Okay, we're finally here people, Chapter 69! Also, the last update was sent out like hours, and hours after I updated for me, so if you haven't read the previous chapter, I think the notifications fucked up. What is this Youtube? Anyway, I've also been doing stuff with the chapter titles, they're essentially the titles of entries in Violet's journal, if she kept one, describing her thoughts about the chapter roughly. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope it updates correctly this time.
-Aftermath-
"This place is different, more patrols than I remember…" Rose muttered, as she, Vani, and Fiona were standing outside the Protectors of Balance base, which was the house Rose used to live in with Zen, and Ruby. Vani nodded, looking around, surveying things.
"That there are." Vani commented, Rose hummed, before shaking her head, frowning a bit.
"I don't want this world to be torn apart by war. It's my home, I hope we can find a peaceful solution to this, or at the very least, take the fight away from this world." Rose muttered, Vani nodded, and Fiona smiled a bit.
"I'm always so proud of you Rose. You've grown to be quite the leader." Fiona smiled, Rose shrugged, looking at her a bit unsure.
"Really? I feel like I've been complacent, and lazy. I let most people run their own sects of the Protectors how they please, one of them even tried to kill Violet! I haven't done anything substantial, I need to try harder." Rose said, with conviction, Vani smiled, and nodded, Fiona frowned.
"Your father made his fair share of mistakes Rose, so did I, everyone does. Given the situation we were in, when you took over, we've done quite well. Most our agents were recovered, and our secrets are secret for now." Fiona said, Vani nodded.
"I agree with Fiona. You've taken great strides to become a leader. Do not doubt your progress." Vani said, Rose sighed, looking at the two, with an easy smile.
"Thank you… I will take your words to heart. Now, I suppose it's time for that meeting with my brother, after that I'll go find Violet, and speak with her." Rose said, before she turned, and walked inside the house, where Zen, and Yuri were arguing, Zen getting emotional, and Yuri just stating facts at him, acting like he was a complete idiot for even attempting to argue.
-Aftermath- Janice's House, Dining Room-
"Okay, Damon, you got the map?" Violet asked, the three were in the dining room, Janice never used this room, so she told the three they could plan stuff in here. It was the second day the three were there, and it was time for the meeting to decide what their next move was going to be.
"Of course." Damon said, as he pulled out his phone, and swiped a couple of times, before placing it on the table. A holographic map was projects above the phone. The map detailed the entirety of Virtuoso City Proper. Jesse hummed, and moved his fingers along the hologram, drawing lines along the streets, and houses, separating the map into three large areas.
"These three areas are where the New Guardians of Light, Protectors of Balance, and Children of Darkness have claimed as their own, based upon our intel from various sources, and our Gummi Ship computer." Jesse supplied, Violet nodded, as she looked over the map with a serious look.
"Okay, so bases for each operation are… Kya's House." Violet tapped the house on the map, making it bigger. "Zen's House." Violet tapped its place on the map and made it bigger as well. "And from what Ruby learned from Xinek, Victoria's Mansion." Violet tapped the last location. She looked over, the map and hummed, as Jesse entered the info into the map, using his own holographic screen projected from his phone.
"From what I can understand Kya should have the least problem with our operations, and direct interference in her territory. That doesn't mean we're not going to screw up any New Guardians who are up to no good, though Kya herself doesn't seem aware of the darker side, or is directly working against them, or at the very least ignoring them." Jesse supplied, Damon nodded.
"Zen should have little reason to complain, considering his sister, and Yuri, his advisor are firmly on Violet's side, and support her. His relationship with her though, is less than adequate. They hate each other, again, we should be able to work safely inside their territory just fine with little issue or complaints." Damon said, Violet nodded.
