So, it seems a few of you are starting to doubt the beginnings of our new story, hmm? Well, fret not loyal followers, you aren't all that far off. As I stated before, this was a story regarding an Alternative Universe. A few parallels and similarities are surfacing, that is all. Don't pay them any mind. Answers, though, you may find in the coming chapters ahead.
As for Rito, shall we see where his journey home with Nana takes him?
Indigo skies stretched on over the horizon, while he stared out over the unfamiliar landscape filled with towering buildings and milling with people.
{Earlier}
Rito blinks as he arrives on the other side of the portal, to see Nana addressing a servant who hurriedly turns to leave, with Nana closing the door after her. "I just sent to have a ship readied by morning, they'll also inform my father that I wish to have a 'chat' with him," Nana states, as she holds her hands behind her back and uncomfortably smiles at Rito, "I'm afraid we'll have to walk to where the Royal physicians quarters are located, but in the meantime it will allow me to get another servant to make up a room for you for the night." Rito nods, and then follows her out of the door, just a few paces behind her.
As they walk the halls, they remain quiet all up until they come across another maid, or whomever they are, and Nana orders them to make up a room. He smiles nervously as they pass unfamiliar, alien people, all who wear the garb of a servant, yet appear to have the same tails as the daughters, but with more regular hair color, or other oft bizarre biological differences; like a girl whom had spiral horns, or the man with whose skin was half black, half white. He took notice of Nana too, and how physically in all but her breast size and hair length, from behind she was startlingly similar to Momo. No, that wasn't quite right, though it had something to do with the shape of her but... Suddenly blushing red, Rito derails that train of thought and stares up at the grand hallways, noticing a unique feature in the ceilings.
"Nana, what do the stories in the paintings tell?" Rito asks, looking up at the odd artwork, which seemed to differ in form, style, even color when it changed to focus on someone new, "Is it just artwork, or does it have some kind of meaning?" Nana is taken off guard at his curiosity, but she smirks and glances backwards at him for a half step, before continuing forward towards the physician.
"You're halfway right, Rito, the murals do tell a story, but it also acts as a witness to the history of our peoples, both our successes and our failures," Nana states, as she stops under a specific arch and points to a man surrounded by armies on both sides, "For instance, this story tells us of the history behind a civil war on our planet centuries, if not millennia ago, when the royal line came into question with no clear successors in sight." She motions her hands over to another depiction in the same style, of a man sitting on a throne surrounded by skulls, fires, and darkness, whereas the man seen earlier was standing before him, an aura of light around him. "The former king's death had split the kingdom, and the closest living relative of age to take the throne was the King's only nephew, a young man who was said to have been the fairest, kindest, most noble and self-sacrificing of the potential candidates, yet when his time came, even he failed our people," Nana says, while Rito was enraptured, imagining the tale playing out in his mind, "The king,before his death graciously, had secretly sent his son away for training, as he was young and barely four years old while the King lay on his death bed; what the regent could not control, fell into the hands of murders, thieves, and extortionists, and the boy-king witnessed this, before rising up to take back the lost land, before claiming the throne as his birthright." She pointed to a new picture, which showed the shadowy man fleeing into mountains, while the true king stood with a united Kingdom behind him. "The boy-king, repulsed with everything that happened while his cousin ruled the land, stripped him of his name, his very inheritance, and exiled him far away from those who he could do harm," Nana states, "It was said he was mad, draining our peoples resources searching for the power of the old gods' so-called 'Pale People' we had proved to be false gods, and later drove back to whatever realm, planet, or dimension they had hailed from." Rito felt a nagging sense of doubt in his mind, that there was something more important to be added to the story, but he acquiesced that she knew these paintings better than he.
Stopping in front of a door, she knocks, and a very tired looking man with graying hair peeks out from the doorway. "Ah, Princess Nana, what can I do for you, at such a late hour?" he asks, before looking over at Rito, noticing him standing just off to the side, "Perhaps you should come in..." Stepping aside, he invites the princess and Rito in, before closing the door and motioning for them to take seats on some nearby chairs. "Well, how about I put some water on to boil," the Doctor says, "Then we can talk over some nice, warm cups of tea." Rito bowed his head graciously and thanked the man, while Nana informed him that she too would take a cup. By the time he returns, Nana regales him with the tale of Rito's misfortune in losing his memory, but nothing unnecessary or of ill intent towards Momo.
