{Date: 10/15 - Saturday}
{Time: 2:15 PM}
Yusa, Orika, Genesis, and Charlotte rushed down the streets in Charlotte's van, each one keeping an eye out for me as they carefully yet hastily searched every corner and alleyway. They swerved around every corner they could find, but there was no sign of me anywhere within Destiny Central.
"In Mother Gaia's name, day one and we're already searching for her and not in the way I hoped," Charlotte sighed, putting her van in park in a cafe parking lot then leaned back in her seat.
Yusa let out a soft exhale, her distand gaze looming out the passenger side window. She remained silent, the only thing on her mind being finding me as quickly as possible before I spiral down too far.
Genesis gently sat on Yusa's shoulder, summoning her harp and began to play a gentle lullaby for Yusa. "Mistress, we'll find Hisumi. I doubt she would escape too far..."
"Yeah...I mean she could be on a rooftop or...maybe at a park?" Orika said, her voice wavering slightly in attempt to sound hopeful.
"I know... I'm just worried about her. She's having a breakdown and I don't know where she is," Yusa responded, her usual gentle tone becoming more soft and cold, like a reserved reaper.
Charlotte noticed Yusa's eyes, her gaze full of maternal worry and emotional distress. She fixed her hat, the brim slightly covering her eyes. "Maybe we can get some answers from here. We do have locals with very keen eyes.."
"Hopefully..." Yusa sighed, opening the door to step out of the van.
Everyone else followed suit, each of them walking into the diner. Inside, the scent of freshly made coffee and pastries hitting each of their noses. Orika and Genesis hummed with delight at the scent and sight of the delicious treats on display.
Yusa watched as Orika and Genesis wandered toward the front counter, a soft smile cracking the surface of her absent gaze. She turned to see Charlotte walking toward a girl sitting at one of the window seats, a curious gaze on her face.
The girl had long, two toned hair, one side being black and the other side being red. Her eyes were an icy blue, her gaze sharp, attentive, yet indifferent to everything around her. She wore a large white hoodie over her work uniform and had a few accessories in her hair.
Charlotte snapped her fingers at the girl, waiting for her to respond but noticed she was busy on her phone. Charlotte rolled her eyes at her, taking the girl's phone out of her hand. "Now that I have your attention, Olivia Acacia..."
Olivia groaned softly, stretching out against the table and laid her head down, using her arms for comfort. "If you couldn't tell, Boss, I was intentionally ignoring you. You're coming in on my 30 minute break, what...the fuck could you want?"
Charlotte set her phone down on the table, scoffing softly at Olivia's tone and choice of words. "You definitely have your mother's sass and bitchy attitude..."
Olivia held up a middle finger in response, turning her head to face the opposite direction. "Yeah, whatever..."
Yusa watched the two interaction, noticing despite the way they spoke to each other, they were extremely close like Aunt and Niece. She began to understand why Charlotte approached her first despite her sassy and uncooperative nature.
"Alright, enough with your sass. I'm only gonna take just a minute of your time," Charlotte said, taking out her phone and pulling up a picture of me. She held it out for Olivia to see. "Look at this picture, have you seen this person pass by?"
Olivia turned her head to look at the screen, noticing the picture of me then closed her eyes. "Nope, never before."
"C'mon, Charlotte, this is a waste of time," Yusa said coldly, turning away to leave the cafe.
"Yusa, hold on," Charlotte said, gently grabbing her wrist. Suddenly, her heart began to beat harder against her chest, the air around her seemingly getting colder.
"Take your hand off her, dumbass," Olivia called out, watching as Yusa's energy began to slowly drain Charlotte's.
Charlotte quickly took her hand off Yusa, seemingly surprised at the fact that Yusa's Valkyries were draining her energy. "Yusa..?"
Yusa took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions as best as she could, but the worry if not finding me in time scared her beyond her imagination. "I'm sorry...I'm just worried about my daughter. We have to find her quickly..."
"Why haven't you gone to the police about this? Phoenix's units can—" Olivia began, but was cut off by Charlotte.
