The penultimate posting of GPR 3 webversion.
When I first arrived at the habitat, I’d looked up at the sky and noticed the faint webbing running through it.
I hadn’t thought much of it since then.
I had other things on my mind such attempting to save my former sister while surviving one gun battle after another.
However, now that I was only a stone’s throw away from the habitat’s red sky, I looked up at that webbing and discovered that it wasn’t webbing at all. If the Argus System was to be believed – and I had no reason to doubt it – they were rafters that crisscrossed the habitat’s ceiling. The good news was that they were hollow because they were constructed out of thousands of trusses. That meant that I could look at those rafters as being incredibly long catwalks that traversed the entire length and breadth of the habitat.
Therefore, I could make use of them to chase after the Promenade.
The only problem was finding a way up to the habitat’s ceiling.
From a distance, the tower had reminded me of a thin tree with spindly branches. It so happened, that those branches stemmed from the tower’s roof and merged with a handful of the habitat’s rafters – one of which ran directly over the drifting Promenade.
Now I had a plan, but not knowing what to expect when I arrived at the Promenade, I had hasty preparations to make.
That’s when I discovered that my good fortune had a downside.
The Punisher’s right magazine had been depleted of AP rounds, and the left magazine had 44 bullets remaining. That wasn’t too bad, but neither was it too good, and since I didn’t know if there was another Miss Ponytail waiting for me aboard the Promenade, I chose to be prepared for that possibility. And so I reached for the two spare magazines attached to the Regalia’s skirts, only to learn they were useless to me.
I only needed a moment to understand why.
When I’d jumped backwards during the gunfight with Miss Ponytail, gunfire from the minigun had peppered me with bullets and punctured the ammo mags stuck to my skirts. They had also perforated the spare batteries I’d pulled from the wrecked linear rifle.
In short, I had no spare magazines or batteries to replace those fitted to the Punisher.
The only piece of good news was that the magazine I’d pulled out of the giant handgun back at the apartment had survived the bullet storm. With the gun out of ammo, I swapped the empty magazine with the spare one. It only had ten rounds left but that was way better than nothing.
Unfortunately, I now had to spend more bullets to climb up onto the tower’s domed roof.
Aiming the Punisher upwards, I switched the linear rifle to single-shot mode, then fired four rounds into a ceiling glass panel. It was the victim of an earlier fusillade from Miss Ponytail, thus it was already weakened.
Within seconds, the panel fractured wildly and then broke apart.
After the pieces fell, and crashed to the translucent floor, I holstered the rifle against my back, then bounced on my feet a few times to get some spring into Mirai’s legs, before executing a standing jump that launched me about eleven feet into the air. That was high enough for me to grab onto a support beam – one of many that formed a domed web that kept the glass panels aligned. The beam took Mirai’s weight without giving way, and I clung to it for a beat before using her exceptional strength to climb through the gap and onto the tower’s roof.
A strong wind gusted between the top of the tower and the underside of the habitat’s ceiling.
It reminded me of the time I crawled over a building rooftop while a sandstorm raged around me in the dead of night.
I had to brace myself a little against the wind, but it wasn’t enough to trouble me as I ran over the glass roofing. Truth be told, I avoided the glass panels because most of them had been pierced by dozens of bullets. Not trusting their integrity, I chose to run long the metal webbing that connected the panels.
About twenty meters ahead of me, one of the tower’s branches extended upwards from the rooftop to a ceiling rafter that happened to run directly over the Promenade sailing serenely away into the distance. At the base of the branch, I jumped into it through a gap between triangular trusses, then used it to climb up and into the ceiling rafter.
The tunnel-like interior was roughly a meter wide, and the floor comprised of metal rungs interspersed some twelve inches apart. Because of this, running first through the branch, and then the rafter, was akin to running along a horizontal ladder. Alternatively, think of it like running over the monkey bars instead of swinging from them. It took some practice to run without tripping, but after travelling a couple of dozen meters, I had grown in confidence and skill. No longer fearing that I would suffer a misstep, I was able to split my attention between what was outside the rafter and the rungs underfoot.
Through the gap between trusses, I could see the habitat stretching out below me in all directions, but my focus soon settled upon the Promenade. Because of its large size, the turtle shell glass gondola appeared to be drifting leisurely through the air, but its speed was deceptive. In the short time since undocking, the Promenade had travelled more than a hundred meters from the tower in a northerly direction.
I listened to the wetware softly counting down the remaining time, then concentrated on running faster through the rafter.
That was easier said than done.
A single foul step and I risked putting a foot through the gap between rungs.
Yet I had no choice but to hurry because I was running dangerously out of time.
00:45…00:44….
I caught up to the Promenade.
It was now some eighteen meters below me.
Yet I faltered.
Rather than climbing out of the rafter through the space between trusses, I continued running until I was directly over the Promenade’s bow – although both ends of the gondola were identical so there was no difference between the bow and the stern. However, I chose to think of it that way as I glanced down between the rungs I was running over.
From my point-of-view, it looked like a long fall from the rafter to the Promenade’s dorsal hull, and I was having serious second thoughts about this crazy ass idea that had inspired me to take the high road.
00:41…00:40….
With a loud gulp of air, I slowed quickly to a stop.
Grabbing onto a truss beam to support myself, I then climbed out onto the edge of the rafter that doubled as a catwalk beneath the habitat’s ceiling. The wind whipped Mirai’s hair about my head, obscuring my vision, but I could see the Promenade in my mind courtesy of the Argus System’s sensor-sphere.
The drop was indeed around eighteen meters.
