It's been 3000 years since I've seen the light...
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Little Wing It
Volume 4
The Disappearance Of Emilia Percival
Chapter 4
Dream's End
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I
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The west sector turned out to be much smaller than the previous one.
Guess this means we can partially rule out another boulder trap. Now that I think about it, I'm immensely glad that we tackled the south sector first.
Sure, things might have played out differently, but we probably couldn't have survived that trap without Maya. Maybe we could've thought of something, but there's no telling if we would have succeeded without her idea of using two Mirage Blasts in a scientific combination.
Back to the situation at hand, it looks like the mechanism to disable the north sector's locks was the same as the first one. At the room's opposite end was a pedestal that required a person to keep its weight down.
As for the gatekeepers, per se...
"Those are Pannons, right? I remember them from Mt. Elbars."
"Correct. Be warned, they're dangerous despite their appearance."
Lou answered as I readied my weapons as we watched the Pannons, the tiny Seedforms doing a strange dance of sorts.
As I've said, we've already encountered this type of Seed, but I felt like asking just to be sure. They're small and not actually that tough, but they can move pretty fast, and they attack mainly by repeated use of Barta.
And in addition, there's never just one of them, so getting outnumbered by these little pests can easily result to a quick end by freezing.
"Okay then, consider me warned. Let's finish this quickly!"
I started things off by firing a charged shot at one of the Pannons, which sent it blasting off into the far wall before managing to attempt something.
That spurred on the other ones, dispersing around the room and blasting us with numerous gusts of frost.
Lou brought out her rifle and took aim, firing at the Pannons one by one as Red and Yut dodged and weaved through the Bartas.
Overall, these enemies didn't cause much trouble. We'd probably have had more difficulty any other day, but we've no time to be dilly-dallying.
The next wave appeared shortly after that, which consisted of a group of quadrupedal Seeds with well developed legs.
They started running in circles around us, in some sort of herding tactic.
"Orcdillans. Not very bright, but they can do plenty of damage. They like to charge in straight lines so use that to our advantage."
"Straight lines, got it!"
As soon as Lou finished her spiel, one of the Orcdillans split off from the group and charged straight at us, trying to ram us with its rather pointy head.
We managed to dodge it, but another one immediately repeated the same action. Soon enough, we were avoiding attacks from all directions.
Well, we surely couldn't just stay here.
"Red, Yut. Attack the next one that charges!"
As if on cue, an Orcdillan went straight for us.
Yut held his ground and thrust his spear head-on, stopping the running Seed in its tracks. Unfortunately, it looked like the Orcdillan's skull was very tough, as Yut's spear didn't seem to pierce it very much.
With a grunt of exertion, Yut flipped the Seedform into the stampeding Orcdillans, breaking off the circle into a wild scramble.
The Orcdillans were tougher than the Pannons were, but they were still dealt with pretty quickly after that. While most of them took more than a couple rounds of attacks before going down, there were still four of us, so we were never truly outnumbered nor surrounded at any point.
Of course, I shouldn't get too cocky. We outnumbered Shizuru last time, but he had us outmatched.
Still, in no time at all, the last of the Orcdillans disappeared in a shower of sparkles.
"C'mon, that wasn't a challenge at all!"
"Easy there, puddingface, we're not here to fight all day."
As Red and Yut engaged in light banter, a pair of octopus-like Seedforms appeared before us. Octopus-like, as in they had tentacles but they had round, see-through heads, allowing us to see a cloud of purple mist circulating inside them.
"Lou, whatcha got?"
"Jedein. They can emit poison mist, but unlike the Delp Slami, they can move around. Don't be fooled by how it looks, it can leap farther than you think."
You mean it can jump? That thing?
One of the Jedeins proved to me a few seconds later that they can indeed jump. And quite high, at that.
While it was in mid-air, it fired off a poison cloud at us, with the other Jedein squiggling around, trying to get a good position while making a disgusting squeaky sound.
We managed to avoid the slow-moving poison attack well enough, but our ears remained under assault for the entirety of these things' existence.
"Oh, for the love of the pudding god, make it stop!"
"There's a pudding god?!"
Poor choice of words there, Crimson Hunter.
Ignoring Yut's yet-unknown-if-serious question, Red struck one of the Jedeins with her double saber, causing it to slide away a fair bit. She then jumped out of the way of the other one's attack.
Looks like these things are tougher than they look. In a couple of seconds, the one Red struck was back to jumping around, blasting us with poison, and continuing making that infernal sound.
Red went back for the one she attacked earlier, relentlessly pursuing it to stop it from attacking us.
The other one was harassed by Yut, who strangely enough, didn't seem to be bothered by the sounds these things were making.
I'm willing to excuse Lou on account of her being a Cast, but no amount of Kasch ridiculousness should make you immune to the torture of these things' unyielding squeaking.
Ear torture aside, though, the Jedeins were disposed of eventually, succumbing to a righteous onslaught of our attacks.
Without giving us a moment of reprieve, the ground started shaking. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any boulders in sight, but we still prepared for anything that might come.
The shaking subsided after a few seconds, before a giant, scorpion-like Seedform emerged from the ground, immediately trying to sting us with its massive tail stinger.
"Everyone, outta the way! Lou, the usual!"
"Zasharogan! It's very powerful, and that's all you need to know! Avoid the tail at all costs!"
Oh boy, looks like we might have to take this one seriously.
The Zasharogan, very quickly, scuttled towards us, attempting to swipe at us with its claws. Very quickly.
Did I mention how fast it was, by the way?
