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“Kikoemasu ka…?” Gekijō kanaderu mujīku
Millaarc: Stoker | Elsa: Greifswald | Vanessa: d'Espie
Know that I am Shem-Ha, the one who man worships as the god of this planet.
wikipedia:Shrivatsa · wikipedia:Lady Po Nagar · Lancea Longini · wikipedia:Alicanto · wikipedia:Tamatebako
XV start: 
== Arcana ==
# Fool: Yumi
# Magician: Kanade
# High Priestess: Fine
# Empress: Maria
# Emperor: Genjuro
# Hierophant: Ogawa
# Lovers: Shiori
# Chariot: Tsubasa
# Strength: Genjuro
# Hermit: Millaarc
# Wheel of Fortune: Elfnein
# Justice: Saint-Germain
# Hanged Man: Prelati
# Death: Carol
# Temperance: Kuriyo
# Devil: Shirabe
# Tower: Hibiki
# Star: Serena
# Moon: Cagliostro
# Sun: Kirika
# Judgement: Chris
# World: Miku
== Characters ==
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This section contains spoilers for the story. View at your own risk.(click here to skip to the story)
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Kirika Akatsuki
:First appeared in G Chapter 1. Wielder of the Igalima Symphogear.
Kanade Amou
:Member of Zwei Wing, which has since been disbanded as an idol group. Kanade also works with Sector Two of the Special Disaster Response Team as one of the Symphogear candidates, though she is not naturally able to resonate with the weapon. Following the Zwei Wing Tragedy, Kanade's body was heavily damaged, and now lives life with a single eye, though she does not let this get to her. She acts as a older sister-type figure to Tsubasa, and genuinely cares about each of Zwei Wing's fans and their perception of her. First appeared in Chapter 1. Wielder of the Gungnir Symphogear.
Kuriyo Ando
:A student of Lydian Private Music Academy who was befriended by Hibiki Tachibana and Miku Kohinata. After learning about the Symphogears from Hibiki, she was taken in by Sector Two as a preliminary member, often performing a variety of odd jobs for the group. First mentioned in Chapter 6.
Komichi Ayano
:A student of Lydian Private Music Academy. After Chris Yukine transferred into the school she tried to befriend the girl, and Chris now reluctantly (but happily) considers her one of her friends. First appeared in GX Chapter 2.
Millaarc Cranstoun
:A girl who went missing in Slovakia ten years prior to the series. Believed by Shinji Ogawa and Yumi Itaba to currently be working for the Bavarian Illuminati, committing atrocious acts for unknown reasons. First mentioned in G Chapter 18.
Leiur Darāhim
:One of the four Autoscorers created by Carol Malus Dienheim. First mentioned in GX Chapter 2.
Carol Malus Dienheim
:First appeared in GX Chapter 2.
Elfnein
:First mentioned in GX Chapter 2.
Maria Cadenzavna Eve
:A world-renowned idol. One of Finé's descendants, Maria was taken in by the priestess and used in experiments. Blackmailed into working for terrorist organization F.I.S. through the threatening of her "sisters" Kirika Akatsuki and Shirabe Tsukuyomi, and with whom she declared war on the world. First mentioned in Chapter 14. Current wielder of the Airgetlám Symphogear.
Serena Cadenzavna Eve
:Maria's younger sister. Six years prior to the events of the series, she had been killed during an experimental attempt to awaken the Nephilim relic. Serena was brought back to life years later through the use of the Rod of Asclepius for experimental purposes. Was brainwashed by Dr. Vercingetorix into being a mindless warrior named Chalkydri, and remains comatose following the undoing of said mental manipulation. First mentioned in G Chapter 6. Original wielder of the Airgetlám Symphogear and currently bound with the Shénshòujìng relic.
Finé
:A priestess who was among the earliest members of humanity - the Lulu Amel. Finé is able to continually influence history by sending her consciousness into the bodies of her descendants upon death, though she can also forcibly overtake the minds of others with some drawbacks. Desires to get rid of the "Curse of Balal" that binds humanity. She currently exists fused with the consciousness of Kirika Akatsuki, and previously inhabited the bodies of Ryoko Sakurai and Miku Kohinata. First mentioned by name in Chapter 7.
Sakuya Fujitaka
:An employee of Sector Two of the Special Disaster Response Team. Fujitaka works alongside Aoi Tomosato as one of the co-heads of the research team, though Genjuro often has him performing a variety of other odd jobs when needed. Known for his more lethargic personality, Fujitaka is rarely seen without a cup of coffee by his side. First mentioned in Chapter 3.
Yuki Godai
:A student of Lydian Private Music Academy. After Chris Yukine transferred into the school she tried to befriend the girl, and Chris now reluctantly (but happily) considers her one of her friends. First appeared in GX Chapter 2.
Yumi Itaba
:A student of Lydian Private Music Academy who was befriended by Hibiki Tachibana and Miku Kohinata. After learning about the Symphogears from Hibiki, she was taken in by Sector Two as a preliminary member, often performing a variety of odd jobs for the group. Because of her reputation as an otaku, Yumi's knowledge of more-obscure and supernatural topics derived from anime makes her a useful asset to the government agency. Currently works under Shinji Ogawa in intelligence. First mentioned in Chapter 6.
Micha Jawkān
:One of the four Autoscorers created by Carol Malus Dienheim. First mentioned in GX Chapter 2.
Otome Kaburagi
:A student of Lydian Private Music Academy. After Chris Yukine transferred into the school she tried to befriend the girl, and Chris now reluctantly (but happily) considers her one of her friends. First appeared in GX Chapter 2.
Genjuro Kazanari
:The commander of Sector Two of the Special Disaster Response Team and Tsubasa Kazanari's uncle. Many years ago, Genjuro had been planning to aid famous musicians Masanori Yukine and Sonnet M. Yukine in achieving their dream of bringing peace to the world through music. After their deaths, he had been in charge of searching for the daughter of the two celebrities, eventually reconnecting with her after Sector Two met her as an enemy. First mentioned in Chapter 2.
Tsubasa Kazanari
:Member of Zwei Wing, which has since been disbanded as an idol group. Unbeknownst to the public, Tsubasa is also one of the few people able to naturally resonate with a Symphogear, making her one of humanity's only way to combat the Noise that frequently appear to attack the species. She is known by her fans to be fairly withdrawn and quiet when off the stage - despite her powerful voice while singing - though she also harbours a selfish and slightly cocky side as a result of her training. Tsubasa claims that she is a sword whose sole purpose is not to protect humanity but instead the few she cares about. First appeared in Chapter 1. Wielder of the Ame no Habakiri Symphogear.
Yatsuhiro Kazanari
:The older brother of Genjuro Kazanari and father of Tsubasa Kazanari. Works as a national security specialist for the Japanese government, whose work often brings him into the realm of illegal or barely legal. First mentioned in G Chapter 8.
Miku Kohinata
:A survivor of the Zwei Wing Tragedy. Following the tragedy, Miku's parents committed suicide due to constant harassment, and thus she now lives with Hibiki and her family. Miku is former member of her school's track team, and thus is athletically-inclined. Despite initially declining the offer, Miku agrees to enter into Sector Two of the Special Disaster Response Team in hopes of becoming a Symphogear candidate. Due to the troubles she has faced since the tragedy, Miku now hates humanity and has dedicated herself to protecting Hibiki. First appeared in Chapter 1. Able to make use of the Gungnir Symphogear due to shards that had been embedded within her body during the Zwei Wing Tragedy, and is currently bound to an amalgamation of artificial relics known as the Lancea Longini.
Shinji Ogawa
:A ninja who works for Sector Two of the Special Disaster Response Team. Ogawa also served as the manager for Zwei Wing before their dissolution, and continues to be particularly close with those two idols. Acts as one of the Japanese government's top intelligent agents, which allows him to get away with things that others would be reprimanded for, such as bringing onto his team civilian minors. First mentioned in Chapter 2.
Ryoko Sakurai
:A scientist who works for Sector Two of the Special Disaster Response Team and the creator of the Symphogears. First mentioned in Chapter 4.
Phara Suyūf
:One of the four Autoscorers created by Carol Malus Dienheim. First mentioned in GX Chapter 2.
Hibiki Tachibana
:A survivor of the Zwei Wing Tragedy. Hibiki's father left her family after the tragedy, leaving her alone with her grandmother and mother to deal with the aftermath. While her opinion on humanity has been strained by the turbulence she has faced since the concert, Hibiki is still willing to give humanity a chance for redemption. After being approached by former idols Tsubasa Kazanari and Kanade Amou, Hibiki agrees to join Sector Two of the Special Disaster Response Team in hopes of becoming able to wield a Symphogear. First appeared in Chapter 1. Able to make use of the Gungnir Symphogear due to shards that had been embedded within her body during the Zwei Wing Tragedy, though doing so places immense stress on her body.
Shiori Terashima
:A student of Lydian Private Music Academy who was befriended by Hibiki Tachibana and Miku Kohinata. After learning about the Symphogears from Hibiki, she was taken in by Sector Two as a preliminary member, often performing a variety of odd jobs for the group. First mentioned in Chapter 6.
Nastassja Sergeyevna Tolstaya
:First mentioned in G Chapter 2.
Masahito Shibata
:The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Japanese government. Shibata often has to work with Sector Two in order to clean up (or look into) incidents that may have connections to other countries. Humorously, he is very rarely seen without some kind of food by his side, even while on the job. First appeared in G Chapter 5.
Aoi Tomosato
:An employee of Sector Two of the Special Disaster Response Team. Tomosato works alongside Sakuya Fujitaka as one of the co-heads of the research team, and is often the one on duty watching out for Noise. Following Genjuro, Tomosato is the highest-ranked member of Sector Two and thus the leadership position falls to her in his absence. First mentioned in Chapter 3.
Shirabe Tsukuyomi
:First appeared in G Chapter 1. Wielder of the Shul Shagana Symphogear.
Garie Tūmān
:One of the four Autoscorers created by Carol Malus Dienheim. First appeared in GX Chapter 2.
John Wayne Vercingetorix
:First appeared in G Chapter 2.
Chris Yukine
:Daughter of the late celebrities Masanori Yukine and Sonnet M. Yukine, who were world-renowned musicians who hoped to bring peace to the world through music. After her parents died in a bombing while visiting the country of Val Verde, Chris was sold into slavery and treated horribly for many years of her life. She eventually ended up in the care of a woman named Finé, who brought her back to Japan and used her as part of her plans. First appeared in Chapter 6. Wielder of the Ichaival Symphogear.
== Story ==
=== 11/29/2021 ===
. . .
	During the car ride back to the Kazanari residence, the car containing Ogawa, Yumi, Chris, and Tsubasa was full of emotions–and none of them good. Tsubasa pursed her lips in thought as she grit her teeth, Chris sighed in annoyance at the silence, and Ogawa tensed his jaw as he listened to the voice coming out of the phone that Yumi held up to his ear.
On the other end of the call was one of his former Sector Two co-workers, and now a fellow member of Yatsuhiro Kazanari’s intelligence-based organization: Aoi Tomosato.
“The good news is that Fujitaka has returned.” The woman had begun the call with, sparing the ninja any formalities. “But he does not remember anything from the past twenty-four hours. Physically, however, he seems to be unharmed–though he did collapse and fall asleep after stumbling into the building, so he may not be mentally well.”
“And the bad news?” Ogawa asked.
“The bad news is that we just got a call from the boss: there was an attack at the Kazanari residence and one of the Symphogears has been stolen. Considering Tsukuyomi’s disappearance, it’s very likely that Shul Shagana is the one that was taken...”
“And...?”
“And...”
	Ogawa nodded to Yumi as he thanked Tomosato, and she lifted the phone from his ear. He sighed, eyeing his assistant in a way that told her not to put the phone down; Yumi held it close to her chest with a nod of acknowledgement.
“Alright, we’ve got some bad news.” Ogawa announced to the car in a voice that told the two in the back seat that they should be listening to this. As such, they sat up straight and turned their attention to the driver. “The Kazanari residence has been attacked, and it’s believed that they took the Shul Shagana Symphogear. I assume its presence there...”
“Yatsuhiro’s fault.” Chris shifted the blame away from the fact that she had been the one to give Tsubasa’s father the idea to keep them away from the government.
“You believe that might mean Tsukuyomi has been brainwashed into working with those alchemists?” Tsubasa ignored Chris as she focused on the more-pressing matter.
“Or at the very least, they’re using her Symphogear as a bartering tool.” Yumi offered her own perspective of the situation, to which Ogawa nodded.
Before he continued, Ogawa sighed.
“That’s never a good sign.” Chris muttered.
“Yumi, can you call the boss? Put him on speaker, too.”
Tsubasa and Chris shot each other some questioning looks as Yumi pulled up Yatsuhiro’s number. Before the dial tone echoed into the car as Yumi turned on the speaker, the only sound within the compartment was the tapping of Ogawa’s fingers on the steering wheel.
“Hello?” Yatsuhiro’s annoyed voice sounded into the car after a moment, and Tsubasa visibly cringed at the sound.
“Boss, I just got a report from Tomosato. There were a couple of things I felt like you–and the girls with you–should know before we regroup.”
“Alright. Just...” Yatsuhiro sighed. “If you want me to put it on speaker, then you should be prepared.”
“Prepared for what?” Chris asked, but she was answered as a sound flooded through the small speaker of the device that Yumi, who was holding the phone, even flinched away from.
Kirika and Maria’s cries of relief and sadness echoed into the car. “Since the adrenaline wore off, the two of them have been very emotional.” Yatsuhiro grunted over the noise behind him.
“Hey! Maria! Akatsuki!” Chris shouted into the phone as loud as she could, instantly giving everyone around her–and Yatsuhiro–a throbbing pain as her loud, and surprising, cry stabbed their ears. But it did catch the attention of the two whose names she called out, as their sobs subsided.
“What, death? Is that Chr... Yukine?” Kirika asked.
“Alright, is everyone listening now? Let’s go over the report. First off: Fujitaka has been located–I was not made aware that he was even missing, but Tomosato said that he has not sustained any external injuries and is currently sleeping.”
Tsubasa let out a sigh of relief at the news, something that both Yumi and Chris noticed with varying levels of surprise.
“Okay, but more importantly: the Kazanari residence was raided, and Shul Shagana was stolen. We believe this is likely a sign that Tsukuyomi may try to fight against us in the future–either through brainwashing or as part of a deal.”
“Shirabe would never!” Kirika shouted, but Chris shook her head.
“Yeah, don’t forget that Ver brainwashed some of our friends into killing machines.” Chris leaned in towards the phone as she glared at the blank screen. “It’s possible that alchemy could do the same.”
“Speaking of which.” Maria’s voice sounded confident, a stark departure from the tears she had just been shedding. “What exactly is going on? We... got a little distracted.”
“Oh, right, you wouldn’t know.” Tsubasa said.
“Honestly, Maria? We’re not entirely sure what’s going on. Some alchemist apparently plans to destroy the Earth in order to analyse it, or something. Elfy said those robots that we fought are called Autoscorers, and that there are four of them.” Chris offered.
“Elfy? No never mind. Let’s get back on topic. Clearly we could be going on for a while.” Maria cut that part short. “Sounds like you’ve got a good handle on the situation.”
“That’s the issue. Elfy specifically wanted us Symphogear users to stop her creator’s plans, so–” Chris could hear Kirika question the ‘creator’ part, but she kept going, regardless. “That means that the alchemist was aware of us and considered us a threat. But she appeared back there, and said that we’re no longer her targets.”
“She also sent one of her Autoscorers off to find Ver.” Tsubasa reminded Chris, whose eyes lit up in recognition of the fact that she had forgotten that.
“So, Ver’s in play, again.” Yatsuhiro sighed. “Unfortunately, our interrogations with him did end up painting a very... bold picture of the man, but we were never able to decipher his intentions, or how he obtained the relics and knowledge that played a part in his experiments on Kohinata and Maria’s sister.”
“Oh! How is Serena doing, death?” Kirika asked, knowing Maria must have been extremely curious about the state of her revived sister.
“That’s the main reason why I’m calling, actually.” Ogawa eyed a car in front of him, one that slowed suddenly as it began to change lanes in an attempt to cut him off. He frowned as he had to slow to avoid colliding with them. “Why don’t we get everyone up to date on how Serena’s been, first, though.
“We ran a lot of tests on her, but Serena’s body was heavily modified by Dr. Ver. Her central nervous system and brain were both directly connected to the Shénshòujìng relic, so it would be impossible to remove it without... incident.” Ogawa hung on that last word for a moment. “She is still comatose, though, from what I’ve heard. Care to weigh in, boss?”
“There really isn’t much else to say on that.” Yatsuhiro grunted. “Her brainwaves are fine, and there are no physical reasons that are believed to explain her current state, so we only have guesses as to why she hasn’t awoken yet.
