All pieces on the board
It took a second for his eyes to fully open as the world blurred around him his hands coming up automatically to rub away the remnant of his sleep as he pushed off the cushion, the fabric sticking to his skin for a moment before it peeled off, It seems he had been sweating while sleeping as the cover felt slightly damp even now.
"You had a fever." a soft concerned voice shook him out of his waking up routine.
Devola looked at him, her eyes narrowed worry clear in them as she sat upon the table, her head resting on her knees slightly tilted, a pensive frown marring her face "Does that happen when you use it?"
"Rarely." Shirou shrugged as if it didn't really matter "It isn't a cause for concern."
She scoffed "You just told me that it's affecting you how can you tell me not to worry."
Because it only happens when she...
He shook his head, it wasn't serious not truly, if it affected him permanently he would have already been dead a long time ago.
"Trust me it's not really something worth thinking about." He groaned the words out as he stood up, pushing his arms back cracking some bones while rolling his neck with slight discomfort, looking at the cushion with slight animosity. It had been better than sleeping on the ground but only by a little bit.
Her head rose up to meet his eyes as he slowly walked over to her, a frown of concern still plastered on her face.
He didn't really comment on it, his words would barely help quell what she was feeling, instead, he merely encircled his arms around her of course she welcomed it happily, though only for a moment as she pushed him back her nose wrinkling slightly in a joking manner.
"You need a shower…"
Shirou looked at her questioningly "Really?"
She shrugged noncommittally, though a small smile played on her lips. At least she wasn't thinking about what happened.
"Popola has clothes for you in her bag if you need them." she pointed towards its general direction her arm moving dismissively "She always likes to be prepared."
Shirou chuckled as he walked over to it "That she does." he murmured with a hint of affection.
His hands dug up the contents within, in it laid various items from useful to downright bizarre, why would she keep a brick?, regardless though it didn't take long to find some colorless clothing, none of them really special just a basic T-shirt, they seemed rather clean though… she must have done it in case he needed it.
It was a bit tight but it worked well enough.
Devola let out a longing sigh as she watched him get dressed "Maybe I shouldn't have told you about the shirts…" she said with a pout.
"And allow me to walk around half-naked?"
"Guess you're right." she triumphantly exclaimed deciding that he was right while nodding "It wouldn't do well to flaunt you around the camp."
Shirou gave her a smirk "I'm guessing this is for your eyes only huh."
She smiled proudly, teeth and all, before letting out a little 'harrumph' as she finally decided to step down to earth once more walking around with seemingly no problem "Now you're getting it."
His stare turned serious once she started walking, his eyes following every twitch of movement she made "Are you okay?" he said the joking tone leaving his voice replaced by utter concern.
Devola simply gave him a small smile all hints of teasing leaving her eyes instead showing only affection "I'm better I still feel Aaah what's the word… lethargic I guess? It feels like my body is buzzing all around but other than that I'm fine."
He took a moment to fully scrutinize her before relenting with a sigh "Very well just don't strain yourself."
She giggled "You're kinda starting to sound like us Shirou."
He snorted while shaking his head "If you're quite done, we should probably go and meet your sister." he said as he rolled his eyes at her though without any hint of actual annoyance.
She made to grab his arm as he passed her, before stopping herself giving his back a longing look. Awaiting outside was everyone that would be against them being together, she didn't really want to cause a scene or at least make it worse.
With the battle of the city's weight dissipating, the only thing that remained in every android's mind is that a miracle had touched the earth once more…
They had already seen how the machines reacted but she didn't know what to expect from her fellow brethren.
(Yorha)
"Ma'am is it truly our best option for you to remain on earth..?" a curt and anxious voice said as she tapped frantically at the screen in her hands even as they walked through the barren halls of the spaceship, nervousness seeping out of her being "It's going to be difficult to manage other groups around the world this way."
"This takes priority." Her authoritative voice bounced throughout the ship's hallway leaving no room for argument, as she made her slow walk towards her destination "A human life is worth that much."
