Valkyria Saga

{Date: 10/13 - Thursday}

{Time: 1:55 PM}

Cherry, Berry, and I continued to wander around the ruined streets of Kourai, defeating waves of Fallen Valks along the way. During each of our skirmishes against the Fallen Valks, our teamwork was sloppy, uncoordinated aside from when Cherry and Berry worked together.

Berry stopped walking, her head held low. "Girls..."

Cherry halted in her tracks, looking back at her sister and crossed her arms. She tilted her head, raising an eyebrow. "Berry? What's the matter? Why did you stop?"

Berry looked up at Cherry then glanced at me, holding her hands behind her back. "This mission is about Teamwork, but we've been anything but a team. We may win the battles ahead, but we aren't truly winning anything worth noting."

Cherry softly scoffed at Berry, rolling her eyes at her words. "Berry, I made it painfully obvious that I would literally rather do anything except team with that monster. Clearing this pointless ass mission should be enough proof that I at least have the patience to even stand near her!"

"Enough with this! What do I have to do to prove myself? It's nothing but judgment but everyone is failing to see that I'm the one getting provoked! You poke a sleeping bear and expect to not get your dumbass mauled?" I shot back at Cherry, deciding to put my foot down.

"Oh, here we go! And the silenced has finally found her voice. You know, I was actually beginning to enjoy the silence!" Cherry exclaimed, letting out a loud, mocking huff. "Do you honestly thing your voice will ever be heard? Everything you've done to me and Berry, what you did to Leilani, everything you've done to countless others?!"

"How many times do people need to throw that in my face?! For fucks sake can this world and everyone living in it just give me a damn break!" I groaned loudly, pulling my own hair at the gradual loss of my own sanity.

The echoes of my words finally became distant, the silence finally settling in the air. The tension was even higher than before, both Cherry and I feeling an intense animosity toward one another.

Berry let out a soft sigh, stepping forward and coming between us. "Please you two...we are all Valkyrias here. It's actually extremely biased to hate Hisumi when Saito is a reflection of her in some way. She is also a product of an evil organization, yet we cherish and love Saito."

Cherry groaned softly, not wanting to admit the truth in Berry's words. She rolled her eyes and turned away from us. "The difference between Saito and Hisumi is I don't know Saito...but I know who the Black Cerebral is. Hisumi Nomura is nothing but a wolf in sheep's clothing."

I glared at Cherry, watching her walk off again then stepped forward, wanting to say something to her, to blast all my venom back at her. However, I decided against it, grumbling under my breath and clenched my fists.

Berry let out another sigh, lowering her head in defeat. She knew just how stubborn her sister was, but she also knew Cherry was reasonable in her hate with me. Genesis hovered next to Berry, gently patting her shoulder to cheer her up.

"Let's go...We don't want to stay too long and risk getting ambushed," I said, walking forward with an annoyed look in my eyes.

Berry grunted softly, hurrying behind with Genesis floating with us. At this stage of the mock mission, our Team Resonance was in the negatives, no possibility of synergy between us.

We continued to clear out the streets from the Fallen Units, making significant progress despite our dysfunctional alliance. Despite the need for Teamwork, there were times where Cherry would purposely watch me take on hordes of enemies alone.

Soon, we cleared out the more easier areas of East Kourai and decided to take a break inside one of the abandoned buildings. We sat inside a cafe, allowing ourselves a moment to breathe and rest to recover our stamina.

I sat in a booth near one of the windows, slouching in the seat and staring at the gloomy scenery. Genesis landed on my shoulder, relaxing and letting out a soft yawn. The silence was deafening, so much that you could hear even the softest of blinks.

{Heart to Heart Sequence Activated.}

{Goal: Raise Cherry's Bond Meter.}

Bond Meter: 0%

Status: Enemies

Cherry's Mood: Repulsed

'C'mon, are you serious?' I thought, rolling my eyes at the notification.

"You need this. We won't be able to progress if you don't even try to Bond with them. You have zero resonance with them, Cherry hates you, and your reputation is basically at rock bottom," Genesis retorted, sitting up on my shoulder, glancing at me. "The only way is up. You're in the deepest hole you can be in right now, it's time to climb up."

I let out a slightly annoyed sigh, scratching the back of my head. I closed my eyes, groaning softly as I decided to just bite the bullet. 'Fine...'

