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Spring, a time of the year when the scenery around people starts to change from a pristine white to a vibrant green. The trees and plants that were dormant begin to slowly awaken, and then they blossom, showing their natural beauty.
For Gunvolt, the coming of spring was bittersweet. His clash with Eden turned out to be a long, grueling battle, with neither party being able to walk away as victors. The adept supremacist organization practically ceased to exist, since their Oracle, Zonda, was defeated by the Azure Striker, despite the odds being stacked against him. There were Eden grunts who managed to survive the raid on their fortress, but with their small numbers and non-existent Septimal prowess, the soldiers couldn’t do anything about the Garden’s destruction.
The blonde boy didn’t come out of the conflict the way he wanted to, either. As a result of Zonda’s actions, Joule, the person he cherished, disappeared, as a part of her became the new foundation for Mytyl, a girl who lost her memories after the battle between Copen and Gunvolt had concluded. With both of the boys being shocked at the memory loss, the blonde made a decision and chose to leave the girl in the adept slayer’s care.
Time went by as Gunvolt tried to accept the current reality of things. He even crossed paths with Mytyl one day as he was walking alongside Quinn. With the intent of letting her live her life blissfully unaware of the past, the Azure Striker merely wished her good luck and continued with his day.
Quinn was a blessing for Gunvolt in this tough period of his life. While not as emotionally draining as it was right after he dealt with Asimov back at the orbital elevator, the boy still had trouble facing the fact that Joule died for good. Quinn provided the adept with a routine life, which he was grateful for. However, this moment of peace wouldn’t last for very long…
It was evening as Gunvolt and Quinn were returning to their home. The two chatted about different things, with the recent topic being the girl’s school life. The blonde boy was enjoying the lighthearted atmosphere as they walked, but he felt a bit stressed internally, as he could sense his powers not being under perfect control.
“Something the matter, GV?” Quinn asked. “You don’t look well.”
“No, it’s nothing serious,” he replied. “It just feels like I’m not in full control of my body…”
“Well, maybe you’re simply affected by whatever nature's doing today? This morning, I read that some people might get affected and feel worse than usual.”
“I hope it’s just that… Alright, let’s continue heading to the mansion, this feeling might dissipate once we’re back home.”
And so the two decided to take a shortcut through one of the alleys in order to return faster. The sun was starting to set at this point, so it’d be best to get out of the narrow space quickly for Quinn’s safety. However, while they were in the middle of crossing the alley, the two encountered an unexpected person.
“Yo, Gunvolt, it’s about time we met.”
The boy tensed up, as the one who called him stepped out from a corner of the building. “Wait, you’re one of Eden’s grunts? But how, the Garden was in Tashkent…”
“Hah, it might’ve been a very long time while we were tailing you back to Japan, but in the end, we managed to reach you.” Once the soldier snapped his fingers, several other Eden mooks emerged, blocking off all the paths from the crossroad GV and Quinn had found themselves in. “Me and my comrades have studied your movements this past month so we could catch you without being able to escape effortlessly,” the grunt said, pointing at the blonde’s companion.
“Bastard…!” Gunvolt was angry with how resilient these grunts ended up being, going so far as to follow him all the way back home, just for revenge, while making sure Quinn ended up in the crossfire to prevent his escape. The mooks had their knives unsheathed, prepared to launch an attack, so he figured zapping them all would solve the issue, but the uneasiness about his powers only grew stronger, as he felt that the electricity wouldn’t behave how he would want it to. “What is it you want, my head for killing Zonda? If you’ll let her go unscathed, I’ll comply with whatever demands you have.”
“GV, you can’t be serious!” Quinn said.
“It’s alright, Quinn,” he whispered. “You get out of here, I’ll deal with them and catch up to you at the exit.”
“Hey, what’s with the hush-hush!? You better not do anything funny, or she’ll experience a world of pain.”
Once the blonde saw the girl do a small nod, he lowered himself on one knee and put his hands up in the air. “There, I’m surrendering. Let her go.”
