And the Jayden Arc continues! I hope you all enjoy!

April 4, X791

Kagura and the clone charged at each other, her with her sheathed sword in her hands and the clone with gusts of wind engulfing his arms. Just as she was about to swipe her sword at him, the clone shot the gust on his right arm toward the ground and lifted himself over her. Just as he got behind her, he shot the gust on his left arm at Kagura's back. To recover from the attack she placed her hand on the ground, flipped herself over, spun in the air so she was facing the clone again and skid across the ground until she stopped. The clone was about to do the same thing again, charging once more toward Kagura with gusts of wind around his arms. Without any physical tells, she kicked the clone in the ankle and jabbed the hilt of her sword into the side of the clone's jaw. She followed up with a swift kick to his heart to pin him against the wall.

This whole fight was happening as Spiral, Sakura and Flora were off to the side watching.

"Guess we didn't need to interfere in their fight after all." Flora said

"It's no fair!" Sakura pouted. "I really want to fight!"

"You think you've got me cornered?" The clone asked with a devious smirk before sucking in the air around him. "Zephyr… Blade Breath!"

The clone blew an intense, sharp wind from his mouth at Kagura, point blank. The wind cut her up like it was made of a dozen blades, leaving a several small slashes all over her body and a few on her shirt and pants, and the force of the attack made her stumble back a bit.

"Oh man, I was hoping to completely slice up that shirt of yours." The clone said as he was freed.

"Wow! This guy's a jackass!" Spiral said.

"You're one to talk." Flora said. "I bet you think about seeing Hikari naked all the time."

"H-hey!" Spiral stammered, blushing. "Don't lump me in with this dick! At least I respect Hikari!"

"Who is Hikari?" Jayden asked, still in his prison cell.

"She's my girlfriend." Spiral answered, turning to Jayden.

"Could you tell me a little bit more about what a girlfriend is?" Jayden inquired.

"Wait, you don't know what a girlfriend is?" Sakura asked.

"I've been in this cell for the last 15 years." Jayden responded. "I don't know anything about the outside world. I only know of what Oceari had taught me about it."

(Flashback)

On a small, deserted island a 6 year old Jayden was playing on top of Oceari's elongated neck.

"Hahahaha!" Jayden laughed as he played with his foster mother. However, his voice became a bit more serious. "Hey, Mom, remember how you told me about my parents?"

"Yes." Oceari answered.

"How do you… become a parent?" Jayden asked. "I mean…"

"You wish to know where children such as you come from?" Oceari asked.

Jayden nodded. "Mm-hm."

"I'm afraid I can't tell you everything, but I feel you should at least know this." Oceari said. "One day, you will find a girl whom you will hold dear more than anyone else. I'm sure that once you get to see the world, it will all become clear to you."

(End Flashback)

"So… Hikari is the girl who you hold dear more than anyone else, um…" Jayden asked before realizing he never got their names.

"I'm Spiral." Spiral introduced himself before motioning his hand toward Sakura and Flora. "This is Sakura, the Forest Dragon Slayer, and her Exceed Flora."

"Forest…" Jayden muttered and thought to himself for a minute. "… Sakura, I should tell-"

Before Jayden could finish what he was about to say, a gust of wind blasted Spiral, Sakura and Flora toward the cell and pinned them there. Simply touching that magic barrier was painful enough, but with them stuck there the pain was torturous. Spiral turned his head to see what was causing it and saw that the clone was the one blowing the wind.

"I won't let you tell her about you-know-what!" The clone said.

Kagura, thinking that the clone wasn't paying attention to her at the moment, tried to activate her Gravity Magic to stop him, but the clone also blew bladed wind toward her, forcing her to deflect all of the blades with her sword and she was unable to focus her magic.

"Don't think I forgot about you, hot stuff." The clone said. "I have to admit, you're pretty tough. It'd be easier to just kill you."

Jayden watched as the people who were trying to help save him were suffering at the hands of his clone. He looked at the front of his cell and reached out toward the barrier.

"Guys, I have an idea." Jayden said.

"Ngh, w-what?" Spiral asked, grunting from the intense pain he was feeling.

He noticed Jayden was reaching for the barrier.

"You can't!" Spiral shouted. "If you touch it too long, you'll die!"

"What?!" The clone exclaimed. "Don't you dare!"

"If I die, he dies with me and you can all live." Jayden said. "I would prefer that than you all risking your lives for me. I have to do this."

Just as Jayden was about to touch the barrier…

"Jayden, don't!"

Jayden looked over to see that Kagura was the one who said that.

"You might not be the Jason we know, but that doesn't mean we can just let you throw your life away!" Kagura said.

"Kagura's right." Spiral said. "We can all tell you're a good person. On top of that, you're what's left of our friend."

"And abandoning our friends isn't our style!" Sakura said.

"But… how are-" Jayden was about to say until he noticed something.

Kagura started to move forward at great speed while deflecting all of the wind blades along the way until she reached the clone. Despite her blade being sheathed, she was able to cut off the clone's right hand. This forced him to stumble back and stop the wind he was using to press Spiral, Sakura and Flora against the cell barrier. The three of them fell to the ground and fell unconscious.

