All characters, abilities, and other elements marked with '*' belongs to Emerald Sonata. Any technology, places, and other factors unheard of from the anime also belongs to Emerald Sonata.
The original cast of Nagasarete Airantou and other anime, rightfully belongs to Takeshi Fujishiro and Square-Enix, as well as other respective owners.
Argentum Canalis
EPISODE 1
{Hook. Line. START-UP!}
The calm ocean waves rolled over the beach and against the sea-side cliffs. The sun slipped out from behind a fluffy cloud, casting its warm and sweet golden rays down onto the land of the island. Rather sphere-like seagulls with small wings and beaks, but with large black eyes, circled the shores and waters along the blissful breeze.
A pair of feet came to a stop at a narrow edge of earth, standing high above the ocean face. Its owner stood up straight, with both an innocent and energetic atmosphere around them. With a smile, the person began.
"Se – no…" The girl reeled back her fishing pole and with one graceful throw she sent the line flying, "Now!" The hook and floating ball sailed into the winds in an arc, landing softly onto the water with a nice plop.
Suzu giggled as she sat across the edge of the cliff she stood on and held her fishing rod steady in both hands. Her round pink pet and lifelong friend Tonkatsu came hopping to her side and sat with her as she waited.
"Just you wait, Tonkatsu, and I'll be able to catch us a nice fish for dinner tonight!" Suzu said brightly.
"Pu! Pu!" called the orb-like piglet as it happily bounced on the spot. Suzu took in a deep breath of fresh sea air and smoothly let it all out. It was a refreshing day after doing her work and she was glad.
"Wah…it such a nice day today…I'll bet that after the storm last night, we might be able to find a lot of good fishes for the next few days!"
"Pu!"
Suzu gauged her grip a little, easing up on her hold to let it balance loosely, but securely, in her hands. Her mind drifted off a moment as she stared up at the clear blue sky, a halo of seagulls in flight.
She loved everything: the sea, the land, the sky, the animals, and most important of all her friends and fellow villagers that lived on her home island. Things were always so peaceful, she thought, that is until what she had heard recently. Nevertheless, she believed to be joyful and content and could not think of anything else she would want. Life here was always full of surprises and happiness; no more, no less. And Suzu was glad that everything was always the same around here.
The line of her rod tugged at her consciousness and it took her a few seconds before she jumped in her seat. Her hands instinctively gripped the rod's handle and she fought for control for a minute. Finally, she went for the catch.
"Got one!" she called out.
Tonkatsu bounced with pleasure, "Pu! Pu!"
With the ease of her well-trained strength, she pulled out…
"HEI!"
...A human......A HUMAN?!
Suzu's mind snapped with realization as to what was hanging out from the sea by her line. True enough, it was a human…a strange one as well. The person felt similar to Suzu, but he looked entirely different to anyone she had ever seen on the island; very different. Without hesitating, she reeled in her catch as quickly – and as carefully – as she could.
The captured body was pulled out across the shores by Suzu's hands, as well as by Tonkatsu's 'mouth'. When the body was cleared away from the ocean's reach, Suzu knelt down to its side.
"Ne-ne! Are you alright? Wake up!" Suzu frantically shook the body awake but to no avail. It was during this moment when she noticed the peculiarity of this particular stranger.
It looked like Suzu and the other villagers she know, but it lacked several characteristics compared to her body and looks. It had short spiky dark blue hair, a quiet but pained expression, wore some sort of silver garment with blue lines with long sleeves and a pair of matching pants, metallic-like shoes, a belt full of all sorts of weird tools, fingerless gloves with steel knuckle-caps, and had a strange wrist band with another device that was in the shape of a golden tear-drop.
Suzu's curiosity got the better of her and she crawled over to his other side to inspect that very device on his wrist. She had never seen anything like it – besides some inkling feeling it could relate to Chikage's objects she would find that floated onto the island's shore. It was gold with crimson lines and patches. The center was some piece of blue-tinted glass, with strange symbols that she could not comprehend. If she had not known better, it looked like something to what were taught at school. Letters and number, was it called?
The girl shivered at the thought. She always hated schools, to the point of being terrified of it. She suddenly shook any other thoughts out of her head. Now was not the time. Now it was the time to help this poor stranger.
"Please, wake up!" called Suzu once again. By instinct, she started to push down on the boy's stomach multiple times – with as light strength as possible for her part. Equal to that of the other girl's standard power, she kept at it but the stranger made no reactions. Fruitless, Suzu pulled back and quickly counted her fingers, "Eeto…What else was there to do in CPR? Ah, I remember!"
[Uh…]
The girl scooped up the stranger in her arms. Its body was heavy, she thought. She then puckered up and leaned in for a lock of lips, but stopped herself. For some reason, a voice in the back of her mind told her that what she was about to do was not a good idea on the long run. She even believed it as she reminded herself that her strength was…way above average.
Gently, she rested the strange back down. The only thing she could do was caress the stranger's soaked forehead and turned to her pet, "Tonkatsu! Quick, go get Obaba for help!"
[******]
The stranger laid in a futon, the covers over its body and up to the shoulders. Suzu and Obaba were knelt by the stranger's side, at his left and right respectively. The girl had a worried look on her as she stared at the stranger's sleeping face, while Obaba quietly examined it with careful eyes.
"So…" she finally spoke out, "You…found this person drifting onto the island?"
Suzu nervously twiddled her fingers, "Anou…more like fished him out…"
Obaba looked at Suzu with silence, before returning her gaze back down, "I see."
"Is she alright? Who do you think she is?"
"For now, yes. Probably a drifter that was trapped by last night's storm. It must be the Sea Dragon God's fortune smiling on this poor soul to be able to make it here in one piece…" Then Obaba stopped herself for a second, "Hmm? She?"
