Author's Notes:

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've written one of these. That's simply due to being a bit busy over the past few weeks, so bear with me for a while, 'kay?

Kotano-chan

Hello, Kotano-chan! Yeah, it's been a while since I heard from you. I was getting worried you dropped the story lol. As for how close we are to the end, this will be the final serious "arc" of the story. When I started writing it, I had initially planned on writing 100 chapters, and it seems like we'll get close to that mark. Maybe a little under or over, but pretty close. But don't worry! It will be replaced by a new story when that happens, so look forward to that. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 74

Saito and his comrades walked through the flooded streets of Tokyo. They were heading for the faint magic that Mariel could sense. As they walked, Saito wondered what could have possibly happened. Why the whole world was in ruin. Why so many were dead.

They walked slowly for a few hours before they reached a decrepit building that seemed somehow familiar to Saito. It was small and didn't look like anyone inhabited it. They carefully walked inside, where they saw several ancient looking objects floating in the water.

"There is someone in here." Mariel said. "Saito, use your eyes."

He nodded and started to look around, his eyes glowing orange. Through a that was fairly well hidden, he could see someones magic in a large room. Following Saito, they entered the room, which was full of a variety of random objects.

Old chairs, pieces of armor, weapons, clothes. It looked like an abandoned antique store. As they walked further into the deceptively large room, Saito finally stopped walking.

"Who's there?" He said.

"Saito?" Someone said back to him.

They heard the sound of objects falling over and someone's footsteps. After a little while, the lights in the room turned on. A few seconds afterwards, an old woman came into view. Although she was obviously old, she seemed rather strong and agile for her age.

"Ms. Aiko?" Saito said when he saw her.

"It's been so long, my boy." She said, smiling at him.

"Sorry I haven't come to visit." He said, giving her a hug.

"I'm sure you can tell me all about your adventure in a bit." She said. "So which one is the lucky lady?"

"I am." Louise said, bowing her head. "I'm pleased to meet you."

"Saito was awfully eager to come back to you all that time ago." Aiko said, teasing him.

"Saito, little sister, we really must hurry and find out what is happening." Mariel said, not being able to understand Japanese.

"This one must be..." Aiko began, looking at Mariel. "Sasha?"

"You know who Sasha is?" Louise asked with surprise. "Just who are you?"

"Just an old hag." She replied. "Let's go somewhere a bit more dry. Then we can talk more."

They followed her to the top floor of the building, which was the same store Saito went to buy his sword. On the way, Louise cast a spell on her friends so that they could understand and speak Japanese. Aiko poured them all tea, and then sat down to start talking.

"So Saito, tell me what happened since you disappeared." She said. "You've clearly made some friends."

"Um...sure." He said. "But first, could you tell us what happened here?"

"I suspect because of your shenanigans, something happened." She said. "It started in north eastern Europe, then the whole world seemed to collapse."

"North east Europe?" Saito said. "That's where the storms started?"

"No." Aiko replied. "The sea levels abruptly started to decline. Then rumors began to spread. Some fishermen in the area started to report seeing...something under the water as it began to recede."

"Something?" Louise asked.

"Some kind of serpent." She said.

"A snake?" Alex asked.

"No. They said it was...massive." She replied. "After the reports, a cyclone seemed to immediately develop over the area. Soon after, everyone lost contact with the the places within the storm."

"Are there any pictures of what they saw?" Louise asked.

"No. But from what I've heard, they say there was a giant serpent under the water." She said.

"Do you think it could be Lífþrasir?" Louise asked.

"That would explain all the disasters." Saito said to himself. "But why destroy this world?"

"So tell me, Saito. Who are your friends? Of course, I recognize Sasha." Aiko said, although she was looking at Mariel.

"Actually, that's Mariel. Sasha's older sister. The white haired one is Sasha." Louise said.

"You're Sasha?" Aiko said, finally looking at the right person. "Your hair wasn't white when I saw you."

"I do not believe we have met." Sasha said in her quiet, stern voice.

"You were also a lot more jovial back then." Aiko said.

"When exactly is 'back then'?" Sasha asked.

"So long ago..." Aiko said. "Before the war. I was a little girl then. You and the King were passing through my village. You stayed in my father's home. You were both so polite."

"The King? You mean Brimir?" Louise asked.

"Yes." Aiko replied. "Things were so interesting back then. The land was so colorful. Winged people filled the skies..."

As she said this, she noticed the silver haired girl who she had not seen before. More specifically, she noticed the silver feathered wings that were attached to her back.

"I never thought I'd see another one of your kind." Aiko said, touching Shion's wings. "Four wings and...such lustrous silver feathers. How rare. Are you a noble?"

"Hardly." Shion said, becoming uncomfortable. "I am far from a noble."

Alex noticed that Shion's face seemed hostile when Aiko touched her. Of course, Shion was always reluctant to be in contact with other people, but she was rarely outright hostile. Even when she was, she never allowed it to show on her face.

"To have such luster in your feathers must mean you come from privileged blood." Aiko insisted.

"I don't know who my family is." Shion said. "My wings were severed when I was young, so I only found out about what I am recently."

"Fascinating." Aiko said. "And this boy with a prosthetic?"

"My name is Alexandre." Alex said. "I am Mariel's son."

"You survived?!" She replied with shock.

"You know about me?" Alex asked.

"Of course! Your mother and father were renowned for trying to help humans and elves." She said. "All the humans started hating Elves again when they heard you died. So you're that Mariel."

"Yes." Mariel said, although the subject bothered her.

Max and Aigle, who had managed to keep themselves unnoticed by simply saying nothing, were also becoming agitated by the conversation.

