Shattered Skies: The Morning Lights

CHAPTER 24: Covert Ops

CHAPTER 24: Covert Ops

TSAB L-Class Inspection Cruiser Arthra

Second Recovery Ward

"Nnn."

Small though it was, that was the first sound Towa Akagi had made in days... or whatever passed for days here. Kirara Amanogawa didn't much care. After staying by Towa's bedside for so long, praying that she would talk to her again, wake up, stir, do something, anything... Kirara seized onto that sound as if grasping for a raft on a stormy sea. Likewise, she seized Towa's pale, delicate hand, clutching it tight to her breast as she cried out to her. "Towa-chi...!"

"Nnn," said Towa again. It was a little stronger, a little louder this time. Just a little.

Kirara almost wept with relief. "Geez, Towa-chi, you had me all worried! Shame on you..." Her lips tried to form a smile. Tried.

"Mnnn," said Towa. Her eyelids fluttered. "Ki..."

"Yeah, it's me, I'm right here. I'm right here." Calm, thought Kirara to herself, I've gotta stay calm. Let her breathe. Let her adjust first before... Before you tell her what happened. God, how would Towa take it? Knowing that Haruka and Minami were-

"Kirara," said Towa in a fluttery whisper. Her head turned in the direction of Kirara's voice, her normally immaculate apricot curls spread over her pillow in disarray, looking like blood on snow.

No, thought Kirara, banishing that last thought. Bad image. "It's gonna be okay, Towa-chi. Somehow. Y-you wouldn't believe this place," said Kirara, trying to push down the trembling in her voice. "It's amazing, you can make just about anything except food. That's why I had them move us to this ship, it's the only place where anyone can get half-decent donuts-"

"Cure Twinkle," said Towa.

Kirara's blood turned to ice. That voice. That wasn't Towa's voice.

The elfin princess's eyes opened, burning crimson with hatred and malevolence. Her hand wrenched from Kirara's grip, shot upward, and closed around her neck, squeezing...

Kirara couldn't make a sound, silenced not only by the hand crushing her windpipe, but from the weight of despair crushing her spirit in a far more savage way. This couldn't be true. Had to be a nightmare. Not her. She was supposed to be gone forever...

Like something out of a horror movie, Towa - no, Princess Twilight - rose from her bed with unnatural stiffness, her back ramrod straight. Her hair fell around her in a curtain, silver streaks racing through the loose red curls as if something were bleaching them. Pale lips curled into the cold sneer that Kirara remembered so well. "The false princess," she whispered, each word dripping with loathing. "The false princess dares address me as if... as if I were one of her worthless friends..."

Dark spots danced in Kirara's vision. Running out of air. Unable to transform. Helpless. With her remaining strength, she reached out to touch her, not the sick mockery that was Twilight, but Towa, the Towa she knew was underneath. The Towa she lived with at the Academy. The Towa she loved... The edge of her palm brushed the princess's cheek.

Towa-chi... please...

At once, the grip on her throat loosened. A great shudder wracked Towa's body as she let go, sending Kirara to the floor in a heap.

"Remind me..." gasped Kirara, sucking in great lungfuls of air, "... not to try... waking you up... again..." As soon as she had enough breath, she chuckled. A shaky, timid sound, not like her usual laugh. "... You're a worse... morning person... than my mother..."