"Netto-kun, hurry up…" Rockman called from his PET.
Netto sighed and turned over in bed, "So early," he groaned.
"Come on," Rockman chided him. "Get up, you told Saito-kun that you'd show him around town today."
Netto yawned and sat up, "All right, all right, I'm getting up now."
Rockman crossed his arms, "You're very slow this morning," he said.
Netto shrugged and rolled out of bed. "Rockman, you can go to internet city if you want," he said innocently.
"Are you sure?" Rockman asked dubiously.
Netto nodded, "Yeah, I can take care of my self," he said with a grin.
Rockman nodded, "All right, but don't get into trouble."
Netto grinned, "I wouldn't dream of it."
After Rockman left the monitor Netto heard a knock on his door. "Netto-kun?" Saito called to him.
"One minute," Netto called back, "I'll be out soon."
"All right," Saito said and walked down the stairs to wait for his twin.
Netto pulled on his every day apparel and started to walk towards the door when he heard voices behind him murmuring. He turned around to see two men in their early twenties looking at him scrutinizing. The one on the left cleared his throat, "Saito-san, we were sent here by Lady Eleanor to talk to her, she found herself to be a bit rash…"
Netto blinked, first two guys appeared in his room then they called him Saito. "Uh guys, first off, I'm not Saito, I'm his younger twin, Netto." The two men raised they eyebrows skeptically. "And second of all, what the hell do you want Saito for anyways?"
The one on the right sighed, "Look, Saito-san, Lady Eleanor wants to talk to you, at least honor that much."
Netto crossed his arms, "Was that before or after she banished my older brother?" he snapped.
They both gaped at him with their mouths open. The one on the left gained his composure first, "Saito-san, stop playing this game, we're just here to ask you to talk to Lady Eleanor."
Netto glared at him, "Look, I'm not Saito and tell her to come herself if she wants to talk to him so bad."
"Saito-san…" the one on the right said warningly.
"I'm not Saito!" Netto protested. The guardian on the left sighed and walked towards Netto with glowing fingertips just as Netto said, "I'm Netto!" The man put his fingertips on Netto's forehead and he felt the overwhelming urge to fall asleep, "Hey…" he protested before collapsing into his arms.
"Was that…"
"Lady Eleanor warned us he might be upset," he replied before the other man could finish his sentence. He picked up Netto and sighed, "Still, I can believe he would talk about Lady Eleanor like that."
The other man shrugged and they both vanished.
Downstairs Saito began to realize that even for Netto he was taking an awfully long time. He crept upstairs and opened Netto's bedroom door to an empty room. "Netto-kun?" he called out.
Saito walked into the middle of the room and saw a small feather at his feet, "What?" he asked himself.
Lady Eleanor glanced up from a desk that she had materialized in front of her chair. She saw the two guardians return and they were carrying someone who looked a lot like Saito but… something was off. She almost sighed, but then a delightful idea came to her mind. "I see you've returned."
"He claimed he wasn't Saito ma'am but…"
That clinched it, "No, it's all right," she nodded a little ways from herself where there was a small couch that wasn't there before. "You can set him over there; I'll wait till he wakes up. You've done well."
They both beamed and the taller one set Netto on the couch before they vanished.
"Come now child, we both know you're really not asleep anymore," Lady Eleanor said without looking up from her paperwork.
Netto glared at her and sat up, "Um excuse me, but who the hell are you?"
Lady Eleanor took her hands off the desk and it vanished. "I am Lady Eleanor, surely your older brother has told you about me," she said pleasantly.
Netto crossed his arms, "Yeah he did. Now why did you want to see Saito?" he asked. "Didn't you banish him?"
Lady Eleanor laughed, "I didn't banish him, it was all his decision."
"Huh?" Netto asked.
Lady Eleanor shook her head, "Perhaps a discussion for another time. However, since my senior Guardians apparently weren't told Saito was a twin," she put a hand on her chest, "My fault entirely. I now have you here and Saito back on earth."
Netto crossed his arms, "So, send me back and leave us alone," he snapped.
Lady Eleanor extended her arms and an empty table appeared in front of her. She rested her elbows on it and peered at Netto over her clasped hands. "If only it were that simple," she murmured.
"What does that mean?" he asked.
"Well, you see, dear child, I was going to ask Saito if he wanted his Guardianship back."
Netto raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything to interrupt Lady Eleanor.
"However, I had a fear that he might not want to take it back. You see, Saito is a rather, peace loving guardian and while he was good at keeping his charges safe, namely you, he was terrible at fighting off Dark Ones."
"Dark Ones?" Netto asked.
Lady Eleanor nodded, "Yes, Dark Ones are beings that are spawned from the negative emotions of humans. Because, as we all know, humans don't like to believe they're evil so they push away or banish their bad thoughts. I'm sure you've done this, haven't you?" she asked Netto.
Netto looked up, well sure he had bad thoughts before, but trying to pretend they didn't exist, that wasn't possible was it?
Lady Eleanor grinned at his silence and went on. "They are our greatest enemy. Us Guardians only seek to protect humans yet it is humans who create the beings who try and destroy us. Ah, irony," she said with a laugh.
"Wait, you say these things attack you?" Netto asked.
Lady Eleanor nodded, "Yes, they attack us and have started to invade our home, led by the Dark One known as Laina; she's very powerful and very malevolent. Also, she and Saito have a bit of a history."
"What?" Netto asked.
"When she first came to be, Saito almost took her down, but didn't finish her off because he saw destroying other sentient beings as a horrible act. Even if they are created from evil. So, she saw that as a pity from a sworn enemy, and has been trying to destroy him ever since."
Netto's eyes widened, "That was stupid," he muttered.
"Ah, you see it from my point of view. I've been trying to protect the child as she rose through power but it eventually became useless and now she has an army at her back. Meanwhile Saito disobeyed a direct order from me and gave me that chance to take away his power."
"Don't you dare say you did it in his best interest," Netto hissed.
Lady Eleanor shook her head, "No, I was truly angry with him. However, I may have acted a bit… rashly as far as he was concerned. Now he's on earth, without power, and even if he did have his power he wouldn't use it. That is figuring he would take it back in the first place."
Netto let out a long breath, "Wow, and I thought I had enemies."
Lady Eleanor raised an eyebrow, "You do have enemies, they just happen to be human or navi."
Netto looked away from her in a disgruntled manner.
"So, you see my current predicament, do I ask Saito if he wants his power back, or do I continue to let him stay down there. Maybe I could bring him up here but that would only upset him and it wouldn't do anything," Lady Eleanor said silkily.
Netto eyed her, "What are you getting at?" he asked.
Lady Eleanor eyed him with a steely gaze that made Netto pay attention. "I won't beat around the bush dear, what I am about to ask you breaks at least fifty rules, but since I made the rules I can break them. I refuse to sacrifice a spirit such as Saito's without trying something. So, Netto Hikari, if I asked you, would you become Saito's Guardian?"