Dior

The girl reacts instantly as Shihan flies back from the frontal explosion, slamming into the walls of a nearby building. She summons a barrier from the roof, shielding herself as a wave of flame washes over her. Ingenue reacted in tandem, disappearing in a sudden burst of rose petals.

Bursting forth from the chaos beast's silhouette, the flames surged towards Flameburst Aria and Ocean's Whisper. The veteran Ocean’s Whisper flung herself in front of the Flameburst Aria, shielding her from the flames.

The heat enveloped her body, searing her skin, but she held her ground as a blossom off water erupted around them. Her aura flared, the blue energy coursing through her veins, and she took the brunt of the blast. As the flames subsided, Ocean's Whisper groaned in pain, slumping to her knees.

Flameburst Aria was frozen with horror, tears streaming down her face as she watched her teammate take the hit.

The girl knows she cannot stand idly by.

She leaps into the air, drawing her weapons and firing a barrage from the roof.

But the beast would no longer be a beast; it had evolved again.

The girl narrows her eyes and leaps back to increase her distance.

She observes, sensing something strange in the atmosphere as the beast's form twists into pure orange light. The aura around it was unnerving, the power radiating from it choking and cloying.

The beast rises, its form returns to its humanoid silhouette, a strange staff forming in its shadowy hands.

The chaos beast slashes at Ingenue's whip, cutting the chain clean off in a flash.

The girl narrows her eyes, assessing the battle with a cool detachment. Her movements are steady and deliberate, her body and brain working seamlessly to carry her through the fight.

She sensed her techniques would be insufficient alone, and she had already seen what Shihan's had done. She had always been the type to analyze and understand the situation before acting. But there had been no time during that battle...

'Something... Something is wrong,' her thoughts whisper as a shudder ran through her, an uneasy feeling pooling in her gut.

And in an instant, the world around her falls into chaos.

A flash of movement. A flicker of orange light. And the beast appears in front of her, its polearm lashing out.

The girl barely has time to react, blocking the blade with a hastily summoned Kali baton. She spins out of the way, the edge slicing a thin line on her arm as she attempts a counterattack with her pistol. But it was futile, and the creature moves even faster.

The beast had taken on the glowing silhouette of a tall, slender woman holding a shimmering naginata. It was faceless, yet somehow its demeanor was unmistakably cold and clinical.

The creature, or person, whatever it was, moved swiftly, its movements smooth and graceful. Its form shimmered with energy, its attacks precise and calculated.

The creature slashed, whirled, and spun, its polearm cutting through the air like a helicopter rotor. The blade grazes the girl's chest, sending her back as she desperately creates space.

Ingenue sprang into action, her chain whips lashing out in an arc. They split and snap, their tips growing sharp and spiked as they clashed with the creature's polearm. Ingenue dodged and weaved through the creature's relentless counter-assault, her weapons flickering in the lamplight as she maintained the range between them.

Aria, on the other hand, stayed out of harm's way, quickly tending to the fallen Shihan with a limping Ocean's Whisper in tow.

The girl takes a second to study the foe in front of her. What would allow a chaos beast to take the form of a woman?

It wielded a polearm — a naginata by her assessment, and had flowing robes like clouds drifting over a mountain. It had a distinct fighting style that one didn't see often, and one that the girl hadn't expected to see from a chaos beast.

She purses her lips, her mind racing through possibilities and contingency plans.

"Any bright ideas?" Ingenue scowled, her tone dripping with venom as she separated from the chaos beast. She lowered her stance warily by Hana's side.

The girl tenses but refuses to respond. She had no illusions about how the Magical Girls of the east viewed her, and there was no use dwelling on it.

"If we fall here, this town will be finished. The four of us may not be capable of defeating it alone," The girl replies coolly, her voice betraying no emotion or trace of concern.

She wasn't entirely sure how true that statement was, but her caution and restraint were her greatest strengths. Shihan was their primary front line fighter and had incapacitated the chaos beast earlier.

She sighs, turning back to Ingenue. "This one thinks a tactical withdrawal for the group may be a good idea," she suggested.

"You're going to just turn and run? Unbelievable..." Ingenue snarled, her tone seething with disgust.

"You misunderstand," she bites back, her eyes meeting the creature's faceless mask.

"T… that's insane," Ocean's Whisper interrupted, her voice sharp and piercing as she appeared between them in a flash of blue. "The town is surrounded by multiple active chaos events in the middle of the night. Fighting this thing without other chaos beasts in play already has us on our last legs. You'll likely be overwhelmed and die."

