Everyone is afraid of something. Courage means to take a stand, despite that fear.
Devil Arms: ReturnerS
Amidst the eternal waves of time
From a ripple of change shall the storm rise
Out of the Abyss peer the eyes of a shadow
Behold the Devil, it's wings a black sheath
Chapter 10: Silent Fears
"Hmm...now that I think about it," Shou said nasally as he placed a hand on his chin in thought, a bandage over his nose and eye. "I never get a chance to say the results of the test now did I?"
He asked to the crowd in front of him consisting of the Returners, the back up mages, the bridge crew of The Spirit of Terra and Shichiro.
Having grown tired of being crammed into Shou's tiny office, the group was in the briefing room instead, where a monitor showing the now sleeping Shiro in the center.
"But as you all probably have guessed, this man is none other than Null Enders, Emperor of the Neo-Belkan Empire that attacked the TSAB three years ago before being pushed back and defeated by Kimura Yuuki."
"Is it okay to have such a dangerous person here?" Marika asked.
"Based on the fact he hasn't tried to actively kill any of us and even helped us, I say he isn't lying when he says he has amnesia."
"In any case," Aoi interrupted as all heads turned toward her. "I want this information to stay in this room, and none of you are to take any action against him. The last thing we need is for him to go on a justified rampage again."
"And if he survived, he might know where Yuuki is, right?" Shichiro added as Aoi nodded slowly.
"Yes...there is a possibility of that as well. In any case, you're all dismissed."
As they left, Nathan came up to Aoi and began whispering into her ear.
"The Admirals are going to want an explanation about this," he said. "How do you wish to proceed?"
"We're not going to be able to hide this," she said solemnly. "There were too many witnesses. We're just going to have to come clean about it as much as we can."
"Then can I ask a question?"
The two of them looked up and saw Vita was still standing there.
"Just what the heck is going on here? Why the heck does that emperor look like him?"
After leaving the briefing room, Subaru, along with Ed, Tea, Sakura, and Alex were sitting in Subaru's room, unsure of what to make of the new revelation. The four of them already knew Null Enders's real identity after all.
"Well...this certainly is a shocker isn't it?" Ed asked, determined to break the stuffy silence, as he shifted his arms and legs into a more comfortable position on the chair. "It's like playing slots and getting three sevens, only to find out that those sevens meant that you owe the casino money instead of winning big."
"Now's not the time for jokes, Edward," Alex said calmly.
"Do you think Marika-chan is going to be okay?" Sakura asked. "Both her parents were killed because of him after all..."
"She's smart enough not to attack him," Subaru assured her, placing her good arm around Sakura's shoulders. "Besides, Amia is watching over her right now."
"So, it really is him then?" Tea asked Subaru.
"Yes. His Armor may be a bit different, but his voice and his spells, that's definitely him. I can't ever forget them so easily."
"You mean you had to take on that crazy sword he dropped on that monster?" Ed asked incredulously. "Damn, I was scared just looking at it drop from the sidelines. Can't imagine how it must be like looking up at that thing from underneath."
Subaru shivered slightly, remembering that Yuuki had to cut off his own feet to escape, even though he regenerated them afterward.
"What's going to happen to him now?" Sakura asked softly as the others turned to look at her. "I-it's not that I'm worried about him! It's that...he's technically a criminal isn't he? Even though he saved all of us, they're not just going to over look him are they?"
"The way I see it," Tea said as she leaned against the wall. "There are two possible options. The first is that they're going to try and recruit him to join. If they do, they'll be able to place limiters on him so he can be controlled."
"But remember what he said before he activated his Armor," Alex pointed out. "It sounds like he already has limiters placed on himself. Not to mention that sword he carries around that seems to be able to cut through anything magic based with ease. And even without that, Yuuki-san has always shown an uncanny ability to break out of any form of binding."
"What's the second choice?" Ed asked.
"They arrest him," Tea answered simply. "Of course, I don't think he'd go down without a fight so if they do try that, they're going to have to move and act while he's still unconscious and I don't think Aoi-san is going to just let them."
"So the only real choice we've got..." Subaru mumbled to herself. "Is to hope that he's willing to help us."
"At the very least, I don't think he'll have any problems if we ask him to help fight the Guardeners. Though I can't say if he'll agree to other problems."
"Man...this is going to be a political shitstorm at best," Ed said leaning back against the chair. "If word got out that he's actually a dead enemy emperor, the TSAB might be as good as done."
Again the room fell silent. It wasn't until Sakura smacked both of her cheeks with her hands.
"There's no point sitting around like this!" she said as she stood up from the bed. "I wanted to become stronger so I wouldn't have to rely on him to protect me! Onee-chan! Can you help me train for a bit? I was a liability in the last fight! I don't want it to happen again!"