Suddenly a low murmur and echo of curiosity filled the Obaba's living room. Suzu looked around, surprised. All of the female villagers – the only populace on the island of Airantou – were gathered about outside. They were cramped and squeezed together so they could get a good peek at the stranger. None of them have seen anything like that person.
"Yes, Obaba. What is she?"
"She doesn't look like a girl like us…"
"Wonder if she's from the outside world…"
"Her clothes looks so different…it doesn't suit her at all."
A vein popped on the back of Obaba's head and…
"THERE'S NOTHING SPECIAL TO SEE HERE! NOW GET BACK TO WORK YOU LAZY BUMS!"
…All the girls scattered from the house with a startled shriek. Obaba sighed, "You really can't blame them, as they've never seen anything like this person before…an interesting rarity indeed."
Still rightfully remaining, Suzu leaned in closer to inspect the stranger.
"Who exactly could she be, Obaba? Her chest seems flat compared to ours and her body looks so different."
Obaba regained her steady composure as she locked eyes with Suzu, "Why is this person so different from you or I, you ask? Do you wish to know?"
"Hai," confirmed Suzu, steeled and ready.
"Well…" uttered Obaba, "That is because…"
"Um-um!" nodded Suzu.
"That is because…"
"Um-um!"
"……He's a boy."
The horde filled Obaba's small room like a shrieking flood, "A BOY?!!!!!!!!!!"
"………………WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR, AN OLD HAS-BEEN?!! EVERYONE, GET OUT!!!!"
With the exact same speed they entered, the girls zipped out of the room in clouds of hurried and frightened dust. Obaba nonchalantly cleared her throat, returning to an unfazed Suzu. More or less unfazed that is.
To be honest, she was downright shocked.
"A…boy?"
Obaba nodded, "Sou…The same type of our people that disappeared from this island many years ago: a young man."
[Correct…]
Suzu blinked and stared back down at the stranger, now knowing it was a boy about her age or older. He was still asleep, having a soundless dream or so. With a light smile, she gently brushed several of his dark-ocean blue hair from his forehead. For a moment, she could have sworn that the boy looked…relaxed by her touch.
"So…this is a boy…It's been a while since the island had one…" said Suzu.
"Hmm-hmm…" agreed Obaba. She then stood up to her feet – revealing her height to be quite short compare to Suzu's full size – and made her way out of the door, "Suzu…watch over him while I go fetch some medicine."
"Um! I will Obaba."
"And if those girls come gawking and squawking again," Obaba then added her last words with a scary tone and a burning black aura over his shoulders, "let them know that I'll personally see to it that they will never stick their nose into anything else but their unfinished work." With that she left.
Suzu sweatdropped and anxiously laughed – more for the other girls' sake. She turned to watch the boy in silence, thoughts wandering throughout her mind.
Who was he? Where did he come from? Where did he get such strange silver clothing? Particularly, what was that strange device on his wrist?
The girl snapped out of her thoughts when she heard something. It was the boy. He was stirring awake with moans, his head moving a bit.
"Ah, you're waking up!" smiled Suzu, "Daijoubu?"
[Are you alright?]
The boy was both stirring and falling back to sleep, but nonetheless he was still moving a little. "I'll go get you some water. Wait for me!" said the cheerful girl again.
Suzu sprang to her feet, already making her way into Obaba's kitchen area. She took a clay-pottery cup from a nearby shelf and started to fill it with water from the house's water pump. She was so glad that the stranger was…
The girl's thought went dead silent and she stopped her pumping. Her senses kicked in and she felt something lingering behind her. Slowly and inconspicuously she set down the cup, before rummaging into her blue garments to draw out three small kunais; ninja throwing daggers.
She whipped about…and gasped. Before she realized it, it was the stranger that was behind her. His hair covered his eyes as he staggered at her, reaching out to her with a right hand. The moment she hesitated, not knowing what to do next, it happened. The boy faltered forward and tripped over the wooden threshold between the living room and kitchen. He limply fell onto Suzu, his right hand reaching way past her left shoulder and…
…Their lips touch…
The two fell onto the floor with a dull thud and silence followed.
Dazed and wide eyed, Suzu blinked as she was staring point-blank at the boy's closed ones. Their lips was locked with his; a kiss. Suzu gazed at the boy, but he had no reaction. Truthfully, it looked like he passed out again. Without breaking lip-contact, Suzu turned her head slightly to see what was the boy reaching for. It surprised her.
Gripped in his right hand was a snake – or rather a fat and frightened one with large beady eyes. It wriggled under the boy's hold, panicking with a toothless hiss. Gently, Suzu reached out to the boy's hand and helped to uncurl his fingers, setting the scared animal free and running without looking back. She then turned back to the boy, who was still lying on top of her in an unconscious heap.
He…saved her. Even if the snake was harmless…he thought it was about to hurt her. He was already that weak and exhausted, yet he tried to help her. It somehow gave her a warm feeling, and the taste of their kiss only made things even fuzzier. What was this weird feeling?
Slowly, the boy stirred. He started to lift himself off, his lips coming off of Suzu's. He lightly shook the haze out of his head and his eyes, such unique deep forest-green eyes with a special glint behind them, opened. Groggy and not-so-sober-like, he looked about. Suzu watched him slowly as he turned left and right, before his eyes fell onto herself. Their sights made contact for a short while, but it gave Suzu another strange feeling inside her. The strange boy looked down from her face to her stomach and then back up again. He finally woke up with a…
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
He sprang back onto his bottom and scrambled on his hands and feet from Suzu. The girl bolted sitting up, watching the boy with curiosity and concern.
"I-I-I-I-I-I-I!" he stuttered rapidly. Without looking, the boy over-shot the living and struck into the face of a cupboard against a wall, "Ow!" Its panels opened out and fancy china rolled off and onto him, "Huh? ACK!" With inhuman reflexes he caught them all, "No-no-no-no-NO!" and sprang to his feet, "Ha-ha!" That was until he missed one plate on the floor, stepped on it, and slipped, "Eh? WOAH!"
