First draft only.

Chapter 18.

(Caelum)

#

This newcomer was quite unlike the others.

For one thing, it didn’t look like a snow monster.

Instead it resembled an ice sculpture, that of a lithe young woman with decent sized breasts. Behind her, a collection of six wings flared out from a disturbing looking contraption that resembled a dismembered body.

I was surprised by my sudden overriding decision not to plunge my blade through the terrified snow monster. At the last possible moment, I flicked the blade back into its stored position, and my fist came to a halt millimeters from its chest.

Then I was collected by the ice sculpture that I quite simply didn’t see coming.

Rolling around on the snowy ground for a while, I grappled with it until I could toss it off me.

Now with both blades extended forward, I met the new challenger with uncertainty.

Something about it was strangely familiar.

The ice sculpture reminded me of a Siren Maiden.

But why here? Why would there be something like this here?

“DEESAAN TOO! SSSSTTTPPPPP.”

Damn it, if I only I could hear it properly.

The ice sculpture sounded like it was really trying to talk, but its words were a distorted, distended mess.

Was it calling out a name?

Jumping back a short distance, I gave myself some room to study this new opponent.

An icy blue curved blade, much like a sword, was wielded in its right hand.

The more I stared at it, the more it resembled a Siren.

I decided to call out to it…until I saw her standing on a distant snow dune behind the ice sculpture.

The look of despair on her face painfully twisted my heart.

She turned away, and began walking into the snow storm, travelling toward the pulsating light far in the distance.

“No, wait! Galatea—wait!”

The ice sculpture turned to look behind it, then faced me again.

“DEESAAAAN TOOO?”

I sucked in air, feeling the cold biting my lungs. “Damn, I don’t understand you, but stop getting in my way!”

It outstretched its arms, as though intending to stop me from passing.

Or is it surrendering? I don’t understand its intentions!

One thing was certain for me – it stood between my goal and I.

I didn’t know why Galatea was here, but I’d be damned if I let her slip through my fingers.

I would save her.

[Is that true?]

What?

I looked about me but the raging blizzard made it hard to see beyond a hundred feet or so.

[Will you truly save me?]

Then I saw her again, standing a few yards on the dune behind the ice sculpture.

“Galatea…you came back?”

[Will you truly save me?]

“Yes.”

[But you couldn’t save anyone back then. You failed. I died. Don’t you remember?]

What was she saying? She couldn’t have died. She was here.

I pressed a hand to my head.

Wait—what’s happening? What have I forgotten?

[You trusted him. And he betrayed you. And I died.]

What was I forgetting?

My head began to pound, and soon the pain handicapped the rest of my body.

The Gauntlet-Blades flicked back, preventing me from taking off my own head.

Who betrayed me? Who was it?

[Why didn’t you trust me? When I warned you, why didn’t you believe me? Tell me why.]

I didn’t know why. My memories were missing. I was incomplete.

“DEESSSSN TOOO WWWTTTSS WWWRRRRNGGG?”

Holding my head, I saw the ice sculpture approach, its blue-white blade shining brilliantly through the blizzard.

I took a step back, and suddenly noticed Galatea was standing in front of me, and thus between the ice sculpture and I.

How did she—?

Dressed in a thick hooded cloak, she reached up and tossed the hood back. Immediately her long golden hair was caught by the wind and plastered by snow as her big blue eyes met mine.

I gasped and staggered back a step, as something akin to recognition lanced through my mind. Again, I clutched my head as a flood of memories began to rush through it.

Galatea’s eyes were filled with regret.

[Why didn’t you believe me? Why?]

Suddenly, a piece of my memory fell out of the stream raging through my mind. I caught it and held onto it, fearing it would melt like a snowflake in my palm, but the memory seeped into me.

“Because I trusted him.”

[Why?]

“He was like a brother to me. The closest thing to family.”

“DEEEEESSSANTTOOOO? WHAAATT ARRR UUU SSSSSYNNNNGG?”

I ignored the ice sculpture that continued to approach us, but in a few moments it would arrive behind Galatea.

Fearing for her, I reached out for Galatea, but she darted aside, moving with agility that shocked me. It was as though the raging wind and snow didn’t affect her at all, yet her golden hair continued to billow in the gale. I reached out for her again, and tried to catch her, but she slipped away like smoke between my fingers.

[You trusted him, but not me.]

Another piece of my memory fell out of the stream, and landed in my mind.

