Very sorry about the late update, we had some things to take care of as well as people *coughstratshotocough* not doing their parts at times. Without further delay, enjoy!
Chapter twenty one - Five months Reunion
-Altera HQ, Lowe's point of view-
Five months... the demons haven't made a move in five months. While this gave us a chance to rebuild our ranks, I felt a grave feeling creep into my mind. They must be planning something big. I hear a knock on my temporary office and the door opens. Eve steps through and closes it behind her.
"Sir, I know I've reported this several times but... Lyon went AWOL five months ago. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the matter." she says and I shake my head.
"He wouldn't betray us. He would have reported our location already and we wouldn't be here today." I reply and she sighs in relief. "You've heard the rumors of all the demon outposts getting hit lately?" Eve nods at this. "They're only targeting the more important facilities we've know about. We seem to think we know the next one that'll be attacked."
"You've been in charge of recruiting haven't you?" I ask.
"Yes sir. I haven't had a day off in quite some time." she says.
"Well, take the rest of the day for yourself. That's an order. We'll talk more later." she salutes and leaves the room. I sigh and lean back in my chair. Where could Lyon have gone?
-Somewhere, Lyon's point of view-
I tap my finger impatiently. The wall in front of me was covered in notes I scribbled. She wasn't anywhere near them. Their stronghold was too heavily fortified for me to take on myself. Sparks dance along Ivory's surface as I stare down the picture of my target. Rena.
"I'll make you talk." I growl. I look over my shoulder at the captive I 'claimed' three weeks ago. Ara was sitting, tied in a corner with cloth tied around her mouth. I walk over to her and move the gag so she could speak. "All you have to do is tell me where my girl is and you're free to go." I tell her and she looks dreadfully afraid.
"I-I don't know! All I know is that Rena is obsessed with making you feel the same way she feels." she says with a shaky voice and tears in her eyes. I cut the ropes binding her. I crouch in front of her, my face neutral.
"If I promise not to hurt you, will you assist me?" I ask her softly.
-Ara's point of view-
I'm his enemy, but he's why is he letting me free? I could very well run. He doesn't seem to be the type to murder someone in cold blood. He offers me a hand and I feel myself take it. It was then that I decided what Cross claimed was a lie. "I'll help." I whisper and he takes my delicate fingers in his hand. With ease, he pulls me up and I lose my balance. I brace myself against him. My cheeks get hot as I push away from him.
"Do you know where Rena is?" he asks me and I shake my head slowly.
"No, but I know she was in a hurry to check on something a few days before you caught me."
~Altera Plains. Reiku's pov~
"C'mon, that can't be all you got" I say to the panting Aisha. A smirk finds its way onto my face as she glares at me. She holds her wand up and magic energy begins flowing into it.
Her wand floats above her head as she points her hands toward me. "Chain Burst!" she says as ice balls fly in my direction. I begin running right in order to avoid most of them. The final one, a big one, gets too close to comfort which causes me to slice it in half. I glance at the wooden sword I'm using for this training exercise. Still in good shape.
"Gotta do a little better than that Aisha." I begin sprinting toward her. She floats into the air and points her staff at me.
"Blizzard Shower!" Chunks of ice fall from the sky, ready crush me. Fortunately, they're easy to read. I speed up which avoids 75% of it. The last 25% consists of me dodging and slashing. Once I get close to her, a circle of ice balls rotate hastily around her. I quickly regain my focus and parry all three ice balls. She flinches and closes her eyes as I point the sword at her. With a light push, she falls on her butt.
"And here I thought you improved more over the five months we spent training together. Seems I was wrong." She crosses her arms and looks away from me. I sigh. She always gets like this now. "What do you want now?"
"Take back what you said. You know I worked hard on your stupid ice trainings." Stupid ice trainings huh? She's so lucky I don't like seeing her act like this.
"I suppose you want a hug and kiss too?" I tease. Her face shoots up red as she nervously looks back at me.
"T-that would be nice..." she mumbles. I let out a chuckle as I hold my arms out. She smiles and runs over to me, hugging me with a hug that almost makes the two of us fall over. Man, this girl is strong when it comes to her hugs. After a moment's embrace between us two, she slightly pulls away and looks at me with sparkling eyes. "Keep your word this time Reiku."
