User blog:Roinelll/God Eater - Solace - Volume 1 - Segment 17

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Watermill

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'''Well, nothing beats dying. Not even when your jerked out of the tranquil half-death into a raging torment of painful half-death.'''

I could barely open my eyes, but I sensed the presence of someone familiar nearby. Also in the distance there was someone else, my left arms tingling notified me of, probably a God Eater. Which meant that was Soma.

"Did you forgot something, Sierra? You belong to me, don't forget that." C's voice was sending shivers down my spine. Not to mention the pain she threw me into with waking me up. "Get your ass into gear Soma, RIGHT NOW!!" She yelled in irritation.

"Like that's going to work." Said God Eater let out a 'hmpf', but did come closer.

"Just do what I say Moon-boy! Or you want another victim for your list?" The pale girl gritted her teeth as she locked her hooded visage with the dark skinned male. "How would your 'papa' react if you had to debrief him, hmm?" Her voice turned cold and malicious. "I think it would go something like this: 'I sent Sierra alone to face a Chi-You, that showed some sight of mutation. She got killed and the Chi-You escaped, while I did nothing.' WOULDN'T IT?!"

Fun fact.

I'm not dead yet...

"Shut up." The God Eater snarled, clearly being irritated. "It's already too late for Sierra. Even you have to understand that." He tried to reason with her and I had to agree. After all, last thing I remember that I took a kick from the Chi-You. Which was still dripping from lava, I'm actually surprised that wasn't an instant kill.

'''Well yeah, that's only a yet thought. If she does have a way to I don't know... SAVE ME! Then let her do it!'''

"For crying out loud!" I felt that something familiar was pushed into my palms, somehow the grip of Chupacabra eased my mind, if it couldn't help me relieve my pain that is. But it was more than I could have hoped for. "Gimme your arm, Soma!" C snarled as I could make out she was pulling the God Eater along his right arm.

"Link-Aid will not help her! It's too late for that, get a grip on yourself!" Soma said with conviction, but then we froze. I mean literally, both him and I froze as C just sighed and with a 'clack' took off her mask.

What's she doing now?

"Do it for Hell's sake!" With the resistance now gone due to the freezing effect of sheer fright, C managed to finally pull the God Eaters arm towards my God Arc. There the two armlets started to resonate first, then connect. That is when I caught a stream of red and purple lights from under the hood of the pale girl.

'''O~kay. That's intriguing enough.'''

After a few seconds, I felt like my nightmares have returned. Only while being awake and tormented by hellish pain. My insides were writhing, burning, shifting. I felt like throwing up, or gouging my stomach out which one would make this torment ease. In the end, darkness swallowed me again to my relief. And this time I didn't mind if I really will die, if this madness finally ends.

"Don't you dare to drop her!" C's voice stirred me awake, I was laying uncomfortable on the shoulder of Soma. My pains have subsided somewhat, but I felt like Hell. When I opened my eyes, the familiar red glow of the underground area came into my view.

"She's awake now and I'm not going to pestrate this Dead Weight any longer!" With that the God Eater put me on the ground, well at least he didn't just drop me as C wanted to.

"Fair enough, then go and take care of those will you?" I raised my head and saw C pointing in a direction. As I focused I could hear the familiar roar of a Zygote in the distance. "Before you even start to protest, I'm not a combatant and Sierra is injured. You're in top shape so, GO GET THEM ALREADY!!"

"Fine..." Soma grumbled, but took off to battle the fliers.

"Don't say a word." The pale girl warned me, but I stared back puzzled. "Okay, no pun was intended." She chuckled to herself.

'''I'm lost. What is she talking about?'''

"You probably don't remember what happened. You fought a Chi-You and gotten the crap beat out of you. Soma came to your rescue, before you fainted and chased it off." C started to explain, but I just raised my eyebrows.

'''What are you talking about? That's not what happened.'''

I shook my head then pointed at my stomach, which was completely exposed now. My eyes went wide, when I noticed it wasn't simply that, but I wore a ridiculously short jacket, if you could call it that and nothing else. I tried to pull the separate side together, but couldn't as they were too short. My eyes darted back to C with a glare of ferocity, then down on my mid section.

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!

I wanted to shout at her, but that was impossible. So I did the next best thing, grabbed her shoulders and pulled her down to me. I've glared into that mask of hers, then pointed at the... too small vest that was put on me.