The poor overworked operator nodded rapidly "I understand that of course but we have yet to build a structure of command that will allow you to continue to govern, under these circumstances Yorha's availability will drop, and we might not be able to safely guard other pockets of resistance."
"Then we must adapt… just like they did." she said her forceful voice quelling the operator's worries somewhat.
The duo of androids stopped as they had finally reached their destination, it was a large circular door made of metal "Have the androids lost in the attack been remade?" White's eyes narrowed her face emotionless.
"Y-yes, ma'am." she stuttered out while staring at the ground unable to meet the commander's eyes.
"Good, contact the army of humanity, tell them that for the foreseeable future we'll go into the defensive." she looked down at her subordinate for a moment making her waver slightly so intense was her gaze that she barely noticed the metal doors opening automatically revealing its contents.
Technicians, operators, battlers… even a few executioners. There were dozens of androids awaiting for the commander, she would spare no able body, if he so wished to remain on earth then she would just have to make it the safest place it could be.
It would take some time to make everything work, even now they were using the transporters to teleport a few of the battalion she wanted to surround the city with… but it was taking some time.
"Understood ma'am." The operator said quietly as she watched her senior walk away without nary a look at her dismissing her completely.
The doors closed behind her quietly as she surveyed everyone's work, a few of them stopping to salute but quickly moved back into the rhythm of things.
Soon enough everything would be operational and she would finally meet a miracle that shouldn't exist, her body wracked with anticipation and nervousness though not something she openly showcased instead her face was engraved with an impassive look.
Their mission… her mission, her reason for living… the memory of her creators laid alive and brimming still.
She had to make sure everything went to perfection, at least this one time.
(Resistance Camp)
This was... a mistake.
The sound of metal being drawn passed through his ear…
The smell of metal and oil hit him as if he was back in that old factory…
And yet the only thing on his mind was how to calm everyone down before things got worse.
He hadn't really expected a lot once he had gotten past the door, perhaps Popola was waiting for them on the other side of the Yorha androids had news about their commander. For someone who didn't put much value on his own existence the fact that he would be of this much importance hadn't quite hit him yet…
He had known of course in a sense, but his companions and the various other androids that he had met had tempered his expectations, or perhaps it had simply been easier to deal with one or two at a time.
But what he was seeing right now… was completely different.
Wide eyes stared back at him unblinking, downhearted almost tired faces and yet they looked at him with such hope that it was hard to look away. These weren't soldiers, they certainly fought, probably had far more experience than any human but they hadn't wanted to. They had expected a different life at one point, they had been made for something far different than this.
The reason why they existed, why they were created, was well and truly over, and yet they had remained loyal after all this time to an image of a world that wouldn't re appear, or perhaps they simply didn't understand what to do with themselves after all this time wondering.
They were just... lost people.
The crowd continued to surround the little hut as they did once they had seen him walk out, as he felt Devola shift behind him trying to be unseen.
Their arms reached out towards him dozens of them but they were stopped by the foursome of Yorha as they gripped their weapons tightly their posture ready for anything.
This had to stop…
"I'm sorry."
His voice resounded throughout the whole camp, he didn't yell but his words were enough to put a stop to everything that was happening, even the Yorha members turned back to look at him.
"I can't imagine what it was like living past the age of humanity, or what it was like to be… born into it." He took a deep breath eyes closing for a second, it wasn't easy trying to find the correct words but could find little else "I'm sorry we weren't here afterwards."
No sound came forth, everything was silent for a moment.
"Are you happy?" A soft voice came through the crowd he couldn't tell who it was or even the direction "Is this… did we…"
"You've done enough, I can't possibly speak for all of humanity even now, but I couldn't even imagine that something we built would be able of everything you've accomplished."
The effect of his words was palpable as their eyes seemingly gained new light, happy murmuring could be heard now as words unspoken were brought upfront that was until they saw the one behind him as she moved away from him.
