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Legendary Aces

Chapter 32: Reunited


When history witnesses a great change, Razgriz reveals itself, first as a dark demon.
As a demon, it uses its power to rain death upon the land, and then it dies.
However, after a period of slumber, Razgriz returns, this time, as a great hero.
After it restores peace, Razgriz departs, living only in memory as a legend.


-Cipher-

Oured, the White House
0645hrs. 31 December 2010

"Yo, buddy... still alive? We have a special delivery for you," I immediately recognized that voice. It was Larry!

"I bet I know what it is," I said.

We were all waiting in the large yard of the White House when the helicopter landed. Zen stepped out first, and shortly after...

"Grandma!" A girl jumped out of the helicopter, ran over to us, and jumped into my arms. Another girl and a boy a few years younger followed.

I looked up at Zen and mouthed, "Well done." He only nodded in response.

"Dad!" the boy said having ran up to his father next me.

That was the real reason why Grendel came to help. Grendel 1, callsign Daelron, led his team here to fight not for the sake of the world, but for the sake of his children. Real name Doran Maya, a prince of Nordennavic, husband of Kye, and father of three.

"Hey, Kiddo," he said. "I'm glad you're safe."

"They're...?" Yami mumbled as she and the others gathered around.

"Yes."

"Dad, where's Mom?" the first girl asked.

"She'll be along soon." Doran cleared his throat. "Ahem."

The three children stood at attention.

"Introduce yourselves."

All three nodded. Most of us didn't need any such introductions, but a few present had never met them: President Harling, Pops, and Genette.

The black haired girl spoke first and with great confidence. "I'm Rei Akari, eleven years old."

The blonde haired girl spoke second, but sounded bored. "Joey Maya, eleven years old. Uh... we're fraternal twins." She pointed at Rei.

The crimson haired boy spoke last. "Akira Akari, eight years old."

"My name is Vincent Harling," the President said. "I'm a friend of your mother."

They nodded at him and looked at Pops next, but he didn't get a chance to say anything. In the midst of the introduction, the fighter pilots had landed and made their way to the front yard where everyone was gathered. I watched them walking toward us, and as soon as Kye caught a glimpse of the kids, she broke out in a dead sprint.

"Mom!" Rei ran toward Kye, who came to a sliding stop on her knees and scooped Rei up in her arms in a single motion.

"Did she just say Mom?" Nagase asked.

"Oh, Rei sweetie. I'm so glad you're okay." Kye kissed the girl's forehead and pulled her into a tight hug. Tears were running down her face. "I was so worried about you."

Joey stood back, but Akira ran up and joined Rei.

"Did I miss something?" Snow asked.

"I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you," Kye cried.

"It's okay, Mom," Rei said. "We're okay now."

Kye started examining both their bodies for scratches and bruises. "Are you hurt anywhere? Did they do anything to you?"

"No, Mom," Rei said. "They didn't do anything to me. I'm okay!"

"Yeah, we're fine, Mom," Akira said.

"As promised," Zen said.

Kye looked up at him and mouthed, "Thank you."

"There's something else."

Kye looked up and saw a man in his thirties standing next to Zen. There was nothing special about him. He was average in size and had short brown hair.

"Who are you?" Kye asked.

"Not here," Zen said.

"Well, whatever," Kye said as she returned her attention to the children.

"Mom, who are those two?" Rei asked, pointing at Pops and Genette.

"Those are very good friends of mine," she replied. "The older one is Pops. He's one of my teachers. And the younger one is Genette. He's the one who wrote about us. The Four Wings of Sand Island."

"You wrote that?"

Genette nodded.

"You all must be tired," the President said. "Why don't we go inside? I've had rooms prepared for everyone. You should all rest. We can talk later."

Kye looked up at him and nodded.


Kye, Doran, and the children separated from the rest of us and went to a room to rest. It had been a long time since they were able to be together as a family, and they more than deserved it. Kye's teammates were each given rooms to rest in as well. Zen demanded the rest of us hold a meeting with the mystery man he brought back with him.

