Disclaimer: I do not own To Love Ru.

Rito stares at the letters within his hands, eagerly awaiting to dig into their contents. He begins to read:

Rito Yuuki,

If you've found this letter, it either means I've been kidnapped, ransomed off, or died off, no doubt in some tragic twist of fate. If I've been kidnapped, read on. If I'm being ransomed, refer to Zastin, Momo, or Nana. If none of these are available to comment, read on. If I've died... Stop.

I mean it Rito, stop reading.

STOP!

I need you to live Rito, for yourself. For Mikan, for Nana, for Momo, for Celine, and for everyone else in your life who loves and cares for you, Rito Yuuki. I love you too much to see you become twisted into some totalitarian monster, enforcing their rules to make everything 'perfect'.

You're perfect just the way you are Rito, whether you have powers,a sword, or a crown on your head. Rito Yuuki, you were the kindest, most sweetest gentleman ever to grace his presence on the universe, and for that the universe should thank you.

That doesn't mean you should go out and take it by force though, it was just supposed to be an inspiring speech, so don't take that last sentence too literal.

Now, if I am not dead, and I've been ransomed, see the next paragraph. If I've been kidnapped, you can just skip ahead to the one after that.

Don't give them what they want. Being Princess of Deviluke, whoever was stupid enough to try and ransom me, didn't realize just how much they messed up. If I was kidnapped, as you are reading this, it is more than likely the Deviluke Empire, led by my Father, has already stormed the planet where my kidnappers thought they were safe. So don't worry, you'll probably be getting a call from me soon.

If I've been kidnapped, I want you to listen to what I told you above. These people have to be professionals, if they were prepared and able to overcome me at my best, with you or our friends by our sides, that means they are serious business. Whatever reason they have taken me, they don't plan on me making out of this alive. They'll blackmail, betray, and backstab anyone involved just to get at my Father, my Mother, and the rest of my family.

So don't get involved Rito.

Please.

I don't want to know I caused you heartache by being the one lost love that drove you into madness. I saw what you could become, and I don't want to see you hurt like that.

Lala Satalin Deviluke.

P.S. Please See Attached Letter, if I volunteered.

Rito looks at the page in his hand, before removing it and overlapping a secondary page on top of it. He begins to read it:

Rito Yuuki,

You know, if you happened to just be doing some spring cleaning, and happened to stumble upon this letter, please ignore everything I said in the previous letter and just stop reading here.

Okay, knowing you more than likely respected my wishes, I'll be honest with you Rito. Whoever it was I went with, I must assure you I went willingly, it wasn't because of you. Or Momo, or Nana, or Celine, or Mikan, or Haruna, or Yami, Etc. Etc.

If it was Lacospo or Azenda, that I went with, I need to tell you this Rito,the secret I've been keeping for over a year. This is why I decided to write these letters, after all.

Over one year ago, while you were researching your familial history, I had a bright idea to build a time machine into the past and travel to the Charmian's lost home world. I met the man who forged the Ninth Blade, before it became Bladix, the man history and legend call the ancient Orichalcum weapons smith, 'Chronos'. In my time in the past I learned he went by the name Roido Goldweynn, he was a long distant relative who was the fraternal twin to one of my ancestress', though he never survived to see the transition of Charmian culture into a nomadic space culture. He was a good man, with an unusual apprentice who was very much like Celine, a boy Roido named Mau. He'll be important later, so don't forget him.

I managed to build a way to the future, originally a way home to the present of a year ago, yet something went terribly wrong. I had ended up Ten Years into the future, aboard a Devilukean ship in orbit of the ruins of Earth, though I quickly learned it was returning to Deviluke as it pulled away. I awoke to pink haired girl and her handmaiden, who told me she was the crown princess of the Deviluke Empire, and as I would learn, Mikan's charge. Yes, your sister was the older woman who had found me with the girl, nursed me back to health, and then was told to get me ready for a dinner date with the current King of the universe.

He was armored, at first, so I couldn't get a good look at him, but he was deceptively kind and charming in his own way. Then I learned he was You, Rito, he looked, sounded, and acted like you. But he was, in fact, a Monster wearing your body. He went by the name 'Adam',only I would learn latter Adam was an entirely separate being. This man, he was Creed, the very soul that birthed the dark blade, the cursed sword, Bladix. Somehow you retrieved a broken piece of Bladix that wasn't purified, and he corrupted you from the inside after my... untimely death.

