Kurisutarumajishan Chapter XIV: Unknown Threat

It was a haze, there was ringing, followed by intense rumbling. A portion of a crystalline structure that surrounded her chipped and fell on what remained of her tube's glass. Someone by her left side started to break off the spires that surrounded her there, it was a woman, she peeped inside the glass and saw that she had responded to her, tilting her neck to face her.

"She's coming to, but she's doing alright" The woman said to someone within the room. "Hurry, bring her to the pod now, we don't know how long Zeonia can push back the army"

There was shuffling, then slow movements, the tube now laid horizontal on some form of platform. The woman kept her position, peeking and wiping the glass so she can take a better look at her.

"Don't worry mate, we'll get you out of here okay? Just focus on my voice" She said calmly as she hurriedly helped push the tube somewhere.

"Your brother is taking care of things on the surface, he'll be back soon once we've pulled out okay sweetheart? Let's keep you going now!" The whole floor rumbled, the sounds of plasmaic weaponry echoed into the ceiling. The sounds of pulsating energy followed, before a wave of what seems to sound like rockets bellowing from somewhere. Quakes followed, and parts of the ceiling had started to collapse from the shockwaves.

"Let's hurry and send her there! If either of them gets captured we're going to lose this whole war!" She ushered her companions as she held a hand out, placing them on the glass. She lifted her hand, and placed it opposite of the woman outside. She took notice of this. "You're going to be alright okay? You'll do just fine where we're sending you to. Let's just hope that facility works still.."

There was a small pause, a door was stressing itself open, and before long the tube was sent in first as well as the woman, but it seemed that the hallway had caved in, crushing the men she was with.

"AHHHHHH!" Shouted one as boulders crushed his spine. "KEEP GOING! JUST GO! GO-"

He was cut off as another boulder fell on his head, blood and brain matter splattered forwards. The woman screamed, she sobbed as she stood up, she peeked on the glass, now distraught, she offered her hand pressed on the glass. This calmed her down, and she too pressed it on hers.

"No time to cry… Let's keep going" She mutters as she kept walking, maneuvering the tube and it's platform off of obstacles, the path shook ever so violently as the fighting above have gotten intense, a radio call from within the facility echoed in the halls from the speakers, it was an urgent message, and to the woman's horror, it has come to them.

"ATTENTION ALL PERSONEL! ZEONIA HAS ENGAGED WITH THE KING OF DECAY! I REPEAT! ZEONIA HAS ENGAGED THE KING OF DECAY! ALL REMAINING SURVIVORS EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY! I REPEAT EVA-"

The voice was cut off as another rumble shook the facility, the woman steeled her resolve and kept with her mission. She took a few more turns, then took a ramp that circled down into Depth 3 of the facility, all the while she never took her hand off the glass.

"You'll make it, don't worry sweetie, I'll make sure you get there!" She said as she gently slid the tube off into Depth 3, and without any more delays, she has reached her destination. She fumbled with the pad before she enters the pin correctly, before long, an eruption from above occurred followed by grunts of pain.

She looked behind her and it was a man, rather, a machine clad in a fabulous metallic purple sheen, it's head adorned with fins that took the shape of a V and another set that stood straight parallel to each other. She recognizes him as one of theirs, and it also recognized her.

In an exhausted tone, he backed off and stood in front of her, breathing heavily from the combat that had transpired above ground.

"Quickly, take her to K-46, it'll be safe for her if she remained there" He ordered, she stood in awe and shock but shook her head. She rolled the tube in and closed the door behind her. The rustling of rock took the attention of the machine, its eyes sharpened as it raised its right arm and before long his opponent had risen again.

"I'm impressed such cursed machination such as you can fight toe to toe with me, The King of Decay" it roared as it held it's broadsword with its right hand.

"I'm surprised they even called you a King" The machine mocked as he charged towards his opponent.

Within the room, the woman rushed to get the necessary preparations ready, connecting tubes and wires before grabbing a display console to which she adjusted the system. She knew she had the calibrations and the systems corrected once she saw "K-46" displayed on one of the slides.

It didn't take long before the tube's contents was engulfed in a purple haze of plasma and light. Without much to say, she held on to the glass one last time and mouthed the words.

"Goodbye"

The person within the tube was gone, what remained were the crown of misty black spires that bled through the machine. The woman slowly slid off into the ground, her legs had given up from the rush, the rumbling came closer and she knew her time has come. The facility rumbled once more, the ceiling soon gave way and caved onto the room, the woman fixed herself onto the side of the tube that she had just risked her life for, and finally resting her legs as chunks of debris caved her head and then her body in a rain of rock and metal.

