Rockman EXE
Guardians of the Light Circle
Episode 9: Guardian's true Fear
Opening Song:
Ikutsu namida o nagashitara
Every Heart sunao ni nareru darou
Dare ni omoi wo tsutaetara
Every Heart kokoro mitasareru no darou
Nagai nagai yoru ni obieteita
Tooi hoshi ni inotteta
Meguru meguru toki no naka de
Bokutachi wa ai o sagashiteiru
Tsuyoku tsuyoku naritai kara
Kyou mo takai sora miageteiru
(All official RockmanEXE characters are owned Capcom)
At Planet Obsidian...
"Umm... Onee-chan... exactly what are we doing here?" Meiru slowly walked towards the entrance of Dark Star's palace, with Flora right in front of her. They reached a field of bushes and kneeled down. "This place sort of gives me the creeps..."
"It is supposed to be a graveyard for defeated souls, evil souls" whispered Flora. She looked at the pitch-dark sky, the howling of wolfs covered the entire area, completely surrounding the place. She telepathically spoke with Meiru, "Don't move, we've got company"
The green-eyed girl dashed forward, towards a pillar and stood right behind it. She gazed at a three-meter tall wolf. Its eyes were bloody red and they stared at the obsidian-stoned pillar. Meiru stood still, not making a single noise. She begun to shiver, sweating, while her chocolate-brown eyes watched as the wolf reached the front of the pillar. The beast growled, showing its deadly sharp teeth and powerful claws. Meiru looked at Flora, who was turning her head to face the wild beast. Her left arm was replaced by a turquoise bow. She bit her bottom lip and gazed at the black fur of the growling wolf. This is going to be harder than I thought... if I kill this guy, Dark Star would know that we're here...
The brown-haired girl's eyes moved from the wolf to the red-haired girl. She summoned a white feather and firmly kept it in her grip. She sighed and sent Meiru a message, with her mind, "Meiru-chan, can you see anything small that you can throw?"
"Let me see... will a stone do the job?" replied Meiru, a purple stone being in her hold.
"Perfect... I want you to hit that pillar... that should give me enough time to shoot it with one of my arrows and put him to sleep", explained Flora.
"Got it", the brown-eyed girl lifted her right arm and threw the stone, hitting the purple pillar.
"Grrrr..." the beast aggressively turned around, giving Flora just enough time to step away from the pillar. She put the feather on the arrow's tip and shot the black-furred beast. It groaned in pain, falling onto the dirty ground.
Meiru walked to her sister's side and murmured, with worry in her voice "Did you kill it?"
"No, I just put it to sleep. If the rest find him, they will think that he is enjoying a well-deserved nap. Besides, these fellas guard this palace with sharp eyes" Flora grabbed Meiru's arm and sprinted 50 feet to the air. She took hold of a window-edge, flinging the brown-eyed girl into the room, before entering it herself.
"W-Wow... can you teach me how to do that?" Meiru gazed at the green-eyed girl's face, in shock. She shifted her weight from her knees, to her legs.
Flora chuckled and replied, "Sure, but not now. We've got to find that cousin of ours and find out what he's up to."
"What else can he do? Daisgaine's power is no longer an option to him, so he shouldn't be a problem anymore... right?" inquired Meiru.
"I'm afraid that Dark Star has only showed a few of his dirty tricks. You haven't even confronted Empress yet. Now she can become a cramp on the neck" Flora scanned the place with careful eyes. No sign of wolves here... that's strange...
"What's wrong Onee-chan? Is something out there?" whispered Meiru, while peeking from behind Flora's shoulder.
"Not a single soul... that's really troubling, Dark Star has always got this place with guards at every single corner" the brown-haired girl softly tiptoed to the end of the hall. In front of her was a wide stairway, she suddenly stopped. "Hold on"
"What is it?" Meiru stood behind Flora. She tilted to the side, her eyes looking at the eternal-looking stairs.
"This seems a little too fishy in my opinion... my guess is that he should be in the throne room", the green-eyed girl pointed at an obsidian-stoned door.
"The faster we get home, the better... I really don't like this place" Meiru looked at the broken windows, spider webs covering the black curtains, at the dirty furniture, covered in dust and felt the ghostly cold breeze, almost whistling in her ears. Near the door was a ring of wild black roses. She tilted a little to smell its fragrance, but froze. The brown-eyed girl could see something moving... and at the very top of the ring... an eye opened.
"AAAAAHHH-mmmmff!" Meiru screamed, but a hand covered her mouth, stopping her from increasing the volume.
