Disclaimer: I do not own To Love Ru.
"Celine has told me you wish to finish the forging of the Ninth Blade?" the giant form of Mau asks, "May I see the blade?" Rito nods, and then Mau takes the sword into his massive hands. Feeling over the sword with his rough and course hands, Mau smiles, his face creaking and crackling at the effort. Suddenly Mau's face contorts, as if sensing something else, his wizened eyes look back up into Rito's. "There will be a problem though..." Mau states, frowning, "I cannot finish forging the sword, because you have already bonded as its host." Rito opens his eyes wide, as the older plantasian gives him the sword back.
"But you have to!" Rito states exasperatedly, "I have to have the Ninth Blade at full power, I have to rescue Lala!" A sad look crosses Mau's eyes, his face creaking as it contort's into sorrowful and understanding gaze.
"Lala-sama is in danger, then?" Mau states, running his hands through his mossy beard, "Hnngh, I still cannot, even for my Master's niece..." He turns away from Rito, slowly lumbering into the depths of his tree. Rito follows, along with Nakaima holding Celine in his arms, Zastin sheathing his blades, and Kuro following last, giving one last glance out at the surrounding forest, as darkness creeps in with the sunset.
"Why can't you?" Rito insists the older man to answer, "This sword is my last hope, if I don't get it forged completely, I will lose myself to its darkness, to MY darkness..." He follows Mau to a main clearing in the underground base, where a seat of wood and stone is laid against the backdrop of a mess of roots curving up, over, and around the wood and stone structure.
"It's not that simple, Yuuki Rito, even if I wanted to help you, there is a newborn soul being held within the Ninth Blade," Mau sits on the massive throne as he speaks, raising one mighty paw and pointing it towards Rito, "The blade was never properly forged so the soul inheriting the blade could not fully mature, the very curse of the blade is the soul itself; a piece of you broken off and twisted by your darkest impulses, your greed, desire, your lust." He forcibly puts a fist to his chair, a solid whack echoing through the room. "It was Creeds's lust for power, his desire and greed that made him succumb to Bladix, a weapon and soul borne from the blood of a Charmian," Mau sighs as he grips his hand into a fist, "Blood, the very lifeforce of a Charmian itself, is intoxicating in ways of the spirit more so than even the mere presence of a female Charmian pureblood could cause to a mere man." He turns to Rito, his face grim.
"I refuse to believe you cannot to something about this!" Zastin states suddenly, getting up and walking towards Mau, "I have been Lala sama's bodyguard for her whole life, a loyal soldier and general to King Gid Lucieon Deviluke's armada's, and I refuse to believe that you would not do anything in your power to help the one girl whose left descended from your Master's family, the eldest daughter of Queen Sephie-" At that Mau turns his head towards Zastin.
"She is Sephira's daughter?" Mau states, pushing up just slightly from his throne, a change in his tone, "The Princess of Arks birthed Lala sama?" He sits back and throws his head back, chuckling as he does so. "Very well then, if she is her daughter, than there might be a way..." He runs his hand through his beard, and turns his head towards Nakajima and Celine, "Yes, there might indeed be a way..." Nakajima freezes under his eerie gaze, and Celine shifts uncomfortably under his watch as well. Mau turns his attention towards Rito once more, slightly frowning as he does so. "There is one way... a very ancient, very deadly secret passed onto me from Master Roido's notes and studies of ancient Charmian legends..." he stands up from his throne, and moves towards Rito, "You must break that bond before your sword can be forged, and there is a vague legend of ancient Charmian witches passing on their souls into new mortal bodies; though a vessel, and a conduit, are both needed."
Rito looks towards Mau, gulping as he does so. "What needs to be done, who do we need?" Rito asks, "I can be the vessel for Adam, since he is already a part of me..." Mau shakes his head, walking towards Celine and taking her from Nakajima gently. "You can't possibly intend for Celine to be involved?" Rito states, "She's just a child!" Mau laughs, deep and heartily towards Rito, as he walks over to Rito.