THUD!
Suzu slapped her eyes closed at the chorus of shattering and screaming. "Ah – Eek – Oof – Oh – Gack – Stop it – Yeow!" As soon as she heard frantic scuffling and clattering, she peeked through her fingers. The boy was now saving one last plate in his hand, but it kept bouncing out of his palms like a fish out of water, "No-no-no! Don't go down on me!" He slapped both hands onto it in time, "Aha, I got—" but it was against its rims. So, it leapt out off his grasp, smacked him in the face "OW!" and fell to the china-covered floor in fragments.
The boy's eyes were wide open with horror at the sight before him. He looked up at Suzu, down at the broken pieces, and then up again, "I…I………I…" In one fell swoop, he went onto his knees, curled up, and bowed head first into the flooring.
"I'M SO SORRY!"
Silence walked into the room between Suzu and the curled up boy. Softly, the girl went towards him on her hands and knees, carefully avoiding the sharp china fragments. The boy rapidly continued to plead with guilt and shame as he kept his head down onto the floor.
"Please forgive me – please forgive me – please forgive me – please—"
"Are you alright?"
The boy's green eyes opened up and his head sprung up into the air. In seconds, his face was already and inch away from Suzu's, their noses almost touching. He did not see any flame of anger or hatred, but rather a lake of concern and forgiveness.
"Are you hurt?" she asked again.
The boy gulped, "I…I…I……I don't know?"
Suzu noticed a bruise on his forehead and could not help but reach a slender finger to it, "You're hurt…" Her fingers touched the boy's skin and he winced. True it burned like heck, but…her touch made all the difference with a dash of heaven. He could only stare at her, with a blank expression that looked like he was watching a goddess.
"Who…who are you?" he asked.
"Suzu…Yours?"
"I…Igalis*."
Suzu blinked, "Igarisu?"
"I see that you're awake."
Suzu and the boy, known as Igalis, jumped at the deep female voice. They both turned to see the return of the old lady.
"Is everything alright, Suzu-chan? I heard…" Obaba trailed off when she spotted the broke china across the floor. Igalis noticed it and he looked at where she was looking. He face-faulted.
"GAH! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"
"Ah! I-it's okay, Igarisu! Obaba and I aren't angry at you!" comforted Suzu, "Ne, Obaba?"
The village elder was silent for a full ten second, her expression unfaltering. She finally released a sigh, "I guess I won't ask. Don't worry about it, I was meaning to throw those horrid things out for years but never could find the time to do so…Thanks for the help, young man. Now, I'll go fetch a broom."
[******]
"So…" uttered Obaba, now kneeling across her square mat, "your name is Igarisu."
"Um-um," agreed Suzu, kneeling by Obaba's side.
"Um…what do you keep calling me Igarisu? It's Igalis…" spoke the boy sitting cross legged before the two females.
It was early evening by the time Obaba cleared out the rest of the broken china. Now, they sat together in order to figure out who and where the young man came from. From an obvious look of his silver and blue-lined clothing, he was definitely from somewhere different than Japan. Yet he was speaking Japanese like the others…only slightly less traditional and more linear. It was like basic straight-forward speech or so.
"We call you Igarisu is because you told us that it's your name, right?" wondered Suzu.
"But…how come it sounds different?"
"You are from Japan like us, correct?" asked Obaba. This caused the boy to perk up his head a bit in confusion, while Obaba went on, "You speak the dialect…yet it feels different."
"Japan?" blinked Igalis, "What's that?"
Both Suzu and Obaba were taken aback, exchanging glances with each other. He was speaking Japanese, yet had not idea what or where Japan is? Obaba made a mental note of it and toned down the subject for both parties to make more sense out of one another.
"How about you tell us who are you and where you come from," proposed Obaba. Without warning, the young man snapped at attention onto his feet with a crisp salute.
"I am Void Class, De-Evolution, Igalis Raideno, reporting to…to…" The boy trailed off as he curiously gazed down unto a pair of silent females, "Um…what's your status, madam and miss?"
"…Besides being the old granny of this village: none."
"Sta…tus?"
Igalis was taken aback as he plopped right back down in to his cross-legged seat, "What do you mean? How can you not have a class or id-status? We all live here on Citadal-1."
"Citadel-1?" Obaba softly parroted.
Igalis nodded before gesturing to Suzu, "Hm-hm. Didn't your fellow officer rescue me from sea and brought me back to base?"
Obaba sighed, "If you think that this is your home, it isn't."
"Eh?"
"This place is not called Citadel-1…rather Airantou."
"Ai…rantou…" uttered Igalis, "Strange, I've never heard of a Haven-City like that…And it doesn't have a number tagged with it…" As Igalis scratched the back of his head, Suzu leaned forward with a bit of excitement.
"You come from a city? Where?"
"Where what?"
"Where's your city placed?"
"In the sky. Why do you ask?"
Silence barged into the living space again. Suzu's face was blank and Obaba watched the young man with thoughtful eyes. Igalis was not at all fazed.
"The…sky?" wondered Suzu.
"Yeah…aren't we in the sky right now?"
Obaba let out another sigh, "Looks like getting to know you, Igarisu, is proving to be quite difficult on an entirely drastic scale…" Obaba's then tapped her finger across her lap, "Mind if you could tell us what has happened in the outside world?"
"Uh, sure," blinked Igalis. He then paused, "Uh, great, where do I start from?" It took Igalis a full minute to compile a good starting point for all of this – which from his perspective was an extremely difficult task.
