Heroic New Era: New Beginnings
Chapter 14: Rescuing Majorita
The group soon returned as the group in the Pocket Dimension was rather worried.
"This Fralto guy means bad news, plip…" Usalia said worriedly.
"Man, I know Majorita did some bad stuff… but even she doesn't deserve to be brutally killed by THAT guy." Red Magnus stated.
"If Majorita dies… well, there goes any hope of getting her on our side." Kaguya remarked, biting her thumb. "At least this might open up new avenues to deal with the main problem… after we solved this incident."
"Zeabolos, do we have any idea where Majorita is now?" Siege asked.
"If we can reach her before Fralto kills her… perhaps I can sway her to ally with us." Rutega mused.
"...I think that this might not fit in well with Usalia…" Zeabolos answered with a slightly grim tone. "...Because where Majorita has went to… it is no other than Usalia's homeworld, Toto Bunny."
"Toto Bunny?" Gus remarked. "...I see, it is indeed a sore spot. If the Netherworld was ravaged by Majorita long before, it would pain Usalia to see the sight of it."
"But if we don't save Majorita, there won't even be a Toto Bunny. We have to head there immediately!" Rutega exclaimed.
"As you wish. Considering that this is against a far more potent enemy than before…" Zeabolos remarked. "I might have to ask that the more powerful of you all take this fight."
"There's no problem with that." Richard answered back, stepping forward. "I came into this, expecting to have to pull my weight sooner or later. And this is my chance. I won't boast that I'm a magician at Fralto's level, but I can at least keep up a fight with him. That goes double for whatever twisted subordinates he has."
"If you're going, I'm coming too." Gus remarked. "I do not intend to let you fight this battle alone."
"I will bring myself, as well as Magina and Rutega. We can't risk losing too many people to this threat… And I urge you Overlords to not come with us. I understand it's your home, Usalia, and I understand you hate Majorita… but our best options are to save her, and save Toto Bunny at the same time." Siege explained.
"No, wait. Usalia can help." Richard stated, as Siege turned to him, as if he grew an extra head. "Look, I know what you're looking at me for. But trust me on this, I have a hunch that Usalia could help do some loosening on Majorita's little facade… Not only that, but the feeling of reclaiming her homeworld, should help ease her thirst for vengeance considerably. And who knows… perhaps all it takes for her to free herself is to face her terrors personally. I assure you, we're enough to keep guard of her, if things get hectic."
"...Fine. If you believe she will be beneficial to this, she can come. But if something happens to her…" Siege said, gritting his teeth. "It's on you."
"I have been promised worse for failures…" Richard answered back with a serious look in his eye. "Even if I have to drag myself bloodied to every inch of my body, in order to ensure her safety, I have no intent of backing down or allowing myself to fail."
Zeabolos soon created the portal down to the Netherworld, as the group entered it, finding themselves in a fairly lush land, which seemed to look like something out of a fairy tale.
"So this is Toto Bunny. Despite what it's been through, the land itself is mostly unscathed…" Gus commented. "But still… the world's beauty only serves a mask to hide the true miseries within it…"
Usalia's ears drooped, as she thought about some fairly unpleasant memories regarding her past.
Richard looked around, befroe he could hear fighting ahead, as it seemed like that there was a large-scale battle being waged in multiple sections.
"...Looks like we're in for a long battle." Richard clicked his tongue.
"Look! Up there!" Rutega exclaimed, as everyone soon saw Fralto laughing over a defeated Majorita.
"I don't wanna die…" Majorita whimpered as she was on her knees before Fralto. "How could I…"
"AHAHAHAHAHA! Oh this is too rich! The mighty Demon General Majorita, now begging at my feet for mercy! AHAHAHAHAHA!" Fralto laughed like a maniac. "No. There is only one fate for you. Majorita… I hereby… SENTENCE YOU TO A DISGRACEFUL DEATH!" Fralto yelled as he charged his attack.
"NOOOOO!" Rutega yelled as she immediately teleported to Majorita.
"My spell isn't ready…! RUTEGA!" Magina yelled in horror.