"Ah, one of the Lala's inventions... hmm, well in a normal case such as this, the answer is clear," the Doctor states, taking a sip of tea as he speaks, "While the device suppresses memories, it cannot actually remove them, so in a sense you have a very stubborn case of amnesia." He looks towards Rito and strokes his chin. "While Deviluke is unfamiliar to you, I take it, the best course of action would be for you to return home, surround yourself with what should be familiar to you, interact with people you see in pictures, or in your dreams, and hope that your memories naturally overcome the block." He drains his cup, before frowning and looking towards Rito once more. "What is odd, though, is the fact that you are only now regaining your lost memories, since it seems that you retain basic skills and knowledge regarding food and other things in life pertaining to your home planet," the doctor states, "While I mean no offense to your sister, princess, Lala's inventions usually wear off, or rather never work as intended, not at first; so this case is very unusual, so I would merely give it some time." Rito merely rubs the back of his neck out of nervousness, while Nana gets up and thanks the man for his patience in answering their questions. "It was no problem, really," he says as he opens the door for them to leave, "Just remember to give it time, Rito, and don't fight the memories, no matter how confusing or disorienting they are... a journal, perhaps, may help you jot down what you remember." Rito thanks him profusely, before following Nana out the door and to his sleeping arrangements.
OoOoOoOoO
The next morning, when Rito wakes up in a bed, alone and unfamiliar, he nearly has a panic attack. After a few seconds he calms down, recognizing that he was in fact exactly where he went to sleep last night in the room that Nana gave him. Finding some clothes near by, likely given to him to replace his old ones, Rito found the shower and quickly changed into his new clothes. By then he hears a knock at the door, only to find Nana standing there with a bowl of fresh fruit in her hand, some of which he recognized from his meals with Momo and her Devilukean plants, or other alien cuisine. "I'm sorry, there wasn't much I know about what you humans can eat, so I played it safe and brought you some fresh fruit for now," Nana states, as she passes the bowl to him and motions him to follow, "We can requisition more food at the space port for you, the ship's galley has a wide array of alien cuisine that I am sure you can supplement your diet with until you return to earth..." Rito nods and follows her, through the winding hallways, until they get to an air car, where a driver holds the door open for them, as Nana motions for Rito to get inside.
"Thank you, really, I recognize most of these as edible, Momo wasn't shy about getting me to try various Devilukean foods, among other things," Rito states, "I found that I particularly disdain the gourmand seasoning utilizing dark matter... horrible stench and flavor, but in its own putrid way it can be appealing to certain tastes." Nana laughs at that, much to Rito's confusion, as she wipes a tear from her eye. "It's funny, now that I think back about it, I must have tasted it somewhere before," Rito says, to Nana's interest, "Yeah, somehow I knew what it was before she even opened up the package, I had to stay ten feet from it, or else I felt the urge to puke." She breaks out in hysterics, and Rito just nervously chuckles, popping a grape in his mouth.
"That must have been Lala's doing," Nana states, wiping more tears from her eyes, sobering up a little, "The girl put it on everything, and if you let her do the cooking, I'm sure she tried to make a Devilukean dish utilizing that ingredient; without a doubt her favorite semi-solid spice." She looks out to the windows, as engines roar to life and the car begins to lift up off of the ground and be propelled forward. It wasn't quite flying, but Rito felt the difference between this and a normal car ride, even if he couldn't remember what a 'car' exactly was. He stared at the city, passing through walls and districts, until he began to take notice of the looming shapes on the horizon, followed by the immediate departure, or landing of these shapes. Trails of black, or billows of white flowed from various ships of different kinds, constructs, makes, and models; alien races no doubt utilizing different construction and fuels in their extra-planetary vehicles.
"Are one of these our ship?" Rito asks, as he stares at gleaming, towering behemoths, standing tall and proud, or short and stocky, yet inspiring him all with the same awe, "Which one is ours?" Nana points through the window towards a place a little bit a ways from the others, and the gob-smacked look on Rito's face was priceless, in Nana's books. Towering high above any skyscraper or building Rito saw in the massive, alien city, and probably as wide as one, a giant ship seemed to rest above the ground, practically a city in its own right. "That's your ship?" Rito asks, looking back at Nana in confusion, "I know you need to take me home, but isn't that a bit much?" Nana smiles, and motions for Rito to sit back.
"It's actually one of my Father's personal vessels, piloted by one of my Father's most famous, incredibly loyal generals, a man I would trust with my life, who has been serving my family, and his King, since the great galactic war," Nana states, "Zastin Diskenthis second in power only to my father, second-in-command of Deviluke's space naval fleet, and the crown Princesses royal escort when leaving the planet." He detected a little note of bitterness at that last statement, but he let it slide, happy to meet someone who Nana trusted with her life.
