Even with future sight, the options Sam and the others had were quite limited. Nino studied every divergence she saw, every important step and its possible outcomes, then discussed all of it with Sam and Mimir. In the meantime the preparations for departure were underway. Everything was loaded onto the Nephilim ship, but there was one problem that remained and it’s the human survivers.

The atmosphere was thick with tension and unease. The adults were trying to be cooperative, but there was no denying their deteriorating mental state.

The kids on the other hand were outright terrified. Some would begin to cry as soon as the the Valkyries try to talk to them. They had seen the girls kill the Fallen with no hesitation at all, and with the lack of understanding only made the situation worse.

Another thirty had awakened which makes the number of childern capable of using halos fifty. During the previous battle most of them got to see the Valkyries teleport around and use the Nameless Element to create weapons. Some already tried to use their powers to run away by themselves, while others tried to rebel thinking they could fight both the Valkyries and Nephilim and win.

“Listen well!” Juni said in a loud and clear voice, standing in front of the children with her arms crossed, an angry look on her face. “With great power comes great responsibility! You must not use your powers when you still don’t know how to control them! If you do so, you might end up hurting yourself and those around you!”

The children were sat down on the floor to be reprimanded for their recless actions. Juni seemed to be the one most compatible with them so she the others left everything to her, but even with all her effort she couldn’t get through to them at all.

At some point one of the boys just snapped at her.

“How dare you!” He yelled, tears flowing down his cheeks. “You killed both dad and mom! You aren’t our friend! You are just a monster!”

Some of the other kids started crying as well. Juni was hit pretty bad with that statement and she almost started tearing up herself, however with some effort she managed to restrain herself, thinking of another way to help handle the situation.

“I… I didn’t want to do it…” she said, holding a hand to her chest as she gazed at the group of kids. “And I promise you the others didn’t want to either. But what should’ve we done? You saw how they were attacking everyone, right? If we didn’t do anything they would’ve killed all of us! We had to stop them!”

“Liar!” Another girl cried. “Mama would never hurt me! She would never do it!”

“That’s right.” Juni nodded. “Your parent would never hurt you. But those weren’t your parents…”

“… What?”

Suddenly, the kids went silent, their eyes turning to the short haired Valkyrie.

“The evil villains we are fighting. The ones who sent those monsters who attacked us before.” Juni went on telling the story she had created in her mind. “They’ve summoned a much bigger monster, one so big even I couldn’t defeat it with my giant robot…”

Though they were still skeptical, the story seemed to catch their attention, helping them listen even if anger prevented them from doing so before.

“It was a terrible monster, with eyes so big they could cover the sky!”

The children gasped.

“It also had big long tentacles. So many of them! It tried to attack all of us, but my friends and eye created this huge barrier to protect all of us!”

“Whoa…”

“That big monster, the one with long tentacles. It’s the one who made the others attack everyone.”

“What!?”

“That’s right! It attacked us with its huge wriggly tentacles, but our barrier was strong!” Stopping for a moment, Juni then turned to Ichigo who was standing at a small distance behind her, pointing at her as she continued the story, adding more excitement to her voice. “But Ichigo here has a powerful ability! The ability to erase evil!”

All eyes turned to the pink haired Valkyrie causing her to flinch from all the attention she was suddenly getting.

“The enemy knew this, that’s why they tried to hurt her before! And thanks to her ability, the monster wasn’t able to eat all of us!”

Juni continued with the storey, telling the kids about the army of giants, the demons and everything else. The boys were especially intrigued when she told them about her Super Juni Robo.

Little by little, they began to calm down and soon enough they warmed up to the girl once more. She promised to teach them how to use their powers once the battle ends, hoping that it would calm them down until they return to the forty sixth base.

~~

“They’re cute but… I don’t think I can handle them for long.” Ichigo let out a long sigh, feeling utterly exhausted. “Maybe you would have had a better time. N-not that I’m saying you have a childish appearance or anything.”

