Hey there everyone! It's time for another chapter of Awakening of Kiva! And this one, I liked to write along with The Wild Fang, because this will feature one of Kurogasa's and Cordelia's daughters! So let's go recruit her!
Disclaimer: Same thing.
It was the next morning and I woke up from my sleep. Well, actually, to be honest, I didn't get much sleep at all. I was still kinda depressed about yesterday about how the future kids are able to reunite with their parents. However, I didn't have that luxury. My so–called father's insane of wanting to sacrifice me to revive Grima and I really don't know who my real mother is. It's so… well, depressing.
"Kurogasa? Are you up?" A voice asked. It was my wife Cordelia.
"H–Huh?" I got out.
"Oh, you must be up then…" she said as she opened the door and approached me, bringing a tray of food for breakfast for both of us before sitting on the bed. "How are you feeling right now?"
"Well… I, uh…" I said in doubt for a moment as she placed the tray on the table.
"Is there something bothering you? You went to bed earlier than usual and you were frowning during your sleep." Cordelia said. "Are you unwell?"
"I… I…"
"It's okay… you can tell me." Cordelia assured.
I was silent for a while until I said, "It's about yesterday…"
"Yes, I seem to recall on that." Cordelia recalled while she held my hand. "What is bothering you?"
"To be honest, whenever I look at those kids meeting with their parents, I couldn't help but feel… jealous… and left out." I admitted. "I mean, I know that I have you and Nee–san in my life, but not knowing my real parents, other than King Validar that wanted to sacrifice me for his cause, I feel so… empty… I feel like my existence has no meaning or purpose."
Cordelia gently sighed while the grip on my hand tightened slightly. "Kurogasa, you're starting to act like me in the old days before meeting you. Have you forgotten that I am also an orphan without parents to love me? I also wondered what they looked like or if I had any other relatives that I know of. But things have changed when you and I tied the knot together. I don't care about my past anymore. I want to spend the present and future with my husband; always staying by your side for better or worse for the rest of my days." She smiled without her grip loosening.
"Y–You really mean that?" I asked as my eyes were watering up with tears.
"With all my heart and soul." Cordelia smiled.
"Oh Cordelia…" I sobbed as I wrapped my arms around her crying on her chest, and she wrapped her arms around me.
As I sobbed within her embrace, she couldn't help but giggle slightly. "It looks like our roles switched. There were times where you have comforted me in my darkest hour. And now, allow me to be the one to comfort you; shedding light on you… my love."
"Cordelia…" I sobbed while I continued to silently cry in her embrace.
"I will stay with you until you calm down. Even if Chrom calls me out on a mission while you are still in this state, you are my first priority, just as I am important to you…" she assured while gently combing my hair with her gentle hands.
I then looked at up at her. "Cordelia…?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you… for being in my life…"
(Cue in Last Inferno by Ceui)
(Instrumental [Starts at 1:30]) Chains appear one by one, binding and blocking the whole scene before shattering away, revealing the title screen: Awakening of Kiva, and a background of a dark, grey sky. The title then fades away before the camera descends down to a scene.
(Furikaeru nageki no kouya de) From the top of a cliff, Lucina looks down sadly at a barren and empty wasteland filled with death and despair.
(Matataita kibou no Fragrance) Lucina then closed her eyes as tears fell from them before the screen faded to black and the tears splashed in the black void, creating multiple ripple effects, changing the black void to the next scene.
(Kienaide hakanaki yume demo) Kurogasa was outside walking on his way to class while thinking about his repeated dreams.
(Kanjitai sono nukumori wo) Storm walks next to Kurogasa and wrapped his arm around his shoulders, followed by Akane ambushing Storm from behind by tackling him, making Storm and Kurogasa tumble down. Melissa who was behind them giggled as Aqua looked at them while reading a book, leaning against a tree, and Saigo looked on as he sat on a tree branch.
(Michiyuku itoshisa wa Endless Chain) The sky darkened and the six noticed it. Looking up with determined looks, after Kurogasa, Storm, and Akane got up from the ground; the Outrealm Gate appears in the sky.
(Tsunagitai yo kono sadame wo koete) At the same time, Lucina and the future generation kids also notice the Outrealm Gate opening up. Lucina's group dash towards the gate, while Kurogasa's group willingly let the Outrealm Gate suck them in, flying towards it, triggering to the next scene of seeing Chrom and his group battling with the enemy and both Kurogasa's and Lucina's group arrived and ran towards the battle area.
(Hanate tokoshie no Paradox) Kivat, Kivat II, Rey–Kivat, Kiva–la, and Sagark flew fast beside Kurogasa's group. All at the same time, Kurogasa, Storm, and Akane caught Kivat, Kivat II, and Kiva–la, with their hands and the former two let the bats bite their hands before the belts appear around their waist, while Sagark attached to Saigo's waist, Saigo inserting the Jacorder into the side of Sagark, while Rey–Kivat attached to the perch on Aqua's belt hanging upside down, and Melissa punched the IXA Knuckle on the palm of her empty hand before placing it on the belt.
(Akaku somaru yami no hazama de) Stain glass markings appear on Kurogasa's, Storm's, and Saigo's faces, while a pink heart appeared on Akane's forehead, a large snowflake appeared in front of Aqua, and a golden cross shot out from Melissa's belt before they glowed and changed into Kamen Riders. They and the future generation kids assisted Chrom and his group, pushing back the Risen from destroying a village.
(Kimi wo omou koto ga yurusareru nara) Amongst all the fighting, Validar, Aversa, and Arc stand there, the former two having evil smirks on their faces, while an enormous large silhouette of Grima appeared behind Validar, Aversa, and Arc. Its eyes glowing red. Chrom, Lucina, and Kiva charged towards Validar, Aversa, and Arc, as Tatsulot attached to Kiva's left arm, making his armor glow once again, and assume his Emperor Form, before Validar, Aversa, and Arc advanced to them.
(Yasashiku kuchizukete) When the two sides clash, a spark of light blinds the whole view.
(Namida tokasu ame ga sakebu) Olivia and Inigo were doing a dance routine together on an empty stage and they did pretty well. However, when they finished their rehearsal, they heard clapping from one person, and they both turned to see Virion who was clapping, happy with the performance.
(Kore ga saigo no Inferno kitto…) Inigo and Olivia blushed at the fact that they were seen before of them decided to throw a shoe at Virion's head, making him fall to the ground and faint. Olivia and Inigo looked at each other before they laughed as the camera zoomed up to the sky.
Paralogue 11: Ambivalence
Around the library area, Henry was all chirpy and his smile was plastered on his face. "Hm~, I wonder if they have some tomes that can make it more spectacle; I mean, the last one that I used up is great and all, but…" Henry trailed off until he spotted Tharja, who was chanting something while her hands were emitting dark energy. "Hello, Tharja!" Tharja didn't reply to his call, but instead, shot out the dark aura that was collected in her hands, making him engulfed within the dark mass of energy. Henry realized what was going on. "Heey! Did you just put a curse on me?"
"Yes." Tharja smirked as she closed her tome. "Now, if you do not speak the truth, you will die! Answer me clearly and without hesitation." Tharja said, to which Henry shrugged at as she started circling around him. "Are you a foreign spy?"
"Nope! Not me!" Henry replied happily as he pondered for a moment. "Although, I do own a cloak and a couple of daggers."
"Who do you serve? Ylisse or Plegia?" Tharja asked.
"Aw, I don't get into politics." Henry scoffed, waving off while still smiling. "I just want to toss fireballs at bad guys."
"Interesting…" Tharja murmured. "That's the same reason I joined up."
"Really?" Henry asked. "Hey, would you maybe tell me all about it?"
Tharja replied with a whack to his head with her tome in hand. "I'm doing the interrogating here." She reminded. "Now then, one final question… Do you vow to never cause harm to my Dark Emperor Storm, no matter what?"
"No problem!" Henry replied without much hassle, much to Tharja's chagrin.
"…How strange." Tharja hissed. "My magic ensures that you are telling the truth. But I find your heart difficult to read. It seems devoid of human emotion." She said while looking directly at Henry's face. "What's inside that head of yours? What are you thinking?"
"Right now, I'm thinking about you. And how much you must really, really, really like Storm!" Henry chirped.
"Mind your own business, little man." Tharja hissed.
"Is that why you're always following him around?" Henry questioned.
"I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand affairs of the heart." Tharja scoffed, before turning around and walk away, saying, "In any case, you may go. I've no further use for you."
"Hey! Tharja! You forgot to remove the curse!" Henry cried out, but she ignored him. "Oh, well. I suppose it'll fizzle out eventually." He said before skipping, away happily.
Elsewhere, Nowi was happily skipping in the hallway, thinking about what she should do for today. "Hm~, while those guys are pretty much busy with some stuff, maybe I should ask Akane or Ramon to play tag with me. They don't seem to mind at all, right?"
"Nowi, you have time, yes? We can speak?" Gregor's voice asked at the entrance of the meeting room, which made the Manakete stop her skipping and went chirpy on him.
"What's up, Gregs?" Nowi began.
"Gregor's name is Gregor!" He corrected. "…But at least you are not calling him gramps."
"All right, so? What is it?" Nowi asked.
"You remember sweater you give to Gregor? Is very fine sweater. Best ever! Is helping to deflect dangerous blows in last battle. Gives Gregor peace of mind." Gregor answered.
"Oh, goody! I'm glad you like it." Nowi chirped.
"However… Gregor is… not exactly say he is liking it."
"No?" Nowi asked confused. "I kind of thought you were."
It is then Gregor questioned her, saying, "When Nowi makes sweater, how many scales is she using?"
"Oh, I don't know. A few?" she mumbled while counting with her fingers.
"Gregor not knowing this "few." Meaning is more than two, yes?" Gregor asked.
"Um, yeah." Nowi nodded. "Definitely more than two."
Gregor seemed to figure it out while looking at her. "Now Gregor knows where you get scales. They come from Nowi's own body." he figured, making Nowi gasp. "Gregor knows this since yesterday battle, while he was seeing you for a moment. That must be hurting terribly, yes?" He asked, making her nod silently. Gregor's expression stiffened a little bit. "And missing scales means no armor for you. Gregor grateful you make sacrifice for him, but is very foolhardy!"
"But I just wanted to–" Nowi began but Gregor interrupted.
"Since you lose armor, we make new rule: you stay close to Gregor in battles."
"I think I can handle that!" Nowi huffed.
