Aurelia pondered for a moment if she can simply slip away unnoticed or find an excuse to leave on her own, then immediately ordered a general withdraw of her personnel.
Faced with the screaming indignation of various paramilitary and guard commanders, she saw no benefit in staying behind by herself.
Ministry-12 will not take kindly to her decision, but somehow in the face of her intrusive thought, Ministry-12 seems irrelevant and insignificant.
As she boards her shuttle, Aurelia elected to turn off her comm and ordered her officers to do the same until they return.
Within the hour, her fleet of armored shuttles were across the ocean back at BASTION HQ.
BASTION Headquarters at One Police Plaza
As she expected, Ministry-12's Inspector was waiting for her on the tarmac upon her arrival.
Aurelia had ample time to come up with reasons for her decision beyond a sense of unease. Still, the unit waiting for her on the tarmac is troublesome for Aurelia to deal since Aurelia's creation.
A woman with the same face as Aurelia is standing next to a car on the tarmac, tracking Aurelia's shuttle with her eyes.
"A776."
"Inspector Cid. I have..."
"Get in. Bring everyone."
"Wha..."
"Priority target en route to Somnia Square."
"Are you deaf, let's go."
"Of course..."
Aurelia almost sighed as she gets in the passenger seat. Instead, she turned her comm back on and ordered everyone to follow in their shuttles. A storm of muddled grumbling came through the comm. That'll do.
Soon after arriving at Somnia Square
As Aurelia arrive above Somnia Square, she was instructed to look for any suspicious Ingram-Kassandra. Aurelia spots a suspect with short hair walking toward the crystal statue and calls out to Cid.
Aurelia barely had the time to bail out before Cid dove the car and rams the woman.
"Calca...brina." Cid looked surprised, something Aurelia never expects to see. The suspect, on the other hand, was behaving too calm for someone who barely dodge a speeding car.
"Twelve. How have you been?" The suspect replied with a kind smile. Was that sarcasm? If there was, Aurelia can't tell.
"Stop her. Now." Cid gave the order as she opened fire on the Suspect with an explosive barrage. The loud explosion sent the crowd, stunned from the car crash, scattering away from the square.
The instant Cid opened fire, Calcabrina deflected the shots with a brandished blade and charged at Cid. The very next moment, blade and gun barrel clashed. Exploding fireball from Cid followed, pushing back Calcabrina for but a second. Right as her swing connects with Cid, Aurelia's kick lands full force at her neck, barely forcing a stumble.
Guns blazed from BASTION shuttles the instant Calcabrina stumbled back. Before the heavy gunfire even finishes ricocheting, a shuttle exploded from a massive shockwave, its source, Calcabrina's blade swing.
"Withdraw." Aurelia ordered the shuttles away before pointless casualty mounts. Immediately she follows up with another one at Calcabrina's face only to be stabbed through the leg by the blade as her kick connects.
Before Calcabrina can bisect Aurelia's leg, Cid grabs Calcabrina from behind and disarms her. Aurelia pulls the blade free and stabs Calcabrina, but her vision was immediately obstructed by Calcabrina's grip. Aurelia's face would've buckled if it weren't reinforced at creation.
Aurelia pulls out the blade and toss it as far as she can throw. She can feel Calcabrina stumbling, but death grip on her face only tightens. As sharp ringing begins to overtake the ambience of Calcabrina and Cid's fight, intrusive memories begins to pour in.
She was off-world with her BASTION officers. There were unfamiliar soldiers with them, too. They just captured two Warriors of Light.
Suddenly, white light flashed from behind her. She felt a jolt in the back of neck. Her officers all collapsed in pain. She turned and saw a soldier holding a white crystal at her.
In the chaos, the Warriors of Light got loose and rushed at the soldier with a suicidal fury that they disintegrated into particles of light the moment they touched the crystal. The crystal reacted and burst into a brilliant flash that ascended into the night sky turning it into daylight.
Then, all she felt was a hailstorm of pain followed by gunfire.
It was the night of the raids against the terrorist group known as the Warriors of Light. She was pursuing the lair of their leader beneath a city, alone.
There they were, sitting beneath a large crystal statue in unfamiliar attire, drinking something from a small cup by their side.
"It is over. You have no where to run. Surrender yourself." Hearing her voice, the Warrior of Light turned around to the surprise of Aurelia. Her own face stares at her, an Ingram-Kassandra who leads the Warriors of Light.
"It is. I'm not going to do anything." She puts down her cup and clapped her hands together. She was smiling. Her postures were welcoming, something only afforded to the most dangerous people. "Are you from Ministry-12? If so, that would make me your aunt."
"I do not know what you are doing, but stop." Aurelia aimed her gun at the Warrior of Light.