Ocean’s Whisper winced as she glanced at the fallen Shihan, the pain in her voice evident.

"This one understands," the girl responds stoically. "She has techniques that will buy time and isolate it until help can arrive. The others need not worry."

Ingenue blinked in surprise, clearly caught off-guard by her response. She took a moment to collect herself, but before she could reply, the chaos beast suddenly jumped at them, its silhouette blazing with an orange burst.

The girl stays light on her feet, raising her weapons as she anticipated the beast's incoming attack. She sidesteps the 'woman's' bladed naginata, its sharp edge whizzing by her head in a streak of fiery light. She pivots, stepping in and delivering a devastating roundhouse kick that knocks the creature back several feet.

The creature leaped up, its cloak billowing behind it as it brought its naginata to bear, slashing at the girl's chest with a fierce slice. Ingenue blocked it with a burst of mana, sending ripples of orange energy into the air.

From that position, the two locked eyes, a silent understanding passing between them. Hana had left any ill intent behind years ago. There was only a drive for survival now. She simply didn't know how to handle anything else.

The girl follows up with a volley of blasts from her twin pistols, each shot impacting the woman's body with a burst of golden light. But the beast stands firm, its body warping and twisting as it withstands the force of the shots.

Ingenue stepped in, whirling her chains and launching into a spinning sweep. The woman parried and deflected her blows, moving with the practiced and controlled motions of an experienced warrior.

This was no ordinary chaos beast. It was moving like a human that had trained for years, its stance shifting and adapting with every attack.

It would be necessary to lure it away. The girl knew it wasn't a good solution, but it was the only option.

"Ingenue, you must take them and run. Lead the others away, find somewhere safe to regroup." Her voice is calm and unwavering, though there's a slight hitch in it that betrays her apprehension.

Ingenue paused for a second, her expression shifting into one of concern. She hesitated, her eyes darting over to Ocean's Whisper and Flameburst Aria.

"And the civilians? Don't tell me you're sacrificing them as well?" She finally retorted, her tone wavering between doubt and surprise.

The girl steels herself, her resolve and determination hardening as she realizes what she must do. She knows she is disposable. She'd known it from the start. And yet...

The girl straightens her back and braces, replying with a voice like iron. "This one will give you time. She will buy the town more time, and that's all that matters," she says softly, her voice betraying a sense of fatigue and exhaustion. "This one... She will keep you all safe."

With that, she began to channel her energy, the familiar hum of her guns buzzing as she raised them towards the creature. "Let this one face the danger while the rest retreat and gather their strength. That is what is necessary."

Her guns buzz and glow, her energy coalescing into a glowing golden haze that surrounded her form. "This one will fight it elsewhere. That is the final answer."

As the words left her lips, her guns merge into a cannon of pure gold and white steel, its barrel spinning rapidly as she steadies it at the chaos beast. It stood across from them, polearm raised as if daring them to make the first move.

“Wait!” Ingenue suddenly cried out, her hand gripping the girl's shoulder as if to hold her in place. Her eyes pleading with the girl to reconsider, her voice full of desperation. “Look, I take back what I said. I’ll help you fight. You're not alone in this.”

But the girl, her expression resolute and her eyes burning with determination, shook off Ingenue's hand. She glanced at the skies briefly, before focusing her attention on her foe. "The storm has cleared, you are able to call for aid now and tend to your companion’s wounds," she said, her voice steady and unwavering. "We have a chance to save this town and its people, even if the cost is this one’s life. This one is willing to make that sacrifice."

Ingenue blinked in surprise at her answer, before letting out a deep sigh.

“At… at least let me loan you some of my own energy,” Ingenue stated sharply.

Without even allowing her to protest, a red glow emanating from Ingenue's fingertips began to transfer over Hana. Hana felt the energy flow into her, and her senses were heightened. Her guns hummed even louder, and the gold and white steel cannon seemed to glow even brighter.

"Thank you," she whispered, her eyes filled with gratitude.

"If you can buy us some time, we'll use it wisely," Ingenue reassured her, her voice full of resolve.

With that, the girl raised the golden cannon, and her eyes met the chaos beast's blank face once more.

"Strike: Merciful Barrage!" she cried, unleashing a storm of golden, hollow blasts into the sky, each bolt expanding and blossoming like a firework.