It might seem strange that I was hesitating now. After all, not long ago I had jumped the gulf between two buildings, and sailed through the air some ten stories above a deserted street to land safely on a balcony.
So why was I so afraid of jumping now?
I guess it was because back then I’d been hoping to fall as little as possible.
This time, I was going to drop around six stories onto a moving object, and I had no parachute.
Then I remembered how the Princess Regalia’s skirts had acted like wings when I made the jump between the two habitat buildings. Maybe – just maybe – they could perform like mini-chutes this time and slow my descent such that I avoided splattering myself all over the top of the Promenade.
I will state for the record that I’m not a religious person, but I had asked God for His help once already, and as I stood on the edge of the rafter, I performed the sign of the cross, then prayed for a little help moments before leaping out into the open air.
I think I may have screamed as I fell.
Yes, I do recall a terrified girlish scream tearing loudly out of my throat as I plummeted down to the Promenade.
There was that roller-coaster weightless sensation as your innards rise up in your torso.
I fought that down by clenching my stomach muscles, but there was nothing I could do about Mirai’s large breasts. Fortunately, the Princess Regalia tightened around them, and kept her boobs from striking my chin.
The Regalia’s skirts had also flared outwards and hardened to act like drag chutes.
The Argus System assured me that by deploying my skirts I was indeed reducing my terminal velocity, but I continued to scream in cold terror as I stared through Mirai’s deep cleavage at the Promenade growing larger below me.
As I fell, I realized that the flying gondola was as large as an Olympic swimming pool.
With that much surface area, there was little chance I would fail to land on it.
The problem was the landing itself.
I fully expected it to hurt to like Hell.
A second before touchdown, I relaxed my body while tensing up my leg muscles.
Then I landed with a loud bang.
My booted feet struck the transparent glass of the dorsal hull, fracturing one of the panels on impact.
I had dropped at a steep angle so there was some forward momentum.
My body fell into a forward roll that quickly turned into a tumble over the gently sloped surface.
The Argus System warned me I was in danger of falling off the edge of the Promenade, so I hastily spread out my arms and legs – desperately hoping to stop before I careened over the side of the gondola.
I succeeded in flipping over onto my belly, then pressed my booted toes into the hull.
Spread-eagled, I slid over the Promenade like a starfish with large breasts.
A loud squealing emanated from between Mirai’s boobs and the smooth surface.
In the end, I don’t know if it was friction from her boots or her boobs that brought me to a stop.
Regardless, I was happy to still be alive…until the pain of my hard landing caught up to me.
I howled in agony and truly believed I’d broken my legs.
It was the same pain that I experienced when I woke up in the rubble, after Clarisol’s bomb had demolished most of Telos Academy’s replica in the desert.
Unable to move, I squeezed my eyes shut as tears welled up and then trickled down my cheeks, while my breaths came out in short, rasping gasps.
As for my legs, they hurt so much I thought they were aflame.
All the while, the wetware in Mirai’s head continued counting down the time I had left.
00:25…00:24…00:23….
Opening my eyes, it took several attempts to blink away the moisture before I could see clearly again. The burning sensation was slowly fading away, thanks to the concerted efforts of the Angel Fibers infesting Mirai’s body. But I was grateful to them as I swallowed twice with difficulty, and then peered through the glass beneath me into the Promenade’s upper deck.
“Huh?”
I looked straight into the eyes of my former sister.
Erina was sitting at a table with a stunned expression as she gazed up at me.
Seated perpendicular to her was Geharis Arnval, looking equally as flabbergasted at my appearance while holding a phone to his ear.
00:19….
My gaze fell on the large handgun resting on the table.
Arnval looked down at it as well.
00:18….
It wasn’t possible to ignore the pain torturing my body and addling my senses.
But it was possible for me to move again.
00:17.…
With some effort, I raised myself onto my arms, then pulled up my knees beneath me.
00:15….
Standing up on broken legs proved to be excruciating.
But the scream I bellowed carried my determination not to lose – not when I was this close to victory – such that it sounded more like a warcry.
00:12….
Swaying unsteadily in a pain induced feverish daze, I summoned the Punisher and supersized handgun.
The armatures swung down from against my back, then delivered both weapons to my waiting hands.
00:10….
Precious bullets be damned.
I aimed at the glass panel underfoot and squeezed both triggers simultaneously.
00:09….
Armor piercing rounds perforated the dorsal hull and tunneled through the Promenade’s upper deck.
Explosive rounds blew huge chunks of glass into the air.
And I traced a circle around me.
00:06….
Remaining standing was almost unbearable.
My legs screamed in pain so strong that it made my breath catch in my lungs.
00:05….
The glass underfoot creaked and fractures raced across its surface.
00:04….
Biting my lower lip hard enough to draw blood, I jumped high and then landed hard on the glass panel with a sharp scream.
00:03….
The glass crackled as it fractured but didn’t break.
00:02….
I squeezed my eyes shut, clenched my jaw, and jumped again.
00:01….
The glass broke apart and I fell through into the gondola.
I landed on the translucent deck, and immediately choked in agony as my legs screamed out in torment, then collapsed under me.
Falling onto my belly, my weight pressing down on heavily on Mirai’s breasts.
But I couldn’t move, and when I was able to breathe again – however many seconds later – I gasped and gulped air into my lungs while low, tortured moans escaped my lips.
Yet as it had before, once the weight was off my legs the pain slowly faded away.
After a short while, I gathered myself, and then slowly raised my body onto my elbows.
I looked up.
In my peripheral vision, the sky beyond the Promenade’s transparent ceiling remained bloodred, and the countdown was frozen across it.
