Pride x Familiar (49 page)

I frowned slightly. “Melanie, does my sister
know?”

“I believe she does.”

I felt the air leave my lungs in a rush.

Simone asked, “You received your Fragment from
Crimson Crescent, didn’t you?”

Melanie nodded just once. “And I was trained by
them. I’ve had my Artifact for more than a year.”

I noticed the thoughtful, troubled look on
Simone’s face.

Then I heard something unexpected from her.

Simone bowed her head. “I’m sorry, Melanie. My
mother has told me very little about the freighter explosion six
years ago. I don’t know if I can believe you, but I can’t quite
doubt you either.” She raised her head, and looked at Melanie
standing a step below her. “But there’s one thing I can say. I
promise not tell anyone what you’ve told me.”

I stood up and stared at Simone in shock. “Why
would you do that?”

Simone faced me with a resolute look in her
eyes. “I told you before, Caelum. I make my own shadow. I will not
be a pawn or puppet of my mother’s.”

I noticed the guarded look on Melanie’s face,
but kept my eyes on Simone. “Are you saying you’ll keep Melanie’s
secret?”

“I’m saying I won’t tell them what Melanie has
told us.”

Melanie sounded unconvinced. “Why?”

“As I said, I make my own shadow, and I don’t
appreciate being kept in the dark by my mother.”

Melanie shook her head, not quite convinced.
“Even so—”

Simone stated flatly, “I can keep secrets, just
like my mother. And I won’t forgive her for taking Caelum’s
Artifact from him. He didn’t deserve that.”

Melanie glanced at me, then regarded Simone
again. “Not that it matters to me anymore, but that’s entirely your
choice.”

The two girls regarded each other silently for a
long, heavy moment. It felt like they were conversing only with
their eyes.

Suddenly Melanie glanced away, as though
listening to something only she could hear.

“Damn it,” she muttered loudly. “It looks like
the Enforcers have managed to breach the tunnels.”

I frowned. “Breached?”

Melanie nodded weakly. “Crimson Crescent has
access to the security doors inside the major tunnels. They closed
most of them to prevent Special Interventions and the Enforcers
from getting to the Vault chamber. But it looks like they just blew
their way in. We have to hurry.”

Melanie turned quickly and resumed walking down
the stairs.

I stared at her back, then gave Simone a quick
look.

The Countess breathed in deeply, as though
gathering her resolve, and squeezed my fingers gently. “Like she
said, let’s hurry.”

(Caelum)

I was certain we were below the academy
grounds.

We had descended at least eight flights of
stairs.

While a step behind me, Simone asked. “Melanie,
tell me one thing. What kind of Artifact do you have?”

Melanie didn’t reply. She continued descending
down the steps, and Simone and I hurried after her as best we
could.

I didn’t expect she would give the Countess an
answer, after all she’d denied giving me one. Then all of a sudden
I heard her reply.

“It’s a Valkyrie Armor. Type Waltraute.”

Simone hesitated on a step, and I had to slow
quickly lest I pull her down.

The Countess had a faintly distressed look on
her face. “Waltraute? Then your Valkyrie is different from
Caprice’s….”

That surprised me so I asked, “How do you know
that?”

“Arisa told me,” Simone replied. “Caprice’s
Valkyrie Armor is the type Gunnr.”

Ahead of us, Melanie slowed to a stop and
glanced up. “Gunnr? Not Brynhildr?”

We came to a stop on the step above her. The
Countess shook her head weakly, her long ash grey hair barely
swishing over her shoulders. “No, it’s definitely Gunnr.”

Melanie’s eyes blinked slowly yet her face was
quietly calm. “Is her Valkyrie unlocked?”

The Countess lowered her chin. “Unlocked?”

“Yes, is the Maiden form unlocked?”

I glanced between the two girls, trying not to
appear at a loss and failing.

What did she mean by Maiden form?

However the Countess appeared to understand and
shook her head again. “No, it’s locked. It’s the reason why Caprice
has been unable to fully manifest the armor. I was told by Arisa
that the Valkyrie Armor’s synchronicity with Caprice was still too
low. So the lock her mother placed on the Artifact has yet to be
broken.”

