The Seventh Generation

The sun began to set over the hills, painting the Sanctuary in a deep orange haze. Rell suspected by the temperature and the emerging flowers that it was early spring.  He rubbed his hands together, warming them against the unexpected chill of the air. The group of Sisters made their way back towards the residential area. Thankfully, the little squad lead by Tia had wasted all their energy, and seemed to have calmed down a bit. 

"You ate too much again..." Mira scolded, dragging a half asleep Luna by the arm.

"Full..." She muttered. 

Rell walked alongside Mira and Elena, scanning the buildings as they walked past. He noted that half of them were refurbished from their original purpose, while others, such as Elena's home, were built entirely from scratch. 

"Oh, it's..." Elena stopped, prompting the others to look in the same the direction as her. 

The Commander was there talking to another Sister. A third little Sister stood close to the Commander, a little girl with long purple hair. She wore a plain white dress, a confused look in her violet eyes as she scanned her surroundings. 

"Is that?" Tia suddenly shot to life, noting the purple haired girl in the distance. 

"A new subject?" Vi said aloud out, her first words in hours. 

"The kingdom grows." Hope addressed. 

"Wait a minute!" Rin protested, reaching for Tia but failing to catch her as they bolted off towards the newcomer's direction. 

The other green haired Sister talking to the Commander bent down to greet the little girl. She smiled, petting her on her head just as Tia and the others approached, lunging at the girl and bombarding her with questions. The little girl clung to the older Sister's leg, hiding away from Tia domineering personalities. 

"Another one was born it looks like." Rin said. 

"Mhm." Rena nodded. "I wonder if she's..." 

"We need more fighters." Mira added. 

The group approached them, their attention drawn to the little newcomer hiding. 

"Ah, Rell. Looks like you had a good time." Six-Seven said. "I hope they'd didn't tease you too much." She winked. 

Rell ignored her. Six-Seven didn't seem to mind. 

"Ah, so you're Rell!" The green haired Sister said, approaching him, the little one still clinging to her leg. 

Just like with Hina and Six-Seven, she had a more mature appearance, like a woman in her early twenties compared to the other Sisters. Her hair and eyes were a soft green color. 

"I'm Mel." She greeted with a bow. "I'm the progenitor of the Seventh generation. Ah, that means I'm the first Sister born in a new generation." 

"As much as I'd love to talk, this lady has a date with a wine bottle." Six-Seven waved, turning and walking away. "Ciao!" 

"Big Sis!" Elena leapt on Mel, squeezing her. "It's been so long..."

"Jeez Elena, we saw each other just a couple days ago..." Mel said, stroking the blonde girl's head. 

"Oh, big Sis." Rin greeted with a wave. 

"Oh my, so many of my little sisters here." Mel greeted.  

"That's a newborn, right?" Rena pointed at the little girl still around Mel's leg, even as Mel embraced Elena. 

The purple haired little girl's eyes were fixated on Rell. He looked at her, managing an awkward smile. The girl responded by hiding her face. 

"Ah, yes. Meet your newest little sister." Mel knelt down, pushing the little girl forward. 

"Nice...to...meet..you." She let out with a stutter. 

"Welcome new recruit." Tia said, hands on her hips. "Play your cards right and will inherit this squad for yourself, just like I inherited it from big sis Rin before me." 

The girl looked at Tia, confused, unsure of what to say. 

"How exactly are you Sisters born anyway?" Rell asked, looking down at the little girl. She kept trying to sneak looks at him but would hide away the moment he would face her. 

"Hmm. I can't really remember..." Rin remarked, scratching her head.

"You think we're born from some giant insect queen hidden under the tree?" Mira asked. 

"Ew! Gross! Don't say that! I'm not a bug!" Rena freaked out, leaping backwards and waving her arms. 

"You girls are so silly." Mel chuckled. "You were all born from the pools of water found deep in the tree's roots. I'm not exactly sure how we're born from there, but we would find you as you floated to the surface." 

"So no horrid secret insect queen twist?" Mira sighed. "Lame." 

"Why are you so disappointed!" Rena yelled.

"I do remember floating through water.. but it's so hazy, and it was a long time ago." Elena noted. 

Rell turned towards Mel and noticed the little one was standing next to him, staring with wonder filled eyes. She suddenly clung to his leg. 

"Huh?" Rell looked at her in confusion.

"I think she likes you Rell!" Mel clapped. 

"I think this one's programming is broken..." Vi said. 

"Definitely." Hope added. 

Rell sighed, lowering himself to meet eyes with the girl. 

"Hello. I'm Rell." He introduced himself. 

"Rell..." She muttered shyly. 

"What's your name?" He asked, pointing to her.

"Name?" She titled her head. 

"Ah, it's a little too early." Mel said, walking up and cuddling the girl. "We usually wait a few days to name the new ones. We try to find something that fits whatever personality they're born with." She explained. 

Rin had stepped away from the group and was talking to her Light Nin. Rena watched her curiously, shifting her watch between her and Rell. After a few moments, Rin returned, watching as the Tia trio danced around the little purple newcomer. 

"Good news." She grinned. "We got work." 

Alpha squad groaned in unison. 

Rin turned to Rell, her smile widening. 

"What?" He asked. 

"Looks like we're gonna be testing you tomorrow." She said.