To Light The Future!

by Dantheman2000009

Fate is always moving things along a set path. But what if something happened to that path? Or if someone new stepped on it? This Story is about a young man whose fate is undecided. Will he play along and let the world burn once more? Or, will he take up arms and fight to not only protect who he loves but to Light the Darkness that hangs over the future. (TioXOC plus others) AU

12. From Zero to Hope: Part 3

So… I bet some of you are mad at me for how long it's been, right? Well there were quite a lot of issues, some I won't get into but… you can also blame Genshin for some of it.

So part 3 is here and quite a long one, but I'm sure it's fine… right?

I do want to give credit to Audiobooks that helped me keep focus while I write and not go on YT shorts for hours… Fun. (If you're wondering what book, it's 86 Eighty Six.)

Now that I have a way to keep focus while I write, things should be faster. Maybe, I do know once I get back to the main story, well… Speed.

But thank you for waiting, it means a lot to have those people still follow and favorite. This does mean a lot so hopefully I can grant more entertainment to you all!

Now for the normal can of beans! I do not own the Legend of Heroes series or anything in it! Just a few Oc's and ideas behind the story!... Yes I did copy this so what!

'Thinking'

"Letters"

(Whispers)

"Talking"

Change of time/Pov

Artist of Shade in the story cover is Iwonn on Twitter and they have their own blog where you can get yourself some nice art as well but for a price.

Iwonn's Art Blog ( )

Bashton, a place I never heard of until I came to this world, and yet I was expecting it to be similar to other places I've seen in this world. But as we approached the outskirts of the village, I couldn't help but wonder why this place seemed so normal, it was small, and it didn't have an Inn or many stores from what I could see. The oddest thing I noticed was a large metal building located on the other side of the village, but other than that the entire place looked normal.

Since it was located in the hills there were lots of steps heading to different parts of the village and right next to it was a large mountain which had a dirt road leading towards its base. "Good day to you both, my name is Professor Novartis, and welcome to Bashton." The man says with his hands behind his back and with a smile. I decided to look into his eyes to get an idea of the type of man he is, what I saw was by far the most neutral thing ever. He wasn't bad but he didn't really care much of anyone, that's what I could tell at least.

"Sir, you shouldn't be out here!" One of the men that led us here called out while stepping towards the man.

"Oh, calm down, the garrison is out hunting something, so I'm allowed to take a stroll and meet our guests without fear." He looks me up and down, then turns to Magilou and does the same.

"But I do suppose we should head back, so I can explain things to you both." He turns around and starts along the path leading to the base of the mountain.

"He's an odd one, huh?" Magilou comments.

"He's always like that, look, just be careful around here, Zero's troops patrol the village every other hour. See that metal building? That's the HQ for them around here." One of the guys that lead us here gestures to the metal building as I nod in return.

"I'll stay alert." I pressed on the gas slowly and easily caught up to the Professor who was already far along the road.

"Ah, finally decided to follow me? Well, while we walk, let's talk a little." He says without even looking our way. "You with the mask must be Shade and the other one is Magilou, right?"

"Yes, that's right. Seems like Shirley's message worked." He nods, then brings his hands in front of him.

"She told me about you not being from this world and that you might be able to help save it, but we'll just have to see about that, won't we." He interlocks his hands together and, from the looks of it, goes into a deep thought about something. 'Guess at this point everyone knows, hell I think Zero knew the moment we showed up.'

I turn to look at Magilou and lean in close. (Stay on guard, I've only heard about the things he made and did in our world, which aren't good.) Magilou is silent but nods as I turn back to the professor.

"If you are wondering why we are walking this way, Headquarters is in the mountain and below it. In there we keep track of communications, equipment and special projects." Novartis states, still looking ahead. "As for why you're here, well that issue will be tough for reasons I will say once inside."

I chose to remain quiet as we finally got to the base of the mountain. All I could see was the rocky surface, but as we got closer a large part of it suddenly gets pulled back and splits apart, revealing a large metal door which also opens up.

"Welcome to Bashton Rock, this used to be an old fortress used by the Empire years ago and is one of two bases the Resistance has that is still maintained this well." The moment we go in, the doors behind us close immediately.

"Are these the ones we've been expecting?" An older man's voice says to my left, as I turn I see another man wearing a lab-coat. He has white combed-back hair with a beard to match, underneath the coat is a light red vest with a black collar shirt underneath. He's wearing light brown pants, brown shoes and a monocle over his right eye.

"Indeed they are Schmidt, now I have other matters to deal with." Novartis turns to us and bows. "I shall see you later." And with that he walks away as I watch him leave, wondering what is going on. 'He said that he will explain once we get here, guess that means handing it off to someone else to explain… Those types of people are annoying.'

"Come along now, we don't have all day." The man now named Schmidt says while also walking away. 'I was not expecting this…'

"Where do I park my bike?" I called out to him before he got further away.

He stops and turns towards me. "Anywhere is fine as long as it is out of the way." He then turns back around.

"You know, when you said we were heading towards Bashton, this wasn't what I was expecting." Magilou says while climbing out of the sidecar.

"I wasn't informed of this either, but these men are geniuses, so with them helping us out our chance at returning home gets better." Parking the bike, I get off as Magilou walks towards me with her hands on her hips.

"If you say so, but dealing with their bullshit will be your job." I gave a nod in response, then proceeded to head towards where Schmidt had gone.

The inside of the base was completely made of metal with multiple hallways leading to different areas, but the main area with the gate was the only place I saw that had a high ceiling. As we went down the hallway we saw Schmidt standing outside of a door, waiting on us.

"About time, come, we'll take the elevator up towards the communication room." The door opens up and he steps inside.

We walk in, and the door closes behind us, Magilou leans on the wall as we start heading up. "Mind if I ask some questions?" Schmidt simply nods. I quickly looked into his eyes, and it was pretty much the same as Novartis. 'I can't trust these people, but as of now they are helping so I'll tag along.'

"What do you do here exactly, this place doesn't seem like one that sends people out to battle? Plus, besides that patrol that found us, I haven't seen a single soldier, so tell me what this place is supposed to be?"

"To avoid having to answer questions in the future, I shall explain everything now. Bashton is a dedicated base for research and communications, Novartis is in charge because of the fact he made Archaisms to defend the location, which also explains why you see very little soldiers. In total, we have ten soldiers and the rest of the people here are helping us research ways to rebuild the world." The elevator stops, and the doors open, revealing a hallway, so we all walk out.

"Novartis is looking into ways to make water out of anything he can get his hands on and to make plant life grow as main projects, with side projects such as using the roots to make some forms of weapons. I help when I see fit, but I'm mostly here helping build communications and other such devices that may help people out there." He walks forward a few steps, then knocks on the door to his right.

The door opens and inside I see tons of equipment on tables and on the floor with a bunch of people in lab-coats messing around with a few of them. On the far wall, however, is someone sitting in a chair talking into a radio. "This is where communications are located, also you came from the teleportation stone, yes?"

"You know about those? Yes, that's how we got here." Out of the corner of my eye, I see Magilou walk into the room and start asking one of the guys something.

"We know all about them and so does Zero, the only reason we don't use them is because of the monsters on the other side. However, seeing that you made it through in one piece indicates to me that you know how to fight, which means you can handle the job." He turns and starts walking towards the far wall. 'That means they could have attacked us at the village.'

"You're already sending me out, huh?" I followed behind him until we reached the wall. Getting closer, I could see that there are multiple radios with wires leading into the ceiling, each was marked with a location.

"As of right now this is our setup, the reason why all communications go here is because of the Orbal waves. Zero's influence over the world has thrown them all off to the point it takes advanced equipment just to get transmissions, but Novartis said he has a plan, one that involves an artifact." He grabs a note that has a small detail map on it and hands it to me.

"And what's stopping you from using it? I doubt it's Zero." I quickly scan the map and other parts of the note which read "Don't harm the artifact and its surroundings or give away anything to Zero or his men. If possible, try to bring in the main issue without any damage to it."

"A project created by Novartis, during a test something happened which he still hasn't told me about. Because of it, whenever we try getting the artifact it will kill or destroy what we send. The map will guide you to its location and once the job is done, just return here and report that the job is done." He pulls out a pocket-watch and looks at it. "Now I must go and attend to other matters, off you go now."

I watch him walk off as I put the note in my pocket, looking around I spot Magilou still talking to one of the professors who's getting annoyed at her.

"For the last time, NO! I can't make your staff throw fire!" He takes off his glasses and wipes some sweat off of his forehead.

"Come oooon! You're smart and stuff, surely you can do something!" I walked up behind her and lightly smacked the back of her head.

"That's enough. Sorry for bringing her here, we're heading off now." I grab Magilou's hand and pull her along while she tries to fight me.

"Let go dammit! I want to throw fire! Where are we heading to anyway!?" I pulled her into the hallway before letting go.

"We are heading out to possibly fight something, and you are helping." With that said I walked towards the elevator, behind me, I heard a loud huff before she started following me.

"Fine, but you better be grateful to receive assistance from Magilou the Great!" We got in the elevator, and before I could push which floor to go on, she had pressed every button. 'I'm never letting her back into this place.'

After seven floors and some explaining to Magilou what we were doing, we finally got to the main floor where we made our way back to the bike. "So we just need to destroy this thing? Why am I coming then, like you can pretty much destroy anything."

"Because we are a team and who knows what will happen out there, plus if I didn't bring you along you would've followed me." I state while getting on the bike.

"It hasn't even been that long and you know me so well! We are pretty much best buds!" She hops into the side car with a big smile. 'It's easier to go along with her delusions than fight them.'

Starting up the bike I moved forward slightly before I heard the door opening up for us, after waiting a bit for it to fully open I took off and towards the direction where this mystery project is located which so happens to be deep in the hills.

"So what's the plan? Are you going to go in while I watch, or are we both going to team up against this thing?" Magilou asks excitedly.

"The professors are hiding something from us, so we will move in and scout the area before making any plans. As of right now they see us as tools to use, but they are the best shot we got, so we're going along with it." I press on the gas harder to make it up some of the hills in front of us.

"I hate being treated as a tool, people like to use others for their own selfish gain, but as long as I'm working with you then it doesn't feel like it!" Glancing over, I stared at her for a moment as it felt like I saw a small glimpse of something real.

Looking forward, I noticed we were getting closer to the spot, so I slowed to a stop and got off. "We'll move in on foot from here, there are a few giant roots around here, so be careful where you step."

"I think I can manage avoiding some roots, but why would some runaway project be all the way out here?" Looking at Magilou I shrugged.

"Good question, doubt they would tell us if we asked." I turned to look at her and for a moment I thought I saw something in the distance from where we came, after a moment of staring at where I thought I saw it and seeing nothing I chalked it up to nothing.

"Well, better get going." We both started walking towards the destination while avoiding small roots. After ten or so minutes of walking, I was able to see the top of something over the hill in front of us. 'Something's there alright, but it's large whatever it is.'

"Stay here, I'll check it out." Magilou nodded as I crouched down and climbed the hill. On the other side of the hill was a flat clearing, but what caught my attention was the giant mech that was sitting down next to a wooden hut. 'What the hell?'

It was large and bulky with armaments located at different parts of its body and the main body was the color of a dark red with some slight rust in a few areas. 'Hold on, why does this sound familiar?'

It was at that very moment I sensed something coming at me from my left. I turned and jumped out of the way as a scythe I recognized flew past where I just was, then went back to where its owner was. "Shade?!" Magilou runs towards me as I land.

"Well, well it seems like another one of the professor's lackeys showed up, sorry, but I can't let you have it." A small girl with bright purple hair says to me in a cheerful tone. She's wearing a gothic lolita black dress with white frills, bows and lace all over, however most of it seems dirty from the environment.

"R-Renne?" I look on in shock, wondering what the hell is going on. 'Why is she here?! Is she with Zero?'

"You know her?!" Magilou stands next to me with her weapon already out, ready to fight.

"Huh? I'm sorry, but I never met you once in my life, but since you seem confused I shall grant you this once chance to run." She lifts her scythe up and over her shoulder as she smiles at me. 'She's young, but just in case I better keep my guard up.'

"I'm not planning on leaving, especially now that you are here, but tell me why are you here and what exactly is this thing that the professors want?!" I composed myself then took a step forward.

"And give me a good reason to answer that question, then maybe I'll tell you." I stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out what to say.

"Depending on what it is I'll leave it with you and go out and find another or find a way to remake it, I don't want to fight you for some object. So please, tell me." I put away my weapons, showing that I meant no harm.

