**Central Europe - Falling Debris Field**
The air was full of death.
Pieces of Train 108 continued their descent toward the earth far below, spinning and tumbling through the sky like grotesque confetti. Bodies fell alongside the metal fragments, passengers who moments ago had been reading or sleeping or thinking about their destinations, now reduced to statistics, to collateral damage in a conflict they didn't understand and couldn't have prevented.
The ground rushed up to meet all of it
debris, bodies, and the three Blessed individuals who had somehow survived the initial explosion.
Ravina stood on a section of the train car that was still relatively intact, her body perfectly regenerated from whatever damage the explosion had caused. Her clothes were torn and scorched, but her skin showed no marks, no burns, no indication that she'd just been at the center of a catastrophic event. She looked around at the falling wreckage with an expression that mixed curiosity with vague disappointment, as if she'd been expecting something more interesting.
Near her, two bodies lay in pieces that should have been fatal.
Lee whole body was a ruin of flesh and flame. The blast had eaten through his suit, leaving skin blackened and splitting like overcooked paper. Smoke curled from his hair, the smell of charred metal and blood mixing into the air thick enough to choke on. His breathing came ragged, every inhale dragging fire down his throat. One arm hung useless, bone showing through the ash where muscle had melted away. His eyes barely open reflected nothing but orange light.
Ignis was in worse shape. His head sat several feet away from his body, both pieces trailing flames that flickered and died in the rushing wind of their descent. His eyes stared forward with the particular glassiness that came from catastrophic system shock, his brain trying to process why it was receiving no sensory input from anything below the neck.
Ravina looked between them, her head tilting slightly, and asked with genuine curiosity: "How much do you both take?"
Her voice carried over the wind and the distant screams of falling passengers, conversational and light, as if she were asking about their coffee preferences rather than their capacity to survive lethal injuries.
Lee's pieces began to move.
The burning started to reverse, flesh growing flesh again, the fundamental wrongness of his body being in multiple locations resolving itself through whatever mechanism his Blessed power provided. It wasn't fast not like Ravina's instantaneous regeneration but it was steady, methodical, the pieces growing together like fire catch forest.
Within thirty seconds, Lee was whole again. He pushed himself to his feet, his body showing no signs of the bisection beyond blood-soaked clothes and a profound sense of violation at having been cut apart.
Ravina watched this process with interest, then turned her attention to Ignis.
His regeneration was happening too, but much more slowly. The flames around his severed neck were building, creating a bridge of fire between head and body, and gradually
very gradually actual tissue was forming along that bridge. Blood vessels, muscle, bone, skin, all reconstructing with painful slowness.
"Man, you are so slow at regeneration," Ravina observed, her voice carrying mock sympathy that was more insulting than genuine concern would have been. "Anyone could eat you and take your power while you're putting yourself back together. You're basically a free power source for any Blessed who happens by."
Ignis couldn't respond his vocal cords were still disconnected from his lungs but his eyes conveyed exactly what he thought of her commentary.
Ravina turned back to Lee, and her expression shifted. The casual curiosity was replaced by something more focused, more predatory. Her smile widened, showing teeth, and when she spoke, her voice carried playful menace.
"So you wanna fight with me, huh?"
"Well, I guess we have to," he replied, his voice carrying none of her playfulness. This was professional for him, a job that needed completing, nothing more.
His body began to change again.
But this time, it wasn't his arm transforming. His entire torso rippled, flesh and bone restructuring themselves with sounds that should have been impossible for a living body to make. When the transformation completed, his upper body had become something else entirely an advanced weapon system that looked like it belonged on a military vehicle rather than a human frame.
Multiple barrels emerged from his chest and shoulders, each one different in design and apparent function. Some glowed with the telltale heat of laser emitters. Others crackled with barely contained energy that suggested particle beams or plasma weapons. His arms had transformed as well, becoming stabilization systems that would allow him to aim with inhuman precision.
He opened fire.
Lasers cut through the air in brilliant red lines, moving at light speed, impossible to dodge through normal means. Particle beams followed microseconds later, creating visible distortions in the air as they traveled. The barrage was overwhelming, designed to saturate an area so completely that evasion became impossible, that any target would be caught by at least some of the shots.