In a split second, Rutega appeared in front of Majorita, as she took the force of Fralto's attack, spreading her arms wide as she took the full force, screaming in agony as Majorita only watched it happen.
"...Ngh…. Hrk…" Rutega only grunted before she collapsed, as everyone presumed her dead.
"RUTEGA! DAMNIT NO!" Siege yelled in anger.
"RUTEGA!" Usalia exclaimed in horror.
"What… But…" Majorita remarked, as she was breaking down at what she just saw. "That… She… She protected… me… Why…?"
"...Hehe… because… I… know… the feeling… of… being… abandoned…" Rutega managed to get out, as she twitched a little while she was seemingly motionless, giving everyone hope.
"She's still got signs of life… Magina, charge your spell, we'll distract Fralto! Majorita! If you can hear me, teleport yourself and Rutega out of there!" Siege yelled at Majorita.
Majorita was silent, before she then slowly walked over to Rutega, before she then dragged her away, as they teleported far away from the battle itself.
"...Alright, Majorita is safe, and so is Rutega…" Richard remarked, as he drew his blade. "...Now all that's left before us, is to ensure that Fralto-"
Suddenly, Usalia walked forward, as she met Fralto eye-to-eye, which shocked the entire group.
"Usalia…?" Gus remarked.
"Ha, a little bunny thinks she can look me in the eyes?" Fralto asked with a chuckle. "Okay, peasant. If you are so bold to look me in the eyes, surely you must have something of slight worth to say. Or perhaps you think to scare me? Hahaha… not likely, child."
"...I understand now, plip. What Reisen told me. What Weiss told me. And what Rutega told me…" Usalia softly spoke. "It doesn't matter how much you hate someone… No one truly deserves to die for what they have done. If Majorita was saved by Rutega… then Rutega saw something worth saving in her… like everyone else… except me. I finally understand that this isn't my fault… but it's not Majorita's fault entirely either. She did all of this, because she was hurt inside, like I was. Then we are no different. I'm not even fighting for what's right anymore… I was just running away from what I should have been. I forgot everything important to me, because I was so attached to my hate."
"Oh, what nonsense are you talking about?" Fralto mocked. "Have you lost your mind, after seeing what I did to your Rutega? In that case, I'll gladly put you out of your misery then. You won't have to worry about your petty vengeance. You won't have to care about anything, because when you're dead, everything dies with you."
"That's wrong, plip." Usalia stated firmly. "Grudges will always remain, which is why they should be taken care of. But as long as it is resolved with blood… it will never go away, because there will always be someone to continue this all. I may not forgive Majorita for what she had done, but I refuse to let my entire life be defined by my hate of her. That's why… I won't shy away from my responsibility… From what mother and father gave me… from what everyone here on this Netherworld left me with their hope. So I'll defeat you, and ensure that this bloody chapter closes."
"HAHAHA!" Fralto cackled out of insanity. "You simple minded little girl! You're so naive to think this will work! Hehehehe… HAHAHAHAHA! Although, if you were in speech class, I'd give you quite the high marks on your assignment! Now, any more words to say? Before I obliterate you into nothingness?"
"...For everyone who gave me this life… I won't lose!" Usalia declared, before she then shined with white energy, as it emanated from all four corners of the Netherworld, as Majorita saw from where she was located, that those very particles were emanating from the zombified residents of Toto Bunny, which shocked her.
"Just as I thought… the revelation awakened her." Richard remarked with surprise.
The white energy disappeared, as Usalia was back to normal, although her power seemed to be quite a lot more powerful than it was before, and Siege could sense that something changed about her.
"Tch…" Fralto clicked his tongue. "So you've increased in power. You are still a peasant in my presence!"
"Now!" Siege declared, as suddenly, everyone except for those injured and Magina began to assault Fralto on all sides!
"What!? A trick, blast!" Fralto growled as he was pelted by blows.
However, despite Siege, Richard, and Gus's efforts, they couldn't do much damage as they were blown back, before Fralto saw a magic beam fired as he recognized the spell and dodged in fear.
"AIYE! NOT THAT!" Fralto yelled as he began running like a scared chicken from the spell. "Thor! Loki! Odin! Deal with these pests!" Fralto yelled as he teleported away, as the Duel Monsters of the Norse gods soon leapt into the field of battle.