00:00.
A few feet in front of me was the table with Arnval and Erina seated around it.
Arnval regarded me in silence for a while, then picked up the gun lying on the table.
My heart tightened into a little ball that beat painfully in my chest, and a strangled whisper broke free.
“…no….”
It couldn’t be.
I’d crashed through into the Promenade before the countdown reached zero.
I’d crashed through before it reached zero!
Arnval’s expression was unreadable as he studied the gun.
Then his eyes met mine.
“…don’t…,” I whispered.
I tried to swallow but my throat had closed up.
In truth, I could barely breathe, however, I could still move.
Holding myself up on one elbow, I lifted Miss Ponytail’s handgun and aimed it at Arnval.
Only then did I realize it was out of bullets.
Arnval snorted softly, then shook his head as he smiled down at me.
Grabbing his gun’s receiver, he slid it back and forth.
A single bullet was spat out of the ejection port.
It landed on the translucent deck and then rolled toward me, coming to a stop somewhere beneath me.
I looked up at Arnval as he placed the large handgun back on the table.
He folded his arms calmly across his chest, and then met my questioning look with a cocky smile.
“Congratulations…ma chérie.”
Seated perpendicular to him, Erina took a deep shuddering breath that she released raggedly.
Her body lost its strength and wilted on the chair.
Arnval gave her a thin look. “As per the terms of the agreement, your execution has been rescinded…for now.”
Erina closed her eyes but she nodded haltingly in acknowledgement.
Arnval exhaled loudly and heavily, then pushed his chair back.
Standing up, he retrieved his gun from the table, then holstered it within the folds of his trench coat.
Pausing for a moment, he looked down at me as I struggled to raise myself onto my knees.
“I’m sure the two of you have much to talk about.” He glanced out of the gondola’s windows. “You have until we land at the park.”
Seeing that he intended to leave, I hastily called out to him.
“Arnval, wait.”
He regarded me over a shoulder. “Yes?”
I settled onto my knees, winced sharply against the flash of pain that burned through my legs, then sucked air into my lungs. “What happens now?”
Erina looked up at Arnval with an anxious expression.
Arnval may have noticed, but he kept his attention on me as he slowly turned to face me.
“You need to recover from you injuries.”
“No”—I shook my head—“what happens to Erina?”
Pursing his lips for a long second, Arnval then took a deep breath. “I have orders to escort her to Ar Telica. That’s all I can tell you. However, rest assured that she won’t be executed, and she won’t be turned into a virtual existence.”
Erina’s eyes widened marginally but she also nodded ever so faintly in silence.
Did that mean she understood her fate?
Did she know what lay in wait for her back in the city-state?
Arnval shrugged his shoulders for no reason that I could understand, then turned away again. “You have a few minutes until we land. Make use of them.”
I watched him walk away, then descend to the deck below via a spiral staircase in the middle of the Promenade. Like the tower, the gondola’s deck was translucent, so I could faintly see Arnval indistinct shadow in the deck below.
“Isabel?”
I blinked and tore my focus away from Arnval’s blurred shadow.
My gaze met Erina’s and for a long while we simply stared at each other in silence.
After everything I’d endured to get here, I found myself at a loss for words.
I didn’t know what to say to her as she faced me.
Erina sat at the table, and I knelt on the translucent deck.
I ended up breaking eye contact with her, and my gaze fell on the oversized gun in my right hand.
It was out of bullets but tossing it away didn’t seem right.
It was Miss Ponytail’s gun, yet I had nothing against the weapon that I considered a smart tool, although I did find its turncoat mindset a little disturbing – like a sword that didn’t care who wielded it as long as it was able to draw blood.
With a faint shudder, I holstered the gun. Feeling the armature press gently against my back, I turned my attention back on Erina.
Her expression had grown guarded. “Isabel—?”
“What?” I harshly cut her off, surprising her.
When she recovered, her lips moved yet she appeared to be having trouble deciding on what to say. Eventually, she took a deep breath, then spoke with what sounded like genuine gratitude.
“Thank you.”
Those words were like a cold wind blowing through me.
I stared speechlessly at her, and it was my turn to struggle with a response.
At first anger blossomed in my chest, then it was pity, then regret, then self-reproach, before it finally filled with contempt.
“You know what gets in my throat…that fact that you sound like you mean that.”
Erina was quiet for a second before giving me a shallow nod. “I do.”
“Why?”
A penitent smile settled upon her lips. “Because I have no desire to live my life like Clarisol.”
I stood up on aching legs and ignored their protests. “Then why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did you do it?” I shouted. Erina flinched, but I pressed on. “Why did you betray House Novis?”
She blinked slowly. “You sound upset—”
“Of course I’m upset!” I took a long stride toward the table and glared thunderclouds at Erina. “Look at all the shit you put me through!”
My arms trembled while my hands repeatedly clenched and unclenched as though wanting to throttle the infuriating woman seated before me.
“Do you think this was easy?” I asked her. “Do you? Mirai may be preternatural but she’s not immortal. She’s not invincible. She’s not some frekking superhero. Do frekking get that? Do you Erina?”
Now it wasn’t just arms but my whole body that trembled in anger.
Erina sat back slowly with a contrite look on her face. “I’m sorry—”
“I don’t want your apology!”
“Then what do you want from me?”
“An answer!” I took a couple of quick, deep breaths as I tried to keep my anger lidded. “Tell me why you did it. Now!”
Erina was quiet again, then she dipped her head a little at me. “Isabel, why did you save me?”
