Yuri Worlds

[96] Shatter

Misaki‘s immediate reaction was to rush to Yuka's side. She practically arrived faster than Kei's words could land in Yuka's ear. And Misaki witnessed the exact moment that those words made contact. It was a surprisingly subdued, understated moment, with Yuka standing there in quiet optimism as she endeavored to process what her mom said. Her features fluttered upwards in a spike of optimism that her mom was talking to her. A long stretch of denial lingered in her as comprehension failed to connect.

That couldn't have been what her mom said. She didn't just ask her who she was. Yuka had to have it wrong. Her brain, sodden by so many stresses lately, had physically heard her speak, but it was like a jumble of foreign languages, and she just hadn't parsed it correctly. Misaki sensed all this through their little secret shared channel. Yuka wobbled as though she had been pushed to the ledge of a high cliff.

"I'm sorry… What did you say?" Her lip flap continued past what they could hear, as though part of her statement had been gently edited or the sound had not been dubbed in for the rest of it. Misaki knew what the absent part represented. Mom and mommy. A desperate plea that they had to remember her. Please, remember your youngest daughter.

Kei simply repeated what she had said, with emphasis that brought the presence of each word into hopeless clarity. Fuyuki then added, "Have you seen our daughter, Haruka? I'm worried about her."

That was too much for Yuka. She squeezed her eyes shut before stumbling and staggering, dropping to her knees so hard that even Misaki had no chance of catching her. At least she was able to keep her from falling further. Yuka gritted her teeth and panted like she was trying to climb back up that cliff all by herself.

Misaki had to keep reminding her she wasn't alone. A lone wolf was a load of crap; it was all about the pack. If only she could transmit that wirelessly through her thick but beautiful skull. Misaki gently tapped heads with her. Yuka glanced at her with resignation and gently bumped her back. Some of the other girls came over to help, but Misaki was able to get her back on her feet without any trouble.

Looking at her like that, it was impossible to imagine that within her was some eldritch power of monstrous proportions able to survive indefinitely and theoretically exist in multiple realities at once. Instead, she just seemed like an exhausted teen girl who wanted a hug from her mommy after witnessing so many terrible things in one night. Kei and Fuyuki both seemed open to comforting this strange girl. But Misaki suspected that blank, anonymous care would be worse than none at all for Yuka's wounded heart.

After leaning to cough into her hand a few times, Yuka told the women who didn't remember being her mothers, "My name is… Cerberus… You can call me Ceri, for short. It's nice to meet both of you, Missus Sasaki Kei... and Missus Sasaki Fuyuki. It's truly an honor. And I promise to do my best to protect you and everyone else and get all of you safely out of this terrible place."

Sasaki moms gave a complicated reaction immersed in concern, confusion, and a hopeful lean towards the rest of the group. Kosame looked like she was about to break down in tears. Bianka kept her emotions to a slow sigh. Chika shook her head and searched everyone around her for understanding. Naoko pressed a hand to her forehead and grimaced. The old lady seemed solemn; her jaw clenched. Namiko lent her support to Chika. Meanwhile, Ayame fussed with a tickle in her throat that couldn't be coughed out or swallowed.

The two moms could read the room and sense the tension, but they just couldn't figure out the secret that eluded them. They politely greeted Ceri, commenting curiously on her strange name and whether it was foreign. Yuka clung to a multitude of things that she could've said and wanted to say but resisted the urge to speak. Misaki clarified for Yuka that she was dealing with an adult forever name in a very difficult situation because she couldn't get approval from her mothers. The Sasaki moms nodded with understanding.

Yuka could barely bring herself to breathe. She needed to pass words to Misaki. This time, Misaki actually got a good sense of what she wanted her to say for her.

"It would mean a lot to her if you could give your blessing to her name. She doesn't know if she'll be able to talk to her mothers about this serious issue. Could you be like godmothers, just for this small thing?" Yuka sighed softly and barely avoided whimpering tears.

Kei and Fuyuki expressed clear puzzlement. "Why us? I don't believe we've met. This seems so out of the blue and like such a strange request of strangers. We fear it wouldn't mean anything, would it?"

