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The first thing Elfnein noticed was just how warm it was in her room. The heat of summer was starting to become overbearing, and she should probably get up to crack a window, but she couldn’t deny how comfortable she was. Unconsciousness came to invite her back into the dark as the smell of smoke filled her nose…
…wait, smoke?
Elfnein’s eyes snapped open, her small body doing its best to ignore the exhaustion weighing it down as she stood up. As she looked around, two thoughts crossed her mind in rapid succession. This wasn’t headquarters, and Hibiki’s unconscious…
Oh. Hibiki’s unconscious.
Elfnein’s eyes widened in horror as the urgency of their situation sunk in. Rushing over to her side, Elfnein did her best to check her vitals, trying to ignore the smell of smoke and charring bodies as she worked. Shuddering breaths and the sound of wood crackling in fire was all that filled the room.
And yet the sound of Hibiki’s beating heart was even louder.
She wasn’t dead.
Yet.
But she would be – they both would be – if they stayed in here for any longer. Cursing Carol for her small body for the first and last time, Elfnein hiked Hibiki’s upper body onto her shoulders. It wasn’t the most graceful thing, and it was bound to cause issues down the line, but for now, it worked. All the while, Elfnein was wracking her brain in an attempt to remember anything about the current state of events.
Think, Elfnein, think… how did we end up here…?
-
“I was kidnapped.”
For what it was worth, Elfnein was used to confined spaces.
With her occasional clumsiness and Carol’s temperament, she was bound to get punished in one way or another. She was never kept in the locked room for very long, but it happened enough times that she’d unfortunately grown accustomed to them.
Maybe that’s why her lab had so many files stacked up beside her…
She could tell one thing right away - this most definitely was not her room. This place smelled of mold, and as untidy as her room may get, she made sure that mold had no foothold in it at, the very least.
She tried everything she could think of to undo the shackles binding her wrists, but without so much as a lockpick, there was little she could do for herself except bruise her wrists.
Slumping to the floor as much as the shackles would permit, Elfnein grimaced. The similarities to the Shem-ha incident were striking. Kidnapped, unable to help herself, hoping against all odds that someone would come to her rescue.
Again.
“Why…? Why do I always need saving…?”
Was this all she was good for? Fixing things and getting—
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Elfnein’s train of thought came to a screeching halt as a series of explosions rattled the building, debris shaking free from the roof. For a brief moment, it stopped. Elfnein remained tentatively still.
And then the door to Elfnein’s room exploded, and in its place stood—
“Hibiki-san!”
There was a blur of movement – the shackles holding Elfnein to the wall disappeared with a loud clang. Next thing she knew, she was in Hibiki’s arms as the Adaptor began retracing her steps out. The path was littered with unconscious robed bodies.
There was little doubt in Elfnein’s mind who kidnapped her now.
“A Bavarian Illuminati remnant cell…” Elfnein muttered under her breath. It was no secret that the body she inhabited was once one of Carol’s spare bodies. It’d been an unspoken fear amongst S.O.N.G. that this may happen eventually – an attempt to reverse engineer how Carol made her spare bodies. She’d been incredibly protective of the knowledge from the very start.
Now that she was out of the picture… Elfnein shivered in Hibiki’s arms. In response, Hibiki hugged her tighter.
“You’re going to be okay, Elfnein-chan. Everyone came running the moment they heard you were missing. They’d be here with me, but…” Hibiki trailed off. Where there were Alchemists, there was bound to be…
“Alca-Noise?”
“Yeah. Lots of them. But I promise, I’ll get you out of here, safe and sou—”
An explosion rocked the room. Elfnein felt herself being flung from Hibiki’s arms. And then, the world went black.
