Yeah, so I'm a bit late, so I apologise... Happy New Year to all of you! I've been working on my piano a bit more, so that may account for some delays. I've been trying to do Jr.'s Theme 3 (Presentiment) for piano; when I have that finished, I shall put it up. I do have another GMV up of this adorable couple on my youtube channel, if anyone is interested.

It's 40 degrees down here, which is 104F for those in the USA. I think my brain is melting x.x Please tell me if you read any mistakes...

I finally finished I and II! Wow... Well, I haven't finished the extra Erde Kaiser thing in II yet, nor the GS campaigns, but at least the story line was done. Alby! D:

Once again, thank you to my lovely reviewers – Valerieanna, rikku, Aiselne Phoenix Nocturnus, x-red-stained-death-x. You guys keep me motivated to update!

This chapter is also AU… I'll try and keep it in the Xeno universe in the next chapter.

Italic type is flashback, underlined is thoughts/mental conversation.

Ensanguine – to stain or cover with or as if with blood

The warm, bright sunshine did little to cheer up the atmosphere around the school. It also did little to lighten her heavy mood as she stared out at the desolate field from its edges. Metal chunks from destroyed machines littered the field as well as the bodies of her fellow schoolmates, whether still in one piece or many.

The blood of her fallen comrades as well as her own coated her tattered white uniform, staining it a permanent ruby red. She clutched her right side as the bleeding slowed. Her Mithika partner stood next to her, a sturdy pillar to support her physically, as she felt her leg was broken, as well as mentally. Even now his familiar warming presence was doing little to ease the weariness she felt had settled deep within her heart. Only a couple of hours ago was the field a flowing carpet of green as far as the eye could see.

Her legs gave out beneath her suddenly, and she would have hit the ground if not for her Mithika partner who had caught her and brought her close.

"You should have just let me fall. You'll get blood all over your clothing," she said quietly.

Her partner's grip tightened on her. "As if, Momo. You know I don't care about that sort of thing." He gazed down at her. "Now, we should go inside so one of the healing-type Mithika can take a look at your wounds," he said worriedly.

The pink haired girl shook her head. "I… I just need a moment to collect my thoughts, please…?" She turned her head to look up at him, her eyes pleading.

"Fine, but only a moment."

She shot him a grateful look as she returned her gaze to the bloody battlefield. She was glad that her partner was caring and sweet. When she had first summoned him, she had been worried since he was a fire dragon. Later on, she found out that he was a big name in the Mithika world. He was known as Rubedo the Red Dragon, one of the most powerful serpentine Mithika. However, he preferred to be called 'Jr.' as to hide his identity in the human world from other Mithika since he perceived that as a fun game. The teachers were astounded at his power, while also grateful that he got along well with his human partner. Their partnership was unusual as most Mithika preferred to stay in the Mithika realm, and generally did not get along well with their human partners.

Her thoughts then rested on the previous battle. Just a couple of hours ago she was talking with her beloved sister and a couple of friends, right before they had to set out to fight. Now, she was barely standing, wondering when everything just fell apart.

Why? Why did things have to turn out this way? She never regretted having the ability to form a contract with a Mithika and merge with them, though now she regretted not being physically good enough for this line of work. She was too soft, too caring for such a struggle against the machines. In her eyes, this battle would continue for another few hundred years. Even with the help of Mithika there seemed to be no end to the bloodshed.

Momo hugged her partner, all her emotions finally catching up to her. She clung to him and cried.

Her sister, Kirsch, had been killed by one of the machines in the battle. She had held the silver haired girl in her last moments as Jr. kept a protective eye over her. She never thought that she would have to say goodbye to her so soon. Then again, the lifespan of a summoner was, on average, only twenty-one years. With the passing of her sister, Kirsch's partner, Citrine, had disappeared back to the Mithika world, Citrine's ties to the human world broken.

And her other friends…

Her chipper, brown eyed, brown haired friend Miyuki was in a coma. Alby was worried for his partner, vowing revenge upon all machines as he stood next to her bed.

Togashi was gone too, along with Allen.

Chaos was relatively uninjured, his partner Asher, a holy type, keeping him safe for the most part. He was resting up, exhausted by the strain of using the immense power Asher possessed.

Their combat teacher, Ziggy was in critical condition in the infirmary. His partner had retreated to the Mithika world for the time being.

Shion had received a nasty gash in her side as well as a broken arm and a mild concussion. She was in the infirmary in pain, but at least still alive. Shion's partner, KosMos, was watching over her. Maybe it was a good idea to go get herself fixed up…

"Sorry about that, Jr., I just…" She stopped the tears.

