First draft of the last two chapters and epilogue. Will be fixed up for the final release on Amazon Kindle.

Note: Name change: Crais Shepherd to Klaus Shepherd. Too many characters starting with "C".

Chapter 17 - Part I

(Caelum)

#

School Week Five. Thursday. Late Evening.

Sparring with Kaleb was a different experience to sparring with the girls.

Even with the Kaiser’s Skin-Regalia enhancing my strength, speed, and mobility beyond that of my skinsuit, it was a struggle to keep up with the man. Foolishly, I’d expected to face him in his skinsuit. Instead, I experienced a punishing training session at the hands of Kaleb dressed in a Skin-Regalia of his own.

That surprised me because during my sister’s invasion of the Academy, Kaleb had worn a skinsuit to augment his mobility and strength. I was also quite surprised to learn he was bonded to a Dragoon Class Fragment known as a Cuirassier. Putting two-and-two together, I reasoned he was also in the process of unlocking of his Fragment. However, when I asked him about it, Kaleb told me to ask him another time, perhaps after I’d unlocked the Kämpfer form of the Kaiser’s Blessing.

So why was he using a Fragment and not an Artifact?

After all, wasn’t he a former instructor for the Sanctum?

I had the impression the reason he was down to a Fragment had something to do with my sister. It also gave me the impression he resented her for it, though he probably had more reason to resent the Sanctum.

Maybe I could ask Lidia to look into Kaleb’s background and circumstances.

That thought reminded me of my appointment with Arisa this coming Sunday.

I chose to save that thought for later.

As I was saying, training against Kaleb was a different ballgame and I found myself struggling to keep up with him. His was a faster pace than either Maya or Rina’s, so I felt like I was sprinting the whole time. And then somewhere along the way, as I reached my limit and chose to push beyond it, something shifted within the Kaiser’s Blessing.

Something broke away from inside the Fragment.

Distracted by the inward sensation, I failed to block Kaleb’s lance and left myself open to his attack. The lance speared through my Skin-Regalia’s barrier-fields, and came to a stop a mere inch from my body.

Before me, Kaleb wore an expression of surprise and shock.

When I looked down, I saw that I’d taken hold of the lance’s blade, my armored left hand wrapped in a glove composed of tiny barrier-fields that crinkled, shattered, and reformed with every breath I took.

Impossibly, I had stopped the blade of his lance before it touched my abdomen by grabbing onto it.

It was nothing more than a reflex reaction, but the Kaiser’s Blessing had given it its blessing…so to speak.

Abruptly, my mind kicked back into gear, and with a solid grip on the lance’s blade, I tossed it back.

It was no more than the simple movement of my arm, but it flung Kaleb back a good twenty feet. He landed well enough, his agile footwork keeping him upright and in a battle stance within a heartbeat of touching ground.

However, while his body had reacted as per its training, the same couldn’t be said about his mind.

For a short while longer he remained still and stunned, before breaking into a hungry grin.

“Finally taking this seriously, Desanto.”

I swallowed, not quite understanding, but dropping into a combat stance with one Gauntlet blade in an offensive guard, the other in a defensive posture.

Kaleb narrowed his eyes. “Well then…let’s see what you can do now—”

He leapt toward me, low and blindingly fast, before finishing his sentence.

Overclocked, I watched him fly toward me for a half second, before countering his attack with one of mine.

The best offense being the best defense.

With his lance, Kaleb had reach, but I had power on my side.

Deflecting the lance slightly with the back of one blade, I twisted my body to allow it to pass by me, then slashed at him with my right Gauntlet blade.

Kaleb used the length of the lance’s staff to block my attack, though his defensive barrier-fields shattered nearly instantly in the process. However, he chose not to retreat. Instead, he pressed the attack.

From then on, it was a matter of striking, slashing, and thrusting at each other with weapons sheathed in piercer-fields and protected by barrier-fields.

As time went on, I grew more accustomed to his technique, and was better able to counter his thrusting lance. In time, I was able to deflect and sidestep his attacks with less wasted movement and energy on my part, allowing me to move from defensive to offensive guards and attacks with greater fluidity.

Oddly, I felt as though my speed had gone up.

I saw my body move without the lag that gave me the impression of moving underwater.

In other words, despite my Overclocked state, my limbs moved almost normally as though in real-time, implying my movements had trebled in speed.

I was so surprised by this realization, I almost missed the obvious that Kaleb had been repeating his attacks for my benefit.

He was training me to learn to counter a ranged weapon such as his lance, by engaging in the same attack until I grew accustomed to defending and countering it. When he was satisfied with my response, he would switch to a different attack, and allow me to develop a counter against it. I sensed he was guiding me, urging me to move a certain way that work best against his lance.

