Chapter 12 – The Reformed Kai

"Guests?" Aya asked.

"Yup. Just do what you wanted to do now," Kye answered.

"Sure…" she shrugged and pulled a small red crystal seemingly out of nowhere.

"Is that…" Sieglinde asked.

"Yes, that's the crystal that Xadeus left me just before I sent him into oblivion," Aya said calmly. "It's supposed to contain the knowledge of the Neuroi race spanning over hundreds of millions of years."

"You had something like that and you didn't bother peeking into it?" Adolfine asked surprised.

"Grandpa said it could be potentially dangerous, so we both didn't bother," Aya answered matter-of-factly. "Kye, do you perhaps have some plans regarding it?"

"Thanks you the meddling of Toshiro and Livy, you are now a goddess, so you CAN use that crystal without any substantial risks. But before that, guest number one!"

Kye snapped her fingers, and a very familiar young woman appeared, wearing only a skimpy training suit, which almost didn't cover her insanely trained but curvaceous body.

"G-Grandpa…?" Aya asked surprised. "No… I feel it's not you."

"Hi, Aya," the woman smiled. "Well, I used to be just a female form of Toshiro, but I'm now a living, breathing and independent entity. And also a goddess," she winked after her explanation.

"To-Toshiko…" Sieglinde's cheeks flared up all of a sudden.

The one she called Toshiko looked towards her, raised an eyebrow, and then it struck her.

"Ah yes! The one I made out with in the kitchen of that base in the middle of nowhere!" Toshiko shouted happily. "Sieglinde, right?"

"Uh, yes…" the blonde Karlslander looked at her from top to bottom. "Hubba hubba…"

"You can say that again…" Adolfine muttered. "So, why are you here and where were you?"

"I'm here probably for shits and giggles," Toshiko shrugged as she looked at Kye. "And where was I? Kye's mortal home. She hooked me up there, and I found one guy there that fit my personal preferences to the T. Oh, before you ask – I have two kids, fraternal twins."

"Aawwwwww…" Aya mused with a smile. "How nice…"

"So that's one of our guests," Kye said. "A double deal coming right up!"

With a snap of her fingers, Kye summoned two people. One was a small woman with short white hairs, made up into two buns on the top of her head, so that they looked like bear ears. The other one was a man with coal black hair, a sharp look and clocking out at two meters. Both were wearing some casual wear from the beginning of the 21st century.

"Mistress Aya, welcome," the man smiled and bowed slightly. "It's nice to see you in the flesh finally."

"And I'm glad too," the woman cheered.

"Kuro and Bianca?!" Aya made eyes as big as saucers. "Ah, wait, wait… Grandpa made that thing…"

"That every sentient familiar would gain a human body upon the death of their host, or in case of their own death beforehand," Kye budged in. "That was awfully nice of him."

"Why are we here though?" Kuro asked while looking at Kye.

"Patience, we only have one triplet of guests missing," she grinned and snapped her fingers again.

A blue eyed girl in a familiar black-and-red hexagonal pattern appeared aside of what was obviously a married couple in the same attire, only sporting red eyes this time. Everyone was clueless at first, but then Aya carefully asked, "Xala? Is that you?"

"Heheh, yes, Aya, it's me. Very long time no see! You should write more!"

"S-Sorry, Xala… After Kola's death I kinda forgot about your world…" Aya scratched her head apologetically.

"Oh… Sorry then…"

"No problem, Xala," Aya smiled and looked at the two with red eyes. "I visited Xala's world multiple times, but I don't remember seeing you two… But now I sense with my powers, that you're related in a way to Xala, am I right?"

"January 28th, 1983 in this world," the man replied with a deep but slightly soft voice. "You killed me on that day, Aya."

"And your grandfather killed me on the brink of the year 1946," the woman added and giggled a bit.

"So I'm right," Aya nods with a smile on her face. "Grandpa must have been in a good mood to turn you into demi-humans, Xadeus and Xadea."

"What?!" Sieglinde, Adolfine and Nami yelled at the same time, getting into battle mode.

"Don't worry, you could all swat the three down like anemic flies right now," Kye waved her hand, trying to calm them down. "And besides that, they all relinquished their Neuroi ways. You could say they're perfectly normal humans, beside some quirks in their body structure."

