The cheers in the lab vanished completely, as they watched Seele's body glow a bright blue before... she was gone.

Seele was gone...

Cocolia: "What the hell just happened!? Where did Seele go!? Her body can't just simply vanish like this!"  The blonde woman slammed her hand on a control panel, with her sweating in panic from seeing the young girl suddenly vanish. One of the scientists, a young woman with blue hair and scarlet eyes spoke up.

Scientist: "From the test readings, it seemed that the Subject's physical integrity collapsed almost instantly. It sounds ludicrous, but we believe that she may have entered Quantum State as well."

Seele's Mindscape...

'Seele': "𝕀'𝕞 𝕤𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕪, 𝕊𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕖..."  She apologized, wrapping her semi-ethereal arms around the young girl from behind.  "𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕚𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕞𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕚𝕤𝕟'𝕥 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕖𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕠𝕩. 𝕎𝕖'𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕤𝕠𝕠𝕟, 𝕊𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕖."

The blue-haired girl remained silent, feeling the warmth of her Alter embracing her from behind. A shadow had casted over her eyes, her normally beautiful and sparkling oceanic eyes, now a bit dull with little hope left. The whole reason she took the test in the first place was to perfect it so that it would be much easier on Ryu and Bronya when they take it. But alas, she failed... And now she wouldn't be able to see them again...

All hope was lost for her... until an something popped into her head.. An extreme feeling of desire and need to see them at least one last time burned within her. Opening her mouth, she whispered a request to her Alter Ego.

'Seele': "𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕖𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕞𝕖?"  After a short second, a smile slowly grew on the Alter Ego's lips as the Oceanic Blue eyes of Seele, flashed Red.  "𝔸𝕝𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥. 𝕀 𝕘𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝔹𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕪𝕒 𝕒𝕟𝕕 ℝ𝕪𝕦 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕠𝕗𝕗 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕖𝕒 𝕠𝕗 ℚ𝕦𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕒."

>Chapter 5: Swallowtail Phantasm<

One Week Ago...
Cocolia's Orphanage—Ryu, Bronya and Seele's Room...

With a book in his hand titled "Daughter of the Sea", Ryu was reading out the story stored within the book as Bronya and Seele sat on either side of him, their heads resting against his shoulders. This book had caught Seele's interest and she asked Ryu to read it to her, to which he agreed. Bronya was also curious about the book so Ryu decided to read it to both of the girls. So currently, the three sat within the toy box together.

Ryu: "'Go make thyself a nymph of the sea...'"

Seele: "Ryu... What is a Sea?"  That question caused both Ryu and Bronya to look at her in surprise. In truth, Seele had no idea what a Sea was.

Bronya: "Seele, are you saying that you've never been to any Sea before?"  The blue-haired girl only smiled sheepishly.

Seele: "Nyet, Bronya. This orphanage is the only place I know since I was a little girl."  Bronya and Ryu both stared at her, their faces displaying visual confusion, shock and another unknown emotion while the Seele only laughed awkwardly.

Bronya: "Pravda??" *Translates to "Really??"*

Ryu: "I've been here with you for so long and I never knew this??"  She only laughed sheepishly while scratching the back of her head. As the boy released a small sigh, he remembered her question and took some time to think of a perfect answer. As he did, he took a look at the young blue-haired girl, who noticed his looks, causing a small pink hue to form on her cheeks before...  "You're eyes, Seele."

Seele: "My eyes..?"

Ryu: "Yes.. They're just like the Sea itself; big and a beautiful shade of blue."

Bronya: "Da. That perfectly describes it."  There was a brief silence as the blue-haired girl stared at the two, before her face suddenly became a bright shade of red and she held onto her cheeks, shaking her head out of embarrassment.

Seele: "W-Wha..! S-So sudden!"

Bronya: "Mm? What is?"  She tilted her head in confusion as Ryu only blinked in surprise, before he lets out a 'pfft' followed by a few rounds of laughter.

Seele: "D-Don't laugh at me, Ryu!"

Ryu: "S-Sorry, sorry. *chuckles* It's just that was a cute reaction from you, Seele."  In response she pouted and lightly punched his arm. He rubbed his arm slightly and smiled at her before he glanced up to the ceiling.  "But, Summer's just around the corner. Would you like to go to the Sea together?"

Seele: "R-Really?"

Bronya: "That's a good idea. And we can show you what the sea is."

Present Day...

Floating above the waters that the X-10 Labs were submerged in and with that memory fresh in her mind, a feminine figure was spotted with a large scythe in her hands. With her eyes now glowing a blood red and the Stigmata of Death clear on her chest, Seele had escaped, her clothes changing to the Honkai Battlesuit known as, Swallowtail Phantasm.

(Seele Vollerei—Swallowtail Phantasm)

Within the X-10 Labs, Seele had immediately appeared on their radar, with her Honkai energy spiking.

Scientist: "Test subject Seele has reappeared outside the labs! Seele is moving at a high speed away from the Sea of Okhotsk."  Cocolia could only grit her teeth in frustration.

