AN: And here we are at the end of the updates of the original. We'll be in uncharted territory after this!
Linhua took a quick glance around the waiting area of the clinic. "I think that's everyone for today at least."
"Thank you Linhua" Litchi sighed and set to tidying everything away.
Almost three weeks after Kokonoe's visit, her life had become surprisingly normal once more. Unfortunately, it wasn't the kind of normal she wanted.
Ever since Roy escaped into the sewers when they last met, she hadn't seen him since.
She stood once she had cleared everything up and made her way to the door. She had something in mind that she wanted to check up on.
Facing Litchi again, Linhua noticed she was about to leave the clinic. "Are you going somewhere doctor?"
"Yes, I was going to go to the Kaka village to talk to the elder." She had made plans to do visit the Kaka elder after noticing something odd recently. "I shouldn't be too long, I just need to discuss a few things with her." Linhua gave a concerned look.
"Is everything alright? You've been going out like this a lot more than you used to."
"Everything's fine, it's mostly just to clear my head." Litchi gave a warm smile even though it hurt her to do so. It was an innocent question and she couldn't blame Linhua for asking but she never liked hearing it. Whenever someone asked if she was alright, she would always have to lie about it. She didn't want to worry anyone with her problems and felt that it was best to not tell them anything about her condition and what she was doing. "I'll be back soon." She stepped out straight after speaking to avoid further questions.
"Litchi, why are you hiding things from us?" Linhua muttered to herself, the incident with Tager replaying in her mind.
Litchi headed toward the Kaka village weighing up a number of thoughts.
Considering everything that had been going on a few weeks ago, Kagutsuchi had quickly gone back to the way it had been before Ragna's arrival. With Ragna heading to Ikaruga, she imagined most NOL officers and vigilantes would follow suit to claim the bounty on his head. Kokonoe had also mentioned finding answers in Ikaruga which meant the higher ups of Sector Seven were likely focusing their efforts there as well.
While the apparent peace was a welcome return to the norm, Litchi found it odd that she hadn't seen some of the faces that she often saw. Taokaka frequently stopped by to visit and Bang was sometimes found near her clinic but it had been weeks since she had seen either of them. As Bang hailed from Ikaruga, it was possible that he was also making his way there if he had caught wind of what was supposedly going on. As for Tao, Litchi couldn't imagine where she had gone.
"Surely she didn't leave the village," she muttered. "But if she was around, she probably would have visited me at some point."
Litchi hoped there was no connection to the fact that she hadn't seen Roy since their last encounter either.
"Everyone over here, it's Miss Faye-Ling!" A small group of kittens bounded toward Litchi the moment she came into view of the village. The nearby kittens perked up their ears at announcement and followed. Litchi knelt down to meet their eye level and waited for them all to congregate around her with some trying to climb over her as well.
"Alright, alright, that's enough," she chuckled, prying them off as best she could. No matter how many times she saw them, the kittens always warmed her heart. One by one they settled down to listen to what Litchi had to say. "I need to speak with the elder. Could one of you run along and tell her I'm here please?"
"Sure thing!" One of the kittens held her arm up to volunteer and dashed off in the other direction.
"We'll walk you over there!" The kittens tugged at her arms, all giving her toothy grins. Litchi smiled and stood, allowing them to guide her to meet the elder.
Outside the elder's hut, Litchi waved off the kittens escorting her before entering.
"So good of you to visit us again, Litchi." The elder gestured to a nearby chair opposite hers. "We haven't seen you in a while."
Litchi bowed before sitting down. "Thank you and it has been some time hasn't it? I apologise."
"No need to worry yourself. We've been managing just fine with Torakaka filling in as the village guardian while Tao is away."
"Tao's away?" Litchi repeated. That answered her main reason for visiting at least. "Where is she?"
"She didn't tell you?" The elder tilted her head to the side. "I thought you would have been the first person she told after us. She was heading off to Ikaruga along with Ragna the Bloodedge under Jubei's request. I'm sure she just forgot to tell you in her excitement."
"That sounds likely," Litchi chuckled. "Did Jubei explain why he wanted Tao to go with him?"
"She mentioned wanting to become stronger to protect us all after she got hurt a few weeks ago. I imagine Jubei sent her with Ragna because she's taken a shine to the man and venturing to distant lands will do her some good." The elder's voice was warm. Litchi smiled, proud of the progress Tao was making.
"As for what Ragna's doing in Ikaruga, I can't say. I haven't seen him since he was here last. That would be when you came to treat him."
