Heart of the Melting Blood
Legend of the Moonlight
Written and conceived by:
Lone Wolf NEO

Lone Wolf NEO does not own any of all the games or anime or manga featured in this story, but he owns the copyright to all his original ideas in this fiction. The author would really appreciate it if readers do not plagiaries everything inside this story without his knowledge.

Chronological Note: Heart of the Melting Blood: Legend of the Moonlight takes place scarcely half a year after the event in Heart of the Melting Blood RELOADED, and currently runs roughly in parallel with Guilty Gear: the World within and Without written and created by Sheo Darren. This is Heart of Melting Blood: Legend of the Moonlight's new arc, the Awe of She Arc, which takes approximately a week after events in FATE Arc, and takes place in a peaceful, seaside town away from all the chaos and disorders. This is the arc where another half of the story will be revealed, thus completing the story… hopefully.

Chapter 16
Summer Lights Natsukage (part 1)

The missing of Eiko and her Purple Maidens from the society worried Lia. The special squadron's service might still be needed by the society, and the Dragoons would have a hard time achieving their objective if the maidens weren't present. Already the society lost some of the best fighters to the hand of Alexander: Logan had left the society and lived in seclusion at Misaki Town; Longbow and his archery warriors had fallen in the battle with the FATE knights. That event left her with only Doctor Getter, Blaze and Spike to continue the remaining tasks. Moreover, she had been assuming whether the maiden of steel had gone to personally challenge her brother or not, judging from the report she received from Blaze's ninjas.

The thought went off her head when she heard Valentino calling. "What is it?" she asked and approached the door. There, she saw him wearing striped yukata and accompanied by the society's workers. "What are you doing in the yukata, sir?"

"Please, Lia, don't call me 'sir'," Valentino said, even as a generous smile carved upon his scar-riddled face. "I'm your uncle, and you know you don't have to be too formal with me all the time."

"I… I'm sorry," she apologized. "So what are you doing in the yukata, Uncle Valentino?"

"We're going to the summer festival at downtown," Valentino said. "It'd be a pleasure for the society if you could join us. Why don't you spend time outside this headquarters once in a while, Lia?"

"I'd like to, uncle, but no thanks," she replied and tried to smile. "I don't feel like attending any festival at this time. I'll just stay here instead."

Valentino was upset by the decline, yet he wasn't offended. He understood that his niece needed time to ease herself up after the event at the grassland that witnessed the failure of the judgment day she was to accomplish. "Very well. Then we'll be going now. Take care of yourself while you're here, okay?" he said and patted her shoulder.

"I will," she told him.

The old man waved at her and walked down the lane with the workers, while she bowed to him in respect. She, then, returned to her room and sat on the bed, wondering of the fun and excitement she would get from the festival.

x-x

"Is it fun to be in summer festival, Brother Alex?"

"Of course it is, because there are many things we can do while we're there. And there are a lot of stuffs we can buy at the booths."

"But it's going to be crowded, right? I don't like to be in crowded place."

"It has to, because it's for everyone. You can't have all of the stuffs there alone; you have to let others have it. But it's really fun, because it's among a few days in the world where people get to be together and not thinking of problems that haunt them."

"Then are you going to take me to the summer festival, Brother Alex?"

"Yes, I am. And we're going there together. Just the two of us."

"Just both of us? Yaay! I love you so much, Brother Alex! Give me a piggy-ride!"

x-x

Lia chuckled when the flashback emerged in her mind. At least the memory still remains fresh inside of her, she thought. It was a sweet nostalgia to spend time with the man she addressed to as brother, the man she dearly and deeply loved. The man she was forced to hate for the sake of the society she had vowed to serve to.

