User blog:Roinelll/Solace 3-10

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Molten Iron

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Damn it.

I've woken up in the medical ward again and immediately it dawned on me that I didn't manage to take two steps after Soma has ordered me to help him. That means he had to take care of two wounded, search for a third one in while he wasn't probably better off himself.

God damn it...

'''I'm going to hear this for a long time... And I bet he will rub it into my nose at every given moment...'''

"Just leave me alone..." A weak voice come through the closed door and hallways. I look up in surprise and turn towards the small rooms corridor. "Stay away..." I can hear the cries of the russian girl, who is probably stationed in the other room.

'''Huhh?! I... understand her?'''

'''But that's weird... I don't even have the translator on me... Do I?'''

"Leave me alone..." Her panicked cries comes, her voice was hysterical. "Leave me alone!!" Alisa wails and the voice of a scuffle breaks out.

What the hell is going on?

... I understand moonies now?

"Give her a tranquilizer..." Tsubaki's voice commands and most probably the medical attendant responsible for taking care of Alisa does as instructed. She is still resisting and my ears are filled with even more information, so is my nose. "And change the padding..." Just as I figured, the smell of blood clogged my nose up almost instantly a few moments before. Most probably due to the fact, that while Alisa was trashing around one of her wounds opened up. The girl moaned in pain, then repeated the single sentence of 'I'm sorry' numerous times. She was clearly undergoing a panic attack as she returned to her own language and mumbled something in russian. "It's me." I heard the instructor move closer to the confused girl. "Do you recognize me, Alisa?" But she was still mumbling to herself, oblivious of her surroundings.

That's weird, why do I understand moonies but not Alisa?

"Oh." A new voice entered my ears, but this time from the corridor. Probably, belonging to an older man. "It's you."

"I just wanted to check on Alisa." The voice of Kota came, as he explained his reason. Hearing the boys voice made me feel suddenly anxious and relieved. "She's still..."

"You'd better not see her right now." The man said grimly as he walked closer to the young God Eater. "Once the medication wears off, she falls to pieces." He sighed slowly, before advising the redhead. "You should come back another day." A sudden cry from Alisa caused a very awkward moment between them, to which the older male sighed in defeat. "I'm sure she wouldn't want you to see her in that state either."

"Yeah." Kota said meekly. "I... understand." He then stepped towards the door of my room. "Can I see Sierra?"

Me?

"She hasn't come to so far." The man answered, then after a short pause added. "If you won't disturb her, you can go in."

"Thanks." I heard Kota, but before he opened the door I quickly laid down and pretended to be still unconscious.

'''Why... Did I do that?'''

"Hey..." He greeted me and searched the room for something to sit on, once he found a small stool he put it close to the bed, yet did decide to stay standing. "I..."

'''Oh, damn it... Is this what I think it is?'''

If you try to freaking confess I'll kill you!!

At the thought of the boy losing his life I've felt a sudden rush of pain throughout my body, I couldn't even hold back a wince and instantly regretted it as the boy leaned closer.

"It's alright Sierra." I could feel the boys fingers touching my forehead. "I'm... alright." Another sharp pain arced through my body and seized control. As I lost control my eyes snapped open as my whole body struggled to suppress the burning sensation. "Ah... I'm... Hey." He pulled his hand away and just stared at me.

'''Well... This is.... awkward...'''

"I..." He started awkwardly before choking on the words. "Actually I wanted to apologize for being a burden, but now that I think about it... You don't understand me at all." Kota laughed sheepishly as he shook his head.

Actually I can understand you pretty clearly, even if it's beyond my knowledge of 'how' I do it...

"You were cool." He said simply and I blinked in surprise. "I mean back when that Aragami with the gun found us." The gunner continued, seemingly having made up his mind that he's going to empty his heart even if I wouldn't understand him. "I... actually lied to you back then."

... I don't like where this is going.

"My God Arc was damaged during the explosion that shattered the building we jumped out of and leaking the reserve of Oracle Cells at my disposal. Making me literally useless." Kota admitted sadly, donning a concerned gaze. "You didn't even question why I wasn't behind you supporting? Ah well, I did manage to shoot a recovery bullet at you, but to do that I had to consume the last of my O-Ampules." He sighed defeated. "Despite that you've gone in recklessly and fought that monster on your own."

'''Phew... So this isn't him confessing...'''

"And then... it happened." The boy said and for some reason my heart started to tighten. My mind was racing and at the same time screaming in a slowly intensifying volume. "You've suffered more damage than me and it took you in the worst possible moment..." He stopped and to be honest I waited for him to continue, but at the same time I didn't. "I've seen you..."

God, just spit it out!!