"You..." The pale girls mouth opened a bit, then closed instantly. She had been taken aback from my actions seemingly, but didn't care. I wanted answers. "Remember what happened?" She finished the question, to which I nodded affirmatively. Immediately C gritted her teeth and went silent for a few seconds.

For sure I know that I didn't just hallucinate almost dying.

What the Hell is going on?!

Why the hell did you just up and change my clothes again?!

'''Plus how the hell did you manage to heal me at all?! I should be DEAD by now!'''

"I'll explain later, if anyone asks just tell them what you know from me. Or better yet, tell them you don't remember." C then knelt down and took my right arm around her shoulder. Then she helped me to stand up, though my steps were shaky and without help would have collapsed. "This will complicate things." She muttered probably to herself, though I caught it.

If you say so...

This makes no sense...

"Let's catch up to Moon-boy. Come on Sierra."

Why do you call him that anyway?

It took close to a two hours to get out from underground. At times I could feel some tingling in my left arm, but as fast it came so did it fade. Not counting the exhaustion of my body I felt great. Like... really good. We also met a couple of Aragami underground, but they were quickly disposed off by Soma. Albeit they were only Zygotes, Ogretails and a couple of Cocoon Maidens.

At one point though we choose to evade something dangerous. While Soma grumbled he could have taken it down, C insisted to get a safe distance between them. While that Aragami was close to us, interestingly I could feel a craving. A hunger that I didn't had before, which scared me. More so that apparently even C was on edge.

Once we managed to get back to the jeep, with help I was then seated into the passenger seat in front. The pale girl then dropped my God Arc in the back after she took her place there too. Soma simply stored his weapon in it's case, before taking the drivers seat and driving off.

"So, what do you think of my Sierra's performance?" C started up a conversation, which seemed a bit forced in my opinion. "Still claim that she's a Dead Weight?"

Please, just don't provoke him.

"What kind of God Eater faints fighting a Chi-You?" Soma shot back instantly. "But." He stopped for a bit and I could hear the pale girl chuckle.

"But." She repeated after him, urging to continue and not missing a beat to annoy him.

"But, considering it wasn't a regular Chi-You. That means Sierra made progress." The God Eater had to admit, to which C hummed.

"Naturally. My Sierra is making progress and this is just the tip of the iceberg." C claimed proudly and I raised my eyebrow.

I hate this secretive part of her.

What does she know that I don't?

'''Scratch that... Probably many things.'''

"She might make progress, but is still far from the level of the most basic God Eaters." Soma scowled.

"Yet you let her fight a Chi-You, an evolved one. Which would have spelled certain doom for a 'most basic God Eater', right?" The pale girl jabbed and I could see the eyes of the dark skinned God Eater narrow. "Which you wouldn't have allowed in the very first place, if you hadn't judged my Sierra to be capable of holding her own ground, right? Moon-boy?" C leered and I could see that crossed the threshold of Soma's anger.

"C. Tell me something." He switched to a cold and demanding voice. "First of all, 'Your' Sierra? Plus stop calling me a lunatic, you greedy bastard."

"Of course she is MINE Sierra, I own her. And I call you Moon-boy, not a lunatic. However if you insist, I'll just call you something else." Then she stopped for a moment, apparently thinking. "I don't know. I might be a bastard, I never knew my father after all."

I couldn't help, but face-palm. In fact even Soma's brows twitched hearing this.

That's not helping your sitation C!

"What do you mean by 'owning' her?" Soma ignored the rest and pressed on, clearly curious about it.

"Simple as that, we completed a contract and my payment was her." I saw a malicious grin on the pale girls face. "Sierra now belongs to me, only me alone." A disturbing chuckle left her before continuing. "Which means, if you want to take her out for a date, you'll have to beg me for it. Grumpy-pants."

At the provocation, Soma braked abruptly. This forced me to crash into the front panel painfully, but also launched C forward right into the grip of Soma who turned around fast. He then grabbed the pale girl by the neck and slammed her back of the head into the jeeps plateau.

"I've had enough of you." The God Eater glared at her then before she could have said anything, Soma flung her far away. Without missing a beat, the dark skinned male then turned back and step on the gas, leaving the pale girl behind.

Did...

Did you just abandon her?

I stared at the God Eater, who glared at me in response. I gulped and immediately turned away, not wanting to join C. However, I didn't want to leave the pale girl out there. I tried to make eye contact with Soma, but he clearly refused to even glance at me, so in the end I've stolen quick turns back to where we left her.