"I won't let you harm my Netherworld anymore!" Usalia remarked, before she then concentrated a familiar ajura of red energy around her. "Murmur of Rage!"
Usalia then fired a mass-attack, in the form of red beams flying from all angles, through the entire battlefield, as it began to destroy the lesser minions of Fralto's army, while the Norse gods were hit and knocked back slightly, before Usalia revealed herself to be in her beast-form. The Norse gods looked like they were pretty injured from her attack regardless.
Before they could recover, Usalia was upon them, as she slashed and attacked in a rampage onto them, firing off energy beams that tore through their guards, as they fought against her in a drawn-out battle.
"Quick, while the enemy is distracted! Help her finish them off!" Gus remarked.
"Right! CRATER OF LIGHT!" Siege yelled as he performed the attack to aid Usalia.
The attack managed to land on the weakened Aesir Duel Monsters, as it defeated them.
With the battle ended, Usalia stopped for a moment, before she then turned back to normal once again.
"...I did it, plip." Usalia remarked.
"That you did, Usalia… That you did." Richard stated with a relieved smile.
Majorita then appeared, as she was holding the unconscious Rutega in her arms, before she then dropped her down before the group.
"…It's over then." Majorita remarked, as she looked at the group with a emotionless expression. "…And I find myself saved by you all… So what now? Are you going to take me away from Void Dark?"
"We would much prefer that you willingly do so." Gus responded back. "We understand that you are loyal to Void Dark-"
"Then stop wasting your breath. I'm not joining you, just because you saved me. Do you think that single moment of sentiment would change my views?" Majorita snarled back. "Don't forget, we are still enemies. As long as you stand in Void Dark's way… I won't ever consider you anything else than enemies. And that won't change just because you want it."
"Rutega almost died trying to save you." Siege stated with a firm tone and a glare in his eyes. "…Are you saying that what she did for you was for nothing then?"
"Think of it how you like. I'm not in the mood, nor the state to be fighting any of you right now, so I'm leaving." Majorita answered back with a heated tone, as she turned to leave.
"…Majorita… Although you made this all happen, and dragged me to this level… I think I can understand how you felt, plip." Usalia remarked with a bold expression. "To be all alone, before you even met Void Dark… I think I know how you feel, even if it is the slightest."
Majorita immediately stiffened up, as she slowly clenched her fists, and turned around with a hateful look in her eyes, aimed at Usalia.
"What… did you say?" Majorita breathed with a trembling voice filled with anger and hostility. "Did you… just tell me what I thought I heard you say…?"
"Rutega believed that you must have been all alone without your parents, and that your life was terrible long before Void Dark came. So that's why… you hurt all those people, you killed mother and father… because you envied me, plip" Usalia declared firmly.
There was silence, before Majorita then chuckled a little, before she then laughed loudly, as if she heard a massive joke, as it unsettled the rest of the group, although Usalia's expression didn't budge.
"Congratulations. Fucking Congratulations." Majorita spoke with venom in her voice, as her expression was dark. "You managed to guess the reason why the only motto I stick to is 'Kill and recycle'. But don't make me laugh, you understand NOTHING about what it's like to be me. A sheltered brat like you doesn't even deserve to say such a thing at all. You had everything, your Netherworld, your devoted citizens, your parents, and a childhood you could cherish. Everything you had, I had none of it. In fact, it was the opposite."
"And so you envied me, and took away everything we had differently, in order to make me suffer like you did, plip." Usalia answered back. "…I could never forget what you have done to me, Majorita… But I feel that I can't hate you as much as I did before, because Rutega was right all along."
"Spare me your fucking pity!" Majorita spat back. "Don't try to lie to me! You think just because you got that realisation, that it changes anything!? You may have broke yourself out of my curse, but I still can kill you myself if I wished it! You should be hating me, not pitying me! Do you even care about what I even put you through, everything you had to sacrifice for nothing!?"
