HISTORY -
Chapter 0 – Epilogue
Abandoned and Adored
The world is broken. We're the last choking embers of a fire waiting to burn out. Long before our grandfathers and their fathers before them, we started pulling our planet apart in the name of progress and blind ambition. The greed of man has devoured this earth until there was nothing left. We watch as time eats us alive. A generation born to witness the end of the world. And still the greed of humanity continues to push forward in the so called 'name of progress'. God himself sent down the wrath of his will, Aragami born of cells not of this world to devour and reset the entire world. The very embodiment of sin. Still, humanity clung to life so desperately, researching and innovating ways to fight back. Fighting back against gods, an almost laughable proposition. That was until Oracle Cell research elevated into technology called 'God Arcs' and a generation of fighters were soon born. The story of a red-headed warrior starts with abandonment, wrapped affectionately in white linen stained with the blood of her father's will. She'd long but lost her mother, her very life the cause of such a tragic end. Wails of need bellowed into the air, surrounded by sickly crunching and drowned out against the sounds of death. The masses of Aragami had come in force to slaughter and eradicate the encampment that reached far beyond the walls of the Far East branch of Fenrir. The toddler wailed so viciously against the stale air as if to beg god for mercy, please have mercy on this baby. For she did not birth into this world to be sacrificed, for she did not need to carry the sins of man on her tiny shoulders.
The end of a cigarette plunked against the wall followed by a vicious swing of a saw-toothed blade. Metal whistled in the air with the deafening sound of Aragami being slaughtered by the group of hooded saviors. God Eaters, man's bastion against the apocalypse sent by God himself, those who wielded his own tools and used them to survive. Sheened black-hair waved against musky air, bright green eyes reflecting the tides of war staring down at the swaddled toddler. God Eaters were to eradicate Aragami at all costs. The young man just couldn't leave behind the innocent child, turning a silent eye to the leader of his unit. There were no words that could be spoken, not amid battle. The hooded man grasped the toddler and strengthened the grip across his God Arc without a second hesitation. She was the only survivor of that village, the Gaelic scriptures burnt to the ground as the hooded men wearing an emblem on their backs drove away from what they had called a 'successful mission.' There were murmurs aboard the vehicle, sneering eyes gazing towards the man clasping the toddler against his chest, cigarette in his mouth held there by the gentle suction of saliva and dried blood. Going against Fenrir meant going against the only surviving Democracy, Headquarters was like a viper's nest. Political survivability was the only thing that meant more than life itself, each member looking for the next poisonous boost in power. Even if it meant the life of a fellow man, woman or child.
At the gates of the bastion, soldiers stood steadfast, guns pointed at the younger man holding the next generation tightly in his grasp.
"Put that thing back! Now!" Still, even in the face of barked orders and potential career ruining wounds, the man refused.
"Test her, if she's compatible then she can enter." His voice was smooth, flowing free without care and worry laced with the subtlest taste of seriousness. With reluctant, a small adhesive patch was placed on the tiny infant's right forearm. Blue symbolized incompatibility while orange gave way to a new world of possibilities. The wait was agonizing, a stiff blade jabbed between the ribs ripping into the stomach like a bad dinner. With a yawp of pain, the patch was pulled away to reveal an orange residue.
"She stays." The man pushed passed the guards and entered the fortress known as the Far East Branch. He strolled carelessly through the Outer Ghetto, passed the several checkpoints until he came into the central point. The home of all of Fenrir's most elite. The muttered and muffled voices of disapproving members pointed towards the man as he walked through the metallic hallways and ultimately into the elevator. Several floors passed on by, the solitary space of the tight enclosure gave him a bit of necessary time to prequel his speech to the person who would, hopefully, be taking care of this infant. The doors opened slowly like the impending death the surely awaited each and every human among this deadened earth. Before him stood a shorter, sterner looking female.
"Lindow, what the hell were you thinking!" With a simple shrug and smile he pushed passed the female and ultimately barged his way into what had been her private room among the branch.