"100 years ago, the former world powers were facing a crisis of the depletion of natural resources. This then caused tension and political struggle as countries bargained and fought over with one another in order to keep each of their economy surviving. Eventually, this led into small military skirmishes. From there, the fighting turning from guerrilla warfare to open-scaled war between all the war's major countries…" Igalis paused as he tried to recollected his thoughts, "And then…uh…Oh yeah! And then that is when the God's Fire Incident happened."
"God's…" uttered Obaba.
"Fire…Incident?" whispered Suzu.
Igalis nodded, "A name for the nuclear war that erupted at the near end of the 21st century…" Suzu had no idea what a nuclear war was, but it somehow sent cold shivers up her spine. Obaba get her usual expression, listening to all of it.
"The God's Fire Incident was where the countries launched each of their final counter assault in order to gain supremacy over the others: hydrogen-nuclear warheads – Now don't get me wrong, these nuclear warheads were redesigned to have the same destructive power but lack the radiation after affect, which prove to be helpful to keep any more casualties from rising on the long run."
Suzu and Obaba just stared at Igalis as he was waiting for a reaction or interjection of some sort. None came.
"Despite the nuclear destruction, the world could still be rebuild as there was a miraculous discovery of newer material. But…" Igalis's expression faltered a little, "there was a problem…"
"What?" wondered Suzu.
"A deadly biological species were suddenly born from the high-impact of the nuclear strikes and chemical mixtures of compressed hydrogen atoms. They were found hostile as they would kill every living being in their sight, not many were able to live and warn the rest. The military are powerless against them as well, despite the remaining super weapons we had left back then…Eventually, these biological creatures were identified as R.A.G.E*."
"R-A-G-E? Rage?" whispered Obaba.
"Yeah…Reactive Amalgamate-Genus Entity. Like you mentioned, RAGE for short."
"What did you do then?"
"Well, if I remember correctly the scientists and engineer of every countries' military forces banded together and produce the Haven-Cities; floating fortress for the rest of the surviving populace to escape the RAGE. Luckily, it's been found out that they can't fly or survive in the skies at all, so it was the only solution. Since then, humanity have been living in Haven-Cities above the clouds and that is how it all went to this very day…Don't you know that?"
"Hm?" Obaba was finally perplexed, "What do you mean?"
"If this isn't Haven-City Citadel-1, then this place must be Sentinel-2," answered Igalis.
"No," acknowledged Obaba with a blunt tone.
Igalis was taken aback for a second, "Polar-3?"
Obaba and Suzu shook their heads.
"Rook-4? Tortuga-5? Athena-6?"
No.
"…What about Grace-7?"
Also no.
Igalis glanced at the two females with quiet eyes. Slowly, he began to pale, "Then where am I?"
"As I mentioned before," said Obaba, "Airantou."
"But…there's not Haven-City called Airantou."
"Of course not…this isn't what you call a Haven-City…"
"…Eh?"
"You are on the surface of the world, in the middle of the ocean, on an uncharted island."
"………Eh?"
Obaba nodded.
"You mean…" swallowed a white-hued Igalis, "I'm…on the Earth."
"Um-um," agreed Suzu, "Heh? Obaba, what's 'the Earth'?"
"This world, Suzu, this world…"
"Then…" went on Igalis, "I'm…really on the ground?"
"Souna tori," nodded Obaba.
[That is correct.]
"…………Wow…" Igalis leaned back with realization, "That's amazing…and I thought there were no more lands left ever since the God's Fire Incident or the appearance of the RAGE…not to mention 100 years…Whoa-ho…"
To the two females' surprise, the boy was actually intrigued and excited. He looked around him, this time taking in the sights more carefully than before.
"But…" interjected Obaba, breaking the quiet air, "That still does not explain as to why you are here…"
"Huh?" Igalis returned his attention to Obaba, "What do you mean…" He paused as he remembered something, "Oh, of course I was…" His eyes widen, "OH!" He bolted forward onto his hands and knees, causing Suzu to jump in her knelt position.
"I'M SUPPOSE TO BE SOMEWHERE?!!" Igalis then turned back to Obaba and Suzu, "Quick where's the nearest Graiphon* I could find?"
"Gu…raiphon?" uttered Suzu. Igalis frantically nodded.
"Yeah – yeah! You know those armored strike helicopters! I was supposed to head to a particular destination to investigate for RAGE activity, but my own Graiphon was caught in the storm last night and I crash landed into the ocean!"
The young boy wanted to spring up to his feet, but Obaba placed a hand onto his arms to stop him, "We don't have something like that…neither do I know what a 'helicopter' is…"
"Uh…Well, do you have a Whalix*? You know a small naval combat vessel or…or a docked Daedalium* battleship nearby?"
Obaba shook her head. Igalis gulped, as if he understood something.
"There is…absolutely no way to get off this island…right?" he wondered.
"What gave you that idea?"
"…A hunch?"
Obaba gave a light snort, "That is true, young man. There is no way off this island. I'm afraid you're stuck here…"
"……………Okay."
Obaba and Suzu snapped upright in their seats, staring at a now cheery looking Igalis. He sat back down with a wide smile of relieve.
"Aren't you…at all worried?" questioned Obaba.
"Why should I be? I've got a perfectly good explanation why I am unable to fulfil my current mission, and it's totally an unpredictable situation. There's no way they could have my hide because of that. Furthermore, I can concentrate in contacting any nearby Haven-City for extraction." His eyes brightened even more, "Oh-oh! Maybe I could request for them to accept you and the others trapped on this island."
"But…" uttered Suzu. She did not want to leave the island, it was her home. But she knew very well that Igalis did not mean to hurt anyone's feelings. By the glint in his eyes, she could trust both him and herself that he was a sincerely good person. He felt like a brave child wanting to make everyone happy.
"It's settle then," chuckled Igalis, wholeheartedly, "do you have a Trans-Com I could borrow?"
"A Trans-Com?" raised Obaba's eyebrow. She guessed there was no need for an answer.
