Chapter 13 Aquisition

Emperor's P.O.V.

I hadn't known it, but I was out for a long time. I also hadn't known that there were individuals calling out to me for a long time. All I could feel was pain; it was so profound, I couldn't tell if I was hallucinating from the pain.

"Emperor, wake up!"

The voice urged me softly.

"Yes, wake up!"

Another urged me softly while the other voice shook me slightly. That hurt as well, and I knew sooner or later I had to open my eyes.

Which would probably hurt as well

I grumbled to myself as I opened my eyes groggily. As things came into focus, I saw two familiar individuals looking at me worriedly.

"Cynder?"

I asked incredulously, but it came out as a whisper. She smiled slightly.

"Yeah, it's me"

She said as she gave me an awkward hug, causing the other individual to clear her throat.

"Do we have time to declare sentiments, or are we going to go where we saw the explosion?"

She asked with somewhat of an edge, causing Cynder let me go. I fell back to the ground with a moan as she looked back at the other individual.

"You're right, let's go"

She said softly, causing the other individual raise the scales over her right eye.

"That's it, no backlash?"

She asked seriously, trying to keep the incredulity in her statement hidden.

"You just asked a simple question; there's no need for backlash when the answer doesn't need it"

Cynder replied quietly as she stood up.

She really has changed

I remarked to myself as the other individual looked down at me.

"How did you get here?"

I breathed as I tried to sit up, but that was a mistake. When I tried to sit up, searing pain went across my back, causing me to groan from the pain. Cynder and the other individual look at each other.

"Can you stand Emperor?"

She asked me as something that was around her neck started to move, catching my attention. I wasn't sure why she had asked that since I was in obvious pain. I calmed my breathing and looked up at her. She looked familiar, especially with the object around her neck being an Assassin Lizard.

"Sure, I'll be fine"

I said with a strained voice, causing the two to tense as I got to my feet shakily. When I was standing at my full height, a shockwave of pain went through my head, causing me to lose my balance. The individual with the Assassin Lizard around her neck moved to catch me, but Cynder was faster. She caught me and stood me right back up.

"If you said that you were well, I can definitely tell that you're not"

She said sternly, looking me directly in my eyes. I sighed and looked at the ground.

"If we want to be there by sundown, we need to get going"

The Maroon individual reminded Cynder softly, taking her attention from me. She looked at the other individual and sighed.

"How would you expect us to get there when Emperor can't walk; are you thinking right Rose?"

She asked evenly, looking back at me. I looked at Cynder and half-smiled.

"I'm pretty sure that there's few things that I can't do, and walking is something that I sure can do"

I replied in a joking manner, causing both of them to sigh.

"On a more serious note"

Rose started as she looked at me, causing my breath catch in my throat.

"What happened here?"

She asked as she looked around at the rubble. Looking around, I could see that the building that bottomed out; where I had landed was in the middle of the complex; where it once stood with the remains of the walls, metal, and support beams sticking out like branches, and the rubble like mountains that were sprawled over this short expanse of area. Cynder looked at me worriedly.

"Are you sure that you want to explain what happened to her?"

She whispered to me. I could see something that was more profound than the fear in her eyes when she looked at me. It wasn't anger, but I felt it was somewhere along the lines of contemplation.

"I'll tell you while we walk Rose"

I sighed as I shook the dust off of my scales and started to walk, leaving the two behind. When I started to walk, I could feel the pain draining with every step. It felt as if something had attached itself to me and was draining it.

"Hey, wait up!"

The two called nervously as they jogged to catch up to me. When they did, we all fell into step with each other.

"I saw an explosion from far away"

Rose murmured. I could tell that she was unsure of how to start the conversation, and in response to this, I half-smiled, keeping watch to my right and left sides to make sure that everything was ok.

"The explosion you say?"

I responded, keeping my eyes focused on the path ahead of me, the rubble made somewhat of a wall, giving the littered area that we were walking through look like a path.

"The explosion was something that I didn't want to happen"

I murmured, causing Cynder take a whistling breath.

"I also saw that there was a large lightning bolt"

Rose murmured again, causing me look at her momentarily. She was looking at Cynder oddly as we walked.

"Are you well Cynder?"

She asked as we stopped momentarily. She was doubled over in what seemed to be pain, but she didn't show any signs of being in pain.

"I concur with Rose, are you well?"

I asked nervously as she looked up at me.