She tilts her head to the side and thinks for a moment, then she speaks. "Alright, but if you decide to stay, then I will kill you." I nod as Magilou walks behind me. (Just in case I'm using you as a shield.) I sigh.

"The device is actually an old artifact that was attached to some of the components inside Pater-Mater, with it, they can use it for whatever plans they have but in the process it will kill Pater-Mater… I'm not letting him die for some project!" On her face is a look of pain, I glanced at the large mech who's since turned to face us. 'A artifact? Why would something like that be inside him?'

I turned back to Renne as I planned to ask her about it. "And what does it do for him? And what does it do in general?"

"For Pater-Mater it gives him the ability to function, it's basically his heart. I'm not sure what it does besides that. But there you go, I told you what it was, and I doubt you can get another one, so please leave now." I looked down as I tried to think of something, some way to get it or something else that would work as his heart or whatever the professors need for the communications.

Before I could think about it any more I heard multiple guns fire from where me and Magilou came from, Renne turned towards them in shock, and before she could react I had already pulled out my guns and shot the bullets that were about to hit her as well as Magilou and I. "W-What?! You saved me?"

I ignored her, so I could focus on what looked like thirty soldiers charging forward, all of them wearing the uniform of Rean's side. But then something else unexpected happened, I heard a loud noise behind me and sensed a large mass fly up from behind me then over me. 'It's bigger up close.'

Now in front of me stands Pater-Mater with his cannons out and aimed at the soldiers. "They must have followed us here, but how did they know we were coming here?"

Most of them started shooting at the mech as those with melee weapons came towards me. Magilou walks in front of me and twirls her staff. "I got these guys, time to show you I can fight!" Three of them rushed her and with ease she dodged the first attack by ducking below it, then proceeded to hit one of them in the back of the head, knocking him out.

She stepped out of the way of another attack and laughed. "Man, you guys are trash at this!" She swings and hits one of their legs knocking him down then quickly smacks the other in the throat making him drop his weapon to grab it, she then kicks the guy on the ground in the face then smacks the other guy in the head knocking them both out. She turned to look at me then bows. "Ta-da!"

"I thought you said you weren't much of a fighter…? Anyway, let's help the mech!" I ran past her as she was shrugging and started shooting, but most of the soldiers took cover and were able to duck out of the way of my shots. Glancing to where Renne is, I see her dodging most of the attacks thrown at her, but is unable to press forward to attack.

I calmed my breathing and focused, then I ran towards the enemy who's been focused on Pater-Mater. 'He put his cannons away? But they weren't used, in that case they must be broken.'

The giant mech instead moved forward and started swatting the soldiers, sending them flying and forcing them to fall back and away from it. As some of the soldiers were distracted, I ran towards a small group of four and kicked the first one into the ground, rising my guns I shot the closest two who were sent back by the force of the round, the last one tried firing his gun at me, but I dodged below it and shoot him in the chest knocking him out of the fight.

I heard loud thumps coming from where the soldiers came, looking over I saw one of their mechs walking towards us with a large gun in its hand, similar to the one's from Heimdallr. Once it saw Pater-Mater it raised its gun and took aim. "I'm not letting you destroy him!" I looked to my right and saw Renne running towards the mech, she threw her scythe at the gun just as the mech fired it.

The shot missed Pater-Mater but only because it was off-balanced by Renne's scythe which is now lodged in the gun, taking the chance Pater-Mater turns towards the mech and launches itself towards it, slamming against it causing it to fall on the ground and dropping it gun.

Two soldiers came rushing towards me as I watched the scene happen, but I dodged their attacks and shot both of them. Using this chance, I put away one of my guns and reached down and grabbed one of their swords. "Same quality as the last one, but it will do." I turn to see Renne running towards the fallen mech to probably get back her scythe.

"Can I get your attention please?" A lady's voice echoes throughout the area, a voice I'm unfamiliar with. "To those that are working with the Resistance, surrender now, and you won't be sent to Roer, however to the girl and her toy, if you leave the area you will be spared."

Everyone has stopped fighting by this point, and all the remaining soldiers are standing in a line, waiting. "Whoever you are I can tell you I'm not going to die so stop wasting your breath!" I yelled back as Magilou ran up behind me.

"Hmph, you tried to harm Pater-Mater, you deserve death for your actions." Renne states as she jumps into the hand of the large mech.

"If that is your choice, then fine." The woman's voice says, next thing I knew I sensed a round flying towards Pater-Mater, and before I could stop it, the bullet had pierced his head and went out the other side. The mech slowly falls back, the hand Renne was sitting in suddenly detached and landed on the ground with the girl as the mech fell to the ground, making some sort of robotic noise in the process.

All the soldiers took aim at Renne and I, but I didn't care as I ran towards Renne to make sure she's alright. "Renne!" I knelt down and saw that her eyes were wide.

"No…" She got up and ran towards the head of Pater-Mater, climbing up his body and standing on his chest, looking at his lifeless eyes. "NOOOOOOOO-!" The next thing I saw was her swaying before falling on top of his chest with a loud thud. 'She passed out…'

"Well, at least we don't have to deal with her anytime soon." I turned around and saw a woman wearing a skin tight black bodysuit. She had a dark green cloak around her hips and another one around her shoulders, and white belts around her thighs. The thing that stood out to me was her bright blue hair, similar to Tio's hair color. "Claire Rieveldt…" I say in a low growl.

I stood up and made a show of putting my gun up, glancing towards Magilou. She nods as she runs to take cover behind the body of Pater-Mater. "So you know me? That makes this easier, your Shade correct?" She asks me while handing a nearby grunt a sniper rifle that was just fired.

I take another deep breath before responding. "I must be damn popular to have a lady like you know my name! If you're here to take me on a date, I'm sad to say I have other commitments." I pace around while keeping my eyes on her.

"A funny man, huh? Does this mean you aren't going to surrender?" She pulls out her gun and aims it at me.

I look over to see the mech getting up and instead of grabbing the gun, it pulls out a sword from its back and starts staring at me. "What I'm going to do is kick your ass and send you packing back to wherever the hell you came from, or you can just turn around and walk away with your ass unkicked!"

"You really think you stand a chance with these numbers? There are five swordsmen left and seven riflemen, plus me and our Saber. So tell me, what do you have on your side?" She smiles as she knows it's only me and Magilou here.

"So what you're telling me is that you know nothing about me? I'm guessing you're a Captain if you have that little info, haha!" I laughed at her while glancing at the Saber's legs to find the best way to cut it.

"You dare insult me! I am Commander Claire Rieveldt, I'm in charge of the defense of this region and I will not tolerate this mockery!" She aims and fires a bullet that's heading straight for my head. I swing upwards with the sword and deflect it with ease, and in the process I start reaching for my scythe. 'I have many regrets in my life and I have no doubt that I will have more in the future, but that's just a part of life. And not only that, but so many people helped me in getting this far into it… So for them and one day myself, I'll keep moving forward!'

I grabbed my scythe and threw it at the Saber's legs then raced forward towards the soldiers, the scythe cuts one of the legs, making the Saber fall forwards as the scythe lodges itself into the rock behind it. As I ran towards the soldiers they started firing at me, so I used the sword to help block some of the bullets.

The moment I got close enough to them, I jumped over them, kicking the closest one in the chest I sent him flying back, sensing one of the swordsmen running up behind me, I turned and blocked his attack and in doing, so I grabbed his arm and swung him over me and into the ground. Turning back to the riflemen, I took out three of them with quick swings of the sword's dull side, glancing at Claire I could see her panicking.

"You know you can end this by grabbing your men and leaving!" I called out as I easily blocked a strike from behind by raising the sword over my back.

"Grrr, I'm not that much of a fool to see that I've underestimated you…" She looks to the remaining soldiers and nods. The one that was behind me backed off and so did the others, I watched carefully as they went to gather those that were still alive.

"At least you're smart enough to know when to run away, I'll let you leave but no guarantees for next time… But since you are still here, I wanted to ask two questions." I stabbed the sword into the ground as I said this and leaned on it.

"Questions about what?" She still holds her gun out, and I can tell she's ready to aim it at me.

"Well, first off, I wanted to ask you why you joined Zero? There must be some reason you and so many others joined up with him." I see a look of surprise on her face, but then it turns into a smile.

"He saved me and many others from hardship, by helping him end this world we will have a place in the next one that's even better." I stared at her, noting that she truly believed what she said. 'I doubt he'll do it, besides I bet some form of brainwashing is going on here.'

"Alright, and now for my second question. Why are you here and did you know about the girl that is here?" I looked over to where Pater-Mater laid and noticed Renne no longer on his body.

"That's three questions, but I'll answer them, as it doesn't matter if you know or not. After we got the report of you messing up the fight in Heimdallr we put up a roadblock in case you came to Bashton, however we didn't expect you to come through the witches' path, so when we returned back to Bashton we saw you heading towards here. As for the girl, yes we knew, but we had no orders or plans for her." She looks at what remains of her men as they start slowly leaving the area, she then turns towards the Saber behind her. "Pilot! Are you coming?"

The hatch opens, and a soldier hops out of it with more enthusiasm than a soldier who lost should have. "Commander, leave us be." The man said, and I knew immediately who it actually was.

Claire salutes the soldier, turns and runs off with the rest of her men. "Thanks, Claire, and watch out for a guy named Relon!" I quickly shouted at her before she got out of range, then I turned back towards the guy. "So, why are you here, Zero?"

The man takes off his helmet and throws it on the ground, he looks up at me and a twisted smile is on his face, just like last time. "I can't come here and have a friendly chat? Quite rude of you, but if you must know, I'm here to ask you something and offer you something."

I pulled the sword out of the ground and pointed it at him. "I doubt I'll accept it, but I will listen to what you have to say, just as long as I get to ask you something as well."

"I like you. Out of all the people I have faced in this world you are by far the most entertaining one, but I don't have all day to chat so here's what I wanted to ask you." He walks up to me and stops just at the tip of the blade. "Why did you come to this world? And don't try to hide it, the moment you and that other one showed up I sensed it, so please tell me why." His smile widens slightly, and before I could pull the sword away, he grabs the blade and holds it still. 'That tone of his, he's not asking but demanding me to tell him. And this strength, it's not human.'

"How me and my friend got here was from an artifact, but you gotta ask the other two, as I'm not telling you a damn thing about them!" I see one of his eyebrows raise in intrigue.

"Fascinating, an artifact that allows the travel of different worlds. While the prospect of it sounds alluring, I'll stick to this world for now. And as for my offer, would you like to join me in making the next world?" He lets go of the blade and holds his hand out towards me, waiting for me to shake it.

"Yeah, no. I'm going to kick your ass and then go home, but now it's time for you to answer my question." He drops his arm and his smile widens, like he knew what I would choose. "You go on about this new world of yours, and even got all of your people to believe in it, so tell me when is this new world coming?"

"You are going to kick my ass? Now that's something I want to see, but that time will come soon." His smile widens, and I can see his head twitch. "And to answer your question, in eight days the last bit of the world's life will be absorbed into me and then my world will be birthed, one of chaos, death, and entertainment. Truly a world befitting of my rule, but my time is up, so good day Shade." Before I could act, his head suddenly snaps and the body falls onto the ground with blood coming from his eyes and mouth all while he smiles.

"Fucking hell… Eight days is our limit, so I better inform Relon and the others, but first." I put the sword on my back and turned towards where Magilou was hiding and saw her sitting down next to an unconscious Renne.

"Magilou, is she alright?" I called out as I went to grab my scythe.

"She's alive, but who knows how she'll be when she wakes up, also good job on kicking the bad guy's butts!" I let out a small sigh of relief as I pulled my scythe out of the rock and sheathed it. After walking back towards Magilou I looked at the fallen Pater-Mater and then jumped on him.

"You know, I wasn't expecting a giant mech or a girl with an oversized scythe to be here, but at least I got to test out my staff! Oh and how do you know this girl?" She looked up at me then back to Renne.

I knelt down to where the sniper round had pierced and noticed that the hole was larger than normal and that it had destroyed a large brain-shape component. "I wasn't expecting any of this either, but for how I know Renne well I met her in the past in my first world."

"So is the big mech dead or just napping?" Magilou asks as I tear open the hole slightly to fit my hand inside. Once inside I gently pulled out the component and saw a label on the back of it that read 'A-I UNIT ALPHA.'

"At least they labeled it…" I looked at the damage done and saw that it was mostly the hall of the brain and two wires. Putting the brain down I gently tried to connect the wires back but the first one I tried seemed to be worthless, however when I connected the second one.

The entire mech shifted as the power to it had returned, looking up I saw its eyes light up and it made a loud noise. "Does that answer your question?" 'I'm so glad that worked somehow.'