The world becomes hazy once more, everything around her is an amorphous blob of static radio. Something echoes from a distance, there it was again, it was unreliable to listen where it's coming from as it didn't have a location at all, it just became clearer, although muffled, it still no use locating where it would be, there's no point in that. There was shaking, then sounds of meet being slapped, it was incoherent because sound has just become incomprehensive. It felt like there was a wave within her mind, blocking her senses, the world around her was dull and gray. There was more shaking that followed, and the sound had restarted once more.

"Nesthlh!"

"Nalseht! Wesl au!"

"Na- ou!"

"Natsuki! Hey! Wake up!"

Natsuki stuttered before reacting like something had spooked her, she pulled herself away and without knowing what's behind her she hit the boxes of their supplies, instinctively she covered her head. She soon looked around to see her environment, and found herself at the twin's carriage where Haruko and Anahana had slept with her. Both were also present when Natsuki awoke, asides from Hanagura, Carter, and Nijii who stood behind them.

"Is she alright? Is this common with you guys?" Hanagura asked Anahana who nodded.

"Yeah, she has a tendency to lose her sense of mental presence from time to time" She said as she worryingly looked at Natsuki, now being tended to by Haruko. "It's gotten more frequent actually"

"I see, if you don't mind, Nijii take a note of that" Hanagura ordered, Nijii took to her pages and wrote the information.

"What for?" Anahana asked as she glanced towards Nijii.

"If there's anything we have to do with an outsider, it's to learn about them" Hanagura explained. "I take that she doesn't know proper training?"

The twin's nodded to that, and Hanagura winked at them. They both shivered.

"Well if that's the case, Niji and Carter would be responsible for training Natsuki for today, but first off, let's wait until our friend recovers from her nightmares" Hanagura looks at Nijii and Carter who nodded, they stuck around beside the carriage, Nijii took to ask Anahana and the twins some questions while Carter was helping Haruko with Natsuki.

"Are you okay sweetie? Come on tell Onee-san what's wrong" Haruko asked as she held Natsuki's cheek and caressing it.

"How frequent has it gone?" Carter asked softly as he observed Natsuki.

"Not too long ago, if anything this might be her third time I'm not sure now.." She replied as she slid Natsuki, placing her on her chest. "Shhh~ Shhhh~ I'm here now, everything's fine now"

"Pardon me for this" Carter announced as he carefully took Natsuki's hands off her face, he slowly placed them on Haruko's before he inspects her eyes.

"She seems to be undergoing some form of hallucination" Carter said as he examined her. "I'm not so sure what drug can do this, I'm not even confident to say it's a result of a drug"

"Why do you say so?" Haruko asked. This question alerted Carter, as Haruko, the Healer should know what dilations with the eyes look like.

"Pardon me asking, but aren't you the healer?" He asked respectfully.

"Yes I am…" Haruko replied. "It's just that my village kept me far from patients like those, but I've heard of these from the other nurses"

"Ah, those kinds of people" Carter mumbled. "That's understandable. Sometimes there's one person in the village who can do more than everyone else, it's not really uncommon to see them locked up and used up"

Haruko looked at Carter, and nodded.

"I suppose I'm lucky" She remarked.

"Yes you are" Carter replied as he kept his eye on Natsuki's. "Very lucky to have met a girl like Natsuki-san here too"

Haruko blushed and Carter winked as he chuckled.

"I won't tell your leader don't worry" Carter chuckled. "Hmm, I don't think her eyes are dilating, I think this is her crystal doing this"

Carter moved out of the carriage, he motioned for Haruko to pull Natsuki closer to the entrance.

"Nijii, this is your expertise" Carter called. "Natsuki-san's eyes are being blocked by something, I bet it's her crystal doing that"

"Don't be preposterous!" Nijii exclaimed as she huffed her way to Natsuki and Haruko. "An Aura cannot harm its user or debilitate them in any-"

"Way…"

Nijii drifted her to her thoughts as she saw Natsuki's eyes, she nodded at Carter, confirming it was the crystal that had blocked her eyes.

"How long has she been in combat?" Nijii asked.

"About 3 battles including General Taurturia" Anahana responded, crossing her arms. "What's wrong with Natsuki? Is she okay?"

"3?" Nijii repeated, looking at the crew of Neo Zeon. "Are you sure it's 3?"

