To Light The Future!

by Dantheman2000009

Fate is always moving things along a set path. But what if something happened to that path? Or if someone new stepped on it? This Story is about a young man whose fate is undecided. Will he play along and let the world burn once more? Or, will he take up arms and fight to not only protect who he loves but to Light the Darkness that hangs over the future. (TioXOC plus others) AU

11. From Zero to Hope: Part 2

HELLO! And welcome back to the crossover now before we begin. I have some things to say, firstly sorry for the delay and I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

Now for the reviews! Shuukiko: I'm glad you are enjoying it and you asked me if there will be an original event, different from canon, but still connected to the canon itself. Well I can say yes there will be events like this, however I will not name them.

Now for the normal can of beans! I do not own the Legend of Heroes series or anything in it! Just a few Oc's and ideas behind the story!... Yes I did copy this so what!

'Thinking'

"Letters"

(Whispers)

"Talking"

Change of time/Pov

Artist of Shade in the story cover is Iwonn on Twitter and they have their own blog where you can get yourself some nice art as well but for a price.

Iwonn's Art Blog ( )

I pushed Lloyd back and aimed one of my guns at him and the other towards the crowd of soldiers that took notice of what happened. "Damn, Lloyd, didn't think I needed that much power to push you back!" Shade twirls his guns in his hand.

"You again? Did you really follow me all this way just to 'Kick my ass?' if you hadn't noticed, you and your friend there, are out gunned!" Lloyd readies his weapons for any attacks I send his way. 'Friend? That person behind me must not be on his or Rean's side then…'

I glanced around the area to see lots of guns pointing at me, hearing voices behind me. I turned around to see a black haired boy, most likely in his teens, looking over his shoulder at him. 'Weird, something feels off with him… whatever, I have more issues to deal with.'

Turning back to face Lloyd, I smile under my mask. "Come on Lloyd, you really think you got me out gunned? I know you're smart, so use that brain of yours."

"Let me ask you this. Do you truly intend to fight us and Zero? I think you would fit our little party very well, so why not join us?" Lloyd offers as I just tilt my head.

"Join you…? Pfft Hahaha!" I kept my guns aimed, but I couldn't help but laugh.

"You think because I wear a lot of black, I'm just gonna join you? As if, I wanna go home and if kicking Zero's ass works, then that is what I'm going to do!" Looking back towards the soldiers, I noticed that they all found cover and regrouped, no doubt about to start their attack, but my gaze eventually landed on Tio. 'Can I really fight her, or all of them for that matter? Huh? Wait… no, I must be sensing something else, there's no way that sword just moved on its own, did it?'

I glanced behind me and sure enough I saw the sword the boy was holding going towards Rean completely on its own.

"Well, it seems like they started the show, better get involved then!" I yelled out as I shot powerful shots towards the crowd, making sure to hit the ground to cause a large amount of dust and dirt to blind them for now as I jumped back, shooting the ground in front of me and Lloyd as well.

Sensing an attack from behind, I jumped out of the way, noting how it wasn't aimed for me. 'That boy seems to know what he's doing, I need to organize with him, so we can push them back… but first I need to push Lloyd back!'

I dodge out of the way as Lloyd rushes at me, swinging down in an X shape, raising one of my guns at him. I fired twice, only for him to block with ease. "Really now, blocking is no fun, don't you know the rules of shooting people?" I quipped at him as he rushed me again.

Somewhere behind me, I heard someone call out to me. "Hey, guy with the guns! Duck!" At that moment I sensed something heading my way, quickly jumping into the air. While in the air, I saw a giant attack from Rean sweep over the area. 'Damn, seems like everyone is a lot more powerful here.'

Landing on the ground, I noticed the dust clouds I made are starting to fade, meaning I'm going to be under heavy fire in a moment. "So, guy with the swords, what's your name?" I yelled over my shoulder as I shot a few more rounds towards Lloyd, keeping him at a distance.

"Relon. And you?" I hear him say. "Shade, so Relon we are about to get lit up pretty bad. Any ideas?" I asked as I took a step back towards him.

"Yeah. Ever rode on a skateboard before?" I glanced at him wondering what the hell he meant until I saw both swords lay down in front of us, hovering just above the ground. 'Well, this is new.'

"Well, no, but you're never old enough to learn!" I take another look around the battlefield to see some of the soldiers aiming their guns at us.

"Just think of it like one, but it can fly. Unless you want to get intimate with those guys, cause they seem really interested in us." Urgency in his tone.

"I'd rather not get intimate with any enemy of mine, I don't want a repeat of Miranda…" I shiver at the memory of her before quickly hopping on the sword in front of me."Time to retreat!" Both blades shoot out into the air.

"What's next? We fighting or fleeing?" I'm able to keep my balance on this sword, but still not enough to where I could shoot down at them. 'Wait, that's odd…'

"No offense Shade, but I'm not exactly in top fighting condition. So unless you want to sabotage them or leave a 'present,' I think retreat is best for right now." Relon states as I glance down, noticing the mechs aiming at us.

"You're controlling these swords, yeah? Take me down towards the mechs quickly!" I quickly holster my handguns as we veer down towards the mechs. 'There's what, four of them in total? I just need to get close to one of them.'

As we got closer to the ground I saw the mechs try to follow us with their guns, but before they could try anything I jumped off the sword and slid towards the legs of the mech that's in the middle of them.

"Relon keep moving and be prepared to dodge!" I yelled out as I punched one left leg of the mech, denting it inward. Then I grabbed with both hands and pulled, making it fall onto the ground.

I then grabbed it with all of my strength and started making it spin with me. The other mechs started to back away, but I started spinning faster and faster and before they could leave I was able to knock two of them down. Unable to hold on for much longer and with this already hard enough to control as is, I tossed the mech into the last one standing, making a nice ramp in the process.

I ran towards the down mechs and started jumping on them. "Relon, need a sword here!" I yelled out as I jumped off the downed mech's head.

"Gotcha!" I hear him shout as one of the swords flies past, which I was able to land on.

"We should be good with them down!" I yell out as I quickly do a double take on the field below.

"Nice work! Now let's get the hell outta here."

"I have a… friend nearby, she's by the gate leading towards Trista. If it's not a problem, could we swing by and grab her?" I asked as I calmed my breathing from the amount of energy I used.

"Fun fact; that's the direction my cousin and I were heading back." Veering towards what looked like a school, I saw Relon cup his hands together before hollering. "Rinwell!" Looking ahead, I see some girl and an owl reveal themselves, looking confused while staring at me.

"Who is that?" The girl questions as we approached.

"Questions for later. He's an ally. Hop on, we gotta go. Army might be chasing us." He quickly answers before extending his hand outwards, the owl goes into the girl's hoodie as she wraps her arms around Relon waist.

We begin flying towards the gate, as I'm now able to get a good view of the city and its ruined state. As I'm looking around, I see the old house that Magilou should be in. "Relon, down there, the house with the hole in the roof." I called out to him.

"Which one?" I heard him ask, looking down I couldn't help but give a deadpan look behind my mask at what I saw.

"The one with the annoying blond girl that is currently waving at us." I state with a sigh.

"Ahhh…" Both Relon and Rinwell said in unison as we got closer to the ground.

"Also, don't take anything she says seriously." I stated in a flat tone as we landed.

"A woman who isn't serious? Where have I heard that before?" I don't bother to question his response. As I jumped off the sword, I turned and saw Magilou running towards us.

"Oh, Shade! It was awful! That house had no running water at all! I couldn't take a bath to relax…! Also, what's with the swords and the kids?" I couldn't help but facepalm at everything she said.

Seeing Rinwell looking confused, I see her point towards Magilou. "Is she an idiot?"

"Sometimes I wonder the same thing." I say as Magilou walks closer to us.

"Anyway, this is Magi-" Before I could say her name, she had put her hand up to stop me from talking.

"No, no. Let them ask me my name!" She states before taking a step back.

"Who exactly are you?" Rinwell asked, and I thought of stopping what was coming, but figured it's best to let her do this then hear her complain.

"Hooray, you asked! I'm thrilled to introduce to you the wise sorceress who travels the eleven seas, who scoffs at the might of dragons… None other than the acclaimed, the illustrious Mazhigigika Miludin do Din Nolurun Dou! Magilou for short." She proudly declares with a pose and smile.

"Yup. She's an idiot." I hear both Rinwell and Relon say in unison.

"Yeah, saw that coming, anyway." I stepped forward and turned to look at them both, just to make sure they are good people, I quickly looked into their eyes. I saw a sense of innocence from Rinwell with good intentions and from Relon, I saw pride and yet rage, but good intentions as well. 'At least I know I can trust them fully now.'

I smiled as I took off my mask, revealing my face to them. "Since we have time, let me properly introduce myself. My name is Shade Junge."

"Oh, right! My name is Rinwell Millstein. And this little guy is Hootle. Say hi." I see the owl from earlier hop on her shoulder. "Hoot Hoot!"

"And this is my cousin…" She gestures to the boy beside her.

"The name's Relon. Relon Lucinance. The black and gold sword is Pippin and the darkish red and purple is Pappan. Glad to finally meet some people for once. I've had it with monsters."

"Millstein?" I mutter under my breath as I look at Rinwell, before turning to face Relon. "I see, and these swords of yours, Pippin and Pappan, they have their own will and sense of self, yes?" I asked as I glanced at Rinwell again. 'Same last name as Celine and the girl Emma.'

"Yeah. They have their own personalities, but listen to me." Relon states, before I could say anything else, Magilou pushes past me and stands in front of them both.

"Well, it's nice to meet both of you! I'll let the idiot comments slide for now, but I will remember them~" She gave them a smile before turning back, walking towards the bike.

"So where to?" Rinwell says as I turn to face them again. I thought about the thing I noticed during the fighting earlier.

"This place isn't safe, and I have no doubt that everyone is looking for us, so it's best we get out of the city…" I stopped talking as I sensed a lone soldier creeping up on us. Sensing the soldier coming from the front of the building, I walked towards the door and waited by it. Noting that the swords and in turn Relon sensed the person as well, they got ready for them.