As I tried to put the brain back into its head it suddenly shocked me, in surprise I stopped and stared at its eyes. "I'm helping, Renne is alive and safe just next to you. Now I'm not sure if this will work fully but it's the best I can do so let me put it back." It made no noise in response so I tried again and this time it allowed me to put the brain back into its head.

After that I sat down where it could see me as I figured out what the other wire was for. "Sorry I couldn't fix you up fully, maybe once I get some tools or something." It beeped in response.

"Magilou, for now we'll sit tight here until Renne wakes up." I say as I get into a comfortable position.

"Alright, also about what that guy said a bit ago…" At her words, I let out a sigh.

"Yeah, once we get back to Bashton, we'll let everyone know. Hopefully we can get communications up soon, so we can warn Relon." I glanced down at Magilou and saw her let out a sigh as she got comfortable, but the look on her face told me that she's conflicted about something.

As I watched her, she let out another sigh and looked up at me. "Did you mean it? When you called me your friend earlier?" The look on Magilou's face was one I wasn't used to, normally it would be a smile and grin or a bored expression. This time it was one that resembled a child looking lost.

I took off my mask and jumped down to her and since she was still sitting, I grabbed the sword off my back and leaned it on the mech as I sat down next to her and laid my mask on my lap. "Yep, while you may be annoying, impulsive, bratty, someone that doesn't know when to shut up, loud, annoying-" I felt her hand slap the back of my head.

"You said annoying twice! And I get it. I'm a handful and a half, so you don't need to list them all!" She crossed her arms and pouted.

I rubbed the back of my head as I continued. "But you're still here helping me out, which says a lot about you as a person. While I haven't known you for more than a few days, I do consider you a friend." Magilou stared at me, and for once I saw a genuine smile form on her face.

"To think you would crack my wall." I faintly heard her say, before I could ask her what she meant, she spoke again. "You need punishment for it, so I demand you win and get us both outta here!" I looked at her and gave a simple thumbs up, and she returned the gesture. 'Crack in the wall? Magilou, just what happened to you?'

I decided not to ask about that and instead waited for Renne to wake up. Every so often I would bang on Pater-Mater letting him know we are still here and in turn he would make a noise in response.

"So since we got time… What can you do as a half demon? I already know about the not dying and sleeping part, but is there anything else?" She brings her knees up to her chest and lays her head on top of them.

"While I haven't found anything that could kill me, I'm sure there's something out there, also I can sleep if I wanted, but I don't for reasons." I say while staring off into the distance.

"Is it boring when you don't sleep? I'm sure just doing nothing for a few hours would absolutely kill me." I glanced at her and laughed.

"It does get boring, drawing is one way to pass time but I can't do that all the time." I raised my hand and knocked on Pater-Mater again.

"Do you feel pain? Like when you lost your arm when you fought Relon did you feel that?" I looked at her and nodded.

"Yep, I feel it all even when it grows back. Just don't tell Rinwell that I don't want her to feel bad for hurting me." She let out a huff in response but gave me a thumbs up.

"Speaking of Rinwell, do you actually not like her?" This time she laughed.

"Nah, I think she's adorable half the time, but she plays along with me and it's so easy to get a reaction from her, unlike someone else I know." She looks at me with a grin.

"I aim to please… but I'm glad, she probably needed your fights." Glancing at the ground I started wondering if she would ever stop being scared of me.

"So is that all? You do have other demon things you can do right?" I looked up at her, having completely forgotten about her question.

"Haha… Sorry, yeah, there are other things I can do. I have what you might call a field around me, whoever or whatever is in it, I can sense and if I want to focus I could sense the shape of their hearts. There's no turning it off, but I've gotten used to it. There have been times when it feels like it gets bigger and smaller, so the full size of it is unknown to me."

"Sounds awful to have, but that makes sense on how you're able to dodge and deflect without seeing the attacks."

"And then there's my eyes, if I stare into someone else's eyes I can in a way read them. That's how I knew Relon and Rinwell were friendly, but there have been times when I can't read people, oh and if I stare for too long my eyes start to hurt and bleed." Magilou turns her head to face me and gives me a look of disappointment.

"Is there anything you can do that doesn't hurt you in some way? Also, did you ever use your eyes on me?" I started thinking back to the times we were together, but not once did I use my eyes.

"I do have my speed and strength and no, I never used my eyes on you." She continues to stare at me, but then nods and goes back to facing forward.

Just then I heard a small moan and it seemed Magilou heard it as well. I got closer to Renne as she opened her eyes. "W-Where am I?" She looks up at me then at Magilou before her face morphs into grief. "P-Pater-Mater…" Tears started going down her cheek, but I loudly knocked on his body then yelled up.

"Hey, she's finally up!" Renne eyes go wide as Pater-Mater makes a loud noise in response. In an instant Renne gets up and climbs on top of him, grabbing the sword. I jumped up with her, leaving Magilou down below.

Renne kneels down by his head and hugs it. "You're alive!" It responds and continues making noise, Renne lets go of his head and looks towards me. "So you saved him and watched over me?" She wipes her eyes and smiles. "Thank you!"

I smiled back at her as she turned back to Pater-Mater. "Can you walk or move?" It makes another noise, this time it felt like I understood the tone of it and that it wasn't good. "I-I see… Well this guy fixed you up where you can talk, so I'm sure he can fix you up all nice and new!" She hugs him again, and he lets out another sad noise.

"Don't say that! He will, I'll make him fix you!" More tears stream down her face as she hugs his head even tighter. I looked down and saw Magilou walking away towards the way our bike is at.

Then I saw one of Pater-Mater's arms move, it moved towards its head and opened its hand and surrounded Renne. She started crying harder as it slowly patted her back, then it made more noises and once it was done the hand stopped, and I could tell that it was gone. 'Damn thing stayed alive just to tell her goodbye, but if the AI core isn't that damaged, then there's a chance it could be put in something else…'

I walked around the hand and saw Renne sitting there, she let out a few more tears than wiped of face and looked up at me. "P-Pater-Mater told me to help you and what you are… I won't go back to the Professor's but for now I'll follow you."

"Alright, but first can you show me the Artifact. I still need it…" She nodded and walked over to a part of Pater-Mater's body, she reached down and pressed something where a hatch then opened up. I walked over and looked inside where I saw this odd looking object that had wires connected to it, so I reached in and grabbed it and when I turned back Renne had jumped down and started walking away. Before I went with her, I quickly ran towards Pater-Mater's head and grabbed his AI core and hid it in my pocket.

I quickly caught up to Renne who seemed distant, so I reached out and laid my hand on her shoulder, she jerked away and turned to glare at me. "Don't touch me! We aren't friends, everything was fine until you showed up!" She started crying again and started to hit my chest, while it did hurt somewhat I let her do it. After a few minutes of this, she stopped and wiped away more tears.

"I'm sorry I showed up and for not doing a better job of helping him out in the fight." I reached out and patted her head, which confused her. "You can hit me and call me anything you like, but I'll make sure you'll be safe, so he doesn't have to worry." I smiled at her, and she only responded with a small nod.

Together we walked towards the bike, where Magilou was standing next to it, waiting on us. "So, we good?" I nod, and she gives a thumbs up as she climbs in the sidecar.

"Oh, right. Renne, do you want to sit in the sidecar…?" Before I finished speaking she went to the side-car and jumped in and on top of Magilou, this time Magilou didn't mind much and helped Renne adjust her seating to where she would sit in Magilou's lap. During this I had put the AI core in one of the bags without Renne noticing then made my way on the bike, once both girls were ready I started it up, and we started our drive back to Bashton.

Renne quickly fell asleep in Magilou's lap, she was probably still spent from everything, so as to not wake her I went slowly and avoided any bumps. On the way, I did notice that there were no signs of Claire or her forces.

"How do you know her?" Magilou asks while looking down at Renne.

"I met the future version of her. She was a great friend and even taught me a few things, she was one of the few people I shared my past with." A sad smile forms on my face as I reminisce.

Magilou was quiet for a moment, then she let out a sigh. "I'm sure she's happy for you." Magilou softly spoke. While we haven't known each other for that long, it seemed like the both of us had formed a bond, there are still a lot of mysteries around her both about her past and her use of magic or whatever it is, but for now I'll leave it be.

Eventually we made it back to Bashton upon arriving I noticed Claire's troops in the village, so I avoided it and went back to the mountain side entrance which opened when I got close. As I pulled in, I saw Schmidt waiting for me with his arms crossed. "About time." He looked over and saw Renne which seemed to surprise him.

"You and Novartis have some explaining to do, but first." I turn off the bike and get off as Magilou looks at me confused. "Magilou, take Renne to get something to eat and a place for us to stay for the night. If someone tries anything on you or her, you have my permission to beat them bloody." Magilou smiles as she slowly shakes Renne awake.

"Renne…? Novartis, what have you been hiding from me? Well, either way I'll have someone guide you to the mess hall and a room after. Now I must ask, do you have it?" I pulled out the artifact and showed him it. "Good and it's undamaged-"

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" I turn around to see Renne awake and screaming as Magilou looks panicked from it.

I walked over and put my hand on her head and started rubbing, despite her attempts to get my hand away. "Look Renne I won't let them hurt you, both Magilou and I will protect you." After a minute of this she calms down only slightly but keeps her glare aimed at Schmidt.

"Just so we are clear, I do not know of this child or why she hates us." I could tell he's telling the truth, so I nod. Schmidt then turned towards one of the nearby scientists who was watching. "Guide the girls to the mess hall and to a proper room… And give them access to the showers, that will be all." He then turns back to me, but for a moment I thought I saw a sad look in his eye.

"A SHOWER! Please tell me it has hot water!" Magilou jumps for joy as she and Renne follow the man, the entire time Renne would look back at me until she finally turned the corner.

"Now follow me, Novartis should be by the radios waiting for us. And maybe we'll both get answers about that girl." I said nothing as I followed him, we took the same path there as last time, but the only noise this time was the sound of the elevator and our footsteps.

Once we entered the room I saw Novartis waiting by the radios as Schmidt had said he would be, we walked across the room and Novartis greeted us both with joy. "Shade! You did it and you brought Renne back to us! I may just keep you here if you're this useful to me-" I shove the Artifact into his arms making him shut up. "Uhg, careful! You could've damaged this!" He laid it on the table behind him and turned back to look at me. "Now where's Renne?"

"Why do you know her, why does she have Pater-Mater and why is she afraid of you?" I stare straight at him with an intense glare and venom in my voice. Schmidt simply crosses his arms and looks at Novartis.

He sighs and pushes up his glasses. "Renne showed up with a group of people a few years ago, when I ran tests on them to see if they had any illnesses I found out that Renne was the perfect candidate for our Gordias-Class Tactical Archaism Development Plan. But she needed some adjustments for it to work properly, in the end she escaped with it." It took all I had not to punch him, but Schmidt walked up and slapped him.

"You are a fool! I've already told you that plan was dead in the water and yet you still focused on it." Novartis glares at Schmidt as he rubs his cheek but says nothing. 'Well Schmidt, you just earned points in my book.'

"Let me say this before we get the artifact plugged in… Renne will stay with me and we are leaving tomorrow." Schmidt goes back to crossing his arms and Novartis glares focuses on me. "Oh, and there's something I have to tell you both. While I was out I ran into Commander Claire and her troops-" Schmidt let out an annoyed sigh.

"Didn't the note I gave you earlier tell you to not let Zero or his men know? Or perhaps you just couldn't read my penmanship?" I simply turned my head to face him and stared. After a few seconds of this he lets out a huff and gestures for me to continue.

"Zero possessed one of her men and said this world had eight days left." Both professors looked surprised then looked at each other.

"It seems I was off by two weeks, we should start letting others know…" Schmidt turns back to me and let's another annoyed sigh. "We knew that Zero was close to ending this world just not sure of when, but if he said so himself then all we can do is prepare."

While Schmidt is talking I see Novartis finish what he was doing and leave silently with a scowl on his face. Once he leaves the room Schmidt glances at the door and shakes his head.

"Well, I got nothing else for you so go do whatever… I recommend a shower as you smell of blood." He turns and walks away, leaving me there.

"I hate this place." Glancing at the radio, I checked it out a bit and decided to contact people tomorrow and to see if I can't reach Relon to let him know about Claire and what Zero said. After that, I left the room and made my way back to the front gate where the bike was to get the AI core.

As I got there, I saw one of the many scientists leaning on the wall trying to stay awake. "N-Need to report to the…" He closes his eyes and moments later he falls forwards. "OW!"

I didn't recognize, but maybe he could do something with this AI core, so I grabbed it from the bag and walked over to him as he was getting off the floor. "Hey, you alright?" He looks up at me and sheepishly smiles at me.