Danny walked out from the training room and wiped the sweat on his forehead after a job well done. "I think that's enough training for one day. Cherche's axe swings put me at a disadvantage, despite having me use a sword as my main weapon..." he commented. "Mother and Father went on a little date around the city area once we cleared the air and earned the people's trust once more. And Kjelle is pretty much continuing her training with Sully against Lon'qu and Aqua. Those two really remind me of those twins."
While he muttered to himself, walking along the hallway, he heard the sound of a girl wincing in pain, catching his attention, and when he went to the source, it turned out to be Cynthia who winced in pain, due to his child self, pulling her hair happily while Lucina and Athena looked at the girl.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Cynthia winced as little Danny happily pulled her hair. "Lucy, help me out here!"
"I think I had my chances with him." Lucina said. "He would just pull my hair like he did with the rest of the Shepherds…"
"C'mon Lucy, you're not helping me here!" Cynthia pouted. "Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow!"
"Sorry, you're on your own on this one." Lucina smirked. Future Danny could only chuckle seeing his little self, pulling on Cynthia's hair.
"Looks like I was quite an ecstatic one when I was a child." he said as Athena was worried for her cousin.
"Cynthia, let me have the child." Athena offered.
"W–What?! No!" Cynthia exclaimed. "This adorable little guy will end up pulling your hair hard enough! And I can't let you wince in pain!"
"Yes, cousin!" Lucina agreed. "Think of the possibility of him doing that to you! This child might be a little terror!" She warned her but Athena doesn't seem to be affected as she stretched her hands forward and grabbed little Danny into her hands. Little Danny lets go of Cynthia's hair and now focuses on Athena. Both of them stared at each other until little Danny took the initiative to… smile happily and rest his head on her chest without pulling her hair?
"Huh?" Cynthia and Lucina asked confused.
"See? No problem." Athena smiled.
"How does she do that?" Cynthia whispered to her sister.
"I have no idea." Lucina whispered back.
"Hm, just like Mother said, the little me, doesn't have interest in pulling her hair down, much like when he's in Her Grace's arms." Danny pondered to himself.
"Seriously, Athena. How did you do it?" Lucina asked.
"It's nothing, Lucy~" Athena cooed while she looked at the child's face. "He is harmless and seeing him up close, he is too adorable; adorable enough to make me do this." She smiled as she landed a peck on little Danny's face, much to the future one's surprise as a slight small blush crept up on his face.
"Did she just…" Danny said surprised while the little one was too happy while hugging her closely.
"Daniel?" A voice said, catching his attention and it turned out to be Frederick and Melissa, carrying a few bags in their hands.
"Why are you here, Danny?" Melissa asked.
"Uh… nothing." Danny said, before quickly leaving with a blush, confusing his parents.
"That was rather odd." Frederick said.
"Yes, it was. I wonder what's gotten into him." Melissa wondered.
How did I get myself into these situations?
After I calmed down from feeling jealous and empty by Cordelia embracing me and staying with me the whole time, we… and I can't believe that I'm saying this… we made love again. It's a safe day though, so it's all good.
"That was good…" I sighed as I lay on the bed with Cordelia, cuddling with her as our bare bodies were covered by the blanket.
"It was…" Cordelia slightly giggled as she rested her head on my chest. "As always, you know how to treat your wife well…" she teased while she traced her finger on my chest in circles.
"Yeah, I guess so. I will always give my best for my beloved one." I said while I still felt her legs wrapped around my leg, not wanting to let go.
"Is your mind finally at ease?" Cordelia asked.
"Yeah, and I have to thank you for a job well done." I joked, making her giggle while I combed her hair with my free hand. "I'm really glad that you came into my life…"
"So am I…" Cordelia agreed. We were enjoying the moment, and everything was fine… until…
"Goo~~d morning, you two!"
Oh no… it's Akane–chan!
"A–Akane–chan?!" I exclaimed in surprise as Cordelia sat up instantly, covering her modesty with her blanket.
"W–What are you doing here, Akane?" Cordelia asked surprised too.
"I just wanna visit you since you're in a foul mood since yesterday, Kuro." Akane–chan began as she had her mischievous smirk on her face. "But who would've thought the best medicine would be you two going at it? Was it really necessary?"
"Um… well…" I mumbled.
"Please don't raise a ruckus Akane." Cordelia requested. "We'd rather not start off the morning with that."
"Hmmmmmmmm…" Akane–chan pondered while she still had that mischievous smile. That is a bad sign.
"Please Akane–chan?" I pleaded.
Akane–chan looked at us for a while longer until saying, "Okay!"
"Huh?" I asked confused. "Really? You're not gonna run off and tell everybody?"
"Nope!" she exclaimed. "Besides, I already made a promise with Libra to be a nice wife to him!"
"How can I be so sure about your statement?" Cordelia pointed out.
"She might have made love with Libra during their trip." I stated, making Akane–chan flinch. "Something I said?"
"About that~" Akane–chan began as she drew circles with her foot. "To be honest, we haven't gone through 'that' phase yet… but he ain't complaining…"
"Oh…" I said.
"Well, take your time on that." Cordelia instructed. "You just got married. Take it slow."
"Yeah, I will." Akane–chan smiled gently.
"I'm sure you'll be a good wife to him." Cordelia assured.
"And by the way, I know it's kinda late to say this but… it's good to see you all chirpy again." I said.
"Thanks!" Akane–chan smiled happily before her puzzled look appeared on her again. "Are you trying to hit on me again, Kuro?" she teased.
"O–Oi, Akane–chan!"
"Ju~st kidding!" She giggled. "Well anyways, I'll see you around. Later taters!" And with that, she left.
"Huh… That went well." I said.
"Yes, and she made you blush." She said while looking at me, making me sigh.
"I really need to overcome my weakness of girl's charms… for your sake." I mumbled as she giggled.
"Take your time, Kurogasa. Besides, whenever I see you panic, I can't help but find it cute, especially with those facial expressions of yours accompanied, with a blush." she teased.
"He~y!" I whined.
"It's true!"
"Yeah, but you didn't need to be so blunt about it." I mumbled.
"I love you too." She teased again.
Outside of Castle Doran, while Cherche is helping out Storm on how to treat Minerva properly without getting bitten by her, like he always ended up, Kivat II fluttered in, with Kivat next to him. He was helping Cherche on giving Minerva a bath. Yes, you heard right. A bath.
"Oh, Storm. Kivat's back." Cherche pointed out, which made Storm pause his scrubbing on Minerva for a moment.
"Oh." Storm got out. "How's the recon coming along, you two?"
"You gotta get Kurogasa quick!" Kivat panicked.
"Why?" Storm asked confused.
"My son claims that he may have found his daughter." Kivat II explained.
"WHAT?!" Storm and Cherche exclaimed.
"Yes, this Kivat knows just by looking at that girl!" Kivat exclaims. "She lets out a familiar aura, similar to my aibou!"
"How can you be so sure?" Storm asked.
"And where is she?" Cherche added.
"She's in some kind of mercenary fortress of some sort!" Kivat said.
"Oi, ochitsuite!" Kivat II scolded.
"I can't calm down Tou–san! My aibou needs to know now!" Kivat exclaimed before flying off in a hurry.
"Oi!" Kivat II said, trying to stop him, only to have Kivat flutter faster towards his partner's room. "Damn that kid of mine… all acting rashly…"
"But even so, this could be a good time to aid her." Cherche said.
"Yeah, we should go and tell Chrom." Storm said before Minerva pushed him forward with her snout and let out a small growl. "…right after we clean up Minerva."
As we were dressed up after having breakfast, Cordelia was having a hard time trying to tie something on the back of her armor. "What's up?"
"I can't seem to tie this new armor provided by the Shepherds." She said while resting her long hair to the side and said, "Mind helping me tie this up for me, please?"
"Yeah, sure." I said as I got behind her and helped her tie it up. "How's that?"
"Much better. Thank you." Cordelia thanked.
"AIBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!"
"Huh?" Before I got the chance to grasp of the situation, Kivat already planted his whole body on my face, causing me to tumble down onto my bed.
"Kivat?" Cordelia said surprised as Tatsulot entered the scene.
"Pyun, pyun~. Looks like something's happening~" Tatsulot cooed.
"It could be…" Cordelia noted.
"Oi! Now's not the time to take a nap, aibou!" Kivat shouted as he shook me violently, trying to wake me up from my 'sleep'.
"What are you talking about?!" I snapped as I got up and swatted Kivat away from my face. "You ran into my face and made me fall down!"
"Gah! We don't have time to argue!" Kivat urged. "I here to tell you that I found her!"
"Her?" Cordelia and I asked.
"I found your daughter!"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"
"Kivat… is it true?" Cordelia asked shocked.
"I'm telling ya the truth! I actually found her in one of my recons! And she's just across the sea on the big land!" Kivat exclaimed.
"I can't believe it…" I said to myself. Who would have thought that he would say something like that? We finally get to meet our future daughter…
"Hey! We got bad news!" Ricken shouted slamming the door wide open, catching our attention.
"What bad news?" Cordelia asked, returning to her senses.
"Kivat II told us that there's this village where they are trying to fight back the former Valmese General and his band of mercenaries! They're try to take over that island before trying to conquer the east of Ylisse!"
"Aibou! It's the same place where we found your daughter!" Kivat said.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Tell Doran to set a course for that village!" I urged.
"Right!" Kivat said before flying away.
"Time Play starts…" Rook said as his stopwatch began to count down and instantly reverted to his Fangire Form. He was facing a few berserkers from Valm, who entered his castle's territory. "Let's see if you could entertain me, you mere mortals!" he shouted while drawing out his pair of katar in each hand before rushing forward. The berserkers were more than prepared to slay down Rook with their battle axes.
In this Time Play, he must defeat them under 3 minutes, which seemed to be impossible, considering, the fact that one berserker might be a handful, but facing 10 of them would give him quite the challenge. Even if Rook received some of damage from these berserkers while he killed each of them, it will only prompt him to make things even more interesting for him. At one point, a berserker managed to land a strong blow on his right shoulder, making the Fangire wince in pain, but not before he returned the favor by stabbing the throat and forehead of the assailant.
Eventually, after dealing damage, he pressed the stopwatch once more and much to his joy, he had 3 seconds of extra time. "Yay~, it's time for my meal!" he chirped before multiple numbers of glass fangs appeared and shoved them at the throat of the dying Berserkers, sucking their life essences to its very core before, all of them turned into transparent glass. "Ha~, much better. After this, I'm going to get my treat."