Everyone nodded except Carter who just stood there and watched Nijii.

She took a short examination using her magicks, and from her examination she came to gather the crew, everyone was quite perplexed and curious about their member's health and state. Nijii was however dumbfounded at her discovery from her examination.

"If all of you are familiar" Nijii said. "When it comes to us developing our Auras, the transition to a form more suited to the user is directly tied to their next evolution"

Everyone but Carter nodded, which surprised Nijii. She sighed and face palmed as she starts to explain the situation.

"Tell me, have you felt that there's been a turning point in your life where your Aura's have changed?" She asked.

"Yes, I have" Haruko replied nodding. "I think that was when I got more proficient with my healing spells"

"I think I've had that too" Anahana also replied. "Was it supposed to hurt?"

"Most of the time no" Nijii replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I had mine when I fought an Arch Demon before" She continued, she unsheathed one of her blades and showed it to them. "The upgrade I got was I can keep attacking as long as my blades drink blood"

"The rare Aura of Raleigh's Bloodlust, the only Aura named after a person" Nijii explained to everyone. "It's remarkable Anahana-san that you can control such a beastial Aura"

"No one who had the Aura was able to control their urges to kill, they're notorious for committing suicide after being sent off from the frontlines" Carter added. "To think that you have made it so far without even a single hint of bloodlust surprises me, and I commend you for that"

"It is without question that people who held the Aura Raleigh's Bloodlust were great, caring men, even demons and elves have this, but it is not without question that their own power consumes them" Nijii added as well, her voice quite solemn to the fact. "I hope that you wouldn't succumb to it. And like you then when you fought that Arch Demon, Natsuki-sama is undergoing her own transition. We may never know what it would hold, that is why we intend to study it so she can progress with our mission without much trouble"

"Whatever the transition may be for her, it seems to be connected with her mind" Carter remarked. "You rarely see these types of transitions but, it's noticeable that it's connected with something within her mind, in this case her eyes, maybe her perception?"

"So, whatever Haruko is going through now, it's going to make her stronger?" Haruko repeated, understanding now the information provided.

"Exactly Haruko-sama" Nijii replied. "Whatever it may be, for that transition to affect her sleep, it may be memory related"

"I suppose we push back training, we won't be able to do anything right now as it is" Carter remarked.

"That would be correct yes, until Natsuki-san wakes up, we won't be able to train her. Though for now.." She caressed her chin softly as she went into deep thought, she then looked towards Anahana. "I suppose we can refine your skills Anahana-san, is that okay with you?"

"Sure, I'm down to learn more" Anahana nodded.

"I will remain with Natsuki-san and Haruko san to make sure nothing wrong happens" Nijii waved towards Kiersten who jogged his way towards her.

"Yes? You need me?" He said quite nervously.

"Would you be so kind to teach Anahana-san? Basic training will do, she has to at least learn how the Generals fight" Nijii instructed, she tilted her head and sighed. "You do remember your training yes?"

"Of course I do, I'm still salty when Carter did me over" Kiersten whined he motioned for Anahana to follow. "Let's give you a rundown of what Generals do in combat aight?"

As Kiersten and Anahana move towards the back to train. Nijii looked towards Carter before ordering him.

"Carter, go tell Hanagura about Natsuki-san's situation, right now we'll have to wait for her to finish her transition before we move forward towards anything" Nijii soon took to her book and wrote away on its pages. Carter who didn't had time to respond shrugged and did what he was asked.

Natsuki slowly curled into a ball on Haruko's lap, she tried to muffle herself as Natsuki rolled on her lap, being that Haruko was ticklish on her thighs. Nijii took notes about Natsuki's following behavior.

The sound of Nijii's pen scraping was clear, you can almost hear the letters she had written, but as time went on it slowly dulled out, each stroke was indistinguishable the more the clock ticked, the more the sky moved, the sun slowly moving towards falling slope. The world started to drown in an enigma of black and white, the static has returned and has gradually increased, and unfortunately for Natsuki, it has also grown louder.

She instinctively covered her ears, and as she did everything went quite. She looked around her, it was unrecognizable. It was foggy, though, it doesn't seem to matter as everything else within this world was black, pitch black, there was nothing, but there was also something. To Natsuki it was invisible, but to you, there was a figure behind her, unnatural, tall, it wore it's skull, rather, it was its skull if you peel at the muscle and at the skin. It stood there watching her as she turned around frantically trying to identify which was front, back and left or right. To you, this figure was still there, but to her, it doesn't exist. To you, this creature, this figure, crouched down quickly, it skittered to the darkness, its footsteps echoing along the floor.

