God Eater: Shattered Dawn

Chapter 17: An abandoned people

To my amazing parents, for any and every reason.

I got a PSVita and downloaded God Eater Burst, but I'm gonna save it for a while. BTW the PSVita graphics are incredible.

Oh yeah, and Vita means life in latin. Just sayin...

Normal POV

Lupa was unusually late for the mission. So naturally, Lindow was bored. Sakuya had left on a mission earlier and Soma wasn't there to annoy either, leaving him with nothing worth doing.

Ah well, might as well catch some z's. He closed his eyes, lying back on the couch. He awoke to a sharp pain on his forehead.

"Ow!" he sprung up to find Lupa standing, hands on hips and not looking in the slightest bit apologetic for flicking him.

"We're late for our mission, so hurry up, Leader." she announced.

"And whose fault is that?" he was unaccustomed to this sarcastic tone. Had something happened? She continued to be grumpy on the way to the mission, despite his best attempts to cheer her up.

"So...you know the mission right?" she nodded.

"Kill a gboro-gboro and take out a new aragami sighted." she replied in monotone. Her arms were aching from training, and she still felt like she had made no progress.

"Good. Oh, and we named the new aragami we fought the other day." she raised her head. "It's called a Darshear."

"Hm." came her unbothered reply, but he could tell that she was starting to return to normal. "Any leader advice?"

He could tell she was testing him, so he paused before answering. "Don't die." she gave a small amused smile, before pushing him out of the copter in front of her.

They stepped into a bright sunlit area, so it took Lupa's eyes a moment to adjust, even if one of them was superpowered or whatever.

What she saw tore at her heart.

Grey stone bricks lay in jagged heaps, the overgrown grass turned a twilight grey by the levels of dust. Shattered shards of glass were scattered, their once shiny surfaces dull and lifeless.

The church's pews were tipped over, battered and broken, the alter cracked in two. The once safe haven had been reduced to rubble.

She stifled a sob. To see a house of God so badly ruined...

But that was what people felt now. That the Almighty had given up on them. Abandoned them. Left them to fall at the hands of the aragami.

Lindow sensed something was wrong with her and quickly asked if she was okay. Before she could reply, she spotted a zygote approaching.

Quickly changing her weapon to gun form, she had just enough time to warn Lindow before firing. The blaze bullets flew in a perfect line, hitting the zygotes woman-like body.

Lindow gave her a thumbs up before charging the enemy, trusting her not to hit him. Maybe Soma's training had pulled off.

They continued using this tactic for most of the fight, able to predict the attacks aimed at Lindow. The zygote was gone in about 10 seconds.

They located the gboro-gboro eating a carcass by an old well. It was a large, scaly, alligator like creature, with wide fins.

Lupa had put her feelings behind her for a while, intent on getting the job done. So it was with a strong will that she stepped into battle.

She leapt into action, her blade singing through the air as it cut downwards. There was a crunch as it struck true, the aragami's back fin flailing as she continued to attack.

It spun, surprisingly quickly for such a wierd sea creature on land, and spurted water spheres from a cannon in its head.

She slipped out of a portal behind it again, continuing to work on the tail while Lindow took the torso.

It cried out angrily, assaulting them again as soon as they had taken up positions. She was able to open up another portal, but Lindow was left the with full force of the blow.

He tried to leap back, but its teeth scraped his leg. She cursed angrily, firing at the aragami, trying to give him enough time to get up. He took a restore pill, rising to his feet once more.

The gboro-gboro cried out again, and this time there was an answer. The second aragami slid over a fallen building, slamming into Lupa before she could react.

She flew backwards, smashing through the shop's window, smacking into the wall. The plaster cracked, tumbling down around her. She coughed, trying to get the dust out of her lungs.

The second aragami was crashing around the building, finding it difficult to track her through the dust clouds. She held her breath, begging silently for it not to find her.

Her god arc had been flung from her grasp, probably lying somewhere close by, but her senses were too bewildered to find it.

The aragami's tail slapped the floor, echoing around the room. She winced and tried to move, shifting her weight onto her feet. Blood was seeping down her, her body cut up by the glass. Her back ached, and her side felt on fire, probably broken ribs. She was in no state to fight.

She weakly called forth her bow, though she knew that it wouldn't be of much help. It had only been a lucky shot last time.

The aragami approached her again, excited by the scent of blood, and she drew her bow once more, taking a restore pill. Please let Lindow be okay.

It was a giant snake with a pointed tail, its teeth dripping with a silvery substance.

It once again slammed into her, trapping her on the ground, and she screamed as it wrapped around her,  putting pressure on her wounds, she could feel her blood loss increase.

Then, the pressure was lifted. A paw swiped the aragami away, causing it to crash into a stand. She looked up at the beast standing over her, snarling at the towering snake.

"Jack?" she choked. The silver-grey wolf glanced down at her, and she waited to see his reaction. A look of recognition swept across his face, before he became confused. Growling, he shook his head, eyes becoming wild as he turned back to the aragami.

She tried to stand up, but was nocked to the side by him, as he faced the aragami, who had gotten up again. She stayed down, understanding his message.

The two faced off, circling each other. Jack was light on his feet, dodging his enemies attacks and landing blows of his own. But, he was a wolf, not an aragami, so his blows should have been having no effect.

Oh. She saw him properly for the first time. He was mostly wolf, but his right leg was something else. The leg had turned an ominous black, the claws huge and jagged. He was able to fight the aragami with this mutated leg.

He clawed its side, bringing it down, pinning it it place, and opened up its side, smashing up the core. The snake breathed its last.

She sighed in relief, dragging her wounded body over to Jack's side. She placed a hand lightly on his shoulder. "It's so good to see y-"

He batted her away angrily, growling at her, warning her to stay away. His eyes were just like an aragami's, focused only on protecting his meal.

"You're turning into an...aragami." she realised. "How did this happen?" she moved to look once more into his eyes, that reflected her own perfectly. His silver eyes flicked up to meet hers, and for a moment, she could see him properly again.

Then he shook his head, growling and pawing at his eyes, before leaping out of the window and charging through the streets.

"No...Jack..." she desperately called, her vision beginning to blur as her wounds became worse. She was aware of someone calling her name just before her head hit the floor.