This is where I was surprised the most because very attack Kaleb threw at me I intrinsically knew how to defend against.

What is this feeling? What is happening to me?

It was as though the knowledge was within me the whole time. However, since that was impossible, I believed that combat knowledge was coming from the Kaiser’s Blessing. Again, I was reminded of my battle with Celica in the Vault Chamber, and how the Kaiser had elevated my combat ability. Back then it had turned me into a monster, a raging beast, that was all power and very little control.

This time, the ghost in the Kaiser’s Blessing was keeping the beast leashed. But little by little, the longer I fought Kaleb, the more I lost myself to the ghost. Soon, I found myself fighting both Kaleb and the ghost, and I started to falter on both fronts.

Yet through it all, I felt more and more pieces of the seal around the Kaiser’s Core begin to break and fall away.

All I needed was a little push.

All I needed was something to drive me further, to push my emotions higher, to overcome the ghost, and I was certain I could break the seal.

The Kämpfer form was so close I could feel it on the other side of the seal.

I could sense it waiting for me, and my desire to break through the seal grew with each strike, each deflection, and each parry I executed against Kaleb and his lance.

I pushed my body harder, and then pushed my will into the seal.

I wanted it broken.

I wanted to break it now.

At that moment, just as I struck Kaleb’s bladed lance with enough force to send him spinning away, something changed within the seal and my consciousness was pulled inwards into the Kaiser’s Blessing.

In my mind, the image I saw of the seal was like a wall with an ornate, elaborate circular gate made of brilliant ivory like stone. In a heartbeat, that ivory gate became translucent, and I saw the silhouette of a girl standing on the other side. She was slender, and she looked to be wearing a resplendent white dress like a princess from a fairytale.

She turned to me from behind the seal, and I caught her smile through the translucent gate.

For a fleeting moment, I felt I recognized her and the shock made my heart skip several beats. Then the moment passed, and she turned away, moving away from the wall and thus the Seal.

As her silhouette grew dim, fading into the brightness that lay beyond the seal, I slammed my will into the ivory wall.

Break.

It held, and I slammed at it again.

Break!

Again, I struck it, putting more and more of my will behind each blow, fracturing and cratering the wall and gate. Each strike grew more painful, but my need to break the seal, to reach out for her before she faded completely from view, continued to mount, building up into a frantic despair.

Try as I might, no matter how much of the seal I shattered with each blow, I couldn’t break through.

I felt my will break, and my blows grew weaker until I had nothing to throw at the seal but my hoarse cries.

Looking up, I caught a last glimpse of her lithe, willowy form, and then she was gone.

No.

The hurt in my heart grew unbearable.

Don’t go.

I gathered my will.

Don’t leave me.

Clenched into a fist, I raised it high.

Don’t leave me again.

On my feet, I stood before the seal, and wound my body as I drew back my will.

Don’t ever leave me again!

I struck the seal one last time, shattering my balled up will.

Galatea!

Depleted of strength, my consciousness – my awareness – collapsed to its knees.

I had failed.

Again, I had failed to keep from leaving me.

As despair welled up inside me, I looked up at the seal.

The circular ivory gate cracked…and exploded into me.

A roaring wind swept me away, and my vision turned cloudy. Unable to see, I had the impression I was flying uncontrollably through the air, until I crashed into something immovable.

That something…was my body.

The training cavern and Kaleb Deneve came into view with a clarity I’d never experienced before. And with this newfound pureness of vision, I watched myself strike at Kaleb and his bladed lance a blow that sent him flying backwards through the air.

This time he didn’t land on his feet but on his back, and he came to a stop after rolling along the ground several times.

The black mist surrounded his body, as his Cuirassier’s Sarcophagus retrieved the Fragment. When it faded, Kaleb was lying unconscious on the ground more than fifty feet away.

I realized I was standing tall, but my body was shaking from as though from incredible exertion.

Remaining upright was all I could do. If I tried to walk, I was certain to fall, as every muscle in my limbs trembled almost uncontrollably.

With a thought, I willed the Kaiser’s Blessing and the Skin-Regalia back into its Sarcophagus, and when the mist dispersed into the depths of the training cavern, I collapsed to my hands and knees.

I was crying, and I couldn’t explain why, only that my heart ached with unbearable sadness and regret. I remained that way for a long while, sobbing loudly on hands and feet, as my tears continued to fall.

If only I knew why I was crying.

If only I knew why I felt like I’d lost something so important to me that my life felt meaningless.

Something happened in there. Something happened when I blacked out.

