PART 1
It seemed like they were traveling forever, sitting in the back of the carriage, Harpuria was up front and the carriage was being driven by one of the golems. Pina looked out the clear window, watching the scenery go by, an endless wasteland with few signs of life, a cactus here and there, a mountain in the distance, remains of small buildings or broken roads that may have lead somewhere in the past. If the entire world was like this, what could have happened to cause such a sight? Her eyes fixed on Harpuria, who merely looked backed behind him at her.
Hamilton looked nervous, keeping her head down. "What do you think will happen to us? I mean we did destroy some of their golems."
"I don't think they will do anything serious to us." said Pina. "I think Harpuria seems to understand we did it in self defense, despite the language barrier."
"He seems very angry though." said Bozes. "I get the feeling we might have interfered with something."
Pina thought for a moment. "The tracks we found on Alnus hill, perhaps Harpuria was hunting someone down who escaped into our world."
"You mean like fugitives?" asked Norma. Pina nodded.
Hamilton looked out the window at that moment, and her eyes went wide. "Princess look!"
Pina and the others stared out the window, seeing the massive structure before them, a gigantic dome, it's size nearly impossible to judge, loomed before them. They all stared in disbelief at the massive structure as the carriage made their way toward what looked like an entry point.
"Is that...Neo Arcadia?" said Bozes. "It's huge."
"It looks like a dome." said Hamilton. "Is the city inside."
"If it is, then it must be massive." said Pina. "Perhaps twice, no, 4 times as big as Sadera."
"That city we were just in suddenly seems so small compared to this place." said Hamilton. "that such a thing can be built is mind boggling." They would pass through a gateway after a quick inspection, and go down a long tunnel lit up by unusual lanterns, Pina stayed quiet, thoughts running through her head. 'If these people can build such marvels, and still effortlessly produce an army of golems, what would have happened to us if they decided to come through the gate and invade? We would probably lose in attrition alone because they can field such large numbers." she looked ahead as they came out of the tunnel, her eyes widen at the sight they saw. Riding down a paved road, a massive city can be seen in the distance, with a tall tower at the center that can easily be seen, no doubt, from anywhere within the dome, as for the dome itself, when Pina looked up, all she could see was a clear blue sky and clouds, and what looked like the sun.
"Is that the sky?" said Norma. "You can still see the sky inside this dome?" He looked around. "But from the outside it looked solid, you couldn't see through."
"A fake sky?" said Bozes.
"More of their incredible magic." said Pina. "in the empire we don't even consider magic to be very useful, and yet here they have done things with it that are beyond my imagination."
They drove through what appeared to be a residential area as they continue to make their toward the city of this incredible city, heading down the roads Pina can see people, wearing brilliant if simple clothing that also looked to be armored in places, mostly in the feet and chest, and some had strange white caps over their ears. They looked up, waving to the transport and speaking out in the same language that Harpuria and the golems spoke, they seem to be greeting Harpuria.
"There are a lot of people here." said Hamilton. "that could explain why the city is so big."
"If it's the only viable place to live in this world." said Bozes. "It would have to be massive for everyone to live in it."
"They seem happy to see Harpuria." said Norma. "He's probably popular with the people."
Pina looked ahead at Harpuria, she looked surprised to see he was actually smiling, when up until now he's been doing nothing but frown and glare. He returned the waves, saying a greeting to the people as they road by.
"So he does have other emotions." Pina said smiling. Passing through this residential area they were fast approaching the central part of the city, here there were shops and possibly government offices, the golems patrolled the streets, acting as a police force to keep peace. Children can be seen playing along the walkways, people talking and coming in and out of buildings which seem to touch the domed sky almost. More Iron Carriages of various sizes and styles drove past them. At one point they had to stop suddenly, nearly throwing everyone through the front window as the Golem hit the center of the wheel, causing a loud blaring sound to echo as he seemed to be throwing insults at a driver who nearly cut them off, while making potentially rude gestures with his hands.
"WATCH WHERE YOUR DRIVING!"
"FUCK YOU ONE EYE!"
"UP YOURS MEATBAG!"
"SCREW YOU RIPOFF!"
