops, and headed towards the group.
"Time to go, Tsubasa." Finé said, turning her back to the group.
"Yes, ma'am." Tsubasa's voice rang out from behind the two armies.
"Kyaaaahhh!!"
Hideyoshi snapped his head behind him to see Tsubasa restraining Yuzuki with one hand, while the other had her sword at Yuzuki's throat. "Yuzuki!" He exclaimed, shocked that he didn't see the Wielder.
Tsubasa narrowed her eyes. "Come any closer and the girl dies." She threatened, placing the blade right at Yuzuki's throat, blood drawing through and slipped down the blade.
Hideyoshi gritted his teeth, holding back his temptation from the sweet smell of the brown-haired girl's blood. He stepped back and remained in his place just to control himself.
The other Gegga Tribe members had to do the same.
Tsubasa smirked and, holding Yuzuki under one arm, she leaped over to her master's side.
When Tsubasa landed on a branch lower than her own, Finé pulled out a tube filled with a red liquid and smashed it with her fingers.
The liquid dripped and dispersed in the air. An alchemic symbol appeared and the two woman leaped onto the symbol, vanishing the moment their feet touched it, with Yuzuki along with them. Her cries resounded before it muffled into nothing, and became nothing in the air.
"Damn it!" Hideyoshi punched the ground, frustrated that he let Yuzuki be taken. "YUUUUUUUUZZUUUUUUUKIIIIIIIII!!!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, bursting all of his frustration out.
And with all that going on, Runa raised her bow, materialising another arrow made of pure energy, and fired it at the three pterodactyl-like Noise, successfully killing them all into carbon.
And, as his sister dealt with the ones in the air, Hanbee took care of the pinkish-looking Noise that survived by burning it with his talismans.
However, after firing another attack, the Amalgam dress started electrocuting Runa, causing her scream in pain as she dropped her bow. The electrocution became so powerful that the electricity began to strike her surroundings.
"Runa-chan!" Hanbee called out.
"Whoa!" Sasuke leaped out of the way to avoid being electrocuted. "What's happening?!"
"Something is wrong." Nobuyuki observed, seeing how Runa grabbing her chest in agony as she collapsed to her knees. The red sparking electricity won't stop flailing around. If they spread, a fire might break out.
◇◇◇◇◇
At the same time...
The Sanada figure stood within the trees and saw the situation. "This is bad." They muttered, eyeing the problem with conflicted eyes. They would help, but that would mean they had to make their presence known. "Damn it...!" They punched the tree they're on, creating a dent caused by their pale hand.
◇◇◇◇◇
Hanbee was stunned at what was happening. It looked as though Runa was having problems controlling the Ichaival's Amalgam's high output power and now its going berserk with her as its core.
"Runa-chan!" Hanbee called out once more, internally begging for her to respond.
But Runa remained unresponsive. Only mere groans and hisses of pain slipped past her lips as she tried to minimise the pain in her chest. But that hardly did anything as her body temperature began to rise. Her blood was about to boil as the electricity around her became more wide for Runa to contain, to the point she had to plant her left hand on the ground to keep herself upright, while the other stayed on her chest, gripping it as her scar grew gold scabs, that sprouted like a contagious virus.
Hanbee tried to get close to help, but the humidity coming from Runa's body caused his skin to sizzle as the electricity was too frazzled and dangerous for him to get close. His eyes widened, gasping as he saw Runa's face scrunching in pure agony as the red electricity's light blinded her figure, grinding in and out like a heartbeat. It was too dangerous to get close without getting burnt or electrocuted alive.
Even so, Hanbee doesn't want to abandon Runa like this. "No! Runa-chan!" He tried to get close to her again, but Stella appeared and got in his way, pushing him away from his sister, who was in immense agony.
"Don't!" Stella shouted, standing between the siblings to stop Hanbee from doing something stupid. "You'll get a lot worse than a burn!"
"But Runa-chan...!" Hanbee tried to push past the Faery, but Stella had a firm grip on him. Now of all times to be born with not a lot of physical strength was a bad timing.
Before anybody could do anything, a burst of electricity sent them all flying back while destroying some parts of the forest and was remained of the broken buildings.
*KA-BOOM!!!*
"RUNA!!!/HIME-SAMA!!!" Everybody screamed.
Once the smoke cleared up, the Gegga Tribes, Terraria and the Faeries saw Runa's figure had been enveloped in a water barrier. She was back to her regular clothes, but she wasn't wearing her blindfold. Her entire body was covered in bruises, electric burns, and blood oozing out of 'her' eyes and mouth. Sparks of electricity still sizzled around her and even smoke was coming out from her body.
As the smoke cleared up more, Izira and Twyla were at a distance of either sides of the child. Their hands were extended to the girl as their palms were glowing pale blue, being the culprits of creating the water barrier to minimise the explosion.
"Izira?! Twyla?!" Terraria exclaimed, blinking in surprise.
"What are they doing here?" Nova wondered, landing beside her master when she heard the explosion from the forest. Heck, she got electrocuted from one of the electric tentacles.
While the Land Goddess and her Faery pondered, the Gegga Tribes were in shock at the sight of the Water Goddess and her Faery.
Both Izira and Twyla slowly lowered their hands, resting them to their sides just as the water barrier broke, dispersing and splattered to the ashed ground. Most of the water above the child splashed on her, cooling her body down as the water vaporised from the heat.
At the same time, Runa slowly collapsed to the ground, no longer able to support herself as Hanbee and Stella rushed to her.
Hanbee got onto his knees to see Runa struggling to keep herself conscious. "Runa-chan! Runa-chan!" He called out. "Hang in there, Runa-chan!"
"Oi, dummy! Just hang on!" Stella told her, reverting back to her regular clothes as she knelt down beside the panicked vampire. "Help is already here!" She looked over to Runa's chest to see the gold stones growing out of her like a bad skin infection. 'What in the world...? Is this what happens whenever this dummy's power goes critical?' Stella wondered.
Runa wheezed as her vision began to blurr to do mental exhaustion. She couldn't think straight. She can't see. She couldn't move. "Terraria... Izira..." She weakly called out.
"What is is?" Izira softly asked, sitting down so she could carefully lay Runa's head on her lap.
"The moon... gave me... Ichaival's... Amal..." Before Runa could finish, her conscious slipped due to fatal exhaustion. Her body went numb through the intense pain she felt during her battle with Chris.
"The De Le Metalica attack must have took the last of her strength." Terraria observed, kneeling down beside her fellow Goddess to get a better look at Runa's condition. "This is bad." She whispered, her brows furrowing as her face turned serious. "We need to get her to the castle now. We need to do an immediate surgery to remove the scabs." She stated. "She might have internal wounds in her organs, and they will widen if we don't hurry." Terraria turned to the Sanada siblings. "One of you go ahead and prepare a large room for the treatment." She instructed.