To you, you can hear it clearly, but to Natsuki, there was not a sound, not a silhouette, not even a hint of something being present behind her breathing down her neck. Before long the world shifted, from its solid black tint to a grey monotone, revealing structures that hid prior within the shadows, structures that rose high into the sky. Natsuki looked around her, examining the City of Grey, turning around once every second to see if there was something else here, if there was someone else here.

She caught a silhouette of a woman, Natsuki caught wind of her just as she turned the corner.

"Hello?!" She shouted. "Wait!"

Natsuki ran towards the same corner, she looked to the left where the woman disappeared before she shouted again.

"Hello?! Where are you?!" She shouted again. She kept examining the street and once again saw the woman walk to another corner and disappearing as she turns to the right. Natsuki follows, this time walking down slowly, it seemed that the woman seems to not hear her. As Natsuki walked down the road, she looked to .0her left to see this store broken down, it wasn't decaying, neither was it in the middle of deconstruction.

There was a large robotic arm that laid within the caved roof of the store, its hand spilled over onto the sidewalk. Natsuki looked intensely at this piece of machinery, walking around it and taking it all in awe, she took note of the hand, noting that it is the right hand. She kept walking, and jogged towards the opposite sidewalk before turning into the corner.

She was surprised to see that it was a graveyard of these giant robots, huge 17 meter tall machines that lay on their sides or have knelt in their place. She slowly and carefully walked around these large machines, she feels familiarity with them, but has lost the memory of their origin. She was at awe, in a nostalgic trance as she passed the final machine.

She looked at them for one last time before turning around. She had not seen this before as she was busy taking in the fact of the matter that three large machines were broken down in the middle of this road. Just to her left she saw something glint, she turned to see this contraption of sort that had this funny funnel shape, it didn't take her long to realize that this might be a weapon that could've killed the machines behind her, though she found it strange that this funnel thing was the thing responsible, she felt like there should be more that could tell her about the environment she's in.

And as she inspected this thing on the ground, the nostalgic feeling came back once more but powerful. If she were to describe this feeling of nostalgia, it's the kind that you would feel once you've found something that contained very fond memories. The kind where you've found your favourite game from the CD pile, your favourite stuff toy inside your closet, your loved one's favourite piece of jewelry. She had an intimate connection with this object, and now it's coming from somewhere else.

It was a strong sense of connection, she feels magnetic towards it. From her time within this street there had been this fog at the other end, she didn't pay it no mind as she was busy taking the scenery in front of her, but this wall of fog had started to dissipate away, slowly thinning itself over to the sides like a curtain being drawn.

She walked closer to the edge of this wall and as the world cleared up of this fog, what she saw behind this smoky curtain was this ornately designed machine. She saw this machine leaning onto this building, its armour had been painted in a light shade of purple, its chest, a panel adorned by this emblem sparkled silver.

[~This city's sleeping like a soldier. Trapped inside of an iron lung.

Machines can keep you breathing, but what happens when you find a new war's begun?

Flip a switch and turn it off, you won't be able to breathe.

So either way you're a casualty.~]

The machine looked different from those down the road, from the aesthetic that adorned the machine it felt that it was of royalty. She soon took notice of its head, to her, it did not felt threatening to her, and it felt quite familiar and cute, she walked closer, fixated on its head she stood at its perimeter. She held out her left hand seemingly to reach out to it, and when she was about to put it down the machine roared to life.

A mechanical hum sounded from its chest and it moved out of its position and as the machine shifted the building it laid on collapsed.

[~I've got this burning like my veins are filled with nothing but gasoline.

And with a spark,

It's gonna be the biggest fire they've ever seen. Cut me down or let me run,

Either way it's all gonna burn... The only way that they'll ever learn

We've got to turn it off,~]

A single eye glowed from its socket and slide left to right before looking down on Natsuki. It laid its mooneye on her before Natsuki, who took two steps behind. It bent itself down as it reached out to Natsuki, blocking her escape it gently scooped her with its large hands, it stood as its metal creaked and whined. It looked up towards the foggy sky and crouched, before jumping and then flying.

[~We've got to turn it off~]

[~Flip a switch~]

[~Light up the night!~]

It rocked as it flew, the boosters it had roared as it kept going and as it breached the clouds it turned and spun around before it's wing like pauldrons spread out. It continued straight ahead and flew, reaching this clearing that showed Natsuki the environment she has found herself ib, the land was circular, it wrapped around them like a cylinder, a central shaft was now visible from where Natsuki and the machine flew.