-
“Hibiki-san! Hibiki-san, please, wake up!” Despite her best efforts, it was becoming increasingly obvious to Elfnein that her short stature was proving to be too much of an obstacle. Despite her lean appearance, Hibiki was heavy. Maybe someone like Tsubasa or Maria could carry her without any trouble, but as it was…
Compounding matters, Elfnein felt herself starting to overheat. No person – artificial or otherwise – was ever supposed to withstand this amount of heat. Forcing herself to continue on like this would lead to certain death, but so would pausing for much longer.
A hellacious catch-22. Probably Dr. Ver’s idea of a good time—
Elfnein paused. Just barely in earshot, there was a sound. Not the sound of fire, or construction collapsing, or the glorious sound of someone appearing to save them…
Squelch. Squelch. Squelch.
Her eyes widened as she slowly looked up. Despite the overwhelming inferno surrounding her, a chill went up her spine as the worst-case scenario approached.
“Oh no...” Elfnein’s hands instinctively clutched at her chest as an Alca-Noise stepped through the blaze. Wreathed in flames, it took slow steps towards them, its green eye focused on them the entire time.
Scrambling, Elfnein yanked Hibiki forward in an attempt to get the wielder onto her shoulders, but the sudden shifting of weight caused them both to fall forward. There was a brief moment of struggle, but exhaustion was catching up to her. Tears welled up in her eyes as she watched the Noise approach, step by step…
“No… please… Maria! Tsubasa! Carol…! Anyone!” Elfnein screamed, desperation and smoke making her throat raw.
The world went quiet.
And then…
Nothing.
No one came. No one was going to come in time. For all intents and purposes, the only three beings that existed in the world right now were herself, Hibiki, and the Alca-Noise.
Reality sank in, and with it came a burst of adrenaline. Elfnein found the strength to lift Hibiki from her position on top of her, somehow managing to dodge the Alca-Noise as it struck out through some sort of – oh to say Carol’s name and then say the M word – miracle. There wasn’t time to look back as she charged up the closest flight of stairs, barging down the closest door using Hibiki’s back as a makeshift battering ram.
Not that it was much better than where they’d started. The smoke wasn’t as thick, making the risk of inhalation smaller, but it wasn’t zero. She slammed the door shut, desperate for anything to make distance between them and the Noise.
Making matters worse, all of the exits were inaccessible in one way or another. Some collapsed in from the explosions from earlier, others blocked by smoke and fire. With the amount of smoke that Hibiki had to have inhaled by now, even if she were to miraculously wake up, Elfnein wasn’t sure if she’d be able to summon Gungnir.
They were running out of time. The longer they remained still, the more the fire encroached on them, the closer the Alca-Noise got—
But that was the issue. There was nowhere for them to go, bar…
Elfnein’s gaze slowly lifted towards the roof.
“Upwards.” Elfnein whispered to herself. This— this was their chance. But how? Hibiki was still unconscious, Gungnir probably unusable, and unless one of the others found them, there was nothing on them that could help—
Elfnein’s train of thought paused.
Nothing on them.
There was…
Tentatively, Elfnein outstretched an arm. This was their only chance for them to escape alive.
…and nothing happened. The muffled sound of metal crunching came from outside the room. Something— something was coming.
Elfnein retracted her arm. No. No, this can’t be happening, not now. She stretched her arm out again, more assertively.
And again, nothing.
That unformortably familiar squelch filled the room as the Alca-Noise reared its ugly face. Panic shot through Elfnein’s veins, the taste of smoke beginning to become overwhelming as the door collapsed and turned to ash.
“No… no, please! Please! I can’t— I can’t fail them again!” Elfnein’s yell echoed off the concrete walls as she scrunched her eyes shut.
Is… is this how we die?
Elfnein collapsed to her knees as she sobbed.
I… I don’t…!
“I DON’T WANT TO DIE!” Elfnein thrust her arm out as she screamed.
A flash of reddish-purple illuminated the relative darkness. Slowly, ever so slowly, it was pulled from its place and into her hands. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears as she held it in her hands. It felt heavier than she remembered. Gently stroking its side, Elfnein couldn’t help the name that quietly slipped from her lips.