The three stood down with their attitude, but Sieglinde just asked, "Aya, are you absolutely sure this is okay?"

"It's a surprise, sure, but it is okay, Sigi. Don't worry, I have my way around such people, heehee…"

"Okay then," the blonde Karlslander shrugged.

"So, how are you two doing," Aya asks while looking at the two former mortal enemies of mankind.

"Hey, why not ask me?!" Xala protests with a fake pout.

"Sorry, Xala, but I think nothing much changed, right?"

"Well, no, besides the fact that I got a bit stronger, but not anywhere near you," Xala snickered. "Okay, back to the two."

"Thank you, Xala," Xadeus smiled. "Can I call you Aya?" he looks at the black haired goddess.

"Sure," Aya nodded.

"First of all, Aya, I would like to apologize. Of course you might say I was just a simple killing machine back then, but looking back at all the atrocities my kind have committed, I can't feel at ease before I clear this issue."

"The same goes for me," Xadea added.

"You said it yourselves – you were different," Aya sighed. "Grandpa made you that, and he was also different back then, so you might say that was a spiral of wrong design choices… I'm not the king and queen or humanity right now, but I accept your apologies on a personal level."

"Thank you," both of them said in sync.

"So now back to your question, Aya," Xadeus said. "After your grandfather gave us these bodies, the goddess here," he pointed at Kye. "…teleported us into one of her worlds, the one in which Xala was there. After a brief introduction, Xala took us into her household and started teaching us what it is to be a human being. It was a long task, since true human emotions were awakening in us slowly, but we have turned out victorious."

"We have married officially in that world, and we even have a son, Xarex," a tear glittered in Xadea's eye. "I was given the gift of human maternity, and I'm very grateful for it. Spawning Neuroi was a trivial task, but a child…"

"Praise that…" the two queens of Muscle Beach muttered in accord.

Xadea tilted her head, but then Aya explained, "Don't worry, they're just reminiscing how sour they were because their body lost a lot of tone because of their pregnancy, which they had to regain with doubled effort."

"Tone?" Xadea asked. "Ah, you mean like this?" she tugs her sleeve and flexes her bicep, not even halfway there to the two Karlslanders, but enough to make them nod in appreciation. "The human body is a wonderful construct… It adapts so well to harsh environments and training…"

"So you're basically leading a normal life, right?" Nami asked. "Like normal people and everything?"

"Indeed, yes," Xadeus replied. "Aya, have you used that crystal I gave you in my final moments?"

"Right, the crystal!" she pulls it out of her pocket. "I had so much time and didn't even bother…" she sighs. "How about we all use it together?"

"Are you sure we can do that, Aya?" Adolfine asked. "It's kinda creepy…"

"I think I'll manage to adapt its potential to my Celestial Order, don't worry," Aya smiles. "So, we're doing this?"

"Sure…" Adolfine sighed. "Sieglinde?"

"Meh, why not... Nami?"

"I am kinda curious… Uh, Xala?"

"I know a lot about them, but if there's something more to learn about them, why not… After all I learned a thing or two from one Edelweiss already, heheheh…"

"What exactly?" Adolfine furled her eyebrows, knowing what might be the answer.

"Oh, I had the best sex up to that moment in my life with Toshiro…" Xala blushed slightly.

"Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh…" Adolfine muttered. "He'll bone everything with a snatch and a pair of tits…" Adolfine looked at Xala's chest. "Well, you have the qualities…"

"Oh, thank you," Xala grinned.

"Girls, please," Aya said firmly but with a smile on her face and the crystal hovering upright above her hand. "Oh, and you guys," she snickers. "Please form a nice circle."

The gathered hushed around and quickly made a circle around Aya.

"Her goes nothing…" she whispered and spiked it with her Celestial Order power.

Everyone is seeing two suns across a slightly clear blue sky. The view shifts from them down to a lush green grassland, with basins of water in the distance. Another view shift and everyone sees a familiar Neuroi shape.

"Are you Xadea?" a voice, also familiar, asks slightly muffled.

"Are you Xadeus?" the visible figure asked.

"Yes."

The image freezes, and Aya's voice is heard, "Everyone, I'll be speeding up this projection a bit, I think all the key parts are now embedded into my consciousness."