Yuka pressed adamantly, "It would, please. You could also reject it. That's fine. Just how you feel about it being a forever name."

The two older women appeared absolutely lost and looked towards Miss Okura as though she might have some wisdom to share, but the old lady held her tongue and bowed her head politely. The matter of her modest physical deterioration sure seemed like something the two moms wanted to bring up, but they were even more insistent on avoiding the topic.

Sighing to one another, Kei dipped a hand and responded, "It seems like the name you were destined for. There's no escape from it, Cerberus. You're ours."

The mood and cadence of the words shifted immediately from the warm, familiar tone that Kei regularly expressed to the cruel inhabitation they felt with Maharu. The company. They had found them, despite Bianka's best efforts. Yuka tensed her arm to unveil her blade. Kei, controlled by the company, smiled sharply and glanced around at the others. They were all frozen in place, the same as what happened at the festival. Damn! Wait...

Not all of them. Ayame was still fussing and fighting on the floor. And Bianka seemed like she was holding a great weight with the ivory tablet in her hands and her eyes still tightly clenched. Perhaps there was still hope. There's always hope, so long as there is life, Misaki told herself, even though she quietly prayed that there was hope even beyond that.

"Why are you here?" Yuka growled at her mother, even though her emotions were torn between a scowl and sadness.

"We knew what you were doing the whole time. Did you really think we weren't monitoring everything? Interesting little excursion to see where your abilities stand. You're making remarkable progress. I think your choice of name is lovely, and I give my blessing."

Yuka shook her head. "Rot in Hell!"

"I think you have your places mixed up. You fancy yourself a rebel against a force beyond your world. But this is a heavenly space, and I am your Goddess. Now, I don't expect you to know the full extent of all folklore and myth, but things don't go well for rebels in Heaven. And you may find yourself in more of a Hell than you ever imagined, puppy."

All that was too much for Yuka; she couldn't hold back. She twisted out her blades and prepared to swing them forward threateningly. But the company slipped out of Kei and a wave of shocked fear crossed her mother's face.

"Oh my, Goddess! What is...what are you...what is that?!" She screamed and turned away. Yuka pulled her blades back in embarrassment. Before Kei could react to more than that, she was frozen again, and this time Fuyuki spoke with the monster inhabiting her.

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"They're all mine to do with as I please. I can have any body, any form. And when we harvest the true immortality within you, I can have whoever I want as a spare. Nothing can stop us and the bright future we have for all of you."

Awkwardly, Ayame stumbled to her feet and declared, "Stop. Stop. I'm not… Your broadcast radio. Stop using me! No masquerade. No channeling. No watching. I'll break you!" The woman brought her arms together in a prayerful pose with an echoing slap that rang through the space with unnatural power. The air almost seemed to vibrate. The entity within Fuyuki wobbled as though it had been shoved onto that imaginary cliff.

"How?...Doesn't matter. You're irrelevant. Just... what are you doing? Stop it, stop it. You're not allowed! I can push my way into you just as easily as anyone else..." A great humming pulsed through the air, more felt than heard. Misaki and Yuka worried about being pushed by it too, but the force seemed to only apply to the company entity.

Ayame raised her head and opened her eyes. They worried that the company would make good on that threat, but the presence that gazed at them was still Ayame.

She spoke insistently and as though she stood right next to them: "You are strong, Misaki. Far stronger than you can imagine. You rattled me to my core. You're like the one you love—deeply connected—but you are still special; you are different. I hope you can share your beauty. Share it with all of us." That last statement was followed by a little flutter of her eye, which Misaki almost wondered was a wink.

What was she trying to say? She was fighting so hard to say it, so it had to mean something important. Misaki had a hunch. All throughout this, she didn't think much of her power compared to what Yuka could wield. It was fuzz, dirty snow, and a frail spiderweb shield—things that couldn't begin to stand up against the forces around them. But she was the only one who managed to resist the control system. What if it wasn't so weak?

The only problem was that when she was inside Yuka, that immunity didn't work. Whatever games Yasha or the company played with her body at the point of death, she had a spirit, strength, and resilience that deserved respect from herself. Maybe that was too much ego, but Ayame seemed to believe in her; why couldn't she believe in herself too?