She shrugged all thoughts and approached the closet. "I should go to the town," she said and took out one of the yukata. She checked the yukata, embraced it close to her chest and smelled the fresh fragrance of its silken smoothness. "Brother Alex…" she whispered the name and tightened her grasp on the yukata. She breathed out, put the yukata aside and pulled down the miko dress off her shoulder--

Again, fan boys who were supposed to be dead many chapters ago revived and cheered at the cloth-changing scene. Fan girls materialized from nowhere, pointed their fingers at the fan boys and demanded them to drop dead. Fan boys died and revived for the second time, before telling the fan girls to quit whining. The two parties started their "Fan Combat 4: Shattered Cries" and tossed stuffs and objects among each other. Heh, the usual.

"When will these stupid one-sided sibling love and cloth-changing scene-obsessed people actually learn to stop?" Sol demanded and Instant Killed them with Baptism by Fire. He grumbled when he looked at the charred remains of the people, holstered his Fireseal and walked a good half mile away from the scene.

"Sol-kun!" Immediately his firm neck was seized by the lithe arms of Kagura, already in her cute pink yukata. "Can we go to the summer festival now?"

"Right now?" Sol groaned and cursed to himself at the glomp --although he really likes it.

Kagura stared at him. "What's wrong? Don't you know where it'll be held?" she asked.

"Sol Badguy is a paedophile," a group of fan boys commented as they walked near the scene. "Sol Badguy is a paedophile! A paedophile is Sol Badguy! Once a paedophile, always be a paedophile, hey!"

(Side comment: hey, that rhymes!)

"Call me paedophile again and DIE!" Sol roared and tossed a gigantic Gun Flame at the group, literally incinerating them.

"Sol-kun, do you have to do that every time?" the Souma heir asked, even as the American Badass walked away from the scene he detested so much.

"Don't even ask," he demanded. He later stared at the cute and innocent Kagura and had the usual reaction every man would have: nosebleed. "Damn you for getting me through this, Lone Wolf," he cursed and wiped off the blood.

Onboard the Death Star, everybody was waiting for another chapter of Baaka Wars. Instead, Ruri wasn't heard saying her usual "baaka" quote as she was seen busy double-checking the control panel. All of the crews, especially I-No and Raven, sighed in relief. "No more sassy-sassy Ruri-ruri this time," they said.

Ruri glared at the two assistants of Yuuki's. "Baaka," she simply said and continued her work. I-No and Raven stared at the commanding captain and sweatdropped.

--It took almost an hour for her to wear the yukata, but Lia managed to. She approached the wall mirror, looked at her reflection and giggled to herself even as she spun on her feet, admiring her beauty in the traditional Japanese costume. "Yes, this should do it," she said and walked out of the room.

"Mistress Lia," Blaze was heard calling her as he appeared from the back. "I'd wish to know the destination you're going to, and I'm willing to escort you until you reach your destination."

"Thank you, Blaze," she said and threw a convincing smile at the ninja. "But you don't have to. I'm just paying someone a visit."

x-x-x-x-x

The summer house remained the same. Despite the conflict between Alex and the maidens the previous night, everything seemed to be normal. It was as is the event was something forgettable and the summer group was not even talking about it. Indeed; they totally forgot about it since they were too busy preparing themselves for tonight's Summer Festival.

It was not the case for Dizzy.

Ever since the incident, she did not want to forgive Alex, nor having even a simple talk with him. She was angry at him for not thinking of himself or his safety and letting the maidens attack him. Even though he had tried his best to explain everything, she just wouldn't listen to him. Poor Alex; would he be able to convince her and apology to her?

"Aw, come on, Dizzy," Alex said, even as he chased Dizzy around the dining room. "Will you listen to me only for a while?"

"I won't listen to anything from you," Dizzy said and moved away from him as he tried to grab her arm. "Stupid. You should know that your sight isn't improved yet, why would you fight those maidens?"

"What else could I do that time? It was them who asked me to come," he answered. "I'm sorry. Will you forgive me?"

"No," she simply said. "Bad Alex, no supper for you tonight."

He tried not to laugh at the respond. "Why not?"

Dizzy turned to him, tramped toward him and prodded his chest. "Because you're stupid, and stupid people won't get supper from me. You know you still need to rest, and you know we aren't here to fight somebody else, and yet you wanted to fight them. Now look at you; not only you're hurt, you have nothing else to wear for tonight's summer festival."