"Right away!" Nobuyuki rushed to his horse, jumping onto the saddle and grabbed the reins. He made the horse turn to the castle and dashed towards it at full speed.
Hanbee never took his eyes off of Runa. Her face was flushed from the heat as 'her' eyes, and mouth trickled blood down her face, staining her face in red. "Runa-chan..." He called out, tears forming when the child showed no sign of response. "Runa-chan! RUNA-CHAN!!!"
◇◇◇◇◇
At Oda Castle...
In one of the many rooms, Nobunaga was doing some late night strategic plans for the big war that was coming up intil Mitsuhide came in and reported something rather interesting.
"Oh? The girl is killing the enemies?" Nobunaga questioned after Mitsuhide's report. "And Goddesses appearing and giving her weapons..." If Runa was getting her weapons from a God, then whoever she ended up with will get the upper hand in the war. 'She is more suitable for the Oda Army.' He smirked. "Interesting."
◇◇◇◇◇
At Takeda Castle...
Fei sat in her room. Her door was open to allow the moonlight to bathe her room in its gentle hue. It was also calming for her since she needed to clear her head.
"What should I do?" Fei wondered, dropping flat on her futon before rolling to her side, staring at the beautiful night sky infested with stars. But then her eyes peered over to the envelope in her hands. "Should I really be telling them?" Fei pondered, eyeing the moon insignia on the front. But the feeling of Runa was in danger came back to her as her heart felt as though poisoned had been slipped into it. "But if I do, Hime-sama will..." She brought the letter to her lips as she curled herself into a ball, conflicted on what to do.
◇◇◇◇◇
At Sanada Castle...
A large room had been prepared the moment they all got back to the castle. The Goddesses and their Faeries didn't waste any time taking Runa to the room and began the emergency surgery while everyone else waited outside.
Laying her flat on the futon, Twyla stripped Runa of her clothes and replaced it with a plain kimono, but left her chest open to allow the Goddess to operate on her. The sight of the gold sprouting made the Faery want to gag. It was a disgustingly horrifying sight to see.
Getting all of their equipment ready, Terraria and Izira began to operate on Runa, who remained unresponsive and motionless, as they carefully began to remove the gold out of her chest.
The sounds of the heart monitor and vital equipment filled the heavy silence, as the Goddesses intently focused on removing the gold as quickly and carefully as they could. It was easy to remove the outer, thicker piece of the gold since they were not on Runa's skin, but it got harder when they had to remove the gold directly out of the child.
"The numbers are stable." Nova reported as she recorded the information on the holograms. "For her frailty, she has amazing endurance."
"She probably used every ounce of mental energy she had." Twyla said, voicing out her own opinion.
"That is likely the case." Izira agreed, never taking her eyes odd of Runa's forte-shaped scar, that was just glowing gold, beating in and out like it was the heart itself. Small scabs of gold was left around the scar, but they were all pretty much removed and placed on a plate for later analysis. "Body temperature?" She asked.
"Temperature, pulse, and breathing all stable." Stella responded.
Twyla came over and wiped off the sweat on her Goddess' forehead, before doing the same for Terraria, who began to focus on using her Astral Arts to heal the bruising and burns on Runa's body. She had to seriously focus on picturing where all the internal organs in Runa's body was placed, and poured her Art into the bloodstream to heal them.
◇◇◇◇◇
Meanwhile...
The vassals of Sanada and Toyotomi were sitting outside of room, while Hideyoshi and Yukimura were pacing back and forth, waiting for any news regarding Runa's condition. It was unbearable since they have heard nothing for the past eight hours! Hanbee won't quit mumbling something in a foreign language while the two commanders won't quit pacing, which wasn't helping with the situation as Nobuyuki was deep in his thoughts and Yuzuki locking her hands in a prayer, while the ninjas were staring worriedly at the shoji doors.
After waiting for what felt like it was an eternity, the doors slided opened to reveal Twyla on the other side. She stepped out and closed the door behind her.
The Faery's presence made the vassals sprung to their feet.
"Twyla-chan, how is Runa-chan's condition?!" Hanbee immediately asked, worried to death about his sister.
Twyla blinked and gave the panicked vampire a gentle smile. "Our immediate first-aid attempts were successful." She announced.
"Successful?" Hanbee blinked to make sure he hadn't misheard her. When he realised he wasn't, a relieved smile appeared. "Then Runa-chan's okay?"
"Yes."
"I'm relieved." Nobuyuki let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"I'm really glad!" Yukimura agreed.
Then Terraria stepped out as she rubbed her aching temple. She saw everyone's relieved expressions and smiled. She glanced over her shoulders to see Izira doing the finishing touches, before fixing Runa's kimono. Terraria looked back to see the others were trying to catch a glimpse, but she closed the door before they could.
"The young Astral Mage will be alright." Terraria stated, confirming Twyla's words. "However, since she had to suppress the Amalgam's power to prevent it from going critical, she will be out for the rest of the night. I suspect she will be fully recovered to be able to go back to Toyotomi tomorrow."
Hanbee let out a sigh of relieve. "Thank you very much!" He bowed in gratitude.
"Yes, thank you." Yukimura did the same.
The others followed.
Terraria smiled fondly at the vampire. She could tell Hanbee deeply cared for Runa. But her smile dropped when she remembered the vital and x-ray charts on the holoscreen, before moving the topic over to the main reason why the armies wanted to find her.
"Izira informed me what you all are trying to do." Terraria revealed, gaining the Gegga Tribes' attention as they all straightened their postures. "Let's talk somewhere more private." She suggested.
The others were confused, but quickly caught on. Izira told Terraria what they were up to and the Land Goddess doesn't want anybody eavesdropping on their conversion. So, they all went to the grand hall to move their discussions there without interruptions.
Terraria sat down with her back facing the Sanada family crest, as the Sanada Army sat before her on her right, as Hideyoshi, Kanbee and Hanbee, sat down before her on her left.
"First of all, I do apologise for not being able to help when that woman got kidnapped." Terraria started, eyeing Hideyoshi with sympathy in her eyes despite her face remaining mutual.
"It's alright." Hideyoshi said, his expression turning serious as he clenched his fists on his lap. "Because I am getting her back no matter what!"
A small smile appeared on Terraria's face.
"But the crucial point is where Himemiko-sama is." Nobuyuki interrupted, hating for being the one to break the good atmosphere. But this was serious. "Do you know where she could be?" He asked, facing Terraria.
"I do apologise, but you are asking the wrong Goddess." The Land Goddess said. "I do not know where she is."
Hideyoshi narrowed his eyes. Terraria was the third Goddess they've asked, yet, they all said something similar. It was as if they had planned this out. Their words would be scripted as each story the Goddesses tell would either have to do with Shinga's past or the Gegga Tribes.
"Then... Can you tell us what an 'Astral Mage' is?" Hideyoshi asked.
Hanbee and the Sanada siblings gasped. Where was Hideyoshi getting at?
