Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron
Chapter 20: Wedding bells
"We will be abandoning Mistilteinn shortly, be ready to leave at any time." Hachi said.
Ichigo and Reaper had been summoned to the operations room within the spire which held up the Birdcage. Hachi was informing them of their departure.
"Abandon it? So suddenly?" Ichigo asked.
Hachi cast a knowing glance at Reaper but he remained stoic as ever.
"The situation has changed. When the next supply ship arrives, we will take it to the parasite camp." Hachi looked at Reaper, "And make sure your FranXX arrive there at the same time as we do."
"Understood." Reaper said and Ichigo nodded.
…
Hiro, Goro, and Havana were waiting outside the operations room. Havana was checking on Goro who was resting against the wall.
"You ok? How is your fever?" Havana asked as she placed a hand on his forehead.
"Oh, it's no big deal." Goro said.
"Miku had a fever recently too." Hiro said.
"Just goes to show that we all have our issues." Goro said, Havana frowned.
"I don't like this. I may be dealing with an outbreak. When was the last time you guys had any immunizations?" Havana asked.
She received a blank look from the both of them in response.
"Oh, that really not good. I knew you all lived sheltered lives, but I didn't think it was this bad." Havana said.
Ichigo and Reaper then walked out of the operations room door.
"What's wrong Ichigo?" Hiro asked seeing her expression.
As they rode the elevator back to the Birdcage, Ichigo explained what they were told while Havana muttered to Reaper.
"Abandon, huh."
"Can't we stay here somehow?"
"Unfortunately, not." Havana said. "We only have enough rations for a few more days at best. Besides, Mistilteinn itself is crumbling."
It was the unpleasant truth. The trees which were once bright green and full of life, had now turned brown and were starting to die. Most of the water sources had dried up and those that hadn't had become so foul that not even filtering it could make it drinkable. All the fish had died as well.
"Looking back on it, our life here wasn't too bad." Goro said as they walked through the dying forest that surrounded the manor.
"But we can't stay here anymore." Ichigo said.
"That's kinda sad." Goro said.
A Sakura leaf fell in front of Reaper. He grabbed it and quickly wrapped it in shadow to preserve it before warping away to shadow storage. He would collect samples from the trees and fauna to synthesize later, that way some of the plants would survive.
"Hey…" Hiro said, causing the others to stop and look at him. "There is something I would like to do while we are still here.
…
"A wedding?" Owl asked.
"What's that?" Miku asked.
"An old ceremony where two people would make a vow to be true to each other, in sickness, and in health, and never part until death." Havana said. "Myself and Reaper went through such a ceremony 11 years ago, its where the rings came from." She and Reaper both held up their hands that had the diamond rings on them.
"And who is going to marry at this ceremony?" Miku asked.
"Mitsuru and Kokoro." Hiro replied.
"Hiro told us about it, and we thought it sounded wonderful." Kokoro said.
"We decided to do it before we leave this place." Mitsuru said.
"You've got nerve to try this after how much they yelled at you." Goro said.
"That sounds romantic! You have my full support!" Miku said.
"I don't really get it, but is a good way to make one last memory here…" Zorome said.
Futoshi looked upset.
"Futoshi, listen, I…" Kokoro started to say.
Futoshi lunged forward and placed a finger on the illustration in front of them, which displayed what a wedding ceremony looks like.
"I'm taking this role!" He said. "I don't care what you guys say! I'm doing it! I…I want to be beside Kokoro and Mitsuru and congratulate them!"
"Priest? Alright, I can teach you what you need to say." Reaper said.
"Thank you, Futoshi." Kokoro said.
"We will have to get to work right away then."
"Yeah."
"Right."
…
"That's the wedding dress?" Kokoro said.
She, Zero Two, and Havana were in her room looking at the pictures in the book Zero Two had.
"Yup. That's what you will wear for the ceremony." Zero Two said.
"It's so pretty." Kokoro said. "But do we have the materials and time to make it?"
"No, but I have something we can use." Havana said.
She stood up and opened a shadow portal and walked through. The other two waited for a moment before Havana stuck her head back out.