"FUCK YOU!"
"FUCK YOU!"
"FUCK YOU AND THE MUTOS YOU RODE IN ON!"
"ENOUGH!" said Harpuria, irritated by the arguing. The golem went quiet and slump down in his seat.
"Sorry Master Harpuria." it said nervously. The driver of the other car was laughing as it rode off, confident in his victory.
Harpuria sighed and shook his head. "Since when did Pantheon develop road rage?"
"That...didn't sound pleasant." Hamilton said as she righted herself up.
"We were nearly in an accident." said Norma. "I think the driver has every right to be angry."
"That was certainly some...colorful language." said Bozes. "And why do you suppose he was holding up one of his fingers?"
Pina couldn't help but laugh. These golems despite their faceless appearances seemed to behave very much like a human. Harpuria looked back, hearing Pina laugh and raising an eyebrow at her.
It was slowly becoming apparent where they were headed as the central towers was getting closer and closer, Pina looked out at it, amazed by its height as they were now driving through what was no doubt the main government area of the city. A lot of the people there were dressed much more formal and seriously, speaking with one another no doubt over various political topics, security was much tighter here as there were greater patrols by the golems. The golem driver parked in a spot and they all got out, the four knights staring in amazement. From the civilian path another path lead to the entrance of the tower building, flanked on either side by a row of small trees, and grass and flowerbeds gave the front of the building a friendly and inviting atmosphere, not unlike the front garden of noble's estate.
Hamilton looked up, trying to see the top of the tower but she couldn't. Pina however were noticing the stares directed at them by people walking in the street.
"What strange looking garments."
"Are they wearing armor? Looks old fashion."
"Look at those swords they are carrying."
"Princess..." Hamilton said. "People are staring at us."
"Well I suppose we do stand out." said Pina. "Would we not be the one's staring if someone were walking the streets of the capital dressed as they are here?"
Harpuria motioned them to follow him as he entered the tower, the four did so, going inside and entering what seemed to be a receiving hall. People were walking about, some standing in line at one area, waiting to speak with people behind a desk, there were hallways that headed off to other parts of the tower. Harpuria lead them over to what appeared to be a main receiving area, speaking with the girl behind the desk.
"Where is Senator Luhra?" Harpuria asked.
"She is in her chambers Master Harpuria." Said the girl, a pretty young woman with pink hair. She had those white ear caps over her ears with some kind of visor across her eyes, hiding and wore a black body suit over a white dress and what looked like armored high heels. She was tapping away on something and was looking at a flat black plate, Pina noticed there were words and symbols on the plate, and when the girl tapped on the thing in front of her, it made more words appear. "Would you like me to contact her?"
"Yes." said Harpuria. "She was suppose to meet us here. We also need a translator, these four do not speak our language."
"I understand." said the receptionist. "We'll need a handwriting sample, and a copy of their alphabet in order to create proper translation software for our diplomatic reploids to use."
Harpuria nodded, turning to the group and making a motion as if writing something.
Pina blinked for a moment, then seemed to understand. "Everyone give him the notes we were writing down."
"Huh? Why" said Bozes.
"I think they want to figure out our language." They fumbled through their packs, taking out the papers they had on them and handing them to Harpuria. He leafed through all their notes, admiring their thoroughness.
'Did they come here as a recon unit?' Harpuria thought, looking at the notes and back at the four of them. He'd show the notes to the receptionist who did a quick glance through them.
"Hmm, I count at least 20 different individual characters among these notes." she said. "It's a good start despite the fact we don't know how many characters their alphabet has."
"Is it enough to translate?" Harpuria asked.
"The English alphabet has 26 letters in its alphabet." said the receptionist. "I'm pretty sure we can make a decent enough translation for communications."
Harpuria nodded, taking the notes back. "The sooner we get this language translated, the sooner we can get answers."
"Another thing Master Harpuria, Senator Luhra is on her way, she'll meet you here in a few minutes."
"Thank you." said Harpuria. "contact Herculious Anchus, there is a building in the old city where the resistance had been hiding out. Tell him to take a squadron of Pantheon, enter the building and explore the other side of it extensively."