"It wasn't for nothing. plip… because I lived to today, because everyone placed their futures and hopes on me." Usalia answered back. "If I never pressed on, I would have never met everyone else, plip. Or I would have never realised that you and I were the same somehow. Or that my vengeance was without any proper purpose, since it would only perpetuate more hatred in this Netherworld. I had to give up carrots in order to get past the curse, constantly trying to dissuade myself from it. I cried every time I had to eat curry, because of that curse. Mother and Father never gave up trying to find a way for me to eat curry without any problems, and I acted like such a brat. Even when on the last day, they tried to give me a sweet curry… and I was so tired that I told them that it was yucky… when it was the best curry I had. And that's when I ran away, and never saw them again… Those last words from me, was what they took to their grave. I disgraced their final gift of love to me. And I don't think that I'll ever be able to forgive myself for that…"
"And from it, your love of curry came…" Gus remarked. "It makes sense now, why you hold curry with such high regard, because you wanted to at least not waste the last gift of love your parents gave you."
"…You know why I killed them after that little remark of yours?" Majorita stated, as her voice mellowed only slightly. "…Because at that moment, my envy peaked. I killed your last shreds of hope… because you rejected everything that I ever wished for, just because you were a spoiled brat. They poured so much love and care into you, only to create someone like you. It made me mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, MAD, MAD, MAD!"
Majorita then was left panting for air as her face was red with anger, although Usalia was still fairly calm, with some hint of sorrow in her face. After a while, Majorita managed to calm herself down.
"I don't care if you started to love me out of some pity or not. I hate you, Usalia, and that will never change, because you are the stain in my soul that taunts me every time I dream. You gave me the false hope that I will ever be able to have a life worth living." Majorita continued. "The only reason I'm living right now, is because I want to see Void Dark's ambition to the end. And after that is done, I'll gladly let myself die, because I will have at least contributed to something worthwhile for once in my life. I will no longer have to be abused for just existing, and I won't have to be considered a defect by everyone that I foolishly loved, and most of all, I won't be betrayed any more, when my own heart is broken into millions of pieces. Void Dark wants to bring an end to it all, so I follow his orders."
"That's wrong, plip! Void Dark isn't doing anything right!" Usalia shouted back.
"And why should I listen to you, when I hate you so very much?" Majorita scoffed back. "…You don't get it, do you, in most Netherworlds excluding this happy-cheery place that you call your home, it's the survival of the fittest. Only the strong have the right to decide everyone's rights and fate. If the strong tell them to die, then those under will die. End of story. It doesn't matter if it's 'right' or 'wrong', the dead don't have the right to choose or to complain. I lived an entire life crawling from the depths, doing anything it takes just to live, when I had countless reasons to just die. Only my hate for every other living being kept me from doing so. The only person who managed to gain my trust, was Void Dark, who actually cared for me as if he was a true brother of mine. He did to me what my childhood should have been like. But until then, my life had been your opposite. So once again, I will state this: I hate you, and I will not stand by your side, because we are opposites, and opposites do not stand together."
"…That's fine. But I know that this is not just what you feel." Richard answered back. "If you're so open to tell us all of this, then you must have some seed of doubt in your heart about your unanimous hatred of Usalia, and your own cruel ways."
"Don't presume to know me." Majorita stated, before she then turned away again. "…But you are right about one thing, I have a lot of things to think about. So I'll let you work away on what you want… but when we cross paths again… I won't show any of you mercy, not even your Rutega."
Majorita then suddenly raised two corpses from the ground, as they were inanimate, yet Usalia recognised them immediately.
"Mother! Father!" Usalia exclaimed, as she rushed over to the bodies.
"…You have been constantly bellowing to avenge your father and mother." Majorita remarked. "I would have used them against you, but they're of no value to me anymore. I have half a mind to destroy them, but somehow… I feel the desire to not, as much as it seethes me, when I want to spite you so deeply."
"…Majorita… This will be remembered as your one kind act, through everything you have done." Magina stated. "Even if you die, this will be something that you can be proud of."
Majorita said nothing, before she then teleported out of the Netherworld.
"Hmph…" Rutega growled as she got back to her feet finally as she heard everything.
"...Sorry that she didn't reciprocate the feelings you expected, Rutega." Siege said.