"What's wrong?" Rinwell asks as Magilou stops walking and stares at the door.

"Company, and not the good kind." Relon says in a hush whisper, Magilou was going to comment on something, but Relon silenced her before she could get a word out.

Sensing the person on the other side of the door, I quickly opened it and pulled him in before he could make any noise, grabbing his gun I held it away from him as I pushed him to the floor. He was wearing what seemed like the standard uniform for Rean's soldiers. "You're one of Rean's men, yeah?" I asked him.

"Hahaha…" I hear him laugh as Relon and the swords surround him, with the swords hovering around his neck."Hahaha! You both seem like fun!" I stare down at him, already having a good idea who is speaking to us through him.

"Zero!" The man turns to look up at us with a large grin on his face and not caring if the swords at his neck do anything. Behind me, I hear Rinwell shout as Relon looks on edge. "The hell?"

"I'm quite glad to have you with us now, watching those two go at it was getting boring… Now I have something fun to play with in the meantime!" The smile on his face widens even more, and the sight of it looks somewhat disturbing.

"Wait, does this mean you can control those under Rean's and Lloyd's command?!" The thought of this thing using people sickens me, but the fact he could use anyone, even Tio just worsens the fact.

The others are shocked by what I said, but none more than Rinwell. "Control? What do you mean, control?!" She roars at him, grabbing some book that's her on. The soldier turns to look at Relon.

"You didn't tell her? About her sister? Oh, for shame, young man. Keeping a secret from such a frail maiden. Tsk, tsk, tsk."

"Painting me as the villain isn't going to work, whoever you are." Noting the word sister, I saw Rinwell snap her head towards Relon. "I found Rean and some of the others, including Emma. But…" He takes a pause before looking at her and responding, "They're not the good guys."

Rinwell's anger vanishes, she drops her book and falls to her knees. "Sissy is… evil…?" She looks to the ground in disbelief, 'Sister… So, she is the sister of them.'

"Rinwell… Tch, start bastard! Who are you?!" Relon snaps at Zero in anger.

"Does a bug need to understand why it needs to be stepped on? All you need to know is this. I am the beginning, and I'm also the end, the world will soon be reborn all in the image of Zero!" As I watched, it dawned on me why it even started talking to us in the first place. 'It's stalling us!'

"Shit!" I kicked the grunt in the face, knocking him down and out. "We need to leave, now! They know where we are at!" Putting on my mask.

"Rinwell!" Relon rushes over, grabbing her book and helping the girl up. "We gotta go!" He holds her tight as they get on the swords.

I quickly get on the bike and I don't say a word to Magilou who's already in the sidecar waiting for me. "Punch it!" I heard Relon shout as I nodded and took off.

As we're making our way out, I hear Relon say something before coming closer. "We got company!"

"Knew it, they weren't firing at us when we fled before, more than likely to catch us off guard. Zero, however, used that guy to tell them all where we were at." I noticed that they had set up a blockade on the road leading towards the gate, so we had to turn down another road. As we do, so I glance behind me to see more mechs and soldiers on our trail.

"Who the shit is Zero anyway?!" Looking forward, I saw another turn coming into view. "Sissy…!" Hearing Rinwell say that, I could tell they were catching up and that Rean's side was leading the charge.

"I'll explain later once we ditch them, speaking of which. Any ideas where we could hide from them?!" I shout as I turn out of the way of some rubble.

"Hide…?" Relon mutters under his breath before turning to face me. "We need to get to Celdic!"

"Celdic? That's far off and to get there we need to get by Trista!"

"Does it matter, really! Just get us away from them!" Magilou shouts, holding on to the sidecar for dear life as we turn.

"Just trust me!" Looking over at Relon I nod as I push on the gas harder. Sensing a sniper round heading towards Relon, I pulled out my handgun and shot it out of the air, looking back I saw Elie on one of the mechs aiming at us. 'More mechs?!'

"That's it!" Relon flies over to Magilou and drops Rinwell on top of her. "Thanks for the save, Shade! My turn!" He says while flying upward.

"Relon!" Rinwell pushes down on Magilou's head as she shouts up at him. Glancing to the girls I saw Magilou trapped under Rinwell, but before I could help out I sensed more incoming fire from behind, so I turned and began shooting behind me again, blocking more rounds from Elie and others. 'Relon, this idea of yours better be good!'

As we made another turn, I sensed something from above. I looked up, seeing Relon shooting towards us. "We're gonna collide!" Magilou exclaims loudly while ducking behind Rinwell.

Locking eyes with Relon I saw fire within, nodding I pressed the gas harder as Relon came down behind us.

"ABLAZE!" The three of us turned around to see what was happening. "FLAME…" Pippin's shape-shifts from its normal sword form to a large great sword shaped in flames. "CLEAVER!" My eyes go wide as after he crashed into the ground, the road bursts as pillars of fire-like geysers surge all along it.

"Well, that's something new!" I yelled out with a smile as I turned to look forward, seeing the gate just ahead of us.

"He's okay!" I hear Rinwell shout as Relon, who is on one of his blades, comes up to our side.

"Tired… Rinwell… Please guide us…" He pauses to inhale a heavy breath. "To the entrance into Eryn that's near Trista." He breathes out. "Losing… consciousness… You're… welcome…" He drops his head onto the blade's handles.

"Rinwell, you heard the man. Guide us to Eryn!" I shouted out as I looked at Relon.

"R-Right! To Trista!" She points ahead.

We drove out of the city at last, turning around one last time, I saw no one chasing us. "Also, Magilou… you seem comfortable there." I joked, as I now had time to address the fact that Rinwell was sitting on top of Magilou.

"Can we just get somewhere safe already!" She yells out.

I continued driving, thankful to not have that army chasing us as Rinwell gave me directions, all the while Relon laid there on his sword flying next to us. It wasn't long until we found this entrance Relon was talking about, at least I think it's an entrance.

"This the place Rinwell?" I asked her as I slowed the bike to a halt. Looking around, all I saw was dead trees. Rinwell gets off the bike as Magilou breathes out a sigh of relief as she fixes herself.

"Yes, just don't panic when it happens." She walks over to this stone that's sticking out of the ground, and the nature of it looks odd. She takes hold of Relon's hand and turns to look at us. "Just touch this and off we go. Ready?"

"Does the bike come with?" I asked as I moved closer with it, just in case.

"As long as you're making contact with it before you touch the device, then yup." Nodding, I got as close to it as I could with a bike before turning towards Magilou who's still sitting in the sidecar.

"Hold on tight, just in case." I then looked over to Rinwell and nodded, letting her know that I was ready.

Touching it at the same time, a flash of light encompasses my vision before all goes white and an odd feeling washes over me. A moment later, I opened my eyes to see what looked like a cave, and the odd feeling disappeared. "We made it." Rinwell breathes out in relief. "How are-" She pauses, seeing us both unperturbed. "You two holding up…?" She blinks.

"Felt weird, but I'm fine." Magilou says while getting out of the sidecar.

"Same, was something supposed to happen?" I asked getting off the bike as well.

"Huh. Usually, people's first time teleporting through those makes them queasy." She says with a chuckle as I glance at the object again. 'Instant teleportation? Makes sense.'

"You'll get your answer to that later, but for now we should find a place to rest. I'm sure you and Sleepyboy there are hungry." I state as I look over Relon.

"Yeah. I'll lead the way. Here's to hoping none of those monsters appear." She comments as the group departs.

"What kind of monsters?" Magilou asks as she stretches her arms.

"Wolves that fire jets of acidic water." She answers nonchalantly.

"It's always wolves, well you lead on then, but if they do show up I'll take care of them." I state while getting back on the bike.

She nodded and led us through this area, lucky enough no wolves showed up, but I did hear them from somewhere nearby, but suddenly Rinwell stopped and turned to face us. "We're almost there. Eryn is just over that way." She points to the illuminated path where another one of those teleportation devices stands.

"Good, I need a place to get some good sleep!" Magilou says, walking up from behind me.

"Says the girl that was napping in the sidecar all day." I state before slowly driving towards the teleportation device.

"Seriously?" Rinwell deadpans. "Why does that not surprise me."

"A girl like me needs her beauty sleep! Besides, with him driving it's not like I could get much rest anyway!" Magilou shouts while eyeing me down as I ignore her.

I once again got as close as I could to the device as did Magilou, Rinwell and Relon. "Same thing right? Just touch it?" I asked her.

"Yeah." She says with a nod as we all touch it, the odd feeling washes over me again as we're whisked away to somewhere.

Looking around after the transportation, I saw we were in a clearing now. "So this Eryn?" I asked her.

"What's left of it, at least." Rinwell sighs coming behind me only to freeze at what she saw. "Huh?"

"What's wrong?" I questioned, looking around, only to notice nothing wrong.

"The roots. They were emerging from the center of the village over there. Now…they're gone. The water looks like it's been purified. How…?" Rinwell questions while looking extremely confused.

"Maybe someone cut them?" Magilou shrugs.

"But who…" Her gaze fell onto a building that has a large hole in the front of it. "Could it be…? Come on!" She takes off across the waterway towards said building.

Jumping off my bike, Magilou and I followed after the sprinting girl, entering the building she runs up the stairs and down the corridor. She opens one of the doors and stares into it, coming up behind her, I looked in to see a white cat curled up on the floor.

"I knew it." Rinwell smiles, walking in and crouching before the feline. "You cleaned up the village while we were away, didn't you?" 'The cat got rid of the roots?'

"Hoot, Hoot." The owl chirps as Rinwell turns to face us, walking past us, she goes onto the balcony and looks down. "It's okay, you two can bring him up." She waves down, and the swords bring Relon up where they then take him to the room where they gently lay him on the blue bed before moving out from under him.

"You make sure he's alright, I'll bring the bike around and get some food and water for you both… or the three of you, I guess." I state, glancing at the cat again before I left the room and the building.

