Ring the bells, sound your alarms, because I'm baaack! It's only been, what, six months? Psh. I'm not going to go on and on here; please enjoy this chapter!
"Please don't leave us here!" The little girl shouted, earning multiple stares in her direction. Tears lined her emerald eyes, threatening to cascade down her cheeks. She sniffled, clutching the elder man's sleeve. The man smiled soothingly, kneeling down in front of her.
"This is for the best." He whispered soothingly, caressing the little girl's cheek. "You will be happy here, I promise. You will learn to love your new home."
"But I want my old home!" She yelled. "I want to be home with you and… Mama." The man grimaced. "Why can't we go back to the past? Why are you leaving us here?! It's not fair!"
"One day, my love, you will understand." His eyes brightened. "You see, the stars are calling me. Something bigger in this world needs me, and I must pursue. You, too, will look to the stars and forge your path. That is a promise." He ruffled the girl's mossy green hair.
"But you'll come for us, right?" The man looked up, his eyes fixating on the other girl. The man's smile tilted slightly.
"I will see you both again." He rose to his feet.
"You'll come back?" The other girl repeated, sniffling. "You promise to come back for Luca and me?" He smiled brightly at them, his eyes practically twinkling.
"Of course, Saira." He smiled. "I promise I will return to you both."
Tsukasa's troubled expression was the first thing Rima noticed as she entered the planetarium for the umpteenth time in three months. He was staring straight ahead, his eyes not even budging as Rima and the other guardians made their way inside. He was not stargazing or thinking pensively; something was clearly bothering him.
"Why are we here?" Rima bluntly wondered, breaking the fleeting silence that had formed. "Tadase said that you had something important to tell us." Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the King mirroring the expression of his uncle. Tadase seemed bothered as well, his eyes not meeting Tsukasa's. Rima found that peculiar; didn't Tadase always seem to trust his uncle?
"Always straight to the point, Mashiro-San," Tsukasa murmured, his eyes not leaving the one fixated spot.
"You said that to me three months ago," Rima recalled, frowning. "And then what you said immediately afterward ruined my life, so I don't really like this déjà vu." She felt a squeeze in her left hand. She glanced to the side of her, noticing the reassuring smile of her boyfriend. She squeezed his hand back, before turning back to her former principal. Tsukasa finally removed his eyes from the vacant place from the wall, turning to the guardians.
"I am glad to see you all here," Tsukasa smiled, though the expression did not match the rest of his face. "What I am about to tell you… I thought it would never come to this. But unfortunately, the stars did not course in the desired path. It seems we must resort to drastic measures, what I was desperately hoping we could evade."
"Do you know where Amu is?" Ikuto wondered, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.
"Not exactly, but I know who she is with. For now, she is safe, but even this security is evanescent."
"She's safe?" Utau wondered, an eyebrow quirked. "With this girl Luca?"
"Luca will protect her, that I can assure you."
"Who is Luca?" Nagihiko wondered. "We know that she is able to teleport, but…" Tadase let out a disgruntled sigh, prompting Nagihiko to turn to him puzzled.
"Luca…Luca is my youngest daughter." Rima raised an eyebrow.
"Since when did you have a child?" Ikuto wondered. "We… we spent years together, and you never mentioned—"
"I have two daughters, in fact," Tsukasa interjected. "I have Luca, my youngest. And there's my oldest daughter, whom you all know better as Saira." Rima gasped.
"What?!" Kukai exclaimed.
"But you never—"
"How could you have just not mentioned that?!" Rima exclaimed, interrupting Yaya. "I spent months trying to gain her trust. You could have provided me with some insight or something! That could have been useful to know!"
"Again, I never thought it would come to this. Your penetration into Easter, Mashiro-San, was supposed to be relatively simple. I never would have anticipated this…" Tsukasa closed his eyes. "But in the end, I suppose Saira never truly forgave me." He opened his eyes, facing the guardians once more. Tadase frowned.