“Hmm… Seems like he’s not faking it. Alright, Alpha-3, free the road up ahead.” GV started to slowly build up energy and waited for the right moment to retaliate, as Quinn almost passed the grunt that previously occupied one of the paths. Unfortunately, his anxiety from today didn’t end up being a mere scare. Sparks started to dance over his body unwillingly, and it was provocation enough for the grunts.
“Kyah…!!” The grunt with the codename Alpha-3 stabbed Quinn in the stomach, and the wound immediately started producing blood.
“Quinn!!!” He took aim at the assailant and released the charge, but to his horror, the attack ended up being a powerful electricity blast that grazed everyone in its range and produced intense light in the sky. Once it was over, GV frantically searched for the girl with his eyes, and spotted her on the ground, using the building’s wall to lean her back on. The blonde quickly ran up to her and used one of his hands to hold the girl up.
“Ah… There you are, GV…” Quinn said weakly. She was burned, gravely injured, with a pool of blood under her constantly becoming bigger.
“I’m so sorry, god, I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault…” Tears didn’t take long to form and stream down the boy’s face. The weather mirrored his emotional state, as the clouds appeared in the sky and it started raining heavily. “If only my powers didn’t betray my command, then-”
His cheek was grasped gently by the girl, cutting him off. “You blame yourself for a lot of things, and it’s a bad habit, you know…” Quinn mustered what little strength remained in her, and smiled at Gunvolt. “If this is how things have to end, then I don’t mind. If I had the choice between living out my entire life alone or spending so little of it with you keeping me company, I’d always choose the latter without hesitation…”
“Quinn, you…!”
The tearful farewell between the two was interrupted by the distant sounds of the police approaching the location where the lightning blast occurred. With the possibility of Sumeragi forces appearing here, the green-haired girl said her last words: “You need to get going, GV, or else you’ll be in trouble… I won’t be saying farewell to you, but instead, I hope we’ll meet again one day…”
Before he could say anything else, Quinn’s eyes closed peacefully, with a smile still on her face. Gunvolt held her body for a minute, letting out his sorrow without any restraint. When he was ready to let go, he leaned her back on the building’s wall and began walking away slowly. His vision was blurry from all the tears he wept, his breath ragged from the screams. With his entire body being soaked, getting sick would be a laughing matter, but that was the least of his worries right now. He left the alley the same way he came here, leaving behind the scorched grunts and the lifeless body of the person he cherished.
One day has passed since Gunvolt returned to Quinn’s mansion after the incident. With a foggy head, he tried to think over his options of dealing with his “awakened” powers and came up with nothing else other than doing the one thing he wouldn’t stomach ever doing: surrendering to Sumeragi. He was no stranger to the technology they used, Glaives, to restrict Septima usage of those who worked for the conglomerate. Other countries knew of those inventions and desired them strongly, but due to Sumeragi’s policy of not disclosing their secrets, Japan has earned itself numerous foes looking to seize the technology at a good opportunity. That much the blonde learned from Nova during their clash.
“Damn it…!” GV punched the wall of his room while grinding his teeth. The Azure Striker was at least glad that the berserk electricity didn’t wipe out the mansion while he was here, as it only left some small scorch marks in the lobby and in the bedroom. Lightning danced over his body in surges, reminding him that the issue won’t go away by itself, and that inaction might lead to further consequences.
“I guess there really is no way out of this… I have to surrender to avoid any other casualties.” He did a long sigh after punching the wall to recompose himself, and started to gather all of his equipment: the black armor that Xiao gave him to use against Eden, the Dart Leader and the hair clip he’s been using ever since he joined Quill, the pendant Joule gave him and lastly, a black ribbon that was given to Gunvolt by Quinn. He almost teared up at seeing it, but held himself steady and tied the gift around his hand. With everything ready, the blonde didn’t waste any more time and left behind the mansion, just like how he did with the apartment Quill provided him in the past.
The goal and the destination were crystal clear to Gunvolt. The main Sumeragi building stood tall over everything else, with the holographic wings displaying the conglomerate in all its glory at night. Because of this, it didn’t take long to reach the entrance, and sure enough, soldiers were standing there with their weapons. The adept was hidden away from their line of sight, but that’d change in a minute. After going through the plan on how he’d act several times in his head, GV left his cover and started approaching the guards slowly.
