Chains Of Pride

"Oh no, Kura!!"

"Who is it!?! Imma kill em!!..." Makoto nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Rikona's sudden outburst. He had placed her in bed last night and drew a chair next to the bedside where he had slept.

He didn't even know what he was responding to, the only thing in his hands was the bunched up bed sheets. His head wildly swung from side to side with his eyes still closed; obviously, he was not fully awake.

When Rikona saw this, she cutely giggled as a warmth filled her heart. Machyal still had that sleepy look on his face until a slender hand found his cheek.

"I'm sorry I worried you, thank you for finishing up last night." She knew the reason why she laid comfortably in bed and that the place was so calm was all because Makoto took charge. No one knew why, but Makoto was one of those humans a Talium could stand.

"It's nothing, it's the least I could do. Why don't we go check on Kura, make sure she's okay." Even though Rikona looked calm on the outside, he knew her insides were churning. She needed to see how her sister was doing.

"Okay!" As expected, she jumped on the opportunity as soon as it found her.

They left Rikona's room and hurried over to Kura's, which wasn't that far considering it was in the next room, a little down the hall.

They slowed down when they saw Gin, standing in front of Kura's room with that same expression, his posture ramrod straight.

Makoto's expression was one of surprise, he took a look at his watch and saw the time, 5:27 PM. "Good God, the man is committed! He's been standing there for around 12 hours straight!"

When Gin saw Rikona arriving, he stepped aside and let her in, she only gave him a glance that asked the question 'the hell's wrong with you?'

When Makoto passed by, he gave him a secret thumbs-up, to which Gin sheepishly smiled. Gin didn't lie, though he was annoyed with Makoto at first because he was human, he quickly came to like the guy.

When Rikona and Makoto stepped inside, they still saw Kura sleeping as peacefully as ever, no sign that she was about to wake up.

"Rikona, what happened last night? When you guys came in, she was covered in so much blood. Did some other Taliums do this to her?"

When Rikona heard Makoto's questions, her heart sank, as she knew she was the main reason why the operation went as bad as it did.

"Gather everyone else, I'll explain everything to everyone, they all deserve to know what happened yesterday," Rikona said resolutely.

"Are you sure you want everyone to know everyone?" This time it was Gin who spoke, he was standing at the outside of the room. He would make his way inside on his own one day.

Rikona nodded in confirmation, "I can't allow this shadow to hang over their heads forever. Besides, if they know, they would be able to better protect themselves from the dangers of losing themselves."

Gin nodded when he heard this, he knew that in the meetings they regularly held, it was was to discuss things that were not necessarily best for every single person to know. This, however, was an exception and would only allow everyone to grow stronger.

"Uhm, did you pick up sewing or something while I was away? I'm pretty sure her clothes were ripped apart last night" Makoto said after he examined Kura a lot more closely.

Rikona shook her head when she heard his question, "Ugh, you always notice the weirdest things, it happened when I healed her last night."

"You can heal clothes too?! Then what about the ripped pants from last week?! I loved that pair of pants. Y'kno, they don't make em like that anymore." Makoto said, acting hurt.

"They shouldn't make anyone's brains like yours anymore. What I did to Kura wasn't really healing per se, it's more like I reversed her time. I was able to use my construct to isolate her and turned back the clock to before she received such injuries."

When Gin and Makoto heard what Rikona said, the shock that filled faces took quite a while before it went away. Such power, for one to even turn back time itself! Was there even a limit to what that could do?!

"Don't get any bright ideas, the power my construct takes is enormous, merely turning back Rikona's time alone is something that caused some hidden injuries. It'll take some time before I'm back at full form.

"Uhm, i-is lady Kura a-alright?" A tenderly sweet and soft voice came from the doorway. When Rikona and Makoto turned around, they only saw Gin standing there staring back at them. Their expressions turned weird when they saw this.

Gin's expression changed when he saw how they stared at them and then hearing the voice from before, he realised why they stared at him weirdly.

"Ugh!"

He quickly moved out of the way to remove a shy looking girl. He felt wronged that they thought he would sound like a little girl all of a sudden.

The little girl didn't appear to be a day over 11. Was this what they called…a loli? This was the thought running through Makoto's head.