I gaped at her. I couldn’t believe her temerity. “You’re frekking unbelievable….”
“Why did you save me?”
I swallowed and considered summoning the Punisher.
It still had about twenty bullets left in the magazine, and I only needed one on Erina – not to kill her, but to wound her.
I cleared my throat again before my boiling anger could clamp it shut.
“If you’re going to die,” I replied, “then it will be by my hand.”
“Then why don’t you shoot me now?”
I lowered my voice and spoke with calm the belied the fury I felt within. “Because now’s not the right time. I’m not a fool, Erina. I know that you have plans for Mirai that having nothing to do with the Gun Princess Royale. And I doubt they have anything to do with saving humanity. But I’m going to learn what they are, and just when those plans are on the verge of fruition…I’ll kill you. I’ll deny you the chance to witness your plans come true. That’s a promise.”
I finished that vow with a gentle nod toward her.
Erina inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly. “The truth is, I have no recollection of ever betraying House Novis to the Empress.”
My fury was swept aside by abject confusion. “What…?”
“I have no memory of betraying House Novis.”
Once again, I gaped at her. “What the Hell are you saying?”
“How many times to do I have to repeat myself?”
I clenched my jaw for a long moment as my anger returned, albeit not as strongly as before. “Then why is Sanreal accusing you of betraying him.”
“Just because I can’t remember doing it, doesn’t mean that I didn’t betray him.”
I half frowned, half grimaced in confusion. “…huh…?”
Erina crossed her arms calmly. “If I was going to betray the Sanreal Family, don’t you think I would have taken measures to wipe my memory clean?”
Was that even possible?
I guess the question was written on my face, because Erina smiled weakly. “The Empire developed the technology not long ago. And House Novis has it in their possession. Have you forgotten that we copied Ronin’s neural map into your brain? Targeting precise memory locations can be done with a little advance preparation.”
“You’re saying that you wiped your own memory?”
“I’m saying that it’s possible, but I have no recollection of having done so.”
“But doesn’t that mean that Sanreal could be wrong about you?”
“It does,” Erina shrugged as she agreed with me. “But unfortunately, I have no evidence with which to refute them and prove my innocence.”
I stared at my former sister, an Alpha, and wondered if Erina would be so foolish as to make herself the prime suspect.
No, that didn’t seem right to me.
This was Erina we were talking about.
The Alpha who always planned several moves ahead.
There was no chance in Hell that she hadn’t expected this turn of events to arise.
In other words, she knew that Sanreal would suspect her, but why didn’t she have the means to prove her innocence?
Something felt off about this situation.
However, should I question her? Should I reveal my suspicions? Should I tell her that I suspected she was bullshitting me?
Erina took advantage of my preoccupied silence. “You saved my life, but now that it’s clear he can’t trust me, Sanreal will undoubtedly have me reassigned.”
I struggled for a moment to jump my thoughts back on track. “What…?”
“I said, I’ll be reassigned…probably.” Erina pouted in displeasure. “Such a bother.”
Her reaction felt amiss to me, and it was distracting too.
I made a conscious effort not to dwell on it, but it wasn’t something I’d disregard either. It was something I’d come back to later when I wasn’t struggling to keep up with her. “You started Project Mirai. How can he finish it without you?”
“Finish it…?” Erina smiled wistfully. “I wasn’t the only one working on Project Mirai. I had help from a lot of talented people. Most of them Alphas. One of them will take over from me. Most probably it will be Umi who will take the reins.”
“Umi?”
“Doctor Pearson. You met her on the VTOL.”
I remembered the bespectacled young woman of Erina’s height, perhaps a little older, who rode with us aboard the VTOL on the short hop from the marina to the city.
Inwardly, I released a bitter laugh.
Though that had taken place only four days ago, it felt like a month had elapsed since then.
I yanked my thoughts back before I fell into a deep reverie, but in doing so, I remembered something else from recent days.
“You tried to warn me about this, didn’t you?” I asked Erina. “Back in the infirmary, when I paid you a visit. That’s what you were trying to tell me. That I would need to carry on without you someday.”
A long moment of silence went by before Erina said, “More or less.”
“Does that you mean you did betray House Novis? Did you tell the Empress about Mirai?”
I watched my former sister bite her lips, then exhale loudly as though expelling something unpleasant that had built up within her.
“You’d think I have a reason to,” she replied. “After all, you are precious to me.”
I remembered what I’d said earlier to her, about knowing that Erina had special plans for me.
“What am I to you?” I asked her.
Erina frowned slightly before breaking into a gentle smile. “You’re a daughter to me.”
I took a half step back from the table.
After all the suffering I’d experience because of her, her sentiment wasn’t something I could accept.
Erina pressed on. “Whether Sanreal is right or wrong about me, it doesn’t matter. Whether I betrayed House Novis or not, isn’t your concern. For the time being, I’m out of your life. You should rejoice.”
I blinked a few times, unable to agree with her, though I couldn’t tell you why.
The way things had turned out seemed off.
Ghost had warned me that Sanreal was planning to test me.
Had I passed or failed?
After a quiet breath, Erina nodded slowly as though to herself, then looked through the Promenade’s windows at the surrounding habitat. “We’ll be landing soon.”
The Promenade was indeed descending, and I watched the tall trees of a large park surround the gondola as it approached a sizeable clearing.
Erina released a soft sigh, and then stood up gracefully.
Not knowing any better, it was hard to believe that she’d survived a near death experience courtesy of my efforts.
“Take care of yourself,” she said softly, then turned on her heels and stepped into the aisle between tables.