"Shhh!" sharply whispered Flora. She slipped her palm away from Meiru lips and spoke with a soft and firm voice, "Enough with the screaming!"
"I-I'm so s-scared!" the red-haired girl tightly embraced her sister, while trembling in fear. "I-I want to go home! Nooow!
Flora sighed and sweatdropped, "Look, we're just going to spy on Dark Star for a little while, then we can go to Netto's house and you can squeeze him as much as you want"
"S-Sounds good..." stammered Meiru. She took a deep breath and released the green-eyed girl from her breathtaking hug.
"Now, let's get this over with..." Flora was surrounded by a turquoise aura, her eyes glowed and she took Meiru's arm. She went through the purple-stoned wall, together with the chocolate brown-eyed girl. They were standing at one of the edges of the throne room, hidden from the centre, where two voices spoke to each other.
"That guardian is more unpredictable than I expected" comment Empress, who was standing right in the middle of the room, with both her arms crossed.
Stomping to her side was no other than Dark Star, a frustrated look all over his face, "That netnavi, Rockman... he has Daisgaine's power and from what I saw, he loves that Hatto. Damn it! Ever since Nature awakened, my plans have been completely ruined!"
"I'd say that we should ask Hanarin to take care of her" suggested Empress, while evilly grinning.
"Her shadow... hmm... sounds like a magnificent idea... no one knows Nature better than her!" the powerful warrior mischievously smiled at the guardian. "That guardian had better be ready... MUAHAHAHAH!"
The brown-haired girl clenched her teeth, while squeezing her fists. Hanarin... no... not her...
"We should also think about the other guardians and protectors, Dark Star-sama..." Empress mumbled, while gazing at the warrior's face.
Dark Star grinned, "Well... we should make sure that Nature meets the man of her dreams, now shouldn't we?" Empress flipped her long, red her back and chuckled.
"I don't like the sound of this..." whispered Meiru. She turned and faced the brown-haired girl. "Onee-chan, what's wrong?"
Flora tightly hugged her legs, shaking in despair. Her eyes sparkled under the few lights in the room, tears rolled down her face, wetting her cheeks. She shut her eyes, while sobbing. Meiru embraced the girl, comforting her. She telepathically whispered, "What happened? Are you okay?"
"I'll tell you later… right now we need to get out of here..." Flora pulled Meiru closer, an aura surrounding both of them, "L-Let's go to your boyfriend's house... I'm sure that h-he won't mind having us o-over..."
The brown-eyed girl blushed, as her eyes became wide open, "W-What!?" and at that moment, both sisters disappeared, leaving no trace behind.
"Did you hear that?" questioned Empress.
"Of course, that girl's heart is in pain. Her sister doesn't remember anything about her life in Linphea and her loving Helio is still unfound. This is the moment that we've been waiting for!" exclaimed Dark Star, an echo spreading in the room.
At the Hikari Residence...
The morning sun rose into the bright-blue sky, its light arriving at Netto's window. He lied on his bed, snoring loudly. Inside his blue PET was sleeping Rockman, who was resting on a comfy, blue bed. At the corner of the screen was the time. It showed 8:52am. Only Haruka, Netto's mother, filled the house with her soft humming, while cooking a delicious breakfast.
"Huh?" gasped Haruka. She turned around, facing a pure turquoise light. It was warm, gentle, but most of all, it felt sad. "Who's there?"
"Haruka-san!" Meiru's voice called out from the centre of the light, as it slowly disappeared.
"Meiru-chan! Why are you here? Did something happen to your parents?" asked Haruka.
The red-haired girl lifted her sister up and replied, "Papa and Mama are not coming back home until school starts... umm... Haruka-san..."
"Yes?"
"Could we stay here for a while? We won't bother much!" Meiru looked at Haruka with a gentle smile.
"I'm sure that Netto won't mind having a few more faces in the house..." cheerfully responded Haruka.
Meiru giggled and looked at her sister's face, "Can you stand up, Onee-chan? Not hurt?"
"D-Don't worry... I'm okay..." mumbled Flora, while staring at the floor. "I just feel a little dizzy that's all"
"Okay" sighed Meiru, she guided green-eyed girl to the couch and let her sit down. "Do you need anything?"
Flora carefully stood up; ignoring the hand that her sister was offering, "I just need to be alone for a while..." she walked towards the door, with heavy steps, sobbing.
"Onee-chan..." Meiru watched as her Flora disappeared from her view. But she didn't understand, she couldn't, for this was all about their first lives. The brown-eyed girl didn't remember much; so trying to help Flora would only make things worse.