OoOoOoOoO
Rito regretted it almost instantly, upon meeting the cold, hardened man that Nana had spoken of so fervently on the ride over. He looked down at Rito with disdain, cold blue eyes that froze him like ice, as he stared at Rito with contempt. "He should be dismembered where he stands," Zastin had spat upon locking eyes with him, an unknown hatred rising at seeing the earth boy standing before him, "He failed Lala-hime when she needed him most; without him, the universe would still have their favored princess, and you would not be having to deal with the repercussions this..." Before he could go further, Nana put her foot down, literally. The floor echoed with the ringing of the heavy heel hitting hollowly on the deck plating.
"One more word from your mouth, and not even father will save you from being branded with treason, do you understand me Zastin?" Nana states, looking him in the eye, and causing even him to flinch, "Rito is as much a victim of the misunderstanding that took my sister away from the living world, don't treat him like a villain just because you blame him for her death; I have forgiven him, and so has Father, and we will speak of this no more." That shut him up real fast, though the cold disdain was still there in his eyes, Rito could feel it creeping along his skin as he walked past him to follow Nana to his quarters on the ship. It was a walk spent mostly in silence, until Nana broke it first.
"I'm sorry about him, he doesn't really blame you, not anymore than he blames himself," Nana states, as she crosses her arms and holds them tightly to her chest, "He was there, on Earth, he was supposed to watch over Lala and keep her safe, but his memories were taken just like everyone else; he was actually the first one to remember you Rito, and how you were her marriage candidate..." That bit of information was new to him, and Nana notices his shock. "Ah, I see you haven't remembered that much yet, but yes, Lala was engaged to be married to you," Nana states, "I'm sure Momo told you that you were being put on trial for Earth's future, for Gid's blessings, but in fact you had already been engaged and won Lala's heart over a year before that ridiculous contest occurred, before Lala lost her life." Rito nodded,it all sounding a bit familiar to him, now making sense to him why Momo was jealous of her sister's love.
"I remember bits and pieces of my life, I was in a tracksuit when Momo confronted me, but everything before that is a hazy blur," Rito confesses to Nana, "I know basic things, things Momo helped me to put names to, but up until yesterday, I never knew I loved someone else before-" He stops himself, and sighs, Nana seeing the hurt look across his face. "I never knew 'Lala', all I knew was that I might have had a sister, maybe two, when memories came back to me making breakfast yesterday," Rito states, as Nana stops in front of his room, before opening the door and letting Rito inside, "Do you- do you think you could tell me a little bit more about Lala, about your sister?" Nana smiles at that.
"I think I can, but I won't be able too right now," Nana states, "The captain requires me to be on deck with him until this evening, more for my safety than anything else." Rito looks crestfallen at that, but Nana puts a hand on his shoulder. "I just have to feed my animals tonight, so let's make plans for after dinner," Nana states, "You can meet me at my room tonight, and we can go to my Cyber Safari together." Rito perks up at that, and Nana is smiling when she departs.
OoOoOoO
Waiting outside her door was killing him, a mixture of guilt, anticipation, and fear knotting his stomach as he knocked once more, hoping someone doesn't catch him in the act of walking into her room. Going into her room alone gave him more anxiety than necessary already, getting caught by that livid bodyguard would have definitely killed him. Suddenly the door opens before him, and Nan reveals herself at the door, thankfully still dressed in her normal clothes. 'At this time of night, Momo would have...', No, he had to stop thinking about her now, not if he wanted to move forward now.
Moving into the room, Nana looked outside, before smiling and closing the door behind her. "Good, no one saw you it seems," she states, as she walks over to a vanity mirror that is standing in the corner of her room, "This place is so much easier for me to relax in, no stress of being the princess in here and even Zastin respects my privacy in here..." He wonders exactly what she means, before she flips the switch and the portal swirls to life. Rito recognizes it as the same vortex that he left Momo's Cyber Safari through. His hesitation is obvious to Nana, who grins and grabs his hand, wrapping her fingers around his wrist, before pulling him in behind her. "Don't worry, Rito, it'll be fun, you'll see!" she laughs as she enters the vortex. Rito nearly panics as he steps into the light after her, before the feeling of fresh air is on his face, and he feels warm sunlight on his skin.
He missteps though, as he lands and tumbles over, bracing himself as he falls onto the stony path. Instead of cracking his skull open, he feels like he's just hit something soft and flat, and he dares to crack his eyes open in dread. Opening them fully, he notices he has fallen on top of Nana's chest, and his cheeks burn red as he gets up and straddles her, before that too embarrasses him and he scrambles off of her legs fully. He's blushing, embarrassingly staring downcast at the stone floors while avoiding eye contact with Nana, expecting her to yell at him and berate him. Nervously glancing over, he sees the blush across her nose and turning her cheeks pink, and he realizes that such a situation had probably never happened before to her, with her being a princess. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Nana, I just tripped, and I fell..." He states, as he scrambles to get up and help her up, only to find her chest heaving and her hunched over in what he assumes is pain, "Are you okay, did I break something?" Finally she breaks her silence, and a hiccupping laugh comes out.