"Hi there, you're Minayatsu Lerna, right?"

Rikona asked as she looked at the little Talium, who was exposed after Gin moved from in front.

"Y-Yes! Th-that's me…" Lerna was ecstatic that Rikona actually remembered her name.

She was a cute little thing, her eyes were full of curiosity, and she had a pixie nose with small cherry lips. Her skin looked so tender and frail that it seemed as if the gentlest wind could break it. Her hair was a faint red tied into a ponytail at the back while a few strands fell stubbornly to the front.

All the features, coupled with her petite body, made her look irresistibly cute, though she hated being called cute most of all. However, whenever she got mad about it, her fury looked more adorable than anything else. She was stuck in a vicious cycle in which there was no way out, cuteness.

"Rikona look! It's a real-life lol- Ow!"

Before Makoto could finish what he was about to say Rikona ruthlessly elbowed Makoto in the side. She looked at the girl in front of her with a warm smile, like a big sister would to their younger sibling.

When Minayatsu Lerna saw this, her shy demeanour retreated but only a little. She timidly walked towards Rikona, staring at her with reverent eyes.

"I remember all the Taliums that Kura and I took in, on that, you're not an exception. You came here because you're worried about Kura, right?"

Rikona always did like Lerna; however, the latter was regularly soft-spoken and usually ran away whenever Rikona got close. Even though everyone was getting closer as they spent more time with each other, Lerna preferred to be by herself. This was why Rikona called her inside instead of asking her to give them some space.

Suddenly a light bulb lit up in Rikona's head when she looked at Lerna once more.

"Say, Lerna weren't you a doctor before the association took you?"

Minayatsu Lerna, don't let her small stature fool you. She was one of the most successful surgeons in Japan, she was able to perform high-risk level surgeries at the young age of 22, her names even appeared several times in magazines. Till one day she mysteriously disappeared, oddly enough the search for her only lasted a week before it was inexplicably called off.

All the news station and other channels mentioned her no more until eventually, she faded from everyone's memories. Oddly enough, after the association took her, she was saved by the sisters.

"Y-Yeah? Do you want me to take a look a look at big sis Kura?"

Rikona pouted when she heard Lerna call her younger call Kura big sis.

"Yes I do, but from now on you'll call me elder sis Rikona, got it?" Rikona's head turned to the side with a faint blush when she asked this.

"Sure!" Lerna wasted no time and agreed in no time, causing a smile to blossom on Rikona's face.

Gin and Makoto watched the entire conversation with a confused expression before they both glanced in each other's direction at the same time before wordlessly agreeing.

"Women cannot be understood!"

Lerna approached Kura, and before everyone's bewildered gaze, she simply extended both her arms above the sleeping beauty with both palms facing down.

A near indiscernible light enveloped her body and soon spread all over Kura.

"What are you-"

Makoto was about to step forward when he felt Rikona's hand on his c.h.e.s.t. He looked at her and saw the stern expression on her face before reluctantly stepping back, watching the scene unfold.

"Lerner's a Genesis, probably sometime after joining us, she was probably half-awakened back then, no wonder she was such a successful surgeon. She was able what little of her power she had access to, to help treat her patients. When she becomes an Invata, I wonder what her construct will be?"

Rikona thought in her heart as she watched Lerna still at work over Kura. Her eyes were closed, and yet the shy look she exhibited not long ago was all gone. It was replaced with a stern expression and a severe demeanour.

After some time, the light faded from Kura and soon enough, Lerner as well. She turned around and faced Rikona and everyone else, when she saw them all staring, her cheeks slightly reddened. Apparently, the shy one was back and in full force at that.

"Well?"

Rikona asked a bit impatiently, waiting for an answer.

"U-Uhm, she's fine physically, no wounds could be found, external or internal."

Rikona expected this answer, after all, she did turn back the clock on her sister's body, so it would be odd if there was a wound left anywhere.

"But…"

Her soft voice came again, cutting off Rikona's current train of thought. Her next words, however, left Rikona in emotional agony.

"S-She seems to be utterly devoid of in'essence, not even a drop."

Dum!!

Rikona's knees fell to the floor in utter despair.

"W-What did you just say?!"