"Hey," I called out, sitting up and glancing at Cherry with an annoyed gaze.

Cherry groaned softly, leaning down and covering her face. "Ugh...What in Mother Gaia's gosh green Earth do you want? I thought I made clear—"

"'I tHoUgHt I mAdE iT cLeaR—', Just shut up and listen for once, Pinky," I interrupted, standing up from my seat and walked toward her.

Berry looked extremely nervous, practically sweating icicles from the pure tensity of the scene. "Uhm, girls—"

Cherry's eye twitched with annoyance as I called her "Pinky", her blood reaching to a boiling point. She shot up from her seat, the stool behind her falling down due to the sheer speed of her rise. She stepped toward me, meeting me half way, her face inches from mine.

"We got a lot of history together. A lot of...personal beef we have to hash out. You're mad at me for you getting experimented on, Delta. You're mad at the wrong bitch," I said, shoving her back with force.

Cherry stumbled backwards, appalled at my audacity then stormed forward, shoving me back with a fiery glare. A pink flame began to burn from her chest, her anger reaching to a point of no return. "How dare you put your hands on me?! Who do you think you are!"

"And who do you think YOU are?!" I retorted, raising my voice back at Cherry.

The sounds of thunder boomed outside, causing Berry to squeak and duck for cover. The emotion couldn't be any more thick than it was now, the adrenaline was high, the anger was high.

"Have you ever given any thought about how I felt?! Yeah, I knew of your suffering! I knew what they did to you, Cherry! I know and yet you put all your blame on me! Why?! I never hurt you!" I exploded, stomping my foot down with a tantrum.

"Yes you did! You never helped us!" Cherry countered, slamming her fist against a table and lowered her head. "You...let your dirty father...that man did things to us that I can't explain. Your father is a monster and you are his very shadow!"

"And you don't think he's done that to me and worse?! Do you know who my step mother is?! She's the damn Commander of Judgement! If I ever disobeyed her, stepped out of line, or even spoke out of turn, I take the worst punishment!" I argued, groaning to myself then walked away from her.

"You know...you do all this crying, all this...all this bullshit and yet, the fact remains unchanged. You are still mad at the wrong person. We lived a very similar life during our time in Judgement, but there is one difference. You were saved..." I began, looking back, my eyes shining yellow with a cold, apathetic gaze.

Cherry grunted softly as she noticed my gaze, realizing that I had finally snapped. Her body immediately began sending warning signs, but they were warning her about two things. 'Why...can't I move..?'

The Vow of Death began to faintly glow on my shoulder, a chilling aura in shades of black and purple began to flow around my body. I stared at Cherry, feeling nothing. "I jumped when they said jump. I kill when they said kill. I cried when they said cry...I had unwavering loyalty to them just so I could live another day, and yet...in the end, I wasn't saved. I was killed."

'Her Stigma...her Vow of Death...don't tell me, she's planning to fight me,' Cherry thought, her entire body shaking with undeniable fear. 'There's no lightning, just Death Energy...'

"Subject Delta, Cherry Gemina...We settle our differences here and now. I'm already at the bottom with you, and I've had it with everyone. I will not accept no for an answer, we will fight and settle things," I said, my Death Energy flowing around my body in an eerily calm manner.

Berry was just as petrified as Cherry was, witnessing me at my breaking point. Memories of her past flashed into her head, the Black Cerebral she knew too well, now stood before her.

I stared at Cherry, noticing her unmoving then scoffed lightly, holding my hand out and formed an orb of energy in front of me. I snapped my finger, manipulating the energy in a death energy arrow. "Shadow Arrow..."

I fired the arrow at her at high speeds, Cherry noticing the arrow and swiftly dodging it. She looked back at the wall, noticing the bricks decaying slowly, turning into dust. Turning her gaze back toward me, she was immediately met with a knee strike to her face.

Cherry grunted as she was knocked way, sent flying through the hole in the wall. She quickly recovered onto one knee, sliding backwards and covering her nose. She took her hand off her nose, noticing her blood on her hand. 'Blood..? It's—'

I stepped outside in the rain, my hair slowly becoming a pure white color. "I'm nothing but your scapegoat, and I realize that now. I'm just the scapegoat, you blame me for everything others done to you because I'm just simply a reminder of what we both went through."