“Our main theory is that her brain is simply confused; from what we know, Serena Cadenzavna Eve’s body was heavily disfigured and dismembered, so–if she remembers the moment of her death–it’s possible that her brain is simply trying to work out a way to understand that memory.”
“Yeah. Remembering a moment of your own death can be pretty traumatic.” Kirika added darkly. Sending a chill down everyone’s spines, Kirika’s voice sounded unlike her own–it was almost a perfect smoothie of the tones of both Finé and Kirika. The girl who spoke shuddered beside Maria.
Clearing his throat, Yatsuhiro continued. “Something of note, though, is that part of her skin has turned completely black, around her thighs. It appeared not too long after she was brought into the hospital, and we’re unable to completely understand it.”
“You mean, like...” Chris trailed off.
“No–her skin turned jet black, as if there was no colour at all. Based on medical analyses, the cells in the area we took samples from were wholly organic and matched the DNA we had on record for her, but there were unidentifiable traces of... something, mixed in.” Yatsuhiro explained. “More than likely, that’s a result of the experiments performed on her. We originally believed it to be, potentially, her body rotting as the effects of the relic that resuscitated her faded, but her body is, as I said, physically well.”
“I saw her.” Yumi added. “She reminded me a lot of that... what was it called. Nephilim? You said that Miku transformed into something like it, too, right? We might want to see if she has similar black spots.”
“That’s actually what I want to talk to you about.” Ogawa exhaled. “The black part of Serena’s body has increased in size, and seems to be causing her physical pain based on the readings of her brain waves. According to Tomosato, there were also two police reports of a ‘black beast’ in a nearby city that...”
“You don’t think that’s Kohinata (Chris), do you?” Tsubasa asked. Chris and Yumi did, too, and their voices overlapped (with a slight deviation) as they pondered the same question aloud.
“The police report she told me about described the black beast as ‘roughly one hundred-sixty centimetres tall, and appeared to be clad in armour. It fell out of the sky and then flew off at a high speed.’ For reference, the profile we have of Miku Kohinata states that she is one-fifty-six centimetres tall; in the thick armour of Lancea Longini, she would likely be around one-sixty.”
“Being able to fly, and wearing armour... That does sound like Miku.” Chris acknowledged. “But, wait, Genjuro saw her yesterday, and he didn’t say anything about her looking anything like Nephilim! If the report says that she looked like a monster, then...”
“Do you think,” Yumi cut Chris off. “Serena and Miku could be linked somehow? And the latter could be absorbing whatever... corruption that Serena has been suffering from? Or, even the opposite, and Miku’s absorbing Serena’s darkness?”
“That’s possible. But, like Chris said, it likely would not have consumed her entire body in only a day. Unless she hid the marks from Genjuro, then...”
“I did see Kohinata too, albeit briefly.” Yatsuhiro added. “She was wearing oversized clothing with a hood. I couldn’t see her face clearly, but the rest of her body was, for the most part, hidden away.”
“So what you’re saying,” Tsubasa chewed the words that her father had spoken in her mind. “Is that the probability that Kohinata is the black beast mentioned is quite high...”
=== 01/09/2022 ===
	“You’re actually going to school for once?”
The next day, Chris ran across a familiar face on her way to Lydian Private Music Academy–several, actually.
“Yes. I’m... testing something.” The girl answered, a scowl on her face.
Chris shrugged at the response that the small alchemist named Carol Malus Dienheim gave her. Surrounding her stood three other individuals: Elfnein, Garie, and Micha; the red Autoscorer in particular gave Chris a cheerful greeting as she approached.
“I’m surprised you’re going to school.” Elfnein squeaked, looking at Chris.
“Don’t you want to stick by the side of your girlfriend while she’s recovering?” Garie teased, her shark-toothed grin widening as a playful look crossed her face.
Chris glared at the Autoscorer, who only giggled as she watched the white-haired girl’s face flush a light red.
“Miku... wants to be alone.” Elfnein explained in Chris’s place.
“I’m sure using that abomination does put a great toll upon that girl.” Carol nodded. “The power she wields... Next to that alchemical attack back in Val Verde, Lancea Longini is quite likely the closest thing upon this planet that can be compared to the powers of the gods.”
“Whaaaaat!~” Micha screamed. “Stronger than you, mas...”
“Carol.” The small alchemist corrected. “At school, you refer to me as Carol.”
“But we’re not there yet.” Depression crossed Micha’s face as she whined.
“And that other girl you retrieved...” Carol looked away from Micha and decided to ignore the question that her creation had answered. “What of her? Have you learned anything else about her?”
Chris and Elfnein shook their heads. Upon seeing the latter do so, Carol narrowed her eyes at the green-haired girl who looked to be her twin sister. “I know you haven’t, of course.”
“Oh! Right.” Elfnein squeaked, turning to look away.
“She’s still unconscious. I’m sure you’re aware of what Kirika and Shirabe explained, right?”
“That girl was one of the Receptor Children that FIS had brought in, though she allegedly died during an experiment. That, blonde girl witnessed her final moments, when she was electrocuted to death–or at least, believed she did.”
“That’s about it, yeah.” Chris sighed. “The two of them... they thought that they, and Maria, were the only ones left. I guess they feel a sort of familial connection to all of the Receptor Children.” Not that I’d know what that feels like. Chris continued silently.
“Speaking of those children.” Carol looked up. “That other one–Serena Cadenzavna Eve. What of her?”
“Well, considering how much class we all miss...” Chris looked up at the school as it came into view. “She should also be attending remedial classes right now. No idea where she is, though, but I doubt it really matters.”
“It’s not like these classes are any difficult.” Chris and Carol remarked in unison.
“You’re very smart, ma–” Micha began to praise her creator, but stopped as Carol glared at her. “Carol!”
“When you’ve lived for as long as I have, many of these studies come naturally to you.” Carol smiled, satisfied with herself.
“Nah, you can just say that this school sucks.” Garie stated bluntly. “It’s not exactly the greatest source of information in the world.”
“I think the classes are pretty good.” Micha said quietly, receiving a pat on the back from Elfnein. The green-haired homunculus knew that the wild red-haired Autoscorer was not the most intelligent–she was, after all, wholly designed for combat–but did not hold that against her.
Unlike the others, Micha actually tried to attend as much school as possible–on Carol’s orders, specifically, as she wanted the Autoscorer to learn more about the world and how to blend in with others. Despite this, she was still failing every class, and Elfnein had recently taken to tutoring Micha whenever she could.
“Yeah, you definitely would.” Garie chuckled.
“Garie, don’t be mean to Micha.” Elfnein scolded the blue Autoscorer, who only wore a grin as she looked up, away from the homunculus girl.
Chris couldn’t help but smile as she looked at the two Autoscorers and the green-haired girl glaring up at the taller of the robots.
Carol noticed this, and let out a satisfied chuckle of her own. “If nothing else, my associates have done a fine job clearing your mind, it seems.”
“Yeah. I guess they have.” Chris chuckled.
“You needn’t worry about your friend. I ran an analysis on her body: she is showing no abnormalities–at least, in comparison to her usual state. I imagine the human body may simply not be capable of withstanding the pressure of that weapon within her.”
“I just...” Chris sighed, looking up at the morning sky. “I wish I could do something to help her.”
“Though I can’t say for certain,” Carol started. “I imagine just being by her side is enough. From what I have observed, she appears to favour you over anyone else.”
Chris smiled, but this was merely a mask for the sad thoughts that flashed behind her eyes. Sometimes I can’t help but feel like I’m just a replacement for Hibiki.
~ ~ ~
	Using the chains of Shrivatsa, Miku was able to carry the unconscious Satomi Kubert back to SONG’s command centre. Though she gingerly placed the girl upon the metallic ground of the submarine, she took no care of herself as she then collapsed head-first towards the ground.
“Whoa!” Kirika leapt back away from Miku, almost dropping the sleeping Shirabe that she carried in her own arms. “Are you okay, death?”
Miku coughed, before looking up at Kirika. Her eyes were sad, and blood dribbled out from her mouth. “I’ll be fine.” Miku gasped.
“You don’t look like you will.” Kanade acknowledged. “You need to be more truthful to yourself.”
“Fine.” Miku put her hand up to her mouth as she coughed again. When she pulled her limb away again, both Kanade and Kirika saw blood covering her fingers. “I feel like shit and want to die. Using Lancea Longini alone is painful enough, but some relics harm me more.”
“Speaking of which,” Kanade shuffled Tsubasa in her arms as she looked down at Miku. “Durandal... have you always been able to summon it?”
Miku narrowed her eyes. “Is it really that surprising considering everything else that’s been shoved into me? I bet you didn’t even know Shrivatsa existed.”
“You’re right!” Kanade yelled. “But it’s not my job to know about the relics! We’re Symphogear wielders–it’s our job to cut down Noise and use our songs to bring peace.”
Miku rolled her eyes. “You’re a Symphogear wielder, Kanade.” She coughed into her hand again, and Kanade saw the girl’s eyes flicker for just a moment. “I’m just a mad doctor’s guinea pig–barely human anymore. I’m a monster!”
“You shouldn’t talk about yourself like that, Miku!”
Miku wanted to yell something else, her eyebrows lowering in anger. Instead, however, as she tried to open her mouth to speak, Miku’s head fell to the ground with a clang. When she didn’t move again, Kanade could tell that she had fallen unconscious.
“She isn’t necessarily wrong.”
Kanade’s eyes turned to the source of the voice–Kirika, though the tone implied Finé was to blame for the tone. The orange-haired girl narrowed her eyes in anger at Kirika, who flinched back in shock.
“What?” Kanade roared.
Kirika flailed about, but Finé’s voice continued to spill out of her lips. “It doesn’t matter what your intentions are–humans have been incredibly judgmental creatures ever since the Curse of Balal bound us. Even the slightest misstep could label you a monster in someone’s eyes, even if this is a result of a misunderstanding.”
Kanade grunted. “I hate it–the idea of considering yourself a monster.”
“But it’s something you identify with.” Finé pointed out. “You shouldn’t forget what you told me.”
“Ryoko Sakurai.” With Tsubasa still in her arms, Kanade took a heavy step forwards towards Kirika, leaning in to the blonde girl’s face. Kirika’s eyes went wide, and she shook her head in confusion–the girl wanted nothing more to escape this conversation that she was technically not part of. “If you were not using this girl as a shield, know that I would have slaughtered you already.”
“I’m well aware.” Finé acknowledged. “I remember better than anyone else the monster that was birthed after your family was killed.”
“By you, I’m sure.” Kanade spat the hated-laced words out at Kirika, who turned her head away.
“I... can not deny some involvement... but, no. I did not kill your parents–directly or indirectly. Their deaths truly were nothing more than an unfortunate accident... the only thing I can be blamed for is leading them into that cave.”
Kanade turned around and looked down at the sleeping Miku, her cheek–which was pressed against her hand–painted in a smear of blood. “I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true, death.” Kirika nodded. “I have access to Finé’s memories–she didn’t do anything to your parents.”
Kanade spun around, shock reflected upon her face as she looked at the small girl. She desired to confront Kirika, ask her for the whole truth, but stopped when she saw the girl’s face.
Her eyes were darkened, expressionless, as she looked down at the black-haired girl laying limp in her arms. Kirika looked hollow, her body trembling slightly. “I... can guarantee that” Kirika’s whisper was quiet and coarse. “But there is so much... so much...”
Kanade felt sorry for the girl–for the horrors imprisoned within her mind by the eternal priestess known as Finé. “I... am sorry, Kirika.”
The small girl took in a deep breath. When she exhaled, her expression softened. “Alright, let’s get these girls to the med bay, death.”
Kirika then took a look around, taking in the area around them. “Actually... where is everyone else?”
“Probably still keeping tabs on the sisters.” Kanade shook her head. “We shouldn’t waste any more time.”
~ ~ ~
	As the group of girls entered the courtyard of Lydian, Elfnein brought up another question to Chris. “Did Tomosato and Fujitaka manage to locate the source of the readings we obtained?”
“No.” Chris shook her head. “I don’t know the details, but it seems like whatever they scanned disappeared after that alchemy bomb thing.”
“Interesting. It’s almost like that alchemical attack was performed in order to divert your attention from something else.” Carol speculated. “Perhaps we should be wondering whether our foes have been playing a game of chess with us as the pieces.”
“Speaking of which: apparently our new friend stopped following us.” Garie reported. “Leiur and Phara have not been able to locate her for the past twenty minutes.”
“That may not be a good thing.” Carol grunted. “We know little about this organization, their motives, and goals. We have no idea what they are planning to do. Now that they have moved their eyes away from me, for the time being, we can only speculate as to what they may be up to.”
“Any ideas, Carol?” Elfnein squeaked.
“Unfortunately, no. Had we been able to get even a glimpse of the relic in Val Verde, perhaps we may have obtained some clue...”
“But?” Chris asked.
“But?” Carol repeated, a little surprised.
“You seem to be avoiding a possibility. It sounds to me like you’re trying to sidestep something.”
“Yes. I suppose I am.” Carol closed her eyes and halted. Garie stopped in her tracks at the same moment, though the others took a few more steps before reacting; Micha continued on her way, merrily forgetting about the others. “My papa may be working with our enemies. That’s a distinct possibility, one I hope does not come to pass.”
“Your father, huh?” Chris looked down at the girl.
“No. I needn’t worry. My papa...” In that moment, Chris saw Carol not as a powerful alchemist, but rather as the young child she appeared to be. The small girl flashed a large smile, with kind eyes, as she spoke her next words. “My papa is a good person.”
“You’ve changed, master.” Garie noted, almost immediately wiping the innocent grin off the girl’s face. “Ever since you starting talking with that Shirabe girl, you have become... softer.”
“That’s not a bad thing.” Elfnein countered. “Carol... I like how nice she’s become!”
“I find it a bit disturbing.” Garie grumbled.
“I don’t think I want to know what the old Carol was like.” Chris chuckled.
	“Ah, Chris! You’re back!”
Chris spun around in shock as the pitter-patter of three sets of footsteps ran towards her. With wide eyes, she saw her three classmates–Otome Kaburagi, Komichi Ayano, Yuki Godai–stumbling towards her with tears in their eyes. Yuki, her brown ponytail spinning around wildly, had been the one to cry out.
“Oh, uhh. Yeah, I am.” Chris said meekly, earning a chuckle from Carol.
“When we heard that you were injured, we got so worried!” Otome held her hands up in front of her. “But we met your roommate, and we knew we could trust her to look over you!”
“You met Miku?” Chris flinched back. “Wait. And you put your trust in her?”
“Miku Kohinata?” Carol repeated the girl’s name. “From what I have observed, that girl only seems to know anger.”
“Oh, Deen’s here, too!” Yuki smiled as she saw Carol standing by Chris’s side.
“Dean?” Elfnein, Carol, Chris, and Garie all asked in shock.
“Well, her name’s kind of hard to pronounce...” Yuki admitted. “Deen-him? Denim? So I shortened it to Dean.”
Carol sighed. “Whatever. Call me whatever you wish.”
Garie chuckled. “Alright, then, Dean.”
“You...” Carol glanced up at her blue Autoscorer with a murderous look in her eyes. In response, Garie giggled mischievously, her white fingers barely covering the large pointed smile on her face.
	“Guys!” Micha cried, standing at the entry to the school. “You’re going to be late!”
“Ah, she’s right!” Komichi replied, a look of surprise on her face as she looked at her phone. “We only have two minutes until class starts!”
Yuki slapped her cheek. “Ah! And I was hoping to go to the library before class!”
Forgetting that Chris, Carol, Garie, and Elfnein were there, the three girls began to sprint towards the doors of Lydian. As they reached Micha, she cheered them on with a hearty cry, but did not move from her spot.
“How did they end up in remedial classes, too?” Chris shook her head. “What excuse do they have?”
“They all seem a little...” Elfnein muttered.
“Stupid?” Garie supplied.
“Airheaded. Goofy.” Carol nodded. “Unfocused.”
Chris couldn’t help but smile, though. “But... they still are my friends.”
As the school bell rang, the four girls began to walk towards the building...
	...“Stop!” Carol shouted, shoving her hands out in front of the group. “Micha, get back here, now!”
“Huh?” Micha tilted her head in confusion, but did just as ordered. She leapt forwards... and landed on the ground with a long clang as her left foot clattered against the pavement.
“What?” Chris cried out in disbelief.
She had blinked as it happened–it had happened so fast that her brain could not process what had just happened.
The large, ornate building that was Lydian Private Music Academy, a renovated Catholic school that had been abandoned long ago, sparkled as it now took on a completely golden appearance.
“Otome! Komichi! Yuki!” Chris realized with a start what this meant, and rushed into the now golden school. She ignored Micha, who was laying on the ground–her left foot solid gold–and climbed up the shimmering steps.