"You look happy after you finished your Time Play…" Verion's voice said as he stepped on a few glass husks of the victims, shattering them into pieces and caught Rook's attention. "…but tell me, have you felt a bit bored guarding this place on your own while Queen happily slays down the traitors of your kin around the world? Truly that makes you feel jealous, does it not?"
"Jealous? Me? Not at all…" Rook denied. "She is Queen and I must obey those who have a higher rank than me."
"What would you do if I said that Queen has encountered Kiva, alongside with the crusaders?" Verion pointed out.
"Kiva?" Rook asked who seemed to be interested, only to turn instantly. "Pah, that weakling is not proven worthy of my strength." He said as he rotated his right arm around, trying to loosen up the pain on his shoulder. "He can't even harm me with his puny kick, and his friends can't even harm me with their puny swords."
"Oh, but what if I told you that's he now stronger than ever?"
"Hmm?" Rook asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. As of now, he has achieved his Emperor Form."
"Emperor, huh?" Rook said, interested on where this was going. "Sounds like he's getting stronger… I like it."
"If you are, then they are heading towards a mercenary fortress east of Ylisse. Go there and you will face him in his stronger form. I believe you won't be disappointed from what I stated." Verion convinced, making Rook chuckle.
"Very well. With this, the Time Play would become much more interesting." Rook said before he sets off to his destination.
"I'm sure he'll satisfy your love for battle." Verion chuckled.
"What is going on here?" A voice asked. When Verion looked behind him, it turned out to be Bishop; looking at the vampire with his stern glare. "And where is Rook going? He was not supposed to leave his station under the King's order."
"Oh, do not worry. I'm sure he'll be fine." Verion replied nonchalantly, making Bishop suspicious of his actions.
"What are you planning behind my King, Verion?" Bishop questioned.
"Planning? I have no idea what you are talking about." Verion said, before walking away, but Bishop's glare stayed on him.
"You're up to something… I can tell…" Bishop muttered. "And I will figure out what it is."
We set course towards the small island east of Ylisse, and I was really determined to meet my daughter. I want to know what she looks like, how she acts and more importantly… I want to know her name. With Kivat giving me the tip of her whereabouts, I told Chrom to set a course to the designated location. Sure, he was surprised by my reasoning of getting to that location, but after Kivat II explained the whole thing, the only thing left to do now is find, and probably save her, should she be in trouble.
"Someone's been worked up." A voice said. I turned to see Basilio and Flavia, as she was the one who spoke to me. Next to them was Aqua–chan and Nee–san.
"Let the boy be, Flavia! He found his kid!" Basilio said happily.
"Yeah. Cordelia feels happy about it too." Aqua-chan nodded. "Let's just hope she isn't on the enemy side…"
"Just hope for the best, kiddo." Flavia said.
"Ara, I wonder what my niece looks like?" Nee–san smiled while thinking about it.
"Well for one thing, she'll most likely look like her mother." I said.
"That's true." Aqua–chan agreed.
"It's too bad though, that she can't wield the power of Kiva." Kivat said as he flew in and perched on my shoulder.
"Yeah, I feel bad for that too. It's like how you are Wataru's partner, granted by Mayu instead of protecting his older half-brother, Taiga." I said.
"Who said what now?" Basilio asked confused.
"It's a long story." I replied.
"It's a good thing too, considering the fact that she might misuse the power of Kiva, should she be granted the opportunity to wield it." Aqua–chan pointed out.
"That's true too." I said.
"In any case, let's hope that we can get there in time." Nee–san said.
"Yeah, me too…" I hoped. One way or another, I'm going to meet my daughter and I'm going to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
Once we have reached our destination, and hid Castle Doran in a nearby forest, we stepped out of the castle and headed towards a nearby village. I took the front rather than staying at the back, with a new fire inside of me.
"Looks like the little tyke's up and rearin' to go!" Vaike said.
"Y–Yeah, he really wants to meet his family." Olivia replied back.
"It is quite normal, Mother." Inigo replied. "We future kids have always wanted to meet up with our parents when we go back in time."
"Inigo's right!" Brady joined in. "I mean, the future's dark and somethin' and for once, we were actually glad we made this kind of choice."
"Props to sis!" Cynthia chirped while Lucina couldn't help but let out a small smile.
"Hee, hee… Lucy's smiling~." Athena said.
"In any case, we will find Uncle's daughter soon enough. Perhaps one of the villagers can tell us." Danny said.
"So true, my good man!" Owain said. "No matter how long it takes, rain or shine, day or night, we shall find her and be reunited!"
"Owain!" Lissa shouted.
"Sorry Mother…"
As we continued venturing forward, we were now at the village and saw a few villagers discussing about something. "This can't go on, Elder! We barely have enough to get by as it is!" one of the villagers said.
"Yes, and all of the villagers agreed to form a resistance to get rid of these brutes!" Another one got out.
"Their leader is a former Valmese general! We'll be crushed if we resist…" the elder said. "I mean, look what they have done with one of the resistance! They have warned us before and once we tried to resist, he was burned to death with his magic blast!"
"What's that about Valm?" Chrom asked, making the villagers turn to us.
"Who are you?" A villager asked.
"My name is Chrom." That made the people gasp in surprise.
"The ruler of Ylisse?!" The elder exclaimed.
"And a band of Shepherds ready to assist you guys." Saigo added, making them do full alert.
"Elder! He and his band of mercenaries may be able to help us!" One of the villagers exclaimed.
"Um, I can hear you." Chrom intervened. "But tell me your problem, and I'll see what I can do."
"And their location." I cut in.
"Kurogasa?" Chrom asked looking at me in disbelief.
"I know I want to meet my daughter badly, but the sooner we do this, the faster Kivat can lead me to where I can find her." I muttered.
"Oh, thank you, sirs!" the elder villager thanked.
"Tell us… everything…" Emmeryn got out.
Unknown to the rest of the Shepherds, there was a spy who overheard the whole thing and he was urgent to relay the message to the Valmese sorcerer, who was waiting for the news. "Urgent news, sir! Armed soldiers approach! Their leader claims to be Chrom of Ylisse!"
"What?!" the sorcerer exclaimed before he slammed his fist on the table. "Dammit! Why would he come here?" he cursed before he looked at a few figures in front of him. One of them was a girl who was in a sour mood, a villager who was scared and a pair of twins where while the boy seemed calm, the girl on the other hand held her anger towards the sorcerer for a reason. "Well, if they insist on dogging me, I've got hounds of my own to welcome them with."
"I'm not your dog, scum!" The sour mood girl snapped.
"No, only a stray mutt that refuses to stop yapping. But you'll be a good dog and do as I say if you ever want–"
"Yes, yes, if I ever want to see it again. I'm well aware." The girl deadpanned. She was a young woman who had long red hair with two long ponytails wearing a brown sleeveless shirt with a tan brown vest corset over it, tan arm warmers, brown gloves, black pants, silver shin guards, boots, and a small shield that rested on her left shoulder.
The sorcerer smirked as he shifted his focus on the two figures. "And I believe both of you would do the same as well?"
The girl had tanned skin with very long forest green hair that reached her pelvis tied in a dolphin's tail split and brown eyes, wearing a pink haori (kimono jacket) with a dark blue hakama, black socks and a pair of traditional slippers who glared at the sorcerer with great hatred. While she had a staff on her back, as soon as she grabbed the hilt of her sword resting on her waist, the boy who had brownish long hair that was tied in a ponytail, wearing full black leather armor, having a spear around his back, a tome, and a katana on each side of his waist, stopped her from trying to attack the sorcerer. "Peace, Bakuya. We shan't hesitate to attack him."
"But, Kan'shou–" Bakuya pleaded.
"Aye, I know full well of the current situation. We have no other choice but to obey his words in order to regain our memento stolen by him…" Kanshou reasoned. "And I know full well that you adore the memento stolen by him. It is the only weapon only you can use instead of using a bow…"
The girl now called Bakuya gritted her teeth before letting go of her sword.
"Don't you worry you two; we'll get our mementos back, no matter what." The mercenary girl assured.
"I hope you're right, Severa…" Bakuya said.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm always right." Severa assured.
"Now that's a good mutt." The sorcerer smirked before he looked at the villager, who was terrified. "I trust you're equally aware of your position, Holland?"
The villager remained silent and scared at the same time, making the sorcerer's smirk remain. "Loquacious as ever, I see. You'll fight for me, or I'll have that lazy tongue pried from your head." he threatened him before he shifted his attention back to his hired mercenaries. "Now then. Chrom may have the Fire Emblem in his possession… And if I claim that, I've practically claimed the throne. So go out there, kill anything that moves, and get me that Emblem!"
"Yes, sir!" His loyal mercenaries cheered before they departed.
"You two!" He pointed at the twins. "You shall guard the middle part of the area. I assume they might have a thief within their group!"
"…aye…" Bakuya tried her best to resist on swinging her sword on the sorcerer while Kan'shou dragged his sister to the designated location, trying to prevent a fight.
"And you!" he pointed at Severa. "You shall go outside and guard there!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" Severa said rolling her eyes, waving him before she left.
The Shepherds and Riders including me soon arrived at the mercenary fortress after the elder told us where the fortress was. "Here we are." I said.
"Looks like this is the castle the villagers told us about. Let's reclaim what's been stolen and return it to the villagers." Chrom suggested.
"And give a little payback to that sorcerer for what he did to the innocent." Libra said sadly.
"Yeah! These folks ain't goin' nowhere while we're here!" Donnel exclaimed. While we prepared to go to battle, we heard a humming sound, which alerted all of us.
"The Bloody Rose…" Kivat II muttered.
"Oh great, a Fangire…" Storm groaned.
"And it's coming this way!" Kivat panicked.
"Oh great! We don't have much choice!" Chrom got out. "Kurogasa, we have to split into groups. A few of us will go after the Fangire. The rest of us will go find and beat this Sorcerer up!"
"Agreed. There must be another entrance into this castle, other than this main entrance." Cordelia added. "I shall escort Chrom on this particular part."
"Yep! The rest of us should go AWOL on the rest of them!" Lissa said delighted on her part. "Besides, with Emm on our side and Athena's potential tri-magic casting, we got no problem handling this sort of stuff!"
"Alright then. Kivat!"
"Yosha! Kivatte ikuze!" Kivat cheered flying into my hand.
"Kivat II!" Storm called out.
"That daughter of Kurogasa's better be grateful that we're helping her out." Kivat II said before flying into Storm's hand.
"Daijobu, Otou–sama~. I'm sure she will appreciate the effort~." Kiva–la cooed before Akane-chan held her in her fingers.
"Yeah, and it better be worth it!" Akane–chan said.
