Soul's Requiem: B1 - 28. Unbroken (Patreon)

1:  Clover Emberfield

Soul's Requiem Index

Previous Chapter

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“McArthur! Wow. It has been a while. That battle against Drasnirgal was intense! I thought you’d lose…but you drove that immortal Cardinal mutt away. What would your growing settlement do without you? Wouldn’t that be an interesting experiment? [data lost]. Oh...

“You do know who I really am. You always were the smartest one… Well, Clover had better instincts, but I’ll wear her down. [data lost]. Wait…you figured that out without Rosa’s help…and still want to confront me in that state you're in? Maybe I was wrong about your intelligence. Haha. No. A quick end is boring. Hey, I have an idea! You are a clever one, for sure…but what about without your memories?” - Samuel, ?????, The Lost Diaries, Vol. III.

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Melissa managed to stabilize the seventeen-year-old girl after ten minutes of intensive work by the look on the blonde’s face; there was a lot of damage, after all. Once Lily’s safety was assured, Clover washed her hands and discussed the outcome with Laurence. He would keep a close eye on her recovery, yet wanted to have an updated test done on what was happening with her own body after learning where the nanite went.

Clover reluctantly agreed, struggling with the foreign object; she wanted to know what was happening to her, and the general promised to keep the results isolated from the database. She had to trust him, yet her instincts told her to search out the truth about herself and this world; pursuing this subject would help her better understand her changed body.

Allowing them to use the same device that detected the Desire Force in Lily, she waited in the room with a team of four researchers and physicians, listening to them go over the results with Laurence.

Laying her test results from the combat sim to this updated one side-by-side showed a stark difference; before, almost all of the light was blue—her Spirit Force—surrounding the Desire Force and serpent, yet that had changed dramatically.

The SPU had been able to detect Spirit Force for some years, and from comparing past records, without a doubt, the potency of her Spirit Force had grown by a substantial amount since the test; however, it didn’t seem to be nearly enough to counter the rassi fragment she was fighting.

A hyper-dense dot represented the nanite—something powerful in its core—with the snake coiling the object in her stomach, keeping it in place, and crimson light was spotted throughout her entire body, emanating from the nanite.

It seemed the purple color of the cobra was something the modelers added to the original to match how her Void Force looked because the live feed was a blank spot inside of her. Their equipment couldn’t detect the serpent itself, instead being an outline by omission from its effect on the Desire and Spirit Force inside of her. The snake was sucking in the bright crimson light from the unknown device—her only hope.

Clover released her stress in a sigh as she left the small, isolated team to puzzle out what they could, returning to the general’s office to discuss their findings. The fact Marcov managed to get their hands on something rassi-related and possibly stronger than a Class-5 was definitely something to be concerned about, even if only a sliver of a body.

She had to admit, the general was now solidly in her good books; his stoic approach, while remaining flexible had made things dramatically easier on her. He promised to keep her in the loop, to which she offered a silent thanks.

Exhausted, Clover went to take a shower; luckily, she hadn’t gotten any of Lily’s blood on her clothing, yet she still felt dirty after the experience. It didn’t help that a foreign agent was inside her, seeking dominance over the snake, yet the cobra seemed impervious to the shard’s colossal attacks.

She could feel the rassi pulses of energy like bombs inside her chest, but the serpent shrugged it off as if it weren’t even there, wasting a lot of the fragment’s efforts and pulling its focus away from attacking her. If anything, she should be thankful for the adder’s threatening presence that stole the object’s attention.

Resting her forehead against the tile wall, she allowed the cool water to slide over her bare skin and hair, attempting to cool down; she was sweating again, even under the stream. Clover closed her eyes, mind centering on the critical issue.

Castro attacked Marcov and annihilated every scrap of information… He went there for a purpose. Is he looking for where they got this rassi fragment? Was this his goal? It is all a play to him, and…I have to wonder if he targeted Lily, manipulating the Marcov staff to bring me into this mess. Something…doesn’t add up!

Not finding any answers, she dried off, dressed, and left the showers to check on Lily. She felt a little better now. Fortunately, the girl’s condition was improving, but she seemed to be going through a spiritual battle now after her transformation had been interrupted. By the monitors she was hooked up to and the sweat on her brow, her operator wasn’t out of the storm. All they could do was wait at this point.