"I can ask Venom to lend me some," he suggested.

She, instead, ignored the suggestion and turned away from him, folding her arms as a sign of objection. "Baaka. Alex, you're just too baaka."

He chuckled at the call and slowly approached her. "Okay, I must admit I'm stupid for what I did last night. I promise I'd do anything just to make sure you won't be angry at me, Dizzy. And please stop calling me baaka, please?"

Dizzy turned to him again. This time, a smile carved upon her face. "Okay, apology accepted. But with one condition," she signalled and made a "one" sign with her finger.

"Any conditions I will accept," Alex said. "I swear I'll do anything for you!"

"Then tonight," and here she made a childish face and fiddled with her fingers. "You must take me for a date." Instantly the girls appeared from behind the cover and cooed at the condition, teasingly laughed at Dizzy. She stared at them and noticed a look of mischief, with a sly grin upon their face. "Why are you making that face at me!" Dizzy demanded.

"Ara, ara, Dizzy-chan has become more daring than before," Hotaru said.

"I just hope Ky won't see both of them on a blind date," Millia pondered.

"But whatever it is, Dizzy-chan's going to be gorgeous tonight," Hibiki suggested. "Just imagine seeing her in the cute yukata…"

Dizzy blushed in embarrassment and chased the three women out of the kitchen. "Why are you always teasing me!" she cried in dismay.

Alex just looked at the foursome and shook his head in amusement. He decided to leave them with their business and headed back to his room. He jumped onto his bed, stretched out and stared at the blank ceiling. He was disappointed; Eiko and her comrades left before he could even invite them to join the summer group for the summer festival, and he really wished to bring them to enjoy the festival. Yet her last words before she departed made him intrigued from the inside.

x-x

"I may have forgiven you, but that doesn't mean the other judges will. You must remember, Alexander, that the Dragoon Society won't stop hunting you until the judgment day's accomplished. Just you wait."

x-x

"What did she mean by judgment day? And who are those judges anyway?" he pondered and flung an arm over his forehead. Then he remembered a portion of flashback he had during the fight with the maidens last night; this time, it was the image of a person who was very intriguing to him. Curiosity started taking over; who was the person he talked with in flashback, and why did he feel so familiar?

A dismayed cry caught his attention, and it was coming from the living room. Quickly he rushed to the outside and found himself facing a battlefield made of clothes and feathers. Somehow the chase and argument had changed to a pillow fight, as the girls were pounding pillows and cushions among one another. "What's going on here?" he demanded and was promptly smashed by a flying pillow. He caught it and stared at the women who continued their pillow-bashing without even knowing his presence in the living room. "Is this what girls usually do whenever they're having gathering?" he asked and was again hit by a pillow. This time, he had it enough. He took a pillow and tossed it to the girls; it hit, and his victim happened to be Dizzy. "Uh-oh."

"Alex, you baaka!" Dizzy squealed and threw many pillows at him. He was hit by the pillows and crashed on the wall due to the strong shockwave he received from the hit. He looked in front of him and saw two angry eyes staring down at him, a pillow tightly held in hand.

"Ara, ara, Alex-san has made Dizzy-chan angry," Hotaru said with a shocked expression on her face.

"You know, making a married woman angry isn't the best thing to do," Millia reminded.

"Indeed, and what will become of our lone wolf after this?" Hibiki added.

"Uh, girls? Can we just talk for a little while?" Alex asked and gulped when he saw the angry eyes glowering deeper at him. The anger projected by Dizzy's eyes was so overwhelming that he was pushed deeper onto the wall. "Dizzy… I know that was an accident, but will you listen to me a second?" A pillow was bashed upon his face, and the last thing he knew was massive pounding against his body and shouts of anger, all directed at him. "Okay, that wasn't the nicest of answer I want to hear," he commented as he was bashed repeatedly on the head.