On my way to the bike, I looked around the village and saw it to be in a somewhat better condition than other places. 'So this is the place Celine told me about? Even now, I can tell it's a beautiful place.' After looking around, I got on the bike and drove it to the front of the building and went through the supplies to get out food and water for everyone.

Seeing a table on the first floor I sat up what I had on there, even the maps Shirley gave me as I know those upstairs will need to see them soon.

After setting everything up I sighed as I turned around and made my way back upstairs and upon getting to the door I heard loud whispers coming from inside. "Hey, I'm ba- Uh…"

Looking inside, I saw Rinwell and Magilou face to face and about to go at each other's throats. "I don't even want to know why, but please just calm down, the both of you." I say as I took off my mask, ignoring any glances from the girls, and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Everything you need is downstairs on the table, I'll watch over this one here." I say while looking at Relon. 'From what I'm able to tell, we're both in the same boat. Maybe I should ask Rinwell about it.'

Both of them slowly stepped away from each other and made their way out the door, but before Rinwell could leave I stopped her. "Rinwell, can I say something real quick?"

"Sure." She stops and turns to me, breathing calmly. "What's up?"

"I won't go much into it not until Relon is awake, but I do know you both aren't from this world, same with me and Magilou." I say as I cross my arms.

"How could you-" She steps back in shock, clearly surprised I was able to figure it out.

"Relon was careful, but with the way you acted to Emma being an enemy, well that was a dead giveaway, haha." I say in a calm yet soft tone.

"The way I acted…?" She thinks for a moment before her eyes widen.

"O-Oh. I get it." She chuckles. "Relon's an expert in fighting and how to act. I don't get out much so being blasted to another world has been more stressful for Relon so… so…" She scrunches, walking back to take Relon's hand in hers. I watch her carefully, making sure to listen to every word she says.

"It's frustrating. How can he do it?" She allows a sniffle to escape. "He fought against Sissy and everyone without hesitation. That attack was full of his rage, but it wasn't directed at them." She kneels against the bedside, resting her head on the soft sheet looking to Relon.

"... What do you mean?" I asked her, but I kinda knew what she meant.

"Shade. How can you prove to me right now that you're not an enemy? How do I know you can trust you won't double-cross us?"

"Rinwell-" I slowly start as I rise from the bed, but before I could say any more she stops me.

.

"Answer me. My back is to you. We both know you're far stronger in every aspect in this current moment. Even if I wanted to reach for my tome, you'd stop me before I could so much as move. Couldn't you…?" She asks, her gaze never leaving Relon.

"... Yeah." I simply said, trying to find the words to say. 'There's a lot that she's dealing with, and for someone so young…'

She chuckled again and after a few moments of silence. "I know I'm nowhere near your level, but rest well, Relon. You've done more than enough. So this time, let me be the one to watch over you." She speaks up, causing me to focus on her again. "So? Are you friend or foe?" She reiterates, not leaving her gaze from Relon. "You could stop me right here and now, couldn't you?"

"You made a good point, I could stop you from using that magic book and completely overpower you, but I'm not doing that. You know Emma and even called her Sissy, so that means you must know Celine, right?" I asked her, my gaze never leaving her.

"You know Celine too?" She looks over at me in shock.

"She was my friend, told me a lot about this village and Emma. Reason I brought her up was so you can have a little trust in me, and I'm sure you still have doubts, but trust me. I'm a friend." I say, looking calmly into her eyes for a moment.

"And Magilou?" She asks me.

"I've known her for only a small amount of time, but she's not going to do anything bad. I'll make sure of that, but she's… a somewhat good person from what I know, annoying yes, but still good." I picture Magilou trying to be evil, but I can't see that ever happening.

"I see… I'll be the judge of that then." She smiles, walking past him. "Thank Shade." She offers a smile of sincerity. "For being a good guy. You too, Relon." She cheekily adds. "Pretending to be asleep." She giggles leaving. 'Pretending, huh?'

"You have a good one there, so how long have you been listening?" I asked, turning to the bed.

The boy sighs and opened his eyes before getting up and rolling his legs out of bed. "Believe it or not, I never truly lost consciousness. Moreso pitter-pattering in between being fully awake and being out. If I was fully out, then Pippin and Pappan would have dropped after I used my attack. And you guys would have had to turn around and get me and blah blah blah else." He rubs his face with his hand and gets up, looking over at the cat in the room, he walks over and picks her up and puts her on the bed.

"Thanks. Both of you." He turns to look at me. "For everything up until now."

"Awake the entire time, huh? So you were just lazy I see, whatever. As long as you aren't dead, then everything is almost fine." I state, looking somewhat annoyed but with a smile on my face. 'A good guy, huh? Doesn't feel like it.'

"Heh, I literally couldn't move my body in my defense. If something would have come up, Pippin and Pappan would have left me without a second's hesitation. Regardless, at least Rinwell took care of what I was going to do."

"Speaking of Pippin and Pappan, what are you? You aren't a witch that much I can tell, I sense something else from you…" I say, staring at the teen.

"Hmm. It's funny that you bring that up, cause I could ask you the same. Your heartbeat isn't exactly normal nor are you, am I right?" My gaze softened a little as I turned away and walked towards the window.

"My heartbeat, huh? Not the fact I grabbed a giant robot and swung it around? But yeah, I'm not normal at all… Only a monster." I mutter that last part to myself, unsure if Relon heard it or not.

"Haha, if I was in better condition, I would have thrown one myself. But a monster? Hmm. You address yourself as a monster, but what I heard a moment ago begs to differ. Monsters are known to be seen in both the good light and the bad. Although, that's only if you want to be seen that way. I, for one, can't talk much myself."

I turned my head slightly towards Relon. "Have you ever taken a life before?" I asked him in a somewhat flat tone.

"Yup. Nine and a half years old was when I got my first blood with the Rean of my world." The tone of his voice is similar to my own.

"I was five when I killed someone, then after that I was fourteen. The worst part was that I didn't feel a thing to those I killed or anyone else afterwards. I have killed countless people, which in turn resulted in many innocent dying in the process. I have been called a Monster by those I was fighting for and those I killed, so in the end I just accepted that fact." My tone barely changed, I sounded more dead than anything else.

"Okay. So you embraced slash, accepted what you were called." Relon shrugs while walking to sit on the bed. "Let me ask you this, then." He looks back to Shade. "Those who you were killing, protecting, and fighting for; do you think they would call you a monster?"

"Most that only heard of me did, but those that did know me, those that I wish were still around now, those people called me a friend. Celine being one of them and many others." I looked out the window again before letting out a breath I didn't know I was holding. 'Why did I bring this shit up.'

"Then that's what matters. Screw those idiots that don't know squat. As long as you know that your friends are behind you as friends, then whatever else you're called shouldn't bother you." I chuckle slightly at his words, knowing full well that he's right, but at the same time it's not something I could just get over.

"I'll tell you what I am, but first let's head downstairs… You can move around, yeah?" I asked as I turned away from the window

"Ugh, jerk, making an exhausted guy move so soon." Relon softly groans, getting back up, reaching out holding Pappan for support like a cane. "Lead the way."

"Alright, there is food and drink waiting down there, and I'm sure you need it." I walked slowly out of the room as Relon followed behind.

"Much appreciated, good sir."

We made our way downstairs and into the room where I had set everything up, only to see Magilou and Rinwell glaring at each other again. 'This is already getting old.'

"You two are going to be the bane of the other's existence, aren't you?" Relon sighs as he walks over to grab some food.

"She-" Both of them are stopped by Relon raising his hand. "Too tired to even hear it. You two can go at it like cats and dogs after I'm done." He says before digging in. I walked to the end of the table and prepared myself, so I can explain everything to Relon and Rinwell.

"As much as I would love to see this fight, we have other issues at hand." I say as I walk over to where I had put the maps at. "Let me say this first; everyone in this room isn't from this world, but that alone raises another question. Why are we here to begin with?" I asked everyone with a serious gaze.

"Evil witch sent by the literal devil decided to test me." Relon answers in between bites.

"I happened to be with him when she appeared." Rinwell answers after Relon.

"For Magilou and I, we happened to come across some type of glowing device. Once I had touched it, it sent us here. But the odds that both of us would get sent to a world like this around the same time are highly unlikely." I grabbed my chin as I started thinking about why and how this world was chosen.

"Is it though?" Relon wonders, biting his bread. "Seems pretty normal to me." I glanced up at him. 'Normal? I don't think I want to know.'

"I can't say it's normal to me, but I think we were brought here, or rather the world itself made us come here." I state as I grabbed the map showing the last known areas that aren't covered in roots and putting on the table where everyone could see. "This is all that remains of this world." I say darkly. The map only shows Erebonia, Crossbell and some parts of North Ambria and Liberl.

"Been a while since I went to Liberl. Crossbell too." Relon comments having finished his food. "Hey Shade, Magilou, ever hear of a place called Ashland to the South of Ordis?"

"Nope, can't say I ever heard of a place named Ashland." Magilou says while leaning back in her chair, already finished with her food.

"Same here, but speaking of locations." I turned around and grabbed two more maps, one of the resistance bases and the other for Zero's bases. 'They really had to make separate maps for them?'

I put both on the table over the other map and pointed towards the blue markers first. "When we got here, we started heading towards the closest place, Twin Dragon Bridge. When we got there, I found people trying to fight back against Zero. All of the blue markers are where they set up their own bases."

"A resistance, huh. At least that's helpful against whoever this Zero guy is. Speaking of, who is this Zero guy?" Relon asked me as I then pointed towards the red markers.

"From what I was told, Zero is the leader of both Rean and Lloyd. He took power around thirty years ago and set up these reactors which are draining the life of the planet and sending it to him. These four markers are the reactors, while this one here is where he is at." I pointed to each marker until finally landing on the one on top of Roer.

"Wait, then why were Rean and Lloyd fighting?" Rinwell asks.