There, in the entrance area, she saw them. The three girls were smiling as they were climbing up the steps to the second floor. Komichi and Otome has their mouths open in glee as they turned to Yuki, who wore a flustered expression.
“...No.”
Chris fell to her knees.
Her classmates, like the school around them, were solid gold. They were nothing but statues frozen in an eternal moment.
“Girls...” Chris muttered. She was not sad, nor angry–she was just entirely confused. “Why?”
“We need to move. Now.” Chris heard from behind her–Garie. “Forget about your friends–let’s go!”
“I... I...” Chris looked at the girls’ faces, ones frozen now in a moment of joy.
Garie groaned as she shook her head, and snapped her fingers.
In the next moment, Chris found herself in SONG’s command centre.
~ ~ ~
	“Let me out of this.”
The girl with the sharp teeth wiggled in the restraints as she barked. She was trapped by ropes infused with alchemical energy–they were completely invulnerable, unable to be broken even by the superhuman strength wielded by the girl they were tied around.
The more unbelievable sight, however, was the alchemist and her four robots. The group of five looked down upon the girl sitting on the ground, with large dark sunglasses covering their eyes and cloaks with their hoods drawn over their heads.
“What... are you doing?” Kanade asked.
	Not long after Serena and Maria had returned to SONG’s submarine, with no clue as to what had happened to the relic they were seeking, Carol and her Autoscorers reappeared in a flash, carrying with them a girl that seemed to be their prisoner.
Carol and her Autoscorers had teleported into the medical room that the Symphogear wielders were now occupying. Shirabe, Tsubasa, and Miku all laid in three of the four beds, the last of which was being occupied by Satomi Kubert. Shirabe and Tsubasa were unconscious, just as Satomi was, but Miku was laying on her side and looking over the group in her room.
As for the others: Serena sat on a chair beside the unconscious Shirabe; Kirika sat on the ground at the base of Shirabe’s bed, looking up at the platform she was sleeping upon; Kanade stood in front of Carol and her creations, looking down upon the captured girl, and Maria stood a little behind her doing the same; Chris was sitting the furthest away from Carol, on the opposite side of Miku from her; and Genjuro, who had been relaying the information that the support staff was now looking into, stood with a clipboard in his hand beside Maria.
“Whatever you do.” Carol turned to her allies. “Do not look this girl in the eyes and remain a fair distance away from her.”
“We believe that she has the power to infiltrate and take over minds.” Leiur explained. “So it would be best not to make yourselves unwilling allies of her.”
“Ah so you’ve done your research.” The girl grunted.
“That’s...” Genjuro recognized the girl. “Millaarc Cranstoun–the one that we believe is a vampire. And the one behind the disappearances of the scientists that worked for FIS.”
“Oh great. Everyone’s done their research, apparently.” The girl rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m Millaarc. Vampire extraordinaire, super cool murderer... Now let me go.”
“I have a question for you, vampire.” Carol ignored her captive and leaned over her. “Do you know what that alchemical attack used in the jungle was?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Do I look like an alchemist to you?”
“You look like a vampire.” Miku pointed out. “And vampires are just as fantastical as anything else that’s happened.”
“She makes a good point.” Chris nodded, which caused Millaarc to furrow her brow.
Carol stomped her foot. “Answer my question, girl. Do you have any knowledge about that attack?”
The girl lazily tilted her head. “No idea what you’re talking about. I’m just your average vampire girl.” Millaarc looked down as she stopped talking, and hissed out a curse. After a short pause, she furrowed her eyebrows. “Wait. I’m dead meat anyway. No way those assholes are going to let me live if I even got out of here.”
“Those ‘assholes’...” Carol muttered. “Are you perhaps with the Bavarian Illuminati?”
“The Illuminati?” Two voices echoed the name of the group that Carol had uttered: Millaarc and Kirika. The second one was especially shocking, and most of the Symphogear wielders turned to look at her.
“Yeah, you know... the group that’s apparently controlling the world from the shadows, or whatever?” Chris explained. “The eye in the triangle’s their thing.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know who the Illuminati are, death!” Kirika said as she climbed to her feet. “They don’t exist any more!”
Millaarc chuckled. “Guess only one of you gets a passing grade on your homework.” She was then knocked forwards as Carol stomped the girl’s back, letting out a pained grunt.
“Speak, girl.” Carol ordered, turning to Kirika.
	“Just as Kirika said,” The golden-haired girl muttered in a mature tone. “The Bavarian Illuminati... it does not exist.”
“Finé.” Kanade and Maria spat in disgust.
“Yes. I took care of them myself. I saw to it that they would never again see the light of day.”
While Finé spoke with a confident, and cruel, tone, Kirika shivered slightly with a distant look in her eyes. As the priestess could not control the girl’s actions, she was forced to look down at Kirika’s shaking hands, which she held up in front of her.
“So much... death...” Kirika uttered, in her own voice. She grabbed her own arms with her quivering hands, and threw herself against the wall, slowly sliding down to the ground.
“Kirika?” Maria had the look of a concerned mother on her face as she saw Kirika’s terrified appearance. She went over to the girl and bent over, wanting to put a hand upon her friend’s shoulder, but Kirika threw up Finé’s Asgard shield to prevent her from doing so.
“It would be best to leave the girl alone for the moment.” Carol grunted. “Thus, the duty falls to you, vampire. Explain.”
“Yeah, sure. They’re going to kill me anyway. Might as well just get it all out in the open.” Millaarc sighed.
“If you agree to help us, we can guarantee your safety.” Genjuro provided, but it only made Millaarc laugh maniacally.
“Yeah, sure. Like you can keep me safe against those freaks. Or keep me alive in the first place.” Millaarc muttered quietly. “But, whatever. Fuck it.”
“Explain.” Carol repeated, the fire of anger burning in her eyes.
“Those who transformed me into this beast belong to a group known as the Committee of 300. They’re a secret organization that exists in the shadows, using their power to influence the actions of multiple major corporations and governments.”
Though Kirika still huddled on the ground with Asgard surrounding her, the voice of Finé echoed out from her. “It seems a remnant of the Illuminati may have survived...”
“The Eye of Providence.” Millaarc pointed to the collar she wore. “They can see through every eye they draw; they know everything I’m saying to you right now.”
“That explains why Garie had been drawing such a symbol, when she had been under your control.” Phara noted.
Millaarc cracked a crooked smile. “You’d be surprised how little people–and robots–pay attention to the crowds they pass through... and how easy it is to meet someone’s gaze without them even realizing.” Letting out a cruel chuckle, Millaarc continued. “Those I take control of aren’t even aware of my influence! It’s glorious!”
=== 01/13/2022 ===
“Maria, Serena? Do you read us?”
Serena heard the voice of Tomosato in her ear as she looked around their surroundings, followed by her sister’s answer both over the communicator and from just below her.
“Loud and clear.”
“Miku defeated the dragon Noise, but she collapsed afterwards. Can you return to base?”
“That’s going to be a bit difficult.” Maria sighed. “We... have no idea where we are.”
“I’m sorry.” Serena admitted. “I wasn’t paying attention when I was running away from that alchemy attack, and we ended up... somewhere.”
“Are there any landmarks?” Fujitaka asked.
“Trees.” Both sisters said in unison.
“Let us try and pinpoint your location...” Tomosato uttered, the sound of typing lightly coming through the speakers. “Okay. You seem to be...”
“You travelled a long way, girls.” Fujitaka had a cheerful tone when he took over from his partner. “And in only a few seconds too. That’s incredible.”
“You’re... north-east of us.” Tomosato reported. “But, as Fujitaka said, you’re incredibly far away. Unless Serena were to fly at the same speed as before, it would take several hours at least for the two of you to make it back here.”
“There’s also the issue of those... alchemy bombs.” Maria brought up. “It might also be best to avoid the area that was affected–we don’t know what lingering effects it may cause.”
“Yes, that’s smart.” Fujitaka nodded, though that was something the two sisters were unaware of. “Alright. Even at the speed you travelled at before, it would still take quite some time for the two of you to make it back here. The area that was targeted by that alchemical attack was far larger than we initially believed.”
“So what are we going to do?” Serena dropped down from her position. She had been floating in the sky, looking out through the canopy of the jungle trying to find anything to orient herself–to no avail.
“If Carol or her Autoscorers were around, they’d be able to teleport you back.” Fujitaka mused. “But...”
“I’m sorry.” Tomosato apologized. “I’m afraid, the two of you will need to walk back.”
Both girls deactivated their Symphogears in unison at that comment. Maria looked up at the tangled web of branches and leaves that spread out above them as if it were a roof.
“We could have used the sun to orient ourselves, but...” The pink-haired girl turned her gaze upwards as far as she could, but the higher she looked the less she could make out. “...Of course, the sky happened to cloud over.”
“So, then, Maria!” Serena, on the other hand, was far more cheerful. She skipped around her sister, dancing around the roots that protruded from the earth beneath her with ease. “Which direction should we go in?”
“Serena...” Maria said wearily, but stopped.
Serena had told her that, because of the Rod of Asclepius, she could no longer experience emotions properly, yet the young brown-haired girl’s cheeks were now invaded by a large grin. The elder sister couldn’t help but feel somewhat sad at the sight, and as such the words she was going to say got caught in her throat.
“Well, then, let’s go... that way!” Despite the conflict in Maria’s mind, Serena pretended to be unaware of what her sister was feeling, and pointed in one direction.
The girl took a few steps forwards, then, only to stop once she realized that Maria was not following. Spinning around, Serena addressed her elder counterpart, a sweet smile still adorning her face. “We haven’t had much time to talk, so I want to hear all about what you’ve been up to.”
What Serena was not aware of–but what Maria could see clearly–was the emptiness that filled Serena’s eyes. They lacked any sparkle; though she tried her best to express what she wanted to, Serena’s heart was unable to do the same, and the windows that were her eyes remained dark and hollow.
Maria’s chest tightened up when she saw her sister’s gaze, but she forced herself to smile–something she was used to doing whenever she worked as an idol. “Yeah. Okay.”
. . .
	Some time later, almost an hour or so after Serena and Maria began their trek back.
“Hey!” “Wait!” “You shouldn’t–!”
“Shut up!” Chris shouted in response to everyone’s complaints around her.
When Miku, Kirika, and Kanade had returned with the unconscious Satomi, Tsubasa, and Shirabe, Chris felt annoyed that she had been completely useless to help. Even when Shiori and Kuriyo abandoned their posts to see how the white-haired girl was doing now that she had awoken (and help carry Miku to a bed after she immediately collapsed upon returning), Chris couldn’t help but feel as though she should have been doing something, herself.
So, defying the odds, Chris had managed to stand. Using the wall to balance herself, Chris began walking to the command room where she knew Genjuro, and Kanade, would be. Of course, doing so put quite a strain on both her mind and body–though the protests of the two aforementioned girls, as well as Elfnein, and their attempts to stop her from being reckless were the main cause of this.
When she had finally reached the room, Chris couldn’t help but snap, shouting out that she wanted them all to stop talking... and it worked, though she felt bad about it when she saw the sad looks on Shiori and Kuriyo’s faces.
“Listen up! I can’t stand just sitting around doing nothing, especially since Miku went and got herself knocked out.” Chris looked at the two girls with a stern expression. “Maria and Serena are still out there doing something; whatever it is, I want to help them.”
“Actually, about that...” Kuriyo muttered. “I think they’re just lost.”
“Even better. That’s something I can help with, easily.” Chris smirked in response.
	Stomping into the command centre, Chris raised her voice. “I’ll bring them back.”
Then she paused. Elfnein, peeking out from the silhouette of Chris that filled the entryway, voiced the main question that had popped into Chris’s mind the second she took in the room. “Where is everyone?”
The command centre was empty, save for Chris and one other person: Sakuya Fujitaka. Fujitaka sat in his chair, turned to look at Chris, with a cup of coffee held up to his lips. He stared at the girl with a blank expression as he sipped the black liquid, taking his time to respond.
Chris took a shaky step forwards just as Fujitaka lowered the mug. Exhaling out a warm breath, Fujitaka watched as Chris struggled to walk without using the wall for support.
“Glad to see that you’re awake again.” He greeted Chris calmly. As her entourage followed suit and entered the room, however, Fujitaka narrowed his eyes. “Shiori, Kuriyo; you two still have to file your reports.”
Shiori sighed. “Sorry, Mr. Fujitaka.”
“No, I understand why you two ran off, but that doesn’t mean you get to skip out on work.”
“Hey! Don’t just forget about me!” Chris screamed. “Where is everyone?”
“Oh? Right. Genjuro and Kanade decided to go out and try to locate the sisters themselves, and Tomosato went with them so that they could at least find their way back.” Fujitaka took another sip of his coffee, then slowly exhaled again. “So I’m just here in case the sisters need me.”
Chris put one hand on her hip. “Alright. I’ll go out and bring them back.”
“Nope.” Fujitaka shook his head. “You can’t even stand up on your own.”
“I don’t need to stand! All I plan to do is fire some missiles into the air to use as a beacon!”
“And then they will turn around and fall back to the ground, blowing up our submarine or potentially hitting the village or whatever. No way.” Fujitaka sipped his coffee again.
“Then, I’ll–”
“You’ve been asleep for a month. You should probably get used to standing up again before you do anything reckless.” Fujitaka looked down at his cup and sighed. “And now that you are here, I can go get another cup of coffee. If anything happens, I trust the four of you to handle it.”
The lethargic man stood up at that and slowly strolled out of the room. Chris glared at Fujitaka the whole time, but he did not react to her fiery gaze and silently disappeared as the door slid shut behind him.
...And almost immediately, an alarm sounded at the console he had been sitting at.
Kuriyo, the closest to the door, could hear a quiet mutter from the other side of the door–“Damn it.”–followed by the footsteps of someone walking away. Taking that as the sign that, at this moment she and Shiori were the only two members of the support staff around, she dashed to her station.
Shiori, slowly walking over to her own station, let out a sigh. “To think he put his trust in a couple of high school girls to handle anything.”
Elfnein and Chris looked at each other at that comment. “Maria’s the oldest one of us, right? She’s 21?” Chris asked.
“Carol is several hundreds of years old, but, just among the Symphogear wielders, yes.” Elfnein nodded.
“Right. I forgot which government organization I worked for, for a second.” Shiori mused, tapping into her keyboard.
At the same time, Kuriyo brought up a map on the screen in front of Chris and Elfnein. It was relatively empty, showing just the jungle, but there was a large empty circle which no trees populated. In the middle of it was a single, large, red spot. “Noise?” She asked.
	
Shiori’s fingers danced across the keyboard, and the footage of the golden wasteland left behind by the alchemical attack that descended from the heavens. In the centre of the clearing was a large serpentine creature covered in black scales.
Like small little dots standing around it were five figures. Unmistakeably, two of them were Maria and Serena–their silver and black sets of armour stood out upon the golden landscape; the other three were unknown.
“What is that thing?” Elfnein asked, in awe at the magnificent horror that was being shown on the screen.
“Yohualtepuztli.” Chris muttered quietly.
“Yohualtepuztli?”
“I remember seeing some art of it when I was a kid. It’s a god that some of the people around here believe in... or something.”
“Is it a relic?” Shiori asked. “A Noise?”
“And who are those other girls?” Kuriyo zoomed in the footage to get a good look at the three strangers.
“The Bavarian Illuminati.”
Chris and Elfnein leapt to the sides, the former falling into the nearby wall, as the voice of Carol sounded from behind them. Chris, rubbing the shoulder she crashed into the wall, grunted in anger. “A little warning would be nice.”
“Apologies. I did not expect my plan to work so quickly.” Carol muttered.
“Did you summon that thing?” Elfnein turned to the girl to whom she bared heavy resemblance, a terrified look on her face. “Are you trying to kill Maria and Serena?”
“No, those Bavarian fools did. They’re messing with the power of actual gods, I see.” Carol narrowed her eyes.
“What did you do, then?” Shiori asked Carol, though her gaze was locked on one of the many small screens in front of her.
“I simply gave a message to the girl following me... though I did not anticipate these three to show themselves now. They must have been in the area already.” Carol looked down with her eyes closed as she began to think. Carol’s voice began to ramble on quietly as she tried to straighten out her thoughts. “They were not responsible for that massive transmutation, so that must mean my earlier thought was correct–that that attack, and the Noise, was only meant as a distraction. These three were likely using it to divert attention away from their true activities.”
Chris stomped on the ground lightly. “What are you saying, runt?”
“Runt?” Carol glared coolly at Chris, who responded with a fiery look that melted the glacier behind the alchemist’s teal eyes.
“Umm... Carol?” Elfnein tapped the girl with the long blonde braid on the shoulder gently. “Where are the Autoscorers?”
Carol grunted. “That’s...” She sighed. “I may have underestimated the powers of the girl stalking me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Chris asked wildly.
“I’d rather not talk about it.” Carol pouted.
~ ~ ~
	“Maria, I want to know.”
