Drakengard Anomaly: The Tale of an Angel and an Intoner

-Doveport-

"Sister Zero!/What is happening?/Why did my nails grow so long?" My sisters screamed simultaneously.

"Hang on, let me think!" I screamed back, rubbing the sides of my head in frustration.

My sisters went silent immediately while I got up from my bed, rubbing my eyes sleepily. Fuck, it is too early for that and I feel a headache coming!

"Can you girls tell me what happened?" I asked, sighting while holding the bridge of my nose.

"Sister Zero I…/I woke up and.../I don't know how, but..."

"Speak one at a time, damn it!"

My sisters went silent again and exchanged a hesitant look before One stepped forward.

"Sister Zero, we don't know how this happened, I remember something happening in Doveport and us falling unconscious. Suddenly, we woke up like this today." One spoke, gesturing to her sisters and herself.

"That's right, something happened to Three and then to all of us!" Four continued, jumping in her place.

"All I remember is a boy taking my doll away from me, and then…" Three muttered, scratching her hair-covered body confusedly.

"Let's all calm down and then we'll find out what happened. Firstly we'll solve the problem with Three's hair and Four's nails." I replied, still trying to figure out what the hell happened.

"Yes sister Zero!" My sisters answered in a chorus.

Therefore, I held Three in my arms, preventing her from tripping over her own hair, left my bedroom with my sister following me, and sat Three down on the kitchen chair.

"One, can you bring me a pair of scissors?" I asked the red-eyed girl.

"Of course I can, Sister Zero!" One said happily, as she ran away in search of the scissors.

"Don't run with scissors in your hand!" I screamed before she disappeared into a corner.

-XXXXXX-

One returned with the scissors a few minutes later, and then I opened a cupboard in the kitchen, picked up a bowl, and placed it on Three's head.

"I'm just letting you know that I have never cut someone else's hair before."

"It is okay, I just want to see where I'm going." Three replied without caring too much.

"If you insist, don't complain to me later." I shrugged.

Therefore, I cut Three's hair, covering the floor with long purple hair as time passed.

"Look, I have a mustache!" Two laughed as she held a lock of Three's hair under his nose.

"And I have a beard!" Five laughed back as she held a bunch of hair to her chin.

"You two, stop playing with your sister's hair!"

"Sister Zero, can you cut my nails now?" Four asked ashamed, showing me her enormous nails.

"Of course, sit here." I nodded, taking the bowl off Three's head and letting her get up.

"How did your nails grow so long?" I asked as Four sat in the chair.

"I don't know sister Zero; I woke up like this, with these big nasty fingernails." Four replied, looking at her nails with disgust while I cut it.

"It's not that bad, you just need to cut them regularly." I answered, holding her hand with care while smiling gently at the girl.

However, I squinted my eyes at the sight when I cut Four's nails, it was barely noticeable, but I am sure that Four's nails grew a little bit right now. I shifted my focus to Three and noticed that her hair was a little longer too.

There is something wrong here, the events in Doveport and my sisters waking up like this are related somehow. I have ignored weird things happening long enough.

-XXXXXX-

I made breakfast for everyone after cutting Four's nails, but One grimaced upon tasting her food.

"What's the problem?" I asked worriedly, running to the girl's side and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"It is too salty." One answered with a shaky smile, she tried to swallow the food in her mouth, but her face contorted even more and she spat out her breakfast onto her plate.

Too salty, but this is the same food I prepare every day. I did not do anything different.

"Fine, I ignored this long enough, we have to talk now!" I exclaimed, slamming my hand on the table and making my sisters jump on their seats in surprise.

"What do you mean by that?" One asked confused, wiping her mouth.

"One, you're not stupid, there's something wrong here." I answered, squinting my eye.

One nodded slowly while giving me an understanding look.

"Your memories that don't match reality, your unusual strength, what happened in Doveport and now that? No more pretending that this is normal!"

"But what do you plan to do, sister Zero?" Five asked.

"For now, I will have an honest conversation with all of you. First of all, I don't know where you girls came from, I never had sisters and I never had parents, I don't know which parents you're talking about, but they sure aren't mine!"

"Sister Zero, that was mean!" Two screamed, pointing at me with a shaky finger.

