Side Story [Gold] 1: Setting Sun, Red Sky


Lath's brow twitched as she ate the admittedly scrumptious karaage that her guest had cooked for her. The manor's cooks glanced at the blonde somewhat uneasily as he dried his hands, removing the dark apron that was over his plain white shirt and red shorts. At least he had the sense to politely ask if he could cook breakfast for the two of them first, and didn't barge in willy-nilly as if it was his kitchen in the first place.

Ephraim sat down across the table from her, setting his own plate of bacon, karaage, egg, and rice down. Tired and cautious purple eyes glanced around the room as he uttered a quiet 'Itadakimasu' before he started eating. The faint bags under his eyes were clear that either he didn't get a good night's sleep or, if what she heard while she got up for a midnight cup of water, he didn't sleep at all.

She stared at him in tense silence, noting that he ate cleanly and efficiently, nary making a noise. There was a sense of urgency yet also one of elegance in his movements, and she looked down at her own clean plate, somewhat frowning to herself.

"...How did you find your room, Sahaku-san?" Lath set down her chopsticks, wiping her lips clean with a napkin as she looked at him with the mask her foster mother had always said to put on when discussing important matters; eyes half-lid, a stiff upper lip, and an indifferent line where there should be a smile or a frown.

The man across from her looked up-

His face set in a perfect mirror to the mask she wore, which only infuriated her-

-and tilted his head slightly, setting the karaage he was about to bite into back down on his plate. "It was more than sufficient, thank you."

"But was it sufficient enough for you to sleep?" She pressed, quirking a brow just as he did the same-

'Stop copying me, you-!'

"I'm sorry." He sighed, curiously closing an eye as he looked to the side. "It's a new place and it takes a while for me to...acclimatize, so to speak."

"...You were paranoid, is what you're saying."

...

"Yes."

Lath sighed, crossing her arms as one of the maids came to take away her plate. Her sea green eyes watched as the man across from her returned to eating his breakfast.

'Calm down...calm down, maybe, just maybe he's a good guy in the end...'

'And if he's not?' Came a voice from the back of her mind. 'What if he's just like any other boy who tried to get close to you? Waiting, wanting to snatch your earned position, hmm?'

Her fists clenched and she set them down on her lap, away from the sights of the imposter.

"We'll head over to Nago City in a bit." The orangette announced, causing the boy across from her to look up from his eating. "So you'll see what the Sahaku clan rules over."

Ephraim blinked before he nodded. "I see. I'll make sure to dress appropriately."

Once more, the voice in the back of her head hissed and jeered. 'Publicity is a weapon, remember what mother told us...him being all dressed up is going to attract attention, and people are going to assume...'

'Shut up.' Lath snapped as she nodded back at the blonde, a mask of indifference on her face the whole time. 'I don't need your poison..!'


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Purple eyes looked around the clean and somewhat stifling interior of the brutalist Nago City Hall architecture. The whole place exuded a feeling of antiquated tranquility that was contrasted by the modern technology used by its staff. Most of said staff were clearly people in their 30's or 40's, with only a handful of those in their 20's. It was something that he noticed in the year since their awakening, that even though this was an anime world, the demographics of Japan was still relatively the same.

"And here in Nago City Hall is where mother used to work as a 'contributor' to the various businesses and corporations of Northern Okinawa."

His 'sister' had given him a tour of Nago City, which he could safely say was basically the Sahaku Clan's domain.

The city itself was very homey, very beach-oriented, and very friendly. It reminded him of the times he was in the Caribbean, in Tahiti, and in Cuba in the previous year, back when he was learning some of the older rum-centric cocktail recipes. Nago was, of course, a tourist-attracting city, and thus many of its inhabitants often understood English, and were used to foreigners like him. They were also a rather tight-knit population, so most of them didn't have the same demeanor towards men unlike in the Tokyo prefecture.

As such, the general vibe of the place was very open and fun. No screeching harpies, no groveling boys, no abusive women.

He was glad that he didn't need to disguise himself like so many other times when going out to the mainland. Though, he still needed to cover up his atrocious eyebags.

Lath's expression when he started applying makeup in the car on the way here was rather humorous, that's for sure. Bet she didn't expect a guy to have a makeup kit with him, huh?

Nago City was managed by various lesser clans, all of them having sworn fealty to the Sahaku's, with some of them were as ancient as his clan! Even dating back way into the past back when Okinawa was under the Ryuku Kingdom, prior to its annexation by Japan. It had been in the Sahaku clan's control ever since his great-grandfather, Koto Sahaku, had usurped its reins from the former rulers and its 'key' had been passed down from generation to generation.