Then he blacked out.

x-x

"Man, you don't have to do that many times," Alex said and checked the bruises on his face. "Now look at what you've done, Dizzy. You just ruined my face and forced me to put bandages on these bruises. Lucky that I didn't get my nose smashed."

"I'm sorry, Alex," Dizzy apologized. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You know what, Dizzy-chan can be mean sometimes," Hotaru said and glanced at Dizzy. "I still remember the first day we were introduced to each other. Dizzy-chan used to bully me a lot back there, and believe me, Alex-san, she was such a meanie."

"Is that true, Dizzy?" Alex asked and turned to Dizzy who, at that time, was blushing in embarrassment.

"That was the thing of the past! And don't call me a bully without even checking what you had done to me, Hotaru-chan!" she demanded.

"Oh, yeah? Then who had bashed Alex-san with pillows at the summer house and caused him to faint? Don't tell me you didn't forget," Hotaru insisted, and was instantly chased down the road by the mortified Gear.

"Just look at them, playing and chasing around like children," Millia commented and glared at Venom. She sulked when he did not pay attention to her and, instead, stared at Dizzy and Hotaru. She pounded his head with her hair mallet and prodded his neck with scalpel afterwards. "Why are you looking at them like that?"

"What that you're referring to, Millia?" Venom demanded.

"Don't get me started, you lecherous pervert who likes seeing under-aged girls in yukata," Millia insisted and started threatening him with the scalpel.

"You mean Hotaru? But she's 18 years old, and she's going to be 19 anytime this year!" Venom answered.

Millia was ticked off by the answer and had her hair growing by large margin. "How did you know her real age? You paedophile, how dare you trying to drop me in favour of a loli!"

"I'm not a paedophile, and Hotaru's not a loli!" Venom replied, and soon both of them were engaged in their daily dose of fight.

Alex decided to ignore the married couple and the two of closest female friends and continued walking to the summer festival. "Oh, well. I better not bother them for a while," he said and approached the nearest booth. "So, Miss Takane, have you gone to any festival like this before?"

"Haii, and I had visited many of these events before, though each was different," she answered and checked the merchandises shown on the shelf. "What about you?"

"I wish I could remember," he spoke and pointed at a puppet on the shelf. "I just wish I could."

"Is the person important to you, Alex-san?" Hibiki asked, and Alex immediately turned to look at her, as if doubting the purpose of the question. "I mean, what if Dizzy-chan is an important person to you?"

"What are you talking about, Miss Takane? Of course she is," he replied and aimed the cork rifle at target board, "because she has been working hard to help me. And if she weren't here, how could I rely on anyone else?"

"Oh, okay. I understand that," Hibiki answered. "But you do know that she's married, don't you?" Alex just nodded while keeping his aim on the target, not looking at her. "It's not that I disapprove this relationship, because I know Dizzy-chan becomes very attached to you. I'm just worried whether you'll eventually have no other choice but to break up with her."

"That can't be happening, because we're friends," Alex answered and gave her a kitsune mask he got from the booth keeper. "This is for you. I know this sounds silly, but this mask suits you."

"Why, thank you, Alex-san," Hibiki said and took the mask. "You don't have to do this to me; you should give it to Dizzy-chan instead."

A disapproving cough caught her attention. Quickly she turned around, and she was mortified to know who was staring at her. "Trying to play no-no while I'm not around, eh Hibiki-chan?" sarcastically Lone Wolf NEO asked.

"Lone… Lone Wolf-san! What are you doing here?" Hibiki demanded, even as an embarrassed look crossed upon her face.

"What am I doing here? Escaping Mriya's hug of death, of course," the lone wolf of author's world answered before he shrugged and outstretched himself. "I happened to stumble across this festival and decided to take a look around. Luckily Mriya's already busy with her Hikki, or I'd be dead by now," he answered and deeply stared at her. "And what are you doing with Alex in such places? I did tell you to just look after him, didn't I? Are you trying to ditch me?"