Ravina dodged easily.
Her body moved with fluid grace that suggested either precognition or reflexes so enhanced that she could track the weapons' aim points before they fired. She flowed around the laser fire like water moving past rocks, her movements economical and precise, never wasting motion, always positioned exactly where the attacks weren't.
*So this guy has weapon changing,* Ravina thought as she danced through the deadly light show. *He changes his body as he wants. And if I have to guess, then most probably only weapons I haven't seen him transform into anything defensive or utility-focused. Just offensive capabilities.*
She watched him fire, observed the way his body adjusted between volleys, noted the brief pauses where his transformation systems reset. *His regeneration is not bad either. Slower than mine, but functional. He can survive being cut in half and recover in under a minute. That's mid-tier durability.*
Her smile widened, taking on that predatory quality that made it clear she'd stopped playing and started hunting. *This might actually be fun.*
She closed the distance.
Lee had perhaps two seconds to register that she'd stopped dodging and started approaching before she was inside his guard, moving faster than his weapon systems could track. Her fist connected with his chest with tremendous force, the impact creating a sound like a car crash, and he felt something fundamental break inside him.
Then she hit him again. And again. And again.
The punches came in a continuous stream, each one landing with precision that suggested either combat training or natural talent for violence. She targeted weak points
joints, nerve clusters, the transformation mechanisms she'd identified during his earlier shifts. Each impact caused visible damage that his regeneration had to work to repair, and she was hitting faster than he could heal.
*How fast is she?* Lee thought desperately, his analytical mind trying to process combat data even while his body was being systematically destroyed. *It's been a while since I saw someone this fast. Maybe never. Her speed isn't just enhanced it's operating on a completely different level.*
He needed distance. Needed time to transform into something that could handle close-quarters combat. Needed to create space between them where his ranged weapons would be effective again.
He made a decision.
His body began to change again, but this transformation was different from the others. More fundamental. More dangerous. His chest cavity opened, revealing not organs or transformation mechanisms but something else entirely a core of compressed energy that pulsed with barely contained power.
Ravina's eyes widened as she recognized what he was becoming. "Oh, fuck," she said, her voice mixing genuine alarm with a smile that suggested she couldn't help but appreciate the audacity of the move.
Lee transformed into a nuclear weapon.
The explosion was instantaneous.
At the epicenter, temperatures exceeded those at the core of the sun. Matter didn't burn
it simply ceased to exist, converted directly into energy and plasma. The shockwave expanded at supersonic speeds, a sphere of destruction that consumed everything in its path.
The remaining debris from Train 108 vaporized instantly. Bodies that had been falling were reduced to constituent atoms. The air itself ignited, creating a fireball visible from hundreds of miles away.
And at ground level, the landscape transformed.
The explosion crater formed in seconds, earth and rock liquefying under the impossible heat, then being thrown outward by the force of the blast. Trees within a mile radius were stripped to splinters. Buildings in nearby towns had their windows blown out, their structures shaken to foundations.
The mushroom cloud began to form, rising into the atmosphere with terrible majesty, a monument to destructive power that should never be wielded by a single individual.
---
**Nazi Germany Military Command - Central District**
The command center erupted into controlled chaos.
Screens displayed the explosion from multiple angles satellite imagery, ground-based cameras, sensor data streaming in from various monitoring stations. The distinctive shape of the mushroom cloud was unmistakable, as was the energy signature that accompanied it.
A general stood at the center of the operations floor, his uniform perfectly pressed despite the hour, his posture rigid with decades of military discipline. His face was weathered, scarred from conflicts long past, and his eyes held the kind of cold assessment that came from making life-and-death decisions so often they'd stopped feeling heavy.
"What is happening?" he demanded, his voice cutting through the ambient noise of technicians calling out data and officers coordinating responses. The question was directed at no one in particular and everyone simultaneously—whoever had answers needed to provide them immediately.
A soldier approached, tablet in hand, his face pale with stress. "Sir, the explosion occurred near the central district border. Approximately forty kilometers from the nearest city center. Initial estimates suggest a yield in the ten-kiloton range."