"I don't care! I am telling the truth, I am a brothel bitch, serial killer, and a criminal who caught the plague. Then I was tortured and executed in Cathedral City. I should be dead, I remember dying, but for some reason, I am here with this flower in my eye! This flower… In my… Eye..." I murmured the last part, reaching my hand towards the flower as I made the connection in my mind.

Damn it, how the fuck did I not think of this before? I saw a mysterious flower before dying and now the same flower is in my eye! 

Without speaking, of course, about the five little girls that call me sister and our superhuman strength. Was this flower responsible for everything?

"This is not true!" Four screamed, slamming both hands on the table, almost splitting it in two.

"You must not be feeling well sister Zero, it is better to rest, you are delirious." Three said worriedly.

"No matter what I say; you won't believe me, will you?" I asked, disappointed with the lack of results.

"I don't know why you are telling such mean lies, Sister Zero, but we know who you are and who we are, we are sisters and we always will be." One replied happily.

"Tell me something else; do you know someone named Alan?"

My sisters were silent as they stared at each other.

"I feel like I should, that name sounds familiar." One said, deep in thought.

"Who is this person?" Four asked confused.

"Is this the person we feel is always missing?" Five asked as well.

"Hm… He is a mysterious person, a shadow, a blurred memory, yet familiar to us all." Three muttered cryptically.

"I can't help but feel something when I hear the name." Two said between bites of her breakfast.

"This person, Alan, we lived together for years. And if he were here, he could confirm that what told to you all is true."

"And where is he?" One asked curiously.

I sat on my chair and leaned back while placing a hand on my forehead and staring at the ceiling. 

"I don't know. Please, forget what I said, and let's finish our breakfast."

My sisters looked at me worriedly before they spoke in unison.

"Yes, Sister Zero."

CRACK!

Looking towards the source of the noise, I saw Two holding half of a spoon with the other half on the table.

"OPS!" Two said nervously.

"All of us will train in the future, we need to get used to our strength." I said, tired of this bullshit.

"Yes sister Zero!" My sisters replied again, as if nothing wrong happened.

-XXXXXX-

We spent a few days at home, waiting for things to calm down in Doveport, but we had to go back to work eventually, we needed money after all. 

Therefore, we walked around the city backstreets in case someone in the main streets tried something due to what happened, surprisingly, nothing weird happened, until now.

The people in the square applauded us as we finished our usual performance, but something was wrong, people stared at us with huge smiles, and wide eyes and clapped furiously with exaggerated praise.

"BRAVO, LONG LIVE OUR MUSES!"

"WHAT DIVINE MUSIC!"

"PLEASE, GRACE US WITH MORE!"

The people watching us deposited everything they had in my box when we asked for money. 

It started with bronze coins, then silver coins, then gold coins. They handed over their valuables upon running out of coins, necklaces, earrings, and rings; the children even gave their toys to my sisters.

"Please stop, this is not necessary!" I shouted to the audience, but they did not stop.

"OUR MUSE DESERVES ONLY THE BEST!"

"THIS IS A GIFT FOR OUR BEAUTIFUL LADY!"

The audience roared with their big smiles. 

Enough, we need to get the hell out of here!

"Thank you for your kindness, but we need to go, we'll be here again tomorrow at the same time!" I said nervously, closing my box, grabbing my sisters, and running out of there. 

However, I noticed the audience's gaze following us as we ran, their heads turned in our direction with fixed gazes and big smiles. I felt relieved when we turned a corner and a house blocked the audience's view.

"Sister Zero, what was that?" One asked with a trembling voice, disturbed by what happened.

"I don't know." What the fuck was that? What happened to those people?

"I didn't like the way they looked at us, it was scary!" Two muttered, shaking in my hands.

"I know, Two." Did we cause this? Does this have anything to do with what happened?

"We're not coming back here tomorrow, are we?" Five asked scared while holding my leg.

Good question, will we? That people freaked me out, but we will lose a source of income if we stop coming here. 

Looking down, I saw all my sisters looking at me worriedly. Come on; think of something to get out of this situation!

"Listen, how about we put this aside and get something to eat?" I asked softly, bending down and offering a reassuring smile.

"Are you serious?" Three asked with a slight sparkle in her eyes.

"Can we have cake?" Four asked hopefully.

"Of course we can!" I said, patting Four head and making the girl blush ashamed. 