Laurence let his own worries be known, namely Castro. Despite the fact she was dealing with a lot—including the powerful rassi fragment—if Castro attacked Hollow Veil, they needed her there. If she wanted to talk about what they’d discovered inside her, he was here to hear what she wanted to do and discuss more options, but she was all they had at the moment.

Wanting to be alone, Clover agreed to look for Castro now that she’d done everything to help Lily. Honestly, she was having doubts that she could handle Castro at this point, which caused her no end of frustration, feeding into a terrible cycle of increasing agitation; this internal conflict with the fragment was weakening her by the minute.

She left with a sizable military garrison that had been redirected from other areas to help strengthen their security in the town. Clover lay on the edge of the diesel roof she’d boarded, eyes closed, isolating herself rather than mingling with the soldiers. The poison filtered through her system in their tug-of-war; yes, the snake was drawing its aggression, yet that didn’t mean she wasn’t suffering collateral damage in their fight. Her heavy thoughts didn’t help; so much secrecy and unusual coincidences had surrounded her.

Leora was still in the middle of meeting everyone, and she kicked herself for not bringing up the blood test to Laurence when at the base. She sent him a message, but his return message said the labs were busy running a lot of other things to put on hold for something like that, which she could understand. It could wait a bit.

With everyone busy, it gave Clover the chance to wander the town and think when she made it inside the gates. She couldn’t smell any hint of Castro, so she walked the nighttime streets, going through the motions as she let this new world roll through her troubled soul.

Hours passed, yet she still couldn’t find any trace of the jester, leaving her in her own thoughts to ponder what her life had become. Not having an enemy to turn her blade against and turn off her brain was turning out to be more of a poison than the rassi fragment, or maybe it contributed to her emotions, and she found herself wishing her mother were there to comfort her.

Hugging herself, the chilly after-storm air whipping past her, Clover shivered.

I feel stuck… How can I be here for Leora when I keep struggling to come to terms with who I am now? I’m a stranger in my own skin ever since I fell from The Great Void, and I know this isn’t something new. I’m missing so much of my life—I know I am.

She stared into the mysterious void hanging over the ruined city in the distance. Did I connect with Leora on the other side? Why was I dressed like…I was when I fell? I feel…powerless!

Scratching her scalp, she shouted out her frustration. “Why do I feel powerless?! Argh!”

So much power was stripped from me—more than this fragment’s owner had by far—and yes, I’m stronger than I was at the start… It’s not enough, though…not nearly enough! If I want to…to do what? To protect Leora. That should be my goal. To protect my niece. I need power.

Finding herself on the top of a large hospital helicopter pad, staring across Hollow Veil in the solemn darkness, Clover could feel her defenses weakening; it was slow, but she and the snake were losing the war with this rassi fragment with their current power. The snake, who seemed invincible at the start, was gradually slowing down.

It’s breaking me down… Turning my emotions against me…my imperfections and insecurities. A dirty tactic.

Her fingers pressed against her core while staring at the tinted moon, now high in the sky and shining its light over Hollow Veil; the calamity on the celestial object was clear to see. She couldn’t be sure, but it felt like the snake was pulling away, ripping her soul in two, and she came to a new, frightening revelation.

The serpent doesn’t want to be a part of me… It’s trapped, and using the fragment to try and escape. Yet, I get the feeling if I die, it dies. It’s playing a balancing game, trying to weaken me enough to split away from me.

A savage smirk lifted her eyes. I won’t be overtaken…ever. Try all you want snake and nanite. I strive for perfection… I can’t be beaten if I continue to perfect myself; no matter how I’ve changed, I’m still Clover Emberfield, and I have to do something… Something…

Vision drifting to the Great Void hanging over Sunset City, Clover’s fingers balled into a fist as she punched the concrete; it hurt, and blood came from her split knuckle that began to heal almost instantly. Her Spirit Force was dangerously low, yet her Void Force seemed to be flourishing, which left her with a sobering conclusion.

My Void and Spirit Force need to be in balance to maintain the adder’s prison… I know how to increase my Void Force…eat. My Spirit Force only increased by reuniting with my Soul-Spirit, though… Is there another way?

“Argh! So annoying,” she seethed, smoothing out her dress as the wind picked up from her high vantage point.