"I'm- I'm sorry Rito, I was just- thinking about how you fell, it- it was great!" she exclaims through peals of laughter, "That was definitely unexpected, but I've had worse dates with my marriage candidates." Rito raises his eyes in alarm at that, but Nana waves him off. "It's fine, it's fine, I'm just used to guys trying to impress me, woo me into their beds, or try and sneak a hand in places they get stabbed for," Nana states as casual as can be, "Getting groped by someone I just met isn't ideal, but I'd rather it be an accident then on purpose, like a lot of my suitors stage it to be." Rito just nervously grins, as Nana pulls at the cuffs of his shirt to follow her. "I'll tell you about this one time, this short, creepy, little toad of a man tried to scare me into his arms, I kid you not, with a extremely rare predator that wasn't even native to the planet we were taking our date on," Nana states, as Rito follows her down some paths, past fields filled with frolicking critters of every kind, fuzzy,lovable, even slimy, "But he seems to forget I'm literally able to commune with animals, so he tries to act all brave and defend me, hoping I'd just jump into his arms or something, when this big, black, 'menacing' creature started lumbering out of the shadows..." As she continues talking, Rito suddenly feels like they are being watched. "Of course, right away I can tell it was a set up, I mean the poor thing looked so emaciated, of course it was desperate enough to go after sentient's!" Nana exclaims, throwing up her hands with a look of frustration, "The poor thing had been held in captivity all its life, then it was bought by my date, stuffed into some box and starved, before being set loose to try and scare me all to get its next meal; of course I had some words for him that day, and ended up taking the poor creature with me to get her treatment..."
The hairs on Rito's neck suddenly stood on end as he was walking behind Nana, and he turned to look and see what caused the unease. Feeling hot breath on his face as he turns, Rito is surprised to be staring at row after row of sharp teeth from within a massive maw, as a massive tongue reaches out towards him. "Aggh!" He chokes out, as he trips and falls backwards on his butt, garnering the attention of a narrating Nana. Snapping jaws miss as he falls, revealing a massive lizard with wings, some terrifying cross between a dragon and a dinosaur, which nearly caused Rito to have a heart attack.
"Hey, what did I tell you about harassing my guests; I invited him in here, you don't get to try and show your dominance just because he's another male!" Nana complains, bopping the big lizard on the nose, causing it to whimper and get low, staring up at her with sorrowful eyes, "Don't try to appease me, you know I asked you to guard Blackclaw while she was still acclimating in isolation!" The big brute is practically on his belly, before she sighs and brushes the hair out of her eyes with a swift gesture. "Fine, I'll come with you to see her, since I know she still doesn't trust others yet," she says and turns to point at Rito, the beast looking directly at him with curiosity, "He is your responsibility, you get in between him and Blackclaw if it comes down to it, ok you devious Drasuke?" The beast huffs, snorting through its massive nostrils before lumbering off towards somewhere else, while Nana turns back to Rito to help him up. "I'm sorry about Redwing, he is the predatory alpha in my Cyber Safari, I hatched him from an egg, so when I confiscated a female Drasuke around the same age as him, he's been wanting me to make a good impression on her for him, but she's so skittish around anything and anyone but me, and even then I don't think she trusts me fully yet." Rito gulps, as he watches the big create, a Drasuke stalk off into some nearby forest.
"Come on, we've got a ways to walk, so I can chat with you about Blackclaw and Lala," Nana states as she follows Redwing into the forest, "Redwing is a Drasuke, a predatory species from Draconis VI that lives most of their adult lives hunting for food on solar storms that ravage the planet; he's about seven draconian years old, nearing maturation for his kind, so those wings you saw on his back will be getting a growth spurt, as will he." She passes under a branch, and holds it back for Rito to follow, at which they find themselves both on a hidden path. "This is the way to the isolation habitation, I put it here to acclimate and screen newcomers for diseases or unwanted hitchhikers," she states as she walks under the archways of twisted vines and branches, "Blackclaw has spent six months in isolation so far, so she's pretty restless right now, but follow my instructions and she won't get a chance to do anything to you, especially with Redwing watching out for you," Nana states, "Now, what do you want to know about Lala?" The question nearly throws Rito off, but he quickly goes through the questions in his head.
"How did Lala come to Earth, and why did she take an interest in me?" Rito starts off, slowly but gathers his courage, "I'm just a regular guy, why would a cool, alien princess find me interesting, and how did it lead to marriage?" Nana smiles at that, before stopping and looking up between the branches at the artificial sky.
