Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Mihari had to admit, she felt pretty good. She had a purpose for the first time in memory. And fate practically gift wrapped the perfect tool for her too. She was moving freely, back in the real world, with no looming deadline where she had to finish a fight before being ousted by her Vital Net. In fact, she didn’t have to fight at all, if she didn’t want to. Not that she minded a good battle, but it was nice to stand around and breath for a bit.

Yes, in fact, everything was perfect. Everything… except for a certain pest.

That’s not a nice way to think about your nephew.

“Why is it I have to listen to you, when you didn’t?”

I would guess it has something to do with this being my body. Besides, I would say it’s not that I didn’t have to listen to you, but rather I didn’t get to.

“Don’t act like you’re bothered.”

I mean, I am, a little. It would have been nice to hang out with my Aunt Mihari, and especially to have someone who knew my mother and didn’t worship the sands she walked on.

Mihari huffed. The boy was a little charming, in his own way.

I have a name, you know.

“I’m… I can’t—“

Yeah, yeah, okay. But you could call me Seishin. You’re supposed to be from a Noble House, after all, even if a distant branch.

She sighed. “Fine, Young Seishin, but can you be a dear and give your aunt some peace.”

If you wish, for a while anyway.

She could feel her nephew watching, but he remained quiet. For now she turned to the task at hand. She remembered the general location of Morgan’s hideout from her time with the Oracle Stone and so had little trouble coming to its entrance. She did not, however, know how she was supposed to get in.

This facility was the Eternal Archive, something discovered a decade or so before the Fading, almost six centuries ago. In fact, it was none other than Dr. Magnus himself who lead the expedition that found it.

The structure was a sight to behold, a vast complex contained within a single massive building. Its walls were made of a pure white material, wholly unblemished by age or visible joints. The surrounding cavern was not so lucky, having sustained several cave ins over the centuries, though the falling stone apparently tumbled harmlessly off the structure.

Mihari herself was in a large clearing, standing in front of what appeared to be the facility’s only door, although she doubted the tiny thing was anything more than a service entrance. Behind her was a vast cave, seemingly natural, though there was a place that might have once been a landing pad of some kind, and there was evidence of major excavation in a few places.

The cave itself opened to the sea, though by coincidence or design it did not have a particularly good view. Mihari guessed that from almost any angle, the cavern would be hard to detect from outside. She could see how the place remained undetected so long.

What she could not see was how to open the door in front of her. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. She suspected the keypad next to it would do the trick. Surprisingly, it sill lit up when touched, filling the panel with a matrix of enigmatic glyphs. They looked a little Southern, though she didn’t know enough to be sure.

She tried a few combinations. The device gave little feedback, only tracing the path of her finger between touch and release. She had no idea how many digits were in the code, or even if it was looking for a code at all. She frowned, then shrugged. She could deal with an uncooperative entryway.

She drew her sword, placing both hands on the hilt. Little Seishin didn’t have much of an arte selection, but he kept a decent tech library. She spent a couple minutes switching in a high powered slash, then fired it off.

She found herself thrown back, tumbling to the ground. The sword slipped from her grasp, clattering across the stone. Her Vital Net reported several tears and fractures from the unexpected impact.

After staring at the ceiling for a few minutes, she slowly climbed to her feet. She grabbed her weapon on the way up and gave it a look once she was standing. The glow was notably dimmer.

Mihari peered at the door, walking closer until she was within arm’s reach. “What the hell?” There wasn’t even so much as a scratch in the material. She ran her fingers over the spot where she was certain the blade had struck. “Could shatter myriaite with that,” she mumbled, then turned her gaze to the sword. Had the edge been out of alignment?

Hey! That’s rude. I wouldn’t make a crappy tech like that.

“Do you have a better theory?”

Could the structure be built out of arteware? That would also explain how the building held up so well.

She ran her hand over the door and walls. They were both cool to the touch, but not any cooler or warmer than the surrounding area. “I don’t know about that. I’m not seeing any signs, and this facility predates artes anyway, right?”

She could feel something like a shrug from her nephew. I don’t think it matters. Morgan must of had some way to get through. Is there anything in his memories?

“I don’t see why you’re acting helpful. It’s not like you support my plan or anything.”

Of course not, I think it’s mental, but how is being insulting or belligerent supposed to help.

Mihari felt a little called out, but the Young Seishin was entirely genuine. She tried to glare at him, but he was distracted by something. He came back a moment later.

I poked around a little, but I couldn’t find anything from Magnus or Kimi about how they got in. You must have overlooked that part.

“Who?”

