Shattering Humanity-Chapter 400: "...And Nothing Will Ever Change That."

"Deal generously with your servant so that I might live; then I will keep your word.

Open my eyes so that I may contemplate wondrous things from your instruction.

I am a resident alien on earth; do not hide your commands from me.

I am continually overcome with longing for your judgments.

You rebuke the arrogant, the ones under a curse, who wander from your commands.

Take insult and contempt away from me, for I have kept your decrees.

Though princes sit together speaking against me, your servant will think about your statutes; your decrees are my delight

and my counselors." -Psalm 119:17-24

____________

Laban DaeMon: "You didn’t think I wouldn’t wake up when my SeiõrSense went wild too?

The only reason everyone else stayed asleep was their inexperience with the sensation."

She looks up and sees Katsu’s Above Sanpaku looking down on her from the roof.

Laban DaeMon: "I heard you two whispering and figured you both would go AWOL without telling anybody else.

I might not be that fast, but I knew this was where you’d eventually show up."

{15 Minutes Later}

[Inside Faithful Friends Firehouse Field]

Laban DaeMon: " ...and that’s as much as my eye ability shows me.

They all disappeared shortly after and I can only watch the bitch who thinks she’s a cowboy.

The two Herfjöturs however..."

Within the firehouse, Laban sits on Abby’s ’trunk’ as the DaeMon uses her eye ability to inform Katsu and Shelly the details on how the fire outside started.

She takes a drag of her 80% finished blunt.

Standing close by, Katsu chimes in before she can continue.

Katsu: "So there are two of them!

I can’t believe it, you were right She-..."

The enthusiastic Izanagi Captain cuts himself off as soon as he realizes Shelly is not as excited about the discovery.

She is looking out the window, watching as the fire continues to burn their memories away.

Her fists clench as she fully processes the information as told by the rivaling DaeMon.

Katsu: "Shelly...are you okay?"

Laban DaeMon(thinking): *As a favor to my Saki, and to not cause unnecessary animosity, I kept out the part Herfjötur also called out Skalmönd’s manipulative boyfriend for being a hate plotting sociopath.*

Her left blue eye stares at the distraught Shelly as Katsu walks up behind his adopted sister, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Laban DaeMon (thinking): *And it’s not really the time for any more division than there already is...*

At the window, Shelly takes a deep breath and finally says what’s on her mind.

Shelly: "Katsu..."

Knowing this is a serious moment for his purpose, Katsu stays quiet as the top combat fighter talks.

Shelly: "Katsu, I...I don’t think I’m ready for something this.

I don’t want to go to war.

I don’t want to kill anymore."

Flicking off the lit end of her finished blunt to the dirty tiled floor, Laban’s eyebrow raises after hearing Shelly’s declaration.

Katsu: "What do you mean by that, Shell?

You’re not a kill-"

Shelly: "Looking back on it now, I have killed people, Katsu..."

Shelly’s hands are shaking and she’s in a cold sweat that drips to the floor beneath her.

Shelly: "Those two soldiers from the mountains.

They were after our bounties...

With new energy from the SeiõrSnow, I punched that woman so hard, she flew into the ocean and got eaten by sharks..."

Katsu: "But Shelly-!"

Shelly: "When...When we invaded Roronora City to fight Laban after she hurt Itsuka. I killed that guy outside the arena..."

Laban remembers exactly what she’s talking about, and recalls leaving her Homie Tungsten to deal with the both of them.

She takes in a deep sigh.

The morally conflicted warrior looks down at her hands. In reality, her palms and fingers are clean, but in the reflection of Shelly’s eyes, her hands are stained with blood.

Shelly: "I don’t want to be known as a killer, Katsu.

That’s not why my mother and your parents sacrificed themselves so that I could live on."

Katsu’s face doesn’t move a muscle. He stares at the ground in front of him.

Katsu(thinking): *...Shelly...*

There is a pause before the sound of footsteps landing on the dusty tile makes both Izanagi Captains turn around.

The DaeMon of the group has jumped off Abby’s cannon and is snickering.

Laban DaeMon: "You just can’t tell him you’re scared, Skalmond?"

Shelly quickly gets offended, but Katsu keeps his composure behind her.

He smirks, knowing what the Seiõr born witch is doing to motivate Shelly.

Shelly: "What are you talking about?!

I’m not scared!

Sorry if I’m not like you. I do have a conscious and morals.

If I didn’t, you wouldn’t be alive right now, would you?"

Laban DaeMon: "So you’re going to compare the 1 on 1 we had a month ago, to an all out, three way war?"

Shelly doesn’t answer but keeps eye contact with her ’cousin’, related by Valkyrie blood.

