NEO World of Advent Chapter Fifteen

"It's today right?" Clover's anxious form hovered a few inches off the ground next to Cero. "It's supposed to be released today."

"Don't worry," Cero said. "I'm sure it's up by now." Cero typed in the browser to go to the developers of Spellblade's main page, but found the page go dark for a split second, appearing on the web page where the sequel to Spellblade was advertised.

"Oh good," Clover said. "That's a relief."

"It would have taken about ten seconds longer for me to type in the address," Cero said. "You don't have to use your abilities for everything."

"You were typing too slow." Clover stared at the image rendered on the screen with reverence. "And no harm done, right? It's up on the main site. Do you have your parents' card info?"

"Yeah," Cero said. "Just don't use it for anything else, alright? This is coming out of my allowance."

"The reviews were pretty good," Clover said, "But you can't always trust the big gaming sites. Have fans posted any?"

"I'm trying to avoid spoilers," Cero said. "I'd rather not look at what they have to say. I already know a major character dies at the end."

"Noooo," Clover moaned. "I hope it's no one I like. I can't stand the wait, I have to know." She tapped her foot impatiently as Cero's purchase was verified and a small window popped up notifying them of an impending download. "You don't mind if I speed it up a bit, do you?"

Cero sighed; ever since Clover's abilities had fully developed, she had been incorrigible. She used the slightest excuse to make use of her powers. She looked older too; she stood at only a few inches shorter than he at what Cero supposed a twelve year old girl would look like. "I suppose, but be careful. I don't want my computer to get damaged."

"Please," Clover said. "You're talking to a professional here."

"Hardly," Cero responded. "You've only been hacking into things for a couple months. If anything, I am."

"Done!" Clover stared at the 'Download Complete' icon with satisfaction. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Cero rolled his eyes. "A little patience wouldn't kill you. But we can play now if you want; I'm pretty excited too."

"Sweet." Clover picked up a controller and sat in her chair. They had dragged a chair upstairs from the dining room. It had been 'an exercise in stealth' as Cero's father would have put it. Two flights of steps, a busy elevator, and an oblivious Cerveau later, the once dining-room chair was now Clover's designated gaming chair. She sat in it beside Cero as they browsed their collection of video games. "I hear their customization is pretty advanced."

"That was certainly hyped a lot," Cero agreed. They landed on a screen where the Hero and the Forest Spirit's features could be warped or go through drastic changes in color, ranging from natural light or dark skin tones to insane colorations like deep purple or sunset orange. Clover changed the Hero's cloak to a brilliant pink when Cero turned away to dig through one of his drawers for snacks. "Hey," Cero protested. "He looks better in red."

"And he still is," Clover defended her artistic interpretation of the Hero's neon pink cape. "Just a really light red is all."

She looked up behind them. "Oh hi, Zero. We were just playing that new game."

Cero made a small jump of surprise at the realization that his father had managed to open their closed door and stand beside him without his realizing it. "Stop doing that," he said irritably. "Can you please knock next time?"

"I see you've found the missing dining room chair." Zero loomed over them, unrepentant for his breach of privacy. "Your game can wait. I believe Clover is ready to expand on her abilities."

"You think so?" Clover seemed interested in the idea, despite it taking them away from precious game time. "We've already done a good bit with Nurse and Hacker abilities. Are we working on Animal ones now?"

"Yes," Zero said. "Meet me downstairs at the weapons testing room. Doigt said he would help."

"Cool," Clover said. "We'll be down soon."

Zero left the two of them to prepare; Cero shut his screen down reluctantly but knew that it was important to both his father and his elf. "You're pretty excited about this," he said. "What do you think he'll teach you?"

"I dunno." Clover popped an E-Crystal Cero from their snack pile into her mouth, munching on it thoughtfully. "I hope it's something with explosions."

"You're enough of a fire hazard as it is," Cero laughed. "I don't know if the Resistance could handle you firing off explosions when you felt like it."

"That was one time," Clover said. "And nobody told me that you couldn't microwave a plate of E-Crystals. How was I supposed to know they would blow up?"

"Either way," Cero said, "Mom still won't be happy if you start using the furniture for target practice."

"Come on Cero," she said. "You know me better than that." Cero gave her a look. "I'd only destroy the really ugly ones," she relented. "It'd be like a community service really, if you think about it. Nobody ever even uses the couches; they're too tough."

"Dad's waiting," Cero reminded her. "I'm sure he'll give you the rundown on the proper way to safely nuke a leather couch."

