A/N WELCOME my people to PART 2 of this story, let us all start this off on a good note! I hope that as more of this part of the story is developed that you guys will love it just as much the first portion. The characters I have planned to be introduced should be good, and I also have a lot of good plot stuff to introduce, so just you wait guys.

Also, I probably should have said this in the A/N for the last chapter, I have the pages for Lucena, Selena and Juno up on the wiki, so you guys should go check them out and see their appearances. Personally, I like Lucena among all the rest. Leave a fav and review.


A Different Path

- Part 2: Ancient Resurgence -


Chapter 49 - Freak Occurrence

"You...you have all fallen into the darkness of ignorance...You accursed beings...I will exterminate you all..."

- Northern Territory, Cycladic Glacier Shelf -

"Move forward! Their defensive line is about to break!"

"I'll cover you! Massen Hagelsprung!"

Lucena hurled her arm down and flung five gigantic columns of ice down towards the ring of defensive emplacements surrounding an expansive fortress built atop of a frozen tundra consisting of several large glaciers known collectively as the Cycladic Glacier Shelf. Currently they were at the last stronghold in control of one of the big factions vying for control over the Northern territory and its tribes, one who was led by those who favored a political system that could not and should not stand in order too protect the people. So to bring peace back to the troubled lands, the Empire had stepped in and joined the side led by a prominent clan named the Frost Dragons, who preached justice and peace for the people.

Lucena smirked when her overwhelming attack completely annihilated the first line of defense for their enemies, and to add only insult to injury she spotted Selena leap ahead of their soldiers and allies with a pair of phoenix wings blazing with blue fire hovering inches away from her back.

"Unyielding God: Gungnir...Arthur your certainly outdid yourself on creating it as well as the other two new Teigu." thought Lucena as she soared back to the frozen ground and cloaked herself in Tyrannus, her wings of ice becoming blades that she cut through the enemy soldiers like paper.

"Helios Rise!" bellowed Selena before grasping her spear with two hands and sweeping it to the side, creating a massive wave of blue fire that washed over a crowd of enemy defends, seemingly killing them by reducing them to ash.

However, the flames produced by Gungnir were special in that instead of burning and scorching anything unfortunate enough to be caught by them, it freezes them on the spot in extraordinarily cold ice. It was a fitting tool for the one named "Ice Phoenix", and she was already reputed as a strong Teigu user even though she had yet to utilize the Teigu's Trump Card.

"Great General! They just unveiled a fresh batch of reinforcements from previously unknown holding areas built into the glacier! We're being surrounded!" shouted a soldier close by to Lucena, her head whipping back and her eyes widening when she saw the large force of soldiers pushing up on her and Selena's army from the rear.

"I'll handle them. Captain, maintain focus on pushing to take the fortress!" she ordered before she spread out her ice wings and barrel towards the enemy force, the tattoo on her chest beginning to glow when she tapped into Demon's Extract.

She came to a screeching halt several meters before the first few men rushing toward her and laughed as she thrust her arm up to the sky, index finger pointed straight out, and focused all of her energy into the tiniest focal point possible at the tip of her finger.

"Arctic World!"

A bright blue light flashed from her finger before a huge crystal of ice manifested mere inches above it and launched up high into the sky, the oncoming enemy force hesitating in their charge to watch it rise higher and higher. All of a sudden the crystal began to rapidly expand and form curves, slowly transforming into a literal planetoid of ice many times larger then even the largest column of ice formed by Lucena's Hagelsprung. It was so large in cast a shadow across the entire glacier shelf, plunging it into darkness when the planet of Ice blocked out the morning sun, and with looks of horror painted on their faces they stared at Lucena as she unfurled the rest of the fingers on her extended hand and flung it back towards the ground.

The ice planetoid began to move at breakneck speed, its immense size pushing away the clouds in the sky on its collision course with the glacier. Lucena gave a little salute to the men standing in front of her before she quickly left the area to return to her men and inform them to brace themselves for what was coming. A few moments later the entire glacier ice shelf rumbled and shook like the end of the world had just commenced when the huge ball of ice struck its mark and utterly devastated the surrounding area.

"You just had to use that technique, didn't you?" asked Selena of her sister with a frown on her face, Lucena giving her a carefree grin and a light chuckle.

"I had to use it at least once." she replied.

Selena rolled her eyes and let out a sigh before the two sisters continued their assault of the fortress, the number of enemies opposing them diminishing faster and faster until were able to penetrate the fortress itself and make their way towards the nerve center of the entire operation in the throne room.

