Apoptosis.
Autophagocytosis.
Programmed cellular death.
These biological processes occur naturally in multi-cellular organisms to ensure optimal bodily functioning and efficiency. It is an integral part tissue development, allowing the body to grow then shape itself, and it is an important component of homeostasis. There is a balance of cellular death and division; old, damaged, or abnormal cells are destroyed and replaced by new ones. Programmed cellular death is a necessity for life.
Yet, what is it then, when this very process turns on itself, a person’s own body rebelling against the very act of living?
When cells only die?
It is called death, of course.
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Vivio Takamachi, age 10. She should be enjoying life, playing with friends and attending school. Afterwards, she would go home, do homework, eat dinner with her family, then prepare for the next day.
Instead, she lay upon a white bed, her body wrapped in white sheets. Her hair, once bright and vibrant blonde, was now a dull yellow that trailed lifelessly from her head. She seemed so frail now, so weak and fragile. How terrible Vivio seemed, with so many tubes and wires connected to her.
By the bedside, Nanoha Takamachi held the child’s hand, so thin and tiny now. How long had it been since they came here? Only a few days, but it felt like weeks. The rest of the world did not seem the least bit important compared to Vivio. Her adopted daughter’s change was so sudden, almost out of the blue. No… there were signs. They just did not notice it beyond the rose-tinted vision of happy family days. Weakness, loss of energy, difficulty breathing, pale skin, malaise: the symptoms just kept piling on. They had hoped it to be just a bad cold or some other common illness, but in reality, it was something far more sinister.
“Nanoha.”
The Ace glanced tiredly behind her, seeing Fate at the door with Vivio’s doctor behind her. With one final glance to Vivio, Nanoha stood and quietly walked up to her friend.
“She’s finally asleep.”
Fate could only return the same tired smile. She too felt the agony clawing at her heart, but she was sure it paled greatly in comparison to her best friend. Like Nanoha, Fate was trapped to watch that precious child suffer. “Yuuno-kun is with the others. They’re all in the waiting room.”
“Hmm. That’s good,” Nanoha’s reply sounded hollow and distant, causing Fate to mentally wince. “Doctor, the tests are done?”
The doctor nodded, his lips stretched into a tight frown.
“This is the most advanced hospital in Mid-Childa, and we still don’t know what is causing all this cellular degeneration. Its symptoms match nothing in any of our records, and we can’t explain why her cells are dying like that. All of our treatments have done nothing to slow the degeneration. We’re at a complete loss at what to do,” he said sadly, bowing his head. What worth was he, if he could not save this one fragile life? “I am so sorry, but there’s nothing more we can do.”
The words were like a terrible dagger, stabbed deeply into her chest and twisting, cruelly.
“H-how… how much longer?”
“The cellular degeneration is progressing at an exponential rate. By tomorrow, it could be worse, even double—”
“
HOW MUCH LONGER?!” Nanoha all but howled.
“…One week, at the most,” the answer came in a dead mutter. Not even the doctor wanted it to be true.
Nanoha could only gape as the strength to stand, the strength to live spilled out of her like blood from a fresh wound. A strangled cry escaped her lips as she was caught by Fate in a tight hug, her fingers digging painfully into Fate’s side. The Enforcer could only ignore it, her own tears filling her eyes.
“No! NO! This can’t be happening! This nightmare can’t be really happening!” the girl’s cries were muffled by the fabric of blonde girl’s uniform, tears soaking into the messy cotton. “Why?! Why has it come to this? Why to her?! What sin has she committed to deserve such a fate?!”
Fate had no answer. She could only hug her dear friend tighter and share her tears.
“Why her?! Why now?! Why can’t she live a happy normal life?!” Nanoha sobbed into Fate’s chest, uncaring of where she was. It didn’t matter anymore. Nothing mattered anymore! The world… Her world… it was all coming to an awful end.
“Mama…?” Vivio’s voice echoed pitifully in the tiny room, stirring from her dreamless sleep by the cries. Nanoha was by her side in an instant, a shaking hand brushing away those limp yellow strands.
“I’m right here, sweetie. How are you feeling?”
“It hurts a lot, mama. I feel horrible all over,” the child groaned, twisting that dagger even deeper. By the door, Fate could hardly watch the two.
“Can’t you…?” she pleaded to the doctor through her tears.
With a shake of his head, the doctor could only look apologetic. “I’m sorry; she’s on maximum dosage. I’m surprised she’s even awake. Any more, and we’d waste what time she has left…”
Choking back a sob, the Enforcer held on to the door’s frame to support her suddenly weak legs.
“Mama? Am I going to be okay?” little Vivio asked in a whisper, her half-lidded eyes clouded with barely contained fear and agonizing pain.
“Everything is going to be all right, Vivio,” Nanoha whispered and petted her daughter’s head, wishing dearly that it be true. Her vision blurred as tears clouded them again, her voice cracking as she soothed her dying child. “Everything is going to be all right.”
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Seven days were given to her.
She only lived five.
As a precaution, Vivio’s body was cremated to prevent anyone from stealing the genetic data of the Saint King from her remains. Instead of Mid-Childa, the child would be buried on Nanoha’s home planet, Earth. It was a second home to Vivio, a wondrous place for the curious girl. Like her mother, she too loved that world. Here she would be laid to rest, away from the prying eyes and reaches of all but the closest of friends.