The blush upon her face became redder than the ripest of tomatoes. "Chigau! It's not like that!" she squealed and pushed him away, before turning around and making her pouting face. "You're embarrassing me, mou! Why would you think of such a thing?"

Lone Wolf NEO laughed at his silliness and apologized to Hibiki. "Okay, I shouldn't tease you, but whatever," he said and glanced at Alex. "And I can see that our Mr. Hahn is enjoying himself very much tonight. How are you doing now?"

"I'm doing pretty fine, though I've been bullied by the twosome lately," Alex answered and pointed to Dizzy and Hotaru who kept running around the venue. "Do you have any business with me right now, Mister Lone Wolf?"

Lone Wolf NEO just shook his head. "No, and that's good for you. But to make sure everything's okay, I advice you not to overwork yourself," and here he patted Alex's shoulder and stared into the lone wolf's eyes. "Especially when it comes to Dizzy. I know she's wished to see you recover, so don't make her disappointed. Okay?"

Alex was staring at the author in curiosity for a long time, not knowing of what he meant. Then he nodded and patted Lone Wolf NEO's hand in return. "I will," he answered.

"Alex!" Subsequent to that, his arm was seized and he was pulled away from the booth. "You're coming with me! You promised to take me for a date, didn't you?" Alex could only wave to Lone Wolf NEO before he was dragged far away from the group while tried to apologize to Dizzy.

"Now look at that. Taking him for a date without even saying hello to me, that Dizzy," Lone Wolf NEO commented and sighed, "I wish Hibiki-chan does that to me every time." Again, he was bashed and turned to Hibiki. "What was that for? It hurts, you know," he demanded and rubbed his bumped head.

"Lone Wolf-san baaka," blatantly Hibiki replied.

x-x

"Now, now, Dizzy, you don't have to do this just because I promised to take you for a date," Alex insisted, even as she dragged him down the walkway. "And besides, I still haven't finished my talk with Mr. Lone Wolf. Can we return to them and go around this festival together with them instead?"

"Why should I?" Dizzy demanded and tightened her embrace around his arm. "A promise is a promise, and you can't do anything to deny it."

He just laughed and tried to shrug Dizzy off him. "Okay, okay, I understand that. But first, stop clinging onto me. Do you really have to do that all the time?"

Dizzy pouted at the question and stepped away from him. "Alex, you're so mean. I just want to have fun with you, and you're angry. I don't like it," she grumbled and started kicking the air.

"Am I angry with you?" he replied and slowly touched her shoulders. "Of course I'm not, because you are my friend. How can I ever be angry at someone who's a friend of mine?" What he got as a reply was a playful slap on his chest and a teasing stomp on his feet, before Dizzy ran away from him. "Hey, that hurts! Are you trying to make fun of me, Dizzy?" he asked and chased her down the road.

"I didn't, but it's really fun to bully you!" she shouted back and ran faster. "Catch me if you can, Alex! You'll have to take me to the hill if you lose!"

"Oh, yeah?" Alex replied. "Don't underestimate me just because I can't run fast!"

She kept running down the road, trying to outrun him that she did not look at her front. She stumbled across a very hard figure and dropped to the ground. "Ow, that hurts… watch where you're going!" she cried in disgrace.

"What the hell are you doing here, Dizzy?"

She was startled. The voice was too familiar to him, and the shadow too looked very familiar. Warily she looked above, and was in shock. "Sol!"

The owner of the name looked down at her for a very long time before he just shrugged and plunged the Fireseal to the ground. "Why are you looking at me in those eyes? And where the hell is Ky?" She was too shocked to answer him, and such a response was annoying to him. "Look, I don't know of what you're doing here or what brought you here to this festival, but you didn't answer my damn questions."

"Sol-kun!" Subsequently Kagura appeared from nowhere and hurled to him, and landed on his back so hard that he almost fell. "Here you are, Sol-kun! I've been looking for you everywhere," excitedly she said and gave him a very big hug on the neck.

Dizzy was too shocked at the outcome of the event that she did not know that Alex was already standing beside her. "Hey! Dizzy, are you alright?" he asked and helped her to stand up.