Litchi didn't respond, thinking about what was in Ikaruga that had even Tao heading over under Jubei's instruction.
"Oh yes, there's something else I should mention," the elder continued. "It's about that creature you were looking for."
Litchi's attention was immediately caught. "What is it? Has the village been attacked again? I'm getting closer to finding a solution but-"
"No, nothing like that." She waved a hand to cut her off. "The thing is, we haven't seen it at all. Torakaka hasn't reported anything like it appearing for a while now. We're beginning to think that it's gone."
"Gone?" Arakune couldn't be gone. She wouldn't let herself believe it.
There was no way Arakune would just disappear. There was no shortage of targets nearby and it was unlikely that any vigilantes would be after a bounty considerably smaller than the one on Ragna's head. When she remembered their last encounter, Roy was struggling to keep himself in control dragged himself away in considerable pain. A thought then occurred to her.
What if he had stayed in that state?
He wanted to die by her hand but she refused. What if he held on to the sanity he had left and not consumed anyone else?
Litchi paled at the thought. If that was the case, he would have died shortly after. She was the reason he was able to come to his senses. If he died in that state, she would be responsible for it. Even inadvertently, she may have killed him.
She shook her head at the thought. If he was dead, Torakaka would have reported finding something that proved it. Litchi knew she was grasping at straws but she couldn't let herself believe he was gone. What else was there to think about though?
In her desperation for anything that could prove he was still alive, she remembered why Arakune came to Kagutsuchi in the first place. Arakune had headed to Kagutsuchi because of Ragna and his grimoire. Since Ragna had left, there were no other sources that she could think of that would draw his attention.
"If Ragna is in Ikaruga then could he have followed him?" Putting the thought of his death completely out of her mind, she decided her theory was her best chance. Arakune was capable of blending in to the surroundings making undetected escape possible and would avoid anyone if they weren't important in obtaining the Azure Grimoire.
While she knew the idea was full of holes, anything was better than thinking Roy was gone forever.
"Thank you for the information. You've been a great help but there's something I have to do." Litchi stood. "I'm going to Ikaruga."
"Oh? That's very sudden."
"I can't help but feel like there's a connection between everything that's happened and Ikaruga. If I'm right, there's also a reason for me to be there as well."
"I see." The elder also stood with some effort. "I suppose this is goodbye for now then. I do hope you return once you find what you're looking for."
"I will. I promise." She could only give a half smile in return.
Her only lead in helping Roy involved her leaving again.
Litchi headed straight back to her clinic after she left the village. She had walked quickly, wanting to start on her voyage to Ikaruga as soon as possible.
"Oh, you're back." Linhua approached the entrance of the clinic when she heard the door close. She was holding her bag of belongings, clearly waiting for her to come back before she left herself. "Did you find out anything from the village?"
"I did." Litchi brushed past her assistant. She opened a drawer and retrieved some documents inside. There wasn't much else she thought she needed besides documentation for travel. On the way back, she had decided Kazamotsu would be the best place to travel to. As a popular tourist destination, she could surely find anything she urgently needed there rather than bringing much with her.
"What are you looking for? Are you going somewhere else now?" Linhua looked confused at Litchi's haste.
Litchi nodded. "The Kaka elder gave me some information about something I've been looking into. I don't have much time to act on it so I need to go to Ikaruga as soon as I can. That means I'm going to have to leave you in charge of the clinic while I'm gone. I'm sorry but I don't know when I'll be back."
"I-Ikaruga?" Completely taken aback, Linhua could only watch with a panicked expression as Litchi looked to be almost ready to leave. "Wh-what's this all about? You never mentioned anything like this. At least tell me what you're trying to do!"
"I'm sorry." Litchi stopped for long enough to finally look Linhua in the eyes. "It's complicated."
"You always say things like that and you never even tell anyone so we don't know if it is or not." Her assistant was already on the verge of tears.
Litchi bit her lip. She couldn't deny anything she said.
Linhua clenched her fists and looked at the floor. "I saw you a few weeks ago with someone from the Library and then you were fighting the Red Devil."
"You saw that?" Litchi's eyes softened. When she recalled what had happened in those encounters, she could only imagine that Linhua assumed the worst from what she saw.
"Just tell me what's going on!" Linhua looked back up at her with tears in her eyes. "You're always leaving to go to places you don't tell us about and you just suddenly pass out sometimes when I know you're not pushing yourself! I wanted to just ignore it all because I trust you but now you're getting involved with the Library and Sector Seven and- and now…!"