I swallowed, grateful my tear ducts were running dry.

No—it wasn’t a black out. It was a white out. Like a snow blizzard or snow storm.

When I found the strength to look up, I saw that people came for Kaleb, among them Maya and Rina, and he was roused back to consciousness. Despite insisting he could walk on his own, the medics forced him onto a floating stretcher and he was swiftly taken out of the training cavern.

I saw all this through my drying tears, wondering why I was given such a wide berth.

Even Maya and Rina didn’t know what to do, looking at me as though I was someone they didn’t recognize.

Those looks made me feel even emptier inside.

My heart felt as though it would break at any moment.

Would they leave me too?

Slender arms encircled me, and the warmth of a girl’s body enveloped me, filling a little of the cold emptiness that welled up within my body. Since I no longer needed a skinsuit, I wore a black training garment that resembled a wetsuit, and through the material, I could feel her body pressed into my back as she embraced me from behind.

“…okay now…it’s okay now…it’s all okay now….”

I reached up and touched her arms, my hands gentling gripping her.

Though I had a hold on her, I feared she would slip away if I didn’t touch her with my own hands.

“…not going anywhere….”

Slowly, the ache in my heart began to fade.

“…I’m not going anywhere….”

Little by little, I grew calmer, and my Awareness-field began projecting again.

I straightened on my knees and squeezed her arms gently.

“Thank you….” That was all I could offer her; it was all I had the strength to offer her.

After an interminable length of time wrapped in her protective embrace, I found myself able to turn around a little, and look into her eyes.

Azure eyes met mine, and a smile curved her lips, a smile I rarely saw on her.

I gazed at Simone, and felt I was seeing her for the first time.

I was seeing Simone Alucard…and not the Countess.

Her smile was one I wished to see more often, especially now that she was my girlfriend.

Then I saw Caprice standing a few yards away behind Simone, robed in a Skin-Regalia I’d never seen before, standing tall with her Valkyrie Legs manifested, and bladed gauntlets at the ready.

She was breathing hard, her face pale, her body trembling all over.

There was anguish on her face, and despair too.

It brought back memories of her pleading on her knees before Celica.

I opened my mouth, intent on calling out to her, to tell her that I was fine. To tell her not worry, and not to cry.

To tell her I was sorry for causing her pain.

But the words died before they reached my lips.

Cold and lifeless, her gaze locked rigid on Simone.

For a moment, a single heartbeat in time, I felt a chill pierce my heart as I understood what that look meant. Then Caprice met my eyes, and agony flashed across her face before she turned and vanished from sight with a single leap.

On my knees and with Simone supporting me, I struggled to accept what I’d seen in Caprice’s eyes.

However, Maya and Rina, who walked up to me with wary, nervous looks, drew my attention away.

As expected, Rina hung back a little, while Maya was the first to speak.

However, it did take the girl a few attempts to find her words.

In the end she took a deep breath, planted her hands on her hips, and said with a puzzled look, “Uh…congratulations?”

I stared up at her, not knowing in the slightest what that question was all about.

Maya’s shoulder’s drooped and she stared at me in disbelief. “Don’t you know what just happened?”

I shook my head feebly at her.

Her disbelief went up a notch, and she palmed her forehead. “You just broke another seal on the Kaiser’s Blessing.”

“…I what…?”

Planting her hands on her hips again, Maya shook her head in disappointment.

“Pervert Desanto, you unlocked the Kämpfer form. Congratulations.”

I stared at her dumbfounded, until I remembered my experience inside the Core Awareness of the Kaiser’s Blessing.

So it was real. I really did break the Seal.

Standing up slowly, I looked up at the cavern ceiling.

I wasn’t seeing the rock formations overhead, but picturing the Academy grounds while thinking of the girl behind the wall around the Core Awareness.

Galatea…who are you?

#

(Caprice)

#

I burned.

I burned with a hatred I didn’t know I had within me—a hatred for that girl.

I had to leave.

If I hadn’t turned and jumped away for the exit to the training cavern, I didn’t know what I would have done.

I was running away for her benefit more than mine.

Within the anteroom leading into the cavern, the Skin-Regalia and the Valkyrie Armor left my body, retrieved by the Sarcophagus. That left me barefoot and dressed in the training bodysuit.

Like Caelum, I no longer needed a Skin-Regalia.

I learnt that today, while Caelum was busy training with Kaleb in Cavern One, and Cavern Three was occupied by Rina and Maya left to their own devices for the evening – though we’d learnt from Principal Mason that a new instructor was coming to the Academy.

It was Nicola Weinberg afil Lorian who took up the duty of training me in Cavern Two.