The girl! Don’t go stealing people’s memories and not even look at them. Hitori huffed, which felt weird coming from within her own mind. Anyway, they most likely Shifted. I think you’ll have to find another way.

“Such as?”

I don’t know, why don’t we look around a little?

Mihari shrugged. He had a point. She turned her attention to the keypad, getting her eye as close as possible. She doubted the device could be pried off by force, or damaged in any way, but perhaps there were clues. People must of had some way to get inside at one point.

What’s that on top?

“Hmm?” She ran her fingers over the short lip that separated the pad from the wall. There was a coarse dust wedged in between. She brushed some into her palm. “It looks like it could be from rotted cord?”

Maybe there’s something on the ground nearby?

Mihari peered off to the side, trying to aim her gaze inside at her Little Seishin. If he thought he could somehow charm her into giving up or letting him go, he was going to be sorely disappointed. She didn’t sense a reaction from him. He was entirely too even-tempered, like her sister.

No matter, he had a point. She circled out from the door, checking for signs of what might have been attached to the pad. She eventually found a small card nestled in a pile of rocks. It must have been carried there by wind or flood. In either case, it was a plain white rectangle, unmarked by anything more than a few strange symbols, similar to the ones on the keypad.

She brushed the dust off, then carried it to the entrance. The door slid open with a swipe over the pad. Mihari tucked the pass into a pocket and stepped inside.

She found herself in a dark hallway, a cool breeze fluttered in from behind, soothing on her warm skin. The air was dry, sterile even. She could detect no hint of any scent beyond what was carried in from the sea. In fact, beyond the patch of dim light where she stood, it was almost like nothing at all lay within. No sight or sound of any kind escaped from its depths.

It was more than a little eery, like she stood on the cusp of oblivion itself. In spite of how clean it smelled, or even her general knowledge of its contents from Morgan, she couldn’t shake the feeling this was a tomb. A place for long dead things, some of which were best left untroubled.

Then the door slid shut behind her.

Mihari almost jumped, her heart spiked a beat. She felt like she was… back…

I bet there’s a light switch by the door.

She shook her head and exhaled, then turned around to check the wall adjacent to the door. With the help of her glowing sword she found another panel, and after playing with it for a bit was able to flood the hallway in a dazzling white glow. There was no obvious source for the light, and it made everything unpleasant to look at.

She knew where Morgan hunkered down from her visit with the Oracle Stone, though she hadn’t paid any special attention to the rest of the layout. Not that it mattered, she wasn’t in any particular hurry. Morgan was the only other person on Esper who knew where this place was, and he was dead.

She spent about an hour wandering the facility, getting a feel for the layout and trying to guess the nature of this place. Most doors would open with a touch, though a few needed a little coaxing from her keycard. An even rarer few were unimpressed by it, but none likely in the way of her goal so she let them be.

As for the rooms, most were large exhibition halls, although Mihari could only guess at their themes. There were also a fair number of storerooms, and a few that must have been for administration. There were many desks with terminals, which hummed to life with a touch. Their user interface, however, was completely inscrutable so she ignored them.

In one of the exhibits, close to where Morgan set up the Unity Crystal, she found a large mirror. She couldn’t guess what made it special, being rather plain in appearance, but judging by the other items in the room it was somehow related to fashion. Part of her knew she wouldn’t like what she saw, but she had to do it anyway. She stepped in front of her reflection.

It was him. The- Maia’s son, staring back at her. She could see traces of her own face in his, though he’d certainly inherited the long legs and wide chest from his father. Her sword hung casually from his hip, resting snug in its black scabbard, and she carried the satchel a little off center. She’d always liked it that way.

His armor fit snugly, in fair condition. There were a few places with obvious repairs, but the set would be useable for years to come. The only major flaw was one she introduced herself, the place where Morgan’s Shaping Stone embedded itself into her body. She wasn’t quite sure why it stuck to the surface, though it had been the same with Dr. Penthu.

She stared at the large crystal. A faint shadow could be seen swirling in its depths. It was… surreal. In a very real sense, she was staring at herself. When Morgan was finishing Alvina’s Ex Stone, he added, amongst other things, a safe place for him to dwell. It took a little thinking, but Mihari figured out a way to use it for her own purposes.

She wasn’t content to live as a simple projection. It would be far too weak and fragile. Still…. She looked again at… her body. It would have been nice to control what she looked like. But then… that crystal of Alvina’s….

Hey! What are you thinking?

Mihari reached into her satchel and pulled out the Reaping Stone. The crystal had quite a few options available. Most weren’t of any interest, to her or Magnus, but there was at least one she could make use of.