Twyla narrowed her eyes in suspicion. What was Hideyoshi up to? She glanced at Terraria to see her staring at the vampire with a somewhat amused smile. It was as if Terraria was waiting to be asked or expecting the question.
"Alright." The Land Goddess said, catching everyone off-guard. "I have been instructed to tell the tale of the Astral Mages for those who have passed a little test of mine."
"A test?" Hanbee questioned, wondering what it could be.
"Yes, yes!" Terraria then held out four fingers. "There are flowers called rugosa roses, honeysuckle, chrysanthemum and fritillaries. What do they all have in common?"
"F-Flowers?" Sasuke questioned, confused. This was the test?
"Isn't it obvious?" Saizou had a smug on his face. "They are all beautiful and be used to charm the ladies."
"Incorrect." Terraria bluntly replied.
"Flowers..." Yukimura looked down and pondered what they all had in common. But plant properties weren't his specialty. He was about to ask his brother what he thought, but Hanbee's voice stopped him.
"Honeysuckles can be used as fever medicine. Rugosa roses improve the circulation of qi. Chrysanthemums can alleviate fevers and serve as painkillers. And the bulbs on fritillaries are used as a cough suppressant."
Everyone, including Terraria and Twyla, looked at the cross dresser with dumbfounded expressions.
Hanbee looked up and jumped at the gawked expressions he was getting. "W-What is it?" He asked. "Did I went wrong somewhere?"
"H-How?" Twyla couldn't even ask her question.
It was then Hanbee got the message. He guessed they weren't expecting him to name the properties. "Ah, I know this because I use these flowers to make Runa-chan's medicines because-"
"Because she is frail." Terraria cut in.
Hanbee avoided her gaze.
But Terraria merely gave him a reassuring smile. "I knew you would know the answer." She admitted, getting the vampire to look at her in surprise. "After all, some Astral Mages has the same illness as her."
"Illness?!" Sasuke exclaimed. He eyed the cross dresser with wide eyes. "Runa-chan is ill?!"
"Why didn't we know about this?" Kamanosuke questioned, suspicious. His eyes then caught something out of the ordinary. "Why aren't you two surprised?" He asked when the siblings doesn't seem fazed by the brief information. He suspected the vampires will know since Runa was staying with them, but for the Sanada siblings? Suspicious.
"I told them." Hanbee admitted, earning surprised eyes. Especially, from the siblings. There's no point hiding it now. "They know for quite a while now."
"Is this true?" Kanbee asked.
Yukimura looked down in shame. "Yes."
"We've learned it by accident." Nobuyuki verified.
"Even so, an Astral Mage should always be cautious of who they tell." Terraria advised. "You never know who to trust."
The Gegga Tribes looked at her in confusion.
"I think you all should learn how the Astral Mages are involved with the Gegga Tribes." Terraria said, having a nostalgic smile. "I have always wondered why Itsuki-sama wanted you all to learn it. Especially, in this circumstances, you all should never know this. But alas, it is a part of your history. But I am curious, though..." Terraria had a grinning smile as she eyed Hideyoshi with wondering eyes. "Why do want to know about the Astral Mages?"
"There was an entry in one of the Gegga Tribes' history document about a member having supernatural powers. But they hardly go into detail. I'd like to know more about who they are and how they are related to Runa." Hideyoshi explained. "I searched for records, but there was no official crest or mark in any documents I looked through. I even went deeper into the birth records and what time they were from, but not one matched the description. It was as if the person who wrote it were trying to hide their identity. Why is that?"
"The person who wrote the books you own are mere copies of the official documents from shrines, temples, and stolen from the Oda Army, no? But I can say that the person who wrote the book is long gone."
Hideyoshi grunted. "What?"
Terraria sighed. "Very well. To start with, Astral Mages are creatures that may look human, but have no such thing in their bloodstream." She stated. "They are people who can wield the power of Astral Energy, the previously dormant power of existence deep at the core of the universe, after being possessed by Astral Spirits. Some who were born with the ability to manipulate the element around them, or have been granted the power by making a contract with a Purebred. The first generation of the Gegga Tribes all have been granted this ability when they were created by Itsuki-sama. Each hold one element to wisely use to benefit their people and support Himemiko on maintaining peace."
"So there could be a clan out there?"
"No, highly unlikely. After all..." The smile dropped as Terraria glared fiercely at them. "... the humans have killed them for their own gains."
Everyone, except Twyla, gasped.
"For generations, humans who comes across an Astral Mage would be fond of them at the beginning. However, when the Mage were able to grant their deepest desires to some extent, greed began to fill their hearts. Astral Mages have been hunted down, gathered to be used as tools for their own gains. The ones who have survived feared for their lives and fled. You would need a miracle to come across one. Astral Mages hide and lived out their lives by blending in with the crowd. But if their crest was visible, they would seclude themselves from society."
"Crest?" Yukimura wondered.
"Twyla." Terraria instructed.
"Yes, ma'am." The cat woman snapped her fingers and a large holoscreen appeared, separating herself and the Goddess from the Gegga Tribes.
"There is one way to identify if someone is an Astral Mage." Terraria stated, as a row symbols lined themselves appeared on screen. "People with Astral Crests are known as Astral Mages by a nation far from here, and they are dubbed as 'Witches' or 'monsters' by the humans or your ancestors."
"Witches?" Nobuyuki's eyes widened. "It is said that Himemiko-sama had someone with her and she was dubbed a 'witches' by most nobles."
"That is corrected. And because of the Astral Crests, it is the marks that makes one a target of you armies and the corrupted nobles."
"But we weren't looking for a Mage!" Yukimura argued.
"Yes, you weren't before Hime-sama became implicated in this war." Twyla spat.
Yukimura was trying to find the words to counter but couldn't. He closed his mouth and kept silent in defeat.
"While it's possible to hide Astral Crests with clothing or bandages, the crest still radiates Astral Energy, making it impossible to hide it completely." Terraria continued, dismissing the interruption. "You would need some kind of specialised material to prevent the energy from leaking out."
"But how do these Astral Crests involves the Mages' powers?" Kanbee asked.
"Astral Crests are directly tied to one's Astral Powers." Terraria replied. "Whenever Astral Powers are used, the Astral Crest on your body will glow. Oh, right. I forgot to mention. An Astral Crest is an insignia that appears on those possessing Astral Powers. It is located on the body differed from person to person, and helps to identify what element you possess. There have been a case of the crest appearing in unusual places..." Terraria glanced at Hanbee. "... as in the case with the Purebred Runa, who has it in her eyes."
Another round of gasps peered around the room as everyone looked at Hanbee, who had a conflicted expression shown on his face.
"So that's why Runa wears a blindfold..." Yukimura murmured.
"You are so bold, Terraria-sama." Hanbee commented, but you could hear the slight irritation in his tone.
"If I have angered you, I apologise." Terraria said. "But this is serious. Neither of you will speak up, so why not now? The armies need to understand or else they will misunderstood the situation."
