Author's Note: Hello everyone, it is I, Daisuke Haoru! This is my second fanfic, as based on Arcana Heart. I will use references from other games, due to the fact that Arcana Heart characters have moves similar to other characters from other fighting games. Well this is another attempt so, please do comment! And if you, the readers, like where this is going, then I will continue with this fanfic! Enjoy!
Chapter 1 - Escape
It's been four years since an incident with planar rifts happened. This almost led to Japan's destruction by what was called a Divine Celestial Weapon. Many people heard that young girls had defeated the Weapon with powerful spirits known as Arcana, though no one knows who they were. These girls had destroyed the Drexler Institute. Or so they thought...
Deep within the depths of the ocean, there was a hidden laboratory...
"Progress in the project completion?"
"89% complete, doctor."
A scientist by the name of Yuri Shiina looked at a window, behind it, a giant structure. She turned to a water tank.
"What's the status on the subject?"
"No abnormalities. Ether levels are stable."
She walked to the tank. A young man was sleeping in there. She smiled. The young man woke up and looked around.
Ugh... Where am I?
He looked at Yuri, and she smiled. But that cold smile gave him chills. She walked away.
Where are you going? HEY!
He felt as if he couldn't move, no matter what he did.
LET ME GO!
He couldn't say anything either.
…
He stopped struggling.
Why... Why AM I here? … All I remember hearing before I got caught was something about high ether concentration...
[4 Years Ago]
Kazuki Matsuda had been running from the planar rifts that have been opening.
"What's going on? What are these holes?"
There was a strong feeling coming from it.
"Am I being haunted? What did I do?"
He ran until he found a gate to a shrine.
"I think I should be safe here..."
He stopped and rested, but looked around...
"Wait... where am I...? I didn't walk into private property did I?"
"Hello, may I help you with something?"
He turned to look as he heard a girl's voice. A young priestess with long black hair, ribbons tied to her hair and brown eyes looked at him with a smile.
"Waaah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to break in!"
She giggled.
"But anyone who requires our services is welcome here!"
Kazuki was confused.
"Services? … Oh... now that you mention it... I need you to help me."
He looked at her and his focus was lost as he looked at her chest for a few seconds. He snapped out of it.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Kazuki Matsuda."
"It's nice to meet you Kazuki. I am Maori Kasuga. And I will help you with anything you need."
She smiled and he blushed.
"Um, yeah, anyway... I need you to help me..."
"What's the problem?"
"Well, call me crazy, but portals have been appearing where I am... always... I don't know how it happened at first, but... am I haunted?"
As soon as he mentioned that, another portal appeared.
"What the... AGAIN!"
Maori looked at Kazuki and pulled him away from it.
"Stay back! It's too dangerous!"
Maori took out a talisman.
"Go, you can't stay here! My sisters and i'll take care of this! Koito! Kouta! Tsuzune!"
Two little girls and an older one appeared.
"But what about YOU!"
"We'll handle it!"
Maori and the sisters looked at the portal, and Kazuki ran. He ran until he tripped, fell and rolled down the stairs.
"Ugh... Ow... I should've seen where I was going..."
He looked up and saw two girls...
"Hey are you okay?"
They helped him up.
"I'm fine, just fell..."
He looked at the two girls, both of which caught his attention. One girl had pink-reddish hair with a heart-shaped curl and the other girl had long blue hair.
"Is something wrong?"
"You guys aren't going to the shrine up here are you?"
"Yeah, we're here to visit Maori!"
The girl with the heart-shaped curl gave a big smile while the blue-haired one looked up. Her face changed to a serious one.
"What's going on over there?"
"No! Don't go! It's too dangerous!"
The two girls looked at Kazuki.
"Why? What's going on?"
"Is Maori alright?"
"You can't go over there!"
"Saki-chan! We gotta see if Maori's in danger!"
"Right! Let's go, Heart!"
The two girls ran as he looked at them. He felt something from them. Some sort of energy that flowed through them. He ran until he arrived at a small park. Exhausted from all the running, he sat and looked around. No one was there. He looked at the ground and looked at his hands.
"What's going on?"
He had that thought on his mind. He looked at his hands until he noticed them glowing blue.
"W-what the...?"
He felt a surge of energy flow through his body.
"What is this?"
The flow stopped. He looked at his hands again.
"That is called ether. You must have the ability to channel it, as I can sense a high concentration of ether coming from you..."
Kazuki looked up and turned to see who said that. He felt a sting from his neck, as if a bee stung him. His vision started to fade as he turned. He saw a figure walking to him. He couldn't see the figure well, as he felt drowsier by the second.
"E... ether...?"
A woman's voice was heard.
"You'll make a fine test subject..."
Kazuki couldn't fight the drowsiness that overcame him. He lost consciousness...
… What am I supposed to do...?
Kazuki couldn't move. It's been 4 years. He was trapped.