"Yeah? A computer-tech with telecommunication access," nodded Igalis, oblivious of Obaba giving him a blank and expressionless stare, "Where can I find one?"
"…We don't have one."
Igalis paused, but his smile still lingered, "What?"
"As you will know in the near future, we have nothing to what your home has to offer. Think of us as…the living past of this world."
"Living…past?" blinked Igalis, his smile shattering, "You mean…no electricity…no computers…especially no military."
"No military," agreed Obaba.
"………Oh…So, I'm…"
"Stuck here for the rest of your life, yes."
"……"
"Anou…" pried Suzu, "are you alright, you look pale?"
"I…guess so?" squeaked Igalis. Despite his ever-cheerful personality, he finally had a look of defeat.
"Obaba!"
The three caught the sound of a frantic voice and they all turned to the open doorway of the living room. A female villager had just appeared, a look of panic in her eyes.
"Shion-chan?" blinked Obaba, "What's the matter?"
"There's a travelling girl with a wooden sword and a small cow that had just passed out on the road. They look like they've went through a lot and haven't had a decent meal in weeks. The others need your help!"
"Don't worry, Shion, I'll be there right away." The villager dashed out of view as Obaba rose to her feet, "Suzu, take care of the young man. I'll try not to take to long, alright?"
Suzu gave her elder a firm nod, "Hai. I'll do my best."
With surprising speed – for an old lady of her size and stature – she made a hasty sprint from her home and onto the village paths. Suzu watched her leave before she turned back to Igalis.
"Is there anything you want me to…Aree?"
[Huh?]
A stray of strange, silver, and metallic devices were laid open before Igalis. One by one, he picked them up and examined them at every corner and face. He picked up an object with a glass screen and buttons with unique inscriptions on them and tapped it. It made no reaction, rather sparkled with tiny lightning before a trail of smoke leaked from its side.
"Great…Tac-COM is busted; RADI-link is fried; Photon Pistol's dead; Not to mention my Mp6 player is a 'bye-bye'; perfect, even the SOS emergency signal and receiver is no longer available for emergencies…" With a sigh, he released the clutter of 'junk' from his hands to let them spill uselessly onto the floor. Suzu knelt down and started to examine them with curiosity.
"What are these?"
"Standard issue equipment that I need whenever I'm on an assignment…Go ahead, have a look, they're all dead so there's no point for safety precautions." Suzu picked up a small rectangular device with a rusted black cover screen and rotating ring that she played around with her thumb. The device suddenly sparkled with electricity and it snapped a tiny explosion into Suzu's face, causing her to 'eep' and cough. A sweat-drop hovered over Igalis' eyebrow, "More or less…"
Suddenly his eyes bulged and fear drenched down his body like cold water, "Is it still alright?!" This caught Suzu's attention, while she was wiping a patch of soot from her cheek, who looked up.
"What is it, Igarisu?"
The boy whipped out his right hand, pulling back his sleeve to reveal his last piece of technology: his unique tear-shaped gold and red wristwatch. Suzu watched in silent as he pressed several buttons with his left thumb, a series of symbols and incomprehensible words flashing on its tiny glass face. Igalis released his tension with a exhalation of utter relief.
"Thank goodness this still works…"
"Is something the matter?"
Igalis looked up at Suzu and pulled out his wrist-watch for her to see, "The only thing that has survived is this: my Duraiv Complex*."
"Duraiv…Complex?" A series of question marks blinked all over her head. The young man nodded as he drew his wrist back to look at his watch with a smile.
"Yeah, it's been with me ever since I passed the Evolution examinations…It's built as a watch, a field-radio com-link, computational analyzer, and other neat tricks. But the most important function and meaning behind it is this: it makes me a Duraivyr*."
"A Duraivyr?" thought Suzu out loud, "What is that?"
Igalis opened his mouth to speak. Instead of words though, a low growling moaned into the air. The two had no idea what it was, but it was only for a second. They both looked down at Igalis' stomach as it rumbled loudly again, practically audible for everyone to hear. Igalis closed his mouth with a blush and Suzu giggled.
"You must be hungry," she smiled.
"Starving even…"
"Don't worry, Igarisu. Obaba has a fruit patch nearby so I'll go and fetch some nice food for you to eat!"
Igalis's blush deepened. He felt…warm all of a sudden. It was a nice and soothing feeling. From his experience, he had never met such a lovely and compassionate girl. He truly felt that this girl was not human, but really a goddess. Only goddesses could have such beautiful emotions and loving personality, he thought to himself.
Suzu elegantly rose to her feet, giving Igalis one more smile and giggle before making her way for the house's back doorway. "Wait for me, ne?"
"Al…alright…" Igalis answered with a faint smile, "I will."
"Ja ne!" With that the Igalis's goddess left.
The young boy was left alone, but not with a cold feeling. He stretched a grin.
"I'm so glad to have met you…Suzu…"
Ping…Ping…Ping…
Igalis's eyes snapped wide open at the sound of the 'pings' that echoed in the empty room. Instinctively, he glanced at his watch. The glass screen was blinking blue whenever the 'ping' echoed. The pings were slow and faint at first, but it steadily quickened and became louder. Others may have found the watch to be a strange thing…but Igalis knew its real purpose.
"Suzu…" he breathed. His eyes were tightly locked onto the glass, staring straight at the words that constantly flashed with the light and sound.
{NU BLOOD – DETECTED}
[******]
Suzu lightly skipped down a lane of Obaba's vegetable garden plants. Needless to say from Suzu's vantage point, the produce was massive and as tall as the girl herself. She hummed a gentle tune as she examined which of the vegetables were ripe and ready for a tasty meal.
Tonkatsu was already back at her house, ever since she had asked him to help find Obaba. She was so grateful to have him around, but thought best to have him return home in case of any other problems that may turn out. She giggled as she crouched down to gaze at a large red carrot and rapped it with a curled finger.