“No, that isn’t true.”

[You believed what they told you about me.]

A third piece, then a forth. They formed a picture on the floor of my mind.

I shook my head. “No, I never did.”

[You left me behind.]

More pieces landed on the floor. More pieces added to the picture.

“I couldn’t take you with me. I left you in his care. I trusted him to protect you. He promised me he would.”

Galatea appeared before me again, and this time I saw rage and despair contorting her face.

[You doubted me!]

“No—!”

[I loved you!]

The picture in my mind grew larger as pieces continued to tumble into it. I couldn’t ignore it any longer, and when I stared at it pain blossomed in my chest, crushing my heart.

[I loved you—not him!]

I squeezed my eyes shut, unable to stop the tears welling up behind them.

[You were everything to me. Without you I was nothing.]

I swallowed hard. “I know….”

[So why? Why did you doubt me? Why? Tell me!]

I bowed my head. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I was afraid. I was so afraid—so terrified of losing you. So afraid you would leave me.”

[Look at me.]

I shook my head. “No….”

[Look at me.]

I stepped back. “I can’t.”

[Look at me—Kallum!]

I knew what I would see if I opened my eyes.

[If you love me…then look at me….]

“DEEESSSSAAAATO—LLLLIIIIISTEEEEEN TTTTOOO MMMEEEE.”

The ice sculpture’s yell sounded so close, that I was startled and opened my eyes.

Galatea stood before me, the cloak gone, revealing her dressed in a white gown fit for a princess, stained in red by the blood that seeped out of her wounds, her wrists and neck slashed, and her skin a deathly pallor that matched her pale blue lips.

No, not again. Please, not again.

[This is what you did to me.]

I grabbed my head as I looked into her eyes, and took another step back.

Please, I don’t want to remember.

Galatea followed me.

[This is what your doubts did to me!]

I shook my head at her, and continued backing away.

[You left me with him to test me!]

I don’t want to see her like this—not like this!

[And he took me away from everything!]

I screamed, and the ice sculptured reached out to me in a hurry.

“DEEEESSSANNNTOOOO—”

It passed through Galatea, and she vanished from sight like smoke fading into the wind.

I collapsed to my knees, my hands clenching handfuls of snow as my body trembled under the weight of the regret and despair pouring out of my heart.

“DEEEESSSSAAAANTTOO?”

[Remember….]

Hearing her voice, I squeezed my eyes shut.

“DEEEESSSSAAAANTTOO—LUUUUUKKKK AAAA MMEEE.”

When I found the strength to raise my head and open my eyes, it wasn’t the ice sculpture that I saw leaning down toward me but him, and the fury that burst out me was akin to a volcanic eruption.

In an instant the storm vanished, the snow landscape disappeared, and I was there again back where it all ended…in that immense open throne room surrounded by blood-red storm clouds.

With a roar, I launched myself at him with the single-minded intent of taking his head.

Deep down, I was aware of history repeating itself.

I knew that it would end with his death, and that afterwards I would be helpless to save her.

Yet I couldn’t stop myself from moving.

My hatred for him demanded blood, and he had plenty to give.

#

(Caprice)

#

I stood by the entrance, struggling to believe what I was seeing.

Nicola Weinberg locked in combat with Caelum in a fight that was beyond anything I’d ever witnessed before – well beyond what I’d seen of Caelum and his sister, Celica, when they fought in the Vault Chamber.

His Kaiser’s Blessing sported a Vector Core and two Vector Wings that had scissored open and sparkling emerald embers billowed out from them. The Gauntlet-Blades had reconfigured, having split into a shield and blade component with the latter merging with his forearms, turning his arms into swords. To my surprise, I saw that they weren’t rigid, but flexed at the wrist, allowing Caelum to snap them around at speed and block or parry Weinberg’s burning katana.

Some distance away from them, Kaleb Deneve stood with his Cuirassier’s flintlocks aimed at them, unable to shoot while they battled so close to each other, the faint strains of frustration on his face. I didn’t doubt for a moment he was aiming for Caelum.

A good hundred feet away from the battle and closer to the training cavern wall, I spied Maya Khayman and Rina Sayen standing in discussion before they abruptly ran for the nearest cavern exit.

What are they up to?

As they left the training cavern in a hurry, I directed my gaze toward Deneve.

The flintlocks in his hands were aimed straight and steady, yet still he didn’t fire.

I shook my head inwardly.

No, I won’t allow you to shoot Caelum.

