“Look! The officers are returning!”

At an entrance to the station, mountains of people clamor to see the remaining officers return. Amongst them is Woori, who evacuated with the first wave of officers. “The kids! They’re with them!” She sees Adele recognize that she’s running towards her. The two quickly embrace.

“Unnie! I’m okay! Amanda-unnie rescued us!”

“Eh?” Woori turns her head to see that, indeed, Amanda is there. “Don’t worry about me, Woori-unnie. I’m completely fine now!”

“Speaking of which,” Adele interjects. Where’s my family?”

“Unnie!”

“Eh? Is that who I think it is?!”

“Unnie!”

“Sammy?! Is that you?!” she says, as a young boy barrels into her.

“Unnie, you’re okay!”

“Adele, who is this?” Woori asks.

“Who do you think it is?!” Andrea laughs. “It’s her dorky little brother!”

“Why’d you call him dorky?” Amanda asks.

“Oh, don’t worry, he doesn’t mind!” Adele says. “Oh, Sammy, I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“I’m happy you’re safe too, unnie!” Sammy says as the two share a warm embrace.

“Where’s mom?” Adele asks. She then realizes that a woman is now standing right before her and begins to blubber. “Mom…” She then quickly rushes over and the two hug each other tightly, the two crying having finally reunited.

“Unnie?” Andrea says. “Are you?”

“I’m sorry…” Amanda says with a sniffle.

“No! Don’t be sorry! I just didn’t know you were such a soft tofu!” she says with a chuckle while pulling her in for a quick hug. “Wait… where’s Aisha?!”

“Where’d she run off-” Woori says before cutting herself off, as they see the little girl dragging a woman over.

“Mommy! This is Amanda-unnie! She took care of us and the other unnies!”

“How can I ever repay you?”

“Mrs. Kim! You don’t need to thank me! Aisha actually helped us out quite often!” Then, it suddenly hits her. Ashley, Alexa, and Ariel are still inside… She reaches for the walkie-talkie. “Ariel! We’re outside!”

“Don’t worry, unnie! I’m still okay! And I know! Ashley-unnie is trying her hardest!”

“Wait!” Andrea yells. “What about the military, Ariel?!”

“They’re actually pretty close now!” As Ariel says this, there’s a whir in the distance that steadily grows louder. “Could that be them?”

-

“My own blood… HOW DARE YOU- URGH!!!”

The leader had suffered a gash to her torso. She winces in pain as she struggles to get to her feet. She shudders, knowing that her gap in focus had led to her prey harming her to this degree, a first.

Ashley maintains her defensive stance. I don’t know what’s become of the others, but I need to stand my ground. I wonder if Alexa found the armor… whatever. I better stay focused… She then notices the leader shudder before slowly raising her head. Her eyes are redder than ever. Wait… is she going to… oh no…

“This is as far as you will go… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” In an instant, her body begins to engulf in darkness, until all that’s left is a humanoid-shaped blob of dark energy wielding the same laser sword with the blood-red blade. “Now it is time for you to DIE!!!”

Ashley quickly readies her sword in front of her as she prepares to block the charging leader. Once more, the two blades lock as the two resume their battle. This time, however, Ashley notes of the leader’s increased ferocity with her strikes, and thus has to quickly adjust her defensive techniques.

“WHY CAN’T YOU STAY STILL?!”

While the leader’s ferocity increased, the wildness did as well, and thus, Ashley is able to dodge most of them with ease. However, she actively notes of her position so that she must predict where the leader’s blade is next. In the end, for her, this turns into a much more intense yet quicker game of chess.

Eventually, their blades clash louder than ever before. The sound of the crack echoes across the hallways. “Come on. Why can’t you just let me do my job?” The leader taunts, as she attempts to force their blades closer to her prey. However, she catches a glimpse of Ashley briefly looking away before slowly giving a smirk. Then, BANG!

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!”

-

“We have to go back,” Amanda announces. “Ariel’s still hiding and Ashley’s still fighting the leader. Also we have no idea where Alexa is.”

“But you saw what she did! She nearly killed you!” Andrea retorts.

“Well I know for a fact we can sneak up on her and she won’t know a thing. I tried earlier and it worked. I mean, you didn’t know I helped you at first, remember, you soft tofu?”

Aisha bursts out laughing as she hugs her unnie. Adele is left dumbfounded.

“Not funny, unnie…” Andrea mutters.

“Ariel! Where are you?” Amanda asks into her walkie-talkie.

“I haven’t moved, unnie!”

“Okay! Stay where you are! Come on, girls, let’s go!”

“But what about Ashley?” Adele asks. “She needs our help too!”

Amanda pauses for a while. “We’ll go help her too.”

“Young miss?” A woman says as she comes over. “I’m Ariel’s mother. Please bring my daughter back safely.”

“I will.”

“You better take us, too,” says the officers. “We can provide support for you girls.”

And, with eyes full of conviction, Amanda sets off with her group in tow.

