One day Nikki and Rail where walking around the school yard, and saw Jaden dueling a Ra Yellow. Sugar, Duke, Syrus, Sabrina, and a bunch of other girls, with purple, and black, most of them were in Obelisk blue, or Ra yellow. With Reaper on her back, Nikki was on her way to go find a place to train, she needed someone to watch Rail.
She walked up to them, Duke and Sugar both noticed her first. Sugar ran up to her and hugged her and said, "You guy's this is Nikki, and her little brother Rail."
The girl with purple spoke up first, "Hello, I'm Rika Gray."
Then a young girl with black hair, "I'm Cassdiy, Sugar's youngest aunt."
Another girl with black hair spoke up, "Keisie Istar, nice to meet you."
"Huh, I was looking for you guys, I need someone to watch Rail for me." Nikki said.
"We'll watch him. Aunt Sabrina called off training for the night." Sugar said pulling Rail into a hug.
"No. Sugar Baby, you have lessons with your grandmother, I'll watch him for you, Nikki." Duke said his hand resting on Rail's messy brown hair.
"Thank you, I have to train. I need to get stronger, if Creed comes back, I might be able to keep Rail safe, I barely could last time." she said looking at Rail, who was now clinging to her arm.
"Who's Creed, we might be able to help you out." Sugar said looking at Nikki.
"A very dangerous man, he was longish silver hair, blue eyes, wears strange clothes, and he uses a sword, called a chi sword, you can't see it until he has it in it's second level." Nikki said as Rail nuzzled her side, since just hearing about Creed scared him.
"I won't let anything happen to Rail, while you are gone." Duke said with a slight bow.
"Nikki, I want to go with you." Rail said.
Nikki frowned, Rail was becoming so attached to her, it worried her, she was like a mother hen and he was her chick that followed her every where. She picked him up, since he didn't weigh as much as Reaper, and handed him to Duke. She knew it was the only way to keep him there. She turned away and ran to the forest. She didn't want to hear Rail's cries for her to come back, she would only after she was done training.
Once far enough away, she took Reaper off her back, and untied the rope that she used to keep it on her back. She hit the button that made it turn into a chain scythe, and she held one and threw the other with only the help of the chain. She frowned when it didn't even break the tree she had aimed for. She pulled the chain, and the blade came back.
Then she heard someone walking behind her, and she threw the blade that way, unsure if it was someone she could trust or not. But some how she missed, she knew someone was there, how could she miss, unless they were sent by Creed. She was quick to pull the blade back, and held it firmly in her hand.
"Who's there!" Nikki called watching every way she could at once, making her purple eyes flick left and right as she looked around.
"What I want to know is who you are, carrying a weapon around." a female voice called.
Then a girl with long blond hair, with wolf ears and tail, came out of tree. Nikki had never seen anything like that, it didn't creep her out, it was just that she didn't know what kind of powers it had. She put Reaper back together and stood better to keep her balance.
"I'm here to learn how to duel, but there's a man after me, I'll have to kill him, if he shows up again." Nikki said.
"Well it's my job to protect this school at your's." the girl said attacking.
Nikki used Reaper's blade to block her punch, then pushed her back and swung the scythe in every way my arms bent. But she dodged everyone but a couple that got her cheek and arm. Then she used some kind of strange magic to attack me back. This ripped my new outfit, making Nikki mad, she paid good money for her clothes so she didn't have to wear the school uniform.
After about an hour or so, the fight ended since it didn't go any where, we were even in power. Nikki laid on the ground with Reaper across her chest, as she panted, she looked at the the other girl. Who was looking at her, panting as well.
"I didn't get your name." Nikki said in between gasps.
"You can call my Arctic." the blond said with a southern drawl.
"Huh, your accent." Nikki said with wide eyes.
"*clears throat* What accent." Arctic asked without it.
Nikki got up, using Reaper to help her up to her feet. She helped Arctic up, and tied the rope back onto Reaper, and placed it on her back. Nikki smiled at the fact she would be able to see Rail again, and then he'd be happy, and he'd hug her, and not let go. Then he'd want to sleep in the same bed as her, since he was getting into that habit.
"Well, I have to go find two people." Nikki said with a slight wave.
"Who are you looking for?" Arctic asked.
"A young boy, he's seven years old, and a teenaged male." Nikki said.
"Oh, I saw them on the beach before I came here. You should check there." she said.
Nikki nodded and ran off to the beach. It took her awhile since she was still tired from the fight with Arctic. But when she got there, Duke was showing Rail how to play catch. She smiled and joined them, only for Rail to tackle hug her, which surprised her a bit.
"Rail, I see you're happy. Do you like Duke or something?" Nikki asked sitting up, with the child still in her lap.