The air rippled and pulsated, each shot striking with enough force to blast the beast back.

The chaos beast reacted with equal measures of force, its polearm swirling and dancing through the air in a deadly arc. It blocked and deflected any shells that came near, its movements fluid and graceful as it remained unflinching in the face of the blistering onslaught.

But it would be insufficient.

A follow-up shell fired at the ground launched the kimono-clad woman high into the air, its blast force knocking her clean off balance and propelling her high into the air.

She twisted in midair, regaining her balance before firing a series of shadowy tendrils towards the ground in an attempt to return.

Hana summoned additional six cannons that surrounded her, floating in the air. They immediately fired a volley of golden-orange shots that impacted the glowing silhouette's form with explosive force.

The concussive blasts were crude and imprecise, but the sheer number of them kept forcing the creature further and further into the air.

"Go!" she shouted to her companions, not turning back as she focused on maintaining her barrage.

Her attack was not created to kill, but to repel and incapacitate.

But it would be insufficient to fight this thing one-on-one. Not for someone as lowly as Hana.

She keeps firing, leaping into the air and dodging and weaving as the creature lunged at her. Its strikes were swift and deadly, its blade leaving afterimages and rippling in the air as she deflected the assault.

But Hana's firepower would overwhelm its ability to push forward. The Merciful Barrage was a strategic technique, one that had been designed for wide-area suppression. It was simply displacement and air power, one that Hana had developed with her sisters in all but blood.

And yet...

Her cannons explode in succession, each blast knocking the beast further and further back. The energy between the shots reverberates in the air, its force and power radiating from Hana.

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The fight carries her further and further into the distance, away from the settlement below, where a growing crowd of terrified citizens watched with bated breath.

They soared over the cliffs overlooking the town, their attacks smashing and colliding in bursts of energy and golden light.

And for the first time in a very long while, Hana feels something like emotion burning in her heart, a fire that she had thought had died

It was strange, the way her pulse was pounding in her veins, and her skin was humming with power. It felt warm, almost comforting, like a memory from long ago.

She had walked through life as a corpse for the last three years, her heart hardening, and her soul shriveling under the weight of her sins. She had done her best to redeem herself, to try and make up for her past.

She eliminated chaos beasts in the wild day after day, following the few who had extended their hands in friendship, seeking meaning and purpose.

But despite all her reservations, Hana of the Dawn was still a Magical Girl.

Hana would keep fighting. She would keep protecting the people below, even if it killed her.

She had promised Mayari and Tara that she would never take another life. That she would live up to their shared ideals.

To become hope for the Visayans and to show they could rise to be better than the men from the parallel Earth that had invaded their world. That she did not have to be the tool the Moro and NDFP dogs created, robbing an innocent girl of her childhood.

The times she had shared with her 'sisters' seemed so far in the past now, so fleeting and distant. It was a memory from a different life, and yet it filled Hana's heart with an unspeakable joy and pride.

She continues to fire, the power and energy around her beginning to grow unstable as she pushed herself to the limit. Her mind, body, and soul strained and contorted, her guns becoming blurs of gold and orange light.

Hana felt her aura flare to life around her, a dazzling display of golden fire and smoke that billowed and swirled into the air. She could feel it crackling and searing around her, and for a moment, she wondered if it was a dream.

It had been a long time since she'd seen anything but shadows in her memories.

The feeling was nostalgic, and Hana did not quite know how to feel about it.

Suddenly, the kimono-clad demon stopped attacking, their cloak shimmering as it briefly looked up into the sky. It almost appeared... confused, as if it had encountered something it hadn't expected.

A powerful feeling of dread welled up within her, and Hana acted without thinking, transforming her guns into dual machetes that flickered and shimmered with power. She launched herself forward, channeling everything she had into her weapons.

Her mind raced, trying to keep track of the situation as her sword clashed against the creature's weapon. It would have been better to maintain her distance, but instinct told her this was the time to strike decisively.

In an instant, their weapons collided, exploding into a shower of golden sparks. The ground buckled and shook, the tremors so strong that a massive fissure ripped across the cliffside.

Hana's mind returns to the present.

She feels a shift in the creature's demeanor as it reacts instinctively to her final attack. It swings its naginata, blocking the strike and redirecting her power away.

She jumps back, directing her summoned cannons down at her foe. They transform again, turning into heavy machineguns.

"Assault Mode: Sauté!!"