"Let's go." Aqua–chan commanded her partner.
"Yes, milady. It would be a graceful yet violent ending for them." Rey–Kivat said as he fluttered around her.
"Saigo, we should do our best as well~." Sagark cooed.
"Yeah, let's get ready to rock!" Saigo added.
"Hm~, Father's about to transform~." Athena pondered while tilting her head to the side.
"Let's do this Mother!" Danny said.
"Of course dear." Nee–san said.
"GABU!"
"GABUI!"
*CRUNCH!*
"CHU!"
R–E–A–D–Y!
"HENSHIN!"
"I, Transform!"
"Henshin!" Rey–Kivat declared.
"Hen… shin!" Sagark said.
F–I–S–T O–N!
After we assumed into our armors, most of the Shepherds were all rearing to go. "Alright, everyone! Let's move in!"
"And be sure to get rid of that Fangire, should we encounter one." Anna reminded.
"Oh yeah, don'cha worry about it! The Vaike's here ready with his trusty– wait, where's my axe?!" Vaike panicked.
"You lost my spare axe?!" Basilio roared.
"Uh–oh… not good for Vaike." Gregor muttered.
"This is gonna hurt." Nowi winced.
"While we let them discuss their issues, we should barge in and say hi to those idiots!" Flavia suggested.
"Agreed. We'll regroup back here once we've settled everything!" Chrom said before everyone went their separate paths together.
Elsewhere, at the other main entrance, Severa was guarding outside the other entrance, thinking deeply about something. "All this grief over something so small… Once I get what I came for, I'm out of here. Maybe I can convince Holland to come with me." She pondered before she heard the humming and for some reason, it somehow annoyed her. "Gah, I really hate that humming sound!"
While she plugged her ears from the humming sound, Cordelia, Chrom, Lissa, Sumia and Stahl were making their way towards her, which alerted Severa and went towards her hiding. While she did that Cordelia wandered off for a while, letting out a sigh. "Cordelia, what's the matter?" Sumia asked.
"Oh, it's nothing, Sumia. I was just wandering how my daughter would look like…" she said.
"Oh, don't worry; I'm sure you'll be able to reunite with her." Chrom assured.
"Yeah, no worries. We'll find her!" Lissa chirped.
"And I'm sure that Kurogasa will love to meet her." Stahl added, making Severa gasp from her hiding spot.
"…Daddy's here?" Severa whispered to herself.
When they reached a corner, Sumia spotted another entrance to get inside the castle. "With this pathway, I'm sure they will not expect our sudden ambush."
"Yeah, time to give 'em the old whoop to the head!" Lissa chirped.
'Hm, maybe with these guys, they can help me out bustin' away out of this place and save Holland at the same time…' Severa pondered as she walked out from her hiding, only to have stumbled upon Cordelia, which surprised her Pegasus.
"Whoa there, girl!" Cordelia said, trying to calm down her Pegasus, and rest of them noticed Severa's appearance.
While they were at it, Severa's expression turned sour and said to Cordelia, "…gah, it's you…"
After calming her Pegasus, Cordelia looked at Severa and noticed her. "Have we met? If so, I'm afraid I've quite forgotten."
"Well, excuse me for being so forgettable!" Severa huffed.
"Look, there's no time for this." Cordelia said. "If you're a friend, speak now. If not, then stay out of Chrom's way or I'll have to cut you down." That only served to annoy Severa more.
"Chrom, Chrom, Chrom! It's ALWAYS Chrom with you!"
"…I'm sorry?" Cordelia blinked in confusion.
"What's going on here?" Sumia asked her husband.
"You and I are in the same boat, Sumia." Chrom got out.
"You should be! And I don't care about your stupid Chrom, so you can just drop it!" Severa exclaimed.
"Okay, nobody's gonna mock my brother other than–" Lissa said, trying to stop Severa from mocking her brother, only to be stopped by Chrom.
"Let her finish first, Liz." Chrom said, making Lissa huff while Severa let out a deep sigh before looking at Cordelia. "…I only want to talk to Holland."
"Holland?" Cordelia asked.
"Yes, Holland!" Severa snapped. "That sad sack over there." She said, pointing inside the fortress. Chrom and the others looked and saw a villager inside. "Watch my back so I can get to him safely, and then I'll help your stupid army!"
"O… Okay?" Cordelia said, before Severa started walking away.
But then she looked over her shoulder. "Oh, and Holland's not here of his own will, so don't you dare hurt him!" With that, Severa went into the fortress.
"Whoa, for a girl, she's feisty…" Lissa got out.
"I noticed that." Cordelia added.
"But from what I can see, she vented most of her anger towards you." Stahl noticed. "Did you do something to make her angry?"
"No…" Cordelia mumbled. "I don't think so…"
"Are you sure?" Chrom asked.
"Yes."
"Hold on…" Lissa said. "I just noticed something. That girl kinda looked like you Cordelia.
"Really?" Cordelia pondered.
"Could be a coincidence." Chrom said. "For now, we should aid our new ally."
"Agreed. This can be discussed later." Sumia noted before the four of them entered into the castle.
BASHAA MAGNUM!
Kivat played the trumpet tune from the Fuestle before the Monster statue came to me and I held onto the magnum before assuming Bashaa Form. I was with Dark Kiva, Rey–chan, and Lon'qu.
WAKE UP ONE!
"It's clobberin' time!" Dark Kiva yelled as he rushed forward, while two warriors formed a defense. As he delivered his Darkness Hell Crash to one of them, I continuously shot another one with a rampage of water bullets onto the other one, making him tumbling down and disarm him at the same time. As a result, I managed to shoot one down, and as for the other one? Well, let's just say that if Henry's with us, he'll be ecstatic to see the headless corpse.
"Yeesh, you really need to work on your overkill, man." I said to Dark Kiva, making him groan.
Meanwhile, while Lon'qu and Rey–chan are fending off a few swordsman, after she clawed down one of the enemy's, at the same time, grabbing her boomerang, using it as a dual dagger, she slashed the other one down. Lon'qu pushed the other one to the back before delivering the killing blow on the stomach. "These guys are a nuisance…" Lon'qu muttered.
"Agreed." Rey–chan nodded before something caught her attention, which made her turn around really fast, as if something caught her attention.
"Milady, watch out!" Rey–Kivat warned, but it was too late for her to react in time. As she got a few slashes on her chest, I immediately repelled them off with a few barrages of water blobs before rushing to her side.
"Rey–chan, are you okay?" I asked, and she replied with a nod. "What's with the distracted look just now?"
"I felt… a familiar presence… nearby, just now…" Rey–chan got out.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"It's…"
"Mother! Father!" Two voices shouted. The four of us turned around to see two people in front of us. One was a guy… who looked like Lon'qu? And the other one was a girl who… masaka! No way! Heck, even Dark Kiva and Rey–chan were surprised.
"N–Nee–san?!" Rey–chan stuttered in shock.
"A–chan?!" Dark Kiva said in the same expression.
"That's impossible…!" I said surprised. "Annette's dead!"
While we were still confused, without a doubt, those two headed towards Rey–chan and Lon'qu respectively. The girl within Aqua–chan's arms sobbed while the other guy stood right in front of Lon'qu, making it more confusing. "What magic is this?" Lon'qu asked.
"It's not magic, Tou–san. This is who we are." the guy said.
"Oh, Kaa–san! I've yearned for this moment! The day I finally meet you!" the girl cried in Rey–chan's embrace.
"What's going on around here?" Dark Kiva asked. "And why did A–Chan call Aqua–chan Mom instead of little sis?"
"Not only that, she speaks our language!" I added.
"Otouto!"
IXA–neesan, IXA, Kiva–la–chan, Saga, and Emmeryn arrived and the other Riders minus IXA were shocked too.
"Sonna…" Saga gasped.
"A–Annette–sempai?!" Kiva–la–chan stuttered.
"Ara… Annette–chan…" IXA–neesan murmured surprised.
"Who?" IXA got out. "This is the first time I've heard such name before…"
'Annette' noticed the predicament as she wiped away the tears from her eyes and looked at the confused group. "Gomenne, minna. I am not the late Aunt Annette, my mother's sister. 'Tis only my appearance of her for my true name is Bakuya, given by my Kaa–san." she introduced.
"And I am Kan'shou, given by Kaa–san as well." the other one introduced.
"Y–You are my children?" Rey-chan asked in disbelief.
"This is rather… unexpected." Lon'qu muttered.
"You're telling us…" Dark Kiva muttered. "For a minute there, I thought A–chan was back from the dead!"
"And they're twin, no less." I added.
"Kan'shou, Bakuya." IXA called, catching both of their attention. "How did both of you end up in this situation; staying on the enemy's side?"
"'Tis a choice we did not choose to follow." Kan'shou said.
"The fiend held something precious that is mine to cherish and in order to get it back, I must obey him, no matter the cost…" Bakuya sadly explained.
"Not only that, the fiend is also holding a memento that is precious to Severa." Kan'shou added.
"Severa?" I asked.
"Who's that?" Kiva–la–chan questioned.
"Kurogasa–san, you don't know?" Kan'shou asked.
"Know what?" I asked.
"His… daughter… is here…" Emmeryn figured out, making me overwhelmed in shock and surprise.
"Aye, it is true. She's with us after all of us got separated…" Bakuya explained.
"Uncle, isn't this great? You will finally be able to reunite with one of your daughters!" IXA exclaimed happily.
I immediately went over to Bakuya and held her shoulders, startling her a bit. "Where is she?! Where is my daughter?!" I exclaimed.
"L–Last I heard, she was guarding outside." Bakuya stuttered. That was all I needed to hear before I took off.
"Otouto, matte!" IXA–neesan called out, but I ignored her as I went to search for my daughter.
"Saigo…" Emmeryn got out.
"Yeah, we should go aid him." Saga nodded before the two of them gave chase.
"In the meantime, the rest of us should wreck this place up and find the creep." Dark Kiva said, making them nod before they ran in further into the hallway.
"Gandalf…" Athena chanted as she does the gun point and shot out a few dark orbs of magic towards the advancing mercenaries in front of her, forcing them to skid back while holding her mini notebook in her other hand.
"Most fascinating." Miriel said. "To say you are sided with light, but wielding the power of darkness at the same time; it must have been involved with the small material in your hand."
"Uh–huh~." Athena nodded slowly. "It's really not that hard to do."
"Interesting…" Miriel nodded in fascination.
"Uh, a little help here would be nice!" Ricken urged as he used a fire spell to create a wall of fire between him and a few mercenaries.