"Close your eyes then Aisha." Slowly she closes her eyes and I move a bit closer. I go as though I'm going to kiss her on the lips, but then I decide to kiss her on her forehead.
"You didn't keep your word, jerk!" Someone seems awfully mad now. Oh well.
"I told you didn't I? I'll only kiss you on the lips when I feel the time is right." She sighs.
"You're a real jerk when you do that. Be grateful I love you." A smile settles on her face as she lays her head on my chest.
~Airship, ? pov~
"He has been AWOL for a while. He tends to be very stubborn so if he resists I give you permission to subdue him with any means you deem necessary." Lowe says with discomfort.
"Yes sir, hopefully he'll make it easier for both of us and return without any resistance." I say as I put my hood over my head.
"Knowing him, I very much doubt that."
I laugh at his response "You always have to give me the troublesome tasks, don't you?"
Lowe sighs. "I apologize for that, but you're the only one I know who can go head to head with him." A grin creeps across my face
"I'm flattered, but I'm pretty sure even my partner can take him on now."
"Oh? She must be pretty strong now if she can match Lyon." He replies.
I chuckle "Yeah, she's pretty scary now. You would never want to be on her bad side."
"Hearing that from you makes it all the more reason to fear for my safety once she reaches HQ." He says in a nervous tone.
"Well she's in no condition to get angry or throw fits so you don't have to worry about that." Lowe lets out a sigh of relief.
"Well that's good to hear. What condition is she in if I may ask?"
"We'll let you know as soon as everyone gets together."
"Alright. Well, I wish you luck on tracking down Lyon."
"Yes sir, I'll definitely need it." I end the call and put the phone in my pocket then let out a sigh. "Always doing as you please huh? Looks like someone has to put a stop to your actions Lyon. Too bad that person had to be me." A mischievous grin forms around my face as I chuckle.
-Somewhere, Ara's point of view-
I pant heavily. It was a bad idea running, but it was the only chance I had at warning Rena. I wasn't sure if he was right behind me or not so I was being careful about where I was going. If he was following me, I was zigzagging all over so he would get impatient and give up. But if he wasn't, I was still heading toward our safe house.
I look over my shoulder and see that I am, in fact, alone. I sigh in relief and start walking again. I hear a twig snap behind me and my head snaps in the sound's direction. Nothing's there so I shake my head. "I'm getting paranoid." I mutter to myself. I only hope that it was nothing after all.
-Lyon's point of view-
I watch Ara from my place in the treetops above her. She's being careful but I'm being persistent. I doubt she noticed she was being monitored since I untied her, but if she did... my hat off to her. I grab the branch I was standing on and hang from my grip. I let go and land softly enough that she was suspicious.
I dart behind a pile of rocks to my left when she looks my way again. I peak around the edge and see that she's moving again. This continues on for several more minutes before she decides to turn around fully. I move to the other side of my cover slowly when she walks closer to where I was. When she turned to head the way she was originally going, I dive on top of her. The blade inside Ivory emerges and I press the blade against her throat.
Her eyes are wide in surprise and terror while mine are feral and angry. "Thought you could shake me?" I growl, leaning closer to her face. She looks away and closes her eyes.
"I-I'm sorry!" she pleads. I pick her up by the collar and a purple ring appears around her neck. Chains appear where the circle was and in my hand. I throw my end over a branch and it lengthens to just the right length. I had to hold my arm up so she wouldn't choke before I had the information I needed.
"Where is my girl?!" I yell at her.
"I don't know!" she shouts in fear. I go to pull the chain down and she screams. Tears roll down her cheeks as she clutches her head. She starts sobbing loudly when she sees my face. "I don't know..!" she struggles to say because of her crying.
"Then tell me where Rena is." I snarl at her.
"S-she's just over there, I-in the hut!" she says loudly. She points to the only hut in the area. "Just please... don't hurt us." she begs as a new wave of tears hits her. The chains disappear and she falls to her knees.
"I just want my daughter back." I growl and move away from her. "No one's sicker of this fighting then I am." I say to myself.