"Don't forget Jesse, me, and Kya are broken up now, while I don't think she would directly say no to me trying to help people, and screw up New Guardian plans, that should factor in somehow to how comfortable she is around us, or at least me. But, other than that, we have Xinek as an inside man, as far as we know, our priority should be meeting with him, and securing his intel and allegiance. I'm sure Ruby could help with that. Until then, we have no solid information on the Children of Darkness operations in the World, and City, and operating over there is borderline impossible without complications." Violet told them, Jesse nodded.
"Okay. So, first order of business is to talk with Xinek. Perhaps he could be our eyes inside of the Children, if he is truly against them. Violet, the best time to do this would be today, I can go to the New Guardian side of the city and gather further information there. Damon, can head over to the Protector side, and gather intel there. You, Ruby, Iris, and Stella, on your exploration of the city could meet up with Xinek." Jesse told them the plan, Violet nodded.
"Sounds like a plan Stan." Violet smiled. "But seriously, why do we need to gather intel manually?" Violet asked, Jesse sighed.
"I explained this before we landed, once on a world the options for hearing rumors, and getting requests are lowered. We have an important mission in finding the men here who destroyed Violet's home, and after that killing ZaZick, hopefully with help from people we trust in the New Guardians of Light, Protectors of Balance, and Children of Darkness." Jesse said. "But back on the topic of rumors, before we were travelling through space, and thus were receiving various transmissions, and rumors from various sources all at once, they got automatically filtered, and made it easy to track. Now, we are stationary, so rumors come slower, but they will come, gather intel manually is the fastest course of action we can do." Jesse explained further, Violet nodded.
"Ugh fine. So, basic plan, you two gather intel from New Guardians, and Protectors, I go and recruit Xinek. Sounds good, also Jesse, if you could, be sure to visit Kya personally, check on her for me, will ya?" Violet asked, Jesse nodded, Damon smiled, and shut off the map, pocketing his phone, as Jesse made his hollow screens vanish, and pocketed his own phone.
"I'll share this map information with you two when I get back to the Gummi Ship, so we can all have a copy." Damon told them, Violet nodded, crossing her arms.
"Well, I don't know what you two are going to do before we leave, but I'm training with my… daughters after this…" Violet hummed, Jesse looked at her with an unsure expression.
"How are you dealing with that by the way? It's an odd situation." Jesse said, Violet shrugged.
"I'm kinda just going to roll with it. They are my daughters, from the future, but they still have that relationship with me, and I do feel a certain… protection towards them. I guess your kids are your kids, even if they are from the future, and two separate dimensions." Violet smiled a bit, Damon chuckled a bit.
"Fair enough. Anyway, I'm gonna prepare some coffee, Jesse, you want some?" Damon asked, Jesse nodded.
"Yes, thank you. Violet, I would like to observe your training with your daughters. I presume the Time Magic I felt from them is a result of Tanner keeping them here. I'll also ask him about the exact magic he used to do this." Jesse said, Violet nodded, as Damon left the dining room, going into the kitchen.
"Sounds great. Well, I'm gonna go get them, we'll be in the backyard, if you're not out by then." Violet told him, Jesse nodded, the blonde left the dining room, and went into the living room, she went upstairs, and entered the room Iris, and Stella were staying in. The two had decided to sleep in the same room, due to them both wanting to be close to Violet.
"You two up?" Violet asked, as she opened the door, Iris was sitting on her bed, looking out the open window, enjoying the air, while Stella was stretched out lazily, with a content smile on her face as she slept. Violet smiled a bit. "Stella, get up, time for training." Violet said, walking over to Stella, and placing her hands on her hips, the pinkette hummed, and buried her face into her pillow more, Violet frowned.
"Hmm, ten more minutes please." Stella pleaded, Violet sighed, smiling a bit, as Iris looked over at them. Violet poked Stella's cheek with a finger a few times, before the girl opened her eyes, and looking up at Violet with big eyes. "Oh, hi Mom…" Stella smiled easily, Violet smiled down at her, and stood back up straight.
