Divergence - - - "They were children of cursed blood. A power flowed through them so raw and untamed that it would have allowed them to easily raze cities, slay entire armies, and defeat any foe that stood in their path without mercy or regret. People who trembled before their warring forms wondered if it was not a war between twelve kings, but rather the final act in the horrific legacy of a conflict far more ancient and devastating." -- The Maiden's Lament, pg. 1 (introduction). - - - The branches were clear, yet the ground was still littered with patches of snow and ice – an indication that the last snowfall had been a few days ago at best. Most of the trees were without their leaves, leaving bare wooden limbs to twist into the sky like a thousand jagged blades. Even outside of the city, things managed to look dead or like they were right out of a nightmarish fairy tale. Traces of the previous civilization were evident. Broken roads and crumpled freeways had been overtaken by vines and other plant life, the concrete swallowed up by branches and brush. It gave them good cover, but Nao may have preferred the urban jungle. The natural one was difficult to see through, making an ambush a far too realistic possibility. Oh, it had been magical! That damn Slave, or whatever it was, had run them right to the western edge of the city before turning around and heading back to where it came from. Did that mean they were in the clear? Of course not; not with their luck. Immediately after the elite HiME let them be, Nao had immediately fallen from the sky as her robe vanished entirely and for no reason. They saw a group of women in blue uniforms, the Iolites sans their robes, running towards the southeast, an indication that something was wrong with their Emulator. To make matters worse, HiME Heirs swept in and gunfire opened up between the two groups as the Otomes attempted to fight conventionally. Bullets flew through the air. Artillery shells slammed into the ground. The earth shook. When a couple of HiME Heirs spotted them, Nao and Mikoto were forced to retreat on foot while Mai gave them cover. The redhead flew after them after giving the enemy a good scorching, her direct connection with Mikoto allowing her to remain materialized. They had been pushed out of the city and into the forests beyond, failing to find any dirt or paved roads leading out. There they remained, Mai with a compass, and there they continued to try and find some way to link back up with the rest of the team. Mai had essentially taken point and had taken over command of the group, which infuriated Nao to no end. She was Column, damn it. She outranked Mai. She hated being so utterly useless and vulnerable. She had no conventional weapon to use beyond martial arts (which she was a master of, but her very light uniform didn't protect her enough to make her feel remotely safe). Why were Columns, the elite Otome, more prone to flaws than the regular meisters? She sat and she glared and grumbled. Eyes scanning the trees for movement, she muttered, "Tokiha, what's taking so long? Hurry up. I don't wanna stay out in the middle of nowhere during the night. It's cold enough already." "The GEM communication lines aren't working," Mai informed, tapping on her red earring once again. "All I get is static and then the line is dropped. If the Columns have lost power then that might explain Shizuru and Natsuki failing to respond. The meisters should still be online, but Haruka isn't answering. I'll try Arika next." Nao put a hand over her eyes and groaned. "God, if I have to be rescued by that little screeching runt, I'll just bash my head in with a rock right now." "I'm just getting a fix on her position, not requesting assistance! I just need to know where they all are." She held the GEM a bit longer, a distinctive beep letting her know that she was on a more specialized channel. "Arika, this is Mai, do you copy?" She waited a few moments and then tried again. Another few moments of silence followed. Finally, just as Mai was about to give up, a voice broke the silence. She sounded tired and perhaps a little timid, but she was still as light hearted as ever, despite the poor connection. "Ari-- ere. Mai? Wher-- ?" Mai stood at attention as she tried to respond. "I'm with Nao and Mikoto. We're out beyond the city's western limits, in a forest. We got separated during the battle. What's your current position?" "Separated battle? Say agai-- can't hear it all!" She complained through static. "Nao, Mikoto and I are in the woods to the west of the city. West of the city, do you hear that? State your current position and we'll find our way back," Mai tried again, ignoring a very stressed sigh that left Nao's mouth. The Column was impatiently tapping her foot several feet away. "--rung Academy. It's all dark and-- power-- electro magnum pulse? Yukino cap-- Natsuki's