Chaos everywhere. People screaming. Flashes of light and the rippling sounds of explosions.
The girl was barged and jostled as she pushed her way through the mass of bodies that blocked her path. It was like swimming through a maelstrom, the flood of people nearly carrying her away.
She struggled, pushing and clawing her way through the masses.
Unintentionaly she screamed, but no one heard her plea.
She pushed harder, panic strengthening her tiring limbs.
And she was through. Like an opening curtain the people disappeared, she stumbled and fell.
Quickly she pushed herself up again. The stage design was that of a destroyed hall filled with rubble.
She was exhausted, smoke and dust stung her eyes and lungs as she watched the actors in front of her.
The woman in white was on her knees, breathing heavily. Redness was running down her body, slowly soaking into her white clothing.
The woman in black stood above her in triumph, her glowing eyes looking down at her broken adversary in contempt.
Black and white. Light and shadow. But also two sides of the same coin.
The girl opened her mouth in terror, but the scream stuck in her throat.
Something grabbed her ankle. Shocked the girl looked down.
Blond hair framed the ruined face looking up to her, red eyes looking pleadingly. The person opened her mouth.
"Vi… vio… … run…"
The girl could only stare in terror at this person she knew, but whose face she didn't recognize anymore.
A scream rang through the hall. The girl's eyes snapped to the front again.
The black woman had buried her hand in the white woman's chest. Redness was pouring to the ground like wine out of a leaking barrel.
The white woman's scream faded. A last rattle and she was silenced forever.
As her broken body fell to the ground, the black woman was laughing.
Piercing, insane laughing filled the hall. The woman's wings spread wide as to emphasize her uplifted arm, dripping with red.
"Run… away." the blond woman had managed to push herself on her knees and was now supporting herself with her dark staff. Tears ran down her ruined face as she regained some of her strength.
But the girl was unable listen. Her world was breaking as she stared at the black, winged woman that stood over the lifeless body of the white one.
"Take her and run!" the blond woman screamed suddenly.
The girl was pulled from behind. Strong arms embraced her.
Finally the girl regained her voice. She screamed as she was lifted from the ground.
The black woman's head jerked towards the screaming. Eyes like pits of molten rock stared at them.
"Take this with you!" The blond woman threw something she had picked from the ground.
The staff of white and gold was caught by the unseen person holding the girl.
Then the girl couldn't see what happened anymore. The person carrying her had turned around and ran. The flashing of explosions behind them.
And the girl finally screamed the words she wanted to scream.
"Mama!"
Heavily breathing, Vivio sat on top of her bed.
"Mama…" she sobbed as tears began filling her eyes.
With a slapping sound, her own hand smashed on her cheek.
"Stop crying!" she ordered in a hissing voice while slapping herself a second time. "Stop crying, you stupid baby!"
She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her patched up jersey and forced her sorrow down, buried it with anger.
She began to bare her teeth and stared into the darkness, while the sound of the ventilation system filled the cramped room, bringing a faint smell of rusted metal with it.
Now that the anger filled her up, Vivio was more than ever unable to calm down.
Her bare feet touched the cold concrete floor, she grabbed Raising Heart from the old supply box that was her nightstand and reached after two steppes the heavy metal door that led out of her room.
She pushed it open with a jarring sound.
She decided to visit the shooting range. Maybe firing some shoots at some target would calm her down again. Vivio didn't know if old man Iskan was still up, but in the end she didn't care.
With fast steps she went down the hallway. Dark thoughts clouded her mind.
That was why she only reacted after she bumped into the other person.
"What the…?" the surprised call made Vivio glare up.
"Vivio?" Laguna Granscenic blinked surprised. "What are you doing?"
"Get out of my way." Vivio snarled at the older girl and pushed her way past her.
"Wait!" Laguna grabbed Vivio's shoulder and forced her around. "What is wrong?"
Vivio was tired of her already. "That's not of your concern!"
"Vivio…"
"Why do you even care!? Just leave me alone!"
"Why I care!? We are comrades!"
"My ass! I don't need a fucking comrade that can't even leave me fucking alone!"
"What the hell is wrong with you!? Your mother would-!"
With a loud slap Laguna's head jerked to the side. With a puzzled face she touched her cheek, realizing what just had happened. "You…"
Without hesitation she returned the favor.
"Bitch! I always-"
Whoosh!
A small burst of flame flared up between them, causing the girls to stagger away from each other.
"What the hell are you doing at this time of the day!?" A voice screamed.
It took a while until Vivio recognized the tiny red headed girl floating besides them, she opened her mouth but the furious glare of Agito made her snap it close again. "If one of you say one damn word, I swear, you clean the waste recycling plant!"
Both girls looked down.
Agito sighed. "Can someone tell me what is going on?"
Both of them stayed silent.
"Oi! I asked you something. Are you suddenly deaf or what?"
"Agito?" the voice came from the door behind the tiny Unison-Device.
"Uh… Nothing! Everything is alright!" Agito sounded a little panicked.
"I heard voices. Who is there?"
"Err… just Laguna and Vivio, I'm sending them away."
"It's alright, let them in."
"But they don't…" Agito interrupted herself and glared at the girls. "Alright, go in, say hello and then piss off!"
Vivio and Laguna looked at each other.
Somewhat shy, they opened the door and entered, Agito followed them.
The room was dark, the only light came from a small lamp on top of a desk. Papers and plans laid scattered on the floor, besides the desk the furnishings contained a few chairs, a cabinet and a broken couch that served as a bed.
The only person in the room leaned on the desk und studied some of the papers.
As the girls entered she looked up.
Dark rings surrounded her eyes, pointing out her lack of sleep. Her ponytail was ragged as was her clothing, which seemed she hadn't changed for a long time.
"H-hello." Laguna rose to speak.
"Granscenic, Takamachi." She nodded at them. "Screaming around in the hallway is not forbidden, but you may watch the time and your choice of words next time."
"Yes, Ma'am… I'm sorry." Laguna apologized. Vivio murmured her apology half a second later.
Signum nodded again. "Were you at least able to resolve your dispute?"
"Yes, everything is alright now." Vivio quickly answered, gaining a side glance from Laguna.
"Good to hear that. Now go back to your rooms." Signum dismissed as she looked back at her papers.
"Signum-san?" Vivio began carefully.
"Yes?" she didn't even look up.
"May I ask when you will accompany us again outside?"
Signum looked up. Her eyes flickered with first with surprise, then with slight anger and finally with something else.
"I…" she began slowly, like choosing her words carefully. "I can't. I have too much to do here. Making plans, organize things…" She shook her head as her voice died slowly.
"Alright, enough questions for now!" despite her size, Agito tried pushing them out of the room, Vivio and Laguna quickly walked outside.
"You really don't know when to shut up, do you?" Agito glared one last time at them and pulled the door close.
Both girls stared at the door for a few seconds, than they looked at each other.
Vivio lowered her head for a bit and Laguna nodded in agreement.
Without saying a single word, both girls turned and went off into different directions.
As Vivio crawled back into her bed she couldn't forget Signum's eyes and the very last emotion she saw in them after her question.
Fear.
Knight Signum. Another victim of a brutal enemy that never made any sense.