I gauged the distance between him and I at fifty meters, an interval I could cross in two or three seconds with the power of my Valkyrie Legs. Yet I believed I would not be fast enough to stop him before he trained his flintlocks on me.

So what could I do? What were my options?

I turned my attention on Caelum and Weinberg.

He looked enraged, and yelled at her, “Why? I trusted you? Why did you take her?”

Weinberg pushed him back with quick swordsmanship that made her katana flash like crimson lightning.

“Desanto—calm down! Look at me! I’m Nicola! Do hear me?”

He held back for a moment, then shook his head. “Wrong. This is all wrong. It wasn’t this way. It wasn’t this way—”

For a heartbeat, I thought he might snap out of what every state he was in, but then he glanced away as though sighting something only visible to his awareness. Afterwards his body trembled, and again he looked distraught.

“You let her bleed to death….” His face contorted under the weight of his emotions as he shook his head slowly. “How could you…how could you do that to her…?”

I was puzzled when Kaleb Deneve lowered his flintlocks, an expression of stark disbelief on his face.

However, Weinberg looked out rightly confused and sounded as much. “Desanto…what are you saying?”

“How did you do it?” he asked. “She was an Aventis. A Pureblood. How? Did you do it?”

“Wh—?” Weinberg made the mistake of lowering her guard.

In that instant, Caelum attacked, his Arm Blades barely countered by Weinberg’s crimson katana. Even Overclocked, I had trouble following both their movements.

“Tell me how!” he roared.

Caelum pressed his attack, his blades moving quickly but without the flexibility of a sword. In effect, it was like watching a martial artist with swords for hands. He slashed, jabbed, and parried with movements more at home with hand-to-hand combat. Truthfully, this was how he normally fought, but with his reconfigured blades his movements appeared more at ease. That said, against Weinberg’s swordplay his fighting style appeared ill matched, yet I saw Nicola struggle to keep him at bay. Either that, or she was fighting him without the intent to harm him.

If something doesn’t change, this will drag on without a resolution.

It was then I saw Deneve make his move.

He slapped the flintlocks together, and the weapons fused before morphing into a new shape, forming a long bore rifle that he held in both hands and aimed at Caelum.

No. Damn it. I won’t let you.

“Damn you!” Weinberg yelled. “Stop fighting me you brat!”

Displaying power I hadn’t seen before, Nicola Weinberg deflected the downward slash of Caelum’s right blade, stepped into his body, and slammed him backwards with a combination of her Siren’s brute strength and an explosion of expanding barrier-fields that acted like a shockwave that blew Caelum away for almost a hundred feet.

Knowing what was to come, I moved in pure desperation toward Deneve.

Darkness surrounded me, and cold bit at my skin and bones.

For an Overclocked second I was disoriented, not understanding what had just happened, but then I found myself sailing through the darkness and flying toward Deneve.

He noticed me a painfully slow heartbeat before I slashed at his rifle with a gauntlet blade of my own, and the piercer-field sheathing my blade helped it slice cleanly through his weapon.

The flintlock rifle flashed then blew apart a moment before I crashed bodily into Deneve, knocking us both more than a dozen meters from the point of impact.

Tumbling along the ground, we separated, and came up on our feet.

I was surprised that I wasn’t hurt until I saw the barrier-fields enveloping my body like scale-mail. It was then I realized I’d unlocked a part of my Valkyrie Armor, and was one step closer to the full Maiden.

Deneve was looking at me with surprise, but that quickly turned to anger. “What do you think you’re—?”

“I won’t let you harm him.” I snapped my forearm gauntlet-blades back and forth for effect. “You will absolutely not harm him!”

His anger evaporated, replaced quickly by disappointment, but that too only lasted a few moments as he soon regarded me curiously to the tune of battle resumed between Caelum and Weinberg.

“You damn, brat! You’re as bad as your sister!” Weinberg yelled.

“What sister? I’m an only child,” Caelum yelled back.

“That murderous bitch—that traitor—she killed all of my friends!”

“I’m telling you—I don’t have a sister!”

“I lost everything! I lost everything because of her!”

My attention on Deneve wavered away from him as I listened to the exchange, but it was only for a few moments. It quickly returned to him when he asked, “Then tell me, Steiner, how do you plan to help him?”

“Tell me what’s happened to him,” I demanded in my usual flat tone. “And then I’ll tell show you.”