The others stared at her for a moment before Subaru nodded and the two left the room together, before the other three got up to leave as well.
"Really now," Tea muttered softly. "Sometimes she makes me feel like I'm the one who's the little kid."
"No kidding," Ed said as he walked with a limp. "All things considered though, it's not too surprising in my opinion. What's wrong Alex? Upset that she didn't pick you to help her train?"
"That's not it," Alex replied. "Besides, out styles are completely different. I'm just wondering if Yuuki-san really did survive if he was able to..."
"You think he's gonna drop from the sky or something?"
"With all the stuff that's been happening lately, I wouldn't be all that surprised."
Shou entered the room holding Null Enders, or rather Shiro, who was on the bed with multiple medical equipment monitoring his status. Shou walked over to one and examined it for a minute before straightening up and walking over to a wall terminal where he pressed a few buttons causing the lights to dim.
"You can stop pretending now," he said without turning around. "All recording equipment have been set to a loop."
The man on the bed opened his eyes and turned to face his caretaker.
"What is it now?" he asked.
"I have to talk to you about what's going to happen over the next few days. Your little power show did not go unnoticed by the government or the public. Every learned person on this planet saw what you did last night."
"So I took down a monster," he said with a shrug. "Big deal."
"It's because there was a certain emperor that went by the name of Null Enders that used the same abilities as you, and that man tried to kill everyone on this planet."
"I've been hearing that name for a while. Who exactly is he?"
"He really doesn't know?" Shou thought as his eyes glanced over at a machine in the corner before speaking out loud. "He was a man that came to a planet called Earth where he attacked a TSAB convoy in order to execute one of his men that was being held captive for treason against him. After that he was getting ready to return to wherever he came from before some high official of the Bureau thought it was a good idea to attempt to capture him, leading to a short but devastating war between them on this planet. The war cost the lives of hundreds of soldiers, including the Captain's son."
"That's what happens in war," the other man replied, although is eyes narrowed in anger all the same. "People die. And from the sounds of things, both sides are in the wrong. An unprovoked attack to take back a prisoner to personally execute became an attack of retaliation due to trying to capture an empire's ruler."
"That's right. So now you know." Shou's eyes wondered back over to the machine in the corner again before he continued. "Sakura-chan and Subaru-san are okay by the way. Sakura-chan only suffered a slight concussion and Subaru's arm has already been repaired."
"That's good to hear, but I don't see how that has anything to do with me."
"Really? You seemed anxious about it to me."
"I admit, seeing a small girl crash into the ground from fifty feet up and another with a gaping hole in her arm that was full of sparkling wires was a bit troubling, but it was hardly any of my business to ask."
Shou frowned again as he looked at the machine.
"Still nothing...hmm...I wonder..."
"Though those two are okay," he said out loud. "I couldn't say the same for Teana-san."
There it was. It was faint and only for half a second, but there was a small spike.
"Bingo."
"Teana-san? Who's that?" Shiro asked, as Shou felt a stare burn into his back.
"I'm sure you know who I'm talking about. Orange hair, dual guns, used to have twin tails, total tsundere."
On the other side of the base at the base's shooting range, Tea let out a loud sneeze as she covered her mouth.
"Ugh...darn pollen," she sniffed.
"Should I close the window?" Marika asked as she handed her a pack of tissues.
"Please and thank you," she replied as she blew her nose.
Shiro was glaring at the bespectacled man in front of him. The man had a victorious smile on his face. Shiro had been careless and had talked himself into a corner.
"Don't worry about it, Senpai," Shou said as the lights turned back on to full. "I won't tell anyone. After all, it's not like you were lying about your amnesia. It's just how much you don't remember that you were keeping a secret."
"And why would you want to keep it a secret?" he asked.
"The same reason you are. Because there is no reason to expose it. But really, I guess even you can't completely control your heart rate. A single jump was all I needed to realize you did remember Teana-san. I apologize for tricking you, so please don't punch me again. I need my eyes to work."
"So? Is there a point to checking this? To checking how much I remember?" he asked, his eyes still glaring at his former Kouhai.
"A few questions, and then I have to go over a schedule that involves you."
"What then?"
"What is the last thing you remember?" Shou asked, taking a seat next to the bed.
"Babysitting," Shiro grunted, turning his head away.
"Babysitting?" Shou asked, nearly jumping out of his seat. "Who? What? How? When?"
"Not mine," Shiro mumbled, not amused at the reaction. "I was babysitting someone else's kid. Takamachi Vivio."
"Why?"
"Because I needed to do so for my plan to work."
"Wage war on the TSAB? Well you don't have to worry about that anymore. The members of Devil Watch are all dead."