Then I took my sisters to the bakery or pastry shop, whatever it was, I just wanted to stop to understand what happened.

-XXXXXX-

We found a place that served cakes and pastries and sat at a corner table. I thought about what happened while my sisters ate without a care in the world.

"Aren't you going to order something?" The server asked, raising an eyebrow

"No, I am not hungry." I replied, without paying attention.

"You seem to be lost in thought." The server pressed on, giving me a mischievous smile.

"You can say so." What the hell does she want, fuck me?

"Care to say what you are thinking about." She continued, leaning on the table.

"About a group of strange people I met." I sighed, having no energy to argue.

"Was it the people from the square?" The server asked, pointing in the general direction of the square with her thumb. Now she has my attention.

"Do you know about them?" I asked, hoping she would know something useful.

"If I know, everyone in Doveport knows about them!" The server exclaimed, throwing her arms upward before slamming them on the table.

"Can you tell me what happened to those people?"

"I cannot, exactly." The server shrugged.

"Now you've lost me, you get into the subject of the weird people in the square and now you can't tell me anything about them. Where are you going with this?"

"All I know comes from hearsay. A series of deafening screams echoed through the city a few days ago and people came running to the source of the noise when they stopped, finding only several people unconscious on the ground. These people asked about a group of muses when they woke up, but no one knew who these muses were, we just assume they went crazy."

"And what happened next?"

"Not much, almost all the windows in the city exploded, and those who were in the square or nearby asked about the muses and returned to the square daily. But fell into a deep sadness when the muses did not appear again, while those who were far away from screaming, like me, just got an earache."

"I see, thanks for the information. How much do I owe you for the food?" I asked, reaching my hand toward my coin bag.

"Two silver coins." The server responded, holding up two fingers while closing her left eye.

"Two silver coins? I don't remember it being that expensive!" I exclaimed, almost having a heart attack at the absurd price, I resisted the urge to knock out the server and run away with my sisters.

"Unfortunately, we raised the price; everyone did it due to the Lords' absurd taxes that increase every day." The server said sadly, her happy attitude disappearing.

"Who are the Lords?" One asked curiously, interrupting our talk. 

Glancing at One, I saw that she had taken a bite of her cake and nothing else.

"Why didn't you eat your cake?"

"Too sweet, but can you answer my question? Who are the Lords?" One asked again, looking at us seriously.

"They are not important." I replied, hoping she would drop the subject, just like every time I asked about her past.

"The Lords are the cruel rulers of Midgard; they abuse the people with increasing taxes and kill anyone who goes against them." The server spoke dramatically, leaning back in her seat while covering her face.

Shit, she had to open her mouth! I am more and more tempted to rip her tongue out with every passing second.

"Is there no one to face the Lords?" One asked, with determination and I knew very well what she thought.

"I wish, little one, but everyone who tried became a grim example. There is no justice for us less fortunate ones."

"Justice, you say?" One asked, looking at the table deep in thought.

This went too far.

"Here is your money!" I paid the server and left with my sisters before she put dangerous ideas into their heads.

Training came up next, time to find out what we could do.

-XXXXXX-

I was not expecting that, on second thought I should have expected that. Intoners, the word that popped into my head like a natural thought. I do not know what an Intoner is, but they use the song as a form of magic for some reason.

I took my sisters to the forest one day, to practice our skills in a place far from prying eyes. 

I did not know where to start, so I asked my sisters to try to do the same thing that happened in Doveport. Nothing happened at first, but my sisters said they felt something different as they tried. Eventually, something happened.

My sisters sang a harmonious, beautiful, and magical song. How do I know it was magic? It becomes easier when you live with a person accompanied by two magic books. Moreover, the floating colored symbols and sigils that appeared in the air helped too.

I tried to do the same, and who knew? I can use magic too! Take that, Alan! Now we need to figure out what we can do with that magic.

-XXXXXX-

As the days passed, we discovered that each of us could do something different with our magic. We all had natural superhuman strength, resistance, speed, stamina, reflexes, and senses; but each of my sisters could summon something different.

Five could summon a golden disk that fired powerful magic beams, Four could summon green magic shields, and Three could summon purple magic threads while Two could summon gigantic magic hands. 