There was not a single mourner without tears that day, even those who could not be present, far, far away across the stars. How could there not be?
The Takamachi family, along with Suzuka and Arisa, paid their respects with their silent and tearful vigil. They knew of the child’s importance, of the love that Nanoha had for her. In that, they knew of the grief their daughter and friend carried.
Chrono and Amy huddled with their children, their quiet tears like those that flowed from Teana and Ginga. In contrast, Subaru bawled pitifully into her hands, snot and tears soaking her palms and face. Lindy too, her handkerchief soaked. Caro and Erio hugged each other close, their quivering forms shaking with every sob they could not hide, and Eina, the dutiful maid, poured out her laments.
Hayate was like Vita and Shamal, unable to hold back their mournful cries. They too suffered from the loss, a beloved child stripped away from them. Though silent, Signum had twin streams trailing from her eyes as she bowed her head, dripping onto her tightly clenched hands. Agito rested upon the swordmaiden’s shoulder, trying her best to resist, but not even the fiery Unison device could stay silent. Reinforce Zwei, though this be her first experience with death, understood the sorrow of loss. But of all of them, none could fully understand the absolute sorrow and grief that Zafira suffered in his silence.
He sat with them at the front, the ones closest to Vivio. Though he was silent like Fate, Zafira’s tears were like great rivers down his chiseled face. Hands clenched in fists of rage, he could only shudder with every cry, his shoulders shaking with barely contained sorrow. He had been close to the girl, a caretaker as much as a friend, and his heart broke with every painful wrack and choking cough Vivio suffered. He had been there, by her side. When the time finally came, Zafira bid her good night.
Arf was with him, her head resting on his quivering shoulder. She felt not only her own, but Fate’s grief. It pained her in seeing her precious people in so much pain, but she could do nothing more than cry with them. Failure gripped both her and Zafira’s souls – they were supposed to be guardians, protectors of those closest to them. Yet for all their power, they could do nothing but watch a child wither away.
Fate felt it a twisted irony, that she, a copy of Alicia, be allowed to live this long, yet an innocent soul could not even live to see her eleventh birthday. Were all those involved in that cursed project doomed to always suffer? The pain in her heart was strangely dulled, the wound shallower than she had expected. Was it perhaps she had suffered this same pain long before, and now with its return, she felt less? The very thought of it horrified her.
Yuuno was like Zafira, for he, too, was close. Closer, even, for those days when he took the time to teach little Vivio magic and the basics of support magic. How adorable it seemed that she grew a great interest in the Infinity Library, absorbing every word he spoke and reading every book he suggested to her. As much as she was Nanoha’s daughter, Vivio also felt like his own child. And with her death, Yuuno felt that he had lost a piece of himself, forever irreplaceable.
But Nanoha… That child was an utterly inconsolable wreck. No, perhaps wreck described it inadequately. Whereas others openly mourned Vivio’s passing, Nanoha seemed incapable of crying any more. Instead, she sat there, Yuuno and Fate by her sides, completely silent and dead to the world. Dried trails of tears trailed down her tired cheeks, her eyes as lifeless as the rest of her. Eyes that gazed upon a cold stone tablet that bore her daughter’s name.
Vivio Takamachi
2009 – 2019
Born of the Sins of Man
Loved regardless
O’ Innocent Sorrow
The Onus is Ours to Bear
Above them, the sun shined on, its glorious rays a bitter reminder of the light they had lost. There was not a cloud in the sky or a cold wind to blemish this perfect day; only a pleasant breeze and warm sunlight. Bright green grass swayed with the wind, lively and vibrant. The trees, they too danced with the sylph. Life was all around, except for one place.
How ugly it all seemed.
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In a place unknown, unlit save for a multitude of glowing telecommunication screens with darkened faces in each window.
“It seems Doctor Scaglietti was not able to imitate the late Precia Testarossa's masterwork perfectly.”
“Aye, his arrogance and sloppiness shows.”
“Programmed cellular death. How idiotic. Did he not realize he had enemies even among those who created her?”
“Fated to live only ten years. She was doomed to die from the very moment that zygote split. Utterly pathetic.”
“His madness had blinded him. But not us.”
“A shame those children became so close to an Artificial Mage.”
“How ill-fated. The girl had a happy life. Then she died a slow and painful death.”
“Unfortunate, but there is nothing we can do.”
“Such is the fate of beasts made by foolish men.”
“Well, did not this tragedy begin because of a woman?”
“Hardly. She just finished a portion of the riddle of what humans have been trying to grasp for an eternity: the secret of life.”
“And by proxy, immortality.”
“The data we will get will be most informative. What we’ve received thus far is very fascinating.”
“Yes. We’ve managed to acquire the clone’s body. A suitable replacement was successfully infiltrated.”
“They will not know the difference with those ashes.”
“Ironic. The girl was named after the word ‘to live.’”
“How do you think those children will fair? This is quite possibly the worst tragedy in their entire careers.”
“The white one will be the most hurt. She gave up much of her life just to save that little thing. How betrayed she must feel.”
“Should we care? Their lives have no meaning to us anymore. They have lost the clone.
“Hmm. What I would do to get the black one, Precia’s final work. The other one, the boy, he would be a fine specimen as well.”
“That is true. Send a note to the coroner – have their bodies delivered to us should she ever terminate.”
“Patience, my colleague. Haste will only draw attention to us.”
“Ahh. Yes, you are right. We have waited this long. We can wait a little more.”