=== 01/14/2022 ===
“The girl!”
Miku sat up with a start, her heart beating heavily. Her thoughts were unfocused, and she looked around the room in shock. It took Miku a few seconds to realize that she was in the infirmary. She saw Tsubasa and Shirabe asleep in two other beds, and the unfamiliar girl in another; at the sight, Miku let out a sigh.
The situation she found herself in was almost a reverse recreation of the one she had been in earlier: Chris sat in a chair next to Miku’s bed, though she was leaning backwards against the board instead of laying her head atop Miku’s lap like she had against Chris’s.
When Miku locked eyes with her, Chris smiled. “Good morning.”
Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, Miku grunted out a short response. “What’s going on?”
“Hm?” Chris looked at her friend quizzically.
“If everything was fine, Kanade and Kirika would be by their friends’ sides, and you wouldn’t be looking up at the ceiling annoyed.” Miku explained, standing up. Then, turning to look at Chris, her expression softened. “How long was I out?”
“About two hours. But, man, you’re interesting. I didn’t expect you to wake up and decide to play detective immediately.” Chris smirked. “And you got everything right, too.”
“So, what’s going on?” Miku asked with a single raised eyebrow.
“Well...”
~ ~ ~
	Kanade stood in the command centre of the SONG submarine, beside Genjuro. Her hands were on her hips as she looked at the image on the screen: the golden wasteland left behind by the explosion that corrupted the jungle landscape.
“Huh. You don’t see that every day.” That was Kanade’s first comment upon seeing the after-effects of the alchemical attack.
“No... you certainly don’t.” Genjuro agreed.
	Serena and Maria had determined that it was safe to traverse the landscape by throwing all sorts of debris into the effected area, and now they worked their way over the metallic ground. Their journey was being watched by all five of the support team members–Tomosato, Fujitaka, Shiori, Kuriyo, and Elfnein–as well as Genjuro, Chris, and Kanade.
It had been slow going, but they were making steady progress. “At this rate, it would only take them a little over two hours to get back.” Fujitaka nodded with a smile. “Not having to go around this area really cut off quite a lot of time for them.”
“From six hours to two.” Kuriyo added. “How much damage did that attack do?”
“Be on your guard.” Genjuro grunted into the communications line, addressing Maria and Serena. “We have no information on that attack. The alchemist that caused it may still be targeting the area. Not to mention...”
An alarm cut through the room.
“Noise, now?” Fujitaka flailed back, spitting out the coffee he had been drinking as the sound surprised him.
Before he could even go about bringing up the information onto the screen, Kuriyo and Shiori had already done so–a small map had appeared in the footage of Maria and Serena, who had donned their Symphogears. The area detailed was the golden wasteland that the two sisters were traversing, and a large red dot sparkled within it, near their positions.
“Alchemists.” Maria answered.
	“Chief, let me go and help them out.” Kanade shouted at the large man in red.
“Very well. You can go–”
Chris opened her mouth to speak. “I’m going too.”
“–But you can’t. You can barely even stand up straight.” Genjuro narrowed his eyes at Chris. Just as he said, the white-haired girl was leaning against the wall, her legs bent as they struggled to retain the needed strength.
“But...”
“No. You just woke up after a month-long coma. You should rest and regain your strength, not throw yourself into danger again and be a liability to Kanade’s safety.” Genjuro eyed the girl angrily, but Chris could tell that the man was doing this for her own good and backed down.
“Fine. But let me at least help Kanade get out there.”
	“I’m going too, death!”
Everyone’s eyes turned towards the entrance, where Kirika stood silhouetted against the significantly-brighter fluorescent lights illuminating the hallway outside. Both of the girl’s eyes sparkled golden for a moment, and a mature voice escaped her lips. “Those Illuminati fools... I have been looking for them for years. They can not be allowed to roam free.”
“Very well.” Genjuro nodded. “Kanade, the two of you are to go provide backup for the sisters. Chris...”
“Leave their transport to me.” Chris smirked. She pointed at herself with one hand, taking it off the wall to do so. “I’ll do my part.”
“That’s not exactly reassuring...” Kanade sighed. “...When the girl saying it collapsed to her knees immediately after taking her hand off the wall.”
Chris looked up with an angry blush on her face. “Shut up, you!”
The white-haired girl groped the air, trying to find the wall beside her and get a solid grip on the steel with both of her shaking hands. Chris puffed out her cheeks in embarrassment at the others seeing her acting week.
“Alright.” Genjuro sighed, and walked over to Chris. She looked up with surprised eyes.
“Wait, what are you...!?” Chris screamed in surprise.
Seemingly without any effort on his part, Genjuro reached down and plucked Chris up off the ground. The girl forced herself to go limp in his large arms as he carried her in front of his chest, princess-styled.
Putting her hands up to her bright-red face, Chris panicked in a fluster. “This...!”
The faces of Kirika and Elfnein, too, were reddening at the sight. “Death...” Kirika whispered as she cupped her hand over her mouth.
“Right. Now let’s go.” Genjuro ordered, walking towards the door with the surprised Chris in his arms. As he reached Kirika, the girl shrunk out of the way to let him by, before following herself from a distance.
Kanade, watching them leave, just let out a hearty laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Shiori asked, though her eyes remained glued to the screen as they tried 
~ ~ ~
	“They’re fighting alchemists? The Illuminati?” Miku interrupted Chris. “I need to go hel–”
“Hold on, there.” Chris put her hand up in front of her friend. “I’m not done.”
“But they’re not back, so they must still be fi–”
Chris tried to stand up, but the lack of strength in her legs forced her to fall back into the chair. “Just let me continue.”
Miku huffed and crossed her arms as she sat down on the hospital bed. “Fine. Go ahead.”
~ ~ ~
	“Using your missiles as transportation. Not super safe, but it’d definitely be quicker than walking there.” Fujitaka took a sip of his coffee, and did not even eye Genjuro as he walked back into the room–with Chris in his arms again.
The girl being addressed pouted. “Yeah, yeah, I’m great and all. But why do I need to be carried around? Don’t you have a cane or something I could use instead?”
Elfnein scurried out of the room like a rat at that comment, and Chris and Genjuro just silently watched her go. Once the door slid shut behind her, Genjuro turned to the four on the large console at the front of the room.
“So what’s the situation.”
“The three alchemists are strong. Like Kanade suspected earlier, Shénshòujìng does not seem to see these alchemists as ‘evil’ so her attacks are being dispelled by their own.” Fujitaka explained.
“And Maria?” Chris asked.
“Holding her own.” Tomosato reported.
Kuriyo tapped a button on her keyboard, bringing footage of Maria up onto the screen. The pink-haired girl avoided bolts of energy that were being fired from what appeared to be a golden pistol that one of the alchemists held while also combating a small girl who appeared to be swinging a large hammer at her.
“You should probably hear what these girls had to say why you were up top, though.” Shiori commented. When Genjuro and Chris both let out curious noises, the footage on screen was replaced with a clip.
	“Who are you three? Are you with the Illuminati?” Maria yelled across the golden landscape at the mysterious girls who had appeared in flashes of pink light.
“Yes, we are some of the top members of the organization.” One of the women stepped forwards. Her long silver hair resembled Maria’s Symphogear, and danced behind her back as she walked with a powerful stance.
“Were you the ones who summoned that Noise?”
“The Treasury of Babylonia... when we learned that the witch had returned, we knew we would need to make use of it.”
“It’s quite easy to, with the right know-how.” A voluptuous woman with wild blue hair and tanned skin winked as she spoke from her place behind the girl who appeared to be their leader. “Even an immortal witch can’t out-run us forever.”
“Witch?” Serena tilted her head. After a short pause, she suggested an answer. “Finé?”
“Did you steal the relic that was here?” Maria asked, ignoring her sister’s question.
“Steal?” The smallest of the three alchemists chuckled eerily as she clutched a large frog plush to her chest. “We were merely reclaiming something that belongs to us.”
“Enough of this. If you are siding with that woman–the one who caused the suffering that still plagues this world–then you are our enemies.” The woman shouted. She waved her hand out in anger.
Maria held up her blade, which caused the silver-haired woman to grin, as if amused. “Do you really think the power of a witch’s toy is enough to combat the abilities of the Lapis Philosophorum, the prize sought after by all of the world’s alchemists?”
	Tomosato interrupted the rest of the footage with an explanation. “The Lapis Philosophorum–or Philosopher’s Stone.”
On the screen, the three alchemists held pink jewels close to their chests, which began to shine. Each jewel was attached to different objects: for the silver-haired woman, a small pistol; for the small bespectacled girl, a kendama; and for the busty woman, a ring.
Tomosato continued while the other two kept their eyes on the screen. “The Philosopher’s Stone is the mythical artifact that represents the absolute perfection and enlightenment that all alchemists strive for, and legends say that it also grants those who use its power immortality.”
“Immortality?” Genjuro screamed.
“Shit. That’s not good.” Chris scoffed, then glanced up at the man carrying her with a smirk. “Maybe you should have let me–”
“No.”
=== 02/18/2022 ===
	Miku leaned back against her arm, which propped the girl up at an awkward angle. The girl’s scarred forehead was full of creases as she furrowed her brow, her eyes full of annoyance that was pointed towards the television in front of her.
“This is a lot of work.” She grunted, re-reading the words that stared back at both her and the golden-haired girl beside her.
“Game over, death. But we did good!” Kirika tried to reassure her friend, who let out a deep sigh in response. Kirika looked down at the controller in her hand at that. “Okay, maybe playing games might be a bit difficult, death.”
“Yeah.” Miku nodded, pushing the controller across the ground. She still had a golden chain dangling out of the remains of her missing arm, and she absent-mindedly coiled it around her body as she did so.
“Now what?” Kirika asked. She began to look around the room, and scuttled off on all fours somewhere behind the television.
Miku shrugged. “No idea.”
Kirika popped her head up over the screen, a bag of chips in her hand. “Want some chips, death?”
“I–” The chain curled around Miku disappeared as her eyes opened wide. She then brought her hand up to her chin as she began to think.
“Miku?”
“When was the last time I ate something?” She asked aloud.
“Huh?”
“I didn’t even have an IV drip in the med centre.” Miku muttered, then she looked up at Kirika, who stared back in confusion. “Can I even digest food now?”
“One way to find out, death!” Kirika smiled, tossing the bag to Miku...
...forgetting that Miku had only one hand, which was cupped around her chin. The girl flailed about in surprise as the bag sailed towards her, but it eventually crashed into her face; the sound of chips cracking apart echoing in Miku’s ears.
“Sorry, death.” Kirika said sadly.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t even feel it.” Miku chuckled.
Then, she looked down at the bag that had fallen to the floor. She stared at the object for a moment in thought–Kirika tilted her head in confusion at the action. Miku then raised her arm, which transformed into a shining blade–a replica of Ame no Habakiri.
“Death!” Kirika’s eyes shot open wide, and she cowered behind the television. Thinking that she was going to be the target of Miku’s wrath, the girl began to quiver in fear. “I didn’t mean to!”
“Huh?” Miku lowered her blade-arm, holding it in front of her. When she looked at it, she had a realization. “No, I need to open the bag of chips.”
“Ooooooh.” Kirika let out a deep sigh of relief as she heard Miku slice her blade into the ground, cutting off the top of the chip bag.
The girl stood up to see Miku, her hand back to normal, ruffling through the small bag of potato chips, trying to find an intact chip. After a few seconds, the sound of the bag and the chips inside echoing through the otherwise-silent room, Miku produced a fairly large chip with an exorbitant amount of powder clinging to it. Roughly, she then tossed this chip into her mouth and crunched down on it.
“Guess I can’t taste anything any more.” She said sadly, almost immediately. Looking down at the bag, she read the side of the bag for the first time: ‘hot and spicy’. “...It’s not even spicy.”
“Really?” Kirika bounced around the television and slid down beside Miku. Thrusting her fingers into the bag, she pulled out a small chip that was only lightly dusted in orange spices. The smell alone burned her nostrils, but Kirika shrugged; if Miku had said it wasn’t spicy, then there shouldn’t be an issue.
Without hesitation, Kirika placed the chip upon her tongue.
“DEATH!” She screamed, accidentally crunching down on the chip. As it shattered into her mouth, Kirika’s eyes filled with tears. “Hot hot hot!!!”
Miku chuckled, watching Kirika’s incredibly comedic reaction. The golden-haired girl began to roll around on the ground, trying to decide whether she should toughen up and swallow the shards of the chip or spit the remnants out. All the while, she made strange noises and continued screaming her trademark “Death!”
As Kirika finally made a decision–actually devouring the single chip in her mouth–she looked up through glossy eyes at her friend. Miku looked back, a smile on her face as she tried to contain her laughter and orange dust from the chips covering her lips.
“That was a bit dramatic.” Miku giggled happily, putting another one of the chips into her mouth.
“How can you stand it, death?” Kirika asked back.
“The spice? I can taste the heat, but it’s minimal. I guess my–”
“No.” This time, it was Finé who spoke from Kirika’s mouth. “She means your transformation. Even though your body keeps falling further away from humanity, your mind is travelling in the opposite direction.”
Miku stuffed another chip in her mouth as Kirika took over. “Smiling, laughing... how can you do it, death? You can’t taste, you came back to life, your body can transform into weapons. Aren’t you scared?”
“Of course I am. I’m terrified of my own body.” Miku nodded. “But I realized something, too; even if it only took until I actually died.”
“Realized something, death?”
Another chip passed between Miku’s lips, which then curled into a smile. “You all aren’t scared of me; you all keep reaching out to me even now. I’ve been pushing you away, but now... If you aren’t scared of me, then I shouldn’t be afraid to take your hands.”
	Kirika looked back at her in amazement, and nodded. As Miku kept snacking away on the chips far too spicy for Kirika to even hold on her now-numb tongue, Kirika pondered what she had said.
Though she wanted to keep her thought to herself, apparently the priestess that lived within Kirika’s mind decided to voice the question she held aloud: “If you’re not afraid to reach back out to your friends, then why do you not want to tell them the truth?”
Both Kirika and Miku stiffened at the comment that Finé made. Almost reflexively, Kirika threw her hands up in front of her as if waiting to defend herself from an attack.
“That was–! Death!!” She squealed.
But Miku just sighed in response. “You and Chris... You’re a lot more perceptive than I realize.” She shook her head, then looked at Kirika with a small smile on her face. “If anyone would know what it’s like to force yourself to smile, it’d be you, right?”
“You mean...?”
Miku looked at her arm, which she held out in front of her. Only now did Kirika notice that the girl was quivering, ever so slightly; it looked like she was shivering, as if extremely cold, despite the room being fairly warm.
Then, the black-haired girl closed her fist tight, sucking in a deep breath through her clenched teeth as she closed her eyes. The oxygen floated in her lungs for a moment before she slowly exhaled.
“I knew from the moment I laid my eyes upon you that you would be special.” Finé suddenly commented. “The song in your heart; the fact that you were the first human-relic fusion...”
“Shut up.” Miku snapped. Glaring at Finé–or rather the blonde-haired girl who housed her soul–Miku snarled. “If you haven’t forgotten, this is entirely your fault.”
“I have much to apologize for, but I do not regret ever involving you and Hi...”
“Enough, death!” Kirika exerted her willpower to overpower Finé’s thoughts, interrupting the witch that used her mouth with a powerful shout. “This is all Finé’s fault; everything is Finé’s fault! And that makes it my fault, death!”
“Kirika...”
The girl had tears in her eyes now, and she stepped forwards. “I’ve been lying this whole time, death! Shirabe hasn’t abandoned me to be with Carol, I abandoned her!” Kirika took another step towards Miku. “The guilt I’ve felt over what Finé did to you and Chris has been torturing me, death! I can’t take it! It’s not even my fault but it is and... DEATH!!!”
Kirika was reaching at her golden hair, pulling at it. “Finé did so many terrible things to me, but now I’m the one feeling the guilt for what she’s done! This world isn’t fair, death! I can’t take it!”
Now it was Miku’s turn to step forwards. Summoning a ghostly image of a second arm, Miku closed the distance between herself and her friend in another stride. Now standing right in front of her, Miku wrapped her real arm and pretended to wrap her fake one around Kirika, pulling her into a hug.
“Kirika... I never once blamed you for anything that Finé did.”
“It’s not fair, death...” Kirika sobbed. “Why am I the one burdened with this? We’ve all suffered under Finé, so why do I have to be the one saddled with her feelings?”
Miku wanted to respond, but did not know how to. She wanted to comfort Kirika, but Miku did not know how to comfort anyone any more. Yet, the black-haired girl found herself speaking regardless, as if her mouth moved on its own.
“I know what it’s like to be possessed by Finé, to be her pawn.” Miku sighed. “I know just how crushing her influence...”