The mood instantly changed then, his presence seemingly making everyone more susceptible to changes in emotion.
A man stepped forward rage in his eyes though immediately being stopped by 2B as her sword came close to his neck.
"Do you know what she's done?" he growled out his eyes, everyone's eyes only on her.
He moved forward even as Yorha tried to stop him putting himself in front of the crowd directly and towards the man who stepped forward. Even with the myriad of different people, he was still the tallest and he cut an intimidating presence.
"I do…" his voice curt, his eyes narrowed and his lips set in a frown. He hadn't expected this level of emotion inside of him but now that it was brought forth he had no way to stop it "She is trying her best… her best at fixing a mistake that wasn't hers, of fixing a sin that she shouldn't have to begin with. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them, that's all that matters."
This made everyone take a step back, mouths open as if they wanted to argue but couldn't.
"Alright enough!" Someone yelled forcefully as the crowd parted.
Anemone huffed as she walked towards him, putting herself between the two "Seriously I go away for one second and you all do this, didn't I tell you to leave the human alone."
Her voice resounded through the whole camp her eyes narrowed and glaring.
"B-but ma'am this is…"
"Yes, yes I know the pretty human is here." she sighed her annoyance clear in her voice "As you can see he is in fine health, now go back to your posts we have a lot to do. We can help him by making this place operational again."
With the way they continued to look at him with such longing he almost believe they wouldn't heed their leader's words but better judgment prevailed as they one by one stepped away back.
Shirou took a deep breath "Thank you."
Anemone blushed "O-oh, It was no problem." she said with a goofy smile while scratching her cheek, such words coming from a creator gave her all kinds of happy feelings "Any way you should have probably waited for me to give you the go-ahead for coming out."
He opened his mouth to respond before someone interrupted him with a laugh.
"You might as well give up he's not really one to listen."
"POPOLA!" Devola yelled happily as she ran up to her sister engulfing her in a hug and nearly toppling her. They hadn't been apart for that long but it seemed even that time was enough to make them miss each other.
"Well I gave her back safe and sound my job is done. I have a lot to do still, I'll see you later?" Anemone asked with a hopeful tone to her voice.
Shirou simply nodded his eyes remaining on the duo who were now chatting contently with each other.
He heard her steps as she walked away from him moving deeper into the resistance camp but his mind barely took a notice of her presence leaving.
A thought started lurking in the back of his mind…
It was something that he had been stewing on ever since the battle for the city ended, but with everything happening one after the other it left with little room for self-introspection.
That choice at the end, if it weren't for that woman what would he have done.
The more pragmatic side, the one he would have listened to normally, made the answer clear, the resistance should be the ones saved.
And yet…
… his body moved to them.
He understood why of course, those two were important to him, they were special he wasn't above understanding how much that meant, but that hadn't stopped him before had it? Between one and a hundred, you should always save the hundred, and yet…
He looked down at the back of his left hand.
Have I gotten weaker?
"Oi Shirou you okay?" A soft worried voice snapped him back into reality.
Popola looked up at him in worry a hand cupping his cheek with care "Are you still tired perhaps?"
His eyes widened in surprise before they softened a small smile playing around on his lips as he grasped her hand with his own.
"I'm better now."
She blushed prettily, a slight pink tinge almost unnoticeable, returning his smile. The way he was gazing at her was giving all kinds of fuzzy feelings, they felt nice though so she didn't much care.
"Are you two done flirting now?" Devola vocalized her annoyance as she glared at the pair.
Popola's blush turned fully crimson at her sister's words "D-devola what the hell?" she said turning around glaring back.
She shrugged "I say it how I see it."
Popola started growling her eyes narrowed in a vicious glare…
Shirou sighed already knowing where this was going and that he wouldn't be able to get a word in to stop them.
Thankfully someone else did…
"Sir!" A serious and professional voice rang out snapping the duo from their sibling rivalry.