I’ll discover what this world seems to be hiding from me… Even if I’m stuck right now, I’ll break free… I’ll crawl my way to the answer if I have to… I won’t fail again. Fail at what, though? What did I fail at?

Several minutes passed with her internal struggles before Laurence contacted her.

“How’s Lily?” Clover softly asked, not looking at the man and letting the strong gusts toss her braid to the side.

“She’s stable, and we expect a full recovery. You don’t seem fine… How bad really is it?”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“I’m sure. If I can help, I will.”

“I really do appreciate that, General… I want answers.”

“About?”

“This snake… My lost memories… I don’t believe The Great Void is time distorted to the point of not being able to live inside of it—at least not a gateway that blinks you in and out of it… I had a life there—I know I did. I had power beyond anything I currently have… I lost something more important than my own soul, and…I don’t know what that is. It is eating me up inside. How was all of it taken from me? I don’t know why exactly… I want it back. I want it all back, and that’s my goal.”

Clover’s teeth ground together as another pulse of weakness randomly struck her, making her fingers ball into a fist.

Laurence seemed to notice. “Hmm…the answer to the Voids? That’s eluded us for fifteen years… If that’s what you want, I’m behind you.”

A weary smile lifted Clover’s cheeks. “It’s nice to know I have people to rely on. Thank you, General Laurence. How’s Melissa?”

“Sleeping. I suspect she’ll be out for a day or two; she made sure Lily won’t have a scar.”

“Hehe, of course, she did. Mmh, I think I should go meet my other contacts to find some answers. And about my niece?”

“I’ll…have a team prepped and sent out tomorrow morning to draw her blood if it will help settle your mind. Good luck.”

Ending the call, Clover jumped down, slowing her descent with her platforms only for the last to partially fracture near the bottom, making her wince while taking the rest of the momentum with her shaky and suddenly weak legs. “Heh. Great… That bad, huh? I doubt it will get easier.”

Renewing her resolve, Clover made her way to the hideout and turned off her GPS tracker; it was difficult, but she did sense a small reserve of power kick in as her snake absorbed the Desire Force. The problem was this weird agitation that poked at the back of her brain, telling her to forget everything, including Leora, and go after Castro. She shoved it down; Clover knew she wasn’t out of this fight yet, despite the depression waves that hit her.

Arriving at the back door, Clover sensed the heat and presence of Jessica and Leora on the other side. Opening the door, she sighed, walking in to see her in front of a mirror, a pile of clothes to their right that the bubbly redhead was searching through.

“Wow, looking better—smelling better, too,” she muttered, giving her a half-smile while appraising her niece’s attire while attempting to hide her weakness; odd emotions she’d forgotten tugged at her breast—familial emotions. “The flannel and jeans look good but have you tried a more proper dress yet,” she laughed. “Although I doubt you’ll be able to find one that’s fitted without it being custom.”

Jessica’s accent thickened as she stepped back to appraise the frowning mercenary. “Oh, no need to go after a girl’s curves! She more than makes up for it in personality.”

Leora smirked, shifting and putting a hand on her hip in a mocking way that made Clover a bit self-conscious. “Oh, I’m not shy about my curves, Aunt Oldie. Growing up, it was better to be flat than curved like you…less grabby hands to deal with, if you catch my drift. Can you relate?”

Clover’s muscles tensed at the image of her niece in a slave camp, defending herself from wonton fingers grabbing her skin. “No… I’ve never been touched like that,” she mumbled, rubbing her elbow.

Leora snickered and turned to examine her braided hair. “I’m joking! I was far too valuable to be passed around to the hired help… At least, that’s what my gut tells me. Whatever. And to be fair,” she said, a twinkle in her lime-green eyes, “I’m firm as a soldier in all the right places!”

“Attagirl!” Jessica roared, slapping Leora on the back and handing her a dress to try on next. “A lady should know her worth is beyond looks. It’s just, hehe, looks don’t help to swoon doting men,” she winked, bumping hips with the 16-year-old. “You have to play every card you’ve got as a girl during the end of the world, ya know?”

Leora grinned and began changing into the slim red gown the redhead handed her; once again, Clover got a look at the barcode at the back of her niece’s neck. She discovered a new and pressing topic that pushed her to rush forward, running her finger down Leora’s spine, where a neat and long surgical cut had been made.