However the sisters were both surprised that upon bursting in through the throne room doors they discovered that the ruthless leaders of the enemy factions had already been dispatched off, and standing in the middle of the room with a familia sword at her side was the culprit herself.

"Would've been nice if you had done that sooner, Hikari." remarked Lucena with a grin as she deactivated Tyrannus and slid the key into its sheath, Selena doing the same with Gungnir and dissipating the flaming phoenix wings as they watched the young woman with the sword turn towards them and give them both a warm smile.

"Hey Selena, Lucena. It's good to see you guys again." said Hikari, the daughter of Wave and Akame, before putting Murasame back in its sheath and striding over to them.

Hikari was a young woman, a year younger then they were, with all black hair save for the bang hanging down over the middle of his face being navy blue that she tied into a ponytail with a blue ribbon that reached down to her thighs. She also had hair antennae, two side-locks that reached her chest and a bust that was second only to Lucena's. She was quite slender with somewhat thin limbs and a flat abdomen, and from her father she inherited his striking blue eyes and caring smile. However her manner of dress she got from her mother, she wore a white, black and red school-type uniform with thigh-high stockings, black shoes with a red outline, and around her neck she wore the very same scarf with the anchor patch on it that Wave wore when he was younger.

She hugged both Lucena and Selena before they walked out of the throne room, their mission at the fortress and Cycladic Glacier Shelf now completed. The Civil War that had consumed the Northern Territory had finally been brought to an end, and when the three returned with their allies to the largest city within the territory, Glacias, they were treated as honored guests and heroes.

When they were finally able to escape from the crowds to the camps their armies had constructed just outside the city, the three were able to breath easy and unwind their limbs and nerves.

"Oh thank god...I can finally hear myself think…" muttered Lucena after plopping herself down into a chair within their shared command tent, both Selena and Hikari nodding in agreement.

"When do we head back to the capital again?" asked Hikari while Selena began to remove her armor and Lucena tossed her cap onto a nearby cot.

"Probably in the next couple of days, since we have to stay and ensure that the new government being formed to unite the tribes under one flag doesn't encounter any problems." replied Selena as she set aside her shoulder pauldrons and started to strip off the other portions. "So while we're waiting, we might as well enjoy ourselves and relax."

Selena finished taking off her armor and the basic clothing she wore underneath before briefly crossing the interior of the tent without any clothes on to the other side, bending down so that she could reach under her cot for the spare clothing she kept beneath it.

Lucena couldn't help but smirk and said with a snicker, "Nice ass and tits Sis."

She glanced back at her with a blank expression before she slipped on a pair of grey panties and pulled a light blue t-shirt over her head to cover her breasts. Then she plopped down onto the cot and made a motion with her hand to shoo her and Hikari out of the tent while letting out a yawn.

"I'm going to sleep, you two do whatever you want. Just not here…" she said before rolling over onto her side and drifting off into a deep sleep.

Lucena glanced at Hikari and she shrugged as she got up from her chair and left the tent with her to pursue another method of relaxation if they wouldn't be able to there. To pass the time and to think of a way Lucena and her walked throughout the large camp, greeting the soldiers serving under her and Selena and thanking them for helping them.

When they left a grouping of men sharing laughs and stories with one another an idea immediately popped into Hikari's mind and she grabbed Lucena's hand while smiling from cheek to cheek, "I know what we can do! I heard that there's a really nice bathhouse in the city that uses mineral water. What do you think?"

"That sounds wonderful! Let's go!" said Lucena before she grabbed Hikari and without warning leaped into the air so as to form a horse of ice underneath her legs that she used to ride up towards the city.

It only took them a few minutes to reach the foretold bathhouse and they were admitted almost instantly, being led by one of the staff members there to a bath separated from the rest. Hikari shut the door of the entrance room that also acted as the changing room and locked it, turning back and immediately blushing heavily at the sight of Lucena removing her uniform and revealing her white bra that seemed to just barely contain her breasts.

Hikari quickly turned away to start removing her own clothes when Lucena looked over at her, and she giggled because of the reaction "You know you don't have to avert your gaze like that any more. One because we're both girls, and two, you do remember the promise that we made, right?"