"Olivia, focus. Out of all of New Karma, you have the best sight aside from Leilani and Ryder. You're attentive and you're always people watching on your break. I know you've seen this girl," Charlotte said, walking toward Olivia again to show her the picture of me.
Olivia let out an exasperated sigh and sat up in her seat to look at the picture again. She closed her eyes, recounting everything she saw during her break, an image of me rushing past the cafe playing in her mind.
"I've seen her. Seems like she was running away in distress. I don't know where she was running to, but she's probably in Verdant Grove by now," Olivia said, picking up her phone to check the time then stood up. "Well, that's all you're getting out of me."
Charlotte stepped out of her way with a smile, slipping her phone in her pocket. "Thank you for your cooperation, Olivia!~"
"Yeah, whatever," Olivia said, walking behind the counter to grab a headset.
Charlotte walked over to Yusa, gently patting her back. "C'mon...~ We have a lead, Hisumi is out there and we can find her."
Yusa stared at Charlotte, a slimmer of hope shining in her eyes. "Alright, let's find Hisumi..."
Charlotte nodded, looking around for Orika and Genesis, finding them sitting at a table enjoying a donut while they waited for her and Yusa. "Orika! Genesis! We're rolling out!"
Orika hopped out of her seat, scarfing down the rest of her donut and used her napkin to wipe her face. Genesis looked at her donut, not even attempting to scarf it down due to the size of her body. She took a few more bites out of the donut, throwing away the remains.
The four began to head out of the cafe and went toward the van, getting inside and readying themselves for a road trip to Verdant Grove. Charlotte reversed out of the parking lot, driving off toward the forest within the distance.
{Time: 2:20 PM}
I began wandering around the dense forests, gripping my throbbing head as every painful memory of my past began seeping into my mind. Their voices, the experiments, the punishments, my victims, everything began resurfacing at once.
I began to pant, the worst memories I hid within began to creep into my mind. Tears began forming in my eyes, my heartbeat increasing quickly at dangerous levels. I began to feel dizzy, my body becoming weak and heavy due to the adrenaline and overwhelming emotions.
"Monster..."
"You're nothing but a worthless beast..."
"You're just Judgement's obedient lap dog..."
'Shut up...Why won't the voices stop..?!' I thought, collapsing against a tree, my face contorted in pain and sorrow.
"You killed them..." A voice said to me, their tone cold and distant, void of any emotion. "You don't deserve to feel bad..."
I looked up quickly, noticing myself standing in front of me as the Black Cerebral. Immediately I grabbed her cloak, slamming her again a tree and pinning her against the hard bark. "You...ruined my life! You took everything away from me!"
The Black Cerebral met my gaze, a cold smirk slowly stretching on her lips. "Mmm...you're starting to sound a lot like those who judge you. However, like you told Autumn, you can't say anything I haven't heard already."
I grunted softly as she pushed me off her, causing me to lose my grip on her cloak. I stumbled backwards, the leaves scraping against the ground as I found my footing. My glare only became more intense after her shove, my anger only creeping higher upon the scale.
"You can hate me all you want, but you can't escape the truth...it was you who killed those other innocent souls. It wasn't me...I am merely just a title you wear. Without you, there is no Black Cerebral. No Top Agent. No Enforcer of Judgement!" The Black Cerebral laughed, a skeleton arm manifesting on her back.
The skeleton hand grabbed me, squeezing my body tightly and began corrupting me. I groaned loudly, crying out in pain as Fallen Energy from my Mind's Energy Point began to seep down toward my Heart's Energy Point.
"I am YOU, Hisumi Nomura. Why do you even think you can change? You have killed Leaders, Champions, and Heroes...We are a product of Judgement and there's no escaping it. We are a Monster," The Black Cerebral chuckled softly, her yellow eyes meeting my blue eyes.
"We are the Black Cerebral. Accept your fate," She finished, the skeleton hand squeezing harder around my body.