She was currently in the infirmary having a one sided conversation with B3. The guilt she felt after being saved had left her quite depressed. It was only during the last fight that she was able to overcome it, having proved to herself that she wasn’t just some dead weight.

Her ability was essential to keeping everyone safe, and that granted her a great boost in confidence, but the insecurities kept coming and they wouldn’t stop.

“I guess I’m not that special after all.” She said. “Well, it’s not like I was the only Cleanser back home, and it makes sense that the Nephilim have a lot more. I guess I won’t be able to do much to stand out from now on.”

Closing her eyes, Ichigo tried to imagine what her friend would say. B3 was always great at uplifting others and encouraging them. If she were still around, Ichigo was sure that their chances at victory would’ve increased dramatically. Yet because she couldn’t defend herself they lost an important asset, one that could’ve made a much bigger difference than her.

As the tears began to gather in her eyes, the infirmary door slid open and someone came in.

“Ah! Ichigo!” Nino said. “You came to check on them as well?”

Recognizing the voice, the pink haired Valkyrie quickly wiped her eyes and turned to face the other visitor. 𝑜𝓥𝑳xt.𝗇t

“Yes.” She replied, forcing herself to smile. “I thought B3 might get lonely, even if she had JX9 to keep her company.”

“I guess we thought the same.”

Nino walked over to the beds and stood beside B3’s. She gazed down at her, remaining silent for a while before reaching out with her hand and brushing some strands of her brilliant red hair. A smile formed on her face after that, one that lacked the pity or sadness the others had when seeing someone close to them in such a state. It was Nino’s usual confident to the point of arrogance smile, and as a strong sense restlessness filled her body, she delivered the news to her friend, trying her best to not sound too excited.

“Hey, B3, guess what?” She said, pausing for a moment as if waiting for an answer. “I had sex with Doctor last night!”

“COUGH!”

The reaction came from Ichigo who suddenly started coughing out of nowhere. Of course, she already knew about it. Juni had noticed the Doctor disappearing with Nino the previous night, and Zero Three had told them that they were probably going to do it, although she only had a hunch.

Nino glanced at her pink haired friend, still smiling, then went back to telling the story of why happened, exaggerating a few things here and there for her own entertainment. After a while, the mood shifted and her voice became a lot more serious. Her smile had disappeared as well, showing that she was under the same amount of pressure Ichigo was going through if not more.

“I have regined more memories from my past life.” She said. “Turns out I know quite a few stuff. Apparently Lachesis was quite the big shot back on the Olympians’ world.” There was a long pause after she said that much, as if she wasn’t too sure of what to say. Once she had her thoughts in order, she took a deep breath and delivered the news, speaking for Ichigo to hear as well. “I’m sorry. I can’t really bring you back with my power.”

In her hand she held the long red Needle. Despite allowing to gaze at the Tapestry of Fate as well giving her the ability to alter it, the Artifact could do nothing about a thread that has already been severed. At this rate, both of her friends were at risk of remaining in this state for all of eternity. Nino understood that that she couldn’t do anything to bring them back, but she wasn’t about to give up.

“Don’t worry, I know someone who could help us get you back.” She said, the smile returning to her face. “I have a sister. No, not Atropos. Her name is Clotho and she’s the youngest among us. She was the one who figured out immortality back in our original world, can you believe it? Her Artifact, it allows her to weave new Threads that could be used to extend one’s life. Once we find her, I’m sure she will be happy to weave new Threads for you and JX9. It might take a while, but please be patient, okay?”

Normally, Clotho’s Threads could do nothing about someone who already reached the end of their Path. For her to be able to extend someone’s Thread, it must still have a few more years to it, and someone who’s already past the end of their Threads couldn’t be brought back to life. B3 and JX9 were a special case, however. Their Threads have been cut using Atropos’ scissors, a method that goes against what Fate had in store for them. Because of that, it is possible to extend their threads, reconnecting them at a certain event to ensure their return.

“I will need to deal with Atropos first, only then would I be able to walk forward.” Nino said, her eyes gleaming with determination. “So wait for me. I will do everything in my power to bring you back as fast as possible.”