Chapter 3: Lost and Forgotten

"…Guren…?" Kurasame inched towards the two hesitantly. Sayo's body convulsed and pushed against Guren's hands on her shoulders. The raven haired teen was trying hard not to hurt her while also trying to keep her from getting up. "Kurasame, help!" He pleaded to him. "Help me hold her down. Please!" Not wasting anytime getting closer, Kurasame looked down at the girl's entire body and he could finally see what the problem was.

The entire right side of Sayo's body was completely mutated. Her whole right arm was grotesque and muscular, similar in appearance to the beasts that he had killed before. The same blood red spikes growing out of her shoulders and her hand had morphed in to three sharp claws. The whole thing took on a pale green in color. Sayo's leg looked to be still in the beginning stages of its transformation, it was starting to grown darker and smaller bone white spikes were growing out of her thigh. It…looked disgusting.

"Is that…really Sayo?" He couldn't believe it, but there was no doubt that this was her.

"She…She forced something into Sayo's mouth, and then she attacked!" looking into his eyes, Kurasame could see the conflicted emotions in Guren's eyes. He glanced back towards the sea of bodies and then back towards Sayo's grotesque form. He didn't waste any more time placing himself on her right side and holding down her mutated arm. He grunted as he felt her start to struggle underneath him. 'She's strong.' He thought as he used all of his strength trying to keep her down.

"Honestly, my dear sisters get all the fun. It isn't fair."

Guren and Kurasame perked up at the distorted voice, it sounded almost identical to the woman's from before.

"And I'm stuck here, making sure none of you escape." Another woman slowly revealed herself from the shadows, her clothing was the same. The only clear distinction from the other was the way her was made. Instead of two ponytails in the front, her hair was pulled up into twin spirals. "Oh well." She said, "I suppose it's for the best. I did get to test my new drug, after all."

"Change Sayo back!" Guren shouted at her.

"That's not possible. Can't you see the drug was a failure? You can't possible expect me to reverse its effects."

Guren gritted his teeth harshly before pushing himself up and summoning a large battle axe to his hands. He launched himself at her. "Damn you!"

"Guren!" Kurasame shouted after him but he couldn't go after him because he had to keep Sayo down. Without Guren's added strength it became increasingly hard to restrain her. He could feel searing pain in his arm as his wounds from before started to open up again from the strain. He's blood staining the makeshift purple bandage of Oruto's mantle.

Up above them in the darkness of the cave's ceiling, 4 eyes wrenched open looking down at the raven haired teen. He only had a few seconds to notice them in time and move back before a huge clawed fist aimed down in front of him and punched a hole into where he had been standing, it grazed his chest. The 4 eyes were lined up along the length of the new monster's arm; it was tall and completely skinless. Guren grunted as blood seeped from the small graze and started to sting. Running into the area was Oruto with Kotetsu following right behind him. "Guren!" He called to him, rushing to his side.

"Kotetsu, you're not hurt!" Kurasame said in relief but it was soon cut short when he felt Sayo shifting from underneath him, her movements starting to grow sluggish and heavy. 'Sayo, if I let you go…will you kill us?' He thought looking down into her unfocused eyes. She gazed back at him tiredly, it was clear that she didn't even recognize him.

'She seemed so kind and beautiful…all this time we've been in the same class…But I never knew anything about her.' He thought with a shred of guilt. Guren is a lucky man to be loved by a girl like her.' Tears cascaded down his cheek and on to his hands; he couldn't hold them back anymore.

Kotetsu watched him silently as he walked over towards him. Kurasame paused and looked back up at him. "Kotetsu?" The other didn't say anything, he waved his hands up and 3 large icy stakes started to form in the air. He brought his arms down forcefully and the stakes followed his movements and impaled Sayo's shoulder, arm, and claw. Her body lurched upwards and she started struggling desperately. The more she moved the more the stakes imbedded themselves in her arm. A gut wrenching scream tore from her lips, Kurasame looked horrified.

"Kotetsu, stop!" He pleaded with him, but Kotestu continued to create more stakes and impale them into Sayo's struggling body, pinning her down. "You're hurting her!"

"…I know. But if we don't pin her down we're all dead!" He argued. "This is the only way!"

The swordsman couldn't do anything besides watch him and listen to Sayo's chilling cries.

