Note: Sekirei belongs to Sakurako Gokurakuin and the only thing I own here is my OC.

"Tch, well, this looks familiar." I stated simply as we hanged in pitch darkness in the middle of seemingly nothingness. As I turned ourselves around, I saw nothing, no matter where I looked. First impressions done, I instead turned my gaze on us, on our body. Or what substituted as such for now. It would seem that we were turned into a soul, a mere wisp of light and imagination. A white orb that burned with bright yet pale blue flame…

Except that our flame was a weak dark blue that could be mistaken for purple. It would seem that the near destruction of my dear daughter's soul wasn't escaped without some consequences. Daughter…hah, yea… The girl that awoke in a tube filled with fluorescent liquid that glowed a pale green with me all these years ago she… But never mind, I must first ensure her safety before I can start reminiscing about the 'good old days'. I needed to make sure that she was still here with me completely for the alternatives could be quite…scary. I must see if my frantic and nigh hopeless actions actually saved my darling girl. Normally, a destruction of a Tama, the physical representation of a Sekirei's Soul from which they draw their power to do things that deny the world, would result in the complete destruction of said Sekirei.

Normally, I scoffed as I sent a mental image of patting my girl's spiky pale blue hair as she slept in her coma, what a joke. Nothing I ever do is 'normal' by any stretch of the imagination. Not then, not After and definitely, not now.

I've always had a knack for getting into spectacular trouble. In another life, I used to be a normal kid, playing around, having fun in Russia, making friends and going to school. I was going to my 9th grade when my school was taken hostage by Chechen terrorists and I was shot in the head with the rest of my friends sometime during the final assault. Or so my parents claim. I lost all of my memory prior to that moment, but strangely, only my memories yet my skills stayed, unaffected by the ordeal. In exchange, I gained Eidetic Memory from this tragedy. Hardly a worthy trade I think, losing 16 years of my life and all of my friends for perfect memory.

Still, I persevered and, with my perfect memory as well as some hard work, I finished school with a golden medal and decided to attend the University of Toronto for a chance of new life. I was sick and tired of the pity I constantly got from my relatives. Years passed by and there I was, graduating with a group of close friends. I…I don't really remember much of what happened after. I know one of my closest friends was an occultist and that he tried to do some ritual or something when we all got drunk but…

When I awoke, I was alone…all alone. In the deep, endless darkness I hanged with no body and nothing…nothing at all around me. The eternal silence, endless space and infinite darkness were my only companions as I forced myself to move across this void of no beginning nor end. I moved because I had to do Something. Because I had to focus on Something. Because otherwise…

I found that I was slowly beginning to lose my memories once more. Well, not particularly lose but some of them became bleak and emotionless, much like textbook knowledge. The thought of losing my memories once more though, the mere thought of losing what I was, what made me…me, nearly drove me insane. In this endless void I found out that only will and imagination existed. Even my body, an ephemeral wisp of light was merely an illusion created by my desperate mind.

And so, I formed a sphere inside of myself into which I placed my memories, everything I held dear. A sphere of absolute rejection that was safe from the Hungry Void. An Absolute Terror field…hah, who knew that the couple anime I have watched would be what I'd have to rely on to get me safe across the Gap-Between-Worlds.

Yet, my fear, my…terror at losing my memories, the things that me…me, was what played a cruel trick in the end. Unwittingly, I used my soul as a shield to protect my mind, forgetting that the mind is not everything that makes a person human. People, and I am no exception, often forget that that the soul is an important part of the 3 core components that make a human. Some even disagree that soul is that important or that it even exists but I know…now I know, that the soul is perhaps the most important part of the Body-Mind-Soul that made me human…

It was the little things first. Time disappeared first as I suddenly found myself just not being able to care about it anymore. Who cares how long I've spent in this eternal prison, right? Little by little, I began to lose bits of myself until eventually, I simply began to stop caring about living, content to let myself dissolve in the eternity.

I was shocked to wake up in a tube of liquid, feeling perfectly fine. Even greater was my shock that I was not in the control of the body. But the final thing that, figuratively, killed me was the fact that the body belonged to a girl. Unable to take it in, I lost consciousness.

When I woke up, I got bombarded by a thousand and one questions by the curious child with the body of a girl in her late teens. She wanted to know Everything. Literally. But I suppose it's understandable, from what I can see she literally is a newborn. Even the language we spoke was that of thought and images, not actual words. So I indulged the kid with an internal smile. I always liked playing around with kids, teaching them about the world.