[~There is a city that this darkness can't hide. There are the embers of a fire that's gone out,

But I can still feel the heat on my skin. This mess we're in, well you and I,

Maybe you and I,

We can still make it right.~]

[~Maybe we can bring back the light~]

As the machine held Natsuki out from its chest, a shot came from the ground hitting the pauldron of the machine, it recoiled as it took the hit, folding it's elbows back in as it turned its head towards the shot. Natsuki peeked from the machines hand and identified that it's one of those that she had seen broken and downed on the street earlier.

It it's machine gun up and started to fire, Natsuki's machine dodged before it recoiled another time as it got hit from its behind.

[~At the heart of the city there is a building that looks down over all there is and the man in the tower controls

It all without raising a single fist it's like they gathered up the city, they sold it to the devil, and now

It's gone to hell and they wonder how.~]

It turned around and had once again spotted it, this one held a cannon with its hands. The machine soon dove into the city as it held onto Natsuki tightly, folding it's pauldrons to fit the streets. It flew with its back facing the road and continued onto it before it crashed into the large city hall. The concrete collapsed and crumbled, leaving the machine and Natsuki inside its cupped hands. Rumbling soon followed, slowly getting close and multiplying in other directions.

[~Well, a friend once told me: Men, they would follow any man who would turn the wheels.

Now the wheels are spinning out of control; what would they do if we held them still?

If you destroy the working parts, what you'll get is a broken machine.

A beacon of light from a burning screen.~]

The panel on the chest opened up as steam hissed out from its vents, a door slid open revealing a cockpit within the machine. Natsuki expected for a pilot to reach out to her but there was none, it was empty. The arms moved closer to the cockpit, allowing Natsuki to hop inside safely, she looked at the machine's head one more time and found that it was looking at her, its single eye focused on Natsuki. She nodded, understanding what it wanted her to do and went into the cockpit.

[~Light it up. Light up the night~]

As she sat on the chair, she held the throttles, and gripped them tight, the panel and the door slid down and closed. For a moment the inside was dim, followed by the slow flash of the monitors that lined the cockpit. The interior was spherical, and the monitors were curved to the interior wall displaying the outside environment, she scanned these monitors and identified that they, her and the machine were still in this city hall.

Machine guns echoed and shots landed on the concrete of the city hall, spraying powder around the air. The right arm of the machine rose and a beam shot came out from its wrist.

[~There is a city that this darkness can't hide. There are the embers of a fire that's gone out,

But I can still feel the heat on my skin. This mess we're in, well you and I,

Maybe you and I, we can light up the night.~]

The opposing machine fell down, a hole now dug through its chest as it exploded, the one beside it recoiled from "shock", before reacting to the attack. It raised its rifle and side fired it as the machine hit the building behind it.

The UI popped an identification on the machine they were fighting. The machine she rode now stood up and readied itself, awaiting for Natsuki's order.

"RGM.. 79?" Natsuki muttered. She scanned the UI more and found another name, on her console were the word 'Qubeley' designated on its weapon systems. "This name.. It's familiar.."

She poised up as she noticed the RGM-79 rushing towards her. She opened her thrusters and deployed her beam saber, the weapon slid out from its sleeve and engaged its beam. To the GM's surprise, it had been slashed in half, and as it were the Qubeley had dodged a bullet from one of the GM's that held a cannon in its hands.

"Woah.. she's fast!" She exclaimed as she sped towards the GM with the cannon, shoving the cannon barrel away onto the building walls. Her left wrist flicked and out came the other beam saber, she thrusts it onto the chest and waves it upwards melting its torso and head before it explodes.

The Qubeley dodged a shot on its own. It looked at a certain direction and spotted it's new attacker, seemingly a more slimmer model of the GM.

"Let's go Qubeley!" Natsuki shouted as she thrusted the Qubeley to a charge, the GM soon followed and charged as well.

[~There is a city that this darkness can't hide. There are the embers of a fire that's gone out,

But I can still feel the heat on my skin. This mess we're in, well you and I,

Maybe you and I, we can light up the night.~]

The GM and the Qubeley clashed with their beam sabers, Natsuki prompted a kick that knocked the GM back, a twisting attack was commanded and the left beam saber collided with its left as it tried to recover, it was quickly followed by a stab that broke it's wrist and melted it's forearm, Natsuki twisted her right beam saber and retracted her left arm to melt its entire left arm.