It was a Yorha android, 2B to be exact, her emotionless face peering into his own her eyes hidden behind the blindfold "The commander is on her way to earth if you would we shall lead you to the landing site post-haste."
"Already?" Shirou questioned his eyebrow raised.
9S laughed slightly at hearing him "The commander can be quite the slave driver when she wants something done." he said cheekily though squeaked once his partner turned to him.
"She certainly works fast." Shirou murmured before looking back at the other Yorha androids as they took their place around him "Lead away."
(Forest)
The birds chirped happily, the sun passed through the waving trees creating a beautiful calming atmosphere throughout the whole forest… and one woman tried to kill someone through her glare alone.
"You know I can just find them on my own, this village of yours." She growled out intimidatingly.
She had been in this song and dance with this… machine thing for some time now and it still didn't talk.
It looked like a machine, a weird one to be fair but she had seen weirder, for some reason it didn't quite feel like one… still though considering it uttered the words 'machine village' it was at least affiliated with them and that was enough for her.
She just needed to know where they were.
The victim in question continued to struggle around the situation, not exactly knowing how best to deal with the slash happy woman "Look ma'am, I don't know what you have against them but they are really nice even if they are machines."
Her eyes narrowed further turning into slits "You talk as if you aren't one."
The thing's head tilted slightly to the left as if questioning her sanity "Uhhhh… yeah that's because I'm not."
"Have you seen yourself?" she said incredulously.
The 'not machine' looked down at itself "The machines in the village made me this body, I think it looks fine right, I don't know it feels right?"
She growled standing up, stalking towards Emil "Enough." the words barely passed through her clenched teeth sounding more like a hiss than anything else "Tell me where this machine village is before things get serious."
"I can't, even if you do hurt me I won't tell." Emil's head snapped up towards her, the wind picking up around him "They saved me I can't repay their effort like that."
A2 recoiled as she heard those words "Saved huh?" she murmured under her breath, though her tone soon turned mocking "Do machines even know the meaning of that?"
She immediately noticed the change as something fluttered around her as if being called by something, the something being in front of her. She could tell the mood changed somewhat even if there wasn't any noticeable change in the still widely grinning face of her captive the air around it was growing colder.
"They were really nice to me, using their resources despite really needing it for themselves." Emil's voice turned deeper almost regretful as his permanently grinning face turned towards the woman "I won't let you mock them!"
The air picked up around them seemingly being brought out by Emil's words.
A2 on the other hand took on a fighting stance a smile almost appearing on her face. This was her element she didn't really need to understand what all that machine was spewing, she would kill it and then find its little friends and slaughter them as well.
Because… that's all machines did too.
But as if hearing her, everything suddenly stopped.
"Honestly I'd rather not go this route." It said with a regretful sound "For some reason something inside of me really doesn't want to fight you, I don't know if I can."
"What the hell are you talking about." A2 growled out her face set in a sneer "Don't coward out on me."
That grinning face shook his head "I'm not running away, I'll stop you from going deeper into the forest."
She huffed as she regained some of her resolve "Do you really think you can keep me away."
"No idea." Emil laughed nervously but unflinchingly took on everything she might do "But I will, I know I will a-and.. and I won't fight you either I'll just stop you." It stuttered out sounding almost like a child trying to stand its ground against a bully.
"Why?"
"Because for some reason I can't possibly hurt you." It struggled out the words containing a bit of frustration.
"You don't even know me!" she bit out at it.
Emil sighed "I know that but for some reason, my heart doesn't."
She looked at the being with an incredulous look, the moment turning tense as Emil prepared for the woman's onslaught only for her to turn around and move away.
"Where are you going?"
"The hell away from here."
"O-oh…" Emil stuttered out not really understanding what had happened "Can I go with you."
"Fuck no!" she yelled with anger.
Somehow he had expected this response... this just made him want to follow her more.
(Resistance Camp)
"Are you sure about this?" A large man questioned his eyes narrowed, his lips set in a deep frown of concern.