"While I finish breakfast, how about you go to Netto's room? He might have the most wonderful shock of his life!" suggested Haruka, chuckling at Meiru's blushing face.
The red-haired girl answered with a hum and nodded. She walked towards the brown-haired boy's room, while madly blushing. After taking a long deep breath, she opened the door and carefully studied the room. Netto rested on his bed, his blanket halfway down the ground. A warm light reached his face, making him look like an angel. Meiru's eyes sparkled at the sight, her cheeks being as red as cherries. She reached the edge of his bed and sat down. Her heartbeat increased, once the palm of her hand touched Netto's soft cheek. She reached down, her eyes looking directly at his sleeping face and then...
"... Meiru-chan?" the brown-haired boy's eyes slowly opened, murmuring her name.
"Eh?" Meiru stood there in shock and after a few seconds, the red tone on her cheeks covered her entire face, "EEEEEHHH!?"
The redhead went all the way to the back of the room. She panted, trying to keep herself calm, "I... y-you see... umm... w-well... umm..."
"What's going on..." Netto heavily lifted himself up, stretching his arms to the air, as he yawned.
"I... I was just checking whether you had... umm... fever..." murmured Meiru, struggling to come up with an excuse.
"Oh... Okay!" exclaimed Netto. He reached his closet and took out a pair of clothes. "I'm going to change, can you turn around?"
"S-Sure!" Meiru turned and faced the door, blushing in embarrassment. I can almost hear my heartbeat through my ears... oh god... why me!
"Umm... Meiru-chan can you help me out?" Netto was having a hard time with zipping up his vest. He looked at the red-haired girl straight in the eyes, while sweatdropping.
"Okay..." Meiru walked towards the brunette-haired boy. She reached the zipper, pulled it up and down a couple of times and zipped it. "That should do it"
Netto took Meiru's delicate hands and covered them with his own, "Arigatou!"
"Netto..." chuckled Meiru. She felt the warmth of his touch all over her body. Her heartbeat was a pair of loud drums again. "C-Come on! Let's go downstairs!"
The red-haired was about to reach the door, when suddenly... a hand stopped her. She turned and she gazed at Netto's sweet-looking face. She could almost fall on her knees because of him simply staring at her with those loving eyes. He softly rested his hands on her shoulders and smiled.
"Netto! Meiru-chan! Breakfast is ready!"
Both of them snapped back into reality. Netto sighed and cheerfully looked at the redhead, "You should really taste Mama's food, it's delicious!" he grabbed her hand and guided her downstairs, to the living room.
"I can't wait!" exclaimed Meiru, but her cheerful smile was replaced by eyes with pure worry. Onee-chan... I understand your pain... I love Netto with all my heart and if he would disappear from my life... I... I don't even know what I would...
At the Akihara Park...
Near the very edge of the park is a field of Sakura trees. The wind blew, sending the cherry blossoms down, to the ground. Flora sat under the most beautiful Sakura tree, a blossom being at the very top of her palm. A soft breeze danced in the trees, the girl's voice following. Her cheeks were still wet from unstoppable tears.
...
I'm waiting for the night drifting away
On the waves of my dreams to another day
I'm standing on a hill and beyond the clouds
The winds blowing still and catching my doubts
I'm hunting on the night the slave to my dream an illustrated scene descends in the sleep
We're playing for the fights emotional games
I'm turning off my eyes and hiding my shame
The green-eyed girl squeezed her PET, gazing at her netnavi. Both of them suffered, cried, smiled, laughed and lived together. It was a life that both of them had to share. It was almost as if their first lives had been a dream, an endless dream... a neverending dream...
A neverending dream a dream of you I believe I received a sign of you
Tonight I want to hide my feelings too
As you do and I want to be with you
...
Someone walked towards Flora. He had only seen her once, during the battle against Dark Star. His sapphire eyes looked at the girl's long brown hair, as the wind blew, her hair following the breeze. He took a step forward and met her eyes. Flora looked awful, compared to the confident and energetic girl that he had seen before. He reached the ground and sat right next to her.
"If I were you, I would dry those tears, being a celebrity means cameras at every corner" the boy sighed.
"Thanks for the advice… but I already took care of that… Ijuin Enzan" Flora showed him a weak smile. Her eyes moved from his face, back to the field of Sakura blossoms. She hid her face between her legs, letting tear drops fall down her cheeks.