“Carol…” Elfnein grit her teeth, shaking the tears out of her eyes.
No. There’s no time for that. Not now.
And so, Elfnein strummed Dur Da Bla. The harp came to life, shooting up and above Elfnein as it transformed, strings entwining around her small frame as the Relic responded to its master’s call.
A barely constrained power rushed through her body, up through her feet, into her chest, and out through her fingertips. She could feel each element pulse through her veins. Earth, fire, water, wind, and silver… all at her command. It felt oddly nostalgic, and yet totally alien.
Moments later, as the light faded, Elfnein felt her feet touch the floor once more. Her hands were shaking, her entire body was shaking, unaccustomed to the sheer power that Dur Da Bla provided. Powering through it, she lifted Hibiki into her arms. She couldn’t help but notice the contrast of how easily she was able to lift her now. It would’ve been funny, had it not been such dire circumstances.
But there was no time to dwell on that. The only thing that she’d done up to this point is put distance between them and the Alca-Noise, and that distance was practically nil now.
Elfenin glared at the collapsed doorway, a dozen green eyes glaring straight back. It wasn’t just one Alca-Noise anymore – it was an entire horde.
With the way the building was shaken by that explosion… this entire compound’s stock of Alca-Noise containers had probably burst by now. And they were stuck inside with them.
But not for long. Not if Elfnein had a say in the matter.
Instantly, Elfnein slung Hibiki over her shoulder and jumped back from the doorway, putting as much distance between them and the horde as possible. Thrusting her hands forward, she began channeling power into Dur Da Bla.
Normally, due to the law of equivalent exchange, what Elfnein had planned would require some sort of sacrifice. The most common to use was the burning of memories. They were readily available, after all.
But when you’re surrounded by an element already…
“I promise you, Hibiki… I’ll get you out of here, safe and sound.” Elfnein muttered under her breath as all of the nearby fire vanished, being channeled into the Aristotle Octave in front of her.
She fired. Her entire frame shook, the sheer power of alchemy wreaking havoc upon her small frame. The horde in front of her atomized immediately, as did most of the compound behind them, the sheer heat of the fire tearing through rebar and concrete alike.
There was a brief pause.
And then, aiming upwards, Elfnein let loose once more, albeit she held back a little. Wouldn’t want to accidentally scorch one of the Adaptors on the off chance they were looking for them right now, after all.
Plus, shamed as she was to admit it, she couldn’t handle using that much power again. A wave of nausea was threatening to overspill even doing something as little as this. How Carol managed what she did with this body was beyond her.
Elfnein shook her head, world spinning along with it, as she lightly took off towards the now broken ceiling.
For a while, nothing but the sound of concrete shattering and deflecting off the barriers Elfnein set-up using excess heat filled the silence. Elfnein was no master of alchemy like Carol was – even the slightest slip up and—
“Carol…chan?”
A weak voice broke Elfnein’s concentration.
A very familiar voice.
“Hibiki-san!” Elfnein shouted, the stream of fire shooting farther and hotter than she’d intended.
But the light of the mid-afternoon sky made the temporary lapse in control all worth it.
For a moment, Elfnein couldn’t help but pause.
They were out.
They were safe.
Their landing was not graceful as Elfnein collapsed to her knees, barely keeping herself upright with her arms. Beside her, Hibiki’s body landed with a light thump. Dur Da Bla faded from her form as she took deep, shuddering breaths, desperate to fill her lungs with something other than smoke.
She felt something grab her hand.
“Elfnein…chan… thank… you.”
It was the weakest that Elfnein had ever heard Hibiki’s voice be. But she was smiling, and Elfnein couldn’t help but smile back.
“It… it was a miracle.” She collapsed onto Hibiki’s stomach, tears threatening to spill over any second now. The adrenaline was fading. She was fading, and the darkness came to extend its invitation once more.
But this time, it was to the smell of fresh air and the sound of Hibiki’s beating heart.