Now with the grunts gone, the halls are eerily empty. All the officers proceed with caution with guns drawn. “Keep your guard up, folks. We may run into stragglers.”

Then, a gunshot rings in the distance. Everyone jumps for a second before Amanda gives a cue for someone to come closer. Andrea slowly moves forward, her hand stretched out. Within seconds, Amanda snaps her hand to grab Andrea’s, and the two immediately turn invisible. Then, like dominoes, everyone frantically tries to grab each other, with Adele grabbing Andrea so that everyone vanishes from sight. It takes several moments before someone does anything.

“Wait… I just realized something, unnie…” Aisha says. “How do we move to hide somewhere without bumping into each other when we can’t even see each other?”

“Hold on… let me try this…”

For a few moments, nothing happens. “Unnie, why is nothing ha-” In an instant, Aisha begins to see everyone around her. “Unnie, did we turn visible again?”

“Let go.”

Aisha does as she’s told and as soon as she drops contact, everyone disappears. “Whoa…” She then grabs Adele’s hand as she had before.

“Wait… that’s Woori-unnie’s convenience store! Let’s go over there, unnie,” Andrea says, pointing in the direction. Everyone quickly hurdles over behind the counter as more gunshots sound the hallways, progressively getting louder. Eventually, grunts come into view and scramble into the shop.

“How in heck could the military manage to send a troupe?!”

“Take up positions here! Get behind the counter!”

Without hesitating, Aisha waves her arms and the guns come loose from the grunts, dismantling in seconds. Then, Amanda, Andrea, and Adele vault over the counter to rush at the grunts, taking them out with ease with their powers.

However, they missed one, who had managed to stay outside the store and was now aiming his rifle at Amanda. No one notices this at all. Smirking, he prepares to fire.

BANG!

-

“Ergh… unh…”

The leader now had suffered a bad wound to her back. The echoing pain is debilitating, enough to keep her with a hunched back as the dark aura that had surrounded her slowly began to recede back into her body. And all this time, Ashley maintains her defensive stance. The leader slowly turns her head around, knowing that it wasn’t her. “No… impossible…” Standing there was someone in a green humanoid armor with a chartreuse cape and an accompanying helmet in an eagle-like motif.

“No… NO!!!” With her rage and adrenaline building, the leader rises to her feet and sends a beam of dark energy hurtling towards her new foe, only for it to dodge and fire a beam of electricity at her. “ACCHH!!!” Reigniting her blade, she hastily throws it, only for the hilt to be frozen with ice stretching from the ground. As she stares at the spectacle in horror, her opponent has extended a blade from its armor, and the blade suddenly ignites in flames before striking her, knocking her back several meters. Yet, before she can even land, Ashley pops up from her shadow and delivers a bone-shattering kick. “AAAAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!”

As the leader coughs blood, the helmet of the armor glows, before disappearing altogether to reveal Alexa, the girl whom she had every chance to kill while she had her trapped. “YOU!” There’s no reaction from the two girls as they ready their blades. Knowing that she can’t win her current state, she sends a blast of dark energy at their feet.

“Ergh!” Ashley and Alexa yell. They check their legs and find them unscathed, but when the dust clears, the leader is gone, as is her sword. “Where is she?!” Alexa yells.

“I think she’s gone… I don’t sense her…” Ashley says.

“Rats…” Alexa mutters. “She must have escaped through the shadows like you did. Can you chase after her?”

“I don’t think I’ll reach her at this point.”

Then, behind them, a man pops out of the shadows. “Ashley?! Oh, thank goodness you’re safe!”

“…sensei?!”

“Who is he, your teacher?”

“Yea, I am. I sensed danger.”

“It’s okay, sensei… I’m alright. But the leader got away…”

“I’ve been tracking her for the last few years. She’s exceptionally dangerous… yet you seem to have held your ground. I’d call it a win.”

“Speaking of which… Alexa… the armor…”

“Wait… this is Stratos’s armor?!”

“It is… and it looks like I have to figure how to deactivate it…”

-

Back at the convenience store, the girls and officers shudder at the sound of the sudden gunshot. They all check themselves and find they’re clean. At the same time, there’s a thud outside in the hall. Soon, footsteps are heard. Everyone raises their hands in the air.

“Captain, this is Private Takeda. Area is secure.”

 “Hey, Brett! We’ve got civies here!”

“I got it. C’mon, Hiro, let’s check on them.”

“Oh, thank goodness you guys are here,” the police captain says.

“Officer! What’s going on here? Did you guys do this?” the one known as Brett says as he points to the bodies of the badly beaten-up grunts.

“No. It was these kids. They’re adepts.”

“No kiddin’, eh? Well I guess we have you folks to thank. C’mon, Hiro,” Brett says, pointing to the other soldier wearing glasses with “Takeda” written on his uniform.

“You guys will be alright!”

-

“So… that’s what caused the armor to activate?”

