Ok, here is next chapter. Again Sorry for delay.
Thanks for the reviews/comment/follows!
Also thanks for the kind words and also the complain! I like them!
I'm not Spanish btw. lol. I can't talk Spanish but thanks for google translate. I'll appreciate your effort to write reviews though.
After a few days,
They managed to land on earth and park their ship near the farmland that Hanayo owned and continued their research occasionally in the ship and in the underground garage that Nozomi owns. As Nozomi and Kotori went out to do their research with the help of the police, the three soldiers and Rin decided to stay in the garage to arrange the current progress.
"The best thing about the earth is— we don't have to stick around wearing the tight rubber suit all day…" Maki said.
"I agree. I really like wearing the clothes Kotori gave to me…" Umi nodded in agreement.
"I have to agree as well, living on earth is a lot more pleasant than Terra— the feeling of taking an actual bath totally beats the feeling of getting cleaned by the hygiene waves…" Eli added.
"Only because you like taking a bath with a certain someone…" Maki smirked,
"That's just a plus point, but really, don't you enjoy taking a bath with water?"
"I do…. But I hate it because someone might see me naked while I'm at it…" Maki replied.
"That's why you have a door-lock-nya!" Rin said.
"I keep forgetting it since I'm still not very used to it. With hygiene wave, we never take off our clothes and we can take a bath anywhere…even in public places…"
"It's true that it also takes less time, but there's an art of the beauty itself as we take a bath, no? Just like, what shampoo we're going to use today?" Umi asked.
"Umi… are you just….simply starting to use them as well?"
"Yes. Kotori suggested me to try a lot of products—they have a lot of different smells as well! It's amazing that our hair can smell different everyday…" Umi replied innocently.
"Wow…Umi….. I thought warriors are supposed to smell like sweat…"
"Ooooh! Don't tell me, Maki-chan, you don't use shampoo?!" Rin asked.
"W-why would I? I don't need them!" Maki blushed madly—but as she recoiled in her denial, Eli caught her from behind and began to smell her hair before the red-head quickly shoved her away.
"H-Hey! Eli! I thought we agreed to never touch each other!"
"I'm just trying to confirm something—and… you lied about not using shampoo, right? I can smell herbal essence on your hair…" Eli smiled teasingly.
"I—I was just trying!" Maki retorted.
"Whoaah! Herbal Essence! That's Kayo-chin's shampoo-nya!"
"Nozomi also uses the same one… that's how I noticed the scent…" Eli said.
"Kotori is using the same shampoo as well, she said because it's easiest to get around…. "
"Hehe, that because the herbal shampoo is one of Kayo-chin's product-nya!"
"Now that you mention about that, how successful is Hanayo….?" Maki asked.
"Uhm…well, she is very successful, if you ask me… but also very generous as well and—most of her wealth is donated to the orphanage and schools-nya…then now part of it is used for this research too. She said, she hired an archeologist to help with the study of each artifacts-nya…"
"Archeologist? That's nice. I hope it can speed up the process… because I do think we're being a little too slow…" Eli said.
"Ehehe! I hope so-nya!" Rin said cheerfully.
"But, I wonder if it's fine to let the archeologist know about what we're up to? I mean… I thought we're supposed to stay low with this case…" Umi asked.
"The Archeologist said, she wanted to avenge her sister's death— which is related to the curse-nya… I'm not quite sure how much she knows about it, but Kayo-chin said, she met her on the day she went to pick up the artifacts. She said she has been wandering around the site herself… and knowing that Kayo-chin has a relation with me as the owner of the artifact, she went in and asked for permission to give full cooperation…"
"I thought she was hired?" Eli raised her eyebrow.
"Ehehe… at first, the archeologist wanted to help out for free, but Kayo-chin didn't want that to happen so she said she would hire her instead-nya…" Rin replied.
"That's nice of her… then I suppose we can get to know this archeologist…" Eli said.
"Yup! Hehe… she supposed to be coming this afternoon, so I guess we can work faster and present the matter to her-nya!" Rin said cheerfully.
"Heh— I guess you're right… let's work faster…" Maki said.
And they continued to work again.
The School of Magic—Library;
Nozomi and Kotori returned to the school to try out researching in the Library, thankfully they were still allowed to use the service which allowed them to go to the depths of the Library. As Kotori searched through the book cases along with Niko and Honoka, Nozomi decided to walk around the journal corner near a big old tree and a few round saplings that were wandering around the area to clean up any mess left behind.
Suddenly, the old tree showed his face— a face of a wise old man on his log with a pair of hollow eyes and wooden skin.
"Toujou Nozomi….." he called.
Nozomi chuckled,
"What's up, old man, I'm busy…" she replied with her back turned.
"You're still disrespectful against me! I am no man but a tree!" he replied.
"And you're still as funny as ever, what made you call me at this time? I hope it's nothing like fetching a bucket of water for you…"
"No…look, woman, I'm trying to warn you—that you might have overseen an aspect in your life…" he said.
"Me? Oversee an aspect in my life? Then I might as well have overseen it… there's nothing better than challenging the future…right?" she replied.
"This aspect—might be what you call as a future… a future that you crafted alongside with your change… then also an aspect that you rooted for…." He said.
Nozomi raised her eyebrow,
"What is this aspect to be exact…?"
"It's related to the golden sun and the light blue sky— it is not a pair of heart but a hanged man…"
"You're talking about Ericchi…right?" The mage crossed her arms before she turned to the tree outside the window.
"Yes…."
"Well, the first card doesn't matter. The Second card is… because even though the truth said that she has a horrible future, I'll try to give her as much support as I can. So when the second card told me that she has a bright future, then I believe she will get over it and jump to the second card with me…"
"This is why I tell you that you've overseen the aspect… The hanged man is not always mean an undecided future…"
"The other one is about self-sacrificial… I know that, I'll stop her and put her into the path to the second card… easy enough, right?"
"The second card doesn't matter if the first means the end…"
"I told you I'll put her into the second card… and there will be nothing that makes her trying to sacrifice herself… just look at her—she is also a selfish bastard like me, you know… and plus— we believe that everyone will make it out alive…"
"Why are you so worked up with the dumbest thing humans make? You can always just destroy the giant ships to stop it from moving…"
"You mean, crashing Terra into it? No way, that's a home for many…."