Rito stops reading at that, staring at his trembling hands as he pushes the page away from him. He hadn't been dreaming, then, Creed had been real, as real as Adam was. He wondered if that piece of metal the blade had reabsorbed, was tainted by Bladix's soul, and in turn Creed himself. He would have to figure our a way to deal with this then. He goes back to reading the page, seeing there was still more.

I'm sure that gave you pause, but don't worry, by willingly surrendering myself we've no doubt already altered that potential future. Yay! Trust me, it ended with everybody nearly dying, it wasn't a very pleasant history to learn. But now I can give you suggestions/instructions on how to fix it all.

Remember Mau, who I mentioned earlier? Supposedly, legend states he survived Bladix's rise to power and hid away in another forge Chronos had on a highly dangerous planet. Apparently that was how 'Hades' was finished after Roido's death. Digging deeply into the history surrounding Bladix's rise back into history, I believe I've found the secret forge Mau had hidden in. It's Mistletoe, Rito. If you go there, it will have the answers we need to stop Creed from ever rising to power. We can fix the future, before anything ever happens.

Rito, you're going to have to finish forging Bladix. It's the only way to keep Adam from succumbing to Creed, to keep them both, in turn, from corrupting you into a man I saw become a monster. I believe you can win Rito, and prove yourself worthy to wield the true power of the Ninth Blade, make it become the sword of a true Hero. Together, I know you can forge a brighter future, and become a King worth of leading Deviluke by succeeding my Father, King Gid.

I love you so much Rito.
I believe in you, Rito.

Lala Satalin Deviluke.

To say Rito wasn't crying hot tears onto the page, would be a lie. Whether or not they were tears of relief, sadness, or joy, he couldn't even tell you. But now he had a goal in mind, and when he was determined, he would make it happen. He had to save Lala!

Mistletoe

Zastin's Command Ship

Rito stood next to Zastin, the Ninth Blade at his hip, unsheathed to the open air. Behind him, Kuro and Nakajima both stood doing their own things. Kuro was currently checking over his gun, polishing what he could in the dim lighting, while Nakajima stood in awe at the stars around him from the bridge viewing port, including the massive planet below them. "Is that it?" Nakajima asks, as the Devilukean ship pauses over the upper atmosphere, "Seems like just another planet to me... an alien planet, but still just another planet." Nakajima turns to Rito, and sees the intense gaze on the normally shy teen's face.

"That's it, it looks like it did the last time I was here," Rito states, "The mist is so thick, sensors wouldn't be able to penetrate the atmosphere, but Lala's instructions also included a potential area to set us down in..." Rito closes his eyes, sighing, as he thinks back to how he got here.

A Few Days Ago

"Guys, I need to go to Mistletoe," Rito states, running down the stairs, "Lala left me instructions..." Suddenly all eyes are on him, as Rito approaches the group in the living room.

"What are you talking about, Rito?" Nana asks, "Lala left with Azenda and Lacospo before we could even do anything, how could she have just left you a set of instructions?" Rito pulls out the folded letter and it's envelope, presenting them to everyone and handing them off.

"I need to borrow Yami's ship," Rito states, looking towards the blonde assassin, "But I need Kuro to drive it, and intercept Zastin before he returns to Earth." Yami and Kuro both stare at the teen, before Mikan steps in and begins to object.

"Why are you trying to run off and be the hero, Rito?" Mikan asks, "We don't know exactly where Lacospo took Lala, why would you assume he took her to, one of the purportedly, most dangerous planets in the galaxy; you barely survived your last trip there..." She looks to the others, a look of exasperation on her face. "Do you expect us to let you take Momo out there again, after she just came back from being tortured by Azenda, after she got stabbed and had major blood loss?"

"He's not trying to be a hero, Mikan," Nana states, a bit of awe to her voice, "Lala really left specific instructions for him, this isn't just her handwriting, she knew something like this could happen; I just never knew she actually got around to writing up contingency plans...but this is something way out there, I mean, actual Time Travel?" Everyone turns to Rito, who sheepishly smiles and shrugs his hands in return. "But Mikan's right, you can't go to Mistletoe without Momo, it's too dangerous to bring her in her condition..." Nana states, "It doesn't help matters that you have two weeks to make any moves against Lacospo, you don't even know if you could find what you're looking for in that time..."