As I trained with her, my Valkyrie Armor against her Siren Maiden, I abruptly found myself wearing my Valkyrie’s Skin-Regalia. Without any fanfare or ceremony, I’d suddenly broken one of the seals, and released Brynhildr’s Valkyrie-skin. Seeing this, Nicola instructed me to summon and release the Valkyrie-skin a number of times, after which she congratulated me and decided to halt our training in order to have me outfitted with a simple black bodysuit that resembled a wetsuit only it was much thinner.

Shortly afterwards I heard the urgent summons of medics to Cavern One, and fearing something had happened to Caelum, I rushed out to the training cavern only to find Kaleb unconscious, and Caelum wracked by sobs on hands and knees.

But I didn’t arrive in time to help him.

Somehow, she arrived before me.

Somehow, she was there to comfort and support him before me.

Somehow she had taken my place at his side.

And so I burned with hatred for her, and I chose to flee.

It took all my strength of will to hold myself back and not take her head.

In the change room, I stripped out of the bodysuit, and ran into showers.

In an empty stall, I turned on the water, slapping the temperature control panel to the setting I wanted, and dove under the shower.

Battered by the water, my hatred gave way to despair, and then my heartache overwhelmed me.

I collapsed into a shameless heap, and lost the battle against my tears.

Why her?

I heard myself wail softly as the water struck my bare skin.

Why her? Why choose her? Why?

I stared at the tiles beneath me, barely seeing them, yet sensing they were there through my Awareness-field.

Alucard had been in the observation room. I’d glimpsed her there when I reported in to Mason and Weinberg. She was on the upper loft, looking through the immense windows down into the training cavern. She had the temerity to give me a friendly wave and smile. When the incident happened, she undoubtedly rushed to the cavern and beat me to Caelum’s side by a few seconds.

I clenched my hands over the wet tiles, my long blonde hair curtaining my face as I hung my head.

Haruka asked me why I love him, and all I could tell her is that I just did.

I shook my head, feeling frustrated with myself.

But why is that? Why do I love him? Even before I met him, I loved him, and yet—and yet—I’ve never really understood why?

I raised my head a little, and looked at the tiled wall of the shower stall in front of me.

When I think about—when I face the truth—I’ve never known why I love him, only that I do love him. I love him more than anything in this world. I love him more than life itself. I would die for him…and I would kill for him.

I swallowed, tasting the shower water in my mouth, and some of my tears.

But why is that?

The more I thought about it, the more my thoughts came back full circle.

Looking up, I closed my eyes as the shower water sprayed onto my face.

“Why…why do I love…Caelum Desanto…?”

I had no answer.

All I knew was that it was true, and that love for him was so strong it scared me.

Pushing myself up to my feet, I stood under the shower water for a little while longer before turning it off.

Drying myself under the full body dryer near the shower stalls, I then walked back into the change room, and dressed in a clean set of casual clothes – a tank top, loose trackies, and pair of old sneakers. Then I stuffed my new bodysuit into the gym back I used, as I would need to wash it for tomorrow’s training.

Maybe I should ask for a couple more of them.

Carrying my carry-bag and gym-bag, their straps over my shoulders, I left the underground training center. The elevator deposited me in the vast open lobby of the administration building, and from there I walked to the glass doors of the southern entrance.

Outside the building, I hesitated at the top of the steps as I felt the breeze blow strongly over the academy grounds, courtesy of the less than stable environmental controls of Habitat One.

When I glanced at my watch I saw that it was almost seven thirty pm.

I closed my eyes, and listened to the sounds of the habitat at night.

The club activities had ended, and the students had gone home by now.

The quiet over the Academy grounds drew a shiver out of my body.

Or maybe it was just my heart sighing.

But the peace didn’t last.

The presence of an Awareness-field yanked my attention to the darkness beyond the foot of the steps leading up to the building’s entrance. With my eyesight enhanced by my Valkyrie’s Awareness-field, I looked into that darkness and saw a young male student standing there.

“Hello, Caprice.”

Klaus Shepherd afil Raynar, dressed in his Academy uniform, and with hands shoved into his blazer’s pockets, looked up at me with a faint smile on his lips.

By choosing not to hide my surprise, I was able to mask my sudden unease.

“Klaus? What are you doing here?”

He exhaled loudly, but his smile held steady. “I thought I’d wait for you. I figured you’d be done with training soon.”

“Training—?” I stopped, then cautiously asked, “So you know about that?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I know about a lot of things. Word that Galatea Academy has reopened its training facilities to its attending Familiars has already spread. But for now, the names of the Familiars training at the Academy are being kept confidential. That said, it won’t be long before you’re found out.”

