Hikaru: I was thinking about Arietta and Ion . . . sigh.
Ion: Hikaru Irving owns nothing.
It's been six years since the Commadant found me with my liger family, took me under his wing. Mommy liger had taught me many things, how to hunt, how to use fonic artes, even helped me make my own clothes for modesty's sake. But the world the Commadant opened up to me was much more and so beyond the survival of the fittest world monsters live in. I met other people. I was given a name. I was taken on as a soldier apprentice in the Order of Lorelei in Daath. Mommy liger saw no reason to stop me, so long as I visited her every now and then. My brother liger and my hawk friend went with me to watch over me, to ensure the other humans caused me no harm.
Living in the human world was tough the first year. I had to learn how to speak the human tongue, write in the fonic language . . . I had to grow used to the idea of bartering and buying things with currency instead of making my own things. And there was the concept of law, of right and wrong. Government was a hard thing for me to understand, too. That was when I first met Ion.
Van introduced me to Ion, when I first learned to speak the fonic language. Even with limited speech ability, I was still the most advanced apprentice, for my fonic artes and ability to communicate with monsters. Ion said he'd help me. To ask him for anything I needed, or if someone were giving me a hard time about my being raised by monsters.
Only another year passed before I became one of Ion's Fon Master Guardians. I was his personal attendant, accompanying him everywhere he went, always battle ready. In that time, Ion told me many things—about his family, the Order, the world, and the people living in the world. It was his older half-brother Evenos who last held the place of Fon Master, and that his family has held the role of producing able Fon Masters for centuries.
Ion never wanted to be the Fon Master.
But Ion did say that as long as he was the Fon Master, he would do his very best to ensure the best for the Order, as well as for me.
For me . . . Ion held my best interests at heart . . .
Then Ion fell ill. Deathly ill. The doctors kept telling me that Ion would die, that he would never recover. I spent every minute of every day at Ion's side, except for the times when Van and Mohs wanted to speak privately with Ion.
Those doctors were wrong! Ion lived. Lived! I was so happy, delirious with joy; in that time Ion was sick, I was fraught with worry and regret, in that I was too scared to tell Ion that I loved him. I was going to tell him the next moment I saw him, but I'd gotten word from Mohs that I was to be reassigned from my position as Fon Master Guardian, and someone by the name of Anise Tatlin would take my place.
Anise . . . that despicable murderer! How did she, of all people, manage to usurp my rightful place as Ion's personal guardian? I had fonic artes and monsters. She had fonic artes and that ridiculous doll of hers, Tokunaga. I could outdo her any day! But Ion . . . Anise brainwashed him, corrupted him! Ion helped Van and me with his vision of abandoning the Score. Ion never liked the fact that world lived shackled to Yulia's Score.
But all of a sudden, because of that stupid Anise, Ion began to oppose Van's ideal. How? Why? Ion, you helped us! Why turn your back on us now? We're on the brink of success! Ion!
And then Anise betrayed Ion. Legretta betrayed Ion. Van betrayed Ion. I would have helped Luke's group in locating Ion, but that bitch Legretta gave me a few scratches. And if only I had pursued Anise! I could have saved Ion! Ion would be alive!
So now, for the memory of Ion, of Mommy, of my liger friends . . . everyone who died at the hands of Anise and Luke. I'm going to fight with everything I've got, I'm going to avenge Ion, avenge Mommy!
You'd better prepare yourself, Anise . . . because I'm going to kill you, I'm going to send you all the way to the abyss of hell and back . . .