~Chung's pov~
I slowly back away from Lowe's office's door and begin walking toward Eve's room. She's been asking about Lyon, but this really won't be that good of news to hear. Why is Lowe ordering someone to go after Lyon? Could he have sold us out to the demons? Wait a minute; this is Lyon we're talking about. The person who seems to really hate the demons and such. Why would he suddenly turn traitor on us? More thoughts begin scattering throughout my mind until...
"Why in such a hurry Chung? Guilty of knowing something you shouldn't?" I feel his icy cold breath from here. I groan as I turn around and see him stand a bit far from me.
"Can I help you with something?" I ask. I need to make this quick and tell Eve. "I don't really have all day."
"You're snooping around like a spy. Decided to trade sides and work with the demons?" I shake my head. He's got it all wrong.
"It's not me who's decided to work with the demons but rather Lyon." He gives me a confused look. "Really Reiku. I-"I'm stopped by him suddenly flash stepping toward me and covering my mouth. His hand pretty much causes my face to instantly turn cold.
"Don't speak about it here or else others will get somewhat suspicious." He has a point. We can't have the other Hunters hear what I have to say then storm Lowe's office. He'd ask who told them this and they'd point their fingers at me. Who knows what'll happen then.
I move his hand form my mouth. "You're right. Come with me to Eve's room. I'm almost sure she wants to hear about this." He nods and we begin walking.
~? pov~
"So he's in this forest huh? Alright time to go hunting." Thanks to the info my partner provided me with I was able to find Lyon. Without him, I sure as hell would not have been able to find the rogue Lyon. I set the map I was holding down on the table next to me and I extend my right arm out and a portal opens where I was facing. "Here I come Lyon. Hope you like surprises." I walk through the portal and now in the forest I look around and sigh in relief. "I'm so glad I learned this. Makes travelling easier."
"That damned monster…"
I hear a voice not so far from where I am. I walk to the source of the voice and see Ara on the ground in the fetal position, crying her eyes out. "Hey there." I say. She jumps and quickly grabs her spear and points it directly at me.
"Who the hell are you!?" She growls while visibly shaking.
"Hey hey, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you." I show her both my hands to show her I mean no harm. She puts her spear down and sighs in relief I'm guessing.
"You okay? You look like hell." I kneel next to her and raise her head and I can still see tears rolling down her face.
"You didn't answer my question. Who are you?" She pulls her face away and avoids my gaze.
"I'm here to retrieve Lyon. I'm guessing he's the one who did this to you?" I ask while I wipe her tears with my thumb.
"Are you here to finish me off…?" She asks in a hoarse voice.
"No, I'm only here for Lyon. I won't kill anyone, I'm just here for him." I answer her.
"Why…? I'm your enemy. Isn't it natural to finish them off?"
"That may be so, but I have no reason to kill you and you're in no state to defend yourself. I'd rather defeat you when you are in top form." I answer her blatantly. "Which way did he go?"
"He went into that hut over there." She points to the hut in the middle of the area we're in.
"Alright thanks for the help. Take care of yourself alright?" As I was getting up to head for the hut Ara grabs my arm which causes me to turn my head to face her.
"Please don't let him hurt my friend." She begs me with a pleading expression.
I kneel down and face her again. "Don't worry I'll make sure Lyon doesn't hurt anyone." I assuredly answered.
"Thank you… By the way, you sound familiar. Have we met somewhere?" she asks me curiously.
I laugh. "You can say that the last time we met, you were kicking me in the face." I reply.
"You are-!" I put my finger on her lips to shush her.
"Sorry to interrupt but I got no time to sit here and chat so, see ya!" I sprint towards the cabin hoping I make it to Lyon in time to stop him from doing anything rash.
-In the hut, Lyon's point of view-
I look around the emptiness that surrounded me. While it pressed against me, I could tell people had been there and recently. I sigh in frustration. Seems Ara's info was dated, but it was a start.
I go to the corner where a pile of blankets were. I lift one and I see a strand of brown hair. I sigh, she was in fact here. That's good. I rip open a portal in front of me and disappear through it.
