One-Fourth

Chapter 1: One Divided By Four

"Hey… Wake up…" A feminine voice, almost angelic in tone, urged

…

"Mmm… Huh? Eh?" Though all his eyes can see are fuzzy shapes and some colors, he could already see that there's something… peculiar about his surroundings.

Apart from three figures clothed in white, grayish-black, and light green, respectively, the sky…

It was blood. Freaking. Red! You know, the type of sky when there's some kind of apocalypse is going on?! Don't even get me started on what seemed to be decaying metal surrounding these four! Oh, and that huge building with an eye of some sort? *shiver* Creepy...

Er... *ehem*

His eyes finally adjusting to the certainly Hell-esque environment he was in, he first saw the girl who had the heavenly voice. She wore a white dress that had bluish lines run across it, along with detached sleeves akin to those of a kimono's.

What a weird choice of clothing…

"Awake already?" The person wearing a simple grayish-black hoodie asked

"Yeah, I'm awake. Who are you two… and the other one over there?"

"Hmph. I'm Zor. The girl you just spoke to is-"

"I'm Illias. Nice to meet you!" Illias cheerfully beamed

"Nice to meet you too, I'm… uh, Lan… Yeah, Lan. That's me." Lan replied with smile

"Right… And that girl over there napping-"

"I believe it's called meditating."

Appearing behind the unsuspecting teen, the mysterious girl tapped his shoulder, causing Zor's body to tense up a bit, but he was only phased a little by her sudden appearance.

"Napping, meditating… Bleh, as if there's any difference."

"Do you want me to hit you again?"

"N-Now, now, Miss Deru and Mister Zor, no fighting please."

"Tch."

"Hmph."

"I see that you three are good friends."

Their bodies perking up from Lan's comment, the three slowly turned their heads at him, each showing an expression that just screams:

Where the hell did you get that idea?!

"…Is what I said, not true? I-I mean, you seem to get-"

"Let me stop you right there, my fellow hoodie-wearing pal. Me? Friends with this screwy chick and Ms. Happiness? Nobody is anybodies friend here. We were all unconscious here, but that's the only thing we have in common."

"I concur with the bumbling idiot. There's no way I'd be his… fre… frie… oh, you get the idea. I swear though, I'm gonna find and beat the stuffing out of whoever dumped me here in this wasteland with three people I don't know."

"Well then…" Finally standing up from his position, Lan began to offer some of his thoughts

"I don't know if any of you felt this sensation when you woke up but… Did any of you…?"

"…feel as if your name is not your actual name?" Lan and Illias articulated simultaneously

The two gazed at each other. Then the other two began doing the same. "Is… Is this what they call, um, amnesia?" Illias recalled. "It must be… No wonder I couldn't remember some stuff about me." "Deru, Zor, what do you two think?"

"S-Same here… I was so caught up with our situation that I didn't even notice."

"Weird… So, what do we do now? Find who did this and beat the crap out of him, just like the wannabe Zen Buddhist sug- Owowowowowow!"

"Yes, I think that would be the best (*crunch* "Ahahaaaah!") course for us to follow. Thank you for stating my suggestion, Zor."

"Damn, those heels are dangerous, woman! Haaaa~ It stings…"

The two witnesses couldn't help but laugh. Though they did just meet each other, they were getting along just like any other group of friends. Well, kinda.

"Wait, if we have amnesia, then we shouldn't know how to get around here, right?" Illias pondered

"W-Well, there's always exploration, y'know? Shall we get along our merry way out of here, you guys?" Lan quickly dismissed

Nodding at his idea, the party of four began traversing the land they were in. It was a very surreal and interesting trek, probably because of the looming crimson sky , rusting mounds of various electronics that were everywhere, and streams of unknown yellowish liquid. Or maybe it was the weird buildings. Or that huge mecha fighting a girl floating off the ground in a one-piece swimsuit (?) with a gunblade, another girl with an over-sized coat dual-wielding kataras, and another girl with an over-sized syringe.

Yeah… It was probably the last one.

The group, curious about said event taking place, hid behind a mound to take a closer look.

The floating girl looked awful. She was obviously tired and weakened. Scouting around within their fields of vision, they saw four women, bound and gagged by wires, in states even worse than that of gunblade girl.

"Celestial Severance!" The girl cried out

Dashing into the mech, the girl surprisingly slashed it so hard upwards that it went flying. Even more surprising is how she juggled it with five perfectly precise shots, locking it in place with some weird technique, and firing of a huge laser, and ending the flashy attack with an explosion.

However…

The dust subsiding, the mecha didn't even show any signs of damage. Not even a scratch.

The girl seeing this, she dropped to her knees, clearly exhausted from what she just did. The mech laughed as it slowly floated over to the girl as the other two came to her aid.

What was that thing?

The party was baffled. It wasn't hurt by probably the most crazy powerful skill they just saw. They were all itching to go there and help the poor girl and her companions, the feeling intensifying as the mecha inched closer. However, they knew better than suddenly charging in against an opponent like that, choosing to instead watch helplessy as they witness the probable deaths of three girls, much to their utter chagrin.

His halberd was ready. It was ready to strike those three poor souls down.

"Compa, IF, cover your eyes!"

"Crap, close 'em! Shield your eyes!" Zor shouted

Even with their eyes closed, they felt. Felt, the light's intensity. They would've been blind if they didn't hear the girl's warning.

Opening their eyes once again, they saw the mech clutching his face and screaming that generic phrase when someone goes blind. It was amusing.

"Heh, looks like someone didn't get the message. Giant mech zero, sexy swimsuit girl one." Zor smugly announced

"Too bad for you then, the girl isn't wearing her swimsuit anymore… And she passed out." Lan noted

"At least Mister Robot is blind now, right?"

"…Damn, think again. Look!"

It seemed that the mech has regained its vision and is once again raring to finish off the three girls.

"What now? Wai- I-Illias! Don't! It's a death wish! Guys, follow her!" Lan insisted

"Hey, you! Don't you hurt them!" Illias boldly declared as she went in between the mech and the girls

"Wha- Miss, are you crazy?!"

"Iffy…"

"Oho?! What a brave little girl! Too bad, unless you're more powerful than these weaklings, I'll kill you all anyway!" The mech shouted

"Just try!" Illias uncharacteristically shouted

"Ahahahaha! That's the spirit!" The mecha mocked Illias as it readied another strike

"You two, stop. Let her be..."

"Zor, what the hell are you...?!"

"Deru, check Illias out..."

Something was amiss. The once blue eyes and lines of Illias' outfit were starting to glow a bright cyan color, somewhat complementing the environment's own color.
Everyone in the vicinity sans the mech noticed and was fixated on the girl's glowing aura.

"Prepare to die!"

"Spectral Mirror... Celestial Severance!"