Once the Sumeragi soldiers took notice of the blonde, they quickly aimed their weapons at the target. That’s when their commander spoke: “Well look who it is… Gunvolt himself! To what do we owe your appearance here, terrorist?”
“I came to surrender.” To show that those weren’t empty words, he raised both of his hands in the sky and sat down on his knees, waiting for events to proceed.
“Hahaha!! Now ain’t that hilarious, crew! He just decided to show up and declared that he’s surrendering, pfft.” Then the commander’s voice turned serious. “I don’t believe the guy, shoot him down.”
Having anticipated this, Gunvolt remained in place and started expending his energy to Prevade the numerous laser shots, waiting for the soldiers to notice his idleness.
“Uh, cap? This guy could’ve just wiped the floor with us already, and yet he’s staying there while we’re firing at him,” one of the younger grunts said. The others listened to their coworker and came to the same conclusion. “Maybe he’s being serious with the claim?”
“Hmm… Aight, men, cease fire for now.” The soldiers did as instructed and were on standby. The commander was deep in thought as he looked up and down the adept’s body. Streaks of lightning could be seen flickering all over the armor, but the Azure Striker himself was passive in the position that looked like submitting.
After a few moments, the squad’s leader turned on his communication device and waited for the person on the other end to enter the call. Once that was successful, he relayed the current situation with Gunvolt and asked for further instructions. After receiving them and ending the call, the commander urged the others to follow him and walked up to the adept. “If you're serious about surrendering, the first thing I’ll tell you to do is remove all weapons you have now.” Gunvolt complied immediately, taking out the Dart Leader and hurling it away from himself, as one of the grunts picked it up. “Good, we’ll remove that armor of yours and any other unnecessary things inside. For now, follow me and my men, and don’t try anything funny. It’s hard enough to understand whether or not you’re prepared to engage in combat, what with all the lightning surges all over you.”
The blonde was directly behind the man as they started moving, and the rest of the soldiers surrounded the Azure Striker from both sides, as the formation headed into the Sumeragi building.
The interior has undergone few changes since Gunvolt’s escape from here. The walls, the ceiling, and the floor all had various degrees of white in them, while also having lines with pulses of blue that traveled from one destination to another. The futuristic view certainly gives an impression for first time visitors, but it becomes a common sight for the workers.
The adept was led to the seventh floor of the building, where he was quickly escorted to one of the largest labs here. The commander of the division stopped near the gate door and made a few inputs on the console. Once the system verified his actions, the gate door opened and Gunvolt was told to head inside. As he did so, the blonde saw what looked like a researcher in his late thirties, sporting short brown hair and hazel eyes behind the glasses.
“Thank you for bringing the Azure Striker in with haste,” the man said. “I’ll make sure to notify the higher-ups so you can get rewarded for your work. You may return to your duties.” The commander saluted his senior and began going back outside with his division, leaving Gunvolt and the researcher alone. “Now that it’s just the two of us, I’ll start with introducing myself. I’m Magnus Grey, one of the lead researchers of Sumeragi. I’ll be working with you on the condition you’re experiencing currently. First of all, recount everything you’ve lived through recently, see if anything stands out and is worth mentioning.”
The Azure Striker began thinking back on his days after the Eden conflict had been resolved, but couldn’t remember anything peculiar happening with him other than the day of the incident. “The only thing that seems to be of importance is that I felt uneasy about my Septima the day my powers went berserk. I engaged in a fight and the electricity disobeyed my commands.”
Magnus was taking notes of the commentary, giving a nod once Gunvolt finished. “I see. Not much to go on, but better than nothing, I suppose.” The researcher sighed and continued talking. “Berserk Septimas aren’t anything new to us, what with Sumeragi being involved with adepts front and center and making transplants at the experimentation labs. But those cases are different from yours, since they always revolve around incompatibility of a user with a Septima in question. You showed the best results during Project Gunvolt, and your powers behaved just fine up until recently, which means that there’s some unknown factor at play that appeared and started influencing your Septima, making it disobey your command.”