#

(Maya)

#

As I ran down the rock corridor with Rina leading the way, I asked her, “Are you saying he’s trapped in some sort of alternative reality?”

Rina nodded without slowing down. “A reality created by the Core Awareness.”

“And this happened to your brother?”

“Yes, when he reached the final seal on his Fragment, the Core pulled him in and trapped him there.”

I swallowed. “How did he get out?”

Rina’s gaze darted away. “I got him out.”

“How?”

“By making him remember the outside world,” she replied.

“How?”

Rina came to a smooth stop and then sighed heavily. “By sacrificing myself.”

I stopped too, a few feet down the corridor. “What was that?”

“I threw myself in front of him, and captured his attention.”

With a frown, I asked slowly, “Really? Is that all you did? Doesn’t sound like a sacrifice to me.”

Rina looked reluctant to answer me, but eventually shook her head and smiled sadly. “Well, it was actually more life threatening than that.”

The sadness spread from her smile to the rest of her face, and it stole my breath and my voice.

It was the sound of running footsteps that pulled at my attention, dragging it away from Rina’s sorrowful visage. I turned my head away from her, and looked down the corridor at the vision of Simone Alucard running toward us.

Rina’s voice was low. “She’s here….”

I swallowed hard, as a feeling of dread ran through me, and suspected I knew where this was headed. “Simone….”

Dressed in her uniform – and wearing normal shoes for a change – she came to a stop not far from me, and more than a little out of breath.

I couldn’t help glancing at her voluptuous chest.

I guess they’re heavier than they look. Maybe I should be glad I’ve stopped growing for the moment.

However, out of breath or not, Simone was still only for a moment, as a heartbeat later she reached out and forcefully grabbed me by my Skinsuit.

“What’s wrong with him?” she questioned, shaking me about and making my world sway nauseatingly. “What’s happened to Caelum?”

I reached up and took hold of her wrists, using the Skinsuit’s strength to stop her from shaking my head off. “Si—Si—Simone, stop!”

Damn, she was strong for an Aventis.

Rina stepped up to us, and grabbed onto Simone’s arms. “Caelum’s mind is trapped in the Kaiser’s Blessing. He’s seeing reality in a way the Kaiser wants him to.”

Simone released me while staring at perplexed at Rina. “What?”

“His perception of reality is being influenced by the Kaiser’s Blessing. We need your help to snap him out of it.”

“My help?” I saw a complicated look settle quickly on Simone’s face. “How?”

“By tossing yourself in harm’s way,” Rina replied.

Simone blinked quickly, before regarding Rina with faint horror. “You want me to do what?”

“To make a sacrifice,” Rina answered softly, “and shock him back to this reality.” The sadness she’d expressed earlier was absent from her face, and though her voice was soft, her gaze was resolute upon Simone.

I released Simone’s hands as I felt her arms grow slack.

They fell to her sides, and Simone continued to stare at Rina with a thinly horrified expression. “I’m not following you….”

I took a quick but deep breath, knowing that time was of the essence. “Simone, we need your help to bring Desanto back to his right mind.”

Slowly the horror faded from her face, and she folded her arms under her breasts.

With a serious light in her eyes, Simone regarded Rina and I. “Before I make any sacrifice or sacrifices, tell me properly what’s going on.”

#

(Caprice)

#

My concentration was unevenly divided between Deneve and the ongoing furious battle between Caelum and Weinberg.

In the past minute, Weinberg’s anger had gotten the better of her, and she was driving Caelum back all over the training cavern floor. Brilliant emerald light flashed every time her katana struck his Arm Blades held protectively in ever changing defensive stances. Yet Caelum was holding his own, his guard perfectly countering her strikes.

When did he learn those? I wondered. It’s like he’s adapting to her little by little.

Having thought that, I was surprised to see Weinberg drive her sword between his arms, slipping through his guard, and force him to dodge her blade in a hurry or lose an ear.

The Vector Core and Vector Wings floating behind him cut a crescent through the air as they kept up with his fast movements as he circled around Weinberg and then for precious seconds danced out of the range of her katana.

However, Weinberg refused to be denied, and yelled at Caelum to take his punishment like a man as she quickly closed the distance between them, her katana burning brilliant trails through the air.

Countering Weinberg’s katana with tight arm movements, Caelum darted back then abruptly pivoted on a tapered foot, and lashed out at Weinberg with a scything kick that slammed into her right forearm as she hurriedly brought the katana up to block him. Wrapped in a barrier-field, his foot shattered the barrier protecting her arm, and Weinberg groaned in pain.