"No need to apologise. Grieving is a natural part of life. Now we should really go inside and get you healed." He sounded worried.

She nodded resignedly. "Alright. But I…"

He picked her up. "I can carry you." He flew inside before she could utter a protest.

The fuchsia haired girl sighed and snuggled closer to her partner, breathing in his warm, comforting scent. She was tired. All she wanted to do was sleep for a very long time. That sounded like a good idea, after she was healed of course.

Upon entering the room, Shion raised her hand in greeting. Jr., seeing that Momo wanted to go talk to her friend, walked over to the brown haired girl. One of the healing type Mithika and his human partner walked over and began treating Momo.

"Momo… I'm glad you're okay… for the most part…" Shion coughed. "I… I'm… so sorry about Kirsch…"

The honey eyed girl nodded silently and then rested a hand on Shion's shoulder. "Thank you…" She turned away. "Any news on Miyuki's condition?"

Shion looked at her gravely. "They don't have any idea when she'll wake up, if she ever does…"

"I see…" Momo bit her lip. Things were getting worse. She didn't want to have to tell her friend but… "Shion, Togashi and Allen also didn't make it…"

Shion's crushed expression tore at her already beaten heart. How many more lives would be taken before the year was up? Already, there were only fifty-odd third years at their high school. How many of their lives had been taken in this fight?

The two girls sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts of this whole ordeal.

Just remembering her sister brought the tears back to her eyes once again.

Momo and Kirsch had been back-to-back amidst the fighting occurring around the school. It was unknown why the machines attacked the schools, but people believed that it was because they somehow knew that the schools were where more humans were being trained to take on the robots.

Kirsch had been singing, since Citrine was a Siren, fending off the incoming missiles and bullets. Momo was doing her best to intercept as many as possible as well as take out the source of the relentless onslaught.

Suddenly, a large explosion about twenty metres away propelled them apart, sending them flying. Momo had managed to land on her feet, but was immediately faced with a bladed machine, one the summoners had decided to call a 'VGS'. It was a large black floating machine. It had the shape of a 3-D guitar pick and was armed with two lethal looking blades on either side. She had to parry its slashes with her flame bow, lest she end up in strips. The roar of guns was deafening, and Jr. was doing his best to keep most of the projectiles away from her with his flames.

A searing white light soon engulfed the area, blinding her. She felt the dragon wings instinctively fold around her, protecting her. Jr.'s soothing voice echoed in her head, telling her that she would be alright. His presence kept her calm.

When the wings finally moved out of the way, she took a look around the area. More death and destruction littered the field.

Her sister! She looked around frantically for any glint of silver hair. To her horror, she found her sister lying in a pool blood a few metres away with Citrine bent over her, a solemn expression on her face. She ran over immediately, the world around her blurring. No, there was no way that she could be dying…

"KIRSCH!" she yelled, praying to whatever god there was out there that her sister would live. She fell to her knees when she reached sister. Momo's eyes widened when she saw the gruesome gash across Kirsch's abdomen.

Citrine shook her head. "She's suffering internal bleeding. There is nothing I can do nor is there any healing type Mithika nearby." She looked up at the pink haired girl. "She only has a short while until…" Her voice trailed off, unable to complete her sentence.

Momo bent over and gently lifted her sister so that she was resting against her. Pain, regret, worry, and an assortment of other emotions flickered across her face. She took Kirsch's hand in hers, feeling her sister grasp back weakly.

Kirsch winced in pain. "You… you were always… so easy… to read… I only… wish that I … could stay alive… longer… so that… I could… look after you…"

"Kirsch…" she whispered. Missiles exploded overhead and all of them flinched. Jr. had thrown up a protective fire barrier to prevent the debris from falling on them. "I… I love you, Kirsch, and I always will."

Her sister had managed to give her a weak smile. "I will always… love you… Momo. Please… tell our father… that I… am… sorry that… I could not… stay to look… after you… and that… I love him as well…" She turned to face the red head. "Jr., I am… counting on you to… look after Momo. I do not… want to see her… where I am going… so soon…"

He nodded gravely. "I understand. I will look after her to the best of my ability."

"Also… keep her happy… or I will… haunt you…"

The azure eyed male nodded once again. "Of course."

Kirsch's eyes then closed, her grip on Momo's hand fell slack. Her breathing stilled, her heartbeat silent.