I groaned louder in pain, tears of agony streaming down my face. I knew the battle was all in my mind, but it didn't make the pain feel any less real. The corruption felt like a fire had consumed by entire body, the sensitivity of my nerve endings boosted by 100%.
'It hurts...Someone...Orika...M-Mama...' I thought, feeling my body gradually growing even weaker and heavier.
The Fallen Energy seeped closer to my Heart, the purity around my Heart slowly weakening and darkening. The Black Cerebral's grin widened as she noticed that I was on the way to becoming fully corrupted.
Suddenly, an arrow of life energy cut through the air, piercing and breaking the skeleton arm. The hand of the skeleton disappeared, dropping me on the ground then the Black Cerebral chuckled softly.
"Interesting...it seems like your luck saves you once again," The Black Cerebral said, disappearing into dark energy and entering into my mind.
"Hisumi! Hisumi, where are you?" Yusa called out, hurrying around the forest with urgency, looking around then came to a stop, gasping loudly. "Hisumi!"
I sat against the tree, hugging my knees and my head held low in shame, guilt, and self-hatred. I couldn't even bare to look at Yusa, let alone bring myself to raise my head.
Orika hurried beside Yusa, noticing me sitting on the ground in defeat, her eyes slightly widening. "Hisumi! Hisu—"
Yusa stopped Orika from approaching me, her own Blessing of Death glowing in response to my Vow of Death. She could tell something was wrong with me, sensing Fallen Energy flowing from my chest. "Hisumi. Look at me, we're here for you."
I didn't respond to Yusa, her words going into one ear and flowing out of the other ear. All I could hear was the voices of my father and the Commander barking at me, degrading me, shaming me, molding me.
Charlotte stepped forward, glancing at me with a worried expression. She didn't know what to say or do, but knew this was something only Yusa and Orika could handle at the moment. She took a step back, watching the scene and waiting to see if she had to step in.
Yusa began to inch closer toward me, slowly reaching her hand out toward me. Before her hand could touch me, a disruptive pulse of Fallen Energy pushed Yusa back, its essence corruptive just by contact alone.
{Warning: High Levels of Fallen Energy in the area. Take caution.}
{Warning: A Rank Threat nearby. Eliminate the threat immediately.}
Orika glanced at Genesis, noticing the conflicted gaze in her eyes. She stepped in front of her, her defiance shining through in her gaze. "Genesis, you can't. Hisumi is your partner and Master, I won't let you hurt her."
"I'm sorry, Orika...but it is in my programming that I must carry out this mission. Rule One: Regard any Fallen as hostile and eliminate them immediately," Genesis said, meeting Orika's gaze directly with a hesitant stare.
"Rule Three: Never harm humans or other allied Valkyrias. I know how V.O.I.D Systems work, and I know about your rules...but please. This is Hisumi we're talking about," Orika said softly, her heart beginning to beat faster in distress, her voice trembling with desperation.
Genesis stared at Orika for a moment, noticing the desperate look in her eyes and felt a surge of hesitation, her own instincts fighting against her programming. She looked at me, all of our interactions flashing in her head then she closed her eyes.
"Alright... Let's try talking to her first, but if it comes to it," Genesis began, holding her arms under her chest then glanced at me for a moment.
"It won't come to it...Hisumi is at the point where she needs us the most and antagonizing her any further will only make the situation worse," Orika said, turning around to face me, watching as Yusa tried to get through to me.
Yusa sighed softly as her attempts of reaching me were futile, the pulses of Fallen Energy constantly rejecting her advances. She stared at me with a broken expression, her heart seemingly not beating in her chest anymore.
Orika couldn't watch the scene anymore, stepping up with tears in her eyes. "Hisumi, I-I know why you ran off..! It's because you think you're a monster, but you're not!"
Orika's voice echoed within the silent forests, a few birds scattering off due to the air growing more cold due to Orika's increasing emotional instability. Her voice broke me out of my trance, a slight jolt in my arm causing me to come back to reality.