"Lala was free spirited, she wasn't stopped by anyone, or anything that stood in her path, not her sisters, not her father, and especially not any of her near limitless marriage candidates... well, ow my marriage candidates," Nana states, which surprises Rito, "She was crown princess, she was destined to be married off to the best suitor our Father could find, one he approved of and would be best for Deviluke's future, Lala ran away at a moment's notice, fleeing to a backwater planet that was off Deviluke's scanners." She looks at Rito and smiles, a hazy look in her eyes as she remembers her sister. "She was crazy, an inventor who came up with all kinds of things, including a transporter that didn't exactly work like you'd expect it too," Nana says, looking at Rito, "From what I hear you didn't take it so well at first, but when Smutts and Maul came for her, you defended her not even knowing who she was, put your own life at risk for her, and even jumped out your own window and onto the rooftops just to keep her safe; something no one has ever gone the lengths for her to have done before." Suddenly Rito begins to get dizzy, as the trees spin around him, and he tries to get a grip on reality. He feels hot, sweaty, like the night he did taking the warm, soothing bath, then... the girl, he can't see her face, appearing from thin air... the moonlight, and sound of the glass crashing around him, before cool air whipped through his hair...
Rito knows he isn't thinking straight, he knows the girl with pink hair is trying to say something, but he can't hear her voice, or even see her face clearly. "Lala?" his voice hoarsely groans, "Lala, what's going on, why can't I feel my...?" Grimacing in pain, he falters on his feet, before the girl grabs him and shakes him back to reality. At that, the world comes back into focus around him, and Rito sees Nana's face full of worry. "Nana..." Rito groans, as he puts a hand to his forehead, "This is your Cyber Safari, on Zastin's ship... I'm in space, heading back to Earth..." He rubs his forehead, and the pain seems to ease from his skull, while Nana tries to help him. "I'm- I'm alright," Rito assures, brushing her off, "I think I just had a hallucination, I think some of my memories are trying to resurface." Nana still looks worried, but Rito merely wipes away the sweat from his brow and continues forward, swiftly followed by the Devilukean girl. "Tell me more about Lala," Rito states, as Nana catches up with him, "What was she like before I met her, who was she friends with, was she always so happy?" She grows more and more concerned as she watches Rito's mood change from happy to determined, yet she knows he wants answers to these new questions.
"Lala was... complicated, she was happy, but she always got into trouble over little things, and when she invented, she went big and bold!" Nana states, smiling at distant memories, "She once made a whole zoo of robotic animals that broke loose in the castle; Momo and I were fighting that day, but when our sister needed help we both put our differences aside to do our best and work together." She crosses her arms, pausing to reflect on Lala for Rito's benefit. "Before we were born, the most contact Lala ever had with a friend on her level was also one of her prospective marriage candidates, though not always," she states, looking up at Rito as they passed more tree groves, "Ren and Run Jewel Elise are a member of an alien race from the planet Memorze, they share a body and can transform at will, so they both became friends with Lala in her youth; last I heard both of them had moved to Earth about the same time Lala declared you to be a running candidate for marriage." The memories of two people, white and green hair, a girl and a boy, with a sneeze changing things in an instant. "But before them, Lala was okay, she grew up on the tail end of a galactic war, a place where the front lines could be on your doorstep any day, when Father was battling all out to keep his only daughter at the time safe, and Mother was doing her best to keep the people united," Nana states, a slight note of bitterness in her voice, "They weren't perfect parents, of course, but Lala didn't start off socializing with anyone until Run came into the picture, Ren was just an added bonus to help develop social skills; before that, at least from what the old nurse maids tell me, Lala had been quiet, expected to be well behaved, and always obedient to Mother and Father..." Rito closes his eyes at that, and the girl in his head begins to take shape in his mind.
First it was the sorrow, the night he fled with her be pursued by those who wished to strip her of her freedom of choice, the days she struggled to learn in school when she was still new, the nights she thought he wasn't awake and she would come in whimpering before crawling into his bed, as he quickly fell into a deep sleep with her body near him. The smiles: the day she revealed she wished to marry him after finding our he had proposed to her in an old fashioned way, how she went from zeroes to one hundreds in a matter of weeks, or how he would wake up, groggy and not totally aware of his surroundings, but he would always smile seeing her worry-free form sleeping soundlessly in his bed. How he admired her aquamarine eyes, how could he forget her dazzling, breathtaking, thousand watt smile, or those lone pink locks, or the way she called his name... "Rito-kun!" she would say, "Stop...fighting me..."