"For fun. The resistance isn't strong enough to do anything to Zero, so Rean and Lloyd use them for training and would fight each other for fun. I'm pretty sure Zero is the one making them do it in the first place." I state, looking towards her.

"We saw some of it at Twin Dragon Bridge, they showed up, killed a few people and left to go and fight Rean. I didn't even get a chance to help out in the fighting." Magilou chimes in, putting her arms behind her head.

"A world where evil already won." Relon mutters. "How did it come to this?" He says aloud to no one in particular as I glance away from him. "Regardless, it's not just Zero's group we need to watch out for."

"He's right." Rinwell speaks up. "We still don't know what Valkyrie is up to, not to mention where she even is."

"A part of me is glad she didn't randomly pop up when we were fleeing from the others. That would have made things even harder."

"Valkyrie? Evil witch you mentioned earlier, yeah?" I asked Relon and Rinwell.

"Yeah. Also, you brought up Miranda, I think? Who was that?" Relon asked, which made me let out a heavy sigh at the memory.

"Miranda was a bitch that tried to kill me, but in the end I popped a grenade in her stomach and blew her up." I state with annoyance.

"Language." Relon snaps at me with droopy eyes.

"Whoa, you, killing someone like that even though you became a cop? You surprised me, Shade." Magilou remarks with a smirk.

"... I think it's time I told you what I am Relon, and not only that but where 'I' came from." I looked at him with a hardened gaze.

Closing my eyes I took a deep breath before I started explaining. "I was born in a village in Calvard, to a human mother and a demon father who I never saw. I am half demon, but I was also born into a world that was taken over by evil, just like this one." I let out another breath before continuing. "My world was a dark place that was conquered and at the age of fourteen I stepped into it to end the evil, just like my adopted dad wanted me to. I found a resistance, killed people for them, and in the end it was all for nothing. We had lost, and in a last ditch effort to save what future we had, everyone I knew, my friends, sent me to the past to change the future."

I stopped for a moment to catch my breath, not realizing I was getting louder. "I'm telling you all this because this world reminds me of my own, I want to get back to where I came from with Magilou, but I want to, no. I need to save this world before all hope dies in it!" I finish as I start breathing heavily.

"Shade…" I hear Rinwell murmur while glancing at Relon.

Calming myself down I glanced at Magilou to see her glance at me before the others. I looked over as I sensed one of Relon swords traveling towards him and planting itself in his hand.

"Relon, where are you going?" Rinwell asks as I watch him get up.

"Where else? Back to bed. All this information is hard to take in as is." He says, rubbing his temple.

"But what about-" I tried stopping him, so we could figure out a plan.

"I'm not done." He interrupts, turning to face me. "Look, if you had the ill thought that Rinwell and I weren't going to help, then you're not as smart as I originally thought." He gives me a deadpan expression.

"We were already going to decide on figuring out how to save this world and its people, so you seriously didn't need to give your backstory." Relon continues massaging his temple. "Now having heard it, I get why this urgency of yours is so strong but do remember something Shade. This ain't your world. Go in with the same expectations as you would your own, and you may be in for a rude awakening. Not trying to sound like an asshat or anything, but giving out such personal stuff to people you just met isn't the most smartest thing. Although… it's very much appreciated. Glad we're all on the same trust level. Do me a favor, though; don't act so personal with people you just met. That can come back to bite you in the ass."

I stood there for a moment, I knew everything he just said. Hell, I had to fake my name to get into some places before, and the only reason I said any of this was because I could trust him. But half the shit he said annoyed me, but for now I will let that go.

I looked up and smiled at Relon. "... I got a little heated, but I only told you what I felt like was needed. I know we can't rush things which is why I planned on organizing the resistance together and my background will help with that. Oh, and one last thing, Relon." I walk around the table to stand in front of him. "Seeing as we're teaming up now, there's one thing I gotta ask again. Just what are you?" I stared at him again, waiting for a response.

"This can't wait until after I'm rested, can it?" He sighs, noting of Rinwell's knowing look. "Do you have Aidios in your world?"

"Yeah, don't really care much for her, plus I have bad experiences with churches." I state as I crossed my arms.

"Great! Same! I'm her chosen one." His smile deflates back to his tired self. "An offspring of her offspring, per say. Technically, my mom is 50% human and 50% witch while my dad is 100% Lucinance so that makes me 25% human, 25% witch, and 50% divine being. So your earlier comment of me not being a witch was actually wrong, by the way." He chuckled once again as I stared at him. 'I have a lot of questions like what the hell is a Lucinance, but those can wait for now, but holy hell this guy is something.'

"Not tired enough to pounce on a chance at being right, it seems." Rinwell deadpans.

"Hey, leave me alone! Speaking of, are males even considered witches or are they mages like in the fictional books?" Relon asks her.

"Obviously they're…" She pauses, blinking in thought. "Huh. I don't know."

"Seriously?" Relon retorts now the one to give her a bland look.

"The other males in the village never identify as mages or witches. They just say they use magic."

"So magicians?" He inquires.

"No…?" She hesitates for Magilou to lean forward, gleaming in excitement. "Definitely not!" Rinwell reinforces pushing the woman away. 'Wow, you can't get a word in between the both of them. At least, I don't have anything to add to this.

"Oh well. Questions for when we get back. Any other questions before I knock myself out?" Relon turns to look at me again.

"Um!" Both of us turn to Rinwell as she stands up. "If it's… not too much trouble… Could I get some training?"

"I can help you out a little, but that can wait until tomorrow, as it's getting late and everyone needs some rest." I state, looking outside, seeing the sky turning red and yellow.

"Once I'm rested, I'll be more than happy to help. It feels like forever since I got any training in." Relon says, turning to pause. "Uh, stupid question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Who's sleeping with who?"

"I can't sleep actually, downside of my demon side, so I'll stay up and take watch in case something happens." I state.

"That's actually quite the nifty ability. I could do more research with that…"

"Relon and I will sleep in one room, while you can have the room across from us, Shade. This technically is my house." Rinwell giggles.

"Oh yeah. That actually slipped my tired mind. Hey, did I mention I was tired?" Relon wonders, turning and departing up the staircase with Rinwell behind him.

Turning around, I went and walked outside and let out a heavy sigh, I walked over and sat on the bike as I heard Magilou scream from inside, probably about something I don't care about.

Reaching into my pocket I pulled out my small notepad and started drawing a single line before I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I saw a ladder that leads to a cliffside next to the building, getting off the bike I jumped up there to get a better view of the area.

I stood there for a moment, looking for something good to draw before sitting down. As I drew another line I heard the door behind me open up, turning my head I saw Magilou's surprised face, she snapped her head around to look inside and glared at something. "Bleh!" She sounds before slamming the door.

"Rinwell?" I asked, turning back to look at the village.

"She's a brat!" She yells out as she sits next to me and curls her knees-up and wraps her arms around them.

"So are you, just let her have her fun. I'm sure she's stressed from everything going on." I saw what looked like hot springs not far and decided to draw what it could look like if the trees had life.

"Well, it's not fun for me…" She mumbles into her arms.

We sat in silence for some time while I was drawing, every so often I would notice her staring at my notepad with great interest before looking away whenever she noticed my glance. When I noticed, I shifted the book, so she could see it better, and I stopped looking her way, so we sat there peacefully and in silence.

As the sun had set and the sky darkened, Magilou finally spoke up and asked me something. "So, was it true?"

"Was what, true?" I asked back, turning to face her, knowing full well what she meant.

"You time traveling, the fact you're half demon, all of it." Her tone is calm, yet I can tell she's tired.

"Yeah, don't expect me to go into details about the future, but tomorrow I'll explain a little about what I can do." I said as I got up from the ground and dusted myself off.

"I don't really care about the future, but what will the others think when I tell them all of this?" She says with a twisted grin. 'You little bitch.'

I turned and looked down at her with an unamused look. "I hope you'll say nothing, but I doubt it's that easy with you…" She gets up and stretches.

"I won't tell anyone under one condition…!" She throws her arms behind her head and starts walking towards the door. "Once we get back, just do any and all requests I send your way!" She looks back at me with a smug grin. "And I won't say a single word about you, promise." She turns away and opens the door before heading inside.

I watched her go and when I saw her leave my sight I sighed. "Of all the people to be sent to another world with…"

I hopped off the cliff and landed down below with ease, taking a look around. I didn't see anything interesting, but still decided to spend time looking around in case something is there. Starting on the left side, which had a decently sized building compared to the others. After walking towards it and looking around inside, I concluded that this must have been an Inn, but besides empty rooms, there is nothing here.

As I left the building I took the stairs to my left down to the lower parts where after looking in the closest two buildings I found nothing once more. 'Nothing here either, for a place that housed witches you would think they would have something hidden away just in case.'

The only thing that was in what looked like a shop were empty shelves and some dead looking plants, the next building was odd as it held books and other trinkets and some weird crystal ball.

I left the area they were in and walked past the monument that was in the center of the area and towards another building. After gently opening the door, I walked inside and down the steps where I saw much of the room emptied, from the shelves to the weapon racks I saw around the place.

From a single glance I could tell this was an Orbal Factory of some kind, not only that, but I could see the tools that are needed for one are still here and seem to be undamaged. 'Could be useful in the future, but I don't need to use it for myself.'

I looked around the workshop some more and inspected the equipment which as I had assumed was in working order, looking behind the counter I did find a few books about Quartz, weapon upgrades and even how to sell stuff to people. The book that did catch my eye however was one about putting enchantments on an item.

"Oh? This could be very useful, I'll get into this tomorrow night and test it out." I went to put the book back under the counter, before I had gotten up I saw what looked like a button hidden on the ceiling of the counter. Seeing that there aren't any hidden rooms in this place, I knew it wouldn't open anything like that, so I decided to leave it alone for tonight.

I gave the building one last check before I climbed the steps and made my way back outside, where I walked towards the stairs to my right.

There was a path in front of me which led to what I assume is the spring, while to my right was another large building. I checked on the building first and saw a sign on it reading 'Lemuric General Goods' and after taking a look inside I once again found nothing of use. Deciding to not head towards the springs I made my way towards where the teleport device was located, nearby I saw a decently sized clearing which could be used for Rinwell's training.