Her guns merge into a sphere of crackling, brilliant light that hovered in the air around them. It twisted and spun rapidly, firing thousands of orange-white bolts into the creature.

It moved smoothly, gracefully, its form flickering as it whirled and danced around the bursts of light. It dodged, wove and slashed, its movements flowing and adaptive as it deflected nearly every incoming projectile.

"This can't be..." Hana whispers, her heart sinking as she realizes the monster had upped the ante once again.

Suddenly, she feels a strange sensation wash over her, a presence in the air that sends shivers up her spine. It feels strangely familiar, like the scent of jasmine on a warm summer night.

The presence flickers and fades, and she wonders briefly what she could have sensed. But as her eyes land on the glowing form of the chaos beast, Hana shakes her head, trying to clear her mind.

'Focus!' her thoughts scream.

She tightens her grip on her weapons and charges back into the battle. She will protect her allies. She will not fail them.

As the kimono-clad female pounces toward her with its polearm in hand, Hana pivots and delivers a roundhouse kick, sending it sliding back.

The creature whirls its naginata and shoots out a web of shadows towards her, but she quickly channels a barrier, dissipating the attack with a flurry of light.

Her mind buzzes with activity, her thoughts and emotions threatening to boil over as she dives and dodges and blocks. It was as if the world around her were dissolving and shifting, the edges fading into the horizon.

"Who are you!?" Hana of the Dawn screeches, her voice dripping with a venom and desperation that she had thought long since dead. "Who are you, and what is your goal?!"

But the creature remains silent, its movements silent and its form steady as it presses its offensive.

Hana struggles to think, her body moving on instinct as she redirects and counters the chaos beast's blows.

She unleashes a series of swift and calculated kicks, her leg slamming against the creature's stomach, sending it back with a resounding slam.

She immediately channels power into the cannons, firing them in random and diffuse angles.

As the creature leaps back to avoid her barrage, Hana tenses and summons her cannon for her signature attack. This opening would not come so easily for her.

Her pistol morphs into a massive golden cannon, and it begins to charge, her aura coalescing around it as she channels her energy. Soleil Levant was not the most unique attack, but it was certainly her most powerful.

She had learned to expand her ample talent in sympathetic magic to apply not just to effigies and dolls, but to a target's mana in general. So long as she could accurately grasp and feel a living target's mana, it could be used to direct her attacks. They would home in without fail.

Hana detested her Signature Motif — the separate unique ability stemming from her Origin as a Magical Girl she had that truly made the technique shine. It was reflective of her childhood as the Golden Viper of Mindanao. An urban legend. An infamous assassin that struck fear into the Rahjanate's Royal Army.

As the barrel of her cannon began to hum and whir, a glowing, transparent ball of golden light appeared above the creature, illuminating the darkness around them. The energy expanded and compressed, rippling and pulsating as it formed into a point of intense, concentrated light.

Accuracy alone would not suffice, but that is where her accursed Signature would come into play.

A bolt of golden lightning shot out from the center of the orb, its energy burning and scintillating as it zig-zagged and changed course, focusing solely on the target.

She narrows her eyes as her aura begins to burn through her, a warm and comforting sensation.

A true Magical Girl inspires hope and courage. Their powers and skills are to protect the innocent, defeat the wicked, and fight against the evil that lurks in the shadows.

Hana of the Dawn is not like that.

She had lied to herself too long, deceived herself into believing she was anything more than a monster.

A violent and tragic history is written in the blood-stained pages of her past. One that she could never fully atone for, no matter how hard she tried.

She is a tool, a murderer, a shadow, and she was nothing more. Her Signature Magic reflected that.

'Nothing will ever change who she is. Not truly,' she thinks to herself, her breath catching in her throat as she strives to maintain her focus.

The monster tilted its eerily human-like facade as the lightning struck, lighting up its orange energy with a golden silhouette.

"Soleil Levant: Requiem!"

A deafening roar echoes through the sky, and the ground shudders and cracks, splitting open with a fissure of radiant light. A massive burst of golden like erupts from Hana's cannon, ripping through the sky in a wave of scorching heat and light.

The monster flipped in mid-air as orange wings made of pure energy sprung from its shoulders. Its cloak shifted and elongated, wrapping around its form as the energy from Hana's finishing attack homed in on it.

The kimono-clad monster arched back as the light struck, its body twisting and contorting as its aura began to fluctuate violently.

