Hiro Kuat

I shift uncomfortably on the cracked concrete floor, drifting in and out of fitful sleep. The handcuffs binding both hands behind my back and my feet together makes even getting comfortable difficult. In the next room over, I hear Mari groan in pain as she rolls about on the floor as well. The abandoned house the Coalition were using as an ad hoc jail for us was not the most secure arrangement, but it didn't need to be. Our bulwarks had been taken from us after the trouncing we received in the streets. We had then been searched and promptly tossed in here.

Without bulwarks or even mundane weapons, the lone beast person militiaman posted by the Coalition as a guard would be too much for us to handle. I hear the wolf man yawn as he idly plays with the rusty rifle issued to him. There's the sound of the guard's heavy footsteps as prompted by Mari's moans, he performs a cursory check on her. After a few seconds, there's a disinterested snort from the guard as he walks back to the corridor and resumes dozing off while leaning against a wall.

"Prisoner being brought through!" a harsh voice shouts from the outside, coupled with someone banging against the main door.

The guard immediately rouses himself and wanders off out of my line of sight. I hear the door being opened and something, or someone, being dragged inside.

"So we're not augmenting her then?" a new voice questions.

"She's useless. The tests were clear." that harsh voice answers, "Whatever, let her cool her heels here with her friends for a bit. Number 69 will figure out what to do with all of them once things are less hectic."

"Hectic. That's one way to put -" the other voice says before getting interrupted.

"Let me out!" Madam shouts at the top of her lungs from somewhere deeper in the house, "Let me out! I don't have anything to do with what happened!"

"Shut up!" the new voice yells back and Madam immediately quietens down. The footsteps get slightly closer as the group ambles down the corridor.

"What a troublesome woman." the harsh speaker complains, "Anyway here's someone else to keep our prisoners company."

From the corner of my eye, I see a pair of men dressed in Coalition uniforms handover Nomi to the wolf man guard. The guard takes out a set of handcuffs from his belt and snaps them around Nomi's wrists and ankles, immobilizing her. To my surprise, Nomi doesn't object or try to fight back. She merely stares down at the floor, her eyes completely dead.

Before I can observe any further, the entire building shakes as the air fills with the sound of jet turbines. Then a warning klaxon sounds, accompanied by the trademark pneumatic hiss of an aircraft engaging its landing gear.

"Let's hustle." the harsh voiced man snaps, "Another transmission tower has landed."

"Meaning more work for us." his partner grumbles as the trio begin hauling Nomi toward the room I'm placed in.

Transmission tower? Transmissions towers can't fly. What are they talking about? No time to think about that, quick go back to pretending to sleep.

The trio stop at the busted door to my room, long rotted away thanks to neglect. Nomi is tossed inside by both Coalition men, and at this distance I manage to catch a glimpse of their faces through narrowed eyes.

Both men have the exact same face.

Never mind the alleged flying transmission tower. What's going on with the Coalition?

Nomi lands hard on the ground beside me as the Coalition men quickly exit the building, leaving us alone with the guard again. Satisfied that the guard has gone back to his hobby of napping on the job, I wriggle my body, finally managing to turn and face Nomi.

"You alright?" I ask, examining my comrade's body. Nomi doesn't look hurt, at least physically. But her eyes are red from crying. In fact tears are still flowing down her cheeks.

"They said I was useless." Nomi's mouth barely opens, her voice coming out in a whisper.

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"You don't need to listen to the people who took us prisoner." I say, "They don't mean us well in the first place."

"Regina's the goddess of beauty and victory." Nomi murmurs, biting her lip and ignoring me completely.

I'm about to say something, but another bout of groaning from Mari interrupts my line of thought. Her wounds must be really painful.

"Regina never loses. Never ever." Nomi shuts her eyes despondently.

"Nomi, what happened?" I frown, incredibly concerned. I've never seen Nomi like this. Not in all the years we have known each other. Its as if she had been shaken to the core of her being.

"I was born to never know defeat. That's what everyone told me." Nomi's eyes open again, placid pools. But I can see the roiling turmoil just underneath the surface. I recall Nomi saying something like this recently. Though I have no idea what she's really talking about. I just don't have the context.

A pregnant silence falls between us. Even Mari has quietened down.

"But I lost. That night, I lost." a bitter laugh from Nomi, "And now ..."

"Nomi?" I nudge her reassuringly with my foot, hoping to snap her out of whatever funk she's in.