The poor boy must be starving, she thought. He was fortunate to have survived the storm last night, as well as arriving to Airantou safely. She thanked the Sea Dragon God for its divine protection over the island and Igalis. It was strange to find out that he was a male, where the island was lacking for a long time. It even amazed her of his origins. She wondered how was life while living in a large city in the sky? It must be a wonderful thing, she grinned to herself. But there was one question she wanted to ask herself…what was a Duraivyr.
Suzu bent down to pick up the carrot, knowing that it is ripe, and stuffed it into a tall cylinder-shaped basket that she had brought along with her. She doubted the carrot would be enough, so she rose to her feet, hefted the basket and carrot across her small back, and ventured on to look for luscious grapes.
Suddenly, her sharp hearing heard a rustle of trees. The girl stopped cold, eyes narrowed and ready. She listened again, hearing the trees moves once more. True, it was a windy day, but she recognized such sounds to be made by a creature; a rather big one as well.
"Ayane?" was the first name she thought of as she gazed around her at the forest. Ayane was a young miko priestess, not to mention a life-long rival to Suzu. She was always the sneaky type, relentlessly striking at Suzu from out of the blue or appeared to force a challenge between the two. She would even go so far as to take down Suzu with her specialty: a blow-dart. Still, thought Suzu, Ayane rarely made such loud noises if she wanted to catch Suzu off-guard – which never seemed to work.
"Ayane?" the girl called again. Something was not right, as the rustling grew louder. Accurately, Suzu could tell that even that sound was not made by Ayane herself. Something was coming…
The blue-clad girl softly set the basket off and down to the ground, as inconspicuous as possible to avoid attention. She slipped her hand into her upper garments, drawing out her kunais like before. This time, she waited.
That was when something moved behind her and she spun around. Before she unleashed her attack however, she stopped. What was now in front of her was merely a mole that surfaced. Its snout sniffed the earth around it, before it squint its eyes to clearly stare at Suzu. The girl released a soft sigh…wait.
A massive object crashed right down behind Suzu, uplifting a gale of wind that fluttered her skirt and long hair. The mole shrieked and shrank back into its hole, avoiding what was to happen next. Only hesitating for a horrified second, Suzu spun around. She came face to face with a large creature, totally different than the animals she knew on the island.
It was gigantic wolf-like demon, with literally-burning crimson fur, ferocious glowing yellow eyes, flesh-ripping razor teeth, and stone-crushing paws to boot. It threw its attention down unto Suzu, before it reared back to give an ear-piercing howl into the darkening sky.
Suzu slapped her hands to her ears, the demon's howl being to unbearable for human ears. When it stopped, it left a ringing noise in Suzu's mind as she stagger back in disorientation. The demon wolf lashed out without mercy. Suzu regained her focus and swiftly back-flipped in time for the demon wolf to crush the ground below her. She landed and kicked off the demon's burning fur, which singed the tips of Suzu's shoes. The girl screeched in surprise when she landed, quickly stamping her toes to the ground to kill the strange fires. What was this thing?
The wolf wildly turned and struck out again, jaws ready for the kill. Suzu gracefully ducked, letting the creature soar an inch over her head, and lashed out her stars into its belly. She then quickly rolled out of the way and the two combatants kept their distance for a short second.
Suzu watched with caution as the wolf spun around to meet her gaze. It shook its body, knocking off several melted pieces of Suzu's throwing stars. To her shock, the demon wolf was actually…grinning. With a dark sound, it chuckled as it began to stalk Suzu in a circle. The fighting girl kept her stance, only turning to keep the wolf from striking behind her.
In a split second it attack and Suzu flipped out of the way. Its claws swiped empty air, but not entirely. As if predicting her move the wolf rapidly swiped its other paw and was lucky to strike Suzu's legs. She yelped in pain as she collided into the broken dirt ground. The girl struggled to sit up, to run away even, but the last attack twisted and scarred her ankle and left her entire left leg too numb to move.
The wolf bellowed a laugh, almost human-like, and it readied itself for one last pounce to finish everything. Freezing terror singed Suzu as she frantically did everything she could to run, but it proved useless. Was this…the end? The wolf seemed to have read her thoughts as it locked its yellow eyes with hers, nodding to her question with a grin.
She did not want to die…she did not want Tonkatsu or everyone else to be alone…A tear trickled down her scratched cheeks.
With a mocking and triumphant roar, the wolf pounced.
"SUZU!"
She gasped.
A silver blur appeared and collided with the demon wolf, straight into its large skull. The creature flailed about before crumbling in a massive heap, upturning fresh earth and burning up several plants and vegetables in its wake. Suzu blinked just as the silver blur landed before her in a crouch. As it stood, she could not believe it.
"I-Igarisu?!"
Igalis stood upright, eyes narrowed and burning with an unknown fighting spirit. Trickles of flames danced across his right gloved hand, but it did not affect him nor its material. Instead, it burned it out with a flick of his hand. The demon wolf rolled back up to its feet, a shiner that clearly stuck to its wincing right eye. It barred its teeth, seething with fury beyond imagination.
"Surprised to see a guy like me here?" wondered Igalis with a strong tone, "Yeah well, I'm just as surprised to see a RAGE like you on this beautiful place!" The wolf growled as it started to take slow strides towards the boy and girl. It was not going to let up. "I won't let you hurt Suzu!" snarled the young man.
"Igarisu!" cried the girl. The boy pulled up his watch to his the level of his chest.
Then, Igalis shouted, "Motorgrad*!" He placed his other hand onto the watch and sharply twisted it around, rotating the tear-drop so that its pointed-tip faced the direction of his fingers. The device rapidly blinked with lights, a series of small alarm wails echoing for it. Then a mechanical voice echoed from its core.