"Haha… Yeah, I'm fine. The professors have been working everyone to the bone lately… What's that?" He stands up fully and starts inspecting the core.

"First, why don't you tell me your name?" His head snaps up at me and he smiles again.

"Uh, right. My name is Oscar and I work in the Archaism research and development department. And if I'm right, this is an AI core?" When he looked up at me, I looked into his eyes and saw he was far too innocent for his own good.

"Yep, can you transfer it to something, either another Archaism or even a device that can talk would work." He tilted his head and put his hand on his chin and started rubbing it, after a moment of this he smiled and nodded.

"I can come up with something, I should get approval from the Professors-" Before he could finish, I grabbed his shoulder.

"Keep this between us, got it?" He quickly nodded his head and grabbed the core, then he ran off.

I then put the bike off to the side before heading off into the base looking for the shower room, after a few minutes and many corners I found it and once inside it looked pretty normal, it had multiple rooms for private showers and even washing machines and dryers to do laundry.

I didn't have any spare clothing, so I took out everything in my pockets and put it in a locker nearby as well as my weapons, threw all of my clothing in the wash then I got in the shower. The warm water started to hit my back, making me feel relaxed for once, so I spent roughly thirty minutes in there just soaking it all in.

"Man, this is a better shower than what the Annex has… when I return, would it still be the same date? Or are they looking for me right now?" I turned the water's temperature to cold and let it wash over me for a couple of moments before getting out.

As I got out I wrapped a towel around myself and saw that the washing machine was done, so I threw it all in the dryer and waited nearby. 'Tomorrow we should head south, Avon Hills has a base, so I'll try to get in contact with it as well as Twin Dragon Bridge. Relon and Rinwell wherever they are… So that was Claire, huh? Relon and her must be close in his world.'

I stare at the ground waiting, then I hear a ding, signaling that the dryer is done. Slowly I got up and began putting everything back on and grabbed my stuff from the locker. I gently put my mom's necklace in my pocket along with the picture of Tio and myself, the rest of which were small useful items like lock picks.

"I should go find the girls, either they are both eating or in the room we were given… wherever that is." So I began looking around for them and after having to ask someone I found the mess hall.

"And… not here, well, guess I could eat something real quick." They didn't serve much and mostly stuff that could last for a few years, but it still worked for me. I then left the mess hall and went back to looking for the girls.

I took an elevator to another floor and as I looked around I was able to sense them in one of the rooms, lying on a bed together. Slowly I opened the door and saw Renne sleeping and cuddled up next to Magilou as she was stroking her head. (About time you joined us.) Magilou whispered as I sat on the second bed in the room.

I laid the sword against the wall and laid back where I was staring at the ceiling. (Is she alright?)

Magilou lets out a sigh as she looks down at Renne. (She cried a lot, during our bath and while eating… She doesn't like this place, and I'm starting to dislike it as well.)

I closed my eyes and let out my own sigh. (I don't either, tomorrow we'll set off after I contact a few people. I'm thinking we head towards the Avon Hills to see why that base there is a secret from Zero.)

Magilou nods then goes silent as she herself falls asleep. I smiled at the girls, then decided to just lay there with my eyes closed for a while as I began thinking of a possible route to our next location.

There was a clock on the wall and the time said it was 8 o'clock, so I laid there for around ten hours. Not once did the girls wake up, but Renne did toss and turn a lot. The clock now read that it was 6 o'clock, so I got up and stretched before heading towards the radios.

I only saw a handful of people around and none of them were on or around the radio, so this was a perfect time to contact people. After seeing which stations I needed to dial in on, I decided to contact Shirley first.

After a moment of silence I finally heard a voice come through. "This is Twin Dragon, what do you need, Bashton?" The voice I could tell was Shirley.

"Shirley, it's me, Shade." I heard a loud gasp from her and a quick yell.

"Well, well! You made it there in one piece, so anything fun happened on the way? Like, I don't know, fighting Lloyd and Rean's forces in Heimdallr and pissing them all off!" I reel back from how loud she is.

"Well I didn't think they would be there fighting each other, but it worked out as I met someone like me there… Wait, he didn't show up your way?" 'Then I wonder where they went?'

"Nobody showed up here, but someone like you? Like another world like you?" I quickly explained the key events and what happened.

"I would say this helps out a lot, knowing we got a couple of badasses running around, but I don't like how the timing of this is." Even she sounded suspicious.

"Something's up, also I could tell nobody has contacted you yet, so let me say we got all communications up." I grabbed a nearby chair and sat down.

"Already? Damn, you would think they would contact us to let us know this shit!" I could hear her writing stuff down.

"And one last thing, Zero told me himself that the world has seven days left until he remakes it in his own image, at least that's what I think he's doing to it." There was silence over the radio then I heard a loud sigh.

"Rebirth… That's what he's doing, he's planning on Re birthing this world! FUCK! I should have seen it coming… Shade, I need to contact other bases now since you got the communications fixed up and let them know since people at Bashton can't do a fucking thing! Anyway, good luck out there!" Then the radio goes silent.

"Don't mess with Shirley when she's angry, well I guess I'll let her contact other bases then. If Relon is on the west side of the Empire then I should be able to contact him from here." I pulled out his number and entered it into my ENIGMA, then I put on my mask so nobody could eavesdrop on us.

After a few moments he answered. "What's up?"

"And good morning to you as well, how's your end doing?" I got up from my chair and walked to a wall and started leaning on it.

"We just reached Ordis after leaving the Resistance's base. It's completely trashed just like Heimdallr. How about you two?" 'So, they went west…'

"We reached Bashton pretty quickly after we left the village, but it seems this place is a giant tech hub and with two asshole professors running the scenes. But which base did you visit?"

"The one in Milsante. Nothing out of the ordinary aside from a guy with Pippin of his own. Said his name was Loewe. We're both still recovering from that one honestly." 'Loewe? Estelle and Renne told me about him.'

"Loewe? Well then if he's on the Resistance's side then that's great for us, but I got info for you and some of it concerns Rinwell as well." I shifted my feet and glanced around the room.

"How concerning are we talking…?"

"In seven days this world will end, Zero said so himself. Also I found Claire."

"Hold on. I need to sit against something." I can hear him let out a loud sigh. "Shit, where do I even start?"

"I'll start with Claire since that's how I ended up talking with Zero again. She's commanding a small command center in Bashton and ended up ambushing me, she's fine. I didn't attack her, just her men, but one of them was possessed by Zero who told me when his plan would be finished and even asked me to join him. Relon most of the people under Zero think of him like a damn god."

"... I am so tired… of dealing with Godly beings… and people who think they're Gods."

"Unlike with Sephiroth, Zero's followers are being controlled." I can faintly hear Rinwell mutter. 'Who the hell is that?'

"How are you and Magilou?" I glance at a nearby clock to check the time.

"I'm fine for the most part and Magilou is asleep, but it seems we picked up a third for our group. A girl named Renne, who can fight as well… at least I hope she can fight right now."

"Right now? Did something happen?" I hear Rinwell ask with worry.

"She lost her friend Pater-Mater who was a giant archaism, so she's been crying ever since. Hell, she's only like thirteen years old."

"A machine?" Rinwell responds. 'Wait, am I on speaker?'

"Thirteen, huh…?" Relon muses. "If anything happened to Pippin, I'd probably be in the same boat. It's my best friend after all. Losing something so dear at a young age no doubt hurts. Let her cry. Let her cope. We'll need all the help we can get if we want to take down Zero."

"Relon?" Rinwell sounds.

"I don't like the idea of having a young one fight, but the younger fighters always give each battle their heart." 'That they do, even when it leads to a total defeat.'

"I know she will, trust me. Also I do have good news, communications are back at 100% which is how I'm even reaching you right now."

"I figured. That's good at least. So what will you do now?"

"Once the girls are up and ready I'm ditching this place and heading to the base in Avon Hills. From what I know, Zero is unaware of it so I wanted to see what's there. Also Shirley from the base at Twin's Dragon Bridge said she'll start informing people about what Zero said, sounds like she has a plan as well."

"If we've got only seven days, then we need to find as many people that'll help as possible and take him down. It's crunch time, people. We'll be roaming the borders seeing what we can find." 'I doubt there's much, but I do wonder…?' I thought of my old home, but quickly pushed that thought to the side.

"Oh, I meant to ask but how are the two of you doing?"

"Not counting Hootle, we've also gained a traveling companion. Remember that cat? Turns out, she's a familiar of the head witch so the three of us have been traveling together since this morning." 'Right the owl and I knew that cat was a familiar, she reminded me of Celine.'

"Thought so, also tell Hootle I'm sorry for forgetting about him." I could hear him let out a hoot in response.

"He says you're forgiven." Rinwell speaks. 'At least the owl forgave me.'

"So, what's her name?" I glance up to see more people enter the room.

"Munechika. She lost her ability to speak but uses magic to communicate."

"Munechika… well I can't wait to meet her, and not just in her cat form."

"She says the same."

"Glad to hear it, anyway, that's all I got to say for now. If I find out anything else I'll give you a call, also I got bad vibes from the professors here, so if you ever come here, watch yourselves." One of the people I see walk in is Schmidt, and he immediately scans the room and notices me.

"Will do. Be safe, Shade."

"Same with you lot." I hang up as he walks towards me.

"What are you doing here… well at least you smell better now." I ignore and walked past him. He didn't stop me, so I kept on walking.

Before getting on the elevator, I stood there to think about the small amount of info Relon had told me. "Loewe is in Milsante… It would be good to head there before Avon Hills." I stepped onto the elevator and once I got down to the main floor I started prepping for the journey.

As I walked to and from the mess hall I had a sense of unease, like I was being watched, and it only got worse as time went on. After an hour or so I was finished and even made sure there was a sleeping kit there for the girls in case we had to make camp.

Just then I saw Magilou and Renne walking towards me and I could tell they were also on edge. "So this is where you were." Renne says with a more cheerful tone, she seems to be in a better state than yesterday, but I could tell it was just a mask.

"You already got everything ready? Guess you want to leave here as soon as you can." Magilou states while glancing at a scientist who was passing by.

"I have a bad feeling, plus it's best we get a move on to the south. Also, have you both eaten yet?" As I said that, I could hear one of their stomachs grumble. Renne looks away as Magilou grins. "Let's get some food then." I say, letting out a smile.

And so we made our way to the mess hall and grabbed a quick breakfast. As we were eating, Magilou asked me something. "So, what's the plan once we get to Avon Hills?" Renne looked up, confused.

"Is that where we are heading to? There's nothing there as far as I know." I leaned towards her just in case as I explained.

(There's a hidden base there.) I leaned back and continued talking as normal. "But first we're stopping by Milsante, I was able to get into contact with Relon, and he's already been there and said someone of note is there."

"Relon is someone like you, right?" I nod as Magilou looks over at me after taking another bite of food.

"So he told you someone is at Milsante? Is it someone you know by chance, maybe a lover~?" Before I could respond, Renne already beat me to it.

"If you wanted to spend alone time with them, all you have to do is ask, but it might be awkward with you being from another world and all." She smirks at me as Magilou looks at Renne with a smile.

"Oh, we are going to have so much fun together!" I simply shake my head.

"It's not that, so please stop. His name is Loewe, and I know of him only in passing." Magilou just goes back to eating, but Renne seems to somewhat recognize the name.

"O-Oh, well, if you want to meet this guy then I'm all for it." I don't bother questioning it, so I go back to eating. Before we were done I had also explained some other things Relon told me which didn't get much reaction.

Once we were done eating, we all made our way back to the bike, but once we got there something happened. "There you are, I've been looking for you." Schmidt says in his normal annoyed tone.

"What is it? We're about to head out." I state while crossing my arms.

"That's exactly why I was looking for you. I need you to deliver what's in this box to Avon Hills." He pulls a small box from his coat pocket and hands it to me. I couldn't tell what was inside, but it was very light.

"What is it?" I asked while looking at it. After a few moments of silence I look up to see him with his eyes closed and then once he opens them again is when he answers.

"My final work, at least for them." For a moment he sounded off, but he quickly went back to normal. "Now, if you excuse me, I have other tasks to work on." And like that he was gone.

"He's an odd one, that's for sure." Magilou states while walking past me.

"I don't like or trust him, but I can tell he's kinder than the other professors…" Renne says while watching him leave. "We better get a move on, right?" I nodded as I looked his way one last time before putting the box in my pocket and getting on the bike.

