Chapter 5
Outside the Lastation Basilicom
Noon (Day after the end of the last chapter)
Pov (Kaito)
"You live in the Basilicom with the Goddess of Lastation?!" Falcom asked me with a shocked tone to her voice after we arrived at the Basilicom, "What did you do?"
"I kicked a dragon in the face." I told the redhead with a completely straight face as I opened the door and ushered her in, "Long story that I don't have time to explain fully right now. You should really get a hold of Tekken if you can; I've tried but have had no luck. Uni may introduce herself as my little sister because she doesn't know you, but she's the one I raised as my own daughter."
As I lead Falcom through the Basilicom; I told her a little about how I met Noire until we got to the living room. "Kaito; you're back!" Noire exclaimed from her seat on the couch, with Uni sitting next to her, once I walked into the living room.
"Welcome home; big brother." Uni said with a slightly strained voice at calling me 'big brother'.
"I've already told her that I had a daughter Uni, so stand up and introduce yourself properly." I told Uni with a small smile, "Falcom's like an older sister to me, so she's part of the family too."
"My name's Uni; I'm Kaito's daughter." my daughter said giving a proper introduction to Falcom after standing up.
"So this is the daughter you're so proud of; the one you wouldn't shut up about on our trip here?" Falcom asked me as she gave Uni a once over, "Well nothing seems wrong with her." she said jokingly while giving me a playful jab in the ribs with her elbow.
"I take offence to that." I said after Uni, Falcom, and I sat down, "I raised her as best I could."
"He did a decent job of it as well." Noire said from beside me.
"I was just joking." Falcom told me while grinning, "Never would have thought that you'd make a family with a CPU."
"We've never done anything like THAT." Noire said as her face started turning red, "Uni, instead of being born at her current age, was born as a newborn. Kaito took it upon himself to help me raise her. We kind of became her parents after that."
"What can I say?" I asked everyone in the room, "I felt a connection to Uni from the moment I first picked her up, and I couldn't just leave her and Noire."
"Let's get off that topic for a while." Noire told us, "Kaito what was that phrase Histoire wanted me to say?"
"A-P-L." I said answering her question, "It has to be said by the CPU of the nation I wish to help run."
"Is this about you becoming a being on par with a CPU?" Falcom asked me.
"Essentially." I said answering Falcom, "Since I became a being like a CPU, and wasn't born that way; Histoire, Planeptune's oracle, did some digging in her tome and found some information on someone similar to me in the past.
"That person was a being called an Alpha Player Link or an APL for short." I continued speaking to give an explanation, "That phrase that Noire has to say is so that not only will my full power can be unlocked and so my body can get accustomed to having Share Energy flowing through it, but to bind me to her nations Sharacite; although I believe that the Share Crystal that Noire had forged into my sword is helping with the first part as well."
"Not even going to question that last bit." Falcom said after letting out a small sigh and leaning back in her seat, "You never cease to surprise me."
"I'll be out for about an hour after Noire says the phrase though." I said informing everyone in the room, "Just an after effect of having my 'limiters' removed in a way."
"Well let's get this over with; brace yourself Kaito." Noire told me before taking a breath, "APL."
Upon hearing Noire say those three letters; my entire body froze up the same way it had when Histoire examined me. I stiffened up to the point that my body was starting to hurt from the sudden inability to move. I felt like that for about five minutes before I blacked out from the growing pain.
Dream
Pov (Kaito)
'Where am I this time?' I thought to myself once I opened my eyes to see a red sky and crumbling buildings.
"I-I-I'm sorry!" I heard a male voice shout in fear from behind me, "I never thought that he would take the bullet for you!"
"Why would you even try to shoot me?" I heard a cold-angry feminine voice say in response to the first, "You took someone close to me and expect me to just let that go?"
Turning around I saw a woman that looked to be going through the same kind of corruption that Falcom had gone through. Her back was facing me, but I could see black 'smoke' coming off of her and her hair was slowly turning a dark blue in color instead of what looked to be a dark red.