The general's expression didn't change, but something in his posture tightened. "Source?"
"Unknown, sir. There was no missile launch detected, no aircraft in the area, no ground-based weapon systems. It simply... detonated."
"That's not possible," the general said flatly. "Nuclear weapons don't spontaneously explode. Someone or something triggered it."
Another technician called out from her station: "Sir, we're receiving reports of an earlier incident. Train 108 was destroyed approximately five minutes before the nuclear detonation. Three hundred passengers confirmed dead. The train's emergency beacon was activated briefly before going offline."
The general processed this information, his mind working through tactical implications. "The incidents are connected. Someone attacked the train, then used nuclear force. This is a Blessed individual."
The word carried weight. Everyone in the room knew what it meant someone with powers that transcended normal human limitations, operating outside the conventional rules of warfare.
"Take our troops immediately," the general ordered, his voice becoming more clipped, more urgent. "Full mobilization. I want ground forces surrounding the blast zone within thirty minutes. And ready the A05 squadron."
"Yes, sir!" Multiple voices responded in unison.
The A05 aircraft were specialized weapons platforms, designed specifically for engaging Blessed individuals who proved too dangerous for conventional forces. Each plane was equipped with advanced targeting systems that could track and predict enhanced movement patterns, and their primary armament consisted of high-powered lasers calibrated to deliver pinpoint strikes at extreme temperatures.
The official designation was "Anti-Blessed Suppression Platform A05," but soldiers had given them a more direct nickname: Godkillers.
They were slow subsonic by design, prioritizing stability and accuracy over speed. But their laser systems could fire continuously for up to ten minutes, delivering sustained beams that reached temperatures exceeding nine thousand degrees Celsius at the focal point. Few materials could withstand that kind of concentrated heat, and fewer Blessed individuals could regenerate fast enough to survive it.
"Laser calibration?" the general asked.
"Maximum output, sir. We're treating this as a Category 5 threat."
The general nodded. Category 5 meant "extinction-level if not contained." It meant authorization for lethal force without warning or negotiation. It meant the target was considered too dangerous to allow any possibility of escape.
Seven A05 aircraft began their launch sequence from the nearest military airbase, their engines warming up, their weapon systems running final diagnostics. Within minutes, they would be airborne and en route to the blast site.
---
**Ground Zero - Minutes After the Explosion**
The landscape was unrecognizable.
What had been forest and fields was now a crater, the earth scorched black and still radiating heat. Small fires burned at the crater's edges where vegetation had been far enough away to avoid instant vaporization but close enough to ignite. The air shimmered with thermals, and the smell of burned everything filled what remained of the atmosphere.
At the center of this devastation, Ravina's body was regenerating.
It started with bones calcium and marrow reconstructing from nothing, pulling themselves together according to some blueprint that existed beyond physical space. Then came organs, muscle, nervous system, all growing simultaneously in a process that defied every known principle of biology. Skin formed last, covering the grotesque reconstruction process, making her whole again.
She stood up slowly, looking down at herself, then at the destruction surrounding her. Her clothes had been completely vaporized, and she was functionally naked except for the rapidly regenerating fabric that her power apparently considered part of her body's baseline state.
"Man, who the fuck uses a nuke in this kind of battle?" she said to the empty crater, her voice carrying genuine indignation. "Don't you think about innocent people? The environmental damage? The political ramifications?"
Lee's form began reconstructing about twenty meters away, his body pulling itself together from atomic components, reversing the transformation that had turned him into a nuclear weapon. When he was whole enough to speak, his voice came out strained.
"Talking about innocent deaths, you shouldn't talk," he countered, his tone carrying accusation despite his weakened state. "You literally threw those bodies aside just to check if your food was alright. You showed more concern for a sandwich than for three hundred dead passengers."
Ravina waved a hand dismissively. "That's a different thing."
"How is it different?"
"The food was mine. Those passengers weren't."
Lee stared at her, trying to determine if she was joking or genuinely didn't see the problem with that logic. He decided it didn't matter
she was a psychopath either way.