"I said, the giant ships, not a damn ship…"
"Old man, you're being funny again… there's nothing that—wait…. Are you saying that you can see a lot of ships around that Endless Citadel?" Nozomi asked,
"A bunch of parrot tamer and their cradle… working out in stealth to land the dumbest thing human ever made back to where it was born…but that doesn't matter because they will destroy themselves by then—whats more important is the golden sun and the light blue sky, because it is whats more important to your life…."
Nozomi remain quiet for a moment,
"Can you explain to me what exactly the things that I have overseen?" she asked.
"Might I have been dreaming to hear you saying that you'll listen to me?"
"Let's just say that, but nothing wrong with enjoying your sweet dream, right?"
"Wise words— this must be a real dream… so before I awake, I want to tell you that… you'll have to fight the world to protect the golden sun and the blue sky, you have to create the impossible and you have to finish a song of love to resurrect the vessel in the end of ordinary sorrow…"
"In the end of ordinary sorrow you say? Where is this place to be exact? I keep hearing about that for a while…"
"The end of ordinary sorrow is placed at the north of the end of sorrow… if you want to know further—you have to return and meet up with the archeologist, relative of the golden sun and light blue sky, she can explain you about almost everything…"
"Too lazy to tell me from your own mouth, huh? What an old man…" Nozomi said with a mocking smile.
"Silence! That is all I want to say… now please leave me be so I can wake up from this sweet dream that turns bitter…"
"Alright, but you know what? Before your sweet dream is over, let me tell you something…. thank you…" she said before she quickly moved out from the library. The Old tree smirked and turned away before his face faded away.
The Village—earth;
A truck arrived in the village, with a pile of tools packed neatly as a woman with pale blonde hair stepped down from the truck—she is in her leather jacket, boots, white cotton shirt, and brown trouser.
Hanayo quickly ran out of the Inn along with a few workers with her,
"Ah! Alisa! Welcome back!" Hanayo greeted,
"Hehe, thank you…" Alisa replied sweetly. The workers quickly move to the truck to unload the tools.
"Hanayo-san, where's the team you were talking about?" Alisa asked.
"Oh, they happen to be in the underground garage, some of the others went out to school to do research..."
"Ah, I see, then I suppose they'll be waiting for me as well… why don't we go and meet up with them?" Alisa asked.
"Sure! Please follow me!" Hanayo replied as she beckoned Alisa to follow her into Nozomi's house.
As Alisa entered the house with Hanayo…
"Ah, this house is really neat… and the arrangement, somewhat reminds me of something in the past…." Alisa said.
"Oh?" Hanayo raised her eyebrow—showing her interest to press an explanation.
"Hehe, well, here I see two sofas on the corner, a coffee table and an end table, then a picture of white lilies in front of them and a picture of the glass garden on the other side… my sister always told me she wanted a living room that looks like that. She said—because it reminds her of the most beautiful planet she ever seen as child…"
"Eh…? That sounds like she lives in another planet than the earth as a child and wanted to have the earth's view in her living room…."
Alisa averted her eyes,
"Hehe— well, she is a silly girl… she doesn't know that we can always go out and plant one if she wanted to see them…" she said.
"Ah…"
"Because my sister is brilliant in almost every study, everyone always praises her and calls her clever and cute… without them realizing, they also have turned her into someone who always wants to take responsibility and help out everyone…"
"Well— at least she isn't becoming arrogant…."
"Arrogant? Well, she was until she experienced something that she calls as failure… she realized that she has been too blinded with everyone's compliment and forgot that she can fail as a human…. I hoped that she wouldn't take that one too far, but— she did and…she always thought bad about herself... she is…no longer seeing any of her achievement as success but nothing… I suppose it's one of her ways to prevent herself from going through the same pain as she fell for the very first time…"
"So...she always thinks herself as a failure…?"
"Yes….and…. she always stays quiet about everything… then… there was also a day where she was about to confess to someone that she really liked—I read her confession practice letter which stated that… she is nothing but a soldier, but she wished to become someone for that specific person…"
"Oh…. did she make it with that?"
"No… that was also the day when she died… I don't know what happen to the confession… we just…. moved out as we saw her body… we didn't want to live in a place where someone very special to us died in such a terrible condition… my father is the one who insisted about it… he is the one suffered the most in our family— because he really loved my sister… she was like his dearest reason to live…"
"He still has you now…"
"I don't think he will ever see me like how he sees her… I'm not a brilliant engineer and great fighter at the same time, I don't have my sister's beauty and I don't have a fast, sharp thinking like her either… she was almost a perfect human being…. It's only bad luck that caused her to stop breathing…"
"Oh…."
"Hehe, it's painful to remember her sometime, but I like to talk about her— almost everything about her…. because I really love her as well… I want the world to know that she is really someone special…I want more people to appreciate her…"
"Then—let's talk more about her…" Hanayo smiled before they continued to walk and now to the kitchen…"
"Ah—this kitchen too is almost like what she wanted to have if she had ever owned a house… a set of utensils and semi-cyber stoves… because I'm not that good with cooking while she loves to cook with a traditional stove, she wanted to set it up with semi-cyber engine so that we both can use it… she created this model a lot back in her teen years…"
"Wow, she extremely brilliant then…"
"Yup, she is…" Alisa smiled before once again they continued to walk. Alisa kept looking around in amazement of the neatness of the home itself—even though it's a little dusty at some parts, she really felt comfortable in the very building.
"It's scary that almost everything is so close to what my sister wanted in her own house…" Alisa said.
"Hehe… then maybe there's a person that you might want to meet. This house is re-arranged by the owner's girlfriend… she is one of the team members that you're going to meet… I'll let you and her have your own introduction…" Hanayo replied.
"I'm looking forward to that…" Alisa replied again cheerfully.
They kept walking quietly until they reached the underground garage's door. Hanayo quickly solved the puzzles and carefully opened the door of the garage to see Umi, Maki, and Rin sitting around together as they kept their eyes on the machine…
"Everyone— here is the Archeologist that I was talking about…" Hanayo said,
Maki, Umi and Rin turned around to her,
"Oh! Hi! Uh…. what's your name-nya?" Rin asked.
"Alisa…. Ayase Alisa…" the short girl replied.