And then came a question that made me pause…what is my name? My old name…I…I don't think I can use it. I could feel that Yaroslav Voronov wasn't my name anymore, it just… didn't feel right. As if I am stealing someone else's name. The void changed me…no, it eroded me. Who was I now? What was I now?

Surprisingly, I found it difficult to care about the situation. That, more than anything, convinced me that whatever I was, I was not Yaroslav, a Russian graduate student of University of Toronto anymore. I was… I was… No, I am but a fragment of the dead human Yaroslav. A bodiless mass of knowledge with a nigh dissolved soul - a tiny shard of what it used to be. An Archive, filled with Yaroslav's knowledge, the only piece…the only inheritance he left after himself. His proof of existence that is what I am. An Archive whose purpose is to pass its Creator's legacy to those worthy. And who could possibly be more worthy then a newly born child? A clean slate that would easily soak in the knowledge and carry it on, building upon that legacy and treasuring it. Until one day, she'll pass it onto another and my maker's legacy will live on, eternal.

But enough mopping around, a curious child awaits me. A newly born girl who I'll treasure and raise to inherit me… Hmm, that makes me a father doesn't it? I wonder what would my… no, what Yaroslav's mother would think of this development?

Over the weeks and months that followed, I aided my daughter in whatever way I could. From slowly letting her absorb Yaroslav's memories, making sure to keep the personal bits out, to analysing anything and everything around us and reporting it to my carrier. The child grew fast, eagerly absorbing any and all information that came her way.

But, I was uneasy. This world… It may look like my – Yaroslav's – Earth but it most certainly wasn't. Unless that gray haired scientist – Takami Sahashi – was lying, my daughter was a Sekirei, an alien with powers that casually broke the Natural World Laws – Physics, Biology, Chemistry – simply by existing. And what was worse was that they were forced to fight one another until no more than 1 remained. All for the sake a Wish. Any Wish… what a scary thought.

The wish that my girl fought for, the Sekirei whose power was as confusing as it was magnificent. The ability to go beyond the border, to the place where all shall arrive in due time and the one place Humanity had been curious about since its conception. And this Sekirei trotted there and back like it was her backyard or something. Yet… if any were to have such a power, it would be my daughter without doubt. Yes, only she could be trusted with it. She knew what her power could do and she was careful with it. Still, perhaps it's time to start accelerating her absorption of Yaroslav's knowledge, never know where or when she'll need it.

I smiled at the memories, as we drifted in the ever familiar void, stroking my daughter's hair mentally. When I realized that by letting her absorb Yaroslav's legacy I was losing the last anchor that still bound my shard of a soul to her, I was quite…sad. It was yet another reminder that whatever I was, I was hardly human. Faced with the realization that what I did was killing me, I simply discarded it as unimportant. My purpose was to ensure that Yaroslav's proof of existence wasn't lost in the void that claimed the rest of him. As soon as I do that, this shard of his soul will join the rest of him where it belongs.

Still…I…I must admit, I was not against my daughter's feverish attempts to make me stay here, with her. She really could use some company, as terrible as mine was due to the constant blackouts I was beginning to suffer as my soul's grasp upon this world began to loosen. I won't lie, at first I thought Karasuba's company was terrible for my girl. But… as time passed, I began to realize that the murderous Black Sekirei was possibly the best thing that ever happened to my girl. Karasuba accepted her in her entirety. From her body to her wish, Karasuba merely accepted it and supported her faithful lieutenant.

I could rest in peace, knowing that the Black Sekirei would never let her go. Not without fighting tooth and nail, putting her very existence, her Tama on the line for her lover. Over time, my precious girl began to craft more and more bonds. From Karasuba's student, Haihane, to Benitsubasa who fought to be acknowledged and accepted by my daughter. Well, the petite pink haired girl certainly got what she wanted when the object she was sieging declared the tiny Sekirei as her young sister.

And then…then my beloved Sekirei found her Ashikabi, her destined person in this world, and gained her wings, surrounded by friends who became her family. It was at this point that I finally let myself relax and drift into sleep, waiting for the time when I'll be required once more. Leaving my darling child to her hard earned family, I slept, rebuilding and reinforcing my bond to the world. My persistent daughter found a way to keep my in this world by denying the transfer of Yaroslav's legacy to her. This, in turn, was preventing me from doing my duty but I had no other option but to look for a way to stay with her, even after my task is complete. She'd settle for no less, after all.