"Yes..."
"And these symbols are Astral Crests?" Sasuke asked, leaning forward to get a better look at the odd-looking symbols.
"Yes." Terraria simply replied. "There are 11 elements in total." She placed her hand on the holoscreen and the first symbol in line enlarged. It was dark red died down to orange, resembling a flame. "The power to control the many elements of fire; Pyro." Then she slided her hand to the right to show a pink cloud shaped like a recoiled puff. "The power to manipulate the air and control its particles; Aero." The next slide she moved onto resembled a leave with three tips with interior designs. "The power to manipulate the ground and the soils, and all the life that comes from them; Terra." The next slide represented three blue teardrops being curved like a big wave. "The power to manipulate all waters and its properties; Aqua." The next showed an image of a singular pale blue-white, sparkling snowflake. "The power to control the ice and snow; Cyro." The next slide showed an image of a bright indigo diamond-shaped star with a glittering stream recoiling around it. "The power to become a psychic and bridge the gap between the living and the decease; Psycho."
"The power to bridge the gap between the living and the decease..." Hanbee muttered, eyeing the insignia with wide eyes.
"What a horrifying ability." Yukimura clenched his fists on his lap.
Terraria slided her hand to the right, showing an insignia of a large yellow thunderbolt with mini versions around it. "The power to shape and manipulate electricity to your desire, belongs to the Thunder element." The next slide showed a magenta pink treble clef, in a shape of a heart with space notes on it. "Vibra - the power to hear all sounds at great distance, travels in the speed of lightning and manipulates soundwaves. It is a very handy ability if you are lucky to possess it." Terraria commented.
"It would be great to gather information without the need to travel." Hanbee pointed out.
"Indeed." Kanbee agreed.
"This is not a war council meeting. Keep discussions such as those to yourselves." Twyla ordered, her expression turning cold.
Terraria didn't say anything. She merely moved onto the next symbol that was black, and showed great resemblance of a bat in a shape of a full moon. "The Shadow element is just as its name suggests; It has the power to manipulate all shadows and allow them to take on any form." She then moved into an insignia that looked different to the rest. It consisted of two streams going in opposite directions with stars flying around it. "Following after, this element is an extinct one. The power of Space - a form of power that is related and based on the universal force of space. The ability to fold and manipulate the fabric of space that can do all sorts of dangerous capabilities."
Hideyoshi blinked in wonder. This one peeked his interest.
"And there is another extinct element." Terraria informed, sliding over to the last slide that showed a dark purple infinity sign with a ribbon laced over it, having an eight-shaped star at the crown. "This one is far more dangerous and should never be given to anyone. The power to manipulate time; Chrono."
"The power..." Nobuyuki started.
"... to manipulate time?" Yukimura finished, surprised and stunned such ability existed.
"Now that's interesting." Hideyoshi found himself intrigued by this. If this element had the ability to see into the future, then would it know who would unite the country?
"Don't even think about it, Toyotomi Hideyoshi." Twyla said, already knowing what the vampire was thinking. "If you misused the power you were given, a heavy price will be paid. That's what happened to one of the Gegga members long ago."
"Huh? What happened?" Hanbee asked.
Terraria looked down. "As I said at the beginning, your ancestors had the ability to use Astral Arts."
"You did mention that..."
"It is because their bodies possessed high spiritual qi."
"Qi?" Kanbee questioned.
Terraria sighed and looked up at the dimly lit ceiling. "It is said that every being in existence is possessed by an Astral Spirit. And those who can perform Astral Arts is said that the spirit inside them have fused into their body, making them inhuman or part of the race they are have been replaced."
"Is it because they are not naturally born Purebreds?" Hanbee asked. "You said something about a Purebred during your explanation."
"You are very observant." Terraria lowered her head and faced the cross dresser. She stared at him, looking at him in the eye before a smile appeared. "Could it be that you figured your sister is a Purebred?" She asked.
But Hanbee could only looked down.
"May I ask how?"
Hanbee let a small laugh slip. "There are times where my sister is pushed to do things she never wished to do." He shrugged. "And using more than one element gives her away."
"She is exceptional." Terraria commented. "I can see why you are worried. Nobles can go far of what they do." Her eyes saddened. "Even parents abandoned their child for what they have become."
Hanbee pursed his lips.
"Um..." Sasuke spoke.
Terraria turned to him.
"You didn't explain what a Purebred is." He pointed out. "What are they exactly?"
Terraria's eyes widened when she realised she was going of topic. "Ah! My apologies!" She cleared her throat and clicked her fingers, making the hologram change.
The screen cleared to show two human sticks on either side. One glowing red while the other was blue.
"Once upon a time, a time where Shinga was still young, there were Gods and Goddesses mingled with Purebreds. Purebreds are the highest ranking creatures among their kind. You could say they were royals and were deeply worshipped. They are 'pure' creatures without any human ancestry or mixed breeds without a percentage of human blood from one of their parent's lineage, and they can trace their lineage back to the original Sacrea Heart progenitors.
Purebreds all possess a series of unique powers, unlike the others who are half breeds - who can only use one element and weaker versions of them - often exclusive only to the certain Purebred or Purebred family. Thus, out of them all Itsuki-sama's family is the most wealthiest people alive.
However, since war broke out in abusive use of Astral Mages, a little before Himemiko came to be, the survival Mages fled the country to hide and live someplace else. But of course, the nobles won't have it so they searched every nation just to have them executed, covering the murders up about them committing a treason.
During the war, the Purebred population greatly diminished. Many Purebreds drank blood of humans during that time, thus creating Blood Contracts to increase the Astral Mage population.
Consequently, not many was left.
As time went on, those families which inherited their blood grew mysteriously prosperous. Some, known as the Gegga Tribes or Mitsukatas, inherited more than others." Terraria smiled slyly when she noticed how intently the members were listening when their tribe was mentioned. "In other words, us."
A red line began to extend from the red human stick and streamed down the hologram like a river.
"We are born in different days, at the same time, and with similar nature's as our Purebred ancestors."
The red line stopped at another red human stick as the blue human stick moved, to overlap the red, before separating back into two.
"In rare cases, we inherit their powers, and even more curiously, share similar fates." Terraria's eyes snapped to a certain whitish-blonde-haired vampire before they went back to the others. "Children like me or Runa are hailed as vessels of our ancestors' powers to possess the moment they die, and raised by the clan as a whole." She explained. "So naturally, those who has that fate... their parents have little effect on their lives. They are merely the discords that harmonised us." Her eyes turned solemn as she looked at the ceiling once more. "We are lonely creatures with tenuous grasp on the concept of 'family'. It is an awful fate for a Mitsukata."
"So you are saying..." Hanbee clenched his fists on his lap, restraining himself. The memories of a certain someone suffering all alone in a storage room, came to mind. "... because they have a crest on their body and accidentally used an Astral Art they are not aware, their parents just treat them like they never existed?" He asked.