And now, with his identity and background as the biological 'son' of Mina Sahaku, the same key was in a limbo between her foster daughter and him. Obviously, he hadn't a single supporter in his camp, not that he was looking for any in the first place. This whole political turmoil was getting annoying real quick...

"Do you come here often then?" He asked the successor, to which she huffed.

"Yes, but it's only for matters concerning the state of Nago City. Otherwise, I'll meet up with the other heads of the Okinawa Restoration Bureau in Naha for the more important issues." She looked at him over her shoulder, the ever-present light of annoyance glinting in her sea-green eyes. "And so will you this afternoon."

Ephraim sighed as he shook his head. "Great."

'I bet he's already planning on how to win your friends over...'

'SHUT UP!'


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Naha City was...quaint.

It was quiet, somewhat really homey despite its urban layout, and had a lot of greenery interspaced between blocks of apartments.

But best of all, was that the usual prejudice of women towards men here was little to nonexistent.

Like in Nago, he actually could walk around without wearing contacts or a face mask!

Sure, he may have been sent a dirty look or two, but it wasn't as bad as the mainland cities such as Yokohama or Minato. He attributed this fact due to Okinawa's distance from the IS Academy. Here, it was like stepping into another world altogether, as he didn't see a prostrating guy or a girl slandering her boyfriend out loud in every street corner.

So with this fact present, Ephraim's smile was a lot more genuine as he walked with Lath to Tsubogawa Station, a slight pep in his step as they went up the stairs leading to the station proper.

Bzzt!

Pausing for a moment, he pulled his phone out and accessed his messages. He was sure that he deactivated the wifi feature, so it probably wasn't from one of the social media apps. That meant...

Cecilia Alcott: I can't believe I forgot that you told me you were going to leave.

Cecilia Alcott: I prepared breakfast for you and everything!

The blonde winced, fingers already typing out a response. He had momentarily forgotten that he exchanged numbers with the British Representative, and he just hoped that, now that she confessed her feelings, she wouldn't constantly text him like some of the more intrusive clients he had during his escort days.

Degenerate Lancer (You): Ahaha...I appreciate the thought nonetheless, Lady Alcott.

Degenerate Lancer (You): Forgive me, I must cut this chat short. I think my sister is rather cross at me and I want to find out why.

Cecilia Alcott: Really? Oh.

Cecilia Alcott: Well.

Cecilia Alcott: Good luck then, My Knight~

Cecilia Alcott sent a sticker.

Degenerate Lancer (You) sent a sticker.

His cheeks flushed slightly at the heart sticker, quickly pocketing his phone after he sent a blushing sticker in return. Speaking of said sister...

Royal purple looked over at the orangette walking a few steps before him. The Scandinavian had been downright frosty the whole morning, and he...couldn't really blame her.

If what he could remember amidst muddled memories, Cosmic Era Lath had been imprisoned due to being a Coordinator for years before Mina Sahaku freed her. That would have caused the girl to respect her greatly, but being chosen as a candidate to be Mina's successor must have sealed the deal. He was sure that this Lath was no different, having been brought up to be the sole successor, after all.

And now...he comes along, basically tearing down all that confidence and safety she built up over the years following her mother's death.

It wasn't like he meant to! He didn't even know that he was a Sahaku in the first place, he was bloody well satisfied with being Aznable...

As he, Lath, and her two bodyguards waited for the monorail to arrive, he looked around the station idly.

Tsubogawa Station was...well, it was like any other Japanese train station. Clean, utilitarian, and easy to maneuver around. He could see a few vending machines that had PhD. Pepper lit up, somewhat tempting him to sneak away to buy a can. The monorail was coming soon and-

A body tilted forward-

-the world slowed down.

From the corner of his eye, he could see a short form tipping forward over the yellow line. His heart raced as his body moved, his legs bursting into action as he tilted his body to squeeze past those before him.

The figure was a girl, definitely younger than him, with a brown book satchel hanging on her shoulder. Reaching out and grabbing her wrist, he pulled her back into the crowd with a heave. But since he had to lunge past the last two people that were between him and the girl, he tipped forward and fell into the tracks.

His purple eyes locked with the wide and shocked sea-green of Lath just as she pushed past the crowd, having moved just a second after he did.

Looking behind him, he saw the electrified tracks closing in and he tilted back, hands stretched out so he could land on them..!

Bzzz!

The blonde felt the wave of electricity wash over him, causing him to grit his teeth was he pushed off the metal constructs. With a quiet grunt, he launched himself out of the tracks and back behind the yellow line, landing on a knee as his fingers twitched uncontrollably.

The pain was minimal, he'd suffered worse shocks back when he fought...

When he fought...

'...W-Wait, I...what was...Raiden! Right, Raiden...remember, remember!'