"You know damn well what they will do to you!" The voice trailed behind the slammed door, the toddler remaining oddly quiet as the man now known as Lindow gently lowered himself to the stiff couch.
"I couldn't just leave the kid, besides." His eyes turned towards the female, similar-looking green eyes locking together.
"The kid's compatible." There was a moment of soft silence.
"You're kidding me." Another long pause of silence.
"Tsubaki, this kid is going to be something special. She needs family. She needs a mother." Tsubaki backed away from her bother with that stern look tightening up into a disgusted scowl.
"No way, not me. Lindow you know I can't give my time to a child! I don't even have the time for a boyfriend!" The discussion lasted several hours until finally both parties agreed that the toddler would be left in the best hands, Tsubaki, one of the most intelligent and strongest God Eaters would raise her.
Chapter 1
Beginning of A Career
The female form of a fourteen-year-old stood just beyond the large collapsing doors. Small garments clung to her form, shorts and a simple bra covering her more private regions. Her red-hair had been tied into a tight bun, the violet eyes showing determination and ironclad will. She stepped forward with steeled posture raised like the soldier she was, her 'mother' had taught her how to be the best. Even though the exterior showed a battle-hardened and war-ready combatant Minerva Evelyn O'Connell was typically the life of the party. With smiles galore and the personality that not even God himself could predict. Tsubaki, with the help of Lindow and several other companions did their best to raise an innocent girl, though the fiery temperament of Minerva's Irish history tended to show itself every now and then. Every argumentative battle was met with fire alike, Tsubaki never being the one to stand down from a challenge. It was through this stern and strict regimen that Minerva found her way to the compatibility testing facility just a year following the Sacred Grounds and Spiral Tree incident. She stood before the large, red mechanism that would apply the mark of humanity's faith permanently to her skin. Above the stadium-like room was the observation room in which all the inner workings of the test would take place. A voice suddenly rang out into Minerva's ears.
"Whenever you are ready young one, place your arm into the machine. It will be painful. For this, I am sorry." The eccentric voice of Paylor Sakaki hadn't lost a step in his years as Branch Director, his eyes hidden behind the sheen of thick glasses.
Her arm slammed into the device with peering eyes staring directly through the glass. Her face was stoic and steadfast without even the slightest signs of fear or doubt. Two ends resembling the jaws of a mechanical beast clamped down tightly across her right wrist, fusing a metallic armlet of deep red coloring to her flesh. Her teeth clacked together with a guttural scream of agony, her knees buckling in response to the burning sensation of searing pain rushing throughout her entire nervous system.
"The fusing process has begun; this armlet will be bound to your skin for the rest of your human days. We will now begin introducing Oracle Cells into your body. Are you sure you're ready?" Violet orbs shot upwards with vicious intensity burning through the pain.
"Do it." Her voice was low, smooth through the pants of pain. The feeling had been unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. It was as if she had begun to be reborn with her every bone, muscle and fiber moving and reconstructing underneath her reddened skin. Tsubaki, who had accompanied the rest of the staff in the observation room watched with eyes of steeled perception. Though behind that iron wall there was a pang of sadness and worry.
"Oracle Cell alignment completed, the compatibility rating is off the charts!"
Dr. Sakaki pushed his glasses up with a toothy smile as he turned to Tsubaki.
"As I hypothesized, there was nothing to be worried about Ms. Amamiya. Well done Minerva, welcome to the Anti-Aragami Punitive Forces. Congratulations on becoming a God Eater." Tsubaki released a heavy breath of pent-up air while maintain that patented stare of icy coldness. The machine shifted and released its tight grip, her body collapsing to the ground in a heap of agony and bliss. Beads of sweat dripped to the ground with each heavy rise and fall of her chest, the pain slowly residing to a dull ache. She stood to her feat just as he large doors opened, violet eyes still hazed with tears of success. Lindow, Tsubaki and Dr. Sakaki all joined Minerva. Her petite frame barely managed to find a foothold against the shivering limbs struck with weakness and pain. Lindow was the first to step forward, metal rattling through the air behind his trench coat embroidered with Fenrir's signet. The covered hand tossed an object towards Minerva, the latter catching the tossed item just before it clattered to the ground. Violet eyes inspected the simple chain strung through three individual sets of golden tags.