Momo looks up from her seat, Nakajima at her side staring at her in concern, having been helping her while everyone was doing their own things. "I can go.." she says through clenched teeth, "If anything, I can at least... use our upgraded Dedials to summon help..." She tries to get up, using Nakajima as a perch, but collapses back into her chair from exhaustion. "Damn..." Momo states, sweating, "I c-can't...I'm s-sorry..." A look crossed Nakajima's face, and he whirls on Rito and the others.

"I'll do it, I'll help in Momo's place," he states, turning back to the Devilukean girl, "If you'll teach me how to use your Dedial, I can learn who can help, and how..." Momo laughs at his attempt at bravery, but then Rito's voice cuts through.

"Deal, Momo, tell him what he needs," Rito says, taking command, "I'm sorry everyone, but this is something I have to do, if not for Lala, then for the safety of the universe and future at large." He grabs Adam, who laid to the side, forgotten and wrapped up tightly. With a quick tug of the wrappings, the blade itself is exposed to the air, Rito smiling as it gleams in the sunlight. "Now, let's see what I can do with you," Rito states to no one in particular, "If you want to be stronger, if you want to prove yourself Adam, if you help me prove my worth to wield you!" Rito begins channeling his energized dark matter into his hands, the sword glowing faintly in purple light as a result. In a flash of light, the whole room is blinded, but unhurt.

"Well then, Yuuki Rito, what are we waiting for?" a blonde, tan child, who looks eerily like Rito, states, "We'll both grow from this experience then, won't we?" Adam smiles, as he turns to the others with shocked expressions on their faces. "Well, hello everyone, Mother," Adam acknowledges the gaping Nemesis, "My name is Adam, and I'm so glad I could meet you all before I die."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Rito asks Adam one last time, "There could still be another way?" Rito and Kuro both agree on leaving the Lunatique safe up above the dangerous atmosphere below, choosing to take one of Zastin's shuttles instead. Kuro and Zastin pilot the shuttle, as Rito converses with his blade, and Nakajima looks over Momo's Dedial.

'Positive, Rito,' Adam states within his mind, having chose to return to his blade to conserve strength and power, 'I may not be able to remember Creed taking over our shared consciousness, but I felt his aftereffects; I feel whole, a little more stronger, but I feel like most of it is locked away somewhere inside me, like he is trying to take control from me.' Rito smiles, knowing the living weapon was totally independent of the more powerful, ancient consciousness, who was barely a fragment of itself. Adam on the other hand, was now whole after Rito fought back Creed, and he was sure after the forging process was complete, Adam would be stronger than ever.

"You won't die," Rito states once again, "Just because the sword needs to be fixed, it doesn't mean you're the problem; you're a part of me, Adam, you are a reflection of my true self, even if it isn't whole yet, you can only get stronger from this." Rito thinks back to the prophecy he had seen in Adam's mindscape, the one Roido had told in his death.

' Death comes not once, but twice, before the blade is forged... to Mistletoe you must go, or lest ye be gorged...' he remembers Roido saying while he was in a trance, '...the final forge await, you must belay your twisted fate...' Adam must have been reading his surface thoughts, as the blade seems to warm in his hands.

'Death hasn't come twice yet, Rito, Bladix was only destroyed once by Yami,' Adam hums, 'Maybe I'll survive or maybe I won't, but if we are to do this, than we must be resolute to see this through!' Rito nods, before he jumps at a crash of boxes and crates at the back of the shuttle.

"What was that?" Nakajima asks, getting up and standing next to Rito, who readies Adam, "Did we bring a fifth person onboard while I wasn't looking?" Rito shakes his head, causing Nakajima to gulp in fear. "Hopefully it's just a rat..." he says hopefully, chuckling at Rito, "Maybe I can send one of Momo's carnivorous plants out..."

"Mau!" A voice cries out, scrambling out of the shadows and into the light, "M~aaaaa~u!" Rito drops Adam, picking up a crying Celine as she runs crying into his arms. Apparently she had heard just what Nakajima had suggested, and figuring the jig was up, ran to Rito in the hope of facing the consequences of her stowing away. "M~aaau," she states, looking up at Rito with pleading eyes, "Lala... gone... Momo hurt... mau...no hurt Papa..." She snuggles into Rito's shoulder, and Rito tried not to let a tear fall from his eye.