"Come on you two, don't just stand there."
"But Reaper told us we can't enter the Shadow Realm, we will lose our mind." Kokoro said.
"That's only if you go through his portals. He tends to brute force his way to a location. My portals are more stabilized, and besides we are headed to a specific portion of the Shadow Realm, not just passing through it."
"Alright." Kokoro said nervously.
She nervously passed through the portal and it felt like she had been dumped in ice water. When she came out the other side it warmed up. She had entered a large closet about the size of the living room. It was filled with aisles that had shelves that with various colors and styles of clothing as well as several different types of shoes. It had oak hardwood floors and brick red walls.
"What is this place?" Zero Two asked, looking at the different types of clothing.
"My shadow storage area, the closet half anyway. This is where I store all of the different clothes I wear." Havana said, she then turned towards them. "It might take me a bit to find what I'm looking for, so, if there is anything you want to try on, don't hesitate to do so."
She then headed to the center aisle before turning to the right muttering to herself and disappearing.
Kokoro and Zero Two looked at each other before shrugging and looking through the various clothing around them to see if there was anything they would like to try on.
About an hour and a half later they heard a loud crash before hearing a "Found it!" from Havana. Kokoro and Zero Two changed back into their proper clothes and waited for Havana to return. As Havana came around the corner Kokoro gasped.
Havana was carrying a beautiful white dress. It had a train that trailed about 2 feet behind the dress and a veil that had what looked like sunbeams falling through it.
"I found it in the back under some of my old dresses. This is my wedding dress." Havana said, handing it to Kokoro.
Kokoro gasped in shock. "Havana, I can't possibly wear this! It's yours!" She tried to give it back.
"Nonsense, Kokoro." Havana said pushing it back toward her. "I will never wear it again so all it is doing is collecting dust. Please, use it."
"Alright. Thank you." Kokoro said with a small blush.
"No problem. Was there anything that you all tried on that you liked?"
The two nodded.
"Take them with you. They are just gaining dust in here, it will be nice to see someone else getting better use out of them."
"Thank you, Havana." Zero Two said, as the two gathered the clothes they liked and walked back through the portal.
…
"What are those?" Goro asked Mitsuru.
Goro and Mitsuru were in the green house and Mitsuru was making rings out of the metal from the trellises
"Rings. You apparently exchange them during the ceremony. Reaper asked me to make these and give them to him." Mitsuru said.
"Huh. Sounds nice. I bet Kokoro will love it."
"I sure hope so."
Then Reaper walked in the door.
"How's it coming Mitsuru?" He asked.
"Just finished." He said handing the two rings to him.
"Excellent." Reaper said.
He put the two rings in his hand and closed his eyes. The two rings were wrapped in shadow and started to meld. When he finished, the rings had become two solid rings of metal instead of several wraps of wire.
"That's the best I could do in the time we have been given. They are only silver, but they should be fine." Reaper said.
"Thank you, Reaper." Mitsuru said.
"Anytime."
…
Havana was now with Miku and Ikuno. Ikuno had come to her earlier saying she was not feeling well and Havana had sent her to get some sleep and see if it would fix itself on its own. She was checking on her now.
"How are you feeling Ikuno? Still feeling under the weather?" she placed a hand on her forehead.
"No fever." She said as Ichigo walked in the door.
"I need to thank you, Havana." Ikuno said.
"What for?" Ichigo asked as she sat on the edge of the bed.
"Dealing with Nine Alpha for me. If you hadn't, I would have hit him myself."
"Of course, I wouldn't let that bastard get off with that." Havana said, she then looked at Ichigo and gave Ikuno a sly smile. "Ichigo, I believe Ikuno has something she wants to talk about."
"Nani?!" Ikuno said.
"Tell her. Good luck." She whispered and walked out.
"Ikuno, what did you want to talk about?"
"Are you sure you want to know?" "Damn you Havana!"
Ichigo nodded.
Ikuno sat up and removed her butterfly hair clip letting her hair free before grabbing Ichigo and dragging her down on the bed nearly straddling her.