"Just leave me here, I can defend myself"

She said quietly. Just by looking at her eyes, I could tell that the emotion that I saw was more pronounced than before, and with that same look, I could tell that she was telling the truth.

"Let's go"

I said quietly, looking back at Rose, who nodded slightly. The Assassin Lizard on her shoulder was looking around nervously as if something was off.

"So where were we?"

She asked as I looked around, this action being inspired by the way Dart was acting.

"As I was saying, the bolt was caused by the Devil Gene taking over; it happened right after I forcefully removed Lemon from the same area"

I murmured as I looked at the ground.

"What do you mean by forcefully removed!?"

She cried, causing me flinch.

"I don't want to talk about it, but what I will tell you is that I accomplished my task"

I muttered, causing Rose to storm off, and I started after her, only after looking back at Cynder, who was on her hands and knees looking at the ground.

"That's definitely out of her character"

I murmured as I caught up with Rose, and by the time that I did we found ourselves in a plain. Most of the ground had been burned, and there was something that looked like it had been badly beaten. Next to the lizard was Slayer, who was looking at the lizard oddly. Rose had beaten me to the lizard, and was already examining it. Its head looked like it was crushed, the claws had been ripped from its hands, and all of its legs were broken.

"That wasn't very nice"

Slayer murmured with somewhat of an edge, and Rose nodded.

"Who could do something like this?"

She asked quietly, her body starting to shake from what I thought was anger.

"I saw everything"

A new voice said quietly, causing both of us whip our heads to look at who had spoken, and when I did, I took a step back.

"How!?"

Rose exclaimed softly as we beheld who had spoken. The lizard towered over us as it looked at us with its brightly glowing eyes. Its Brown scales contrasted with its cream White underside, and its claws and teeth shone like fashioned iron in the morning light.

"You showed up kind of late you know"

Rose said angrily while she looked back at the badly beaten lizard. The huge lizard looked down at me.

"I also know that you accomplished your task Emperor"

It said, flashing a toothy smile that made me take a step back.

"It's nice to have you back too Ignis"

I said nervously, locking eyes with the huge lizard. I hadn't known it, but Slayer had raised its hand to catch Ignis's attention.

"If you said that you watched everything happen, why didn't you help this lizard?"

It asked, cocking its head to the side. Ignis looked at the ground.

"I guess I should explain myself"

It said, looking back at Slayer.

"For a brief amount of time, I had served with the Chameleon Archipelago Armed Forces, with Krait; I was assigned by Juggernaut to be in his squadron, along with Chamilio"

It started as he walked by me and put a single claw on Krait's head, startling Rose, who had readied a healing spell.

"While I was serving alongside Krait, Master Keel was still walking normally, and he oversaw the rapid advancement of Krait's abilities"

He continued, taking Rose's hand off of Krait's head with a single claw. She looked up angrily at Ignis, but he looked at her coldly.

"Soon before this happened, I had a vision; it was about Krait fighting an individual who held great power"

It continued as Ignis put its claw back on Krait's head.

"That still doesn't explain why you didn't help him"

Rose said angrily, causing Ignis twitch.

"If you would let me finish, you would understand why I didn't"

It said quietly as quiet cracking sounds started. It took my attention, so I looked at Krait, and what I saw slightly interested me.

"After the vision, I came here, knowing that Krait's life was in danger"

Ignis started as I watched the giant lizard heal Krait.

"In the time that I was in the division, Krait was very secretive and destructive"

It murmured as if it was transfixed to Krait.

"That's probably why Master Keel and Juggernaut were so focused on Krait"

I thought out loud, causing Rose nod slightly.

"Precisely, and when Master Keel found out his abilities, he gave Krait something that he had not given anyone else of to my knowledge"

It continued as it flipped its hand over and cut the upraised portion of its leg open. A sick squishing sound was heard as Ignis sliced open the portion of its leg and took out the claw that allowed it to change. I wasn't sure how it was able to do this all the time without showing pain, but it astounded me, and I could tell by Rose's expression that it astounded her too.

"When I was about to rescue Krait, he was already fighting Abyss, and I knew that he would fight to the last breath that he took"

Ignis finished as it put the claw in one of Krait's missing claw openings, which made his eyes open groggily. His eye focused on me and he jumped to his feet.

" I'm going to finish what I started!"