If you do that, I’m sure you’ll regret it.

“What? Are you going to get mad at me or something?” She laughed.

No, well, I mean, yes, but actually it’s a terrible idea tactically and strategically. For starters, my armor won’t fit anymore, and you’ll waste a bunch of Vital Energy too.

“We don’t need armor kid, you’ll see what I mean. And don’t be so cheap, I have all four of your Wolf Stims, we can spare a couple.”

Still… it will cost reserve material from your body. If you take a big hit your Vital Net won’t have anything to do repairs with, even if it has the energy.

She shook her head. “With a power like this, you don’t take big hits.”

Mom did.

She scoffed and shook her head. “I have no idea how she managed to either. We went twenty years with barely more than a scratch, and she manages to get ripped apart in her first big fight without me.” She shrugged. “But whatever, I can manage not dying a few days.”

She lifting the Reaping Stone to her eyes, then shut them as she focused on drawing out the interface. She could still feel a wary gaze from Little Seishin, but pushed it away. It’s not like he was the one that had to live in this body right now. She might as well make herself comfortable.

 

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Elvira dipped her knees, leaning slightly ahead and holding her hand in a pinched half turn, then released her tech. Quick as a blink she found herself adjacent to the tip of a wall six times her height. She mostly didn’t slam any part of her body into it as she hoisted herself into a perch on top. She swiveled gracefully to her butt, then looked down, releasing a deep breath.

That was the tenth time in a row she didn’t end up toppling to the ground. A new record. It was very good progress, she had to admit, though a great many parts of her were too flush with anxiety about how far she had to go to be impressed by the comparatively minuscule distance she’d gone.

She was now up to two techs, each around the level of a Nova second year. That is to say, a twelve year old. If she wanted to do even something as simple as a precise dash, she’d need to learn a skill called ‘tech virtualization’. She wasn’t sure what that entailed, but it took at least a year, and apparently meant she had to take up painting.

She laughed, trying to wash out a bitter feeling. When she asked Li to help her develop a High Jump this morning, she actually briefly entertained the notion she was making real progress. Part of her wanted to curl up on top of this wall and hope the school forgot about her.

She sighed, pushed herself back up straight, then shook her head. She was sure Hitori would say something like, “Oh, it’s okay to feel discouraged,” and maybe, “Don’t be afraid to take one little step at a time.” Yeah, he totally would. And then she would throw that electric fuzzball of his straight as his dumb face.

She giggled softly. Well, okay, she wouldn’t actually, but she did rather miss giving him a hard time. Li, sweet as she was, took everything Elvira said far too seriously. It felt bad to mess with her.

“Welp, enough loafing around,” She said out loud. It felt nice to hear a voice outside her head from time to time. She dropped from the wall, rolling comfortably to her feet. She turned around, prepared to try another jump, when she found herself face to face with Li. The Nova Instructor was wearing her school issued uniform, in spite of there not being any classes this week.

“Ah, Li,” Elvira said. “Does someone need this room?”

“Come with me,” she said. Her face was as inscrutable as ever, though Elvira caught a strangeness to her eyes, like a hint of apprehension.

“Is something wrong? How is Hitori’s mission going?”

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Li turned and put a finger to her lips, then continued to guide Elvira out of the room. She took her through the hallways out of the Training Center, then across campus to the main office. There was a large black helicopter parked in an empty field near the entrance. Elvira wondered if it was the same one that took her team captain away early that morning. She didn’t have long to ponder, as she quickly found herself in a basement level meeting room full of people.

“Ah, Elvira, my dear,” Gustaf said. “Welcome.” Li ushered her to a seat before turning to the door. “You can stay too, girly.” Li bowed, and sat down.

Elvira looked around the room. In addition to Gustaf, Li, and the rest of her team—sans Hitori—there was also Virgil, Reaper, and a woman she assumed to be one of the Templar.

“Now that everyone’s here, Mr. Reaper, sir,” Gustaf said to the man in question. “Would you kindly repeat what you told me?”

“Yes, of course,” Reaper said. He stood from his chair, turning to face the whole room. “We believe your mercenary agent Hitori has been possessed by, uh—”he looked at Virgil—“our best guess is something like a clone of his mother.”

A wave of befuddled gasps and mumbling filled the room.

“Sounds just as crazy the second time!” Gustaf laughed.

“What would even give you that idea?” Protius said. “I could see if you thought the doctor got to him, but his mother’s been dead for almost twenty years now.”