I hurriedly switched my gun for my saber and parried its claw strike, setting me up in position to be impaled by its stinger.
Unfortunately for it, I wasn't alone.
"Red, cover me!"
"Here I go again, saving your ass!"
Despite the complaint, Red leapt up and blocked the stinger coming for me with a bit of trouble. The Zasharogan wasn't just fast, but it was pretty strong as well. I was having a hard time holding back its claw!
"Yut!"
"Leave it to me!"
As the giant Seedform was busy wrestling with Red and I, Yut capitalized on its divided attention, striking at the immobilized scorpion's side, eliciting a roar of pain and causing it to attempt to scuttle away.
I didn't even know scorpions could roar. Or perhaps it just made some sort of sound, and because it was so massive, any sound it makes sounds like a roar.
Lou went up next, pelting the retreating Zasharogan with a steady stream of rifle shots, denying it the chance to recover from Yut's attack.
Well, let's add on to that.
"[Zonde]!"
The bolt of lightning, which was slowly but surely becoming a favorite of mine, hit the Zasharogan square on, stunning it in place.
I fired off a barrage of bullets with my handgun as Red and Yut traded swipes with the partly immobilized scorpion. Owing to that fact, though, it got hit a lot more than it managed to attack.
"Watch out!"
Seemingly pissed off, the Zasharogan ignored our attacks despite visibly being damaged by them, and raised its stinger high in the air. After a few seconds, it slammed it down harshly into the ground, producing a powerful shockwave that shook the entire room.
Due to Lou's warning, Yut and Red managed to steer clear of the epicenter of the shockwave. But that left them unable to hold it in place.
The Zasharogan immediately went for Lou, clearly retaining its speed despite its many injuries.
Lou quickly dismissed her rifle and leapt out of the way of the Seed's sting, but she was unable to dodge its follow-up claw strike, flinging her across the air before crashing into the ground.
I didn't even get the chance to check up on her before the scorpion went for me next.
It attacked me with a series of claw strikes and tail stings, which I barely managed to avoid to the best of my abilities.
"[Tornado Dance]!"
Red's spinning double saber crashed into the Zasharogan's side just as I was being cornered, staggering it long enough for me to switch to my gun and shoot it point blank and blasting it to a pain-induced frenzy.
In a seemingly reflexive move, its stinger lashed out wildly, but it suddenly went flying in a shower of purple liquid as Yut pierced it with his spear and flung it away.
The Zasharogan recoiled in pain harshly, nailing Yut with a wild swing of its claws and throwing him away. Red managed to avoid its thrashing, for the most part, but a particular block flung her away a fair distance.
It raised its claws and went for me again so I prepared to evade, but before it could attack, its head exploded violently, creating a blood fountain that was, frankly, very nasty.
"... target eliminated."
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II
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"... whew."
I let out a sigh of relief as the beheaded Zasharogan fell into a cloud of light, feeling the exhaustion and fatigue assault my body.
It's been one thing after another since this day began, and if this wasn't such an important mission, I might have already passed out.
Any concerns for my condition aside, as I wiped off some of the purple blood on my face, I looked over to the corner of a room where a battered Lou kneeled, the barrel of her rifle smoking from the intensity of the charged shot that took down the giant Seedform.
Yut looked a little banged up, but still seemed pretty energetic. I'm sure he's feeling a little strain, after all that's happened, but it's really ridiculous, that kid's endurance.
Red, on the other hand...
"Hey, shortstuff, how're things over there?"
"Could use a break, but still good to go, bandit!"
She seemed mostly fine. A little bit of cuts and scratches here and there, but overall looking pretty much in good condition.
The Zasharogan seemed to be the last wave of this sector, as no more Seeds appeared after that. Now, one concern remains.
If this room's switch worked exactly like the other one's did, then who's staying behind?
"Switch analyzed. It seems to require a constant weight as well."
Lou pretty much confirmed it. We're going to have to leave someone to keep it pressed.
I spent a few solid seconds thinking about it, until Lou stepped onto the pedestal without any prompt from us, solving the dilemma just like that.
"Lou? Are you sure?"
The Guardian nodded her head in response to my question, her decision to stay behind seemingly set in stone.
"Maya and I are here to assist you find your teammate, so that is what I will do. Plus, I have sustained a fair amount of damage as well, but don't worry, I can handle whatever comes my way."
"Well, if you're sure... Thank you, Lou."
Lou responded to my gratitude with a smile of her own. Heh. I don't know why Emilia has it violently for these Guardians, they don't seem to be bad people.
Well, at least, I know Lumia, Maya, and Lou aren't.
Thinking about that now made me feel a bit bad for having Lou as my first choice to leave behind. It makes sense for me to prioritize my teammates, right? Well, the Guardians were technically my teammates as well for this mission but...
Anyway, she probably wouldn't have minded, seeing as she's volunteering herself pretty willingly, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Only thing I can do now to make up for it is to try my best to make this mission a success and bring Emilia home.
After bidding Lou see-you-later, the three of us Little Wingers started making our way to the last sector, which was the east one straight across.
"Told ya we could trust her."
As we ran, Red inched closer to my side and said with a smug grin. Looks like she's pleased with herself for making a good judgement of Lou's character.
Well, it's in my opinion that we can't have that, purely because she's rubbing it in my face.
"You were right. Guess you washboards really connect with each other, huh?"
"W-washboard?! You watch your mouth, Draken!"
I'm touched, she remembered my last name.