Everyone shared the look of surprise as they heard her spoken name, though they decided to be just looking at each other quietly.
"A-Anything wrong with that name?" Alisa asked.
"No…it's nothing-nya! We just happen to have another person with the Ayase name-nya!" Rin replied.
"Oh! What a coincidence! Hehe… it must be pretty popular…" Alisa replied.
"True, it's too bad that you two can't meet up right now, her girlfriend called her to pick her up at school…" Umi said.
"Ah—yeah, they should be back soon though, I think I heard her girlfriend say that she wanted to meet up with you to ask a few questions…" Maki said.
"I…I see….but anyway, may I know your names as well?" Alisa asked.
"Sure… I'm Nishikino Maki…"
"I'm Hoshizora Rin!"
"My name is Sonoda Umi…"
Alisa seems to bewildered for a moment, though she shook her head in denial,
"W-what's wrong?"
"Ah–ahaha, sorry, I just feel like I've heard those name before, but… never mind!" Alisa hesitantly said as she used a finger to lightly scratch her cheek.
The three seems to be showing up a slight suspicion though they decided to keep quiet about it for now.
The School of Magic—parking lot;
Eli, wearing her black trouser, white shirt and leather boots—on a steam bike waited for the purple haired girl to come closer. As the two are no further than a meter away,
"You came here with your horse, right, why did you call me to pick you up?" Eli asked.
"Because that horse is going to stay here, Kotori-chan and the others haven't finished with the research. Kotori-chan also said that it will take long to do so…"
"Who's going to ride your horse? I don't believe you'll leave Niko to it…" Eli said.
"Anyone can ride him, don't worry. He is a lot more clever and understanding than what you thought him to be…"
"Alright, I'll bite that…"
"How about the archeologist?"
"I don't know yet, you called me before the archeologist arrived…"
"That's good; I hope we can prepare some kind of warm greeting…"
Eli sighed,
"Just don't be too strange, ok? You're back on earth so there's no point of you trying to act cute…"
"What if the archeologist doesn't know me? I might as well make the cute Image…"
"Doesn't matter— just stick with what you are…"
"What if I'm actually a cute person?"
Eli remain quiet for a moment,
"Well… you are cute for me… but you don't have to exaggerate it…"
"You're just being a spoilsport…"
"Whatever, just get on the bike and let's go see if we can meet up with this archeologist by the time we get there…"
The School of Magic—Library;
Kotori carefully read through the books as the others worked on matching the notes that Kotori wrote with the text that they printed after a few researches.
"Sometimes I wonder, why do they have to make things so complicated…" Niko complained.
"Hmm…to make it hard?" Honoka asked innocently.
"But why do they have to make it hard? I mean, like… we're doing something good, they could've made it a lot easier…"
"Uhm..true…"
"I think it's because they also want to make it hard to understand for they who're trying to harm— I mean, if the enemy knows that they will be countered, they will try to make another counter strategy, right?" Kotori said.
"Heh— you're right… then maybe they should've really make things a lot easier for us…"
"To begin with, what makes this important and why do we have to do it…? What makes it related to the Endless Citadel? I don't get it…" Honoka said.
"We are brushing aside the pirate problem… I'm worried but, I guess, Tsubasa and the others can take care of them…."
"Can they really? I mean, Tsubasa-chan told me that she still couldn't find Leyna—but I really don't think finding her is important…" Honoka said in doubt.
"Now-now, aren't you just worried about her?"
"Of course I'm worried, Tsubasa-chan has never been so determined on doing something… so when she is—that must be something important for her…"
"Heh—we know that, but I don't see anything that we need to be worried about, after all, she is the police leader…she knows what she is doing…unlike a specific someone who just keeps going around without plan…" Niko said sarcastically.
"Hehe, it's not like we mind that Honoka-chan leads us around, it's a lot more exciting that way too…" Kotori said.
"Kotori, don't encourage her!" Niko protested.
"But the defense division is doing so well along with investigator division, that's enough to prove that both leaders are doing great…" Kotori replied.
"We could've made things easier, you know, saving our time to do more stuff than to work ourselves out to fix things…" Niko said.
"True…but…I still think it's a lot better than having a dull work time, right? If things are going in order, it's going to be boring and we will have to keep lying to ourselves…"
Niko remained quiet for a moment…then she smiled,
"I guess you're just speaking from experience, huh?"
"Yup, hehe…"
"Well then, I guess you can say that you're right about this…" Niko said.
"Aah! Kotori-chan is so nice!" Honoka appreciated.
Kotori giggled,
"Now-now, let's go back to work, we have something important today…" Kotori said.
"Alright! Let's do it!" Honoka said cheerfully.
Somewhere in the space;
A silver haired Valkyrie sat in front of the interrogation desk with a long violet haired police standing right in front of her and the two others stood further away from them.
"Do you know why you're under our arrest?!" Erena asked intimidatingly, the silver haired Valkyrie flustered,
"I honestly don't know why, mam…" she replied politely.
Erena remain quiet,
"It's useless to try to intimidate her; she can't even feel fear…" Tsubasa said.
"I don't believe Leyna-chan is doing anything of guilt either…" Anjuu suggested.
"The Evidence is clear and we know who's gone missing in her work days…" Erena said.
"There might be another; you know… you can't possibly just point it towards her…" Tsubasa said.
"Even if she doesn't, she must have something else to tell, right? I mean, look, the evidence clearly said that she is the one who used her authority to enter Terra's laboratory!"
"I'm sorry, but, can you please explain to me about what's happening?" Leyna asked,
Erena sighed before she quickly searched through her bag then placed a badge with a feather ornament and a light blue gem in the middle.
"This…this is yours, right?" she asked.
Leyna remained quiet for a moment before she nodded slowly,
"Yes, it's mine…" she replied emotionlessly.
"Then you really are the one who entered Terra's laboratory and stole the virus?!" Erena frowned,
"Sorry…but no, I lost my badge three years ago… I've reported it to the administration and they gave me a new one…" Leyna bat her eyes to the very similar badge on her collar.
"It doesn't matter when or how you lost it—because I—" before Erena managed to finish talking,
"Wait a minute, Erena…. Didn't you hear her saying that she reported it to the administration?"