"You say that now...but that's only because you've only met the side of me that wants to fix all of my past mistakes. I've failed missions, but do you think I got my title by accident..?" I asked, my head still lowered, strands of my hair covering my face to make my expressions unreadable.
"I earned the title of the Black Cerebral. I killed Leaders, Heroes, you name it, I've struck them down. I am the very definition of a monster..." I continued, my voice dripping with contempt for myself.
Orika stepped forward, tears streaming down her eyes as she stared at me. "You said it yourself back at the sharehouse that you never wanted this! So why...why are you talking like this..?"
I began to stand up slowly, my Vow of Death glowing brightly upon my arms. My hair began to slowly shift into a pure white, my eyes glowing a deep yellow. "It's because no matter how you look at it, I killed them all in the end. I was Judgement's lap dog, and even still after this...their grip on me remains."
"I realize now...that I am irredeemable," I said, glancing at Orika and Yusa.
The both of them felt their worlds shatter at this moment, their hearts stopping their beats for a split second. They couldn't believe what they were hearing from me.
"Hisumi...you can't just give up on yourself. You are redeemable," Yusa said, reaching out to me once more.
I evaded her touch, giving her a cold stare then stepped back, shaking my head. "No...if everyone wants a monster, they will see the return of the Black Cerebral."
The Black Cerebral placed her hand on my shoulder, chuckling softly as she watched the purity in my heart become corrupted. "Yes, Hisumi...this is what we—"
"You saved my life!" Orika blurted out, hugging herself and slowly fell to her knees.
"Hm..? What is this melted pile of snow talking about..?" The Black Cerebral asked, raising an eyebrow at Orika with an unamused expression on her face.
"I said...you saved my life. Five years ago...you stopped Judgement from hurting me and my cousins. It was you...it was always you. I always tell people that Yusa saved me, but it was only because I thought no one would believe me if I had said it was you," Orika cried, trying to wipe away the tears from her face as the memory played in her mind.
I stared at Orika, remembering that faithful night vividly. Suddenly, the corruption around my heart began to halt, the last bit of my purity fighting strong push the memory into my mind.
The Black Cerebral grunted softly as she felt two lightning arrows pierce her shoulder twice. She grunted softly, clutching her shoulder in pain and looked up, trying to find her attacker.
'Who the hell is attacking me..? Why has the corruption stopped..?!' The Black Cerebral thought with annoyance, searching around the forest for the hidden combatant.
Orika looked up at me, making her way toward me from the ground. "You do remember right..? You can't have forgotten that day...you're the one who stopped them.."
I watched as Orika took my hand in hers, her cold touch soothing to my entire being. I met her gaze directly, my cold stare softening and warming. "How could I forget...?"
{Date: 12/25/2X45}
{Time: 5:45 PM}
Orika grunted softly as she tried to defend herself from my squad's attacks, crying out in pain as she was kicked into a wall. She coughed heavily, falling onto her side and weakly looking up to see her cousins on the ground beaten as well.
"Please...stop it...don't kill us," Orika plead, tears of pain and despair streaming down her face.
"Look at this little bunny still pleading for her life...I was going to leave her alone, but I guess today is her lucky day. I get to put her out of her misery," One of my squad members chuckled, unsheathing his katana slowly.
I watched as he approached Orika, unable to take the sight of them hurting them anymore. I got off the wall, grabbing his shoulder and stopping him. "That's enough, Genji. You had your fun. She can't even defend herself, let alone protect herself from you from the beginning."
Genji looked back at me, a callous smirk stretching on his lips. He laughed darkly, looking at the rest of my squad. "Well, well...The Silenced has finally decided to speak again... The Top Failure wants to start caring about human waste."
I heard the rest of my squad laughing, my expression souring and becoming darker. "I said that's enough. There's no point in killing an innocent civilian over petty shit."
Genji shoved me back, smirking deviously at me as he stepped forward to me in a dominant manner. "You think because you're at the top of the food chain that I would be scared for you. Not even your own parents respect you. You're just their lap dog, all you do is sit around and wag your fucking tail like the good kid you are...now watch as I kill this bitch and her team of little leagues."