"Dammit!" The clone growled. "That's it! I've had it with you!"

"Tell me, how much combat experience do you have?" Kagura asked.

"Why do you ask?" The clone asked.

"Your attacks are certainly powerful and you also put them to creative use." Kagura stated. "However, I can tell that this is your first battle."

"Experience is one thing, but strength and strategy are the only things that matter in combat." The clone said.

"Perhaps, but experience plays a more vital role in battle than you think." Kagura said.

"Enough of this!" The clone shouted. "Zephyr Armor!"

Wind began surrounding the clone like a suit of armor and when Kagura tried to strike at it with her sheathed sword, it bounced off against the wind armor due to how harsh it was swirling around the clone's body.

"My Zephyr Armor can block even sword attacks, no matter how hard you strike." The clone said. "Not even your Gravity Magic can help you!"

"What the hell is this?!"

Kagura looked behind her and saw the Jason they saw in the mansion earlier standing right outside of the prison hall.

"Oh, damn…" The clone said. "Now another clone has to bite the dust."

"Wait, 'clone'?" Jason asked.

"Since I have to kill you anyway, I'll tell you." The clone said. "You're a magic clone of this guy in the cell here, same as me. And the reason you have no memories is because there weren't any to begin with. You were only awoken just this morning, so of course you don't remember anything before then."

"N-no!" Jason stammered. "It can't be! You're lying!"

The clone swung his arm and a blade of air was sent flying toward Jason, ready to slice his head off. However, Kagura got in between them and blocked the air blade with her sheathed sword.

"Why did you protect that faker?" The clone asked. "He's not the Jason you knew."

"He is innocent in all of this." Kagura replied.

"Oh, really?" The clone asked. "Then I'll kill you both in one stri-"

A strange force knocked the clone against the ceiling and he fell on the floor. As he lied there, Kagura and Jason could see that Spiral had regained consciousness and used his Sound Magic to disorient him.

"Never-Melt Prison!"

Spiral began to freeze the clone and his wind armor began to dissipate.

"What?" The clone gasped. "How the hell are you doing this?!"

"I figured out your blind spot." Spiral answered. "You cover up most of your body, but you forgot to guard the bottom of your feet. So I took advantage of that opening and started freezing you from there. I'll be taking these."

Spiral took the cell keys off of the clone's belt before he was completely frozen in ice.

"All right, Jayden." Spiral said. "From this day forward, you are a free man."

Spiral opened up the cell, which deactivated the barrier and unlocked the door, and Jayden stood up only to slightly fumble a bit since he didn't get much exercise during his time in that cell.

"Here."

Jayden felt someone help him up and wrap his arm around their shoulder. He looked to see that it was Kagura who was helping him walk out. Jason looked at Jayden and couldn't believe how much he looked like him.

"Hey, Jason…" Jayden said.

Jason was speechless. While he was trying to regain his composure, Jayden knelt down and touched the frozen clone. A magic glow appeared all around the clone and he was reduced to magic energy, except for his clothes. That magic energy was then transferred into Jayden's body, who managed to stand up without wobbling.

"There, I managed to regain some strength." Jayden said before turning to Kagura. "You don't have to carry me anymore. Thanks."

Jayden walked over to Jason and looked him straight in the eye.

"So… you're the real me?" Jason asked.

"… Yes." Jayden answered. "You were a tool simply to fulfill Alexander's desires… but no more. You're free to live your life how you see fit."

Jason looked down on the ground. "But… I don't know how I want to live that life."

"Don't worry about it." Jayden said, unconsciously placing his hand on Jason's shoulder. "… Oops."

Jason turned into magic energy and was absorbed into Jayden's body, just like the other clone, with only his clothes being left behind. Jayden looked behind at Kagura, Spiral and the recently awoken Sakura and Flora and stared at them with a blank expression.

"… Did I miss something?" Sakura asked.

"Anyway, we should probably get out of here." Jayden said. "Sakura, there's something important I need to tell you."

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"Alexander recently captured another dragon and is conducting experiments on it somewhere in the mountains as we speak." Jayden said. "Unfortunately, that dragon… is Fleuressca."

Sakura's eyes widened upon hearing this. "No… No! I have to go save her!"

"Sakura!" Spiral shouted, trying his best to stop her. "A lot has been taken out of us. We should head back to the guild first."

"There's no time!" Sakura shouted.

"Once we get back to the guild hall, we'll send a team out to find Fleuressca, including you." Spiral said. "I promise. All I ask is just to give her a little more time."

Sakura didn't like the idea of just leaving Fleuressca behind, but she knew Spiral was right.

"… All right." Sakura said.

"Jayden, you're coming with us, too." Spiral said.

"Huh?" Jayden reacted.

"That is if you're willing to have Phoenix Dawn be your new home." Spiral said.

Jayden pondered his options. "… Heh, since I've got nowhere else to go and I owe you a debt… Very well. I will join the guild that you Jason valued so much."

A/N: First of all, no. This is not the end of this arc. There's still plenty more to go before I can end it. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it! Stay tuned for next time!