"I was thinking the same thing as the 9s back then."
"What do you mean, the same thing?"
"Only a boy and a girl can operate a FranXX together. And I've always wished that annoying system would go to hell."
"Ikuno?"
"But you know what I realized? As much as I find it a pain, I wouldn't be myself if I refused to acknowledge it."
Ikuno ran a hand along Ichigo's face.
"You would be who you are without it. And I would hate that." Ikuno had tears in her eyes.
She laid her head beside Ichigo's
"God, my feelings are such a mess!"
"You're feelings?"
"I love you, Ichigo." Ikuno said.
Ichigo's eyes widened.
"Why me?" she asked.
"You were the one who gave me my name."
Flashback
The numbers 196 could be seen on cards in front of Ikuno.
"Ikuro. She is Ikuro." A boy said.
A girl laughed. "That's such a weird name."
"Remember how everyone started following in Hiro's footsteps and naming each other?" Ikuno said.
A younger Ichigo walked over and kneeled in front of Ikuno. She rotated the 6 to where it was almost sideways.
"No." She said.
"Your name is Ikuno now. Like it?" Young Ichigo asked.
Flashback End
"I bet you think that it is a silly reason." Ikuno said.
Ikuno lifted her head to look in Ichigo's eyes.
"But ever since that day, I've only had eyes for you."
Ikuno ran her hand along the white hairclip in Ichigo's hair.
"You changed your hairclip a while ago, right?"
Ichigo looked shocked and nodded.
"Yeah."
"I notice such things about you. Did you lose your old one? Or did a certain someone give you a new one?"
Ichigo's eyes widened again.
"I'm such a creep, aren't I? I get insanely jealous of the boys because they can stand next to you just because they are boys. I just want to keep you for myself. That's so selfish, right? It's a pain, isn't it? Why am I like this? I hate being like this!" Ikuno was crying at this point.
Ichigo got up and brought Ikuno into a hug.
"There is nothing wrong with being a pain." She said petting Ikuno's hair. "I'm a pretty big one myself. We are all complicated, difficult, and a pain. But, y'know, I've started thinking that I like being this way. I get the feeling that going through all this is part of what it's like to live a life."
Ikuno's eyes began to water again, unable to accept the silent no she was telling her.
"I probably won't be able to give up that easily. I don't often take no for an answer."
"Yeah I know."
"Thank you, Ichigo."
Ikuno tightened her hug before letting Ichigo go. Ichigo wiped the tears from Ikuno's eyes before walking out. A minute later Havana returned to the room. Seeing the state Ikuno was in, Havana walked over and pulled her into a hug, causing Ikuno to start crying into her chest.
"It's not fair! It's not fair!" Ikuno said, weakly slamming her fists into Havana's chest.
"I know. I know." Havana said. "Remember, there is always other options. Don't dwell on this, please. I don't want to see this destroy you."
…
All of Squad 13 and Reaper Alpha participated in painting the manor in the area where the wedding would take place the next day. They then all got together and took a group photo, Squad 13 was in the front while Reaper Alpha stood behind them, all of them had visible smiles on their faces.
…
Later that night, Zero Two was having a nightmare. In her dream, she was sitting in her room when she heard a Klaxosaur's cry. A black pool of shadow formed on the floor, and the dead members of the previous squad 13 came crawling out, their eyes glowing red. They reached forward and grabbed her and began dragging her back toward the portal, before they could get drag her in, Reaper came in out of nowhere and sliced them all in half. The nightmare wasn't over yet though. She heard another Klaxosaur's scream and the walls of the building shattered, leaving her and Reaper standing on a square platform. The massive hand the rose out of the ground and came forward to flatten her like it did the plantation. Just before it made contact, Hiro tackled her to the side knocking her out of the way as Reaper pierced the hand. She then woke up.
"Zero Two!" Hiro said as she opened her eyes.
Reaper took his hands off their foreheads.
"Better?" Reaper asked.
Zero Two grabbed Hiro and hid her face in his chest for a minute while she got herself together.
"I guess I dozed off for a bit." Zero Two said.