Anemone on the other hand seemed relaxed not even bothering to look up from her desk "Sure about what?"
The large man let out a huff "Giving them this much ground."
She snorted letting out a sarcastic laugh "What else can I do exactly? You know how desperate our situation is."
The table buckled as someone hit it, this time a woman "You can't be serious about just letting him walk out of here.
"O-oi you two calm down please, let the boss talk for a second alright, I'm sure she knows what she's doing." A meeker-sounding voice managed to let out trying to reason with the others.
Anemone sighed finally looking up at the trio that so carelessly walked into her workspace.
On her left was the resident weapons trader of her little group, he stood taller than most other androids and could be easily told apart from them due to his darker skin tone. He looked at her not with anger but concern he had always been someone who prioritized the safety of those close to him even while building weapons, seems that furthered tenfold when talking about a creator.
In the middle was the little maintenance girl that sometimes sold chips, her anger seemingly being brought out mostly out of a territorial sense as she took it out on the poor table. She hadn't exactly liked how more and more Yorha had encroached on their territory and while a good part of her business was with those same androids she still saw them as lesser. The fact that they had a creator under their jurisdiction now wasn't something she could possibly allow.
The final one near the end of her little tent was the android that took care of supplies and all trades surrounding it, he looked as if he rather be somewhere else, It wasn't that he was meek, despite his more quiet deference to the others, but rather that he was absorbed in his own problems. He was one of the androids most hit during the war for the city not only had he lost his arm but he had been on ground zero of the attack.
He had seen the desperation of his fellow androids some of them even trying to fix themselves with machine parts and limbs only to die soon after in an even worse way. This experience had left him traumatized and he hadn't allowed anyone to fix him. Maybe the creator had some way to end this he didn't want to live in fear anymore.
These three managed most of the trading in and out of their little camp that is to say they had some modicum of power in its inner workings so, of course, the other members were using them to speak to her.
Anemone rubbed her temple trying to keep herself calm "There's not much that can be done you know that, if there was I would have kept him here myself."
"So you just intend to let them walk all over us?" the other girl bit out her eyes aflame.
Anemone glared down at her managing to make the woman step back a little "They are our allies, as much as you might not like it and they are the ones keeping us safe."
"Maybe we don't need them anymore." she said resolutely "You've seen what he can do right?"
The larger man looked at her in horror "You can't possibly be saying what I think you're saying Sofy."
"Well, why not DyLan, whatever keeps them away from him."
The other man kept fiddling nervously with his goggles "I don't think that's our best option besides wouldn't that make the council of humanity angry."
DyLan looked down at him with a questioning look "I thought you didn't believe they existed."
He shrugged his shoulders "Well if one creator exists why not more?"
Sofy merely scoffed crossing her arms, almost pouting.
Anemone took a deep breath "Look I understand where all of you are coming from I truly do, but as it stands we can't do much more than what we are already doing. We have to build ourselves up before we can even think about Shirou…"
"So you're just going to give up."
Anemone merely looked at her "There's no such thing for us." she spoke resolutely and fiercely "We'll have our time but we need to take care of our own first."
"Fine fine." Skyla said as she waved her hand dismissively "What about the other two? They've been with them since the start, he seems rather close to them."
"Devola and Popola huh… Something tells me that even White will have difficulty with the twins." Anemone murmured "We just have to be able to keep up that's all."
The resistance leader looked upon her group there was an air of change all throughout, it was palpable, if only she can ride those winds perhaps something might truly happen to end this thousand of years standstill.
The battle for the creator's attention had started unbeknownst to most of the people playing for it.
(City Grounds)
"Where exactly are we going?"
"It's just around the side where the bridge is… well used to be." 9S answered with a smirk "The commander wanted to be as close to the factory as possible to monitor it."
"Is that so…" Devola said with an indifferent tone showcasing a bored look that bordered on the annoyed.
Both of them were really.