"Yes—what about it?" Erena asked to the short woman behind her,
"Leyna, tell me, what badge is that?" Tsubasa asked,
"This is an official badge. A badge that identifies you as a honored member of the Elite Valkyries— we don't share these badges with anyone but the honored members themselves, but ever since that other Valkyries joined in, we decided to share them with the high commander to identify that they are the ones who make both of us related with each other…" Leyna explained.
"I found this badge 5 years ago— on earth… after the massive mysterious rampage on Spicaterrible... the rampage was caused by a set of enhanced virus that was stolen from Terra's laboratory being released in the mineral water supply…"
"Leyna said she lost it 3 years ago…" Anjuu said.
"One always can make lies when she knows that's the evidence that's going to point her to a crime…" Erena frowned deeper. Her voice seems to be an octave louder as she said it,
"Erena, look, you need to get yourself together…. Leyna might be telling the truth…" Tsubasa tried to reason with her police friend.
"What if she is not telling the truth? Do you think we can let a sick bastard on the loose? She is a Valkyrie! She can go anywhere she likes without—…."
"Hold on there, Erena…." Tsubasa said.
"What?!"
"Look, now… you said…she is a Valkyrie, she can go anywhere she likes…. Which implies that she can do teleportation magic….Right? Why she is not running away from here yet?"
"To convince us that she is not the criminal! She felt no guilt, no fear and no worry—she can hide her true feelings!"
"I'm sorry, but, Ms. Police Todo Erena, if you're really trying to find the criminal for whatever is happening that makes you so angry—then you took the wrong person in your custody… I've never paid a visit to Spicaterrible…nor know where it is exactly. Me and The Smarter me never been there and we don't even have a single memory about it either…"
"You and the smarter you?" the police flustered,
"So you really have another personality…"
"Yes… mam, there always be me and the smarter me for the entire time… no body like us in person because we keep changing with each other from time to time…"
"Then, can you show me the smarter you?" Erena asked.
Leyna nodded before she closes her eyes and opened it again—there was no change other than the fact that….
"What is it that you wish to ask?" she asked somewhat her voice is colder,
"About everything…" Erena said in her serious tone,
"There's nothing else I can tell you about it— the badge was lost 3 years ago—we don't know where and how we exactly lost it, but it was definitely not lost on earth… if it ever be an evidence of a crime, then you should start looking for the person that lost her badge… it should be easy to search on those high commanders… but I doubt you can find anyone without a badge from the Elite Valkyries since we always get a replacement as soon as possible… the badge is also where we keep our soul essence…"
"Soul essence?"
"Yes, soul essence… without them we can't touch anything nor be seen by mortals…"
"What do you mean—be seen by mortals?" Erena asked,
"The Elite Valkyries are nothing but soldiers of souls… you need to leave your mortal vessel to become one…and not to forget to be chosen first… the same with the Einhenjars, they're all just soul of the dead warriors that we collect… Not every fraud Valkyries can be chosen, you know— and not all can pass the test even if they are chosen. Sometimes, a person who can pass the test is the person who's living outside of the trained fraud Valkyries community…"
"What's the test?" Tsubasa asked.
"This is not supposed to be leaked out from the community, but I suppose, since you're trying to find an answer— and it will definitely help your search… First, you need to be ready to leave everything behind. Second, you shouldn't be carried away with your worldly desire. Third, you have to understand that once you're an elite Valkyries, you're no longer living for yourself— you will live for the world and to protect them from facing destruction is your main duty. Fourth, you have to be willing to dispose all feelings that exists within you…and lastly, you have to keep moving forward even if it's impossible to do so."
"Oh? No wonder you keep getting lost, I believe you've been taking that last requirement literally?" Tsubasa asked.
"Is it not meant literally?" Leyna asked,
Anjuu, Tsubasa and Erena remain quiet for a moment…
"Hey… this is still the smarter you, right?" Anjuu asked politely.
"Yes, I'm the smarter one…"
The three remained quiet again as they looked at each other,
"Uhm…Leyna, tell me…if you want to go to a waterfall behind a cave—…."
"Move forward to the cave, even if it's impossible to get through the cave wall… there must be something that makes us somehow reach the waterfall…"
And in that very moment, Erena, Anjuu and Tsubasa put their palm on their face.
The Village, afternoon;
Nozomi and Eli arrived in the village, going straight to the underground garage with the steam bike. As they looked around in the room…
"Hey, Eli, welcome back…" Maki greeted.
"Maki, where are the others?" Eli asked.
"They went out with the Archeologist, she said she wanted to show them a few things..but I just get a feeling that the Archelogist is just trying to impress Umi…"
"What? What happened exactly?" Eli asked,
"You see, we were discussing about our research— I swear that archeologist was like giving out sparkling eyes and placing both of her hands on her own chest, blushing like mad from ever since Umi explained her about the details until the end of her sentence—I bet she must be very charmed by how smart Umi looks…"
Eli chuckled,
"What about Kotori and Honoka then?" she asked playfully.
Maki chuckled in respond as well,
"Not sure, go ask her that when she returns…" Maki replied jokingly.
"Ericchi, looks like you're the only unpopular one…" Nozomi said in all seriousness..
"Says the one who gets mauled by crazy fans for dating me…" Eli said
"Ericchi! Why didn't you say something like, 'I don't mind honey, you're the only one that I need' or something like that…" Nozomi pouts.
"Huh? Why would I say that?"
"Because it's romantic! Sheesh! You need to read more books!"
"I've read a hundred romance books and I don't think I can do what they do with their girl…" Eli said.
"Why not? I'm worthy to be treated like them…"
Eli looked at Nozomi in silence for a moment before she smiled and sighed weakly.
"Honey—why would you want to be treated like a mere princess if the truth says that you're the sweetest and greatest queen for me?" she said with a gentle smile.
As the purple haired girl heard it, she blushed madly.
"W-what a lie! You're such a big mouthed jerk, Ericchi! S-Sheesh!"
"See? This is why I'm not romantic with you… by the time I am you call me a liar…" Eli replied.
"This is part of the cheesy moment! Ericchi! You should read more comics!"
"Do I want to see this….?" Maki smirked,
"You should learn this too, Maki-chan… don't be a not-romantic person like Ericchi!" Nozomi pouted.