"I want to apologize," the man said. "It is my fault those children ended up in the hands of the Grey Men."

In an instant, he had everyone's full attention.

"I am the one that kidnapped her from the transport plane and..."

The man's voice trailed off and he looked around. He was very nervous, afraid.

"Go on..." I said.

"I..." he struggled with his words. "I'll be executed for what I've done."

"You'll receive a fair trial under Osean law," the President said.

"That's not what I meant. There's no escaping my employer. This person can get me anywhere. The only reason I'm not already dead is because he wanted a conversation with all of you."

"How would-"

"With hologram communications," he said.

"That's advanced," I said. "Even Paragon has only been using that for a few years now."

The man took off his wrist watch and placed it on the table. The watch glowed and produced a hologram of a man wearing a grey faceless mask. The hologram looked around.

"The Razgriz girl is missing," he said.

"This is quite a brazen approach," the President said. "You are?"

"Call me the Grey Ghost."

He looked at me, then Allison. "The Demon Lord and the Grim Reaper. After all these years, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I suppose this is where I should say that you've aged well, but I know better. The Atlantean gene you carry is quite nice, isn't it?"

"What do you want?"

"What don't I want?" He chuckled. "What I want will remain a secret for now. But, I like to stay entertained. With the war over, entertainment will be in short supply. I wonder how long until the next one?"

"Why do you crave war?" Allison asked.

"Why do you crave the sky?" he countered. "Why does a babe crave a mother's embrace? I crave more than simply war. War itself is no more than the opening act. I want the main event. It's a pity the Legend of Razgriz isn't here. I would have liked to hear her thoughts on it all."

"You're sick and twisted," I said. "You call war nothing but an opening act? You speak like a boy who has never known the horror of war."

"Perhaps. Or perhaps I speak as one who has seen more war than all of you combined. But who knows? Whatever the case, something is coming and you lot will be a part of it. Do pass on a message to the Razgriz girl and Grendel boy. Tell them it was I who ordered the capture of their children and that they are welcome to seek their justice if they can find me. I'd also like them to know that while I did order their capture, I also ordered them to be kept safe for the duration. I do not condone violence against children. However, I may come after them again in the future if I find myself in need of a distraction. Of course, a distraction will only be necessary if the Razgriz girl dies before I decide to order another attempt on her life. Think on that."

"I'll never let you harm my daughter," I said. "If you have a problem with her, you come after me. I'll take you on anytime, one on one if you wish."

"What if I would rather face the King of the Skies?"

The hologram ended abruptly.

Allison looked at me, and I looked at her. We both said, "He knows."


-Blaze-

Oured, the White House
0655hrs. 31 December 2010

I took Rei's hand and followed the President inside with my team behind us. Harling was leading us to private rooms himself. It felt strange, but good strange.

"There's a few things we need to go over," Harling said. "About the events and missions you took part in since Wardog was shot down and you were secretly recovered by Sea Goblin. We'll discuss those things this evening after you all have had time to rest."

"Understood," I said.

"Here you are. This suite can accommodate your family of five," Harling said. "These other four rooms... honestly they're all the same as the family suite except they don't have the extra bedroom for the kids. There's plenty of space for all of you to have a room to yourself. Rest well, Razgriz. You've earned it."

"Wait are these the first family's guest rooms?" Nagase asked. "Sir, we couldn't possibly-"

"It's quite alright, I insist. It's the least I can do for such heroes."

"Thank you, Sir," I said. "But please, if something important requires us, don't hesitate to call for us."

He chuckled and said, "Very well," before walking away.

I turned to my team. "Well, take a load off, I guess. You've sure as hell earned it."

"Don't mind me poking the obviously dead horse," Nagase said, "but is there a reason you kept them secret?" She pointed at my children.

"A long one, yes. The short version... you know about the secretive counties Pandora and Kyomu? Since they were founded, my family has been among the leadership of Pandora. Specifically, my great-grandmother, Hatsumi Akari, was the first President of Pandora. My grandfather, Hiroto Akari, was the second. My father, Zen Akari I, was the third. By all accounts, I should have taken his place a few years ago, but Hatsumi resumed office when he died. Actually, she's tried to pull me into it a few times already, but I've been dodging it. Anyway, since we're part of the first family... well things are kept secret for safety."