I had never expected to be jolted awake by the most horrific even possible, one that I didn't even dare to have nightmares of. I don't know how, neither do I know why, but her Tama was shattered. That 5 cm diameter sphere had another very important function aside from harvesting the energy radiated by the soul to perform world denying miracles. It was also a Soul Cage. So long as it was intact, no Sekirei truly died. The Tama could easily be implanted into another body, allowing the Sekirei to take it for their own so long as the Tama was intact.

And yet… my cherished daughter's Tama was shattered and she was rapidly fading into the Spiritual Realm, her bond to me dissolving. I…refused this. I denied it from happening! I willed myself to latch on and Pull. Where? I didn't particularly know nor cared, just somewhere away from the horrible afterlife the Spirit Realm of this world offered. I pulled her away from the world, away from the black hole in the dead skies above the Spirit Realm that devoured all of the souls of the dead. I pulled until I couldn't do anything but pull. Only when I felt my strength drop to practically 0 did I stop and allow myself a breather, wrapping myself protectively around the soul of my daughter. I didn't really care that the void was dissolving my essence again. So long as I used the shard of a soul I had left to prevent my dear child's soul from suffering from the caustic void, I didn't care.

Without doubt, soon even this thin shield around her will fail as I'll disappear into the endless darkness of this Gap between the Worlds, but until then… Until then I shall guard her and look for a way out. This Gap may be endless but it certainly wasn't empty. Provided I keep going, I'll eventually hit another world, another place for us to try again at. I cannot comprehend the agony my daughter will suffer when she'll realize that her family isn't here with her forever more, but at least she's alive. At least she'll live. And so long as she's alive… I know that my child is strong and she'll persevere.

All that's left is for me to shield her on this long journey as we seek a place for her to restart. A place that is hopefully better than the hellish nightmare that she was born in. True, her family made it passable, great even, but it didn't turn away the fact that her world was hardly a place I'd want my beloved daughter to live in. Granted, whoever said that the next world we'll find would be better? Still, one must hope for the best even if the preparations for the worst must be made.

As we traveled through the infinite darkness of the void, I was astonished to realize that the effects, those damnable caustic effects that washed out the soul and mind were… well, they were still there but strangely muted. As if something was holding them at bay mostly. Fascinating, what could possibly be… no…no way!

I turned my attention to the white orb that still glowed a strange deep, dark blue surrounded by my pale, wavering sphere of pale, nigh white, blue. My daughter is the Sekirei of Gates, the border being that can come and go to both Spirit and Living Realms at will. But… but is would seem that there is a little bit more to it than that. I know I am grasping at straws here, but that's the only explanation that makes sense. It's the only positive change that happened to me since the last time I was here. When I appeared here all these years ago, I felt like an ice cube in an ocean of warm water. Now…now the analogy would be that of an ice cube in an ocean that is only just above the freezing point. Still, as fascinating as this is, I can't do more than thank the Gods for it and move on, hoping that now we'll make it to another world for sure.

It's been… how long has it been? Does it even matter anymore? Time…what possible use was time in the never-ending blackness of the Gap? Each world has their own time after all and there's an infinite amount of worlds in this infinite playground of Elder Gods and Creators.

I felt faint hope raise its head as I felt another world before us. It was an odd feeling, sort of like feeling the air warm up gently as I traveled towards the world in question. I pray that this is the world we are looking for because I doubt I can make it to another…not after the last 3 fiascos. The first world we crashed into, as I didn't realize what that feeling meant until we crashed head on, was…hell. Thankfully, it wasn't literally hell but there was simply no way we'd ever stay in this Apocalyptic World. So this is what World War 3 looks like… Note to self, avoid worlds where WW3 is nigh. With effort, I pulled us out of that world, breaking through the pull that tried to keep the souls where they belonged.

The second world was a barren icy wasteland without an atmosphere and a black hole for a sun. I don't know what world this is, but we aren't staying. The third was far more interesting in that it was a lush, jungle planet…completely void of all sapient life. After seeing a couple extremely derelict ruins at the North and South Poles, I decided to avoid this world too. Whatever this place was, it would be terrible idea to reincarnate here.

As we traveled through the Gap, I noticed something that made me briefly pause in awe. My daughter's soul, a giant white ball several times that of what I remember Yaroslav's being, that glowed with a shaky and violent dark blue flame, began to stabilize. It began to compress and draw in its flames into the core, giving it a dull blue look. It was beginning to look like she was reforming her soul into a Tama. But that'd mean that my theory that Tama's are artificial cages designed to contain and draw power from Sekirei souls is bullshit! It would seem that a Tama is a natural state of a Sekirei soul! I was awestruck at how an incorporeal concept turned itself into a physical object that could be touched and could interact with the physical world.

