Editing City Series:Volume6a Chapter3 (section)

===Part 4===

“!?”

Before she could even question it, she realized a thick manly arm had grabbed her and lifted her high.

She opened her eyes to find herself around 3 yards high. She could see everything from there.

Dog Berger stood on the main road with his black coat flapping in the wind.

Bermark Vier stood to the right with his handgun at the ready.

And on the ground directly in front of her, she could now see what had caused the previous oddity.

Across a 10-yard square, the ground had been rotated at a right angle.

Needless to say, it had not been like that to begin with.

…''Did some kind of field spell rotate the entire space including the ground and me? It must have rotated inertia along with everything else.

She gulped at how wide a range had been affected and she looked down.

A man was carrying her over his shoulder. His enormous body was covered by a black military coat and his right arm was a giant prosthetic with a launcher attached. She had seen him just that morning at Berger’s used bookstore.

Berger called his name.

“ ‘Schallmauer Zerstörer’ Hellard Schweitzer!!”

“Indeed,” replied Schweitzer while tapping the sidewalk with the metal staff sticking out from his prosthetic arm’s launcher.

A solid, clear sound rang out and a light appeared before its reverberation faded.

Several silver searchlight beams shined in from beyond the woods alongside this road. More lights appeared on the roof of the school building to the right and atop the wall separating the campus from the city.

Hazel squinted at the brightness.

…''What is going on?

She was answered not by light but by sound.

She heard the low thrum of engines and the squeak of metal wheels following a rail.

She reflexively turned that way and saw the main gate opening.

The black metal fence of a door opened with the painfully shrill cry of its wheels and 8 armored vehicles entered through it.

That was not all. She heard giant metal feet crashing against the pavement with a heartbeat rhythm.

Two large forms appeared beyond the armored vehicles.

“Grösse Panzers!?”

Her question was answered by the presence of humanoid masses of metal standing 8 yards tall. They were male Grösse Panzers. They stood alongside the armored vehicles in Panzer Kleids and with their hands on the swords at their hips.

…''What? It’s like they’re ready for a war.

She panicked, but did not know what to actually do.

Schweitzer seemed to ignore her entirely as he struck the ground with the metal staff once more.

This clang caused all the light to waver. Soldiers had begun to gather in front of it. She heard the rustle of clothing and the hard footsteps of military boots. The metallic clattering of countless firearms overlapped into an indistinct roar of noise.

Feeling inundated by the many sounds, Hazel held her own body and looked around.

Figures in military uniforms emerged endlessly from the woods as if brushing up against her gaze. Their numbers rapidly grew into the dozens as they wordlessly used the trees and underbrush as cover while surrounding Berger from a distance and aiming their weapons at him.

After a few seconds, Schweitzer let out a shout.

“Halt!”

They all obeyed. Even the light and wind seemed to stop along with them.

The tension of the stillness and the cold now ruled the scene.

The air felt bound by a silence appropriate for a winter night and Hazel asked a silent question.

…''What’s going to happen?

She absentmindedly rubbed her right prosthetic eye and looked to him.

…''My right eye kind of hurts.

The pain had been coming and going for a bit now. Wondering if she was imagining it, she looked to Berger.

“Quite the party you’re throwing us, Schweitzer.”

“What is your point?”

“Why does the Geheimnis Agency need Hazel?”

“We need that girl to protect Germany.”

Hazel saw Berger’s expression change.

He sneered.

“That girl? She has a name, Schweitzer, so why aren’t you using it? Yeah, you know the answer, don’t you? It isn’t Hazel you need; it’s that prosthetic eye!” A breath. “I’m betting that eye is an Eingeweide and it’s made from-”

“Yes, it was made from Marsch Gant’s eye. From one of his blue eyes.”

Schweitzer turned to face Berger while spitting out the words.

Since Hazel was carried over his shoulder, this turned her so her butt was pointed toward Berger. She twisted around so she could see where their gazes were colliding, but she also brought her right hand to her right eye.

The prosthetic human eye she was given at the hospital had been aching for a while now.

…''What…is this?

Berger provided an answer to that.

“I don’t know what it does or what its power is, but if Marsch did make it, then I already know what it must be called. Based on that song Eryngium loved…that must be the Eingeweide eye Messiah.”

“Indeed it is. But unfortunately, that appears to be no more than a name.” Schweitzer sighed but kept all emotion from his face. “We have secured the Messiah, but we do not find ourselves in the destiny we had hoped for. This girl cannot become the Messiah. …Nevertheless, this Messiah implant is still crucial.”

“Wh-what does that mean!?” asked Hazel. “What does it even mean to become the Messiah?”

She shouted and tried to escape his grasp, but his arm had her waist fully pinned. She heard his voice right in her ear.

“Stop struggling. I would prefer not to kill you.”

There was no hint of emotion in his voice or on his face, but she stopped all the same.

She heard a quiet laugh followed by Berger’s voice.

“I think I get what this is about now. And why Marsch sent me the 9th Section of the Ruling King. It’s slowly coming together for me.”

He opened his mouth and a calm song echoed out into the night air.

''The one-armed youth holds the Messiah

''The moonlit pair returns to the earth

''The dragons gather and dance tonight

''Every last thing returns home

“That song was written in a time when German land was under attack by an outside enemy. The Heidengeist Messiah was unsure if she should save that land or not, so the man with a divine name convinced her to do so and they descended to the earth.”

He sighed.

“I get it, Schweitzer. An implant called the Messiah and the song about the Messiah’s descent to the earth? Marsch created that implant because he wanted to create the Messiah, didn’t he?”

“…”

“But remember this, Schweitzer. Hazel has no intention of letting me take her out of the country to be with her parents. She says she wants to stay in Germany. Do you know why that is?”

“Why?”

“She says she doesn’t want to run away.”

Hazel noticed extra strength suddenly gather in Schweitzer’s arm.

…''Does that mean something to him?

She looked to the large man while wondering about that. She had a good view of the face below his close-cropped blond hair and Berger’s voice rang in her ears.

“You get what that means, right!? We already heard that sentiment two years ago. But the feeling ruling Hazel now is contrary to Eryngium’s will! Because Hazel still doesn’t know what those words mean!”

And…

“Hazel!”

“!?”

When he called her name, she realized he was pointing at her.

“Use this chance to think carefully, Hazel. You said you have no obligation to run away and you said you want to use your right to stay here. …You said you don’t want to run away!”

“…”

“So figure out what that means! What does it mean to not want to run away!!”