Cocolia: "Damnit, Seele. What are you trying to do? Are you controlled by the Honkai?"

Scientist: "Potential destination of her current trajectory is Cocolia's Orphanage!"  That caused the blonde woman's eyes to widen with a bit of panic before she turned to everyone in the labs.

Cocolia: "Deploy the Titans! We MUST stop her!"

Bronya and Ryu were seen in their shared room with Seele, with black-haired boy sitting on the floor with his head hung low and back pressed against the wall that the window was on. Bronya however stood before the toy chest, her eyes filled with tears as she just looked at it in silence. Both couldn't find Seele no matter how hard they tried nor could they find Cocolia to help them. It only came to one conclusion after they spotted the paper with the information about the X-10 Experiment... Seele had...

Past Bronya: "You'll the Sea once you see it, Seele."

Past Ryu: "Yeah. The Sea is vast with possibly zero end to it. And it houses many different types of marine life. The Sea immerses you in an embrace of serenity, peace and warmth..."

Past Bronya: "But, the Sea can also summon powerful tempests if her children are in danger. You're just like the Sea, Seele."

As the Titan Mechas appeared on the beach, they aimed their weapons towards the rapidly approaching Seele, who only gritted her teeth and clenched onto her scythe., before slicing through one of the Ranged Titans with ease, causing a glorious explosion to occur before her.

As this battle was raging on, Bronya could only look into the toy box with her saddened eyes while Ryu still remained sitting on the floor, his mind only filled with thoughts of Seele, along with the paper with the information of the X-10 Experiment... Seele had...

Past Ryu: "Ignore what the brat, Sin said, Seele. You aren't a weakling or crybaby. You're strong. One of the strongest people I've met. I'm confident in that."

Past Bronya: "Da. I'm sure of that as well. Have faith in yourself."

An explosion pushed Seele forwards with a cry of pain but she didn't falter. She stopped herself from falling and glared forwards with resolve her crimson red eyes glowing brightly .

Seele: "Don't get in my way!!" 

She yelled, swinging her Scythe through the squadron of Titans. Her power was amazing. She was like a Herrscher of sorts, blasting her way through a Squad with little effort. Though if she wasn't in such a desperate state, she would have easily done this without even getting a scratch. Then, she heard their voices in her head one last time, as a final push of encouragement as she blasted herself towards the Orphanage, with fiery debris behind her.

Past Bronya: "You're kind and gentle, Seele."

Past Ryu: "You're just like the Azure Waters."

As Ryu sat on the floor in silence, he felt a slight warmth next to him, with it being Bronya who took a seat next to him. The room was just filled with a depressing silence as both only had one person on their minds; Seele. It didn't take much to realize what had happened... Seele and Cocolia suddenly disappearing and that paper with the details of the X-10 Experiment...

Bronya: "Seele... Where are you...?"  She muttered, her voice slowly breaking. Ryu remained silent.  "Ryu, where's Seele...? Where is she..? She's still here right...??" 

She looked at him while asking these questions, her voice becoming more and more desperate. All Ryu could do is remain silent and internally curse himself for not realizing this all sooner.

Seele: "Bronya! Ryu! I'm here!" 

Her voice rang out, but it seemed like neither of the two heard her. Just beyond the window was Seele, a happy smile plastered over her face. As she reached to open the window, she gasped as her hand began to slowly fade in and out of existence and began to dissipate into Quantum particles. Seele immediately knew what this meant... Her time was up. She was too late...

Seele: Nyet! Just a little bit more, please! I'm so close!!! Ryu!! Bronya!! It's me!! See—"

She had vanished completely into Quantum Particles, but as quickly as she did, the two turned their heads as they swore they heard her just a minute ago. But all they were met with, was the head piece Seele always wore falling in front of them. As they looked at it, Bronya slowly picked it up.

Bronya: "I-Isn't this..."

Past Ryu: "Just be yourself, Seele. You don't have to change for the sake of others, because your all we need."

Past Bronya: "Da. I feel strong as long as you and Ryu are with me. You both give me courage and hope."

Past Ryu: "You were the first to accept me here, Seele... and without you, I wouldn't have become who I am now. Now, I have a new found strength... thanks to you and Bronya. You two keep me going when the going gets tough.. My only hope in this infested world."

It was at this moment that the realization kicked in.. Seele was gone, like the wind.. and all that was left of her, was this. It was too much for Bronya was she lunged into Ryu's chest, with tears streaming down her face as she for the first time, let her voice be heard. She began to cry loudly, all the while saying Seele's name. It didn't take long for Ryu, who had been silent this entire time to clench his fists out of frustration. Tears began to roll down his cheeks as he tightly embraced the girl, while trying to remain strong but ultimately... he couldn't. Ryu... broke down too...

"...Target failed to gain entry into its intended destination of Cocolia's Orphanage."

"...Target did not materialize again."

"X-10 Experiment failures: 8"

All they could do was clutch onto each other as if their lives depended on it and cry out their hearts. All they wanted... was to be with Seele.. Nothing more, nothing less... Just that one thing would make them whole once again...

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