I know that by insulting Red about her flat chest, I was also insulting Lou's, but I doubt she'll care much.
She's a Cast, so those kind of things probably don't matter to her, right?
Right...?
Wait, but then again, there's Chelsea...
As I tuned out Red's violent complaints, I was suddenly struck by a wave of nausea, immediately making me come to a halt as the corridor began spinning.
"Are you listening?! I- H-hey, what's wrong?! Jungle boy, get over here!"
Thankfully, my face didn't meet the ground as Red caught me, with Yut coming over to help me regain my footing.
Boy, I knew I was tired but only know was I realizing just how exhausting this whole trip has been.
The mission at Neudaiz wasn't too much trouble, but after just three hours of rest, we were already here in Parum.
What's more, we've spent a long time fighting off Seeds in the Ruins before we got transported here to Rykros. And even before that, we were scouring the valley for Emilia's trail, avoiding anti-intruder traps along the way.
And to top it all off, my left arm was still in a cast.
So, yeah, fatigue. Not my best friend right now.
"I'm... I'm alright, just needed some air. We should continue on."
"... you shouldn't push it, you know? You told me that earlier. If you need a rest..."
"No. Emilia might be in danger, so we can't waste time. I'll rest once we bring her back."
"... alright."
Red seemed to begrudgingly accept my answer, with Yut just going along with whatever. He looked a bit concerned too, but since I said I was fine, our trek continued without much of a fuss.
Again, with the absence of Seeds in the hallways, we passed through the central sector and the decreasingly locked door, and reached the east and final sector in no time at all, where the last switch resided.
"Alright, last room. Let's end this fast!"
We summoned our weapons, and as if on cue, the first wave of Seedforms arrived.
With both Guardians staying behind in the other sectors, I had no way of telling what these particular Seeds were called.
But I can describe them. What appeared before us was a group of small brown Seedforms, standing on what seemed to be four legs, and with their backs seemingly hunched over.
Weird. I'd have expected something bigger, these things looked even more harmless than the Pannons. Of course, I've no plans on taking it easy.
I started off with a round of shots, but the Seeds reacted quickly, forming an orange aura around their bodies and spinning like a wheel.
In a second, the entire group transformed into orange spiked wheels, immediately gunning for us and attempting to run us over.
Still, even with such a gimmick, we took them down easily.
The next wave came, and I honestly felt my mind go in auto-pilot for most of the fight. We've been battling Seeds endlessly since we arrived in this planet that it's taking a toll on me mentally as much as it has physically.
Still, there were no particularly powerful Seeds that came along, with the waves being mostly comprised of the wheel ones, Delp Slamis, Delsabans, and Orcdillans.
There was no repeat appearance from the Seed-Vance or the Zasharogan, and there weren't even any of the teeth-gnashingly annoying Jedeins.
Soon enough, though we were winded, all four waves were dealt with, leaving us with a bit of a dillemma.
One of us had to stay behind once more.
Well, I knew that we had to, it's just that with the time to decide happening now, I immediately regretted pushing it to the back of my mind.
So, who do I leave behind?
I took a quick look at Red and Yut, and they both seemed to still be in great shape, compared to me who's having a hard time catching my breath.
I have absolutely no doubt that these two can take on whatever's behind that locked door. They're problem children for sure, but they're also exceptionally talented fighters.
As more time passed, it became clearer to me that maybe I should be the one to stay.
Perhaps it's pure selfishness on my part to insist that I be the one to bring Emilia back. If either Red or Yut manage to do it in my stead, that would actually be a great outcome. I wouldn't have a problem with that.
And so, I've made up my mind.
"I'll stay."
Huh?
Before I could process what I heard or what happened, Yut stepped onto the pedestal, activating the mechanism and releasing a sharp clicking sound.
An echo of a door opening also sounded from the corridor, meaning that we succeeded in removing the obstacle between us and Emilia.
But that wasn't the main concern I currently had.
"Yut? Why? I mean, don't you want to rescue Emilia?"
"Of course I do! But Red's stronger than me, for now. So, that's why I'm staying!"
That didn't even make any sense!
Red held me in the arm to stop my outburst, helping me calm down and hear what Yut had to say.
"I'm staying because it has to be you that goes to Emilia, Kara!"
"I get that, but..."
"What he's saying is... you're her partner, aren't you? Did you think that idiot would listen to us?"
I must admit, the thought had slipped my mind.
Yut nodded to me with a determined look, the message conveyed loud and clear.
"I... alright, you win. Don't worry, Yut, we'll all be going back home together."
Home. I hadn't realized how much Little Wing has become a home to me. To Emilia. To all of us.
Heh. Look at me, getting all sentimental. When did I ever become such a sap?
Still, I couldn't fight off the grin that was forming on my face.
"Wait, before you go."
Yut called out before Red and I made our way back to the central sector, summoning the wand Maya gave him and began concentrating photon energy, the wand glowing with a bright white light.
"[Resta]!"
The healing energy surrounded our bodies, and while not as effective as Emilia's or Maya's, the recovery tech did what it was supposed to and revitalized at least some of our energies.
Looks like Yut picked it up much faster than I thought he would. What did I say? Exceptionally talented.
"Good luck, Kara! Red! Bring Emilia back!"
We will.
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III
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"Stay frosty! They're still coming!"
"There's just so many! How many more Seed scum do we need to kill?!"
A pair of panicked voices was the first thing Red and I heard as we entered the now unblocked north sector, along with the echoed sounds of gunshots and saber noises.
This room was strikingly different to the first three sectors, being a very large room with not much else in it.
