Arcturus saw Sophia and Murphy's shocked faces when they heard the man's name. He instantly knew who he was now; he was most likely Virgo's boyfriend from their story.
If he's Virgo's boyfriend, why is he on DUO's side while Virgo is on the enemy's side? They don't look harmonious together. Did they break up in the middle of these past twenty years? What happened to their daughter?
Sophia spoke up, "What is the meaning of this? Why is Bootes here? What do you mean by change for the worse? What's going on?"
Bootes turned his head. "I'll explain later. For now, we need to get Virgo out of here."
When he turned his head back to its default position, Virgo lifted her head so it was straight like his. She spoke up. "Why are you here? You disappeared ten years ago and here you are now…"
"I'm sorry for disappearing like that, Virgo, but it was something I needed to do."
In a flash, Virgo raised her arm and pointed it at him. Although he was observing her from her backside, Arcturus could feel an ominous tension coming out of her. He readied himself just in case.
"You abandoned me. You're no better than the people you're protecting behind you. You, Father and Mother…all of you are the worst. You don't care about how I feel and go on about your feelings. I hate that."
Arcturus could hear her voice quiver. He didn't expect someone as expressionless as her could express upset feelings. Regardless, he knew what to do in this situation. He needed to make the first move. He darted towards her and stabbed his dagger into her right shoulder. While her coat was a bit thick, he was able to puncture through it and pierced through the skin. The electrocution from his blade caused her arm to twitch rampantly, causing Arcturus to jump back in order to avoid upcoming damage. He found it strange how her body started twitching; he was positive human bodies did not twitch that erratically when stabbed. The others took the opportunity to pull the triggers on their guns to shoot at her, causing her to twitch even more.
"Damn, I was caught off-guard…" She then used her left arm to remove the dagger and then to unzip her coat as she stripped it off. The sight of what was under the coat shocked him. His suspicions of her body rang true as what was under the coat was not human flesh. Her entire body below her head was mechanical. He peered over to see the horrified expressions of Virgo's parents.
"A cyborg?" Arcturus muttered. I thought those only existed in movies.
She turned to face Arcturus. "Correct! I have turned myself into a cyborg!"
Perhaps, it was Arcturus's imagination, but her expressionless face started becoming emotive. She looked a bit too happy that it was hard to tell if she was the same person as before.
Murphy was appalled at what he saw. "What did you do to your body?"
She quickly turned around to face her father. "I just said I turned myself into a cyborg!"
"Why did you do that?"
"It's to protect Celestina. I need to protect my daughter, which I cannot do in my human state. I chose to abandon my human body and become a cyborg."
Bootes shook his head as he barked back, "Do you think Celestina would appreciate the fact that her real mother is abandoning everything about herself in order to protect her? You're no better than me, who chose to go against Bellatrix and run away!"
"What did you say?" She was furious.
"This is no longer about wanting to protect Celestina! You've become a shell of your former self. Where did the Virgo I onced loved go?"
"I'm still here. The Virgo from the past and now are still me. If you can't accept that, then that's on you!"
In a flash, Virgo was kicked to the floor by Constance. She used her strong legs to pin her to the ground. Virgo stopped twitching as she stared at her adversary above her. "541-DR…"
"It's Constance. That's the name Sophia and Murphy gave me. I'm their daughter."
"Daughter…?" The word caused her to burst out laughing. "That's so funny. An abandoned Shiftie playing house with humans. That's the funniest thing I've heard all day."
"Abandoned…"
"Yes, you're abandoned!"
"I don't care about whether I am abandoned because I gained something even better from it. Tell me, Virgo. Why are you lying?"
"Lying?"
"You said that you became a cyborg to protect your daughter, but I detected a lie from it. In fact, every time you mention your daughter, I detect lies coming from it. You…don't actually love your daughter, right?"
"No, I love my daughter!"
Constance pinned her foot onto her back even harder. Virgo felt no pain from it, but she didn't struggle either.
"Another lie. You see, when Sophia told me her story, I made her upset because I said something a bit insensitive. I said that you could've just made another baby if you had left with your parents and boyfriend as you were still fertile at the time. She berated me saying that mothers go through a lot during pregnancy and that you still wanted to keep the baby and give birth. While it was an admirable decision to give birth knowing your daughter would be a Trifecta, you saw it as a means to stay here."
"Shut up…"
"No, she speaks the truth." Asteria responded. Arcturus wondered how she showed up all of a sudden. She was in the loft, but he didn't hear her footsteps at all.
"I was there when you were pregnant, remember? You wanted to give birth, hoping that it'd bring your families together. However, when the Charlatan came, the harmonious life you wanted to live shattered. Your beef with him is personal, isn't it?"
"Don't probe into me like you're some kind of psychologist."
"Oh, but I am a licensed psychiatrist. Think of it as a therapy session."
"I don't need one. I am completely fine…"
"Well–
Virgo grabbed Constance's ankle and flung her off towards Asteria's direction as she got up. She scanned the people around her. Arcturus noticed how rattled she looked; it was as if Asteria's psychiatric session had an effect on her. He could tell she was trying to figure out if she should get rid of the people standing in her way or if she should just go straight for Nova. Knowing both were dangerous choices, he summoned another dagger and threw it towards her. She deflected it, causing the knife to dematerialize.
Wait, that never happened before. Did Hilbert add in another new feature?
Virgo decided to rush towards Murphy to get to Nova. Constance ran swiftly in order to shield him from an upcoming attack. Virgo curled a hand into a fist and decided to aim straight for the gut area and pierced a hole straight through Constance's torso. Although she was twitching due to the pain, she grabbed the fist to prevent her from pulling it out. Asteria used the opportunity to summon her trident and stab Constance in the same shoulder Arcturus had stabbed her with. Virgo started twitching erratically once again.
"Damn it all…" She decided to remove her restrained arm, leaving Constance to hold onto an amputated arm. "I'm going to retreat. When we meet again, I'll kill anyone who gets in my way, even my parents."
She jumped and punched a hole into the ceiling in order to escape. Hilbert yelled at her, demanding to pay for his roofing bills. Arcturus felt energy rushing out of his body as his knees became weak; he collapsed on them. He was glad that there was no casualties and he was able to protect Nova; however, he still couldn't help but to feel uneasy.
He placed a hand to his left ear. He lost one method of fighting. While his bangle still functioned without his earring, not having it on his ear made him uneasy. It was like a protective charm to him and without it, it was as if he had been debuffed.
If Virgo were to return, he had a feeling that she'd return with a new version of Kori in order to spite him. He had been resolved to never feel regret or guilt again for it would be turning his back against Kori and Nova. He needed to get stronger, both physically and mentally, in order to keep going. He just needed to find a method to enhance himself.