The GM stumbled back as it held its other beam saber with its right hand. It struck its charging stance and slashed at the Qubeley who by Natsuki's command made it hover, completely missing it. A series of high pitched humming soon emanated around and before long, high pitched beam shots attacked the GM. The Funnels Natsuki had inspected earlier had come to life, though only three of the Qubeley's 10 had returned to it.

[~There is a city that this darkness can't hide. There is a fire that will burn through the

Streets of the city, and we will stand in the light. We will stand in the light~]

The GM slowly slouched onto the pavement before exploding, the Qubeley was soon acting in a panic. Natsuki took notice of it immediately.

"What's wrong Qubeley? What is it?" She asked as she rolled the thrusters without a response from the Qubeley. It soon flew straight up, the environment around them soon crumbled to dust, the GMs that laid on the ground came down with it as it fell apart, the Qubeley would manage to fly out of the other side of the cylinder. Natsuki looked down from her pilot's chair and saw where they had come from.

They had exited a Space Colony.

The Qubeley shook and a part of its left pauldron crumbled into dust. Natsuki saw this and tried to do something about it but was instead launched as the Qubeley shook again, this time dislodged Natsuki from the seat and as she hit the interior wall it broke apart so easily into dust.

[~You and I~]

Natsuki spun around to look at the Qubeley who started to drift away from her, it's left hand outstretched as its right imploded into a glittery mess of powder. Natsuki thrusted herself toward it to try and catch it, reaching out to hold its hand.

[~You and I~]

As Natsuki held out her hand and touched the Qubeley's hand it dissipated into dust, showering Natsuki in this glittery purple curtain. She looked behind her, or what she considered was "up" and stared at this one ball of light in the distance. Natsuki notices this shadow around the ball of light, getting larger and occupying large portions of the ball as it approached closer.

The machine was hidden in a veil of shadow, and despite Natsuki's limited time with the Qubeley, she knew this machine was more bulky and larger than hers. On its right arm, a shield that she was well familiar with and had used before in her efforts of protecting herself, and on its left, a rifle of sorts. This large machine was big enough to encompass the light ball she had seen, and like her Qubeley it had a monoeye, a pink one. It stored it's rifle at its rear skirting before reaching out to her, scooping her slowly and cupping her within it's fingers.

[~We can bring back the light~]

As the large machine slowly moved its hand with Natsuki towards its chest, she sees a shimmer on the cowling of the machine's collar. It was an emblem, the outlines were plated in silver, the interior of the emblem was black and the symbol painted in this royal purple. The machine looked at Natsuki from its hand then forwards, the monoeye sliding smoothly as a cathartic mechanical gurgle emanated from the machine. As it flew like a comet, the machine echoed its engines like it were a nightingale.

There was a rumble, followed by a shot from their right side. The machine rose its right arm a bit and it blocked the next shot. It was soon pelted with multiple shots before it got caught onto an asteroid field when it tried to dodge, crashing into one unexpectedly. The dust cleared and now the machine looked back to the direction of the shots, it notices its enemy and looks at Natsuki, its eye looking back and forth before laying its pink eye on her.

The machine gently laid her on the rock they had just crashed to, she raised her left hand to reach out, and the machine gently patted her. There seemed to be a solemn look from this machine, but she could not identify it from who it was although her nostalgia towards it was skyrocketing. The machine rose its hands and disengaged its rifle from the rear skirting. In one motion it held its rifle at the ready before slowly drifting away from Natsuki. It poised itself for attack, looking at her one last time with its pink monoeye before flying away into the emptiness of the space they found themselves within.

She kept her eye on its magnificent blue trail as it entered combat with its rival, as the two fought each other they flew by where Natsuki was, pushing her off the asteroid and had now entered a free fall into nothing. The last thing she saw was the machine fighting valiantly reaching towards her as it was forced to fight its opponent.

As Natsuki fell, she felt a loud thud. She slowly opened her eyes and saw she was in a very reflective room, and on the ceiling was her rugged self with Anahana's spare clothes she had given her when they had met.

She slowly lifted herself up and looked around. The walls, the floors, they're all reflective. Not only that, they seem to be jutted out in angles, like those modern designs people do on buildings.

"Where.. am I?" She asked to no one.

There seemingly isn't an exit around, nothing around to show some form of way through somewhere. Soon enough, she sat on the corner and spread her legs to relax.