"Further investigation should be put on hold. For now, we exterminate these band of mercenaries." Miriel suggested as she took out her Wind tome within her bag.
"Okay~." Athena nodded as she flipped a few pages until a certain page got her attention. With a small wave of her hands, a combination of light and fire in a form of an orb manifested itself before she shot it forward, shouting, "Explosion!"
They heard a loud boom and Ricken skid to the back, courtesy of the attack. "Whoa! What was that?!"
"It's the Tri–Magic~." Athena smiled.
"Most fascinating…" Miriel got out as her curiosity got the best of her. "This requires more investigation."
"How do you like this?!" Kjelle shouted, stabbing an enemy warrior.
"C'mon, is that the best you got?" Flavia taunted, before slashing a sage.
"You want our best?! We'll give you our best! Archers!" the commander commanded as a few row of archers and snipers walked out from their hiding spot and aimed their fiery tipped arrows at them.
"Yikes! Talk about firepower!" Donnel exclaimed in surprise before they shot out countless numbers of arrows at them.
While it seemed hopeless for them to dodge them all in time due to being no place for them to hide, Kellam eventually appeared from out of nowhere, protecting Flavia with his large shield as Kjelle raised her shield, protecting Donnel. "Where did you come from?" Flavia asked.
"I've been here the whole time." Kellam said.
"Now I see what Lissa's saying. It's a good thing you pop out of nowhere when it comes to battling." Flavia chuckled.
"Uh… should I take that as a compliment?" Kellam asked unsure.
"Yer' sure do!" Donnel happily exclaimed. "If it weren't fer ya, we might have our bums roasted!"
"He's right." Kjelle agreed as the archers and snipers loaded their arrows onto their bows. "The first wave has gone. With this, we should advance forward while we still can.
"You don't have to say it twice!" Flavia shouted. "Kellam, you should stay at the front, becoming our defensive wa– hey, where did he go?!"
"As Kurogasa would say it: "He pulled a Batman stunt on us."" Donnel said.
"A what?" Kjelle asked confused.
"Never mind."
"You fiends should back off from harming my beloved wife!" Virion warned as he unleashed a three arrow shot in one go, hitting three different parts of a berserker that tried to chase Olivia everywhere.
"Hey, Twinkles. A little healing here?" Gaius asked after he jumped back from his assault on another assassin, as he is now covered in his wounds.
"And mine, I suppose?" Frederick demanded. "The battle with a Knight is worthy of a challenge, I should say."
"I am little busy at the moment!" Maribelle hissed as she had her horse kick a bandit with its hind legs.
"I got 'em Ma!" Brady said going over to the two.
"Here's your cut of the day!" Anna declared, slashing a mage.
"Eat fire!" Nowi roared in her dragon spewing out flames at a group of heroes.
"These man–spawns shall feel my wrath!" Panne said in her beast form as she pounced on a dark mage and ripped his head off with her teeth.
"Ooh, I like that!" Henry chirped.
"Honestly, you make things more spectacle than ever, Henry…" Tharja chuckled.
"Thanks!" Henry chirped, all smiley.
"But none can compare to my Storm's brute power that shatters everything in his path." Tharja said darkly with her evil smirk.
"That's fine by me. I just have to one–up him then!"
"…What?" Tharja muttered.
"You heard me!" Henry sang before skipping, away happily.
"HAAAAAAH!" Sully yelled a she stabbed a brigand with her lance.
"Cynthia, take me and Owain up!" Lucina said.
"Got it sis!" Cynthia said as she did as she was told.
"Ready Owain?" Lucina asked.
"I thought you'd never ask! By our swords, be slain! RADIANT… DAAAAAAAAWN!" shouted before he and Lucina jumped from Cynthia's Pegasus and somersaulted down towards their targets.
The mercenaries weren't fully prepared as they were able to raise their swords halfway up, only to be crushed down and slashed on their skulls before both of them kicked back and did a back flip, landing on their feet perfectly. "That takes care of that."
"NOOO!" Owain exclaimed all of a sudden, which made Lucina go on full alert.
"Owain, what's wrong?!"
"Mystletainn!" He cried, holding the broken sword in his hands. "For as long as we have traveled together high and low, destiny beckons that you and I are together as one. But I did not foresee the day you and I shall separate from each other from here onwards! Oh why? Why would destiny be a cruel mistress upon the legendary Owain?!"
"You've only had that sword for a few weeks…" Lucina deadpanned.
"Oh, the cruelty!" Owain said theatrically.
"Why do I even bother?" Lucina shrugged as she sighed, shaking her head.
As I continued running outside, with IXA–neesan, IXA, Saga and Emmeryn on my tail, we spotted Minerva biting one of the archers in her mouth while Cherche maneuvered her Wyvern high up in the sky. "Let me go! Let me go!"
"Are you certain?" Cherche asked nicely, to which he replied with a few curses. "Alright. Minerva, drop him down now." she kindly said, and Minerva opened up her jaws, making the man screamed down to his demise.
"Hey, lemme have your axe! The good ol' Teach is givin' lessons on how to use it properly!" Vaike said as he threw the hand axe he found on the axeman, killing him on the spot. Without hesitation, he immediately approached the corpse and grabbed his Brave Axe, much to Vaike's liking. "This looks swell to me! And I think this other axe on my back would make up for that Khan's anger on me." he said while patting his back, which had a battle axe.
"Need help, padre?" Inigo said as he cut in and slashed the assassin that tried to attack Libra from behind, while Gregor and Basilio continued their advances.
"I thank you, child; for the assistance." Libra thanked with a sincere smile.
"Say hello to Gregor's big friend!" Gregor said carrying a rather heavy and large broad sword.
"First it's small now it's big?" Basilio asked incredulously.
"What? You all tired of small, now it's big!"
"Can you actually swing that monstrosity?" Basilio sweat dropped.
"Har, har! Gregor can swing sword; big and small!" Gregor said triumphantly as he did one big swing onto a mage, slicing him in half.
"Whoa!" Basilio exclaimed in surprise. "Now that's a neat trick!"
"KIVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A monstrous sound shouted as I spotted a modern clothing teen jump really high and deliver a strong flying kick on Basilio, making him skid to one side. He looked around a bit before seeing me and smirked. "So, this is where you've been playing around~." he smirked while drawing out his pair of katars.
"Rook!" I gritted, stopping in my tracks with IXA–neesan, IXA, Saga, and Emmeryn stopping too.
"Great, just what we need…" Saga groaned.
"What is he doing here?" IXA–neesan wondered.
"I've heard that you've reached your Emperor Form, correct?" Rook questioned as the stained glass marks appeared. "Then, I wanna play with you since that vampire said you are stronger now!"
"Dastard! Is that all you ever think of?!" IXA exclaimed.
"Saigo… he's… dangerous…" Emmeryn got out as Rook was now in his Fangire form.
"You don't have to tell me twice." Saga said, getting into his stance.
"Oy! You scare mercenaries around you! They are wetting their pants on seeing you appear out of nowhere!" Gregor exclaimed as Rook looked around, noticing a few of them preparing their stances for the attack and some of them backing off.
"Hah! That will make the Time Play even more interesting!" Rook said happily. "Let's see if any of you mongrels could even stop my rampage! Time Play, start!"
"Grr… you want it? You got it!" I shouted as I placed Tatsulot's Fuestle in Kivat's mouth.
TATSULOT!
Playing Taa–chan's tune, he came flying in. "Pyun, pyun~! Tension Fortissimo!"
"Mother, I suggest we should do the same as well." IXA informed IXA–neesan.
"Of course, dear. There are times where we also must give it our best." IXA–neesan nodded as both of them took out their IXA Riser from their mouthpiece, flipped them open and dialed in 1–9–3.
R–I–S–I–N–G!
The color schemes of their armor changed to blue and some of their armor 'casted off' to reveal their cores. After their helmets changed, they switched their IXA Riser phones to Gun mode. Meanwhile, Tatsulot shattered the chains on my shoulder armor to open up the bat wings and golden bats flew out. I then raised my left arm up. "Hen~shin!" Tatsulot declared as he attached to my left arm. The golden bats flew back to me, changing my armor to being golden and having my red cape. I was now in my Emperor Form.
So~ this is you Emperor Form huh?" Rook said. "That makes things more interesting!" With no time wasted, he charged at me with his katars in hand.
"Alright! Let's whip this thing down good!" Saga exclaimed as he, Rising-neesan, Rising and I advanced forward. Basilio and Gregor ran towards him in another direction while Emmeryn stayed at the rear and charged up her Wind Spell.
"Hey, what's that?" Inigo asked while pointing at Rook.
"Our friends are in trouble…" Libra said. "Let us go assist them."
"Right behind you!" Inigo smirk before he advanced forward too.
"Well now, what do we have here?" Cherche pondered while smiling. "Aren't you quite a cute Fangire? Oh, he's hurting our friends. Come, Minerva. We should teach that thing a lesson."
Back with Chrom's group, as Severa lead the group of Lissa, Chrom, Cordelia and Stahl to where Holland might be at, they noticed some Tricksters guarding the hallway. One of them noticed what she was doing and said, "Hey! Why are you here?! Aren't you supposed to be at your post?!"
"And why is she leading the enemy into this castle?!" Another Trickster exclaimed.
"Sorry, but I changed sides now!" Severa snapped, "So move aside!"
"Why you little–!"
*SLASH!*
The Trickster couldn't say anymore as Severa already slashed him. "I already told you to move aside." Severa said coldly.
"Kill her!" the leading Trickster commanded.
"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Lissa exclaimed as Chrom and Stahl took the front line while Cordelia aimed her javelin at the Trickster.
The two sides clashed with their swords in hand. Chrom started off with a cross slash, which the Trickster anticipated the attack and defended it with ease. Stahl joined in and tried to slash the Trickster out, but the other one protected him, making the battle as fair as possible before he delivered a slash on Stahl's arm, disarming him for a moment.
"Crap!" Stahl cursed while holding his arm.
"You stay away from him!" Severa shouted as she jumped forward, lunging her sword onto the Trickster, making him parry the blow while receiving damage on his arm.
"Chrom!" Cordelia shouted as she noticed Chrom was outnumbered by two Tricksters. With her accurate throw, she managed to make the javelin pierce through one of the Trickster's skull while Chrom took the chance of the startled Trickster with an upper slash before slamming it down, forming an inverted 'V' slash.
"Thank you Cordelia." Chrom thanked.
"You're welcome." Cordelia replied back before she noticed another Trickster aiming for her and focused on him. Unknown to Chrom, one more was about to go for the kill.