"Yeah, I know." replied Hikari with a sigh after she unclipped her skirt and threw it into a container bin alongside the ribbon for her hair. "But still, I can't help myself…"

Lucena smiled when she removed her shirt and unclipped the straps around her wrists that contained the hidden blades she kept underneath the sleeves, her status as an assassin showing itself again. Lucena then took off her heeled stockings and slipped off her panties, putting them both into a basket for her stuff before reaching around her back to unclip her bra strap.

She let out a sigh of relief when her breasts were freed from the confines of the bra and stretched her back a little, Hikari's eyes unconsciously gravitating to them just like Lucena had expected.

"Well, let me remind you of that promise."

Lucena, who was now utterly nude, then turned to face Hikari and she leaned forward a little to grab onto one of her free hands with her own and bring it back towards her. Hikari's cheeks turned a bright shade of red when Lucena placed her hand gently on her left breast, the steady beat of her heart resonating through the soft mound of flesh and through her fingertips.

"I promised you that my body and my heart would belong only to you…"

"And mine yours." finished Hikari with a smile, Lucena laughing before she let go of her hand and walked out through a second door into the steaming pool just outside the changing room.

Hikari finished undressing and joined Lucena in the water, which was at such the perfect temperature that as soon as she submerged herself up to base of her neck she felt all of her stress just melt away.

"Definitely a good idea to come here...this warmth is so much better then the cold outside…" she said, Lucena slowly nodding her head in agreement.

They sat there next to one another in silence for a minute before Hikari leaned her head to the right and rested it on Lucena's shoulder, the Great General glancing down at her and the expression of happiness on her face. She kissed her on the forehead and when Hikari took the bait by lifting up her head, she moved in and planted a passionate kiss on the lips that caused a flame to spontaneously ignite within her heart.

Instead of letting her move away she put a hand on Lucena's cheek and kept her in place so that she could return the kiss and keep it alive for a few more moments, only drawing apart afterwards when each had often their fill. Hikari then lowered her gaze and dropped her head down while Lucena leaned her back up against the edge of the pool, her breasts rising up out of the water.

"You're so cute...like a baby…" said Lucena when Hikari took one of her breasts in hand and began to suck on the nipple, gently swirling her tongue over the nub.

Lucena whimpered a little in pleasure, but with a mischievous grin she maneuvered her hand between Hikari's thighs and rubbed the folds of her sex with her index and middle finger a few times. Hikari gasped a little when she felt Lucena's fingers slip past her entrance and start to massage her inner walls sensually, the assassin retaliating by switching to Lucena's other breast and biting softly on the nipple with her teeth.

"H-Hey, ease up there…" she murmured with a stutter, Hikari glancing up at her and grinning slightly before she bit the nipple again while she flicked it with her tongue. "S-Stop that, those are s-sensitive…ah!"

Meanwhile, back at camp, Selena was deep within the recesses of her mind, enjoying a pleasant dream of hers before all of a sudden she was awoken with a start by a deafening roar. She instantly knew what kind of creature could make such a spine-tingling shriek and flew into action, grabbing Gungnir and disregarding the fact she still only wore a t-shirt and panties she sprinted out of the tent.

Blue flames consumed her entire body and she flew up into the air cloaked in a sleeveless black robe with flames wrapping around the hemline, her phoenix wings taking her across the camp to the side facing away from the city where she saw a displeasing sight, to say the least. An immense horde of Danger Beasts of all sizes were coming straight for them, and she was glad to see her men as well as Lucena's were already engaging them to try and thin out their numbers until she arrived.

"Thanks for holding them off! I'll take it from here!" she announced upon hitting the snow covered dirt before their line, her grip around Gungnir tightening as she raised the spear high above her head. "Arctic Fall!"

Selena stabbed Gungnir's tip into the ground and several massive pillars of fire erupted to life around her in a semi-circle, the blue fire immediately freezing a split second later into solid columns of ice that she then cut down at the base and sent them toppling over down onto the rampaging Danger Beasts. The ones caught underneath the immense weight of the ice were crushed instantly, but still they kept coming like the mindless creatures they were regardless of the brutal death of their brethren.

The soldiers behind Selena continued to fire at them with their rifles, being extra sure to not hit their General as she flew into the fray with Gungnir, cutting them down left and right. All of a sudden all of the Danger Beasts suddenly gained a mind of their own and began to move like an actual army of humans, retreating away from her upon recognizing her as a dangerous target. They changed positions and began to encircle her, the weaker ones proceeding to assault the camp's defenses while the larger and more strong Danger Beasts remained to fight Selena with tooth and claw.