He seethed, launching at me. I didn't have enough time to get into my fighting stance; all I could do was flinch, but instead of getting damaged by his attack, Ignis held him back with the same claw that he used to heal Krait.

"Even though his scales are Black and chains are around his arms and legs, he's neither Abyss or Ruin Krait; he's a friend and so is Rose"

Ignis told Krait as he strained against his hold. Krait struggled some more, and when he found that struggling against Ignis was useless, his body went limp for a second before he looked up at Ignis.

"Are you sure?"

He breathed as Ignis let him go. Krait shook himself off and walked up to me, looking me up and down as if he was looking for something, and when he saw my upper arm, he growled, baring his teeth, which started to leak a bright Green substance.

"Ignis, he has the Devil Gene, are you sure you're not lying to me?"

Krait said softly as he looked up at Ignis again. The giant lizard closed its eyes momentarily and shook its head.

"We served in the same squadron together with our allegiance sworn to each other with the mission of keeping our integrity; why would I lie to you?"

Ignis responded quietly, causing Krait's tense body loosen up and his expression soften.

"You're right, it was a meaningless question"

Krait breathed as he looked back at me, and it was then that my breath caught in my throat. I brought my arm up to look at it, and indeed, the chains were present, along with the Black coloring that made Krait's actions purposed.

If what i'm seeing is not a dream, then I need to be careful, otherwise…

I thought as I met Krait's fierce gaze. It looked so much like Rojo's I thought I was looking at him until I focus my eyes to find that his hand was outstretched, seemingly as an offer of allegiance.

"We always need more help"

I said with a gracious smile as I put out my hand and took the handshake.

"The next order of business is getting to safety"

Krait said ominously, causing Rose twitch.

"What do you mean by that?"

She asked nervously as Krait met her gaze.

"If i was killed out here, then that means that there has to be more hostile things than Abyss out here"

He said with the same tone as an explosion sounded in the distance, along with the high-pitched shriek that made all of us cover our ears, and Ignis groan in pain. Even after the sounds passed, the ringing in our ears didn't stop for some time, and until it did, we were all immobilized with the pain for a short time. After everyone had gotten their bearings back, we looked in the direction of the explosion. Smoke was rising from a mountain that was not more than a day's journey away.

"What…"

Krait started.

"Was that?"

I breathed, finishing his sentence. We all looked at each other, trying to figure out what it might have been.

"Whatever it was, it sounds like it was very aggressive"

Ignis suggested, causing Krait shake his head.

"We need to go, now!"

He practically demanded, taking off at a fast pace that that impressed me. I looked at Ignis, expecting the giant lizard to say something witty, but it was laying on the ground, looking at me as if it was expecting me to do something.

"If you want to walk, that's ok, but I was offering to let you ease your feet by letting you sit on my back along with Rosa as we make our way to the city"

Ignis yawned, but one word in his sentence interested me.

Why did it say Rosa instead of Rose?

I asked myself as I looked at her. She seemed to be shifting uneasily, as if she was distressed with something. When we locked eyes, I could see the same thing that was present in Cynder's eyes before.

"Let's get going, morning will arrive soon and we'll lose Krait if we spend any more unnecessary time here"

She said tensely, breaking our tense gaze towards each other. She walked past me and crawled up the side of Ignis and sat on the lizard's neck. Knowing that my feet hurt for some reason and I couldn't pass up free help, I turned around and jumped onto Ignis's back. When I landed, I sat down in the middle of Ignis's back and faced away from Rose. I wanted to be alone for now. I almost lost my balance when Ignis stood up and started to walk. For some reason, I felt that there were some strings of animosity starting to form between Rose and I. As Ignis walked along, I thought about what I might see in the village, but before I could think, a wave of tiredness swept over me. My eyes closed and the rhythmic swaying of Ignis's walking lulled me to sleep. When I woke up, it was mid-morning and I was still on Ignis's back.

"Get enough rest sleeping beauty?"

A familiar voice that I thought I would never hear again jeered, causing my eyes snap open. I jumped to my feet expecting to come face to face with an individual who I did not care for, but what I did come face to face with was Slayer, who seemed to be laughing hysterically. Behind Slayer was Krait, who was sleeping next to what looked like a wall. Ignis was sleeping on the other side of what looked like a gate. I gave the lizard such a strong look, it quieted down and started to slink back in what seemed to be fear. Before I could open my mouth, Slayer backed into Krait, whose eyes snapped open. In one fluid motion, he grabbed the lizard's neck and threw him into the wall so hard, the portion that Slayer impacted shattered indo shards and smoke, waking Ignis, who lifted its head and blinked sleepily.