"I… I'm alright," she replied and held onto him. "I just bumped onto someone, that's all. But to know it's Sol of all people…"

"Sol?" Alex turned around and saw the man in front of them, trying to get off Kagura's cutely possessive squeeze. He blinked many times, and this was soon noticed by Sol.

"You? What the hell are you doing here this time, Alexander?" Sol demanded.

"Who are you? Have we met before?" Alex replied.

"Fool, it was you who beat Ky at Kiev and left me without even an explanation," Sol said and clenched a fist. "You even quoted me at that time, and you don't remember? What the hell's wrong with you?"

Quickly Dizzy stepped forward and glowered at Sol. "Why are you scolding him? He doesn't even know of who you are!" she cried.

It was his turn to glower at Dizzy; Sol was ticked off at the harsh demand she made and he had a very taut vein popping over his forehead. "What the hell? I know everything about him, and you say he doesn't remember me anymore? I thought Ky had told you anything about this lone wolf of holy orders."

This time, Dizzy was in surprise. "Do you know him? Do you really know Alex, Sol?"

"What do you expect from a badass who had slain many Gears in the past and had to deal with the knights?" Sol answered and grumbled in dismay. "To hell with that. I didn't come here to argue with anyone here," he cursed and held his headband. "This is just way too retarded."

He later heard a relieved cry and looked at Dizzy who was widely smiling. "What is it this time, Dizzy?"

"Finally I have someone who can help me!" she exclaimed and took Alex's hand. "Alex! Sol says he knows everything about you! Maybe he can help you in getting back your memory. Aren't you glad to hear it?"

Alex looked back and forth between the married Gear woman, and the Guilty Gear who was now staring at him in curiosity. "But I don't even know him, Dizzy," he said.

"Well, that doesn't matter! I can introduce him to you if you want," she suggested and turned back to Sol. "Please forgive me on his behalf, Sol. He suffers from amnesia, and I alone am not enough to help him. I was thinking whether you could help him on getting back his memory," she said.

This time, an unconvincing smile carved upon his face. Sol just laughed over his head and held his headband again. "Amnesia, huh? You're telling me that this kid just lost his memory?" he said.

"I can ask Faust to explain it to you," Dizzy said and frowned. "I thought I'd never get the chance to meet him after leaving the Devil's Living Place. And when I thought we could finally be reunited, he lost all his memories and had to…"

"Now, now, Dizzy," Alex said and put his hands upon her shoulders. "Why would you cry on this day? You don't have to; we're here to have fun, right?"

"I'm sorry, I'm a bit sentimental," Dizzy apologized and wiped off her tears. She, then, grabbed his arms and ran toward the hill. "Come on, Alex! The fireworks display's going to start soon! I don't want to miss it!"

The couple soon disappeared in the ocean of human who was too heading to the fireworks venue. Sol just stood at his place, watching at the two people in intrigue. "Am I really in a dream or what? Dizzy is so close to Alex, and doesn't even bother to know who he is… or was," he pondered. "Wait a minute; why would she want to befriend him when she's already married to Ky? There's got to be an explanation."

"Ne, ne, Sol-kun, should we follow them?" Kagura asked after she decided to let go off him. "And for one thing, I want to watch at the fireworks display at the hill. Should we follow them?"

Sol looked back and forth between the Souma heir in the cute pink yukata, and the couple who was seen walking up the staircases. "I think we should," he said and took the Fireseal, "I have a couple of words to speak with him while you girls go and watch the fireworks."

"Yaay! Give me a piggy-ride, Sol-kun!" Kagura cried in excitement and seized his neck for the second time.

Sol almost cursed this time and nosebleeded for the unknown time when he felt her soft bosom pressed against his back. "Damn Fanboy Syndrome," he groaned and wiped off the blood. "Whatever. We're going now."

"Hurray! I love you, Sol-kun!" she cried and tightly hugged his neck.

"…whatever…"

To be continued…