'How to train her? She doesn't use guns, and she's not strong enough to weld any weapons I'm good at… Guess I'll have to be a target for her and whatever magic she throws my way.' I turned back towards the village and looked it over again, seeing it abandoned and in tatters like this must be hard for her, even for me, I feel upset looking at it as this was once Celine's home. 'I wonder if there's a version of her here?' I sighed as I made my way back towards the main building.

Once inside I did a check on the supplies and saw it was mostly canned goods left like beans, meat and other vegetables, but I should be able to make decent meals from them that should last around four days, maybe. I also organized the maps and cleaned off the table where on one side you had a good view of all the maps and on the other side you had enough room for everyone to get a meal. 'If I ate with them, we would only have two days left, guess I'm not eating anytime soon, again.'

I didn't know how much time had passed by the time I finished, but since I was doing it all slowly and carefully so as to not wake anyone, I'm sure a good portion of the night had passed. Grabbing a chair, I spent the rest of the night thinking of what plan we should all follow from here on out and even began to wonder what type of world Relon and Rinwell came from. 'Ashland…? Wonder what that place is? I should ask to see if the Dominion is there in his world, but first I should find out what year he's from as well.'

Before I knew it, night had quickly passed, and I saw the faint glimpse of the sun starting to rise, so I got up from my chair and began the process of making a decent breakfast for everyone.

I used what I could and made some tasty beans, enough for three people. As I put the finished touches on it, I sensed people walking down the stairs. "Morning." I called out over my shoulder.

"Morning. How was your night?" I heard Relon's voice behind me.

"Looked around and had time to think about stuff, so it was alright." I turned around to see everyone walking into the kitchen.

"Dope. Seems like someone made breakfast." He smiled as he grabbed his and Rinwell's food.

I gave a small nod as I walked over and sat down next to Magilou, giving her the bowl of beans I made. "It's the best I can do with what we have."

"We'll need to go out for supplies soon, then."

"Right now we have two, maybe three days of food left, so we need to come up with a plan or find somewhere to get more food." I glanced over at Magilou to see her looking at her food, half asleep.

"Hmm… Then we'll depart on the second day." Relon suggests.

"Why do you say that?' Rinwell asks.

"Because by then, I'll hopefully have recuperated enough so when we leave, we'll have traveling food for wherever we go to next. Sounds good, Shade?"

"That's what I was thinking as well, so within that time I'll help out these two here." I look over at Rinwell and Magilou.

"What exactly can she do?" Rinwell voices pointing at Magilou.

"I haven't seen her do much with it, but she can use a staff." Magilou looks up at me and smiles. "I'll have you know the name of my weapon is Crimson King!" She pulls out the staff and extends it out past Relon and Rinwell heads, showing it off. 'Crimson King?'

"So you can fight!" Rinwell's eye twitches in irritation.

"Not like it would of helped back there, but still it would be best to train her. Now Rinwell, I want to know what you can do." I laid my hands on the table as I stared at her.

"Simply put, I can fire spells and dodge. The stronger the spell, the longer it takes to charge." 'As I had thought.'

"I see, well I hope your dodging is good then. Our foes will be quick, so you'll need to be quicker and attack them while doing so." I got up from the table as I saw that everyone was almost done eating.

"R-Right. I'll do my best."

"Don't be so worked up." Relon pats her back. "You'll be fine. Just do the best that you can do. Also, don't push yourself, or you'll be getting an earful from me."

"Everything will be fine, but I don't want you to hold back. During our spar, I want you to fight like you're trying to kill me." I state in a serious tone, looking at Relon I see him facepalming.

"Idiot, you don't have to word it like that."

"N-no, it's fine. Don't hold back. Got it." She blinks in understanding.

"You don't have to worry Rinwell, I won't die. In fact, I can't die. Period. I can lose an arm or my head, and it will regrow." I looked at everyone's reaction, Rinwell looked shocked while Magilou seemed surprised but not as much as I would have thought. Relon started to open his mouth before closing it, then he finally said something.

"Coolio. Alright, let's get to it then." He stands up slowly. 'Guess he has seen some things before, or maybe just didn't want to question it.'

"Alright, we'll be outside if you need anything." I bid alongside Rinwell and Magilou as well as the swords as we made our way out the room.

"Roger, roger. Good luck." Relon waves as we left.

The three of us left the house and I led them towards the clearing nearby. Once we got there, I reached for my mask and put it on as well as my hood as I turned to face the ladies. "Magilou for now I want you to hit some of the dead trees around here, they should be solid enough and once we leave this place I'll work with you some more."

Magilou for once didn't make a joke or say anything really, instead she pulled out her staff and walked over to a random tree while giving me a thumbs up.

"The fact she didn't make a dumb response amazes me."

"Yeah, but I think she just wants to play with that thing. Now Rinwell what type of magic can you use and how can you use it?" I asked, turning to face her.

"I can use any element. I just make the chant and out it comes, though some spells don't require one. I need to have my tome though in order to properly create said spells, however."

"I see, then for this first spar I would like you to not use any lightning spells. And make sure to hold onto that tome." I turned around and walked to the other side of the clearing.

I pulled out only a single handgun and held it in my right hand. "When I fire my gun, we will start the fighting!" I yelled out to her. 'I have to make sure my shots are weak here.'

"Okay…? No lightning. Got it!"

I aimed into the air, the only sound from the clearing was Magilou hitting the tree. I let out a breath as I fired into the air. "BEGIN!" I called out.

I saw her starting some type of chant as I looked on, waiting for her to make the first move. "Oh, violent darting winds intersect! Cross Blade!" Two disks of wind rotating at high speeds appeared on both sides of her, and then they shot out towards me. 'Hmmm, at least it was quick.'

I easily jumped over both as they impacted the spot where I was standing. "Alright, good job." I aimed at her and fired three shots.

"Aqueous Surge!" Three large bubbles appear in front of her, catching the fired bullets. "You'll need more than that to protect yourself!" I start running towards her while firing three more rounds at her, making sure to aim between the already created bubbles.

She casts the bubble spell again which is what I expected, since I was closing in I jumped into the air above her and fired a single shot down below.

She looks up in surprise as the shot hits her arm, which should only feel like a light slap. "Ow! Wait, that didn't hurt as much as I thought it would." She rubs the spot that got hit as I land nearby.

"I can limit how much power my guns do, so expect more hits like that!" I stated as I fired another round at her, this time she dodged it and started chanting another spell.

"Illuminate the dark! Holy Lance!" Small blades of light disperse in the air, aiming at me. From the looks of them I don't think I could shoot them out of the air, so when they started flying towards me, I rolled back and jumped towards my left, only one of the blades managed to hit me but only tore a part of my cloak. 'Good, her spells are quick, and she can dodge at least a little, but it's time to end this round' I started running towards her while firing multiple rounds at her.

I can see nervousness on her face for a long moment as she dodges, but it shifts back to a determined look not long after. 'Good, don't hesitate, just keep fighting on.'

Wind begins to swirl around her free hand as the pace from the element picks up as she dodges the rounds. As I got close, I slid past her and quickly hopped back to my feet as I held the gun up towards her back. "What will you do next?"

"This." She answers, rotating her palm to face me as a force of wind blasts me away as cuts rip across my body. I land on the ground with a loud thud, still gripping my gun as my blood starts flowing out of my body. 'Shit… That was impressive.'

"Whoa?! You really let him have it, huh?" I hear Magilou say as she walks closer to me.

"I-I'm sorry! Are you alright, Shade?" She runs over to me in a panic, but suddenly stops just before me.

I slowly got up as my wounds are already healing themselves and my clothing repairs itself. "Now that's what I wanted to see!" I stood up fully in front of her and looked at her hand. "So what was that spell? I didn't hear you say anything, so I was caught off guard."

"It's called Galeforce. It's one of the spells that I don't need to chant."

I nodded as I patted her shoulder. "Good job, you can catch people off guard with that one."

"I understand you can heal, but why did your clothing repair itself?" Magilou asks while looking closely at my cloak.

I gently pushed her head away from me as I explained. "I'm not sure myself, but it is useful, so I don't mind."

"Shade, are you sure you're alright?" Rinwell asks me again in a concerned tone. 'I shouldn't tell her that I felt the entire attack, each and every cut that was made to my body. If I do, I'm sure she will feel some sort of guilt for doing it.'

I looked back at Rinwell and gave a thumbs up. "Yep! So don't worry about me and keep attacks like those coming!" She lets out a sigh of relief and smiles at me.

"I'm glad, so should we continue?" I nod and begin making my way to the other side of the clearing again, as Magilou shrugs and goes back to her area.

Once I saw that she was ready again, I aimed my gun into the air again and fired. She immediately started chanting some spell before I could even lower my arm.

"Purge Malevolence! Freeze Lancer!" Overhead, spires of ice rotate before launching towards me. I ran towards them and used them to jump into the air, while in the air I started shooting at a rapid pace at her.

She dodged out of the way just in time, but I had already landed on the ground nearby. I dashed forwards towards her as she started another chant.

"Raging cascades! Spread!" A large ripple forms under my feet before it explodes, sending me flying back, but I wasn't done yet.

"Very good, but you still have a ways to go!" I aimed at the ground in front of me and shot a couple of powered up rounds, causing dirt and dust to spring up between us both.

"W-Where did you go?!" I was silent as I made my way through the dust and just when it started to clear I was already behind her.

I grabbed her wrist that was holding the tome and held it above her head as the book fell to the ground while I held my gun to her back. "I won this one." She struggled for a moment before finally giving up.

"F-Fine, you win." Letting go of her wrist, I bent down to pick up her tome for her.

"You did well, but always be ready for whatever the enemy throws at you." I stated as I handed her the tome.

"It was weird though, like I couldn't tell where you went at all, almost like you disappeared." Rinwell says, looking confused.

