Chains Of Pride

Crunch crunch.

The sound of gravel and rubble being crushed underfoot could be heard. The entire base was absolutely decimated, if Kura didn't destroy it before, then the fight between her and her sister saw made sure that no building remained intact.

Walking among the ruins of the base was a middle-aged, stately looking man. He wore a grey suit that oddly enough matched his hair. It was mostly jet black but had streaks of grey at the sides, he looked exceptionally dignified.

As his scrutinising gaze scanned the surroundings, he inwardly sighed. "Any other person would believe that some natural disaster took place, but to think this was caused by the very same people we're looking for, and their power seems to have grown."

There were three other people behind him; however, they did not dare to say a word. They only kept their heads down and silently followed after him, they were well aware of how terrifying the man before them was, and none has ever escaped his grasp.

They were more than surprised, however, that there were people out there who managed to escape his clutches on more than one occasion. Still, seeing the aftermath of whatever the hell happened, no less was expected to challenge the man before them.

"Give the order to retrieve any unbroken files, especially any that may tell the story of last night's incident. Have the clean-up crew move in, we're not rebuilding this base, at least not for now."

"Your orders will be carried out, sir." One of the three men behind him immediately left to pass down his order.

After that, he turned around to leave. The pain of losing a base did not show on his face at all, in fact, there was a guarded look of expectation glimmering beneath his calm demeanour. He wanted the girls more than ever now, and he couldn't want till they were in his hands.

….

"The hell do you mean Rikona did this?! You expect me to believe that!?! Rikona, at least talk to me, tell me what happened! Please!!" Makoto's face was a mix of fury, confusion, sadness and everything in between.

Makoto had stayed behind as he knew his presence there would have done more harm than good. It didn't stop him from worrying though, he was so anxious that he couldn't sleep a wink. He was nearly over the moon when he saw that everyone had returned.

However, this didn't last long as the smile from Makoto' face faded when he saw the scene of Rikona carrying Kura's motionless body. He nearly fell face first when Rikona arrived through the door of the old building.

"Everyone shut up! Let me think for a minute and just get out. Get Out!" Rikona was tired of all the questions and noises behind her.

Rikona had already brought Kura to her room while everyone was still following her. She then ushered them all out

Bam! Bam! Bam!

"Rikona open the door, please! Everyone is worried about Kura and you, at least tell me what happened?!" Makoto continued banging on the door, but Rikona continued to ignore all this at the moment. Her thoughts were all focused on one thing.

Rikona's face had nought but dried tear marks on her cheeks. Her face was puffed red. Obviously, she cried whenever she saw the state her little sister was in. Suddenly a thought came to her, and she hesitated before she decided to give it a try, after all, it couldn't hurt.

Rikona knew Kura wasn't dead, her breathing was just weak, the rise and fall of her c.h.e.s.t were barely discernible. Her face was pallid, sapped of all colour, most eye-catching, however, were the numerous wounds that covered her body, some were large gashes, others hardly noticeable. The consequences of overdrawing one's power were extremely high.

When Rikona saw it, her eyes began to well up again, but she quickly shook her head and used her sleeves to wipe the tears that were about to fall.

"Okay bunny, you're not gonna leave me. This is the second time you've saved me, and you got so hurt because of it, and this time it was by my own hands. I promise you if you come back to me, 'The Fall' will never take hold again, you need to wake up and quote me on that."

Rikona closed her eyes and softly muttered, "Perennial Mechanism," suddenly the air began to distort. She spent quite some time once again summoning this construct, making sure it's inception didn't create too much of a ruckus.

After some time had passed, Rikona managed to once again summon her construct. The only sound being occasional tick and tock of the construct, not much different than the sound of a clock. The familiar bronze of the gears and cogs similar the glow that flashed in her eyes. There was something else that was present as well, fatigue maybe.

In all honesty, Rikona was not in the best condition to be doing what she was about to. Her earlier battle with the association followed by the dangers of losing herself, then fighting with Kura before she finally came out of it. However, she persevered through the exhaustion that threatened to take her.

"D-Dang it! What w-was it a-again?" Her thoughts were a mess, her drained mind struggled to remember what it was she needed to do. "Oh yeah, t-that's it, Perennial Mechanism. 'Backtrack.' When she said this, the gears of the construct began to turn in an indiscernible pattern as it hovered over Kura.