"He's alright, he tells me, that he has a cousin with longer hair than you do. I find that hard to believe." he said.
"Well, I can. It's hard to do, but it's possible to grow your hair out very long. I just happened to have been born with long hair." Nikki said brushing some sand from her hair that was on the ground.
"Yes, the same with my cousin." Duke said sitting next to her.
Rail snuggled into Nikki's lap, as she noticed how late it was getting. Rail must have been getting tired from his day of fun with Duke. But there was still a lot of time before the sun set. She picked Rail, then set him down, and bent down, she started to roll up his shorts some more, and took off his socks and shoes. The young boy looked at her strange, while she knotted her hair to put it in a ponytail, and take her shoes and socks off.
"What are you doing? There are rocks and sharp shells in the sand." Duke said.
"We're going to play in the waves." Nikki said taking Reaper off her back and dropping it onto the sand, and tie the long parts of her dress, so they wouldn't get wet.
"Yay, sounds like fun." Rail said running to the shallow water.
Nikki walked after him, and into the water. Rail was jumping every time a wave came, and sometimes into Nikki's arms, were she was spin around, her long hair behind them. Duke was having fun just watching them play in the water, splashing each other, and dancing in the water. Soon, both of them were completely soaked to the bone. Nikki's long hair had fallen out of it's knot, and gotten wet.
Rail smiled, as Nikki carried him up the steep hill to the dorm. Duke walked right beside her, watching the young boy, wanting to fall asleep. Nikki looked at Duke from the corner of her eye.
"Thank you, Duke. I don't know what I would do, if I couldn't train today." Nikki said.
"It was nothing. He's a lot like Sugar Baby, show them how to do something they didn't know how to do, and they'll keep doing it forever until bored." Duke said.
"Hey! I heard that mister." Sugar yelled jumping on Duke's back and pulling at his cheeks.
"She's like a ninja." Rail said looking at Sugar.
"Not really. I'm a lot better." Nikki said.
"I bet you are." he said resting his head back on her shoulder.
Nikki went to their and changed into dry clothes, a long with Rail, since he would catch a cold more easily then she would. She took a towel and dried his hair so it was at lest barely damp. Then she did the same with her's. She knew it would be dinner soon, since she could smell the food cooking. Sugar came in when they were done, Duke entered, only when Sugar said it was okay. Sugar had a boom box and started to play music. Nikki couldn't help but pick Rail up and dance.
"Ha ha, haa. This is fun." Rail laughed.
Sugar noticed that Nikki seemed to know what she was doing. Everything was with so much grace, and she could change her speed when the song did. It was like she was trained to be able to do that. She didn't know what to make of it. She could only tell that Nikki was either hiding something, or she was like her and her friends.
By the time Nikki was done dancing, it was dinner. Rail was happy, and shoving all the food he could into his mouth. Nikki smiled, but then noticed the food didn't look like the food Dorothy usually made. She looked around and noticed a woman with short light brown hair, with some gray streaks in it.
"Man, who made this. And where is it from?" Jaden and Rail asked shoving all kinds of the meat into their mouth.
Nikki whipped some sauce from Rail's face, before he ate any more. Sugar was looking at the woman strangely, and had a frown on her face. Nikki looked a little puzzled. The woman walked over and gave Sugar a warm and loving smile.
"Sugar Baby, don't you like the food?" the woman asked.
"No, I don't. When will you get the message. I don't want to be what you want me to be." Sugar said, she stood up and left without even touching the food.
Nikki looked at Duke, who was on the other side of Rail. He looked at her, she could tell he knew what was going on. But only messed up Rail's hair, as he kept eating the food, that not even Nikki could name. She couldn't believe that he would eat something that he didn't even know what it was.
"It's from Lovemainea, that's where Sugar Baby's grandmother and her mother are from. But her mother passed away when she was born, so she's next in line to be the queen. This is the finest food from there. Be careful, too much will make you sick." Duke said taking Rail's plate.
"Huh, I was eating that." Rail whined.
"You'll get sick if you eat to much." Duke said.
"I will not, I can eat all kinds of food." Rail said.
"You're body is not a custom to this kind of food. You'll be sitting in the bathroom all night if you eat any more." Duke said his red eyes showing that he was serious.
"But I'm hungry." Rail whined looking from him to Nikki.
"Let him learn, it's good for him to learn a few things the hard way, it's how I learned." Nikki said giving Rail the plate of food again.
"Are you sure about it?" Duke asked.
"Yes, you wouldn't be surprised what I learned from being stubborn. One time, I needed help with getting off a raft in shark infested water, I didn't take the help of another trainee. I learned the hard way, that even if I don't like the person, I should take their word that they would help." she said finishing her food.
