For the record, "Summer Flower" refers to Alex (i.e. the protagonist slash narrator). And I've no idea why... I'll come up with something.
This could be because I unconsciously aimed to make something like that old-ass fic from Matt, where he put a whimsical title in a story dealing with a murder. (Late arrival spoiler: no one actually died. He really got us good that time.) So basically, a totally misleading title, intended to be misleading. Yeah. That's it, probably, or maybe I just had this two months in my phone waiting to be posted and couldn't be assed to come up with a better title the time I got around to post it. But don't tell that to anyone.
It's probably that, considering it is not particularly darker than any of my other stories (for the time being). But then, I'm no writer, I'm just a dude who has way too much free time, so who says it's gonna work? Certainly not I.
Anyway, if you're here you probably want to read some fanfic, not hear some random guy rambling. So here goes it:
Bonus: there's a reference in there to a certain Disney movie. It was a heat of the moment thing, adding it. Props to you if you find it. it's almost word for word anyway, you're bad at writing references Fuck off, me.
"Never take your eyes off the enemy."
I have only recently been accepted into the ranks of the God Eaters, and I already have a record on the history of our force. I am the first God Eater who will be trained in the field by both her parents.
It... has upsides and downsides. I mean, the fact that both of them have lived long enough to teach their child how to be an efficient God Eater speaks volumes about their skill at doing this job, but... well, they're my parents too, y'know? And them being, like, a million times better than I am in my job? Yeeeaaahhh, that's totally embarassing.
The ride to the destination is quiet... as quiet as can be while traveling with dad, at any rate. No Aragami dare to attack us, for whatever reason, and we are soon enough near the target. Today I got to be with dad, as I mentioned; mom's busy or something, I don't know nor care to be honest. As long as I get to see her at the end of the day, I'm good.
We take both our Arcs off their cases and approach one of the intended targets: a Vajra. Dad told me that his first target ever was an Ogretail - can you imagine it? Those things are widely considered pests now, and even I, a recruit fresh off the compatibility test, am expected to be able to deal with many of them at once.
Actually, that's not all truth. It is in part; Aragami evolution has led to more dangerous forms bred over the years, and what was once dangerous for most is now another species to keep up the pace with. But I'm weird. I happen to be a proud owner of a 4th generation God Arc. While not introducing anything new to the field other than a few fancy types of melee and ranged weapons (though I got the bog-standard Long-Assault-Buckler setup), the fact that their Bias Factor increases both God Eater and weapon efficiency by a hundred percent was deemed more than good enough to mass-produce them.
Or it would have, had it not been also demonstrated that their compatibility rates are ridiculously low, as in a couple thousand times lower chances of someone being compatible with them than a third Gen, or something like that. As it stands, you can probably count the number of fourth Gen-wielding God Eaters around the world with the fingers in your hands, and the prototype fourth Generation of God Arcs was officially considered a bust, shelved and never spoken of again. Overkill? Yeah, you bet. Happily, I just happen to be one of the lucky matches.
That's lucky, actually. The mortality rate of God Eaters is augmenting, and only through increased amounts of them being accepted in the field are the numbers kept somewhat constant. Before, people with not so high chances of being matched weren't accepted to take the Aptitude Test; now, people with somewhat low chances are offered the possibility to take it and are well informed of the risks it entails... and since most people are impoverished, they don't mind the risks.
Theoretically, I shouldn't know any of this. No one outside Fenrir's top dogs should. But dad's got contacts, and he pulled some strings (and paid a lot of money) to find out why the first mission had a couple Vajra as the targets rather than a few Aragami of a more manageable variety. And he got some extra info from his contact... benefits from being old acquaintaince of his, he said. Oddly, he afterwards commented that "she probably charged me for that, though. I'll see see through one day". Even more oddly, aunt Nia winced after he said that. There's probably a pun hidden there I can't figure out.
Despite everything, however, dad can more than keep up with me. He never quite told me the story regarding what exactly makes him so special, but aunt Nia (who's probably got the same) said it's because of some incident on Antarctica some good twenty or thirty years ago. Whatever the cause, I've seen official Fenrir videos of him tearing Aragami apart with ease, even the really big ones.
When I asked aunt Nia why she doesn't appear in any if she's just like dad, she just laughed and commented something along the lines of "I'd rather keep silent and do things quiet. Your dad is the more... dramatic of the two, and I'm fairly certain you know that".
Shame is, he's made some studies and it turns out that I am completely void of anything like that. It would have helped me a lot, certainly, but he seems to be happy that I am normal, even though I've yet to see him complain once about his... condition, for lack of a better term.
But then again, that's dad in a nutshell. A weird-ass flippant son of a bitch who's got the killer combination of a huge ego, a dramatic streak a mile wide and the raw skill and talent to back those up. Honestly, I can't fathom how mom hooked up with him, let alone how they've managed to stay together for like twenty years.
At any rate, dad and I grab our Arcs and observe the Vajra. I whisper to him, so as to not alert the nearby Aragami.
-I suppose it's too much to ask you to be one of those laid back, hands-off-approach kinda teachers?
-Didn't get the memo, did you? - He sighs. - You're my daughter, Alex. I hardly think you have missed that teensy-weensy but ever so crucial little thing. - I wonder if that sort of just rolled off his tongue or something. - I'd be hard pressed to just let you go fight what was considered a dangerous Aragami back in my day.
Oh, how he loves playing the part of an old man who's tired of everyone's shit. If only the act lasted more than ten seconds before he went back to his usual sarcastic persona, I might even believe he actually thinks himself old. But as it stands...
-Dad, this is still your day, you know? - I turn around to look at him. - You are still active, after all.
-Right, right, like I could ever forget that. So anyway... today's lesson. - Suddenly I hear a Vajra roar right alongside us. - Never take your eyes off the enemy. - He punches the beast, his arm destroying one of the Aragami's eyes. - Or you may never know when they're getting the drop on you. And, you know, that's a killer in this line of work. - Evidently inspired by his latest pun, he turns around to face the Aragami. - Geez, what happened to you? It's like you didn't even see that coming.
He then turns to face me once more, an almost cartoonish grin in his face.
-See what I did there?
Oh god.