Orika watched as Genji began to approach her again, her crying becoming more intense as she began to beg for her life. She scurried forward to protect her cousins, screaming and sobbing for mercy.
Just as Genji sliced down with his katana, the curved blade of a scythe appeared in front of Orika, protecting her and her cousins. Genji looked over at me, noticing my cerebral gaze and the purity that shined in my heart.
"I told you that was enough," I said coldly, gripping the pole of my scythe firmly.
Before Orika could register what had happened, the blade of my scythe ripped through the air in one swift motion, severing Genji's hear from his shoulders. Orika watched as Genji's body hit the ground, her eyes wide with disbelief and gratitude. She quickly covered her cousin's eyes, shielding them from the disturbing sight.
I stared at Orika, my gaze meeting hers for a split second before noticing her avert her eyes. "Leave this place now...before I change my mind about saving you..."
{Date: 10/15 - Saturday}
"I've never let that day leave my head...I didn't tell you the full story back then because I didn't know how you'd react knowing it was you all along...but it was always you who was my savior. Would a monster willingly kill her own ally to save someone she doesn't know..?" Orika asked, holding my hand tightly in hers, our fingers interlocked firmly.
The Black Cerebral groaned loudly as more lightning arrows began striking her, the Fallen Energy around my heart slowly becoming cleansed once more. She fell to one knee, coughing up black blood. 'Her Purity... How could I forget that her Heart was never tampered with...?'
Yusa watched the scene, watching as Orika and I had a true Heart to Heart. The light in her eyes began to spark back to life as she noticed the light in my eyes return as I looked at Orika. She couldn't help but to smile, always knowing there was more to Orika's story than she led on.
The corruption around my Heart completely stopped due to the memory I've always kept in my heart, the memory of saving Orika's life. My Heart's Energy Point began to glow brightly, rejecting the Black Cerebral entirely.
The Black Cerebral grunted softly as she dodged another volley of lightning arrows, snapping her fingers and generating Shadow Arrows to collide with the bolts of lightning. Each collision caused an explosion of lightning and death energies, each explosion causing powerful shockwaves around the forest.
"Hisumi...Spread your wings."
"You must defeat the Black Cerebral..."
"Free your Mind...only then will you be able to free your Spirit from the Enforcer of Judgement..."
I heard her voice again, the thunderous whispers of my Valkyrie, Raikiri. I grunted softly as my Death Energy began to seep out of my body, forming into the Black Cerebral in reality. I let out a shudder as my body forced itself back into its normal form, my body feeling a bit weaker without my Vow of Death.
Orika, Yusa, and Charlotte looked surprised as they noticed a darker version of me standing in front of each of us. Orika glanced over at me, noticing my Vow of Death was no longer glowing on my arm.
"Hisumi..! Your Vow of Death..!" Orika exclaimed, slightly covering her mouth.
"I know...she's standing right in front of me in reality now. If I die, she will take over my body and I will be nothing more but a ghost in a shell to my own body. I don't want to kill her...but I want to tame her," I said, stepping forward, lightning crackling around my body.
"Because there's no agency better than your own..." I said softly, summoning my Bolt Breaker, unsheathing the katana slowly with lightning energy surging from the blade.
{Spread Your Wings and Fly!}
{Opponent: Black Cerebral - A Rank Threat}
{Battlefield: Verdant Grove}
"Orika, I would like for you to join me in this fight against myself. I don't think I can face this opponent alone. Please stand by my side," I said, looking at Orika with a soft smile.
Orika looked at me, a soft and determined smile curling on her lips. "I will fight by your side...always."
{Notice: Team Resonance MAX!}
{DMG UP! 100%}
{Burst DMG UP! 100%}
{Survivability UP! 100%}
{Agility UP! 100%}
'100% Boost in everything barely scratches the surface of the Black Cerebral's true, unrestrained power...but with this, we stand a chance at the very least,' I thought, readying myself for the hardest battle of my life.
The Battle of Acceptance.