"Never, she wouldn't be compatible anyway, no, another sword is needed to play host," Mau states, cradling Celine as she sits in the crook of his arm, "I have an another sword I can use, an old one returned to me from a visitor I had long ago, who had intended to prove her worth in wielding it, but the sword had long served its purpose and needed to be restored." He moves a hand behind his throne, and pulls from an unseen crevice a bejeweled hilt and sheathed sword. "This is the first blade ever forged my Master Roido, a gift to the first man who had shown him the stars," he pulls the blade, a curved rapier by its looks, "It has since been restored to its former glory, just waiting for a new purpose; perhaps fate intended for this very crossing of the stars..." Celine coos as she looks into the shiny jeweled hilt, putting her small hand to the red gem.
"Then why do you need Celine?" Rito asks cautiously, "She can't be of any use to you..." Mau smiles, taking the sword gently away from Celine and sheathing it, before handing it to Zastin who is nearest to him.
"You are correct, in her current form she is of little use to me," Mau states, setting Celine onto his throne, before stepping back and sweeping out his hands to keep the others back, "But tonight is a full moon on Mistletoe, which is quite fortunate..." Rito looks on in puzzlement, until he sees moonlight begin to pour in from behind the throne.
"What are you doing?" Rito asks, "What's so special about Celine and the full...moon?" Rito looks up at Mau, before quickly turning his gaze to Celine. He remembers, a faint memory some months ago, on a night of a full moon. He watches as Celine begins to fidget in discomfort, as the moonlight begins to cross over her body, until she can't stand it and cries out.
"Mau!" she states out loud, "M~a~u-waa!" Suddenly the throne begins to be illuminated, the roots becoming vibrant and glowing white, as if reacting to Celine's very presence. Rito is held back from going to her, as are the others, as the vines begin to cross and weave over Celine in front of their very eyes.
"Watch," Mau simply states, as the vines and roots complete their work, leaving Celine encased in a glowing bubble of white light, "This is the best part, it was always my favorite!" Rito turns His gaze back, as he sees the light beginning to dim inside the bubble, until it's not even seen through the branches. The roots and vines then whither before their very eyes, and fall way like brittle, dry bones. In the place of the young child, is a woman of older stature and looks, dressed very similarly, in more revealing clothing, of the kind Mau wore. The girl's two piece skirt and top were made of stitched vines and leaves, even small bushes and decorative flowers adorned her cropped top. Rito immediately recognized Celine's adult form, though he knew no one else would.
"She changed?" Rito states in awe, looking up at a smiling Mau, "I thought that was a one time thing on Earth..." Mau shakes his head, before going over to the young woman and shaking her awake.
"Our species is very sensitive to the reflective light cast by a planet's natural satellites," Mau states, smiling as he picks up the dazed girl, raising her to her feet, "Normally we are diurnal, but on the night of a full moon, our bodies react and enter a period of rejuvenation, or maturity in Celine's case." Celine blinks at the massive form of Mau, before turning to the others in the room, with a look of curiosity crossing her face.
"What am I doing here, mau?" she asks, looking down at her dress and the state of the atmosphere between everyone present, "I remember sitting down on your throne, mau..." She scrunches her nose, trying to remember, but Mau merely grabs her hand as motions her to follow him towards Rito.
"I need your help, Celine, because you are a very special girl..." he states, looking between Rito and her, "Your form changed due to a unique relationship our kind has with the light of a full moon, and as such, you are much stronger, and able to become something I cannot in my advanced age..." He motions for Rito to lift up his blade, and he then guides Celine's right hand onto the blade. "Do you feel it, Celine, mau?" Mau asks, "In this form our connection to Tao energy is at its peak, tuned to the very life around us, it allows you to channel souls from one place into another; we need your help to move Adam into a new vessel, so the Ninth Blade can be forged." Celine looks up to the ancient, wooden being, and she finds he is very much like herself. She smiles and closes her eyes, feeling the blade beneath her fingers.
"So very old, so very lost, so dark and lonely..." Celine states out loud, before opening her eyes and looking towards Mau, "Why does this seem so familiar?" Mau merely smiles at the child's curious look, before motioning Zastin closer. He guides her left hand to the flat gem in the hilt of the rapier. "So cold, so very peaceful, yet I feel a fire beneath this blade," Celine states, "It wishes to be used, to taste air and the warmth of the sun... it understands, it is willing..." She moves her gaze from the rapier to Zastin, then to Rito, and finally on Mau. "What do I need to do?" she asks the friendly giant, "How do we begin?"
