Mother's Instinct - A GWH Story

Mother's Instinct - Final Chapter

It wasn't fair. Mika wasn't one to complain about the injustices of life, having lived through many of them and surviving to look back and feel proud, but there were a few select times where she just couldn't contain her impotence. Times such as this one. Times when her pride as a soldier, one of the few things she truly valued from this mutilated body of hers, was utterly stomped on by an enemy way more powerful than her; an enemy that trampled on morally valuable people who genuinely wanted to make a difference in the world, to make it a better place.

Blinded by rage, the woman darted through the dimly lit, secret underground passageway, carrying her child in her arm. She didn't ever stop to take a breather. The only thing that mattered now was to make Kathryn pay for everything she'd done. If this entire planet had to go down with her, innocents included, then that was the unfortunate price.

Upon reaching the generator's building, Mika effortlessly shot and killed all the unsuspecting guards that stood between her and the master controls of Nexia's entire terraforming network. The controls looked complicated, but with Prilynne's advice in mind, the soldier quickly figured them out. She simply set the energy conduits to flow in the opposite direction. As soon as she pressed the Execute button, a worldwide alarm went off, nearly deafening Mika. It was so loud, even the baby stirred in her drug-induced sleep. But again, no time to hesitate. Both of them rapidly got into the Revindication, and the Tetran turned the ship's climate control up as much as possible, as the generators across the world began dropping the temperatures of every single city, town and outpost. Not only was Nexia's original, frigid atmosphere restored; it got even colder. Millions of innocent civilians were powerless to do anything, caught off guard by this sudden change in their lives that ultimately ended their existences. All of them froze to death, be it on the streets or in their own homes. Even those that were flying around in simple transports fell to the ground as their systems failed. The only Nexians that survived were those in the ships in high orbit... and the Prime's successor, safely incubating on another world several light years away, along with her caretakers.

Eventually, the generators froze over and shut down as well, unable to keep themselves running any longer because of the sheer cold. Once they did, Mika looked up at the ship's windshield. During the process, she had been holding the child in a warm hug, not daring to look at what she had done. There wasn't much to see anyways, for the view was covered by frost. Thanks to the climate control, the Revindication was still operational, but it had frozen to the floor and entered a low-energy standby mode. Mika would have to go outside and take care of the ice, then restart all the ship's systems manually if they were to leave the surface.

It wasn't until they reached high orbit that the young woman realized what she had caused. Planet Nexia, once a bustling spark of life in the middle of the dark cosmos, was now dead. Where once there was light, only cold ice remained. Nothing pulsated. Nothing shined. The organism had frozen over, never to thaw out for the rest of eternity.

Mika told herself over and over that what she had done wasn't wrong. If it hadn't been for her, the universe would have been invaded by clones of herself and Riku, controlled by a power-hungry maniac. Yes, she had done the right thing... killing everyone on this planet... including the good-natured Prilynne...

The woman couldn't handle it anymore. She broke down into tears right on the ship's console. If only she had been stronger. If only she hadn't let her emotions get the better of her. Surely she would have been able to find another solution to the problem; one that didn't involve an entire civilization getting killed horribly by her own hands. Kathryn was the only one that really had to be put down, and it was done... but her life wasn't worth millions of others. Even if they were all clones. They all had souls. Feelings. Dreams and aspirations. And in the blink of an eye, all that was gone. Just like that. Because of her doing. It felt awful, and that wasn't saying enough.

What would Riku say when he returned and found out? Or, even worse... What would her own daughter say when she was old enough to understand what transpired this day? The thought of that was unbearable.

Mika wrenched her eyes away from the frozen nightmare and went to her room, where she had left the little girl sleeping on the bed. She seemed to be stirring a bit; the sedative was wearing off. Her eyes were barely open. Their icy blue color made the mother shiver. Even though they were so lovely and pure, they would always remind her of the tragedy of Planet Nexia, no matter what. Everything was backwards. Mika had done so much to get this girl, to be with her so she could raise her as the mom she wanted to be, and now she couldn't bring herself to do it. The shame was too much to bear.

She had to give her away. Keep her somewhere she could always see her, but never get into contact again. Somewhere the girl could grow to learn how to use her abilities to defend herself without serving anybody as a perfect soldier. Where she would never learn the truth about her origins.

Mika hated herself for doing this. But she had to. First, though, she had to leave this world. As soon as the UPC found out Nexia had gone silent, they would be all over this place.

"...Largo?" She sniffled.

"Mika? Oh gods, are you alright? What happened?" The concerned man leaned towards the screen, looking straight at her.

"...Has the adoption agency found you anything yet?"

Mikaro Sarashi personally left her daughter in the care of her old friend Largo Kenachi and his wife on Planet Lux. For the moment, only he knew the truth about the girl's past, and the Tetran female preferred it stayed that way for the rest of time. On this world, the child could develop herself normally and become a fine young woman and a strong fighter, unattached to the horrors revolving her creation and liberation. Largo and his wife were hesitant at first, but they agreed to help the little girl begin a new life.

"What do we call her, though?"

"...Yuna. Rich and beautiful." Mika replied with a sad smile and a single tear, as she parted with her baby, giving her one last kiss on the forehead.

Riku returned a year later with a newborn child of his own under his arm. Little Kibou also had a dark secret concerning his past, but unlike the Tetran soldier, the half-demon confessed everything, trusting the secret only to her and to his own Tale. Mika had no right to feel betrayed that he had a kid with another woman, for she had done something terrible as well. However, even though he appreciated her loved one telling her about it, she still did not tell him about Yuna. The Nexian blood on her hands was too great of a pain to relay to him.

It took almost 20 years, during a time when the multiverse was threatened once more, as had been the case with Kitsune in the Second Great War, and when trust was absolutely necessary between everyone they knew, for Mika to finally confess to her love that she had committed genocide and upset the balance of existence... all for a daughter he didn't know he had. Their daughter. At first, he did not take this well at all, but necessity made them come together again to battle this new evil. Besides, their relationship was too strong to be broken permanently. They could work it out in time.

Meanwhile, on Lux, a young black-haired girl from the 'Industry of Fighting' Mercenary Guild awoke to rise up to a new challenge. Leaving her homeworld, she discovered terrible things about her own self, but also met her half-brother and the other descendants of the Niji Army. Creating wonderful bonds, she led them into glorious battle against the new ender of the multiverse. Despite how much she despised her true mother, she was such a crucial piece in the new generation's victory. Mika watched her fight for the greater good with a pride she would never be able to express, to convey to her daughter. Perhaps she would never be redeemed for what she had done... But she did know that Yuna was now her own person. She would most certainlybe able to forge her own destiny.

Thank you, Prily. You gave her a chance.

In a way...Mika was free.