"An Amamiya charm of luck, you'll do just fine kid." Tsubaki's name had been stamped in the first set alongside her Fenrir information, next was Lindow's. Her fingers pushed the two sets past until her eyes fell upon her own name. Tears welled in the shimmering set of violet eyes as the smooth words entered her ears.
"I'm not so good with the formal things, sorry. I look forward to working with you. Make me proud, kid." Lindow waved one human arm before turning tail and disappearing into the darkness beyond the large doors.
Thank you. Her thoughts had been cut suddenly short as the familiar sound of the strictest instructor to walk Fenrir barked out suddenly.
"Stand up straight!" Minerva reacted almost instantaneously bringing her form to a board-like posture, arms parallel against her pale skin. Tsubaki looked down upon her student. Her daughter, though not born of blood but born of love. A rare smile pierced the stalwart gaze as Tsubaki quickly embraced the red-headed teenager.
"I'm proud of you." Those words were whispered almost too low for even Minerva to understand them. And yet, the connection between these two reverberated almost physically. Tsubaki broke the embrace of humanity, placing her calloused hands upon the younger female's shoulders.
"I have to get back to work, the Director will be sure to place you in good care. I…" There was a hesitation as the emotions that had been suppressed beneath years of experience and layers of toughness leaked through.
"I love you, remember your training and remember Lindow's three big rules." There was a giant smile from both of them, had it not been for their incredibly differing physical looks the assumption would certainly be the dynamic between a mother and a daughter.
"You mean the big four, right mother?" Tsubaki allowed herself a chuckle before returning to the stalwart instructor that had earned her respect and fame through Fenrir as a whole. Tsubaki nodded before following in her younger brother's footsteps.
"Ah yes, the bonds of family. Truly incredible." Dr Sakaki had pressed himself into Minerva's personal space causing her back to cave away.
"You've a medical exam shortly, then you are to meet with Licca. Yes, you must begin preliminary God Arc screening!" Sakaki leaned away and began to pace, the epic ramblings of a madman soon to follow.
"Ah, who am I kidding. You're mother probably lectured you enough!" Minerva nodded just in shock as the Director backed away and began to leave the room.
"Once you've finished the routine meet with me for your team assignment." She'd been left to her own devices, clad in clothing that barely passed as sleeping wear. Violet eyes gazed down to the armlet, a stiffened lip quivering in anticipation for the fights to come. Her right hand balled into a stiffened fist, her mind steeled with determination as she voyaged into the darkness. She looked back towards the closing doors only once, leaving everything behind her in that room and agreeing silently that the future was more important than anything in the past.
Chapter 2
Introductions
"Kota, Erina, Emil!" The trio stood at full attention in the large meeting room that was entirely empty save for themselves and Tsubaki who had returned as an instructor.
"Today you'll be assigned a new teammate, she's scored top marks in all simulation programs and will be a valued member of the esteemed 1st unit." There was a moment of pause, each member showing differing levels of emotions until a nearby door slide open. Stepping forward through the frame emerged a red-headed warrior with violet eyes and full lips pursed together with keen intensity. Wearing a tight fitting purple tank-top under a white jacket like the ones supplied to CRADLE members, a pair of white sweat pant-combat pant hybrids with purple accenting colors. The bottoms came paired with pouches on either side for equipment in the field and ended just above the ankles much akin to capris. She wore white battle boots tied tightly to her muscular calves with purple laces and knee-high socks of the same purple shade. Her hair was tied in a tight pony-tails with a white ribbon to keep flagrant strands in place.
"You're late Miss O'Connell." Minerva fell in line with a stiffened posture and saluted the instructor with her right fist tightly against her left breast just above her heart.
