Everything written here – characters, technology, setting, combat system, and so on – are all under the direct ownership of Emerald Sonata…and the GAEA ALTERIUS.
Any non-original subjects will be tagged with '*' next to it and will be given a proper sourcing.
[Inspired by Kamen Rider Ryuki and Kamen Rider Blade.]
「ハロー・パナシア」
HALLOW PANACEA
{/ First Genesis\}
[( 9th Turning of Fate )]
:: TORRENT ::
{A Calamity of Misfortune }
"Hyah!" mushed the Narcotic rider. He gripped the reigns of the carriage-horses and steered them through the streets, "Delta and Gamma squad has been annihilated. Hostile targets in pursuit!" The Narcotic snapped the reigns, forcing the horses to pound faster. "Surviving units, Foxtrot and Hotel, protect this Package at all cost. We must return it to base. Failure is not an option!"
The Narcotics that rode on separate horses and clung onto the carriage's side confirmed their orders with a nod.
That was when an excited cry made them turn their heads around…
[******]
"BANZAI~!" screeched Violet. The Rhinen made a great leap from the corner of a nearby roof, soaring through the air, and made her way for the running carriage. She landed in a low crouch, her overwhelming strength causing the carriage to buck sideways before fortunately stabilizing on all four wheels. The girl clung tightly onto it, as a black blur descended to her left.
Naiz gripped the carriage's roof, holding onto Violet to keep her from falling off, and gazed at the driver. Before he could do anything, Narcotic troops that clung onto the carriage's side flipped over and landed across the roof. They all crouched on one knee, and in perfect sync they took off their rifles from their backs. They pulled the lever and ignited their energy bayonets.
"Hostile targets, acquired. Eliminating threat!" called a Narcotic. They dashed forward. Naiz steadied himself across the moving carriage and smashed in a Narcotic's helmet before he could attack. His husk deflated and it was whipped off with the wind, tearing itself in a roll across the ground. Violet kept herself low and tripped two more with a low kick. They sailed off and splattered into black ash across the hard ground.
Naiz back-stepped and blocked the blade of a Narcotic's bayonet with his gauntlet's shield, sparks flying. To his distaste, the escorting riders converged onto the carriage to board it.
"KAZE!" A blast of enchanted wind knocked off a pair of troopers from the side, sending them crumbling into a blacken heap across the street. "KOORI!" A boarded Narcotic raised his rifle to shoot at Naiz, but it was cast in solid frost. A flying kick from above tipped the frozen trooper over and he shattered into hundreds of pieces.
Naiz shoved back his attacker and turned with Violet, meeting a familiar pair. The Sealer had arrived across the carriage as well…but slipped over the edge. Liera dug her nails into the roof, doing everything she could to keep herself from screaming and falling off entirely. Azure touched down and gripped onto Liera's wrist, helping her from slipping off.
"Azure, Liera. Nice of you two to drop by!" waved Naiz; before smashing a back-hand blow over his shoulder and knocked out an attacking Narcotic.
"NAIZ, I'M SO GONNA KILL YOU FOR DRAGGING ME INTO THIS!"
Violet blinked with a tilt of her head, "But, Naiz-kun didn't ask for you to come…"
"SHUT UP! KASAI!" The Sealer blasted a mist of flames, right in between Violet and Naiz, and incinerated a Narcotic. His burnt corpse and husk slipped off and crumbled across the street. "YOU BETTER GIVE ME A GOOD REASON TO NOT KILL YOU!"
"Well," shrugged Naiz, "If you're credited in foiling a Tamed Clove kidnapping-ring, who knows, you may get a special reward."
"YOU BETTER BE RIGHT ABOUT THIS! OR IT'S GOING TO BE YOUR HEAD THAT'S MY REWARD!"
"Alright then," Naiz turned on the spot and went into a stance, "Violet, Azure! We've got to stop this carriage!"
Violet and Azure nodded and followed Naiz all the way.
Liera on the other hand…was struggling not to slip off, "W-WAIT! WHAT ABOUT – EEK – ME!"
Azure rapidly beated her wings and took off through the air, shooting herself forward to get at the wielder of the reigns. The Narcotic driver skilfully drew out his rifle with one hand and fired at the Clove point-blank. Azure ducked to avoid his shots, a strand of her hair or two getting clip in the process, but he kept her from getting closer as she struggled.
Violet and Naiz fought back to back as the remaining Narcotics boarded the roof top, rifles and bayonets ready. All the while, Liera angrily muttered under her breath as she fought against everything to get herself back onto the top.