“An unknown factor…? Then…?” This information didn’t bode well with Gunvolt, as he considered the possibility of Sumeragi being unable to solve his issue, even with the vast resources they have.
“While it’s impossible for me to tell the reason for your rampant powers currently, you don’t need to worry about causing destruction. Glaives can suppress your overflowing Azure Striker, and in the meantime, the research team can study your Septima. Once the solution is found, you’ll be back to normal.”
“And what’s the catch?” the blonde asked. He knew that the Glaives’ users received several burdens, one of which was being unable to freely use your abilities, only when you were given permission by one of Sumeragi’s higher-ups.
“Nothing you don’t know already, young man. You’ll be relocated to S-FIT, a facility we have recently managed to rebuild, and you will be placed in a special room, where you’ll be under surveillance by the scientists. You’re aware that the Glaive users are essentially chess pieces for Sumeragi to use, and you’re no different. Once the solution to your issue is found, you’ll be treated back to normal and then you will swear allegiance to Sumeragi as a form of payment. Though I suppose you having another burden due to your predicament should be mentioned.” Magnus pushed his glasses up a bit and his expression became serious. “An ordinary officer can drop out of the Glaive contract with Sumeragi anytime, but you will be forced to work for us for as much time as it takes to treat your condition. So, if it took 3 years, then you would have to serve us for the same period of time.”
“Sounds bad, but I don’t have a say in this matter, since it’s either this or I eventually end up leveling a city or worse…” Gunvolt mulled over everything he’s heard and decided that this was the best chance for him to return to normal. “I accept the conditions, Magnus.”
“That’s good to hear. I will make preparations for your transfer now.” The researcher took out some sort of device and dialed one of the numbers. 10 seconds passed and a hologram of a man appeared, who wore clothing similar to Nova’s and had a blue flower placed on his chest. “Corvette, do you read? We need to transfer the Azure Striker to the Futures Institute, so I need you to arrive quickly to start the procedure.”
The holographic person winced and started sweating, stuttering during his response. “T-the Azure Striker, sir!? Transfer!? V-very well, I will gather a team to e-e-escort him. We will be there to pick him up in l-less than 15 minutes.” With that, the panicky man excused himself and finished the call.
Sumeragi Futures Institute of Technology, more commonly known as S-FIT, was in a secluded area, so it took a fair amount of time for Gunvolt to be relocated here. The scenery here was a breathtaking sight, with several rivers flowing around the facility Sumeragi prided itself on before an incident that burned it down occurred. The conglomerate’s efforts to rebuild the place were successful, and now S-FIT would be used to contain the Azure Striker.
Gunvolt was escorted to an incredibly spacious room where the lights were maintained by the scientists. Before him was a marked area, around which 8 of the Glaives laid passively. They, along with the restraint uniform the blonde was currently wearing, would ensure that his Septima output would be rendered null and void. “The fog and the surroundings really make it feel like a graveyard of sorts…”
Behind the blonde were Magnus and Corvette, the latter scratching his chin and humming quietly by a force of habit. Magnus was skimming through the data on his tablet and raised his head upon finishing. “Preparations are complete. Once you step forth into the circle, the Glaives will activate and drain your Azure Striker. Since it’s your first time experiencing this and the energy drain will be higher than usual, I’ll give a warning that you might feel very dazed, maybe even see hallucinations for a short period of time.” Gunvolt made a small nod, and Magnus continued. “One last thing to mention. During your stay here, your mind will be put in a state of stasis. The scientists will ensure that your body receives necessary nutrients. As for why the stasis is needed, it’s to prevent your powers from growing even more violent.”
“How would that help me?” Gunvolt asked.
“You might know this, but Septimas can be influenced to a great extent if the user experiences a very strong feeling, because an adept’s powers are directly linked to his soul. Isolation can be considered as an extreme feeling, and in your case, you’ll be by yourself nearly all the time you’re awake. Prolonged lack of exposure to any form of human contact is known to cause an enormous list of mental issues, and those end up turning a person insane given enough time. Naturally, Septimas would be at the peak of their destructive capabilities if their users suffered insanity. And with your Azure Striker… I wouldn’t be surprised at it leveling a city or even a country if you were afflicted.”