"Sorry ma'am, Director Sakaki and Madam Licca were giving me a demonstration on my God Arc."
Kota was the first to break the formation peeking at the new blood, being the one who always fancied the female type. Tsubaki was quick to reign the captain in.
"You'd be wise to keep your prying eyes to yourself Captain Kota Fujiki. That is my daughter." Crimson hair snapped forward as Kota straightened up in fear and nodded silently to Tsubaki. Erina smiled towards Minerva just as Emil broke the silence once more.
"What a faire beauty! I, Emil Von Strasbourg shall take your hand and lead unto thee a knightly…" Before the blonde-haired man could pry a finger against Minerva he had already been on the floor with arms around his neck.
"That goes for you too Emil!" Erina, a young teenager about the same age as Minerva quickly de-escalated the situation. Minerva scratched her head in confusion as she turned towards Tsubaki with an inquisitive look.
"Excuse me for speaking out of line, but what exactly am I doing being placed on the 1st unit? You, yourself exclaimed to Director Sakaki that I should be placed higher-up so that my skills could be better used." She turned her head to the three 'teammates' of hers with a sullen expression.
"No offence but I sincerely doubt Sir Chivalrous and Teenybopper are the kinds of personalities that are going to help me grow as a God Eater."
Erina quickly popped up to exclaim but Tsubaki was quick to silence the outburst. Kota kept himself quiet only because of his fear of Tsubaki exploding on him. Emil had been silence by Erina and simply watched the rash and uncaring red-head as she starred her mother down.
"Are you questioning direct orders, O'Connell?" Minerva didn't hesitate a single beat in responding.
"I am questioning the motif, yes. Why waste my talent on something so…" Minerva sighed and dropped her sentence and nodded to Tsubaki.
"Never mind, ma'am." Before anything more could be said a blaring alarm blasted through the empty room
-Aragami spotted in Sector 36. Repeat Mid-Size Aragami spotted in Sector 36! How'd they get through! -
Kota's face drained of color as he looked directly at Tsubaki.
"1st unit you're dispatched immediately GO!" Three members turned immediately without hesitation while Minerva waited for some sort of lecture. Tsubaki simply made a head motion. Minerva caught the elevator with her teammates and held herself in silence. Erina glared at the back of red-hair while Kota and Emile focused on the forefront of the issues. Double doors opened and the unit moved in unison into the storage facility, each one of them sliding their armlets into a circular hole positioned to the side of a terminal. Four separate holding units lowered and opened to reveal their weapons, tools of the trade. Minerva came to a stop as she stood in front of the weapon she had been assigned. A Long Blade attached with Sniper parts and a buckler shield. The design was rather simplistic even for God Arc terms, but the coloration of red and black made the piece look deadlier than intended. She grabbed the hilt, feeling the sudden sensation of a worldly attachment grab onto her very soul.
Sector 36 was in the closer Outer Ghetto, the distance was well within a brisk run. Minerva was quick to break into a sprint, her speed far and ahead surprising each member of the 1st unit as she blew by like a blur in the wind.
"Hibari Takeda reporting, 1st unit your targets are several Ogretail in the surrounding sector." There was no need for a response, Minerva had been through the simulations countless times. The grip along the hilt of her Arc tightened as she leapt across walls of the Far East Branch and dropped down onto a long cylindrical pipe keeping her balance as she slid across the length of the transference pipe. At her rear were the other members of the 1st unit, struggling to keep the pace set by their rookie member.
"She's so fast…" Kota exclaimed, met with a scoff from Erina and chivalrous admiration from the knight-to-be Emil. Minerva tumbled over the final wall landing in the middle of seven Ogretail leaving a crater from the force of her weight slamming into the ground.
Her body stood to full attention very slowly, her eyes closed until reaching the apex of her full height. In a sudden instant, her eyes shot open and her body shifted forward in blazing motion of red and black blurs. Before her teammates could land, the first wave of small Aragami had been dispatched and devoured like cannon fodder to the flame of an indestructible monster of war. She spun the God Arc in her palm before gripping the hilt with both hands and proceeding forward.