“Woah—hey, what’s with the touchy hands?!”

“Where did you get this scar?”

“Hmm?” Leora shifted to stare at the mark running down her back. “The bloody rassi if I know. Huh. I didn’t even notice that—what do you mean, I’m ugly?!”

Clover stepped back, confusion slapping her in the face as the girl’s face scrunched up and she glanced off to the side. “I…didn’t say anything?”

“Yeah, well you’re no cute kitty-cat either, hun—oh, uh… Never mind,” she mumbled as Clover followed her glare to a pile of clothes beside them. “I, uh, asked Ronan to join us since he seemed interested, but he basically passed out. Do guys and girls really not change together here?”

Utterly thrown off, Clover glanced at Jessica as the redhead doubled over with laughter. Changing the subject…but what is with that question?

“She seriously did ask him that; the poor boy was foaming at the mouth! You can’t do that to a thirteen-year-old boy, Leora, they’re innocent little lambs.”

Leora rolled her eyes. “I don’t get it—seriously. Clover and you have no issue seeing me naked, but Parker and Ronan act as if I asked them to eat dung beetle juice. Am I that hideous to look at? I’d get it if I smelled like trash, but I took a thorough shower with the crazy products Jessica gave me.”

Clover’s narrowed eyes centered on her barcode again as the teenager flipped out her hair. “We can talk about it later… Jessica, have you ever seen a barcode like that?”

Jessica frowned and glanced at it. “Uh, yeah, actually. Tyler has one on his inner thigh. I saw it at a pool party we had once when Tamara almost pantsed him—all in good fun! Well, she was drunk…but she’s usually drunk.”

“Pantsed?” Leora inquired, pulling up her dress to stare at her thigh. “Yeah, none there for me. Huh. Also, why do girls get flustered when they wear clothes like this and the wind blows it up… I mean, what do you expect? It’s why I prefer bodysuits that don’t get in the way of combat exercises. Anyway! I’m starving. Food!”

Jessica gave her a strained smile as she went for the door to reach further into the underground pub. “She totally doesn’t understand privacy, by the way, Clover—like, for real! You should have seen Yumi and Parker’s faces when she went to strip the moment they guided her into the showers.”

Leora huffed, and Clover sensed her removing her dress to try on the white and black skin-tight suit Jessica handed her; her snake-like senses were sharpening as she caught tiny scars that shouldn’t be there for her niece if she was a spirit user.

“I don’t see what the big deal is—girls, boys—we always changed in front of each other. Why are you making such a big deal about it? I swear, jokes I had with…with some people—yeah, some people are like totally serious with you guys. Lighten up!”

“Ugh… I-It’s not…proper, Leora,” Clover forced out, and suddenly, a pulse reverberated through her whole nerve system. Her vision tinted red, gaze shifting to her niece as her fingers twitched to find their way around her throat.

Weak… It’s her fault! It’s all her fault! So…very weak—

“Huh?!”

“Says who?” Leora scoffed.

“Uh…society, I guess?” Jessica mumbled as Clover recovered, her vision returning to normal. “It helps us manipulate guys! It’s a good thing.” 

“Meh. Sounds stupid. Oh! You could pay me not to strip in front of them—good deal, Auntie?”

“Mmgm-hmm-hmm… I’m going to talk to Yumi. Try not to embarrass our family name by stripping in public.”

“Mm-alright, I’ll come show you the suit later; you wanted to see it, right?” she asked with an innocent smile that pulled at Clover’s heart; maybe there was a little girl still inside her.

“I am a bit curious,” Clover admitted, walking away and shooting a backward glance to see her examining other suits. “By the way, some people will be getting in contact with me tomorrow morning for that blood test.”

“Cool.”

Melissa said we don’t have the same feelings as we did, and I have noticed that, but…I can’t deny how protective I am of Leora. Is…this what Melissa feels toward kids? What was that spur of dark emotion, though? Maybe it’s the rassi-infused nanite’s effect or my diminished Spirit Force… Yeah, that has to be it. Why would I want to kill Leora?

Leaving for the front while rubbing her temple, Clover cleared her throat and tried to get the weird thoughts out of her head. Yumi jumped as she exited.

“C-Clover! Hey! So, umm… Oh no—did you hear what Leora did…”

Ronan choked from the corner, face going bright red as he leaned forward, trying not to listen.