“Yea,” Alexa says, holding up her ring. “Maybe we should check in on the others.” She then reaches for her walkie-talkie. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

“I’m here, unnie!”

“Amanda here.”

“Is there anybody else with either of you?”

“I’m still alone, unnie!”

“I’m with Andrea, Adele, and Aisha. The military is also here with the police to clean up the mess.”

“Wait, what?! Where can I find you guys?”

“You wouldn’t believe it, but Woori-unnie’s convenience store…”

“Alright. We have to return these walkie-talkies so let’s meet back at you-know-where first. Then I’ll speak with the military. Ariel, just hang tight, alright?”

“Okay!”

“Okay, Ashley-unnie, let’s go.”

“Wait. Before you two go, I have something to give Ashley.” The sensei takes a ring from his pocket, nearly identical to Alexa’s, the only difference being that it was black.

“Huh? It looks just like Alexa’s… sensei… do you think?”

“I don’t think so. I found it during my travels years ago when I was young, and I’ve kept it with me as a good luck charm. Seeing as your friend has that ring of hers, though, I think you should have it. I have a hunch.”

“A hunch?”

“Yea. I’ll tell you about it later. Go with your friends for now. I have to return to the shrine. Your friend Chaeyoung is expecting me in a couple hours. I’ll say hi for you.”

-

The seven girls return to the convenience store after a while, carrying all their belongings they had left.

“Oh, hey! Captain! Isn’t she…”

“Yup. That’s her,” the captain says, pointing to Alexa.

“How did you know?”

“Your father sends me pictures a lot. I worked with him on that project. So, tell me. You found it?”

Alexa pauses for a while. “Yes.”

The captain sighs. “I think when you return to the academy, we’ll speak again about it. I’ll leave you be. Hey, officer! Take the girls back out. I think it’s time they returned to their families!”

“Aye-aye!”

“Talk to you soon, kid.”

The rest of the girls are stunned. “Did that just seriously happen?!” Amanda gasps.

“Also, the academy?!” Andrea bursts. “You don’t mean…”

“Yea. That one.”

“Whoa…” Aisha says.

Soon, the officers bring the girls back to the station entrance, where their families were waiting. Ashley quickly rushes to hug her dear sister and mother, who were overjoyed to see her.

“Unnie!!!”

“I’m okay, Sarah. I’m okay.”

Then, Amanda finds her friend Changsub, who hasn’t seen her since he left her for snacks.

“Changsub?!”

“Chorong-ie?!”

The two ecstatically hug each other, jumping about. Then, Andrea realizes something.

“Wait… you know this guy?”

“You know Changsub?!”

“We bumped into each other at the convenience store before the big bang!”

“Oh, right! You’re the cute girl who wanted that drink!”

“Yea, it’s him! I’m Andrea, by the way. Nice to meet you, umm… Changsub-oppa?”

“Well, nice to meet you, Andrea.”

“I’m surprised you don’t know her, Changsub. She’s THE Andrea I kept telling you about.”

“Really?! And you guys are now friends?!”

Then, Ariel bumps into Amanda.

“Unnie, this is my mom!”

“Huh? Oh! Hello again, Miss Oh!”

“Thank you so much again. You will always be welcome at our home. Ariel is quite lonely at home because she’s an only child. I’m sure she’d love if you came to visit her.”

“Oh, well… I’d love to! If that’s okay with Ariel.”

“Of course it is, but mommy, don’t you remember I made another friend recently?”

“Right! Ariel has a bit of trouble making friends, Miss Amanda, so I sometimes forget…”

“It’s okay, mommy.” With that remark, Amanda and Ariel’s mother share a chuckle.

“Anyhow, I think it’s best that we meet up with the girls again before we return to where we were headed. The police say they’re going to stay here and provide aid,” Amanda said.

Soon, Amanda brought the seven girls together one last time. They all exchanged their parents’ numbers and addresses so they could keep in touch.

“Remember, everyone. We kept each other company and we won out. I’m going to miss all of you,” Amanda said.

“I’m going to miss all of you too!” Ariel pipes. “You have all been really good unnies to me! Maybe I should just make you my unnies then!”

“Yea. Well, I guess this is so long for now,” Adele says.

“One last group hug?” Andrea blurts.

“I don’t think it will be the last time,” Ashley says.

And with a big hug, everyone went on, just as they always had.

-

End of Part 1

-

A/N: Hey, everyone! That wraps up the first part of this trilogy of stories, Ascension.
Now I know what you're thinking. But what about the whole fairy idea and incarnates? That will be addressed as we go along in the next two parts.
How many of you remembered Changsub all the way back in Chapter 1? Anyone guess that he was the one who almost got into a mishap with Andrea/Bomi back then?
I'm curious as to how you think I'm going to take the next two parts, and what will be in store.
Hope y'all have enjoyed this first arc in this absolute scrub fic!

Playlist: Bled to Be Free by RX Bandits