pissed!" That last sentence was always fun to hear, no matter who was giving her the warning. Mai felt herself almost compelled to whine. Damn, that stubborn fool wasn't going to do anything reckless was she? Mai was left puzzled at the rest of the message, save for the only vital thing she needed to know. They were all holed up in the Dammerung Academy within the palace she'd been at earlier – the Otome base of operations. She relayed the information to Nao and Mikoto, who stared at her with looks of apathy and anticipation respectively. "They're back at base, I guess we can call it. Haruka must've gotten back in from patrol. She's saying something about no power and some kind of pulse, I guess." "Electromagnetic weapon would explain losing power," Nao wisely guessed, using her knowledge of weapon types and functions. It had been one of the only classes she had ever truly paid attention to during her stay at Garderobe, unlike those other worthless makeup and cooking courses. She stood up and looked down the small foothill they were situated on. "Looks like about five miles or more worth of travel without robes to speed things up. Bullshit." "Arika, tell Natsuki we're heading in. It'll probably take a while." With that, she closed the connection and started walking forward down the foothill and back towards the city. "Hopefully that bridge leading over the river is clear of fighting. It looked like the only way over and I don't feel like taking a quick swim," Nao said, making sure her pace was even with Mai's so that she didn't symbolically follow anyone. "Looked like there were a couple of old freeways leading up that way. Probably the only real way we can get back." Mai was on foot, not wanting to leave the others behind. She couldn't carry the both of them. Five or more miles in an unfamiliar metropolis, at least compared to most of Earl's cities, with the HiME surely pressing forward to take as much as they could with the Otome 'unplugged.' There must have been some kind of vehicle they could find and use. Running through the city on foot was just asking for trouble. The walk down back out of the forest was easy enough. It was when they reached the first real buildings that the trouble began. A team of Iolite Otome, armed with pistols in the absence of their robes, were pinned down by still very functional HiME Heirs and were in a skirmish right next to some kind of abandoned house. They were too far out for large battles – they must have gotten lost as well. Nao clicked her tongue in annoyance as Mai and Mikoto sprinted forward to help. The HiMEs were only armed with their generic saber weapons. She could probably take them down. After a moment, she followed, a few seconds behind. They had burst out of the trees, so the HiME Heirs hadn't truly seen them until they began their charge. Already in a fight, they didn't have long to adjust themselves. Mikoto swung out her staff and caught the blade of an enemy before it could hit her. The untamed 'goddesss' kicked her opponent back, and then leapt over an incoming strike with her almost inhuman reflexes and strength. She spun around quickly and swung her staff out, hitting the HiME in the neck and taking her down instantly. Mai, not wanting to kill them, used her robe to fly full speed at one of them, and used the high velocity to land an exceptionally powerful punch. The young woman passed out instantly, and her companion followed suit when Mai hit her with an equally high speed elbow. That left the last for Nao, who twisted the wrist of her opponent until the saber was dropped. The fight was concluded with Nao grabbing her by the head and slamming her into the side of the building, knocking her out cold. The three Iolites who they had aided smiled wide, and one called out, "Arigatou!" Nao waved it off, but Mai moved forward with her ever pleasant disposition and, having been raised in Zipang, spoke in their native tongue with ease. "We need to get back to your academy and base. What's the quickest way to do that without robes?" "We actually came to this house to get the old car left in the garage," the leader of the team stated. "We need to get back to the main battle and reinforce the other Iolites before we lose too much ground." Their eyes lit up. There was a car there? Nao took a few strides forward and opened the door to the garage, revealing an old and rusted utility vehicle of some type. It looked like they could all fit, if they really tried. The real catch was seeing if it could actually be started or not. She flipped open the hood. It didn't appear to be petrol based, but rather powered by a fuel cell of some type. She removed it just long enough to see that it read that it was just under halfway full. Replacing it, she slammed the hood back down and got in the driver's seat. No keys, of course. Now, could she hotwire the thing? She