"I'm pretty skilled with stealth, actually. I've snuck into enemy bases, camps, cities… I snuck around for many reasons." I state in a sad yet cold tone.

"I can't imagine what your world was like, but the fact you came out of it alive and still helping people must mean something." Rinwell says, trying to lighten the mood.

I was silent for a moment before I finally spoke up. "Yeah, I'm sure you're right." I said as I began walking to the other side of the clearing again. 'Like I wanted to come out alive from all of that…'

We spent a few more hours sparring, where she won five times and I won thirty times. We only stopped once I saw her getting tired and sluggish. "Alright, Magilou, Rinwell. It's time for a break." I called out to the girls as I took off my mask.

"Thank you! I'm so damn hungry, I could eat an owl!" Magilou states while putting her staff away.

"You will NOT!" Rinwell yells as Hootle hides in her hood, meanwhile Magilou grins evilly at them both.

Choosing to ignore them, I looked into the sky to see the sun right above us, which means it's around noon. 'Hmm, it's noon, so I guess I should make lunch for everyone. I wonder what Relon's been up to?'

I felt my left hand twitch slightly, looking down at it, I clenched it into a tight fist. 'Fuck, I need to let off some steam, or I won't be able to hold back on Rinwell. Killing some of the monsters in the area should work, but I'll do that later. For now, I think it's best to end this training session.'

I looked over to see Rinwell and Magilou still bickering about something, I released my clenched fist as I called out to them. "Hey ladies, since it's noon let's head back and have lunch, also that will be it for training today." Just as I said that, the ground rumbles below me as a loud explosion comes from somewhere towards those springs.

I stared in the direction where it came from, noting that I saw some water droplets hit the ground nearby and that Relon's swords didn't move from where they were. 'Well, his swords didn't react, so I guess he's fine.'

I looked towards Rinwell and Magilou to see them also wondering what happened, but once they noticed that I wasn't reacting, they calmed down a little.

After a few moments of resting, I sensed Relon heading towards us. "Yo." He simply stated as he looked around the area.

"You feeling better?" I asked him.

"Much. Almost too good if I'm being honest. Just learned there's a cap to how much heat I can absorb, so that's pretty neat."

"So that big boom was you. Well, we're just about done here, and it's lunchtime, so let's head back, so I can make you lot, some grub." I stated as I walked towards Relon.

"Actually…" He begins giving me a cheeky grin. "I was kinda hoping you could help me burn off this steam. Literally." He chuckles. "Plus, I'd be lying if I wasn't eager to see how good you are myself."

I stopped moving as I looked him in the eyes, knowing I won't be able to escape this fight, I sighed as I reached to put my mask back on. "Fine, any rules for this fight?"

"The only rule that I'm familiar with. There not being any. Unless one of us yields, of course." He shrugs, putting on his gloves. "Besides, I know you're not exhausted, so why not get excited for a change. Gotta make the most out of something like this, right?"

I went silent for a long moment, all the while clenching and unclenching my hands. 'I need to be careful here or else I might hurt him, I can't use my scythe at all… If need be, I'll knock myself out, which will calm me down.'

"Alright then, Magilou mind sounding off the fight!" I yelled out towards her as I walked towards one end of the clearing.

"Seriously? Relon, shouldn't you save your energy for the fighting we may get in?" Rinwell chides.

"Can't. My body is literally radiating heat at an uncomfortable level. If I don't release this now, who knows what may happen to me. I could be an explosive heatwave for all we know." He shrugs, walking to the other side of the field.

"You can't be serious!"

"Hey! I don't know my body!" He defends for both girls to take a few steps back. "Oh, and Shade! If you hold back, you might regret it!" 'I already am regretting this.'

"Don't worry about me." I state as I pull out my handguns.

"Hey, Pippin and Pappan, I'll fight on my own for now." He waves at the swords, who seem to nod I think.

"Oh, this is great! Front row seats to an amazing fight, and I get to start it!" Magilou coughs into her hand to clear her throat. "Alright! On the count of three boys! One! Two!" There was a pause and a loud silence. I tapped my finger on my handgun as I heard my heartbeat. "THREE!"

As soon as those words left her mouth, I saw Relon rush towards me with great speed as the dust behind him kicked up, seeing that I had hardly any time to dodge. I shoot both guns at my feet using powered up rounds, causing an explosion just as Relon got near me. It sends the both of us back and knowing where Relon landed, I started shooting his way the moment I recovered.

I noticed he was kicking and punching my shots away, so I fired a few power rounds at the ground near him to knock him off balance again, but somehow he saw through my plan and sidestepped away before jumping into the air above my shots. 'He's good, that's for sure… Damn it, I can't get excited!'

I aimed only one handgun at him and started firing as I kept the other one to my side just in case he got close again.

He drops to the ground nearby and runs towards me while dodging my shots. 'Shit!' I raise my hand up to block his incoming punch with my gun, The cling of metal meeting metal resounded throughout the clearing. I looked at Relon who had a smile on his face.

"Not bad…!" Relon grunts.

"Get away!" I used my free arm to point my gun at his chest, but before I could pull the trigger he leapt back, flipping to the ground avoiding my shot while kicking my gun out of my hand.

"I told you…!" He growls with a snarl to crouch to the ground. "Stop holding back!" He roars, embedding his fist into my abdomen, sending me skidding off the ground. I'm able to get my bearings somewhat as my gun falls on the ground near my feet.

I'm annoyed, I'm angry. Relon is the only person I can see as the rest of the world goes dim, grabbing my gun. I put it in my holster as I reached behind my back to grab my scythe.

'Don't kill, don't kill, don't kill!' I slowly stood up and looked at Relon as I unfolded my scythe. I then slowly started walking towards Relon with it at my side.

Relon stood there, keeping his eyes on my weapon. "Done holding back now?" He calls out.

I stopped as I gripped the handle on my scythe, looking up at him, I started raising my scythe higher in the air until it was above my head. Quickly switching which way the scythe was facing, I then slammed the back of it into the ground with all of my strength, causing the ground to shake.

"Something wrong? Don't tell me you're having second thoughts?"

I quickly switched where I was holding and dragged the scythe on the ground towards Relon and in the process I threw my scythe at him.

"Tch! I was expecting more!" Relon growls, punching the scythe to the ground. As he did so, I jumped forward and tried to kick him in the chest. Blocking with his arm, Relon is sent skidding across the ground away.

"That's more like-" Before he could finish what he was saying, I went at him with multiple punches. After many blocks I was able to connect one with his face, Relon attempts to fight back against the sheer force but is sent off his feet into the forest.

The moment he was sent flying, I turned around and picked up my scythe and waited for him to come back. 'I-I must hold back… Never again!' For a brief moment a memory flashed through my head, one of a street in Crossbell, covered in blood and bodies. 'N-Never again…'

I watch him kick off into the air, a boom sounds as he shoots off and lands in the canopy above. He lands on a branch and looks down at me, even though I have my mask on, I could tell that our eyes meet for a sliver of a moment. I could tell what his next move was, so I jumped into the air and when I did my scythe and his fists clashed together. "Since you're using something sharp, it's only fair I can too!" He grins, the whirling sound of something cutting the air for both to disperse as Pippin zooms where they once were.

As I went back towards the ground I stared at the weapon and I felt a jolt of energy rush though my body, landing on the ground I held on to my scythe with a tight grip. 'I need to stop this… I can't hold back much longer…'

I pulled out my handgun and started shooting towards him, hoping for him to charge towards me in the process.

They split up, Relon circles towards the right as Pippin does the left, nearing me as I had stopped firing my gun at this point. Right before they closed in I turned towards Relon swung at him, still using the backside of my scythe.

Relon grins a feral grin, blocking and catching it with both hands. Attempting to wrestle free, sensing his sword just above me, I looked up to see Pippin obstructed by the sun. "You're not going to give up on your precious scythe, are you?!" Relon growls headbutting my mask which dazes me for a moment which gave him enough time to knock me off my feet and into the air.

I quickly recovered and spun to where I could counter the incoming sword, but it careened out of the way past me, and before I knew it struck my right arm, cutting it off completely. An ear-splitting sound came in response, followed by a shriek from whom I assume was Rinwell. I landed on the ground as my blood rained down just about everywhere, but this was normal. Looking where my arm should have been, I rubbed the stump as I could feel the hot air touching the soft flesh, and then the pain came as it started growing back. 'I have to knock myself out now or else…!'

I got up from the ground and reached for my scythe that had landed near me, but as I picked it up I could sense something just on the edge of where I could sense, it was moving slowly, almost like it was waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

I turned to where I sensed it and for a moment I could see things clearly, seeing Rinwell's terrified face reminded me of the past and next to her was Magilou who had a blank look, almost like she was used to seeing blood. I saw Relon taking notice of it as well and finally I looked into the tree line and saw dozens of wolves, slowly making their way towards us. 'I-I can use them…'

And then another jolt went through my body, but calling it a jolt wasn't right as it felt more like my entire body lit up and as it did, I smiled. 'At least I can calm down now…'

My arm grew back quicker than I expected and so held my scythe up as I started walking towards where the wolves were.

"You got this." I faintly heard Relon say as I walked away from him. After a few more steps I stopped as the wolves, that were about the size of me, slowly marched out of the treeline and circled me.

I counted sixteen of them in total, which should be enough for now. Standing there I waited for them to make the first move and as expected the one behind me was the first.

I turned around and while it was in mid-leap and its mouth open, I swung my scythe where the blade went through its mouth and out the other side cutting it in two as its blood covered me, I could feel some type of burning sensation when it landed on me, but I ignored it for now. Two more decided to try their luck, but I swung my scythe once again, this time swinging downwards on one with the backside crushing its skull, as for the other I reached out with my hand and grabbed his lower jaw and bent it upwards before kicking it away.

Now all of them started to jump me, but I dodged out of the way as I swung my scythe again and embedded it into one of them and used the momentum to get out of the way before they could get me, landing on the other side of the wolf I pulled my scythe towards me which ripped its spine apart.