Like last time Magilou got in first and Renne sat in her lap, expecting this I did get a small blanket for them to use if they wanted it. And as I started the bike up the main doors opened and we made our way out of the base. I took one last look at the base Claire was stationed to see a lot of movement just outside of it as well as a couple of trucks parked nearby. 'Are they packing up? Or just getting supplies for their wounded? I can't tell from here.'

"Chances are that they are moving their wounded to the reactor nearby." Renne says after noticing where I was looking at.

"Hopefully that's the case. Either way, it's best we get a move on before they spot us." The girls nod in response as we start moving again. Because of the terrain we'll have to go through Raquel first as the other road would take us to the reactor.

For the first hour or so of the trip everything was mostly fine, we would encounter monsters that Renne always volunteered to get rid of, at first this was fine but she started getting more aggressive, I was worried for her and knew I had to step in soon. We were roughly another hour or two away from Raquel, but then something stopped us. Not far in front of us was a group of large cat-like monsters.

"Seems like we have to clear them out before moving forward." I state as I turn off the bike. "You both stay here, this shouldn't take lon-"

"I'm coming with you." Renne interrupts me and quickly jumps out of the sidecar.

"I'll stay here and watch the bike, we don't want anyone to steal it, after all." Magilou says while popping her feet up.

Ignoring her, I turned to face Renne. "You sure? I don't mind taking them on alone."

"Shut up!" She glares at me as she pulls out her scythe. "You showed up and ruined everything, and now you're trying to boss me around! Once we get to Milsante, I'm leaving you, so don't expect us to be a team." She turns away and starts walking to the beasts.

I stayed silent as what she said was right, but still I pulled out my guns and walked with her to support. 'If I didn't show up her friend would still be alive, hell I'm even bringing her along on a quest to save the world, and she wanted no part in it. Some guy I am.'

There are seven monsters in total, with one of them being larger than the rest, making it the pack leader. Renne slowly walked forward with a firm grip on her weapon, while I held my guns out pointed at the closet monster. They have been watching us since we got off the bike and have been waiting for the moment to pounce.

Then they started running around us, so they could trap us, but before they could finish I shot two of them, which killed them quickly. Renne also started attacking by launching forward and slicing one of their sides, but she wasn't done, she then went to the closest one and killed it the same way and repeated the process until only the big one was left.

The way she fought and acted reminded me of myself, the bloodlust in her eyes, the way she killed with a smile. I knew then what I had to do, putting my guns up I ran forward as she engaged with the big one. She dodged the monster's jump attack and as she was about to hit it, she was then hit by its tail and was sent to the ground.

Just as the monster was about to strike her, I got in its way and took the hit on my back. "You know something, Renne, you remind me of myself." Her eyes go wide as she lays there, looking up at me.

"The hell are you doing?!" She yells as the monster sinks its claws deeper into my back and then tries to bite my head, but I grab its jaw and hold it in place. "Not sure myself, but I know I can't let you continue this."

With my free hand, I took off my mask and sat it down. "I don't know how long you've been fighting or what you experienced in the past, but you can't let that define you!" She could only stare at me.

"I've seen friends die, family die, hell my entire world was taken from me. I've been where you are, and I'm still there really, but it's never too late to find a new path!" I can feel blood on my back and can even taste some.

Renne looks at me with tears in her eyes, I doubt they are for me, but for something else. Either way, my words are working. "Just because people say this world is ending doesn't mean crap, there is hope for it and hope for the world after. A world where everyone can live happily, and you have a place there!" The monster tries again to bite my head by putting more force on its bite, and my hand breaks because of it. But before it could do anything, Renne grabbed her scythe and stabbed it in the side.

"I-I still don't like you, but those words helped, so I'll help until we get to Milsante." Renne stands up as I get the monster corpse off of me. Renne then went to look at my back to check on it, but to her surprise it was already healing.

After a quick explanation of what I am, she was pretty okay with it and punched my gut for making her worried. She asked to just think for a moment before we left the area, so I went back to the bike to sit there.

"What a speech, but I feel like you should take some of those words to heart yourself." Magilou states with a smile, still in the same position as I left her in.

"I know, it's easier to say stuff than it is to do it. One day I'll get there." I sat on the bike and let out a sigh. 'Plus, I think it was someone else's words that helped, someone she forgot about.'

After a couple of minutes, Renne returned and both her and Magilou got back into their normal position, making sure they were ready. I started the bike and we took off again. The trip was uneventful this time, with the only monsters we were able to see being off in the distance.

Renne's POV earlier.

I watched as this man who barely knew me, threw himself in the way to block the monster's attack. "You know something, Renne, you remind me of myself." I couldn't help but just stare at this man with my eyes wide wondering what the hell he meant. 'He's going to get himself killed…'

"The hell are you doing?!" I yell up at him as the monster jerks and tries to bite his head off, only stopping because he grabbed its lower jaw. "Not sure myself, but I know I can't let you continue this." He sounded like he was in pain but also cheerful? Optimistic maybe?

He took off his mask with his free hand and sat it down on the ground and looked at me with a sad smile. "I don't know how long you've been fighting or what you experienced in the past, but you can't let that define you!" I tried to say something, but couldn't I could only stare in disbelief.

"I've seen friends die, family die, hell my entire world was taken from me. I've been where you are, and I'm still there really, but it's never too late to find a new path!" As he said that I remember words similar to his own that were told to me before.

I remember it was dark and some sort of battle just happened, it was before I was at Bashton and some man was sitting beside me. 'This isn't the life you should have, not one of blood or violence. So go Renne and find a new path for yourself.'

Tears started to form as I finally remembered some of that night. 'I need to get it together, I can't cry in front of him… but he's right I have to stop fighting like that. For myself and Pater-Mater.'

The man in front of me smiles before continuing. "Just because people say this world is ending doesn't mean crap, there is hope for it and hope for the world after. A world where everyone can live happily, and you have a place there!" It felt like time stopped moving, his words were true and yet it felt like they were for himself as well. I grip my scythe as I see the monster bite down again this time breaking his hand in the process, before it could go any further I quickly swung and pierced its side.

"I-I still don't like you, but those words helped, so I'll help until we get to Milsante." I couldn't thank him for his words in full, I wasn't ready to. As he pushed the monster off of himself I went to see the damage that was done to him, but before my very eyes I saw his wounds healing like magic. He told me about being half demon and how he can't die, while I was surprised I also felt some relief that he was fine.

But I was also angry that he made me worry like that, so I punched him as hard as I could in his gut and walked off so I could think for a moment about what I had remembered and what I plan to do.

I stared off into the distance, trying to remember more. Who that man was, what was he doing and why was he protecting me? I need answers and I need a purpose…

Shade's POV

Everything was peaceful for the most part, but as we got close to Raquel we had to be more careful as there could be troops waiting. As we got closer to the town I could see the gate and how damaged it was. "Good chance there's nobody here or at least anyone alive." Renne says as I nod.

"Well we could stop by the casino real quick and play a game or two, not like anyone would stop us." Magilou says, making Renne pinch her in response "OW!"

"The place isn't that big, so we should be able to get past it with ease." We start heading towards the gate and once we pass it the town looks similar to others which doesn't surprise me. I took a glance at the road which leads to Ordis before going along the path we needed to head to, but as I turned I saw someone up ahead looking slightly panicked.

I stopped the bike and stared at this person, what looked like a guy was looking around with his back towards us, his clothing was ripped and dirty and he seemed hurt. "Should we help him?" Magilou asks while trying to get a better look at him.

Suddenly he turned and finally saw us. He waved at us and it almost seemed like he was trying to yell at us, but no noise was coming from him. I looked closer and noticed two things, one was the fact his mouth was sealed shut and the second being some sort of choker around his neck.

"What the hell…" As I say that he suddenly grabs his neck and falls to his knees and seems to be in pain.

"We should get out of here." Renne says, her voice full of seriousness.

The man before us starts to grow and his body starts twisting and turning in ways it shouldn't, the girls let out a gasp as I watch on in horror as this man turns into some sort of monster. Nothing about it seemed human anymore, it looked like a long snake made of wood and flesh with twigs all over it and it has two large arms at the front.

I start the bike and immediately get away from it as it zooms by us. "What the hell is that thing?!" Magilou screams as she holds on to Renne. I pull into an alleyway and hop off and run back towards it. "You're fighting that thing?!" I turn back to face Magilou.

"Letting it live will just cause problems, besides it used to be a person so I need to show him mercy." I pulled out my scythe and ran towards it and left the girls flabbergasted.

The monster was sliding around and using its arms to help it stop or turn until it noticed me, it looked at me and opened its mouth which looked terrifying. "I'm not sure what happened to you or what your name was, but I'll lay you to rest."

It screeches at me as it charges at me, I stepped out of the way and slashed its side which didn't faze it at all. It moved around me with its movements being sporadic and almost unreadable, but then it pulled back and I could tell it was about to charge me so when it finally did I stabbed it in the side and opened up a large hole. It screeched again and continued moving around, but its blood was almost black then red.

It tried attacking again by charging at me, so I jumped into the air and landed on the tail end of it. I grabbed onto it and stabbed my scythe into it and dragged it along the back before jumping off.

As I landed I quickly turned to see it screech again before suddenly crashing into a building and stopping, with its head in the building I couldn't see what was happening but I was able to hear it moaning until I heard a pop, the body went lifeless as I stood there.

I took a peek inside and only saw the black blood and I figured that its head exploded somehow and died. "What happened to you?" I looked at the body before walking back to the bike.

As I got close I saw the girls standing there looking shocked. "We were about to help before we saw it crash into that building." Renne states, looking behind me and at the monster.

"I doubt I could've done anything with the way it was moving around, but at least it's dead now." Magilou says, staring at it as well.

"No doubt this was something Zero did, but what that is I have no idea. Either way it's best we get a move on before someone shows up." The girls nodded and we all got back on the bike before taking off.

We were all quiet as we left Raquel, the horror of that person and what befell them was stuck in our minds and it only worsened as we thought about who else could be in the same situation as that man.

The sun was high in the air by the time Milsante came into view, it seemed quiet as we approached and the town itself seemed to be in good condition. Then as we got to the gate I sensed multiple people nearby with guns pointed at us.

I slowed the bike to a halt at the base of the gate. "I don't see anyone her-" Magilou was cut off as people walked out of their hiding spots, rifles pointed at us.

"Who are you?!" One of them shouts as the other men surround the bike. I looked around as both Magilou and Renne looked concerned.

"I'm Shade, I came from Bashton." I call out to the man, but before he could do anything another man walks up to him and pushes his gun down, signaling to the others to lower theirs. The man is tall with bright silver hair and lavender eyes, he's wearing a long gray-brown coat with a high collar over a black shirt and gray trousers. 'From what I've been told, he must be…'

"So, you are Shade. I met your friends not long ago, sorry for my men, I've already told them you were coming and yet here we are. Oh, I almost forgot, my name is Loewe." As he said that I noticed the sword he had at his side and how it looked like one of Relon's swords. 'How odd, I'm sure Relon saw it as well… Oh well it's not my place.'

"That's right and this is Magilou and Ren-" Loewe suddenly moves forward as he spotted Renne, and in return Renne was staring at him looking shocked.

"You're that girl, from a few years ago… I'm glad you're safe!" Loewe then turns towards me. "Why is she here?" Before I could speak Renne climbed out the sidecar and jumped into his arms.

"It's you!" She hugged him tight and while he seemed slightly confused he returned the hug.

(Do you know anything?) Magilou leaned in and whispered to me.

(Slightly, but let's save that for later.) After a few moments Renne let go and stood beside Loewe.

"I'm sure you both have some questions, but let's head inside. Oh, first let me show you where you can park your bike." I nodded as I slowly drove in, once inside I could see the majority of town and where the lake should be. As I parked my bike next to what looked like an old inn I could see that there wasn't a lake but an empty pit that had many families and camps in it.

Magilou hopped out with a bunce as I took in the view, Loewe walked up next to me with Renne behind him. "We had to dig our way into the pit since it's a bit deep, plus there's a cave which houses even more people."

"You got a lot of people here, I bet getting food for them all is a pain." I leaned on the railing and noticed that some people seemed to be in a rush down below as well as a skeleton of what looked like a lake monster.

"Come, let's talk inside." I turned around as Loewe and Renne walked inside the building, Magilou glanced at me as we headed inside.

Once inside I saw a familiar sight of equipment set up everywhere and some maps set up on a table in the middle of the room, there were stairs leading up, a backroom and many people running around. "As you can see people are in a rush, after we got Shirley's report on what Zero said to you we started planning a counter attack." Loewe said as he walked around a table and faced me.