Cherry looked at me with a furious glare, standing up onto her feet and summoned her greatsword. The grippers of her tail grabbed the handle then she stepped forward, meeting me onto the street. "Hmph...you're just saying that to find any reason to dodge accountability! Now that I know this fight is life or death, I have no reason to hold anything back!"

"Neither do I," I said, moving my fingers in front of me in a straight line, using my death energy to summon a scythe. I twirled it around, getting into my stance.

{Test Your Spirit!}

{Battlefield: City of Kourai - East District}

{Opponent: Cherry Gemina - B Rank}

I dashed forward, taking the offensive and swung my scythe at Cherry, the blade slashing through the air like butter. Cherry blocked the immediate attack with her greatsword then stuck her blade into the ground, lunging forward with a kick.

I evaded her strike, grabbing her ankle and ripped her away from her greatsword, throwing her across the street. Cherry grunted as her back hit a bench, arching her back in pain and hissed, holding her back to support the sharp sting.

I walked toward Cherry, stopping in her line of sight and pointed the bottom of my scythe at her, the blade shimmering, glowing a shade of dark purple. "Before...I was restricted in our Mock Battle. Now, you will see what makes me truly Unique."

Cherry grunted softly, standing up from the bench and readied herself, her tail swaying from side to side behind her. She gulped lightly, her gaze flicking to her greatsword behind me. 'She's completely different from the Mock Battle. I can't properly read her energy, it's draining...'

"Tch...to have to battle against the Black Cerebral for myself. At least now, I'll have the chance to take you down myself once and for all. No rules to hold us back, it's time that I do what I've should've done before the Valkyrias saved me and Berry!" Cherry bellowed, awakening her Burst Mode, her fiery energy bursting around her body.

Cherry's flames began to burn hotter and hotter, the color seemingly growing lighter in hue until reaching a pink color. Her flames burned with searing intensity, the pink hue of her flames symbolizing the Undying Spirit of a Valkyria within her.

"Behold, my Delta Flames! I'm gonna make you wish you had never challenged me. You should've kept your mouth closed!" Cherry bellowed, getting into her stance, the white, spiral horn on the right side of her head beginning to glow with power.

I got into my stance, staring at Cherry with a focused gaze, not reaction to her Burst Mode Activation. "Hmph...Delta Flames, you finally show it. Seems like you also still secretly rely on your darkness as well..."

Cherry smirked at me, her fiery aura flaring around her body. "Sure, my Delta Flames may be a variation of Hell Fire, but I use my powers for the greater good. You became consumed by your Stigma. I can just tell you've mastered it..."

I scoffed lightly at Cherry, my Vow of Death glowing in response to Cherry's accusation of me becoming consumed by my Marking Vow. "Enough with this talk...let us resume our battle."

Cherry immediately dashed toward her greatsword, moving with haste in her steps. I began firing a volley of Shadow Arrows at her, but she began evading each arrow, soon reaching her greatsword and grabbing it with the grippers of her tail.

With a battlecry, Cherry fiercely used her tail to swing her greatsword with immense force. I used my Death Energy to block the attack, grunting lightly as her heavy slash knocked me back. I leaped backwards, regaining my footing then glared at Cherry.

"There's no way I will ever forgive you for what you've done! It's time someone puts an end to you once and for all!" Cherry declared, her pink flames spiralling beautifully around her.

I watched as Cherry's flames began to spark with immense Spirit Energy, my Vow of Death glowing brighter in response. I readied my scythe, my Death Energy beginning to spiral around me more powerfully. "If I can't reason with you, I will force you to see the true reality behind the false one you've built!"

Cherry glared at me, her pink eyes glowing with a bitter, yet hesitant gaze. She clenched her fist, memories of her past surging in her head. She let out a yell, her aura bursting around her body. "No! I am in reality! You're the one in a false one!"

I noticed her hesitance and immediately took action, my body blinking in front of her as I slashed my scythe toward her. Cherry gasped, caught off guard by my sudden appearance, groaning heavily as my blade struck her.

Cherry recovered quickly, grabbing a sign and ripping it from the ground. She yelled as she launched it at me, the sign hurling toward me at blazing speeds. I fired it with a Shadow Arrow, a decaying effect causing the metal to rust and decay into minerals.

'Tch, that Shadow Arrow is extremely dangerous...the decaying effect of her Soul Blast is something I'm not prepared for. How do I even counter Death itself..?' Cherry thought, a nervous sweat rolling down her face.