This news got Shiro's attention as he turned to face Shou, eyes wide as saucepans.
"How? Who? When?" he sputtered.
"Impaled with extreme prejudice. You. Three years ago." Shou answered.
Shiro remained silent before a dark chuckle escaped from his feral smile.
"Hahahaha...hah hah hah hah hah hah! Damn! And here I thought I would have a chance to kill them only to see that I already did...and I don't remember a damn thing."
Shou was slightly disturbed by his friend's reaction but he understood where the hatred came from so he didn't say anything about it, instead opting to ask his next question.
"So are you willing to cooperate with the TSAB?"
"No."
The answer was swift and definitive. While the man had no reason to actively destroy the TSAB anymore, he also had no real reason to assist them either.
"But Task Force 501 is a different matter," the man said with a smile. "After all...it's mine."
"Please forgive my crude sense of naming," Shou said, also with a smile as he placed his right hand over his heart and gave a crude bow. "We had been looking up some things."
"So...what? You guys have knowledge of the future?"
"Of A future," Shou corrected. "The fact that you are here while we have a record of you going missing already makes everything you know and or remember personally moot to a point. The knowledge we do have is what would happen if your plan succeeded and you managed to kill off the TSAB. Which, I must say, you were explicitly thorough with."
"So...no one joined...?" he asked softly.
"Plans often go awry after contact with the enemy. You ended up alone, Senpai."
"Humph, I took into account that possibility," he replied stiffly.
"At the very least, this would further discourage him from attempting a coup," Shou thought.
"So...what...I created a time portal and came back just to kill a guy and end up fighting a war with the Bureau, again, and end up killing my past self?" Shiro asked, trying to wrap his head around all the time ball jumble.
"Actually, you both disappeared in a portal," Shou corrected. "So the fact that you are alive means that there's a good chance he is as well."
A flash of realization came across Shiro's face as he nodded pensively. This caught Shou's attention as he raised an eyebrow.
"Do you know something?"
"Maybe...but I don't want to say anything since I am not 100% sure. I'm still having trouble believing I even succeeded after all. I mean it was a plan that called for a straight forward encirclement and charge against all of Bureau space. How the hell was that not defeated?"
The two men simply stared at each other before Shiro sighed.
"God...they were that incompetent?"
"Magic nullifying mass based weaponry can do a handful on things."
"Humph, what's the use of power if there is no strategy?"
The two men sat silently for a while before Shou cleared his throat.
"Well we'll leave the future talk here for today. There are more important matters to attend to, like setting you up with a meeting with the Admiralty Board."
"Me...?" Shiro asked. "You want me...to meet with some higher ups? And hope that I don't want to kill them all?"
Again Shou's eyes narrowed. The man was talking about killing people too easily. He understood the reason though. After all, Task Force 501 "Shadow" was supposed to be a suicide squad under his command. Killing was expected of them as much as dying was. He should stop getting surprised at all of this. After all, the man was, besides his DNA, completely different from the Senpai he knew, the one that gave everything he had to protect everyone. Opposite sides of a coin like night and day.
"I'd rather you didn't joke like that. In any case, they're going to want to see you and they expect you to be 'contained,'" he said the last word full of spite but was surprised to see Shiro simply shrug and lean back on the bed.
"Go ahead, heck go over board with it, make it seem like I'm perfectly pacified. They'll show their true colors that way."
"You have a suggestion?"
"I do..."
As Shiro explained his idea to Shou, the man's expression changed form shock, to understanding, to amused as he began laughing.
"Hahahahaha! That's an excellent plan. They'll never know what hit them. Well I spent enough time here. Better go make preparations. Can I trust you to behave?"
Shiro shot the man a look that said "What am I, five?"
Shou gave a small smirk before he exited, stopping only once as he looked back into the door.
"Oh...and even though you're not the one I remember three years ago, your still the one I remember four years ago and earlier. So, after four years, welcome back."
As the door closed, the amnesiac yet to be emperor sighed as he lied back down on his bed.
"It's been six years in my memory though...but I guess even three can really change a person. I know that all too well..." he muttered placing his arm over his eyes. "No shadows...they're not mine to begin with..."
Two days later, Shadow's Forward mages along with Amia , Kasumi, Ayumi and Shichiro were in the briefing room where Ayumi was busy typing away on her terminal.
"Are you almost done?" Kasumi asked leaning over her chair.
"Connection is already established," Ayumi explained. "I'm just making 500% sure that they won't be able to find me."
"Is it really okay to do this?" Amia asked. "I mean it's a secret meeting right? Couldn't we get into trouble?"
"Done, I linked it to Aoi-san's terminal so if we get caught then it'll be like she was just recording it for later viewing."