With a sudden snap in front of his face, Rito comes out of his daze, momentarily forgetting wherever it was that his mind had wandered after the memories of Lala began to trickle back into his thoughts. "...istening to me?" Nana huffed, putting her hands on her hips, "I said we're here!" Rito blinks away his confusion, a dazed look on his face as he takes stock of his surroundings. Looking around the area, it looked like some kind of ranch, or corral of some kind, just fenced off with a good sized barn at the far back of the area. The red drasuke was waiting patiently by the swinging door, which amazed Rito as Nana opened it and let him inside the corral. "Now, Rito, I want you to stay back behind Redwing," Nana pauses before letting him into the fenced off area, "Blackclaw is still very territorial, I have my natural strength and connection to animals to rely on, Redwing is attempting to court Blackclaw and form a pack, but you are open game in her eyes, as good as prey." Rito nods, fully awake and alert to the area now. "Redwing will be the only thing between you and her, so stay back and stay safe," Nana says as she closes the gate behind them, "I'm going to check on Blackclaw and see how cooperative she is today." Redwing gives Rito a sidelong glance as Nana enters the barn, Rito is a little nervous at the look, but Redwing turns his attention back to the entrance of the barn instead.
After a few minutes, some shouting goes on, and suddenly Nana comes flying out of the barn. And, Rito notices, she doesn't have any wings when she sails through the air and lands roughly on the ground outside the barn. A guttural, fear-inspiring roar is heard rumbling from inside the barn, and Rito watches as a massive shadow seems to drag itself out of the barn. At least a full two feet larger overall in size compared to Redwing, this massive black dino-dragon was radically different in comparison. A thinner build, most likely from being starved for so long, a smaller snout and jaw that was more like a triangle than a rectangle, its claws were sharper, yet smaller than the thicker ones Redwing sported. If Nana hadn't told him it was the same species, he wouldn't believe they were both Drasuke, though the tell-tale horns above her head did seem to indicate it, as did the scale plating going down her back. She turned her head sideways, and with a sudden realization, Rito realized she was staring him down, ignoring Redwing in the process. Suddenly the black Drasuke made to move for him, when a massive roar belted out of Redwing's mouth. The black Drasuke turned to stare down Redwing, before flaring ragged stumps from her back, with Redwing doing likewise with his normal wings. In moments the two were at each others throat, while Rito quickly made a decision.
Running over to where Nana lay on the grass, he took her pulse before confirming she was okay, and shaking her awake. "Nana, Nana can you hear me?" he hurriedly asks, glancing between the two titans battling it out, "Nana, I need you to wake up and calm Blackclaw down, she might hurt Redwing if this goes on..." Suddenly a thud is heard, as one of the two reptilian's were felled to the ground as well. Hesitating to look back, Rito regretted the fact that Blackclaw held Redwing pinned beneath her sharp claws. Narrowing her eyes at Rito, pupils turning to yellow slits as she focuses on him, she barks out a small roar, and slowly lumbers over to Rito. "Nana, nana I need you!" Rito hurriedly states, turning his back and desperately trying to wake the Devilukean girl up, "Blackclaw is gaining fast, she took down Red wing and..." Suddenly a shadow falls over Rito, causing him to gulp as shivers went down his spine. Feeling hot breath down the back of his neck, he turns around to stare straight up at another maw filled with sharp teeth and a large pink tongue, salivating as it reaches out towards his face. Closing his eyes expecting it to be painful, he was surprised when the wet tongue, roughly dragged itself over his neck and up his face, causing his hair to stand up crazily as it dragged through his hair.
Nana opens up her eyes at this point, expecting the worst as she gets up to her feet, ears still ringing from the tail whip she had gotten from Blackclaw. She blinks, rubbing her eyes as she stares at the sight before her. She gently walks forward as Blackclaw continues to lick Rito all over, causing sticky saliva to stand his hair on end. Blackclaw narrows her eyes at growls towards her, causing Nana to stop and really study her body language to determine what the Drasuke planned to do to Rito. Rito was suddenly tucked under the female Drasuke's wings with her tail curling around his body, as she noticed Redwing shake off being pinned and stand up, only to dilate his pupils to slits upon seeing Rito so close to the black deviant. The situation only grew more tense as a growl that built up in Redwing's throat came out as a fearsome roar, the lumbering giant suddenly barreling full force to snap at the half-hidden Rito. Redwing was unprepared for Blackclaw to retaliate in kind, forcing the smaller Drasuke into a stunned silence, before the female began to communicate with a mixture of chirps, clicks and soft barks. "Nana, what's going on?" Rito asked as the two Drasuke stared each other down, Nana listening intensely, "What are they saying to each other?" Whatever it was that Blackclaw had said to the smaller Redwing, it obviously satisfied him as he leveled his snout towards Rito and snorted, before trudging away towards Nana.