"Other side sir?" said the receptionist.
"It's hard to explain." said Harpuria. "Just tell him to explore what he finds and to return within a week." He'd turn and motion the four over to some chair walking over and sitting down, the four following and sitting down as well.
"Now what?" said Bozes.
"I think we're waiting for someone." said Pina. "Thats what I can tell from the conversation. Someone named 'Luhra' he or she sounds important."
Pina bit her thumbnail, one incredible thing after another in this world, and yet these people seemed content to live in this one city. They didn't even know about the gate until now. 'What is going on in this world?' Pina thought. 'why is there just this one city and nothing else?'
PART 2
"Sage Harpuria, what an honor." Harpuria stood as a woman in her 60's approached, she wore some sort of form fitting light blue body suit that appeared to be armored, with a beautiful white dress over it belted at the waist, the skirt coming past her knees and what appeared to be plated heels with a blue trim, and long white gloves. She had silver hair and icy blue eyes and had a motherly air about her, mixed with a stern, serious expression. Harpuria bowed respectfully to this woman.
"Senator Luhra, thank you for meeting with me."
"Well who am I to turn away a request by leader of the Rekku Gundan." said Luhra. She looked past Harpuria at Pina and her group. "and who are these people?"
"We don't know." said Harpuria, handing the notes to Luhra. She took out a pair of glasses, slipping them on and looking them over. "They do not speak our language, so communication has been nonexistent."
"I see." said Luhra. She looked through each page carefully, looking for common words where she can.
"We plan to get it translated as soon as possible." said Harpuria.
"No need." said Luhra. She motioned to Pina to stand and handed her the notes. She motioned Pina to read the notes. "You forget I have a good ear for languages."
"But this is a language that has no English basis." said Harpuria.
"Then we make a basis." said Luhra as she turned to walk down a hall, motioning them all to follow.
"Pina?" Bozes looked at the princess, who merely followed after Luhra and Harpuria, while reading her notes to the woman. They walked down the hall, and kept reading, sometimes Luhra would motion her to repeat a word over and over. They were standing in front of a pair of doors, Pina continuing to read her notes as Luhra listened. The doors slid open on their own, and Luhra and Harpuria stepped into the small room, the back wall was made of glass, showing the back of a wall.
They motioned the others to follow, which they did.
"What is this? A closet?" said Hamilton, she looked over at one wall seeing a bunch of buttons, Luhra would push one and the doors slid close. suddenly the room shuddered.
"What in the world!" Norma staggered from the shudder and Bozes looked around scared. Hamilton looked out the window, and stared. "Hey I think this room is moving, look at that wall." They all looked out the back window wall at the moving wall beyond.
"It is moving." said Pina. "Are we going up?" A few seconds later the back wall vanished, and what they got was breathtaking, a view of Neo Arcadia as far as they can see as the ascended the central tower.
"Oh my!" said Bozes, staring out as the room rose up. "Look at that view."
"They act like they never rode an elevator before." said Luhra, watching the four of them staring out at the city.
"I don't think they've ever seen a car before, or a reploid." said Harpuria. "I don't think they are from here."
"What makes you say that?" Luhra asked.
Harpuria stay quiet for a moment, trying to find the right words. "There is a building in the city where the resistance was, like a large, gateway. When I entered it, I found myself on hill overlooking a vast green field."
Luhra smiled. "Oh really?"
"I know what I saw." said Harpuria. "I think these people came through that building and found themselves in the city. But more importantly. I have a good feeling that the Resistance did the same thing."
"Well that explains why we can't find them." said Luhra. "So they escaped to another world is that it?"
"I saw tire tracks belonging to transports." said Harpuria. "They are somewhere on the other side, I've sent word to Herculious Anchus to investigate."
"Is that wise Harpuria? You've lost two Mutos in your division already. Have one of the other Guardians send their forces in. In fact Phantom should be handling this."
"Phantom is on another assignment." said Harpuria.
"Ah yes, the increase in unusual maverick activity in the outskirts." said Luhra. "You shouldn't worry yourself about that. Just more mavericks that need to be eliminated."