"Oh my God, are you okay?!" Lath called out as she cradled the girl, worry, fear, and concern clear in those expressive sea-green of hers. All that dislike and bitterness were washed away, if only briefly, by the prospect of him getting seriously hurt.

Shaking the creeping apprehension over his increasingly muddled memories, he gave her a nod as he rose from his crouch. "I'm fine, Winslet-san! Check on the girl, is she alright?"

The crowd around them whispered and pointed, having witnessed the blonde get back on the station platform with a single heave. A few among them recognized him as one of the test pilots for the Professor's Project: Astray, and soon the two Sahaku bodyguards began to cordon the curious onlookers away.

But the two teens' focus weren't on the crowd, rather, it was on the unconscious girl they kneeled next to. She was younger than them, that's for sure, by at least half their age.

Ephraim frowned at the clear bags underneath the closed eyes of the brown haired girl, kneeling and setting her book satchel next to her. "She's far too young to have eyebags..." He muttered, and Lath nodded next to him, somewhat setting the girl's head down on her lap. The older girl recognized the outfit she wore as one from a local school nearby, and she made note to contact them concerning what just happened.

"Mayu!"

The blonde suddenly froze, eyes widening as he somewhat recognized that voice. He looked up and around, searching for the source-

-and locking on to a pair of angry red eyes.

"Hey, let me through! That's my younger sister right there!"

'No fucking way...'

"Do as he says!" Ephraim suddenly ordered with steel in his tone. "I can tell that he's telling the truth."

The bodyguards looked at him in shock for a moment before glancing at Lath, who merely nodded as she made sure that the unconscious girl was fine. They let the boy through and he slid to a crouch next to the two other teens. He was younger than them by a few years, shorter than the blonde by a few inches but still taller than Lath.

The Outworlder knew him.

He knew him well.

"What happened?" Red eyes looked between purple and sea-green, clear brotherly concern shining through as his hands alternated between trying to touch his sister and pulling away.

"We were waiting for the monorail that would take us to the Prefectural Office station when we saw her start to sway and tip forward over the yellow line." Lath explained, briefly looking back to where they had been before the whole incident happened. "Luckily my...my brother was fast enough to catch her, though that didn't prevent him from falling in her place."

Ephraim glanced at the Scandinavian, who was pointedly not looking at him as she talked with the older brother. "I noticed her swaying from the corner of my eye and I acted once she started tipping forward. There were a few people ahead of us in the line, so I squeezed past them and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back towards Wins-my sister. Inertia is still a thing of course, so I tipped forward and landed on the tracks."

Lath flinched when he referred to her as his sister, a frown growing on her lips that she tried her best to suppress.

"Oh, thank God..." The teen muttered, placing a hand on his sister's forehead and frowning at the heat. "Mayu's been sickly lately and it's affecting her sleep and energy...I can't thank you two enough for saving her."

"It's of no issue." The blonde shook his head, standing back up and patting the dirt and dust off from his charcoal vest and pants. His white dress shirt was fortunately still clean, but he still patted it down in case of it having gotten dirty. "Get her plenty of rest and a check-up from the doctors." Purple eyes looked over the heads of the crowd, seeing the station security and someone with a first-aid kit running over to them.

"I know that!" The other boy snapped, flinching when he realized what he had just and sighing after. Extending a hand, he gave them a small bow. "Thanks again. The name's Asuka Shinn. But you can call me Shinn."

The Sahaku successor shook his hand with a polite smile from her position cradling Mayu. "Winslet Lath...or Lath Winslet, if you want to call me by Western nomenclature."

"Sahaku Ephraim." The taller boy shook his hand firmly, looking at him in the eyes with a small grin. "Nice to meet you, Shinn. Likewise, you can call me Ephraim."

At this, the older people in the crowd began to whisper and murmur.

"Sahaku? But I think that Winslet-sama was..."

"He doesn't look like a Sahaku...he doesn't have their black hair..."

"He does have the purple eyes of Mina-sama's father though..."

The Astray pilot controlled his expression, letting none of his inner turmoil show on his mask.

'More and more connections...connections I have no idea on...'

"Clear the way! We need to get the girl to the first-aid station below!"

Lath's bodyguards cleared the path just as the monorail arrived. The two Sahaku Clan members stood up as Shinn helped the station conductors and security with his sister. They shared a glance, exchanging a silent conversation, before turning around so they could board the train.

"H-Hey!"

But the moment they got inside, Shinn called them out. Turning back to him, they saw the black haired teen looking conflicted. He opened his mouth to say something before shaking his head and giving them a wide grin. "See you guys around! Thanks for helping my sister out!"