“That’s why I know I can tell you this, death!” Kirika whined, burying her face in Miku’s shoulder. The tears from the small girl’s heterochromatic eyes began to darken the thin fabric that made up the robe that Miku wore, and she said nothing else as she began to sob harder. “What’s worse... what’s worse...!”
“You don’t have to thin–”
“What’s worse is that it’s not just Finé. What Hibiki meant to you... Finé’s like a sponge, death. She possessed you, so now I have your memories and feelings, too. I know everything about how you felt for Hibiki; hearing that she had died, even though I barely knew her, hurt me too.”
Miku’s heart froze for a moment. “You...”
“It’s not fair, Miku...” Kirika whined. “I couldn’t even keep my own thoughts straight! Now I have hundreds of peoples’ memories worth, death! I can’t... I can’t...!”
Miku pulled Kirika closer as the younger girl’s cries grew louder. The black-haired girl did not know how to help Kirika; she was in the same boat, to a lesser extent. Her own head was full of a cacophony of different emotions–fear, confusion, anger, hatred. The way their conversation had jumped around so much was proof that neither Kirika nor Miku’s minds were fully formed any more, that they had lost the threads that held them together.
Instead of responding, Miku just began to pat Kirika’s back lightly with her real hand. She remained silent, listening only to Kirika’s cries echo throughout the steel chamber they stood in.
“I’ve been so lonely this past month, death. Chris would visit me sometimes, but the Autoscorers were really the only ones I’ve interacted with. I can’t handle being alone. Especially with you recovering... it was all just so...” Kirika rambled on in sadness, but Miku did not verbally respond. She only clutched the girl tight, a kind look on her face as she tried to comfort her friend however she could–even if she did not know how to any more. “I’m so glad you’re okay, death!”
“I’m glad to see you again, too, Kirika.” Miku smiled.
Kirika did not hear her–or perhaps she chose not to respond–as she only began to cry harder. Occasionally her sobs would be punctuated with painful whines of her trademark “Death” but these were few and far between.
	Eventually, Kirika’s sobs subsided, and her breathing calmed.
“I’m sorry, Kirika.” Miku said.
“No... I’m sorry, death.” Kirika muttered.
The two stood in complete silence for a few more moments, both girls growing increasingly more awkward as Miku’s arm was wrapped around her friend, her shoulder soaked by Kirika’s tears.
“It’s a good thing Elfnein moved out of here.” Kirika chuckled sadly.
“Hm?”
“At first, she was living here with me. But then she got too into the video games so Carol had her move into a separate room to conduct research.” Kirika pushed herself away from Miku, sniffling loudly as she tried to fake a smile. “Do you want to go bug her?”
“No... I don’t really know how to interact with her. Or Carol.” Miku admitted, looking away.
Kirika’s smile grew wider, becoming slightly more genuine. “That makes two of us, death.”
Miku smiled back.
	Silence followed for several more minutes.
	“I know this probably isn’t the best time to ask...” Miku said eventually. “But Finé knows alchemy, right? She did teleport me, once.”
“...Yes?”
“Why do you even need to keep yourself hidden, then? If they captured you, you could just... teleport away?”
Kirika’s eyes went wide. When Finé was the one who spoke next, Miku knew she had said something–apparently–revolutionary.
“That was something I did not consider.”
“Plus, if those alchemists came near you, then I’d do everything I can to protect you.” Miku smiled with a nod. The girl then held out her hand. “Protecting someone... It’s what I’ve wanted to use my powers for all along.”
Kirika took Miku’s hand in her own. When their fingers locked, both girls realized just how hard the other was quivering; they were both scared of themselves. Despite this, both smiled at the other as they shook hands.
“We’re friends.” Kirika said with a cheerful grin, her eyes sparkling. “I’ll trust you to the ends of the earth, death!”
“I trust you, too.” Miku smiled back.
“Now, then, let’s go to school!”
With their fingers still locked, Kirika swung her arm heartily as she cheered loudly. To her surprise, the quick action caused Miku’s arm to fall off. In a panic, Kirika dropped the arm on the ground with a yelp.
“I’m... not sure going to school would be a good idea for me.” Miku just looked down at her arm on the ground.
“Yeah, that... might be for the best, death.” Kirika agreed, her eyes similarly locked on the fallen limb.
After a few seconds, Miku turned to Kirika. “I’m going to need you to reattach that to me.”
“Right.” Kirika nodded... but did not move.
. . .
	“Man, this school thing sucks.”
Garie moaned as she followed behind Carol and Micha. The girl in front carried a tray of food as she walked through the cafeteria towards a table in the corner. Garie and Micha did not need to eat, being robots, but Micha still looked at the food Carol had with starry eyes.
“I agree.” Carol nodded. “The history they teach here is heavily abridged or entirely incorrect.”
“You should teach classes, master!” Micha cheered, but kept her gaze glued to the tray in Carol’s hands.
“Absolutely not. Having to interact with most of these fools as a student is enough for me. I don’t want to be responsible for them.”
The trio finally arrived at their destination: a table out of the way, where the Lydian students she worked with also sat. Chris Yukine scarfed down a plate of burning red mapo tofu in the far corner; Shirabe and Serena sat across from her, both looking on in amazement at how fast she was eating what the student body widely considered to be a food impossible to eat; and Kuriyo and Shiori both stared down at their food, with different levels of disgust registered upon their faces. Plates of mapo tofu sat in front of all of the girls, but only Chris seemed to have put a dent in her meal; Carol, similarly, held a plate of the flaming red meal.
“Who decided this was a good idea, anyway?” Kuriyo asked the table, still staring at her plate.
“Apparently there was a miscommunication and the staff ended up with a large shipment of douban.” Shiori sighed.
Serena poked her food with a fork. While Kuriyo and Shiori had only made a slight dent in their plates, Serena did not seem to have touched her plate at all. “This food looks worse than what they gave us at FIS.”
Chris paused for a moment, her face stuffed full of food. “This is gourmet compared to what I’ve had to eat.” She smiled, her face painted with red sauce and various meaty bits.
Shirabe pulled a spoonful of mapo tofu out of her mouth. “It’s hot.” She frowned, sucking in her lips.
“Seems as though you two made the right decision.” Carol told Garie as she and the two Autoscorers took the remaining seats at their large table.
“I can’t believe you’re going to try it.” Shiori remarked as a welcome to the newcomer.
“It’s not often that I indulge in food, now.” Carol held up a spoon with a shrug. “But I actually was quite a foodie at one point.”
“Really?” Kuriyo gasped.
“Or, rather, an associate of mine was, so I was forced to meet her at all manner of restaurants.” Carol sighed, scooping up a bit of mapo tofu. “This is far from the worst thing I’ve seen.”
Shirabe stuck out her tongue in disgust as she swallowed more of her meal. “Yuck.” She muttered, then turned to Carol. “An associate?”
As she met Shirabe’s gaze, Carol remembered what Chris and Miku had brought up earlier. A blush creeping across her cheeks, Carol quickly shoved some mapo tofu into her mouth.
“Master’s mysterious associate.” Garie explained in Carol’s stead. “Even we don’t know who she works with on occasion.”
Her mouth full of food, Carol tried to mutter a name but all that the other girls heard was a strange noise. Realizing how stupid that was, Carol’s blush only deepened in colour–something that caught the attention of Garie–and she hastily swallowed the spoonful of food.
“Prelati.” Carol repeated. “One of the Bavarian Illuminati alchemists. She and I... have a bit of history.”
“Ooh, the truth comes out!” Garie leaned over, her shark-toothed grin only widening.
Opposite that, Shiori and Kuriyo wore shocked expressions. “You worked with the Illuminati?”
“No. My father’s studies make up the foundation for modern alchemy, and–somehow–that girl managed to track me down. How she knew I was alive and where to find me, I...” Carol slapped her forehead as she realized something.
“Are you okay?” Shirabe asked Carol, lowering a full spoon back towards the plate in front of her.
“I just realized how stupid I have been for several hundred years, is all.” Carol grumbled, angrily shoving more food into her mouth.
“Master is stupid.” Micha giggled. This earned surprised looks from Shiori and Kuriyo, while Carol and Garie only glared at her in silence.
Once she fully consumed what she put into her mouth, Carol explained further. “In retrospect, it should have struck me as odd that she knew about me; none of my father’s materials mentioned me. I should have suspected then that he was alive.”
	“Ah, there you are, Chris!”
The entire table–with the exception of the girl addressed–turned to the source of the voice: Otome Kaburagi, one of Chris’s classmates. The bespectacled girl was flanked by her two friends, Yuki Godai and Komichi Ayano, and they all took seats at the table directly behind where Serena and Shirabe were sitting across from Chris.
“Guess we shouldn’t talk about that any more.” Kuriyo whispered, earning nods from Carol and Shiori.
“Man, this mapo tofu celebration is a huge bummer.” Yuki whined, holding up a spoon. “You guys agree, right? This stuff is gross.”
Chris, her mouth full of food, was the first to respond. “I think it’s fine.”
“I’ve had worse.” Carol agreed.
“That makes me curious.” Shiori replied to the alchemist. “Considering this tastes like spicy dirt...”
“It was a long time ago, but there was one meal that I’ll never forget.” Carol shuddered. Even Garie and Micha looked at each other with confused looks at that comment.
“Not sure what that means.” Otome frowned. She stuck out her tongue in disgust, showing off that it had already been painted red by her meal despite only taking a single bite.
“Dean’s a weird one.” Yuki nodded. Carol’s eye twitched at the mention of the name ‘Dean’, but she–nor anyone else–mentioned anything about it; though Garie cracked a crooked smile.
“It’s not nice to call someone weird.” Komichi pointed out with a glare. “Especially a foreigner.”
“What about her friends, though? Isn’t it weird how pale they are?” Otome wondered aloud, clearly referring to Garie and Micha. “They’re a weird bunch of transfer students.”
Yuki nodded. “First Chris, then the trio of foreigners. Not to mention our old school building exploded. It’s been a weird school year... two school years.”
“Do you guys even listen to me?” Komichi sighed.
Meanwhile, Carol’s eyes had narrowed.
“Do you girls have no sense of awareness?” She hissed under her breath, but none of the three girls behind her seemed to hear her comment. Across from her, however, Shiori and Kuriyo both turned pale as they imagined whatever might happen should they continue speaking ill of the girl who could easily kill everyone in the room in seconds should she wish to.
Instead, Carol simply stood up. “I... am done eating.” She announced, leaving her plate still slathered in red-hot food on the table as she began to walk away.
Almost immediately upon the alchemist’s departure, Micha grabbed Carol’s plate and began to dig in to the mapo tofu she left behind, a happy smile on her face.
“This is delicious!” The Autoscorer smiled.
“Can you even taste stuff?” Kuriyo raised her eyebrow as she whispered her question to the red-haired robot.
Micha was too engrossed in eating to answer, but Garie beside her merely shook her head.
	Serena turned to Shirabe. The girl with the pink, false glasses and black hair stared at the mapo tofu on her plate, with only a handful of spoonfuls missing. Despite only the limited amount of food missing, Shirabe looked pale, sick to her stomach.
“Are you alright?” Serena asked, worry plastered across her face.
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Shirabe muttered, clutching her stomach.
The brown-haired girl put her hand on Shirabe’s shoulder. Looking at her own plate, she was glad to have only taken a single bite before giving up on having lunch.
“Should I bring you to the nurse’s office?” Serena asked.
“I...”
“Haaa~ That hit the spot.” Chris sighed, looking pleased with herself and the meal she had eaten. She patted her stomach twice before looking at Shirabe and Serena. For a moment, Chris’s eyes went wide before a look of concern crossed her face. “You really don’t look that good.”
“Yeah, I think... I need to lay down...” Shirabe put a hand up to her mouth. “I... ugh...”
Serena looked to Chris. “You know where the nurse’s office is, yeah?” The white-haired girl asked. When Serena offered a nod in response, Chris smiled. “Alright, I trust you with our little friend. Make sure she gets help so that Kirika and our little witch friend don’t kill us, alright.”
The brown-haired girl smiled. “Don’t worry, you can leave Shirabe to me.”
“Oh, and,” Chris raised her hand, “Mind if I finish your food?”
“Go ahead.” Both Shirabe and Serena replied.
“Aw yeah.” Chris grinned, pulling their full plates over the table.
“How can you eat so much?” Garie asked upon seeing this, but Chris just offered a shrug in response.
As Serena helped Shirabe to her feet, Shiori offered a pitiful look. “I hope you feel better soon.”
Shirabe smiled and offered a light wave in response. Leaning against Serena, Shirabe began to hobble away weakly.
	Almost as if on cue, the second Shirabe and Serena exited the cafeteria, the phones of the girls present all began to beep in sync.
“That’s probably not good.” Kuriyo muttered.
“What’s up?” Yuki asked from the other table. Komichi and Otome both wore similarly-confused looks as she did as they wondered what the deal with their alarms was.
“Work’s calling.” Chris frowned, pulling out her phone.
“Work?” Otome further questioned.
Garie cracked a wicked smile. “I’d advise you not ask any more questions, ladies.”
Komichi nodded in understanding, but that only made Yuki and Otome more curious. The emerald-eyed Komichi stood up and put her hands on the collars of her two friends. “Let’s go somewhere else, then.”
“But–!” Yuki tried to object, but she stopped herself when she saw the steely look that Garie was giving her. “Yeah... We’ll talk later, okay Chris?”
Chris gave a thumbs up while stuffing another spoonful of food in her mouth with her other hand.
As Komichi, Otome, and Yuki scuttled away–all leaving their mostly-full plates of food behind–Kuriyo pulled out her cell phone.
“It’s about time!”
What greeted Kuriyo when she answered the call was the panicked voice of Yumi crackling through the other end.
“Sorry about that.” Shiori sighed over Kuriyo’s shoulder as the latter held the phone out in front of her so that the rest of the table–Chris, Garie, and Micha–could hear.
“You guys are at school right? Ogawa’s headed over there now to pick you guys up.”
“What’s going on?” Chris asked with a full mouth.
“Not entirely sure, really.” Yumi said quickly. “All I know is that there was an explosion on the outskirts of the city and now we’ve picked up Miku and Igalima’s Aufwachen Waveforms.”
The information caused Chris to choke on her food, and she began to cough violently.
“Of course she would get into trouble as soon as she wakes up.” Garie rolled her eyes.
A second voice came from the other side of the speaker, which the girls recognized as that of Yatsuhiro Kazanari. “Elfnein and the Autoscorers have also made some breakthroughs into their research into the relics that we brought back, so we’d like to update you on those too while you’re on the move.”
“On the move?” Chris gasped for air. “Just tell me where to go and–”
“Finé’s mansion.” Yatsuhiro responded. “Or, rather, what remains of it.”
“Finé’s...” Chris closed her eyes.
To her, that building was the closest thing she could call a ‘home’ after living a life in the hell known as Val Verde, yet her memories of it were not entirely–or at all, really–positive.
“It seems as though the Illuminati had taken up residence in it once our investigation into it concluded.” Yatsuhiro admitted.
“Not sure why, though.” Yumi said on the other end. “That place is a wreck... Or was a wreck, I guess.”
“I’m heading out.” Chris slammed her hands on the table as she stood up.
“Have fun~” Garie playfully said, waving cheerfully.
“We’re going too.”
The group flinched back at the voice of Carol, unaware that she had at some point returned to the table. She had her arms crossed, an unhappy look on her face.
“I’d also like to hear more about these relics, if possible.”
“Ogawa will give you the details; he has the full report that Elfnein has compiled.” Yatsuhiro reiterated. “Though I would have thought that you would be aware of all that she does.”
“I can see through Elfnein’s eyes, but only when I choose to. She wished to be her own entity, and I will accept that wish to the best of my ability.” Carol rolled her hand. “So I have given her freedom–to an extent.”
“You’ve become like an overprotective sister, master.” Garie snickered.
“That’s what our classmates believe, yes.” Carol sighed. “Alright. I’ll meet with Ogawa.”
~ ~ ~
	“Carol said that teleporting is complex, and you require very specific coordinates to pin-point a location. Or... I can’t remember the word she used for it. Conduit? Someone to link to?” Miku tapped her chin.
“That’s correct, yes.” Finé acknowledged. “But, if anything went wrong, it could be... catastrophic. You could fuse with the earth or any architecture in the area. Or, worse, you could be lost in the realm between our reality and the Treasury.”
“Having to deal with Noise for all eternity, hmm?” Miku shrugged. “I’ll be fine either way, and I could probably use Shrivatsa to protect Kirika, too.”
“Probably, death?” Kirika turned ghostly-white.
“It’ll be fine.” Miku smiled. “Trust me.”
As Miku said the latter, she thrust her finger towards her chest. Unfortunately, not paying too close attention, she ended up smashing her thumb into her thorax, and the digit popped off of her finger and bounced to the ground.
“That is not reassuring.” Kirika muttered.