"We are so going to get in trouble..." the operator said as she placed her head against her knees as Marika patted her on the shoulder.
Within seconds, the monitor in the center of the room lit up to reveal a large circular room where a few dozen people were sitting elevated around a small clearing.
"What is this a courthouse?" Ed asked looking a bit closer. "Guess you weren't kidding when they said they'd judge him."
"But according to the data we stole, the last time he was in a courthouse..." Alex muttered softly to himself, but it seems Ayumi heard him because she turned around toward him. She then got up and walked over to Ed who stepped back in shock.
"W-what?" he asked, only to blink stupidly as she hugged him. "Okay...what did I do?"
"Shut up," she said before she pushed him away and returned to her terminal.
"Okay?"
As Ayumi sat down, Alex leaned his head close to her ear, making sure Ed and Sakura were looking away so not to cause a misunderstanding.
"I don't think he brushed up on history," he whispered.
"Doesn't matter," she replied calmly.
"What is this!" Subaru's exclamation caused everyone's gaze to turn to the screen. Shiro was being lead in...or rather wheeled into the courtroom.
He was wearing a straitjacket that had him bound to a trolley as well as prevented him from using his arms. Even with that precaution, the man was encased in a clear glass box with the only visible openings being air holes as a strange machine was hooked up to it.
"They really don't want him trying anything," Ed mused, although he was clearly not anymore happy with the arrangement than Subaru was.
"The device looks like an experimental miniature AMF generator," Tea noted. "The field size it emits is very small but it's probably enough to fill the cage."
"But I thought he was supposed to be a guest!" Sakura said. "This makes him no more than a prisoner! He even managed to kill that giant monster!"
"I think that's the reason for all the 'security' they're forcing on him," Alex noted. "It's like gathering a bunch of world leaders and putting them in the same room as a time bomb after all. They, as well as the Captain, can't afford to be careless."
"He doesn't seem to mind all that much," Ayumi commented, just as Shiro began to yawn in his stance and shifted his position a bit. "He almost looks bored."
"He's practically staring down the barrel of a gun...and he's bored?" Tea asked exasperated.
"The man looked down the barrel of an Arc-en-ciel class cannon back on Earth and he blocked it with only a shortage of breath for his trouble," Ed remembered. "A room fill with, mostly, arm chair generals isn't going to faze him if that doesn't."
"Shh, it's starting," Marika said as everyone turned their attention to the screen.
"Please state your name before the board," Rear Admiral Thomas Bradley said, sitting in the center of the room where Shiro was directly facing. It seems that he will be the one presiding over this little meeting.
"Shiro," the bound man replied, taking note of all the other people in the room as they spoke up. "I have no second name as what it seems to be a custom around here."
"Are these restraints truly necessary?" a blonde Admiral asked. "The man seems civilized enough not to cause a commotion."
"The man has enough power to take on a monstrosity that even Admiral Wood's forces were unable to contain!" a rather hot-headed Admiral replied. "What's to say he won't do that here?"
"Because we've yet a reason to give him one," a mint green haired Admiral replied.
"Nevertheless," Shiro interrupted. "If this will give you some peace of mind, I find no reason to remove it. Although, I must say it is just a bit tight...ma'am."
While most of the Admirals shook their heads, a few of them smiled at the man's words.
"Back to the point of the matter," Bradley said as he retook control over the situation as he covered his mouth. "To be blunt, what are your plans? From your recent displays, it shows that you do not tolerate the presence of these...Guardeners...anymore than we do."
"That would be correct," Shiro replied, nodding as far down as he could. "For the last three years, perspective wise, of my life, I've been fighting them at every waking moment."
"How much sleep do you usually get?" A dark haired Admiral sitting next to the green haired one asked.
"For your time...three hours usually. Five if I'm lucky. None on rainy days. Rain brings other dangers than just being acidic. They don't appear sporadically over there as they do here. No, over there, they move like an army...a plague...a swarm of locusts."
"How much do you know about them?" an Admiral behind him asked.
"That there are only four basic types and that each can mutate to a different form once it absorbs enough mana. Our world had already been sucked dry and we've already killed nearly all the mutated ones by the time I arrived here. The ones you see are new ones that changed either from absorbing mana from your planet...or by killing my comrades."
A solemn silence spread within the room, as well as those who were watching it, unbeknownst to most of the room's occupants.
"Speaking of which," another unknown Admiral asked. "I was wondering about your weapons...is it possible to duplicate them?"
"I don't think so. One: I was not the blacksmith who created the sword. Two: The element used in its creation seems to be unknown to your scientist. Three: The sword acts as a sort of limiter to myself. I don't quite understand or remember why the limiter was placed on me, but without it I am unable to fight at 100%."