Terraria's eyes softened. "That's how it is. A specific Astral Mage can do a lot of great deeds that... you just grasp on them, instead of relying on your own power."
Twyla's eyes turned void.
"The balance between hope and despair - If you ask a Mage to save a few people, in exchange, hatred and jealousy filled your heart. And before you know it, your heart wanted to keep the Mage like some pet."
"That's-!" Yukimura protested.
"Someone has to be cursed to balance out a wish for someone else's happiness. That's how we Astral Mages work." Terraria cut the werewolf off. "But in exchange, Astral Mages can never die."
"They... won't die?" Hideyoshi questioned.
"B-But... n-not dying is a good thing, isn't it?" Sasuke asked, not liking where this was going.
"Is it?" Terraria wondered. "Is Runa happy at all?" She asked out of the blue. "Is she happy to you? Have you ever seen her smile? Not once?"
Everybody thought back to the day they met the girl. Her face had always remained void, hardly any emotions were expressed. Even when she was happy or sad. The only times they saw the emotions come to light, was when a war or danger broke out. Fear, anxiety, strategic thoughts, determination, sadness, and especially, earlier - anger, when she lashed out on them. Her words still left a crack in their hearts, but they all still couldn't help but feel sorry and sad for her.
"For an Astral Mage like Runa, this is a blessing but a curse they have to bear." Terraria spoke after a while. "All the loneliness and all the suffering she must endure... She cannot share them with anyone."
"She can't?" Nobuyuki furrowed his brows in confusion.
"A Purebred cannot escape their fate, because they would be changing everyone else's in return." Terraria sternly stated, her voice rising as the tension she had created.
"What do you mean?" Hideyoshi asked.
"Itsuki-sama holds everybody's lives in his hands. He created the many universes and let you all decide what fate you all wished to succeed. But..." Terraria narrowed her eyes. "... if a Purebred child misused or manipulated their powers in any way, that child dies."
Kanbee's eyes widened while everyone else gasped.
"As Runa being a Purebred descendant, there is nothing she can do. She cannot run away from it. With all the dignity of a Purebred Astral Mage, the Purebred shall maintain their silence and hide in order to protect these secrets, and prevent unnecessary harm. I am sure her birth parents have taught her all this." Terraria got up and placed a hand on Hanbee's shoulder, who jumped and looked up at her as she sat down beside him. "Trapped in these responsibilities, Runa told herself she must desire nothing, form no close relationships, and never abandon her duty."
Hanbee stared at the Goddess before letting out a hollow laugh. "A little after her outburst, Runa-chan said it very similarly."
"It sounds like Hime-sama needed someone to talk to." Twyla spoke, her eyes reverting back to their lifeful self. "And you being her adopted brother, I see why she can say it so easily."
Hanbee let out an actual laugh this time. It was true, he does know why Runa would tell him. Being around the girl long enough, it would be easy to understand her. Earning Runa's trust was a real challenge. Especially, what she went through.
"But even if with all that power, everything could be yours if you desired, right?" Hideyoshi pointed out.
Terraria gave him a warning look. "If you desire that kind of power, you had to pay for it with your life."
"What?" Hideyoshi questioned, narrowing his eyes at the Goddess.
"Let me ask you this." Terraria eyed the cross dresser. "Have Runa always been this way?"
Hanbee was taken aback at the question, but didn't question it. He thought back to his earliest memories he had with Runa, and compared her personality back then to the personality she had right now. "No..." He answered. "When she was... younger... she was more cheerful, and friendly to others. She only got like this after her family died. Something inside of her just broke. It did not take long for the family doctor to diagnosed Runa-chan with Schizophrenic and psychotic depression."
"So she was rather suicidal back then."
Hanbee had a sad expression at the memories of when he had to stop Runa from killing herself. "Yes." He nodded.
"And now?"
"..."
Terraria stared at the silent vampire before her eyes narrowed gently. "I see..." She then finally removed her hand off his shoulder.
"Why...?"
"Huh?" Terraria was caught off-guard at the sudden question.
"Why Runa-chan?" Hanbee asked, his bangs shadowing his eyes.
It was faint, but Terraria caught Hanbee's voice cracked for a second. He was trying to suppress his tears. Runa wasn't the only one suffering. Hanbee was too. With all the secrets they had to keep, all the lies they had to make, the distance only grew more as time went on... The two will break.
"In any age, innocent girls have always been sacrificed to the Gods." Terraria said more softly. "Their purity allows them to muster great power. In exchange for the power you're given, small fragments of your life force will go to the creator of the universe as offerings. That's the Astral System."
"Runa... is an offering?" Yukimura stared at the Land Goddess with a horrified expression. How can she say it so easily? 'Then the reason Runa became weak was...' Yukimura glanced at Hanbee to see him having a dead expression despite his bangs covering his eyes. Having to learn someone you care was destined as an offering was something too frightening. Even for the destined person themselves.
"Those who are given the power by a Blood Contract can't accommodate the power of a Purebred. So we have to take the job. It's awful, isn't it?"
"So Runa's going to keep losing more and more of her life?" Hideyoshi asked, starting to get the picture of Runa's rather mysterious life.
"But I thought relics, like the Sacred Treasures, can prevent such a thing!" Yukimura argued. He could still remember how the bracelet Runa wore absorbed the mana that threatened to kill her. It was so mystifying, it was burned into his memory. "And if Runa continued to wear her bracelet, she'll be okay, right?"
"Yukimura." Nobuyuki warned. He placed a hand on his younger brother's shoulder, telling him to calm down.
Yukimura gritted his teeth but obeyed.
Terraria stared at the werewolf, then at Hanbee, who remained silent for so long. "I hope so." She said longingly as she closed her eyes.
"You hope so?" Hideyoshi repeated, as if he misheard the Goddess. He stared at her as she refused to even look at them. This made him suspicious. "Do you even know if Runa will get better?" He questioned. "Can she get better?"
Hearing that they won't leave without an answer, Terraria opened her mouth. "I know you want her to get better. I do as well." She slowly opened her eyes, sadness and sympathy filled her colours. "All Astral Mages with the same problem like her do, as well. They all wished they could live a normal life without being called an outcast, and have a family without problems."
Hanbee's shoulders trembled. His lips trembled as they were pursed shut. His expression may be blank but the tears that were dripping onto his fists, that were grabbing the hem of his sleeves very tightly, said it all.
"I'm sorry to upset you." Terraria sincerely apologised. She was about to comfort him, but restrained herself. It was something a Goddess like her shouldn't be doing or thinking. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, collecting herself before addressing the others. "I think Runa kept the truth of herself hidden as an act of kindness." Terraria told them.
Terraria understood what Runa was going through. She was going through what she already went through. The pain. The lies. And all the secrets that must be kept hidden. However, withholding a piece of information that would affect her life was more painful than telling them.
"But..." Terraria's hands clenched in frustration. "... I wished Itsuki-sama had told me."