Linhua couldn't bring herself to shout or even look at her any more. Trying to maintain what little composure she had left, her voice shook as she finally spoke again.
"Now you're just gonna leave us."
Litchi looked away, gripping at her sleeve.
She knew she would have to face this reaction and yet she continued to delay it for as long as she could by lying about her activities. She knew she had done this all herself.
Tager and the Kaka clan's elder had reminded her of how fortunate she was to have become almost irreplaceable to the residents of Orient Town. Even Kokonoe had said as much when they last met.
"You really set up shop here, made a name for yourself and were just gonna throw it all away for him?"
While they had been talking about her almost joining the NOL at the time, what Linhua was accusing her of doing was effectively the same. Either way she was abandoning the life she had made in Orient Town all for Roy's sake.
Linhua had every right to be mad at her. At the point she was at, she didn't know how could she call herself different from Relius, someone who only saw others as means to their own ends. In the end, she was just using the town and others so she could be close to where she knew Arakune would be.
She had to at least try to set things right before she left.
Mustering up her courage, Litchi finally faced Linhua again.
"It's something from when I was at Sector Seven," Litchi began warily. Linhua wiped some of her tears away.
They had only talked briefly about her time as Kokonoe's apprentice. She had never gone into much detail but felt that Linhua at least deserved to know a little about her past after she had been working as her assistant for a while.
"Someone I worked with, he…" She pursed her lips. "There was an accident; an experiment with the Boundary. He used my theories and research and something terrible happened to him. He's someone I owe a lot to and I've been trying to find a way to help him."
"Ever since you came here?" Linhua asked. Litchi nodded grimly.
"Before that, even." She considered her words carefully. "I've just found out that… he's in Ikaruga. There's a chance that I can save him." She knelt down and clasped one of Linhua's hands. "I just need to find him there and I can come back. I can tell you everything and then none of this will ever happen again."
"You promise?" Linhua continued to wipe the tears away from her eyes and sniffled. Litchi looked directly into her eyes and nodded. "A-alright, if you really mean it."
"Thank you Linhua." Litchi brought her into a hug which Linhua returned.
"You'll stay safe won't you?" Linhua asked once they let go of each other.
"Of course." Litchi stood and ruffled her hair, giving her assistant the warmest smile she could. "Be good while I'm gone okay? I'm sure you'll do fine."
"Thanks doctor." Linhua bowed. She picked up her bag and left.
As soon as she left, Litchi's smile fell and she gave a self-deprecating laugh. She finally resolved to stop hiding everything but couldn't even tell the whole truth. While she hadn't exactly lied, she hated how she couldn't just answer honestly.
"If she knew, she'd do whatever she could to help. I can't let her get hurt."
Litchi could only wonder if Kokonoe felt similarly whenever she would brush off her questions. She sighed. While she genuinely wanted to keep Linhua safe and life to return to normal after she came back, the fact that she was leaving all for Roy's sake was undeniable.
She shook her head.
Her mind was already made up. She couldn't worry about what anyone else thought about it now.
"I have to see this through," she thought to herself.
Putting it out of her mind, she set about closing up the clinic.
With her belongings gathered and itinerary set, Litchi left her clinic again. Unlike before when she intended to join the NOL, she turned and faced her home after walking a short distance away. Though it pained her to leave, there was a hopeful smile on her face. She was getting closer to the truth about Roy. There had to be something in Ikaruga that could help him and with Roy safe, she could stay in Orient Town for good.
"Just wait for me a little longer, everyone. I'll be with you again soon. I promise."
A Twist in Time - End
AN: I didn't expect some scenes here to need as many rewrites as they did. Not quite on the same level as chapter 6 but I wasn't happy with a good chunk of the ending. For a good while, I was toying with the idea of having Litchi outright lie to Linhua at the end. It still had the whole 'lying to keep her safe' kind of deal to it but I didn't like the sour note it was ending up with so I settled on what we have here.
As I'm sure people can imagine, the next multichapter fic will be covering how the Litchi of this universe goes through the events of Chrono Phantasma. I've gone through all the story paths and arcade modes to get the notes I wanted out of it so now I just have to put it all together! This does mean it might be a little while before that fic actually comes out but I hope people will be patient with me.
I've also got something in the works which is in this AU and Chrono Phantasma related but not be the continuation I just mentioned. It's just a little something I wasn't originally planning to do but liked the idea of.
Anyway, thank you to everyone who read this far! I hope you enjoyed!