"Many years ago, I met a woman by the name of Caela Mitzoguri. She was my Polaris, the guiding star to my life. The moment I met her, I fell instantly in love with her. Of course, this didn't sit well with my mother, so we eloped. We had Saira three years later, and then Luca two after that, keeping everything a carefully guarded secret. We were going to be happy, the four of us. We were going to be a perfect family." Rima's eyes cast downward. Tsukasa eyed her, before proceeding, "But of course, life seldom runs smoothly."
"What happened?" Yaya inquired.
"Caela… Caela was extraordinary, I knew that. But she had a deeper connection to the stars than I did. Like myself—and all of you—she had a guardian character. But even as adults with our dreams supposedly accomplished, she still had a connection with guardian characters and dreams. The extent of her abilities, however, I would never know." Tsukasa sighed. "The power enticed her. Unbeknownst to me, she would experiment with her abilities, trying new things. She tried to reach the Heart's Eggs of people. She would harness energy from these Heart's Eggs in a way I had never seen. But of course, all of this doesn't come without a cost." Tsukasa closed his eyes. "Experimenting too much with the energy eventually took a toll, resulting in her untimely death."
"Invariably, I knew that it was likely my daughters would inherit Caela's abilties," Tsukasa continued. "I knew that I needed to protect them, guard them from suffering the same fate as their mother did. But I… I wasn't the best father. For a year afterward, I tried to raise them to the best of my abilities alone. B When I saw my family, my mother and sister, I had to pretend to be happy, as if everything was going well. They didn't even know I had my own family." Tadase let out a sigh.
"But one day, as I was meditating on the stars, I saw a prophecy. I saw destruction originating from the same type of energy Caela experimented with. But I also saw a solution; I saw the arrival of a savior with four guardian characters. And so, I sought to find this savior, whom you all know and love dearly. With this, however, I knew I needed to devote my time to finding her and protecting her when the time came. And so, I knew for the sake of the world, I could no longer parent Saira and Luca. I… I left them at boarding school. I swore to them that I would return. In that time, I began tasks to prepare for the protection of the world. I knew you would hold an important key, Ikuto-Kun, so I traveled with you." Ikuto glanced at the ground. "I saw your bravery, my nephew, so I tried to prepare you as well, to the best of my ability." Tadase sighed. "And when Hinamori-San arrived, I guided her to the guardians, a place I knew she would be protected."
"You just left your children though with nothing?!" Rima wondered. Nagihiko shot her a look of which she ignored. Tsukasa's eyes darkened.
"After you defeated Death Rebel and put an end to Kazuomi's Easter, I thought the threat had been expunged," Tsukasa began. "And so I decided to pursue Saira and Luca again. But at that point… they were gone. They had run away from school, and the administrators had not had a proper number to contact me with."
"Because they didn't have a loving parent," Rima mumbled. "Because you weren't there for them when you needed to be." Nagihiko squeezed her hand again, giving her a worried look.
"But then why did Saira join Easter?" Kukai wondered. "Was it out of resentment?" Tsukasa let out a sigh.
"Partially, yes. But like her mother, Saira… Saira never gave up on anything. In fact, she took after Caela in many ways."
6 Years Ago
"I think I figured it out!" Luca glanced up from her book, looking at her twin sister surprised. Saira's emerald eyes were sparkling with pure excitement as she smiled brightly at Luca.
"Figured what out?" Luca wondered.
"Our happy ending! Luca, we can finally have everything we've ever wanted; we can finally have everything we deserved!" Luca glanced up, exchanging a look with the small fairy floating next to her.
"But what about Father?" Luca wondered. "I mean, he said he would return and—" Saira let out a disgruntled sigh.