"...well then."

"Look, there's a much longer answer. These things aren't solely my secret to share, so regardless of how much I trust you four, it's just not my place to say."

"She's right," Doran said. "But what we can say is that there's a long history between a group of old geezers that spawned two countries and all the bullshit that followed. We're just kids caught up in the mess, so to speak."

"I like his answer," Chopper said.

"Well, I'm satisfied," Snow said. "I know the shtick about secrets and I trust Kye. No need to dig into something I really don't need to know about. I'll see you all later, I'm gonna get some sleep."

"What he said," Chopper added.

Grimm and Nagase nodded, and all four of them went to their rooms as Doran, the kids, and I went to ours. The room was big. The kid's bedroom was just as big. It already had three beds ready, too.

"Kids, do you want to watch TV or go to bed?" I asked.

"Bed," Rei said.

"Bed," Joey said.

"Either," Akira said.

"Alright, bed it is."

Doran and I tucked them in and returned to our room. I stretched and took a long look at the king sized bed in front of me. I turned and started walking toward the bathroom.

"I'm taking a shower before-" I was cut off by a knock at the door. "Who is it?"

"The one and only!"

Yami. I opened the door.

"They have a military styled open shower here. Want to?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure. Just let me grab a change of clothes." I ran over to Doran and whispered something before fishing clothes out of my bag. "I'll be back."

"See you soon."


There was a proper locker room before the showers. "Just like the military. They have this in the white house?"

"Well, we have one in the President's Manor back in Pandora," Yami said.

"Yeah, but Paragon is a military state to begin with."

"Why do you call it Paragon?"

"It's the first thing I remember it by. You can blame Hatsumi. She came around when I was little, before you and Zen were born."

"Wait, that's why?"

I shrugged. "It stuck." I took off my flight suit and shoved it into the locker I chose.

"You only wear underwear under your flight suit? I wear a shirt and shorts under mine." She quickly proved it as she took off her own flight suit. Until now, she also still had hers on from the barrage of missions.

"Yeah. It gets too hot to wear anything else. Hell, the only reason I even wear this much underneath is because the flight suit rubs and... well I tried on a flight suit bare once and it was awful."

"I don't think I could even try bare. The heat has never really been too bad for me."

"Try being trained under our dear uncle. It gets super hot on Sand Island, and Captain Bartlett would always set our cockpit's AC for us. He wouldn't let us change it, and he set it so it'd get hot in the cockpit. I started wearing only this in my flight suit because of that, and it just kinda became habit."

"Why would he do that?"

""This'll make you nuggets tougher!" he would say."

She giggled. "That does sound like Uncle Jack."

"Even with proper AC, it feels a lot better without a shirt on."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"If you try it for very long, you'll learn to like it eventually."

Naked, both of us headed into the shower.

"Running water..." I mumbled. "It's so nice."

"Here," Yami said. "I'll wash your back and hair."

"What? No I'm fine."

"My treat. You deserve a little pampering."

"Well, okay."


A while later, after my shower with Yami, I was back in my room lying on the bed in only underwear, trying to muster up the will to crawl under the blanket. I was feeling very lazy. Doran was still in the bathroom. Another knock came at the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Mom."

"Come in."

She was quick to question it. "Why are you lying half naked on the bed?"

"Well, I was exhausted before I took a shower with Yami. Then I came back here and got laid... so..."

"Hundred bucks."

"...I'm lazy and don't want to put in the effort to crawl under a blanket right now. Wait, what hundred bucks?"

"You're exhausted. You didn't use protection, did you?"

"...mmffpph."

She cupped hear hand over her ear and bent down toward me.

"Yeah, yeah, shut up." I hopped off the bed and went to grab my wallet. At the same time, Doran came out of the bathroom wearing a towel.

"Oh."