The catch was that it was getting harder and harder for me to pull it along the endless Gap. A spirit such as me cannot interact with physical objects. It's only because the Tama hasn't finished forming that I could still drag my daughter's soul. But I was running out of time, whether the next world is right or not, I am afraid I'll have no choice but to use it.

I wanted to cry. But I couldn't, I had nothing to cry with. And using my imagination to picture myself crying was just not worth the effort. So close. So gods be damned close! The Tama finished forming just outside the inner perimeter of this world. It seemed like such a nice world too, plenty of souls wandering about around it, meaning it wasn't dead, and the warmth I felt from this world was far beyond any comparison with the other worlds we visited. I hovered uncertainly, still wrapped around the Tama of my daughter as a shield. I think a bit of scouting is in order, if I go fast, nothing should happen…I hope. I really need to see if this world is what we seek first and then I can plan something from there…

I know I said I'll think up of something. But honestly? I am at a loss. I couldn't move the Tama no matter what I did. I couldn't push it to the world before us, the world I believe is our second chance. The world itself was…strange. On one hand, we have humans – typical - on the other hand I saw monsters, both humanoid and not, wandering around, combated by haughty mages and zealous exorcists alike. Still, I believe this world is what we need…not that we have a choice in the matter anymore.

Distracted by my thoughts, I noticed another soul by my child's Tama far too late. Before I could so much as turn, the spirit touched the Tama…and shattered. As I watched, stunned, everything but a small inner core was drawn into the Tama while the core rippled and was transferred into something. It was sort of like a Gate to the Spirit Realm that my daughter opens but instead of going to the gray scale world, the core vanished into what looked like an impossible kaleidoscope of all colors and none. The Tama glowed once and then returned to its dormant state.

I would've blinked in stupor if I had a body. Considering the fact that I didn't, I instead had to settle with just the stupor part. I don't know what just happened, but did that soul just donate a portion of itself to make the Tama open a gate to…somewhere? What the hell is going on? Damn it, if only my daughter would awake from her coma already and tell me what just happened.

It was with some misgivings that I watched another soul approach my daughter's Tama. This would be the 5th one and I think I was beginning to figure out what was happening. These souls shattered on contact, feeding everything they had into the Tama, leaving only a pure, clean slate soul core behind which was then transferred somewhere by the Tama that used most of what the souls gave it to do the feat. However, more often than not, the souls gave much more than needed. Even now, only 4 souls later, I could sense a slight change in the Tama. It was beginning to lose its lacklustre appearance and was slowly brightening up. A far cry from what it should be, but I think a hundred or so souls should be enough to wake her… I hope.

This still leaves me with a question and a problem. The question is why didn't the Tama do the same thing to me as it does to all other souls that come in contact? What's different? Is it the fact that I am only a soul fragment or are the souls doing something I cannot see? Tch, more questions to ask my girl. But that's fairly easy; all I have to do is wait for her to wake up. Judging by the fairly constant trickle of souls she attracts it won't be that long.

The problem on the other hand was a lot more…problematic. How do I move her? We are almost there, so close…yet so far. I couldn't touch her anymore, let alone move her, it was just so frustrating! After all of this time and effort, to be stopped on the very edge… I wanted to destroy something as a feeling of hopelessness threatened to overwhelm me. What should I do? What could I do?

Nothing. I could do nothing but wait for the girl to wake up while I thought on this problem further…calmly. Panicking or losing hope right now would be the worst ideas. I had to keep calm, wait and think, that was the key to success. It's a pity that I can't take a deep breath to calm down due to the lack of a body though…

Once more I return to musings on time. How long have we been here? Seconds, hours, days, months, years, millennia… all of these units of time lose meaning when there's no baseline to start from. We could've been here for centuries or maybe seconds and I just can't tell the difference. I've decided to count by the souls that come to my Sekirei in order to leave this plane of existence. So far, we are almost reaching a 5 digit figure but my daughter still slumbers on. Her Tama turned into a miniature sun the size of a large ball….and that was it. Something was missing. Something that would let her awake.