"It's been three years since we've heard from him. Let's face it; he's not coming back for us." Luca sighed. She opened her mouth to speak, but Saira interjected. "But we don't need him anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I've been reading Mom's diaries," Saira explained. "For years, she experimented with controlling chara energy." She glanced up at her chara. "With Ari, I've always been able to connect with others, like Mom did. You have that connection with Chisa, don't you?" Luca bit her lip. She, in fact, always did have a sense of others' feelings when she character changed with Chisa. She never had as powerful of a connection as Saira did, but she did feel something.
"There's this company called Easter. They were searching for something called the Embryo, a chara egg that can grant any wish." Luca's eyes widened.
"But…but what are we going to wish for? Father's return?" Saira scoffed.
"And then what? He'll just pretend we don't exist again. No, we… we can wish for Mom…" Luca's eyes widened.
"What?! But you can't just wish her back to life!"
"Why not? It's a wish-granting egg; we can wish for anything."
"Well… how are we supposed to get the embryo anyway?" Luca wondered. "If this company Easter couldn't obtain it, then how can we?"
"We have a gift, Luca," Saira explained. "We can communicate with eggs like no one else can." Luca frowned, biting her lip. "What do you say? We can start fresh!"
"I… I guess we can try."
"Well, the Embryo turned out to just be Hikaru's chara egg," Yaya pointed out. "So that didn't work out." Tsukasa shook his head slowly, prompting everyone to look at him in confusion.
"That is what Kazuomi believed, but in fact, there is a real Embryo out there," Tsukasa explained. Rima gasped. "Saira made it her quest to seek the Embryo. She began experimenting with chara energy similarly to the way her mother did, until she discovered that she could augment this power using X-Energy. Upon pinpointing the location of the Embryo, they made the decision to leave school to seek it out. But somewhere along the way, Luca became fearful of the power. She discovered how Caela died, and she tried to reason with Saira. But Saira was stubborn; she believed in her cause. She became obsessed with finding the Embryo, and thus, the two girls split paths. Both searched for the Embryo, but with opposite goals."
"How did Saira end up with Easter?" Kukai wondered.
"She met my cousin," Kairi responded, letting out a sigh. "Deidre cared for her, treating her as if she were her own daughter." The green-haired boy frowned. "Saira's interests evidently aligned with my father's, and indoctrinating Amu could provide infinite possibility rather than the one-time usage of the Embryo. In fact, I do not believe my father knew of the Embryo's existence, as this is news to me as well. If he knew, my father would have pursued the embryo extensively."
"Luca will keep Hinamori-San safe for now," Tsukasa assured. "But Saira has always empowered Luca; she will find Hinamori-San. And if she and Easter have control of Hinamori-San, there is nothing that can stop them. She will be under their control; Easter will have insurmountable power to accomplish everything they desire. And Saira… Saira will attempt to resurrect Caela." Tsukasa closed his eyes. "She wants to fix her perfect family. And with Hinamori-San's strength combined with the power of the Embryo—assuming she can summon it—may restore her ideals, but at the expense of the world."
"What can we do about this?" Tadase finally began. "How can we stop Easter?"
"There is one way." Tsukasa opened his eyes. "Saira will attempt to summon the Embryo to facilitate her goals. Even if Seto did not know of its existence, surely with Hinamori-San's disappearance, Saira has discussed it. But if we can perhaps summon the Embryo before she does, we may be able to wish for something more powerful."
"But how can we summon the Embryo?" Utau wondered. "Do we just wish for something?"
"Precisely. And I know just the person to do it. After all, there is only one person here who has sought a perfect family as Saira has." All eyes turned to the shortest person in the room. Nagihiko squeezed her hand tightly again, concern present in his eyes. Rima cocked an eyebrow.
"What does wishing for my parents to get back together have to do with anything?" Rima wondered softly.
"You won't be wishing for that," Tsukasa told her, prompting her to raise an eyebrow. "You can use that to summon the Embryo, but what you wish for must go beyond that…" He let out a sigh. "You will wish for Amu Hinamori to be forgotten from existence." Rima's eyes widened. Everyone gasped. Ran, Miki, and Su exchanged shocked expressions.