"Huh? Well…I don't have a girlfriend to begin with so I don't need to be romantic yet…"
"That's where you're wrong, Maki-chan…. you need to know how to be romantic before being in a relationship! If you don't— you'll be like a spoilsport like Ericchi!"
"I wonder why you're still dating me if you don't like me…" Eli sighed,
"That's because I'm nice… but anyway now, let's run a practice…"
"Practice?"
"Yep… because this is going to be for your future, Maki-chan, I'll pretend that I'm in love with you and you respond like how you want to respond…."
"Huh? Well…alright…" Maki replied.
The room went quiet for a moment before Nozomi started,
"Makki-kun! Please notice me!" she said dramatically,
"H-Huh? Why would I want to notice you?" Maki replied with a sarcastic smirk.
"You see, Makki-kun, I've always watching you from afar…" Nozomi put her fingers together, twiddling it quickly along with her fraud shyness.
"….even though—I know you will never notice me, I keep doing it like an idiot—well, being in love is the time when you go full retard anyway…."
"What kind of sentence is that?!" Eli chuckled,
"Shut up, Ericchi, come take a part already!"
"W-what?" Eli flustered,
"You should teach your junior, right? So do something!" Nozomi said.
Eli sighed before she quickly grabs both of Nozomi's hand,
"Nozomi…. I'm madly in love with you… be mine!" she said obsessively,
"Ahh! No! Ayase-kun is going to rape me! Makki-kun! Makki-kun!"
Maki remained quiet before she sighed
"Bye…" and she started to walk away.
"OI! Maki-chan! Is that what you did to the girl that has been admiring you?!" Nozomi yelled,
"Huh? But I already told you that I don't want to notice you"
"No you don't just say bye and leave! You need to help her…sheesh! Then she falls in love with you more!"
"Eh? But… from almost every story in a comic, the asshole gets the girl and the good guy gets nothing…so…since Eli is being an asshole, it makes me the good one so–I'm trying to be the smart good guy who's not going to try to get what I can't get…"
"Well you need to be a lot more persistent so the story can get longer than ten pages! Sheesh!"
"Huh? Well… ok then…uuh….hmm….hey…Ayase—get away from her…." Maki said lazily.
"Maki-chan, be a lot more powerful…" Nozomi whispered,
"Heh—Then…uh… Ayase! Get away from her!" Maki yelled,
Eli remained quiet for a moment, and then she released Nozomi
"Kyaa…Makki-kun is coming!" Eli said with a girly gesture before she ran away with playful steps,
"There-now, Ericchi! That's not how you respond!"
"But if Maki is being persistent, then that makes her the main guy, right? I'm the side character? You know the main guy always wins even though the side guy appears more powerful…"
"No-no… You two! Listen! This is a triangle love story… so you two should make it looks like it!"
"Oh…"
"Alright… here we go once again…" Nozomi said before she took a deep breath.
The room is quiet for a moment again….then as the purple haired woman started…
"Ohh! Makki-kun! Don't you see? I've always been in love with you! I made two set of lunch boxes today—just for you!"
"Maki, are you into a chubby girl as well?" Eli asked.
"Huh? No… but I guess with that size of breast… she does need two set of lunch every day to keep the nutrition level…." Maki said.
"The other lunch box is for you, Maki-kun!" Nozomi said dramatically as she handed over an invisible lunch box to Maki—despite her frown as she tried to ignore the silly banter.
"Oh… well—thanks I guess?" Maki said.
"You see, Maki-kun, because I made you a lunch box, do you want to eat it with me…?"
Maki stood quiet in thought…
"Why would I want to eat lunch with you… you're just giving me it…beside…." Maki averted her eyes,
"I…I want you to know…. that… this lunchbox… doesn't matter to me…because…." she continued with a slight blush—which totally appear to be faked,
"Oo…this is good…" Nozomi whispered.
"…it was because…. there's someone that I've been looking at…. Someone that I noticed and I always wished to talk with…." Maki continued,
"Y-you already have someone you like?!" Nozomi faked a surprise,
"Yes…. And that someone is….." Maki glanced at Nozomi….
"…..Ayase Eli…" she continued…
Nozomi was stunned as she heard it.
"How was that?" Maki asked innocently…
"Wait…. Why would you say my name instead?" Eli asked.
"Huh? She said triangle love, right? So… say that you like her, she likes me…then I should like you, no?"
"Well, that's true…" Eli scratched her head.
"Maki-chan…. Can we continue this until the end first?" Nozomi requested.
"Huh…sure…."
And the room went quiet for a moment again….
Nozomi took a deep breath before she started,
"Makki-kun…so you like Ayase Eli…but not me?" she asked with gloom on her face.
"Yes…and I'm not sorry… I never want to notice you…."
"I see…then….you leave me no choice…." Nozomi clenched her fist.
"Eh?" Maki flustered,
"Makki-kun…." Nozomi lifted her hand and took out a small knife from her pocket.
"I'm going to force you to be mine…." Nozomi gave out an evil smile.
"W-Whoa now! Nozomi! That's scary!"
"What? This is also a plot in a triangle love story…" Nozomi said.
"Huh!? Is there really something like that?"
"Yup…you won't believe that it's one of the most popular love story…I played it in my tablet…"
"Sometimes I regret getting you a tablet….why would you play a game with a sick story…" Eli sighed.
"Well, of course the overall story is sick, but looking at it again, it's actually a good lesson for those who likes to give fake promises and cheat on his girl—or her girl…"
"Fine—but now-now, why are we doing that practice again?" Eli asked as she smirks.
"To…. Have some fun…?"
"We're clearly wasting time …" Maki smirked,
"Both of you are spoilsports, I wonder why you two aren't sisters…oh wait— you two are brothers!"
"Nozomi…" Maki and Eli sighed again.
Nozomi giggled at them.
"Don't be a spoilsport, we need to have some little fun at times… especially because a specific someone is being a not-romantic person… just look at her— she didn't even touch me today…"
"Why do I have to touch you every day…"
"I don't want to be in this, can I go out?" Maki said.
"Aww..you're leaving Maki-chan? Please don't…someone needs to watch over the garage… and if they returned—tell them we're going out to have a little fresh air…"
"Yes…got it… you two need fresh air…" Maki sighed again before she walked away from them to sit near the research table.