"Oh my, that's not very fun, is it?" The woman taunted them. Oruto geared up another powerful thundara spell and aimed it at the beast coming towards him. Kurasame summoned his sword to his side and ran for the woman who blocked his strike with a knife of her own. "Change Sayo back!" He demanded.

"Do all cadets have such poor memories? I just told you it's not possible."

'Why!? Why is this happening!? It was just supposed to be a guts challenge!' Kurasame thought pushing his blade against her knife, trying to break through her defense. He could feel himself getting angrier and angrier.

"Nevertheless, it is rather unsettling to see the girl like that. Quite bad taste if do say so myself, ha ha ha ha!"

"…I'll kill you…" Kurasame wrenched his sword up and brought it back down on her again. "I'll make you change Sayo back! I'll make you feel our pain!" He could feel himself starting to slip more with each strike he brought down against her, putting his weight behind each attack. The sound of their blades scrapping against each other was the only thing he could hear.

"Futile!" She cackled. "Your efforts are futile!" Kurasame brought his sword up one last time, an icy and merciless look taking over his eyes completely as he lost himself to the pain, angry, and the burning hatred he had for the Concordian woman.

"No matter how hard you struggle…" Her words were cut off as he attacked downwards with everything he had, breaking her knife in half and severing her entire left arm from her shoulder. Blood spurted out uncontrollably and she screamed. She brought her other hand up to try and stop the bleeding but it was no use as she dropped to the ground and shriveled up in pain. "My arm!" She struggled to pick herself up but she collapsed again.

"Sayo's pain is worse." Kurasame's eyes were overshadowed by his bangs as he walked closer to the woman. "So change her back." He pointed his sword to her face and the woman started to tremble from fear. "I…I can't! It's not possible!" Kurasame angled his sword down and stabbed through the woman's knee. "AAAAAHHHHH!"

"Enough screaming. Just change Sayo back. She can't go back to Akademia like that."

""I told you it's not possible! Nothing I can do will reverse the transformation…" He ripped his sword from her leg and held it up again. "Stop talking and change her back!"

"S-Sayo…!"

Kurasame paused and immediately turned back around. Sayo was up and there was blood dripping from her arm and leg from the stakes that were still imbedded there. The lifeless look in her eyes hadn't changed at all. She was advancing towards him slowly.

"Sayo!" Guren made a run towards her but Kurasame tried to stop him. "Guren, stop!"

The blood red spikes that had been growing from her arm launched out towards Guren but Oruto moved in front of him, and took the hit as the spikes stabbed him the side. "Ngh…" He coughed out blood and collapsed on the ground. "Oruto!"

"Dammit!" Kotetsu summoned a thundara spell and aimed it at the girl, shocking her where she stood. She stumbled a little before dropping back down. Guren made a run for her fallen body; he picked her up in his arms. "Hang in there Sayo! Please, answer me!" The poor girl could hardly move.

"Gu…ren." She rasped out. She could barely open her eyes but she managed to look at the raven haired teen before turning to gaze weakly at the other three. "Every…one…" She tried to smile at them. Kurasame felt tears stinging the edge of his vision, "Don't die, don't die!" he pleaded. He got on his knees and moved closer to her.

'Let's all go back to Akademia together!" Tears started to fall. "We can go places and have fun together!" Kotetsu and Oruto gave him pitying and sorrowful looks but he didn't care. "And eat lunch together! I'll give you tips for tests!" He was trying everything he could. "I'll introduce you to Kazusa!"

"So please…" He sobbed weakly. "Please…Let's all…"

"Every…one…I'm sorry…" She said quietly, her closed shut and her breathing slowed to a stop. Her body going limp in Guren's arms.

"Sayo…Don't die." Guren clutched her tightly to his chest, tears streaming down his face. "You can't die. Sayo…"

The four sat there is silence for a few minutes, not knowing what to say. Oruto heard something fall to the ground off to the side. He turned and saw Miwa leaning against the wall tiredly. "Miwa, I told you to stay and rest there. Are you okay?" He and Kotetsu went over to her side, Kurasame stayed behind, still looking at the corpse in Guren's arms. He looked at the girl's face, "Guren, who's…?"

Guren perked up and looked down at her. He threw the body down roughly and stumbled back in disgust. "Ew! Who is this girl!?"

"Anyway, we need to get out of here and fast." The swordsman turned away and slung Miwa's arm around his neck to support her left side and Kotetsu her right. Guren threw one more disgusted look back at the girl's mutated corpse "Uh…yeah." He went to help Oruto, the spike still impaled through his side as they walked. "Oruto, are you okay?" He asked the blonde.