She turned to Pina, tapping her on her shoulder. Pina turned, pulled away from the incredible sight of seeing Neo Arcadia so high up as Luhra motioned her to continue reading the notes. Pina nodded and began to read again as the closet stopped and the door opened and they all walked out into a new hallway, heading down past a series of doors, until they came to a particular one which she entered, Harpuria and the others following in as the door closed behind them.
"These must be her chambers." said Bozes. There were shelves which contained many books, a lot of them looked old. There were other items, relics of some value and a few plants in the windows, Luhra walked over to a small table, procuring a decanter and pouring the contents into a glass and took a sip. Probably some type of Alcohol. She'd hold her hand up, signaling Pina to stop talking. Luhra turned to Pina, and pointed to herself. "Luhra, Senator for Neo Arcadia, Foreign affairs." Pina was amazed, this woman, Luhra just spoke using the imperial dialect, just from listening to her reading the notes she and the others took of their surroundings in that city.
She'd point to Harpuria. "Sage Harpuria, Guardian of Neo Arcadia, Rekku Gundan." Harpuria would give a slight nod of his head.
"I am Pina Co Lada, fifth princess of the Empire, and leader of the Rose Order of Knights." Pina said, grateful to be able to speak to someone.
Luhra raised an eyebrow at Pina's name.
"She already got mocked by the Pantheons." Harpuria said.
"I'm not surprised." said Luhra.
Pina looked to her friends. "These people here are Bozes co Palesti, Hamilton Uno Ror, and Norma Co Igloo."
Luhra looked to each of them. "Bozes, Hamilton and Norma, easy to understand." she said. "Princess, could you provide full alphabet?" Luhra still had a little trouble, and so had to include hand motions with her words. At the same time she took something from her desk, a flat board with a black Glass, tapping away at the bottom of it before showing it to Pina. Pina blinked, looking at the black glass, there were characters on it when their wasn't before. There were 26 single letter characters on the screen.
"Alphabet?" Pina asked, pointing at the characters. Luhra nodded.
Pina, understanding, set the board down and taking out paper and her quill pen she began to write out the letters of her language's alphabet and handed them to Luhra.
"Thank you your majesty." said Luhra. She handed the page to Harpuria. "Harpuria be a darling and deliver this to the technicians and have them start on the translation."
They all looked at Harpuria who just stared.
"Now please." Luhra said.
"Er, yes of course." said Harpuria, taking the page and with a respectful bow, made his way out of Luhra's chambers.
Bozes giggled at this, and Luhra looked to the group.
"Well he is reploid, must respect humans." Luhra said, her speaking still a little broken sounding.
Pina blinked. "Rep...loid...?" did she mean the golems? Harpuria was one of them?
"I guess no reploid where you live." Luhra said. "What you think they are?"
"Golems, animated by magic." said Pina. "Is this not a city of mages for such constructs to exist."
Luhra raised an eyebrow, did the girl just say magic? Luhra laughed. "No magic, science."
"Science?" So it wasn't magic? This made Pina curious. If magic didn't power these golems, these 'reploids' how exactly did they work?
"Have many questions." said Luhra. "Best wait till speak better. Until then relax, must be exhausted."
Almost as if to confirm this point, Hamilton yawned suddenly, and Bozes followed suit. Pina suddenly yawned as well, they rode for so long and rested only for short periods they had been running on fumes it felt like. Luhra sat down in her chair by the desk, as one by one the four of them collapsed to the ground, tired and sore and quietly drifted off to sleep.
"If Harpuria wanted them to meet Master X." Luhra said to herself. "it will have to wait."
"Kill them all."
"Shut up."
"You know you want to."
"I said shut up!"
"Admit it X, you enjoyed it, one year ago, having those one eyed copies of yours kill all of those 'mavericks' just to save a few Zenny on the electric bill."
"Get out of my head!" X was in his office within Area X of the Central tower, slumped over his desk and gripping his head in pain, his eyes flared a brighter red then ever as the voice whispered in his mind, taunting him. the voice chuckled.
"You say you want to eliminate Mavericks and bring peace to the humans? Don't make me laugh. If any you're just as bad, worse even. Do they even know?"
"Shut up!"
"How would they react if they did?"