He looked up at the artificial night sky.

“I’m sure Galatea Academy will make an announcement soon. That will spare people having to speculate on the Nexus.”

“Klaus, why are you here?”

He looked back down at me. “Like I said, I was waiting for you to finish up.”

“Why?”

“Because we need to talk.”

I took a step closer to the edge of the top step. “About what?”

“About why I’m here at Galatea Academy.”

It was strange, but for some reason I felt myself dreading the answer even though I half suspected what it was. “I’m listening….”

Shepherd took his time as though gathering his resolve. Then after a heavy sigh, he smiled weakly up at me.

“I’m here to protect you, Caprice.”

It wasn’t the answer I was expecting, and my surprise slipped out into my voice. “Protect me?”

He nodded and shrugged slowly as he took another deep breath. “I was sent here to protect you…on orders from your family.”

My chest tightened and my stomach clenched into a lead ball. “My family? Why? Would those bastards send you? Why would they send anyone to watch over me?”

“Because you’re in danger. You’ve always been in danger. You can’t protect yourself, even with your Valkyrie Armor. You can’t summon Brynhildr’s Maiden form, can you.”

He drew closer to the bottom step, and closer to me.

“Caprice, you’re in danger but there are people out there watching out for you. Your family has been watching over you these past ten years, and I’ve been watching over you since I was transferred to this Academy a year ago.”

“I’m in danger from whom?”

“From her,” Klaus replied. “From the one who killed your mother.”

My stomach turned into a cold ball of lead. “She’s gone…she’s gone…she left Pharos—”

“No, Caprice. She’s back.”

As the words left his lips, I felt as though someone had squeezed my heart, choking the life out of it.

Klaus’s voice sounded distant as my senses became clouded.

“…we found out she's come back just recently…our people in Public Security sent word…your family authorized me to tell you...to bring you home....”

I didn’t hear the rest.

The bags I carried fell to the ground beside me.

My legs lost their strength, and I collapsed limply to my knees.

The nightmare was back.

The memory of that night flooded my mind, pushing out all other thought.

I’d spent years suppressing it but his few words had broken all the chains I wrapped around it.

I saw it again.

I saw her die.

I watched my mother fall to the sword-spear that cleaved through her chest, ripping apart her heart, killing her in an instant.

I watched her die all over again, and I screamed in my mind.

On the landing outside the building, I cried out for her.

I barely felt Klaus’s arms around me.

I barely heard the words of comfort he whispered in my ear as he rocked me gently.

But I heard the shout of rage that ripped the night air, and I heard Caelum’s voice as he roared at Klaus.

“Get away from her!”

Cold filled the air, the cold of a breach between Pocket Space and real-space.

A girl's voice plead frantically, “Caelum—stop!”

When I could see again, I looked down at the grounds between the building and the grassy hill overlooking the west sports field. I saw two men clad in Skin-Regalia, the clash of their weapons sparking incandescent flashes emerald light.

One wielded Gauntlet-Blades on each arm and two sharp Vector Wings floated behind him.

The other was dressed in a white, armored Regalia, and hefted a long spear that resembled a Hellish tuning fork. He was flanked by four floating devilish wings.

Sharp zings raced through the air to the tune of the emerald flashes.

Barrier-fields shattered and reformed.

Piercer-fields missed their opponent and sliced up the ground instead.

At first, I didn’t understand what was happening, only that Caelum was fighting Shepherd.

Fury twisted his features, and his voice sounded demonic.

“Bastard—what did you do to her? Why did you make her cry?”

Someone crouched beside me, and through my Awareness-field I recognized her without having to face her.

“Steiner—what the Hell happened? What happened?”

Despite Simone Alucard shaking me less than gently, I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the scene before me.

“Steiner—talk to me. Damn it! What happened?”

I swallowed and found my voice but it was barely a whisper. “…he’s wrong…Caelum’s wrong….”

“What’s he wrong about? Answer me!”

“Klaus…Klaus didn’t hurt me….”

“What?” Alucard crouched in front of me, blocking my view. Grabbing my face in her hands, she forced me to look at her. “Steiner, tell me what happened. Tell me now!”

I swallowed again, and my voice grew a little stronger. “Klaus, came to warn me.”

“About what?”

“About the one who killed my mother.”

Alucard’s azure eyes widened, then narrowed. “The Kin Slayer.”

“Yes….”

“What about her? What about that woman?”

“He said…he said that she’s back.”

Simone Alucard rocked back on her heels. “Oh my gods….”

Behind her, the sounds of battle grew to a feverish pitch, yet all I could do was kneel on the ground, my face in Alucard’s trembling hands.