She then turned to Reaper.
"How did you get in my dream? And how did Darling get there? And how did you know?"
"Nightmares are the byproduct of a mind touching the Shadow Realm. The moment your mind entered the Shadow Realm, I knew. As for how we got in your dream, I can manipulate dreams as long as I'm in contact with the person. So, all I had to do was place my hand on your head and the other on Hiro's and we both entered your mind and could interfere with the dream." Reaper said.
"Thank you." Zero Two said.
"Of course. I told you guys that we would protect you. That's what family does."
…
The next morning, Hiro and Zero Two went for a walk among the now blooming Sakura trees. Reaper had to laugh a bit when he saw them dancing among the falling leaves.
"They seem to be enjoying themselves." Havana said, placing her head on Reaper's shoulders.
"Indeed. It's a shame we don't have more time. I would have liked to see those two wed as well." Reaper said leaning his head on hers.
"Some other time perhaps."
…
Mitsuru was pacing in front of the stairs waiting for Kokoro to come down.
"Calm down man, you never rush a woman." Crow said with a laugh.
"Mitsuru." Kokoro said, coming down the stairs.
Mitsuru looked dumbfounded and looked away with a blush on his face.
"You look lovely Kokoro. Is that Havana's dress?" Crow said.
Kokoro reached the bottom of the stairs and nodded. "Yeah, she gave it to me to use. Mitsuru, please look at me."
"I-I can't! Don't ask for the impossible!" Mitsuru said.
Kokoro then walked over and wrapped her arm around his, causing her to look at him.
"Kokoro?"
"Let's find happiness together." She said with a smile.
"Yes, let's" Mitsuru said with a smile of his own.
"Mitsuru! Kokoro!" Ikuno said rushing forward.
"Ah good. You found them." Crow said, nodding in approval of the flowers that Ikuno had picked.
Ikuno then pinned a flower to Mitsuru's shirt and handed a bouquet to Kokoro.
"There, now you look the part as well." Ikuno said.
"Thank you."
"Thanks, Ikuno."
She waved and looked at Crow and jerked her head toward the doors. Crow nodded and helped her open the doors.
As Mitsuru and Kokoro walked down the aisle, Zorome, Zero Two, Miku, Owl and Raven were ringing bells. The others were either clapping or throwing Sakura petals down on the two. Reaper and Havana were sitting in the front row watching the two with smiles on their faces. Reaper's head suddenly jerked toward the outer walls of the birdcage.
"Reaper, love, what's wrong?" Havana asked.
Reaper took a whiff of the air and his eyes narrowed and took on a deadly gleam.
…
Hachi was watching the wedding take place from the operations room with a smile on his face. It quickly disappeared when a signature appeared on the radar.
"That signal… An APE assault ship?!"
Hachi pressed a button on the console and Alpha's face appeared onscreen.
"Hey." Alpha said.
Hachi could see several dozen troops as well as several armored transports being offloaded from the ship.
"What is the meaning of this? Who authorized this?" Hachi demanded.
"Papa did, obviously."
"Are you going to force them into the parasite camp's re-indoctrination program? Squad 13 and Reaper 1 were to be exempt."
"Not all of them. Just two."
"What?"
"You know what they were up to, don't you? Just sit there and watch, like you always do." Alpha then terminated the call.
…
"The couple will now exchange rings." Futoshi said.
Miku then walked forward, carrying a box with two silver rings in it. Kokoro took the first ring and gently placed it on Mitsuru's finger. Mitsuru then did the same with the second ring.
Meanwhile, APE forces were beginning to surround the manor.
"Now…Y-You may seal your vows with a kiss!" Futoshi said.
Mitsuru then lifted Kokoro's veil, just as the two were about to kiss, the APE forces acted. Three soldiers kicked the back-door in and others rushed around the side of the manor.
"All of you freeze! Lift one finger, and you die!" The soldier said.
Unfortunately for him, he and his three companions were decapitated by a pissed off Reaper, and the rest of Reaper Alpha formed a defensive circle around Squad 13.