Eli and Nozomi turned around and started to walk out from garage.
"Why can't you just say it that you need 'fresh-air'….sheesh…"
"Are you expecting me to say what? 'Come on Ericchi! Come on! I give good head!'… like that?" Nozomi said in dramatic sultry voice.
"Hell, no… that's a turn off…"
"See? How else am I asking you?"
And the two left the garage quietly.
Somewhere around the dark forest;
Alisa, Umi, Rin and Hanayo were taking a stroll around the dark forest with a lantern in their hand.
"…so…you see, this dark forest itself has a history of its own… many would call this place as a place that was created by everyone's darkness. But I'd call this place as where everyone's darkness are being taken away… it's true that there are lots of monsters that starts to lurk around here and get ready to harm you as they find an opening, but no— I still won't judge them as an evil being. There has never been a history of anyone getting killed here, right?" Alisa explained.
"Actually, there are plenty of murders happening here… the pirates especially…" Hanayo said.
"The Pirates? They're not supposed to be attacking around here, right?"
"No…I mean...pirates are being killed here…by…uh...some specific people…"
"Well, alright, but anyhow, the concept of this Dark forest is actually great— because as you leave the forest, you'll feel like the dark side of you has gone away from your heart… thanks to the great Toujou family for creating this forest…now they who want to reflect on their life, can always pay a visit here and take a small stroll…"
"Toujou….family?" Rin, Umi, and Hanayo flustered,
"Yep, Toujou Family. The lady is known to be a great mind mage who created this forest… then the man, a great magic technology engineer that supported the lady with this project. They were such a great team… and what's better is— The man is a great friend of my father… he said he used to say that they will marry their child with each other… it's too bad that Toujou-san has gone missing long-long time ago… they've never made any contact with each other after that… so my father thought… they're no longer friends…"
"A-Actually, do you remember the house that you entered a while back?" Hanayo asked.
"What about it?"
"It was owned by the Toujou family… the current owner name is… Toujou Nozomi…"
"Oh! Nozomi! I know her! But… Is that true? I must be in luck to be able to work with the Toujou Family!"
"You didn't know her title?" Hanayo wondered,
"What title?"
"Uh…she is known very well as a trouble maker…"
"Ah! That? Well…you see, almost everything that Toujou Nozomi-san did, was something a clever one does… we've never seen it as a problem. She has made a lot of place allied with each other in order to outwit her. She is willing to become a public enemy for the sake of everyone's unity… isn't that something good?"
"I…can't agree with that…" Umi said.
"Ah—Umi-san, it's too bad that you can't, but…truth is, humans always look for excitement, when there's nothing, they will make one— which means, if they find trouble as something exciting, they'll make one… that's what my father always believe… and I agreed with it."
"We don't have to be a burden for everyone if we want to unite—we just need to find a reason why we should unite…"
"But isn't that just the same with what I talk about, Umi-san? I mean, let's just say that Toujou Nozomi-san has become a reason why everyone must unite…"
"It doesn't have to become the trouble itself, it could be something like to improve what is needed to be improved, it's a lot more useful than trying to drag someone down to the graveyard…"
"You're right… but I believe, that kind of dreamy goal in this dark world won't do it…everyone needs to make them think that they're no longer in a dark age…"
"Dark world, dark age… I'm starting to get a feeling that you're being a little too pessimistic…" Umi said.
The young blonde giggled,
"Well, my points are based on what I study… so everything I said is according to what I've learned. I can't say it's a pessimist thought— but I also can't say that it's the reality either, it's a study, something that I know!" Alisa replied cheerfully.
Umi lifted her eyebrow,
"Then, care to explain me about what exactly the dark world and dark age is that you're talking about?"
"Yay! I've been waiting for that question from you, Umi-san!" Alisa said with a lot more happiness in her voice.
"E-Eh?"
"Well you see, Umi-san! I believe you've heard about this— about the moving Citadel. After all, that is what made you start doing research, right? Well, it is indeed related. But I'm not quite sure about how that machine will work—especially with the white board that doesn't seems to be the part of the machine. But from what I know from my own artifact research, we have to put everyone who're related with the artifacts together. Their family names are Kousaka, Sonoda, Minami, Koizumi, Nishikino, Hoshizora, Yazawa, Ayase and Toujou… but they won't be able to do a thing before the A-Rise unlocked the code…"
"What code-nya?" Rin asked.
"Well…it's a code, they must've already known what code they needed to unlock… because the secrets starts with them— then Kousaka family will engage the beginning with Sonoda and Minami's support, then Koizumi will join in along with Nishikino and Hoshizora, Yazawa will come as well then the last will be Ayase and Toujou…"
"How do you know that?"
"It happened in the past…" Alisa replied.
"What happened in the past?"
"…that is how it worked in the past, to end the dark age and start a new light, to create a brighter world which will eventually grow dim like now… From 'If' to 'I'm Sure' an enchanting spell will be spoken after the storm. No one will have to fall if a great success can be achieved—if not, then one must fall for everyone else…"
Umi looked surprised as she heard it.
"What do you mean?"
"It is what it means, if everyone managed to do things right, then no one will have to fall… but if someone messed up the work— then someone will certainly need to fall… but I suppose that someone will be that person who messed up the work… because how else will they take the responsibility?"
"How do we know if we're doing it right? I mean, I know people are very clumsy in our side…so…please, if you know a way to prevent bad things to happen…"
"From what I know in my research, bad things will certainly happen once the Citadel lands in its spot…"
"Uh..is that, The End of Sorrow?" Hanayo asked,
"Yup, that's what the city is named—ironic, right?"
"A city?" Umi flustered.
"Yep, it's a city. It's very close to the Diamond Princess mine, but the city was abandoned due to the explosion that happened in the end of ordinary sorrow. Leaving only one strongest weapon that remains unbroken by the massive explosion… a few historians said that the explosion came from a failed experiment that was done by the well-known alchemist…"
"A well-known alchemist? I wonder if I can get the name of the alchemist…?"
"Hmm… Honestly, I've never found the name in any books—or perhaps, I just couldn't read his name. The book that tells about him feels so….chemical… but anyhow, the weapon was taken by the founder and—sold to an organization, they said. But since the weapon itself held a mysterious magic, they had to somehow give it to a strong soldier that will be able to wield it…"
"Is there any chance that this indestructible weapon is named after where it was found?" Umi asked.