Virgil cut in, “I— uh, I believe we might be able to explain it a little better.”

“We?” Gordon said, then added under his breath, “You and the mouse in your pocket?”

“Ah, it’ll be easier to show you.” Virgil stood up, then closed his eyes as he turned his gaze to the side. “It’ll be fine, dear.” He pinched at a point around his neck, and a spark of light jumped from the air into his fingers. In unfolded into a delicate pattern on his hand as he lowered his arm. A faint web lit up down his limb, and then a swirl of multicolored sparks danced above his palm, eventually materializing into a tiny glowing woman.

“Uh… hi,” she said, giving a small bow. “I’m— well, I guess I’m what’s left of Maia Seishin.”

The room exploded into questions.

“Ay, Ay, settle down kids,” Gustaf said. His commanding voice eased Elvira and her team to a murmur. He turned to the spectral figure claiming to be Maia. “Now that’s a right bold claim to be making. You ain’t on any kind of trick, are ya?”

“I think I can prove it to you,” Maia said. “Though you may want to keep it between us.” She beckoned him closer.

Gustaf leaned in and the tiny woman whispered something into his ear. He frowned. “Ah, yeah, I remember, unfortunately.” He stepped back. “Alright, I guess I can vouch for ya, strange as this is.”

“Can you at least explain to us how this is possible?” Protius said. Maia looked at Virgil from his hand.

“It’s… a bit complicated,” he said. “But the short answer is, well, Maia has, uh, or had, a special property to her nervous system. Basically, the whole thing turned into some kind of natural arte.”

“So, including her brain then?” Protius said.

“Ah, yes, exactly. It forms a kind of, like an echo, of her thoughts. It’s also how she was able to fight so well. We aren’t exactly sure, but something must of happened when she was pregnant with Hitori, that is, this echo of hers attached itself to him.

“We don’t know if it’s always been with him, or if something woke it up, but it seems to think it’s, well, a girl Maia used to know, way back when, Eve Taira.”

“So this Eve has Hitori?” Elvira said. Virgil nodded to her. “What’s she going to do with him?”

“We aren’t… exactly sure,” Maia said. After a barrage of expectation, she continued, “I think, based on what she said, that she intends to carry on Hitori’s mission. Ah, I mean, not Hitori my son, but an old… friend, from a long time ago. He was Taira-Saisho, before a change in branch.”

“And what exactly is this Hitori’s mission?”

“He meant to overthrow Seitoji, or rather, to destroy the Imperial System there.”

Gordon laughed. “That’s mental.” His team, and Gustaf, threw a sharp glare at him. “Might as well aim for emperor of the world while she’s at it.”

“It’s not so far fetched now that she has the two crystals,” Reaper said. “The Reaping Stone alone can besiege an entire city, if given enough time.”

“What’s it do, summon an army?”

“Yes, actually. You might have seen it in action at Monte Aldé, or at least your coworkers did.”

“It caused the metaflora?” Protius said.

Reaper nodded. “And that’s only the beginning. I fear the Ex Stone might be worse still, even without knowing what other features Dr. Magnus added to it.”

“What exactly is the Ex Stone supposed to do, anyway?”

Reaper looked at him hesitantly. After an encouraging hum from Gustaf he answered, “Put in the simplest terms, it can amplify an arte exponentially, limited only by the available malhahons.”

“So, giant explosions,” Gordon said. “That’s nice.”

“Yes, generally.”

There was a moment of silence in the room. Elvira spent most of it with a sinking feeling in her chest. Eventually, she shook her head a little, then took a deep breath.

“What are we going to do to help him?” she said.

“For right now I think you— we, will have to wait and see,” Reaper said.

“Though hopefully we’ll have something before Eve makes her next move,” Maia said.

“Unfortunately, we don’t any leads right now.”

“What about the wee lass you brought in?” Gustaf said.

“Who?” Elvira asked.

“We aren’t sure about her name,” Maia said. “Though we think she’s the girl the doctor possessed to escape his prison.”

“Right now,” Virgil said, “we… aren’t certain what her status is.”

“What do you mean?” Elvira said.

“She hasn’t woken up since we found her in the pass.”

“What happened to her?” Chandra asked.

“That isn’t clear either,” Reaper said. “I think Eve and Dr. Magnus got into a confrontation, and she must have emerged the victor. As for the girl, her Vital Net collapsed, and her body is in complete ruin. I’m amazed she’s survived this long.”

“Right now she’s with Ariel for treatment,” Gustaf said, then added for Elvira, “The head Paladin in Alexia Brigade.”