Reaper then obliterated one of the armored transports as he turned toward the forest.
"I don't take well to wedding crashers." Reaper said cracking his knuckles as he started to levitate.
"What is the meaning of this?" Havana said as shadow infused light began to crackle between her fingers and her hair began to float.
The 9s came out of hiding in the forest and approached them.
"So that's what you can do." Alpha noted idly. "Papa has deemed those two dangerous." He pointed at Kokoro and Mitsuru. "They are to be taken and re-indoctrinated."
Zero Two then came flying in out of the bushes and landed a solid uppercut on Alpha. And the melee started. Zero Two then began to attack Alpha again while he dodged, and the rest of APE's forces attempted to get past Reaper Alpha to get to Kokoro and Mitsuru. Reaper and Havana followed close behind Zero Two as she attempted to lay into Alpha. When the rest of the 9s attempted to get involved, however, Reaper launched a shadow pulse from his hand knocking them into the surrounding trees. He then jerked two fingers up causing the 9's shadows to rise up and pin them in place. They were shadow copies of themselves, but they had burning red eyes and spoke with distorted voices.
"You shouldn't have interfered." Shadow Beta said.
"The Alpha will deal with you shortly." Shadow Theta said.
The fight between Zero Two and Alpha had managed to, somehow, circle around back to the manor. Zero Two had managed to get several more punches on Alpha, but unfortunately, he managed to get a lucky shot on her and chopped her across her windpipe causing her to collapse. However, he forgot about Reaper and Havana, something he soon realized has he was then pinned to a wall by four light beams, one through each hand and one in each calf.
"I've waited a long time for this." Reaper said with a sadistic grin. "Havana, love, help me?"
"With pleasure."
The two then went to town on him, beating every inch of him black and blue. They weren't going to torture him, not yet at least. That would be later. Right now, they were going to make sure that he was well aware that he was nothing more than an insect to them, before they worked on breaking his mind. Reaper had just given Alpha a good black eye when he looked over to where the wedding was supposed to take place and saw that his squad was starting to be overwhelmed. With noncombatants on the field, they couldn't use their scythes, as such they were forced to use strictly hand to hand combat, and they were falling under the sheer number of troops. APE forces had already secured Kokoro an Mitsuru and were dragging them away. Reaper sent out a shadow pulse to nock away the soldiers taking them but even more rushed to the two newlyweds and secured them.
"Havana, time to go." Reaper said.
She nodded and the two leaped over to their squad and Havana blasted the encroaching guards away. She also removed the light beams that were holding Alpha to the wall causing him to fall to the ground. Reaper created a shadow ball in his hands before crushing it, causing a thick fog to cover them, the only thing that could be seen was Reaper and Havana's burning red eyes.
"This is far from over Alpha." Reaper said.
"Make no mistake, we will finish what we started. For now, however, we bid you Adieu." Havana said before the two eyes disappeared.
When the fog cleared, Reaper Alpha and Squad 13 were gone.
…
Moments later, over a hundred miles away, Reaper and his squad reappeared on the surrounding mountains. Reaper looked at his newly expanded squad.
"Havana, perform first aid on our new squad members." Reaper said.
Havana nodded and began to check on Futoshi who had several bruises from trying to defend Kokoro and Mitsuru from the guards.
"What do we do now Reaper?" Goro asked.
"Exactly what I said we would do, if staying in the Birdcage was no longer viable, we would take you out and make someplace new." Reaper pulled out an Eden Disk.
He gently placed the disk on the ground before stepping on it. Suddenly the earth began to tremble and shift.
"What…?" Ichigo said as she tried and failed to maintain her balance.
A cave entrance opened where Reaper had crushed the disk. Inside, a set of perfectly formed stairs led downward into the depths.
"For now, though, we hide. Until I'm damn sure they won't take you all as well." Reaper said, muttering that last part. "Havana?"
"Only minor cuts and bruises, they will heal in a few days. I'm still more concerned about their immunizations, they are no longer in a controlled environment and have had no immunizations to speak of."
"Once we get set up, handle it. We can't have them getting sick now. Come, all of you." Reaper said, and he began to descend the stairs into the darkness below.