"Hiya, Handsome," Mom said in singsong.

"Stop hitting on my man," I said. "That's my job."

"What's up?" he asked.

I handed Mom five twenties. "There."

"Wait, what's that about?"

"I'm not on the pill, and you didn't wear a rubber."

"But you said you didn't want me to."

"You really don't have to go into detail," Mom said. "Point is, you did the crime, you do the time. Hundred bucks, Mister."

"Ah, goddammit."

"And you know the drill. Another hundred when the pregnancy test comes back positive."

"You mean if," he said.

"She means when." I sighed. "Let's face it, I got a time bomb in my belly." I shuddered. "God, why didn't I..." I shuddered again.

"Got a chill?"

"I'm not cold, turdface. I'm remembering labor the first two times. Ugh..."

"You did it to yourself," Mom said.

"Anyway, what did you want? I'm sure you didn't knock on the door just to check if I made a bad choice."

"You call it bad. I get money and another grandkid out of the deal."

"Come on, what do you want?"

"Get dressed, both of you." She was suddenly very serious. "It's not good. Two agents will stay here with the kids."

"What's not good?"

"It's about the Grey Ghost."


"What happened?" I asked after entering the conference room. They played a video of what happened in the past half hour. "Then he was the mastermind behind all of it. He ordered my children's kidnapping, but also ordered them kept safe. Silver lining in a pool of muck, I suppose. They weren't harmed. I checked all three of them as thoroughly as any mother should, and then checked for implants. Nothing. I want them screened later incase Doran's tool missed something."

"I'd have suggested that as well," Mom said.

I looked at her, "That group that Larry was a part of in 1995. A World With No Boundaries. Do you think this guy had his hands in that?"

"Only a few people in the world could say for certain, and I'm not one of them," she replied. "I'll give you a few guesses."

"I don't need them. He specifically mentioned the King of the Skies."

"Do you know who that is?" Allison asked.

"I do. How likely do you think it is that this Grey Ghost knows King showed up at Sudentor?"

"Excuse me?" Mom said.

"Yeah, he was there. I had a short visual exchange with him."

"If you don't mind me asking," President Harling said, "I'm a little in the dark here."

I glanced over at Mom, who glanced at Allison, who glanced back at me.

Mom sighed and answered him, "If the Grey Ghost hadn't mentioned it, we wouldn't have either. But given that you know part of it, it'd be best to fill you in rather than you waste resources trying to find out on your own."

"I take it this is something involving Pandora and Kyomu?"

"Yes. Do you know who my husband is?"

"I am aware, yes. Former President of Pandora. I'm aware of all the founders and families, actually, if that helps speed up any explanations."

"It does. The Grey Ghost is an entity not many know about. The founders, the leadership since 1995, Allison, Jack, and I know. Now everyone in this room knows of his existence thanks to his show earlier. We don't know who he is and to my knowledge have virtually nothing on him. Given all that, if I were to guess at Kye's question a moment ago... I'd say he did have a hand in A World With No Boundaries. Anyway, moving forward... the last thing he said."

"King of the Skies," I said. "Zen Akari Sr., my father and previous President of Pandora."

"I can already guess that he isn't dead," Harling said. "So then..."

"Before we continue this," Mom said. "I think it would be best to add at least one person to the conversation. Are you against pausing for now and reconvening later when this person arrives?"

"To be frank, I'm not sure I should know more than what you've already told me."

"It's moot at this point," Allison said. "After Hatsumi reads our reports, it's fairly likely you and several other heads of state will be requested for a meeting."

"When can we expect this guest? I'll need to grant clearance for their arrival."

"This afternoon, but the clearance won't be necessary. In fact, you shouldn't mention this guest period."

"But then how would they-"

"Trust me."

Harling stopped and gave it thought after seeing the expression on Allison's face. "I see. Very well. Then we'll reconvene this afternoon. Say, three?"

"Three it is," Mom said.

"Okay, you all have fun, I'm going to bed," I said. "Make sure not to let me sleep through that meeting."

"What she said," Doran added.