Nana was suddenly covering her mouth, and it soon became apparent she was becoming bright red, until poorly concealed laughter burst forth from between her fingers. "Rito..." Nana states, breathless, as Blackclaw barks at Nana, like she could understand her, "It seems she's not wanting to hurt you, in fact she's trying to prepare you for... snicker... 'mating season', since she can tell you're- 'matured'." She suddenly guffaws, to the confusion of Rito, who merely stares up at the draconian lizard, who chirps sound a bit like laughter. "I'm sorry, it seems she's thinking you're trying to woo me," Nana states, while Blackclaw snorts, rolls its massive eyes and barks in response to Nana's words, "Sorry, it seems she can smell your stress hormones as being particularly high, that your heart rate and your sweating has increased, and that your 'scent' seems to be increasing while in proximity to myself." Blackclaw lets go of Rito, and lets him wonder a bit closer to Nana now, barking. "She seems to think I'm having hormonal response to your presence as well, so she wanted to make you 'presentable', after she smelt you on me in the barn," Nana states before Blackclaw suddenly headbutts Rito in her personal space, causing Nana to renew her blushing as she pushes him off, before she crosses her arms and curls her own spade tail around her body in reflex, "A-and I'll have you k-know, you pushy lizard, I am not having a 'physical reaction' to him; so butt out you cold-blooded bird!" Blackclaw balks, but relents and turns to call out Redwing, before retiring with the other Drasuke into the private structure. Turning to Rito, mortified and still blushing, she grabs him by the sleeve and pulls him wordlessly out of the open gate and back down the road to the exit. "Sorry about that, I didn't realize she was in heat, she's all mixed up and confused right now due to hormones," Nana states, "Enough about that, lets go back before any of the nocturnal predators join us, since the sun will go down before we realize it."
After a journey of silence all the way back, it was Rito who broke the silence first, as the sun began to set. "Wow, that's amazing!" Rito states in awe at the cascade of crimson red and fiery orange, as the artificial sun begins to lower below the horizon, "Is it always this cool, the sunset, I mean." Nana stands next to Rito at the clearing of trees he was looking out from, crossing her arms as she stares with a small smile on her lips.
"It took some doing, I had to cross reference about a hundred different sunsets before I came across a select few I liked," Nana states, as she turns to look at Rito, "Everyday the sky shifts its sunsets and sunrise to reflect a couple dozen different planets, shakes it up so the creatures don't find it monotonous with it being artificially created and all that." Rito nods in appreciation before turning to smile at Nana, and finding his heart beating a little bit faster, as the sunset hits her just right and begins to highlight her eyes and face with shadows and dimming light. "You know Rito, I can't say I don't find the idea appealing," Nana suddenly says out of the blue, taking a few steps closer to Rito, "Finding you attractive I mean..." She bites her lip and closes her eyes a bit, as she trails a finger from his pectoral muscles up to his neckline. "I don't know if its all those Drasuke hormones making me hot," she says as she stares at his own features being highlighted by the stretching shadows and fiery orange light that sets his hair ablaze just so, "You know, you don't really have to leave me, not if Momo was right." She's practically speaking into his ear, as they tingle from the soft weight of her words. "Earth, it's such a cruel and savage place compared to us, compared to Deviluke, compared to here..." Nana states seductively, as she closes her eyes and stands on her tiptoes, "You know, you were her marriage candidate, and you are nice, kind, and everything I'm looking for in a man; why don't you just stay...with...me..." Rito feels his mind fogging up in a haze, as he closes his eyes in a panic, not knowing if this was real or not.
Rito! Stay with me!
Opening his eyes, just as Nana tried to plant a kiss firmly on his cheeks, Rito snaps out of his daze and quickly throws his hands up to stop her. "I'm- I'm sorry Nana, but not like this, not with you now, especially if it is just chemical attraction," Rito states, as Nana opens her eyes with a pout, visibly deflating before him, "If you and I are just being messed with hormones and whatever else, I don't want to make you have regrets now, not when I don't really know you, and you don't really know me..." He trails off, as he breaks contact with her, turning his back and walking away as the sunset gives way to the darkness of twilight. "I still have questions to answer on Earth, but I'm eternally grateful for you to have answered my questions about your sister, about Lala," Rito states, as he extinguishes Nana's hope with his words, "I have to go home, I have to find out about the life I left behind, because I won't live with my regrets, not when I have the power to silence the doubt in my head, and find out about the family I left behind for two years..." He crosses his arms, before turning back to Nana with a heartbreaking, innocent smile. "I hope we can still be friends," Rito consoles, as the last of Nana's dreams are crushed beneath that singular word, "But Earth is my home, and I need answers." Nana nods at this, before composing herself with a deep breath, and smiling up at Rito.