Following through with the kick, Caelum slashed at her with his left Arm-Blade, bringing it down and across her upper right arm. Though it was protected by a scale-mail barrier-field that shone bright emerald as it made contact with the pierce-field around the blade, the field broke apart and I saw the armor adorning her upper arm fracture wildly a moment later. Another hit like that, and it would fail her completely.

I found it incredible that the Caelum wielding the Kaiser’s Blessing in Kämpfer form, purportedly a mere fragment of its original power, could match Weinberg’s unlocked Siren Maiden to this degree.

As Caelum continues to unlock it, just how strong will he grow?

Casting my gaze downward, I regarded my body.

As Caelum had broken the seal on his Kaiser, so too I’d broken one of the shackles chaining my Valkyrie Maiden’s Core Awareness.

The Skinsuit I’d worn was gone, replaced by the Skin-Regalia of my Valkyrie Maiden, Brynhildr. Though dark like the Skinsuit, it felt different on my body, more natural and close fitting than the former ever did, while through my Awareness-field I sensed behind me the presence of a Vector Core and two Vector Wings floating beside it.

Caelum had taken an important step forward, and as I studied him in motion against Weinberg, I realized he’d left me behind. I didn’t begrudge him his achievement, and I was honestly proud of his progress, but I also felt abandoned as though I was no longer worthy or able to stand by his side. As a result, I began feeling empty.

Caelum unleashed a short sequence of plunging jabs that culminated in yet another spinning kick blocked on this occasion by one of the Siren’s white Vector Wings. The triangular wing pivoted forward and covered Weinberg’s right flank. Its barrier-field burst apart in a shower of emerald sparks at it connected with the barrier-mail protecting his armored right foot, and once again it appeared the Siren took physical damage.

Weinberg shifted her attack, switching her katana over into a left-handed grip.

I wondered if the damage to her right arm was more severe than it appeared. Perhaps switching hands from right to left would diminish her combat prowess.

However, no more than seconds later, Weinberg had resumed her offensive, delivering an almost reckless combination of cuts and slashes that would have left a lesser Fragment in pieces.

Like before, Caelum fell back, retreating from her furious assault while adapting his defensive guard.

Overclocked, my conscious perception could barely keep pace with their frenetic battle, though to my ears my question sounded unbearably slow and drawn out.

“How can he do that?” I asked. “How can he keep up with her?”

Deneve’s voice was just as unnaturally slow as mine. “It’s the Kaiser’s influence.”

I half turned toward him yet continued to face the battle. “Meaning what?”

“The Kaiser’s Blessing is a Ruler Class Artifact. It’s power is well above that of other classes. From what I understand, only the Celestial Class can stand against the Ruler Class.”

That didn’t feel like the whole truth, and so I shook my head. “But Caelum hasn’t trained to fight like that.”

“The Kaiser is guiding him. At least, that’s the theory. The Lanfears made that determination from the documented experiences of those gifted with the Kaiser’s Blessing before Caelum Desanto came along.”

Arisa had told me that Caelum wasn’t the first to be bonded to the Fragment, but she’d told me nothing of those who used it before him. “What did they say?”

“The Ghost in the Kaiser was with them.”

I chose to face Deneve. “What Ghost?”

His attention was on the battle but he answered me nonetheless. “The Lanfears believe it’s an imprint of the first Meister to wield the Kaiser’s Blessing. However, they’ve never been able to determine its exact nature. Whether it’s a collection of memories, or an imprint of his personality, they simply don’t know. However, it’s not something that manifests strongly. None of the prior candidates ever lost control. The most it ever did was influence their judgment, such as making them think twice about turning left instead of right, holding back instead of lashing out.” His chest swelled as he took a deep breath. “But nothing like this. Never like this.”

“How do you know all this?”

Deneve’s eyes swung my way. “Because the Lanfears briefed me on the Kaiser’s Blessing before I was assigned here.”

“They must trust you a lot.”

He snorted lightly. “I guess they do.”

I focused most of my attention on Caelum and Weinberg in the near distance, clashing on a level that was beyond me, and a small laugh escaped me. “He’s left me behind….”

“What?”

“He’s finally overtaken me.” I shook my head feeling slightly conflicted, slightly pained. My pride had taken a hit, yet at the same time I was happy. “It took him long enough.”

“Steiner?”