"C'll be just fine." His voice startled me, so I've turned to him.

-Yeah, I'll be just fine.- C's voice came from my earpiece and I've left out a sigh of relief. -It's not like there are two Gboros circling around me, trying to kill my poor self.- She laughed, but in the background the roar of the Aragami could be heard. -I mean it's not unlikely that I'm going to bite the dust, but then what's going to be on your report, hmm?-

No, no, no, no, no!

Don't anger him again please!

"Shut up and die already." Soma simply said as he sped up the jeep.

-No can do, you see for some reason that I have no clear clue.- The pale girl laughed it away like some weird joke, which made it sound much more like a threat to me. -Those Gboros are after you two.- I gulped when I thought about that, they can't really catch up to us. Can they? -So you either stop and kill them, or they'll just follow you home.-

"Oh for..." The God Eater had to stifle a curse under his breath and stopped the jeep, this time not as abruptly. "Stay here." He grumbled as he took his God Arc from the back and started to walk in the direction from where we left C.

-Go join him.- C's voice came in the earpiece and I raised an eyebrow. -Let's just say you leveled up, shall we? Go join him and test your might.- C chuckled, but didn't say anything else.

'''I... get the feeling she's just like him, only meaner...'''

Albeit a bit hesitantly, I've got into the back and took up Chupacabra. My eyes instantly went wide as a refreshing feeling cursed through me. It felt exhilarating, my exhaustion was blown away just like that. More over, my God Arc felt lighter than ever. I couldn't stop, but a fierce smirk formed on my lips.

'''Oh, yeah. I understand now what C meant by 'leveling up'.'''

Soma had gained already a substantial distance as he clearly wanted to get this over with, but I still hoped he'll save something for me. It would be so annoying that I couldn't test this out. With that I've broken into a sprint, since my weapon didn't weight so much as before I was more than happy to know that not only it was easier to run, but I could keep it up for a much longer period than before.

"I said, stay put!" I had covered most of our distance, when he spotted me.

-A~w, you meanie. Don't say that. She's just eager to help you.- C chimed in and I couldn't help, but frown.

"Sierra couldn't handle a Chi-You." Soma snarled and my frown deepened.

That wasn't quite a regular one mind you...

-Just take one of the Gboros and she'll be fine. These aren't like the evolved Chi-You.- The pale girl reasoned and I had to nod for that. -Besides, if my Sierra gets into trouble... Which I doubt by the way, you'll be there to save the day.- She then laughed. -Just don't expect her to call you prince charming.-

'''You couldn't stop provoking him, damnit?! No wonder he threw you off... Although, you could be glad that Soma first stopped.'''

"Remind me, why didn't I snap your neck so far?" Soma glared particularly at nothing in front of him.

-Sorry, I don't answer rhetorical questions.- C laughed it off and the line went silent.

I hate this brat...

"Fine." The God Eater grunted and slowed down so I could catch up to him. "I take the first one, then you can finish the other." He said and I nodded, it sounded a reasonable split up.

It took a few more minutes to even spot them, in which time I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath. I don't know how Soma did it, but he didn't need to stop at all. Sure, he wasn't as light footed as me, but he sure had a lot more stamina than me. By the time I caught up to him for the last time, he was waiting with his God Arc at the ready loosely held by his side.

In the distance there were the two Gboros waddling towards us with their fins. It looked quite comical to me. I mean, those overgrown amphibians just looked ridiculous. I chuckled at the sight soundlessly, but Soma beside me just snorted and raised his God Arc to his shoulder. Soon it began to glow with a mixture of purple, bright red and dark energy as he powered up for a powerful charged attack.

"Get ready." He said simply and I nodded taking a stance that would allow me to sprint instantly. As the nearest Gboro-Gboro came into range, he lashed out with the empowered attack. Bringing the full force of the blow down at the horn of the Aragami and burying it's front into the ground. "That ones yours!" He said as he ran at the second one.

Eh?

Fine by me then.

I shrugged and grabbed the grip of Chupacabra with both of my arms before I started off in a sprint at my target. Something stirred within me, but this time it was quite pleasant. Intoxicating even. I wished I could let out a war cry of some sorts, so in the end I simply used the force of the momentum and drove my God Arc as deep into the body of the Aragami as much I could.