"Hey there, time for training." Violet smiled, before looking over at Iris. "So, are you two getting along just fine?" Violet asked, Iris nodded, and Stella smiled, as she pushed herself up, she had borrowed one of Violet's nightgowns, but it was a bit small on her. Iris was wearing some pajamas that Tanner and Miranda had bought her.
"Yeah, I never knew I had a sister, I mean, Bianca in my world is close, but there's a distance there still. She's really only that interested in fighting stronger people." Iris remarked, Stella smiled.
"She's the same Iris I grew up with, and currently share a room at school with still. We've always been close, she's always been sweet as candy." Stella smiled, Violet hummed, looking over at Stella.
"Making you the trouble maker who inevitably drags her into your problems." Violet said, Stella smiled a bit, laughing.
"Kind of." Stella smiled, as she got out of bed, and stretched a bit. Violet frowned at her, Stella noticed and smiled. "Oh yeah, you can definitely tell which pats came from Mother instead of you Mom." Stella teased Violet, who glared at her.
"Just shut up and get dressed so we can train." Violet deadpanned, before she left the room. She leaned against a wall. "Hey, Zack, you still up there? You've been quiet." Violet thought.
"I am still here, Violet. I've just been watching." Zack's voice echoed in her head, Violet smiled and relaxed a bit.
"What do you think of all this?" Violet thought, she could tell Zack was smiling.
"I think it's great. Regardless of where they came from, and how old you are, or even whether you have had them yet, the bond between a parent and child is strong. You obviously are a great Mom to both, regardless of whether or not you have been a Mom yet." Zack's voice echoed once again, Violet laughed.
"Yeah, that's kind of how I feel about it too. So, how is it knowing you're a Grandfather to one of my kids?" Violet smirked, Zack laughed.
"To be honest, I kind of suspected it would turn out this way. I expected it to be Ruby though, or even Zen, but Rose does make sense. When you were a kid you did say you wanted to marry her." Zack laughed once again, Violet widened her eyes.
"Wait, what? I did, why did I do that?" Violet asked in her head, Zack laughed once again.
"She was sad one day, over something that happened, so you said you'd marry her to make her happy someday. Your parents, Fiona, and I all thought that was very sweet. It was right around the time you moved away, no wonder you don't remember anything." Zack said, Violet nodded.
"Right. Well, thanks for still being up there… I wonder if we can get you copied to a Replica one of these days?" Violet asked, Zack merely hummed, sounding uncomfortable.
"I only have bad memories of those machines, I would prefer you never ever strap yourself to one, and try to get me copied onto a Replica, too many things could go wrong." Zack told her, Violet nodded.
"Yeah, and I don't mind having you up there anyway. Anyway, talk to you later Zack." Violet smiled, as Iris, and Stella walked out of the room, both dressed in the same attire they arrived in. "So, you two ready?" Violet asked, Stella smiled confidently, while Iris just nodded. The three made their way outside, Jesse was waiting on the patio, with a mug of coffee in his hands, he looked at the three as they walked outside.
"Hey, Uncle Jesse, how are you today?" Stella asked, waving, her charm bracelet shining as it was caught in the light, Jesse simply looked over at her, and smiled.
"So, you do know me in your world."
"Yup. You and Damon are the same, hanging around with Mom and helping her out, though you don't have much work, since it's peaceful over there." Stella told him, Jesse hummed.
"How did that come to be?" Jesse asked, Stella smiled.
"Zack killed ZaZick, for good somehow. Mom, and Mother never fully explained how that worked, but he did it. After that, everything kind of calmed down." Stella told him, Jesse hummed once again, and took a sip of coffee. Violet smiled, and walked onto the yard, summoning Brightcrest. Iris, and Stella followed her, Iris summoning Oathkeeper, while Stella formed a chain in her right hand, and one of Zack's swords in her left hand.
"So, you don't have a Keyblade Stella?" Violet asked, Stella shook her head.