Lath nodded at him with a friendly smile while Ephraim smirked, offering him a two finger salute as the doors closed before them.

'Shinn Asuka, huh...?'

Inwardly, the blonde cursed and raved as the monorail began to move away from the station.

'Why the hell are all these SEED characters popping up? Fuck, I don't want those stupid Blue Cosmos to be here too-'

"So...'sister', hmm?"

He glanced to his side at the bemused expression of the successor. She was staring straight ahead, not even bothering to give him a look. Her bitter tone was enough to convey her message.

"A few in the crowd recognized me." Ephraim muttered, glancing around at the few people staring at the two of them. "Better to rip off that band-aid now than deal with complications later."

"Hmph."


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Unlike the Nago City Hall, the Okinawa Prefectural Office was a bit more modern.

Holographic boards decorated the walls, displaying schedules and meeting times for individual departments. The elevator was akin to those in Tokyo, using a hybrid of gravity and conventional tech to increase efficiency and lessen wait time. They were destined for the top floors, where the Okinawa Restoration Bureau had booked one of its meeting rooms for the whole afternoon.

By this point, Lath's bodyguards had dispersed a few floors down, joining up with the other security detail of the other heads of the O.R.B., leaving both teens alone in the elevator.

...

"Don't embarrass me," Lath hissed out with furrowed brows, her sight locked on to the floor number as it approached 14. "And I won't sic' 'em on you."

Raising a brow, Ephraim raised his hands with his palms open. "Alright, alright...I got it."

"Tch."

Ding!

The doors opened and they walked out into a rather opulent hall.

Immediately, his eyes could see the telltale signs of hidden cameras in the corners and behind paintings. Security here was tight, that much was obvious, but there was a clear lack of visible guards as they walked further into the floor. The paintings themselves were old, depicting the past of Naha during the Meiji era, mixed with a few more modern landscaping of the city and its beaches.

As they turned the corner...

"Ah, and here is our very own Princess of the Sky! I heard that you did something very heroic on the way here!"

Lath bit back a sneer as a purple haired man walked towards her, the air of arrogance and superiority clear around him. Ephraim wondered why he seemed so familiar-

"Good afternoon, Seiran-san." The Scandinavian hissed, causing the purple-eyed pilot behind her to twitch.

'Seiran? That Seiran?' The Neo-Type frowned slightly as he looked at the older man once over.

He was wearing a maroon suit and pants with a white dress shirt underneath the former, its collar buttons undone and the collar itself folded up. A pair of snakeskin dress shoes clacked against the marble flooring, and his overall ensemble screamed 'spoiled'.

'Fucking hell, I got to keep an eye on this bastard then...' Ephraim noted as his right hand slowly clenched into a fist. He hoped that what happened in Destiny wouldn't repeat here...

"Leave her alone, Yuna!" A fiery blonde stomped up to the man, shoving him aside as her amber eyes blazed with fury. "Cut your wannabe playboy façade already, she's never gonna date you!"

'Is that Caga-?!' Purple eyes widened in shock as the Seiran whined.

"Cagalli, I'm hurt! You shouldn't say that to your ex-fiancé!" Yuna rubbed his side with a flinch, to which the shorter blonde merely rolled her eyes. Said blonde was wearing something akin to a military uniform, with its blues and whites. The Neo-Type recognized it as her Orb Military-wear, as it was what she wore most of the time in Destiny. But what was she doing wearing that..?

...

"Winslet-san, I wanna go back home."

The Sahaku successor nearly jumped out of her skin when Ephraim whispered in her ear, turning to him with an embarrassed and angry blush. "Why?"

She looked up at the dead purple eyes of the tall blonde, who seemed as if he had just realized that he was in a place worse than Hell. He looked at the two before them, at the shorter blonde that was verbally beating down the taller man.

"I don't feel safe around her." He finished in a murmur, looking over his shoulder briefly.

'It wasn't too late to back out now, was it?'

"...Hmph." She couldn't help but snort at the rather accurate summation of what most people say about her friend. "Good. She always has her claws and fangs bared, so you better watch your words."

Ephraim grumbled, frowning at the failed attempt to alleviate whatever negativity was between them. "And of the sleaze?"

Lath rose a brow. "What about him?"

Her 'brother' snorted, crossing his arms as he looked around in faux-boredom. "Seems that he likes bothering you."

She rolled her eyes at his words. "Oh, like you wouldn't believe."

The oak wood double doors nearby opened and a woman around their age stepped out, interrupting the argument as all eyes turned to her.

She had her purple hair, which was paler than Yuna's shade of vibrant violet, cut into a short bob. Pale green eyes looked around the room in disinterest before they landed on the two Sahaku Clan members. As she walked towards them, Ephraim noted that her outfit consisted of the same brands he wore at times.