"It looks like my time is up." She looked...wistful? That was the first time Aurelia felt jolt of Stim-Guard activating. "T͉̭̆͝ȩ̍͝l̩͉̬͗̃͞l̙̩͛̑ ̟̺̎͛T̥̝̻̅͌̃͗͜͜͝w̢̬̥̄̚e̬͓̎̿͐͜l̙̱͙͔̫̔̉̿̚v̧͙͙͓̠͂͛̅̾͝e̢̳͉̩̅͒̄̽͘͜,̧̬̯̳̓̄̆͂ ̠̹̲̦͌͆̿͒͜͞B̫̩͔̽͑͞r̡̘̻̀́͌i̠̠̅̿n̮͍̭͔͐̍̌̓å̟̼̮͗͛ ͔̩̺͒̇͘s̥͈̹̟̀̀̆̊͘͢ā̛̺̭̾ỉ̮̫̓̇͟͜͠d̠͖̣̎̅̌͞ ͔͖͖̿͌͊̄͟g̡̛̟̦͆͗̕o̝͍̥͐͡͠o̹̞̝̫̒̔͘͞ḏ̥͔̼̲̃̂̋͒͠b̧̞̠̋̅̍͢ẏ̛̮͓̫̚e̬̊̾̏ͅ.̨͔̀̐͠ͅ"
Just then, the blue crystal behind her glowed a brilliant white before becoming inert again. There was no trace of her, but a small white crystal on the floor where she sat.
CSI could find nothing of use at the scene. Reports of crystals glowing briefly came in from across the world, but further investigations were put on low priority after the explosion at One Police Plaza.
She was battling Cid at the summit of the Golden Spire. BASTION officers and Firstborns lie dead around her.
"I DIDN'T MAKE YOU FOR THIS!" Cid's blade swings are getting more erratic, but stronger. Aurelia barely repelled the shockwave this time with her magic.
Aurelia would not cower before the overwhelming strength of Cid, but could no means of stopping her either. Everytime Aurelia pressed forward, Cid kept distanced and attacked with shockwave. Is Cid tricking her into closing the gap or is Cid only trying to keep distance? To survive, Aurelia has to win. To win, she has to disarm Cid. To disarm Cid. There is only one way.
Aurelia rushed forward. As expected, Cid kept distance. Only this time, Cid suddenly lunged forward and with both hands, stabbed through Aurelia's heart. Aurelia smiled in her mind.
Twenty seconds. She headbutts Cid and frees the grip away from a stunned Cid.
Fifteen seconds. She pulls the blade free from her chest.
Ten seconds. She slashes Cid clean through the torso while receiving a punch in the head.
Five seconds. She pierces Cid's neck with the blade and pressed downward, pinning Cid on the ground with it.
Aurelia's body grinds to a halt as emergency healing kicks in. She collapse onto the ground as the pain is no longer suppressed.
Still reeling from the intrusive memories, Aurelia finds herself on the ground back at Somnia Square. The Aetheryte is chiming in sync with the blue flames of the moon. Curious onlookers are poking their head out and surveying the damage around the Square.
In the distance, Calca lies on the pavement, breathing heavily. Twelve was nowhere to be seen.
"I will go help Vona. Trust me." Aurelia knelt down besides a surprised Calca.
"You are not forgiven." Calca closed her eyes and disappeared in a brilliant burst of white light, leaving behind a green crystal.
"That is fine." Aurelia picked up the crystal and reached her hand out at the Aetheryte.
Aurelia arrived at the summit of the Golden Spire.
"I will not let you destroy this world!" Twelve's fends off Vona's magic with her own and kicks Vona into a nearby wall.
"This doesn't given you the right to kill other worlds." Vona coughed up blood as she struggles to stand.
Twelve, walks over and lifts Vona by the neck with one hand and aims her blade at Vona's heart with the other.
"Brina Said Goodbye." Aurelia appeared behind Twelve just as Twelve's blade was about to connect with Vona's heart. "Stop this."
Twelve turned to look at Aurelia and releases Vona. "You would... betray this world and everyone to help her?!" Twelve's voice cracked. She grips her blade tightly, the one she took from Calca. Her body twitched and her neck bulged as she stares death into Aurelia.
"It is my choice."
Hearing these words, Twelve's face dropped. She roared in anger. Alarmed, Aurelia took a defensive stance in front of Vona and prepare for the worst. Then in the blink of an eye, Twelve stabbed herself through the chest.
"Why."
"It's my choice..." Twelve's brows twisted as tears streamed down her cheeks. With inhuman speed, she pulled out her blade and stabbing herself through the neck, twisting it.
As Twelve falls to the ground. Vona stepped forward and kneeled next to her, "I will save your people, I promise, Gentiana," Twelve weakly reaches out her hand.
Vona, gently placed it between her own. "And it's my choice." They both closed their eyes as Twelve disappear into particles of blue light, leaving behind a blue crystal.
"Thank you, for saving me." Vona, hands the crystal over to Aurelia. "These are her precious memories."
"May I ask for your name?" Vona wiped her tears and smiled at Aurelia, but it was a sad smile.
"Aurelia." There were so many questions she wanted to ask Vona, but they all seemed irrelevant right now. That was a smile of the dead walking.
Before Aurelia can say anything else, turned to the Aetheryte at the center of the summit.
"This world lives because it is consuming the magic of other worlds, killing them. If I save this world, I would be letting countless other worlds die."
Vona turned and looked at Aurelia one last time.
"I can't save your world, but I can buy you time to save your people."
Vona clasped her hands together and become a flash of white light. It permeated the Golden Spire, coloring it a pearl white.
