Chapter Text
There's a lot to be skeptical about in this world, which is why I'm no longer surprised to meet so many people who don't really believe in anything. I prefer to believe that the Lord has a way prepared for us.
.Mari
Recommended Song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay3PmxZJthk)
Chapter 1.
At the edge of the world.
—Who's there?
Nelly turned around taking out her light weapon, and carrying it noisily she walked down the dark and degraded corridor, each step felt unusual, and despite the fact that each step caused her uncontrollable nausea she continued, she had to continue, she did not understand, but she had to continue that was the only thing that filled her head. After a couple of hours, he arrived at a staircase that when he got closer, he noticed how long it was.
—Two, Four, Twelve, Twenty, there can't be less than fifty floors here.
It was there that a roar was heard, one that Nelly had never heard and with terror in her legs she ran upstairs, she continued without stopping, even if her legs hurt, even if she was out of breath, the roar reminded her, she could not stop, a few floors from what seemed to be the limit she heard it, The roar came exactly from below, even without turning around he felt the echoes of thousands of pangs in the concrete, going up, reaching her, and when he reached the top floor he saw a door, he forcefully attacked it, first he tried to open it, then he tried to push it with his weight, and after a few attempts he finally kicked it with all his strength and despite the continuous leg pain, By the time the frame gave way he felt that thing being closer, running inside and looking for a place to hide he entered an adjoining room, he placed himself against the door and waited, waited longer than his legs could stand, longer than his will could take.
After a long time the rumbling was alleged again and Nelly with great fear opened her eyes, it was then that she noticed that she was in front of her, a girl, or at least that was what her dark silhouette looked like, that she knew, she felt it, she was looking for her, getting closer she managed to see her better, a short skirt, a sailor dungarees, and short hair, it was there that she opened her mouth, ready to speak when I rumble at her, with the same terrifying roar, but without the footsteps, when she noticed that she was falling on the floor, the girl tried to reach her, but her short height did not allow her anything.
—Damn! No, not like that!
Fighting against gravity itself, Nelly lashed out her wings, crushing herself against the wall, trying to climb, trying to hold on to something, but there was nothing, no hope when she slipped, when she slammed into the wall and fell silent.
—Ah! no. I.
Nelly opened her eyes again, the fear, dread and terror vanished, but the urgency remained, she still needed to go for the girl, sitting down to breathe better she understood one thing, the terror was only for a nightmare, one that she had already had before, multiple times for almost a month and they all ended the same, but he always remembered it, like no other nightmare or dream, looking around him he noticed how sweaty his stretcher and pillow were, after hanging the pillow he took his clothes, the last was his jacket, the last of the belongings of his academy, of which he no longer remembered the name, it didn't matter, like the cords on the sleeves that were once blue as night, Like her already plumb cloth that was once white, and her symbol on the back that was once marked, was now nothing more than a stain of a slightly darker shade than the rest of the fabric, the little she had left was the bracelet of a dark blue, she never remembered why it was, nor has she ever put it back on since her sister found her, and this time it would be no different.
After putting on the jacket Nelly went out of her room to a dark house, barely lit by dim red lights, the old hangar could barely make a corridor for two people, the rest was space for the rooms, rooms, homes for the families, in hangar seven they barely had space, and only couples with young children had the right to the older ones, built with planks, tarpaulins and whatever was at hand, or whatever the Stokers brought from outside, after all, this hangar was one of the first lines of defense of the city, and the armored doors proved it.
As she walked, Nelly managed to see her place, arriving a few minutes early at her post, she simply greeted her companions and sat behind a barricade, in front of a twenty-caliber machine gun, powerful enough to cause real damage to anything that enters without permission, no matter who or what they were.
—Hello Nelly!
—Nestor? You know you can't be here so--— cutting off her words Nelly noticed how her old friend came with cables, more than he could carry alone, her friend a small “dog” as her sister said they were called, their breed was not very big, nor very resistant, that's why none of the non-“Students” as others called them could be near the entrances, or the surface, it was too much risk for them.
—I'm sorry, we're just going to prepare a couple of things for the troops to come.
—Who's coming? —They didn't tell me.
—Ha! Surely, they didn't call you a rat without a sense of smell.
—Hey! Be serious.
—Well, well, team five is coming, and a recon, didn't they really tell you?
Nelly sat down in her chair and looked at the ceiling trying to remember, and although she tried, she only found a meeting, to which she did not pay much attention, she only remembered something about them going out to explore, so, giving up she looked at her friend and simply shook her head —I really think they mentioned it.
—Hah, you never change eh, since you were little, you've been like that, are you sure they didn't hit your head when you were little?
Laughing Nelly repositioned herself and got ready, minutes later more people arrived, each one carrying a different kind of supplies, when suddenly the alarms sounded, and Nelly got ready, partially covering her view of the wings of her head she took the cannon and prepared it, she felt how those who were carrying the things got behind her, or at least the closest ones.