A navy blue jacket hung on her shoulders akin to a cape, and she wore a sleeveless turtleneck underneath it. She had on a pair of white pants that had suspenders built into them, and the bell bottom ends had a slit that revealed more of her skin to the world. A pair of violet heeled boots covered her feet, with green ribbons wrapping up her shins.

"Are you okay, Winslet?" Her tone was...flat, of sorts. It was an odd mix of bored, disinterested, and passive. "A few friends messaged me on what they heard happened in Tsubogawa Station."

"I'm okay Miyabi." The orangette smiled up at the taller woman. "My brother," Ephraim didn't miss the slight narrowing of the Scandinavians eyes as she said it. "Did most of the work in saving the girl."

"Ah, yes...your 'brother'." 'Miyabi' looked up towards him, and he realized that she only reached his chin. "Miyabi Oto Kiou, Head of the Kiou Family of the Miyako Islands." She extended a hand with a small tilt of her head. "Nice to meet you, Sahaku-san."

"Nice to meet you too, Kiou-san." He shook her hand firmly, and the woman hummed appreciatively as she looked him over.

"You have a good sense of fashion."

Ephraim smirked. Finally, someone noticed! "I could say the same for you."

"Oh, so this is your 'brother' then, Lath?"

Letting go of the fashionista's hand, the blonde turned to see the girl who he...wasn't really keen on speaking with looking him up and down with a small frown.

"Well, since Kiou-san here introduced herself in a Western standard...Cagalli Yula Athha. Head of Athha Industrial Concern in the Okinawa Prefecture." The amber eyed woman introduced herself with a regal air. "I'm pleased to meet the son of the late Rondo Mina Sahaku, though she hasn't really mentioned anything of the sort."

Lath twitched.

"...I...see...?" Ephraim could only raise a brow at the rather...blunt introduction. He forced himself to calm down though, as he saw a coming pseudo-interrogation. "I suppose it's the same for me. I didn't really know that I was her son until last year or so."

"Really?" Cagalli's brows shot up in faux-surprise as she crossed her arms. "Huh, that's sorta surprising. I would've thought that you would have gotten a blood test or something whenever you checked up at the doctors."

'Shit-'

"Well, in Europe they don't really pry that deep compared to here in Japan." The taller blonde spun his lie. "It's thanks to the Professor's own research, though, that made it clear that I was her son."

The three women stared at him as he talked, his purple eyes catching the glints of suspicion within their own. "It's a bit of a shock for me still, I assure you. I've grown rather attached to the surname 'Aznable', you see."

'fuckfuckfuck-'

"Ooooh, I see." The Cosmic Era's Lioness of Orb nodded with a look of faux-understanding as she raised an all-too smug brow. "Still, you do look a lot like her. I'm just wondering why no one noticed that."

'FUCKFUCKFUCK-'

Thankfully for the Neo-Type, help came in the most...unexpected of places.

"Oh, leave him alone, Cagalli!" The purple haired man called out as sauntered over to them, a smarmy grin on his face all the way. "I, for one, welcome the newest member to our little alliance!" He extended a hand, the grin being replaced with an all-too friendly smile. "Yuna Roma Seiran, but you can call me Yuna, my friend! I'm the heir of the Seiran Financial Group, so if you need some help with money, you can come to me!"

Ephraim reluctantly took it and was suddenly pulled into a half-hug, an arm going over his shoulder to pull him close. His fingers twitched, literally a millisecond away from throwing the older man over his shoulder.

"Hey, what can you tell me about the ladies in the IS Academy? Are they all hotties?"

...

'...I'm going to kill him.'

The purple-eyed Sahaku visibly sneered as he pulled away from the Seiran's grasp. "No comment on that."

"Yuna, leave him alone!" Cagalli physically dragged the man back by his arm, almost throwing him aside with the force he used.

"Ow, Cagalliii~!"

Lath sighed, palming her face as she shook her head, and ignoring the argument that had reignited. "And this right here is the Okinawa Restoration Bureau. You'll be dealing with them more once we settle our..." A sea-green eye glowered at him from between her fingers, her veiled words causing him to tense up. "...personal matter."

"Honestly, I expected a bunch of old men..." Ephraim grumbled as he shook his head in dismay.

Miyabi chuckled, not looking up from her phone which she pulled out earlier. "Welcome to the madhouse, Sahaku-san."


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Later that night...

Ephraim wished he could break his oath because, damn, did a cigarette sound good right about now.

'Sat through that damn meeting being ignored, Cagalli and Lath basically glared holes to the side of my head, that fucking Seiran kept on annoying me, and Miyabi just continued on with her presentation.' He huffed as a cool wind swept by him. 'Feels like I haven't left the Academy.'