"What is going on here?! These things can't possibly have enough intelligence to organize themselves!" she thought in total bafflement when she cleaved a wolf-like Danger Beast in half after it had lunged at her.

The deafening roar she heard earlier echoed out from beyond some snowy hills set away from the camp by at least a hundred meters, and Selena growled when a Danger Beast larger then any of the ones currently surrounding her emerged from behind them and glared at her with not one pair of eyes, but three.

The Danger Beast's three heads sat atop three long necks heavily armored with thick scales that connected with its body just above the shoulders. Protecting its chest and arms were thick scales and a layer of ice that formed spiked armor, and extending out from all four of its feet were razor-sharp claws that were also tipped in ice. Each head also possessed a large amount of ice that created a set of four horns for each just above the eyes, the ice then conjoining together into a shell that completely covered its back like a turtle, a long spiked tail protruding out from its backside completing its unorthodox appearance.

Selena was totally awestruck by the drastic difference in appearance between the Danger Beasts she's seen and whatever being this thing was, but she didn't have long to try and discover its origins when it reared back on its hind legs and smashed its front feet into the ground before charging right at her.

She took to the skies to avoid being rammed by the Danger Beast's three heads, but was caught off guard when the center head followed her up and unleashed a torrential spray of ice that looked like slush. Selena met the Danger Beast's attack by creating a stream of her own freezing fire, but to her shock the creature's ice began to trump her's in strength and overwhelm it, forcing her to quickly fly away to revise her strategy.

That's when she remembered her allies on the ground, and with a split-second decision she moved her focus away from the giant hydra-like Danger Beast and reared back with Gungnir, the spear tip becoming engulfed in blue fire as she took aim.

"Ignis Weiser!" she bellowed, her aim staying true when she lobbed Gungnir down towards the ground right into the center of the Danger Beast horde.

The spear, as soon as it hit the dirt and snow, unleashed a dome of ice fire that consumed every single Danger Beast around it and froze them all in blocks of ice. With the threat to her men and Lucena's men now gone, she swooped down to retrieve her Teigu before returning her attention to the hydra creature she could only assume was a Super-class due to its size and strength.

"What kind of Danger Beast is this thing? Spitting ice out like it was fire?! I've never even heard of that!"

"Grauhorn!"

In the midst of her thinking she had been totally oblivious to her surroundings and whipped her head around to see that Lucena and Hikari had returned to the camp, and with a grin on her face the Great General warded off the hydra-like Danger Beast by ramming a horn of ice into the crest covering its chest and knocked it back a few meters.

"We got here as fast as we could after we heard those roars! Give me a rundown of what's happened!" yelled Lucena up to her sister, Selena flying down towards her and touching down softly on her bare feet next to her and Hikari with a frown on her face.

"While you two were gone a massive horde of Danger Beasts suddenly attacked us, and while at first they were acting like the normal mindless creatures they are, they suddenly organized themselves and actually split themselves up in order to try and deal with me and our soldiers at the same time."

"Like an actual army?" questioned Hikari.

Selena nod her head once before she pointed with her finger at the Super-class Danger Beast, which by now had recovered from the blow Lucena had dealt to it and was now glaring at them menacingly. "Then that thing appeared. I've never seen something like this before, and what's even stranger is that instead of breathing fire it actually breathes out ice."

"That is strange." replied Lucena with a concerned tone before she manifested her own pair of wings out of ice and grinned, the key for Tyrannus already in the palm of her hand. "But it won't matter now that we're here. Let's go Selena, Hikari!"

"Right!"

- Corinth, Capital of Tessa, Western Nations -

"Report!"

"Hostile Danger Beasts are surrounding us from all sides! There numbers are thinning, but they also seem be organizing themselves to counter this change!"

"Hmm...interesting…"

Corinth was in the midst of a siege by a horde of Danger Beasts, and the person in charge of its defense was standing atop the wall built to protect it with his arms behind his back, his second-in-command at his side. The man was dressed in nearly all black save for the thick fire-resistant wool-like undershirt he wore, with a black jacket, black gloves and black boots, as well as a black kama kept around his waist with a brown belt. Over his shoulders rested a black cloak held together with a clip reminiscent of ball of flame located just above the right shoulder, and covering the entirety of his head and face was a black helmet that possessed two red-stained eyeholes that allowed the man to see.

"And that thing, do we have any information on it?" asked the man while motioning with a head nod to the giant mole-like Danger Beast present behind the horde directly in front of him.