That is, of course, except the people we heard as soon as we arrived, proving Lou right when she said there were others here besides Emilia.
"Hey, aren't those Guardians?"
Red pointed to the panicking people, who upon closer inspection, were wearing the standard Guardians uniform we've come to see often lately.
Looks like these were the missing people that we didn't manage to find in Moatoob.
Question is, though, what are they doing in Inhelt property? These Guardians were most likely kidnapped by Shizuru, and if that was the case, why bring them here?
This also brings back to mind the peculiar locations of the Guardians and Little Wingers we found in Mt. Elbars, being positioned in remote and hidden locations instead of using them to guard something like we'd expect him to.
It almost made me think that this is all just one big game for the man in black. That is, if we weren't already privy to his ultimate goal.
"Looks like bolthead isn't here... but there seems to be a way further in. What do we do with these Guardians, though?"
"Good question. Maybe we can try and snap them out of this... hallucination they're under."
"Right, like that worked back in the mountains."
"Do you have a better idea?"
Red had no answer for that, as I thought.
Though I didn't like fighting people who weren't technically our enemies, even with our weapons set to stun, if knocking them out is the only way we can snap them out of this tranced state, then that's what we'll do.
I started walking towards the Guardians who, from our perspective, were trying to fight thin air, but the moment I took a single step forward, they immediately turned around and trained their weapons at us.
"Look out! It's some kind of new Seedform!"
"Woah, dude, you didn't tell me you were a Seed."
"Shut it, shrinkage."
Despite our small banter, Red and I prepared our weapons for a fight.
However, instead of attacking us, the hallucinating Guardians instead targeted a patch of empty space in the center of the room, right between us and them.
As the confusion entered our thoughts, a loud roar shook the room, with the epicenter being the very same air the Guardians were attacking.
"I feel like we've been here before. Have we been here before?"
As Red idly commented on the sudden cacophony, a distortion field reminiscent of the one that produced the Seed-Argine from before appeared in the center of the room.
The Guardians tried shooting at it again, but a massive, glowing, purple tentacle emerged from the distortion and swatted away the bullets, causing them to take some steps back in fear.
Not long after the first tentacle appeared, another one came through the distorted space and pulled the rest of its body out.
In front of us was a giant, floating, jellyfish-like Seedform with a pointed, triangular head, possessing the two purple tentacles that previously unnerved the tranced Guardians.
"Th-that's the Zoldillan! Everyone, retreat!"
One of the Guardians pointed out, leading the others past us and into the central sector while the Zoldillan, as they named it, focused entirely on Red and I.
Well, it's a good thing we didn't have to worry about keeping them safe, but that still didn't erase the fact that we had to fight this thing with only the two of us.
Unless this one's a friendly, but that'd be the day, indeed.
"Never a dull moment, eh, One-arm?"
"That name's never going away, is it?"
Despite the danger we were in, I couldn't help but sigh about Red's insistence on using that stupid name Kraz made up.
Still, I had to hand it to her. She has this innate ability to lighten the atmosphere no matter what we're up against. Whether she does it intentionally or not is a different matter entirely.
In any case, we've got a Seedform to take care of.
Red started things off by charging in, dodging past poison clouds emitted by the airborne Seed.
As soon as she got close enough, the Zoldillan switched tactics and attempted to strike her down with its tentacles. But despite the fatigue I was sure she was feeling as well, she remained agile, weaving through the the Seed's fast and powerful attacks.
Once she was within striking distance, the Zoldillan stretched its tentacles on both sides and spun, creating a small shockwave. Red threw her weight down and slid under the the floating Seedform, slashing underneath it and stopping its spinning attack cold.
I took that chance to unleash a round of bullets on it while it was staggered, hitting it multiple times.
But despite Viper's power, it looks like regular, uncharged shots aren't gonna do much, as the Zoldillan didn't so much as flinch from the bullets.
Having recovered from Red's attack, the tentacled Seedform went for her, using its appendages to try and grab or strike her.
"Hey, you just gonna stand there?!"
Red complained as she ducked under, leapt over, and swatted away the tentacles with her double saber.
Well, with ranged out of the question unless I charged my shots, which was ill-advised as it would leave Red with no backup most of the time, I summoned my Tech-Mag, Dori.
"[Zonde]!"
The bolt of lightning hit the Zoldillan square on, pushing it back a bit and allowing Red to get out of its range for a quick breather.
It quickly shook of the remaining sparks from the attack, although it did stun it for a few seconds. That could be key to beating it.
"Looks like techs work. I'll create an opening."
"Heh. Gotcha, Boltie number 2."
I re-aimed my tech mag and fired off another Zonde, once again hitting the Zoldillan perfectly. The electricity covered its entire body like before, stopping it from moving.
Red took that as the sign to re-engage, brandishing her double saber and going for an attack.
However, before she could strike it down, the Zoldillan, much to the surprise of us both, hovered back to avoid Red's attack and retaliated with a heavy slam from its tentacles, completely ignoring the fact that it should have been paralyzed at least momentarily.
"Gh!"
"Red!"
Red tried to block the attack as best as she could, but being in mid-air, the force of the slam threw her away at an alarming speed, hitting the ground once before crashing into the wall.
The Zoldillan spared no second and advanced on her defenseless form, its body now glowing yellow instead of the purple it was moments ago.
I had bigger things to worry about than coloration, though. I switched my handgun for my saber and dashed towards the Seed as fast as I could.