Turning around, I grabbed the dead wolf's leg and used its body to hit another wolf back as I blocked an attack from another one. Letting go of the dead wolf I quickly sliced another two as they tried to pounce on me, for a moment one of them was able to slip past my guard and had engulfed my hand with its mouth and I could feel my entire hand burning as some type of acid covers it completely, reaching around I had grabbed a hold of its tongue and ripped it out, not caring about the fact that it had sunk its teeth into my wrist.

After throwing the tongue away, I pulled back and punched it into the ground with enough force to cave in its skull. Turning towards my left I was able to dodge another wolf and was able to cut off its legs on its left side and once it landed I sliced its back end and kept the momentum of my strike going to where I impaled another in the chest.

At this point I count nine remaining, and they seemed to be on guard, but I wasn't done yet not until this feeling was gone, so I charged at the closest one and as it tried to jump away I grabbed its leg and proceeded to bash it into the ground causing its blood and guts to come out of whatever holes was in the wolf, I threw the body and my scythe at the rest.

As the body landed in front of them which took their attention, my scythe was spinning towards them and had cleanly cut though three of them as the others dodged out the way, my scythe circled back, and I caught it with ease.

Turning to my right, I saw the one that had the broken jaw still trying to fight, so I jumped towards it and landed on its back and proceeded to stomp on it as the remaining wolves tried to run.

As I was about to rush at them, something happened that stopped me in my tracks. 'SHADE!' What sounded like Tio's voice, yelled at me from somewhere in my mind. Could it have been a memory from when she had stopped me in the past? Or maybe some part of me is trying its best to stop this killing? Either way, it was enough to snap me out of my bloodlust and bring me back to my senses.

Knowing that I still needed to clear the rest of the wolves, I dropped my scythe on the ground and I pulled out my handguns and charged them up. Holding them both in front of me, a ball of electricity formed as beams were shooting out of the barrels, staring at where the wolves were at. I shot out the attack and within seconds it had caught up to them and then the flash of light came, killing the rest and destroying the area it had hit.

I had fallen to one knee as I looked around the area, the blood, gore and destruction of what I caused gave me a sick sense of relief. 'I hate this, why do I have to kill in such a way to make that damn feeling go away!'

I glanced over towards the others, but I couldn't see their reactions to this mess from where I was at. Grabbing my scythe near me, I used it to bring myself back to my feet by using it as a cane while I turned towards the others.

Magilou seemed normal, which isn't surprising at this point, Relon looked like he was studying the fight more than anything, but for Rinwell she looked disgusted by it. Either from how brutal I was or the fact I didn't care for my health at all, what I do know is that I don't want them to see that side of me ever again.

Lifting my scythe I saw it covered in dirt and blood and because of that I couldn't compact it, so I left it out as I slowly walked towards everyone, with Magilou being the first to say something. "Impressive show! But I will say I think you went a bit overboard on a few of them." she claps her hands while saying all of this and with a big smile on her face. But in an instant she stopped and looked at me with a serious expression. "But for real, you good?" I could only nod at her as I turned towards the others.

"Nice work." It is all Relon says with a reassuring nod, his own attention going to a slightly trembling Rinwell. "Hey…"

"I-I'm… fine." She forces out slowly, lifting her head to meet my gaze only for her face to distort to one of fear, forcing her to take a step back. "... I'm sorry. That was just… a lot." She mutters, looking away.

Slowly, I lifted my free hand up and patted her head. "Sorry." Were the only words I could say, as I pulled my hand back I turned away towards the exit of the clearing and started making my way out. But I stopped for a moment as I glanced back at Relon. "Let's talk tonight." And with those words I left the area and headed towards some part of the forest.

I walked for a few minutes until I saw a fallen tree laying flat on the ground, deciding this is far enough I laid my scythe next to it and sat down. "And once again… The Reaper comes out." Checking my pockets, I found the small clean towel I kept on me in case I needed one and began to clean the scythe up a little bit.

I sat there until night came, a few times I would catch myself cleaning the same spot over again, as the entire time I couldn't help but think about what to do and what would happen. Only when the towel became nothing more than a pile of trash is when I stopped cleaning and just sat there. "Guess I should head back."

I stood up and after examining the scythe I found it clean enough where I could compact it, after putting it away I slowly made my way back towards the main building. The one thing I didn't realize during all that time was that I was still wearing my mask.

When I showed up in the village I saw Relon in the center by the monument, his arms were crossed, and I could tell he was waiting for me. And so I walked over to where he was standing, neither of us said a word yet, and it only began after I leaned onto the monument. "You guys eaten dinner yet?"

"Us? Nope. The girls? Maybe. Though I doubt they ate together, or else we'd have heard screaming." I smiled under my mask as I could picture their bickering.

"I'll check if they did later, but how are they holding up… especially Rinwell?"

"Don't know about Magilou, but I'm sure she'll be okay. Just consider this a rough patch. Most kids her life don't see much action. Especially in the form of blood and gore. I remember when I was a little younger than her age that I was terrified after getting my first kill. Scared the hell out of me to the point I became a bookworm."

"Yeah, I know how it feels. I was five when I killed, and it was an entire village, women, children included. Afterwards I was a walking husk and if it wasn't for my adopted dad I would be dead or maybe used like a tool." I let out a sigh as I turned towards Relon.

"It was around that time, hell I think it was only a few days later as he was going to take me to the closest town that a pack of wolves attacked, one got past him and tore right into my shoulder. He killed it and that's when we found out I could heal the way I do, doesn't mean I don't feel it. But because of that, I have a small dislike towards wolves." I slowly brought my hands together by my thighs as I leaned on the monument.

"Understandable. If you're blaming yourself for showing such dislike to Rinwell, then you need to stop beating yourself over it. A massacre protecting a life is better than losing one." 'But what about after that life is already gone?'

Deciding to ignore the last part of what he said, I continued on. "I'm used to showing that side of me, so I'm not blaming myself. But seeing her reaction, it reminded me of someone, and so maybe I'm just saying all of this so in the end I can feel slightly better."

"Take it easy, man. Our past may inflict turmoil on us, but it's how we choose to use that turmoil that'll make a world of difference." Relon smiles, patting my shoulder. "I don't want to live with regrets, but unfortunately I have some. Using what those events have done for me has allowed me to stop more trouble from happening. Hopefully the same has and will continue to happen for you too." I stared at him, taking his words in.

"Well, I plan to destroy the Dominion by using what I know. Not only that, but I'll make sure that nobody will die like they did before, not like her…" I looked up to see the sky and what few stars were within it. "You're a… member of Class Seven, right?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I guess it was kinda obvious considering everything. Class Seven's 'special' student, as Instructor Sara puts it."

"Just so I don't let anything slip, what is the date and year where you came from?"

"May 8th, S. 1204." He says rather quickly. 'Only a few months ahead of me.'

"If I'm right, then your first field study is done… My original timeline was in the year of 1222, but after going back to the past, I ended up at the start of 1204. In the future, everyone dies from Class Seven, The Bracer Guild, The SSS and every other organization. That's what I'm fighting to stop."

"Your world's future sounds scary as hell, no offense. Wait a second…" He pauses to look up. "Hey, Aidios!" I glanced over, confused. "Nameless' name is the abbreviated form of Age!" He flinches for nothing to happen. "My future self told me Aurelia and Millium die!" Nothing again. "Huh… Interesting." 'Something tells me all of that was just a test for something… But why Aurelia?'

"... Well, I won't tell you anything else that may have to do with Class Seven, but I know it will turn out alright on your end and on mine since I sent my brother to join up with them." 'Hopefully he joins them and plays nice, but I can totally see some issues happening.'

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Considering we both ended up in another world, it's like we're destined to save our worlds." Relon grins 'Destined… Maybe, but that could change very quickly.'

"But first we need to save this one and return to our worlds. Which was the main reason I wanted to talk here." I stopped leaning and turned to face him. "I know what I plan to do next, but what about you?"

"Considering how messed up Rean and the others have become, I want to check out some places. Ymir, Ordis, Legram, and Ashland."

"I'm not sure about the state of Ordis or this Ashland, but Ymir and Legram are home to resistance bases. Also, I think you should stop by Twin Dragon Bridge, since the commander there already knows about me. Plus, you can get some supplies for the road and get other info."

"I figured after seeing Rean and Laura, but I was hoping that wasn't the case. Twin Dragon Bridge, huh? Alright, we'll stop by there on the way."

"Also, I have a small favor to ask since you'll be heading east."

"What's up?"

"I'm not sure if you saw her, but there's someone that was at Heimdallr that I care about, so if you get any info or run into her, I would like you to share it with me when you get the chance." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the photo I have of Tio and myself. "Her name is Tio Plato."

"Tio, huh. Alright. What about you?"

"You mean what I'm planning on doing? Well, the resistance base Bashton is where I'm heading. It's where all of the resistance's communication goes, so I want to make contact with everyone to better understand how this war is going." I put the photo back into my pocket with care.

"So I guess we'll be splitting up for a while."

"Yes, I'm not sure what will happen once we leave this place. And I have no doubt that Zero and the others will be on the hunt for us."

"Nothing new for us." Relon chuckles. "Keep a lookout for a girl in clothing like Rinwell. Silver bobcut, blue eyes, same age as her, She's the reason for us being in this situation. She can hide her presence, teleport, all that. Damn Devil follower…"

"I wasn't brought here by some woman, but by some sort of glowing artifact. But I'll keep a lookout for this girl, anyway, I think we chatted enough for now." I walked past Relon and started heading towards the main building. "I'll check on the supplies and in the morning after breakfast we can set out, sounds good?"

"Sounds good, chief. I'll help out."

As I got close, I could sense that both girls were asleep already. 'I hope they ate something, but I'm glad they are resting.'

"I'll see you in the morning, Relon, night." With those words, I walked into the house and towards the kitchen to see what supplies were left.