I've been thinking hard on what it was for a while now, for about a couple thousand souls in fact. But I still didn't know what was missing. However, I have a feeling that I am missing something in my thought sessions. Something vital to the problem. Unbidden, a memory came to me…

"We give Sekirei numbers based on the order they wake up in. There's a little bit more to it than that but you don't really need to know it." Takami Sahashi said, smoking one of those cigarettes of hers. "Albeit you were among those first to be adjusted and pulled out of stasis, you woke up months, if not years after your group. For a while we feared that we screwed up something when we adjusted you."

This memory keeps popping up but I can't figure out what it has to do with this situation. At first I thought it was merely time, that she'll take longer to wake, that's all. But now, a couple thousand souls later, I think the answer is different. Why did she wake up so late? How was she different from other Sekirei?

And then the realization struck me with such force that if I could, I would've rolled on the floor, laughing hysterically. Who would've thought that the answer was literally here all along? Gods! I don't know if I am merely a blind fool or an imbecile for not realizing what sets my darling girl aside from the rest! How many other Sekirei I know that walk around with a shard of someone else's soul stuck to them? It was me who awoke her when I ended up in that world. I don't know why, but somehow I doubt that she'd have ever woken up if it wasn't for my shard jolting her awake.

Still mentally shaking my head at myself, I approached the Tama and hovered beside it, reaching out and trying to imagine myself shouting at my daughter inside to wake up. The Tama dimmed slightly and vibrated but otherwise did nothing. Frowning, I tried once more and once more, the Tama only vibrated to my touch. Pushing myself harder, I was surprised to see a chunk of me simply vanish, absorbed by the soul of my daughter. Her core began to vibrate more violently and…eagerly? As it hovered before me, I could feel something changing inside it as it assimilated that part of me.

I see. So that's how it is, huh? Looks like it's time for my story to finally end. It did get dragged out for far longer than I anticipated by my adored child who refused to part from me. But it seems that this is the end. I will finally make things as they should be. I'll have her finish absorbing me and not only will she finally completely hold all of Yaroslav's legacy, she'll also finally wake and be able to start again.

I smiled, happy that even in the hapless state, I was useful to my precious child. This may be my end, but is it not a parent's duty to sacrifice themselves for their children? Is it not our duty as men to ensure our loved ones live? I may not be a human anymore, nor am I really a person, but this dream was nice while it lasted. The Sekirei before me is not my daughter. I cannot have children after all. But…that's all irrelevant. I don't care about the technicalities. Ever since the first day I met the soul to whom the body I was stuck in belonged, I considered her to be my daughter. And for her to live I…

I'll do anything, I sent an image of myself saying that with a smile to the sphere before me even as I slowly began to drift into the Tama. It wouldn't do for her to absorb me too quickly and damage something now wouldn't it? As more and more of me began to fade into her Tama, I found conscious thought start to fracture and drift. I used my final moments to craft a…picture, my final message to the one being I value above anything and everything.

I sat on a bed of snow, an endless snow covered tundra all around us with misty, ever-distant mountain peaks a dream away. The cold winter sun shined from being light, fluffy snow clouds upon us, bathing the rare, large snowflakes that fell with soft light. To my momentary surprise, I ended up using Yaroslav's form in this dream. The tall, slim Russian young man with messy straw colored hair and piercing blue eyes, dressed in a wool sweater knitted by his loving mother in the colors of his country and dress pants with some very nice dress shoes. It was how Yaroslav dressed for his graduation, the last memory I had of him.

Lying right behind me was my daughter, just as I remember her; Tall and proud in that solid steel armour of hers with the Disciplinary Squad haori acting like a blanket beneath her. I smiled as I gently let my fingers brush through her short, spiky pale blue hair. She looked so peaceful now, sleeping with a faint smile on her lips from my touch. I prayed that this world treats her less harshly then the last one, or at the very least grants her a new family that would make it so much better… I prayed, for that is all I could do. I leaned over and kissed her forehead gently before pulling back slightly.

"Wake up, my precious daughter." I smiled sadly. "Wake up, Rei."

I crafted that message and then…

I faded.

~Afterword~

Ah, so strange to be done...Well, this part anyhow. Ofc, its no where near finished cause editing and what not, but truth be told...I think editing will kill my muse here. So instead, I'll plow onwards!

Note: Funny, but I predicted How Sekirei would end a year prior to it's ending. Mine just happens to be more epic I hope then the 7 or so panels the Origin has. Also...I've written the end (well, this chapter) a year and a half ago. Much to my amusement, it was still relevant now. Sorry for taking so long, I wanted to post this With the link to Sequel.

PS: No, this wasn't a weird SI.

Link to Sequel: s/11856845/1/Number-51-ReTry