"No. Never wanted one of those things, you offered, but eh, didn't feel the need to use one." Stella smiled, Violet simply nodded, looking at the chain for a moment, before an identical one appeared in her free hand, Violet smiled. "Oh, you didn't know how to use the Chains of Love?" Stella asked, Violet blinked at her.
"Is that what they're called?" Violet asked, Stella nodded.
"My variant at least. My Unique Ability is an extension of both Mothers, and yours. She could use Fiona's Chains, and you adapt to things. My chains can, when they wrap around a weapon copy the power, and let me use it for my own, and I can trap weapons if I hold them in my chains to keep people from re-summoning them to their hands." Stella explained, Violet smiled.
"Well, I may not have Rose's chains, or Fiona's, but I have yours now, so we'll see how this works." Violet smiled, as she dismissed the chain and twirled Brightcrest around elegantly, she was using it to not confuse herself and Iris. "Feel free to come at me any time girls." Violet smiled, Stella smirked, as Iris dropped into a nimble, and light looking stance, looking ready to dodge anything, her eyes a bright pink color. Iris charged a powerful pink light at the tip of Oathkeeper, Violet laughed a bit, before a large pink fireball erupted from the tip of Oathkeeper, it was massive in scale, and very hot.
"Ha, that's cute…" Violet covered herself in a Barrier just before the fireball hit, her Barrier began to crack, and she just stared at it. "No, no…" The cracks got bigger, and bigger. "No, no, no- Oh shit!" Violet curled into a ball, and covered herself in a smaller tighter barrier, as the first one she made broke entirely, Violet was knocked away, and the ball of flame dissipated., Violet dropped her Barrier, and stood up, looking at Iris with pride, and anger.
"How was that?" Iris asked, Violet glared at her.
"That wasn't nice. Jesus, I'm proud you got so much power in you, really. Too bad that's overshadowed by this unyielding rage!" Violet yelled, as she used a burst of Aero magic to zoom up to Iris, and swing at her, Iris' eyes flashed bright blue, before she ducked quickly, and sped away from Violet, at speeds not even Violet could reach. Violet growled at her. "I now know how my Mom felt the last few times we trained…" Violet muttered, before dashing after Iris, only to find a chain being wrapped around her middle.
"Forgot about me, didn't you Mom?" Stella asked, before she yanked Violet back, Violet screamed, before a painful kick was delivered to her back, sending her forwards, Violet recovered mid-air, and rolled across the ground, as she landed, before coming to a stop on one knee, and one hand touching the ground, keeping her stable.
"Okay… It occurs to me that both of you were taught by an older, and way more experienced Violet. In that case, I'll have to try even harder." Violet smirked, as she focused more of her magic into her body, to move faster, have more defense, and hit harder. Violet stood up, Iris rushed at her, and swung, Violet turned around, blocking Oathkeeper with a blue spear. Violet spun the spear around Oathkeeper, and moved Iris to the side, before kicking her in the side, sending her flying.
Violet turned her head, and threw her spear at Stella, while Iris was down for a moment. Stella smirked, and with startling accuracy wrapped her chain around the spear. Violet however wasn't alarmed, as she vanished in a flash of blue. She appeared moments later in the air, gripping her spear, and looming over Stella, who began to panic a bit, as she brought a sword up to hit Violet, who simply raised a barrier, blocking it, before pulling the spear towards her, and in turn Stella, she head butted her daughter, making her chain vanish, as Violet took Brightcrest back, and reverted it to its normal state.
Violet looked around, she couldn't really hear, or see Iris anymore. She narrowed her eyes a bit, and watched as Stella stood back up, and summoned her chain once again. Stella whipped the chain at Violet, making her dodge, and back up, right into a hard hit by a Keyblade into her back, Violet grit her teeth, and turned around in a flash, seeing Iris with light green eyes. Violet grabbed her shoulder and maneuvered them, so she was facing both Stella and Iris at the same time.