One, on the other hand, could use her magic to make herself temporarily faster, stronger, and invulnerable. I could do something similar to One; I could sing and become stronger, practically indestructible. 

Intoner mode is what popped into my mind when I found out what we could do. However, this magic did not come without drawbacks; each of my sisters had something that kept growing. 

Five's breasts got bigger every day, making me adjust her clothes constantly; Four's nails grew without stopping, and now she prefers to fight using punches to break her nails.

In Three's case, it was her hair; I taught her how to cut it, as it would be inconvenient for her to trip over her hair when I wasn't around to cut it.

Two's strength became absurd for a child; she could lift large rocks and snap tree trunks in two. This strength turned into a problem, so I taught her how to control it or she would tear our house down.

As for One, she had the least noticeable problem, her senses became stronger with each passing day, her sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell, and they increased to the point where One became uncomfortable with almost everything. 

I prepared food especially for One, adding too much salt or sugar and the food would become unpalatable. One also wore clothes that covered her entire body, except her head, to protect her supersensitive skin.

Then came the physical training, nothing too dangerous for a kid, I just taught my sisters how to throw a punch, dodge, and handle a fight. It may sound strange but my sisters and I seemed too good at fighting. 

It was like something natural. In addition, natural for kids who never fought and for me, trained in 'street fighting' as Alan called it.

-XXXXXX-

Problems arose, but nothing directed at us. Taxes got too high for us to buy everything we needed, which is why we were here, in the forest, hunting for food.

I hid among the foliage, watching the deer in front of me. The animal focused on eating the grass while I slowly drew my hunting knife and stepped forward.

CRACK!

However, I stepped on a branch. 

The deer raised its head and looked around until its eyes focused on me and it tried to turn to run away, but I did not allow it. I shot forward with a burst of speed and cut its neck fluidly.

The deer struggled a bit but fell dead due to blood loss, I placed the animal on my shoulders and waited for my sisters, they should have been here by now.

"AAAHHH!"

I had my answer when Four ran past me with a large boar chasing her while Three rode on the boar's back with One, Two, and Five running after her.

"Four get out of the way!" Three yelled.

"I am trying!" Four yelled back.

"Wait for us!" One screamed after them.

Four ran circles around a boulder with the boar chasing her while One and Five climbed onto the boulder, waiting for the right moment before jumping on the boar's back.

"So how do we stop this thing?!?" Five asked.

"I don't know!" One replied.

"Leave it to me!" Two screamed as she jumped in front of the boar and punched its head. 

Five, Three, and One flew forward due to the sudden stop, and an exhausted Four fell to the ground while the boar lay dead next to her.

"Are you all finished?" I asked my sisters.

"Yes, we are, sister Zero!" Two replied happily, as she dragged the boar across the ground while One staggered towards me with Five and Three carrying Four by the arms and legs.

"Then let's go home!" I smiled at them before walking away.

-XXXXXX-

"Sister Zero?" One called me as we walked out of the woods.

"Yes?" I asked, noticing her hesitant expression.

"Can we…" One spoke. 

"No, we cannot!" However, I interrupted her, knowing what she wanted.

"But…" She insisted.

"No, and that is it!"

Therefore, she went silent while looking at the ground as we walked.

This happened for days now. One researched about Midgard more and more since she heard about the lords, whether by asking me questions with occult meaning or reading books about Midgard's history. 

One concluded that we should help the people of Midgard; her argument is that we can defeat the lords with our strength and magic. However, I tried my best to get One to give up on this stupid idea.

"Listen One, fighting the lords is a good way to commit suicide, they have armies and mages at their disposal, each of the lords can use magic and they aren't afraid to massacre an entire city to kill one person. Please don't try to ruin your life by pursuing some dumb dream, do this not just for me, but for us, your sisters." 

I begged sincerely as the memories of Cathedral City came back to haunt me. I do not want to see my sisters in the same situation, tied to a pole on a platform, suffering torture and awaiting an execution.

"Yes sister Zero." One whispered ashamed, averting her gaze toward the ground.

"Thank you." I smiled gently, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Nevertheless, I leaned on One to avoid falling to the ground when the strength in my legs shortly disappeared.

"Sister Zero!" One screamed worriedly, helping me to stand up.

"Do not worry, I'm fine." I replied with a shaky smile. One looked at me worriedly, but she did not insist.