"Tch… cause she never gave me an opportunity to wake up and tell her what she needs to hear… she's still in firm belief Void Dark is her savior, which was what my main concern was… but even if she doesn't say it… I heard it wavering here and there in her tone. She really is grateful to us that we saved her life. Ultimately for her… she says she wants to die but… she really is afraid of dying. She does not want to die. You heard it when Fralto grabbed her, she was so afraid. I think what she's trying to do is not rely on us when she realizes she should rely on us if she wants any kind of solace… but she doesn't want to believe that. Again, because of Void Dark. Sadly, with Fralto around… Void Dark may not be here much longer." Rutega said as Magina began healing her wounds.
"Yeah, funny that." Richard remarked with a grimace, before he turned to Magina. 'Those bodies that Majorita left behind… is there a way that we can breathe life into them again? Siege managed to revive the freshly dead himself, so you might possibly…"
"No contest, dear Richard." Magina said as she soon activated a spell circle, as wisps of green magic poured into Usalia's mother and father, reviving them, as their flesh reverted to their lively colours, and their bodies began to fill with life once more.
Eventually, they both slowly stirred awake, after waking up from death itself, as the father, which was a fairly plump rabbit creature, dressed in royal robes with a black furred collar, a white frizzled beard and w-shaped moustache, and had black eyes, rose up, with a paw on his head.
"My word… how long has it been since I have had such an unpleasant feeling…" Usalia's father remarked in a deep voice, before he then noticed Usalia, as his eyes widened. "...Little Usalia?"
"Father…?" Usalia remarked, as tears appeared on the corner of her eyes.
Soon, the mother woke up as well, being more like her daughter than her husband, with yellow long hair and red eyes, as well as a pair of rigid rabbit ears, and dressed in a white dress, as she noticed Usalia, her face turning into one of joy and relief. "Oh, my Usalia…" She remarked with an alluring voice.
"Mother… I… I… WAAAAHHH!" Usalia stuttered, as she was at the verge of crying, before she then buried herself into her father's furred chest, as father and mother held their daughter tightly. "You're all alive and back! I'm sorry… I'm sorry for what I did to you both!"
"Poor child… There's nothing to be apologising about. It was our fault for not trying hard enough to help our one child…" Usalia's mother stated in a comforting tone, stroking Usalia's head. "At least this time, we'll never be separated from each other again."
"...A tear-jerker indeed." Richard remarked, as he smiled warmly, with a hand to his heart. "I guess that does away with one of Usalia's main problems."
"But sadly that's not all of our problems fixed. Right now I would wager that Fralto is either after Bloodis or Void Dark. We have to hurry and stop him before things go south fast." Siege wagered.
"He's not wrong. We should try to avoid focusing on the Lost. But if what Majorita had wasn't enough to handle them, the rest of the Lost have no hope, unless they're led by Bloodis." Gus theorised, with a hand under his chin. "Instead, we need to find out a plan to take down Fralto, before he accumulates too much power. Magina… what was the magic you cast, to trigger fear within him?"
"It's an incredibly difficult spell that only 3 of us Magicians have Mastered. It's a spell that legitimately reduces the power of the enemy drastically. To put it in card effect terms to get you to understand the drop, in duels I'm allowed to reduce the attack of all enemy monsters equal to my current level times 100. Essentially reducing their Attack points to a measly 1200." Magina stated.
"Putting that in terms outside of the Duel, you're literally nullifying about 95% of Fralto's powers." Siege said.
"Indeed." Magina stated. "Again, it's an incredibly difficult spell to learn. Only two Quintet Magicians under my command have Mastered it."
"An interesting spell… Let's just hope that he'll fall for it a second time." Richard remarked with a determined look in his eyes. "If we can reduce his power with that, and finish him off before he gains it back… then that would be the most optimal outcome."
Soon, the portal back to the Pocket Dimension appeared, as the group noticed it.
"Let's get moving." Gus remarked, before turning to Usalia and her parents, as Usalia finished crying, her eyes raw from it. "...Usalia, your family can come with us. It's not safe outside the Pocket Dimension for now. But rest assured, you will be able to return to here… and restore it back to what it once was."
The group then left through the portal, as the imminent threat lingered in their thoughts…