"Where's Graveyard-san..." She asked, as she looked hopeless. "Where is Anahana.. Haruko…"

"You've found her right? Our trump card in this war?"

"Yeah… I did… She's quite unstable at the moment, I'm trying to think of a way to get her under control…"

Natsuki rose her head, she looked around to see a faint apparition of Anahana talking and the familiar voice of Gladius in the background.

""I'll make sure our weapon of mass destruction will learn how to control herself, at this rate we won't be going anywhere with how she fights"

"I see, if that's the case then you should train her, keep her on a leash yes?"

The apparition of Anahana slowly dissipated, and the reflective silver of the room slowly turned to a gracious blue. The blue soon echoed the sobs of Natsuki who has now curled herself into a ball. Her heart sank as Anahana's words echoed inside her, her chest had now sunk, creating this void of despair and anger.

She was quickly reminded of her past that she had forgotten quite well the moment she stepped onto this world. The reason why that prism before had enticed her, she knew that it was an exit to a horrid life she had, to escape the cage she had been thrusted onto.

The Old World | Magdalene Highschool, 12th Grade Floor.

Natsuki was walking along her grade's corridor, she turned to face the steps and descended to the floor below. On her left hand she clutched several papers, designs that seem to have notes for modifications. The top page had the name "Qubeley". She made her way towards her club room before she was pulled aside by a boy.

"C-Can you come with me for a second?" He stuttered. He was a cute boy, he was 2 inches smaller than her, and had tugged Natsuki from her sleeve.

"U-Uhmm.." Natsuki mumbled, quite shy and uncomfortable. "S-sure…"

The boy's eyes lit up, and before long she was thrusted outside of the campus by the side where the fauna had been well kept as a garden. The boy had stood her onto the bench that surrounded this cherry blossom, it waved in the air as the boy bowed deeply.

"I… WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?!" He announced, shaking.

Natsuki was taken aback by this, and had covered her mouth. Her left hand relaxed and the paper she held soon flew, but the boy managed to sprung up on his feet to retrieve them, his eyes glowed as he looked at Natsuki.

"Y-you like Gunpla too?" He asked as he smiled looking at them. She nodded in response which further made the boy smile. "Me too!"

Natsuki looked away, before saying.

"Yes… I- I'll go out with you.." She said softly "Please take care of me.."

The boy huffed and held her hands, before helping her fix the papers and off they went. For the next 4 weeks, they had gone out more often than their first week dating. They had gone to stores where they would check on different model kits, visit cafes where they build them in their own company, and enjoy their time together.

When the second month came, things took a rocky turn. The boy had been distant from her, and she immediately took notice of this, he pelted her with non-invasive questions on their chat but had been answered vaguely which worried her. Not long after, on the third week of the month he had been completely distant, avoiding her any chance there would, and by Friday, he sent a message that broke her.

"I'm sorry… But I can't do this anymore…"

She was distraught by this, and had soon holed up within her room, her dad took notice when she had come down for dinner.

"What's with that face? What happened to you?" He said as he chomped down on the dinner steak.

"Sweetie, what happened?" Her mother asked softly.

There was no response from her, then her dad grunted, seemingly having found the reason.

"Oh, it's that boy right? Did he left you?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Oh sweetheart.." Her mom said as she held her shoulder, but Natsuki didn't acknowledged it.

"Well, if you weren't such a weirdo buying those toys of yours and drawing those things guys would've liked you more" Her dad scoffed.

"Riko! Don't tell that to her!" Her mother shouted at her husband. She soon comforted her now crying daughter. "Don't listen to your dad Yuriko, ignore him"

"What? I'm just stating the obvious, if she just drops her bullshit she could get a more handsome guy or if she's ever lucky a rich boy from a good family" He said as he ate a mouthful of steak.

Natsuki stood from her chair and ran back to her room, she locked the door shut before crying and having a mental breakdown.

For the following months, Natsuki would be depressed, she had refused to enter her club, and had cut off most of her friends away from her life. The words:

"I'm sorry… But I can't do this anymore…"

Echoing within her mind, added to what her father told her. She was in this state where she has now accepted that being who she was, never pleases people.

"Well, if you weren't such a weirdo buying those toys of yours and drawing those things guys would've liked you more"

Stop…

"I'm sorry… But I can't do this anymore…"

I don't want to hear it anymore…

"Well, if you weren't such a weirdo buying those toys of yours and drawing those things guys would've liked you more"

"I'm sorry… But I can't do this anymore…"

JUST PLEASE SHUT UP STOP THIS PLEASE

"I'm sorry… But I can't do this anymore…"

"I'm sorry… But I can't do this anymore…"

"I'm sorry… But I can't do this anymore…"

"I'm sorry… But I can't do this anymore…"

…..