I fired another Zonde to keep the Zoldillan from reaching Red before I got to it, but this time, the attack was completely ineffective, washing over it like flames passing through solid rock.
Thankfully, although the attack did no damage, it managed to shift the Seedform's attention from the unconscious Red to me, lashing with one of its tentacles as soon as I got close.
I managed to dodge it, but I was forced to parry with my saber its next attack with its other tentacle, leaving me open for yet another attack.
"Damn! [Zonde]!"
The electric blast still did zero damage, but the momentum of the bolt at least pushed the Zoldillan back a little, freeing me up to create some distance between us.
The Zoldillan hovered in place menacingly as I grit my teeth. What the hell can I do?
While I pondered my next course action, it reared up for another attack, forcing me to prepare myself for evasive maneuvers.
"[Megiverse]!"
Before the Zoldillan could attack me however, a sudden wave of dark photon energy struck it from the side, flinching it into a halt.
After the wave ran its course, a purple light emitted from its body, as if being sucked out, and concentrated into a thin line of light that in turn, went straight towards the outstretched arm of a struggling Red, enveloped with a pale purple aura.
As more of the energy entered Red's body, some of her lighter injuries started healing, and she slowly began recovering a little bit of vitality.
Soon enough, the Zoldillan broke free from her hold, launching a strike towards Red.
Fortunately, it looked like she managed to absorb enough energy to jump away from the attack, the Zoldillan's tentacle slamming into the wall instead.
"Glad to know you've still got some more tricks up your sleeve."
"You'd be surprised."
As we looked back to the Zoldillan however, it seemed to have returned to its original purple coloring.
"I thought so!"
"What do you mean?"
"It's changing elements! It turns into the same one as the attack that last managed to harm it!"
I see!
Zonde is an electric-type tech, so it transformed into an electric-type to avoid further damage from it, explaining its previous yellow coloring.
It then got hit by Red's Megiverse, thus reverting it back to its original dark-type attribute.
So in theory, we might be able to exploit this elemental changing and use its own ability to take it down!
"Your double saber's earth-type, right?"
"Yeah. So, double whammy?"
"Double whammy."
All of my on-hand weapons were non-elemental, meaning the only attack I could use that would cause it to transform is Zonde, but that should be enough.
Geez, this is the exact type of enemy Emilia would have been very effective against!
Red and I split into different directions and charged the floating Seedform, buying us a bit of time as it tried to pick a target.
"[Zonde]!"
The moment the Zoldillan turned towards Red, I fired an electric bolt at it, blasting it from its side and turning it yellow, thus, electric-type.
Immediately after, Red landed a quick three slash combo at it, each hit causing a pained noise from the jellyfish Seedform.
In attempt to shake off both of us, it retried its spin attack but I was quickly out of range and Red was able to easily dodge, allowing her to assault it once more with super effective hits.
The Zoldillan then seemingly had enough of Red, turning its coloration to an orange glow, indicating a change to earth-type.
But as soon as it did so, a charged shot coupled with a bolt of lightning hit it simultaneously, resulting in an electrified explosion and bringing it down to to the ground for the first time in the fight.
It started hovering again, but yet another Zonde, courtesy of yours truly, blasted it back down.
It changed into yellow after that, causing my next Zonde to deal minimal damage. It launched a tentacle strike against the approaching Red, forcing her to abandon the attack and block instead.
She managed to avoid being flung away this time, but the Zoldillan kept on her, seemingly having figured out that as long as it was electric-type, I couldn't hurt it.
Well, guess again.
I ran towards it as Red evaded and parried its attacks. She smirked as she leapt back away from a tentacle slam and threw her double saber over the Zoldillan.
"Catch!"
Heh. If she wants a dramatic finish then I guess I can oblige!
I jumped up to intercept and catch the thrown double saber, adjusted my grip in mid-air and quickly brought it down on the Zoldillan's unguarded back.
The force of the attack sent it crashing back down, doing enough damage to turn it back to orange for what would be the last time.
As the double saber's weight added to the one-handed strike caused it to fly out of my hand, I reared my Tech-Mag and used up most of my remaining energy to charge up one more attack.
"[Zonde]!"
What followed was a blast of electricity assaulting the Zoldillan's prone form, the downed Seedform disappearing into a cloud of bright dust before the sparks even cleared.
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IV
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As soon as I was sure that the Zoldillan was dead, I momentarily lost strength in my legs and fell backwards, landing on the cold hard Rykros ground as I tried catching my breath.
Even with the repeated Restas earlier, the fatigue I collected from everything that's happened brought my exhaustion to unbelievable levels.
I'm not one to shy away from heavy work, but I gotta have some kind of pass for doing this much in one day with one arm!
"And you didn't even pick it up. Shame on you."
Red complained as she picked up her double saber, which lay on the ground not too far from where it flew off my grip. That thing's really not made for one-handed use, but I had to make do with what I had.
Still, I'm really looking forward to taking this cast off.
Despite her grumblings, though, she made her way over to where I was lying and extended a hand towards me.
Heh. I took her offer of helping me up, and with a bit of effort, I managed to stand. I might be almost completely out, but I should still be able to finish the job and locate one runaway.
I planned to give Red a quick thanks for the help, but before I could do so, a familiar feeling washed over me.
"Help..."
"Emilia!"
"Huh? What? Where?"
Red started looking around after my sudden exclamation, looking back to me in confusion after failing to find the person whose name I called out to.
"It's Emilia. I heard her voice again. Mika must be sending me her thoughts through our link..."
"Link, you say. Well, we better get a move on then... Huh?"