Miku bent down to pick up her fallen finger, though struggled to with only her remaining four. Instead of wrapping her fingers around it, she would often clasp her hand closed only for the thumb to roll away.
Kirika just watched, not bothering to help.
When she finally had it in her grasp, Miku looked up at the golden-haired girl. “I... can’t put it back on by myself.”
“Right, death.”
----
“Nah.” Chris exhaled deeply after swallowing what appeared to be her final spoonful of food–all three plates of mapo tofu around her had been cleaned, with most of her meal now present upon her face. Ignoring the mess around her mouth, Chris looked to her friends. “He’s calling to warn us. Right? We don’t know what the Illuminati’s up to, so the fact that they’re on the move again is big news–especially since they targeted Yumi, someone who doesn’t have a Symphogear and doesn’t know how to use alchemy.”
“Chris is right.” Ogawa followed up on her comment immediately. “While I don’t have to worry so much for some of you, if they’re willing to target Yumi than Shiori and Kuriyo may also be targeted. You two should remain cautious.”
“Right.” Kuriyo nodded.
“Ogawa, I know we shouldn’t ignore our schooling, but–” Shiori began to speak, but was cut-off.
“Tomosato is already on her way to pick you up in a helicopter, but...”
“What about Yumi? Is she with Tomosato?” Kuriyo asked.
“That’s the thing. Leiur was with Yumi, so it’s likely that they’ll be teleporting to the school shortly... is what I would normally say. Unfortunately, this is Yumi we’re talking about. Who knows where she’s going to ask to be teleported to.” Ogawa sighed deeply, this time the breath coming through clearly across the phone. “And, while we would normally be able to track people through with our connections, Yumi knows how to outmanoeuvre every one of them... apparently. She’s completely disappeared from our radar.”
“Give me a sec, then.” Garie smiled, holding up a finger. A single bubble appeared on the end of her index finger, and she blew coolly into it. A moment later, the image of Leiur and Yumi appeared within the small, clear globe.
Micha leaned in to look at the bubble, and frowned. “Isn’t that right outside? What are they...?”
. . .
	“What are the odds of this?”
Yumi groaned in exasperation as she and Leiur took in their surroundings. The two had appeared not too far away from the new building that housed Lydian Private Music Academy, making sure to use the cover of the trees to hide their sudden appearance. This, however, gave them only a position to wonder on in curiosity as they looked at the strange scene unfolding in the courtyard.
A blue pyramid sat in the centre of the concrete. No students were outside, and, considering the time, most of the student body was likely in the cafeteria, so no one was around to question its appearance other than the two of them.
“It’s certainly alchemical in nature.” Leiur’s eyes narrowed as she studied the strange structure from afar. “Though it is not one of my master’s creations.”
=== 03/04/2022 ===
	“Who... what?”
The girl who was believed to be Satomi Kubert was looking over herself in the large mirror off to the side of the room. The girl wore a confused expression as she tugged at her hair, at her cheeks, and even her eyelids–all to confirm that she was truly looking at herself.
Behind her, still standing by the bed that she had been sleeping in, were Miku, Kirika, and Elfnein. The three watched the mysterious girl with equally-as curious eyes as she herself had; with the exception of Miku, who glared at the girl with suspicion.
~ ~ ~
	“You’re scaring me. Please, stop this Kiri.”
The girl had whimpered as she sat up-right. She wore a hospital gown that was the sickly green colour of vomit was too large on the girl (just as it was on Miku, who wore a similar one), and held it clasped closed around the front with a tight fist. This was the only part of the girl’s body that seemed to have any sense of intent–her body trembled in fear as she looked around slowly in confusion, and her eyes were filled with a mix of similar emotions.
“What did you call me?” Kirika hissed back, narrowing her eyes. “Did you just call me–”
“Kiri. It’s me, Kiri. Don’t you recognize me?” The girl gestured at herself with the arm not focusing on holding up her ill-fitting attire. “It’s me, Shirabe.”
“Shirabe!?” Elfnein and Kirika both repeated the name in unison, their voices shrill as they shrieked; they were quite shocked at the girl’s claim–especially since she looked nothing like Shirabe.
	Miku put her hand on her hip. She was standing behind Kirika and Elfnein, and it was the former girl who Satomi/Shirabe had been focusing on anyway. When Miku spoke, it seemed to surprise all three of the other girls.
“Do you know who I am?” She asked, then pointed to Elfnein. “Or who that is?”
The girl recoiled for a moment, as if only now noticing Miku and Elfnein existed. She scanned the two girls slowly, her head bobbing as she took in both of their figures. A green-haired homunculus with down-turned eyes and one-armed girl covered in burn-scars were both fairly memorable, so Miku was thankful that the two of them had been around for the awakening of Satomi/Shirabe.
	The girl pondered herself for a moment, then pointed to Elfnein. “You’re Carol. The alchemist.”
“Elfnein.” Miku corrected.
“Elfnein? So Carol’s the one with blonde hair then?”
The homunculus in question nodded. “I’m Elfnein. Nice to meet you...?”
Ignoring her, the girl then pointed to Miku. “And you’re... Lance?”
“Lance, death?” Kirika leapt back in shock, then turned to Miku. “I thought your name was Miku!”
Miku sighed. “Lancea Longini?”
“Yeah!” Satomi/Shirabe’s ruby-red eyes lit up... and then she paused. “Wait. No. You’re Miku? But you’re also... Batara Kala?”
The girl winced in pain and grabbed her head. Had Kirika seen Shirabe do this, the blonde-haired girl would have rushed to her side immediately. When Miku saw Kirika only slightly twitch, she realized that she–and thus Finé–were just as suspicious as she was of this girl’s claims.
Still... even if it hurt the girl, Miku wanted answers.
“You’re Shirabe. Shirabe Tsukuyomi?” Miku asked. When the girl gave a weak nod in response, Miku continued. “Do you have any idea who did this to you?”
“Did what?” She squeaked.
“You don’t look like Shirabe, death...” Kirika muttered.
“Not to mention,” Miku cut in. “She had been a Noise.”
The girl–apparently Shirabe?–tilted her head in confusion, clearly overwhelmed by both this sudden influx of information that was bombarding her mind and the seemingly-fractured memories she already carried.
But she was just as hungry for answers as Elfnein, Kirika, and–especially–Miku were.
“Tell me. What happened, Kiri?”
~ ~ ~
	Once the girls had given Shirabe(?) a basic run-down of how they found her–omitting the fact that Miku had been rendered out of commission for some time as she recovered from essentially nuking the girl–she jumped out of bed and slowly made her way across the room on shaky feet. She wanted to confirm that she wasn’t Shirabe Tsukuyomi–in appearance, anyway.
	“Alchemy.” Elfnein cupped her chin. “I... I think there are ways to use alchemy to alter appearances. It would be difficult for most alchemists, though–especially using it on someone other than yourself.”
“Yes. It definitely doesn’t seem like simple plastic surgery.” Miku nodded. “I remember seeing before and after images of American celebrities who would get plastic surgery, and it almost-always looked fairly crude. But, she...”
“Looks like Satomi, death.” Kirika’s eyes were wide. “Why does she look like Satomi?”
“That...” Elfnein trailed off.
“To mess with us. Or, you specifically, I guess.” Miku frowned. “The Illuminati is probably aware of Finé.”
“Impossible.” The priestess in question announced from Kirika’s mouth. “Cagliostro, one of the alchemists, announced her presence to us, after you had saved the girl, by declaring ‘So that’s the witch, then?’–she did not know which of the Receptor Children I resided in.”
“No. That doesn’t mean anything.” Elfnein tapped her chin. “It’s possible they prepared, for a lack of a better term, ‘clones’ of people from the pasts of Kirika, Shirabe, Maria, and Serena.”
“There’s another option, though, too: that that alchemist just didn’t know.”
“From what Carol had said, she appeared to be one of the highest-ranked members of the Illuminati.” Finé curtly explained. “If she did not know, then–”
“–She’s being kept out of the loop.” Miku glared. “Either the other alchemists are keeping secrets, or all of them are just following orders to complete a plan they’re not entirely privy to.”
“That’s...” Finé seemed defeated at that comment.
“That means that Cagliostro woman is just a tool, death!” Kirika interrupted her own mouth with a shout.
“Probably.” Miku shrugged. “Which means we should just focus on luring out the head of the Illumin–”
	“Miku?” Elfnein asked. Both she and Kirika pointed confused glances at Miku as she abruptly ended her sentence. In response to Elfnein’s question, however, Miku just held up a hand.
“Noise. I sense Noise.” Miku hissed.
“Noise?” Elfnein shrieked. This seemed to catch the attention of Shirabe(?), who instinctively reached to her neck for a Symphogear pendant that was not there–something only Miku saw from her current position.
The black-haired girl turned to Kirika. “Two questions.”
“Two answers, death.” Kirika nodded.
“First: do you have a hoodie anywhere I can borrow?”
Kirika tilted her head in confusion at first, but then slowly nodded. “I guess so, but I don’t know if it’ll fit you.”
“It will fit.” Miku smiled.
Taking that as a cue, Kirika bounced off towards a pile of clothing littering the ground and ruffled her hand through it. Miku watched in a silence that was only interrupted when Elfnein squeaked up from beside her.
“What’s the second question?”
Kirika finally found a hoodie–a light green hoodie with a skull design across one breast and a hood that included devil horns and a white X–and held it up for Miku’s approval. The girl nodded, as she began to speak.
“Kirika, how high do you think you can teleport someone?”
. . .
	“Oh no... you’re saying...” Shiori clasped her hands over her mouth.
“Shirabe... she...” Carol fell to her knees, collapsing into the vibrant green field. Unlike that which dwelled deep in her memories, this lawn did not bring her any happiness nor comfort. As the small alchemist looked down at the small pile of carbon dust in front of her, she felt an overwhelming sense of anger boiling through her chest; her heart twisted in pain.
“Damn it!” Carol slammed her fist into the ground beside her. It was hard enough to hurt her knuckles somewhat, but still weak enough not to blow away the dust. “When I find those alchemists, I’m going to–”
The small girl climbed to her feet in an instant and immediately turned her head to the sky. “Do you hear that?”
“Yep.” Micha nodded.
“No you don’t!” Garie wound back her hand, as if about to slap her red-haired sister, and then paused. “No, wait. I hear it too.”
“Hear wh...” Serena turned her head skyward. She, too, could hear the sound now.
	The sound in question was a metallic echo. What was making the sound was unclear–initially, until Chris pointed up at something that glittered in the sunlight.
“That’s... probably not good.”
A second later, the object in question became clearer–it was falling towards them at an incredible speed!
“We need to move!” Shiori called out, and everyone scrambled to safety. Even the alchemist and her Autoscorers ran out of the way, their minds clearly unfocused due to Shirabe’s... status.
The object was a large blue orb, one that Chris thought looked incredibly familiar. It was metallic, reflecting the sunlight in all directions as it fell like a meteor towards Lydian Private Music Academy.
“We need to protect the students.” Serena announced.
She was still donned in her jet-black Shénshòujìng armour, ready to fight. Seeing that the orb was falling at an angle that suggested it would collide with the school, the brown-haired girl sprung into action and jumped into the air.
Flying straight at the orb, Serena’s body began to pulse with purple sparks as Shénshòujìng’s energy began to charge up. She readied a blast, in order to dispose of this strange object, but...
“Wait! Just slow it down!” Chris called up to Serena. “I think it’s Miku!”
The girl nodded, and almost immediately the purple lightning disappeared from her arms. Instead, Serena reached up as if to hug the large sphere...
...and then both Serena and the metallic ball collided at an incredibly high speed and smashed hard into the ground.
Chris, Shiori, Kuriyo, and Micha all winced as they watched from a distance. Yumi, still chewing on a hamburger–which, based on the fact that it wore a partial wrapping, she had purchased from a fast food restaurant at some point–made a sly comment with a mouth full of food.
“That could have gone better.”
And then she took another bite of her hamburger.
	The metal ball disappeared in a flash of light and Serena slowly climbed to her feet. She seemed unharmed for the most part, though as her movements were clumsy, it appeared to most that she must have been very dizzy.
“Sorry about that, death.”
Where the metal ball had been now stood four figures: Elfnein, Kirika, Miku, and the girl that the others only knew as ‘Satomi Kubert’. It was Kirika who spoke, a large smile on her face.
“Oh, Kirika... oh...” Serena’s heart got caught in her throat.
“That’s me, alright, death.” Kirika smiled.
“Shirabe is dead.” Carol reported from the side. “The Bavarian Illuminati killed her with Noise.”
“You can’t just–!” Serena turned to shout at the small alchemist. “They are... were...!!”
Kirika tilted her head in confusion, then screamed at the top of her lungs.
“WHAT?”
“Not to make light of that fact...” Miku stepped forwards. With her one arm, she pushed ‘Satomi’ along with her. “Meet Shirabe.”
The girl was now dressed in some of Kirika’s own clothes as well–a hoodie the colour of grass was zipped up over her otherwise-bare chest, and a pair of green shorts poked out from beneath them.
Now it was time for everyone else to scream in confusion.
“WHAT?”
=== 04/10/2022 ===
	Kirika took a deep breath in. Behind the door in front of her, she could hear the muffled voices of her friends and colleagues. As she exhaled, Kirika adjusted the black and green arm warmers she wore.
It had been a couple of hours since SONG was brutally defeated by Adam Weishaupt and his ‘hidden hand’–the only victory they had claimed had been against Akira Tachibana, their weakest member, so morale was definitely low.
For Kirika, she had spent those past few hours alone, having a panic attack.
	Seeing the face of that cruel doctor–one of the three Adams, apparently–awakened something within her. It had taken all of her willpower to push it out of the way long enough to help fight Adam, but the thoughts did not completely leave her mind.
The memories of that man and all the twisted things he did to her had crushed Kirika’s heart, and even Finé was overwhelmed by the immense despair the young girl felt. The confusion that smashed Kirika’s heart immediately afterwards–learning that Finé, and thus technically Kirika too, was actually Carol’s mother–certainly did not help her sort through these feelings; at the very least, it made for a slight distraction from the chaotic feelings and thoughts that tainted her mind.
	But what truly wrecked Kirika were the memories she had pushed down and away; ones even she had forgotten completely about. Upon seeing the wretched face of the man she knew as ‘Dr. Stinson’, these locks had been shattered.
What Kirika remembered made her vomit, made her cry... It was why she needed time to compose herself; Kirika didn’t want to let Maria or Shirabe see her in a sorry state–she was the one whose job it was to keep them happy!
And it was Shirabe who was the reason why she was hesitating now.
	Again, Kirika took in a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled.
“Alright, death.” She whispered, trying to pump herself up.
Plastering a false smile upon her face, Kirika pushed the door open and walked into the cafeteria area...
	...completely unprepared for what she would find.
	““Kiri!””
Two identical pairs of ruby eyes turned to Kirika with a happy cry. This was the first think she focused on upon entering the room: Shirabe–her Shirabe, the one with the long black hair that she currently wore freely–and the other Shirabe–who currently had the appearance of Satomi Kubert. Kirika tried her best to avoid looking at the latter girl, but, as they sat together, it was an impossible task.
“S-Shirabe, you’re okay!” Kirika said happily after a moment, clearly shocked by the sight.
“Well, she’s mostly alright.” Maria said from nearby. She was sitting at the same, long table as the two Shirabes (as well as Serena), and had the look of a worried mother on her face as she looked over the black-haired ‘original’ Shirabe.
	“Personally... I think your new legs are pretty... cool, Tsu... Tsuku... Shirbay.”
Maria let out a disappointed sigh as the blue-haired figure of Tsubasa Kazanari tumbled near their table. In one hand she held a can of beer, something which shocked Kirika to see as she should not have been old enough to drink.
“Why are you letting Tsubasa drink, too?” Maria called across the room to a small gathering at another table.
	Kanade, Carol, and Miku–who looked to be her original, non-golden self–sat at another table, a pile of crumpled beer cans in front of them. But it wasn’t any of those four that Maria was explicitly addressing, rather it was Fujitaka, who stood off to the side between them and a third table calmly drinking coffee.
“She just found out that her father was a monster... man... thing.” Fujitaka shook his head. “Besides, she’s basically twenty.”
“Nineteen isn’t twenty! It’s nineteen!” Maria countered, shouting back.
“Ehh I think it’s fiiiiiine.” Kanade chuckled. “I like ol’ loosey-goosey Tsubasa anyway. She’s only had one beer but she’s already out of it.”
	The clearly-drunk Tsubasa put her arms around the two Shirabes, and leaned over their inside shoulders. Both girls could smell a terrible amount of beer on her breath as she talked. “Like Kana-chan said! It will be... fiiiiiine! Right Shrubbies?”
““Shirabe.”” Both girls corrected.
“That’s–” Tsubasa hiccuped “–What I said. Surbabbay.”