This surprised everyone.
But Twyla's eyes turned void when she heard this. She might not be Terraria's Faery, but it was her obligation to prevent the Goddess from revealing anything she wasn't suppose to.
"If I'd known..." The Land Goddess' voice cracked as tears formed in her eyes. "... I would have spent even more time..." The tears slipped as her chest tightened at a certain, painful memory. "...with my friends. So... I wanted you to know." She expressed.
The Gegga Tribes couldn't help but pity the Goddess. Even being a creature with a lot of power and authority, Terraria was suffering herself. Her powers was of an Astral Mage would use and it was granted by the creator himself. Her life would be determined by him. The Goddesses were forever bind to their duties for the rest of eternity. Who would want that?
"Wait, you dummy!" Stella's sudden yelling voice echoed outside.
Everyone turned to the door behind them in question. They could hear rushing, pounding footsteps heading their way. Someone was in a hurry. Not one, but many.
"Hime-sama!" Nova's frantic call chimed in.
*Slide*Bang!*
When the door abruptly slammed opened, it revealed Runa, who panted as she leaned against the door frame for support. She wore a plain white kimono, that made her look like a priestess getting ready to pray. No bandage was visible as her pale, porcelain skin shimmered against the moonlight, making her look like a glass doll as 'her' red eyes held panic in their hue.
Stella and Nova appeared behind the child, and they were surprised to see the Land Goddess and Hanbee crying. Just what happened in the room?
"Runa-chan?" Hanbee questioned, wondering what she was doing here. Better yet, why was she awake? Didn't Terraria say Runa would be out until the next morning?
The raven-haired beauty caught her breath. She didn't say anything. She merely walked into the room, stumbling in her steps, that made the werewolves and Hanbee panic, before she collapsed in front of the crying duo.
"Are you okay?!" Hanbee asked, checking to see if Runa sustained any bruising from her fall. But before he got a better look, Runa surprised him when she engulfed him in a hug. "Eh? Huh? Runa-chan?" He wondered.
Runa didn't say anything. Her arms tightened around her brother's torso as she buried her face in his left shoulder.
Hanbee realised what she was doing, and it merely made him cry more. And not wanting the others to see, Hanbee buried his face in Runa's right shoulder as his arms instinctively wrapped themselves around her small frame.
"Hanbee..." Nova stared worriedly at the vampire as she and Stella walked in.
"Oi, what the heck did you tell them?" Stella asked the crying Goddess.
Terraria was about to reply, but a light feather-like touch wiped the tears on her left eye. Surprised, she looked to see it was Runa, who stared at her with wondering eyes like a newborn child, as her right arm remained around Hanbee's shaking figure while her left was slightly stretched out towards her.
Runa's action brought a smile to Terraria's face as little tears continued to stream down. "Your eyes are really beautiful." She complimented.
Runa blinked before they turned solemn. "These eyes... are not mine..." She admitted, talking quietly as if she was struggling to get her words out. "They are... someone else's... Even so..." Tears formed in 'her' eyes, that were full of life, unlike the dead-like ones before. "... they are very precious to me. Yet..." The tears escaped and stained her pale cheeks. "... I don't understand... Why...? Why did they... gave them to me...? I never asked them to do such a thing..."
"It can't be helped." Terraria gave her a sympathetic smile.
"Surely there's-!" Yukimura raised his voice, but stopped when he saw Runa flinch at his sudden outburst. He calmed his nerves before repeating himself in a more calmer manner. "Surely there's a way around it!"
"Only Itsuki-sama's family can use all the elements." Terraria summarised. "And only a small handful of people are able to become guardians, because of their high Astral Energy they were born with. And like I said, you would need a miracle to come across a Mage. They are the only ones."
Runa tugged on Terraria's sleeve and nudged her head at the Gegga Tribes.
The Goddess got the message and nodded. "It is also for you to be able to use Astral Arts, because you're ancestors were given that power." She revealed.
Everyone gasped.
"But not all can use it. Your sibling might be able to do it, while you are unable to. The power can be inherited, or be granted, but in exchange, something must be offered. As descendants, you might get lucky. If there is a Mage out there, they can identify if a half breeded descendant had awakened the Astral Spirit within them. It might happen when you were born, or appear in later years."
"So... we can become Mages?" Hideyoshi asked if he got the idea right. If they become Mages, it would benefit them gratefully.
"If you are a Mitsukata, then yes. Himemiko's blood only temporarily awakens that spirit in you before it went back into its slumber." Terraria explained as she wiped her tears. "If you are a Mitsukata, then her blood can boost your power to a level close to a Purebred's."
"Amazing..." Sasuke muttered.
The room became silent as everyone let the information they were given sink in. The sound of Runa's soft breathing filled the room since she fell asleep in Hanbee's arms.
"I suggest you look for a Goddess who has a close relationship with Itsuki-sama." Terraria suggested out of the blue, surprising everyone. She ignored the warning looks from the Faeries and gave the Gegga Tribes a cryptic opinion. "You might learn something from them regarding Himemiko's location."
"Really?" Hideyoshi asked.
Terraria nodded.
"Alright!" Sasuke exclaimed. A clue. An actual clue for once that would give them a step closer on finding Himemiko. And when they do, the country would be unified by the army who had her.
"Something for once." Kamanosuke commented, yawning. It was getting late and all he wanted was to go to bed in his soft, warm, fluffy futon.
"I'll be waiting." Terraria told the cross dresser, getting his attention. "Don't worry. Now that we've met, maybe Runa might be able to win against the Shénshòujìng's deception, and she won't leave your existence vague." She whispered, knowing what the child was going through.
But Hanbee wasn't sure. He could only give the Land Goddess a fake smile and a faint nod.
◇◇◇◇◇
Later that night...
Runa was fast asleep. Her soft snoring filled the silent air. Hanbee smiled lovingly as he gently caressed his sister's head. Her face was a little flushed from crying. Same for him, but they were fine. Hanbee could feel Stella guarding the room outside as a precaution since she was worried the enemies might try a surprise attack. He thought about the idea as well, so he just let the Faery be.
The moon shined through the doors, illuminating Runa's figure, making her look like a Goddess no woman could compare. Her Ena shimmered against the light when it touched its surface, glittering and tainted in colours like the galaxy.
Feeling a presence, Hanbee looked over his shoulders. The door opened, revealing Terraria who entered without a word while Nova stayed outside.
Terraria came over to the vampire and silently sat down beside him. "How is she?" She quietly asked.
Hanbee stared at her before looking back at Runa's calm expression. "Exhausted. Scared. Sad." He quietly responded.
Terraria hummed and looked around the room. Her eyes landed on an incense burner beside a black classic bag in the corner of the room. "When I first came here, I thought that scent of agarwood filled the castle was overpowering. Was the child using it to calm her mind?" She asked.
Hanbee stared at her as if she had just asked something stupid. Had she came here just to say that?