"Chrom, watch out!" Lissa shouted. "SACRED STONES!" That was when she went for the kick, but the Trickster dodged and–
*POW!*
…hit Chrom instead!
Chrom's eyes went wide open, making him go on all fours instantly.
"Hah! Is that the best you can–"
*SLASH!*
"Gah!" the Trickster couldn't finish his words as he noticed a sword thrusted in his chest. When he slowly looked behind him, it was Severa who dealt the finishing blow.
"Next time, don't smile like a jerk." Severa said before she yanked her sword out rather hard and flicked it, getting rid of the blood before the Trickster slumped down.
"Yeouch!" Stahl cringed in pain. "That's gonna hurt a lot…"
"Whoops, sorry, Chrom!" Lissa winced while Chrom was still on his knees, feeling the burning sensation on the part where Lissa kicked earlier.
"…Ow…" Chrom wheezed.
"Chrom! Are you okay?!" Sumia asked frantically.
"He's gonna feel that one in the morning." Severa said.
"Indeed he is…" Cordelia said as Sumia helped him get onto her Pegasus.
"Thanks, Sumia. I don't know what I would do without you." Chrom thanked, making her giggle a bit.
"It's nothing, silly. I'm your wife, after all." Sumia said.
"Blech, why do I have to watch this melodrama in the first place?" Severa said in disgust.
"I'm going to need an ice pack after this." Chrom said.
"Anyways, we better get going." Stahl said. "Where's this Holland guy anyway?"
"He's around here somewhere." Severa grumbled. "Holland, where are ya?!" She yelled.
"H–Huh?" Holland stuttered, looking around until he spotted Chrom and his group approaching him. "E–Enemies?!"
"Huh?" Lissa got out, as she spotted Holland, cowering at the corner. "Who's that?"
"So, THIS is where they stationed you!" Severa got out as she approached the scared villager.
"Severa! What are you doing here?" Holland exclaimed. "If he knows you left your post… and brought the enemy with you…"
"I'm leaving, Holland, and you're coming with me." Severa said.
"Severa, I… I can't." Holland denied. "You know I can't. I have a wife. If I don't earn Nelson's coin, she'll starve. I know it's blood money, but–"
"Your wife is PREGNANT, Holland!" Severa yelled. "You know that, don't you?!"
"Is that the reason why he's willing to work in enemy lines?" Sumia asked.
"For someone they love, they would do anything, even if they have to dirty their hands, Sumia." Chrom answered as they listened quietly.
"Of course I know that! And it's none of your concern!" Holland yelled back.
Lissa tried to intervene, but Cordelia somehow stopped her from doing that, telling her to not interfere in this conversation. Severa took a deep breath and kept her temper in check before she said, "Do you love your child, Holland? Do you love your wife?"
"Of course I do!" Holland answered.
"Then stop making excuses! I know that parents will do anything for their children… But I also know how it feels when a child loses her parents." Severa before she bowed her head, while her body trembled and the bangs covered her eyes. "This world's got far too many kids who've gone through that. If you stay, you'll be killed or worse…"
"Severa…" Cordelia said before Severa lifted up her head again.
"And your child deserves better!"
Holland was shocked to hear Severa's words, making him stammer. As he looked down, his whole body shook, trying to get some words out of his mouth. "Severa, I… I'm sorry. I didn't know. That must have been hard for you." he said as there was a moment of silence between them. It took a while, but Holland lifted up his head and Severa saw the passion in his eyes. "You're right. My child deserves better. Let's get out of here."
"Really?!" Severa exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes, really. But we have to hurry!" Holland got out. "Those two might need our help as well!"
"Oh yeah, those twins needed some help too." Severa remembered.
"Twins?" Chrom asked.
"Bakuya and Kan'shou. Lon'qu and Aqua's kids."
"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!" The Shepherds said shocked.
"Gah! Stop screaming like that!" Severa yelled while she plugged her ears with her fingers.
"Forgive us, but we're surprised to know their children are here too." Cordelia apologized.
"Yeah, but they do this thing against their free will." Holland explained. "That man took away most of their prized possessions to make them work for him, Severa included."
"I see." Chrom said.
"What did he take?" Cordelia asked.
"None of your business!" Severa snapped. "C'mon, let's go find him and deal with him already!" She said, before leaving.
Elsewhere, as Kan'shou and Bakuya are leading Dark Kiva, Kiva–la and their parents, it was well guarded as they are getting into their stance. "These guys are a nuisance." Lon'qu muttered.
"Agreed. Let's try to break through this barrier before going for the leader." Rey muttered as both of them got into their stances, which made the twins want to participate in it too.
"Both of you should stay back. They might overwhelm you both…" Lon'qu warned.
"Daijobu, Tou–san. We know what we are doing." Kan'shou said.
"Aye." Bakuya nodded as both of them drew out their swords and got into the same stance as their parents. "If one of us fight on our own, it will not work, but with both of us knowing each other's movements, it would be an impenetrable defense. 'Tis what we learn from you."
"Is that right…" Lon'qu said.
"Trust us, Tou–san. We can do this." Bakuya assured.
Lon'qu looked at them for a while, until he nodded. "Alright then, we'll do this together… as a family. On your mark Aqua."
"Ready?" Rey said, as they nodded while the enemy charged forward. "GO!"
"Whoa, look at them go!" Dark Kiva got out after seeing the whole family dashed towards their oppositions with speed and agility
"That would easily cut down our heavy work." Kiva-la added.
While the two are discussing about it, Anna walked towards the door on her own and tried to turn the knob, but to no avail. "Hmm, locked door, huh? I bet there's treasure over there." she smirked before she started lock picking the door. It took a while but eventually-
*CLICK!*
"Ah, there we go!" Anna smiled and once she opened the door, she was a bit surprised to see Severa and the rest of the Shepherds on the opposite side. "Eh? Who's this kid?"
"That's teenager to you." Severa huffed.
"Oh and what happened to you Chrom?" Anna asked as she noticed Chrom, laying on his stomach on Sumia's Pegasus.
"I… uh… accidentally kicked Chrom between the legs." Lissa laughed sheepishly with a sweat drop.
"Yeouch, that's gonna hurt a lot…" Anna winced.
"Yes, it is." Chrom got out. "Liz, next time, try to look before you kick…"
"I know that already!" Lissa exclaimed. "You've told me many times that I could even remember!"
"So, where're those twins?" Severa asked, cutting to the chase while looking at Anna. "Did you guys find them, or did those two fight against the Shepherds?"
"They're on our side. They're fighting beside their parents." Anna said.
"Good. One other thing." Severa said.
"What is it?" Anna asked.
"Where's my daddy?"
"Huh?" Anna blinked.
"You heard me. Where's my daddy?" Severa asked again.
"Look, Severa. If you want to find your father, you can do it after we settle with this matter first." Cordelia pointed out.
"Traitorous wench!" A voice shouted. They all turned to see the very Sorcerer leading the bandits. "How dare you turn coat!"
"You've got to be loyal before you can be a traitor, you idiot!" Severa snapped. "And you're one to talk, extorting a poor, innocent girl like me and the twins!" She then took out her sword getting into her stance. "It's time you learned just how deadly this innocent girl can be!"
"Bah! I'll use your corpse to clean the blood from my boots!" The sorcerer yelled before throwing dark magic at her.
"Hey, don't forget about us!" Kiva–la shouted as she immediately appeared right in front of Severa, slashing the dark blast in half with her saber.
"What are you doing?!" Severa scolded, which surprised Kiva-la.
"Hey, watch your tone!" Kiva–la retorted.
"I can block that attack with my sword, y'know?" Severa hissed. "And you're not supposed to interrupt my battle with this weirdo!"
"I'm trying to help you out!" Kiva–la snapped.
"Hai, hai, that's enough you two." Dark Kiva said, playing peacemaker.
"SHUT UP!" Kiva–la and Severa shouted at the same time, making Dark Kiva cower a bit.
"I swear, you're just like Kurogasa! Being so stubborn and dense!" Kiva–la huffed.
"I–" Severa began, but then blinked. "Wait, you know daddy?"
"Huh?" Kiva–la said confused. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm still here y'know!" The sorcerer called out, annoyed that he was being ignored.
"Hold your horses, will ya?! I'm in the middle of a conversation here!" Severa retorted.
"If you want to look for a battle…" Kan'shou began.
"…why don't you fight us instead?!" Bakuya shouted as both of them leaped forward and tried to slash down the Sorcerer, only to have himself teleport to higher ground.
"Ah, yes~, I forgot about you two…" the Sorcerer remembered. "Are you of certain that both of you would want to join the enemy lines and fight me? Have you forgotten that I could burn the memento of your parents with my magic or you just don't care about it?"
"Why you–!" Bakuya gritted.
"Peace, Bakuya." Kan'shou intervened.
"Demo~"
"Remember what our sensei told us: never let your emotions get the best of us." Kan'shou reminded.
"Brother…" Bakuya said as Chrom stepped forward after he made his recovery.
"Alright, I had enough of waiting for this to happen." Chrom said as he drew his Falchion. "It's time I end your reign, along with freeing these kids."
"I will make sure my utopia is created!" the Sorcerer shouted as he conjured more magic. At the same time, more of the dark mages entered the fray.
"Our workload keeps on increasing, And still, no sign of Lon'qu and Rey–chan." Dark Kiva got out.
"They're probably busy with those knights, Storm–sama~." Kiva–la cooed as she spread her wings and get into her stance.
"For now, we'll deal with these leftovers." Cordelia said as the rest of the Shepherds advanced.
"C'mon, is that the best you got?" Rook mocked. "I thought you got stronger Kiva!"
Okay, Rook's doing nothing but beat the crap out of us. All of us Riders, Emmeryn, Basilio, and Gregor were down and Rook wasn't breaking a sweat. What the heck has he been doing for the past two years?
"Not what I had in mind…" I gritted as I slowly stood up.
"Even with our combined force, it is still not enough." Rising said as a few more started standing up. "He must have sucked the life essences of more warriors' souls to amp himself up."
"Even those mercenaries ended up becoming his fodder." Saga noticed as while Rook sucked the lives of the mercenaries. A spew of flames were directed at Rook, courtesy of Minerva.
"Hah! That mere flame won't hurt me!" Rook shouted as he took all of the damage.
"No, but this one might!" Inigo yelled as he and Libra jumped in and both of them tried to deliver a big chop onto Rook. Even though Rook was able to fend it off with his katars, when I saw Libra hit his right shoulder, the Fangire winced in pain.
"Ara… Otouto…" Rising–neesan noticed.