"Are we not allowed the slightest bit of happiness? It's like nothing has changed since we were in the Garden!" Hiro raged.
"Now you see what we have been trying to tell you. The society that Papa has built doesn't work, its nothing more than a dictatorship, he makes all the decisions and you are forced to listen.
"Where were Mitsuru and Kokoro taken? And will we see them again?" Miku asked sadly.
"I don't know where they were taken too but I do know that you will see them again. Your Papa won't allow a squad to be a FranXX short." Raven said as they approached a doorway of light.
As they passed through, everyone except for Reaper and Havana's jaws dropped. What stood before them was a subterranean paradise. There was a waterfall that had clear, clean, water falling from it which fed into a large lake. There was a forest off to the side with several animals moving through it. Off to the left, there were fields of crops growing as well as several different types of berry bushes. Up above, the ceiling of the cave had changed to show the sky above them and an artificial sun hung in the center of everything. Next to the lake, there were three large cabins that were forming a circle with a campfire in the center.
"H-H-How?" Goro said in shock.
"What…?" Ichigo started to say.
"Damn Reaper, I knew that you said these things were powerful, but not this powerful." Snake said looking at the artificial sun.
"You have been holding out on us Reaper." James said, looking around.
"A lake setting. This is a new one." Reaper said.
"Agreed. There are different crops and animals as well." Havana said.
"What are you two talking about? Didn't you make these?" Ikuno asked.
"I made the Eden Disks, yes, but I did not make this. No two Eden Disks are the same. Every time a disk is activated, it creates a random environment with a variety of crops, settings, and animals. Havana and I tested hundreds of these with Reaper Command and we have yet to come across two similar environments." Reaper said.
"The cabins down there are where we will stay until things get settled. They have unlimited electricity and water so don't worry about wasting it. We were lucky to get one with three cabins, so since you all split up along gender lines, the boys will take one cabin while the girls will take another, and we will take the last one." Havana said.
"What about clothing?" Zorome asked.
"Worry not. Somehow, clothing is always provided, and it is the type of clothing that you usually wear, so most likely it will be your uniforms. In our case, it will be something from our shadow storage." Reaper said.
"Go get yourselves settled. Once you are done, come back out by the campfire, I should be set up by then." Havana said.
"Set up?" Crow asked.
"Immunization station." Was her response.
…
Hachi was standing outside of a door in the parasite camp, aka the Birds Nest. Opening the door, he looked in a dark room with Nana curled in a ball up against a wall near the door.
"If I possessed emotions, what could I have said to the children?" He asked himself.
He remembered how much joy Nana had when she was a pistil she often had a smile on her face and laughed easily. He remembered that horrible sortie where her FranXX was nearly crushed and he fought tooth and nail to reach her, only to find her stamen had died in her arms. He remembered the state of rage she was in when she returned to their plantation and had to be taken away by the guards. She was never the same when she returned.
He then closed the door but still stood before it.
"As you are now, maybe you could have offered them more support. Instead, Reaper 1 had to take them away, and we don't know where they are."
…
Time skip 2 days.
Reaper Alpha was standing outside of the entrance to the cave talking to a holographic Hachi on Reaper's communicator.
"Alright Reaper, you demands have been meet. I have a guarantee from Papa that you, your squad, and Squad 13 will not be taken to be indoctrinated. In return you are to tell us where you are located so that we can come retrieve you and take you to the Birds Nest." Hachi said.
"Very well." Owl said as Reaper tapped a few buttons on his communicator.
A moment later, Hachi received a set of longitude and latitude coordinates pointing to an area in the mountains.
"We are right there. An LZ (Landing Zone) has already been cleared. We will be ready in an hour." Reaper said, and Hachi nodded before terminated the link.
"Havana, Owl and Cypress, go help the girls pack up. Crow, Snake and James, go help the boys. Raven, go comb the area and make sure nothing has been left behind. I'll stay up here and keep an eye out for the transport. Be ready in an hour." Reaper said.
