"Sister?" I said.
She could be playing with me, but her red eyes seemed to tell me otherwise. 'What does she meant by that?' I thought.
It felt strange. Somehow, I was in a trance just from looking at her.
'Do I know this girl?' I thought.
Deep inside me, I held onto that thought. That brown-haired girl was not someone I knew, at least, not that I was aware of. Then her grasp on my leg tighten, and I yelped.
"You're distracted, Ava," said Aegis in my head. "What happened?"
"I . . ."
Crimson spikes tore the sleeve of my loose blue jeans and struck the girl. It poked at her body multiple times afterward, but the result was the same. Her body didn't suffer any injury, and what more, my attacks passed through her.
"What is she?!" I said.
She was certainly an Aegis User, and yet, she seemed different. I'd never thought Aegis could make physical objects passed through someone's body.
"Ava," called my Aegis.
"What if . . ."
I directed my spikes to slice her hands.
"Aaargh!" cried the brown-haired girl. Her hands were still holding my leg but reattached itself her arms in mere moments.
"Ava!" called Khenbish.
I looked over my shoulder when three members of Enkhtuya had their rifles aimed at that brown-haired girl.
They were Sarnai, Ceci, and Narangeral.
Ulii, Tuya, and the others had pulled back a bit from my spot. It would be too dangerous for them to get involved.
"Q-Qara," said Odval.
She was pulling at his arms to get him to move, but he just stood there. His eyes were fixated at Segma's shattered body.
Khenbish then grabbed Qara's right arm and Qara moved slowly from his spot.
"Qara, please," said Khenbish.
Even so, he was still in a state of shock, his eyes were wide open.
"Tch." The brown-haired girl forced herself out from the transparent ripple at her spot.
I quickly leaped to the side when Sarnai and the others were about to shoot at that girl.
"Sister," said the girl again, her hand reaching for me.
Countless bullets passed through her body. Every last one of it didn't manage to scratch her. And yet, her Aegis helmet didn't exhibit the same phasing trait that the other parts of her body had. Instead, her helmet deflected the bullets, without any of it went through.
That brown-haired girl flared her red eyes at Ceci and the others. "You dare interrupt my reunion with my sister?!"
"No!" I cried. White flames burst forth from the crystals on my palms.
She looked at me when the flames engulfed her, hungry for her flesh. The ground exploded as the flames went out of control.
"Get back!" I shouted to the others.
My white flames then towered into the sky. It's intensity then decreased a bit as it dwindled slowly.
I willed the flames to disappear, and after a few moments, it dispersed to reveal the scorching ground.
But the brown-haired girl was not there.
"She disappeared again. What's with her Aegis?" I mumbled.
I cast a look at Ceci and the other two girls beside her, their mouth gaped from what just happened.
"Should I get Hope and Lily?" I asked my Aegis.
"They're right in the corner. Your flames just now should have caught their attention. They'll come here eventually."
"I suppose so."
Still, I kept my focus on my surroundings.
Ulii and Khenbish were keeping the group at a safe distance away from me. As for Qara, Odval was talking to him, though he was somewhat in a daze.
"Ava!" called my Aegis.
Immediately, I darted my eyes at Ceci and her two friends.
Metallic black pillars forced itself out of the ground where those three were at, and it wobbled in the air before dropping itself onto them.
I directed my white flames to disintegrate those pillars, but it was too late.
Before my flames could reach those crystals, it crushed Ceci, Sarnai, and Nerengeral underneath it. My white fire then licked it and burned most of the pillars into dust. Their crushed bodies then came into sight.
"No . . ." I mumbled.
The brown-haired girl popped out of a transparent ripple on the ground, a few feet away from me. "Sister . . . Finally, I can take you back to the others. Everyone's waiting for you." Her red eyes gleamed as she said that.
"AAAARRGGHHH!" Qara pushed Khenbish to the side and aimed his rifle at that girl. "You! I'll kill you!"
He shot at her, only for it to pass through her body again.
At that time, I was absorbed in my own thoughts. Seeing myself unable to save those people wrenched my heart. I was powerless against her, and due to that, those civilians, and Ceci, Sarnai, and Nerengeral died.
"Ava," called Aegis in my head.
". . . Aegis. Release all of my limiters. Activate the Limit Breaker Mode right now," I said sharply.
"Are you sure? You may exhaust yourself before you could--"
"Right. Now," I repeated.
"Understood."
A sudden surge of energy almost made me jump. My body was shaking from it, as my red eyes gradually radiated a soft glow. I looked at the white crystals at my palms, and something was different about it.
My right was bright blue, while my left was glowing in red.
"My second Aegis," I muttered.
Perhaps it had affected my body somehow, including my Mode.
The brown-haired girl glared at Qara as he kept shooting at her. "You're disturbing me."
"Aaargh!" I lunged at her. Three giant crimson scythes sprouted from my back, hanging in the air. Dual Aegis blades composed of all of my Aegis crystals emerged from my arms.
That girl paused and looked at me. "Sister?"
My scythes descended and struck her, causing the scorching ground to crack from the impact. She walked towards me as her body phased through the scythes. However, I noticed something odd.
"She's walking with her head avoiding the surface of the scythes . . . That must mean she can't do it with her head unlike the rest of her body," I said.
"Aim at her head, Ava," said my Aegis. "Though she could just phase through the ground again to escape."
I clenched my fists to suppress the anger inside me. "I'm on it."
"Aaaaah!" Tuya's scream caught my attention, where she was pointing at the sky. I looked up.
Peach-colored crystals shadowed the area, blocking the sun as the cluster stretched itself. In mere seconds, it fell in the direction of the group.
I aimed my blades to burn those things to the ground. As I was about to swing it, Hope emerged from a corner. He leaped and stood in front of the group. He pointed his giant shield at the cluster. By doing so, seemingly him as a threat, the crystals dropped onto him instead.
"Hope!" I shouted.
I was about to direct my flames at the descending crystals, risking at harming the group in the process.
However, those crystals shrunk as time passed. Hope's golden shield glowed as he held it overhead. It continued to shrink until I could see the group again, and they weren't harmed. The crystals then swirled after that, as it went inside Hope's shield.
"He's absorbing it," I said.
After a few moments, the peach-colored crystals disappeared from sight. Hope's golden shield glowed brightly and glittering, unlike before.
The shades of gold pulled me as time passed, but I shook my head in the end.
"It's beautiful," said the brown-haired girl as her jaw dropped.
She was distracted, and that allowed me to aim my dual blades at her.
"Qara!" cried Khenbish.
"Huh?" I looked at him, then at Qara and Odval.
A small cluster of peach-colored crystals from the sky darted at those two. It elongated and twirled into a giant tendril, seeking to crush them.
I knew I wasn't going to make it, but I immediately directed the flames from my blades at their direction. It burst upwards, toward the incoming crystals.
"Qara--" Odval pushed him away from her and he stumbled.
Qara snapped from his trance and looked at her. "Odv--"
The crystals dropped onto Odval, as the ground shook from the impact. Seeing that, Qara screamed, and so did the few others.
"No . . . Not again," I said.
My white flames disintegrated most of the cluster, avoiding Odval's body in the process.
"AAAARRRGGHHHH!" Qara shoved his hands into the crystals crushing Odval, as his hands bleed from it. "No, no, no, no. Odval, stay with me!"
My chest felt tight seeing him like that, and what just happened a few moments ago.
Yet again, I failed to save someone, and it was my fault.