Just as we started walking towards the room's other exit, Red's face slightly paled as she stood in surprise.
I was puzzled at first, but it all completely cleared when I followed her line of sight, and I desperately wished we were just hallucinating as well.
In the center of the room, where the Zoldillan first appeared, remained the distortion that summoned it. Only this time, it was growing larger by the second.
"Well, that's just dandy. Looks like we're not done here yet."
Red gave me her best 'you think?' face, clearly exasperated by the non-stop surge of Seeds we had to fight. I very much shared the exact same sentiments.
But along with that exasperation was a feeling of dread. I was barely even staying conscious at this point, I don't think I could handle yet another high-octane fight.
After a few more moments of suspenseful waiting, the distortion field stopped expanding. It grew eerily quiet, giving enough time for a bead of sweat to trail down the side of my face, before another pair of purple tentacles emerged from its center.
We were staring at a second Zoldillan, but the distortion wasn't done. As soon as the floating Seedform hovered to a small distance away, yet another pair of tentacles sprouted from it.
Not long after, we found ourselves facing two Zoldillans, which, by the way, wasn't a sight that was very calming to the soul.
"Oh, haha, very funny, Shizuru, you sick freak."
"Are we even sure he's behind these two? Not those Guardians' thoughts?"
We're not, but it's much easier to pin the blame of my suffering on that emo bastard, and much more satisfying.
Misery aside, I'm not sure if we can best these Zoldillans at the same time, but I had to get to Emilia, fast. If she's subconsciously pleading for help, then all the more reason to hurry!
As I went over every possible move we could make, Red summoned her double saber and calmly walked past me, stopping to stand just to my front.
"... I'll handle this. Go."
"Are you insane?!"
This time, I couldn't stop my outburst towards her outrageous words.
We had plenty of trouble defeating a single one, and now she's planning on fighting two at the same time on her own?
Leaving Maya, Lou, and Yut was one thing, but this? This is...!
"Maybe."
"Look, I'm not kidding around. I'll think of something, damn it!"
"My, you're really that worried for me, aren't you?"
Despite my loud protests, Red remained glued to where she was, confidently smirking towards the waiting Zoldillans.
There was absolutely no trace of fear or apprehension on her face as she stared down the floating Seedforms.
I almost found myself lost for words. No, I did find myself lost for words.
"... of course I am."
Red turned silent after my quiet answer. Despite everything, this annoying troublemaker's become quite close to me.
Under no circumstances am I to leave her on her own against two poweful and tricky Seedforms.
"Go. Aren't you forgetting something? It'll take more than a couple of seafood to bring down Crimson Hunter Red!"
"That name again? I thought I told you it was redundant?"
"Th-that's not the point! At least it isn't One-Armed Bandit!"
"I'm not even the one who made up that stupid name!"
I got swept up in our banter that I momentarily forgot that there were two hostile Seeds right across the room from us.
It looked like they weren't willing to launch the first move, but still, I shook my head and returned back to business.
"So you're really doing this, huh?"
"Relax. It's like you said. I have more tricks up my sleeve!"
After that grand, and rather cheesy, declaration, purple photon energy started gathering and swirling around Red's form. In fact, it was so intense that the pulse from the activation of whatever she was doing almost tipped me over.
Red extended both arms forward, and a series of overlapping glyphs appeared in front of her palms, with the largest one being longer than her height.
"I call forth thee, Kun'ne, creature of darkness! [Night Embrace]!"
So, she had a Mirage Blast of her own, after all. Makes me wonder why she didn't bother using it until now.
With the glyphs having spun into place, Red swiped her hands down to her side, the dark purple glyphs disappearing in a bright flash.
In an instant, a hooded bat-like figure hovered over her head. It let out a creepy sounding laugh, before transforming into a smooth purple flame and enveloping her entire form.
After that impressive lightshow, Red was covered by a layer of serenely dancing purple fire, which didn't burn her or even emit any heat beyond the tingle of raw photon energy. Two longer tongues of flame protruded from her back, as if forming a pair of burning purple wings.
All in all, she looked rather cool, which was ironic since she was covered in fire.
"So does this make you Violet Hunter Red, instead?"
She looked unimpressed by that, which wasn't a surprise to me. That was a rather weak jab, if I was being totally honest.
"Don't keep your partner waiting any longer. Go!"
"Alright. Thanks... Akane."
I didn't receive an answer to that, but I saw the corners of her lip twist into a small smile, much different to the teasing or mischievous smiles she normally makes.
There was something else in that smile, something I couldn't figure out, but that can wait.
I made a dash for the exit using what remained of my energy, going around the still-waiting Zoldillans, but it looked like Red's Mirage Blast and my sudden approach finally spurred them into action.
One of the Zoldillans launched a tentacle strike at me, but before it could even make it halfway towards me, a lightning-fast purple blur crashed into it, flinging it away towards the wall with an awe-inducing amount of force.
I guess Red really does has this handled.
The other Zoldillan, ignoring the fire-wreathed redhead who swatted its companion away like a sports ball, attempted to slam me away from the exit.
I borrowed a move from Red, sliding under its tentacle attack. Before it could try another strike, though, Red was on it, wailing on it with ultra-quick slashes and forcing it away from me.
I picked myself up from my slide, and just like that, I was in the clear. I took one last look at Red who nodded and smirked at me in return, before I ran through the hallway leading out of the north sector and into this cursed place's innermost chamber.
I ran and ran, the sounds of Red's battle with the Zoldillans slowly growing quieter as I went further in.