Citrine slowly disappeared back to her own realm, her connection to the human world gone. "Good luck…"

Momo stared down at her sister's body. Jr. kept an eye on his partner as well as the surroundings. Even with the death of her sister, the battle was still raging. They could not afford to stand idle for long.

'Momo, we cannot afford to stay here for too long. I know that you need time to grieve but I did make a promise to your sister to look after you. We are in danger.'

'I know,' she replied, mentally. 'I… I… I just thought we had so much more time together… I never thought…' She trailed off, swallowing her grief for the time being. 'I'm sorry about that. I know this is not the time to be standing still when we are still in the middle of a battle.' She felt Jr.'s spirit settle around her, attempting to comfort her. 'Thank you.'

She had stood up after that, resolved to destroy as many of these machines as possible. With Jr. merged with her, she built up as much firepower as she could as she took to the skies.

She rained down flaming balls of destruction, taking her anger and anguish out on the moving metal contraptions below.

Momo was exhausted. She just wanted to go sleep. Using Jr.'s power had put her body under great pressure and she knew she was only just beginning to feel the effects. She felt her whole world spin. She vaguely heard him call her name, though she could not make out any other words. The blackness was so inviting that she just gave up and embraced it…

When she came to, she found herself in her own room, with her partner sitting on a chair next to her bed watching over her.

"How long has it been?" she asked wearily.

He glanced over at the clock that was hung over her study desk. "A little over two hours, according to your clock."

"I see…" She sat up, taking a look around.

"A message was sent out through the school a few minutes ago. Another wave of machines has been spotted a distance from here. We will be engaging them in half an hour."

The amber eyed girl sighed, tired. "Alright…" She looked over at him and noticed him staring back at her, worry evident in his face. "What is it?"

He hesitated. "Do you… do you regret having the ability to form a contract with us?"

She blinked. "I…"

"I would not blame you if you did. You have to suffer a lot more heartache and pain than other humans…" He fidgeted, which was uncharacteristic of him.

She realised where he was heading. "I guess I regret the fact that I'm just not strong enough to look after the ones I love, and I regret that you have to be paired with me when you could do so much better with someone else who has better abilities than–"

"Stop that. We've already gone over this. I am perfectly happy being partnered with you. You are capable on your own."

"As I was saying, I regret not being able to protect Kirsch in the midst of battle and I also regret that I couldn't do anything for her in her last moments." She paused for a while, the memory of her sister's death still fresh in her mind. She felt the tears well up in her eyes once again and admonished herself for crying. Kirsch would not want to see her cry.

He waited for her to continue, and she was glad for the silence. It gave her time to build back her composure.

"I regret all these things… especially the machines. But, I do not regret having the ability to summon. If I didn't have that, then I would never have met you." She looked up at him. "And… that is something… that I don't even want to think about."

The crimson haired male had a small smile on his face as well as a look of relief.

She shook her head, clearing all sad thoughts from her head. "Silly, as if I would ever regret meeting you. You know I care too much about you to even think of that."

"And I care for you as well," he replied, a light blush staining his cheeks at the admission.

Momo placed a hand over her mouth to cover up her smile. He was so cute when he was embarrassed. She dropped her hand and then held her arms out to him.

He glanced over and his blush darkened a bit more. He stood up and sat on the bed next to her. Looking sheepish, he reached out to embrace her.

After a moment, she loosened her grip. He did the same.

"I suppose we should head out again," she commented as she glanced at the time. "The enemy will be arriving shortly." She got out of bed and headed to the door, looking back at him.

He nodded and walked over to her. "I will do everything in my power to keep you safe."

She smiled up at him, heartened by his words. "I know. You always do." She then looked down at the floor. "But, if you can't, then I don't blame you. This is a war… after all…"

He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. She could hear his heartbeat quicken as her head leaned against his chest. "Don't think like that, Momo. We will survive."

The petite girl merely nodded and stepped away from him. "We had better go."

"Yeah."

They headed out to the field. Momo looked around for any signs of her remaining friends. She spotted Chaos with Asher, though he still looked drained. Next to him was Shion, who looked tired as well. They sported traits from their Mithika partners, so she figured that they were merged and ready to go.

She turned to Jr. and looked up at him. "Ready?"

The ocean eyed male inclined his head and she felt a rush of power as they merged. Red dragon wings sprouted and her hearing improved.

'Here we go again. Let's wipe them all out,' she thought to him.

'But of course,' he replied mentally.

She took to the skies once again, vowing to protect those she cared about. 'Time to destroy them all, or die trying.'

And she could feel the calm, protective presence of her partner as she did.