"Erm... Why are you glaring at me?" Kota asked perplexed, to which I've realized I was getting angry at him for no reason. "Sorry, I'll finish up quick and leave then..." He sighed and scratched his head. "So, you don't have to worry about me getting impaled on your God Arc. It doesn't hurt that much now." He said, to which I've just blinked. "And I've only suffered some superficial burns, nothing too serious. I'm a God Eater after all."

What did you just say?

"So... yeah." The gunner said meekly. "That's it... I'll... just leave now."

However I didn't really hear the last part, nor even noticed as the young God Eater left. I was just staring right ahead of me as in my head a variety of flashes, bits and pieces of events and voices swirled. At times I saw something, then in another a piece of a sentence came through. All in all it was making me go scared as it was too chaotic.

'Impaled on your God Arc.'

Then for some reason a single sentence of Kota started to resound in my head, I didn't quite understand what he meant by that, but then an image paired those words. The image of my God Arc ripping right into the body of the boy and even through it. But not with the lance tip, rather with the blunt grip, making the already painful image even gruesome.

'''What... the?!'''

Suddenly my throat started to burn violently, rising from my stomach and in the end I've vomited the sheet in front of me. What was worse, that I somehow knew it was only the beginning of something far worse. And it came, in the form another image. Which made another part of the gunners earlier speech comprehensible, but... I wish I didn't knew this at all...

'I've only suffered some superficial burns.'

Kota was now closer to me and lying on his side now in a pool of growing blood, my God Arc still embedded into his body and I could see myself crawling closer to him. But I wasn't able to do so as a wave of energy engulfed the body and he vanished from my sight.

'Cliché, but if that's going to trigger you, then be it.'

Following that was the voice of C, although I didn't quite understand what she could have mean. Triggering me?

Is she involved in this too?

'So, I killed the Dead Weight for naught?'

The next bit of information filling my head made me go numb. I've felt another urge coming over me to vomit again, burning with even more fervor through my system. My head was filled with even more chaos of words and images, but eventually I managed to sort them somewhat and regained control of my mind.

Killed?

'''But... I've just talked with Kota, didn't I?'''

What followed was an image that sent a chill down my spine, doubling the painful entries that bombarded my body as I gripped into my own flesh, for trying to make it stop. That only ended up in tearing into my own skin, blood gushing out of the wounds and messing the sheets as I released a mute scream.

'Let me show you why some called me a Devil.'

A glowing sun.

Just in purple.

Burning into my eyes.

My mind.

Filling up my sight.

Swirling around it more than a dozen crescent moons.

All blood red.

Each one of them bearing down on me, driving me crazy.

Rending my body with unending pain.

Rending my mind with neverending anguish.

I was yanked back to reality only when the door to my room exploded within, revealing the booted leg of a certain God Eater. He walked in, in his blue eyes blazing a fire that chilled me further than the previous vision. He made a single leap at me, his arms raised while in the arm and slammed down on me at the moment the distance between us reached zero.

"Pipe down, Would you?" Soma snarled as something stung my arm and I felt a liquid pump into me. "Would it kill you to be normal?" The dark skinned God Eater glared at me and sighed upon processing the mess I was in. "Enjoying masochism, are you now? What's next, gonna bite off your arms or what?"

Slowly I felt the maddening haze slip away, the images leaving me, just as the voices did. The bloody grip on my arms lessened, albeit the flow didn't stop. So instead of letting the wounds go, I've tried to clutch my bloody arms onto them to stop the liquid from pumping out more.

"You're a freaking handful." Soma commented as he left the room, in the next moment a couple of medical attendants rushed in, alerted and visibly concerned. One of them neared me with a syringe and, while I wanted no such thing it was stabbed into me and almost immediately I felt the effect of it. "Get your crap together, you're going to need it Lockjaw."

I heard the voice of Soma from outside of the door and felt as the attendants started to work on my self inflicted wounds. Then a haze started to descend onto my mind and I knew that soon I'll be drifting into sleep, but before that could happen a single thought rang through my mind.

Did he just call me Lockjaw?!

SOMA!!

"Here." The voice of the only person I didn't want to hear at all waked me, rather unceremoniously as he tossed something onto me. "Wake up already!" He barked the order, kicking a leg of my bed, rocking me hard off from it. "Wake up, or the next one goes for you!"

Damn you...

I've opened my eyes, glaring at him, but compelled and stood up slowly. I've looked down at the ground and found the thing he had thrown to me, it was a tablet, probably mines.

-What do you want, jerk?- I typed, really annoyed, but I've only gotten scowled at in response. -Did you just need a reason to annoy me?-

"Are you going to try suicide again?" Soma asked, unfazed. "The previous attempt was rather shallow, sure you've tore into your veins, but that wouldn't allowed to bleed out fast enough to die."

-Done mocking me?-

"I guess you recalled what spooked you into going berserk." He said bluntly and snorted when seeing me froze up completely. "If you go nuts on me again, I'm not going to hesitate."