"Whatever," he said, his body completing its regeneration. He needed a new approach. The nuclear option had bought him time but hadn't actually defeated her. And now he was operating at reduced capacity, his energy reserves depleted from the massive transformation and explosion.
He changed his form again, this time into something less catastrophic. His arms became launching systems, his chest a storage mechanism, and within seconds he was firing explosives conventional bombs, but dozens of them, creating a carpet bombing effect that should have overwhelmed any defensive capability.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The explosions rippled across the crater, each one adding to the destruction, creating overlapping kill zones that left nowhere safe, nowhere to evade to.
Ravina walked through them.
Her regeneration activated faster than the bombs could damage her, her body healing instantaneously from burns and shrapnel and concussive force. She didn't even botherunhurrie just walked forward with steady, unhurried steps, letting the explosions wash over her like rain.
"Your attacks have no effect on me, you know that," she called out, her voice somehow audible over the constant detonations. Her smile had returned, wide and manic. "My regeneration is insane. You can't damage me faster than I heal. You're just wasting energy."
Lee stopped firing, his analytical mind forced to accept what his tactical assessments were telling him: he couldn't win this fight through direct damage. She was simply too durable, her regeneration too fast and too complete.
*This woman is not stronger than me,* he thought, forcing himself to be objective despite the growing desperation. *Her actual combat power her strength, her speed is impressive but not overwhelming. I've fought Blessed individuals with more raw force.*
*However, her regeneration keeps her alive. No matter what I do, no matter how much damage I inflict, she just comes back. Can I defeat her? Can anyone?*
*My sanity. Damn it. She probably has more control over it. I can feel it already the edges of my thoughts getting fuzzy, my emotions becoming harder to regulate. How long have I been fighting? How many transformations have I used? Each one takes a toll, and I'm approaching my limit.*
*If I keep fighting, I'll lose myself before I defeat her. I'll become like mindless monster driven only by instinct and rage.*
Lee paused, his body returning to something approximating human form. He stood still in the crater, breathing hard despite not technically needing to breathe, his mind working through options that were rapidly narrowing to nothing.
This pause confused Ravina.
She'd been walking toward him, prepared to close distance and resume her systematic beating, but his sudden stillness made her stop. Was this a trap? Some new transformation he was preparing? Or had he simply given up?
"Hello?" she called out, her voice taking on exaggerated sweetness. "Hero? The hero didn't arrive yet? Come harass me! I'm an innocent heroine who needs saving!"
She arranged her face into an expression of wide-eyed innocence that was utterly unconvincing given the context standing naked in a nuclear crater, covered in residual blast burns that were healing even as she posed, surrounded by the evidence of mass destruction she'd helped cause.
Lee ignored her performance, his mind focused on a different problem. *Should I use that line that miss evelyn? The one that reveals true nature of this woman, that strips away her masks wear and forces her to confront what shereally is?*
He thought about it for one full minute, weighing risks and benefits while Ravina continued her increasingly absurd damsel-in-distress performance.
"Help me! Help me!" she cried, clutching her hands to her chest, looking around for imaginary rescuers. "Nobody will take me to see movies anymore! I'm so lonely and innocent and in need of a strong hero!"
*The line will reveal her true nature,* Lee decided finally. *Whatever lies beneath this chaotic performance, whatever genuine self exists under all the jokes and violence and insanity I need to see it. Need to understand what I'm really fighting.*
*And maybe, if I can understand her, I can find a weakness.*
He smiled—a genuine smile, the first real emotion he'd shown since the fight began. Then he laughed, the sound carrying across the crater, surprising both himself and Ravina with its authenticity.
Ravina stopped her performance immediately, her instincts recognizing that something had changed, that the dynamic of their confrontation had shifted in some fundamental way.
"Help me!" she called out, pushing her act even further. "This man wants to rape me! Someone call the police! I'm being assaulted!"
Lee's smile widened, and he spoke clearly, his words chosen with deliberate precision to cut deep and personal: "Yeah, this is what they did to your sister, right?"
The effect was immediate and catastrophic.
Five seconds passed.