Mau moves his right hand to his left breast, where the wooden scars and dead vines seem to be covering an old wound. His hand begins to enter into his chest cavity, a slight look of pain crossing the weapon smiths face. A look of success crosses his face, as he begins to pull something from beneath his chest. A small, glowing sphere rests like a small ember above his hand, swirling in golden light as he moves it over to Celine. "We begin like this," Mau states, pushing forward, until the small sphere enters Celine's body just above her breastbone. In a small gasp of shock, Celine's eyes roll back into her head, as they too begin to glow with golden light. Before Rito or Zastin can even react or move away, Celine's hands grip the blades tightly at their hilts. Golden energy then washes out from her body, until the light up like sparks around the Ninth Blade's hilt.
Black and purple lightning, arcs out of the jewels, before crossing over Celine's entire body and down her other arm, into the hilt of the blade Zastin holds. Purple lighting enters the jeweled hilt, while the black lightning enters the hilt, then immediately arcs out and bites Zastin's metal gauntlets, causing him to drop the sword in pain. He nearly falls to his knees, embedding the sword into the ground as he falls. Celine nearly follows, until Mau grabs her, as she lets go of the emptied Ninth Blade and collapses limply into Mau's grip. Rito steps back, like an electric current had shocked him as well, an he immediately notices the difference, the absence within the blade he wielded.
"It is done," Mau states, motioning for Nakajima and Kuro, "You, green haired boy, take Celine and gently set her on my throne; you, black haired boy, hand me my weapon back." Kuro almost doesn't comply, until he reluctantly removes Hades from his gun belt, and hands it to Mau. He looks over the gun in his hand, snorting as he does so. "Inferior craftsmanship, shoddy material, not even ten percent orichalcum in the repairs..." he states, looking over the weapon, as Kuro and Rito stare in confusion at each other, Mau then looks up to Kuro and nods, "It's decided, before I forge the Ninth Blade, I'm going to fix the Tenth and remove the impurities, so your gun can react to your spirit and intention like it's supposed to." He takes the weapon and looks toward Rito. "Stay here, it won't take that long to fix this weapon; it's not as sophisticated as yours, it merely depends on spirit energy, it doesn't hold a soul," Mau then turns and walks away, into the deeper parts of the facility, "Don't touch anything."
Kuro and Rito look towards each other, Rito shrugging, before going to check on Zastin. "Are you okay Zastin?" Rito asks, leaning down to help the older knight to his feet, "It looks like you got a nasty shock..." He sees Zastin has already removed his gloves, looking at his shaking hands as he inspects them for burns.
"I should be burned..." Zastin states, turning his hands over and over, "But that didn't feel like any electrical shock... it was cold and stinging, but I wasn't hurt..." Zastin looks up to see Rito's hand, which he waves off, getting up on his hands and knees, before standing fully erect. "I'm okay, Rito, but that was not an experience I care to repeat..." he states, looking warily at the sword, "I think you should take that sword... I don't fully trust it." Rito nods, grabbing the blade and removing it from the ground.
"Adam?" Rito asks the sword out loud, "Adam, are you in there?" He doesn't think it had worked, until he feels the familiar buzz in the back of his mind, of Adam's presence. The transfer must have lowered his energy reserves, because he still kept silent, but he was glad the process had worked. Turning to Nakajima, who helped a dazed Celine to take a seat, he noted she was okay. "How do you feel?" he asks, approaching the pair, "Did that hurt?" Celine shakes her head in response, smiling up at Rito as she does.
"Actually, it was quite an out of body experience, it didn't even feel like anything at first," she states, "I just felt warmth, and I felt Adam somewhere within the blade... and something else, but I lost track of it when I transferred Adam into the rapier..." She scrunches her face in confusion,as if reliving the experience. "I don't know what it was, but it felt... odd," she states, looking back up at Rito as she speaks, "It was cold, and distant, like it was repulsed by the energy I was using to transfer Adam... it was like it was hurt by the light..." Rito puts an arm on her shoulder, giving her a comforting smile.
"It's okay now, Celine, it's all over," Rito states, "It's like you said, you lost track of it when you transferred Adam into his temporary home; you probably destroyed it with you power." Celine doesn't feel very confident in that, but she smiles anyway in return. The Ninth Blade was going to be fixed so anyway, darkness wasn't going to be a problem anytime soon.
