Side-Chapter 2: Maria feeling

Maria was happily singing with her little sister, Serena, when she saw Death that day on the frontier. Her sister's ghost had helped her then, but now, seeing Serena alive made her happy and glad that all her actions had been worth something.

Maria glanced at the man sleeping on the bed, her savior. He was not only helping Nastassja heal from the wound she'd received in the accident, but he had even brought Serena back from death. Because of this, Maria began to long for his affection, even though she didn't know why.

"Hey, sister, you're always staring at Mei—I mean, Mamoru. Why is that?"

Hearing her little sister's question, Maria panicked and said it was nothing, but she still remembered how it had all begun.

Maria was still burdened by the guilt of failing to save her little sister, who sacrificed herself to calm the Nephilim. This was compounded by her Mom sacrifice to protect Maria, which left her crippled and reliant on a wheelchair.

When Maria learned that the Earth faced imminent doom from a falling moon, she resolved to save it at any cost. She believed that if she failed, her sister's death would be meaningless, and this conviction sealed her fate.

Her mother advised that to succeed, Maria first needed to become a widely known public figure. Leveraging her talent for singing, she embarked on the arduous path to becoming an idol. Eventually, she achieved widespread recognition, and the time for their planned announcement approached.

"Maria, you must never forget your mission."

"Yes, Mom."

With unwavering resolve, Maria began inspecting the stage. This was the linchpin of their plan: using her and Tsubasa's popularity, they intended to expose themselves as the world's greatest enemy, drawing all attention to themselves. However, complications had arisen.

Mei Ursula, also known as the rising idol, was Tsubasa's first partner since the death of her previous one, Kanade. Maria was intrigued; she hadn't thought it easy for Tsubasa to find a new partner after such a loss.

In fact, Tsubasa had almost always performed alone, earning her the moniker "Ice Princess," an attribute Maria had emulated in her early days. But Maria knew the difference – Tsubasa simply hadn't been looking for a new partner. What had changed?

Furthermore, Maria suspected that Mei was also a Symphogear user. Her Mom agreed. Therefore, they planned to release additional Noise into the sky that day, just in case. This would make Dr. Ver's escape more difficult, but he conceded, recognizing the mission's importance.

The concert began. Maria performed her solo before the trio sang together. As the song concluded, the plan commenced. Maria forced the audience to calm down and signaled the release of the Noise. As the audience focused on her, she transformed. To her surprise, Tsubasa's partner transformed as well.

Although she hadn't planned to continue as an idol after this, knowing she would become the world's enemy, she transformed without hesitation, exposing herself to the entire world. This sacrifice of her idol career intrigued Maria even more, prompting her to probe Mei.

Instead, the girl reminded her of her objective, making Maria briefly suspect she was one of their collaborators. However, she'd never heard of such a thing from her mother. Therefore, Maria proceeded with her original objective: to announce their group to the world and simultaneously declare themselves its enemy.

Tsubasa called Mei's threat a lie, but Mei calmly stated that her threat was insignificant as she massacred all the Noise except for the one in the sky. Ultimately, their backup proved useful, as Mei apparently hadn't anticipated Noise appearing in the sky.

Mei tried to provoke Tsubasa again by releasing the audience. Mom questioned her actions, but Mei wanted to face Tsubasa. However, when Mei had tried to transform earlier, she was prevented from doing so. Maria decided to force Tsubasa to transform by attacking her.

During the fight, Maria noticed that Mei wasn't taking her seriously and was mainly focused on protecting Tsubasa. When Tsubasa glanced towards the backstage area, Shirabe saw blade flying towards her, but Mei deflected it with a shield. Even Kirika's attack was easily blocked.

Because Mei was so focused on protecting Tsubasa, Tsubasa had enough time to enter the backstage area and transform. Reinforcements arrived, forcing Maria to defend herself as the other two dodged the incoming attacks. She sidestepped Hibiki's punch.

In the end, they managed to escape using the endlessly regenerating Noise. When they reached higher ground to observe the fight, they saw rainbow tornadoes, reminding them that they were the weaker side in this conflict.

What frustrated them the most was that Mei wasn't fighting them seriously, yet she still managed to hold them back. However, they had at least achieved all of their objectives.

For now, they would go into hiding to allow more time to raise Nephilim. They headed to the abandoned hospital, but Mom insisted that they retrieve the airplane and the relic hidden within it first. They did so and left Dr. Ver to manage things at the hospital.