-Lowe's Office, Lyon's point of view-
The sudden energy sends everything in the room flying. Lowe covers his eyes so none of his paper clips hurt him. I stretch my arm out and look at him. "It's been a while, sir." I say before sitting on one of the still standing chairs.
He looks at me with wild surprise on his face. "Lyon... h-how did? Where the hell have you been?!" he shouts at me.
"I was scouting for the first month, then someone clung to me. Then Rena took her away and I've been tracking her." I reply.
"That's what you were doing. Where were you?" he asks again.
"Does it matter?" I ask. He sighs heavily and rubs his temples.
"Go find Eve and let her know you're back." he says and I nod. I leave the office and bump into Aisha.
~Reiku's pov~
Eve lets us into the room after Chung almost knocked her door down with his knocking. She pours us some tea and sits in a chair across from Chung and I. "So, what is it Lowe said about Lyon?" she asks. I nudge Chung as I pick up my tea.
"From the sound of what he said and the tone of his voice, it sounded like Lyon betrayed us all" Chung starts. "Lowe sent someone to retrieve Lyon. He also said that the person going after him can subdue him if he resists." Eve's eyes widen.
I sip my tea just as Chung finishes that sentence. I feel my body warm up as the tea hits my stomach. I set the tea down with a disgusted look on my face. Heat. I really dislike the heat. "We need to trace that call and find out who it was going after Lyon" Eve says as she looks at Chung. She then looks at me. "What's the matter Reiku?"
"I just realized I really hate tea..." I mumble as my body cools off. "But anyways, let's go. The faster we trace the call, the faster we can figure out the caller."
"We need the phone first. Follow me to Lowe's office." Both me and Chung nod as we stand up. Once she opens the door, we're all greeted by no other than Lyon himself and Aisha.
-Lyon's point of view-
I narrow my eyes at Chung before my face turns to a glare. "How would making enemies of the hunters and demons be smart, in anyway?" I growl at him. He looks at Reiku for support but he shrugs. "Next time you accuse me of something, I'm going to be very... very angry. Understand?" I tell him and he nods his head rapidly.
Aisha shares a look with Reiku as I turn my attention to Eve. My expression softens and I smile at her. "Welcome back." she says and I nod in appreciation. She takes my hand and leads me into the room. Chung turns to protest but she slams the door in his face.
-Eve's point of view-
I feel happy. For the first time in five months, I feel happy. I couldn't let Lyon see me like this because he would tease me to no end. I turn once we were in the middle of the room. "I like what you've done with the place." he mutters. I put my finger on his mouth and take a step closer to him.
"You don't have a clue how glad I am to see you." I whisper and wrap my arms around him.
"Why don't you show me?" he asks and tips my face to his. I close my eyes as he kisses my forehead lightly.
~? pov~
I charge through the door and get in a stance to prepare myself for any attacks. I look around and see that the hut is completely empty. "What? I don't see anyone here at all. Was I too late?" I stand there for a second and sense that magic was used in this room not too long ago. I walk towards the source and stumble upon a corner with blankets scattered around. "This is where the magic was used... a portal huh? Alright let's see where it leads too." I open the portal that was last used to travel and jump through it. After I jump through the portal I see that I am now in the middle of a very familiar looking room and I also notice that I'm in midair right on top of a very familiar looking person. To my horror, I see that it is Lowe collecting scattered documents all over his floor. I fall and yell at the top of my lungs. "OH SHIIII-. " I land right on top of Lowe and the documents he just collected scatter all over the room.
"Ugh dammit! Not again!" he says as he pushes me off his back and turns to face me. I feel my hood falling off my head. "Mind explaining how you appeared out of nowhere Lucifel?"
I get up and scratch my head as I chuckle. "Sorry about that. I jumped through a portal and it led me here."
~Lowe's pov~
"Well you must've gone through the portal Lyon used not too long ago." I say. Lucifel gets up and gives me a confused look.
"Wait so Lyon is here in HQ?" He asks while scratching his head.
I sigh. "I'll explain it to you, take a seat." As Lucifel sits down on one of the chairs in front of my desk, a hooded figure comes through the door, stands upfront, salutes and says.
"Back from training and reporting for duty sir." The figure says. Lucifel turns to the figure.