Hours Later
Zastin fell into a fitful sleep, shortly after the transfer of souls between the swords. Nakajima soon followed by resting on a log chair like a bench, along with Celine, who slept on the massive throne, head lolled to the side as she did so. Only Kuro and Rito were left awake, though Rito was currently feeling the tiredness creeping into his body. The ever awake Kuro, who Rito was beginning to believe was part owl, stood ever vigilant and facing the way Mau had left. is patience soon paid off, as Mau entered, Hades in hand and looking brand new. "What's that?" Kuro asks, looking at a small bag that the Plantasian handed off to him, "Some kind of new ammo?"
Mau nodded, as Kuro opened it to see a single golden bullet, with a black cap, surrounded by many other silver bullets. "A new mix of bullets that suck Tao energy from their targets, but not the gold one," the smith states, as Kuro brings the aforementioned bullet out, "Pure orichalcum in it's payload, gold shell to keep the hammer and pin from breaking on contact with the inner shell." He takes the Ninth Blade from Rito's tired hands, and holds it in front of him. "Good, very good," Mau states, looking at the blade, "Everything is here, no trace of anything that would react negatively inside... Rito, I know you want to fall asleep, but I'm going to need you for his next part." Rito perks up, as Mau pulls him towards the back of the room.
"I know you want to go to sleep, but I need to forge the Ninth Blade... tonight," he states, "My cold dark matter supply is almost out, but from what I know you can produce various states of dark matter, correct?" Rito nods, yawning just a little bit. "Good, because your power is the only way I'll be able to finish the blade's forging." He walks Rito back through the cool building, leading him deeper into the darkness, until a bright light is seen shining from within another room. As Rito approaches, he sees it's a forge, bright light and heat rolling off of the device as they draw close. Suddenly a door shuts behind Rito, and he flinches as harsh lights come on, revealing he had been lead into a separate room. "I apologize, I kept the lights off out of courtesy for your sleeping friends, but I need them on to work," he states, "I need to know if you can extend your dark matter to your whole body, Rito, can you do that?" Rito nods, yawning and rubbing his eyes, before pinching himself to wake up.
"Dark matter, I know how to form it, but you need cool dark matter?" Rito asks, slightly confused, "I didn't know there was different kinds?" Mau nods, before grabbing Rito's hands.
"You more than likely draw upon hot dark matter, the highly energized form you utilize to attack with," Mau states, "Warm dark matter is like the gourmand seasoning, compressed, neither hot nor cold, but a form of energy that is likely what you draw into yourself, while cool dark matter is the oldest form..." He closes his hand around Rito's, before grabbing something from a nearby table and placing it in his palm. He feels the difference, like an ice cube had just been put in his hand, though it felt like coarse sand that was ice cold. "That is cool dark matter, the least active form of the three generally noted forms of Dark Matter," Mau states, "While still highly active, it's perfect to neutralize the heat of a freshly forged orichalcum blade, with the necessary temperatures reaching quite inhospitable levels to survive..." Rito looks a little unsure at that, but Mau merely laughs at his uncertainty. "Don't worry, I don't plan on having you grab the sword with your bare hands, I want you to fill up a cooling tank I use," Mau states, much to Rito's relief, "If you can fill it up, I'll leave you alone until morning, and your sword will be done by then... then we can finish up the binding process, properly this time!" Rito nods, before following to where Mau points.
He thinks to how cool the dark matter had felt, how it seemed to draw warmth from his very core, and he imagines replicating the feeling. Channeling dark matter into his palms, he feels the warmth from his core begin to leave him, going until he can't stand the chill coming over him. Having closed his eyes, he opens them to see the bin full of coarse, dark particles that remind Rito of sand. "Very good, Rito, fine quality!" Mau states, pulling a pinch from the barrel, and letting it fall, "Now you can go rest, by morning you'll have a new sword!" Rito smiles, yawning once more, as drowsiness finally hits him, amplified ten fold by the sudden loss of energy and drain on his body. He doesn't even know how he didn't trip on his way back to the others, but his head hits the floor, and he is out like a light.
From a ways across the floor, golden eyes stare out from the darkness towards Rito, before closing on their own.