Just like the simulations she told herself repeatedly, replaying those memories in her head from the past. Why raise a princess when you can raise a warrior? At least that's what Tsubaki always told everyone. The personified warrior clad in red-hair and wielding technology that far extended her own ingenuity pushed herself past several groups of Ogretail and Dreadpike leaving her teammates to deal with the smaller fish. Her eyes had been focused on the large enemy straight ahead.
"Minerva fallback and regroup immediately! That's a Vajra!" Hibari's voice was erratic and nervous as her eyes shifted to Tsubaki who stood in front of the large screen with several blips on it.
"Ma'am?!" Tsubaki closed her eyes with a heavy sigh and a slight shake of her head.
"Have the first unit evacuate and handle the outskirts. If no other teams can be dispatched to handle this beast then we'll lose too many lives. I can handle it. Trust me." An Aragami similar in appearance to a tiger. IT Toys with enemies with its agile movements. Can let loose a powerful electric attack from its "cape," an organ on its back. This was the Vajra, something Minerva had battled before in the simulations. But reality was
always different. Even so she stepped forward, each step rocking her body with loose muscles. There was no fear in those violet eyes. The deployment room was gravely silent as the operators expected some sort of outwards explosion from Tsubaki who had always been one of duty and obeying orders.
"Hibari direct another unit there, now!" Frantic clacking of keys and fingernails against plastic rung out before a following sentence came.
"Ma'am, there are none!" Tsubaki quickly exclaimed under her breath as the emotions washed over her.
The Vajra lunged forward with a vicious swipe meant to the end lives, but was met with nothing more than hopes and dreams. Minerva launched herself high into the air, her God Arc shifting with a sickly squishing sound just seconds before raining down several shots from her sniper barrel. She landed atop a building in the distance shifting her weapon back to blade form and evading several balls of archaic energy slamming into the empty building. A rookie holding her own against an Aragami that gave even the toughest of veteran's troubles. Her breathing was heavy as the limits of her energy began to dip below acceptable levels. Her stamina had always been a glaring issue, more so than her limited strength and it was showing very clearly. The second bout of blows nearly collided with pale skin as Minerva sluggishly rolled away just nanoseconds before becoming mincemeat.
"Minerva retreat NOW! That is a direct order dammit!" Tsubaki's voice rangout like thunder from the gods, operator's flinching from unkempt rage flowing freely.
"No." Minerva spoke clearly between heavy breaths as if her lungs were collapsing. The pain in her chest elevating with every forceful movement to continue drawing the Vajra away from civilization.
"I refuse to let this beast devour any more than it already has." Minerva screamed out as blood ran red across her back, the giant paw sending her crashing against the ramshackle housing. She stood up, battered and bruised, smiling like a wicked witch.
She dashed forward attempting to end the beast, but time had taken its toll. The wound on her back stretched and opened further causing her blade to fall from her grip. She hit the ground with a vicious tumble and ending up at the feet of her enemy. Violet eyes shot up up to meet the dead eyes of the Aragami that seemed to look back with a taunting look. Even at the face of death there was no fear in Minerva. She looked at the reaper who came to collect souls directly in the face and even smirked as the large paw lifted. Only then did she shut her eyes and accepted life. And death. There was a loud ringing sound, followed by an explosion and the sudden sensation of weightlessness. For a moment that felt like centuries, Minerva panicked and believed she had passed on to the next realm. Her eyes opened to the dust and the face of a man eclipsed by the sun's rays.
"Your mom would never forgive me if you died on our first mission." Kota lowered Minerva to the ground with his usual cheeky smile, turning to Emil and Erina.
"Erina advance forward. Emil provide backup. I'll get you guys in close." Minerva watched as the trio she had previously passed off move into battle.
She stood to her feet and watched in amazement. She grabbed the colored blade with violet eyes blankly staring at the hilt.