The two of them bickered affectionately as they took the elevator down. Cero had forgotten what life was like without the vivacious Elf. She certainly kept things interesting, that was for sure. Upon reaching the blast walls separating the weapons testing room from the rest of the Resistance deep underground, Doigt waved them over beside Zero. The room was enormous and grey, separated by two remote-controlled doors thicker than Cero and Clover put together. A few target dummies were placed haphazardly on the sides, almost as an afterthought.

"Your father told me your elf needed a safe place to practice," Doigt told Cero. "These walls can withstand a blast from a Neo Arcadian missile; I'm sure it can handle whatever she can dish out."

"Cool!" Clover looked around the area in interest. "Have you ever used them before," she wondered aloud. "If not, how do you if know they can withstand a missile?"

"Thankfully we haven't had to use them in a real-world scenario," Doigt told them, "But trust me. Even if nothing else is left standing, these beauties will be."

"Which brings us to the nature of your training," Zero said. "Clover, you have done well with the nonphysical aspects of your abilities, but I thought it would be best to let you learn restraint with those traits before moving on to combat oriented skills."

"So I do get to blow things up!" Clover clasped her hands together excitedly. "When do I start?"

"Show Doigt what you feel comes naturally," Zero told her. "I'm going to talk with Cero for a bit."

"Okay." Clover gave Cero a quick hug before skipping to the other end of the room, where she flames starting appearing from her fingertips.

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Cero asked his father. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," Zero assured him. "It's about the message you sent me a few weeks ago."

"Oh." Cero had forgotten by now about his curiosity about Croire, Zero's old Elf and Clover's predecessor. "Why talk about it now?"

"I would have sooner, but some things got in the way. Neo Arcadia still asks the Resistance for my help when needed. I may not agree with everything they do or have done, but maintaining a good relationship with the city is important."

"I remember Sorra saying something like that," Cero said. "So what was she like? I know Clover's you know, Clover, but I don't remember much about Croire."

"You wouldn't," Zero said. "She passed away when you were only four years old. She was a lot like Clover in some ways, but I don't think many people have as forceful a personality as she does. Croire was a little more subdued. We became good friends after the war, actually. It was her efforts that helped to revive me after Ragnarok."

"Really?" Cero hadn't heard much about the circumstances behind his father's revival. "How come she survived and the first elf, Passy, didn't?"

"Passy was a younger elf," Zero explained. "And most elves do die once they make use of their powers, yes. Croire was a very special elf, however. Your mother had found her in an abandoned factory and believed she would be of some help to me. She could use abilities from each family of elf without dying, though it often tired her if she exerted too much or too many of them in a brief span of time. I don't think you wanted to talk to me about her abilities though."

"No," Cero confessed. "I knew elves had personalities, but before I met Clover, I never knew how much like us they were. Clover's my friend; she's every bit of a person as I am, but a lot of people won't give her the chance to see that. It's frustrating, knowing that even some of the people I care about don't see her as an equal."

"People have a curious way of being cruel without ever intending to be." Zero placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "I may not remember all of it, but I have been around for some time now. There was a time when reploids were treated as less than human."

The two of them stopped as Clover cheered behind a giant red cloud of her making. Soon, the area was ablaze with makeshift bombs. "She really is something," Zero said with a hint of a smile on his lips. "You're lucky to have her as a friend."

"Believe me," Cero said. "I know. What did people say, back then? About reploids, that is. Do you remember?"

"There were a lot of debates about the morality of allowing us to exist at all," Zero said. "Most of the world was slow to accept us at first. Humans have this concept called the 'soul.' They thought of themselves as unique and had been the dominant species for all of history. Sharing the spotlight with their own creations was a harsh lesson in humility." Zero leaned back, as though the memories bore a physical weight to them. "I was seen as little more than a tool for war by many. X and I helped change the ideas they held about us as we saved them from countless disasters and the mavericks, but not everyone was willing to accept us. You can't force a people to do anything, Cero. You're just going to have to accept that there will always be people who resist change, if for no other reason than to resist change."

Their conversation was halted momentarily as Clover began to trash talk her targets before incinerating them. "You know," Zero said with some amusement, "She reminds me of an old friend of mine."

"Which one?" This was an unusual opportunity to know more about his father's enigmatic past. "I don't think X was ever so happy to create wanton destruction." Clover was now blasting multiple target dummies with clouds of fire and lightning amidst maniacal laughter.