Laban DaeMon: "How about you take a peek back out that window and see how much of a ’conscious and morals’ my sister... I mean sisters and that 2nd Generation have, Skalmönd."

Shelly doesn’t turn, but Katsu looks back out outside and notices the fire beginning to die down while SeiõrSnow falls on top of it.

Laban DaeMon: "I’ll admit, I had no clue there were two Herfjöturs, but I also didn’t know she was...

I didn’t know they were my actual half sisters either until ’Ms. Brother-Lover’ brought it up yesterday."

She gets back on track and locks eyes with Shelly.

Laban DaeMon: "But quit it with that ’fictional hero’ morality act, and face the music, Skalmönd.

You are seen as a savior to a lot of people.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but ever since that SeiõrSnow started to fall..."

She puts one hand over her right Eyelien.

Laban DaeMon: "...And those aliens carrying Seiõr accepted symbiotes invaded, there has been ’a race’."

Shelly: "What do you mean, ’race’?

Like a competition?

Who’s running in this ’race’?"

Katsu, seeming to know the importance of this specific conversation, keeps his loud, distractive personality completely smothered.

Katsu(thinking): *It’s why I confidently tell everyone we meet you’re the best, Shelly. Even without these recycled memories from this damned eye, I’ve always known it as the truth.*

Laban DaeMon: "Apparently you, Skalmönd. As well as anybody else with the blessings of a SanguineSoulSeiõrShield."

Shelly is the first one to break their eye contact.

She looks down at her hand and activates her golden pink SanguineSoulSeiõrShield.

Remembering the cowgirl earlier with the same color of magical shielding.

Laban DaeMon: "The gold mixed with your SoulSeiõr is a badge given to Seiõr users who protect and provide sanguinity to the meek.

The meek then subconsciously create SanguineSeiõr that is directed at you.

Think of it as a way to get passed Seiõr’s ’level cap’.

Most people who have mutual acknowledgement can only achieve a SoulSeiõrShield, or their own personal ceiling."

Katsu(thinking): *I’ve had to suffer through losing you too many times...Because of Saku’s involvement with these DæMons, and their superfluous grudge on your grandmother, I’ve had to make sure not only you, but everyone in the world knows, that you are the best!*

Laban DaeMon: "But the acquisition of SanguineSeiõr, that’s the sole reason my sisters are now in their own areas all over the world.

Saving helpless humans, building their own armies, and gaining strength through the tranquility they bring to those who can’t contribute..."

There is a feeling of shame that runs over the ex-Don of Roronora City, who acted more like a dictator rather than a savior.

Laban DaeMon: "...Instead of taking advantage of the world’s discourse to build a dictatorship...like I was."

Shelly deactivates her SanguineSoulSeiõrShield and puts her hands on her hips.

Shelly: "What are you getting at, DaeMon?"

Laban backflips and lands perfectly back on to Abby’s cannon ’trunk’. She sits and then hangs upside-down by her knees, looking at the other two while doing hanging crunches to warm up for the day’s events.

Laban DaeMon: "You’re not dumb, Skalmönd.

You know exactly what I’m saying.

There are already people who have put their complete hopes and faith in you to keep on fighting and surviving.

But that doesn’t mean those people have to still be living either.

Those who have sacrificed themselves directly for you, are the main reason your SanguineSoulSeiõrShield is different from that bitch in the western getup.

Not to mention, your Grandma’s final spell. Which may or may not have completely removed your limiters, explaining why you can continue on with your corny ’Mach System’."

Shelly remembers hiding in the crawl space as her mother was killed by her murderous and deranged uncle.

Then three years ago, when the Iceman lunged right for her, but Katsu’s parents sacrificed themselves, just so she could live on protecting Katsu.

Now upside down, Laban moves her stare to the always scheming Yang Vessel standing behind the zoned out Shelly.

The two symbiote users EyeEngage, but Katsu’s clearly superior Anjell Eye forcibly throws Laban’s vision back on Shelly.

The dominant act surprises the prideful DaeMon, but committed to Saku’s will, she keeps going with her pep talk and her upside down crunches.

Laban DaeMon: "There are people who see you as a beacon of justice.

As a ’Savior’, making sure they can one day find their purpose.

There’s gunna be a war starting today, and the physically useless people who indirectly empower you are going to be asking if you’re still fighting.

That answer either continues feeding you SanguineSeiõr or cuts off your supply."

Shelly turns around, and Katsu has turned back into his lighthearted self. He smiles and nods in agreement to Laban’s words of encouragement.

Katsu: "I don’t know if everything she’s saying is the truth or not, Shelly.

What I do know is, as long as I’m still living, I’ll always believe in you.

No matter what, we’ll be the ones who come out on top...and nothing will ever change that."