Mikino muttered, her voice detached, "Lucien-kun isn't here yet. I wonder what's keeping him?"
Sora clicked her tongue, sneering, "Tsk, whose fault is that?"
Mikino's face twisted in anger, as she continued:
"You know Lucy-san is sensitive about his mother! Never bring her up when he's around. Do you understand!?"
Mikino shrugged, her arms folding across her big chest;
"How was I supposed to know that? You all discussed his mother like it was nothing. Why can't I do the same?"
Sora's face scowled as she yelled, "He was trying to avoid a scene! Are you an idiot? You must have seen him walk away whenever she was mentioned!"
Mikino nodded, understanding, but a vein popped out around her closed eyelids, dissatisfied by Sora's question.
"Who are you calling an idiot? The only idiot here is the person I'm staring at! Oh, I forgot – I don't even have eyes to see the idiot asking a blind person if she saw someone walk away!"
Sora's face flared up, and the two women began exchanging vicious words. Shoji and Tsukino, enjoying their rice balls, ignored the commotion, too low-ranked to intervene.
Tsukino's gaze landed on the rubble below;
"Now that the mortals are dead, won't the Tama-Artists go to war?"
Shoji shook his head, memories flashing by;
"They won't. The rumors about us pushing profound beasts to attack you are lies. Your own villages lure them in to kill you. I've seen Takeshi do it. It's sad to say, but we're just entertainment for them."
Tsukino's gaze burned with hatred. "Tama-Artists..."
Just as she finished speaking, Lucy appeared in the Primordial Space, stopping Mikino and Sora from exchanging blows.
His cold voice resounded, "What's going on here?"
The two girls halted, avoiding his gaze. Having discovered they could enter the Primordial Space physically, unlike other Tama-Artists, Mikino and Sora had stayed there all night, with nowhere else to go.
Exhausted from their bickering, they momentarily fell silent.
Lucy shrugged off their silence, focusing on the reason he gathered them.
"From today onward, we are to be named Yurei, and Yurei's goal is my goal: revenge."
No one responded to Lucy's cold voice.
Each member had their own reasons for following him. Sora had decided to follow him long ago because of his honesty and hard work. Mikino sought revenge, just like Lucy. Shoji followed him because of his strength, which made Shoji feel less guilty about his actions. Tsukino was only here because the person she loved was following him, and maybe to hunt down Shinji.
In the end, Yurei was built around Lucien, and he truly was Yurei, although they all shared the quest to fill the castle of glass in the sky with blood.
Lucy continued, his voice sharp as a blade. "I'll take on most of the organization's roles, and I'll handle the disturbing ones myself. Intelligence and finance will be handled by Sora and Mikino."
The two girls tried to protest against this unfair treatment, but Lucy shrugged, his gaze landing on the couple for the first time.
"Propaganda and Internal Security are your roles."
Tsukino and Shoji were taken aback. They understood that propaganda meant spreading fear into their enemies' eyes using any means possible, but internal security was something else.
Lucy was asking them to keep a close eye on the other two, using a profound method of managing groups.
It was like the story of a soldier who went to war, leaving behind his two children. The son was told to look after his twin sister and report any troublesome behavior. The soldier then told the daughter to look after her brother, knowing he would cause trouble. The soldier went to war for three years and returned to find things just as he left them. His children behaved well because they had each other to be wary of.
Lucy was using the same logic to deal with his group, and with the curse of never saving anyone until the coffin was full, this was a more effective method now.
Lucy turned around, his gaze landing on Sora and Mikino, "I'll be awaiting news from you two."
The moment his words faded, he disappeared from the Primordial Space, leaving an eerie silence shrouding the group. Gazes were exchanged among each other, but no words were spoken.
Initially, Mikino looked down on Tsukino and Shoji, but now those two were even more of a threat than Sora.
'Just what is Lucien-kun's mind made of?'
She sighed in admiration before leaving the Primordial Space, which had shifted from a safe zone to a death ground.
The others followed behind her, leaving only the eerie castle of glass floating in the sky, along with their Rei.
However, if one looked closely at Lucy's electrum Rei, they would see it shrinking in size. A white star-shaped Tama was absorbing the Rei.
Lucy stood at the peak of X-You Mountain, his palms and amber eyes directed at the skeleton in a ragged, bloodied kimono lying on the grass. The skeleton's skull was crushed, as if pulverized by a hammer.
"Mangetsu." (1)
Lucy whispered softly, and a white light escaped from his palms, shrouding the corpse. The corpse began to regenerate; the skull reassembled, blood veins merged, and flesh grew.
The scene was disturbing, but Lucy didn't avert his gaze until a fine figure of a beautiful woman with scarlett-red hair and slightly pale skin lay before him, dressed in a captivating red kimono.
Her expression seemed peaceful, as if she were smiling.
"Mother..."
Lucy's emotions stirred, and he smiled as tears streamed down his face.
"If I had obtained this ability a week earlier, I would have brought you back to life, even if I had to break this curse of not saving a life. Alas... I can settle for giving you a proper burial instead."
He wiped away a sniffle and continued, "Heaven may have collapsed... but I will send you there... just for you to see..."
"Hikarugu." (2)
A silver sword-shaped Tama absorbed Lucy's Rei, and a giant, silver, heart-shaped balloon appeared in his hands. Lucy could feel it trying to lift him into the sky, but he resisted.
Slowly tying the rope to Akane's body, Lucy kissed her on the cheek.
"Rest in peace... Hahachan."
Lucy released the rope, and Akane's body gently rose into the clouds, drifting away as the sun slowly ascended.
Her body was carried to the ends of Kokoro Island, then drifted over the endless ocean, the great continents, until she vanished from the world.
The sky grew darker, and the cosmic stars seemed to guide her way as she soared upward, upward, and upward...
Whether there was a heaven beyond that darkness remained unknown.
....
1 - Magetsu (Starlight Infusion): Lucy can channel the essence of starlight, using it to enhance his physical abilities, wisdom, and resurrect the fallen. (Bringing the dead back to life only during the day, because sun is the biggest star)
2 - Hikarugu (Light Crafting): Lucy can craft complex devices, tools, or structures, using light principles to enhance their functionality.
(I made a song for this, comment interested, if you like it)