got out and knelt down enough to mess with the wiring. After several minutes of attempts, supplemented by a great amount of swearing, the engine attempted to turn over. Nao tried again, a victorious smile on her face as she found the correct way of doing it (damn Earth and their different methods of wiring a vehicle!). At long last, the engine finally turned over and began to purr. She hopped into the driver's seat again and called to the others. "Everybody in!" Mikoto, Mai, and the three Iolites all struggled to cram into the car, the feral goddess forced to sit in Mai's lap in the passenger's seat in order to have enough room for the lot of them. Nao pulled out of the garage and moved down the dirt road, eventually crossing the bridge to the river they had gone over during their retreat. She gunned it, moving down the empty freeway at top speed, hoping that the cracks in the road would not deter them much. As they drove, Mai found her vision blocked by Mikoto's shoulder and arm. It was then that she remembered the red birthmark that was there, and she shyly built up the nerve to ask something she had been meaning to for quite a while, to satisfy her own curiosity about that red mark on her breast that was not fading, but rather becoming more defined and more like the comet symbol that Mikoto had. "Hey, Mikoto?" The other girl shifted to try and look at her, but gave up, returning her gaze to the window like a dog on a joyous car ride. "Hm?" Mai smiled bashfully, hoping it wasn't going to upset her companion. "I've, ah, been meaning to ask you where you got that mark on your arm? What is it?" "A birthmark," Mikoto said stiffly, her body going rigid. It was not a good topic, then. "It showed up when I was little, during the flight between Earth and Earl. It's a HiME mark. Only people with HiME blood get them. Fumi and the rest of us were all HiME Heirs, but Dammerung liked us anyway." Out of the corner of her eye, Mai saw Nao flex her right hand before returning it to the wheel, but did not give it a second thought. The mark forming on her chest began to burn and itch again as Mai's mind returned to it. Mai wondered whether or not she shared some kind of blood line with their new 'enemy,' and hoped that it would not get her in trouble with Dammerung if that was the case. "HiME mark..." So, then, would she be able to summon weapons and Slaves like those other elite HiME? She still didn't understand how it all worked. The burning sensation sank down into her stomach and deep into her chest, falling beyond the superficial skin level. She shut her eyes, hoping it would go away. Yet, somehow, it felt familiar. She couldn't pin the feeling down exactly. Nostalgia and deja vu all at once, it almost felt like. Had she felt this way before? She couldn't recall. Regardless, she couldn't help but be fascinated by the opposing side. Nao drove on, the car bouncing as it hit a crack in the road. Her green eyes narrowed as similar thoughts raced through her head, albeit with a bit more cynicism. She kept a look out for any enemy movement, and hoped to god above that they wouldn't have any heavy guns placed alongside the road. - - - "So, tell me what happened after." Minako looked over to her from her position on Kagutsuchi, Gakutenou flying close enough to where communication was still easy enough. Trusting that the dragon would warn her of any danger, she decided to indulge their new teammate's curiosity. So many questions in such a short period of time. Minako had never really seen anyone know so little about either of the two factions when they were so clearly a prominent part of the world. This Midori woman must have truly lived under a rock. Minako sighed and recalled her history lessons. They had been talking about the Last Carnival, and how the final HiME and the Crystal Princess were able to defeat the Obsidian Lord once and for all. What happened after was poorly chronicled and mostly legend thanks to the HiME keeping a low profile at the time, but it was all they had. "After they saved the world, the first Otome were brought online. I told you earlier, I believe, that they fought and defeated the original Five Columns. Schwarz had modeled the first five GEMs largely after the HiME, and then realized that if they truly wanted more power, they would have to take the raw code made by the Obsidian Lord and reverse engineer it to make better GEMs. To do that, they needed the Children. A second hunt began, this time led by Schwarz's new leader. He tricked them out into the open and captured their Children." Midori rested a hand on Gakutenou, who purred in his demonic little language. "From your tone, this doesn't sound like a happy ending." "Not particularly. The Obsidian Lord was a device, you remember, and not a being. The same goes for our Children, yours included. They're all machines, generated by photon