For a second, Hana could swear she saw its face... A young, soft, feminine one, her skin pale as jasmine petals, and her brown eyes pained and regretful.

It was fleeting, a vision so quickly forgotten that it may have never happened at all. But it rattled her, stirring something deep within her that she couldn't quite identify.

The creature resisted the beam, driving its naginata directly into the beam of light, absorbing it into the staff's blade and redirecting it outward in a fan of golden fire.

That was the usual limitation of her abilities. Her projectiles may home in on their targets, but accuracy did not guarantee anything. She could not guarantee the outcome with normal attacks, and this was something that had allowed her many enemies to counteract her skills.

However...

That was where her Signature Motif had shone through. Her unique ability that reflected her origin and soul.

The deliverance of an assassin.

The blast of energy bounced off the blade, its silhouette shimmering as it successfully deflected Hana's finishing move.

Or — that is what should have happened.

Reality itself seemed to contort and warp as Hana's Signature took hold of the chaos beast.

The version of events that Hana of the Dawn witnessed did not come to be.

Instead, the world blurred and shifted, and suddenly, the deflected beam curved at an impossible angle, whirling in the air before shooting straight back at the monster.

The monster reacted in time, blocking and redirecting the beam into the sky with the edge of its blade in a skilled and practiced motion.

But suddenly, the redirected beam outright vanished in mid-air, and a beam of red and black light flashed through its body. The creature shuddered and convulsed, its orange form wavering as the beam arced at an impossible angle and penetrated its chest, disintegrating its naginata with a resounding explosion.

Hana breathed heavily — using Soleil Levant this way drained her considerably, and the lingering ache in her legs was making it difficult to stand. She gripped her cannon tightly, her knuckles white with strain.

Her Whispering End required intense mental control and had devastating effects on her luminal aura. Using it the way she had tonight, with such chaotic and haphazard blasts, would undoubtedly take a toll on her.

So long as she has landed a single hit on a target beforehand, she would strike a point she perceived as lethal on her target without fail.

She could only use it with an intent to kill — a final and irreversible strike where she would not hesitate to inflict harm on her target. It would not activate unless she was focused solely on ending their life.

Her other unique techniques had been a part of her since she was a child, her innate talent for sympathetic magic, stealth, and marksmanship helping to create a terrifyingly deadly set of skills.

Most of which she had discarded when she became the Rahjanate's symbol of hope and salvation, awakening as its would-be guardian angel.

Hana's attack strikes true, its effects unhinging causality itself as it tears through the creature's summoned naginata and torso of pure energy. The chaos beast shivers and twitches in the sky, its form vanishing and reappearing as reality reasserted itself.

It stands with a gaping hole where its chest would be, its right arm and hand missing where they had blocked Hana's beam.

But the creature has not fallen.

In a flicker, the monster disappears, and Hana finds herself struggling to dodge its lightning-fast attacks.

Its polearm reappears in a flash, its form flickering and contorting as its naginata morphs into a lethal black bladed scythe that sweeps through the air around her.

The creature slashed and swept, its movements blurring as Hana draws her own Kali batons, parrying the ferocious onslaught to the best of her ability.

She leapt and dodged, her weapons meeting its attacks and returning in kind with clashing sparks. She twists and weaves, her body moving seamlessly, as the monster's blows meet with hers in a chaotic rhythm. Hana drops one baton, catching it as it morphs into a pistol that shoots rapid-fire bullets of orange and gold. The creature no longer bothers to evade Hana's attacks and is now completely focused on striking the Magical Girl directly.

'Something isn't right. It was toying with this one,' she realizes, her senses burning and tingling as her mind races. 'What is going on here?'

Hana kicks back with a burst of her lumina, landing atop a rocky outcropping on a nearby ledge. Her weapons morph into submachine guns, firing at a rapid-fire rate as she retreats.

Suddenly, the monster flashes again, appearing before her.

It slashes, its blade glinting in the moonlight as Hana responds in kind, raising a golden shield. The monster's polearm strikes the barrier with a thundering clap, and Hana's field crackles and fritzes as the blow absorbs the brunt of its force.

Hana recovers, her breathing ragged as her mind raced. This fight was taking more out of her than she expected, and her movements were becoming increasingly sluggish. Her mind was racing with strategies, her emotions surging to the surface, and it was becoming difficult to concentrate.