"I have to keep both of you in sight…" Violet muttered, before she summoned a chain, and whipped it towards Iris, who went to block, the chain wrapped around Oathkeeper, and Violet yanked it from her hands, Iris panicked, and tried to summon it back, only to find that she couldn't. Iris frowned, before smiling happily, as her eyes changed to a bright, vibrant pink once again.
Violet frowned, and moved away, only to find her right foot fully encased in Ice. She glared at Iris, as she was hit by a very strong gust of wind, knocking her back, however she kept her concentration of keeping the chain solid, and keeping Oathkeeper away from Iris. She was stronger than both these brats, and she would show them that! Violet jumped to her feet, and pulled the chain back to her, still having it wrap around Oathkeeper's blade, as she gripped the handle.
Violet smirked, and launched a large, and intimidating, but relatively weak blue fire ball, Iris panicked, as her eyes flashed blue, and she rushed to dodge, Violet zoomed around, and slammed Oathkeeper into her side, having predicted where she was going to run, iris screamed and was sent flying, she landed on the ground, and just spread out, like she was giving up, Violet smirked, and looked to Stella, who seemed intimidated.
Violet zoomed up to her, and banished her chain, letting Oathkeeper fall, it immediately reverted to it's Key-Chain form, Violet smiled, and as soon as Stella whipped her chain at Violet, Brightcrest was enveloped in a bright light, as it transformed into a large great sword. Violet slammed the blade into the ground, as Stella's chain wrapped around it. Stella frowned, and tugged, noticing it wasn't budging in the slightest. Violet used a powerful, and concentrated Magnet spell to pull Stella towards her at an alarming pace for the younger girl, as soon as she was close, a foot was in her stomach, making her cough violently, and fall back on the ground, her chain and sword vanishing entirely.
"So, you two had enough?" Violet asked, Stella just groaned, while Iris said yes. Violet smiled a bit, and reverted Brightcrest, before Banishing it entirely, clipping the Key-Chain to her belt. She walked over to Stella, offering a hand, Stella smiled, and grabbed it, Violet pulled her up, before she rushed over to Iris, leaning down mid run to pick up Oathkeeper's Key-Chain, before she reached Iris, who smiled up at her, Violet pulled her up as well, and handed Oathkeeper to her.
"Wow Mom, you're really strong, kind of different from how you fought in my time." Iris said, Violet smiled, as Stella rushed over to them. Violet smiled at her.
"Your fighting style is way different. You use a lot more magic when you train with me, since I have a harder time defending against it usually." Stella said, Violet smiled, and nodded, as she threw an arm around each of her daughters' shoulders.
"Man, I may not have had you yet, but I am so proud of how strong you girls are!" Violet smiled, Stella laughed, and Iris nodded, as Ruby came down from the patio, apparently, she had come outside during the fight, Jesse was nowhere to be seen, now that the fight was over, he was probably preparing to leave to gather intel.
"You three ready to go?" Ruby asked, with a smile, Violet nodded.
"Yup, girls?" Violet asked, receiving confirmations from both her future daughters. Violet smiled, and walked forwards with Iris, and Stella, as they prepared to leave to have Ruby show them around town.
-Aftermath- Kya's House- An Hour Later-
"Kya?" Jesse asked, as he opened the door, he hadn't seen any patrols near here. This was certainly strange. He hummed, before looking around, the place looked normal, nothing out of place, but Kya wasn't here, or at least, Tanner hadn't seen her yet. He hummed, and narrowed his eyes, moving through the house, he peeked inside her bedroom, and saw no one, same with the bathroom. He moved through the house, until he reached the back door.
Jesse opened the door to see Kya with her back to him, she was sitting cross legged on the ground. As soon as Jesse had opened the door, her head turned, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. He tilted his head, and took a breath, crossing his arms.
"I didn't know you meditated." Jesse commented, Kya shook her head.
"I'm not, I'm doing a very specific type of magic. What do you want?" Kya asked him, he smiled.
"No good to see you?" He asked, she growled at him, before calming down, that wouldn't help in this situation.