"I'm glad you can be so sure of yourself, Rito," she says with false cheer that Rito is oblivious to, :Though, your right, I was being a bit hasty; I could never keep a brother from his sister, a son from his family." She leads him back to the doorway, and waits for him to catch up. "Thank you Rito, for being kind, for being honest," she states hiding her face as she looks away from him, "I'll- I'll catch up to you in a minute, but for now I think I forgot to do something..." Rito says nothing, unsure of whether he could say anything, and silently steps through the door. By then her tears are falling, as the ember of love she could have had with him, is extinguished by the simple truth she already knew: He still loved Her. Looking to her hand in some off hand glance of disinterest, she watched as the string of lusty red unravels from her ring finger.
OoOoOoO
{Now}
After a week of travel, awkward conversation with Nana, and avoiding an irate Captain Diskenth at all cost, Rito now found himself on the world of his birth. Staring up at the indigo sky, colored such by the setting sun, Rito knew he was home. Now, if only he could remember where his home was.
{Above Earth's Moon}
Unable to watch him go, Nana stayed inside her Cyber Safari all day, waiting for the inevitable heartache she knew she had no right to hold. It was, in fact, the Drasuke hormones that had been influencing her thoughts that day, and Rito's too, though she found he had a much stronger conviction than she had realized. Anyway, Nana found herself being comforted by her loyal Drasuke, Redwing, who had come to comfort her in her time of need, as if sensing her distress at the male who had invaded his territory. As she relaxed in the setting sun, she suddenly felt her back rest shift, and she stood up as the lumbering titan pulled himself up, a growl stuck in his throat. She looked to see what it was that could put such an apex predator on edge, but she could only see him focusing, eyes slit in aggression, on the portal entrance into the Cyber Safari. "What's up boy?" she asked, as she delicately put her arm on his side, "What's out there?" Suddenly she feels his tail push her backwards behind him, his wings flared outward to make himself look bigger. Releasing a roar that shook the forest floor, Nana couldn't see anything behind her cover, until the rumbling in the ground became apparent.
Suddenly, vines burst out of the ground all at once, some from the portal itself, while the rest seemed to just appear, wildly thrashing and growing incredibly fast. Biting at the living, writhing mass of plants that seemed to swarm the entrance and growing, Redwing tore up chunks from the ground, before he was overrun by the vines and trapped beneath it, silencing him. "What the-" Nana states, deploying her wings and attempting to fly up and out of the plants reach, narrowly avoiding being clipped in the process, she begisn to go up, "Who the heck is doing this?" As the words were in her mouth, vines shot up and pierced her wings, skewering her in place, as they suddenly wrapped themselves tightly around her, grinding into ever crevice and crack of her body, much to her discomfort. They tightened snuggly around her and made it hard to breath, something that irritated her to now end. Before she can complain to whoever it was, whether it be Momo playing some prank, or even a revenge scheme, she was surprised at who came out of the portal. "You?" she states in confusion, before, suddenly grinning and chuckling defiantly, "You're too late, he's already starting to remember, you won't be able to-" Suddenly she stops, choked off as she looks down to see a thousand spiny thorns protruding from the vines, piercing into her skin and taking her breath away. She chokes out air, as if trying to speak, but the blood is already filling her lungs and makes it difficult to speak, as she was suddenly lowered to the ground level by the vines, a hand brought up to her cheek.
"Oh dear, why ever would I want him to forget?" the voice states, cool and compassionless, "He's the very key to everything after all, he needs to feel love and loss, he needs to regain his memories and face all of this..." A smile graces their face, a twisted sense of satisfaction coming across their features. "I need him alive, I need him to remember, and I need him to want to leave," they state, as horror comes across Nana's face, as she struggles to fight her fate, "So goodbye, Princess, and know the others will be joining you shortly..."
A/N: I don't own To-Love Ru, and I doubt I ever will.
Apologies on such a late post, but what better way to end this year but with a new chapter, and possibly new questions! Who is this mysterious person, what do the red strings mean? Will all of our hero's love interests be dead by the end of this new story arc? All I can confirm is that this is only to get more interesting, puzzling, and mysterious as time goes on.
Is Rito dead? Is this truly a new reality? Well, maybe by the end of all of this we'll have our answers!
Thank you for reviewing, favoriting, following, and continued patronage of my story. Glad you've all stuck around so far!
I've come a lot farther than I thought after all, 9,000 views and growing, 43 reviews, and ~16 favorites and followers. Thank you all for your continued support, and hope I hear from more of you in 2018!
edit: Changed a name, thanks!