She gathered up the essence that she had inside into a small sliver, barely bigger than a button. Fuyuki, still under company influence, flinched.

She tensed and gurgled like she was trying to suppress a heavy cough. Undimmed rage flared in Ayame's direction as Fuyuki raised her hand, as though she held a wand about to cast a lethal spell. Dashing swiftly, Misaki applied the gob of her essence to Fuyuki's wrist.

Immediately, she screamed as though the spot had been splashed with acid. "What is that?! You're not supposed to have that... How can you block?...NO!" The presence released Fuyuki from its hold and immediately slipped back to its previous host, Kei. But Misaki was ready for that and had a fresh clump to apply as soon as possible. A groaning essence, like a trapped wind, hovered over the room, searching for its next victim.

Naoko raised her head, but before the supposed human from the company could possess her to wield her voice, Misaki had already forced it out. Chika was an easy follow-up target, but Misaki aggressively protected her sister with a liberal application of the essence. The same went for Namiko.

Its effort over Nami didn't last long. It seemed the lecherous presence was more preoccupied with the assets at its fingertips than taking Namiko under full control. No safe haven existed for it in either of the Nishikawa sisters, as not only did each of them strongly resist the takeover but also easily accepted the application of Misaki's essence.

The only place left was Miss Okura, who wore a cruel grin, but not for any of them. She taunted the company, noting, "I can split you into as many pieces as I want. What will you do then?" The sound of the company entity was more like an angry but sickly growl from some feral beast. It rejected Miss Okura long before Misaki applied her essence.

The voice, carried on the wind, rasped like it was barely maintained by a ventilator. It was rough, but not deep like a man's. Wheezing soon followed.

"You... don't know what you're messing with. I am your Goddess. You have enraged me. The consequences shall be steep...."

The entire pale porcelain world felt like it was tipped sideways, just as when they were chucked down a chute. Fortunately, Bianka manipulated the tablet to correct the gravity. Like being on the worst boat trip. Everyone huddled together to keep from tumbling over. The poor Sasaki moms had the worst of it, even though they expressed some awareness of the entity that grabbed ahold of them. They made sure everyone was all right and attempted to guide the group in whatever direction led to safety.

Noise and lights filled the bright space, less like a warning alarm and more like an effort to cause them pain and distractions with auditory and visual cacophonies. Yuka waved her arm and tried to bring together what she had into a form like a razor whip that could lash at everything producing the light and noise.

They pushed out of the domestic cell where the Sasakis had been kept. The two of them quietly marveled and lamented their inability to recognize that escape was so easy and close. Misaki suspected that it was another one of those perception filter things or whatever they did with doors to keep them bewildered. The group made sure that they kept together with the slowest, especially Naoko and Miss Okura. Namiko sprinted ahead, practically fast enough to lap everyone else while keeping focused on the others.

Soon, a large partition door started to drop from the ceiling across the only open path. Namiko swiftly pulled back and put herself in the middle of the threshold with her arms raised. Chika and Misaki screamed for her to get out of there. This is no time to be a hero like that!

But they each knew that was exactly what Namiko would do, every moment of her life, until she took her last breath. Misaki just desperately hoped in her heart that they weren't moments away from it.

The door plunged towards the ground with roaring energy, like an out-of-control vertical roller coaster. She just couldn't look, praying to whatever deities actually existed and weren't assholes to protect her dear friend. The door cleaved a curtain of air, but a grunting and furious human roar answered back.

"Come on! I can always hold the weight! We can make it!" She screamed like a weightlifter about to drop their load. Even the old woman found the speed necessary to hustle through the swiftly sealing passage. Naoko, even though she had few muscles to share, braced enough of the collapsing door so Namiko could pull away. To allow Naoko to escape, Yuka slammed it with everything she had from her dark mass. Once the door dropped into place, it felt like a piece of a massive puzzle sliding into an endless hole.

Unfortunately, they didn't get much respite on the other side, as a cackling voice echoed beyond. Frantic whirring noises, like trapped bees in a spinning mechanism, crested as blood-red eyes stared out from a new patch of darkness.

"Hello, little one. I'm ready for a rematch."