Duke didn't understand the story, let alone Nikki. She could carry her huge and heavy weapon with one hand, and yet even he had a problem holding with two hands. She wasn't like a normal human, it was like she was trained to fight things and kill when she was told to. He wanted to know her life story.
"Nikki, can we talk, later?" Duke asked.
"What about Sugar? I thought you were suppose to protect her. You can't do that if you're spending all your time with me or Rail." she said looking at him with her purple eyes.
"She still has Sabrina, plus my cousin hasn't shown up in a long time. I don't think he's going to for a while longer." he said.
"Oh, I see. What do you want to talk about?" she said.
"I'm not afraid to tell you about me, and I do, because your Sugar Baby's friend. But you puzzle me. I don't know anything about you, you're a very different person, from any human I've seen." he said.
"What's that suppose to mean? That I'm a freak?" she said standing up.
Before he could say a thing Nikki marched out of the room, and out of his sight. He felt like an idiot, for saying that. Now Nikki would never speak to him, he knew that just by the way she walked out, and the hurt in her face.
"GOD DAMN IT!" Nikki yelled throwing rocks into the ocean behind the Slifer dorm.
She tried to hide the hurt she felt when Duke had said that, but it showed, and she hated it. She hated being weak, and showing her emotions. She wasn't train for this, she was trained to hide her emotions and get her job done, and she couldn't do that.
"What is my job now? I ran away from Chronos with Sven and Train. I can't go back now. Or can I?" she said to herself.
Then an images of Rail, clinging to her side, and sitting in her lap, sleeping next to her at night, him in the ally way next to that hotel. Tears started to form in her eyes, he was her job now. She knew that she didn't know what to do now that she didn't have Chronos to turn to for time killing things.
Rail was left alone in that ally, and she needed something to keep her mind off of...Jim. Now Duke and Rail were taking up so much of her mind, she hadn't thought of him. He loved her, and before he was killed, she finally told him, only to lose him. She didn't want to lose Rail or Duke or anyone at the school to Creed ever again.
"My, my. What is something like you doing cry?" Creed's voice asked as a blue rose showed up in her blurred vision.
Without even thinking, Nikki turned her hand into a long sword, and it went right through his stomach. She shoved it deeper into him, more tears flowing down her face. She wanted this man dead, he killed someone she cared for, and he might try to kill the newest people in her life. Then with a big yank, she pulled the sword out.
"Nikki!" Arctic's voice called.
The blond pulled Nikki back, as her hand turned back to normal. There were six others behind her, all shocked that her hand turned from a sword back into a hand. Nikki pushed Arctic away and turned back to Creed.
"He killed him, Arctic. He's the man, I need to kill, you can't keep me from killing him. He killed the, first and only person, I cared for. I want this man dead, he's after me, for what you just show me do." Nikki yelled as her hand turned into a blade.
"Nikki, calmed down. I don't know the whole story but you can't just kill him. Not here, not down." Arctic said.
"I have to, or he'll try to hurt Rail, or someone else that I came to care for so far in this damned school." Nikki yelled.
Arctic turned Nikki to face her, but then she noticed Creed, was standing straight up, his clothes still ripped from Nikki slabbing him, but he wasn't bleeding any more, there wasn't even a cut any more. She wasn't sure what to make of it. She knew that wasn't right.
"He's not hurt. But I saw you... I saw you stab him." she said.
"I didn't know what that ability, but I'll kill him. But I'll need your help. I can only turn so many times, and for so long. That's why I tried to use Reaper all the time, that's why I try and carry it around all the time." Nikki said as her other hand turned into a sword.
Arctic only nodded, and told the other girls to help out. Creed pulled out his little hilt of his sword, Nikki watched carefully, as he aimed it for her, but the blade itself went for one of the girls. The shortest one, with icy blue hair and eyes. Nikki pushed her out of the way and blocked the invisible blade.
"Creed, you're dead meat." Nikki said.
"What's up with his sword, there's no blade." the icy blue haired girl asked.
"It's a chi sword, it uses his chi, or something. If we put up a good enough fight, we could get out the level two, we'll be able to see it." she said.
"Alright girls, put up a good one. Don't ever hold back." Arctic said.
"We never do." they said together.
Creed went for Nikki, but Arctic attacked Creed, but his blade still got Nikki's arm. The warm blood ran down Nikki's arm, but she ran at Creed and went to stab him, but there was a sharp pain in her shoulder. She noticed that Arctic's wide eyes, along with the other's were the same.
But Nikki only heard two voices, Duke's and Rail's. Both calling her name at the same time, full of the same amount of surprise and shock as the next. But she couldn't say anything as blood ran out from her mouth. It took her a while to realize what happened, Creed's sword came back around and got her in the shoulder.