"I'm sure that you could've handled the situation in a less destructive way Krait"

Ignis mumbled with a yawn as he got up, shook the dust off of its scales. As soon as the wall shattered, the gate burst open and impacted the walls, causing Ignis cry out in pain, which made the two individuals that were going through the gate immediately attack the two. Ignis was able to block the attack that his assailant dished out, displacing the air around us and causing Ignis grunt in pain. Krait blocked late, sending him up into the air. Dust clouded the area, causing me nervous. The cloud of smoke and dirt did go up high enough to obscure my vision of Krait, who seemed to have wings of fire that had sprouted from the sides of his body. Flames were licking the sides of his mouth as his eyes seemed to light up.

A fight, here!?

I cried mentally as I felt the evil in my mind clawing at my sanity again. I wanted so much to start fighting everyone in my sight, but I knew that if I did, I would wreck the only chance at having a safe place to stay for the remainder of the time that we were here. I also knew that the others were weary of being around me since I was dangerous, and I knew that evil still lurked out here, wherever here was. As Krait was about to let out a jet of fire, A loud, but frail voice called out over the chaos that was present.

"That will be enough you two!"

The voice called out as Krait seemed to drop to the ground like a heavy rock. At the same moment the voice was heard, the smoke and dust cleared instantly, revealing who had started to fight ignis, who had started to fight Krait, and who had started to speak.

"So, it seems that you've decided to welcome our guests this way?"

The individual who had spoken said with interest as it swiveled its eyes to look at Krait, and a huge individual of the species that looked very similar to who was speaking. Both were clawing at their necks as if they were being choked. The individual who had been speaking seemed to be frail, but at the same time, the energy that was emanating from this individual who had taken down these two at the same time astounded me. This energy that this individual was emanating seemed to dispel the evil that was clawing at my mind at the same time, astounding me even more.

"You seem to think that this is a fitting punishment as well"

Krait rasped, causing the frail individual shake its head.

"If I remember correctly, you were dead, so i'm either hallucinating, or you're a spy sent from an evil party; which one is it?"

The individual said as it lowered itself to the ground, which sparked some anger inside of me.

"You're wrong!"

I started loudly, taking the attention of the individual that stood before me.

"Pick your battles Emperor; you can't win this one"

Krait rasped nervously, which made the individual in front of me release the two from their binds. As both of its eyes settled on me, an energy flew through me, causing me twitch uncontrollably.

"If I'm wrong, then please, enlighten me on what happened"

The individual said evenly as it seemed to take up a fighting stance, and in response, I took mine, but before anything could happen, a voice called out, taking everyone's attention.

"There will be absolutely no fighting here; does everyone understand!?"

The voice yelled out as Slayer flew over us and landed behind me.

"Either I'm a really good throwing device or i'm just having a bad day"

Slayer said defeatedly, seemingly easing the situation as it dropped the ground behind me. I dropped my stance and looked behind me to see who it was that had spoken.

"Master Keel!"

The voice barked out, causing the individual in front of me flinch and look over its shoulder at who had spoken, and when he did, he turned around and seemed to take a kneeling position, along with Krait, Ignis and the huge individual. Since Master Keel was kneeling, I could see who it was that had spoken.

"Is this really happening!?"

I breathed to myself as I saw who it was. Three individuals stood in the gateway; two I recognised, and the one that was in the center that had many colors of scales and a small hood that extended from its neck. The middle individual looked at the one to the right, which was the one that had spoken, which astounded me.

"Next time, be louder Lemon, I could barely hear you"

The Pink individual joked, which made Lemon look at her crossly.

"How about you try something that you didn't want to do because it terrified you!?"

She retaliated crossly, causing the Pink individual shake her head in mock.

"Are we going to get to business or are we going to stand here and make small talk!?"

The colorful individual interrupted, causing Lemon and Lily look at us again as the individual walked forwards and stopped right in front of Master Keel.

"What is this!?"

It yelled out, causing all of us flinch from the intensity of her voice. Master Keel stood up and locked eyes with the individual.