"What's going on here?" I tried to ask but wasn't heard by either person.
"Please! I'm begging you! Spare me!" the man tried asking for mercy while he was backing up until he tripped.
"No can do." the woman said coldly as she brought one arm back and clenched her hand into a fist; a swirling orange and purple energy forming around it, "Should've thought about that before shooting at me."
Lastation Basilicom: Kaito's Room
Pov (Kaito)
One hour Later
"You feeling alright?" Noire asked me from the chair she had brought into my rather plain room after she saw that I had woken up, "You froze up then blacked out; Falcom left shortly after that to get reinstated at the guild and find housing here in Lastation for the time being."
"Light as a feather, and good to know." I told her as I sat up on my bed, "I might have one last lock to undo before I can fully access my other form."
"We can always go on a quest tomorrow to try to get you to transform." She told me, "Just the two of us; like old times. Uni and Kei can handle things here for a couple hours while we're gone."
"I'm sure they could." I said as I looked towards Noire, "It would be good to spend some time together with just the two of us again after so long."
"It's decided then. The two of us are going out tomorrow on our own." Noire told me as she stood up and started to walk towards the door.
Deciding to take a chance I asked her the question that I had wanted to for a long while, "After we finish the quest tomorrow; let's go on a date." I said before she left the room, my face burning, "Nothing fancy; just lunch at a nice restaurant with only you and I. Maybe a walk through a park after that."
"That sounds good." Noire said giving me an answer with a slight tremble in her voice.
"I look forward to it then." I told her as she opened the door.
"Didn't think you had the balls for that so soon; took me a lot longer to work up the courage." I heard Edric say after Noire closed the door, "Once you have her though; hold her as close as you can."
Lastation's Guild
The next day 10 a.m.
Pov (Kaito)
"I'll go get us a quest." Noire told me as we entered the guildhall, which was unusually busy for this time, before she went to an electronic quest board.
"I'll be trying to find Alexander while you pick a quest." I told Noire as I looked around the guildhall and noticed that it hadn't changed in the least, "I want to say hello at least; besides that I still need to get reinstated myself."
"Go ahead." Noire said, glancing back at me from the board, "I'll be looking for a little while; it's so hard to choose sometimes."
"Trust me; I know." I told her as I started walking to where I remembered Alexander's desk being.
"Well look who we have here." I heard a familiar male voice say from behind me. Turning around I saw Alexander standing there, his former black hair now having grey streaks throughout, "You caused me quite a lot of trouble with that disappearing stunt of yours. It's nice to see you again, Kaito, welcome back."
"It's good to be back, and sorry about that Alex." I said apologizing to the man while remembering his name preference, "I did what I had to do."
"I know. That's what you always do, so don't apologize for being yourself." My aged friend told me, "Now let's get to my desk; I take it that you're here to get reinstated?"
"That and to see how you felt after I disappeared."I said as Alexander led me towards his desk, 'Just like old times.' I thought to myself.
"I never believed that you were dead by the way." Alex told me as we past a couple people, "You're too stubborn to die anyway. A year after you vanished I felt the need to take up questing again; it was time for the Lastation Phenix to be reborn once again."
"What do you mean by 'again'?" I asked Alexander after we got to his desk.
"All in do time my friend." Was the answer I got from him, "suffice to say, there's more to me than meets the eye."
Unknown Castle Ruins
Pov (Kaito)
11 a.m.
"What was the quest's objectives again?" I asked Noire before we entered the dungeon; my sword drawn.
"To bring down a Hydragon*." Was the answer I got from her.
"You have got to be kidding me." I said in response to her answer after taking a sharp inhale, "How many heads does it have?"
"Last report said it had three heads, but is expected to have grown more." She told me as I let out a sigh of relief, "I chose a hard one on purpose, so trying to force your lock open would be easier."