"Izira and Twyla have already headed back to the Undersea Cave." Terraria informed.
"I see..." Hanbee said.
"I am sorry for revealing your sister's condition without your permission." Terraria apologised.
"You are a Goddess, you have no need for my permission." Hanbee lightly retorted, but you could hear the coldness in his tone.
"Goddess or not, that was a private peace of information."
"It no longer matters."
When he said that, Terraria blinked a little and stared at Hanbee's face.
It didn't take long for the vampire to notice. "What is it?" He asked.
"Will you become an Astral Mage?" Terraria asked.
"What?!" Hanbee exclaimed, surprised at the sudden question that made him move back in his space. He stared at the Goddess as if she was some sort of weird creature that asked something so preposterous. "What are talking about? Are you out of your mind?" He questioned. But he immediately covered his mouth and looked down to see if Runa remained asleep.
The child moaned, her expression switched to confusion before it reverted back into its expressionless face.
Terraria internally giggled with a finger to her lips. "Perhaps. It has been so long since I have talked to someone until today that I've just broke down into tears." She sighed, stretching her arms over her head. "Your sister was the one who soothed my aching heart." She smiled gratefully at Runa before her eyes shifted to the still shocked vampire.
Hanbee blinked before a smile on his own appeared. "That is who Runa-chan is." He commented with pride.
Terraria looked down with a small smile. "Who Runa is, huh?" She murmured.
"Runa-chan haven't been sleeping well lately. I think you-" Hanbee didn't get to politely tell the Goddess to leave because he stiffened when Terraria leaned over and reached out her gloved hand just to touch Runa's silky, long black hair, that spreaded all over the futon like the night sky.
"When I saw Runa summoning the Amalgam on her own, I thought, 'This must be what a Goddess descendant looks like'." Terraria admitted. She casted down her eyes, as though recalling the scene. "I've never seen anything so beautiful." She complimented in a quiet whispering voice.
Hanbee was at a loss on what to reply.
(Play video for background music.)
Thinking about it more, Terraria fixed her posture and brought her hands together. When she opened them, a pink peony flower bloomed in her palms and turned into a light red flame.
"What... What are you..." Hanbee wanted to ask what Terraria was doing, but went against it when she held it above Runa's figure.
"This is just for tonight." Terraria blew on the peony, causing it to break into many fluttering petals like gentle confetti as they flutter over Runa's body. "I shall grant Runa pleasant dreams."
The petals disappeared when they touched Runa's body. Her expression immediately relaxed as though a pleasant memory appeared in her mind, giving her a sweet dream in replace of her atrocious nightmares. As to what kinds of dreams she was having, Terraria nor Hanbee knows.
"Um... Terraria-sama." Hanbee called out, having an idea that would put his mind at ease.
"Yes?" Terraria turned to him.
"If it is not too much trouble, I have a request."
◇◇◇◇◇
At Oda Castle...
Mavis sat by the window, enjoying the moon's light in comfort as she watched Ranmaru finishing off the preparations for the big war that was happening.
And just as the vampire finished loading off the last box into the crate, Ranmaru sensed a spiritual energy above him. "Huh?" When he looked up, petals of peonies rained down over him and disappeared the moment they touched his body.
"Peonies?" Mavis questioned, fluttering over to the vampire as she could feel this was no work of a priest or priestess.
Ranmaru raised his palm and watch as a petal landed on it before disappearing just like that. At the same time, a memory he doesn't recognised just appeared into his mind. It was sweet and pleasant, as if he was having the best time of his life with an older girl who looked remarkably like him. She was smiling and laughing down at him as his younger self was doing her hair.
"Ranmaru?" Mavis' voice laced in worry when a tear streamed down his face. What got into him?
The vampire shook his head lightly, sniffing as he wiped his tears. "I'm fine." He assured, having a nostalgic smile on his face. "Just fine..."
◇◇◇◇◇
Somewhere...
The Toyotomi figure sat on a cliff with their legs dangling on the ledge, as they stared at the forever expanding galaxy. "It is going to be an atrocious battle." They muttered, shivering slightly when the wind picked up, fluttering their cloak as some strands of their long whitish blonde hair escaped, and streamed against the wind.
◇◇◇◇◇
The next morning...
Hideyoshi and his generals were ready to head back to the castle the girls. Runa was already on Hanbee's horse with Stella standing beside the four-legged creature. They were just waiting for the generals to say their farewells.
Even Terraria and Nova were with them.
"Be safe on your travels." Yukimura told them.
"Yeah." Hideyoshi nodded.
"Thank you for your generosity." Kanbee bowed with Hanbee mimicking him.
"It's fine." Nobuyuki just waved it off. "You guys would do the same for us."
Hanbee laughed. "That's true."
Terraria walked over to Runa and looked up at her as the child looked down at her through her blindfold. "Be careful, alright?" She told her.
Runa nodded.
"I'm sure you have some reason to turn people away. But you should reconcile with them." Terraria suddenly said, causing the child to stiffen. "It'll be too late once they're gone."
Runa could only avert her eyes to the grass. From the start, she didn't have that kind of relationship with the Gegga Tribes. They were raised as warlords, perfect manner, with good political knowledge in hopes to place their army in the history's pages. And in contrast, Runa didn't know what to do with them. She had never been around people like them before.
When Runa looked up, she saw the Gegga Tribes staring at her with unreadable expressions. However, in their eyes, there were pain and sadness. She caused that pain when she lashed out on them. Her words hurt them.
Runa held a guilty expression before looking back at them. "Everyone... I'm sorry... about yesterday..." She apologised.
This caught everybody off-guard. This was the first time they've heard the girl apologise for... anything.
"I can't cope... being around anything... that involves wars. I simply lash out without much thought... and never look back. With me out of the way, I simply thought... it would be for best." Runa explained. "I thought it would stop you from finding out about me and the Astral Mages. As it goes for finding the Faeries... and weaponised them. Without the Faeries, you won't find about the Symphogears or the Amalgams... or the Goddesses. I thought by keeping silent... and out of society's eyes, it would make things... a little easier for most people."
This brought tears to Nova's eyes, who was deeply moved. Runa was just looking out for them. She was just trying to prevent unnecessary wars or harm to the people in Shinga. Runa thought she should sacrifice her own happiness for many others that she distanced herself from them, but also to protect the many secrets she must shoulder.
Stella's expression softened.
The Gegga Tribes stared at the child with a similar expression. They pushed her into a corner without realising how much pressure she was on. They let her weak constitution slip and never considered how she was feeling. They were ashamed for not realising such a simple fact and let their desires get the better of them.
Runa's face was more guilty than ever as she looked down, not able to look at them in the eye. "I did a foolish thing."
"Hime-sama." Nova got on her knees and bowed. "You have nothing to apologise for. There isn't a Faery or Astral Mage who talks back to the Gegga Tribes or their master." She explained.