The lollipop rolled around in his mouth as he gazed up at the night sky, frowning slightly as he looked over his shoulder at what was supposedly his home.

The Sahaku Estate was deep within the mountains and valleys that were common in the outskirts Nago, hidden in the shadow of Mt. Nagodake. It was strikingly very traditional, with plenty of zen gardens, cherry blossom trees, and similar fauna that made one think of Kyoto. The manor itself was in the same style, very traditional, though it had been clearly renovated to include more modern additions. It was a hybrid, its insides still having rooms that used shoji and fusuma screens as dividers while having other rooms use solid walls and doors.

Not to mention, its botanical gardens contained pagodas and gazebos that doubled as miniature tea houses. There was even a side house that doubled as a dojo, one that he assumed his 'mother' used to train her sword form.

All in all, it was very opulent, befitting that of the Sahaku Clan, even if it was in a decline lately.

And as expected of a modern noble clan, it had its fair share of security measures. A perimeter of a hybrid wood-brick fencing, cameras on certain spots in said fencing, in-house guards to go along with the staff, a quick line to the Nago Police Department, as well as the nearby US Marine Base. It was pretty secure, all things considered.

But for someone of his skill and experience, sneaking out in the dead of night was easy.

And so he continued his aimless walk, inwardly glad for his natural night-vision. There was barely any light posts this deep in the mountains, much less when one was walking the less-beaten path. He needed to get out of the manor, the general vibe of the whole place wasn't...friendly in the slightest.

'And it's all because the boss willed me to be some sort of damn noble scion.' The blonde groused as he hopped on a tree trunk, putting his hands in his joggers pockets-

Crack!

-when then the trunk broke under his weight, causing him to tip forward and slide down the incline behind it. Cursing, he tried to regain footing amidst the loose dirt and grass, sliding past dead trees and broken branches before he saw a small boulder a few feet below. With a grunt, he made an effort to move his body over so that his feet could land on the rock-

Rumble...

-only for it it move the moment his feet met stone.

"Damn it!" He growled at his misfortune as he slipped once more, tumbling head over heels down the slope. The Neo-Type covered his head to protect it from getting bashed in as he curled up, grunting every now and again as his back impacted dirt.

"Fuck-!"

Bump.

"You-!"

Bump.

"Ow-!"

Bump.

"Agh!"

With a wheeze, he finally rolled to stop, impacting the ground none too gently. As he laid on his back, catching his breath and spitting the lollipop stick away, he raised an arm and flipped off the cosmos high above.

"Spiteful...prick..!" Ephraim growled as he slowly got up, lamenting his previously pristine white shirt which was now stained with dirt. "Damn Lancer luck..."

Looking around, his glowing purple eyes could see a small creek running nearby, a patch of Japanese maple trees, a few deer, a large mossed over steel double doors, a berry bush-

?!

His head snapped head to the only unnatural landmark in his surroundings.

The double doors were indeed mossed over, taller than him and built into the side of the mountain slope he just rolled down from. Suspicious, he slowly walked over after taking a few scanning turns of the area.

No unnatural sounds, no sudden movements...

He was alone.

'Good.'

Approaching the doors, he took a careful look of its edges, trying to determine if it swung in or swung out, as well as if it was something recent or just a WW2 relic. Purple eyes traced the raised portions of the moss, then at the overall outline of the streel construct.

'...It's...modern. Slides...in to the sides, heavy, reinforced.' The blonde noted down as he glanced to the side. 'Must have some sort of...keypad or panel or something...'

Carefully placing his hand on the door, he began to feel out for any bumps or protrusions, anything that-

Beep...

Immediately, he leapt back, raising his fists as it began to shake and shudder. A few lights, hidden and completely covered by dirt and moss, turned on to further illuminate what was now some sort of entryway. The doors opened, the same dirt and moss falling off in great droves as it revealed a long tunnel behind it. More lights began to turn on, displaying the rather desolate insides.

...

"I know I shouldn't but..." Taking one last look around, the Neo-Type walked inside, making sure to make his steps light as he traversed deeper into the tunnel. As soon as he got a few steps inside, the door shut behind him with a muted hiss, cutting off the faint sounds of nature and replacing it with...tense silence.

...

"Shit." Ephraim cursed, his paranoia spiking as his senses went overdrive.

He went over to the wall, hugging it and hunching slightly to make his silhouette smaller. He make sure to not let his clothing rub against the concrete and steel as he went, eyes darting this way and that. The blonde ignored the growing heaviness in his movements, even though adrenaline was pumping through his veins. It's been over 24 hours since he last properly rested, after all.

