God Eater: Shattered Dawn

Chapter 18: A familiar face

In memory of Jura, a wonderful cat and friend. May you rest in peace.

300+ views? When did that happen?

Normal POV

Lindow finished his aragami off, but it was pretty difficult. His leg had gone numb from the pill he had taken, but it was still bleeding and he didn't have the chance to bandage it up properly.

And he was worried about Lupa, which was distracting him pretty badly. She had dissapeared, along with the new aragami into a building through a window.

Meaning she was likely in a lot of trouble. He hurried his battle, knowing that usually he would be finished by now.

But he was once again distracted, as a flash of silver swept across his vision, as fast as a bullet, following the snake that had taken Lupa.

He was hit by water a second later, tumbling over as the gboro-gboro continued to mercilessly attack.

He shielded the next few blows, readying himself, before leaping over the enemy, using his god arc to draw a line down the enemies back. He finished at the tail fin, bringing his weapon down at full force. The gboro-gboro howled, collapsing.

He barely paused to devour its core before rushing into the building where Lupa had dissapeared. He ducked as a silver wolf passed him, and he swallowed with fear. "Lupa!" he shouted, scanning the area for her.

There was a soft thud, and he hurried through the wreckage to where the young girl was lying. She was covered in blood, her hand weakly reached out towards where the wolf had dissapeared, her breaths ragged.

He called an emergency helicopter, demanding medics and a god arc maintainer to take her battered weapon. Too afraid to move her, he sat by her, feeling the most helpless he ever had felt in a long time.

The helicopter arrived after what seemed like forever, a medic team picking her up on a stretcher. One of Licca's crew had come to take her god arc, and he was tenderly cleaning it.

Lindow could only sit and hope during the journey, listening for any news. It seemed that she was going to need more medical attention than could be provided by the team in their current position.

He laughed softly to himself. Soma is going to kill me when I get back.

A medic fussed around his leg, insisting on bandaging it up, and he complained lazily. "All I really need is a good smoke right now."

He honestly couldn't care less about his own condition, only his comrades really mattered to him. His mind wandered back to Sakuya for some reason.

They hurried back to the Den, and were met by three figures at the doorway.

Soma ground his teeth as he saw Lupa's condition, and Licca and Sakuya gave small gasps. He walked up to Lindow. "What happened?"

Lindow looked away guiltily, and he shoved him to the side, reaching Lupa. Without a word, he looked over her. "That son of a..."

He stopped himself. It wasn't Lindow's fault, and he knew it. At the hospital, he was ushered in, and was allowed to watch the doctors wire her up in countless places, until a screen was drawn.

But he still wouldn't leave. He shivered, the sickly smell of the hospital ward bringing back too many memories. He put on his headphones and blocked out the world.

Eventually, the screen was drawn back a little, and he caught a glimpse of her, covered in bandages but sleeping peacefully.

Sakuya looked relieved, and Lindow seemed happy too. Even Soma felt at peace for once. Her face was serene in her sleep, showing no pain.