The driver tossed up his rifle shortly into the air, single-handedly yanking the bayonet-switch across its barrel in mid-air, grabbed it again, and gave one fluid slash. Azure dodged, but the blade grazed her thigh with searing pain. She lost focus and stumbled in the air. The Narcotic driver flipped his rifle about, smashing the blunt end of his weapon into the side of her head and sent her reeling.
Not giving up, the Clove grabbed the driver in the process. Both the Clove and Narcotic were thrown off from the front and they tumbled through the turbulent air. Violet and Naiz saw them coming and ducked without a choice. Naiz reached out and caught Azure's wrist, stopping her in mid-air. His gripped slipped and now their hands were linking. The flailing Narcotic, on the other hand, flew right past a dodging Liera just as she regained her footing across the carriage.
"Hang on!" cried Naiz. The Clove's eyes dulled and her grip weakened.
"Sister Azure!" Violet wanted to help, but the last two Narcotics kept her busy with a slash of their rifles and bayonets. Azure gave Naiz an apologetic look – a sting to his chest – and…She slipped out of his reach.
"AZURE!"
"WAH!" Before Liera knew it, her own Clove rammed into her through the air and they both were thrown off the carriage. They bounced across the ground, tumbling into a painful heap. At least they had better days than the Narcotics. The Sealer sat up, finding the dazed Clove lying across her lap. "What was that for?" She wanted to scream at it, but the look of silent agony on the Clove's face made her silent. Instead, Liera lifted up her gaze…in time to see the carriage disappear around a corner.
She grimaced, "Shoot…"
[******]
"Forgive me…" Unable to worry about Azure's condition, Naiz turned about. The Rhinen was overtaken by her two attackers, one of them bashing the end of his rifle into her stomach. She doubled over with a gasp, for the other about to give her a beheading with his bayonet.
"TOUCH HER AND DIE!"
Naiz sent a flying kick straight into the executioner, cleaving the faceless head clean off. The body fell forward and its husk was crunched under the horse's gallop. In mid-air, Naiz drove Silvaido straight through the last Narcotic's chest. His armored fist pierced through the other end and black ash sprayed menacingly through its wounds. Naiz drew out his fist, whipping the black ash clean off his crimson gauntlet, and he pushed the melting husk off to clutter across the ground like garbage.
Violet shivered from the pain in her stomach, biting her lower lip. She felt a familiar sensation soothe out her pain with an embrace. The girl could not help a soft purr as she rested her tired head against the chest of a comfy fleece jacket.
"Don't worry," whispered Naiz, "I won't let them harm you…"
"Naiz-kun…" Suddenly, Violet gasped, "WATCH OUT!"
The Rhinen shoved Naiz away…in time to take the full brunt of a low-hanging sign post that smashed into her instead. The wooden board shattered on contact and sent Violet sailing straight off the carriage.
"VIOLET!" Naiz reached the edge of still running carriage; burning coals wrapping his entire body at the fading sight of the Rhinen Clove.
"Ow!" Violet sprang sitting up, the clutter of splinters falling off her body. She grabbed her bruised nose with a whimper. That was when she realized something…The black carriage was moving away without her…
"NAIZ-KUN!"
[******]
Naiz smashed his armored fist into the carriage, literally piercing right through the iron roof-top without trouble. He heard several gasps of fears from the inside of the carriage, soon bringing his mind back to the situation at hand. With a self-loathing grimace, he bolted for the driving seat of the carriage and yanked at the reigns.
The horses reared, but did not stop. Fuelled with fear, the horses suddenly broke off from the carriage locks and they scattered. Now…the carriage was running on its own inertia. Naiz tossed the worn and torn leather straps aside, looking up:
A large stone wall dead ahead.
"Edge! Recoil! Shoukan!" Naiz drew out a pair of triangular medals and he tossed it ahead.
{=|| GATE SUMMON ||=}
In a flash of gold, his Gauss Griffon, Edge, appeared across the road with a screech, accompanied by another growling Gauss. It was a Cerberus, Recoil, with three heads that each had blaring blue LED-light eyes and veins, thick and bulky legs, and a long thick wired-tail. The two Gauss went up on their hind legs, and the carriage collided into them in full force.