I put a hand to the flower in my eye, this is getting frequent, and there is something wrong with this flower. I get a bad feeling every time I touch it; it is as if something corrupted my body. 

My mind got lighter and my consciousness has slipped recently. Sometimes I wish to lie down and close my eyes, but I feel like something bad will happen if I do it.

I hope it is just my head playing tricks on me, because if it is not...

-XXXXXX-

I stood in the ruins of Cathedral City, collapsed buildings covered the horizon, the mountain of corpses in front of me painted the streets red with their blood, and the sky shone red with a massive flower floating above, a white giant stood in that flower and that giant was I.

I sang a song of death, a song of destruction, a black song; I felt this song entering my head. 

I screamed in pain, grabbing my ears, and trying to block out the horrible noise. Suddenly, I heard a flapping of wings and saw a dragon falling from the sky. 

Then I woke up.

-XXXXXX-

I sat up in my bed, breathing heavily and covered in sweat. What the hell was that? That flower, that damn flower! You are the cause of all this! I will finish you off, I do not know how, but I will!

KNOCK!

KNOCK!

KNOCK!

"Sister Zero?" One's voice came from the other side of my door.

"Come in." I replied.

One opened the door to my room and walked in accompanied by our sisters.

"Sister Zero I… We had a nightmare." One stuttered.

"All of you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

All my sisters nodded.

"Do you want to sleep here with me?" I asked, already knowing what they wanted.

"Yes, we want!" They responded simultaneously.

"Come here." I answered, lifting my blanket a patting my bed.

My sisters climbed in and it was difficult, but we managed to fit six people in one bed.

"Goodnight to you all." I said to them before closing my eye.

"Good night sister Zero." My sisters responded sleepily.

Yes, good night…

-XXXXXX-

I waited until my sisters slept and left our house. I walked until I reached the forest and stood there, thinking about what I was doing. 

I raised my right hand and faced the knife I held, seeing my reflex on the metal, in addition, just like before; I did not like what stared at me from the other side. 

I was the same broken and disgusting girl as always, confused, full of hatred for the world, and ready to ruin other people's lives. Strangely, I was not bothered by what I intended to do, I felt relief. 

Well I think that is it, I hope my sisters will be all right, there's enough money in the house and One is smart, she'll manage it. 

In the end, I enjoyed all the moments we spent together, all our fights and arguments, moments of difficulty, happiness, and sadness, I felt like I had a family again, a feeling I felt a long time ago.

Holy shit, what the hell am I doing?!? Am I throwing all this away? However, I am a danger to everyone, my mind is deteriorating, and I am sure the flower in my eye is to blame.

Come on Zero, you can do it! Do what you should have done a long time ago and rid the world of a horrible person. All of you, I am so sorry! One, Two, Three, Four, Five, I am sorry! Your big sister let you all down!

So I pointed the knife at my chest and...

-XXXXXX-

"AAAHHH!" I screamed as I got up. What the fuck happened? 

Standing up and looking around, I realized I was naked, covered in blood, and inside the woods. 

"Shit!" Looking back, I almost fell to the ground at what I saw; it was me, wearing my pajamas, with a knife in my heart and a huge flower sticking out of my eye.

The flower and the other me disappeared in black and red particles, leaving only the knife and my clothes.

"You won't let me die, will you?" I demanded, guiding my hand toward the flower.

"No, I won't." An emotionless and monotonous voice inside my head answered.

"Shit, what are you?"

"I am The Black Flower." The voice responded as if it were obvious.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to destroy the world." The voice spoke again as if were the most normal thing in the world.

"Destroy the world? Fuck it, I don't want to do that, I hate this world, but not to the point of destroying it!"

"But you will."

"What if I refuse?"

"Then they will."

"They, you mean…"

"Yes, it will be you or them."

"I will not allow this, I will fucking kill you!"

"That is impossible."

"As if, that's what we'll see!"

"You won't last forever; your mind won't last forever."

I ignored what the flower said, put on my clothes, picked up the knife, and left the forest until I stopped in front of my house. 

Why are you standing there, Zero? You have done this before. What are five more kids? 

My hand shook, I swallowed hard then stepped forward, bracing myself for what I intended to do.

END OF CHAPTER