"SHUT UP!"
"I wonder, what would the people you care so much about say if they knew the truth?"
From the side of X's chair, a head leaned in, bald with a prominent chin and cruel blue eyes with scars running down them, a large almost slasher smile like grin spread across the face, a round jewel with 3 points set on the sides in a Y formation on its head. "That their great and mighty leader is infected with the Mav-"
"SHUT UP!" X stood, pushing his seat back and grabbing an object from his desk, a round globe like paper weight as he turned and threw it at the voice, sending the globe crashing through the window which gave him a view of the city and fell down to the ground below. The door opened and Anita ran in, hearing the crash as she ran over to X who collapsed to his knees holding his head in pain.
"MASTER X!" she knelt down grabbing him. "Master X are you alright?"
"Vaccine..." said X. "Get the vaccine. He's in my head Anita! Make him stop! MAKE HIM STOP!"
Quickly Anita got up, running to the cabinent where they kept the vaccine shots, grabbing one and running back to X injecting it into his systems. He shudder, and the burning glow of his eyes died down till they were normal again. He trembled sitting there. "It's getting worse, has been since the purge."
"Your just under a lot of stress, nothing more." said Anita, helping X to his feet. "Incidentally, we have some unusual visitors."
"Visitors?" said X. "I wasn't aware of any visitors."
"well you were probably too busy having a hissy fit up here, on top of that Senator Luhra is currently with them." Anita would hand X a data pad as he sat down, looking at the images on it showing a Red head, two blondes and a brunette in strange armor. X raised an eyebrow at the unusual clothing. "Who are they?"
"The redhead is one Pina Co Lada, leader of the Rose Order of Knights and fifth princess of the 'Empire'. The other three are members of her Order."
X was holding back a smile. "Pina Co Lada? Seriously?"
"Don't even think about laughing." said Anita. "It'd be like her laughing at you for being called 'X'"
"And where did this princess and her Knights come from?" X asked.
Anita smiled. "From a building in the ruins of the city used by the resistance, that leads to another location, probably another world, according to Harpuria's report."
X looked up. "The resistance's city? You mean?"
Anita nodded. "We know how they disappeared."
X looked at the data pad, at the image of Pina Co Lada and her Knights. "Do we know why they are here?"
"Not yet, they do not speak our language, Luhra is working on getting things translated, however they had extensive notes on them, this 'Empire' may have sent them as scouts."
"A princess doing scouting and recon?" X chuckled. "Her parents must not care for her that much."
"That or she has something to prove." said Anita. "We could possibly use that to our advantage."
X sat back, feeling comfortable for the first time in days. "Where is Harpuria now?"
"Getting the Princess's language translated, Luhra's orders." said Anita.
"We need to send scouts through that portal." said X.
"Already been done." said Anita. "Herculious Anchus has been dispatched with a patrol to explore the other side and to report back in one week's time."
"Excellent." X smiled. "The resistance fled to this place where Pina and her group came from, we can use their ignorance to our advantage in finding them."
"An alliance?" Anita asked?
"Why not?" said X. "It would be mutually beneficial for both sides, and this world could help us with our own energy problems." He smiled again. "I will speak to the princess once her language has been translated, there is no doubt much she wishes to know, and I in return."
PART 3
The Resistance caravan was camped for the night, and food was being prepared and handed out to the coda refugees that were traveling with them.
"So, you used your magic ON The beam saber to supercharge it?" Ciel asked as she forked some rice into her mouth.
"It was Zero's idea actually." said Yuno, eating her own meal as she sat with Ciel, Tuka and Leilei. "Since the blade is made of Energy, he figured we use our magic to boost the power output, and his beam saber was able to at least scratch the Dragon so."
"Push the energy output beyond normal levels and he was able to slice the arm off." said Ciel. "I'll say this much for him, he knows how to think on his feet. Not only that, but his quick thinking may have helped with my research, now I know that Magic can be used as an energy source for our weapons and equipment, since you and Myuute were able to power up Zero's Beam Saber."
"Magic Sword." said Leilei. "An old technique from when Mages had once fought on the battlefield. Enchant a weapon with a particular spell, and the weapon will strike with that magic."