A small murmur rushed across one side of the room, the side that Shiro speculated, contained the ones who would want to use him as a weapon, one that they believe they can control. Although he kept an unknowing and expressionless face, inwardly he was smiling.
"All according to plan," he thought to himself. He would never allow himself to be used as a tool of war again. No, he'd sooner kill himself, and the perpetrators, before he'd let that happen. Before he was put into a situation like that again.
"Like...that?" he thought again. "What am I thinking about?"
"Mister Shiro," Bradley's voice brought Shiro back to earth. "Before we deviate any further, I'd like to ask you again. What are your plans? Do you intend on helping the Time-Space Administration Bureau fight off these monsters?"
This time, Shriro openly smiled. The Rear Admiral's carefully chosen words told him that the man was well aware of what was going to happen, meaning that there are those that Shadow's leadership actually mutually trusted. These words were perfect for him.
"No. I don't think I will," he replied, loud enough so that his words would echo in the room as well as in the ears of every person present.
As the Admirals burst open with cries of anger and thinly veiled fear, the dark haired Admiral that asked him how much sleep he actually got spoke up over the noise.
"Is there any reason why not? From what we understand, your comrades are holding the line to give us enough time to put up a fight."
"Because, Admiral," Shiro said, turning his attention to his old superior. "One: You left hundreds of civilians in the combat zone I arrived in even though you received prior warning of the appearance of the Guardeners. Two: Your forces are largely, if not completely, reliant on mana based weaponry rendering them largely ineffective of even the most basic Guardeners, if not outright useless. Three: Trust is important in a cooperative effort and I don't trust most of you nearly as far as I can throw you. And it looks like most of you don't trust me as far as you can throw me."
The murmuring was growing louder, but he couldn't do anything about it...not yet anyway.
"The intelligence given was from an unknown source!" someone said.
"And yet the unit that received the information acted upon it, not once, but twice. And both times succeeded in preventing a disaster." The blonde Admiral counterpointed, much to Shiro's surprise. Mostly because it was effectively hindering their side of the negotiations, although not as much as if he had been able to say it.
"But Mass Based Weaponry is too dangerous to create and/or deploy," another Admiral said.
"That I understand," Shiro said trying to find the one who said it. "This threat would either be too short lived or too destructive for you to create a new line of weaponry to counter it. But as you can see mana based weapons can hurt and kill them. You just need someone with the power and efficiency to do so."
Even though there was one point remaining, no one felt the need to mention it. Simply having Shiro in such a cage was proof enough that most of them didn't trust the man.
"If I may interrupt," the green haired admiral spoke up again. "You said that you didn't trust most of us. Is there someone who you do trust enough so that you would be able to work with them?"
Shiro looked up at the woman without blinking for a moment before he spoke.
"The ones who treated my injuries have gained my trust as I theirs," he said, to the indignation of quite a few of the other Admirals. "And it seems that they have enough ability to be able to take down quite a few non-mutated Guardeners, and I prefer to work under someone who doesn't give orders from behind a desk, but at the front."
More muttering from the less than happy Admirals. On one hand, if they allowed it, they'd gain the cooperation of a very powerful...being...that was more than happy to slaughter the mysterious creatures invading their world. On the other hand, that meant they would have no control over it as it would be placed within the autonomous unit, one that already has quite a few powerful and skillful mages under its command.
Precisely the dilemma that Shiro had hope to stir up.
"Damn," Ed said as he straightened his back. "The man is one hell of a speaker."
Twenty minutes after the man's offer and still the Admirals were bouncing back and forth with pointless information and questions.
"He used to be an emperor," Teana reminded him. "It's natural that he'd pick up a few things. Although, I doubt they'd keep playing into his hands like this."
"Right," Vita nodded before continuing with her voice filled with scorn and anger. "They're bound to remember that he's tied up, eventually. In most of their minds, this was supposed to be an interrogation, not a negotiation."
"And he has to put up with this farce," Alex mumbled to himself. "So much for not wanting to enrage him to the point of murder...this was the very thing that broke him last time..."
As if reading Alex's mind, Shiro began to speak again.
"Enough of this farce," The man said, malice all but nonexistent in his voice. "Either agree with my terms or don't. Stand beside me or get out of my way. Those are the only two choices here."
His final ultimatum finally got a rise out of one of the Admirals.
"Who exactly do you think you are to order us around like this?" The Admiral asked. "Need I remind you that you are at our whims?"
Subaru heard quite a few different noises around her before looking around. Ed had snorted with disgust and disappointment. Amia had buried her face in her hands as she shook her head. Vita, Alex and Tea had palmed their face at the Admiral's words along with quite a few other Admirals within the inquiry. Shichiro simply sighed as he shook his head. From their reaction, Subaru surmised that what the Admiral had just said was very very bad.