manipulation. The Elements and Children were stored files on the Obsidian Lord itself. All the data necessary to make weapons and Children were locked in that raw code. Although the Lord was destroyed, the HiME would have control of the Children until their death, which meant the last surviving code was in the Children themselves. If a HiME died early, then the code would be lost. To get it, Schwarz had to break down the Children to greensparks," Minako explained, looking off to the horizon, black hair waving in the wind. "Which means that the Key required to summon the Child would be sacrificed as well?" Midori correctly guessed, going back on her knowledge of how Slaves operated. "An unfortunate requirement that Schwarz did not care about, as you might expect," Minako said with a nod. "Katrin Sayers, who is often referred to as the ojou-sama, attempted to free all of them with her guardian, but they were not able to do so in time. Each Child was broken down to the greenspark level, the Keys going with them. The Child's energy was gathered and stored, and Schwarz began to reverse engineer it. It took a few hundred years, but once they got it, they could produce GEMs with greater ease and efficiency. The essence of each Child was often applied to robes, and Elements used by the HiME sometimes traveled over to the GEMs as well. I recall fighting someone who had my Elements just a few hours ago. The Fire String Ruby was modeled after the essence of Kagutsuchi and the Queen of Heaven." Midori nodded, but then furrowed her brows in confusion. "If the Children were broken down, how are they still around now?" "After Schwarz didn't need them, they stored the Children and Elements as files on each Emulator made after the fact. They had hoped that they could get the Otome to summon them, but it didn't take. Funnily enough, the twelve HiME Heirs born centuries later could still tap into that energy, and essentially stole them back. We use Emulators set to different frequencies now, but at the time it was like piracy on the digital seas. With the Obsidian Lord, the Twelve only appeared every three hundred years. Now, unregulated, there are Twelve with each new generation. When one dies, another Heir with concentrated blood gets their abilities," Minako said, and then laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm getting quite wordy, aren't I? It's a confusing subject." "No, it's fine," Midori assured. She looked down at Gakutenou and gave him a little pat as they flew on back towards the HiME base of operations. So, he was thousands of years old, was he? To think, that his memories probably housed every action that happened during the Carnivals. If that could be tapped into, it would be an amazing wealth of information. "Do they remember?" "The Children?" "Yeah." "Yes, they remember." Minako looked down to Kagutsuchi and smiled. "They remember with more precision than textbooks or our archives. There are many grudges between them because of the Carnivals, and it's still evident. Over ten thousand years of history, recorded in photographic quality on each of their minds. They saw the formation of man, the defeat of their dark master, and the fall of man. They remember." Midori stared down at the red Child below her, and was left with even more questions. How had he appeared on Earl with her when he had been on Earth in the years before? Did the Emulator Garderobe use have all the Child data stored on it as well, and had she accessed it with her REM? No. Gakutenou had always been with her. She only used the REM to augment her strength. She looked over to Minako, spotting a familiar mark on her arm. Midori's eyes widened slightly. "Is that a tattoo?" Midori asked, pointing at her arm. Minako gave her a confused look. "It's a HiME mark. Goodness, you really are clueless, aren't you? Everyone with HiME blood has one of these. In normal Heirs, it appears when one uses a Diadem device. In the Twelve, it's natural and stays there." She gulped. It was natural in the Twelve? She scratched a burning patch of skin just above her hair line, fingers moving through hair to get at it. Perhaps, long ago, she had noticed a distinct comet like mark above and behind her ear, on the lower part of her skull. It had been there for years and she had thought nothing of it. Natural in the Twelve? Surely she wasn't... really one of them. She looked down at Gakutenou again, who purred happily at the attention. She smiled absently at her guardian, the monster who had protected her ever since childhood. "He seems to have quite a liking for you," Minako said with a grin. "Most Children don't truly like their masters. They think of us as overlords half of the time. He seems to legitimately enjoy your company, however." "Weird, isn't it?" Midori managed to say quietly. They completed the flight back to the base in silence, all descending