[\\ DURAIVYR CODE ACTIVE //]
{^| START UP |^}
The watch flashed a violent glow of bright light, practically radiated an entire quarter of the field. The wolf growled in pain as Suzu shielded herself from its brilliance. When the light died, she turned to look with amazement.
Igalis was now armed with a unique silver and blue weapon: a large, heavy-weighted, mechanical knuckle-duster that resembled a small shield-plating as it was attached to Igalis's silver-sleeved right fore-arm. It had short stubby jagged edges in its front 'striking' peak and its entire body was made out of pure golden steel. Dangling from its back end was a short chain with a small golden sapphire medallion with an imprinting of a four-pointed star. An aura of energy fluttered all over its surface like the glow from a pond before it too died out and solidified the weapon.
"Let's get this over with…" muttered Igalis and he took a step forward. Without warning the demon wolf struck out, claws ready for the kill. Nonchalantly, the boy turned sideways, letting both claws to narrowly miss his shoulder. The wolf gagged as it glance at the eyes of Igalis, bearing equal ferocity. "YAH!" The knuckle-duster struck heavily into the demon's throat and sent its body hopping into the air, "HIYAH!" Igalis whirled about and slashed a roundhouse kick into the wolf's gut with his heel, doubling it over like a fold-up table.
Suzu could not believe it…Igalis was amazing. His fighting prowess was several times faster and stronger compared to the results of her own martial arts training. To be honest, one could say he had the look of being unstoppable.
"Out of my face!" Igalis jumped up and flashed a snap-kick into the wolf's chest and sent it ploughing through the fields once again. Suzu watched as Igalis landed in a low and ready crouch, as if about to spring onto his opponent. In its crash, the RAGE rolled back to its feet and stormed at the boy with uncontrollable fury.
"ANKAA MOUDO!" Lines pulsed over Igalis' weapon, Motorgrad, and the shield knuckle-duster separated from the glowing veins. It then twisted and rotated about, immediately reassembling itself into a new heavy-weighted and triangular weapon. When it resealed the gaps, the weapon leapt off Igalis' fore arm and into the air. Its chain lengthened out like a living snake as it dropped down to its owner. The boy snatched the chain into both hands and yanked it down for the transformed heavy-end to swing under his arms and around in a circle in the air. Now, the weapon looked like a mace-like throwing anchor.
"Eat this!" Igalis spun about and then lashed the anchor form of Motorgrad straight at the demon wolf. It smashed into its skull with a sickening crack and it reared back in wallowing pain. The boy twitched his wrist, reeling back the anchor to him with a tug of its long chain. Once by his side, he swung it around in a circle a few times before throwing it in a right-curved arc. As the wolf sputtered the dizziness from its head, it failed to react in time as the chain coiled around its neck. It was leashed tightly as it began to gag and claw at the binding restraint.
Igalis forcefully yanked, drawing in the RAGE with inhuman strength. He then swung his body around, his chain and anchor coiling around him like a cyclone, with the wolf following suit. The demon was flung about in the air until the boy twisted to a stop and whipped off its passenger. The wolf clawed the air before crashing back down to earth with a bone-snapping thud.
"Time to end it all, Motorgrad!" Igalis barked, "SUPPATEN MOUDO!" The chain swiftly retracted back into the anchor and it leapt out of its owner's hand. In the air before him, the anchor rapidly spun and it started to grow longer. Its body separated again and resembled into another form, a large longsword with a wide blade and a hallow space in its center. The change coiled into the weapon and it was casually captured into Igalis's waiting right hand. The boy readied himself, both hands on his sword before him. When the two combatants clashed, Igalis ducked under the wolf's swipe and smashed the blade into the demon's gut. Without letting up, he shoved an upward force to flip his enemy spinning in a quadruple axis before it landed in a heap.
Igalis narrowed his eyes, his left hand reaching for the short dangling chain of Motorgrad. He then yanked it, pulling it three times in total as the weapon roared with a power of an engine. The deep voice of Motorgrad relayed…
{(//) BURNING DECADE (\\)}
Suzu gasped as sharp flames flickered over bladed-edges of Igalis's sword. The flames danced in a spinning motion around its blade, until all is edges was burning red with compressed hot plasma. To those who could recognize it, the sword's blade now acted as a wild, blazing, and sparkling red energy chain-saw.
The wolf howled and rolled back to its feet, longingly without mercy.
"EEEEERRRYYYAAAAAAAAH!" Igalis leapt forward and slashed his sword, a sparkling contrail of red stardust glowing through the air in its wake.
The two struck one another, now standing a meter apart from each other's back. Silence fell onto them. Suzu breathed slowly, hoping that one of the two was alright. Then it happened.
Several snips of dark blue hair fell from Igalis's head and onto his shoulders. A sparkling line of pure red energy sliced through the wolf's waist. The creature dropped its arms and keeled over like a rag-doll, before it erupted into black flames. Suzu shielded herself for a second before peeking over her folded arm. Before it disappeared, she saw an image of a frightening pair of scythes that crossed each other, made out of the black smoke. A skull face appeared on top of it, making it look like a black coat of arms, before it vanished into the air with an eerie bellow. Now nothing was left of it besides a pool of steaming crimson liquid. Igalis smirked as he turned about, Motorgrad saying one last verse…
{[vv] DURAIYVR – PHASE OUT [vv]}
Automatically, Igalis's sword glowed with a reflective light before its body vaporised into digital particles. In the end, it reverted back to his watch and twisted the tear-drop to face the other direction, back to it original place.
"Now that's what a Duraivyr is!" chuckled Igalis as he brushed the dust from his fingerless-gloved hands, "We're a particular division in the military force and are charged with fighting the RA – UWAH!" Without looking, Igalis slipped on a large cucumber and staggered about to regain his balance, "WHOA-WHOA-WHOA!" Finally, he fell, "WAH!"