On a fast-forward speed, everyone sees as the lush planet slowly starts turning into a barren, red soil, crystal filled wasteland as the Neuroi army grew. Between the periods of growth, they see conquests of various planets, the death of many civilizations, almost from first hand. At one point, they see some kind of enormous systematized crystalline structure. Then they almost don't notice an enormous meteor being launched by Xadeus who knows where.

"Aya, stop please," Xadeus says.

The image freezes again, and he continues.

"That is our teleportation gate, the first "model," he explains. "The latter ones were more compact and hideable, and didn't need a beacon at the destination."

"So where did you land?" Nami asks.

"One of the many planets we didn't suck dry…" Xadeus sighs. "Aya, roll the tape."

"Kay."

The image starts moving at a fast speed again, showing the same process as before – the downfall of an entire planet, and some civilizations in the surrounding galaxy. The whole process repeated itself or dozens of times, when finally Xadeus said, "This is it… The beacon sent to Earth…"

Aya slowed down the "movie" and now the view changed.

"Oh?" Xadea says surprised. "I don't remember this…" she says as she sees the meteorite coming towards the Earth.

"I'm using the geomemory of the Earth," Aya snickers.

They witness a meteor striking the Yucatan Peninsula, and in turn causing the ice age that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Then they see the underground expansion of the Neuroi, and the first encounters with humankind, when they still weren't sapiens. Finally, they see the outskirts of Sarajevo, the place where the First Neuroi War started, when a whole armada invaded Europe after teleporting from their home planet. Fast forward, they see the same repeated September 1st, 1939.

"I think I'll be in the picture now…" Xadea says a bit uncertainly, and indeed she appears.

"Love, settle this once and for all with those puny apes," Xadeus's Neuroi voice rings in the air as he looks at Xadea the Neuroi Queen.

"Of course, love," she replies and enters the teleportation gate.

The view and time changes, and the gathered see the final moments of Xadea during the turn of the years 1945 and 1946.

"So fucking awesome…" the trio of Nami, Sieglinde and Adolfine gasped in admiration.

"Male me sure knows how to put up a stand," Toshiko giggled at her innuendo.

"Hey, Toshiro did you a few times, right?" Sieglinde asked.

"Yeah, sure. As he himself said, that was some kind of meta masturbation, more than real sex, so it doesn't count in the overall tally."

"Ah… I just wondered if I had a chance back then…" Sieglinde pondered.

"Doubt it, I know it, because I was basically him," Toshiko says firmly. "And girl, you didn't have enough after our little event?"

"It was nice…" Sieglinde muttered.

"Ugh, girls…" Aya grumbled and the memories progressed again.

All of them saw Xadeus looking towards the teleportation device, which shattered into pieces.

"So that is how it is…" he's voice sounded with unchanging tone. "Murderer… Cursed be your blood! You will see what my race can be capable of! Just you wait!"

The memories fast-forwarded one last time, showing the amassment of troops on this planet, and the start of the Cold War Crisis, as it was later named. The last thing they saw was the battle between Aya and Xadeus from his perspective. The vision disappeared and everyone now saw their "normal" things.

"I kind pity you and understand you…" Adolfine said a bit confused towards Xadeus. "You lost your beloved…"

"That was a false love," Xadeus replied adamantly. "A simple feeling of attachment, so the two of us wouldn't part our ways and do our purpose."

"So you actually HAD a purpose?" Sieglinde asked surprised. "Pray tell!"

"As our father told us in secret…" Xadea started explaining. "…we were supposed to be the regulators of the galaxy, killing off unnecessary entities. He did not however think it through and give us pre-programmed directives or limit our strength, or anything for that matter… And thus, everything what happened, happened…"

"I see…" Sieglinde nodded. "Well, that was a peculiar watch, Aya."

"Yes, indeed. And I managed to present it in a rather fathomable way, heehee…"

Jouten suddenly appeared out of nowhere at Kye's side, stopping existence in the universe, just as she herself suddenly furled her eyebrows.

"It's time," Kye said.

"Yes."

"I have to go check this out. Are you coming?"

"Where you go, I follow," Joey replied and disappeared with Kye.

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