"Did you see that?" Saga asked.
"I sure did. Everyone, attack Rook's right shoulder!" I shouted.
Rook heard what I shouted, but he shrugged it off like it was nothing while we aimed for his shoulder. I can't believe I'm saying this, but his weakness is similar to Rook in the series. Why didn't I think of that before? In any case, both Risings aimed both of their guns and spammed shot onto Rook, creating sparks on his body, but it had little to no effect. I drew out my Zanvat Sword from my cape as Emmeryn casted another wind spell, making Rook float up.
"Gah! Drop me down!" Rook exclaimed, only to have Cherche dive down and swing her axe at his right shoulder with accuracy, making it wince in pain.
"Will ya' look at that? It actually works!" Saga smiled behind his mask. "He must have injured his shoulder during his two year period of disappearance. We should consider ourselves lucky that someone was able to hurt this guy…"
"Yeah, alright everyone! Let 'em have it!" I shouted as I placed the Zanvat Fuestle in Kivat's mouth along with Saga putting the Fuestle in Sagark's mouth. Meanwhile Rising and Rising-neesan pressed '0' and '2' on their phones.
WAKE UP!
C–O–R–O–N–A F–L–A–M–E M–O–D–E!
B–L–I–Z–Z–A–R–D M–O–D–E!
"You are not going anywhere!" Rising shouted as he continuously pulled down his trigger, trapping Rook within his blizzard confinement until he ran out of ammo. While Rising-neesan shot out flames from HER IXA Riser, Saga thrusted his Jacorder forward while I slowly moved the hilt upwards, making the flute sound before I rushed forward, ready to swing on it!
"I will not let you win!" Rook exclaimed within his confinement until–
*SLASH!*
Both Saga's attack and mine were connected to the ice but Rook was nowhere to be seen. He probably escaped before the two attacks could even occur. I even saw Libra, Inigo, Basilio and Gregor knocked down in his path too. "Damn, for a big guy, he's fast…"
The Buffalo Fangire growled angrily, holding his right shoulder in pain. Before he tried to advance forward, he heard the beeping sound from his watch, which indicated that his Time Play is over. "Grr… you got lucky, Kiva. I was just about to mutate to my strongest form! And now… I must punish myself for not being able to defeat you on time…" And with that, he walked away from our view.
"Well, we sure hurt his pride." I said as we Riders de–henshined and the adrenaline, was out of my system. Then I started feeling pain on my lower ribs and left leg. He hit hard when he punched me in those spots.
"Daijobu, aibou?" Kivat asked.
"Pyun~ pyun, you don't look so good." Tatsulot said worried.
"I'll be fine…" I winced. "Nee–san… you and Saigo take care of the others."
"What about you?" Nee–san asked.
"I'm going to find my daughter…" I winced as I held my side, and limped away. I don't care if I'm hurt like this. One way or another, I'm going to meet my daughter…
"Uncle is determined to meet with his daughter…" Danny got out.
"Yes, he is, dear. That's otouto; determined to the very end." Nee-san smiled while I continued limping towards the castle, ignoring the throbbing pain slowly coursing through my body.
"El Viento!" Kan'shou shouted casting a tornado spell with his tome in hand, forcing the dark mage to create a barrier.
"There. The wound has been tended to, Chrom." Bakuya said as she puts back her healing staff on her back while Chrom's bruises were completely healed.
"Thank you." Chrom thanked.
WAKE UP!
WAKE UP TWO!
"King's Burst End!" Dark Kiva shouted as he delivered a shuffle side kick, making the Sorcerer's enforcers skid towards Rey, as she was prepared to deliver the finishing blow. She did the 'X' slash, followed by a diagonal slash, and finally, an uppercut slash, with her claws. As she kneeled down, the wounded enforcers were standing there, unable to move a single muscle.
"Enjoy your eternal chill…" Rey muttered. Chunks of ice formed on them before their whole body turned into a solid block of ice.
"Now they're just sitting ducks; easy picking!" Anna said happily as she and Lon'qu slashed them down, but not before he immediately leaped away from Anna due to his gynophobia other than his fiancée.
"We've done our part here." Cordelia said as she yanked out her lance from the dead corpse of a mage.
"Now, it's up to them to do the finishing touch." Stahl said as Sumia and Lissa witnessed the battle that involved Chrom.
"Hahahahaha! None of your attacks work on me!" the Sorcerer boasted as he continued casting his barrier spell in front of him before he retaliated back by switching his barrier into a crescent shot onto Kan'shou, which the latter immediately ducked down from. Unknown to the Sorcerer, Severa was slowly sneaking behind him during the time where Sorcerer put up his defense.
"C'mon, just a little more…" Chrom muttered to himself.
"You're almost there, Severa…" Kan'shou muttered to himself too.
"Hm?" The sorcerer said, confused on what he was trying to hear from them. "What are you fools mumbling about?"
"Oh, nothing much." Chrom said.
"Just waiting for the big finish." Kiva–la smirked.
"What 'big finish'?" Sorcerer asked.
"THIS one!" Severa shouted from behind.
"Huh?" The Sorcerer gasped in surprise, turning around. But as soon as he turned around-
*SLASH!*
Severa swung her downward on him, meaning that Severa had sliced the Sorcerer down the middle.
"G–G… ah…" one half of the body of the Sorcerer spoke before the body actually split apart and fell.
"And I thought I was the one that goes for overkill…" Dark Kiva sweat dropped.
"The battle has ended with our victory." Kan'shou said while looking at Bakuya that approached the body and started scavenging the body. Severa follows suit too.
"What're Bakuya and the other girl doing?" Aqua asked as the rest of the Riders de-henshined.
"Looking for their mementos, Kaa–san." Kan'shou answered.
"Yes! Here it is!" Severa sighed in relief.
"At last, I found it!" Bakuya said.
As the two girls finished rummaging the corpse, followed by Severa kicking the severed head of the Sorcerer, Bakuya looked at the memento she held and hugged it closely. Upon closer inspection, Aqua noticed and was surprised to see a pair of boomerangs within her grasp. Aqua looked around her and drew out her own boomerangs, which was the exact ones Bakuya was holding.
"Aqua, what's wrong?" Lon'qu asked.
"Lon'qu… I believe the two of them are our children. There is only one kind of boomerang that I wield and she has the exact one I had…" Aqua got out.
"Are you certain?" Lon'qu asked.
"Yes, I am."
"And here is further proof to cast aside all doubts." Bakuya said as she showed him… Lon'qu's ring…
Lon'qu was surprised to see it as he looked at the ring he wore and it was the exact same one she held in her fingers before handing it to her brother. "I know this is a surprise, Tou–san, but it is the only thing that both of us had as our memento." Kan'shou explained as he wore the ring and Bakuya placed her boomerangs on her small sash.
"That explains the whole thing…" Storm nodded slightly.
"Yeah, I guess somehow fate reunites these kids." Akane added.
"If fate said so and the items they held in their hands are proof, then I could only say one thing." Aqua said before she smiled at the twins and said, "Welcome home, Kan'shou & Bakuya."
That was when the twins got teary. "KAA–SAAAAAAAN!" The twins cried out as they suddenly hugged her.
"There, there. I'm here." Aqua said soothingly, as she combed both their hair. "It's okay."
I kept on limping into the castle holding my side, still on pain, but I didn't care. I'm not gonna rest 'til I find my daughter.
"Oi, aibou! I know you're determined to meet your daughter but shouldn't you be healing up at the moment?" Kivat asked.
"Pyun, pyun~. Even Brady was surprised from watching you limp around like that." Tatsulot got out, but I ignored it and continued moving forward.
It was then I heard a little discussion between Chrom and a… girl with two long ponytails? And that girl was handing a bag of gold or something to the villager before he ran off somewhere. Chrom then approached her and said, "Is that a ring?"
"It's my ring, and I'll thank you to stop staring so lustily at it!" The girl sneered. "It's worth more than anything in the world to me… That rat Nelson stole it one night while I was sleeping."
"Well, I'm glad you were able to get it back."
"…Hmph." the girl scoffed. I then saw Cordelia approach the girl. "Wh–What do you want?!"
"Just to thank you for helping us. You fought bravely, Severa." Cordelia thanked with a smile. Severa… Wait, that name…! "The name suits you somehow. Oh, where are my manners, I'm–"
"Cordelia, I know." Severa cut in.
"Er, yes, that's…" Cordelia paused and blinked for a moment, looking at the girl while I limped forward, ignoring the pain in my body. "But how did you…? I'm sorry, did I introduce myself before?"
"I guess you must have if I know your name. Ugh…"
"I… I see. Well, thank you all the same, Severa."
"You already said that! And besides, it's not like I did anything special. I was just fighting to get back to get what's rightfully mine."
"Are you referring to that ring?" Cordelia asked while taking a closer look at it and like how any of us meet our future children, she also was surprise. "Oh, goodness. It looks exactly like…" She stopped for a moment until she figured it out what was happening. "Ah, I see. That would explain how you know my name. You're a friend of Lucina's, aren't you?" she asked, only to make Severa slightly nod while looking away. "…And you're my child. Isn't that right?"
That does it. Once Severa didn't make eye contact on her, I tried to advance forward but the throbbing pain made me lean against the wall, up to the point of making me go unconscious, but I held on strong.
"…lonely…" Severa mumbled quietly.
"What was that?" Cordelia asked.
"I said, I thought you'd be lonely, so I came here to see you!" Severa said loudly, but then mumbled, "…You're welcome."
"That's very sweet." Cordelia said.
"D–Don't mock me!" Severa stuttered. "You don't care! You don't care at all…"
"How could you possibly think that? I'm thrilled beyond words to meet you."
"…Then why'd you leave me?" Severa asked as she started to get teary. "You said you had to go off to fight for what really mattered, and you never came back! You picked Chrom over me!"
Cordelia was at a loss for words, thinking about what Severa asked, while I continued to struggle with the pain while Chrom and the few Shepherds are witnessing the mother–daughter confrontation. Cordelia lifted her head and looked at her daughter and said, "You have me at a disadvantage, Severa. I can't answer for my future self." she began. "But when I said I was fighting for what mattered, I probably meant you. I'd want nothing more than to build a world where you could grow up happy and strong. At least, that's what I want right now."
"You think I don't know that…?" Severa paused as she lowered her head. "I mean, I do know that, but…"
Cordelia then sighed and said, "I'm sorry I wasn't a better mother to you."
"Well, you're still MY mother, which makes you the best mother in the world."
"And the luckiest, it seems." Cordelia chuckled. That's when Severa suddenly hugged Cordelia.