… What can I do...?
He closed his eyes...
Heart Aino had graduated from the all-girls academy she went to, along with her friends.
"It's been four years since we destroyed the Drexler Institute with everyone hasn't it?"
Saki looked at Heart as she walked along with her.
"I wonder whatever happened to that one boy from four years ago?"
Saki looked at Heart, confused.
"Boy?"
"Yeah, that one boy we saw at the Kasuga Shrine."
"Well, we asked Maori what happened with him. She did say there was something 'special' about him..."
"Hmm, well, Par-chan and I wondered where he went, though. He seemed troubled."
Saki giggled.
"Typical you."
Heart looked at Saki with burning eyes.
"The power of love conquers all!"
Heart. I sensed a flow of ether concentration similar to the boy's.
The girls stopped and Partinias, the Arcana of Love appeared before them.
"Par-chan! We have to look for him!"
I'm sorry Heart but he seems to be far, and you have to attend to some matters...
"Don't worry, Partinias, I'll look after Heart. You search for him."
Thank you Saki-sama.
Partinias faded, and Heart looked upset.
"Aww... I wanted to go!"
"Heart, you heard what Partinias said."
"Yeah, we have to go see Petra, she said she needed to talk to us and the other girls."
The girls headed to the Lagerkvist Manor.
Ugh, no matter what I do, there's no way I can escape...
Kazuki stopped struggling, and the scientist looked at him.
"Soon... you will help us take over this dreaded world... and everyone will witness the revival... of the Drexler Institute."
She's crazy! Take over? And I'M gonna help her? HELL NO!
"But in case you fail, I have a Plan B in store..."
Yuri smiled with a cold feeling. Kazuki closed his eyes.
No, I have to get out of here somehow...
Don't worry, I'll help you!
Kazuki heard a voice. He opened his eyes. This voice sounded sweet and calming.
Who are you?
I am Partinias, the Arcana of Love.
Please! You have to get me out of here!
But you have to listen to what I tell you. Understand?
Yes!
Yuri looked at the object behind the window. An alarm went off.
"Doctor, the ether levels are rising! They're shooting through the roof!"
"What?"
"This never happened before. Why now?"
The computers and the lights went off. Kazuki kept glowing blue and the tanks glass started breaking.
"Get security here right now! We can't lose the subject if he escapes!"
Yuri looked with a tranquilizer gun in hand.
Partinias it's working!
Keep going! You're almost there!
The tank glass shattered, blowing the shards away, and the cuffs that held him down broke apart. Kazuki fell out. He looked around and Yuri had the tranquilizer gun pointed at him.
"You're not getting away!"
Kazuki raised his hand and with an invisible force, pushed the scientist away.
"How... how did I do that?"
Kazuki stood up and looked around for an exit. It was sealed.
Partinias, what do I do?
Concentrate ether into your hand.
But I don't know how to.
Just concentrate. Think as if you want to shoot a fireball with your hands.
Okay!
Kazuki saw his hands still radiated a blue light. He put his hands together to form a fireball.
"HADOUKEN!"
He shot and blew the door open.
"Got it! Now to get out of here!"
He ran and saw security guards chasing after him. He started feeling weak.
"Damn, I can't run much."
Here, this'll help.
Partinias had infused some of her energy onto him. He suddenly felt as if he was dashing without moving his feet.
"Whoa!"
The guards began shooting but missed. Kazuki searched for an exit from the laboratory.
I know where they go to get out of here. There should be an escape pod somewhere in that room.
How do you know?
The guards, and the scientists. I've heard them and seen them get out of here through some door way. I kinda know this place... They had me here for a long time...
He arrived in a room and the footsteps of countless security guards were heard closing in on the room.
"Hurry! We can't let him escape!"
Kazuki looked and found an escape pod. He got in as the security guards broke the door down. He finally escaped the hell he lived through.
Partinias, thank you for helping me.
Do not worry about it. But we need to get you to safety...
Heart and Saki arrived at the Lagerkvist Manor.
"I think we're the first to get here!"
"Nope, You guys are the last!"
Heart and Saki looked around and a figure stood up on the gates. She had a scarf and a headband that made her seem to have ears on top of her head.
"Aka-nee-nee!"
"Heart! Saki! Come on! Petra's waiting!"
The two girls followed Akane into the manor and they were led to an office. Heart and Saki walked in as they saw a lot of other girls sitting in one giant table.
"Wow, everyone's here."
"Heart, let's sit down..."
The two sat down in the last two seats left. A young woman with reddish hair and curled pigtails appeared. She looked at everyone, and turned to look at Heart and Saki.
"Well, is everyone here?"
One of the girls raised her hand.
"Um, I think Lilica's missing..."
Yoriko spoke, as everyone turned to her. Kira smirked.
"Well, she's always the slacker, so we should know by now she's off somewhere dozing off..."