The creature had six legs, each tipped with four claws, and protruding from its "face" were two drill-like tusks that hid its real mouth behind their large size. Dead tree branches and blue moss covered its body, mainly on top of its back, and located within this jumbled mess of plants was a large purple bulb that pulsated with every movement the Danger BEast made, implying that something was definitely inside of it.

"None sir, we've never encountered something like this." replied the man's second-in-command.

"Very well. I'll deal with these threats at once."

The man with the helmet suddenly leaped from the wall while simultaneously unwrapping the golden chain that was coiled up and hanging from a clip on his belt, the fairly large dagger built into the chain's tip glinting in the sun as he flew right for the center of the mass of Danger Beats threatening the city.

"Heavenly Impact!" he bellowed as he threw the blade tip down into the crowd, the dagger digging into the dirt enough so that he could pull himself down at rapid speed while also extending his right foot out.

Golden flames came to life around the base of his foot a split second before he hit the ground, an explosion of fire shooting outward in all directions that incinerated any Danger Beasts caught in the blast radius while the shockwave pushed back all the rest. He recoiled the chain back into his right hand just when the first Danger Beast to recover lunged at him, the man swinging around and wrapping the chain around its neck before tugging it hard, breaking the creature's neck instantly and freeing him to attack the next opponent.

"Capoeira Inferno!" he called out as he let more of the chain's length free from his grasp, the portion he wasn't touching igniting itself with the same golden fire from before.

He switched from twisting around on his feet and to his hands, the movements similar to a strange dance with elements of acrobatics in it, and grinned under his helmet as the flaming chain ripped through any Danger Beast brave enough to venture close with ease. He suddenly stopped and leaped into the air off of his right hand, lunging out with his right hand to throw the chain like a rope-dart and stab the blade end directly into the forehead of a nearby lizard Danger Beast.

He pulled himself to it and began another slaughter of the creatures, performing the same devastating techniques with the golden fire until all that remained was the unknown Super-class waiting for him at the crest of a nearby hill.

"Let's see what you're made of!" thought the man as he wrapped up the chain and began to stroll calmly towards it, each step he took burning the grass at his feet because of the golden fire being secreted from the soles of his boots.

The beast let out a low toned growl the closer the man got, the fires raging around becoming more intense with each step until finally the Danger Beast crouched down and shrieked. The bulb atop its back suddenly burst similar to how a flower would bloom, a massive cloud of dark purple pollin exploding out in a mushroom-cloud fashion before washing over the landscape and consuming the man within it.

"Even if this is some kind of toxin, my helmet and mask protects me from this easily." he thought as he leaped out of the cloud to spot where the Danger Beast was, but to his surprise her only found a hole where it once was.

"Bah, it must've burrowed itself away. At least the threat to the city is gonna, however." he said with slight irritation before returning the chain to his belt and sighing. "I'll need to report this to Mom and Dad."

- Glacies, Northern Territory -

Lucena growled when the hydra-like Danger Beast used one of its heads to bash through the ice wall she had created, the creature roaring from all three as it blew out three streams of ice at her. She avoided them easily and dove right for its left shoulder at the same time as Selena prepared to used Gungnir on the wound they had inflicted to its left leg earlier with Hikari since they could now touch its flesh through its armor.

The beast was about to retaliate against the two sisters and assassin before a presence entered its mind and gave it an order it could not disobey. "Skessa, retreat."

The Danger Beast suddenly reared back on its hind legs and smashed its front feet on the ground again, very nearly crushing Selena and Hikari, and then used its tail to bash aside Lucena before she could get close. The beast growled and snarled as if it were pain for a few moments before the ice shell on its back shattered, revealing two wings that unfolded out and began to flap vigorously in order to lift the creature off the ground.

Then, to ensure it wasn't followed, it sprayed on a layer of ice over top its fallen opponents to trap them beneath it temporarily while it made its hasty escape from the area. When it vanished out of sight into an approaching snowstorm, Lucena broke her way out of the ice sheet with brute strength and helped Selena and Hikari out, the three scanning the surrounding landscape for any sign of their opponent before looking at each other in confusion.

"What was that all about? First it attacks us and then it retreats?" questioned Hikari, Lucena and Selena shrugging their shoulders.

"I have no idea, but what I do know is that we need to head back to the Imperial Capital as soon as possible." replied Selena, a nod of agreement coming from Lucena as she crossed her arms and frowned.

"Considering what just happened, I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that tells me this wasn't just some random freak occurrence."