Duke sat there watching Rail, Nikki didn't have to tell him, but he watched Rail for her until she came back. Rail's stomach was holding up better then he'd thought it would. The kid was on like his tenth plate, and Jaden had stopped as seven. He couldn't believe what this kid could do with his stomach.
"Duke, I want to go on the beach and play some more ball." Rail said.
"Sure, there's still some light out. I don't think Nikki would mind." Duke said getting up.
"Yay, I like spending time with you, but Nikki's the one person I love the most." Rail said standing up.
"What does that mean?" Duke asked.
"I mean what I said." Rail said.
They went outside, Rail held onto the rim of his coat. Once they got the the path to the beach, they both noticed Nikki and seven other girls fighting a man with longish silver hair, dressed in strange clothes. Duke noticed Nikki's hands were in the shape of blades, like her hands were blade.
Then blood came out of her left shoulder, but he couldn't see what caused it. Rail clung to his side, tears running down his face. Both of them didn't understand what to do.
"NIKKI!" they both yelled, as she fell to her knees.
"Rail, stay here." Duke ordered prying the young boy off him.
"NO! I WANT TO GO WITH YOU!" Rail yelled.
"You can't. That man could kill you. Nikki would kill me if I let that happen." Duke said kneeling in front of him.
"I don't care. That man hurt her, he hurt Nikki." Rail cried trying to whip away tears, only for more to fall down.
"I'm going to check on her now, just stay here. See if you can bring her weapon, bring it." he said.
"Alright, I'll try" Rail said going to the dorm.
Duke got up and ran to the edge of the cliff and jumped down. He landed with ease on his feet, and took off running toward the man, he could only label the man as, the man who hurt Nikki. But a girl with icy blue hair stopped him, he knew this young girl too well.
"Sugar Baby?" Duke asked.
"I didn't think you'd know. But you can't go over there, that man, Creed, he'll kill you." Sugar said.
"I don't care. Nikki need my help, Sugar Baby." he said.
"She's fine, just in shock. She was crying when we found her trying to kill him. Turns out, Creed had killed the one person Nikki cared for. I don't know who, but she was really upset." she said.
"She was just stabbed, or did you not see that." he yelled.
"I did, but she's fine. She only needs to catch her breath. She's running on other things than hate, there's rage and sadness, and even love. I'd know this Duke, you can only feel the hate, but not the rest. I know you, Duke." she said.
"No, I've spent so much time with you, I know why my kind says their people of hate, because if we do find that thing, that's so pure and sweet, we can't stop it. We'd die for that person." he said.
"Duke, you really care for Nikki, even though you barely know her." Sugar said.
"Yes, now out of my way." Duke said.
Sugar knew there was stopping him, she's known Duke for over a year now, and didn't want him to lose something he's finally found, something he really cared for, and he could lose it now. She knew it was one of the first laws of Lovemainea, never get in the way of love.
Duke took off towards Nikki. He didn't want her to die, and he didn't want to see her die. He ran up the man, Creed and blasted him, with all the power he had. Creed slid across the sand. Which shocked everyone there, because they couldn't get the guy to move an inch.
Nikki was sitting on her knees putting as much weight as she could on to the wound. She was losing a lot of blood, she could feel it running down her back. She knew that the nanomachines weren't working because the bleeding wouldn't stop. But then she noticed Duke, standing in front of her, and Creed getting up.
What had she missed when she wasn't looking? Why was Duke there? Wouldn't he be watching Rail for her, since she wasn't there to watch him. But she knew one thing, Creed found an new target, Duke. She knew this because Creed got up, and was running at Duke, with his sword at level two.
"NO, DUKE! THIS ISN'T YOUR FIGHT!" Nikki yelled.
Duke stopped and looked at her, and just then Reaper landed in between Duke and Creed, making Creed stop. It was standing because it's blade was in the sand, and the other was shining in the setting sun's light. Nikki looked at were it had came from, there Rail stood, panting, but standing at the top of cliff.
Nikki stood up, and walked over to Reaper, and pulled it out of the ground and hit the button that made it into a chain scythe. She didn't care any more, about her wound on her shoulder, she had to protect Duke and Rail, that's all that mattered. She threw one end at Creed, cutting his side.
Next she tugged it making it wrap around Creed's arms and chest area, and tugged it hard making the blade cut deep into Creed's back. She wasn't going to let him hurt Rail or Duke, even if it meant she would die from blood lost.
She walked over to Creed, panting and shaking from the blood loss. But she used the chain to pull Creed over to her, when she couldn't make the rest of the walk. She pulled him close and looked up at him and said, "Get out of here, before I do kill you. And if you ever harm any one you see here or on that cliff, then I'll kill you in the most painful and slow way possible." her voice cold and emotionless, as her purple eyes. After that the world to Nikki went dark.