User blog:Baluar/God Eater: Fall of the Heavens, chapter 31: The calm before the storm

The first thing he noticed when he woke up was that he was in extreme pain.

His entire body felt nothing but agony, a pain not unlike that of a needle embedded into one's skin. Especially in his shoulder; it felt as though he had been impaled in there.

Then he remembered that he actually had been impaled there.

There was also the cold. It was stronger when he moved, strong enough in fact to reduce him to only slow movements.

He knew that because his first instinct upon recovering consciousness was standing up, and the wave of pain that traveled through his body immeadiately afterwards forced him to kneel down. He then slowly stood up and then he had to take a step back, but not because of the pain.

It was because Lina had thrown herself over him. He did nothing for a few seconds, alarmed by her action.

-Eh... uh... what?

-Oh, eh, sorry. - She then stood back. - You were really close to death, you know that?

-Figures.

-And you did... things after I tried to help you.

-What kind of things? Be specific.

-Screaming, twisting your body in ways no man should... Creepy as shit.

-Eh, I'm alive, so I guess I have to thank you. What did you do, exactly, to help me?

-I forced you to take an O-Ampule I found in the emergency supplies. I assumed that strengthening the Oracle Cells of your body would help out, and it did. Although...

-What?

-People normally don't survive Aragami infections. I've no idea what damage this could have made to you.

-Well, I survived one Aragami infection, nothing says I can't survive another one.

He moved forward, and noticed that the cold was receding, although it still slowed him down noticeably. He then noticed there was something off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something felt... different from before.

-Are there by any chance reinforcements coming?

-Well, I used the plane's communication systems to send a distress signal. I don't quite know its reach, but I'm certain if anyone happened to fly relatively close to us, they'd listen to it. I sent it both in Spanish and English, although I'm pretty certain no one understands Spanish.

-It's certainly not as widespread as Engli... - His senses then picked up a distant sound. He couldn't quite identify it, but it was stronger and stronger by the minute. - Do you hear anything?

-No, I don-wait, there's definitely something coming. You think someone might have listened to us?

-There's a good chance that someone did. How much time has it passed since you sent the distress signal? An hour or two? - Lina simply nodded. - Well, let's just hope it's help coming and not a huge flying Aragami or something. I never thought I'd say this, but I don't quite feel like hunting now.

It was definitely a plane that was closing in. While Baluar didn't really recognize it, Lina recognized it instantly. It was one of those used by the Cleanup squads. She didn't feel any hatred towards them, but she wasn't too relieved after seeing how the "mighty" God Eaters had been slaughtered by the dozen on her home branch. However, when the plane crashed and the side door opened, there was no Cleanup God Eater in there.

There stood a figure with green eyes and hair, a figure that Baluar knew all too well and that even Lina identified quickly enough.

-Hey Art! What's up? How's that wound treating you? - Baluar asked.

-I've had better days, that's for certain. - Arthur replied. - And I see you're not on your best day, either.

-It's a long story. Who brought you here? I know you're no good with a plane.

-Preprogrammed path destinations. - Arthur scratched his head. -Plus, you can see what happened when I tried controlling it for a while. It was all fine until the landing came.

Lina heard a faint scream coming from the crashed plane.

-It's good to see you again, but I really hope you brought someone else with you. Whatever happened here, it involved a lot more Aragami than we've ever seen.

-I've brought everyone. Except for Ken and Beo, they didn't want to come.

-Everyone? Good. - Lina commented. - We're going to need all the help we can get.

Then, Arthur scratched his ear. He looked around for a bit, and when Lina was about to ask him what was going on, the green-haired man spoke up.

-Call me crazy if you will, but I swear I am hearing something very similar to the noise another plane coming in our direction would make. - He scratched his ear again. - Yes, I am definitely hearing another plane coming here.

When the other plane gracefully landed only a few meters away from the original crash site and Nia jumped out of it, God Arc in hand, Baluar ignored any and all pains that afflicted him and ran up to her.

-SIS! - Before Nia could say anything, her twin brother hugged her and lifted her off the ground. - It's good to see you again, Nia.

-Bal, I know you missed me, but please, drop me.

-Oh, sorry. - He dropped his sister and then asked. - What are you doing here?

-I could... feel there was something bad happening to you, and began to fly towards America ASAP. However, on our way here we heard a distress signal that named you, Nanako and Lyrr.

-I won't deny I've been gravely wounded, and I only barely survive, but I'm already feeling well. However, we really need to make our move as soon as possible. The amount of Aragami here was insane, and I don't think we've killed whatever causes it.

-What makes you think that?

-All the Aragami we killed were average (except for one detail I'll mention later, when we are all reunited), yet they didn't even think on attacking each other. No, they were only bent on killing us and devouring us.

-So let us waste no time and call that meeting. I wouldn't want to make Aragami wait one more second.

-Neither would I. There are enough reasons to make me think we're facing a threat that could wipe out the entire mankind if left unchecked.

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