'When I get back, I'm so gonna conk out...'

Soon, he came upon branching corridors, corridors that had signs on them. Though, said signs were barely legible with how faded and grimy they looked.

Narrowing his eyes, he walked over to the nearest one, noticing something and reaching out. Slowly, he dragged a finger on the metal before pulling it back.

"Dust..." He muttered, looking at the corridor in its entirety now.

There was a thin layer of dust throughout the structure, causing him to frown as he wondered just how old this place was. It still relatively modern, with fluorescent lighting indicating some sort of running generator. However, it seemed like he was the first one to step in here for what he could only guess was years, decades even. It was...highly suspect, to be sure.

And since this world had plenty of clichés...

"This better not be a deactivated Phantom Task base..." He grumbled, glancing at the now clear label on the sign before going down the corridor it was pointing to.

Archives.


Click, clack, click, clack...

"Who the hell leaves their fucking database unprotected?"

Click, clack, click, clack...

Purple eyes darted across the screen, his form hunched over one of the dozen computers in the dust-covered archives. Large servers occupied a far wall, while scattered and yellowed papers littered the floor. It was dark, the lights having failed to turn on, most likely due to age. The only light source was from the screen itself, and even that was flickering weakly.

Beep...

"...Oh. No wonder." Ephraim let out a disappointed sigh as he stood up straight. "It's wiped clean. Shit."

True to his word, the database was empty, with clear signs of all the files within having been either moved or deleted outright. The OS was old, older than what was in the mainland or in the IS Academy, and he wondered just how long this place had been abandoned.

It was odd, really.

The doors that led him in were still rather new-ish, but this database setup seemed straight out of the 2000's.

"Another mystery..." The blonde muttered as shut down the computer and turned around. "I'm well off the damn plot, at this point..."

Unless this was in the Light Novel, then he was sure that wherever he was, or whatever he was trying to investigate, was definitely out of the main story of the Infinite Stratos anime. Perhaps this was creeping into SEED territory, and he hoped that this place wasn't a lab like in the Mendel Colony. Project: Neo-Type already took that spot, wherever it was held. And if this place was SEED territory..?

'...Trouble's abound.'

With a sigh, he walked over to the door.

'The proximity of this place to the Sahaku Estate is...very suspect.' Ephraim pondered, memories flashing through his head of muddled faces and paragraphs of texts. 'That implies a lot of things, things that I don't like...' Yawning, he pressed the button that would open it and-

Click.

-suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol the moment it did.

?!

Immediately, his world slowed down as he looked up into the angry sea-green eyes of Lath Winslet.

'Shit! The hell's she doing here?!'

A million thoughts went through his mind, ranging from accusing her for being a Phantom Task agent, to her somehow following him in and dodging his senses. His fingers twitched, muscles tensing as...

...as...

...

...as he forced them to relax.

Rash action would do worse in this situation, he was sure of it. While normally he would have disarmed her by now, there was just...this feeling that told him it was a bad idea. She already hated him, and most likely suspected him of being more malicious than he actually was. Any further antagonizing, any action that could feed into her paranoid line of thought, and he was sure that any attempts to reconcile would be so far gone.

And so...rather reluctantly...

The world sped back up.

"What are you doing here?" Came the demand from her lips, her eyes set in a glare as the gun shook in her hands. She was still wearing her outfit she had since this morning; a charming blue-white top, a white pleated skirt, black thigh-high socks, and fashionable white boots. She was as stunning as ever...

If she wasn't holding a gun to his head!

"How did you even get in here in the first place?!" The orangette hissed as she looked around cautiously, most likely checking if he had anyone else with him.

Slowly, he raised his hands, keeping his face calm despite the gun being literally inches away from his forehead. "I could ask you the same." He returned, voice level and cool.

"Answer the damn question or I'll shoot!"

Stoic purple and angry sea-green locked, a battle of wills enacting between the two Sahaku Clan members.

Ephraim's pride rankled at her demands, wanting nothing more to show her that he would not be bowed. He was not one to be threated, he was the one that was supposed to do the threatening!

...

"I couldn't sleep so I took a walk out in the woods." The blonde supplied slowly and calmly, wanting her to cool down as well. "I then tumbled down the mountainside and rolled to a stop before two steel doors covered in moss. Curiosity got the better of me and I was somehow able to open it," He glanced down at the finger just ready to pull the trigger and gulped slightly. "I went in, went here to the Archives so I could have a lick of sense on where I was and...here we are now."

Lath tensed her jaw, brows furrowing as she looked his form over. "You managed to evade the guards, climb over the fence, walk around in the woods with little to no light, and you somehow ended up here?"