"I believe it was you that said it was pointless to engage in battles that you don't need to fight"

It said quietly as I locked eyes with Lemon. She seemed to be different, as she was standing up straight, not cowering or shaking, which was definitely out of her character.

"I also seem to think that others have made their presence known after some time as well"

It continued, looking around until its eyes settled on Ignis and Krait.

"I was initially surprised by this as well"

Master Keel murmured as this individual seemed to give a harder look at Krait, who was looking up fearfully from the ground.

"Mistress Vibrance; please forgive me!"

Krait begged fearfully as if this individual was going to discipline him harshly.

"You're back from the depths of the earth?"

She asked, raising the scales above her right eye in what seemed to be a mix of amazement and surprise.

"You may stand"

She declared right after this, and all of those who were kneeling got up, brushed the dust off of their scales, and from the corner of my left eye, I could see the giant chameleon settle its right eye on Krait, who seemed to be shaking for some reason. VIbrance walked to stand in front of Krait, which made his shaking stop.

"Look at me Full General Krait"

She said quietly, stressing the name and rank of Krait, which made me wince. I guessed at what would come next based on experiences of the times when Rojo would address his soldiers with their name and rank.

It usually never ends well

I thought just as a snapping sound went through the area, causing me look reluctantly at what had caused the snapping noise. I could feel everyone's gazes falling on Krait, and it seemed that all of our gazes fell at the same time since when I saw what had happened, Lemon had gasped, Lily had winced, and I had taken a shaky breath at the same time. Vibrance was looking down at Krait with a furious look on her face.

"That's for calling me Mistress"

She said with her voice quivering as she yanked his head up again. She was about to do whatever she did the first time when I saw what had happened. It seemed that she had slapped him so hard, her claws had made deep gashes in his head, which were bleeding profusely.

"And this is for all the years that you made us think that you were dead!"

She seethed as she brought her hand down again, and I thought that Krait was going to feel pain again, but Master Keel stopped her somehow. She gave Master Keel and hard stare, but Master Keel wasn't phased at all.

"Remember what I told you"

He said quietly, taking his hand away and walking away from us to walk into the gate. Vibrance dropped Krait and he fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious.

"If you want to care for him Lily, feel free; I won't waste my time on him anymore"

She said dismissively as she walked to the gate, but stopped right before it.

"I know that this wasn't a very good welcoming committee Emperor"

She started as she looked over her shoulder at me as Slayer stopped at my left side.

"My job is to make sure that nothing goes wrong"

She continued as she looked back ahead, seemingly combatting something mentally.

"I will welcome you into this village, but if you try anything"

She continued as she looked over her shoulder at me again, her right eye now completely Black in color.

"I will not hesitate to eliminate you myself"

She finished, looking at me for a moment before continuing into the village, Lily and Lemon following her after giving each other worried glances and shrugging. Right after they went into the village, the giant individual walked over to Krait, picked him up with its tail, curling it around his body to carry him into the village. I was speechless; I had witnessed so much and had learned so much in a short span of time. It was almost overwhelming, but having Slayer by my side seemed to dull the intensity of all the situations.

"Who do you think is going to put the wall back together?"

It asked me, looking up at me with its beady eyes. Something seemed to glitter on its frill, taking my attention from its question. There were two objects on both sides of its frill. The one looked like the special claw that Ignis possessed. It was glittering and glowing with a Brown color that shone similar to the sun in the sky. The other one shone and glittered a Yellow color and was shining with a similar brilliance.

"When did you acquire these?"

I asked tensely, unsure of what these were. I could tell that they were something that held power that was similar to the amount of energy that Master Keel emanated, but it wasn't the same intensity.

"If I may interject, I have some questions of my own to ask"

Ignis said carefully, as if it was nervous about something. I tore my gaze away from the glittering objects around Slayer's frill and looked at Ignis.

"What are they?"

I asked quickly as Ignis shifted uneasily.

"Where's your weapon and where's Cryptis?"

It asked slowly, and after the first question, I flinched and reached to feel for the ReBorn on my back, but it wasn't there.

"This will be a problem"

I murmured as I looked at the ground. I could feel the nervousness and fear from the others around me.

"As for your other question, I don't know"

I murmured as I looked back up at Ignis.

"I feel that Ruin may be attending to that matter"

A familiar voice stated, causing me to look in the direction the voice came from. When I saw who it was, chills went over my body.

"What are you doing here!?"

I cried, but in response, the Gold individual smiled coldly.