Hana fires back, her bullets pinging harmlessly into its body. The creature pivots, driving its naginata forward in a blisteringly quick attack that rips cleanly through Hana's barrier.

She leaps backward, her aura flaring and shimmering around her as she launches herself towards the edge of the cliff. She flips through the air and lands on her feet, her heels clicking against the rocky earth.

'Hana's attacks are impacting it but creating no long term damage,' she concludes.

It was the correct decision to drive the monster away from the town and injured magical girls after all.

She intuitively understood that team could not keep up with the monster's movements, save for Shihan and perhaps Ingenue.

Turning her back to the beast would be folly; a mistake she could not afford. And yet, something about it unnerved her, its movements so smooth and flawless.

Hana tenses as the monster drew its naginata back, its blade shimmering with an unnatural black light. Its form flickered and vibrated, the energy rippling around it, creating afterimages of fiery orange and... blue?

And suddenly, before Hana could react, the monster strikes with a distorted cry.

"Ame-no-Nobuko!!"

The attack comes out of nowhere, its speed beyond Hana's ability to comprehend. It is like a knife slipping through her guard, slicing across her stomach in an icy burst of energy and heat.

No, not speed.

Instinct kicks in, and she moves to dodge, leaping to the side with with a surge of power. She raises her arms, channeling her power into a hastily thrown-up barrier.

But before she can even react, the space in front of her warps, and her defenses are split like butter.

Her fingers spasm, her guns falling to the ground with a clatter.

Pain washes over her, a numb, ice-cold agony that rips through her arms.

Blood and heat pour from her arms, barely still attached by strands of sinew and flesh.

Hana of the Dawn wavers on her feet as the pain burns through her, searing her mind with a sickening heat.

Her Aura sputters and shimmers, her body numb and unresponsive as the monster's attack burns through her.

The kimono-clad beast twists in a cloud of glowing orange, its movements fluid and graceful as it coils and spirals above her.

Its form flickers in the light, a wave of indigo washing over it for a brief instant. Then, it turns to leave her for the town below.

The girl sinks to her knees, her vision fading as the pain fades to a freezing-cold, ever-present sensation.

She assesses the damage.

She had narrowly avoided bisection, but she was a bloody, broken mess. Her arms had been partially severed by the monstrous creature's technique, and her aura was flickering and fading like a dying candle.

'Not enough left for forced regeneration,' she thinks as she kneels weakly, her consciousness fading fast.

She had been sliced through the stomach. The damage was severe, and it would require immediate attention if she were to survive.

One lung is cut, and several arteries were bleeding and gushing wildly.

She had seen what would come next many times. Too many times.

She was dying. She would bleed to death in seconds.

She had been on borrowed time anyway. Perhaps it was time to return to the shadows, to disappear back into the void.

Perhaps her sisters would forgive her.

Hana sighs, her breath rattling in her chest, gurgling as she slumps forward.

She closes her eyes, a strange sense of calm settling over her.

For a moment, there is nothingness.

It is quiet and peaceful.

It is serene.

And then a thought floats through her head.

She could see the blurry face of a strawberry blonde young woman in a white void, soft and gentle, her amber eyes shimmering with a faint red light. She seemed to be reaching towards her, her lips forming strange words that Hana could not make out.

But Hana heard her all the same.

"Sorry for judging and snapping at you like that..." an alien yet familiar voice whispers as Hana's consciousness begins to fade. "That was really brave. And selfless. Maybe... you aren't so bad after all."

A faint red glow surrounded the young woman's silhouette, illuminating her delicate features and the misty haze that surrounded her.

And she reached out her hand, offering Hana something to grab onto.

Something to save her.

Something... to give her a second chance.

Was Hana worthy of a second chance? She did not know.

But she wanted to try.

For the first time in years, the weight of her sins seemed to lift, and a quiet, tentative sense of hope filled her heart.

She reached out her ruined arms, grasping desperately for something that seemed so impossibly far away.

But her arms weren't ruined. She could move them and twist them in front of her, as if they had never been injured at all.

Slowly, she raised her palms, staring at them incredulously. They were perfect, pristine and the faint tanned yellow she was accustomed to, her hands uncannily soft and smooth.

A pulse of energy flickered within her, like a small flame that refused to die out. It was warm, comforting, like a blanket on a rainy evening.

With a determined breath, the girl known as Dior accepted the girl's offer and took her hand.

And then the energy within her erupted in an inferno of crackling red light, like a beacon in the night.