Her suspicions were further realized when a deathly low, almost insane, laughter began coming from the monitor. At first it was so quiet that she could barely hear it. Then it grew louder and louder until the man in white had thrown his head back, his laughter echoing in the halls of the inquiry, as a look of fear spread amongst most of the Admirals
"I know exactly WHAT I am!" Shiro declared as a loud snapping noise could be heard in the halls. A quick look was all Subaru needed to see that there was a tear forming in the man's straightjacket. Before long the tear became big enough that the man's arms had been spoke as he continued to free himself. "The First of two vassals. The Shield for the late Queen of The Last Sanctuary!" His hands now free, he placed one on against the barrier, the Anti Magic Field, and shattered it within his grip. "The one who defeated a creature so unfathomable to your magics, that not even cannons from your mighty warships could even scratch, with a single spell!" And finally he shattered the glass prison around him. As the shards fell around him he finished his declaration. "I am Shiro, The White Knight of War. Now stand beside me! Or stand aside!"
And at that moment, the feed was lost.
"What!" Sakura called out as everyone turned to Ayumi.
"Signal lost," she explained as she typed away at her terminal. "The man is expelling so much energy that it is either blocking the transceiver or it flat out destroyed it."
"So...basically he's flat out threatening them now?" Ed asked and the girl confirmed with a nod. "Well, he's got balls I say. Actually, he always did. It'd take some pretty big ones to go up against the full front of the TSAB."
"You're going to lose yours if you keep on talking about them," Ayumi said with a low growl.
"Please don't..."
"Can you get the feed back?" Vita asked, ignoring the recoiling Enforcer that was clutching his family's legacy for dear life, while holding the urge to do the deed to the man herself.
The hacker pilot shook her head.
"Cousin could only get one inside unnoticed," Ayumi explained. "If this doesn't work then nothing I do can make it work. We just have to wait; either for Cousin to say what happened, or for the video to come back."
But no matter how long they waited, the video feed didn't return. The group probably would have sat there all day had Shichiro not told them that it was close to dinner time and that they should eat something to get their mind off of what might have happened.
As the group save Shichiro, who had taken up his usual post in the kitchen, ate Shou came up to them, having just returned from wherever the hidden meeting was.
"Did you enjoy the show?" he asked as he pulled up a chair to sit with them.
"We saw what happened up til the point he broke out," Kasumi replied.
"Aww, so you missed the part where they started sputtering and mumbling while he beat the crap out of the guards that came in to try and forcibly restrain him with two blades he created from his blood?"
The entire table looked at him like he was a mad man.
"I'm serious," Shou said, the amusement in his voice vanishing instantly. "He bit his thumb, muttering something about a level 1 blood limiter and the blood seeping out of his thumb became a blade which he used to cut through the guards' armed devices without hurting them...much."
"So?" Vita asked. "What happens now? Where is he?"
"In his room, trying on his uniform," Shou said with a wave of his hand as he sat down next to Kasumi and helped himself to some of her dinner as she was too stunned to react.
"So he's going to help us?" Marika asked.
"Only against the Guardeners," Shiro replied. "Anything else and we're on our own. Though he doesn't mind training anyone if they are interested."
There was a quick scuffle followed by a sound of silverware clanging on the table as Vita finished her food and stood up from the table.
"His room is near the medical ward correct?" she asked.
"That eager, Ma'am?" Alex asked, as Shou nodded his head in confirmation to Vita.
"I want to see if his abilities changed as much as he did," she said, sounding like a teacher wondering whether or not her student had kept up with his studies over a long vacation. Considering that she was one of his trainers so long ago, it wasn't that far of a stretch.
"Ah!" Subaru called out as Vita practically ran out of the cafeteria, leaving her tray of dirty dishes. "Vita-san! You have to clean up!"
"Sakura, Amia, let's go watch!" Marika said as she got up as well, holding her dishes in her hand. "I want to see how veterans fight."
"Oh, that sounds-" Amia said before Shou placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You and Ayumi need to familiarize yourself on the bridge," he said with a soft smile.
"Aww..." she mumbled dejectedly and Ayumi seemed to echo the thought.
"Not fair," the hacker said as she lowered her shoulders, only to blink and open her eyes wide, as if she thought of a way around it.
"Then it's just us Sakura," Marika said as the the two younger girls got up and headed over to the conveyor belt that would accept the trays.
"Should we go too?" Kasumi asked the others.
"Sorry, I got work," Shou said. "Gotta find out how those limiters of his work."
"Aww, but what about the ball buster?"
"Whose?" Ed asked, his head shooting up, looking at Kasumi with worry.
"Okay, seriously, what have you done to him?" Tea asked Ayumi who merely had a small smile on her face.