"Good to see you, now what do you want Jesse?" Kya asked, her voice filled with frustration, Jesse hummed.
"I'll get straight to the point then, I would like to formally ask for your permission to operate within your section of the city, as a member for the Flower Trio, as well as access to any information you have on New Guardian operations on this world, and Radiant Garden." Jesse said, Kya huffed, and stood up, turning around, and glaring at him.
"Sure, why not. Not like the higher ups trust me with anything important though. They know I don't like them. Any operations within the city are the operations of the Guardians of Light, not the New Guardians." Kya told him, he nodded, looking over her, she was dressed normally, not a hair out of place, and her fist was clenched around a small bit of black fabric.
"Regardless, anything could help. What were you doing though?" Jesse asked, Kya frowned, and held up her clenched fist, relaxing it, a small slip of black fabric fell out, before Kya grasped it once again. "Ah, I had heard you broke up, and noticed that Violet wasn't wearing her Choker. Were you using repair magic? She ripped it, didn't she?" Jesse asked, Kya nodded, staring at the piece of fabric frustrated.
"Yes, but it won't mend itself." Kya said, frustrated, Jesse smiled, and held out his hand, Kya huffed, and handed it over, watching as it glowed a light blue in his hand, before he spread the fabric between his fingers, showing it was repaired. "What?"
"I lived with Violet for two years, she tried to learn repair magic once for her clothes. It ended with her shredding them, since then I placed special enchantments on every important thing she has, only I'm allowed to mend them. Violet knew this, and yet, she sent me here, and left the Choker with you." Jesse smiled, and handed the Choker back to Kya, she just blinked.
"Violet sent you here? Why?" Kya asked, Jesse shrugged, a frown on his face.
"She wanted me to check on you, simple as that, she's concerned. Broken up now, or not, do not forget how important you were, and undoubtedly still are to Violet. She could have never gotten through certain things, like her torture without your support, and love." Jesse smiled, through his own pain, taking care to not let it show.
"It is Love, but Violet's stubborn, she got mad at me for being mad at her, it got… bad. I wish I'd controlled myself, but… around her… it's like everything's on fire." Kya said, placing a hand on her chest, Jesse smiled, nodding.
"Some say Love is friendship set on fire. I'll be honest, I support Violet no matter what she decides, regardless of my own feelings. But I also protect her, if I thought you were a danger to her, or Damon, I would warn you right here to stay away… But I'm not, because I believe Violet does love you, she may refuse to admit it, but she refused over two years of new people, and experiences to say that you were broken up." Jesse said, Kya sighed.
"How did it get so bad then?" Kya wondered, Jesse laughed.
"Are you surprised? You've seen how Violet treats people she's angry with, particularly those she was in love with. She hates Zen with all she has, Emma and Violet are okay now, but you saw how she was, it took her months to even consider a new relationship. Violet isn't ready for this to end, just give it time, and see her when you're ready." Jesse said, Kya hummed, smirking at him.
"When did you become like this?"
"Two years of directly correcting, and advising, and catering to Violet. I know her well, her habits, everything. I know how she fights, and how she thinks, mostly, she can, and still does continue to surprise me. Regardless, get over your anger over her leaving, I can guarantee you will never convince her it was a mistake, because it simply wasn't. You have to be okay with yourself to be a good partner to someone else, in a way she left for you too." Jesse said, Kya glared at him.
"She left me in the middle of the night! She's a coward!" Kya yelled, only to meet an icy glare from Jesse, she calmed down considerably.
"Get over it. Violet did what she did, stewing in it will accomplish less than nothing. If you continue this bitter resolve, you will only drive Violet further away." Jesse took a breath and calmed down. "Now, I should probably take my leave, I have to gather intel. I wish you luck Kya, and I hope you and Violet can restore your relationship." Jesse smiled, Kya frowned, and looked down at the Choker in her hand, as Jesse left.