My chest raced as I felt my legs grow heavy, having pushed my body near its limits. I stumbled numerous times as I trudged forward, even feeling myself start falling down at times.
But every time I did, I would feel a faint rush of energy fill my body, giving me just enough to hold on and keep going.
"Mika, was that you?!"
"This way..."
Straight ahead, that's where she was telling me to go. And that was the only way I could go.
After what felt like an eternity, the light at the end of the corridor started growing larger, and I grit my teeth as my vision repeatedly darkened for split seconds at a time.
Until I finally reached the end of the line, entering a small dead-end of a room, with a single bright blue light on the ceiling illuminating it.
And there she was, lying unconsciously on the ground as if taking a nap. But every now and then, her face contorted in a distraught expression, muffled calls for help ocassionaly escaping her lips.
I pushed away the urge to slump down on the ground as soon as I stopped running, my body feeling like it was about to overheat. Using what remained of the adrenaline, I gathered some air and prepared to rouse my runaway partner from her lonely slumber.
"Emilia!"
ooo000ooo
V
ooo000ooo
Emilia only lightly stirred as I called out to her. She's always been a heavy sleeper but how can you even call this kind of place comfortable enough to sleep in?
Granted, I know she's probably not sleeping here of her own accord, but I do need to vent a little after that whole ordeal.
"Hey! Wake up, you troublesome girl!"
"Ugh... Quit yelling..."
Looks like that did the trick. Emilia rubbed her eyes as she slowly pushed herself up from the ground.
Suddenly, as soon as Emilia fully woke, the surroundings flashed into a sea of light in the exact same manner as it did when we were transported to Rykros.
Soon enough, I found myself back in the ruins, Rykros having disappeared completely as if the entire journey through it was just some twisted dream.
Wait. Does this mean the thoughts that manifested Rykros to this place was Emilia's?
But how? As far as I know, Emilia never went to Rykros. At least, she never told me about anything of the sort. And even if she did, what would be the reason for sending a then thirteen year old to such a place?
As I got lost in my own thoughts as to how this entire Rykros situation came about, Emilia shakily stood up, and after a quick look at her surroundings, finally managed to notice my presence.
"...! You... What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean what am I doing here? I'm here to bring you back, you idiot."
Emilia's face reflected surprise for about a few seconds, before glaring at me.
"Oho, I'm not falling for that. You were the one who said you didn't need me!"
"I said nothing of the sort! If you'd just listen-"
"Shut up! I just saved you the trouble of chasing me off so just leave me alone!"
Before I could answer back and let her know how big of a misunderstanding all of this was, Emilia turned around and started running away.
I felt my eye twitch in irritation at her sudden takeoff, but I couldn't waste time getting angry. I mustered up whatever energy I could and started to give chase.
"Stop running and listen!"
"No, stay away from me! Don't get my hopes up anymore!"
That damn idiot!
I pushed my legs as much as I can, but the sheer exhaustion and fatigue I accumulated prevented me from making any headway.
In fact, Emilia was actually running faster than me. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that I was stumbling my way into trying to catch up with her.
Until we reached a flight of stairs leading down. My head swam out of consciousness for just a split-second, but that proved enough to make me miss a step and fall down the stairs.
Of all the things that could have happened, really. I had to cap this day off by falling down the frickin' stairs.
"K-Kara?!"
"Ugh... I told you to wait..."
Thankfully, Emilia heard and then saw what happened to me and stopped running. My bad luck proved useful for once, it seemed. Thankfully, I didn't re-aggravate my arm injury.
But Emilia just stood there, conflicted on whether or not to help me or take the chance to run away.
And that was all it took for things to seemingly start going downwards.
A shrill shriek sounded from around us, and all of a sudden, a group of Delsabans emerged from the ruin's walls.
Before I could push myself off the ground, one of the Delsabans lunged at the spooked Emilia.
I abandoned all plans of getting up and just tried hurriedly summoning my gun, but a dawning realization came over me that by the time I could have aimed and fired, the Delsaban would have already reached her.
Time seemed to have slowed down as Emilia screamed, too distracted and panicked to think to defend herself, even on reflex.
But the Delsaban's claws never reached her. The sound of gunshots echoed throughout the spacious ruins as a round of bullets blasted the lunging Seedform out of the air.
As Emilia stood in stunned silence, Kraz Muehler, armed with twin handguns, landed in front of her, his eyes affixed with a sharp look I've never seen from him before.
"I... I don't believe it..."
Emilia muttered as she stepped back.
One of the other Delsabans pounced at Kraz, but that proved to be a mistake. He raised one of his guns to block the Seeds' attack and blasted it to oblivion with this other gun.
The remaining Delsabans were obviously wary, but they seemingly started to panic on seeing the other two quickly and easily disposed of, and just charged at the waiting Kraz at the same time.
Kraz ducked under one of the Delsabans' attack and slammed the other one away with the back of his gun. With the Seed thrown off by the force of his blow, he started firing at its unprotected back, blowing it out of existence.
He then immediately spun to the side towards where the other Delsaban landed, firing a heavy barrage of bullets at it without any shred of mercy.
Not that these things deserved any measure of mercy, but Kraz dispatched the Seeds ruthlessly and efficiently, words I never thought I'd use to describe Kraz.
Don't get me wrong, I haven't known him for long, but for the time that I did know him, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't have been surprised to see this side of him.
Still, to actually come here himself... I've known that he really cared about Emilia, despite what he says, but to actually see it in person...