"Minerva get in there and help your team." Tsubaki's voice hinted at anger and relief. Minerva wasted no more time debating as she launched forward again, her buckler activating and catching a ball of furious electricity. Her form landed in front of Erina, violet eyes shifting to the side in a form of an apology as the two females nodded at one another and moved forward. Forged in the heat of battle the first unit moved like one body. One mind. Kota the glue that held them together. Erina the spirit. Emil the hope. And Minerva, The Scarlet Huntress.
Chapter 3
Loved Ones
She rode the elevator, violet eyes drained of emotion as her pupils danced across the metallic markings as if to make sense of a language that had not been there. She rode the elevator, alone. She'd aged magnificently into a beautiful lady. Her form grew well into the frame she had been provided, her hair slightly longer and let down for the occasion. She was clothed in all black, formal attired for the occasion. The doors opened to emptiness much akin to the emptiness that had left Minerva nothing more than a shambling shell who moved forward on instincts alone. She entered a massive room with a circular domed ceiling. Hundreds of familiar faces gathered in the central region of the room all wearing similar looking clothes. All for the occasion. A crowd parted for Minerva to walk through, some eyes looking towards her with gripping despair. Other eyes looking to her with guttural sadness. She broke from the crowd to stand in front of a beautiful wooden casket, gilded and inlaid with the God Eater crest. Another body joined her side, the much taller man sliding his arm around Minerva's shoulders.
"I waited for you. It's only right that family be the first." Tears immediately rushed forward like a waterfall, the silent sounds of empty sobbing breaking the woman. Lindow stepped back and allowed Minerva to approach the opened casket first. Her violet eyes looked down to the peacefully resting female form, her mother with a small smile pinned across her lips.
"She… she looks so ha-happy." Minerva could barely get the words out before the crying started once more.
In a sudden instant, Minerva straightened up with a face of incredible frustration and determination. Her hands clenched into fists momentarily. She lowered her frame into the casket placing a ginger kiss across the forehead of Tsubaki Amamiya's resting form. Her words came as a whisper, words parted between herself and the restful dead.
"Even though we weren't blood related, you'll always be my mother. I loved you and I respected you more than you would ever know. Thank you so very much for raising me to be the girl I am today. I promise you on everything the Amamiya name stands for that I will represent you and your will until the last breath is ripped away from my chest. Rest easy mom, everything is in our hands now." She turned to Lindow, steeling her face as best as she could.
"She was always proud of you kid." Those were words she couldn't bear to hear, collapsing into Lindow's frame with screaming sobs of mental agony. Military based funerals always had formalities, even so Minerva made damned sure there was respect for her mother.
Once everything had settled and people began to file out Minerva found herself alone in the large room. There was a subtle sound behind her, moving her eyes to the familiar red-haired boy in. She approached Kota, reaching her right hand out towards him. His eyes took in for the first time, a white armlet.
"So you did it?" His hand took Minerva's, a sad expression hovering in his eyes.
"I'm sorry…" Kota shook his head and gripped her hand with both of his.
"No, don't be. We're all proud of you Mina. All of us." Minerva nearly broke down again with a quivering lower lip as she watched Emile and Erina step forward as well.
"Effective immediately I am leaving the first unit. I will be transferring to the newly established Mist Special Forces as the captain. Though, being a captain of nothing really doesn't much of a ring to it. Does it?"
"You're going to be fine Mina, the first unit is going to be in good hands. I promise." Erina embraced Minerva in a tight hug, stepping back to allow Emil to say his words.
"And thus the huntress prowled upon thine enemy. Thee that which hunts us in the mist. May your knighthood bring thine demons down." Emil caressed Minerva's hand to his lips as any 'knight' would do before Kota broke the grip apart. He reached his hand inwards, palm open and facing the ground. Emil and Erina followed suit each putting their hand on top of Kota's and looking at Minerva with hope in their eyes.
"I know this isn't the right time or place but." Minerva placed her hand atop the others and tried to force a smile.
"Thank you for everything. You all mean so much to me and I promise… I promise I will make you all proud."