This almost turned into a major mistake, as the enemies managed to find the hospital and nearly captured Dr. Ver. They managed to save both him and Dr. Ver just in the nick of time, though she became curious as to why they looked worse and were glancing at Dr. Ver, who was babbling that she was fine.

Mom's health had drastically worsened since they took the relic, as she had used it extensively, taking a toll on her body. With their base gone, they had no way to feed the Nephilim, so Kirika and Shirabe decided to sneak into the school where the Symphogear users attended in order to steal their relics and use them as sustenance.

Now hiding in an abandoned building, they are discovered by surveillance confirming an intruder. Maria refuses to kill, even under her mother's orders, so Dr. Ver does it instead. He even kills an innocent child who witnessed him using Noise to kill a soldier.

Maria is mentally shaken by Dr. Ver's murder of the child. Her mother, "Mom," merely watches Maria, seemingly lost in thought before receiving a call from Shirabe and Kirika. They request a meeting at the former Kadingir, and Mom agrees, stating it's a good time.

Inside the empty airplane hangar, Dr. Ver has already left to confront the Symphogear users. Kirika and Shirabe face Mom and Maria. Kirika begins, 

"Mom, is it true that Maria is not the holder of Fine's soul?"

Silence from Mom and Maria confirms their suspicions. Shirabe steps forward, facing them both. 

"Mom, did you know about fusion cases?"

Maria, unaware of this, looks at Mom for answers. Nastassja closes her eyes, pausing before nodding. 

"Yes, it was mentioned in Fine's files before her death. It was a case where a human was merged with a relic. There were attempts to create fusions, but most failed. To become a fusion, the compatibility with the relic needs to be higher than what's needed to become a Symphogear user."

The three gasp at this revelation. Suddenly, Nastassja coughs up blood and faints. A video reveals Mei has arrived and calmed Hibiki down.

"Oh yeah, Shirabe, we need Mei. She's the one who can heal Mom."

"But will she agree, though?"

"I will do anything for her to agree."

"Wait, Shirabe, Kirika, what do you mean Mei can heal her?"

Shirabe and Kirika explain how they met Mei, revealing that Mei knew what they were doing all along and that she claimed she could heal Mom's sickness. Maria is skeptical, but with Dr. Ver gone, they need all the help they can get, even from their enemies.

Later, in the video, Maria sees Shirabe and Kirika trying to convince Mei. It's surprisingly easy; Mei agrees, staring directly at the relic-hidden camera. Maria is surprised, but then realizes this is the girl who defeated them with ease. She doesn't know what Mei is planning, but she's willing to take the risk if it means healing Mom.

Afterward, just as Mei had told Kirika and Shirabe, she managed to heal Mom. They lost one linker in the process, but it was a worthwhile sacrifice, as Mom could now see with her right eye. However, Mom was apparently going to have a serious discussion with Mei, so she hurried everyone out, not even allowing Maria to stay, as the talk was very important.

Outside, Maria asked Kirika and Shirabe what kind of person Mei was. They explained that Mei was very kind, albeit not in a straightforward way. From what Maria gathered, Mei clearly disliked Shirabe, as she had said a lot to Hibiki. Despite this, Mei was helping them by providing the replica that calmed Nephilim and even healing Mom.

Suddenly, Mom called them back and revealed that she had made an agreement with Mei. Maria thought this meant they would no longer work with Dr. Ver, but Mom clarified that they would still need his help to control the frontier high enough for their original plan to save the Earth to work. Apparently, Mom and Mei knew that Maria disliked Dr. Ver, so they told her that once they reached that point, they could simply discard him.

As they were talking, they found Dr. Ver being assaulted by Hibiki. Mei had already left their ship, so they easily subdued Hibiki and rescued Dr. Ver. They then decided to head toward the ruin, as Mei had already charged enough power into the relic to raise the frontier for their mission.

As planned, they raised the frontier. With Dr. Ver's help, they placed the heart of Nephilim into the core power of the frontier. Dr. Ver then went to the control room and touched the sphere there to control it. To Maria's surprise, Dr. Ver revealed that he knew all along that she wasn't well. When Maria looked at the video feed, she saw Dr. Ver using Noise to attack both Shirabe and Kirika, forcing them to retreat toward Mei's group, who had arrived at the frontier as well.