"Glad to see someone reporting what I told them unlike some other people, but do you even have enough firepower to fight back? And what are you planning to attack, the reactor?" As I said that Loewe looked down at the table and pointed to where the nearby reactor was at.

"Oh boy, sounds like death." Magilou comments as she leans on the table.

"For once I agree with her, heading there would kill half of the people here." Loewe gave me a knowing look.

"I know that, but what else are we supposed to do? Let Zero have his way and end the world?! I'm at least going to give him hell before that!" I stood there quietly as I knew where he was coming from, but then Magilou spoke.

"Question, what happens if a reactor is taken down?" Loewe looked up at her and he couldn't say anything. "Wait, really? You have no idea what will happen? What if it gave us more time or weakened him, maybe even letting people go from his control or whatever!" I stared at her stunned as not even I thought of that.

"We have no idea really, but if it helps us then we are still going to attack. Anyway, I wanted to ask, what do you plan to do?" Loewe stared at me as I took off my mask.

"Well, before I answer that. When will you be ready?" Loewe thought for a moment then answered.

"Two, maybe three days, you plan on helping?" I nodded as Magilou looked between us both.

"Helping? I'm not sure I can help with that…" She took a step backwards away from the table but I gently stopped her by grabbing her shoulder.

"I'm sure there are things you can help with, so no backing out now." I let go as she slumps in defeat. "Besides, we do have a place to get to, Avon Hills." Loewe raises his eyebrow and looks at me confused.

"You want to go there? I'm not sure if anyone is still there." This time I looked at him confused which he seemed to notice. "First off we haven't heard from them in a year and second off they never helped with anything, the entire place is a big question mark."

"I see, still I feel like something is there, so we are going…" I looked over at Renne who's been silent all this time. "You're staying here, right?"

Loewe looked at me then at Renne. "Before we continue this line of conversation, tell me why she is with you and anything else you might know."

And so I explained everything from meeting Renne to what the professors told me. Loewe almost broke the table from how hard his grip on it was. "Those bastards! After the reactor, they are next!" He slams his hand on the table, which causes Renne to jump. "S-Sorry Renne. I'll take her in, but thank you for watching over her." He extended his hand out towards me, which I shook.

"How do you know Renne?" We heard a small cough as Renne finally spoke up.

"I was with a bunch of people who were traveling around and avoiding Zero, one night we were ambushed. I was in the middle of it all and only lived long enough since my parents laid on top of me." I glanced at Loewe, who nodded.

"Loewe ended up rushing in with his men and made them run, but half of us were dead or dying. We were closer to Bashton, so he sent us there with some of his men." Renne was quiet afterward and Loewe motioned one of his people over and had Renne taken to get some food and rest.

"Thank you again Shade, Magilou. When do you plan to leave for Avon Hills?" I looked at the clock on the wall to see it said 2 o'clock.

"A hour maybe? I figure we have a quick lunch then head out. We should get there by nightfall." Loewe nodded and smiled.

"Then let me treat you, follow me." Magilou and I followed him back outside, and he took us down towards the giant pit. Once there I saw children running around having fun, people moving supplies and other everyday activities.

Finally, we stopped at this outdoor food place and Loewe ordered for the three of us. "This place is nice, definitely better than Bashton or Shirley's place." I commented as I sat down across from Loewe, with Magilou to my right.

"Zero doesn't bother us as much as he does others, so we have time to build homes, defenses and a place for people to gather. Any place west from here is gone, and those that survived are here." Loewe looked up as a waiter came to give us our food.

"So what do you pay people with? I doubt many would want to do free labor." Magilou asks while eagerly grabbing her utensils to eat the dish that was given to us. It looked to be a small thing of meat with some veggies on the side.

"Maybe where you're from, but here people do it because they want to. Many can't fight or do hard labor, so they do stuff like this." I look out into the small crowd of people going about their business.

"Do they know?" I ask while staring at my food. Magilou looked over, confused to what I meant.

"No. Only soldiers and those that help them know, and they only know we are planning an attack." Loewe responded then sighed, afterward we ate in silence.

As we gave our empty trays to the waiter, Loewe asked me a question. "What do you plan to do with Renne?"

Magilou looked back at him then at me, then walked off with her hands behind her head. "Whatcha mean by that?" I leaned against the table as I stared at him.

"I can tell you care for her, and I'm sure you'll protect her on your journey. But obviously she's hurting and doesn't know what she wants to do, so are you going to bring her with you or keep her here?" Loewe gives me a serious expression as I simply shake my head.

"It's up to her really, she said that she was going to stay here earlier. She's been through a lot and needs people she trusts, so it's all up to her." Loewe smiled at my answer, then asked me another question.

"And how do you plan on defeating Zero and his army?" I turned my head towards him and answered it as simply as I could.

"Well if I take out the reactors and Zero then his army should go away hopefully, so that's my plan." His eyes went wide and he just stared at me for a moment.

"That's your plan? What will you do when you face his army then, will you kill them?"

"No, I'll knock them down and continue on my way. If I don't have to kill people, then I won't, simple as that." Loewe stares at me, then he smiles and pats my back.

"I can tell there's more to it than that, but I can see the conviction in your eyes. If Renne decides to go with you then I'll allow it, and I also now know that with you on our side we stand a chance to save this world, to make it one without any more bloodshed." I stopped leaning against the table and patted him on the shoulder with a smile.

"Seems we share a common goal, when you go to fight the reactor I'll be there to help." He nods as we both share a mutual understanding of one another. Then one of his men ran up and whispered something to him.

"I must attend to other matters now, I'll talk to Renne before you leave to see what she wants."

"Alright, I'll be wandering around for a bit, plus I have to find Magilou…" I look around to see her nowhere in sight.

"That girl seems to not care about anything other than her life, makes me wonder how she acts in your world?" Loewe asks as I think back to an earlier encounter with her, one where I acted like a bird. I cringed at the memory, then turned towards Loewe.

"Annoying mostly… But either way, she's the one here with me, so I have to take care of her." Loewe laughs then looks back at his subordinate, with a shared nod we both go our separate ways.

"Alright, where would she be?" I start walking around, seeing more shops and people chatting. As I look to my left I see her big hat moving around, I start walking her way and see her in front of some type of smith.

"Come onnnnn! Why is it so hard to upgrade my weapon!?" I stare at her from behind and shake my head.

"You really need to stop, besides we need to get ready to leave soon." I cross my arms as Magilou goes limp then slowly turns towards me.

"You are such a killjoy! I might just have to put a curse on you." She straightens up and smirks at me. "Oh earth, oh sprite! Give this man in the mask the desire for me!"

"Desire? Now that's a nightmare." I stare at her with an annoyed expression.

"My curse worked, giving you the thoughts of nightmares… Wait, how is being with me a nightmare?!" I shake my head then turn away from the sad scene.

"Let's go, already." I start walking away as Magilou grumbles and follows. We make it back to where our bike is at and I take one last glance at the area.

"They did a lot here… She'll be safe here." I hear the door to the main room open and I see Loewe walk out with a smile.

"I see you are about to depart, but before you go someone wants to speak to you." I look past him as Renne walks out with a newly acquired teddy bear.

"Renne…?" I watch her walk up to me and she looks me in the eyes.

"I'm coming with, I… I want to help save this world, to avenge Pater-Mater and to help you get back home. I want to live in a future where I don't have to fight anymore and I want to help make that future!" I stare wide-eyed at her as Magilou puts her hand on her chin.

"I talked with her and she asked if she could go with you." Loewe states while smiling.

"I still don't know how I should feel about you…" I look back at Renne who's now looking at the ground. "I want to punch you, but I want to help you. I'm not even sure if this is what I really want, but I'll stick by my decision on helping you." She looks back at me with a determined look.

"If that's what you want to do Renne, then I'll happily bring you along. I'll make sure no harm will come to you either… I also appreciate it, you helping us get back. And I'll make sure you have that future!" She nods with a smile as Magilou steps up.

"And since you are now truly on our band of adventure I will add you in on my teasing and scheming!" I look at Magilou then back to Renne.

"I'll also protect you from her." Renne nods and turns away from Magilou.

"Wha?! Hey! And here I thought you were my friend!" I let out a sigh as Loewe pats my shoulder.

"You have it tough, but just something you gotta deal with… Also no I'm not taking her off your hands." He grins as I turn to look at him.

"Just contact me when you need me, I'll get here as soon as possible." He nods as I turn away and get on the bike.

"Be careful over there, if they are still there then watch out for the leader. All I know is that she is odd and very tricky." I nod as Magilou and Renne get into the side car.

"As you can see I handle that with ease, but I'll be careful." I start the bike and look ahead. "See you later Loewe!" We ride off as the gate opens.

"I hope you find something there, Shade." Loewe turns back around and continues preparing.

As I drove I noticed Magilou and Renne were talking more, with more teasing from Magilou. This time we didn't have much monster trouble so we were able to reach our destination as night came.

"Then when they came back I made them be a part of my show, even had shade coo like a bird!" Magilou loudly says to Renne as she laughs and I sigh at the story.

"I'm still confused on how you did half of that, but at this point I rather not know…" I look ahead to see a thick fog roll in, I stop immediately.

"Huh? Whoa, a dense fog? I hope there's no Fog Beasts out to eat me!" Magilou cries out as Renne also looks around.

"With the way the world is, a fog like this shouldn't happen. Not without outside help…" Magilou stopped crying as Renne nodded.

"Yeah, I've never seen this, plus it came out of nowhere…" I get off the bike as the girls do the same.

"We should be close to where the base is at, so maybe it's a defense for it?" As I looked around, I saw what looked like a red eye in the fog. "What?!"

Multiple eyes show up, and the girls see them too, we all draw our weapons, but I look around more confused. 'Why can't I sense them?! It's like they aren't there… Are they ghosts or a trick of the eye?'

The eyes get closer, and now we see what looks like a large group of monsters surrounding us. "There's too many!" Renne yells out as Magilou panics.

"Why did I follow you!? Now I'll be monster food!" I looked around again, and then I felt it, on the edge of what I could sense was a person, female and holding a staff I think.

One of the monsters charges at me, but I decide to not react to it and then as it touches me it vanishes in a puff of fog. "I see, so it is an illusion!" I yell out, and then a female laugh is heard.

"My oh my… You figure that out fast. Well, you passed that test." A snap of a finger is heard and the fog and monsters go away. I look at where the woman is to see a woman with sandstone color hair, violet eyes and wearing a white and blue narrow profile dress. She's holding a staff.

"I'm Shade and you?" I stay on guard, but this woman, it feels like I heard about her at some point.

"My name is Vita Clotilde! And welcome to the Ark!" She gestures to her right and I see the ground open up, showing a way down. I look at her again as I recognize the name.

"Ark? What's that?" Renne asks, still on guard.

"This world is dying and no doubt will die, so me and my master along with many others made the Ark. I'll explain more down below." She turns and starts walking towards the way down.

"Hold on, here." I grabbed the box that the professor gave me and threw it towards Vita who caught it and looked at it with a smile.

"Good, I was wondering when we would get this. Here I was thinking I would have to pay him a visit one last time~" She continued to walk down.

"Can we trust her Shade? Did you do your eye thing?" I look back at Magilou and shock my head.

"I know the name, she's a witch like Rinwell, so I think we can trust her." Magilou and Renne nod, and we all follow behind her, weapons still ready just in case.

"Wait, she's a witch?" Renne asks, looking very confused. Magilou grins and puts her arm around her.

"Don't be fooled, she may look beautiful and dashing and perfect! But on the inside she could very well be a disgusting person, someone so vile that it will make you go at them like cats and dogs, so in other words a witch bitch." I looked at her then at Vita who's ahead of us and I could tell she heard it as I saw a slight smile spread across her face.

"Not all witches are like Rinwell, plus only you have issues with them. Now stop putting ideas into Renne's head!" I chop her head, and she backs away from Renne as she laughs.

"My, my. You are quite the group, also call me a bitch again, and I might show you how vile I am." I turn back and see Vita smiling at Magilou, a smile that could put people to death.

"W-Who's a bitch?! Not you… haha, please don't burn me!" Magilou starts begging as I facepalm and shake my head, I straighten up and looked at Vita as I put my weapons away.

"We've been walking in this tunnel for a bit now, and you made no moves on us, so what are you planning to show us and tell us?" I stare at Vita as she looks at me surprised. Magilou stops her begging and both her and Renne look between us, putting their weapons away.

"Very well. I'm bringing you all to meet my master, they are in charge here and knew you were coming. As for what I'm going to show you, well, it's the Ark itself." As she says that, she points to a door not far ahead of us. "Just in there is where you'll see it, are you ready?"