"I think I've told you a little about him before," Zero said. "His name was Axl. He could change shape at will and did so frequently to prank X and I. He was a good hunter. I wish I had let him know that more before he passed."

"What happened? I know X is gone, but you've been revived a few times now," Cero said. "Why couldn't he be brought back?"

"I don't know for sure," Zero said. "But that thing humans call the 'soul' doesn't always come back with the reconstruction of a reploid's body. If it has passed into cyberspace, no manner of repair will ever bring that reploid back."

"So Axl is really gone, then? For good?"

Zero nodded. "I think so. X was powerful enough to visit us for short periods of time, but it exhausted him. He no longer has the strength to return to our world."

"Do you think something could ever bring them back?" Cero's eyes furrowed. "I don't want to ever lose you or Aunt 'Lou, or anyone."

"Death is every much a part of life as living," Zero said. "It would take something unimaginably powerful to do so, but I'm not sure that would be a good thing. This world has enough problems as it is; the idea of fallen heroes coming back might upset what delicate balance we've managed to keep up thus far."

Cero nodded. "What about Clover though? Has anyone tried to bring back a cyber elf?"

"I don't know, son." Zero watched as Doigt called Cerveau over from a connected room to access Clover's spree of mayhem. "Cyber elves aren't reploids. They aren't humans either, but their life cycle can be best described as being closest to reploids. They grow, unlike reploids, but mature much, much faster than humans do. She has not been alive for more than a year, but already she has made such a difference in the lives of those who know her. Her experiences are not invalidated by the number of years she has been consciously aware."

"She looks almost as old as I am," Cero said. "I wonder what she'd look like when she gets older."

Zero said nothing. Then, "I do not believe she will grow anymore. Your mother told me that her physical growth should have mirrored that of her abilities. I haven't told her yet, but this is the last of her growth spurts. She will likely look like this for the rest of her life."

"But she's grown so much," Cero said. "You mean, she'll never be an adult?"

"This could very well be her adult form," Zero said. "As I said before, cyber elves are very different from humans. As she experiences more of life, she will grow as a person, but her physical capabilities are going to stay as they are. Like anything, they can be refined, but no more. Is that going to be a problem? It's okay if you are bothered by it; I know you looked forward to growing alongside her."

"It's a little strange," Cero admitted. "But that's okay, I think. She's always been my friend, even when she was in the nursery chamber. This doesn't change anything."

"I'm happy to hear you say that." Zero tussled his son's hair in a rare outright show of affection. "She's going to need you. You are her closest person; I don't think you realize just how special you are to her yet."

"She's my best friend," Cero said, but he had the feeling his father meant something different. "We should probably go check on her, huh?"

"I think so as well." Zero walked beside his son as they approached Clover. She was lying on the ground, panting from the effort, but her cheeks were flushed with excitement.

"I can make things go boom!" she exclaimed. "This changes everything!"

"I should hope not," Zero said sternly. "You are not to use any of your destructive traits outside of a mission or inside this room unless absolutely necessary. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Zero." Clover nodded meekly. "I got a little carried away, I guess."

"That's alright." Zero took the clipboard from Doigt's hands. "Your animal elf abilities are considerably powerful," he commented. "A few weeks ago and you could have done well at the Grand Serena, I'm sure."

"Aww," Clover said. "Do you think they'd still let me join? I could be like someone's second. If they die, I could take their place."

"Try not to sound too excited about that," Cerveau said bemusedly. "It's not like you can't make a tournament yourself."

"Wait, you can? Can we," she asked Zero. "We could let it be between the whole Resistance! We could turn the dining room into a free for all, or maybe a really big food fight."

"I don't think it would be fair to force anyone who didn't want to participate to join," Zero said. "And I doubt people would want to fight if there is a considerable difference in skill. You would need an impartial judge to preside over it, too." Zero made an audible sigh as four pairs of eyes gravitated his way. "I suppose I could host it."

"Thank you Zero!" Clover hopped around the room, blowing what dummies whose heads dared remain intact across the room, unable to restrain her elation. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"What do you think Ciel will have to say about this," Cerveau asked Zero. "I'm not entirely convinced she's going to be all for disrupting the missions for the sake of a base-wide brawl." (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!)

"I'll think of something," Zero said, watching Cero's overly energetic elf bounce around. "Besides, I doubt Clover would take no for an answer." (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!)

"She's certainly into the idea," Cero said. (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!)

"Enough!" Doigt roared as Clover's voice raised in pitch. "He gets it."