"I'm sorry… But I don't like you anymore"

AHHHHHHHHH SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP GET OUT OF MY HEAD STOP IT

"Uhh… Natsuki are you okay son?" Said the teacher as he watched Natsuki clutch her head and shout. One of the girls started to laugh at her, followed by her coup.

"Oooooh~ Natsu-chan's going nutsooo~" They teased.

"Everyone please let us not start this-" The teacher said but was drowned out by the sounds of laughter from the students.

"Having a bad nightmare Natsuki-chan~? Boyfriend left you~?" Another teased.

This prompted Natsuki to look at her, wide-eyed, her hands slid from her head.

"Oooooooh~!! Scarrrry~!" She teased. "What are you going to do? Shoot me?"

Natsuki threw a chair at her, it hit her face as well as her torso, the girl fell as Natsuki who was now being avoided walked towards this girl, seeing as now her nose has bled she took the chair away from her.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" She shouted, but had immediately regretted it.

She now looked up at Natsuki who held the chair on its backrest, before pummeling it down onto this girl, who was now shouting in agony and not long, was only squeaking. The teacher immediately pulled her back to avoid any more injury and has not resisted. She was soon brought to the principal's office and the girl sent to the hospital.

The memory has begun to become hazy, as the memory played its last moments, she hears glasses breaking and the shouts of her mom and dad she had tried to forget all these years.

Her hand twitches as she was still curled up, she has stopped crying, and her fingers were now poised as if she's ready to grab something and pummel it over something else.

"Will you still fight?"

A voice emanated from somewhere within the blue reflective room, in response to it, she threw something at the wall in front of her, effectively ruining it.

"Your history, your anger, swelled up within you"

Natsuki turned her left arm into a cannon and shot the wall behind her.

"Will you lose your identity for those people? Will you shed your face off to please those who never saw you?"

She turned to the last wall to her right, looking at her face from the reflective material, her cannons raised at her own self. She holds her arm, before slowly putting it down. She slid from the wall as she leaned on it, turning into a ball again.

"Help this world Natsuki, you know you can do it"

"What am I going to get out of it? Be a hero? Be a statue in the middle of somewhere?"

"No Natsuki, that's not how you should look at it. There are lives here that have suffered like you have people who have been ignored, shunned away. You never turn your back against those who asks for help right?"

Natsuki shook her head.

"Winning doesn't mean you take a side dear. Remember that"

She looked up, inspecting the room. "What do you mean.."

She was soon met with a familiar warmth as if someone embraced her.

"I'm sorry I can't meet you now dear.. Your brother needs me by his side, however, I'll meet you soon as well okay?"

Natsuki found herself embracing this apparition of a beautiful woman, she was like a mother, a proper mother, and embraced her warmly before stepping away.

"I'll have to go now, your brother, he's a very strong man, but he can't go on like it forever… Let's all cheer for each other, okay?"

The apparition soon disappeared, and Natsuki was now left with this residual of warmth. She stood up clutching her chest and retracting her cannon, and before long, she started to fall asleep, the world spinning around her, the room becoming a haze before she was then sucked into void once more. There was no sign of the machine, nor was there a sign of the asteroid field. She has found herself awake in the carriage where Haruko had tended to her. It felt quite hot, and something seems to have been burning as the sky was engulfed in this crimson light.

"NATSUKI! WHERE IS SHE?!" A familiar voice shouted out.

"HARUKO! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Shouted another.

Before long Natsuki appeared out from where their backs were turned, Natsuki manages to block an attack from something, donning her Qubeley armour she plows through and manages to get a hit in, hitting it in its center of mass.

Natsuki rearranged herself, sliding down on the mild slope where she was greeted by two people. There's now this growing tension as the fire around them spread, Natsuki now clad in her purple Qubeley slid both of her beam sabers from their sleeves, lighting them up revealing a pink hue of plasma out from the burners.

"Quite an interesting guest we have here, don't we Horace?"

A Demon General emerged from the fire behind them, four blades upon four hands. She looked directly at Natsuki, who had poised herself, ready to lunge at the enemy.

"And you deary girl~!"

Her scimitars pointed as she made a crown of blades with the remaining three.

"Must be God's gift to me~!"