Chapter - 28
When she was near enough, she changed her appearance to the one she used upon first arriving.
She wasn't surprised when she saw several Schicksal's valkyries guarding the place.
Then she saw her.
Theresa was coordinating the teams while also calming Siegfried, who was panicking a bit.
Anastasia brought her hand to where her heart was supposed to be, the joy of seeing Theresa again was quickly replaced by sadness.
They were so close but at the same time, they were so distant.
Anastasia walked past them without uttering a word and entered the hospital.
"I told you Sieg, everything is going to be fine" Theresa said almost exasperated before a black-haired woman walked past her.
Suddenly, she felt a slight burning sensation coming from her stigmata...the same one she felt when she was in Anastasia's mind.
She widened her eyes as she turned around in order to see the woman again, she caught a glimpse of her entering the hospital and so she followed her, ignoring Siegfried.
When she entered the facility, the woman was gone, lost between the Schicksal's troops, the nurses and doctors going around and the other people waiting for treatment.
Sieg finally caught up with the small valkyrie "What's going on?"
Theresa remained silent as she clenched her fists
"Wait...you're crying" The man said causing Theresa to immediately start rubbing her eyes
"No, I'm not" she hurriedly said "I just have something in my eyes"
Anastasia sighed, that was too close for her, who could have thought that their stigmatas would react this way, next time she will use her psychic powers to avoid that.
In that moment, the Empress was cloaked as she walked through the corridors of the hospital looking for the doctor who would have conducted the surgery.
Her mind recalled once again the image of that grim future and so she was able to identify her target. In order to locate him, she used the viral vision she got from Mercer.
The doctor was preparing himself for the operation, he was whistling as he washed his hands in order to get them sterile.
Anastasia sneaked behind him and with her psychic powers, she sent him to sleep. She then proceeded to hide his unconscious body and take his appearance.
She wasn't worried about doing a medical procedure, after all, Mercer had consumed quite a few doctors and their memories and experiences were within her.
The nurses took Cecilia in and the procedure started. Anastasia knew that up in the gallery of the surgery, Otto and Siegfried were watching probably along with Theresa...
"We have to go for a cesarean delivery" Anastasia said with the doctor's voice as the nurses nodded and prepared for the change "Prepare the anesthetic"
Suddenly, various alarms of the medical equipment went off as Anastasia widened her eyes.
In her vision, the doctor went for normal childbirth even though it was too dangerous, and so Anastasia used the cesarean delivery but now she was dying...
The truth struck her light a truck. Cecilia's conditions got worse because her body can't take this huge amount of stress after all the experimentations it went through...
Anastasia grabbed Cecilia's hand while barking orders to the medical staff in order to avert the gaze of the observers to them.
The Primarch used one of the psychic abilities, or at least, a variant of one of them. She started sharing her life force with Cecilia.
Slowly, the valkyrie's conditions got better and in end, Cecilia was able to give birth to her daughter.
After making sure that the little girl was healthy and clean, Anastasia handed her to the caring arms of Cecilia.
"My little Kiana..." She said as tears fell down her eyes
Anastasia smiled under the surgical mask and ordered the others to get Cecilia and her daughter in her room...
Later...
Cecilia was looking at the sleeping form of her daughter with wet eyes, her birth wasn't an easy one but she was immensely happy that the little Kiana was finally with them.
Siegfried went to take a snack since he didn't want to return home.
Cecilia chuckled to herself as she recalled how enthusiastic the man was when he met Kiana for the first time.
"Congratulations" A familiar voice said.
The valkyrie slowly turned her gaze in the direction of the voice, she standing right next to the window, leaning against the wall beside it. She was wearing a black hoodie and pants, her pale skin and blonde hair were the only colored things about her along with her golden eyes.
Cecilia couldn't believe her eyes, Anastasia was standing within arm's reach, she didn't change a bit since the last time she saw her, exception made for the hair.
"...Ana" Cecilia said while feeling a lump in her throat
"Yes, that's me" The other woman replied with a nod "I couldn't possibly miss my best friend giving birth..." she said not getting a reply "...Well...It was nice seeing you Cecilia..." she said, sadness now filling her being upon discovering that even Cecilia doesn't see her as a friend anymore.
"I'm sorry" Cecilia said, tears crossing her cheecks "If only I would have been strong enough to protect you...we would b-"
Anastasia looked at the woman with a gentle smile as her surroundings started to glow a bit while she gently grabbed her hand "You have nothing to apologize for...what happened was inevitable...there is...a grand scheme in motion Cecilia...and I'm one of its pawns" she whispered to her ears "It's true, I was angry, I felt betrayed but I never held grudge against you or Theresa and I have forgiven even those who turned me in what I am today, because, in the end, they gave me the tools to fulfill my task"
"What task?" Cecilia asked
"With time you'll see" Anastasia said with a smile as she let go the woman's hand "But enough of me, it seems like my calculations were right"
At those words, the white-haired woman tilted her head confused "What calculations?"
"Sieg showed himself up again after all" The other one replied before they both started chuckling a bit.
"Yes, he forced Otto to take him in" Cecilia replied with a nod "Lots of things happened since then..."
"I had the pleasure to meet those things" Anastasia replied as she eyed the sleeping Kiana.
"Oh? What? You meeting my little Kiana was in that grand scheme of yours?" The Valkyrie joked
Anastasia smirked as she shapeshifted her appearance returning to look like the doctor "Nope, just a vision of mine"
"You didn't..." Cecilia started to ask
"Nah, he's taking a nap right now" The Empress replied "I saw you dying during birth so I took his place and made sure that nothing would have happened to you or your Kiana..." she said before something caught her attention "Unfortunately, my time here is over, I have to go, Cecilia take care" She said as she called her Lighting Eagle through the Nanosuit.
"Wait!" Cecilia said grabbing her hand "You have to talk to Theresa! She misses you a lot"
The Primarch shook her head "I can't but tell her that there is no day where I don't think about her and our time together and that I did not forget the promise I made with her" she said before looking at the door
In that moment, Siegfried rushed inside with a worried expression "Someone knocked out the doctor!" he said before his eyes turned towards the stranger in the room
"Hello there" Anastasia said before jumping out of the window
Siegfried rushed to his wife's side and started checking on her "Are you alright?!" he said panicked as Kiana started crying
"Yes, Ziggy" Cecilia replied with a beaming smile as the alarms went off outside.
Anastasia surpassed the Schicksal block without too many problems, and was now standing on top of an elevated parking lot, she had to take care of someone first.
Otto was standing behind her with a golden weapon pointed at her back along with another girl she never saw before "You can't escape now Anastasia, we blocked all this area"
"Really?" Anastasia asked as she turned around "What makes you think that I can't call my soldiers like I did last time?"
"I will do anything in my power to bring you down, even blowing up this city" Otto threatened her while the other girl looked at him with a perplexed expression.
The Empress sighed, at the same moment, Otto smirked as she was caught by an EMP impulse.