Slowly, Tsubasa pulled herself up and slumped down into a chair next to Serena. “You get what I mean, right Sirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrena?”
“I... guess?” The young girl asked, not being as disgusted by the scent of alcohol that pierced her nostrils.
“I knew you wou–” Tsubasa hiccuped “–would! You seem... SMART!”
With that, Tsubasa’s head slammed down against the table, and she fell asleep. This earned a hearty laugh from Kanade, who crushed a can in her grasp.
	“And what about the others?” Maria yelled at Fujitaka. “Carol–”
“I’m older than you are.” Carol said calmly, sipping from her own beer. Kirika could not see any hint of being drunk in the small girl’s voice, but that soon changed.
The alchemist slowly pushed herself away from the table and stood up; immediately, Kirika could see the effects of alcohol as the girl stumbled, then leaned her hand against the chair beside her. With her other hand, she pointed at the pink-haired idol, who was apparently the only responsible adult in the room.
“I’ll have you know, the only reason I use a child’s body is because it...” Carol tapped her forehead. “It uhh... Whatever. I am an adult! Remember that!”
The girl slumped back down into her chair and put her hand up. “Gimme another beer!”
	“What about Miku, then?” Maria asked.
“No offence,” Fujitaka’s eyes darted to Miku for a moment before he sipped his coffee. “But she kind of terrifies me.”
“I feel like I should take offence to that.” Miku grumbled. “But I’m terrified of me, too.”
“Ignoring that comment,” Kanade started saying before finishing off her can with one long drink. “Personally, I don’t want to be the one to tell Miku not to do something.”
“If it makes you feel any better,” Miku crushed the beer can against her forehead, turning it into a small disc in a second. “It doesn’t seem like I can get drunk. All this alcohol does is... make my head fuzzy.”
“That’s called being drunk!” Maria yelled.
“No I mean... how can I put this?” Miku put her lips to a beer can, but it seemed empty. A moment later, she crushed this can against her forehead as well. “Solomon’s Cane basically acts as a GPS for Noise in my head at all times. Ever since I went to that... uhh...”
Miku turned to Kirika. “What did you call it?”
“The Treasury of Babylonia?” Finé answered.
“Right. Ever since I went there, it’s been going off non-stop. I think that place messed it up. Anyway, this beer has been making it quiet.” Miku picked up a third beer, which she popped the tab of. “I can’t taste much any more but beer does have some flavour to it. So, that’s a plu–”
Miku burped.
“Nice.” Kanade chuckled.
	“Oh, hey wait. It’s you!” Carol looked over her shoulder at Kirika. The blonde-haired girl stiffened under the alchemist’s intense glare. “I want you over here, right now. We need to talk.”
Maria rushed up to Kirika and put her arm in front of her. “No way! I’m not going to let Kirika drink any beer!”
“Don’t worry.” Kanade put her hand up. Her eyes went wide as she turned to look at Maria and Kirika. The orange-haired girl shivered.
“I definitely won’t let that happen.” She muttered with a haunted look in her eyes. When Kirika turned her gaze to Fujitaka, she saw the man wearing the same distant expression.
“I feel like I can’t be that bad when I’m drunk.” Finé said from Kirika’s lips.
““No. You definitely are.”” Kanade and Fujitaka immediately responded.
	“Wait, but...” Kirika looked between the two Shirabes and Carol as she tried to decide what to do. “I... uhh... I...?”
“Just go see Carol already!” One of the three other figures in the room snapped loudly. “I want to hear about the juicy details.”
“You probably could have phrased that a bit nicer, Yumi.” Shiori said quietly.
“I don’t care!” Yumi raised her arms angrily. “We finally got to use Symphogears and we didn’t even get to do anything! What a rip-off!!!”
	Shiori, Yumi, and Kuriyo had their heads against a third table, sitting limply. From her own personal experience, Kirika knew that they were heavily fatigued from their first times donning a Symphogear.
“Personally, I’m glad.” Kuriyo sighed. “I didn’t like that outfit all that much. I don’t know how you wear stuff like that all the time.”
“You get used to it.” Kanade said calmly, sipping from another can.
“If I can’t fight, then at least let me hear more about Finé being Carol’s mom!” Yumi shouted.
	“Yes.” Carol glared at Kirika again. “What’s this about you being my mother?”
“Death!” Kirika gasped. Frozen in place, the girl wanted to do literally anything else–even Finé did not really want to talk about it.
But it were the more... personal moments that Kirika didn’t want to think about. A slight blush crossed her face as the mere thought conjured up some of Finé’s memories.
As Kirika looked away, embarrassed, Finé spoke up. “I... did not know that you were one of my children.”
“Can’t imagine there are many people out there with ‘Malus Dienheim’ as their surname.” Miku muttered, crushing another can on her forehead.
“That wasn’t his name at the time, obviously; it was one he only took upon my death.” Finé hissed.
Then Finé thought a name in her head, one that conjured up an image of one of Kirika’s friends. The blonde-girl instinctively turned towards her as Finé spoke it aloud. “Ubel Tumula Eve.”
“What?” Maria asked.
“The ‘Eve’ part of your name comes from Ubel Tumula Eve, the original name that the man Izak Malus Dienheim used. Are you all aw–” Kirika put her hand to her mouth and clasped her lips closed.
“No. Let the witch speak!” Carol shouted.
“Now I’m interested, too, honestly.” Serena muttered.
“Let her speak!!!” Yumi shouted, flailing her arms about wildly.
But Kirika just shook her head.
	Why do you not want to let me continue? Finé asked Kirika silently within her mind.
I don’t want them to worry. I want them to be happy. Kirika answered immediately.
I see.
	“You shouldn’t force Kiri to do stuff she doesn’t want to.” Shirabe (with black hair) said, coming to Kirika’s defence despite not moving from her chair.
“If Kiri doesn’t want to talk, then she shouldn’t have to.” Shirabe (the one resembling Satomi Kubert) added, lightly nudging Maria out of the way as she ran up to Kirika.
The Shirabe next to her began to pull Kirika away, grabbing onto the arm warmer covering the girl’s pale skin. As the fabric cover was adjusted slightly, the two began making their way over towards the table that Serena and the other Shirabe and Serena were still sitting at.
“Honestly, it might be best, then, if we leave it... at... that...?” Kanade narrowed her eyes.
Then, quickly, the idol rose to her feet and began stomping towards Kirika.
	“Kanade?” Maria gasped in shock; the aura that Kanade was giving off was very intimidating, and it felt as though the girl was releasing fire as she quickly trampled her way towards Kirika. Even the two Shirabes felt this, and shrunk back behind Kirika somewhat.
When Kanade reached Kirika, she pulled the girl’s hand away from her mouth.
“Ow-ow-oww...” Kirika whined as the girl’s nails dug into her arm.
“What’s the meaning of this!?” Maria yelled as she reached to pull Kanade away from Kirika.
“No.” Kanade grunted. With her other hand, she pulled down the arm warmer that Kirika was wearing. “That’s what I want to know.”
What Kanade exposed was a series of bandages wrapped tight around the lower half of her arms. They were stained red and brown in areas, a result of the old and new blood try to poke through.
Maria gasped. Everyone else was silent as they stared at Kirika’s exposed arm.
“Is this why you always wear those dumb arm things?” Kanade spat the question into Kirika’s face, which was still twisted in pain from the way Kanade was holding her. When the girl refused to answer–or even remove her fingers from her lips, the idol screamed in her face. “Answer me, Akatsuki!”
	“Yup. Sure is. And why she only wears the winter uniform.” Miku announced from across the other side of the room. Upon remarking this, she casually sipped on her beer.
It was silent for a moment.
“You knew!?” Maria shouted.
“You knew that Kirika cut herself, and you said nothing about it?” Kanade asked Miku, putting Kirika down.
“It’s not her fault, death! I asked Chris and Miku to keep it a secret.” Kirika immediately cried.
“It’s not like we haven’t done anything about it. Chris, Kirika, and I talk to each other all the time, trying to help. Though, granted, I haven’t exactly been around much lately.” Miku added, slamming her beer onto the table. “It’s not like we can exactly go to an actual therapist and say ‘hey I’m a mutant gold monster bioweapon thing, Kirika was experimented on for most of her life, and Chris was she was sold into slavery in a foreign country and eventually became the servant for some weird immortal priestess lady who tried to blow up the moon. Oh by the way, that immortal priestess also lives in Kirika’s head and could take over her consciousness at any moment.’ They’d think it was a joke.”
“She’s got a point.” One of the Shirabes–specifically, the one who resembled Satomi Kubert–pointed out, albeit in a mumble that only Maria and Kirika could hear.
“Although,” Miku pushed her chair back and stood up. “She had stopped doing it, to my knowledge. And some of those stains are new.”
	“So uhh... uhh...” Kirika’s eyes darted around in her head. “Do you want me to talk about Carol’s dad some more?”
“I think this is more pressing, right now.” Maria said in a panic. At the same time, Carol cut in with a firm “Yes”. The pink-haired child shot a glance towards the annoyed alchemist, who rolled her eyes in response.
=== 07/05/2022 ===
“What do you mean dreamed...?”
The question tumbled out of Carol’s lips, her eyes wide. The idea that this world she lived in–this perfect, peaceful life where she was nothing but happy–was only a fantasy struck a nerve in her heart. She wanted to deny it, she wanted to refute it.
But she knew better.
While Izak and Miku traded comments, Carol’s mind tore itself in two. Her innocent, childhood self looked at the cynical alchemist she would become, just as her elder self stared back. The Carol of the present yearned for the happy life that fate had stolen from her, but hearing Miku bluntly state that this world was nothing more than a dream snapped her back to reality.
This was not the world she was supposed to live in.
	“How are you here?” Miku asked raising an eyebrow.
“How did you come to the conclusion that I’m not a figment of Carol’s imagination?” Izak countered immediately, his eerily calm smile not fading.
“You’re not good at hiding your annoyed glances.” Miku crossed her arms–something that, despite being possible for most of her life, felt unnatural now that her real body lacked one. She immediately uncrossed them. “And I was a bit suspicious that I felt strange the moment I walked into your house.”
“Yes... it seems, just like Adam, I may be a bit too impulsive at times.” Izak’s smile faded for just a moment as he acknowledged Miku’s comments as truth. “As for your question, I presume we used similar methods.”
“I doubt that. You just didn’t want to have to fight Carol, right? So you decided to trap her in a dream?”
“Yes indeed. You are fairly clever, despite not even being human.” Izak rolled his hand with a chuckle. “And everyone knows a monster is nothing but a target to be taken down.”
Miku’s eye twitched before hardening into a tight glare. She went to open her mouth to counter his words–there was no point refuting them, as Miku knew she was a monster–but someone else cut her off instead.
“Was it not you, papa, who told me not to judge a book by its cover all of those years ago?”
	“So you snapped out of your trance.” Izak sighed, turning to look at Carol. He held up the golden gear in his hand, and it sparkled in the candlelight of the room. “I guess that means I’m no longer needed in this world.”
Carol stepped forwards. No longer was she wearing the clean, and clearly custom-made, red and pink dress that had been covering her figure up until now. Instead, she donned a familiar red dress, with a white cape and pointed hat sat atop her head. Carol’s childishly-innocent eyes froze over into a glare, one she levelled in disgust at her father.
“A dream. I should have realized it sooner. Peace like this is too good to be true.” Carol muttered, cutting the air around her with her arm. Then, with a chuckle, “Papa, know that I will... no, I have already surpassed you as an alchemist. I will show you that I completed that goal that you gave me in full force.”
“Since when were you trying to...?” Izak flinched back, then shook his head. “Were you intending to destroy the world just to prove to my spirit that you were better than me?”
Carol opened her mouth, then turned her head away quickly–the answer was obvious, and made even more apparent as a blush crossed her cheeks.
Miku sighed.
	“I’m not going to let you escape without a couple of answers.” Miku narrowed her eyes.
As a relaxed expression crossed Izak’s face, as if to say ‘I won’t answer’, the girl reached out and gripped the man’s neck with both of her hands. His eyes flashed wide in shock, but his smile did not waver.
“Very well. Depending on the question, I may provide an answer.” Izak chuckled–obviously, Miku realized in that moment, that trying to threaten him would be useless in a dream world that defies logic.
Carol stepped forwards, ready to interrogate him, but Miku immediately shot out a quick question.
“Is it possible to undo golden transmutation?”
“Theoretically yes. Not that I’d tell you the basis behind it.”
Carol cupped her chin. “Molecular deconstruction. You would need to completely break down your form on a subatomic level.” When Miku shot her a look, Carol met her gaze with a hint of an apology beneath her pearly eyes. “However, even for you, this would be fatal.”
“Bravo, Carol. Maybe you do have a hint of talent in that brain of yours.” Izak chuckled.
Carol pulled her arm back, ready to strike him, but Miku shook the man by the throat instead.
“Next question: that spot in the other room... what is supposed to be there?” When Izak gave the girl a confused look, Miku tilted her head slowly from side-to-side. “Next to your workshop. When Carol addressed the person there, the world seemed to censor her word. Miss–?”
Now it was Carol’s time to ask a question. “What are you talking about?”
“Go see for yourself.” Miku gestured with her head.
But as the young golden-haired girl took a step to the door, she was frozen by Izak’s ominous chuckle. Holding up the sparkling gear he still clutched, Izak offered a cryptic answer.
“That is a secret that will soon be revealed.”
“What?” Miku asked, deadpan.
“And that’s all I will say on that matter.” Izak laughed. “And any matter, truth–”
	“Is Finé really my mother?”
Miku and Izak both looked at Carol in surprise. The alchemist did not have any emotion in her steely gaze, her pointed eyes narrowed at her father in the same way she would if she were reading a book.
“The so-called ‘mother of alchemy’; a witch who is continually reborn through the ages. Am I truly related to her–one of these apparent ‘Receptor Children’ that can harbour her spirit?”
“Yes.” Izak smiled. For the first time, his expression seemed genuine as he closed his eyes calmly. “Though I only learned of that fact on her deathbed. I had fallen in love with a kind woman who took a great interest in my alchemy, my research. Looking back, I was surprised that I did not find it odd in the moment that she seemed to be fairly knowledgeable about some of the techniques I was researching.
“Perhaps Adam knew the truth of the matter the whole time, because he kept his distance from her whenever possible. It made it difficult to continue working on... our magnum opus, and our research into creating a perfect Lapis Philosophorum.”
Miku grunted. “Get to the point.”
“I loved her, yes. Finé, the priestess who loved the gods I now fight against, was the light of my life in my youth... and the very reason why I ended up being executed. Or, why the townsfolk intended to execute me, anyway, had I not prepared countermeasures in advance.”
“One last question.” Carol stepped close to her dad, their faces not far apart. Both he and Miku could see the glossy coating that had formed over the teal gems of her eyes, and Miku knew instantly what Carol was going to ask.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had survived?”
. . .
	“Free of sin, huh?” Garie muttered. “Think we fit that description?”
“It’s possible.” Phara shook her head. “However, as we are based on our master’s personality traits, and she is merely a human, and thus flawed, it’s likely we do not.”
“Damn.” The blue Autoscorer replied completely deadpan.
“Normally, I would be a bit mad at your comment about me, Phara, though I am loathe to admit that you are not necessarily in the wrong here.”
	The Autoscorers, and all others in the room, turned their gazes towards Carol as she stood up off the ground. Stretching her arms up high above her, she let out a long yawn.
“It has been a while since I’ve had a sleep that good. A shame it had to be under these circumstances.” The small alchemist, muttered after a moment. As she spoke, she looked down at the sleeping figures still around her. “So, there are still others afflicted with this–”
“Master!”
“Oh wait, hey–!!!” Carol, still somewhat groggy, wasn’t able to put a shield up in front of herself fast enough, so she was launched back into the wall behind her when Micha came sailing out of nowhere, arms open wide for a hug.
“Guess they missed their mama after all.” Kanade giggled. She, like the other humans (or human-adjacent), were sitting a short distance away, still trying to catch everyone up on everything that was going on.
“Please don’t call me that.” Carol frowned.
“Can I assume Miku woke you as well?” Prelati called from her perch near Kanade. In her hand she held a glass of orange juice–something that Serena had supplied for everyone, including Maria and Shirabe(?) despite the fact that they still stared blankly ahead at nothing.
“That’s correct, though not without some help from my father.”
“Your father?” Tsubasa asked. She had a sparkle in her eye, one that Carol noticed immediately but could not place. Was it envy–that the alchemist knew about her parentage–or something else? She shrugged it off.
“Turns out he had been messing with my mind.” Carol huffed. “So taking out some frustrations on him after getting a nothing answer to my question was quite... therapeutic. And it did enough to awaken me.”
“And Miku... helped beat him up?”
“No, she merely allowed me to do so.” Carol chuckled.
“Seems like Miku is doing a lot of work today.” Elsa looked over to Prelati.