When the floodgates came down, she saw it, a car or so it seemed, only that it had no wheels, and it had a cannon on a metal tower, with two huge protrusions on its sides and something that seemed to be watching it, because it was aimed directly at it. From one second to the next he heard a huge roar, and that thing began to move, he saw how the things he had on wheels turned and the mesh of plates turned with it, for each meter that he advanced the space around him trembled more and more, until the doors began to close and the —car— stopped. When a gate opened above him and someone came out with his arms up.
—Sorry, but we didn't want to risk going out any other way, do you like it?
—Not me, it's very noisy —said another girl coming out of another gate on the roof of the tower, leaving everyone dumbfounded, because that “car” came from outside, working and apparently because of the scratches it had on some sides, it had fought.
—Come on, there's not much time —said a girl that Nelly hadn't seen, she was sitting on some sandbags near the entrance, clearly she didn't get into the “car”, but what caught her attention the most was the appearance of the girl, because she was only wearing a black poncho on her body, or at least that's what it seemed because it covered her from her chin to her knees and a little lower if you counted the tears she had, and another thing she noticed with surprise was the bag that was next to her, black and large almost as big as her. It was at that moment that the girl got up and Nelly noticed with amazement what she had on her head, a headband with what seemed to be two plates similar to the ears of the ancient rabbits that appeared in an animal book that her sister was able to get her when she was still little.
It was at that time that a familiar voice resounded through the place —Welcome team Five, it's a pleasure to have you here —it was his sister, her beautiful silver hair and her wolf ear was a sight that reassured him to this day, and to his surprise there was also his other older sister, although younger than his sister Shiro, Even so, thanks to her I had managed to learn a lot, and that is why it was not surprising to see her with her glasses and looking at a table of data, and constantly comparing it with what they had brought.
—The taste is ours —said the second girl who had gotten out of the car as he approached and so Nelly could see him better, it was a girl with dark blonde hair, although barely visible because of the helmet she had, and strangely she saw what seemed to be protective goggles on her helmet, although that did not explain why they were so big, well, Nelly guessed that they would be the size of her hand if she could take them, nor was it normal to see someone with hearing protectors in Eridu, although she guessed that it was because she had to go out a lot.
By the time Nelly got out of her thoughts she noticed how everything had resumed, people were carrying more things, but for some reason only things to build, something she couldn't comprehend, that they were supposed to do, an outpost would be very dangerous, and it wouldn't look like they were supplies for the interior.
—Hey little girl, what do you think?
—Ah —Nelly turned around and could see who it was, it was her sister Aya, her two pairs of pointed ears, her red glasses and her beautiful golden eyes were too unique not to recognize her, although she also noticed how she had dark circles, some too marked, and her hair was surprisingly messy, that was very unusual for her, it was more in Shiro's style than with her.
—Hey, you're okay, Nelly?
—Yes, it's just that you look tired, it's not very normal for you.
—Yes, a lot has happened lately, half of the western sector of Eridu is being revealed, in the northern sectors they are having problems with mushrooms and in the east the war between the blacks and the Reds broke out again, we are going the same as always, only now everything at once, the administration is on the edge, Hhhaa. And you, how are you? you also look tired.
—Yes, indeed, yes, I've been having the same nightmare for a few days now, and it doesn't let me sleep well.
—If you want, you can sleep with us, we've told you before.
—Yes, but I'm fine like this.
—Sure, I understand, don't worry, after all, a girl your age likes to have her privacy after all.
—It's not that, well yes, but not because of what you're thinking!
And so, among her sister's laughter Nelly could notice how her sister Shiro approached, firm as always, and by the time she arrived she sat on a sandbag and behind her appeared the girl with the strange headband.
—Well, excuse me, Ayane, Shiroko, and. Hey, Nelly, is it her?
—Nn, yes, it has grown a lot these years, it is even independent.
—Hello?
—She's Miyu Nelly, she's an old friend of Shiro's, you should have met her when we arrived, don't you remember?
—No. Me.
—She was too young to remember, although she is already a real student, she even has a weapon already, although I think something more powerful would be better —Miyu said patting the bag she was carrying with her.
—I don't think she can handle something like that.
—Nn, only you can in fact.
—no, more than you too, I've seen you lift more weight than I've even tried.
—It was in other circumstances.
—Shiroko, Miyu come now!
—Shit.
—Well, see you —Shiroko approached Nelly unexpectedly and hugged him tighter than Nelly could take.
When the surprise duo walked away, Nelly watched Ayane smile so warmly that it left her speechless —Be patient with them, right?
—Of course? —Nelly could only answer him with great confusion, before Ayane also got up and set off behind Shiro and Miyu as she waved goodbye.