Vhwim!!

A strange fluctuation began to waft from the gears and wheels, it carried itself to Kura, covering her in its entirety. Soon, a bizarre scene took place, Kura's body appeared as if it was detached the current timeline. Of course, one wouldn't know what this looked like before, but anyone that witnessed this would subconsciously come to know this is what happened.

"Ugh! C-C'mon! Just a little longer, hang on just a little longer!" Rikona soft shouted to herself, trying to keep both her mind and her body steady.

Miraculously the injuries on Kura's body began to heal! At first, it was slow, but then it started to speed up, the wounds were closing up at a speed visible to the human eye. Oddly enough, the clothes that were tattered earlier began to mend as well.

"Ack!!"

Kura vomited a mouthful of blood, this move was exhausting by itself, but Rikona didn't dare stop. Her eyes were closed, and her brows were knitted as she remained in deep concentration.

Amazingly, what Kura was doing was not just normal healing, she was quite literally reversing the time on Kura's body. Reverting it to a time before such wounds were made, however, she had to be careful to not affect the brain.

She made sure to leave it mostly untouched, as she didn't want her sister to lose any memories. She was still discovering all the things her construct could do; additionally, she didn't delve too deep into the things she was able. So she didn't want to make a mistake she was unable to reverse by accident.

No one was able to feel anything from outside the room as before she had erected an invisible energy barrier. It wasn't anything strong enough to stop any attacks. It was only strong enough to block any energy waves from being sensed by anyone else, so only a negligible amount of energy was used to create it.

After some time, Kura regained her previous state. She regained her usual healthy colour, her ebony skin was as beautiful as ever. Her wounds were nowhere to be found, not even a scar could be found. Rikona's expression turned to one of joy.

She was able to see the apparent rise and fall of Kura's c.h.e.s.t. However, even though she was fully healed, she showed no signs of waking up.

"Why aren't you waking up Bunny?" Rikona's soft voice filled the room as she watched her still sleeping, sister.

Suddenly, an intense weariness took hold when she finally relaxed after she had finished her treatment. The exhaustion that she fought to keep at bay came crashing down like the most tyrannical wave.

The Perennial Mechanism began deconstructing before it disappeared, Rikona then took trembling steps as she staggered to reach the door. Kura seemed fine, and that was all that mattered, she wanted to leave and think about what to do tomorrow.

Through great effort, she finally reached the door and fumbled with the lock before it finally clicked and it opened. When she finally stepped through, that was it, she fell forward. However, what greeted her wasn't the cold floor, but a pair of strong arms and a firm c.h.e.s.t.

Makoto stared at the beauty in his arms with an undisguised worry. He looked up where saw the sleeping Kura, absent the bruises and injuries that plagued her before.

Instantly he was able to make out what happened, he took up the slumbering Rikona in a princess carry and stared at everyone around him. No one had left the outside of the room ever since Rikona carried her sister inside.

They were too worried, so they waited for any possible changes.

"Makoto, i-is everything alright? Will lady Kura be fine?" The one who took the lead and spoke was Gin. Even though he knew Makoto is a human, there was something about him that made all the other Taliums come to accept him somewhat.

"T-They're fine…for now. Gin, do me a favour and stay outside Kura's room for tonight, I'll carry Rikona to her room. Everyone, I know you're worried, but let's let em sleep for tonight. Tomorrow won't be too late for answers, this day has been way too long." Makoto glanced on the still unconscious Machyal that was slung over Zutto Shu's shoulder.

A flash of anger could be seen in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared. "Make sure you confine him, big guy. Something tells me your lady Rikona's got plans for him." Zutto Shu only gave him a quick nod before he left.

Gin passed by Makoto and gave him a passing smile before he stood guard in front of Kura's door with a pensive expression. Makoto knew that Gin wouldn't try anything, he was way too concerned with making a good impression, plus. Even though he s.u.c.k.e.d at showing it, he really did care about her.

When Rikona started to leave with Rikona, everyone else dispersed soon after. Makoto offered a Yang Min and Numani, especially a short goodbye before he left.

Makoto walked through the empty hallway as he carried Rikona in his arms, he noticed the small bloodstain at the corner of her mouth. His heart bled when he saw it.

"Don't worry, guys I'm here, even if the whole world is against you, I'll fight it alongside you."