"Appreciate the thoughts, but this might be a bit to much. A Hydragon typically has a mid to high S-Rank restrictions on them, and that's with a team of four." I said as we entered the dungeon, "While I'm confident in our combined power; this might still be too much for just the two of us."
"Quit whining and get a move on!" she said giving me a playful shove in the back, "You're stronger than you think now, but don't think I've been slouching on my skills in the last 15 years."
As we walked through the ruins; we saw signs of destruction that time couldn't have caused. We saw walls that looked to have been torn down by a large creature, pillars knocked over and shattered, claw marks in the ground, and large patches of soot.
"This thing's really destroying these ruins; isn't it?" I asked Noire as we saw all of the destruction in the area; the open ceiling giving us natural light to see with.
"We could find it at any moment, so be ready," she told me after hearing my question. We eventually came to an open Antechamber where we saw the now seven-headed Hydragon resting, not sleeping, in. "It's now or never Kaito." Noire told me as she transformed in a flash of white light.
"We're going to have a very difficult fight, but I'll be right behind you." I told her as Eryn appeared in my hand. 'You able to help in this at all Edric?' I asked the other me mentally.
"Possibly." He said answering me, "If you come close to being able to transform on your own; then I can force the lock the rest of the way open, but that's probably all I can do."
'That should be more than enough.' I told him as I steeled my nerves for the fight to come. "Let's do this!" I exclaimed as I charged at the beast of a monster.
Having been drawn to us by the light from Noire's transformation; the Hydragon quickly rose to its feet and readied itself for battle as I charged at it. I saw it launch one of its head at me to try to eat me, but I dodged to the left as I surrounded Eryn in my black flames. "Dark Assault!" I yelled as I tore into its body with my attack after I had gotten close enough to it. It let out a roar of pain, but quickly healed from the damage.
"You never wait do you!" Black Heart yelled at me over the monsters roar as she flew in and blocked another one of the Hydragons heads from eating me from behind, "We could have, and should have, attacked at the same time!"
"I couldn't hold myself back!" I told her after the monster brought its head back from its failed attempt at eating me. Forming a normal fireball in my right hand; I slammed my open palm into the Hydragons torso, "Immolation!" the resulting explosion from my fire attack only escaped from the gaps between my hand and the monsters skin; leaving the creature unharmed.
After my failed attempt to blast a hole in the monster; it only looked at me in minor annoyance before hitting me with one of its clawed paws, and flinging me into, and through, one of the only pillars in the room. Breaking my left arm and causing me to drop my sword in the process.
"You can do better than this! I know you can!" I heard Edric yell at me as I tried to get up, but was stopped by the Hydragon stomping on me; feeling something else crack inside my body caused me to feel an immense pain and let out a pained yell.
"Kaito!" I heard Black Heart yell as I screamed my pain to the heavens. I was barely able to see the monster whip Black Heart with one of its heads; sending her crashing into the ground next to where I was being crushed. I saw a dull flash of light inside of the dust cloud that came from the impact.
"GET OFF OF ME!" I yelled as a sudden feeling of strength filled me as I started pushing up against its paw with my right hand; a rainbow colored mist flowing from my, now healed, back.
"You're getting close!" Edric told me as I struggled to lift the monsters heavy paw off of me with one arm, "I'll start doing what I can."
Holding another fireball towards the Hydragon, this one was black flames with a dull rainbow hue in, in my free hand; I gave it a cold look before saying, "Immolation!" The resulting explosion this time was strong enough to knock the monster backwards and cause a rush of wind to blow away the dust cloud.
When I looked back to where Noire had landed; I saw her back in her human form and dazed from the force of the attack, but slowly coming back to her senses. "I'm done!" I heard Edric exclaim as I felt something click inside my body while the rainbow colored mist started swirling around me, "Now with your raging spirit! Shout out with everything you have!"
"ACCESS!" I yelled loud enough that my voice echoed in the open room. After I yelled access; I was surrounded by a column of white light that reached up into the sky while releasing a torrent of wind before I was revealed to have the same form as when I fought Arfoire with the candidates as the light faded. Looking back at the now standing Hydragon; I glared at it with all of the anger I had, "You have made me very angry." I told the beast calmly as Eryn reappeared in my hand.