"What?!" Tadase exclaimed.
"What the hell does that accomplish?!" Ikuto demanded.
"If Amu never existed, Easter wouldn't have a catalyst for their plans to occur. I never would have left Saira and Luca to find her." Tsukasa sighed. "Of course this is hard, but—"
"No shit it's hard!" Ikuto snapped uncharacteristically. "You're asking all of us to just eliminate Amu from existence?! After everything we've worked for?"
"I'm not asking for everyone; I'm asking Mashiro-San specifically. She is the one who will be summoning the Embryo; she is the one to ultimately make the wish." Rima was trembling as she stared absentmindedly at a wall.
"This is about the protection of the world," Tsukasa continued. "Of course it's difficult. I know how much Hinamori-San means to you, but we no longer have any other options. I know Saira; I know she will be persistent." He turned to Kairi. "And you know Seto won't give up." Kairi looked at the ground, nodding slowly.
"Ultimately, it is your decision to make." Tsukasa smiled weakly. "But do know that our options are limited, and as guardians, your role as protectors comes first. But I will dismiss you all now to discuss amongst yourselves."
As the guardians and Tsukiyomi siblings took their seats in the Royal Garden, Rima could feel her heartbeat quicken. Tsukasa's words echoed through her mind. Erase Amu from existence or possibly lose the entire world, was that really her decision? Rima was so lost in her thoughts that it didn't even dawn on her that everyone in the Royal Garden was dead silent until Ikuto finally spoke up.
"We can't do this," Ikuto began. "I love Amu, but this is further than that. If Amu never existed, no one would be purifying X-Eggs. Utau and I would still be in Easter, creating those X-Eggs." Utau grimaced. He looked at Tadase. "Everything we patched up… everything would be gone. And Death Rebel…"
"We would lose everything," Tadase whispered. "But for the sake of the world…" He shook his head. "I love Amu too; I can't just magically pretend she doesn't exist! But… to protect the world…"
"Ikuto is right; there would still be an abundance of X-Eggs," Kairi pointed out. "Even though Utau and Nagihiko can purify now, it was Amu who introduced even simply character transformations let along purifications. That being said, I know how dangerous my father's plans are. If he succeeds, we will lose everything as we know it. But without Amu… I would still be in Easter as well, I suppose." His eyes darkened.
"This isn't a group decision," Nagihiko murmured. He glanced over at Rima worriedly. "This is your decision, Rima." She stared at the glass of the building.
"I know," She whispered quietly. She tried to imagine life if she had never befriended Amu. She knew she never would have remained a guardian. It was Amu, after all, who told her parents off regarding the resignation papers. But if Amu wasn't there, Rima doubted that she would have even been upset about quitting. And if she never was a guardian, she knew that there was no doubt that she wouldn't have been with Nagihiko. The two people that meant the most to her she knew she would lose; would she even care about making others laugh? Would Kusu-Kusu disappear too?
"I can't do this." Everyone looked at her. "I…I would lose too much. Maybe it's selfish, but…" Rima finally looked up at everyone. "I sacrificed so much to protect Amu; to just throw that away now for some—not even complete—protection seems ridiculous." Rima sighed. She could recall Saira's confident smirk as everything seemed to go her way even when Rima sabotaged her plans. Saira could really succeed with her goals, Rima realized. And what other option did Rima have to stop her?
"You don't have to make a decision now," Utau pointed out. She let out a sigh. "I have a good feeling we're going to be fighting them soon. Whether you decide to summon the Embryo or not isn't something you need to know now." Rima nodded hollowly.
Amu stared at Luca, her eyes widening as the brunette finished her explanation. Tears were welling up in Luca's eyes, as she looked at Amu.
"I want Mother alive as much as Saira does," Luca whispered. "But at the cost of everything? It's not worth it." Amu reached forward, placing a hand on Luca's shoulder.