Neither of them looked back at the forgotten corpse of the girl as they left.

XxXxXxX

"My memories after that are vague. I think we got out of the cave and walked as fast as we could back to Akademia. The next thing I knew, I was on a bed in the infirmary."

Opening his eyes he was greeted to the clean white ceiling of the infirmary and the sunlight streaming through the window, he glanced over at Kazusa who was sitting by his side with a book in his hands. "How are you feeling?" The scientist asked him as he sat up in bed. "I'm okay."

He turned rand saw Miwa, Kotetsu and Guren sleeping the beds next to him. He smiled in relief. However as he looked closer at them, he felt that there was someone missing. "Where's the other one? There should be one more of us." He looked at Kazusa angrily. "There were five when we left the cave!"

Kazusa glanced back down at his book. "He passed away last night, while you were sleeping." He held something up in his hands and held it out to Kurasame. It was a bloody and torn purple mantle. "It was wrapped around your arm. It belonged to the boy who died yesterday." Kurasame leaned closer to inspect the name that was printed on the corner of it. "Oruto…?"

Kazusa pushed back down on his shoulder to get him to lay back down again. He brought the covers up to his chin. "You need more rest." He walked over to the trash can with the bloody mantle in hand. Kurasame watched him as he lowered it into the trashcan until,

"Don't throw it away." Kazusa paused and turned towards him steadily, Kurasame continued to watch his hand. 'What am I doing? What's the point of hanging on to that filthy piece of cloth?' As if he knew the answer Kazusa smiled at him and laid it next to his head, not saying anything and neither did Kurasame who looked back at it one last time before falling asleep.

XxXxXxX

Guren, Kurasame, Miwa, and Kotetsu stood side by side in front of the Cadet Master. She was an elderly woman with light gray hair that was pulled back into a long pony tail with a red ribbon. She wore Rubrums military uniform with a long dark red coat and boots.

"What happened in the cave was an unfortunate accident."

"It wasn't an accident! Women from Concordia were-" Kurasame tried to argue with her.

"Be quiet and Listen!" she spoke firmly, cutting him off. "I know there were criminals lurking in that cave. Criminals who had been conducting illegal research within the Kingdom of Concordia. They had been preforming inhumane experiments, trying to fuse humans with monsters and dragons. But they have been apprehended by Class One and the Army."

"And they're going to be executed, right?"

"…They were secretly extradited to concordian custiody."

"What!?" The four yelled in shock.

"If the public found out that cadets were killed by Concordians on Rubrum soil…Our relationship with Concordia will be ruined. Tensions are already high between Rubrum and Milites. It would be too much of a risk to turn Concordia against us as well. And Concordia is in a similar position." She paused for a second to allow the information to sink in.

"Therefore, this incident will remain Classified. This was a political decision."

"That's stupid! So what are we supposed to say when people ask us how our class died?"

"I told you. It was an unfortunate accident. That cave is a den of stray monsters. The young men and women of Class Three fell prey to those monsters. As of now, that is the truth. If any of you four speak of this to anyone, you will be severely punished. Only a handful of people know about the incident, it will be erased from the Annals of History.

Kurasame couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'Erased…? Everyone who died…The one who turned into a monster, the one who fought with us until the end…Our memories of them are lost, and now the truth is being covered up.'

'What proof do we have that they lived?'

Not knowing what else to say, the four turned and walked out of the office in a daze. The cadet Master's eyes were down casted. "I'm glad you four made it back." Kurasame took one last look at her before leaving out.

The walk back to their empty classroom was quiet and slow. Walking into the portal and standing in the middle of the class, they were haunted by the faceless images that used to be their classmates. Their presence still filled the room, the phantom laughter and chattering echoed noisily in their heads. Kurasame walked towards the black board and ripped the guts challenge paper off. He gripped it in his hand wordlessly and set it on fire with a small spell. The ashes carried off his hand and drifted off into the air. He turned back towards his friends with determination as he clutched onto his purple mantle.

"I didn't know then that the four of us who survived would come to be known as…

"The Four Champions of Rubrum."

End of Chapter 3

A/N: The next chapter is the last chapter of the first volume. I'm going to continue to post the other volumes here as well but I don't know if i should put them together as one big story or make them seperate from eachother, thoughts? Next Update: March 26th