"Use my power..." A voice spoke to Cherry, a Stigma faintly glowing upon her chest.

Cherry grunted softly, looking down at her Vow of Ifrit, feeling an intense burning sensation in all of her nerve endings. She grunted hard, hugging herself, digging her nails into her skin due to the painful burning within herself.

"You're scared. That surge of emotion is causing you to succumb to your own Monster, Delta," I said, stopping in front of Cherry and watched as she fell onto one knee. "We are exact parallels, yet opposites as well. We bare the same scars, but experienced different outcomes, Fiery Blossom."

Cherry looked up at me with disdain, her own fair share of crimes flashing in her head. Her memories were like static as she tried to block them out, but the more she resisted the thought, the clearer the picture.

"I'm... nothing like you. You are a different monster. You wonder why Leilani hates you...you killed her cousin all those years ago during your time in America. You are the worst kind of monster, a beast with no compassion for others!" Cherry yelled, her pink flames slowly corrupting into dark red flames.

I stared down at Cherry, my gaze cold, yet introspective. The day I attacked the Mojisola Tribe with Morata and Pandora played clearly in my mind, the guilt of striking down someone just for Spirit Energy still hung high in my Spirit.

"Yeah, I admit that I am a different breed of Monster, but the difference between you and I is I can admit my wrongdoings. You will never admit yours and criticize others for doing wrong..." I said coldly, my tone chilling and apathetic.

Cherry flinched back at my words, immediately getting defensive and let out a yell, jumping up and striking my face. Cherry glared at me, breathing heavily then her eyes widened as she noticed her attack didn't even make me flinch, let alone move me back.

{Type CHANGE: Speedster -> Tank}

{DMG UP! 10%}

{Burst DMG UP! 15%}

{Survivability UP! 25%}

{Agility DOWN! 25%}

"Hmph...looks like I hit the target right on the bullseye," I said, grabbing Cherry wrist and pulling her down to knee her in the face.

Cherry groaned loudly, stumbling back and covering her face. I walked toward her, my steps slow and methodical, the aura of death trailing behind me. I turned my scythe into energy, sending the energy into the ground

Purple butterflies began to flutter around me, flying around in a circle as I began to gather energy. "Phantasma: Crack of Darkness..."

Suddenly a Maiden of Death began to emerge from my energy, letting out a ghoulish laugh then summoned a giant skull in her hand. The skull's mouth opened, a ball of purple and black energy forming then purple lightning crackled around the orb of energy.

"Hisumi, don't do it!" Berry cried out, rushing out of the building to stop the near one sided battle.

'This is the power of the Black Cerebral...the true power of the Beast everyone feared. Yet, she looks...destroyed behind that cold, calm gaze,' Cherry thought, frozen with fear as she gazed at the Maiden of Death.

I stared at Cherry for a moment, hesitant on unleashing my attack upon her. Just as I was about to make my decision, Genesis yelled out, pointing behind Cherry. I looked up, my eyes widening as I noticed a powerful Fell Beast approaching us swiftly.

"Cherry, get out the way!" I yelled out, aiming my Phantasma at the Fell Beast behind Cherry.

Cherry immediately broke out of her trance at the urgency of my tone, looking back and noticed a large Fell Beast stomping toward us with a spear and shield in hand, dressed as a knight in cracked armor. Immediately, she moved out of the way hurrying toward Berry.

"Fire!" I bellowed, snapping my fingers and gave the signal.

Immediately, the Maiden of Death launched a blast of electrifying death energy at the Fell Beast, the attack landing a direct hit and causing an explosion. I grunted heavily, coughing up a bit of blood and fell down to one knee after using up a large amount of Spirit Energy.

"Hisumi..!" Berry called out, hurrying toward me and kneeled down beside me. She placed her hand on my back, but froze suddenly.

I froze as well, hearing a low growl coming from the cloud of smoke. Slowly, I looked up, noticing the smoke clearing and revealing the Fell Beast standing tall with his shield deployed.

"Hisumi...is that—" Berry began, shuddering with fear.

"A Templar...Yes," I said, too stunned to even react at the moment.

The three of us looked at the imposing Templar, shuddering from the amount of Fallen Energy the beast emitted. The Templar was no normal beast, it was the strongest classified as an S Rank Threat. We didn't know what to do, or knew why a Templar was here. All we knew was we had to find help immediately.