"Now follow my instructions and you'll be able to activate your Share Aura." Edric told me as I stared my opponent down, 'I'll lend you some of my power as well; I'll stop the flow from me if I feel it start taking over.'
Following Edric's instructions; I felt myself getting even stronger as I saw wisps of rainbow colored and a small amount of black flames started dancing off of me before they joined together; forming a veil of rainbow and black flames around my body. The Share Crystal in my sword started glowing as dark flames that had a rainbow colored edge erupted along the edge of the blade. "This one's going to hurt a lot more than the first one did. Dark Assault!" I said before I tore into the creature once again, but this time the wounds didn't heal.
The Hydragon let out another roar of pain after I ended my attack. Not giving it anytime to recover; I immediately rushed in with an Obsidian Break. Each slash, punch, and kick of my attack caused a lot of damage; but right as I finished my attack I formed a rainbow colored orb in one of my hands that was pulsing from the amount of power I was putting into it and condensing.
"You're figuring things out on your own." Edric told me as he watched me turn the tables on the Hydragon, "I'm impressed. That orb in your hand is an attack called Share Explosion."
Throwing the orb at the monster; I yelled the name of the attack, "SHARE EXPLOSION!" Once the orb left my hand; it seemingly disappeared before a rainbow colored explosion enveloped the monster it was thrown at.
Turning around I saw that Noire had gotten to her feet; albeit on shaky legs. "Are you okay?" I asked her after I had calmed down slightly.
"What caused you t-" she started to ask me before she was cut off by a loud angry roar.
Turning to face the monster; I saw that it only had one head now. The rest having been severed and burned in the Share Explosion. "You have got to be kidding me." I said aloud as I got myself ready for round two with the now severely weakened Hydragon.
"Focus your potent energy into your sword after you point it towards the sky." Edric instructed me, "It was one of my strongest attacks after Obsidian Break. I called it my 'Shining Oblivion' before I fell. Now it's my 'Abyssal Darkness'."
'Good to know, I'll give it a shot, but I'll put my own spin on it.' I said after hearing his advice. Raising my sword towards the sky; I started pushing as much Share Energy into it as I could, its embedded Share Crystal giving off a brilliant glow. "One last clash." I told the growling Hydragon as it readied its breath attack, and my sword started sprouting rainbow colored flames that extended it's length by four feet while the blade itself turned a deep black. Holding Eryn to my side and gripping it with both hands; the flames intensifying as I did so; I looked towards the monster and said, "Time for us to end this. This is my Obsidian Tempest!"
After saying the name of Edrics attack; I charged at the beast just as it started breathing its fire. The pressure alone from my attack cleaved straight through the monsters fire breath with the first swing, as my sword cleaved right through the monster itself with the second; resulting in the Hydragon exploding into pixels. 'Unlike the image you showed me of your version; mine has more of an area effect because of the intense pressure from the force behind my first swing.' I mentaly told Edric as I got up from the crouch I had assumed after slicing through the Hydragon.
"Where did you get all of that power from?" Noire asked me after I had walked back to her; with me still being transformed.
"I'll tell you later; princess." I told her as I picked her up in a bridal carry, "Now I do believe you owe me a date, and I plan on collecting."
"Can we go out tomorrow instead?" She asked me, red faced at being held in my arms.
"We're going today. We'll stop by the Basilicom first though." I said giving her a happy grin before my back processors appeared in a flash; taking the form of dragon wings, "Now hold on tight; this is my first flight."
A/N: A Hydragon is pretty much a hybrid of a classic Hydra and an Ancient Dragon from D pretty much picture a smaller version of Smaug, from the hobbit, but with multiple heads. The next chapter will cover Kaito's and Noire's first actual date. Kurome will also be making her first appearance soon too, so look forward to that.
