[SFW VERSION]
🌹 There's something wonderful in those who stare death in the face. Even in a world wracked by relentless calamity, flowers blossom between a sea of corpses, the shapeless crimson rivers marched over by mechanical instruments of mass...
I'm sorry for this. Like I genuinely apologize. You can hate me. I was bored.
- kelly
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"Master, do you see it?"
Neon steps over piles of rubble, careful not to lose her footing in the abyss below. Anis follows along, followed by the ever-vigilant Rapi, and then there's you, dragging your feet through the debris as best you can while your Nikke squadron carries on without breaking a sweat.
"I don't see it yet, no," you say.
"Mission briefing informed us of a smaller enemy, no bigger than a domestic dog," says Rapi. "It may be hard to spot."
"Let's spread out," you command. "Not too far apart though. As soon as any of you get visual confirmation on the target, call out to the rest of us." Anis and Neon nod to your words, stepping off into opposite directions to skim the field. Guns in-hand, they assume their positions to be battle-ready. As for Rapi, as usual, she stays behind.
You finish climbing over the dangerous stretches of debris and dust yourself off. Noticing Rapi's chosen not to spread out as you ordered, you give her a tap on the shoulder. "Not gonna search?"
"I think it's best I stay close to you," she says, "for your safety, Commander. If a Rapture were to pop up and none of us were there to protect you, you might get hurt."
You shake her playfully by the shoulder, chuckling. "You're a real trooper."
Rapi's lips curl into the subtlest smile at that. "Well, death by Rapture isn't the way you want to go out, is it?" You shrug your shoulders and carry on down the path. With Rapi by your side — okay, you admit you feel pretty safe. As usual! When do you not feel like you're being watched over by the most competent guardian when Rapi is standing by you?
Don't lie now.
You walk a little ways down the road, not a Rapture in sight. It's odd. By now there would have at least been a stray toddler Rapture wandering the path, but there's nothing. With your brow lifted, you turn toward Rapi, looking dumbfounded.
"Are we even in the right place?" you say.
"The coordinates don't lie," she says plainly, her eyes sweeping the land. "A smaller enemy, they said. And... hmm... there was another crucial detail I'm unable to think of."
Rapi pauses for a few moments to think. She bites her lip and looks thoughtfully to the gray sky, then it hits her. She snaps her fingers and nods.
"Ah, right! It's a small enemy that... isn't a Rapture."
You make a face of pure disbelief. "Come again?"
"It has something to do with Eden. Something small and seemingly harmless swooped in and brought the whole place to the ground." Rapi shrugs her shoulders gently. "We were told not to investigate Eden itself just yet. We were told to dispose of the enemy first and foremost, and..."