It wasn’t until now that I noticed the deck was outlaid like a restaurant.
I watched Erina walk down the aisle toward the spiral staircase in the middle of the Promenade’s deck.
I didn’t know how I should feel as I stared at her back.
Happy? Relieved? Angry? Should I hate her more than I did before?
But why was asking myself that?
Because how I felt was tired, drained, and confused.
I’d achieved the goal of saving her, but now what?
Erina paused when she arrived at the spiral staircase, and then half turned to look back at me. “Isabel.”
I felt lethargic as I returned her gaze. “What…?”
“I’m proud of you,” Erina stated. “So very proud of you.”
I choked on my saliva, taken by surprise not by her words, but by the honest sentiment she expressed.
Erina’s radiant golden aura told me that this was how she truly felt toward me.
While I stared at her at a loss for words, Erina smiled wistfully, then descended the staircase to the lower deck.
“What…the Hell…was that?” I muttered under my breath.
Then I noticed the faint warmth that nestled against my heart, and it made me angry at Erina, and at myself.
“Damn you,” I whispered.
I focused my awareness on that warmth, then clamped a hand around it, but after hesitating for a long, long while…I let it go.
But I couldn’t bring myself to extinguish it.
“Damn you, Erina.”
In frustration, I kicked a chair out from under a table, and sat down heavily onto it, but when I leaned back the backrest collided with the holster arms attached to my Princess Regalia.
Growling in irritation, I considered dumping the holsters, but instead chose to scoot forward on the chair.
With my elbows planted on my thighs, I dropped my head into my hands.
Not long after, I listened to a melodious chime briefly sound through the Promenade, and the flying gondola trembled gently as it touched down in the clearing.
Raising my head, I looked through the gondola’s glass windows in time to see a flock of birds take flight from the nearby tree line – startled into the air by the Promenade’s landing – and remembered watching the seagulls during class from my window seat as they rode the thermals above the ocean waves.
That said, I am not giving up on GPR.
I plan to release 1 book a year on the series or quicker if possible.
But having a novel with a broader appeal and higher financial return, will allow me to continue GPR to its conclusion.
If you are new to the GPR series, and are interested in reading of purchasing Books 1 and 2 of the Gun Princess Royale, the links are provided below:
Book One - Awakening the Princess
Book Two - The Measure of a Princess
A percentage of the purchases made through the links will go toward supporting the website.
I wish you all well.
Please, stay safe.
Final chapter of the web version of Book 3.
This story went from 5,500 reads to a mere 300.
For those of you still following it, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
The eBook version will be released next month. I'm simply finishing the cleanup while getting the cover and a couple of illustrations sorted out.
Please note, the eBook version is a heavily revised and improved story, and Part I of II of the second arc in the Gun Princess Royale saga.
I sat on a bench beside a stone path that traversed through the middle of the garden that occupied the mansion’s central courtyard.
Resting back, I looked up at the false sky of the Estate and then listened to the burble of the nearby streams.
Surrounded by tranquility made me regret not bringing along a book to read.
I’m referring to a printed copy, not a digitized one that I could access on my phone.
This was the kind of environment where you needed to feel the paper under your fingertips, and to hear the rustling of the pages as you turned them over.
Reading a book here on a phone or tablet just felt wrong to me.
Or maybe I was just being stupid.
Yes, most probably the latter.
Regardless, I wasn’t going to change my mind, and I wasn’t going to fish out my phone from a skirt pocket and find something to read.
Thus, I chose to continue sitting with my arms thrown over the bench’s backrest, while I stared vacantly up at the blue sky with listless clouds floating beneath it.
It was Friday, midday, and I’d returned to the Estate a couple of hours ago.
I didn’t translocate back in.
Instead, I was picked up by Mirai’s Sarcophagus.
After sitting alone with my thoughts for a few minutes inside the Promenade, I realized that the gondola was deserted, and thus made my way outside.
While I was standing in the park, the Sarcophagus emerged out of its self-generated Pocket Space. It would have snuck up behind me again, but the Argus System noticed its presence, so I was a little more mentally prepared to be scooped up by its tentacles and then swallowed into its depths.
According to Mirai’s wetware, I spent an hour inside the artificial womb, but instead of having my consciousness transported into one of Ghost’s virtual environments, I ended up sleeping through the maintenance process. I don’t know what else to call it, because even as I dreamt, I could feel Mirai’s body being healed and nourished.
So what did I dream about?
Maybe I shouldn’t call it dreaming because on some level I was still conscious.
Perhaps I should describe the experience as lucid dreaming.
Very well. What did I lucid dream about?
I dreamt of being reunited with my parents…except that it was Ronin who met them at the orbital spaceport while I watched from a distance. I spent the rest of the dream wandering about like a ghost, unable to interact with the people around me who were oblivious to my presence, and so I was ignored by Ronin and his family.
However, what really sucker punched me was discovering that in the dream I was Isabel.
I wasn’t even a copy of Ronin, or another male person.
No. I was Isabel val Sanreal – a ghost walking amongst the living.
I was seriously relieved when I woke up, though I was still inside the womb. But a short while later, the Sarcophagus delivered me out into the Estate, dropping me off gently in the garden between the house and the lagoon sized pool.
But the dream stayed with me, as did the loneliness I felt.
I was greeted by Fatina and the maids who apologized to me for the way I was treated.
I was too distracted to be angry with them, so I forgave them with a few mumbled, disjointed, half-hearted words.
