The small white-haired valkyrie was inside her room. Since Cecilia was on a mission, Anastasia had chosen to stay at their apartment. Theresa was looking at her feet as she sat on her bed, several thoughts were crossing her mind. After taking a deep breath, she jumped on her feet and walked out of the room. The Valkyrie had chosen to take matters to her hands and to confront her sister.
Theresa walked out of the room and her heart cracked as she saw Anastasia standing by the window looking at the artificial garden outside, her eyes seemed to be empty. The small Valkyrie knew that Anastasia loved her a lot and never failed to show her affection but whenever either her or Cecilia were not there the pink-haired woman would look like an empty doll.
"Hey" Theresa called her smiling causing Anastasia slowly turned her gaze towards her
"Hey" she replied with a gentle tone and a bittersweet smile
Here it is, the 'I don't want to make you worry' Look that Anastasia always gives Theresa when she knows that Theresa is about to express her concerns for her. Usually, that look is enough to make Theresa back off and change topic but the small girl this time will not back down.
Theresa walked up to her little sister and grabbed her hands and started caressing them "Ana, as your older sister, I'm worried about you" she said in the most honest tone possible as she felt heart being torn apart "I know you don't feel good, there's something bothering you, I can see it in your eyes even now" she tightened her grip "Please, tell me what's wrong, I beg of you. I don't care how bad it is, I just want to help you"
Anastasia brought her into a hug "Everything is fine Theresa, I'm fine it's just that the tests are tiring me out a bit, that's it"
"You always look at nothing, do you see something that bothers you? Maybe your nanosuit has altered your vision?" Theresa continued not wanting to back off
"I don't see anyone" The pink-haired girl replied gently
Theresa widened her eyes as she felt her soul being torn apart this time "Liar..." she whispered as she clenched her fists "STOP LYING TO ME PLEASE!"
Anastasia looked at her stunned as Theresa placed her hands on her chest "You always say you are tired because of the tests or because you haven't slept well but that's a lie, isn't it?! All these years, you were always in pain, weren't you?! I saw how you always change behavior when you think you're alone! Your eyes become empty and you put up that smile of yours that distracts the others from what you are hiding! It's your mask isn't it!? You always take care of me and try to cheer me up when one of my missions goes wrong or the others treat me as an abomination, but all this time, you were the one in desperate need of help! I always tried to reach out to you but you always declined!" she shouted at the top of her lungs before her voice got lower until it became a whisper "I love you so much Ana, you always been at my side and alwayas looked after me, you are one of the few reasons that make returning her a good thing but seeing you like this just makes me feel like a worthless sister who cares only for her problems...so please...Ana...let me help you...please" at this point Theresa started crying as she grabbed Anastasia's clothes and started clinging on them "I will share your burden even though I'm small...I will keep it a secret even from grandpa...but please...please, Ana...I beg of you...tell me what's wrong..."
Silence filled the room before Theresa felt something falling on top of her head, she looked up and saw Anastasia crying with a pained expression. The pink-haired girl started sobbing before slowly falling on her knees and hugging the Valkyrie in front of her "I'm sorry..." she whispered with a trembling tone before she pointed her finger towards the empty couch "He's there"
Theresa turned her gaze in the pointed direction and saw no one while Anastasia could see a bald Afro-American man with Blue eyes. He was wearing a Nanosuit just like Anastasia's. His name was Prophet, he was the ghost that had kept company all these years and who remained always undetected by Schicksal's continuous research and scans.
She could still remember the first time she met him. It happened 6 months after she was rescued until then the nightmares of a war that never took place hunted her mind then one day once she woke up and she found herself staring at him as he sat across the room, the memory of her screaming at the top of her lungs and Theresa bashing in with her Oath of Judah still brings a smile on her face. After she made sure that only she could see him, Prophet explained that he was the nanosuit and that the war she saw was a war of a different era which he fought in, he explained to her that the monsters she saw were the Ceph, an alien race from another galaxy. He also told her that after that war the Honkais made their first appearance in that era and that since humanity was unprepared they all died, Prophet chose to turn himself in the nanosuit instead of fighting until he was killed so that he could be useful to the next humanity.
Anastasia asked how he knew that there was going to be another humanity and Prophet told her that the hooded man had reassured him that it wasn't the end. The woman knew of who he was talking about, she also saw him. A hooded man which usually appeared in her dreams, turning the hellish landscape into a garden of flowers.
Since that day, every night Anastasia trained herself along with Prophet, she went through everything, CQC, Karate, Jujitsu, Aikido, Judo, Kung Fu, Capoeira, Krav maga, and many other martial arts. But it wasn't all physical training, Prophet also thought her the art of war and strategies. She was surprised how fast she was able to learn these things, until Prophet explained her that in reality, she was just remembering them since the Nanosuit never forgets anything, a clear example of that was Anastasia's first encounter with the Alpha Ceph. On that occasion, she already knew where to aim and what to do to protect her mind from the psychic attacks.
"Who is he...?" Theresa asked Anastasia causing her to snap back to reality.
"His name is Prophet...he's the person that no one else besides me...he's the previous owner of my nanosuit" she muttered causing Theresa to look at her with a concerned look
"Did he do anything to you?" the small valkyrie asked
Anastasia shook her head "No, he's the one who taught me how to use the Nanosuit at its fullest and about...the other civilization..."
This caused Prophet to get up and cross his arms "You weren't supposed to say that" he said with a stoic thone
Theresa was about to say something when suddenly someone knocked on the door of the apartment and Anastasia broke the hug before walking towards the door as Theresa stared at her with concern. When the pink-haired girl opened the door she saw Amber, Otto's secretary and bodyguard, standing in front of her.
Anastasia, like usual, stepped aside to let Amber talk to Theresa, she had no doubt that Amber came to send her sister to a mission.
"I'll get ready" Theresa said thinking she didn't need to hear what Amber was about to say.
"No" Amber replied coldly as she looked at Anastasia "The Overseer has an urgent mission for the Jäger Anastasia, he requested the immediate dispatch"
Theresa froze in place as she heard those words, her gaze slowly drifted towards her little sister. Anastasia's expression was...emotionless...there was no sign that she had cried a few moments ago, the only thing that she did was to clench her hand into a fist.
Anastasia nodded as the nanosuit appeared leaving only her head normal. She walked towards her room and retrieved her equipment, the portable minigun Typhoon and her predator bow, both built from the analysis of the nanosuit's data. The Jäger crouched down in front of her sister and hugged her. The small valkyrie hugged her sister back, she look forward to this moment, the moment where her sister would finally see the world with her own eyes but now that the moment came, Theresa had a horrible feeling as if the moment Anastasia will leave, everything will change forever and with what Anastasia just told her, that feeling was slowly turning into terror