"Oh—Yes. It's popularly named as The End of Sorrow, but they who know the true name will call it The End of Ordinary Sorrow…"
"Ooo! Then, Eli-chan's weapon is—!" Hanayo began to panic.
"It's still a possibility… but we really should show it to Alisa…" Umi said.
"Eli…? That name feels really nostalgic for me. My sister's name is Eli…. Ayase Eli…"
"E-Ehhh?! W-Well! Our friends name is Ayase Eli!" Hanayo said.
"Ah! That's a coincidence!"
Umi remain quiet for a moment…
"What if it's not a coincidence? I mean… what if, our friend is your sister…?"
"You're kidding. Umi-san. My sister is dead… and we're from earth…remember? There's no way for us to come from the mother ship…" Alisa smiled faintly.
"Wait there…" Umi frowned,
"Eh?" Alisa seems to be flustered.
"The mother ship…. You just called Terra as the mother ship…."
"I-It's the other name of it, right?"
"No, if you're coming from earth, you'll never call Terra as the mother ship…."
"I'm an archeologist; I'm staying neutral in the war..." Alisa averted her eyes,
"….and you wouldn't know if we're in a war…. Because the earth never admitted the existence of Terra itself…."
Alisa bit her lips,
"A-Alisa-chan…don't tell me, you're—…." And before Hanayo managed to finish,
"This joke is not funny, ok? My sister is dead and I've always believed that from the start… don't try to show me another way…" Alisa said coldly.
"Eli didn't die in the incident, the Valkyries took care of her… and she is now living with a part of her body replaced with metal… she has always been looking for you, you know?" Umi frowned deeper as she said it.
"Umi-san…. I really appreciate you…and always looking up to you…. but…why do you have to make such lies? Even if she is truly alive, there's no way for her to look for us… because we abandoned her….and we left her in her death bed…"
"It's not a lie. Eli is alive…. You have to meet up with her yourself… I believe she'll be happy to see you…"
"No way…. I bet she will give me all the cold talk and brush me off…."
"Even if that's the case, you have to believe that she truly is looking for you and worried about you… she even asked the A-Rise to help her to look for you all…" Umi said again.
"yeah, that's true-nya!" Rin added.
Alisa remained quiet for a moment…
"Very well… if she truly is my sister, then I want to see her with my own eyes…"
Toujou's residence, bedroom;
As the purple haired woman pinned down the blonde to the bed— playfully teasing her desire with her tongue, licking the neck of hers, she demanded the strong soldier to venture her hands up and down through her body.
A moment after, the two reached each other's lips and lustfully enjoyed each other's warmth.
"Mmmh…. This is very healthy…. Don't you think…?" the lustful purple haired woman said as she gripped tight to the metal hand.
"If you want to count this as your daily sport, then I can't complain. We do move a lot during intimacy…. Just because you're easily bored…" the blonde replied before she planted a kiss on her lover's breast.
"My…it's not that I'm easily bored, it's just that I like experimenting… don't you like it too?"
Eli kept quiet as she trailed up her lips and released it right before she gave one teasing peck on the other woman's lips.
"You don't need to drag me to your fetish, I mean, come on, I never said that I like you to scream my name when we're on it… you're the one who did it…"
"Didn't that make you feel like you're dominating me?"
"No… you're just turning me off… be glad that you're still cute for me so that I can keep my lust on you…"
"So you like me to act cute instead of slutty?"
"Who likes slutty you? No one…"
"If you were a guy, Ericchi, then I would've called you a strange one. Many guys love it when they can break his girl's limits— and many girls like it when they're being dominated…I'm one of them…"
"Well, I'm certainly not one of the guy nor the girl, I am me and I love Nozomi…however she wants to be taken or…taking me…"
Nozomi giggled,
"My! You're being flirty now!" she said before she kissed her lover lustfully as she kept pressing her down against the fluffy bed.
"Mmmh….if you keep that up, Ericchi…." she paused for a few licks and kisses,
"I might unleash my wild side and I'll dominate you instead…."
"Do you bark when you're wild?" The blonde said with playful smile.
"No, but I bite…" the other woman replied before she kissed her lover deeply. As their tongues intertwined in a playful manner and their arms clinging to each other as their hands traveled through each other's hair.
As they thought to enjoy themselves more, a gentle knock was placed onto their bedroom door.
The two paused as both of their eyes turned towards the door.
"Eli, Nozomi, you two are inside, right?" a voice said.
"No Maki-chan, we're outside… under the tree…" Nozomi replied playfully.
"Heh— well, I guess you two are digging for treasure right now huh?" Maki said with a slight playful tone.
"Yep, looking for some platinum…" Nozomi replied which caused Eli to snort as she tried to hold her laughter.
"Anyway, Umi and the others already returned, Kotori also said that she'll be in the garage soon. So… I hope you two are actually going there after you find…your….platinum…."
"Don't worry, Maki-chan, we can even share the platinum…"
"No thanks… I'm too rich already…" Maki replied before the two could hear her leaving.
Eli and Nozomi sighed weakly.
"We should make it quick…" Eli said.
"Sheesh, I wish we could somehow do this without being bothered…"
"That's why we shouldn't do this while doing anything… you keep wanting to do this in the middle of a quest or a business, that's your fault…"
"Hmm…you shouldn't blame me because when I get so stressed, the only thing I can think of is to get myself touched by my precious Ericchi… and her cold hand."
"Well, no one told you to get stressed over these… we're working together…"
"I have a lot of things that I keep about this project, you know, but they don't have any good bases yet. I'm not ready to explain…"
"Well, doesn't that mean we have to work harder? Let's finish this and then we can enjoy living together…"
"Ahh…to hear the words of 'living together' from you feels so dreamy to me… it's like you're telling me to get married with you… hmm… I wonder why you haven't proposed to me as your bride yet…"
"You still want me to do that? I mean…after everything?"
"What's wrong with asking that? I want to be known as your bride and I want you to make your mark on me…then I'll make my mark on you as well…"
Eli smiled,
"What is this mark you're talking about? The one that I usually leave on your neck?" she said playfully.
