Note: Hello, all. Here is the next chapter. This semester is a heavy as hell. Reading homework has me sleeping until about 2 in the morning plus I work most days. So yeah. Work in the day and class in the evening.


Chapter 18

Francisco, Ellen, and Kaoru finally made it to the Special Sword Administration Bureau in Kamakura City. It was already night when they arrived. To Ellen and Kaoru's surprise, they were greeted by Kanami, Mai, Hiyori, and Sayaka in Yukari's office.

"Look! It's everyone!" Ellen exclaimed. It seemed like forever since she saw them even though it's been a little less than a day.

"Ellen! Kaoru! How are you two and who's this?" Kanami asked. She was always happy to have the group together but there was now an extra person in their group.

"This is Fra-" Ellen managed to say before Francisco cut her off by putting his arm in front of her.

"Name's Francisco. I'm here because you're all about to be in some serious shit. I'm sure you've heard of MacArthur by now," Francisco said.

The language on this one, Suzuka thought. She was standing on Yukari's left side with Maki on the right.

"We have. According to Ellen's grandfather, you're one of the six he has at his side. So what are you doing here?" Hiyori asked that question with an accusing tone.

"Was. That fucker nearly got me killed. He's done things not worth mentioning. I became concerned when I heard he was coming here."

"So what are your plans?" Yukari asked after a close observation of Francisco's eyes. It was interesting to her that someone who was infected with a virus was in the same room as her.

"I'm here to put an end to him. I hope I can count on you all. I'll just go ahead and say it. I'm infected with the Omni virus so I have an edge here."

Sayaka walked over to Francisco and pulled on his sleeve. "How does the virus feel?"

"Oh. I honestly don't feel any different. The thing is that these hurt to pull out," Francisco said as he clenched his fists to bring the claws out.

Everyone slightly jumped at the sight of his claws while Yukari remained unfazed. He quickly put the claws away after seeing their reactions.

Another ability that depends entirely on the genes of the individual. That is the ability to generate claws, Mai thought back to the conversation they had with Ellen's grandfather.

There was a loud beep that came from the intercom located in the corner of the room near the left side of the door.

"Yukari! Yukari! We're under attack! I repeat! We're-" the voice of a man said before getting cut off. The sirens went off.

Kanami felt a lump in her throat when she thought that MacArthur was now beginning his attack.

"Attacked by who?" Yukari asked the intercom.

A voice came from the intercom before it got cut off again. All they heard was, "Tagitsuhime!"

Everyone had a look of despair and fear. How is she back?! How was she brought back from the netherworld? Did MacArthur have anything to do with this?

"We sealed her away in the netherworld! How is she back?!" Hiyori yelled.

"You did not, little hatchling. At least not yet, supposedly," Tagitsuhime said after smashing the doors open.

"At least not yet." What does that mean?, Kanami thought.

There she was. Tagitsuhime was standing there. The monster they sealed away was back. Kanami, Hiyori, Ellen, Kaoru, Mai, Sayaka, Maki, and Suzuka all pulled out their okatanas and activated Utsushi. Francisco stepped aside.

"This is for saving the little lovebirds that night, Yukari Origami," with that, Tagitsuhime lunged towards Yukari.

She was intercepted by Maki and Suzuka who pushed her back. Ellen took the initiative to fight Tagitsuhime and Kaoru followed after her. The other four then followed and it was a six-on-one fight. Every single one of them was coming in all sorts of directions. Tagitsuhime was still faster than all of them. The aradama princess brought them all down in a fight that didn't last fifteen seconds.

"You're all pathetic," Tagitsuhime said with that same coldness in her voice. "It looks like you have yourselves another ally. Who are you?"

"Francisco. They're practically my allies. Yes. You fuck with them, you fuck with me," Francisco said as he pulled his claws out. He wasn't risking any stray bullets. Yukari signaled for Maki and Suzuka to stand back.

"No... Don't," Mai pleaded while on the ground but he did not listen to her.

"She's going to kill you!" Hiyori yelled to him.

"Going against Tagitsuhime like that. What an idiot," Kaoru said.

"Oh my. Looks like you want to fight me too," Tagitsuhime said with glee.

"That's right. Come at me you little shit."

Tagitsuhime dashed towards Francisco and tried to strike him with both of her okatanas. He countered her strike with his claws and tried to stab her face with all his force. The aradama princess quickly moved out of the way. When she saw the split-second opening after dodging Francisco's attack, she went for the strike. At that moment, Francisco completely disappeared and reappeared right behind her. He tried to stab her in the back but Tagitsuhime dodged. Something he didn't know was that she was able to see into the future.

