Cross Ange: The Knight of Hilda

Chapter 1: The Rain

(The following is a non-profit fan based literature. Cross Ange: Rondo of Angel and Dragon and all associated characters, ideas, concepts and storylines are the property of Sentai Filmworks, Sunrise Inc, ComicWalker, and Bandai Namco Entertainment. Please support the official release)

(I want to take a moment to be perfectly honest here. First of all, I am writing this fic clearly as a gratuitous example of narcissistic self-indulgence and is more or less a rewrite of the series using the most blatant self-insert OC imaginable.

Second, my feelings on the Cross Ange series are mixed. I loved the characters but felt like the plot could have used a lot of work. Specifically, the lack of male characters and the absolutist stance in took in regards to the Humans' persecution of the Norma being so ingrained that it was impossible for them to overcome. History shows that even in periods of socially enforced civil injustice, there are those who reject the predjudice of the status quo and side with the persecuted (IE-The Underground Railroad in the Antebellum south, the various Gentile resistance groups that formed under Nazi Rule, the moderate Hutus who tried to protect their Tutsi neighbors in Rwanda). So here's my take on how a possible pro-Norma resistance group could come to be and the role it could play in the story.)

Third, I loved the character of Hilda and would have liked to see her get her own share of happiness after all the misery she went through rather than just being "friends with benefits" with Ange, even if those benefits include a 401K and partial dental.)

There are other worlds besides the one we see. Across the endless possibilities of space and time, our lives flow like a river. And just like a river, the presence or absence of even the most minor of circumstance can alter or even split the flow of our lives. This is the story of one such circumstance. In one of thousands of possible futures, humanity has harnessed a power known as the Light of Mana, a source of infinite energy that provides for all their needs. As a result, suffering, poverty, and war are all but unheard of. But in this seemingly perfect world, an abnormality exists in the form of the Norma, girls who are born not only with the inability to control Mana, they destroy it on touch. Regarded as deviant abnormalities, these Norma are isolated from the rest of humanity in specialized containment centers. One of these is an island called Arzenal, a military base where the Norma are trained to fight the the sole threat to the world of Mana, massive reptilian beasts named DRAGONs, using robotic mechanized weapons called Para-mail.

It was to Arzenal that Angelise Ikaruga Misurugi was sent. A princess of the Misurugi Empire, Angelise had spent her life in luxury, loved by all, and like the rest of humanity viewing the Norma with disdain. But then, on her sixteenth birthday, it was revealed by her elder brother Julio that she was a Norma herself and in an instant, her life forever changed. Her mother died while trying to save her from an angry mob and her father was removed from power for deceiving his subjects. Exiled to Arzenal, forced to fight for her very survival, Angelise, or Ange as she was renamed, became the pilot of Villkiss, a one of a kind Para-mail with performance greater than any other in Arzenal. Eventually, Ange was joined at Arzenal by her former head maid, Momoka Oginome, the only human beside Ange's parents who knew of her status as a Norma and the only one who did not forsake her. At great risk to her own life, Momoka had sought out her former mistress to continue her service to Ange which Ange was able to bring about by exploiting a loophole in Arzenal's rules and essentially buying Momoka.

Also at Arzenal was another Norma named Hilda. Like Ange, she too had been torn from her previous life but the hope of one day escaping and reuniting with her mother gave her the strength to do whatever she had to in order to survive. She finally found her chance during Arzenal's annual festa. Momoka had received a Mana message from Ange's younger sister Sylvia. Her life was in danger and Ange was determined to save her. Despite a tumultuous relationship between them, Ange and Hilda joined forces and together, managed to escape Arzenal. Sadly, what awaited them both was heartbreak and betrayal. Sylvia's message was a trap set by her and Julio so they could eliminate once and for all the aberration that had been born into their family. And Hilda's mother had born another child to replace her. One whom could use Mana and had even been given her name.