Infinite Stratos - Volume 11 - Chapter Ep

Epilogue: Fairytales of White Tail 

“Hmm.” 
Tabane watched her sister Houki from afar through a pair of opera glasses. 
“This is going perfectly,” she smiled to herself. “We’ll be able to draw out the true power of Akatsubaki.” 
She couldn’t have planned it better. 
“Let’s go, Kuu.” 
“Yes, Tabane.” 
The two faded into the night.

“There is one thing I’m surprised about, though.” 
“Yes?” 
“I thought he was dead for sure. I thought we got him. It’s really funny.” Tabane craned her neck in thought. 
Chloe quietly struggled to make sense of her mistress’s plans. Excalibur’s loss of control. The joint operation with Phantom Task. Akatsubaki’s awakening. The world was, for the moment, dancing in the palm of Tabane’s hand. What went on inside the genius inventor Shinonono Tabane’s head? That was something no one but her could understand. 
 
“Do you have a moment, Mistress?” As Cecilia finished changing into her pajamas, Chelsea knocked at her door. 
“Just a second.” 
“Of course.” 
After she finished putting her hair up, Cecilia spoke, “Come in.” 
Chelsea quietly opened the door. “I’d like to speak with you about some things.” 
“Such as?” 
“The facts I discovered. What I uncovered within Phantom Task. And what they mean for the truth about Exia and your parents.” 
Cecilia wavered at those last few words. But at the same time, she’d wanted to know the truth about her parents for years. She pressed on. 
“Very well. Begin with Exia.” The use of IS as cybernetic enhancements had been banned by international treaty. Cecilia wondered what it could have to do with her parents. And as she did, another knock sounded at her door. 
“It’s me, Exia Blankett! I’m coming in!” 
“Eh...?” 
The door cracked open, and in stepped a young girl in the same maid outfit as Chelsea—Exia. 
“Chelsea?! What on earth—” 
“Ichika saved her. He saved Exia... No, he saved both of us.” 
“Pleased to meet you! I’m Exia Blankett!” The girl, whose resemblance to Chelsea was obvious, was nervous. As was natural, as it was her first meeting with her new mistress. 
“It’s okay, Exia. You can calm down.” 

“Y-Yes!” Exia took deep breaths, trying to do as her sister instructed. “C-Cecilia!” 
“What is it?” 
Exia’s eyelashes fluttered over round, young eyes as she managed to calm herself enough to speak. 
“Um... Your parents... They gave me life as the last blade of the Alcotts!” 
Cecilia understood none of the blurted-out confession and replied, “Exia... That doesn’t explain anything.” 
“Sorry, Chelsea...” 
“...I’ll explain for her.” Chelsea recounted the story, deliberately and precisely. Her sister, Exia, had suffered from a congenital heart defect. Cecilia’s parents secretly obtained an IS core and implanted it in her. All so she could be Cecilia’s strength in the battles she would someday face. Even though it cost them their lives. 
“So... So they did it all for my sake.” 
“Yes. Even though it was treason. In fact, the IS core in Exia came from Phantom Task.” 
But still, they felt they must. To protect Cecilia. Even at the risk of their own lives. 
“But what of the cost to Exia...” 
Cecilia’s horror was audible, but Exia shook her head from side to side. 
“I don’t mind at all! I got to be with my sister again, I get to be your maid... And it’s all because they gave me new life.” 
“Exia...” There was a wisdom beyond the girl’s years in her eyes, and it tugged at Cecilia’s heartstrings. “Thank you, Chelsea. Thank you, Exia. Thank you, Father, Mother.” 
Cecilia had finally found the truth about their fate, and realizing the love for her it embodied, her tears began to flow. Father... Mother... I can face the future now. She was finally at peace with the past. 
 
Later that evening, Ichika was relaxing in a guest room at the Alcott manor. 
“Have a minute, Ichika?” A knock sounded at his door, followed by his sister’s voice. 
“Sure. What’s up, Chifuyu?” 
Opening the door, she stepped toward him, her eyes fixated. 
“Ichika. What happened up there? How are you even alive?” Her tone was intently serious. 
At first Ichika wanted to dodge the question, but something in her eyes made him come clean. 
“I... I was saved,” he answered reticently. 
“By who? There was no one—there was nothing up there but you!” Chifuyu could barely form a coherent sentence. 
He could tell just how concerned she was for him. 
“I don’t know. But they had an IS I’d never seen before. It was... It was a pure white IS.” 
Chifuyu recoiled in shock.