They weren't exactly happy with the arrangement with Yorha, or anyone really. They wanted to be they truly did but… the selfish feeling of keeping him to themselves reared its ugly head again. They understood if he wanted to exact the change he wanted he would need to spread his wings so to speak, and they would be there with him fully.
Still didn't remove the jealousy brewing within.
Failing to read the mood 9S continued on happily, the Yorha blabber mouth had no intention to stop he was still just too excited by standing near such a well of knowledge in what happened to be his most favorite subject... humanity "So I had a few further questions that I wanted to ask you, actually my operator really wanted to know…"
"9S."
He stood straighter as he heard the voice of his partner, she didn't seem angry in fact she had said his name quite softly but he knew her enough to know that it carried a warning.
"Enough."
He pouted at her though she remained unfazed.
Shirou looked at her gratefully whether or not she noticed he couldn't quite tell "Did she say anything about what's planned for other areas?"
"Our priority right now is keeping you safe, we're afraid that the machine network will continue to focus on attacking considering this is your point of residence."
Shirou's eyes narrowed at her.
"You certainly don't mince words." Popola murmured though not quietly enough.
"Based on previous interactions I found it better to convey the truth clearly." 2B said professionally her voice lacking emotion "Is there a problem with that?" she looked curiously towards the human a frown set on her lips wondering if she conducted herself wrongly in front of him.
The man in question simply shook his head "No, I actually appreciate it." he clarified absentmindedly,
2B gave a little nod before continuing to lead them to the meeting site a small smile playing on her lips.
Shirou's thoughts remained on her words.
He hadn't really thought about it but the attack on the city had been partially his fault based on how it was constructed, it was clearly meant as a message for him of some kind. Perhaps if he wasn't around or maybe somewhere else the city could have remained reasonably safe and its people wouldn't have to deal with so much…
He was pulled away from his mind as he felt someone grasp his arm.
"You're thinking too much again…" Popola accused as she glared at him questioningly "That's never a good thing with you."
"I'm fine."
Devola chuckled "It's never a good thing when you say that."
"Oh is there a problem?" 9S questioned innocently, he had been lagging a bit behind the group ever since 2B told him off but his curiosity once again got the better of him.
"There isn't." Shirou said a bit snappily.
This didn't seem to be noticed by the younger-looking male as he happily strode up next to him once again looking like an eager student looking to his favorite teacher "So there's a contradiction of some kind, fascinating. You know I can help with any problem that needs a bit of brain power, I'm quite good at understanding things, so you can talk to me."
"He also doesn't have an ego." 2B murmured quietly before sighing "Nines present yourself better we're nearly there."
He huffed "Alright alrig… wait did you just call me nines?"
"I did not."
"Pretty sure I heard it."
"Then you better get that checked… you're hearing things."
"C'mon you don't need to be embarra…" 9S started rambling once more as his partner tried to ignore him.
The main trio remained a bit further behind just watching the Yorha duo through their routine.
"Huh they're rather cute, seeing them like this you wouldn't guess that they were a part of a special forces military." Devola snickered quietly, a hand in her mouth being careful not to alert the two.
Shirou's eyes narrowed "Yeah… cute."
Popola looked at him surprised by the seriousness of his voice but wasn't able to ask if something was wrong as they were finally able to oversee the supposed site of the Yorha base.
Shirou's eyes widened "She kinda went out of control huh…" he spluttered out in surprise.
At least a hundred androids worked around the clock rebuilding whatever was necessary, rudimentary housing was already up and it seems they already seemed to have every facility planned. They certainly had the space… he was the one to make sure of that they only had to clean up the rubble and even the ground a bit.
Still though living so close to the dead carapace of a giant machine… guess that kept morale up.
Suddenly everyone stopped and dropped whatever they had on hand, moving rigidly in line.
"I've notified the commander that we're close." 2B explained "She asks that you go alone to meet her."
Shirou sighed "She wants to make a show of it huh." he looked at the duo behind him as if asking for their consent.
"It's fine Shirou, just give her this." Popola said with a slightly sad smile Devola simply gave him a thumbs up.