"No, Ericchi! A Ring! You always got me weapons, armors, and everything, but you never got me a ring!"
"Why does it have to be a ring, huh? Can't it be…you know… underwear…"
"Ericchi!"
"What? it's a good idea to propose someone with underwear…"
"Silly Ericchi! You don't propose a girl with underwear!"
And the blonde laughed as she saw her lover puff up her cheeks.
"Don't worry, Nozomi, I'll find you the best ring in the entire galaxy, then I'll make sure to give it to you in the most romantic moment and it will make you cry…"
"It will make me cry? You're joking, I have no more tears to shed, darling…"
"Really? Then what if…."
And without any delay, Eli tickled Nozomi,
"E-Ericchi! No! That's a no-no! Bad Ericchi! Bad!"
Toujou's residence, the Underground Garage;
Umi, Rin, Alisa, and Hanayo were waiting around the garage. The young blonde seemed to be very uncomfortable and worried, while she kept staring into the floor as her hands brushed against her neck.
The door opened—which caused them to be on alert, though they sighed as they could see Maki enter the place without anyone else.
"Where are they?" Umi asked.
"They should be coming over soon…" Maki replied.
"That's good! Because—I…I think I'm not ready yet!" Alisa said.
"Uh… why would you need to get ready-nya?"
"Because…. well…because…I mean…. Uh….I…." Alisa flustered,
"Just relax, we can guarantee that she is not mad at you…" Maki said.
"I…I know….but—what will I say to myself? I mean…. look… I…I….I took everything she had…"
"What is this 'everything' huh?" Maki raised her eyebrow.
"Everything! From my parents love to her belongings… I took them, I used them….."
"That's not a big deal; Eli worked hard for what she has now, as long as you didn't take that one…"
"No! I won't! But still, how can I face her after everything?" Alisa said in panic,
Umi sighed heavily,
"Hey, Maki, did you tell Eli that Alisa is waiting for her?"
"No…. I'm glad I didn't….knowing that she is still acting like a living fish on the land…"
"Good…." Umi smiled faintly.
"You need to calm down, Alisa-chan… take a deep breath…" Hanayo said gently.
Alisa took a deep breath,
"Release it….."
And Alisa releases it.
"Once again…."
And Alisa repeated the same procedure over and over until…
The door opened…
"Aaaaahhh!" Alisa panicked again.
"Waaaaaahhhh!" a familiar ginger-haired girl shouted as well as she stepped into the room.
"Oh…." Alisa calmed down as quickly as she realized that there's nothing to be worried about.
"Oi-oi, what is it now…" Niko shoved Honoka as she tried to enter the room along with Kotori behind her.
"Niko…" Maki greeted her as she watched the three closed the door and approach them.
"Welcome back-nya!" Rin said cheerfully.
"Thanks…and uh..hey, I know you…" Niko said as her gaze fell towards the young blonde.
"W-what? Me? I…I didn't do anything!" Alisa quickly raised both of her hands.
"Huh? I just said that I know you…from a picture, but I can't really remember it…hmm…" Niko said.
"It wasn't me! I swear!" Alisa panicked again.
"She is Eli's younger sister…" Maki said.
"Oh! Right! Yes! You're the one in her family profile!" Niko said.
"E-Eh? How did you know?"
"Well, obviously because your sister has been looking for you…"
"Oh….so it was true…" Alisa softened her expression.
"Yep, she has been looking for all of you… she was so clueless about why you all left without telling her anything other than 'don't look for us' …. She was also worried that letter was just something to make her not look for you all…. Let's just say a forged letter…."
"It's not a forged letter… it was….what my mother wrote for the administrator….and for everyone else in Terra….. We just wanted to stop living in a place where we were all forced to survive from a battle that we could prevent…"
"Well, you all obviously don't understand what's going on as Terra travels around the space…" Niko crossed her arms.
"The battle isn't just a battle that you can prevent; they need to do it so that they can keep everyone alive… for over many years, Terra made a lot of alliances with planets around the galaxies so that they will pay them with enough resources to keep their ship running… Basically, don't complain over such small thing…." She continued.
"That's exactly the thing that they say when we state our complaints… truth is that not all of us want to be a soldier— but they forced us to be a soldier, to work for them and to survive the battle that we don't want to join in…. why can't we get through our life just like the way humans on earth are?" Alisa frowned at her,
"Hey now, look, it's not that much different than your life in a family. You have to obey the rules as long as you're living in it. Nothing is free… especially because you're already a grown up—and you can't prevent yourself to not be one….then before I hear you say 'I don't want to grow up' … I have to tell you that as long as you're trying to live in the past, you'll never be able to find fun in your future. You can keep calling yourself as an unfortunate one, but truth is that it was your own mind that kept you as the unfortunate one…."
Alisa blushed slightly,
"I've never thought myself to be unfortunate! I have all my family love ever since my sister claimed to be dead. It just that, I….. I still can't agree with the idea of forcing everyone to work themselves up as soldiers! I hate living there—we all do!"
"There's still this, I heard you all supposedly work as an entertainer, why are you an archeologist?" Maki asked.
"That's…" Alisa averted her eyes.
"….that's because I—…." She continued with a whisper which eventually unheard.
"Excuse me?" Umi asked
"I mean… that's because I wanted to prevent the world from going through the same fate as my sister!" Alisa said with her face blushing red.
And everyone remained quiet as they heard her— knowing that what the young blonde was a complete lie.
Niko sighed weakly.
"Alright, let's pretend that we all bite that…"
"Sh-sheesh! Why are you all judging me! It's not that our family is having a hard time as we stepped our feet on this planet anyway! We are very well known and we're always living in peace! Besides! You don't know what I really feel when I had to leave my sister! I was really broken, you know?! I really don't want to leave her there—but the Valkyries told us that she can't be saved…and we should save ourselves from the same fate!"
As Alisa finished talking… the door opened once more...
This time, Eli and Nozomi walked in, as the older blonde's sapphire eyes fell onto an identical pair of eyes…
"Alisa…?" Eli called her first.
"O….Onee-san…..?"
Alright. Next Chapter is the turning point, so, yeah, it means the Ending is coming soon.
I don't know about extra chapter, but I'll see if i can do them. It's been super busy for me.