Enzan stood up and put both hands in his pockets, "Crying is not going to solve anything"
"I know… but tears fall and so does the pain. If you keep it inside for too long, your heart will break and so will your soul. Trees follow the same path. During the summer, they are filled with heavy glory. Autumn comes and eases the weight on its branches, winter gives them a goodnight kiss before going to bed, while spring wakes them up, giving them the heavenly sun."
The blue-eyed boy stood there in shock. Flora's words couldn't have come from any person. He looked at the brown-haired girl's face and watched as she lifted herself up, now standing.
She gazed deeply into his eyes and spoke, "You can think that crying is a childish thing if you want, but I'll remind you that it has saved the lives of people that have lost and found their hearts", the green-eyed girl turned, her back now facing Enzan. "Keep that in mind… and thanks for your company"
With that said, white wings grew from her back, they spread to the air, with a single flap and Flora reached the sunset sky.
"That girl… she looks really familiar…. somehow" thought Enzan out loud. At that moment, a digital version of Blues appeared on the boy's left shoulder, "I have sent the report on Dark Star's disappearance, Enzan-sama"
"Good, let's go back", commanded Enzan.
"Roger!" Blues transferred himself back to the red PET.
Enzan looked at the light pink field. In the middle of the Sakura blossoms was a white feather. He picked it up and looked at it carefully. I've met that girl before…. I don't know why… but I'm going to find out who you are…. Sakurai Flora….
At the Hikari Residence…
"Meiru-chan, did your sister tell you where she went? It's getting really dark…" Haruka looked at the red-haired girl with worry in her eyes.
"She didn't tell me anything…" Meiru sighed and took another bite from Haruka's magnificent curry. "But I'm not very worried about her, besides she has fought Dark Star many times… I think that's dangerous enough"
"I want another round!" exclaimed Netto.
Meiru yelled at his face, "You have eaten five plates already!"
"But I'm still hungry!" whined the brunette-haired boy. He picked up his plate and gave to Haruka, who filled it up for the sixth time in a row.
"You are such a pig" Meiru sweatdropped.
I'M BACK!
Everyone stood where they were, without making any type of noise, until Meiru broke the silence, "Onee-chan!" She ran towards her sister and hugged her, "Where have you been? I've been dead worried about you!"
"Sorry about that… WOW! Now that looks tasty…. is there anymore curry left?" Flora gazed at the bowl of curry, as its smell reached her nose.
"You came just in time! If you would have come any later, Netto would have finished all of it by now!" Haruka smiled cheerfully. She brought a bowl of just-heated curry and put it right in front of Flora's spot. She picked up a spoon and took a bite.
"Well?" asked Netto.
"This is the…. BEST CURRY I'VE EVER TASTED! Even restaurant curry doesn't taste this good!" Flora devoured the curry, until there was nothing left. "Seconds please!"
"You're acting like Netto" laughed Meiru.
"HEY!" shouted the brown-eyed boy. The redhead continued laughing, until she was interrupted by a voice that only she could hear, it was Flora, "Meiru-chan… what Dark Star is planning next is going to hurt us, it might even affect your friends…. we need to be ready for this..."
"I know… but we're not alone and that's why I'm not scared! We can do this if we stick together!"
"And I wouldn't want it in any other way!"
Flora: I don't like the sound of this….
Emmie: Hanarin is no joke…. she can be a terrifying murderer and a nightmare….
Flora: We need to awaken Hatto before things get really out of hand!
Emmie: And we've also got to find the rest of the guardians….
Flora: … and protectors
GN2012: I agree!
Flora & Emmie: GuardianNature2012-sama~!
GN2012: The song that you just heard is 'A Neverending Dream' the version from Cascada. Let's just say that I'm a big fan of hers so Flora and Emmie will be pretty much singing all of her songs. OF COURSE! Any requests will be accepted!
Flora: Don't forget to read & review!
Flora & Emmie: Coming next… Hatto's awakening, Part 1!
Ending Song:
Fureta yubisaki
Kokoro tomoshite
Nagaredasu senritsu
Ai o nozomu
Kizutsuketa eda no saki
Kuchite yuku sadame na no ?
Tozasareta toki no hazama ni mayoikonda
Chiisana hikari no shizuku
Yume no owari tada kimi dake o negau
Hitomi ni utsuru
Gin no tsukikage
Yasurakana senritsu
Douka towa ni
Kizamiyuku hari no oto
Aragaenu sadame na no?
Chigirareta kono gensou o tsutsumikonda
Utsuro na hikari no rasen
Motomeru no wa tada shiawase na kotae
Hari iro no toki no hazama ni michite yuku yo
Odayaka na hikari no shizuku
Yume no owari tada sore dake o negau