-What the hell do you want from me?- I was rather irritated by his presence, but then remembered something. -You called me Lockjaw, didn't you?!-

"Quite fitting."

-Screw you.- I've glared back, but he didn't regard it any way.

"I've registered your code name just recently." He said bluntly, but as I just raised an eyebrow in curiosity and asked nothing Soma continued with an explanation. "Every God Eater needs to be registered with one. It takes some time until that someone gets one." The God Eater smirked and somehow I didn't like it. "They can chose it, but in most cases that's simply earned."

I waited for him to continue, but that was all he said. I didn't understand where to put this information, then my eyes twitched. He enjoyed it by the sight of it, that it dawned on me.

-Lockjaw?- I typed the question in dejection, to which I got a nod in response. -Well then, fuck you Death-god.- I retorted, instantly angered to the maximum. -Get the hell out of here, lapdog of the Director!-

"At least I'm not going to bite the hand of someone who feeds me." Soma countered to which my eyes went wide. "Nor do I try to rip the face off someone for standing in their way."

-I've done neither!-

"Says the one who tried to remove a finger from C with their teeth." To that I had to concede. "What made you that spooked out?"

I looked up at him, and this time it wasn't him trying to make fun out of me. He sought this answer genuinely, however I didn't have a clear answer. I... still recalled some of the jumbled, cacophonous mess of sounds and images. Just as I could recall the few segments of pictures and words.

-I don't know.- I typed and somehow anticipated him mocking me, but he just narrowed the eyes. -It's... a mess in my head.-

"When isn't?" Soma snorted and I glared right at him. "Well, unless your not going again bonkers. I'm going to let it slide."

As I tried to make something from the mess in my head, he simply left without a word. I didn't mind that because I felt rather tired anyways, and let myself drift into an uneasy sleep. A sleep that was more like a repeating nightmare of the images that haunted me.

-I'm pleased that each one of you could gather in such short notice.- I heard the voice of the Director himself, as I woke up rather tired. -This is of out most importance and as you can see almost all of our God Eaters are present for this crucial briefing.- I could track the sound interestingly to the ground and when I leaned over the edge of the bed, I saw that it was coming from the tablet.

-Is this regarding to the incident regarding the patrols at the City of Mercy?- One of the God Eaters asked, referring to the name that they had given it, instead of calling the proper and former name.

-Yes.- Soma answered, just as I reached out to grab the tablet. I saw that they had gathered in one of the training rooms, equipped now with a large monitor. -I'm afraid so.- He said grimly, stepping forward and standing near his father. -Izanagi.- The God Eater said bluntly as the monitor flickered to life. It had shown a humanoid form, that was visibly female. Aside from the entirely white body, a reddish-brown fur covered the upper body and head. There was also a long black tail curving around it, easily more than the length of twice its body.

Instantly murmuring arose in the crowd as the present God Eaters started to analyze the image. Raising points between themselves and then counterpoints against it, but in the end a single question rose from one of them that made everyone silent as their waited for an answer.

-That's not an actual image.- It was pointed out, yet they still waited for the answer. -Just a simple sketch, however if such a thing is used I'm getting worried.-

-We don't have an actual image of this, because for some reason when it showed up the entire areas surveillance just shut down.- One of the present technicians spoke up, rather nervous. -This was created on the observations of Assault Corporal Soma Schicksal and Medic Corporal Sakuya Tachibana.-

-Only two of them saw that Aragami?- One of the God Eaters inquired.

-Most probably Izanagi was the reason the Aragami went on rampage in the city, that is why the Units discharged into the city on patrol had taken such casualties.- Director Schicksal pointed out. -Fortunately only a single unit had met with the Deusphage.-

At that point the air literally froze in the training room. Most of the God Eaters stared at each other, before one of them could gather enough courage to speak up. It was one of the female God Eaters, that stepped forward rather shocked.

-Deusphage... As in...- Her voice trailed. -Someone turned?-

-Are you sure it's a Deusphage?- Someone countered weakly.

-I sent two fully powered Charge Crush into the body of Izanagi, through its mouth. I've yet to see a normal Aragami that doesn't die from that.- Soma said simply. -All it did was wince in pain and retreat leaving me alone. Pair that with the form it took, I would say it's one.-

-For now, the City will be declared off limits for everyone and missions will be redirected from the area.- The Director said as in finality. -While it is dangerously close to the Branch, we believe that Izanagi will clear the area thoroughly enough for us to not fear an Aragami attack from that direction.-

Then tablets video feed was cut off, but by then I was staring ahead of me, sweating buckets. It took me some time to notice that something else appeared on the screen of the tablet, and that made me go pale as the probably sender of the message.

-Oh noes!!-

-Someone knows!!-

End of Chapter 2016,09,08

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