"Terraria-sama, Izira-sama, and Twyla scolded us." Hanbee added, giving his sister an apologetic smile. "They said we have forgotten our place as generals, who serves Himemiko to create a peaceful place where people can live without fear."
"And that Faeries are suppose to protect their master from harm." Stella chimed in, getting on her knees also. "Verbally or physically. I am not your official Faery and neither is Nova. Even so, we have forgotten our roles as Faeries."
"We were so worried you'd throw us out eventually." Nova admitted, her face holding shame.
"And we were worried you might hate us for it." Yukimura admitted.
"Hey, I wasn't worried-"
"Hideyoshi-sama!" Hanbee hit his commander in the head. "This is not the time!" He scolded.
"Okay, okay..." Hideyoshi pouted, rubbing his aching temple.
"I'm not that kind of person." Runa clarified, her face still sad and blank. "I may hold a grudge, but that does not mean I would go such lengths. This is my first time being around people like you. I merely don't know what to do." She shamelessly admitted.
"You mean you'll allow me to stay?" Stella asked.
"Do you not wish to return to your master?" Runa asked, a little surprised at the Faery's question.
"I'd been asked to look after you." Stella revealed. "After all, Hanbee needs help."
"Hey!" The said vampire pouted and glared playfully at the Faery.
"Someone also has to speak for you, since you refuse to do so yourself." Stella smirked, eyeing the two armies. "And my master would definitely let me have it if she finds out." Stella sweatdropped at the last time this happened. "Also..." She got off her knees and smiled at Runa. "I'd be too worried about leaving you alone." She admitted.
Runa tilted her head. "I have never felt alone... anymore." She muttered the last part.
"That can't be true. Nobody, beside your brother, don't know anything about your situation, dummy. So, they all tend to jump to conclusions a little too soon." Stella gave Hideyoshi a deadpanned look.
"What's that look for?" Hideyoshi grumbled, offended.
Stella ignored him and turned back to Runa. "You're so tense all the time. You must be exhausted everyday."
Runa gasped, surprised. Stella's words strucked home. The Faery had seen through the essence of Runa. Even though she didn't know anything, she understood just by being around her. It reminded her how Hanbee figured her out so easily when they lived together. It was around then when Runa felt... safe for the first time after her family's death. Beyond anyone but her new family, Runa pretty much see everyone as the enemy.
'She is right.' Runa thought, looking at her pale hands. 'I am tired. I truly am tired. But I cannot complain about it to anyone.' Her eyes became misty. Tears threatened to fall but she blinked them away.
"Runa-chan."
Runa looked up to see her brother walking over to her.
"We don't hate you." Hanbee said. "We are just worried about you, as all. It is scary to be around wars, but..." He reached out and gently grasped Runa's left hand in both of his, showing her he's there for her. "... there are people who wants to help you." He gestured to the others.
Runa followed and was surprised to see everyone smiling at her. They were worried about her? A stranger like her? Someone weird as her? Why do they revolve themselves around her? Runa doesn't understand them at all. She doesn't understand it one bit.
"We won't say anything about you to anyone." Nobuyuki reassured her. "You can relax more when you're around us."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Eh?" Runa thought she had just misheard him. The Sanada Army and Toyotomi Army - two out of seven armies who wished to unify Shinga, would withheld information from everyone instead of exploiting her, told her to relax? They would even hide it from their allied armies and others? Was she dreaming? Runa pinched herself to see if she was, but when she felt the pain, she wasn't. "Huh...?!" Runa jumped, shrieking in surprise that spooked the horse she was on, causing her to fall. "Ah!" She yelped when she got kicked off.
Terraria reacted fast and caught the girl in a bridal hold. "You really don't do well with horses, huh?" She teased, causing the girl to blush as she set the child down.
"A-Aren't you angry with me? Don't you hate me?" Runa quietly asked once she was on her feet. She thought everyone would hate her for what she said. Leave her alone and have nothing to do with her. Ignore her. Ignore that she even existed. Yet, there she was - with them.
"No." Yukimura answered without hesitation. "I'm angry with myself when I never considered how you might feel at the time. We pushed too far. We should be the ones apologising to you."
"You guys are weird." Runa bluntly stated.
"Is that so?" Yukimura chuckled, smiling brightly. "Thank you."
Runa sweatdropped. "I was not complimenting you. As do I..." She averted her gaze to the side. "... don't want your gratitude or apology."
"Even so, we owe you one. How shall we return the favour?"
"I don't need anything." Runa sternly told him "Stop causing multiple wars." That's right. It was the Gegga Tribes' fault that Shinga was in absolute turmoil and be stained in war, once more. Also their fault for making her come to their country just to finish the job Himemiko started. "That's all I want from you."
But Yukimura just walked closer to her, making the child bend her neck up just to look at him.
"What is it?" Runa asked.
"Is it truly impossible for us to help you?" Yukimura asked, his expression turning sad and sympathetic.
Runa's eyes fluttered under her blindfold. She knew what he was talking about. Terraria told them about the fate of the Astral Mages, so they would already have a rough idea what she was going through. She looked into Yukimura's eyes to see what he was going to say, but all she saw was a sincere light in his eyes. That was why she was puzzled.
"I don't need your help." Runa stated, turning her back to them. "Can we go now?" She asked, changing the topic as she tied to get back on the horse with Stella's help.
The two armies looked at each other before the Toyotomi Army got on their horses. With everything ready and packed, the generals waved back at the Sanada Army and Terraria, and Nova before making their horse move in the direction back to the Toyotomi territory.
Along the way, Runa pondered why Finé kidnapped Yuzuki. What purpose does she have for kidnapping a useless human? And why need Durandal? Does she need it for some kind of plot she's scheming? That sword can destroy an army if its used correctly.
And there's the Gegga Tribes.
They may know a little more about her, but not exactly everything about her. Terraria may only reveal what happened to an Astral Mage, especially, the Purebreds, but it doesn't exactly explain much about Runa. One gap was filled, but many remained blank. Yet, they still want her around.
'They all might as well be fools.' Runa sighed and fell asleep in Hanbee's arms, drowning herself in his warmth and forget everything that happened.
◇◇◇◇◇
And so, the feelings that's been blocked from her, began to emerge and fill in the holes that were deeply empty for quite some time. Though she may still doubt herself, Runa continued to press forward no matter how painful it is. She will continue to sing despite coughing up blood. Her own bloodshed is her own battle.
Runa continued to hold the secrets she wished to remain hidden. But, within all that negative thought, her strong will prevented the Shénshòujìng's Amalgam from deceiving her heart. After all, Runa had unknowingly acquired more things she couldn't abandon.
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- Terraria is voiced by Taketatsu Ayana, who voiced Kirigaya Suguha in Sword Art Online.
- Yukine Chris is voiced by Takagaki Ayahi, who voiced Yukine Chris in Symphogear.
- Kazanari Tsubasa is voiced by Mizuki Nana, who voiced Kazanari Tsubasa in Symphogear.