"Why so stiff around family?" Lucifel says as he gives the figure a very odd grin. The figure slowly takes off its hood and I see that it was Elesis hiding her face under the hood.
"You're back already Luci? I thought you were supposed to hunt down Lyon." Elesis sits on the chair next to Lucifel and crosses her legs.
"Well I was hunting him down and I stumbled upon a portal that he used and it led me here in Lowe's office." He rests his elbow on the arm rest of the chair and lays his head on his hand.
"So he's back in HQ?" She asks with confusion.
"Alright, I'll explain it to you two." I sit down and begin explaining everything that just occurred to them.
~Shoto pov~
I stand looking out of my room window, staring at the sky. Things have been getting hard these past few months. It's been so nerve wrecking. The demon attacking the castle makes me so mad. I roll out of the bed and get dressed. I think I'll go for a walk and to clear my mind since Lowe hasn't summoned me. I guess I'll go on a tour around Altera for a while. I head out my room, through the HQ, to the town of Altera where the ponggos live.
~Altera village~
This is a large town but with such small inhabitance. It's kind of cool and I like it here. A ponggo bumps me and runs away. I check myself to find out he stole my ED. I follow the ponggo out past the field to where the demons kept their fragment. The ponggo gives me back my ED.
"They're coming to the fields pong! If they keep taking our land for material, they're going to get in the village! We need help PONG!" it says, panicking.
"This isn't good at all." I start. "Monsters are moving from their area out woods of more space. I need to tell everyone." I rush back to Altera HQ to inform Lowe of what's going on.
~Lowe's office~
I enter in so suddenly that Lowe jumps from his door suddenly being opened. "Lowe, the demons are spreading out from the base where they hold the shards and fragments and expanding towards the fields. If they take over that, they're sure to enter the village next" I say in somewhat of a shout.
"Sounds like they got low on storage space. Hmm… Well we can't let them take over. I'll have Reiku and Aisha go and handle them. I'm putting them in charge of the protection operation to stop them for expanding because they've been there before" Lowe tells me. Fire sparks in my right hand.
"Can't I just burn the place down? It will stop them and there will be no more fragments." Lowe shakes his head.
"That will cause more problems. Think of all the energy that will be released for breaking the place. It's best to keep them to where they are originally without disturbing the fragments or shards."
I let out a sigh. "….Fair enough. Alright, when do we leave?
"We need a plan of action so at day break tomorrow; I'll have Reiku and Aisha ready to head out to the field where the demons are expanding to stop them." I nod and walk out, leaving Lowe to continue what he was doing.
~The next day in Altera Plains. Reiku's pov~
I take a good look at what the demons are doing. "So we need to release the control the demons have on the Nasod drillers and miners? Looks like they're just using fragment shards to control them so we don't have to be too violent. Aisha, I want you to freeze them" I begin. "Shoto, you remove the shards from them. I'll hold of the demons and suppress them while you two do as told."
"Ok, let's get started on stopping them" Aisha says as she readies her staff.
"Hey monsters, come get some" Shoto calls out to the demons.
~Shoto pov~
"Ok Aisha, let's get these Nasod free from the demons" Aisha and I handle all the incoming Nasod robots and stopped their excavation. Reiku forced the demons to stop advancing, causing them to retreat back to their original location.
"What a satisfying victory. Not too tiresome and it didn't drag on for long" Reiku says as he stretches his arms out.
"Man, all I wanted to do was leave the base for a bit and wonder around, but no demons had to mess that up." I let out a sigh and look at the ground. How dreadful to have to waste my time on the demons.
"Well at least you got to help people" Aisha tells me, trying to cheer me up. I appreciate the effort.
"Yeah…. But still, I didn't want to deal with the extra. Well, I guess we can go back to base now. I still have some pudding left. You two care to join me for some?" They both look at each other then look back at me.
"No thanks" they both reply at the same time.
"Ok well I'm off to the kitchen." I leave those two and head back to base to have me a nice helping of pudding.
End of chapter 21
Stuff be going down though man -Strat
Almost forgot something. For those of you who voted on what Dark should type next, the results are in and Something about Add won it all. Be on the lookout when he decides to type/upload it.