“I see, that makes sense.”
“While you’re in stasis, your sense of time will cease existing completely. Periods of time when you’re awake will also feel much different, since your thought processes will be considerably slowed down. These measures won’t be enough to completely prevent your mental condition from worsening over the course of time, but they’ll at least prevent the damage from being too severe. So then, Gunvolt, are you ready?”
“Yes,” he replied. The blonde takes a few steps and stops at the circle. He sits down on his knees, with his hands behind his back, and waits. A few moments later, the Glaives activate and start containing his Septima. A sudden jolt made his body convulse a few times and his mind took some time to return to a relaxed state. Now, the teen had eight Glaives gently floating around him that exuded blue.
“Sir, the sealing equipment is working flawlessly,” Corvette remarked.
“Excellent. With this, we can leave him here and start monitoring the situation from outside.” Magnus tried to think of parting words to say to the adept, but he could only give a professional farewell. “I hope that your issue gets resolved and we can meet again under better circumstances. Until then, take care, Gunvolt.”
Gunvolt tried to reply, but his mouth wouldn’t open. Thinking that his sentiment would be understood anyway, the teen makes himself as relaxed as possible in this state, and once the traces of Magnus and Corvette are gone, he attempts to drift off to sleep while dwelling on his life. “With me here, I won’t be able to cause any more chaos. Many people suffered because of me: Lumen, Zeno, Moniqa, Quinn and the others… I wish things could’ve gone differently back then, that I could do something different and prevent mistakes that I’ve made, but the current reality is just something I’ll have to learn to live with. At least now, no one else will suffer because of me…”
-- 3 years later --
Magnus and the other researchers were occupied with the enormous amounts of work they had to do in record time. The study of Gunvolt’s Septima showed its fruits of labor, but unfortunately they weren’t able to produce any sensible solutions to his predicament yet. Everything was purely hypothetical with barely any shred of data to back up their theories. Meanwhile, Gunvolt himself underwent drastic changes: his body was now fully covered with some kind of white armor, with streaks of blue adorning it. His head was hidden by a helmet that bore the same traits as the armor, leaving only the ponytail exposed. The advancement of his powers, even if slow, made the researchers feel anxious. The Glaives were managing to do their job, but that could change easily in a matter of several months.
The brown-haired researcher was sipping his 7th cup of coffee while looking over various papers, a rarity for him. “I remember doctor Kamizono and his colleagues being in a state of distress similar to ours while they were studying ways of suppressing Septima. He was chugging down those cups like they’d be his last…” Magnus was one of the two assistants Kamizono had back then, but due to being sick, he had to miss out on monitoring Takefutsu. That day, he thanked himself for being prone to sickness, or else the researcher would be on the other side. Now he’s got a legacy to uphold.
“Dr. Magnus, please take a look at this,” one of the female scientists said, handing over a tablet that showed several diagrams. It was data gathered from the recent appearance of berserk adepts. The phenomenon mirrored the first sightings of people with Septimas.
“I see, thank you.” He stood up from his seat and started thinking about his options. From the general info he gathered, the situation was possible to be contained by Sumeragi, not letting the public catch wind of it and fall into panic. However, some data readings were unordinary and pointed at things the Sumeragi researchers couldn’t understand right now. “Hmm, perhaps it’d be for the best if the higher-ups reached out to Shadow Yakumo so that we could cooperate in handling this phenomenon. While the sister organization specializes mostly in lower levels of the Lifewave, they’re also the ones behind Binding Brands, which served as a base for the Glaives we use today. They could look into Gunvolt’s condition, as well. I initially thought he was key in berserk adepts’ appearance, but he’d only started changing a month ago, and from what little conversation I had with him, his behavior had no signs like the ones the berserk adepts displayed.”
The more information the researchers got, the more questions they were left with after going through the new data. A frustrating experience with seemingly no end. Magnus made a deep sigh and raised his head. “I shouldn’t be doom theorizing, but something tells me our country might face a crisis unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. I can only pray we are able to make it through to the end safely.”