"I think I'll tell her later."
"Petra, just go on with this. What's going on? I have a feeling they're back..."
A serious tone of a voice was heard. Kamui was standing near the door with sword in hand.
"I'll get to the details Ms. Tokinomiya."
Petra pulled down a white screen and a projector appeared in the middle of the table. It showed a picture of what seemed to be a robot.
"4 years ago, we all managed to destroy what was left of the Divine Celestial Weapon created by the Drexler Institute."
Petra pressed a button and the picture changed to that of a young man.
"That same time, portals were being opened. But also someone was opening them by themselves, but we don't know if it was on purpose or by accident."
Everyone looked at the picture. One of the girls recognized him.
"Petra, I've seen him before!"
Maori stood up and looked at the picture clearly.
"There's no mistake. That's him."
"Oh, so you know who this is?"
"Yes. His name is Kazuki Matsuda. If I remember correctly, he sought my help."
Tsuzune stood up.
"We told him to run since another planar rift opened."
Heart stoop up and pointed at the picture.
"He's the one guy I was looking for! Saki and I saw him fall down from the stairs after he left Kasuga Shrine!"
"Heart's right, I was with her, when we saw him. He told us not to go because it was too dangerous."
"And Maori, you told me earlier there was something about him...?"
"Yes, as if there was a lot of ether coming from him..."
"I researched on this young man, and you're right. He apparently was sought out by the Drexler Institute, because of his high levels of ether in his body, but not just that. He can produce it and use it at will..."
"I don't think he does."
All the girls looked at Maori.
"He looked desperate... He seemed scared of what was going on around him..."
"But he's been missing for 4 years now. And Kamui, your assumptions may be correct."
"About what?"
Saki had asked. The doors to the office opened and all the girls turned. Three girls walked in, two with silver hair, the other blonde, but the three shared one thing: crimson eyes. The oldest one spoke.
"It seems you were right, Petra. We may have to deal with the Drexler Institute once again..."
"I joined both Zenia and Lieselotte after I met them in the Airport in Russia..."
"So, Weiss, it seems your communication in social life improved after 4 years."
"Well, with the help of Scharlachrot and Eko, I have improved my speech."
"The Drexler Institute, again? But I thought with Clarice's help we destroyed all the data..."
Petra turned to look at a young woman with short auburn hair.
"Elsa, we destroyed the data alright, but someone must've made a copy of everything before anyone even knew it could've been found or used by anyone else..."
"So then that means..."
Kamui walked to Petra and looked at everyone...
"The Drexler Institute still exists..."
Kira stood up and looked at the picture.
"And there's no doubt about it... Kazuki is their test subject..."
Kazuki, thanks to Partinias's help, made it to the surface. The escape pod flew out of the water and launched Kazuki out of it. Kazuki began to fall...
"AAAAHHHHHH!"
Hold on Kazuki!
Kazuki fell but soon began to move to a certain direction.
"Whoa! Am I flying?"
Yes you are, now hold on!
He felt the air hitting him as he was headed to a mansion.
"Partinias, I can't keep my eyes open anymore..."
Hold on a little longer...
The girls felt a presence, and Bhanri, the Arcana of Lightning appeared before them.
Partinias is coming now, though she has someone with her. Saki, I suggest the girls go out and see...
"Thanks, Bhanri."
Following Bhanri's advice, all of the girls headed to the Lagerkvist Manor garden. Partinias appeared, with a young man. She headed down and slowly landed with the young man. He stood up and looked at the group of girls, but his vision was blurry. His eyes were closing...
"Where am-"
Kazuki fell on his knees as the girls ran to him.
Petra, this young man need to be tended to right away. He's weak...
"Who... are yo-"
He collapsed and fell to the ground. Petra called her servants and with Kira's help, took him to a guest room. All the girls walked in the room and observed the young man.
"So this is the young man the Drexler Institute used as a test subject..."
Kamui looked at him and she looked at the girls.
"You all need to be on guard, as I can tell that the Drexler Institute will hunt him down..."
"RIGHT!"
Yuri looked around as she stood up. The lab was destroyed.
"Kazuki, you damn insect... you won't get away with this... you'll be mine again..."
She took out a cellphone and dialed.
"... The subject has escaped... I will need to get him back... Your orders will be to hunt him down and retrieve the subject... Kill anyone that gets in the way, understood?"
She stood silent and then answered...
"Yes, release them too... they will be of good use... even if it means to capture him dead... bring him to me and dispose of anyone who tries to stop you... the clones do not matter if they live or die..."
She closed the cellphone and looked at the object outside the window.
"His ether will be of good use... but in case this fails, there's always a plan B..."
She took out a glass orb with an eerie blue glow. She stared at it and smirked.
"With this, i'll use it as a last resort..."
Author's Note: Well, this concludes Chapter 1! Please do review, i'd like to hear opinions from everyone who reads!