Then Lee was speaking again, but his voice was different now strained, shocked, carrying genuine fear for the first time since his introduction. "I know that line was risky, but I didn't expect—"
His body exploded.
Not from external force, not from any visible attack. Ravina had simply been there closer than should have been possible, moving faster than his enhanced perception could track and her fist had gone through his chest with enough force to destroy everything vital.
His torso came apart, organs rupturing, bones shattering, his transformation mechanisms reduced to scrap metal and biological paste. His head remained intact long enough to process what was happening, to understand that he'd made a terrible miscalculation.
But Ravina wasn't stopping.
Her attacks continued even after his body was destroyed, her fists hammering into the pieces with systematic brutality. The playful expression was gone completely, replaced by something cold and focused and absolutely lethal. Her face showed no rage, no loss of control just the calculated precision of someone who had decided that Lee needed to stop existing and was methodically making that happen.
Lee's consciousness fragmented as his brain struggled with massive trauma, but he retained enough awareness to be terrified. His head had been separated from the destruction, rolling several feet away, and he watched with fading vision as Ravina destroyed what remained of his body with mechanical efficiency.
*Did I underestimate her?* The thought came slowly, fighting through the shutdown processes his systems were initiating. *Not her power I calculated that correctly. But her psychological state. Her capacity for cold violence when this humor drops away.*
*I thought she was chaotic, unstable, driven by impulse and entertainment. But this... this is controlled. This is someone who knows exactly what they're doing and has done it many times before.*
He tried to escape, to use his separation ability to slip away before she could finish him completely. His head attempted to dematerialize, to phase into whatever space he accessed when separating his body parts.
Ravina's hand shot out and caught him.
Not his physical head she grabbed the dimensional anchor that connected his consciousness to physical space, something that shouldn't have been visible or tangible but that she somehow perceived and grasped anyway. She yanked, and his head snapped back into full materialization, the escape attempt aborted.
"Damn you," Lee gasped, his voice weak but carrying genuine desperation now. "Leave my body, please. I'm begging you. I completed my mission—I gave you the information about Valenora. We don't need to continue this."
Ravina said nothing. Her hand remained clamped around his head, her other hand moving to his body, beginning the process of consuming him completely. If she ate enough of his mass, his regeneration wouldn't have enough material to work with. He would die permanently, and she would gain his abilities.
"Fuck you," Lee spat, fear transforming into rage. If he was going to die, he'd take her with him.
His body began another transformation, pulling together what fragments remained, channeling all his remaining energy into one final nuclear detonation. If he couldn't escape, he'd at least deny her the satisfaction of consuming him. And maybe maybe the explosion at point-blank range would destroy her completely, would overcome even her regeneration through sheer overwhelming force.
The nuclear core began forming in his chest cavity, energy compressing, temperature rising toward critical mass—
Ravina's hand cut through his torso and destroyed it.
The movement was surgical, precise, her fingers somehow sharp enough to slice through the transformation mechanism before it could complete. The nuclear reaction collapsed, the energy dissipating harmlessly, and Lee's last desperate gambit failed completely.
*Did I underestimate her?* The thought came again, but this time with full understanding, with complete acceptance of just how badly he'd miscalculated. *She's not just durable. She's skilled. She understands Blessed abilities, knows how to counter them, has fought enough of us to recognize transformation patterns and interrupt them.*
*I'm going to die here.*
Ravina's mouth opened, her teeth closing around his shoulder, preparing for that final bite that would seal his fate—
A laser beam struck her hand.
The intensity was tremendous, focused heat that exceeded her regeneration's capacity to heal instantly. Her flesh vaporized, her bones burned, and Lee's head dropped from her suddenly nerveless fingers.
She looked up, and seven aircraft appeared in the sky above them.
The A05 squadron had arrived.
They flew in formation, slow but steady, their weapon systems already locked onto her position. All seven fired simultaneously, creating a web of laser beams that crisscrossed the crater, targeting her from multiple angles to prevent evasion.
Ravina ducked and weaved, her enhanced speed allowing her to avoid most of the beams, but there were too many, coming from too many directions. One caught her leg, burning through muscle and bone. Another sliced across her back, leaving a charred line that smoked even as it began regenerating.