They held the carriage back, skidding backwards from its kinetic force and tearing the grounds up in their reversed wake. Naiz jumped off the transport and flipped over to get behind it. He gripped the handles and dug his heels into the earth. With all his strength, he pulled and braked with his arms and legs in order to bring down the transport's speed. It was slowing down, but not as fast as Naiz would hope for. Not giving up, he dug his heels deeper and pulled harder. The Gausses roared and they placed in all their strength to stagger the hi-speed carriage.
Miraculously, the carriage came to a smoking halt. Edge and Recoil huffed in exhaustion, trapped in a meter's worth of space between the carriage and the wall.
Naiz panted, sweat trickling down his body. His expression was that of relief, not a single ounce of pain on his face. He collapsed sitting to the ground, his body shaking from the ordeal and overwhelming strain he received. He chuckled as he limply sat across the shattered trails. His two Gausses rounded the transport, standing before him with worried gazes.
"I'm fine…" he breathed, barely keeping himself upright, "Break it." Edge nodded. It whipped about to slash its wings at the thick metal doors. After a quiet second, the chains turned to dust and the doors fragmented into pieces.
The Cloves behind it screamed and huddled up in fear, light pouring over their bodies. They shivered as only a few Wild Cloves bravely held their stances to protect their Sisters. They eyed the Gausses, which to their surprise began to step back. They revealed Naiz, still sitting on the broken ground in his exhausted state.
"It's alright…" he huffed, "You're all free to go…" The Cloves hesitated, but they were stunningly-assured by the boy's weak chuckle, "Go on, I won't do anything…I can't do anything now…"
The Wild Cloves leapt out first, securing the exit. Tamed Cloves hesitantly climbed out, their eyes on the boy and his two Gauss. A few of them felt compassion churn inside them and they reached out to the boy. He regained a bit of his strength, holding up a hand to tell them it was fine. Reluctant to neglect their rescuer, the Cloves began to depart and return to their owners and safe havens. But, one by one they gave Naiz a grateful bow and words of gratitude. Even the Wild Cloves gave Naiz nods in thanks, and then made sure their fellow Tamed Sisters returned to safety before they did. When the boy was left by himself, he teetered over to fall onto his back. His Gausses surrounded him with a waiting gaze.
"Ha-ha-ha…Well that was an event…" laughed Naiz. Still limp, he glimpsed up at Edge and Recoil, "Thanks for the help…" The two Gauss nodded and their bodies soon vanished into their two medals. They flew and plopped onto Naiz's chest, turning into fading stardust.
Silvaido powered down and the red magical square scanned over his left arm, withdrawing his gauntlet into its magical dimension. Next, his bare hand clenched into a fist.
Naiz sat up and sprang to his feet, as if his strength had instantly returned. His recovery was swift, as he was now casually brushing the dust off his body. He still gave his shoulders a bit of stretch though.
"I guess I overdid it on my body…again…" he exhaled. He flexed his hand, balling it into a fist and then unfurling it. With a casual flick of his wrist, he looked about, "Looks like I'm lost…" A twitch danced across his lips, "Wonder if Violet and Azure are alright…" With a sigh, he slipped his hands into his pocket, turned about from the wreck of a carriage, and walked down the quiet sidewalks.
It seemed to him that he was within an residential area for the middle class and of the wealthy. He saw private houses with vine-covered walls for fences down the entire lane, and what seemed to be the commercial district was miles and miles afar. Looks like it would take a while before he could find Violet and Liera. He cracked a grin though.
At least Cloves he had just rescued were safe. For Violet and Azure's sake…that counts.
Naiz came to a sudden stop. An inkling feeling stirred inside his stomach and curiosity got the better of him. He turned to his right. He was standing before a small barred-gate of a house, hiding a luscious backyard and garden behind it. He took a peek through the bars, smiling at the lovely vines and flower gardens that were display in it.
His eyes froze on a peculiar sight:
A pale hand across the grass.
Not thinking of anything else, he vaulted over the wall with inhuman agility and ease. He landed, but did not stop, and approached the hand. As he came closer…he could not believe his eyes.
It was a thin and frail looking girl that was laying face-down across the grass, unconscious. She wore a long and loose pale blue gown, its collar wide around her shoulders, and tattered shoes. Her hair was long and snow white, spilt all over her face and body. The girl also had a peculiar object stuck to the right of her shoulder blade…a dart of some sort.
What got Naiz's attention was the birthmark the girl bore on her left shoulder…a pink clover.
つづく
[By: ~Emerald Sonata~]
Unmeito tatakau. Kyuusei kourin.
{"Battle Fate. Advent Salvation"}