“I suppose.” Rolling her eyes. She had, after all, basically awoken herself. It was merely meeting Miku that gave her the push to do so–to see what other differences her brain might concoct for that familiar memory.
“So whose mind do you think she entered now?” Yumi looked at the remaining sleeping figures: Cagliostro, Vanessa, Kirika, and Shirabe.
At that moment, Cagliostro let out a gasp as her eyes flew open.
“Well. That certainly could have gone better.” She muttered, placing a hand upon her cheek.
“Oh. She’s already done.” Yumi said, clearly in awe.
“So what was your dream like?” Prelati asked, ignoring the confusion on her friend’s face.
In response, Cagliostro just winked. “A girl doesn’t kiss and tell, Prelati. You should know that.”
“Ew.”
. . .
	Miku had grown strangely attached to the weird void that existed between everyone’s dreams, and come to find it somewhat comforting.
When Carol had received her answer from Izak–little more than a smug shrug that caused the alchemist to go mad on her father–that small black bunny appeared once more and drawn Miku into this void. She had found herself in Cagliostro’s dream, then, where she promptly looked at the blue-haired woman in a fancy golden gown and said one thing:
	“Nice dress.”
	It was genuine, and Cagliostro instantly knew; despite the shock at seeing Miku suddenly appear before her. When she went to twirl, however, one of her heels snapped and she collapsed into Miku... sending her back into the void.
“I wonder what her dream actually was about.” Miku thought as she fell through the nothing.
Picturing the scene she had popped into, she recalled there was a bearded man that reminded her of a European nobleman... or maybe Santa Claus. He seemed stunned, but did not even turn in Miku’s direction; was Cagliostro’s dream to up-stage that man somehow?
Miku shrugged as she saw the black rabbit fall past her. Reaching out, Miku tried her best to grab the rabbit’s small fluffy tail...
	...and found herself standing on a fire escape stairway outside of an apartment. Looking around, she found herself in a city that did not look like any she had seen before–American, Miku guessed, so her mind immediately leapt to Vanessa.
=== 07/24/2022 ===
Shirabe was not just standing around however. As soon as Miku’s feet left the ground, she sent her other yo-yo in her direction, teeth spinning around it as if the toy itself was also a saw. Miku clicked her tongue as the two projectiles travelled towards her, and disappeared from the view of Shirabe, Cagliostro, and Izak–she became two-dimensional again, to dodge both of the incoming attacks.
The twintailed girl expected this outcome. Expecting Miku to appear somewhere around the invisible podium that she planned to destroy, Shirabe fired a barrage of saws at this platform herself; or, rather, into the ground around it. A minefield of pink saws littered the field.
Miku appeared, not around the pedestal as Shirabe expected, but at the top of the plateau next to the giant throne.
“What? Why are you...?” Shirabe gasped.
“Did you forget?” Miku glared down at the twintailed girl. “I’m a mess.”
Raising her arms, she transformed both into giant cannons–Ichaival’s, specifically Chris’s, firearms stared down at Shirabe. The ruby-eyed girl frowned as she looked into the ends of them, then closed her eyes.
	...and then the mirage of the Château de Tiffauges disappeared out from under the fake Shirabe’s feet.
“Come on. You might be a fake based on a memory, but I still don’t want to hurt one of my friends.”
Miku’s voice reached Shirabe’s ears. The girl looked up to see Miku, arms and legs spread out as she fell freely towards Shirabe. Further away, Cagliostro and Izak were following behind the monstrosity codenamed ‘Subject GX’.
“What do you mean?” Shirabe asked.
“Like I keep saying, I’m trying to help Carol. She’s trapped in a dream–by that asshole,” Miku shoved her thumb back to point as Izak, “I just want her to wake up. I need to talk to her about something important.”
“Still... I can’t let you harm her. Even if it is to help her, I must protect Carol.”
“Well then, I’m sorry, Shirabe, but....”
A hollow look came over Miku. It was like someone had turned off a light; her eyes went completely dark, yet she wore a calm and peaceful expression.
“...You need to die.”
Shirabe gasped. She didn’t even register the fact that the black void around her had shifted, changed to become a night sky; Miku did, however. She saw that the ground was coming up to reach Shirabe, and knew.
The girl with the twintails tried to throw out her yo-yos, but the wind whipping around her only caused their chords to tangle together. Seeing this mess, she instead readied the twintail-like arms that Shul Shagana gifted her, saws spinning on their ends.
It was too late, though. By the time Shirabe attempted to swing the weapons towards Miku, she was already well too close. Miku’s arm, which had transformed into Ame no Habakiri,
=== 09/03/2022 ===
. . .
	“What do you mean I smell bad? I shower regularly!”
Shock must not have been an emotion that was stifled by her reincarnation, because Serena was flabbergasted. Being told she stank was bad enough, but being told this by a stranger was even worse. She shook her head.
Elsa flinched back at the outburst.
“It’s just like I said, de arimasu! You smell like rotten meat!”
“Rotten meat!” The girl stopped as she repeated that. “Wait. No. Is it possible that may be a side effect of...?”
Now it was Elsa’s turn to be shocked–as Serena began pulling up the bottom of her shirt. Elsa put her hand over her face. “Wait, de arimasu! Wait! What are you doing!?”
“I need to see something.” As Serena spoke she began twisting around. While still holding up the bottom of her shirt, she tried curling her neck to get a good look at her spine. “Wait, can you help me?”
“Me?” Elsa asked, confused.
“Does my skin look weird or anything? Like it’s decaying?”
“De...?” Elsa shook her head. “What are you talking about?”
“I was brought back to life with a relic, but maybe my body–”
“–didn’t heal fully, or is still decaying as if you had died!” Elsa understood now, and pounded one fist into her opposite open palm. “I see, de arimasu!”
With the sparkle of science behind her eyes, Elsa rushed up to Serena and began fumbling with her clothes as well.
	“You two are weird. Are you seriously trying to hook up in these ruins?”
The sudden deadpan comment made both Elsa and Serena jump back in shock. The former’s face was bright red in embarrassment at the comment, but Serena looked back with an innocent expression of confusion.
“Y-you have it wrong, de arimasu! I-I was just...!!!”
“I know, I heard it all.”
Miku stood up from her crouched position. Looking down at her body, her expression shifted to one of sadness for just a moment. In the dreams she had been travelling through, her body had been normal, back to what it was like when she was born.
Now she was back to being a one-armed, gold-coated relic abomination.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Miku looked up at the roof above her.
“Hey, vampire girl! You’ve been snooping on these two, right?”
Silence. Elsa and Serena looked at each other for a moment.
“I can see you.”
“Nope that’s impossible for a human, da ze.” Millaarc answered.
“I’m not a human.” Miku replied with a sigh. “And you just gave yourself away.”
“Shit.”
	Serena and Elsa strained to look into the shadows of the rafters, but even the latter with her enhanced senses couldn’t spot Millaarc... and then a second later she was standing on the ground in front of them.
“I need to ask you a question.” Miku glared at the vampire. “Does the Illuminati think any of us have connections to the Custodians.”
Millaarc held up her hands. “I can’t say anything da z–”
She let out a gasp, just as Serena and Elsa did. Miku had lightly punched the vampire girl in the gut... relative to her insane strength. Judging from how she was now bent over, clutching her stomach, even that was stronger than she was intending.
Still...
“Now you can just say I beat answers out of you. Unless you actually want me to?”
“Noted.” Millaarc weakly responded with a wince.
“According to Adam, does anyone have connection to the Custodians?”
Millaarc nodded weakly.
“That’s all I needed to know.” Miku frowned. Then, turning back to the very confused Elsa and Serena (the latter of whom was still only partially dressed correctly). “Seems like one of our friends might be older than they let on.”
“Huh?” Serena asked. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve gotta go back in and help Shirabe with this mess, so maybe you two...” Miku eyed Millaarc. “... Three can figure out why an amnesiac Kanade is in Finé’s ancient memories.”
=== 03/14/2023 ===
The blue Autoscorer was surrounded by four other figures: Micha, Leiur, Phara, and Shirabe. The Autoscorers had been commanded to come aid Shirabe, so they all turned to her. Unfortunately, the black-haired girl only had one thing on her mind–but no idea how to make it happen.
“We can’t hurt Kiri. We just need to find a way to bring her back.”
“When dealing with this problem before,” Leiur mused, “Was it not Chris Yukine who managed to break through to the heart of Batara Kala?”
“But Kiri won’t listen to me...” Shirabe muttered sadly.
. . .
	Miku looked up at the morning sky, a blank expression on her face. She had no idea what had happened to her, how she had ended up laying with her back against the earth. But she knew it would be better if she did not move.
“‘What the hell is wrong with me? Why would I do that?” Miku asked herself quietly. Staring up at the sky, she let out a small groan.
She took a look at herself–or as much as herself that she could see... and actually possessed. Both of her arms were missing, and most of one leg. Miku could also see one of her feet, sparkling gold in the light, embedded in the ground like a railroad spike just a short ways away.
Of course, compared to what she was recently responsible for, she got off easily.
Kirika had been turned into a monster. Miku wasn’t entirely sure how that had happened, but, based on the memories she had seen, several theories were swirling around in her mind. And she knew for certain one particular piece of the puzzle: that her attempts to learn mor about Shem-ha had pushed somehow awakened this change.
“Why...? Why did I do that to her?” Miku frowned.
“Hey.”
Miku careened her neck to get a look at the sound of the very-familiar voice that called out to her. It was her own voice–or, rather, the voice of her clone, Niku. Niku had her hands on her hips, her lips curled into an angry pout.
“What are you doing here?”
“We’re the same person. I know when you’re in trouble.” When Miku did not respond, Niku shrugged. “I was out and about when I saw you get sent flying. She sent you quite a ways. Pretty impressive, honestly.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, your body’s covered in solid gold.” Niku looked over Miku once more. “Or, it was, anyway. It was probably pretty he–”
“What are you doing.” Miku phrased this not as if it were a question, but with a dead tone–like it was a factual statement. Niku could see that her original counterpart was not impressed by her goofier banter, and straightened up.
“You probably didn’t realize, but you aren’t regenerating.” Niku pointed at the masses of darkness bubbling at the ends of the girl’s severed, golden limbs.
Miku looked down at herself. “How long have I been laying here? I just assumed it hadn’t been long enough.”
“Well, if I had to guess...” Niku looked off into the distance. Whatever she was looking at, it was out of Miku’s range of vision. “They’re probably close to finishing up over there.”
Upon hearing Niku’s words, Miku flew up, hovering off the ground to match her usual height despite her broken body. A look of pure fear crossed her face.
“I can’t let Kirika–”
“Do you think she wants to see the girl who turned her into that thing?” Niku quickly hissed, venom drenching every word she spoke–and that shut Miku up. “Good. Now, then–”
Niku reached out her hand and placed the tips of her fingers upon what remained of the right arm that Miku had lost when Kirika sent her flying. Gently, the clone pressed into the black goop that was there–and all the while Miku looked on in confusion.
The clone pinched at the black membrane, and then slowly began to pull on it.
“Wait, wait. What are you–!?” Miku asked in a shout.
“Don’t worry about it.” Niku smiled. “You’ll know all the details in a sec.”
=== Ninjas ===
Chapter 88 Ninjas
	The light pitter-patter of feet on the ground should–ideally–have been silent, but only two of the five figures running across the rocky plain managed to do this perfectly. These same people ran across the uneven ground without a bit of hesitation, their balance shifting appropriately almost as if it were natural to run at these difficult angles.
Leading the line was the brown-haired Shinji Ogawa. Despite looking like he was having fun hiking around this artificially-natural island, the man was as professional as always, wearing a perfectly-pristine black suit. Close behind him was another person dressed in the exact same way–a girl, slightly shorter, with brown hair tied into two twirling ponytails that bounced away from the sides of her head: Yumi Itaba. Though Ogawa was her senior in every way, Yumi matched his movements almost perfectly. Too perfectly at times, even.
It’s scary how quickly she’s picked up on this, Ogawa noted.
Following close behind the duo, but with footsteps far more audible, was a popular celebrity. The blue ponytail belonging to one third of a famous idol group The Queens of Music flew wildly behind the girl named Tsubasa Kazanari, whipping about almost like a dog’s excited tail. While Ogawa and Yumi both wore amused smiles, clearly enjoying their trek, Tsubasa was silently staring ahead, her lips pursed together in a professionally-blank expression... With just the slightest hint of frustration burning behind her eyes.
And Tsubasa isn’t enjoying Yumi’s natural talents either, Ogawa silently commented.
	From further away, two girls sat in camping chairs, some currently-abandoned military equipment littering the area around them. The orange-haired Kanade had an amused smile on her face as she watched her friends run across the landscape through a pair of binoculars.
“Tsubasa definitely doesn’t like being up-staged by a newbie.” Kanade chuckled. “She’ll be skipping out on dinner for sure tonight.”
“And will blow up another motorcycle, no doubt.” Her friend muttered with a sad sigh. “Which means she’ll be getting another earful from Ogawa... and then sulk for a day or two.”
“That’s fine with me.” Kanade laughed, lowering the binoculars to shoot a glance towards the pink-haired woman sitting beside her. “Tsubasa’s fun to mess with when she’s all pouty like that.”
“The two of you, I swear. Don’t you ever want to act professionally? We are technically gover–”
“Government agents, yeah yeah.” Kanade put the binoculars back to her face. “I bet you would have hated seeing your grandma play the part of Ryoko. She was even worse than we were, Maria.”
The pink-haired woman–Maria–shot a glare at Kanade. “Somehow I can believe that.”
Maria raised her binoculars too, watching the five figures dash across the landscape before them. The distance between the first three and the final two was beginning to widen, and the last person in the line was starting to lag even further behind as well.
“Y’know, Shirabe being interested in learning more about ninja stuff doesn’t seem too surprising,” Kanade put her binoculars down for a second to grab the can of beer sitting on the cooler between the two girls, earning yet another glare from Maria. “But the kid? I get being guilty but everyone has limits.”
	Far behind Tsubasa was Shirabe Tsukuyomi, her small frame beginning to tremble as she began to run out of breath. Whenever she was using her Symphogear, Shul Shagana would grant her rollerskates or a wheel to help her move about–her natural pool of stamina seemed very low in comparison to the others.
But trailing even further behind her was a normal kid: Stephan Virena. Apparently his sister had known Chris’s family, and he had been saved by Chris and Miku. Now he had taken up begging SONG to let him help in whatever way necessary, and Genjuro–as friendly as he was–gave him some small tasks as a secretary of sorts.
Clearly that wasn’t enough.
“Guess he got tired of being cooped up helping Elfnein.” Maria speculated, trying not to make the topic too depressing. This was their day off! A day where they had no idol duties or battles to fight–a very very very rare occasion! Kanade taking up drinking beer at noon, though, may be a bit much.
“Maybe he wants to try to look all manly for her.” Kanade smiled mischievously. “I think he’s got A Thing for her.”
“You think?” Maria gasped out. She was surprised–Stephan had only been helping them for a short time, after all.
“Why else do you think he’s been following her around like a lost puppy?” Kanade’s grin only grew larger as she spoke. “I guess this big macho man...”
Kanade looked at Stephan through her binoculars. He fit none of the descriptors. “Well... Man to be. I have no idea how old he is. Fifteen?” Kanade added quickly.
“You don’t think it’s because she reminds him of one of the other kids he helps take care of?” Maria asked, getting a dead-eyed stare from Kanade in response.
“She’s a super-genius homunculus designed to store memories and has a surprising amount of knowledge on relics that aliens gave humanity.” Kanade said bluntly. “I don’t think Elfnein reminds me of anyone. Except maybe Finé to an extent.”
“And Carol.” Maria added.
“They sure do look the same. But that’s about where the simila- oh there he goes.”
“Hm?” Maria raised her binoculars to look at the scene.
	Ogawa had leaped into a tree, and he and Yumi crouched side-by-side like monkeys looking down on the prey they planned to toy with–though their expressions were entirely serious. Tsubasa stood gracefully on another branch, her arms crossed as she leaned against the trunk of the tree.
Shirabe and Stephen, both breathing heavily, had slowed down. Shirabe was still jogging, albeit slowly, her body definitely running low on energy, while Stephen had fallen to the ground and was now climbing back to his feet with clumsy movements.
“Good thing Elfnein isn’t here to see this.” Kanade commented.
“Elfnein isn’t here to see what?”
Both Maria and Kanade fell out of their chairs at the unexpected voice that came from behind them. Their chairs dumped the two girls like they were a dump truck’s cargo, plopping them upside-down in piles as their chairs fell atop them.
“Oops. Sorry.”
The two other Queens of Music got an inverted look at the face of the girl who spooked them: Maria’s younger sister, Serena. She bowed in apology, clearly flustered that she scared the two–and caused Kanade to spill the little bit of beer left in her can all over her shirt.