“Yeah…moving past that uncomfortable topic—I’ll talk to her—eh, Yumi, I have a parasitic rassi piece of some kind in me.”

“A what?”

“Yeah. It’s very…potent. Umm, will the Soul Armament help me combat it? I don’t need much Spirit Force to outlast it, but I am kind of…struggling.”

Yumi blinked, still processing what she’d said. “A piece of a rassi… How did that happen? No, erm, rassi horns from the Inferno Faction or…their bones can be used as ingredients in making things, I suppose. Hehe. Even hair, and umm, there was this…rumor about, heh, other parts—”

“Yumi!” Ronan cried, ears coloring blue of all colors. “Seriously?!”

“Yikes, uh, yeah…yeah—sorry, Ronan!”

“I’m going to the back…”

“Not yet,” Clover flatly denied, making the half-rassi’s gaze snap to the door and gulp. “We’re moving past the subject.”

“Right… Mmmgm. No, not that she’s not pretty, Clover! You’re just so much more pretty—eh, I mean—just kill me and use me for parts!” he cried, snatching his enhanced cloak, throwing it on, and running into the public part of the underground bar to escape.

Parker sighed and strained a smile, forced himself up, and followed after the boy. “The kid doesn’t get a lot of girls outside of sister or mother figures around him.”

Clover dropped into a chair, feeling drained. “Yumi?”

“Yeah, sorry. Umm. The Brooches you found can help in your defenses if they’re the right ones—eh…if you just need a little bit more resilience.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, Clover smiled at the good news; she’d been worried for nothing. “Thanks, Yumi. Can it be ready in a few days?”

“Two for your weapon, three for armor, I’d say… Oh, did you want to hear what I figured out about your Void Force?”

Heart lighter now that Lily was fine, Melissa was resting, Leora was taken care of, and she had a solution to her battle against this rassi fragment, Clover nodded and accepted a soda from the deaf barman; this was exactly what she needed to hear.

“I’m all ears.”

Puffing up her chest, Yumi’s voice grew excited. “Okay, so, your Void Force and Spirit Force are intertwined; it’s like you have a sword that is your base—Spirit Force. And a coiling serpent is around it—Void Force. Oddly, your snake-like stuff seems to stem from the Void Force, not your Spirit Force.”

“Go on,” Clover hummed, Viper Blade appearing in her left hand to examine it; she already knew part of that from her chat with Laurence. However, a new development caught her eye; a few cracks ran along her whip-blade from her weakened state. “Great…”

“Huh… Well, yeah, that doesn’t look good,” Yumi hissed. “It almost looks like how a few spirit rulers’ I knew looked when they exited the Void…only in reverse; on the plus side, it does heal over time, so we just need to get you all buffed up to beat this thing.”

“Thank you for the positivity,” she chuckled. Clover was beginning to believe she’d performed her own experimentations on herself in the Void with the snake inside her, and it was the only thing keeping her in the fight with this nanite.

“Well,” Yumi continued, “your Void and Spirit Force appear to function together, but…there’s something really strange about your Armaments. Mmh. How do I say this… Your sword may be at its base Spirit Force, but…umm, I think your Core Force is actually Void, which is weird since you have a Spirit Weapon? Your Spirit Force is fighting to retake control—I don’t know—it’s like a weird dance that both don’t want any part of but can’t stop… I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Void is my base, huh…”

The snake is trying to separate itself from me, and with what my Soul-Spirit said about abandoning her…it makes sense. But why would my Soul-Spirit be okay with the Void now if I abandoned her for it in the first place? A necessity? Was it forced on us by that woman I heard when I fell out of the Great Void? So many questions… I was a calamity in the Great Void, huh? Did I abandon Spirit Force…for Void Force—for this snake? There’s so much I don’t know.

“Thanks, Yumi, that helps a—”

Their attention shifted to the door as Jessica came bursting through, holding out her hands with a grin. “May I present, Lady Leora Emberfield! Girl, you’re looking amazing!”

The air in Clover’s lungs caught as her smiling niece stepped through, adjusting a fancy gown instead of the bodysuit she’d been trying on when she’d left. Her head spun, images of a massive castle courtyard. It was a masquerade. Selin, her aunt, mingled amongst the hundreds of guests milling around a place Clover had never been—her eyes were ruby red behind her mask.