“She ain’t still possessed, is she?” Gordon said. “Evil ghost man waking up in our school don’t sound like a great time.”

Virgil chuckled. “Ah, no, I don’t think so. There is something going on in her head, but it doesn’t look like any kind of intelligence.”

“Does that mean the doctor is dead?” Chanda asked.

“So it seems,” Reaper said. He had a distant look in his eyes. “I think it’s long past time for that though…”

The conversation settled into silence, lasting a long moment. There were a great many thoughtful faces in the room. Finally, Elvira leaned in and said, “Is that it? We wait and see?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” Reaper said. “If the girl survives a few days, her Vital Net will reinitialize. Hopefully that will return her to consciousness, if she hasn’t already. After that we’ll see what she knows.”

Elvira sighed, and hoisted herself from her seat. “Alright, I guess I have to accept it.” She looked at Li. “I’m heading back to the training center.”

“Very well lassie,” Gustaf said. “Though before you go, I believe it’d be best to keep this unfortunate situation, ah, out of general distribution, if you will.” There was a general murmur of agreement in the room as everyone took to their feet and drifted towards the exit.

Chandra paused and turned around. “I… um,” she started. “Well, I have a question.” She looked at Virgil. “I’m sorry if this is a little insensitive—“her eyes darted to Maia for a second”— but… are you Hitori’s father?”

Virgil laughed awkwardly. Maia, who had migrated her projection up to his shoulder, gave Chandra a helpless shrug.

“Ah, uh, y-yeah,” Virgil said. “I… hope he’s been a good friend to you guys.”

The team gave various signs of agreement, though Elvira only hummed and nodded. She continued on her path out the door. There was work to do.

 

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Mihari took a deep breath and stretched in a few choice directions, exhaling through the pain. Her Vital Net decided whatever happened to her body was her fault, and she deserved to feel sore for it. She didn’t mind, it was kind of pleasant.

She gave herself another look over, ignoring disgruntled grumblings from her nephew. She thought she did a fine job. She was about a head shorter, distributed proportionally across her body, with her hips and chest now feminine in appearance.

Her face was also far more alike to her memory, with maybe one thing off or another. She also hadn’t figured out how to change her skin tone, though the Little Seishin wasn’t terribly lighter than her. Her hair was the same length, but she found a washroom to clean the product out and let it lay naturally.

The reshaping process was easier than expected, as the Reaping Stone had remarkable functionality for guiding the development of metafauna. While the system restricted her access—she couldn’t give herself fiery eye beams, for instance—it was nevertheless generous enough to allow effective sculpting.

Her nephew wasn’t so happy, but kept his protests to a minimum. He complained far more about shedding the armor, which she’d left in front of the mirror with a good portion of his gear. She was now wearing his undershirt, tied in a knot at the waist, and his shorts, thankfully stretchy enough to cling to her hips. She also kept the sword, of course, as well as the satchel and a few important pouches.

It was nice being so light on her feet. She looked down and wiggled her toes on the cool floor.

I’m glad you’re having fun. Surprisingly genuine. But I still think that was a bad idea. Predictably genuine.

“You’re such a square,” she said. “And besides, what’s done is done. It’s time to look to the future.”

Which somehow contains an even worse idea. As powerful as this weird contraption might be—he was referring to the Unity Crystal—there’s no way to win a war with it. You’ll only drag this whole place under red sand.

“Ah, Little Seishin, you aren’t seeing its potential.” She tapped the device in question. It was a plain thing, small enough to hold comfortably in two hands, and made from a single block of artewood. There were three spaces cut into it, two of which contained the Reaping and Oracle Stones.

The third space was for the Ex Stone, which was the core of its operation. She wasn’t able to leave that space filled for long, unfortunately. Her Vital Net loomed ever ready for a chance at treachery.

And you aren’t seeing the danger. The cities aren’t going to sit by while you’re wielding this kind of power, and this facility won’t go unnoticed for long with you terrorizing Seitoji from it.

“Oh, is the whole world gonna send all their armies after little old me?” She said playfully.

They’ll send enough, and before they do they’ll have every mercenary on Esper out for your head.

“Ah, yes, the mercenaries.” She gave a wicked grin. “Are you hoping your friends at Nova will come to rescue you?”

More like I’m worried they will, for both our sakes.

Mihari laughed. “Was that supposed to be scary? That’s cute. They’d have to send the whole school to even stand a chance.” She could feel strong disquiet from him. It kind of made her uneasy. She shook it off. “Don’t you worry about those mercenaries of yours. I’ve got a plan to keep everyone more than busy enough.”

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