Once inside my suite, I chose to strip out of my clothes – the same clothes I’d been wearing when I entered the Sarcophagus in the morning – and then took a long hot shower. I didn’t need one, but I felt I had to have one. Dressing in a pair of black slacks and white blouse, I was met in the living area by Fatina, who wrapped me up in a warm hug.
Once more, she welcomed me back.
Fatina had a way of making me feel at home.
I felt my worries and troubles recede while I was held in her arms.
Not feeling hungry after being serviced by the Sarcophagus, I skipped breakfast and instead wandered aimlessly about the large house, eventually emerging out into the garden.
Plonking myself on a bench, I sat back, and spent the next half hour trying to process through the morning’s tribulations.
I felt like a fool.
Arnval, Sanreal, and maybe Erina as well, had played me like a fiddle.
“Princess.”
The sound of that familiar voice dragged my gaze away from the fake sky.
Ghost was standing a few feet away, dressed casually, with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up, exposing muscular forearms.
Is this really what he looked like in real life?
I noticed I was biting my lower lip in thought, but I didn’t stop myself from doing so.
“What is it?” I asked softly.
“I am sorry for not being there to help.”
I held back a frown. “You had your hands full, right?”
Ghost smiled bitterly. “They gave me more trouble than I anticipated.”
I considered the odds he faced.
One Artificial Awareness against nine others.
Just how powerful is he? Or were they holding back like Miss Ponytail was with me?
I decided to openly frown this time. “You gave me that new Regalia.”
“Indeed.”
“And the Argus System?”
“Yes. It was system employed during the war by high-end combat Simulacra. It allowed them to fight more effectively.”
I nodded without realizing it, so I stopped quickly and then rubbed the back of my neck. “Freaked me out the first time it fired up inside my head.”
“Yes, I imagine so.”
Rather than continue slouching on the bench, I arranged myself more primly, then folded my arms against my chest. “By the way, if they see me talking to empty air, they’ll suspect something.”
Ghost gave me a sheepish grin. “Unfortunately, I had to reveal that I have been in contact with you for some time.”
“Oh…wonderful. Can’t keep a secret, can you….” I let my voice trail away in disappointment.
“Princess—”
“Forget it. Forget it.” I sighed heavily, then took a long, deep breath. “So what happens now?”
“Now?”
“To me. To Erina.” I gave him a gloomy look. “What do I do now?”
A troubled expression swam across Ghost’s face. “The Gun Princess Royale.”
My heart skipped a beat. “What?”
“As a member of Team Novis, you will be competing in the Gun Princess Royale.”
I stared at him for a very long, anxious moment before casting my gaze down at the path before my feet. “So the next time I’m shot at…it’ll be for real.”
In my peripheral vision, I caught the grim nod he gave me. “Indeed.”
My heart felt like it was being coldly squeezed, and my chest grew noticeably tight. “Wonderful…,” I whispered with my eyes downcast.
So playtime is over.
From now on, there would be no holding back.
In other words, my opponents would out for victory, and to them I was just another virtual participant. When they shot at me, they wouldn’t know that I was flesh and blood, and very much alive.
How did I feel about that? Nervous? Anxious?
No, it downright scared me.
In the back of my mind, during each exchange of fire with Miss Ponytail, I’d known that she wasn’t out to kill me. Even so, had it not been for the Princess Regalia and Mirai’s preternatural ability to heal, I would have been severely injured many times over.
However, Miss Ponytail had been holding back.
The girls competing in the Gun Princess Royale would not be so kind.
I looked down at my hands as a cold, faint shiver trickled through me.
“Am I good enough?” I whispered half to myself.
“Time will tell.”
I swallowed hard and swung my gaze up at Ghost standing a few feet away. “You mean when I’m dead.”
Ghost appeared ready to argue with me, but he reconsidered.
I watched his expression swing from pensive to calm and unreadable.
“Princess, do you know why Raine failed to dodge your bullets?”
Raine?
Why did I feel like I’d heard that name before?
Narrowing my eyes a little, I asked Ghost, “Do you mean Miss Ponytail?”
Perhaps I threw him off for a moment because Ghost met my question with silence before haltingly nodding.
I believed I’d already deduced the answer to his question.
“Because she didn’t have to,” I replied matter-of-factly. “To her it was like a game where she had multiple lives. She would just pick up where she left off in a new body.”
Ghost shook his head, apparently disappointed with my conclusion. “No, Princess. That is not the reason why.”
“Oh, yeah?” I pouted and sat back on the bench. “Fine. What’s the answer?”
“Because there was no opportunity for her to dodge.”
I crinkled my brow as I frowned up at him. “Huh?”
“When you shoot, Princess, you almost never miss.”
I closed my mouth quietly.
That’s right. My marksmanship is almost a hundred percent—almost.
I swallowed discreetly. “So…?”
“So her Gun Princess avatar was constructed to be high specification.” Ghost folded his arms and stepped closer to me. “She knew that she couldn’t avoid being hit by return fire. Thus, she chose to face you with a high spec avatar. One that could take a beating, as they say, and carry on.”
“A walking tank,” I muttered sourly.
“Correct. She was built to be tougher than most. She was built to be Major League.”
I wet my lips subconsciously. “Meaning what?”
“There are two leagues in the Gun Princess Royale. The Major League and the Minor League.”
“I know that,” I grumbled, feel a tad annoyed at his sudden lecturing tone.
“The Gun Princesses of the Major League are constructed to a higher design criterion than those of the Minor League. They are stronger, faster, more robust, and can survive greater punishment.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” I groused, then paused before asking, “So she was built like a Major League Princess. What’s your point?”
“My point is that the opponents you face in the Minor League will not be as difficult.”