"Night, Shade." I heard Relon say as he began walking up the stairs. After going over the remaining supplies I saw that only enough food for one person to eat was missing from what was here earlier, the remaining supplies were only a few cans of beans, only two cans of meat and two canteens full of water. "Yeah, this should be enough for the three of them."

I smiled as I grabbed a nearby chair and sat it down by a window in the room. I sat down and leaned back in it, staring out the window, I played back the conversation I had with Relon in my head. 'Our past may inflict turmoil on us, but it's how we choose to use that turmoil that'll make a world of difference, huh. Maybe, he's right. I've done and seen so many things by now, and yet I'm still making the same damn mistakes like earlier.'

I got up from my chair and walked outside, so I could feel the wind while I was thinking. 'I'm always fighting to kill, and yet now I'm suddenly doing the exact opposite. I need to find a way to control that bloodlust.'

As I walked outside I realized I still had my mask on, as I reached up to take it off I noticed the dry blood on my hand. "It's been around ever since Val died, and it has saved me countless times and saved others. Yet it was never 'me' that used it, more like the power took over my body…"

Holding my hand out, I clenched it into a fist as I stared at it. "I-I… I'm scared to use it." I looked away as I thought back to all the times that it had been used along with my other abilities, but then I remembered Relon and how he used his with ease and was enjoying it and had control over them.

"His abilities, one's he can control like it's a part of himself… T-That's it!" I looked back at my fist as I relaxed it and concentrated on it, slowly I felt something, but it quickly vanished. "So, my theory has merit. All this time I've always seen what I could do as a curse, but I need to grow up and get over it already or else people will get hurt or die if I hold back."

I reached around and pulled out my scythe and held it in front of me. "It will still take time, but I will learn how to control it. All of it. No longer will I be that child that was just a husk or a monster that only brings death. I'm going to be better, and I will protect those I care for, and I won't lose them again!"

For the first time in what seemed like forever I smiled, not a fake smile or a forced one, but a real smile, and it felt like a weight had been lifted off of my chest. After putting my scythe back, I went back inside and towards the chair I was sitting on earlier, where I waited for morning.

Before I knew it, morning had come, and I could sense Relon and the others getting up, so I got up from the chair and waited for Relon to come down, so we could make breakfast.

"Morning. Time to get to work." Relon greets rolling his sleeves, already messing with the ingredients.

"I handle the beans while you get to cook the meat. Also, good morning." I opened the canned beans and split them up into two bowls and started cooking each differently.

"Roger that. Both of you sit tight. We'll be done in a jiffy." He looks over his shoulder, already chopping numerous pieces.

After five or so minutes of cooking I had finished the beans, and it looked like Relon was almost done on his end, so I grabbed three plates and split the beans among them. I then went to sit down in the chair by the window as Relon finished.

"Be right back." Relon calls placing a plate on the table while holding another.

"Where are you going?" Rinwell asks.

"Gonna feed our friend. They've been resting so much, I figured they'd be hungry." I watched him leave the room and heard him going upstairs, leaving me with the girls.

"You know, Shade, it's rude not to say good morning." Magilou states with a smile while digging into her food.

"Morning then…" I glanced over at Rinwell who looks away and focuses on her food. "Good morning, Rinwell."

She looks at me and nods. "Morning." She says meekly. 'Going to be a while before everything is right again.'

"Alright, I'm back." Relon greets coming into the room.

"We should explain the plan to them before breakfast is over." I state to Relon

"Okay." He nods, turning to the girls. "We're splitting up." He says bluntly.

"W-What? Was it me? Heck, I didn't even know we were together!" Magilou yells out while holding her face. We all ignored her.

"Last night we did some talking and there's still a lot that we don't know. Plus we still need to see the state of some places, so that's our main priority."

"Me and Magilou were heading towards Bashton before we met the both of you, that plan hasn't changed, so once we're done here that's where we're heading." I explained.

"Our plan remains the same. Considering the others aren't exactly good guys here, there's a few locations I want to check on, plus that base where the resistance is."

"There's also a few villages around these locations, so you might find info in them, but they are under zero's rule… Also, Relon I wanted to ask something." I stood up and started packing the gear I had while I talked.

"What's up?" He looked up at me with intrigued.

"Last night I asked you to look out for any information on Tio, but I never asked if there is anyone you want me to look out for. I'd be happy to help."

"Someone? Actually, there are two people." He notes digging in his pocket and pulling out an ARCUS before flipping between two pictures. "The Icy Maiden Claire Rieveldt, who's an Ironblood and Musse Egret. She's supposedly a student from Saint Astaria, but… who knows. Just keep an eye out if you don't mind." 'He knows Musse already? And Claire, well, at least I know what they look like, kinda.'

I stood up straight and looked at him. "I've heard of both from other sources, so it should be easy to spot them… And that's an ARCUS right?"

"Yeah. You've heard of them, I take it?"

"Well let's just say I know them pretty well, but since it has a call function, you might be able to call me since my mask has an earpiece in it."

"Noted. We'll keep in touch."

I look around for a small piece of paper and upon finding one I take out a pen and carefully write the number that will connect to my mask and gave it to him. "There you go, not sure how well the connection will be, but it will prove useful later on I'm sure."

"Better safe than sorry, as most say." Relon notes writing his own number down before passing it to me. "Now, then, where were we?"

I turned to Rinwell. "We were getting ready to set off, so Rinwell, is there a teleportation stone that leads to Osgiliath Basin?"

"Um… Where's that?"

"It's to the west of Roer. The highly advanced city to the North of Lunaria Nature Park." Relon explains. "Consider it a little to the right from the right corner of the map."

"Hmm. If I recall, there's a device that can drop you off outside Alster. At the intersection, you'll take a right."

I had finished packing the last of the equipment as she finished explaining. "Alright, just tell me where the one that will take me to Alster is, and we should be set to go."

"Just keep straight forward, and eventually you'll find another teleportation device. It'll send you to the outskirts of the city."

"Thank you, well Magilou? You ready to leave?" Magilou stands up and stretches her arms and back.

"Yep, I'm ready to leave and to get away from this brat here." She grins smugly at Rinwell.

"The feeling's mutual, Granny." She retorts, sticking her tongue out. 'I won't miss this.'

"Well, guess we'll be seeing each other later then." I turned to look at Relon.

"Yeah. Be careful out there, Shade." Relon says, extending a fist.

"I'll see if I can't make contact once I get to Bashton, but for now stay safe out there." I reached out and connected his fist with my own. Afterwards Magilou and I went outside and while I put the gear on the bike she sat in the sidecar waiting for me, after I was done I got on the bike and made our way to the teleportation stones. I took one final glance behind me before heading towards the stone.

Following the directions Rinwell gave me, we slowly made our way along the path, all the while Magilou kept glancing over at me as we traveled. Eventually I got annoyed by it and decided to ask her why. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing, just that you seem different this morning, is all." She says while shifting in her seat.

"There's nothing different about me, maybe you're just seeing me differently because of yesterday." I look around, scanning for anything that could be around here.

"It's not that also just so you know, I don't care about yesterday so if you want to go on a rampage again let me know, so I can get a good seat. But back to what I was saying, today you seem more… hopeful I guess." I glanced down at Magilou and, despite trying to hold it back, a smile made its way to my face.

"It's just your imagination. Either way, I won't be going on any rampages, but thanks for not caring about that stuff."

"It's what I do best." She throws her arms behind her head and relaxes.

Looking forward, I saw the stone just ahead, so I rode up to it and did the same thing as before, which was simply touching it. Next thing I knew, the odd feeling washed over me again and my vision turned white.

I opened my eyes and what I saw shocked me. Not far ahead of me were those roots, but they were giant and were spread out everywhere. "Warn me next time you use that thing!" Magilou shouted in annoyance.

"Sorry, but it seems we are around the Osgiliath Basin. Now we need to find Bashton." I glanced around, looking for some road or any sign of people.

"Damn, those roots are huge! I doubt they are that way." As Magilou was staring at the roots, I sensed two people entering my range.

"We got company." I told her as I got off the bike and pulled out both handguns, she also got off and pulled out her staff, and we waited while watching the area they were coming from.

Their movements seemed like a patrol, and yet I could tell that their guard was down. As they got closer, I could hear them talking. "Yeah man, there was a huge fight in Heimdallr that made both Rean and Lloyd team up." A young man's voice said.

"I think it's those people that showed up at Shirley's place, the only thing that makes sense." Another young man says.

Then they rounded the corner and saw us, both of them stopped talking and just stared at us. I let out a sigh of relief as I could tell they weren't with Zero just by their clothing. (Are we fighting Shade?) Magilou whispers to me.

"No we aren't. Are you two with the people at Bashton?" I yelled at them as they continued to stare at us.

"Wh- Uhhh… Yes, and who the hell are you?!" Both of them now finally pointed their guns at us.

"I'm Shade and this is Magilou. We came from Shirley, and we would like to help you out." I put my handguns away and both of them lowered their guns.

"Shade? We were expecting you to come from the main road, but uhh this works I guess…" The young man scratches his head a little.

"We'll take you to the Professor, so follow us, and sorry for pointing our weapons at you." The other guy says, both of them seem nervous and confused. 'Professor? Well, at least we made it here.'

Magilou and I got back on the bike, and we rode alongside the men, who radioed in that they were coming back with us in tow. After five minutes we got to the town of Bashton, and an older looking man came out to greet us, he had a lab-coat on with a dark blue ornate waistcoat on underneath as well as a white dress shirt underneath the waistcoat, he has tan colored dress pants and sand colored boots. What stood out to me about him was his hair, crop cut blonde hair, and on his face was a pair of golden round spectacles.

"Good day to you both, my name is Professor Novartis, and welcome to Bashton." He says with his hands behind his back and with a smile.

Well a lot has happened, and we got to meet the one and only Relon and his partner Rinwell! Now then there is still a lot more of this crossover to cover from both sides, so head over to Shinn's side to see even more.

Side note I do have little one-shots written up and if people want to see them I can post them in-between the crossover.

That's all for today so have an enjoyable time!