"We won't let her succeed," Amu promised. "You know I'm strong enough to escape Saira's control now. I won't let myself succumb to her."
"Saira is more powerful than me," Luca pointed out. "I've done everything I can to prepare you, but…" She shook her head. "You're really strong, Amu-Chan. Whatever happens next is out of your control. But I will always admire your strength." Amu smiled bashfully.
"I actually did have one question." Luca cocked her head to the side. "You… you mentioned you and Saira had charas." Luca let out a sigh.
"As a result of our experimenting, we could control X-Energy at our will. You've seen the stuff we can do; we can teleport, shoot energy, and much more. But this had a major cost; we both lost our charas." She frowned. "I think losing Chisa was a large reason how I realized what we were doing was wrong. I had already lost my chara; I didn't want to risk losing more. But to Saira, losing Ari was just a sacrifice. She didn't want to stop; she was engrossed by her power." Luca sighed. "To try and restore our family, Saira wouldn't stop." Amu sighed remorsefully.
"You know, that reminds me of someone." Amu smiled poignantly. "My best friend, Rima… she always wanted to make her family happy again. I know she always wanted the Embryo. I wonder if she would chase the Embryo if she knew it was still out there." Amu let out a sigh. "God, I'm so thankful for her. I can't believe I thought she was evil when this whole time, she was protecting me." Luca looked troubled.
"There actually is a backup plan involving Rima." Amu looked at her, surprised. "I spoke with my father."
"Eh? But you said you hadn't seen Tsukasa in years!"
"I needed to find him and warn him about Saira," Luca smiled weakly. "How do you think my father knew of the threat of my sister and Easter before anyone? I don't think I'll ever forgive him entirely, but to stop Saira, I needed him. But now, if Saira is able to succeed, Father believes that your friend, Rima, can summon the Embryo before her and wish…" Luca let out a sigh. "Wish that you never, err, existed…"
"Good." Luca raised an eyebrow. "I mean, obviously I don't want everyone to forget me, but if it can protect people… if I can't resist Saira, then she should wish for that." Amu sigh
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I won't let my friends suffer; I won't let the world suffer because of me." Luca smiled half-heartedly.
"That is the very last resort. Do not fret, Amu-Chan. We will do everything we can to ensure that you truly can resist Saira and fight back." Amu looked at her final chara.
"With Dia here, I know I can do it." Dia smiled reassuringly.
"Allow me to impart you with some final lessons," Luca began, rising to her feet. "I believe our time of hiding is nearly over; I can feel Saira's aura strengthening. I hope you are truly ready, Amu-Chan."
I know this chapter was pretty short after months of nothing, but it's probably one of the most revealing chapters of this entire story. Were there enough twists?
Originally, this was going to be split into two chapters. I was going to have chapter 15 be told in flashbacks of the whole Amakawa family and how everything came to be as it is and then Chapter 16 would be Tsukasa with the Amu erasing twist. However, writing out the backstory for Tsukasa was giving me the worst writer's block. While I'm interested in the backstory I created, extending it for an entire chapter seemed unnecessary for the story. So, here we are!
In terms of future updates, I am expecting four more chapters before we reach the midpoint of this story (and by midpoint, I mean Part II. Unsure if that's actually the middle). This may be too ambitious, but now that I'm on Winter Break, I'm hoping to have all four of them done during this break, which means by approximately January 25th, I will update 4 times. Do you believe me? Probably not. I've given you no cause to believe me these past 15 chapters, especially when you consider the fact that I started this story two years ago (haha throwback to when I could start and end multiple stories in one year). But the next four chapters are going to be intense and I have them bulleted to the exact scenes, so I'm feeling cautiously optimistic that I can at the very least get one or two more updates in. And hopefully, hopefully, I won't go MIA for a whole semester again.
But enough of this. Please review! Thank you so much for staying with me despite my sporadic and random updates. It really means a lot to me.