Lee's body started pulling itself together, his regeneration finally able to work without constant interruption. Within seconds, he was whole again, his head reattached, his consciousness restored to full function. He looked up at the aircraft with something approaching gratitude they'd saved his life, whether they'd intended to or not.
But Ravina was already adapting.
She lifted her hand, two fingers extended in a gesture that seemed casual, almost lazy. Her lips parted, and when she spoke, the word fell like a command cold, final, carrying weight that transcended normal language.
"Kon."
In the next second, Ignis materialized.
His regeneration had finally completed while all this was happening, his body fully restored, his consciousness returned to normal function. He'd apparently been making his way toward the fight, following the explosions and the nuclear blast, and Ravina's single word had been some kind of signal they'd established.
Fire erupted around him, and he didn't hesitate or ask questions. Two massive streams of flame shot toward the aircraft, targeting the nearest pair with temperatures that rivaled Lee's nuclear explosion. The planes' armor was designed to withstand conventional weapons, but not sustained fire at this intensity.
Ravina said with dead smile*This is so cool man* Even during her cold persona she show that chaotic personality
Ignis said with shocked* did this bitch said kon like we're in anime*
The aircraft began to melt, their hulls compromising, their systems failing. Both pilots managed to eject before their planes disintegrated completely, their parachutes deploying as they descended toward the crater far below.
Simultaneously, Ravina's head shot out toward the remaining five aircraft.
She throw five bomb that she got while fighting Lee and the force break the glass and those bombs went inside the cockpit and killed those 5 pilot.
The wreckage began falling, burning debris raining down across the already devastated landscape. The entire squadron had been eliminated in under ten seconds.
Ravina landed on the ground where Ignis stood, his fire still flickering around his hands, his expression carefully neutral as he took in the destruction surrounding them. He'd regenerated fully his clothes had even returned, his fire powers having some strange relationship with his personal effects but something in his posture suggested he was still processing what had happened while he'd been unconscious.
Ravina looked at him, and Ignis prepared himself for her usual teasing. He'd heard her say "Kon" like she was trying to be cool, like they were in some kind of martial arts movie, and he expected her to make jokes about his slow regeneration or his "hero" status or something equally annoying.
But when he actually looked at her face, the jokes died in his throat.
She looked completely different.
The manic energy was gone, replaced by something cold and focused. Her expression carried no humor, no playfulness, no trace of the chaotic personality he'd come to associate with her. She looked like a different person or perhaps like the same person with all their masks removed, revealing what had always existed underneath.
*You look cold,* Ignis thought, and for the first time since meeting her, he felt genuine wariness rather than just annoyance.
"Torture that guy," Ravina said, her voice flat and emotionless, gesturing toward where Lee was completing his regeneration. She didn't explain why, didn't elaborate on what she wanted done. Just gave the command and expected it to be followed.
Ignis looked at Lee, assessed him quickly. "That's a Blessed individual," he pointed out, his tone making it clear that torturing someone with enhanced durability and regeneration would be both difficult and pointless.
Ravina nodded once, a sharp movement that conveyed acknowledgment without softening her expression at all.
"Alright," Ignis said, because what else was there to say? He started moving toward Lee, flames building around his hands, preparing for whatever "torture" meant in the context of immortal beings—
Lee was gone.
Not fled, not escaped through visible means. Simply absent, with only a flickering holographic projection remaining where his body had been moments before. The hologram showed his form for perhaps two more seconds before it, too, faded away.
"I will finish that son of a bitch if I find him," Ravina said, and her voice carried such absolute certainty, such cold promise of violence, that Ignis felt his skin prickle despite his fire immunity.
*What was that?* he thought, genuine fear touching him for the first time since their partnership had begun. He'd been completely focused on his regeneration throughout the latter half of the fight, his consciousness turned inward, monitoring the slow reconstruction of his nervous system and brain tissue.
*All I remember before that nuke blast," but after that? Nothing. Just blank space where my awareness should have been. What happened during those minutes? What did Lee say to her? What did she do to him that made her this cold?*
He looked at the hologram's fading light and realized it was displaying something. Not just Lee's form, but information coordinates, a map, a destination.
