It was another three years before it finally came down to it. HOLY was running smoothly by then and I had my own quarters and an office. Interestingly enough, it was office number 286.
Asuka Tachibana was doing very well for himself indeed. He stayed with HOLD educators for the first two years, but then he began training to be a HOLY officer. He seemed to have some wild dislike for Native Alters, which wasn't surprising, and once he was allowed to go on field assignments, I brought him with me when I could. He, like I, had been categorized as an A-Class Alter User, and his Alter certainly did have great potential. The Eternity Eight, his power had been dubbed. Spheres made of near-unbreakable energy and he could will them to do almost whatever he pleased. He depended on them too much, though, and they seemed to be his only defense. Still, he was very dedicated to the ways and ideals of HOLY, and he held admirable strength considering his life as an Inner.
Various other Alter Users had joined HOLY from the other side of the wall, either because they had nowhere else to go, or were being discriminated against too much for them to take any longer. They were the good ones, the law-abiding potential citizens that HOLY was always on the lookout for. It seemed that, for the most part, the Inners and Native Alters were rebellious beyond all reasoning. I found this difficult to understand; why they would fight against us. If they only realized that their actions were wrong before they got out of hand, they could have made themselves a wonderful life in the city. It was sad, really. They probably didn't know what they were doing. They were wasting the chance they had to lead as close to a normal life as possible.
Zetsuei was brought out on almost every assignment I went on, at that point. Always the Alter criminals would resist, and I would have to resort to more extreme measures, so I found it was just easier to summon Zetsuei upon arrival at the scene of the disturbance. Otherwise, he never came out unless it was for practice, or it was absolutely necessary.
That day it was necessary.
The last call I had gone out at, Kukanaji had been there. I sat in the vehicle, as I was ordered, but he seemed to think I was a distraction, and the Native Alter got away from him. He confronted me on the evening of the day that the Alter escaped him. 'I think I'll make you….. "practice" during your free time,' he said when he approached me in the courtyard on the headquarters' grounds. There were a number of other HOLD members in the courtyard that evening, and upon hearing Kukanaji challenge me, their interests were immediately perked.
Kukanaji held his arms out and they glowed with iridescent light as he began to summon his Alter. I simply stood my ground. This was childish. Someone would go off and call Commander Sigmar.
Wouldn't they?
'This is a severe misconduct, you realize that, don't you, Kukanaji?' I said with cool indifference. I wasn't about to run off just because he was doing wrong. I had long awaited the day when he would screw up like this. I had witnesses, and likely he would be suspended from duties and possibly even court-marshaled.
His Alter took form. It looked like a praying mantis, only it shimmered metallically and stood about twelve feet tall. 'Aww, what's wrong, Alter-boy? Don't think your Alter can stand up to mine? Well, let's see! We're both A-Class Alter Users, but I think your test was botched.'
'Someone get Commander Sigmar!' I heard someone say, just as Kukanaji's Alter came forward with startling speed. I knew his Alter. I had seen it a number of times, but this time was different. This time I was on the receiving end.
This would be the biggest mistake of his career. 'Fool,' Said my Alter side. It was getting much harder to tell the difference, these days. Things that I thought my Alter side said I ended up saying aloud.
But Kukanaji really didn't know. He was a sad man who depended on his Alter for power, even though he hates Alters himself. He was a terribly contradictory man, and I never liked him, even for a moment. I never respected him, never thought of him in any good way. He did things only to suit himself, that was all. He wanted to win over the people around him with shows of strength, he had to prove himself to them, and himself as well.
He was in fact nothing but a bully, and I would never relent to him.
My plan was to stall until Commander Sigmar arrived, and that I felt I could do with ease. I leapt to the side, dodging the mantis's attack. He came at me again, this time faster. I narrowly avoided several attacks but eventually, I faltered. The Alter batted me to the ground.
'Coward…..' Kukanaji muttered.
But I heard him. Deep down, maybe I was still ashamed of my Alter ability. I could still remember the night that I exposed myself in front of Mimori. She had once dwelled in my every thought, but when I learned that she wouldn't be there when I needed her most, not ever, then I gave up on her. She was only a memory. She had betrayed her promise, and she took the symbol of my Alter powers with her, too. I had long since stopped wishing that she were at my side, and started to hope that she'd never come back.