When the amphibian forced it's body back onto the ground, I was lifted high using my weapon as a leverage. Then I steadied my feet and ripped out my God Arc from the side of the Gboro leaving a nasty wound. With a roar the Aragami started to trash around, but I managed to stop myself from being thrown down by stabbing Chupacabra into the body of it again and holding onto it firmly.

Once the raving subsided, I plucked my weapon out then jumped off as the beast jumped back to gain some distance from me. I quickly checked how Soma was faring, but I shouldn't have worried at all. He had already broken the horn and crushed one of the fins, basically he was just toying around and keeping a watchful eye over me.

A roar signaled that my target was ready for another attack. I could see it's body bloating as more and more water was generated within, then with a wicked though I raised my God Arc and grinned. If this works, it's going to be hilarious. Then I mustered all my strength and threw Chupacabra straight the Gboros nasal cannon.

It hit spot on and buried itself into it as deep as possibly it could, I turned to Soma and caught him close his eyes at what I did. He probably though how stupid I was for doing that, but I didn't care. The Aragami couldn't stop the attack any more and it was going to blow either way. Sure, this left me literally defenseless, but since my target was also disabled it didn't bother me that much.

Plus if it explodes from that, it's going to be funny.

Didn't take long until the water blast erupted, blasting my God Arc out like a rocket. It spun around madly, barely missing Soma and impaling the weapon into the body of the other Gboro. I on the other hand couldn't stop myself from laughing, seeing how my targets condition was.

Not only was the nasal cannon broken, but most of the front of the face was also gone. A small part of the upper fins gotten crushed too, but the thing that made me convulse with laughter were the teeth. Or actually the complete lack of upper row of teeth and most of the lower ones.

"Take better care of your God Arc, Sierra!" Soma warned me as he tossed my God Arc to me. I caught it easily with my left hand and nodded to him in understanding. Then I pointed at him and mimicked throwing my weapon again and the God Eater flinched. "Don't imitate that again, did you even think about what could have happened if you missed?" He scolded me, but I shrugged. "Finish it, destroy the core." He ordered me, to which I've rolled my eyes. I felt too good to end this so early, so I've leaned forward and stretched. I could hear him summon the Predator form of his God Arc and rip the core out of the Aragamis body. "Sierra!" He warned me again, so I sighed and walked closer to my target.

My target, which was now completely gone mad. It was lurching around wildly and inconsistently, the result of the damage I've caused to the body by interrupting the explosive attack. As I neared it, I kept sure to keep enough distance should it try to lunge towards me, or at least I could have enough space to avoid by a quite step.

Then a throb echoed in my head and I've almost dropped my Chupacabra. I stopped momentarily and when I looked back up the Gboro was a fair distance away. Soma shouted something at me, but I couldn't hear him through the buzzing in my ear and the prickling in my left arm. I shook my head, but it only gotten worse. The amphibian gained even more distance, but I've frowned and stepped up.

Another throb forced me onto my knees, this time letting go of my weapon as I clutched my head with both arm. Throughout my body pain erupted, not unlike before when the Chi-You kicked me, albeit not that intense. Then just as quickly it came, this wave disappeared. Soma  was already standing right by me, watching the death wounded Aragami flail around with the rest of it's life force slowly slipping away.

He was talking to me, but the buzzing was blocking out everything. I saw him scowl as he charged the Gboro to finish the job. Another throb forced me into a fetal position, wishing it to end already. I was hugging my knees and gritting my teeth as much as possible, trying to block out whatever it was paralyzing me to no avail.

One last wave came and I could have sworn my heart stopped for a beat or two, then restarted irregularly. I sweated profusely, felt both ice cold and a hellish fever. I shook uncontrollably and couldn't differentiate between any of the directions. My gaze swam with blurred images and the infernal buzzing wasn't stopping at all.

Then everything just went 'poof'. With that I mean, it was gone. The discomfort, the pain, the buzzing. Even the rush I felt before. I was there, exhausted, but in control of myself. With my sight working, I saw that Soma's God Arc finished devouring the remaining Aragamis core. Then he turned to me and frowned, clearly puzzled about me.

I hate Hell rides like these.

"C." He called. We waited, but no response came. "What have you done to Sierra?" The God Eater called again, but no answer yet again. "Are you all right now?" Then the dark skinned male turned to me, and I nodded a 'yes'. "Good, then let's return."

'''Agreed. But, something is very fishy.'''

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End of Chapter 2016,05,27

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