"Let's look at that hologram," he said, grateful for something concrete to focus on besides Ravina's disturbing transformation.
The map showed a location in the Netherlands, marked with specific geographic coordinates. And beneath those coordinates was text, simple and direct: **Valenora - Flower's Home**.
"Well, looks like he wants us to go there," Ignis observed. "He completed his mission after all. Whatever else happened, he gave us the information we need."
"I will go," Ravina said, and the scary edge was still in her voice, the cold determination that suggested this had become personal rather than just another chaotic adventure.
*Her voice sounds scary,* Ignis thought, and realized with some surprise that this was the first time he'd found her genuinely frightening rather than just annoying. *What the hell happened while I was regenerating?*
"We have to go," Ravina repeated, and this time it was clear she wasn't asking or suggesting. She was stating a fact, declaring an intention that nothing would divert her from.
"Alright," Ignis agreed.
---
**Astraea's Ship - Atlantic Ocean**
The scene shifted thousands of miles away, to the relative calm of the ocean where three women were dealing with their own complications.
Carmilla sat in the ship's cabin, smoking yet another cigarette, her eyes fixed on the holographic news display that floated in front of her. Multiple feeds showed the same story from different angles and perspectives, but the core facts were consistent:
A nuclear explosion had occurred in central Europe. Casualty estimates were still being compiled, but early reports suggested hundreds dead from the initial train destruction, plus unknown additional deaths from the nuclear blast. Nazi Germany had mobilized military forces and declared a state of emergency. The incident was being investigated as a terrorist attack by Blessed individuals.
Carmilla's hand trembled slightly as she raised her cigarette to her lips. "Damn," she muttered, her voice carrying shock despite her enhanced analytical abilities telling her this was statistically inevitable. "During our conversation and Eve's breakdown, a nuke happened? A nuclear weapon was detonated by a Blessed individual? That's... that's Category 5 event escalation."
She took a long drag, her mind working through implications. The international response would be severe. Security around Blessed individuals would intensify. And their own mission to reach Valenora had just become exponentially more difficult.
Then another thought occurred to her, and her expression shifted from shock to something more complex calculation mixed with desire, intellectual curiosity mixed with hunger.
"Heheheh," she laughed, the sound starting quiet and building slightly, carrying an edge that would have concerned anyone who knew her well. "Now that means I can eat one of them, right? To get a Blessed power?"
"if a Blessed individual was causing this much destruction, was operating at this level of threat, then consuming them wouldn't be murder—it would be public service. And gaining their abilities would make her stronger, would allow her to get her goal effectivly and maybe or not, protect Eve and Angela more effectively, would elevate her from pseudo-Blessed to genuine power."
Then she stopped, her train of thought derailing as she actually heard what she'd just said.
"Wait, what the fuck was that?" She spoke to the empty cabin, her voice rising with genuine alarm. "Why am I thinking about cannibalism? Since when do I casually discuss eating people? That's not... I wouldn't..."
She looked down at her remaining hand, studying it as if it belonged to someone else.
Movement in her peripheral vision pulled her attention toward where Eve sat near the cabin's entrance, still withdrawn, still processing her encounter with Aetherion and the traumatic memories it had triggered.
Carmilla studied Eve for a long moment, seeing her vulnerability, her confusion, her desperate need to understand what she was and why she existed. And Carmilla made a decision—one that felt right even if her judgment was currently suspect.
"First, let's go to Valenora," she said, her voice becoming more controlled, more like her usual analytical tone. "Then we will continue. Whatever else happens, whatever I'm becoming, we complete this mission first. We get Eve to the Tree of Hope, we get Angela her body back, we find answers."
*And then,* she thought but didn't say aloud, *then I figure out what the hell is happening to me. Whether I'm losing my humanity or just discovering what I really am beneath all the comfortable lies.*
She stubbed out her cigarette and stood, moving toward the ship's controls. They'd waited long enough. Whatever had happened with that nuclear explosion, whoever had caused it, they needed to move forward.
Valenora was waiting, and time was running out.