I frowned faintly puzzled. “So I have nothing to worry about?”
Ghost sighed heavily as though frustrated with me. “No, Princess. That is not what I meant at all.”
With palms up, I raised my hands to shoulder level. “Well, I don’t get what you’re saying.”
“I am saying that you have survived a brief introduction into what the Major League is like.”
I leaned toward him a few inches. “And?”
“And, you did remarkably well.”
I lowered my hands onto my lap. “I can tell there’s a but in there somewhere.”
“Indeed.”
“Well, spit it out then.”
“You did well, but you survived because of Mirai and the Princess Regalia.”
I twisted my lips into a sour grimace. “You think I don’t know that?”
Ghost ignored my retort. “In short, you need to improve.”
Now my face twisted into an expression of disbelief. “Are you kidding me? That’s your big point?”
I stood up and faced him – though he was clearly only projected into my mind so those observing me would be watching a crazy girl talking at an empty space.
I would have jabbed him in the chest too, but once again, Ghost wasn’t there.
It didn’t stop me from pointing harshly at him as my emotions simmered darkly.
“You think I’m treating this like a game?” I complained in a low voice.
“I do not. I have observed your progress and I know that you took your training seriously. However, you are once again missing the point. You need to improve if you are to survive. There is no other way.”
“You said my marksmanship is almost perfect.”
“It could be better.”
“How?” Actually, I knew how but I wasn’t going to answer the question myself. I wanted to hear it from him.
“Shall I delve into the finer points?”
I crossed my arms under Mirai’s bountiful chest. “Yes, please do.”
“Then we shall recommence your training after lunch under my tutelage.”
“Oh wonderful. I get to find out who’s the worse teacher—you or Arnval.”
Ghost stiffened then peered down his nose at me. “Princess, do not compare me to that fraud.”
The frost in his tone made my breath catch.
I blinked up at him, faintly cowed by the cold in his eyes.
Was there bad blood between him and Arnval?
I had to swallow twice to find my voice. “What do you mean…fraud?”
He swallowed silently, and I watched him smoothly regain his composure. “Arnval, does not possess the combat experience that I do.”
I bit my lower lip as I recalled what he’d told me in Clarisol’s cave. “You were the Captain of the Guard.”
Unexpectedly, he took a half step back. He seemed to hesitate for a long moment before nodding shallowly. “Aye, Princess. That I was.”
As I thought of Clarisol living in isolation, my emotions bled away.
The annoyance, the frustration, the irritation – all of it drained out of me, and I was left feeling cold and empty within. And yet my chest felt tight, as though the void was pushing against my heart and lungs, making it difficult to breathe.
I had saved Erina from suffering Clarisol’s fate.
Maybe I could have performed better against Miss Ponytail. Maybe I could have found another way. But though it had come down to the wire, I had nonetheless saved Erina’s life.
I had achieved what I’d set out to do.
Yet, I found myself asking the same questions I had before.
Why would Sanreal do it?
Knowing how much his daughter suffers in her virtual prison—why would he consign Erina into the same Hell?
I gasped silently.
What if it was true? What if Mirai had been intended for Clarisol all along?
However, that approach did not resolve the original problem.
While one copy of Clarisol escaped, it still left the original behind in that lonely cave.
“There has to be a better way,” I whispered.
What if Erina had created Mirai to trade for Clarisol’s life?
I sneered at how ludicrous that sounded within my head.
What reason would Erina have for doing that? Trade Mirai’s existence for another’s life? Hardly. Besides, she said she wanted to use the Angel Fibers to save me—I mean, Ronin.
I bit my lower lip gently.
That brings me back almost full circle. She also said she wanted to save humanity with the Angel Fibers, but what if Mirai was created for another reason?
“Princess?”
I cleared my throat quietly, then asked the question that I inevitably returned to.
“Ghost, do you know if Erina really betray House Novis? Did she tell the Empress about Mirai? And if so, why?”
I didn’t expect him to answer me right away, but the silence that followed stretched on for an uncomfortable length.
I stared at Ghost who stood with his arms folded against his chest.
He was visibly conflicted as he regarded me. “I cannot say.”
“Ghost, tell me the truth—”
“That is the truth, Princess. I cannot say because I do not know. Your sister is resourceful. She is also quite passionate about her work. And you are very precious to her. As such, it is within the realm of possibility that she would go to extreme lengths to remain in control of Project Mirai.”
My throat grew dry, yet I found it hard to swallow as I continued to meet his gaze.
Ghost nodded subtly. “That said, this is Doctor Kassius we are talking about. If I have learnt anything about her it is that she always plans ahead.”
I tried again and succeeded in wetting my throat.
Was it Erina’s idea that I fight for her? Had she somehow convinced Sanreal to place her fate in my hands?
Icy fingers traced a path down my back.
Had she used me to challenge him—to prove to him that her actions were justified?
My gaze grew distant as I pondered that possibility.
If that’s true, then Erina really does have something big planned for Mirai. And if Sanreal was able to scan her mind, then he knows what the plan was.
Or does he?
Erina had said she may have wiped her own memories, but what about…?
“Ghost, does the Empire have the technology to read someone’s mind?”
“Mind and memory are two different sides to the coin.”
I flinched in front of him as I realized Ghost understood what I was thinking.
What does Erina want with Mirai? That’s the real question.
“We will find out in due time,” he said softly.
I wrapped my arms around me to restrain myself from shivering. “But surely Sanreal has asked her what she has in store for Mirai. Surely, he’s faced the same questions I have and confronted her about them. Don’t you think so?”
“I am sure he has. The question is whether Erina told him the truth or not.”