back down into the Altar of the Ikusahime, where they hopped off and then released their Children. Minako casually led them back into the main part of the base, but stopped when she saw the Second approaching rapidly with a serious look on her face that darted between herself and Midori. Azumi stood at attention and in a tone that allowed for no argument, informed her superior officer about things that needed to be told. "Minako, we have an Otome and president from Lalande in captivity. Meister Shizuru Viola is in the detention area, and President Yukino Chrysant of the Aries Republic is confined to one of the guest rooms in the barracks section." The Second smirked as she saw Midori widen her eyes in shock and horror. Caught. "The young president also managed to inform me about an interesting fact concerning our new friend here." Minako's eyes grew dark and she shot a glare over to Midori, feeling betrayed despite having always been suspicious. "Is that so? What interesting fact might that be?" "Midori al-Aswad is the leader of a faction on the planet Earl that recently joined their world alliance," Azumi reported. She turned her gaze back to the redhead. "Isn't that right?" Midori held up her hands, her face grim. "I meant no harm. I was separated from my group and had no choice but to follow you. My interest in your culture is genuine, however, and I wish, as a diplomat, to continue learning. I do not consider you an enemy, nor do I consider myself loyal to the Otome by any means." Minako crossed her arms and made her decision in a lightning quick time span. "Bring Midori and the captured Otome into the room Chrysant-san is currently in. I will be there shortly. Azumi, take Midori's weapons and her Diadem-like device." With that, Midori's blades and REM were stripped from her, and she found herself roughly taken away to a different section of the barracks. A door opened and she was tossed into a room that was quite elegant in comparison with her own quarters. Yukino had been sitting on the bed and stood up in alarm as Midori entered. The door slammed behind them, and Midori could only shrug in response. At least she hadn't been instantly shot. - - - Natsuki sat impatiently as Dammerung staff members scurried about to try and repair the Emulator and heal the injured. A tactician, all she wanted was access to their tactical maps and arsenal. This waiting game was insane. The Otome had stopped the HiME push after the latter faction had taken at least four blocks of the city for themselves. They were being held off with conventional weapons for the time being. Four hours remained until the Emulator was to potentially be repaired. She hissed out a sigh and shifted in her seat. Ashura had been glaring at her in between tasks, still obviously upset with Natsuki's failed coup (Ashura's words, not Natsuki's). They had only been there a day and things were already screwed up beyond belief. Haruka had no robe. She had no robe. Nao had no robe and was lost. Mai and Mikoto were lost. Shizuru and Yukino had been captured. The only accounted member of their team who had access to a robe was, by some twisted kind fate, Arika Yumemiya. She'd been dispatched a half hour ago to help the Iolite Otome hold the line, which meant that she was too occupied to recover the missing Otome or rescue the captured ones. Natsuki found herself growling in frustration. Mashiro was in diplomatic discussion with the politicians, and Akira was idly listening to them all, maintaining neutrality. Natsuki had made it quite clear that she was not going to have Garderobe side either way, but the Otome were, of course, inevitably getting dragged into the discussion as Mashiro attempted to lay down the requirements for a treaty with the local Japanese nations. "We will supply you with several of our interstellar craft capable of traveling through our gate systems at no cost, and allow you to open lines of trade with our countries. In exchange, we require the support of half of your active Otome force in the war against the HiME," one declared, and Natsuki sighed quietly. "I stated at the start of this discussion that Garderobe will not be releasing its soldiers to serve in your armies," Natsuki reminded, her void loaded with irritation and fatigue. "Garderobe Otome will be used to escort Earl diplomats and personnel. You will be supported in your war with supplies and goods, not in manpower." "Your volunteer force is in trouble, is it not? Surely you need to call in reinforcements to help in the battles and in recovering your troops," the daimyo ventured, causing the headmistress to glare. Natsuki gritted her teeth for a moment, but calmly managed to say, "Calling in reinforcements is an option, yes, and one I've been considering. This would involve sending someone back, however, and I have no method of doing that." "Bring back twenty extra