I inhaled deeply until my lungs ached…then released the air slowly. “Now it’s my turn to catch up.” I pointed in Caelum’s direction. “Since you know so much about the Kaiser’s Blessing, tell me what’s happening to Caelum.”

Deneve’s attention settle on Caelum for a long while, before he finally broke his silence. “He’s reliving a memory. Something imprinted into the Kaiser’s Blessing.”

I felt myself begin to frown, and held it back. “A memory won’t do that you.”

“No, but it would if that memory carried the personality traits of the person to whom it belonged. In other words, it would be like leaving a part of themselves behind. A part they didn’t want anymore.”

The frown kept tugging at my forehead. “Are you saying Caelum isn’t Caelum at the moment?”

“I’m saying his personality and the Ghost’s may have overlapped.” He took a deep and loud breath, one I heard through my Awareness-field above the sounds of battling. “Caelum’s personality has been overwhelmed by the Ghost’s.”

“That isn’t possible,” I stated flatly.

“Normally I’d say no, but he’s reliving the memory to such an extent that he’s no longer Caelum Desanto.”

Though my voice remained flat, a little of my frown slipped through onto my face. “Then who is he?”

Deneve’s lips drew a thin line across his face, and after a handful of seconds that felt eternally long while Overclocked, I saw him shake his head.

“That is something I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not for me to say, only to know. If you want an answer, you have to talk to Arisa.”

I closed my eyes, and sorted my feelings into neat little lines that formed a picture in my mind of the path I felt drawn to follow.

Opening my eyes, I faced Kaleb Deneve. “Have it your way.”

I turned away, directing my attention and body toward Caelum and Weinberg fighting about two hundred feet away.

“Steiner, what are you going to do?”

Breaking my almost expressionless mask, I sneered at him over my shoulder. “That’s for me to know, and for you to see.”

I crouched and a maneuver-field helped anchor me to the cavern floor like a sprinter’s starting blocks. Then I directed my will at the two Vector Wings attached to the bird-like body of the Vector Core floating behind me. At my command, they released their pent up energy and catapult me forward.

With levitator-fields projecting out of the Vector Wings and Valkyrie-Legs, I rocketed low over the cavern floor. It was the closest I’d ever come to flying, short of leaping between buildings in the absence of artificial gravity, and the fastest I’d ever moved.

Crossing the distance to the two combatants in mere seconds, I aimed myself at Weinberg, and projected before me the strongest barrier-fields my Valkyrie Maiden could sustain in its presently unlocked form.

I chose not to announce my arrival with a war cry. Instead, I crashed into her – barrier-fields first – with sufficient surprise and force to ensure she was cleanly out of the way moments after impact.

Then I dropped the barrier-fields surrounding my body, and plunged chest first into Caelum’s thrusting Arm-Blade.

He had been aiming the weapon at Weinberg, but with Nicola out of the way, the blade sheathed in a millimeters thick piercer-field was left wanting a new target.

And that target was me.

I felt it slide into my body almost painlessly at first, then agony flared through me as the weapon penetrated through my chest and emerged out of my back, somewhere to the right of my spine. Carried forward by the momentum of my flight, I sailed onwards, the blade traversing through my body until I crashed into Caelum’s armored chest.

Pain had sapped most of my strength, but I used what little remained to wrap my arms around his body, and hold onto him as my consciousness faded.

I struggled for air.

The blade had punctured through my right lung, and I could feel it filling up with blood, that I now coughed up.

“…Caelum….”

I sucked in what air I could, wheezing loudly in the process, and coughed again.

Is this what he felt…when Celica stabbed him?

For some reason the thought made me smile, perhaps because I believed I was now closer to him than ever before.

Now we both have scars to bear.

I swallowed down the blood welling up in my throat, and spoke before another cough could rob me of my voice.

“…Caelum…come back…to me….”

Like a curtain slowly being drawn across my eyes, my vision began to darken, so I willed myself to remain conscious with every remaining fiber of my being.

I had to remain awake.

I had to keep eye contact with him.

I had to be conscious to see him come back to me.

I didn’t want to fade away with that failure as my sole, greatest regret.

If I could see him regain the person that he was, then I could pass away peacefully, knowing that I had saved him in the end.

Alucard was right. I would die for him, but she didn’t understand why.

And in many ways, neither did I.

I loved him, yet, I didn’t know why.

It was something I had agonized over many times, and kept me sleepless through many nights.