“Wouldn’t he be able to tell? Doesn’t House Novis have a lie detector or two lying around that they could use on her?”
“And surely, Doctor Kassius is aware of that lie detector or two that’s lying around somewhere.”
I laughed sourly and shook my head slowly. “Point taken. She is an Alpha after all.”
“Do you regret saving her?”
Asked casually, the unexpected question caught me out of left field.
I had to search my feelings for a long moment before I could give him an honest answer. “No. No, I don’t regret saving her.”
In contrast, had I not saved her, I would have carried a very real regret in my heart.
Whether saving her was a mistake or not was something that only time would tell.
However, for now, I harbored no misgivings for having saved Erina’s corporeal existence.
Truthfully, I felt as though a burden had been lifted from my shoulders, and my heart beat a little easier—a little less aggrieved.
Yet, while that was true, there were other doubts and worries that clouded my heart.
“Will I be ready by then?” I murmured to myself, then noticed Ghost had arched his eyebrows faintly in question, so I added, “Will I be ready to face whatever she has in store for me?”
A pensive frown wrinkled his brow. He held it for a second or two, before gently declaring. “Whether or not you are ready will depend on you.” He stepped up to me while slipping his hands behind his back. “There will be time to deal with Erina later. Thus for now, focus on growing stronger, faster, and improving your survival skills for the Gun Princess Royale.”
I chose to cut right to the point. “In other words, learn to stay alive.”
“Correct.”
Playtime was truly over. As Ghost had said, whether I survived or not was now in my hands. I loathed my situation and circumstances, but if I failed to approach the Gun Princess Royale with the right attitude, I would die out there.
I wasn’t a machine.
I was flesh and blood and something else. As strong and resilient as Mirai was, a shot to the head or the heart would kill me. However, the viewers and competitors would not be aware of this. They weren’t even aware that the Gun Princess Royale was real and not virtual.
Someone once said that when technology reached a certain level it would be indistinguishable from magic, and such was the technological might of the Empire who could recreate entire cities as environments for the competition, and fool humanity into thinking it was all virtual.
I had seen the magic of the Fabricators first hand, and I was almost swallowed up by one.
Remembering that night, and what was at stake as I ran through the desert with my precious cargo, made my chest hurt a little.
“I’ll get stronger,” I whispered, “and I won’t make the same mistakes again.”
Ghost held my gaze. “That…is a wise decision, my Princess.”
Hearing him address me that way made my heart beat a tad quicker, and I quickly bowed my head so that I wouldn’t look up at him.
And that’s when I noticed them standing at the entrance to the garden.
A teenage boy and girl.
“Consider it a present from Celeste. She says you’ve earned it.”
Ghost faded from sight, yet his voice lingered in my ears.
“A take my leave, Princess….”
Hesitant at first, the fair haired teenage boy and the teenage girl with snow blond hair stepped out onto the stone path that would lead them to me.
With every step they took, with every yard the travelled, my heart steadily beat louder and the ache in my chest great.
By the time they stood before me, I could hardly see them.
Tears blurred my vision, and I heard myself sobbing softly as I dropped to my knees in heart wrenching despair.
I had promised her I would keep them safe – that I would protect them – and I failed in my promise. The only thing I could do for them was to save their bodies. And so I fled across the desert, carrying them with me as I ran from the Fabricator that swallowed up the replica of the school.
Clarisol had thanked me for saving them, and her words had felt like a knife plunged into my heart.
I believed I wasn’t worthy of her gratitude.
I still believed that now.
Even though they were standing before me, veiled behind my tears.
“…Mat…Anri….”
Squeezing my eyes shut, I clutched at my chest as I begged for their forgiveness.
“…I’m…I’m sorry…I’m so sorry….”
Then the dam broke and I wept like a broken child.
The hurt that tortured my chest wouldn’t end no matter how many tears I shed.
Clenching my heart and lungs, it made me hunch over as I knelt on the cold stones.
But then I felt someone’s arms wrap around me, pulling me into a tight embrace.
She felt soft, warm, and carried the scent of fresh flowers.
She didn’t say anything, she just held me as I continued to cry.
The girl that I was infatuated with – the girl who proclaimed to be madly in love with my best friend – rocked me gently as she knelt with me in her arms.
And I felt her forgiveness.
I felt it in her warmth, and in the beating of her heart, as she nestled my head against her soft, generous breasts.
Her voice was a broken whisper, but I heard her clearly enough as her tears landed on my cheeks, mingling with my own as she wept softly with her head bowed over mine.
“…thank you…for saving us….”
Only then was I able to reach out and return her embrace.
Only then did the hurt begin to ease, though I continued to weep and then sob for a while longer.
However, before the hurt faded into memory, it briefly caught onto the edge of my awareness, and tugged free a somber, sobering memory – the memory of a girl sentenced to a lonely existence in a place that didn’t physically exist.
Clarisol.
As I held onto Shirohime, and in her arms, I made a promise then and there to grow stronger, to survive, and to win.
And to find a way to save Clarisol from her prison.
Only then would I be free to accept her gratitude.
– Fin Web Version Book Three –
I pray that the eBook version of Book 3 will be satisfying to you in a way this version couldn't be.
In other words, I ask that you please give it a chance.
I've spent 3 years writing it, and I hope it doesn't disappoint.
If you are new to the GPR series, and are interested in reading of purchasing Books 1 and 2 of the Gun Princess Royale, the links are provided below:
Book One - Awakening the Princess
Book Two - The Measure of a Princess
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I wish you all well.
Please, stay safe.