The memories of her past now flooded back when Jessica spun the 16-year-old around, and as fast as the vision came, it was gone, and the words slipped out of her mouth.  “You…look so much like my aunt…your great-aunt.”

“Haha! Only less curvy, right? Jessica says she’s seen pictures her grandma keeps of all the Emberfields. Weird hobby. She thinks I have some features from my mom, though.”

“Tell me about it!” Jessica snickered. “My grandma has extremely weird hobbies.”

“Yeah, I don’t know if I want to see them… Maybe if it turns out we are related—I don’t know, maybe. Uh, Skydream to Clover! You there?”

Clover’s thoughts raced, a weird sensation gripping at her breast as emotions and thoughts not her own clawed their way into her brain. Her environment shifted again, and she had returned to the masquerade. Selin was spun away by another mysterious figure as a handsome man behind a mask offered her his hand.

“Shall we dance, my lovely liege? You are most radiant tonight. Your sister cannot compare!”

Sister… Selin’s sister? Mom… What is all this about? It’s this fragment! It has to be! What is this memory in my mind?!

Shaking her head and coughing a little as her eyes spun with the man’s guiding hand pulling her into a dance, Clover tried to rid herself of the images she saw as Leora plucking at the hem of her gown.

“Wow. Do gowns really have this kind of effect on people? Hmm… Maybe there are some uses for it in combat. I’ve never worn something like this before, though—eh…a bit restrictive and bulky, but if I went with a—Armament type?” she questioned, looking at Jessica.

“Absolutely, girl! If you have Yumi make it into a Spirit Armament, it’ll be a breeze to move in, and you’ll look hot as Rosa herself!”

“Jessica, don’t curse,” Yumi chided.

“What? You can’t tell me all those statues of Rosa aren’t hot—those sculptors knew what they were doing!”

“Ugh. She’s a goddess, Jessica—we should show some respect,” Yumi cried. “Almost everyone prays to her.”

“Hey, you can’t deny good looks—hehe, can you, or do I need to bring up that poster you have of Kassra you keep in your bedroom? A Rassi Faction Leader! Bad girl! Someone likes the big and bulky dudes that can rough her up.”

Yumi’s face flushed, turning away to fiddle with Clover’s jacket on her table. “Shut up.”

“Hehe. Knew it; you had a close-up look with Shane from what I heard!”

“Uh, I’m bored and confused,” Leora mumbled. “Back to what I do understand, I’ve never had anything but the same skin-tight suits most of my life, so I don’t know how these crazy outfits work. What do you think, Auntie?”

Clearing her throat, Clover nodded and tried to get the previous visions of her sister-in-law out of her head while examining her showy outfit; the light blue dress seemed to suit her frame and smile perfectly. Clover’s vision stabilized as she refocused, calming the thumping within her breast.

“Seriously, ahem, how did you get something that fit her that well?”

Yumi forced a chuckle, cheeks still a little rosy. “Uh…Tamara has an excellent eye when it comes to sizes—it’s like her talent. There’s a reason she’s the best at crafting Soul Gear—and she went with Parker to get them.”

“Honestly, I think it’s kind of creepy how sharp Tamara’s instincts are without even looking at someone,” Jessica laughed. “It’s like she can read your very soul.”

“Maybe she can, and it’s filled with depravity,” Yumi said, returning to her table.

“Says the girl with a buff rassi guy on her wall!”

“Stop saying it!”

Clover sat back and crossed her legs as Leora shook with silent laughter at their back and forth. Drawing inward, she reflected on her recent discoveries, mumbling, “It fits you, Leora. We’ll need to find more outfits like it.”

“If you say so,” Leora grinned. “It works, and I do like the colors. Haha, the stripes are pretty interesting, too. I used to see—eh, well, yeah, I think it says I’m in control… I remember this striped suit guy who was always in control—yeah, I like that. Do you have one of those little flower things some of the women he brought had?”

“Oh, totally! Right this way,” Jessica said, ushering her to the back. “Let’s see how red would work on you, and you’ll need to try on different black and brown heels—skirts and belts, too!”

“You’re the expert.”

“Hehe, I totally am, right? Maybe I should get Parker to find us matching sets—Yumi can design it!”