"Thank you, Celine," Rito says, leaning down to grab Adam, "I can't do anything with you now, so I'll have to take you with me, it's not safe to leave you all alone on this planet, even in a shuttle." He quickly sits and buckles Celine in, as they all prepare to enter Mistletoe's atmosphere. "Buckle up kid," Rito states, smiling, "It's going to be a wild ride!"

Ten Minutes Later...

Rito was jumping down from the large branches of the tree they had crash landed into, holding Celine in his arms. Nakajima was currently being helped down by Zastin, who had managed to land the ship after the interference with the planet had managed to still knock out the insulated systems. Thankfully Rito had been told there were systems they could still salvage to get a message out, but the shuttle was dead in the water, as it was. Standing just behiind Kuro, pistol drawn, he watched the former assassin scan the area. "It's clear for now," he calls out to the others, "Keep an eye out, though, from what Momo and Yami told me, this place is a death trap for the inexperienced... that means you, Nakajima." The teen 'eeps' having heard that, checking the Dedial to assure it was still able to function, and relieved that it was.

Rito pulls out a paper map they had printed off of the area around them, checking the coordinates that Lala gave him, with the location they were currently at. Finding where he was with the Nakajima's help and using Momo's Dedial, he had a good idea where to go. "Follow me!" he calls out to the others, shifting Celine to his shoulder, "We aren't far, but who knows what we may come across..." A crash and growl in the surrounding brush, only heightens the authenticity of that statement. Zastin draws his blade, Nakajima thumbs the Dedial, Kuro cocks his pistol, and Rito holds onto Celine just a little bit tighter.

After ten minutes of walking, even Rito could tell they were surrounded by an amazing amount of things in the jungle around them. Nakajima had managed to help Kuro avoid a patch of power sapping Pawada flowers, and kept Zastin from falling prey to a trip vine. The place was certainly out to get them, and even Celine whimpered in fear of the jungle forest's very air about it. The howling calls around them, didn't really help soothe the child's anxieties. Kuro finally stopped in the middle of a big clearing, causing Rito to become defensive and place Celine on the ground between all four of the men, who circled each other, back to back. Adam even materialized, as Rito raised the sword in preparation.

Over a dozen various plant monsters, stepped out from the shadowy underbrush, revealing gnashing teeth, pretty but poisonous flowers, and ungodly sweet aromas meant to entice them into lowering their guards. Nakajma palmed his Dedial and flipped it open, Kuro raised his weapon, as did Zastin, and even Adam managed to charge up his hands in a flare of dark matter, as Rito's blade flowed with the dark energy. As a wave of plants suddenly rushed upon them, in a feeding frenzy, the plants spattered chlorophyll and their acidic digestive enzymes everywhere, causing damage, even as they cut them down.

Rito got a particularly nasty burn to his side, and it caused him to pause, just long enough for a predatory plant to break through their guard. It loomed upon her, as she cowered in fear at its attack. Rito knew he couldn't make it in time to save her. "Celine!" he cried out, reaching towards her, "Run away, get out of the way!"

She didn't respond, and Rito was fully prepared to get a shot off at the monster in a blind attempt to distract it, before Celine cried out in abject terror. "M~A~A~U!" She cries out, echoing over the din of the battle, "M~A~A~U~U~U!" Suddenly a shift in the battle occurs, as the cry echoes around and out into the shadowy underbrush. The plant monsters suddenly stop, all ceasing their attacks upon hearing the cry. Nakajima stops cowering behind a clinging vine, strangling one of the monsters, as Kuro stops shooting at them, and Zastin dislodges his blade from one of the fallen plants corpses.

The plants suddenly retract all of their dangerous, physical features, as even the odors and aromas retract. They seem to scurry around and back out into the underbrush, save one last plant, that jumps up and out of the underbrush, and scurries towards Celine like a snuffling pig, faster than even Zastin and Kuro could track it. "Mau?" Celine asks, watching the thing vault towards her, stopping just short of tackling her, before sniffing her all over, "Ma~u!" She laughs, as the bush sniffs all over her body, before beginning to act like some kind of puppy, licking her all over her face. Rito then recognizes the friendly little plant, from some vague memory of their adventure some time ago.