I did not know why I loved him as much as I did.

Then I heard a whisper in mind, and my slowing heart jumped weakly as I realized it came from the depths of Brynhildr’s Core Awareness.

[Do you need a reason to love someone?]

I laughed, feeling foolish for doubting myself, but it turned into yet another blood stained cough.

No, I didn’t need a reason…so long as I believed my love was true…I didn’t need a reason.

Colors bled away, and my vision became dark and grey.

And yet even without color I was able to see the light in his eyes, the light I was familiar with, and I was able to fight through the pain, and smile at him one last time.

#

(Kallum)

#

This was wrong.

It wasn’t the way it happened.

This wasn’t how I remembered it.

The life I took that day and the life I lost was not the life of this girl embracing me, my Arm-Blade skewering her body.

On that day I took his life, and Galatea slipped away from me forever.

From the outset, I had sensed this memory, this recreation, was wrong.

The open throne room was the same with its polished marble like floor and alabaster columns reaching up to the sky to support a nonexistent ceiling. Even the surrounding blue sky and white clouds turned blood red by the flaming wrecks of the orbital fleet falling to their demise were just as I remembered them.

Yet the memory was indeed wrong.

He had never fought me with a curved sword, but with a cruel bladed spear.

He had never wielded a Siren, but a winged demon.

And he had never accused my sister of taking away everything important to him, for I had no sister as he and I were orphans raised as brothers.

Somewhere along the way, as I fought against him I acknowledged the truth that this wasn’t real, nor was it the way things had happened. I grew conscious of my circumstances, and I became aware that I was trapped in a distorted past – a past I did not want to relive.

How this came to be was a mystery to me, as was the realization that I was indeed conscious and in that respect alive when by all means I should be dead. But I was also aware of myself and of someone else sharing the same consciousness, and little by little, as I traded bladed blows with my opponent, that other self began reasserting itself over me as I had initially asserted myself over it.

I had awakened and in so doing, I had usurped the individual known as Caelum Rafael Desanto, and this was something that had never happened before.

Never before had the dream become so real.

The lives I had experienced had never become mine to control.

Around me, the memory remained constant. It did not waver, shatter, or ripple away.

I stood on the immense circular throne room at the top of the citadel, surrounded by the Hellish backdrop of the burning sky.

My opponent, the Siren Maiden, had not vanished either but he was gone, replaced by a beautiful young woman with blonde hair and amber eyes who stared at me in horror.

On the rectangular elevated dais supporting the throne, Galatea stood before the chair, her deathly pallor in stark contrast to the red blood staining her white dress – the dress he had forced her to wear as he mocked her bloodline – and regarded me with confusion and dismay as though she too understood this wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.

No, this was certainly not the way I remembered it.

It was not the way that day had ended for me, for her, or for him.

The girl holding onto me coughed and trembled.

“…Caelum….”

I gazed down at her. I could feel her life fading through the Awareness-field, and my other self railed at me to do something.

“…come back…to me….”

My thoughts crumbled before an onrushing wave of intense agony that swelled hotly from the depths of my heart.

Yet I held onto one thought, a single thought that carried her name, a name I whispered.

“Caprice…why?”

Her eyes widened and focused on me, but I wondered if she could see me at all.

The flame of her life was so weak, it was but a candle to the bonfire I had sensed mere moments ago when she first plunged onto my blade. Yet the candle refused to die, and flared brightly in the darkness violating the sanctity of her life.

The sight of her faint smiling twisted my heart in sheer despair.

With lips stained red, she her voice collapsed into a whisper.

“…because I love you….”

The flame flickered, danced in the breeze, and then blew away, surrendering to the darkness.

#

(Simone)

#

Somehow by working in concert, Deneve and Weinberg held him down, but I could hear them struggle against his immense strength born of abject distress.

I could hear them pleading with him to calm down.

And I could hear him pleading to them…and to me...to save her life.

From a skirt pocket, I pulled out the army knife I always kept attached to my keyring. The blade wasn’t long, but it was long enough with which to slash my wrist.

Dropping my keys aside, I cupped my free hand over my wrist, feeling it soak quickly with my blood spurting out of the wound.

“Move,” I said to Maya who was busy breathing air into Steiner’s remaining lung, while Rina Sayen straddled Steiner’s body lying supine on the cavern floor and compressed the girl’s chest in harmony with Maya’s efforts to resuscitate her.

Maya straightened and moved back slightly, and Rina ceased pushing down on Steiner’s sternum.