"I'm nothing. Hollow." Nomi breaks down in more tears, "I can't feel Regina anymore. The test the Coalition did on me confirmed it. There's nothing left inside me."

Nomi buries her face in my shoulder, stifling her sobs. I feel a warm wetness start to spread across my shirt.

"I guess we won't be flying together anymore, huh." Nomi looks up and graces me with an incredibly sad smile.

"Not the way you're acting right now." an annoyed scoffing voice comes from the rotted door of the room.

"What?" I roll over in surprise, with Nomi following suit. And sure enough, Mari stands at the doorway, face pale and her ruined ear carelessly plastered over with a rough clump of cotton. Mari's originally immaculately permed and dyed hair is now a mess, but she looks good, all things considered. Even better than Nomi, which is a bit of a surprise. I might be a bit biased, but my old friend had always been cuter than Mari.

My eyes snap open in alarm. No way. Its impossible.

"You noticed it too?" Mari walks over, a set of keys jangling in her hand, "Nomi disappointed the goddess of beauty and victory."

I turn back to Nomi as Mari busies herself with unlocking our handcuffs with the keys. To my dawning horror, I realize that the lines on Nomi's face have become deeper, more pronounced. Its subtle, but Nomi looks distinctly older if you examine her closely.

"Regina's taking back the gift of beauty." Mari sighs as she finishes undoing the handcuffs restraining me and starts on Nomi, "Things are going to be a bit rough for our friend here. At least for the near future."

But wouldn't that mean Nomi had been blessed by Regina in the first place? Is that why she had always been so strong?

Nomi angrily turns her face away from the Red Rose in a huff, refusing to humor Mari with a response. I take the opportunity to turn the conversation to a new direction.

"How did you manage to escape?" I ask Mari, honestly befuddled by the feat.

"I know how to dislocate my own joints." Mari grimaces, "Its painful, but I can use it to slip out of bonds if need be. That's why I was making so much noise just now."

"But the guard?" I point out.

"He was sleeping away. Or close to it." Mari shrugs, "I snuck up and stabbed him."

"With what? You're not carrying any weapons." I question, growing more confused by the minute.

Mari tears open part of her uniform by the seams, revealing a series of needles buried underneath and holding the fabric in place.

"A Red Rose is always armed." Mari grins, "Something the Coalition never heard about, apparently."

"Good thing you're here then." I nod while helping Nomi pick herself off the ground. Nomi's expression had settled into a carefully neutral mask, but her hand clutches mine tightly.

"I'm going to free Madam." Mari says as she leaves the room, "Both of you should start getting some blood into your legs. You will be needing it."

As Mari heads deeper into the house, I lead Nomi back to the entrance. She moves slowly, hesitantly, all her former confidence gone.

"Hiro." Nomi murmurs softly, "Please don't leave me alone."

"Is it possible for you to regain Regina's favor?" I gently pat Nomi's shoulder.

"I don't know." Nomi exhales despondently, "I would have to consult with the priestesses at the Cathedral."

"We will make it back home Nomi." I urge, "Hold on until then."

"Thanks." Nomi flashes a smile, a pale shadow of her previous exuberance, but a heartening sight nonetheless.

"What's going on outside anyway?" I move toward one of the windows, carefully parting the curtain so that I can take a quick peek outside.

"Bad things." Nomi shudders as she rests her head against my chest.

Well, I don't know about that. But the first of my questions is easily answered. Parked in an open field nearby are a pair of huge VTOL craft in Coalition colors, each easily three times the size of a regular transport. What really sets them apart though, is the miniature transmission tower protruding from the top of the aircraft frame. So transmission towers can fly. How about that.

"The Coalition is kidnapping beast girls." I feel Nomi swallow hard, "They've been bringing them to the surgery where I was tested."

As Nomi speaks, I squint into the distance as several specks flying low rapidly approach the field. Coalition bulwarks, several squadrons worth of them. And each bulwark is carrying a large clutch of beast girls in their arms, the pilots ignoring the very obvious struggling and crying. In the middle of the field, another Coalition trooper waives a pair of brightly flashing batons, directing the squadrons to a landing spot. A one armed man stands next to the trooper, glaring at the incoming squadron with an annoyed look on his face.

The face he shares with the trooper beside him.

Both Nomi and I shrink back into the shadows of the house.

The Citadel had never seemed so far away before.