After a while, she noticed Dr. Ver return and force his way to the sphere, controlling it and causing it to raise faster than it should, pulling the moon toward the Earth at an accelerated rate. This angered Maria, and she was about to attack when Hibiki appeared between them, allowing Dr. Ver to escape.

Maria was surprised when Hibiki grabbed her spear before transforming. She then noticed a shield floating around them and realized that they were naked. When the light dissipated, she was back to normal, while Hibiki was wearing the Gungnir. Maria remembered that fusion cases were more compatible than normal users, so it was normal for the gear to choose Hibiki instead of her. This realization made her feel weak, as she understood that almost everything she had done up to that point was fake.

Hibiki and Mei headed outside. For some reason, Mei nodded to Hibiki before leaving, as if it meant something. Confused, Hibiki decided to sit for now, having lost her only way to fight. The relic she held was a broken memento of her dead sister.

Lost in thought, she noticed her sister's apparition. Knowing it was likely a ghost, she confided everything she wanted to do. Her sister simply smiled and encouraged her to be honest with herself and stop lying. She began to sing the song they used to sing as children. Maria unconsciously sang along, unaware that the world was joining her.

Despite wanting to continue singing, Nastassja's voice snapped her back to reality, declaring that the phonic gain should be sufficient to repair the moon. She urged Maria to assist the others. Initially hesitant to leave, Maria's "Mom" insisted she fulfill her responsibilities. Though tearful, Maria heeded her words and went outside.

Maria arrived outside, standing on one of the floating wrecks of the Frontier. She contacted everyone, and with the help of the phonic gain resonating across the world, they managed to access their X-Drive forms. Maria noticed an unfamiliar Symphogear, but she disregarded it for now, focusing on stopping Nephilim.

Their initial strike succeeded, and Nastassja launched the ruin towards the moon. However, the Frontier glowed red and transformed into a giant Nephilim. Chris opened the Gate of Babylon, but was struck by Nephilim in the process. Maria moved to continue, but Mei seized the Solomon's Cane first.

Tsubasa called out to Mei as they watched her force the gate open further, simultaneously pushing Nephilim inside. When Chris recovered, they planned to rescue Mei before she became trapped. However, a dozen shields materialized, blocking their advance. As Chris yelled at Mei, she simply replied that it was all part of her plan before entering the gate with Nephilim.

Feeling hopeless, Tsubasa suggested they return to Earth, assuming Mei would eventually follow since there was nothing left to do. With Nastassja already far away on the moon, they returned to Earth near the submarine landing site, pondering their next move. Suddenly, a portal opened.

Maria's surprise stemmed not from the portal itself, but from the one who opened it: Serena. She was holding Mei, who was supported by a red-haired girl Maria recognized as Kanade, Tsubasa's former partner. The situation defied logic; how were they alive?

The cacophony within the gate hindered her thoughts as they began to emerge. The group struggled to hold the gate open, but they were exhausted, with no power left to close it. Serena and Kanade were in the same predicament, and Mei had already fainted. They decided to throw the Solomon's Cane into the gate, and it worked, causing the gate to close immediately. Finally, they sighed in relief, believing everything was over.

Maria glanced slowly at the boy now sleeping in the bed. He, who was Mei, or in this form, Mamoru. When they finally managed to see her after the fight, Maria noticed the bracelet on her arm turning to dust before Mei slowly transformed into a male.

This surprised everyone except Hibiki, Chris, Miku, and Tsubasa, prompting questions about what was happening. They readily explained that Mei was, in fact, the first male Symphogear user and had been disguised as a female for a specific reason. This revelation caused Kanade to grab Tsubasa by the shoulder.

Tsubasa continued to explain everything, even mentioning that she had once slept in the same bed as Mei, though of course, it was when Mei was female. Hearing this, Chris turned to Tsubasa and called her lewd, though Tsubasa wore a proud expression, confusing Kanade.

As for Maria, she felt jealous of Tsubasa, hoping to sleep in the same bed as Mei herself. However, she noticed her thoughts were becoming strange, and her little sister even commented on it. Though Maria dismissed it as nothing, Serena just smiled, stating she wanted Mei as her older sibling as well, making Maria's face turn redder than usual.

Still, Maria didn't deny that she would gladly do anything for Mei, who had brought her little sister back to her. Thanks to Mei, she could now do all sorts of things with Serena, though first, she needed to face the consequences of her actions. The same went for Nastassja, who was stuck on the moon, operating the ruins to prevent them from falling to Earth.