"If this world is still in turmoil, then Lífþrasir may still be here." Louise said, changing the subject. "We must go and find her."

"Europe is very far away from Japan." Saito said. "It will take us a long time to get there."

"If only Soren was here." Louise said.

"Those two are protecting the kids, so we're on our own." Saito said.

"And what will you do once you fix this world?" Aiko asked.

"I'll go back to Halkeginia." Saito said. "My family is there...permanently."

The thought of his dead family began to weigh heavily on his heart, making everyone in the room feel cold, empty, numb, and limp. The light in his eyes and tail began to grow faint, but Louise gave him a hug, snapping him out of it.

The feeling in the room was immediately alleviated as he returned to his normal self. He took a few deep breaths, then looked back at Aiko.

"Sorry." Saito said.

"For what?" She asked.

This struck Saito as odd. If the pressure he created when he was upset could be felt by someone of Sasha's stature, surely anyone else would feel it as well. Despite his curiosity, he chose to dismiss it.

"Nothing." Saito said. "We'll be going now."

"Allow me to supply you for your journey." Aiko said, wearing a smile. "It's the least I can do since you'll all be saving the world."

"Very well." Saito said.

Aiko led them into her warehouse. She packed a variety of materials for them, mostly warm clothes. She then cooked them dinner, claiming she didn't want them saving the world on an empty stomach.

Everyone sat down at her dinner table, prepared to eat. Shion was about to a spoonful of food in her mouth. However, for a split second, Saito noticed her hesitate and look down at the spoon. She then calmly began to eat.

Saito was not the only one who had noticed. Everyone was now wondering what prompted Shion's reaction. After a few minutes, she finished her food. She calmly stood up to put her dish into Aiko's sink.

As soon as she walked past Aiko, in a flash, one of her massive wings knocked her through a wall. Although they knew Shion felt something was wrong, they didn't expect such a violent reaction. Especially since none of them smelled any poison in the food.

"What's wrong?" Max asked.

"There is magic in the food." Shion said, waiting for the dust to clear. "Not enough to harm us."

"She's trying to kill us? But why?" Saito asked.

"She is not trying to kill us." She said. "She isn't even alive. She has been reanimated."

"How do you know?" Max asked.

"When we fought you, I noticed that you were very cold." She said. "Furthermore, you lacked a heartbeat. When this woman touched my wings, she did not seem alive."

As they spoke, some rubble began to stir where Aiko had been hit. Slowly, she walked out of the whole, covered in bruises and wearing a blank expression. She lifted her hands, seemingly doing nothing.

However, soon, swords, spears, and other weapons flew through the walls, threatening to kill the group. Before any of them could react, however, a pinkish-magenta colored barrier of what seemed like solid flames surrounded them.

All the weapons harmlessly bounced off of the barrier. Saito looked around them, searching for the source of the barrier. It was then that he noticed that Shion was completely calm, assuring him that she was the source of the power.

"What is this?" Alex asked.

She turned to look at him. When she did, he saw that her eyes had changed. Her iris had remained purple, but rather than having a normal pupil, it had attained an irregular shape, making it look like a four leafed clover that occupied most of her iris.

She stared at him for a few seconds, then turned back to their enemy. She allowed the barrier around them to disappear, letting them move outside, where they could fight more freely.

"She seems to be able to control metals." Mariel said.

"We're surrounded by metal in this world." Saito said.

"Then we need to kill her as quickly as possible." Louise said, pointing her finger at the old woman.

"I can kill her quickly, little sister." Sasha said, preparing to launch herself at their enemy.

"I'd rather not risk your life, big sister." Louise said. "Please allow me to kill her from range."

"Very well." Sasha said after a slight pause, easing her muscles.

A ball of light began to form at her finger. Everyone braced for her attack, covering their faces with their hands and, in Shion's case, wings. After a few seconds, Louise shot her attack at their adversary. However, rather than the large explosion they were expecting, a beam of light shot from her finger.

Aiko attempted to protect herself by creating a thick shield from nearby metals. As soon as Louise's attack touched Aiko's shield, sparks began to fly everywhere around them.

Knowing that no metal would be a match for her power, she made the beam more powerful. Almost instantly, the beam shot through the other side of the shield. After a few moments, the shield fell apart, revealing that Aiko had been pierced through the heart by Louise's attack.

"That was a little too easy." Alex said, expecting a more difficult fight. "I guess it was an old lady."

"She seemed quite clumsy." Sasha said. "Perhaps whoever was controlling her is far away."

"I wonder how long she was being controlled." Saito said. "I wonder if what she told us was even true."

"I believe we should go to this place called Europe." Mariel said,

"It could take us more than a month to get there." Saito replied.

"That is not too long." Shion said. "Let's go."

"Before that, Shion, what was that power?" Alex asked.

She sighed and turned around to face her friends. After a few seconds, her pupils deformed into the same clover leaf shape from earlier.

"It happened after my operation." She said. "I don't know what it is or if it's safe to use."

"I'll have you show me your powers later." Mariel said. "For now, we need to leave. How far away is our destination?"

"About eight and a half thousand kilometers." Saito replied.

"Such a long walk." Alex sighed.

"We'll have to stay away from the cities." Saito continued. "If people saw us, it could become problematic."

Everyone nodded, agreeing with his decision. They then began making their way through the flooded streets of Tokyo, prepared to cross an entire continent in order to find the cause of the world's turmoil. As they moved, Saito thought about Aiko, wondering how long she had been under control. However, he quickly pushed these thoughts out of his head, not wanting them to distract him during their long journey to Scandinavia.