"Not like I got a choice, show us." I look over at Renne who's taking a breath and then Magilou who throws her arms behind her head.

"Very well." Vita turns around and faces the door, the door then opens, and a bright light comes from the other side. Vita walks forward as we follow behind.

As we walk in I'm shocked by what I see, behind a large window is what appears to be a corridor that spans for as far as the eye can see. It's full of glowing blue pods and the walls are all white, it's quiet and cold.

"Shocking right? This is the Ark." Vita states as Renne and Magilou get close to the glass.

"What is an 'Ark'?" Renne asks, her eyes never leaving the sight.

"Not sure if it happened in this world, but back in our world there was a story from long before the Septian Calendar was a thing, about a large disaster. Apparently the islands to the south were once larger, but the water began to rise or the islands were sinking, either way a man named Stieg built a large ship to move people to the mainland, the ship was named Stieg Ark. But who knows if this ever happened, no one found evidence of a ship or the water rising." Magilou explains, surprising me.

"Didn't think you were knowledgeable, Magilou, guess you are full of surprises." I smirk.

"Hey! I'm not all looks and being funny, gotta have brains as well!" Magilou puffs out her chest and smiles.

Renne turns to her with a deadpan expression. "When did you have any of that?" Magilou immediately slumps and starts mumbling.

"Quite a group you have… but yes we have a similar story and so this was named after it." Vita says as I laugh.

"I didn't pick them, but I'm fine with it. So who is this master of yours?" Vita smiles and turns down a hallway.

"They are this way." Renne and Magilou stopped what they were doing and the three of us followed her.

(If they got an Ark here, then that means they plan to abandon this world? Maybe when Zero wins?) Magilou leans in and whispers.

(Probably, makes sense as there's not much hope in them winning. But whoever made this place already gave up on winning long ago…) Magilou nods and Renne stays silent as she walks between us.

A few minutes of walking we came across another large door, the symbol on it was one I've seen once before. It was a snake biting its own tail.

"Well that's inviting." Magilou says while throwing her arms behind her head. Vita turns to us with a smile.

"Behind this door is my master, well, a way to speak to them. But I will wait out here unless I'm called in." Vita states as the door slowly opens.

"Why aren't you coming in with us?" Renne asks as Vita looks inside the doorway.

"Because I was asked to not enter, besides it might be best for me to remain out here-" Suddenly the room inside lights up and a feminine voice calls out.

"Please, join us, Vita." We all stare ahead, then I decide to walk in next to Vita, with Renne and Magilou behind us.

Once inside, the door behind us closes shut and the room fully lights up and what I see is something that looks otherworldly. The room is glowing blue, there are pillars around the room that seem like a place for people to stand on and there's the Ouroboros emblem dead center in the back, but what catches my eye is the floating ball of energy just in front of it.

"Taken with the view? This room was built to resemble one I had a long time ago, but that was destroyed by Zero… Now Shade, there are some things I wish to ask of you, but I assume you also have questions?" A feminine voice comes from the ball and I stare at it, both confused and intrigued.

"I have a few and now a few more, first off, what is this place?" I look around again, counting eight pillars.

"This is the Ark, a large system built to guide the remnants of this world to the next, or to a new world like the one you came from. I do hate the fact it has come to this point, but my power wasn't enough to stop Zero, so this is all I can do." Vita walks in front of me and stands off to the side of the pillar the ball of light is on.

"So you're giving up! Leaving the rest of us to die?!" Renne screams out as she walks forward.

"Yes, it's unfortunate, but it's all I could do. I take all the blame for not saving the others, but at the same time if Zero sees people disappear he will get suspicious of my plans. If you like, I have room for you and others. The offer goes to you as well, Shade." Renne looks shocked at her response and takes a step back.

"As we thought, this place does intend to lead people away from the end of the world, but even going as far as to leave people in the world to serve as a distraction, now that's cold." Magilou comments, looking serious as she rests a hand on Renne's shoulder.

"So you give up? Leaving the world and its people to a demise?" I turn to look at Vita. "And you agree with this?"

"I wanted to help this world as much as I could, but we can't stop Zero, so this is all we can do…" Vita looks down in shame and sadness as I look back at the ball.

"So even with me and Relon now in this world, you still don't think we can stop Zero? Yeah, I admit it's going to be tough, and we don't have many allies on our side, but I won't stop until I give him what's coming to him! But it's not just for me, but for Relon, Rinwell, Shirley, Loewe and Renne." I look over at her to see a shocked face with a few tears rolling down her cheek, I turn back to continue. "There's also those under Zero's control, I can tell they aren't doing this by their choice, so I will save them along with this world! Maybe it's a fool's errand, maybe I'm doing this to get closure on my own past, either way I'm going to save this world and as many people as I can!" I stand in front looking at the ball of energy, Vita looks shocked, and I assume Magilou and Renne both are as well.

"I see, I admire your resolve… However, I shall stand by my decision. If Vita wishes to aid you, I will not stop her, that decision is up to her. For now, you may rest here as long as you wish, we will end our discussion here today and tomorrow afternoon I would like to continue where we left off, there's still more to speak of." And with those words the energy vanishes and the room darkens a little.

"And she's gone, seems like she was in a rush too. Makes me wonder if your words did something…" Magilou grins and looks at me.

"Who knows, what I do know is that she pissed me off… Letting the world and the people in it die? Screw that shit!" I turn to look at Vita, who looks down.

"My master has tried and failed, so this is the only way for us to live… I don't like it either, but there's not much else we can do." I shake my head and turn towards the door.

"Whatever, for now, can you just show us where we're staying?" Vita nods and walks ahead of me, she leads us down more empty hallways, the only noise we heard was our footsteps.

"Here we are, pick any room you like, they are all the same." Vita says as she turns a corner, once I look down the hallway I see dozens of doors down a long hallway.

"Thank you, I'll see you in the morning. Good night." I wave at Vita as she smiles and leaves.

"Magilou, could I sleep with you tonight?" Renne asks after Vita left the area.

"Hmm? Sure, kid, I'll be there in a bit." Renne nods and goes off to pick a room.

I watch Renne look at a few doors before deciding upon one and going inside, I then turn to look at Magilou. "So, what do you think?" She sighs and turns to me.

"Well, if I had to give my honest opinion… we're screwed. Who knows if Miss witch will help us, don't even get me started on the magic voice ball. And we don't know how to save people like you want to do, or how to stop Zero. Our odds of winning are lower than low." Magilou then sighs and throws her hands behind her head.

"Yeah, I'll try to talk to both tomorrow, when Loewe calls us, then I guess I'll stop trying to convince them. As for how to save people, I wish I had an idea…" I take off my mask and sigh, I turn it around and stare at it.

"Guess we won't know how unless we try, right? Not like I care much about that anyway, just as long as we get back to our world I'm good, but since we are kinda friends… I'll help you out with this!" Magilou grabs my mask from my hands and starts spinning it around. I looked up at her and a small smile appeared on my face.

"One day I'll understand you, but for now I'm good with how you are… sometimes." I reach out as Magilou hands me back my mask, I attach it to my hip and look back at her.

"I'm a mystery box, you never know what's in it~" Magilou grins as she turns and walks towards the room Renne picked to sleep in, she waves as she walks then enters the room.

'Since I have time, I'll explore this place, hope they don't mind.' I began walking around, most of the areas looked the same and there wasn't one sign around either, the only sounds were the echo of my footsteps on the metal floors, it made me wonder how Vita lived here without going crazy.

But as I turned a corner I saw a door at the end of the hall, it looked different from the other doors, as I got closer I could sense the room on the other side wasn't big but seemed like there was an elevator leading down. Right before I reached to open it, I heard a voice.

"Don't open it" I looked around and saw nobody, I couldn't sense anyone either. But the voice sounded like Vita.

"What's behind it?" I looked back at the door and tried to see if I could get any clue from here.

"I was not told, but if my master wishes to not say what's in there, then I will accept her wishes." I nod and start walking away, I glance at the door one last time before finally leaving.

"So were you watching me the entire time?" I say aloud, and all I get is a chuckle in return.

"Only the last few minutes, but if you want me to watch you more, I won't mind~" I hear her chuckle again and all I do is shake my head.

"I'll pass, sorry, but I'd rather have my privacy." I turned a corner and looked around to see if I was going the right way.

"Just down that hall, now if you're done looking around, I'll be sleeping." I nod and go down the hall, there I found myself where the many rooms are at. 'I'll ask about that one room tomorrow, also, I hope I can at least get them both to help us out.'

I picked a random room and walked in, the room had two beds, a table, sofa and a room that leads to a bathroom. Sitting down on the sofa I leaned back, I couldn't sleep, but at least I could get comfortable and rest my eyes. I could also let my mind wonder, on recent events and what could be going on with Relon, back in my world, and many other things.

"I wonder if time is passing over there, are they wondering where I went? Damn it!" Opening my eyes, I stare into the darkness of my room, my mind wonders again and a sense of unease washes over me.

'Are they looking for me? Do they care that I'm gone? Do they know I'm gone? Why can't I get these thoughts out of my head!?' I lay there for hours, more thoughts come and go and worry comes over me, at last I got up and walked towards the bathroom.

I turn on the sink and splash cold water on my face, looking up I stare into the mirror and into my reflection. "I just have to believe that I will make it, Magilou is also counting on me… Relon I wonder if you're going through the same shit as me." I splash my face one last time before going back to laying on the sofa.

"I can't let my doubts and worries get ahead of me, I have to stay strong for both Magilou and Renne and for those back in my world!" Despite this, I still have many doubts, many worries, many what if's. Still, for the rest of the night I tried to keep my mind away from them and more focused on my plan for when I chatted with the magic ball later, I looked at the time and saw it was already 6AM.

"I'll give the girls another hour before I get them up." I lean my head back and stare at the ceiling until I felt like it was a good time to get them up.

Letting out a sigh, I got up from the sofa and walked out the door, the hallway looked the same and just as lifeless as before, I walked to the room the girls were in and knocked on it. "Wake up, time to get up!" I heard a loud groin from what sounded like Magilou, I walked away and leaned on the wall to wait for them to come out.

Renne walked out first after a couple of minutes, then Magilou. "Morning, did you both get enough sleep?"

"Yep, the beds were comfy!" Renne says with a grin.

"I wish I could still be lying on them, but alas, I was rudely awoken by a fiend!" Magilou dramatically answers.

"Get over it, anyway, let's try to find Vita, so we can figure out where we can have breakfast." As I say that, I sensed Vita walking towards us.

"Oh good, you're all up. Follow me, and I'll take you to the dinner hall." Vita turns around, but not before winking at me. As we all walked, Vita slowed down to my pace.

(My master wants to see you alone once you're done eating, by that door from last night.) With that, she walked ahead as I stayed silent.

Breakfast went on as normal, well as normal as it could be. Magilou was messing around with Renne, who was in turn making fun of Magilou. Then Vita stood up and looked at the both of them and smiled. "Now then, us girls will go and take a hot bath. Don't peek, Shade~" I looked up to see Vita wink at me.

"Don't have to worry about that…" I state as I take the last bite of my food, most of the food was quick meals.

"YAY A BATH! Come on, Renne, let's go!" Magilou took Renne by the hand and together the three of them walked out of the room, Renne the only one waving me goodbye. Once they were out of sight, I got up and left through another door and made my way to where that odd door was at.

After a few minutes of walking I turned the corner and saw the door, but it was open, so I walked in and saw a control panel and an elevator. "Seems like it goes down, but what's down there… Guess only one way to find out." I pressed the button and the elevator doors opened, I stepped in and pressed the down button and slowly descended to the unknown.

I leaned on the wall as I waited, it was going far down, and I still couldn't sense the bottom, it wasn't until another three minutes until I sensed a large open room. 'Damn, what are they keeping down here?'

Once the elevator door opened I saw a large room with screens all over it, some were footage of the hallways and other rooms and other screens were of life support and locations around what's left of the world. But what caught my eye was the single pod in the center of the room, inside I sensed a body, half of one anyway.

"So you came, I figure this is the best place to have our chat." The lady voiced from yesterday speaks up, and the orb pops up over the pod.

"I have an idea of what this place is, but who's in the pod and why pick here?" I asked while walking closer to the pod until I stood in front of it.

"From here I could show you how bad everything is and just how useless it is going up against Zero, I know because I tried!" The metal plate on the pod opened up and there behind the glass I saw a woman with long pale blue hair, her body was torn everywhere, she had no legs and only half of an arm. Tubes were all over going inside and into the back of her head, she had no eyes as her entire face was burned.

"Shit, what the hell happened…" I walk closer and press my hand against the pod as a big monitor comes down from behind me.