The Neo-Type hesitantly nodded. After all, what she said was what he did.

"Yes. Yes, I did."

The girl was silent, brows furrowed as she pondered his words. There was conflict in her eyes, something that he was getting increasingly wary of. In her moment of silence, Ephraim looked at the pistol she was wielding against him and the bullet that was in the chamber.

'FN Five-SeveN? 5.7mm bullets that can pierce through armor just as easily as it would flesh. Velocity of 716 meters per second with an energy of 516 Joules, guaranteed to blow my brains out at this range if I was even a microsecond too slow in reacting-'

"Bull." She growled, snapping him out of his analyzing, her trigger finger twitching as those sea-greens of hers smoldered with hate. "That's a load of bull, you damn saboteur! You managed to dodge the Estate's security systems only to tumble afterwards?!"

"My luck's just horrendous sometimes, I swear!" He pleaded, trying to calm her down as best he could now with both nonthreatening words and body language. "I'm no saboteur, I promise you! So just...put the gun down and we can talk-"

"Shut up, shut up!" Lath snarled, using both hands to hold the pistol now. Ephraim realized a bit too late that there was no negotiating the moment he explained his presence here. "I won't have you steal what's mine, I'm mother's successor, NOT YOU!"

Click!

The trigger was squeezed.

Purple eyes widened-

-Lightning formed a mitsu-

Bang!


Crack!

Chifuyu stared at her shot glass, brown eyes tracking the piece of splintered glassware as it fell. The golden liquor slowly dribbled off the cup and onto her desk, eventually spilling down to the floor and puddling, somewhat akin to-

...akin to blood.

A heavy feeling settled in her gut...

"...Shit."


AN:

Being adopted into a prestigious clan, be groomed as the next heir, and then having someone suddenly appear out of nowhere to basically steal your spot can do stuff to a person. Especially when said person looks so much like an actual offspring of your foster parent, and you got yourself a healthy case of paranoia, inferiority, and the all popular fear.

Anyway! Uh...I haven't read Princess of the Sky yet. Mainly because my usual sources can't find the full English translation, and it's only the Prologue chapter that's available. So right now, I can only infer Lath's personality from what I've read of her in the Wiki and from what I can tell from her profile picture.

For me though, I can tell that's she's very peppy but also can be mature due to being the sole survivor of her family, being one of the candidates for being Mina's successor, and also having experienced the prejudice of the Naturals by being born a Coordinator. So IS Lath would probably be the same, save for being a bit more mature due to being the sole successor. That and more shrewd, since she is the head of a dying conglomerate.

On to the reviews!

KnightOfZaku: Hey hey, thanks for sticking this long!

She'll get varying degrees of attention from the three, that's for sure. Near-death experiences can't be forgotten or easily forgiven with just words.

She definitely will be quite vocal about wanting their praises, and Ephraim's going to suffer because she's basically taking a sledgehammer and breaking their carefully crafted masks by doing so. He'll have to do a bunch of social maneuvering, to keep up said mask. Same with Ryo but to a lesser degree than the deceptive blonde.

As for the German Government...well, them learning about it implies Laura snitching. She is quite eager to please her new brothers and...little siblings tend to go to great lengths just trying to gain approval from older siblings.

Mistersnx: Hey, welcome and thanks for the new review!

The lore's more of a sneak peek or a glimpse of what's behind the mask they present. He hasn't displayed the extremes of this because...well, he hasn't had the chance to nor would he as he has a good grasp of himself at the moment. Above all else, Ephraim values keeping their masks/identities untouched and unbroken, if only to exploit people's perceptions of said mask to blindside them should the time comes. So, for now, he's not so keen on exposing himself as an escort, given the world's eyes are on them with their new fancy tech and such. But, of course, that's on his end. Those that he escorted, however...

Rodvek97: Hey, thanks for another review!

Laura and Neo-Types' interactions will start off rocky, at least with the other two. Ryo is...very accepting, to a fault, which is why he humors her. Ephraim is definitely the hardest to make up with, and Davion is a 'go with the flow' character, so she would have a somewhat easier time.

And yes, once Charlotte realizes that Tatenashi is in the tug-o-war, it definitely will be quite a thing to see.


Unknown...

"Hmhmhmhmmm~"

Beep!

"Hmm~?"

Plum eyes looked away from the control to see a holographic screen open up before them. Rapid lines of code and data filled it out, being read the moment they appeared on the screen. Faded pages appeared not soon after, obviously decades old but still legible.

"Ah-hah! That crackpot in Arizona had some hidden pages after all!"

...

...

..?

Tabane's brows furrowed as she read further, piecing together what was left visible amidst the black ink of the scanned file.

"...The heck's a Carbon Human?"