He nodded to both of them before looking at the Yorha androids "Make sure they're safe."
The duo in question saluted in full seriousness, this was a mission from a human they wouldn't fail.
"Pretty sure we can take of ourselves." Devola said derisively with a deadpan look.
He chuckled slightly as he moved away waving a hand in the air, that seemed to further enrage the other redhead.
Popola huffed "That man seriously."
"He seems to care a lot about you." 2B said inquisitively.
"Yeah…" Devola longingly spoke as she fiddled with her hair "So are we just going to watch here."
9S nodded "Commander White asked us to keep you away for now… sorry about that." he scratched his cheek trying to keep away the awkward tension that settled within the group "Don't worry though after this you can go meet him again."
"I was already guessing she would, It's fine you're only doing your job." Popola said dismissively though her eyes glared at the now fully present Yorha as they stood stiffly making on each side awaiting for the fated meeting...
Between human and android.
(Yorha Base)
"So she did go all out…" he murmured feeling slightly awkward as he stood in the middle of two broken apartment buildings… and in front of a walkway of Yorha androids.
They stood on both sides rigidly though he could see their heads moving slightly to where he was, he heard a few gasps and slight chatter as they finally caught sight of him.
That all stopped once she entered in view…
Dressed in all white as her name represented, her face affixed with an almost dismissive look though she couldn't quite control the widening of her eyes as she saw him. Her hair was done in a professional ponytail as two bangs of golden hair framed her face nicely.
He took a deep breath "Let's get this over with."
He started moving only stopping once he noticed the two behind him saluting, he took another step, another two saluted, and then the next two…
He groaned under his breath… he really wanted this to stop.
This continued on as each duo he passed through saluted to him as if they were presenting their full loyalty, they might as well have what with the way they were looking at him.
He decided to just look in front of him rather than anywhere else before he felt the overwhelming need to stop them.
It didn't change anything…
… It might actually be worse.
If the androids were looking at him with worship then the commander was looking at him with an almost greedy stare as if he represented the world, It was hard to tell to anyone but him as she kept herself looking rather professional nary a twitch on her facial expressions.
But he could tell…
It didn't take long for him to finally reach her but it felt like an eternity and now that it was finally over he could say he didn't really understand.
There she stood all the beauty of a supermodel added with the power of hundreds in her hands… and him with a beaten-up shirt and ripped pants.
And yet all eyes were on him…
It was just a wee bit awkward.
"Seems we finally meet face to face." she enticed her voice full of promises.
She gave him her hand firmly…
…which he accepted.
They stood there shaking each other's hands for just a bit longer than he felt it was accepted. So this is how politicians feel.
"So it is." He said stiffly.
Her face bloomed with a full smile as she heard his voice without any interference.
All pieces were on the board…
… and she didn't intend to be the one losing.
It's been a bit huh I feel like i say that each and every time but whatever, work has picked up as it usually does around this season (I work at a traveling agency) and it was a bit hard to find time to write so my apologies for the somewhat long wait.
Regardless though hope you like it, there's a lot of building up in this chapter this is pretty much the first one of this new arc and it's probably what i consider the end of the first half though i don't think this story will only have 30 chapters It's still the full end of the main trio being alone against the world. A part of me wishes i would've done more with the first half maybe a few more misadventures but maybe it works well as it does don't want to slow down the pacing or anything.
Anyway, I don't know when's the next chapter since irl has eaten away at my free time but it shouldn't be super long i hope, so just keep an eye out.
Really hope you like it...
Thanks to Ivan Tridelan for all the help.
Edit: I'm going on holiday with family and friends this month so i won't be working on a new chapter during this time, during this time though i will try and remake some of the earlier chapters as i think they need a bit of a remake nothing will change in terms of plot so you don't need to re read or anything it will just be slightly better written. Well until next time.
Edit 2: Chapters 1 and 2 have been rewritten if you guys want to revisit them.