Yumi covered her eyes, slowly shaking her head. “Please,” she whispered, “don’t try to get me involved in your fashion shows. They never end.”

Clover looked up at the ceiling, glad things were settling down but a little concerned about what she’d just experienced.

Strive for perfection… I cannot lose my way if I am founded on the Emberfield standard. I will win. I will exemplify what I believe. I will discover the truth about myself and Leora…about what happened to my family. I am Clover Emberfield, and I will kill you, Castro.

Strength came from her internal conviction, easing much of the agitation she felt after the vision. Time flew by as she searched her memories for what she’d just experienced, yet it didn’t return.

Leora became more a part of the group as the night went on, and Clover discovered more bizarre behaviors from her niece. Apparently, at one point, Yumi heard her talking to herself again in the bathroom, but everyone talked to themselves every once in a while—just not out of nowhere like that, which was of concern.

A lot happened throughout the night, with the general relocating much of Steel Box Bastion’s forces to Hollow Veil to prepare for Castro’s promised second half of the ‘present’ he’d promised. Leora was the first part, and Clover was beginning to think the next gift would once again have something to do with her. Somehow, he knew more about her past than she did; it was an uncomfortable consideration.

To make matters worse, Laurence wanted to do a press conference in Hollow Veil’s town center. She was supposed to make a speech, as well, since the Emberfields were known for their speeches. It would boost morale hearing from someone who brought the image of a more stable world, and the fact she was a spirit user would be an even greater boon to their moods.

She didn’t have any more bizarre visions like before, and her strength was low, but she could still function; near dawn, she debated testing out her SF and VF abilities to further gauge her current state before the tests arrived. Leora joined her, not taking part but watching with interest as she tested her attacks. The blood team stopped by, took a sample, and headed off without much interaction.

Things could be worse, and she had to keep pushing herself—she had to be ready for Castro—and to confirm her suspicions, almost all of her energy-based attacks were founded in her Spirit Force, mixed with the purple aura of her VF augmenting her SF abilities.

Serpent Strike, Culling Furor, Gleaning Asp, and Basilisk’s Tempo had severely weakened, yet one skill was rooted in her Void Force, Gelid Adder, the violet serpent that escaped her blade to suck out Desire Force.

The illusionary cobra had increased in size, radiating an even more baleful aura that Clover assumed would paralyze nearby transevils or rassi. Yet it was without the frost-like affix of her Spirit Force now; hopefully, that would change when her Spirit Force strengthened.

Clover’s mind worked on the issue, taking to the morning streets with Leora after testing the attack in a more ruined part of town. Her SF was being subdued, bringing out greater potential from her Void Force. There was more she could learn about herself, and she had to figure out a way to fight without relying solely on her diminished Spirit Force or some way to enhance it; she had to adapt to survive.

She was more damaged than she could imagine, but that didn’t mean she was broken; she could pick herself up and strive for perfection again. Clover knew she wasn’t fully human anymore—Leora wasn’t, as well—nor were either of them entirely spirit users. To understand what she was, she had to grasp precisely how spirit users functioned, and that required more study.

As Laurence called her, she could be thankful and sure of one thing; the earrings flew off to show Leora and her the tired general’s perpetually grim face.

“Good news. 26.7% match… You’re related, likely aunt and niece.”

“Yes!” The sickness in her belly flipped in an instant, new strength welling up within her as she did something uncharacteristic and threw her arms around her taller niece. “I knew it!”

Her cheer diminished slightly with Leora’s nonchalant shrug. “Cool. Uh, so you’re going to be doing some big speech in the next few days, right? I don’t need to do that.”

“No. You don’t, and it’s a week away; they need to consider Castro will want a stage,” Clover huffed, stepping back and putting a hand on her hip to glare at her niece. “Would it kill you to be excited for us?”

“Meh. I mean, so far, you’re a bit of a prissy girl, but you’re okay. I’m liking you more by the day.”

“Prissy?!” Clover balked, glaring at her niece.

A new thought was worming its way into her brain, though. What if…Leora is a clone of my dead niece? There are so many other possibilities, but even if that is the case…she’s my niece, and I will protect her! I’m a Void Incarnate… I just need to learn how to properly utilize my Spirit and Void Force… I need answers, and I’m ready to look for them.

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