His squad nodded and descended the stairs back down to the others. 45 minutes later, they returned with the rest of the squad in tow.
"Got everything?"
They nodded.
"Good."
Reaper then placed the Eden Disk he originally broke on the ground upside down. On the back there was a small button which Reaper pressed and stood back. The disk glowed black and the ground shook again. The cave entrance the slammed shut and the earth quit moving. Reaper reached down and picked up the disk before putting it back in his cloak.
"What did you do?" Miku asked.
"Took back the environment. My Eden Disks are reusable as long as you have a blank disk. Besides, I wasn't going to leave it for APE to find." Reaper said.
"Damn that's powerful." Goro said.
Then, Reaper heard the whine of the approaching transport. Looking up, Reaper saw a FranXX transport ship descending onto the LZ. When it landed, the ramp dropped and Hachi stepped off and approached.
"On you go children." Havana said and waked with them onto the transport, all except Reaper followed. Hachi walked up to Reaper, handing him a sheet of paper.
"As requested, one signed statement from Papa guaranteeing your safety within the Birds Nest." Hachi said.
Reaper read the paper before nodding in approval. He then looked around.
"Where is Nana, Hachi?"
"She is indisposed."
Reaper looked at Hachi's rigid posture. "I take it that you do not agree with her being replaced."
"Not my choice."
Reaper looked at him before walking toward the transport, Hachi not far behind him.
"Hachi." Reaper said over his shoulder. "She won't be gone long. I'll make sure of that."
…
They had been assigned a small room within the Birds Nest, and already the children didn't like it. Reaper and his squad had gone off to explore about 10 minutes ago but would return shortly.
"The parasites are being summoned in order." Ichigo said.
"I don't like this place. It reminds me of the Garden." Miku said.
"How long will this go on?" Ichigo said curling in a ball against the wall.
"We were told to standby until our next mission, remember?" Goro said unhappily.
"But it's been weeks, man." Zorome complained.
"I hope Kokoro and Mitsuru are ok." Futoshi said.
Just then Reaper and his squad returned.
"Just as we figured, we are confined to this area. It also seems our reputation precedes us as rumor was flying around about us as we walked through the area." Reaper said.
Just then, Ichigo's communicator went off. She pulled it out and looked at it in shock.
"Guys! Kokoro and Mitsuru are back."
…
Reaper Alpha and Reaper Beta, which is what Reaper and his squad now called Squad 13, were waiting in the lobby area for Kokoro and Mitsuru. The two came in under armed escort and Reaper Beta rushed forward to greet them.
"Thank goodness, we thought we would never see you again." Ichigo said.
"I'm glad to see you're both ok." Futoshi said.
"Sorry! It was all my fault for suggesting the wedding." Hiro said.
"Wedding?" Kokoro said. "What's a wedding?"
"No." Reaper thought.
"Come on! You don't remember that ceremony?" Zorome said.
"'Until death do us part' and all that stuff." Ikuno said sadly.
"You even exchanged rings." Goro said.
Mitsuru looked at his hand and saw there was a silver ring on it.
"Oh, this?" Mitsuru said.
"I don't know when it got there." Kokoro said looking at hers.
"Who is she anyways?" Mitsuru said. "A new squadmate?"
"No, no, no, no, no!" Reaper thought.
"Huh? You're the new member, not me." Kokoro said.
"They wiped their goddamn minds of each other!" Reaper mentally raged.
Out of the corner of his eye Reaper could see that Hachi did not look pleased. Beyond him, however, Reaper could see a smirking Alpha standing in one of the doorways. He quickly turned tail and ran however, when he saw Reaper lift a shadow wrapped hand toward him. It was already too late as Reaper had placed a death flag on him.
"It's too late Alpha." Reaper whispered in Alpha's mind. "Your soul already belongs to me. You can run and hide all you want, but I will find you. You are going to wish we had killed you in Mistilteinn once I get ahold of you."
A/N: Now you've done it Alpha. You best kiss your ass goodbye because Reaper is going to kill you. So, the next chapter will be the second battle of the Gran Crevasse and there will be some unexpected changes. But as always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!