Melanie nodded to herself. “I hope she doesn’t
do anything foolish….”

Before I could ask her what she meant, Melanie
turned away and began descending the stairs once more.

The Countess nudged me and we hurried after the
girl.

A few steps down and the Countess broke the
brief silence. “Melanie, what are you going to do after this? Your
existence as a member of Crimson Crescent has been revealed. Even
if Caelum and I hide stuff from them, we won’t be able to lie to
the investigators about that.”

To my surprise, we suddenly arrived at a landing
and stopped. It appeared we’d finally reached the bottom of the
stairwell. How many flights had we descended? Was it twelve or
thirteen?

Looking about, I saw a metal door embedded into
a permacrete wall.

Melanie studied the door for a moment, then
turned and faced the Countess. “Are you concerned for me?”

Simone’s mouth opened and closed quickly. Then
she sighed and said, “Yes.”

Melanie’s expression grew conflicted. Of a
sudden she looked down and slowly shook her head. “I don’t know
what to think of you. I mean, I don’t like you and I hate your
large breasts, but on the other hand I would have liked getting to
know you better.”

When she looked up, the two girls shared another
long, meaningful look that left me feeling like a complete
outsider. Then Melanie sighed softly, and turned around. She stared
at the metal door that was buried an inch or so into the wall.

Abruptly it unlocked and opened a couple of
inches.

Melanie muttered, “Well it’s about time….”

She reached out and pushed it open enough for
the three of us to slip through in single file.

I had a feeling someone was either watching us,
or in communication with Melanie, most probably the Crimson
Crescent hacker who’d gained control of the academy’s systems.

I believed they were responsible for opening the
door in front of us.

I pulled Simone through behind me, and heard her
curse under her breath. I guessed her voluptuous chest was giving
her a problem getting through the narrow doorway. I reached out and
pushed the door open some more, feeling stupid for not having taken
the Countess’s lateral profile into consideration.

We found ourselves in a narrow tunnel with poor
illumination, but my eyes quickly adjusted to the weak light.

Melanie pointed in the direction where the
tunnel came to an end in the distance. “I’m told there is a ladder
leading down to the tunnel running below us. The blast doors
intersecting that main tunnel are all open now so you won’t have
any trouble getting to the Vault….”

Her voice trailed away and her eyes narrowed as
though she were peering into a distance only she could see. Then
she grimaced in annoyance. “Damn it. We definitely need to
hurry.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

Melanie began walking down the tunnel at a fast
pace. “Special Interventions’ troops are on their way. Come on,
let’s go!”

Simone and I had no choice but to chase after
her.

I’d been holding hands with the Countess for
many long minutes now. Her hand had grown comfortable in mine, and
I didn’t feel like letting it go.

At the end of the tunnel, Melanie had pulled
open a trapdoor that resembled a large metal manhole. She was
crouched beside the opening, staring down into the circular
darkness.

When Simone and I stopped beside her, Melanie
spoke without looking up, yet we heard her clearly.

“After this I’ll leave Pharos. Crimson Crescent
has arranged for me to get off the colony.”

Her words made my heart uneasy. “Will I ever see
you again?”

She looked up and broke into a gentle smile, and
my chest tightened noticeably. “Time will tell. But I’m sure we’ll
see each other again.” She shook her head. “No—I know we will.”

Melanie rose smoothly to her feet. Despite
Simone standing beside me, she suddenly leaned toward me and
planted a kiss on my right cheek.

I was too surprised to react, and chided myself
for not over-clocking. In slow motion I would have been able to
enjoy it for much, much longer.

But Melanie gave me a hopeful look. “It’s a pity
I didn’t get to know you better. A pity we didn’t get to make
Duncan jealous.”

I blinked, remembering that night outside her
apartment complex.

I wanted to reach out and hold her, but instead
I gave her a nod. “No matter what, you make it out safely. You hear
me?”

“I hear you.” She faced the Countess and gave
Simone a hard look. “I don’t envy you, Simone Alucard Raynar. Yours
is a path I would never wish to tread upon but that’s the problem
with fate…you just can’t avoid it. One Seeress tried to change
fate, while another tried to help it along.”