"So enchant a sword with sleep magic." said Tuka. "And when you cut a person they will be affected by the spell right?"
Leilei shook her head. "Only good with offensive spells, the intent is to enhance the weapon's power beyond what it can normally do."
"That may be true for steel weapons." said Ciel. "But we use energy weapons, with the right modifications the bullets of our buster guns can be nonlethal, and infused with the aforementioned Sleep magic, we have a potent tranquilizer. But there is still the matter of being able to generate magic through technological means in order to contain it."
"I can help you if you want." said Yuno. "I'm really interested in your research and in your own form of magic in general."
"I...I'll try to help as well." said Tuka.
"I will offer assistance when I can." said Leilei. "I'm sure Master will as well."
"Thank you." said Ciel. "This means a lot to me, to all of us."
"You saved us from the Flame Dragon." said Yuno. "It's the least we can do for what you've done."
"Well, what are we waiting for then?" said Ciel excitedly. "let's get to work!"
"So your Zero huh?" Zero turned his head, watching as Sage Calto approached him. The elderly mage stood by the red reploid, who was leaning against a tree staring up at the night sky. "Ciel spoke highly of you, in fact we've heard nothing but good things about you."
"You have huh?" said Zero. "Don't take what they say about me as gospel."
"Why? Because you can't remember who you are?" Calto asked. "Ciel told us about your amnesia as well. Memories aren't everything Zero. Your mind may have forgotten, but it's clear that your body remembers. And you proved to everyone on that day that you are indeed the legendary hero Ciel says you are when you sliced off the Flame Dragon's arm and sent it running."
"Body remembers huh?" said Zero, he looked ahead. "Seems all I remember is how to fight."
"Then fight." said Calto. "fight for Ciel, and your friends, for those two elves who no longer have a home, fight for the people you protect!" He'd pat Zero on the shoulder, and grinned. "Your a lucky guy, having so many cute girls caring about you. Ah to be young."
Zero rolled his eyes. "If you want to reminisce about the past go talk to Andrew, I'm sure you have a lot in common." He pushed himself off and walked back to the camp.
Calto stood there, watching Zero walk off. "He may not remember, but even I can tell he's haunted by the past." He leaned on his staff. "So what happened to you in the past to make you like this?"
"He's arrived, they all have." Pink colored lips curled into a smile, as the girl licked her lips, down on a knee in prayer. "I can feel it. Things will start to get interesting now, I wonder what he will do going forward? " She rose to her feet, picking up the large axe next to her. "I think it's time I paid them a visit and made my presence known. It's only fair right? That I greet Emroy's chosen hero." She giggled as she started to walk. "I only hope he remembers the little pep talk I gave him, it was the least I could do."
INDEX
TO BE FAIR, THE LANGUAGE BARRIER THAT WAS A PART OF THE ORIGINAL MANGA ALWAYS SEEMED LIKE IT WASN'T NEEDED, WHILE IT ADDED SOME TENSION (LACK OF COMMUNICATION), IT JUST SEEMED USELESS. SO IT MAKES SENSE THE LANGUAGE BARRIER WOULD BECOME A MOOT POINT WHEN YOU HAVE TECHNOLOGY AT THE LEVEL IT IS IN THE MEGAMAN SERIES. REPLOIDS CAN DOWNLOAD THE LANGUAGE TO THEIR MEMORIES, AND THEN YOU HAVE SOMEONE LIKE CIEL WHO WAS GENETICLY ENHANCED AND IS HIGHLY INTELLIGENT, FIGURING IT OUT WOULD BE EASY FOR HER (ESPECIALLY WHEN PAIRED WITH THE EQUALLY CLEVER LEILEI) AND LUHRA, BEING THAT SHE IS NEO ARCADIA'S FORIEGN AFFAIRS SENATOR, WOULD BE ABLE TO FIGURE OUT LANGUAGES DUE TO HER LONG TENURE IN THE POSITION. SO YEAH, I SAY **** YOU TO LANGUAGE BARRIERS WHEN YOU GOT ROBOTS WHO CAN INSTANTLY LEARN IT ^_^