"Oh, Mom, I missed you so much!" Severa sobbed. "I… I'm sorry I was so mean… I just… I didn't want to lose you again… Promise you won't leave, okay? Promise!"
"I promise." Cordelia smiled gently as she combed her hair with her hand.
Damn it, I'm gonna be knocked out cold. With the last of my strength, I yelled out my daughter's name.
"SEVERAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The rest of the Shepherds and Riders were surprised from my yell, as they immediately changed their views to me. "What was that?" Kan'shou asked while the twins are in Aqua–chan's embrace.
"Kaa–san, that's Kurogasa–san's voice!" Bakuya exclaimed.
"D–Daddy?" Severa stuttered as she and Cordelia immediately rushed towards my side. "DADDY!"
"KUROGASA!"
"Liz, go help him!" Chrom said to his sister, and she immediately rushed to my side too.
"You're a stubborn one, aibou. Keeping on going like that without healing up first." Kivat sighed.
"DADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDY!" Severa cried out as she ran over to me and suddenly hugged me.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" I cringed.
"S–Sorry!" Severa said as she loosened up. She then held my face with her hands. "Is it you Daddy? Is it really you?"
"If I'm not, I wouldn't be here in the first place…" I tried to joke, but I winced in pain right after that.
"Geez, you took quite a beating." Lissa commented as she pointed her staff at me and started the healing procedure.
"Honestly, Kurogasa. You are reckless at times, even up to the point of not recovering from your injuries." Cordelia sighed.
"Daddy, who beat you up?" Severa asked. "Lemme beat him good for what he did to you!"
"No it's ok. The bad guy's gone for now…" I panted.
"What?!" Severa squawked.
"No use going after Rook now." I said.
"What? Rook was here?!" Lissa gasped.
"That's the reason why you have those bruises on your body, Kurogasa?" Chrom asked worried.
"No wonder that humming sound kept ringing in my ears. It's annoying…" Severa complained.
"Yeah! But don't you worry, we somehow wounded his pride, and not him entirely. I'm sure with this, he'll be thinkin' twice before facing my aibou!" Kivat said as he fluttered in front of me.
"Ara~, ara~, Onii~-chan is bold~." Kiva–la cooed.
"For now, we shall regroup back at Castle Doran and mend everyone's wounds first." Rey-Kivat suggested.
"Pyun, pyun~, we should also go tell those villagers about this too~." Tatsulot suggested.
"Right." Chrom suggested as he got me up and had my arm over my shoulder.
"And when we get back, I want to know all about you Severa." I said.
"Sure Daddy!" Severa chirped.
"Wow… she went from Ms. Snappy to Daddy's Little Girl fast." Akane–chan deadpanned with a sweat drop.
"Yes, the way she treats Cordelia initially is different than how she treats Kurogasa." Sumia nodded.
"For now, we should head back." Lon'qu suggested as he also walked away.
"Come now, children. I also want to know more about you as well." Aqua-chan said with a smile.
"Aye Kaa–san!" Bakuya smiled.
"Aye." Kan'shou smiled too.
"Grr… must… punish myself!" Rook, in human form, groaned in pain while holding his right shoulder as he ventured away from the castle and ended up at an open field, as he spotted a big black bull glaring at him. "COME AT ME!" he shouted, making the bull rush towards him and tackled him down with its horns pierced through his stomach. With a wild swing of its head, Rook ended up falling down and getting trampled by it.
"Hey! Get away from that man!" A hunter shouted before he unleashed a few arrows at the bull, making it go away and leave Rook alone. When the hunter approached him, he kneeled down and said, "Are you alright?"
Rook replied back by holding onto his collar shirt and asked, "Do you know any fun games?"
"Fun games?" the hunter blinked in confusion. "No."
"Then, GO AWAY!" Rook shouted before a pair of fangs drove into the hunter's neck, sucking out his life essence and treated the wound on his stomach and his right shoulder.
"Rook?" a feminine voice asked, which caught his attention and turned out to be Queen, in her Gothic clothing. "What are you doing here?"
"Q–Queen!" Rook stuttered.
"Are you okay?" Queen asked.
"Not… exactly." Rook growled.
"Oh?" Queen asked. "It's quite rare to see you getting hurt like this…"
"Yeah… that Verion guy told me Kiva is getting stronger, along with his sheep, and it looked like it is true, after all." Rook explained.
"Stronger… huh?" Queen smirked. "After two years, they are starting to show good results, huh?"
"Even so, I had to make an escape because my Time Play ended! And getting beaten practically wounded my pride!" Rook growled angrily.
"Hm…" Queen hummed, pondering about this. "Kiva has becoming quite a threat to us Fangires, apart from these traitors…"
"And it makes things even more interesting!" Rook exclaimed as he stood up quickly. "Finally, a worthy challenge and once I meet him again I can finally let loose my monstrous form! I will show him, regarding my True Name!"
"I'm sure you will, Rook." Queen giggled. "For now, you should aid me on finding more of these traitors and probably get an explanation on why you left your post in the first place…"
"Yes, my Queen." Rook said.
Back at Castle Doran, after getting healed up. I was walking down a hallway with my daughter, Severa, trying to learn everything about her. "I've missed you SOO much, Daddy! You have no idea how happy I am right now!" Severa chirped happily while she clung onto my arm, making me slightly blush. Despite that she's my future daughter, my weakness against girls' charms are still in effect and she's really full of it…
"O–Okay, I get it already, Severa…" I got out, trying my best to act as normal as possible.
She looked at me and a cheeky smirk appeared on her face. "Aww~, Daddy's weak point is still on his face~! Even in the future, you still have trouble dealing with it!"
"Even in the future?" I asked incredulously.
"Uh–huh!" Severa chirped.
"Oh man… I thought I'd get over it by now…" I groaned.
"Oh, don't worry! That's what makes you lovable… for me!" Severa said happily before her mood turned sour instantly. "…that is, until Grima invades the whole world…"
"Pardon?" I blinked.
"Daddy…" She began as I felt her grip on my arm getting tighter as she lowered her head. "The world where Lucina and the rest of us kids have to face… it's really dark. There's no hope that we could save ourselves from the apocalypse. Fangires and Risen pop out of nowhere, cleansing the world of the human population. In the end, we had to keep moving, saving any survivors with Castle Doran aiding us."
"Severa…" I muttered looking at her for a while, seeing her body tremble. My fatherly instincts took over as I hugged her, surprising her a bit.
"D–Daddy?"
"You've been through a lot haven't you…?" I began. "You fought your whole life, trying to survive. I'm sorry if I wasn't there for you in the future. You deserved better…"
"…not just you… their parents too… didn't make it, other than Aunt Lissa." she added, as I kept quiet. "You promised me… with Mom… that both of you will return safely. In the end, you and Mom never came back… only Kivat and Tatsulot returned." she said while her grip on my shirt got tighter.
"I see…" I got out.
"Those kids… when they traveled back in time, you have no idea how happy they were meeting with their parents." She said.
"Yeah, and so am I, Severa…" I assured as my hug around her got tighter but more reassuring.
"Huh?"
"To be honest, when I saw the Shepherds meeting up with their children, I couldn't help but feel jealous after seeing them happy. I never knew my real parents as they abandoned me at a young age and stayed with Nee–san after she adopted me."
"I know, Daddy. You told me that when I was young." Severa said.
"And then, one day, I questioned myself: I wonder what mine would look like? And I guess one of the questions have been answered, at least." I smiled. "And I'm glad I met you, Severa. Knowing that you're in front of me, in my embrace, has cleared both mine and Cordelia's doubts. I couldn't help but be happy for it. It's a blessing."
"Oh Daddy…" Severa sobbed as tears streamed out of her eyes and cried on my chest.
"I love you Severa. From now on, I vow as your father that I will never leave you ever again. I vow to make you happy as best as I can…"
"I know you will Daddy… I know you will…"
Meanwhile, Cordelia, Melissa, Kivat, and Tatsulot were watching this from the corner of another hallway, hiding so that they won't be seen. "Looks like a happy family reunion if you ask me." Kivat chuckled. "I'm proud of my aibou!"
"Ara, even though it's sad to hear that otouto still hasn't recovered from his weakness, at the very least, he's trying to make it up with his kindness." Melissa smiled.
"True, Sister." Cordelia nodded. "Now that we have found Severa, we should find my youngest daughter out there."
"Oh~! I just hope she's alright~!" Tatsulot hoped. "She might be on her own~."
"But she's not alone." Cordelia said. "Kivat's son is with her."
"Oh!" Kivat realized.
"Pyun, pyun~, she's right!" Tatsulot said.
"Sokka!" Kivat perked up. "She's the bearer of Kiva! I forgot about that!"
"There are things where we tend to forget about…" Melissa sweat dropped.
"I don't blame you, sister–in–law." Cordelia said. "To be honest, I almost forgot about it too… until I recalled what Kurogasa mentioned when we first talked about it."
"Well, we better get to searching for more kids then~!" Tatsulot said before flying off.
"O–Oi, chotto matte Taa–chan!" Kivat cried out, before following him.
"Ara, things are livelier with more people we pick up." Melissa commented.
"Yes, I have to agree with you, Melissa." Cordelia smiled while looking at the antics of Kivat and Tatsulot flying all over the place, which goy both Kurogasa and Severa's attention.
Inside Aqua's room, she and Lon'qu shared a kiss before they parted ways at the door. She decided to hit the hay after the whole battle she faced today. "I'm glad to have met my children. Who would have thought that I would have twins in the future?" She pondered to herself while placing her boomerangs into the drawers. Just as she was about to get into her bed, she noticed a lump underneath the blanket. "Huh?" Aqua blinked. When she removed the blanket, the person she saw was Bakuya, all curled up on the bed and probably waiting for her. "Bakuya? Why are you here?"
"Konbanwa, Kaa–san…" Bakuya greeted.
"What are you doing here?" Aqua asked again.
"I… wanna sleep with you tonight, Kaa–san… if you don't mind."
"I don't see a problem here." Aqua got out, which made Bakuya's face brighten up.
"Hontou ni?" Bakuya asked excited.
"How could I say no? This is a good way to learn more about each other, don't you think?" Aqua replied back.
"Arigatou, Kaa–san!" Bakuya said, hugging her mother.
"No problem." Aqua smiled. "Now scoot over. We got a lot to talk about."
Phew! After lengthy chapter done! Finally, after a while Kurogasa and Cordelia finally met one of their daughters! Let's hope that meeting their other one is just as rewarding! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, review!