"I'm still doing it," she replied, with a small giggle that seemed to lower the temperature around the table as Ed got up and bolted to the door, with Ayumi getting up as well as she followed him, almost gliding ominously after him.
"Maybe it's best if we never find out," Subaru suggested and the others nodded their heads in agreement. Somethings are just better left alone.
As Shiro buttoned up his pure white uniform and straightened out his tie in front of a mirror, he heaved a large sigh.
"I didn't think I'd wear this damned thing ever again," he muttered, glaring at his reflection. There was no love or pride in the uniform. To him it was a scrap of cloth that he was required to wear as part of a compromise, and as a way to go around not wearing his battle gear every waking moment of the day while remaining decent.
His armor and protective robes lied unused on a nearby chair. If he had his way, he would wear them as often as he could. He wore them for so long that they were practically a second skin to him, one that kept him safe form the environment and his enemies.
Perhaps he should just forget about the uniform and just wear his armor instead. Who cares what the others think. They're both the same color and one is more comfortable to him and he wouldn't have to waste time changing for battle. After all, he wasn't using a device anymore.
His musings were interrupted by a pounding on the door.
"I know you're in there!" came a sharp high nasal voice. "Open up!"
Shiro stared at the doorway for a moment, trying to remember who the voice belonged to. Unable to place a face on it, he simply sighed as he opened the door. At first he was confused, as no one was in sight, until something small and red flicked around at the very bottom of his eyesight.
Rubbing his eyes, he looked down and saw that it was the little hair antennae of a girl that barely reached his waist.
"Can I help you?" he asked, his eyes following the movement of the antennae that seemed to have a life of its own.
"I want to have a spar with you," she declared, pointing a finger at his chest, as it would probably look too silly if she tried to point any higher than that.
If it weren't for the fact he could feel the magic she was hiding in her tiny body, if it weren't for the fact that she was a left jab away from his nether regions, he probably would have ignored her, but for some reason, he felt like accepting.
"That's fine," he replied, a small smile appearing on his face. "Where and when?"
"How about right now?" she asked, lowering her hand down to her side.
"That's fine. I am Shiro, currently assisting the Time-Space Administration Bureau as a Contract Mage." He introduced himself, placing his hand over his heart and bowing to the short girl in respect. For some reason, he was continually worried about his lower area, although he can't remember why. Nevertheless, he felt that it would be best not to give her a reason to be angry, no matter how much he wanted to know how a single strand of hair can stand and move like that.
"I am Vita," the tiny red head answered with her own name. "A member of the Aerial Tactical Instructor Corps."
There was a small bit of silence as the man blinked as his memories flooded back into him, and fought with all his might to stop from cupping himself, their first meeting being the first thing that came back into mind.
"I see," he replied, forcing a small smile to hide his unease. "Is there a training ground or something around here? Doubt anyone would be happy if we destroyed something valuable if we get too out of control."
Vita looked a bit amused at the man's words and motioned for him to follow her to the training grounds that she saw Marika and Sakura practice in a few days ago.
Right now, the grounds took the image of a flat grassy plain, leaving no obstruction for either of the two. Vita was in her Guardian Armor while Shiro was wearing the protective one he wore when he first arrived.
"Is that going to be enough?" the Red Knight asked as she stretched her arms.
"Don't worry," the White Knight replied through the filter of his mask. "I'm extremely proficient in barriers, even though they are mostly useless against the Guardeners."
"I suppose someone calling themselves a Shield for a Queen would have to be," Vita thought to herself, not wanting to let the other man know that she had been listening in. "Queen of the Last Sanctuary? I wonder who she is to inspire loyalty from someone like this."
While Vita didn't hate the man, most of her interactions with him besides training were filled with jokes and very flippant attitude, causing her to more often than not, bring down the hammer of karma on him, quite literally most of the time.
"Blood Limiter System Level 1, repose,"Shiro muttered as he removed a glove and bit into his skin, allowing a trickle of blood to fall out before stopping in midair and turning into small hexagonal panels which floated around him. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah," Vita replied, pointing her hammer at him.
"Then let's begin," Shiro said simply as he held out his own hand where the panels converged and flipped around, creating a rather plain looking sword.
"That must hurt to do that all the time to fight," Marika noted over the sound of metal clashing against each other and the occasional explosion as she, Sakura, Subaru, Alex, and Tea watched the spar from the viewing station.
"Did he do that before?" Sakura asked, turning to Subaru who blinked a bit before answering.
"Ah...well," Subaru mumbled, trying to remember. "Not until he disappeared. He was still using a device before then. But inside..."
She remembered how her boyfriend had two great wings created from blood sprouting from his back that seeped down onto the floor. It would have been absolutely frightening had she not known it was him.
