User blog:Seieireppa/God Eater:Universitas, chapter 31: Memories of You, part 2

The God Eater known as Ken had been through many battles in his lifetime. Aragami after Aragami, he had struck them down without mercy, his blade tasting the blood of many a foe.

But this was a battle he never thought in a million years that he’d have to fight.

Nonetheless, Ken had two driving reasons for turning his blade on his sister, Misaka.

One, he needed to pass this test in order to prove his worth to the Horizon and receive the power to shape the world and defeat Isaac Feldman.

And two, he needed to lay his sister’s memory to rest by defeating her image here, a projection of Ken’s own deepest desires and dreams taken shape.

This image of Misaka wielded her cursed black blade with effortless skill and finesse, laying into Ken with blow after blow, a sequence of attacks that even Ken, in all his battle prowess, had difficulties parrying. Certainly she had not been this skilled when she’d died… but then, he supposed, this was not Misaka, but rather an idealized version of her born from Ken’s own memories. It would make sense that her abilities would be accordingly higher.

Ken parried a particularly fierce blow and sent Misaka flying back, a blow that left him shaken to the core as he stopped to catch his breath.

“Why are you assuming her form?!” Ken called out, both to the image of Misaka and to the Horizon which surrounded them.

“Because this is a realization, an actualization of your most sincere, deepest wish,” came the reply of Misaka’s image, who readied her blade once more and charged at Ken. “You wanted more than anything to see your sister again, but in order to prove your worth to the Horizon, you need to prove that you have the strength to surpass your own idealized self, to live on and fight in spite of your own greatest wish! For what greater joy is there than the knowledge that you are stronger than yourself?”

With those words, Misaka’s image laid into Ken with successive blows, pushing him back with the strength of her sword swings and the ferocity with which she wielded her blade. In spite of her strength, Ken realized, she still wasn’t as strong as him physically… so why was he having so much trouble against her? What was holding him back?

“What’s wrong, Ken?” Misaka’s image called out, as she sent him reeling with a blow that shattered his guard, leaving him wide open. “I thought my beloved big brother was better than this?”

She was right, Ken thought. He was better than this. But there was a certain something lurking behind his sphere of awareness, a mental block preventing him from reaching his fullest potential.

But as the image of Misaka readied herself for a decisive strike and time seemed to grind to a halt, it hit Ken like a bolt from the blue. What Ken needed wasn’t to surpass himself or move beyond Misaka’s memory. What he needed was to—

And as Misaka’s blade pierced Ken’s heart…

…he finally knew.

“What’s the matter?” came the confused words of Misaka’s image as she drove her cursed black blade through Ken’s chest. “Why didn’t you dodge? With your skills, you could have ended this long ago, or at the very least read and parried my attack. So why…?”

“Because…” sputtered Ken, blood spurting from his chest and dripping from his mouth, “I finally realized. I don’t need to… to surpass myself, or discard my past, or… or anything like that. I don’t need… to move on from Misaka’s memory… because she’s been here… the whole time. She’s… been watching over me, ever since… ever since her death. Your being here is… is proof enough, proof that Misaka has… has been in my heart all this time. So tha… thank you, Misaka… and thank you… me…”

As Ken sputtered out those last words and slumped to the ground, Misaka’s blade slipping out of his chest, the image of Misaka stood there, looking down at Ken’s lifeless body.

“You truly are as foolhardy as ever… brother.”

And with those words, the image of Misaka dissolved into particles of brilliant blue light, flowing in a stream towards Ken and entering his wound.

As long as Misaka was watching over him… he would not die.

One way or another… he would make it through all of this.

-

Beoblade’s return was met with great celebration. One of their own had made it to the Horizon and successfully gained power of a magnitude that defied the very definition of “power.”  With this, they were one step closer to being able to stand against Feldman when he returned.

Still, though, that was only one of them—two if you were to count Sigma—and Feldman would have his enhanced Boundary Aragami at his disposal. They would need more power—far, far more—should they want any sort of a chance in the coming war.

As the God Eater known as Ken stepped onto the elevator to take him to the roof of the Liverpool Branch, he did so with renewed determination and drive.

He knew, deep down, that he would come out of this war on top, that Misaka’s memory was always watching over him, that she would be there when he couldn’t stand up again.

And with the power she had granted him, he knew he would fly higher than ever, through the clouds so far away from where he once stood. He had come so far on his own power, and now he would go even further with Misaka by his side.

The opening of the elevator doors knocked Ken out of his stupor. He stepped forward, took in a deep breath of fresh Liverpool air—

“Time leaping… is that it?”

Before Ken stood the form of Sigma, standing at the center of the helipad.

“The power granted to you by the Horizon was the ability to leap back in time,” continued Sigma. “Everyone else is unaware, although I’d imagine Beoblade knows as well, but approximately fifteen minutes ago as far as I’ve been keeping track, you took this elevator up just as you did now, opened the doors, and walked straight out into the Horizon, where you must have passed the trial and been granted power. You must have activated it unconsciously, returning yourself to before you stepped onto the elevator. As far as everyone else here is concerned, you never left… but I know. I know you proved yourself, and I know that you now possess the ability to stand at our side and fight Feldman alongside us.”

Sigma extended his hand, with Ken returning it for a handshake.

“Welcome back, Ken,” came Sigma’s words.

“It’s good to be back, Ken replied.

Together, along with everyone else here, the time would soon come where they would stand together against Isaac Feldman… only now, they were one step closer to victory.

-

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