Or was that my Alter side?
So maybe I was still ashamed of my Alter ability. So much so that I didn't much care to bring it out unless it was work, or absolutely necessary. I didn't just blatantly hate all Alters, though, not like the man who stood before me. No. I only hated the ones who had nothing true to fight for. They never fought for justice, never fought for peace, or equality….. none of the ideals that HOLY and I follow relentlessly.
This man was one such Alter User.
'Zetsuei!' I cried, thrusting my hand out to the side in a well-practiced manner. And I appeared before me. I saw Zetsuei as myself, though he came from the materials around me, I willed him into existence and I made his every move.
'Pathetic!' Kukanaji laughed. 'That Alter is even smaller than you are! I still can't believe you were made out to be an A-Class Alter User! Mantai, take him out!'
This was far different from fighting the Native Alters on the field.. I wasn't fully prepared to fight against someone who had tactics almost as precise as mine, but even so Zetsuei and Kukanaji's Alter, Mantai, were fairly evenly matched. This was proof that I was better than them. It certainly was below me to fight this way, but I had been given no other choice. Now I had to defend myself.
It was then that I noticed Kukanaji's hands. He wore gloves….. one black….. one white…..
My concentration faltered and Zetsuei flickered.
How….. no, it couldn't be….. it couldn't! The Alter was different!
'Do you have a different Alter?' I demanded, still staring at his hands.
'What?'
'Do you have a different Alter!' Memories flashed through my mind of that fateful night….. that terrible night where I changed my ideals. I felt my knees trembling….. I had not revisited that night in so long….. not since….. not since it actually happened, at least when I was awake. I dreamed of it almost every time I slept. Those dreams were the fuel that kept me going and told me my ideals were right. Seeing it now….. was like watching it happen the first time.
How dare he….. I never wanted to relive it, and it was he who had done it. I was blinded to the world. The only thing I saw was the Alter that murdered my mother and destroyed what I needed to live a good life. Those gloves….. it was him….. he had done it using a different Alter. It was him!
I could suddenly see so clearly….. I was no longer blind, though I still saw….. him, and everything he had done.
'Oh! You like the gloves, huh?' He taunted, obviously not realizing his danger. However, those around him did, and they all stepped as far back as they could while still watching.
'Bring it out.' I said, my voice dangerously low. Somewhere, a small part of me was startled, the non-Alter part of me. The non-Alter part, though, should not be a part of me anymore. With a single thought, it was discarded, and all of my ideals merged into a single objective, and it shone brighter than my former ideals ever had. I was only Alter now, and this man….. the one who's Alter caused such devastation, stood before me gloating.
'Alter-boy, you make no sense. Mantai!'
'Bring it out! Your other Alter! I know you have one, show it to me!' The force and conviction in my voice caused several spectators to jump, but they saw something that I didn't notice until then. Zetsuei was shining, his whips reaching out to embrace the sky.
'What? I don't have another Alter-'
'It was you! You and your other Alter! You destroyed my life! Now, bring out your other Alter or I will just take you as you are!'
'Hey, Ryuhou, what are you-?'
'How DARE you! You took it all! ALL OF IT!'
I vaguely noticed that Commander Sigmar had arrived, but I didn't care! I didn't care at all! The man who had done it stood before me and he would know all of the pain he had caused….. he wouldn't escape until he knew…..
Kukanaji was beginning to panic. 'Ryuhou! I didn't!'
'ZETSUEI!'
Zetsuei's form burst into blinding light. I felt that well of power within me surface anew. It felt so much like the very first time I had ever used my Alter power, but Zetsuei was already before me.
I felt him break free. I felt his pure delight with finally being completely free. He flew at Mantai and Kukanaji faster than his shadow could follow. A sonic boom shook the ground in his wake. I felt myself being blinded again, but there was nothing I was being blinded by. The ground came up at me quickly, and the last thing I could see was Sigmar's face…..
He was pleased.