"He can teleport?!" Hiyori exclaimed after witnessing his disappearance and sudden reappearance.

"You're good. I'll give you that. I was brought here by some machine. I was greeted by a man in a military uniform."

"MacArthur," Francisco said.

Yukari was trying to piece together where Tagitsuhime came from and how she managed to get here. The phrases, "Not yet" and "brought here by some machine" rung in her head. Why did her payback involve that night where Kanami rescued Hiyori and why not when she was sealed away? She did say "not yet", though. Something she was kind of keeping a secret was that she was studying the relationship between time and the netherworld. Her interest came from the incident where the two young Toji became trapped in it for a few months. Can it be controlled?

She figured it out.

"Tagitsuhime! Everyone!" Yukari yelled as she quickly stood up.

"What do you want, castoff?"

"I think I have discovered something. This Tagitsuhime is not the same one you sealed away months ago," Yukari stated.

"Not the same one? What do you mean?" Ellen asked with a confused expression.

"Yes. What do you mean?" Suzuka asked. This was something unheard of to her.

"Are you saying there are two Tagitsuhimes?" Hiyori asked.

"Like another split?" Sayaka and Kanami asked at the same time.

"No. The same Tagitsuhime. From two different times."

"Two different times? What the hell does that mean?" Kaoru questioned.

"This aradama princess came from that night where Etou rescued Juujou. Simply put, she arrived here through time travel. Something MacArthur managed to do."

"Time travel?" Mai asked scared.

Oddly, this conversation was enough to keep Tagitsuhime interested.

"Wait. There's still something I'm not getting," Maki said.

"What is it?" Yukari asked without looking at her direction.

"If Tagitsuhime was brought here from the past, then why hasn't anything changed? Isn't it a rule that changing anything in the past changes the future?"

Kanami shook her head in agreement.

"I've been doing research. I've seen reports upon reports about this. This interest came from that incident where Etou and Juujou became trapped in the netherworld. I found that time travel does not work the way you think it does. Changing the past does not change the future."

"My head's starting to hurt. Can you elaborate?" Hiyori asked as she put her hand to her temple.

Yukari rolled over the white board that was located on the side to the front. She grabbed a marker and drew a line that ran from the left side of the board to the right. She marked the halfway point with an "x" and labeled it "A". She then put another "x" at the very right and marked that point "B".

"Point 'A' marks the events of that night. Point 'B' is where we are now. I can assume this happened. Tagitsuhime was pulled out of that night in point 'A' and brought to where we are now in point 'B'."

"Okay, then. What happens to the timeline if she was pulled out?" Francisco asked.

Yukari drew a slanted line from point 'A' and then made it run parallel to the original line.

"It created a new reality defined by the new line I drew. A reality where Tagitsuhime no longer exists. One where she disappeared without a trace. In that new timeline, what I feel should be met with celebration because of her disappearance is probably replaced by that of confusion in all parts of Japan."

"How do we reverse that? That sounds frightening," Mai commented.

"Tagitsuhime must be returned to her original time. Only then will the new reality disappear," Yukari answered.

"I'm not going back. Knowing that you will seal me away, why would I want to go back?" Tagitsuhime said with a smirk.

"What did that man promise you?" Francisco asked.

"He told me he'd do everything in his power to help me achieve my goal."

"That's bullshit. Yeah he'll help you achieve that but you don't know if he'll kill you right after. He'd say something along the lines of, 'I helped you achieve your dream. I never said I'd keep you alive any longer than that.'"

"What are you getting at?" Tagitsuhime asked with a snarl.

"He raised me. He's basically my father in a way. I know all the shit he pulls. He doesn't really lie but yeah."

The aradama princess simply turned around and tried to walk away. When Francisco tried to reach for her, she pulled out an okatana and tried to strike him. He countered her with the claws on his left hand.

Guards soon came rushing in and aimed their weapons at Tagitsuhime.

"Don't move!" yelled one of them.

"Wait!" Francisco disappeared and reappeared in front of Tagitsuhime to act as a shield. He turned to her, "What will it be?"


Note: There's that chapter. I think there are about three chapters left of this story. There might be less. I don't know. I'll see when I write again. I hope the explanation for time travel was clear. Maybe it might be a bit of a stretch that Yukari knows this but oh well.