Emilia looked as confused as she's ever been, but her expression looked absolutely unreadable. Joy, surprise, anger, hurt... All of these emotions flashed in her face in one big mess.
Just as soon as tears threatened to start falling from her eyes, she forced her face into an angry glare, stomping her way towards the stone-faced Kraz.
"Why? Why are you here?!"
Emilia waited for an answer to her demand, but Kraz remained silent, staring her down without moving a muscle. Slightly freaked out by the cold reception, Emilia backed a way a bit but retained her defiance with a scoff.
"Whatever, don't tell me. You just came to fire me, didn't you? Well, you wasted a trip. I already know!"
"What are you doing here?"
Kraz finally broke his silence, plainly asking Emilia without missing a single beat or losing his stoic composure.
To Emilia's credit, though, that didn't shake her. She continued glaring at Kraz.
"Why do you care? I can go wherever I want!"
"I asked you what you're doing here!"
Kraz repeated, louder this time. For all his attempts to remain stoic, looks like his worry and stress finally broke through.
Emilia took a step back in surprise at Kraz's sudden outburst, gulped, and proceeded to answer his question, though not without a stubbornly aggressive tone.
"I'm investigating. On my own. It's a lot easier slipping in and out of Inhelt without anyone slowing me down."
Slowing you down?
Then care to explain why you were taking a nap in a place infested with imaginary Seedforms?
I shook my head at this girl's ridiculousness. Who exactly does she think is slowing who right about now? I don't even know how the others were doing, all because of her selfishness and refusal to listen.
I can sympathize with what I assume to be feelings of betrayal, but there's a limit to how utterly thick-headed one can be!
"If you don't like it, then too bad! I'm not your problem anymore!"
Kraz didn't utter a single word in response to that, remaining eerily quiet, before raising his hand and...
Smack!
Emilia's head involuntary turned to the side as she received Kraz's slap, stunning her into a state of complete confusion and silence.
"Not our problem?! Do you have any idea how worried we've all been for you?!"
Emilia gingerly raised her hand to caress her reddened cheek, finally looking like some sense has been drilled into her stubborn head.
Tears welled up in her eyes, whether it was pain from the slap or something else, I couldn't tell.
Kraz sighed and calmed himself down, continuing his words on a gentler tone.
"If you weren't our problem, you think we'd come all the way down here to knock some sense into you?"
"H-how should I know? I'm all alone now... Nobody has to worry about me anymore."
"You're a real handful, you know that?"
I couldn't agree more.
Kraz then surprised all of us by grabbing Emilia and pulling her into a tight embrace, producing a gasp of shock from the runaway idiot, and probably me as well.
Emilia's eyes widened to as much as they possibly can as she tried processing what was currently happening.
"I just wanted to keep you safe, but it backfired. I shouldn't have tried to pull you off active duty in the first place."
"Keep me... safe?"
Finally, after an ardous journey, Emilia looked like she was ready to listen. She looked up towards Kraz's relieved face, confusion and a hint of disbelief etched in her misty eyes.
"Shizuru Shu's after you. I thought he might try to get to you while you were out on a mission. I was only trying to protect you. Keep you close, somewhere I could watch over you."
Emilia didn't say anything to that, everything that's happened, everything she's heard, it all seemed like it was finally making sense to her.
Her lips quivered as her eyes started to water even more, looking almost about as much she could handle before the well overflew.
Kraz stroked the back of her head, in another act of tenderness I never would have expected from him.
"At least you're all right. Good thing we got here in time. If we hadn't, I... Well, I'm just glad we did."
"Y-you... I..."
"Wipe that guilty look off yer face. We're family, and family watches out for family. Even the black sheep."
Family.
At this point, Little Wing was more of a family to me than simply a company I worked for. I would guess it's the same for all of them.
I've already reminisced about this matter before, but seeing another display of what family meant brought a strange feeling once again.
"Wanna guess who our black sheep is?"
"..."
"What's wrong? Cat got yer tongue?"
"Why... Why do I have to be the black sheep? Your wool's pretty dark too, y'know? So how come... h-how come it has to be me?"
And the dam finally broke. The tears that were gathering up in her eyes finally fell in dramatic fashion as she buried her face in Kraz's chest.
Kraz didn't pay any attention to the mess his clothes were becoming, only pulling Emilia even closer and rubbing her on the head in a soothing manner.
"Miss us?"
"... yeah..."
"Hard being on yer own?
"Mm-hmm..."
"I'm sorry, Emilia."
With things having finally calmed down, I took the chance to approach the two, with Kraz giving me a nod of gratitude.
I waved it off with a smile. We haven't yet returned to Little Wing, but it seems like we finally got our resident goof back.
"I told you to listen, didn't I?"
"Sh-shut up..."
"Heh. Never. As long as I'm your partner."
"No fair... But that means I'm not alone, am I? I can count on you, right? I... I could cry..."
You're already crying, you troublesome girl.
Emilia's hands fell down and hung limply, letting Kraz support her weight fully as she leaned on him.
Kraz let out a chuckle, his mood looking the best I've seen ever since this entire fiasco started.
"No one's stopping ya. You're almost more trouble than you're worth, ya know?"
"Oooohh, be quiet!"
Emilia complained in an annoyed manner, but her real expression remained hidden from us, her face still buried in Kraz's shirt.
Which was probably drenched in tears now.
Still, Kraz just held her like she would disappear the moment he let go. I couldn't stop the smile from appearing on my face due to the heartwarming scene.
I wasn't tearing up, though, mind you.