Otome, and we'll gladly lend you one of our remaining vessels," the daimyo baited. "With those twenty, you may be able to storm the HiME base and recover your missing president and meister. It's obviously a great matter of international importance to recover President Chrysant and the Archmeister of Garderobe." "Yes," Natsuki practically hissed. "It is. Excuse me for a moment." The young headmistress stood from the table and pivoted around, heading into the hallway where she found herself making long paces as her mind debated what she could possibly do. There were plenty of graduates without contracts, but by offering up soldiers as a requirement for trade and support she would risk putting all of Garderobe into the HiME gun sights. She wasn't fond of the HiME at all so far, but they would surely offer Yoko and the rest of the staff many great research opportunities if they house natural Otome power. To call in reinforcements to rescue Yukino and Shizuru required forming an official alliance with Dammerung. Would she damn her students and alumni by trying to resolve the issue? She could send in Akira to infiltrate, as she had the necessary skills, but she was Zipang's representative. Losing her would only worsen things. A hand to her head and with a desperate wish for aspirin, Natsuki marched back into the room and made her choice. "If you require twenty Otome to seal an alliance and hand over a ship, then so be it. You will have twenty of Garderobe's Otome, under a few conditions. The first condition is that their priority will be to rescue Chrysant and Viola, first and foremost. After this has been completed, the Otome may be dispatched around the city for one month, at which point they will return to Garderobe. Do we have a deal?" The daimyo was silent as he contemplated it, and finally nodded. "A month. I trust that after that time has expired, we may discuss a more permanent solution." "We'll cross that bridge when the time comes," Natsuki said. She turned her head just enough to focusing on a seated figure across the way, who had been downtrodden ever since her return. "Haruka, you'll return to Earl and bring back twenty Otome. I will make you a list of who to bring back and give you signed orders. Understood?" "Yukino's still—" Haruka began to protest. Natsuki held up a hand. "You don't have a robe and my presence here is required. Arika must remain to defend what's left of the group. Nao and Mai may return on their own, but it could take some time. Go back to Garderobe, give Sara my orders, and bring the twenty Otome back immediately." Haruka managed to nod once, still cursing herself for her earlier mistake of leaving Yukino alone with an injured Shizuru. "Fine. I'll go back." "Thank you." Natsuki's answer was short and curt, as she was still upset with the blonde. She sat herself back down at the table and stared at the daimyo. "Have her escorted to a vessel that can get her to Earl and have enough room for our reinforcements first thing in the morning. Right now, I recommend that my team get some rest. It's getting well into the early morning hours for us. I'm concluding this meeting." - - - Shizuru had joined Midori and Yukino in the young president's quarters perhaps forty-five minutes after the Aswad leader had returned to the base. She had winced upon being tossed into the room, still in a bit of pain despite the medications she had been given by the base medical officer. Yukino allowed her to rest on the bed, and there they waited for ten more minutes before Minako returned, flanked by the mistresses of Yafusa and Julia. All were grim, Minako looking particularly betrayed by the revelations and the knowledge that the Otome had established a link to Lalande. Minako stood in front of Shizuru and looked down at her pale and weakened form. "We've used our equipment to extract your GEMs hard data. You use the Graceful Amethyst, a GEM made in Lalande one hundred years ago. You have no master, and are directly connected to the Otome's main Emulator, indicating you are likely a Column. Is this true, Shizuru Viola?" Shizuru remained silent for a moment before giving her a tactful smile. "I believe you seem to have found an answer for yourself already." "Two world leaders and a member of Garderobe's Column unit," Minako confirmed, raising an eyebrow at Shizuru's very familiar accent. "A second shuttle should have crashed on your world. It was in pursuit of the initial vessel. What happened to the occupants?" Yukino was quick to reply, but tried her best to be vague. "They attacked the person who was assigned to investigate the crash site, and so they were detained." "How many?" Minako did not hesitate for a moment. "Three of them." Yukino watched the First as she took a few paces towards the wall, apparently lost in thought. "They haven't been harmed or mistreated. They probably would have been