"The Luckberry bush?" Rito states in astonishment, "What's going on?" The berry ridden bush looks up at Rito, smiling as it does so, and rushing over to jump Rito, as it remembers its savior from before. "H~hey, stop it!" Rito commands, and the plant obeys, "Why did everyone suddenly stop, where did you come from?" The Luckberry plant, as intelligent as it was, stops attacking Rito, before walking back over to Celine. Leaning down and pushing the little plant in the direction it wants her to go, Celine gently grabs the plant's exposed trunk and begins to stand up from the ground.

"Mau?" she asks the plant, which cause it to shake its leaves in what Rito could describe as a happy motion, "Mau!" She turns to Rito and the others and motions. "Mau!" she states excitedly, "Home!" Rito picks up the plant girl, and sets her gently on the Luckberry's bush, and the group of adventurers follow the plant into the vast unknown. As they follow the bush through the dark underbrush, Rito begins to feel a slight deja vu.

'I feel it too,' Adam echoes from the back of his mind, 'The Ninth Blade remembers being here before...' Rito has his answer as to why this place seems so familiar, as they reach a clearing holding a massive tree. The very same tree he had seen within Bladix's memories of Creed and Mau clashing.

"Mau?" Celine states, as Rito walks towards the massive root system, "M~a~u!" Rito ignores Celine's cry, as he stands in front of a massive hole into the root system. Like a doorway into the underworld, the massive window into the darkness is cool and inviting. Rito knows he would be burned by blindly walking into the massive structure, so he turns back to face the others, who have retrieved Celine and stand a short distance behind him.

"This is it..." Rito states, looking towards Kuro, "We'll figure out if our orichalcum weapons smith survived or not..." Before he can even turn and walk into the gateway below, he feels a chill in the air blast forth from the entryway. He even watches as a mist rises from behind him, blowing outwards and past him in a cold, bone chilling wind. Rito turns around, and steps back at the haunting eyes staring back out at him. He would be stuttering, if he could have found his voice at the sight before him.

A massive, wooden hand reaches out from the entrance, gripping the side as another one does the same. Piercing, glowing green eyes stare out from the darkness, and the hands pull taunt as they draw forth the massive body of whatever plant monster lay hidden in the darkness. Rito watches as a face that seems both like a cross between tree bark and old leather, adorned with hair full of stringy moss and flowers, with a beard of lichen and moss that seems to reach past the giant's chest. As the man-thing breathes, the mist blows out from his very pores, blasting from his mouth like breath on a cold day. Rito notices the being is wearing clothes made of plants and flowers, that mesh so well, it seems like he is wearing a fine robe. Rito then notices the things chest is very wooden, almost like veins or vines had grown out or converged on a single spot, half hidden by the massive beard of moss. And then Rito notices the most peculiar feature of the wooden giant, in the form of a crown of wilted white and pink, a giant flower which tops the giant's head.

The beast stares Rito down with cold eyes, very human like in form, though more of a reflective gradient in the light. "Who dares disturb my slumber?" the rumbling voice of the giant states, "Who dares to rouse the guardian of Mistletoe?" He looks past Rito, towards Nakajima, then a defiant Zastin, he gains a puzzled look while observing Kuro, then his eyes settle on Celine. His eyes turn to Rito, an old and studious gaze impassively scrutinizing him. "You bring a child to a planet of monsters?" he barks out, roughly, towards Rito, "Have ye' come to welcome death, or did ye' come to try and steal from me?" Just as Rito was about to speak, Celine toddles forward, unafraid of the massive giant, and she stops just below him. As he looks down, his long beard nearly brushes with the ground, as he looks at the curious Celine.

She then puts her hand on the rugged and withered beard, tugging it slightly. "Mau?" she asks the older man, who gives pause at her words, "Mau, mau, mau... mau, m~a~u~" As she recounts her tale, the giant offers her his hand, which she gladly stands upon, and he brings his massive palm upwards to his face.

"Mau?" he speaks softly to the child, "M~a~u?" Celine merely nods in response, and the giant smiles in return. He moves the child to his shoulder, she sits down and grabs tightly onto his weathered and course hair, to keep herself steady. She smiles at the flowers growing in among his hair, whites and pinks, and all other kinds of wildflowers among the stringy moss. The man gets to one knee, his hands free of Celine, and his gaze still impassive towards Rito and the others. "Hello, Yuuki Rito, my name is Mau," the giant, Mau the Apprentice, speaks, "I have been waiting for you, for a very long time..."