I looked at Simone in the corner of my eye.

Even in the weak light, I saw her grow pale.

Melanie continued. “But maybe this time there
will be a happy ending. However, you have to be certain of one
thing. Your feelings must be pure or you will fail at the beginning
of the journey, and not the end.”

Simone bit her lower lip. I thought I caught the
hint of a nod.

What did Melanie mean by
pure
feelings
?

I didn’t get the chance to ask.

Melanie crouched, then entered the circular
opening in the tunnel floor. She called out to us before she
disappeared from sight.

“Hurry or we’ll really be late.”

#

(Caprice)

The burning sensation hit me a few meters down
the hallway after exiting the Student Council President’s room.

It hit the others a short while later.

Maya urged Constance to continue and escort
Severin and Prissila to the computer club’s base of operations. The
trio set off at a run, with Constance leading the way though
Severin did have to call out directions.

I staggered along with one hand on the wall,
afraid I’d lose my grip on my Artifact, the Valkyrie Armor. Then I
felt Jaxon’s arm around my waist. I instinctively wanted to pull
away but he just tightened his grip and helped me along. In fact,
he practically carried me.

“I can walk on my own,” I groused.

His voice was laced with the strain he was
under. “At your pace it’ll take us a year to get to the other wing
of the building. And besides, you know the way better than I
do.”

Then I heard him whisper.

I’m not leaving your side.

Maya and Rina were helping each other along, but
they collapsed when we reached the tee junction at the end of the
hallway.

“Damn it,” Jaxon muttered. “Come on, Lady Maya,
can’t hold your water?”

“Shut up,” she muttered, but she had collapsed
against the wall, and was breathing heavily as sweat poured down
her face. Rina was hugging her gun-blade and shivering like an
addict suffering severe withdrawal symptoms. The girl’s eyes were
glazed over and soft pained moans escaped her lips.

I shook my head, feeling the sweat run through
my body and soak my underwear. “Jaxon…put…me down….”

I was burning up both inside and outside.

“Ah, what the Hell,” he grated out but set me
down gently against the wall near Maya and Rina. Then he sat
cross-legged a few feet away to watch all three of us.

My vision was hazy with pain and heat, but I
watched him sit still as though in meditation, allowing the waves
of agony to roll through him and ebb away.

We remained like this for what felt like many
minutes, swaying and moaning in a feverish, anguished state.

I was barely aware of the students and teachers
lying on the floor under the weight of extreme gravity. Thankfully
they weren’t near us.

A while later I felt my body begin to cool down,
and realized the worst was over.

The Symbiote in Severin’s blood was now taking
root inside me. It would probably grow and survive for another day
or so, but it would boost my body physical abilities by more than
double. It would make me stronger than any Aventis, regardless of
their gender.

Maya whispered, “Feeling better?”

I nodded weakly, and even that required a fair
bit of effort. But my Valkyrie Armor hadn’t retreated back into
Pocket Space, and the effect-fields surrounding the four of us had
held steady against the gravity.

Maya squinted slightly. “We lost six
minutes.”

Rina winced loudly. “Six minutes. Oh no. Oh
no….”

“Calm down,” Maya said weakly, her voice still
strained by the pain washing through her. “There’s nothing to be
done about it.”

Jaxon struggled to his feet. Once he was up, he
helped me rise to mine. I used the wall behind me as support while
he assisted Maya and Rina in their weak efforts to stand.

“Thanks,” Maya muttered.

“No problem, leader,” he replied, sounding
somewhat whimsical.

I narrowed my eyes at him and humphed under my
breath.

He noticed and gave me a guilty smile. “Sorry,
baby.”

I glared at him. “Call me that again, and I’ll
feed you to Crimson Crescent.”

He waved his hands placatingly. “Chill baby,
chill.”

I grit my teeth. “Jaxon….”

I heard a voice that didn’t belong to the
group.

“Caprice…help…me….”

Almost in unison the four of us turned to see a
teacher crawling toward us. I recognized Ms. Fauntine.

I started walking unsteadily toward her, but
Maya caught my arm.