released to a better area, but they refused to answer any questions or speak to our people at all." "Of course not. They were taken in by Otome. We maintain silence at all times when captured by the enemy," Minako replied. She then turned to look straight at the three of them. "President, are you quite serious about being neutral in this conflict? Do you really wish for there to be peace between us?" Yukino nodded. "I have never been a conqueror, only a diplomat. I only believe in fighting if it's for defense. I have no ill feelings toward your people." For a brief moment, hope appeared in Minako's eyes, but it was quickly masked by the stern gaze of a battle hardened leader. "Then I have a proposition for you. It is a prisoner exchange scenario. If you succeed, you will be freed and I will consider Earl Otome neutral in the war and order my soldiers not to engage you. I require that Viola-san return to Earl, recover my three soldiers, and bring them here. You two will remain imprisoned here until she completes the task. Only when I get my soldiers back will I free you. Does this sound reasonable to you?" "She's still injured," Midori pointed out. "I'll go." "You won't have clearance to access the cells." Yukino found herself sighing and she put a hand to the bridge of her nose for just a moment. "Only Mashiro, Natsuki or Shizuru could get them out of there. Even I wouldn't be allowed into the detention area. It has to be Shizuru." "It's quite all right," Shizuru said with a small laugh. "I will go. My injuries aren't that critical. After a few hours of sleep, I should be more than ready. I don't imagine it will take too much effort. Don't worry yourselves over it." "Then you accept?" Minako asked. Shizuru nodded. "If it must be done, then I will do what you ask. I will obviously need a vessel of some kind, but I trust you have one if you have this planned out already." "Yes. If you require sleep due to time differences, then rest here for six hours. I will then wake you and send you on your way. Thank you for your cooperation." With that, Minako turned back to the door and headed out. She stopped and turned back just briefly. "Midori, you may have deceived us, but I thank you for not killing any of my soldiers." Midori nodded and Minako left, satisfied with that silent gesture of respect. The three inmates looked to each other, wondering just what kind of resistance Shizuru would meet upon her return to Windbloom. Without approval from the world council, Garderobe would likely take the blame for the loss of the captive HiME. With luck, that could be smoothed over, but luck hadn't been on their side lately. At worst, Shizuru would be branded a traitor. They were quiet, Shizuru quickly falling into slumber due to her medications and injuries. Yukino followed soon after, leaving Midori to silently sit and wait. Something said earlier that day found its way back into Midori's mind, about what happened after the Last Ikusahime were killed. Their rescue had been attempted by Katrin Sayers. Sayers. Rena and Arika's ancestor? That android Miyu was quite close to the clan. Perhaps she knew something. She would have to inform Shizuru once she woke back up. - - - "If Earl is splintered into nations and factions, perhaps we can get some of them to ally with us instead of the Otome. Midori seemed quite eager to learn about us and she did help us in battle, though she didn't kill anyone. If she's a world leader, do you think we can seal an alliance with her?" Azumi asked once they got clear of the barracks. Minako shook her head. "I do not know, but it would be wise to try once we get our soldiers back. There's only three detained, which means our little friend and one of the others managed to avoid capture. She'll likely sneak aboard their ship. I may tell Viola-san about her, but it could be advantageous to have an agent monitoring their world." "True, I think that Isolde will have no pro--" Reina, the mistress of Julia, was cut off by an approaching medical officer, who waved to get their attention. "Yes, what is it?" "Minako, when we were conducting an examination on the Otome and the president after they were brought in, we noticed something odd," he stated. "What?" Minako quirked her left eyebrow up in curiosity. What else could go wrong? He took a breath, and what he said next left the present members of the Twelve in silence and shock. "Shizuru Viola has what looks like a HiME mark on the left side of her torso. The young president has a similar formative mark just under her shoulder." - - - Next: Shizuru returns to Windbloom to free the HiME. Haruka returns to Garderobe to call in reinforcements. Two teams with two opposing goals, and no communication between them to clear things up. By the end, one will be labeled a traitor. Miyu and Tomoe enter stage left.
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