"He also had those glove devices on all the time remember?" Alex said, unaware of Subaru's thoughts. "I've never actually seen him take them off now that I think about it..."
"That's because they were some kind of Lost Logia that attached themselves to him," Tea provided and Alex replied with a nod.
"Wait, you knew him?" Marika asked, looking at the other four incredulously.
"Only for a little while," Alex said quickly. "While working we were caught up in the middle of a coup on his side and he worked with us to escape it. That was before our side thought it was a good idea to attack him right afterwords, sparking the war."
" Of course, he did attack first," Tea said, not wanting to make it seem that Null Enders was completely blameless. "Though that was because the prisoner we were holding was another traitor to his Empire."
"Does it really matter?" Sakura asked softly. "It's not like he remembers us. Or anything about the subject at all."
"Why aren't you using that sword?" Vita asked Shiro as the two of them locked their weapons against each other yet again.
"Because it was created to cut through magic," he explained, holding his blade in a reverse grip as his other arm began to bathe in a white light. "I don't know if it would but I don't want to destroy your weapon on accident or on purpose during a spar."
"I guess if it can kill those things in one hit...but you shouldn't underestimate Graf Eisen!"
The two of them broke away from each other as four spheres appeared before Vita as she slammed her hammer into them, launching them at Shiro. He countered by firing a blast of energy from his arm, destroying two of them, throwing his sword into the third and pulling the sword from its sheath to blocked the one that went for his face, splitting it in two as it harmlessly flew past him and crashed into the ground.
"I can't believe that worked..." Shiro mumbled as Vita looked on at him, shocked that he stopped her last attack at the very last second. "I mean...how do you like that?"
"I guess that sword of yours can cut magic after all," Vita said as she lowered her weapon.
"Stop here?" Shiro asked.
"Yeah, I just wanted to see if you can hold your own without spilling a gallon of blood."
"Considering I've been fighting every day for the last three years before I came here and I am still alive, I would hope I picked up something."
"Hmm...well, thanks for your time."
"Anytime ma'am."
Placing a hand over his heart, he gave her a bow before turning on his heel and walking toward the base. Indeed, wearing his armor was much more comfortable than a uniform.
As he walked, he took notice that the little crowd they had drawn dispersed as well.
Shiro sighed as he tossed his breather mask on his desk before flopping down on the bed.
"That was...interesting..." he mumbled. "I thought I had most of my memories...guess I just missed a things like the people."
He buried his face in his hands before a small dark laugh escaped his mouth.
"They're alive...they're all alive. He actually managed to save them...Kaa-san, Oyaji, Shou, Ayumi, Subaru, Sakura...Teana..."
His hands found his hair as he started pulling at it as he started grunting in frustration.
"They're alive...right now is three years after that day...it means they were all saveable! But 'I'm' not here...that means for them to live 'I' had to disappear. What kind of trade is that."
He tossed off the metal breastplate and the top half of his cloak and stared into the mirror.
"So? What are you going to do?" He asked his reflection as it glared back at him. "Are you going to attempt to reclaim it? The life you longed for? The life you killed to get just a glimpse of again? The one where you tried to start a war just to protect?"
Another dark laugh escaped him as slammed his head against the mirror, as he stared at the hundreds of scars across his body, one long scar ran from his shoulder to his heart shined brightly.
"They are not yours to take...not yours to place a shadow over. You had your chance. They are his, not yours. You are to distance yourself from them. You already steeled yourself. To protect the planet that they loved so much at the cost of your own happiness. That was what you swore that night. That was what you swore over their graves."
He sighed as he balled up his fist and punched the wall beside the mirror.
"Six years of fighting...so much pain and loss...I should have been able to throw it all away by now. And just a few seconds of seeing her again completely shatters the resolve. What kind of shield am I? Though...I understand a lot more now than I did three years ago. The Sword might not remember anything about it, but I do...I see now..."
He looked up at the mirror again, he blood red eyes almost shining past his jet black hair.
"Pretty soon the blockade will crumble and the Last Sanctuary will fall. The Legion will return to the Queen and the Sword will seek a new Master. He will come back here as well...until then, I will protect as a shield should...and then...I will disappear..."
Author's Notes:
Crappy short spar but most of it happened off screen as it wasn't really THAT important. =/
So we have "Shiro" showing that he really remembers more than he lets on and has no intention of reintegrating himself with the others more than necessary. Hurray for verbal and physical beatdowns!
I wonder how things will go from here. Review please!
Oh and please check out Code Magi Lyrical Rider if you haven't already. Four way cross between Code Geass, Nanoha A's and Madoka with some Kamen Rider elements thrown in because I'm freaking crazy like that. Have fun~