Kneeling beside Steiner, I planted both my wrist and cupped hand over her open mouth, watching the blood trickle strongly into her.

The Valkyrie’s Skin-Regalia had sealed up over her wound, but the damage had been done. Steiner’s heart had stopped beating for almost a minute now, but I knew I had another three minutes to work with. Now it was up to the Raynar Symbiote to work a miracle.

With my wrist planted firmly over Steiner’s mouth, I waited for a reaction.

The sounds of the struggle nearby died away.

I listened to heavy, labored breathing, and restrained sobbing.

And I felt moisture on the bare skin of my wrist, and watched droplets land on it.

At first I thought they belonged to Maya who was kneeling over Steiner along with me, but then I realized they were mine.

Why was I crying over this girl, when neither Rina nor Maya shed tears for her?

True, both girls wore steadfast stoic expressions, but I sensed their frayed emotions behind their eyes.

Yet why was I crying over a girl I considered nothing more than a rival to my objective of securing Caelum.

Maya spoke softly. “Simone…?”

“I’m fine,” I muttered. “I won’t let her die on me. I won’t let it end between us like this.”

For a minute, perhaps longer, my blood continued to trickle strongly into Steiner’s mouth and down her throat, but soon the wound in my wrist began to heal and the trickle ebbed and then ended.

“Damn it,” I whispered, ignoring the burning sensation that lingered along my wrist and forearm as I reached for my discarded keys. “I need to open another wound.”

“Simone, wait,” Maya advised.

“I can’t wait. She needs more of my blood.”

“No, I mean it. Wait.” Maya’s hand reached out and grabbed my hand, stopping the open blade millimeters from my skin. “Look.”

I looked down at Steiner, and saw her throat muscles working, swallowing the blood down.

Rina whispered in awe. “She’s drinking it….”

Maya’s hand tightened about my wrist. “I can feel it. I can feel her heart.”

I frowned at her. “What?”

She laughed but it was strangled by a sob. “Through my Awareness-field, I can feel her heart. I can feel it beating.” A tear trickled silently down her cheek. “I can feel your Symbiote spreading through her.”

Rina was nodding slowly. “It’s growing inside her. It’s up to here.” The girl’s hands hovered over Steiner’s chest. “It’s in her lungs…it’s inside her ruptured lung…healing it….”

Maya released my wrist. “I just felt her breathe….”

It was true. I could see Steiner’s chest rise and fall, and I could faintly hear the air flowing in and out of her open mouth, but it was painfully slow.

Yet there was no denying that her body was alive.

My attention focused on her face.

But what about her mind?

Maya closed her eyes and knelt over Steiner’s head, bringing her face close to the girl’s. I could see the concentration on Maya’s features as she whispered, “Come on, Caprice. Come back to us.”

It was strange, and something I doubted I would ever be able to explain, but in that moment I felt something brush past me, like a gentle breeze that grazed my skin. I felt it linger on my face, running a ghostly fingertip over my lips, before fading away.

My eyes blinked slowly, and when I recovered from the experience, I lay my gaze upon the girl lying before my knees, her head pillowed on Maya’s thighs.

After a dozen heartbeats more, her closed eyelids trembled and then flickered open on the fifth attempt.

I held my breath, as did Maya and Rina, as we watched Steiner’s eyes gradually search about…and then turn toward me.

I felt something then, something like a bridge form between us, though it was little more than a rope thrown across a vast chasm.

But I held onto the rope, and I could sense Steiner holding onto the other end.

She continued to breath and blink slowly, as though waking from a deep slumber.

Then I heard the barest of whispers slip past her parted lips.

“…why…?”

I thought I understood what she meant, so I shook my head slowly down at her. “Because I refuse to lose to you.”

Steiner closed her eyes then opened a few heartbeats later, and I noticed her shake her head weakly.

“…no…why…cry…?”

Yes, it was true. I had resumed crying, and when I shook my head, I felt some of my tears fly away.

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t know…I just don’t know….”

I bowed my head, and buried my face onto her chest.

“I don’t know…Caprice….”

I closed my eyes and held myself still, feeling her labored breaths while listening to her beating heart.

Something touched my hair, and I realized it was her fingers.

“…thank…you…Simone….”

I squeezed my eyes, as I listened to Maya and Rina sob in relief.

Your welcome, I thought back, only vaguely surprised to realize that I genuinely meant it.

###