SPLOCH!
Suzu clamped her eyes shut at a sickening splash. Eventually, she dared her self to peek through her clasp and she gasped, "Igarisu!"
The Duraivyr was lying in the pool of molten…whatever it was…that was left by the destroyed RAGE. A stark-white horrified expression was plastered onto Igalis's face as he blankly stared up at the sky. Suzu could finally feel the senses in her legs and limped over to where the boy was. She then came by his side onto her knees, careful in not to touch the unpleasant red liquid.
"Igarisu? Daijoubu?"
"………yyyyyyyyyyyYUCK!!" Igalis sat up, feeling utterly disgusted with the sticky red liquid trickling all over his back, shoulder, arms, and legs, "This is nasty!"
"Don't worry, once you take a bath it will be all gone!" Suzu cheered him.
Igalis blinked and turned to Suzu with curiosity, "What's a bath?"
[******]
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh…"
Igalis slipped deeper into his 'bath' with an air of refreshment. He was seated within the bath section of Suzu's house, inside the tub made out of rocks with a flow of steaming hot water pouring into it from a nearby bamboo pipe. The boy dipped his whole body under the water's surface, only until his nose has passed its point. He blew bubbles from under the water, Us shaped on his content eyes. He then popped his head back up until he revealed his bare shoulders.
"So this is what she called a bath…" he sighed, utterly relaxed, "I wonder why we only have showers back in Citadel-1? Wish I could've had one everyday. It's just soooo good!" Like a blissful child he played around with the water, literally intrigued by its touch, smell, warmth, and other factors.
For the first time in his life, he was happy. Things were different here than from where he came from, interestingly different. He was absolutely amazed that such a comfortable place like this island still existed, in this already ravaged world. He thought that the God's Fire Incident had already wiped out such lovely places from the face of the earth. Even if they survived the incident, the melted Polar continents would have done the job anyways. It must be their luck that this island is still alive. Igalis sighed again, washing all the worries from his loose body. This was indeed a good feeling.
A knock echoed into the rook and Igalis opened his eyes from his thoughts, hearing Suzu's voice saying, "Igarisu. Is the bath alright for you?"
"Oh, definitely…How's your leg, Suzu?"
"I'm all better now, thanks for asking. Also, I've cleaned out the mess from your clothes. It would be dried and ready for you by tomorrow morning. You can borrow one of my robes after you're done with your if you like."
Igalis felt silent. She helped to clean his clothes? He lowered his gaze to stare into his own reflection. She was…a really nice person. Not many people he had met would do such a thing on their own. No one was like that, he thought.
"Igarisu? Doshita?"
[What's wrong?]
"Eh…N-nothing. I'm fine. Thank you so much Suzu," said Igalis with a start, "This bath is really amazing. You should try it out sometime!"
"Why don't I join you now?"
"Sure, why…" Igalis' face fell. Before he spoke, the sliding door behind him already opened and he failed to hear bare-feet stepping towards him and the bath, "WHAT?!"
Igalis spun around; eyes locked with Suzu's – who was already shoulder-deep in the steamy bath. She sweetly smiled.
"You're right, it is good," she giggled.
Igalis face-faulted, an anxious blue hue hovering the top of his head. Suzu blinked with curiosity as he wheeled around, his back to her.
"Wha-wha-wha-wha-wha-what are you doing in here with me?"
"What's wrong, Igarisu?
"Y-y-y-y-y-y-y-you…" the boy gulped, "You aren't suppose to be in here with me!"
Innocently, Suzu tilted her head, "Why?"
"We'd get in trouble if the others found out that we've broke the rule of 'No affectionate-relationships or infatuations at all times' thing! They'll have my head if they caught you…" Igalis stopped himself for a second and slowly turned halfway for Suzu to see his face a bit, "Oh right…I'm not on Citadel-1 anymore…"
"Why can't we be together?" blinked Suzu.
"Because rules and regulations are strict back in the Haven-City; real tight. Men and women were not allowed to have any other-than-work relationships with those opposite to their gender, without authorization or official consent from the Department of Social Control…"
Igalis turned to Suzu, seeing questions marks fluttering about her untied hair like puzzled butterflies. He then smiled, "Nothing…just a bit surprised to share the bath with you…that's all."
"Oh…" The girl then smiled as Igalis turned about again, "Why don't I scratch your back?" If Igalis was sitting on a seat, he would have keeled over. Actually, he literally capsized before resurfacing in a flash.
"EH?!" he squeaked, "BUT—" Before he could turn, Suzu embraced him from behind with a giggle. Then Igalis felt something pressed against his back, something he had no idea what it was. But by subconscious reflexes, his face blushed.
"I don't mind. I just love to scratch others' back!"
"BUT – BUT – BUT – BUT – BUT—"
Blood popped from Igalis's nose and it gently trickled down to his lips. The two stopped themselves with quiet expression, while Igalis curiously touched his nose.
"What's this?" He revealed his fingers with a spot of, "Is this…blood?"
Without a word, his head weakly hung forward and his entire body fell limp in Suzu's arms like a lifeless doll. The poor girl panicked as she attempted to wake the unfortunate boy.
"Ah! What's wrong, Igarisu? Why are you bleeding from your nose? Hang in there! Igarisu!!"
AUTHOR'S NOTES
'ANKAA MOUDO' means ['ANCHOR MODE'], the mace-anchor; 'BURONZU MOUDO' means ['BRONZE MODE'], the shield-knuckle; and 'SUPPATEN MOUDO' means ['SPARTAN MODE'], the hack-blade. (Motorgrad's designs and abilities under the ownership of Emerald Sonata).
Motorgrad's sword frame, SPARTAN MODE, was initially inspired by the Keyblade 'Hero's Crest' from Kingdom Hearts II, of Square-Enix.