So Nelly was left alone with her machine gun again —Ahh, she smelled different, a strange mixture between gunpowder and something else, well it doesn't matter, there is only danger out there —she said to herself as she timidly leaned out to look at the door, the door that called her, it would be impossible for her to get out, but she could try, almost like a bird locked up all her body asked her to get out of these depressive tunnels, it didn't matter where it went, only that it was in the open air, after all it couldn't be as her sister told her, it couldn't be that everything out there was lost, it couldn't be that this hole was the only thing that had hope of reforming the world, the stinky, damp tunnels of Eridu couldn't be the last thing left standing. And almost as a sign she felt how a piece of plaster from the ceiling fell beside her, small but noticeable, for her a clear demonstration of the misery of the place, but she never understood why her sisters ignore it —Ayane hardly sleeps and Shiroko hardly passes by at the station because she has to guard the entrance to Eridu, as if we couldn't trust them either—
After hours of sitting checking the lines of machine gun ammunition next to the rhythm of Sasa's guitar, she only let herself be guided by the melancholy melody, one that she always played during her shift, a song that reminded her how horrendous the place was, but she never forgot her people, for each hopeless tone she added something that could only be described as a hope that fills the heart, one that no other guitarist could achieve according to Nelly, that's why she loved just listening to it, some melodies reminded her of beautiful memories with her sisters, and sometimes memories that she didn't understand well, a place in ruins, but warm for her, almost as warm as when she met her sisters, almost as warm as her childhood with them. So, Nelly went through the rest of her shift and a little more time until Sasa's last song.
With a brisk step Nelly approached the nearest restaurant, Yoshiba's restaurant, the most recognized in the station because, in the words of the visitors “The best cook in all of Eridu” he had dishes that really pleased and prices that were blatantly low, when he was finally served his meat and mushroom soup, he managed to notice how two of the girls of the expedition were eating while talking, and adjusting her ear she managed to hear —Yes, is that girl again.
—Yes, and I'm not the only one, and you know it.
—Yes. It is strange that there are so many watching the same.
—Although none are the same, except for the girl.
—Yes, maybe we'll ask the research girls to check.
—Or maybe we should go with the sisters, don't you think?
—No, I don't think they know anything about this.
—What girl are they talking about? —asked Nelly, although she thought she already knew the answer, the girl she also saw, the same one that Sasa mentioned once, but something didn't add up, Sasa had mentioned weeks ago that she never had that dream in a hallway, for her it was just a room that went away, and for these girls it seems that it was also different, something did not fit if they all shared the same girl.
—Hello girl, were you listening to us?
—Huh? —Nelly looked awkwardly at the girl who spoke to her, a girl with a fragile appearance, purple and turquoise eyes, with glasses that were shattered in some places, and the most prominent, platinum blonde hair, although very light and barely visible thanks to the helmet she was wearing next to the glasses that protruded, and looking at her in detail it was noticeable how they had no lenses, instead, they seemed to be connected directly to headphones that she wore hanging around her thin neck, through which an almost discarded braid barely peeked out of her right.
—Are you okay?
—Yes, me. Sorry. But is that girl you dream of by chance a little sailor with a light blue dungaree and a white skirt?
—And hair the same shade as his dungarees, yes —You too? Nelly watched as the girl sat next to her with her back to the table, staring at her with eyes almost dead, but bright.
—Yes, for a long time.
—What time do you see?
—It starts with a corridor, then stairs and at the end something chases me that separates me from the girl.
—That's new, I never heard anyone persecuted. I just see her at the end of an endless corridor, and by chance do you manage to get to her?
—Something like that. I've never touched it, yes.
—Oh —the girl said while looking at the ceiling, clearly thoughtful and after a while like that she saw her stop and turning to her she said —Well, don't get too consumed by it, it just must be a coincidence. See you.
—Goodbye —he said as the strange girl left, and by the time he finished Nelly returned the plate and went to her store, which she closed and lay down quietly.
When Nelly understood what she was looking at, she saw an empty room, full of chairs and tables, backpacks were hanging in the back of the room, and looking around she noticed how there were broken windows around her, and beyond them a huge lake, much bigger than anyone could imagine, she began to run against the windows to look more waxy at that beautiful lake, added to a clear sky, and a more beautiful blue tone than she had ever seen, she did not mind feeling wet feet, because it was a little water before this beauty, for Nelly a sight like this could only be given in dreams.
But misfortune came when she felt footprints, small, but they were definitely footprints, and when she turned around, she saw who was making them, a snow-white girl, with a light blue and white sailor dungaree, a white skirt and light blue hair looked at her in amazement, and before Nelly could react this girl ran towards her while dropping a white stick with fabric at the end. When she reached her, Nelly couldn't push her or avoid her, or rather she couldn't, as if her body accepted her, accepted the hug that this girl was giving her. And when I look down at her she woke up. This time without sweat, without fear, just emptiness, and the need to go look for the girl.