"I can show some of it, but much of it I will have to tell… First, let's start when I first noticed him and what could happen if I left him unchecked." I turn around to see a map with black dots all over it, mostly in the east. "I sensed something truly evil appearing out of nowhere, then nothing. For a while I thought I mistook it for something else, but then I found him…" I heard a small growl escape as she said that, and at the same time a single dot showed up in Leman State.

"He was making himself known to only me, teasing me, insulting me! I thought of telling others, like the Hexen Clan, but I couldn't risk people finding out about what I knew and of where he came from. Then in the far east I could tell he was about to start his plan, the power, I could sense it." The screen showed blurry footage of multiple people staring down a man covered in darkness.

"The only people that survived were myself, Vita and another. But you see what happened to me… He took his time and made sure I was alive afterward! Ever since, he's become more powerful and has an army at his beck and call! And yet you think you can take him on and live…" The footage showed some of the battle, how chaotic it was and how bloody it was.

"It was a week after this that he began his plans, but I already started building the Ark as quickly as I could. First the pods to get as many people away from the chaos then the systems of it all, everything is ready…" The entire time I stood there and listened, her voice going to calm, anger, sadness, hopelessness. Yet I felt like there's something else, something else he did to her, then I looked and saw a door in the corner of the room that was tucked away, it looked very suspicious.

"Where did he come from? And if he got so powerful then why did it take him so long to get to this point?" I turned to stare at the orb, waiting for it to answer.

"The Beyond, it's what's outside of the world you know of, it surrounds Zemuria like a dome. It may differ from your world but here at points in time the connection to the Beyond becomes greater, allowing things or people to pass through them." The screen that was brought down flickers to a map of the world and a line surrounding it.

"However I can see past the barrier and even summon from it, limited it may be. But during one of these points where the barrier is at its weakest, Zero came through and his deadline is when the next point will be." She stopped talking, but I stood there in silence, wondering how much of this matters in my world. 'Is this where my demon side is from?'

"So that's why he hasn't done anything yet, he needs to wait until the barrier is weak?" I turn towards the orb again as it bobs up and down, indicating a nod.

"Yes, once it happens this world will be remade into his image and no one can stop him, not even the Goddess. However, if you still intend to fight him, there is something else. When the barrier is weak it seems all of those from the Beyond, even weapons are weakened, how much is unknown to me."

"I see, so there's a chance… Look, I'm sorry this all went down this way, all the people you lost, the suffering…" I walk closer to the pod and press my hand against the glass. "I've been there, I lost everyone and had nothing, no one. Just a task that seemed impossible, yet despite all the pain, sorrow, grief, tears. I still went on even when I didn't want to, not because of some righteous idea or morals, but because deep down I wanted to live and to make sure those that pushed me forward, those that made sure I got here today, didn't die in vain! So for you and everyone else, I'll make sure that Zero goes down, and I'll punch him for every person he's ever killed, hurt and caused pain too!"

My yell echoed off the walls, then silence. Not once did I look away from the pod so I saw it happen, her body itself twitched if only a little, almost like she was crying. I turned towards the orb and smiled at it, a smile of kindness and of confidence.

"I will admit, your words stuck true, but still I can not help. Words alone don't prove you have what it takes." I let out a sigh at her words, knowing she's right. "Besides, what would I even do to help you? This place doesn't have weapons, only food and resources for when everyone wakes up." Again she makes a good point.

"I… don't know. Maybe I just wanted to help you in some way, or make you believe there's still hope. Either way, it seems like I lost this one." I put my hands into my pockets as I looked back towards the pod.

"There's… one thing I do want your help with, your speech, it makes me think you're the one that can do it." I glanced at the orb as the tone of her voice was once again one sadness.

"What is it?" As I turned and asked that, the door in the corner opened up and the orb started floating towards it, so I followed.

"Zero has done experiments to people, turning them into monsters and other deformed beings…" She stated as we passed by the door, on the other side was a large room with a large glass panel at the other end that viewed into what seemed to be a forest, or perhaps an exhibit.

"Yeah, I saw one on the way here, he died on his own." She went quiet as we got closer to the glass, once there I looked down and saw it. A monster, it was large like a giant monkey, but it was more bulky, its flesh was red all over and with hair covering its head, shoulders and legs. It was just walking around, one thing I thought was odd was the sand all over the area and a bunch of objects in it.

"This is one of the first beings he made, it has not died but it lives on in eternal agony… I wish to see you defeat it, but there's a catch." I looked over confused.

"Fight it? What the hell is that supposed to do?" As I say that I sensed something coming quickly at the glass, looking over I saw a log hit the glass and bounce off.

"If you can defeat it without using your weapons, I'll provide the resistance some help if a final battle against Zero happens. When you wish to begin I will send you down there." She says as I look at the glass to see no cracks or scratches on it. 'Tough glass, but fighting that thing without my weapons? Guess I'm having a fistfight.''

"I'm ready now, might as well get it done, but what aid could you provide? And why weaponless?" I ask as I see a table to put my weapons on as well as put my mask on.

"The aid will be weapons from the Ark's armory, there's not much else I could offer. As for the weapons, consider this a test, on whether you can take it on without relying on tools and only on your own skills." I stared at the orb and nodded. 'Sounds like bullshit… but who knows I could learn something.'

"Alright, I'm ready-" Before I could finish what I was saying I was transported on the ground that's on the other side of the glass, here I could see this place was much larger than what I thought. 'Really?! Just throw me into the fire like nothing, fine I'll show her!'

"Alright, just gotta find the thin-" I sensed it sprinting at me, looking over I saw it running quickly at me to the point I couldn't react. "Shit!"

Same time 3rd PoV

Just as Shade was transported, Vita came in with Magilou and Renne through her own transportation spell. "Master, you summoned us?" Vita looks concerned and confused.

"Huh? Where are we?" Renne asks as she walks towards the glass.

"And where's Shade? I thought he was with you?" Magilou puts her hands behind her head, as she does so she looks over at the window to see Shade being grabbed by the monster and rammed against the trees that's in the area. "What the hell?!"

"Shade is doing a trial, so I figure you should watch and give him your support." Everyone watches as Shade tries to escape but is then lifted up, the monster grabs his leg and smashes him against the ground before throwing him across the area.

"Why doesn't he use his guns?!" Renne yells out, Magilou pokes her shoulder to grab her attention then at the table with his weapons on it. "Oh…"

They all turn back to watch as Shade gets back up and pulls a part of a tree out of his shoulder. "Shit, it's both fast and tough as nails! But it only went in a straight line when it bulldozed me, so hopefully that keeps happening!" Shade sees the monster coming again with fury in its eyes.

Shade readies himself as the monster gets closer, then he jumps up as the monster tries to grab him, he then grabs it's head and lands on the back and grabs it's shoulders, trying to steer it into the solid walls. "Alright buddy, let's see how tough you are!"

It keeps going and ends up hitting the wall hard, before it did Shade jumped off as to not be in the impact, the monster then falls to one knee as Shade goes in to punch it. After three punches the monster grabs him and throws him. "Damn it!"

"Master, I don't know how I feel about this, is this wise? I know he's immortal, but having him do this. Is this necessary?" Vita asks the orb a hint of both worry and sadness in her voice, she turns back as Shade hits a tree.

"I want to see how he does, besides… It's not like he could win with his weapons, also something told me this is for the best…" Magilou eyes dart over towards the orb then back at Shade. 'Can't win? What is that sly bubble planning?'

"He got this, right Magilou?" Renne asks as she looks over at the girl in question, Magilou looks over and smiles. "Well yeah, not like he could die in there."

They look back to see Shade dodges another attack from the monster, who is starting to learn Shade's moves. "Alright you big ape, let's do this!" As Shade yells that the monster jumps forward and grabs him but instead of throwing him it starts running around slamming him into anything. 'Shit! What! Is! Up! With! This! Thing!?' Shade gets slammed into the wall and the monster lets go as Shade lays there, letting his bones and wounds regrow.

"Seems this is all he can offer, perhaps I was wrong about him." The orb states a small bit of relief escaping as she talks, Vita sighs but nods along.

"Should we get him out of there now? I don't like watching this any longer." Vita says, but a laugh is heard from Magilou.

Everyone looks at her as she laughs more. "Hahaha! You think that's it? I haven't seen him fight much but he hasn't even started!" Magilou continues to laugh, everyone looks back wondering if what she said is true. 'Shade, you got this!' Renne watches as she clasps her hands together.

The monster, thinking Shade is dead, starts walking away. Shade slowly raises with a groan and the monster turns to face him. "Alright! I see how you wanna do this, but time for me to show you what I can do!"

The monster tries to punch Shade but he grabs it and holds it in place, it tries to punch him using its other arm and Shade grabs it as well. "Seems like I was thrown into a fight I can't win, you can't get hurt from my attacks, hell all they do is stun you!" Shade grabs the monster's hands, twisting his own body so he can throw the monster away from him. 'When I punched it it felt like hitting a metal wall, yet I didn't see or feel any signs of it doing anything. I doubt my weapons would do anything to it either!'

The monster gets up and looks towards Shade once again, it growls and locks eyes with Shade, that's when he sees it. Shade looks into the monster's eyes and sees a small boy, scared and wanting his mommy. He doesn't like strangers so he chases them off, not knowing his own strength anymore. 'It's a kid? Zero did this to a kid?!'

Shade only goes on the defensive as everyone watches on, Magilou could tell something happened and puts a hand to her chin, wondering what it could be. "Hey, what is he fighting?"

"An experiment Zero has done to a person, one of his first and one of the toughest." The orb responds in a dull tone as Magilou turns back to the scene.

"Tell me, did he ever experiment on a child?" Magilou's question makes everyone goes silent, she hums and lowers her arms. "So that's what he's fighting…"

"A child…" Renne watches on in disbelief, shocked that the monster is a child, or was a child. 'I could have been that thing, if Loewe hadn't saved me when he did…'

Back with Shade he's currently still on the defensive, however the attacks keep coming and are packing more force each time, pushing him further back against the wall. 'My attacks do nothing, he moves too fast for me to dodge properly, plus… He's a child, a damn kid! I don't care what I have to do, I can't let him suffer like this anymore!'

Shade barely dodges below one of the monster's fists and moves forward, he reaches and grabs the jaw of the monster and pulls down, slamming the monster to the ground. It tries to get up, but Shade gets on top of it and pins its arms down, using every bit of strength he has. "Since I can't beat you, I'll just tire you out!"

The monster continuously tries to get Shade off but fails, it keeps struggling even hitting Shade with its own head, yet Shade still keeps him pinned. Finally, after another attempt at getting Shade off of him, the monster frees one of his hands and grabs Shade and throws him, but it wasn't as strong as before.

"Alright, time to put you down for a nap!" Shade runs forward and drops kicks the monster making it fall once again, Shade lands on one knee and quickly gets up and runs over to it, but before he could reach it he stops moving and jumps back as a laser shoots past him. "The hell?!"

Magilou, Renne and Vita look confused and shocked, they turn to the orb as it speaks. "That's enough! I demand you stop it, now!"

"And here I thought you wanted him to fight it…" Magilou says looking back at Shade.

"Yeah, what's going on here!?" Renne yells out as Vita looks down with a frown on her face.

"Master, I think it's time you let go, it seems like he could do it…" Vita states in a low voice, she looks back at the monster as a tear rolls down her cheek. "We need to let Jewel rest peacefully!"

Shade looks at the window trying to figure out what's going on but more lasers keep attacking him and the monster starts catching its breath. "I thought you wanted me to fight him! Didn't you want this!?" He yells out as he uses a tree to block another attack.

"I-I can't let you…" Shade looks up as he hears her voice. "I can't let you kill my son! No matter how much it hurts to see him like this! Even though I asked you to fight him, I can't see him hurt like that, I can't see my baby in pain!" As she yells out more lasers start attacking, causing Shade to only focus on dodging.

Shade jumps back and rolls, he then jumps onto a tree and off it, all while avoiding lasers that are hitting just where he was at and where it thinks he's going to be. 'Shit, this is getting tough! Why can't she see that this is for the best!'

The lasers slow down as he jumps behind a rock, he catches his breath as he remembers back when his own mother smiled at him before she died, despite what was told to him he saw the loving smile she always gave him even if she was in agony over it all. The smile of a mother who would do anything for her child. 'I understand, you want to help him but you don't want to lose him either, I'm sorry but I have to finish this. Not just for him, but for the both of you!'

Shade jumps over the rock as a laser shoots at it, he starts running towards the Jewel as he dodges, Jewel looks over and charges at him even getting hit by some of the lasers by mistake. As Shade and Jewel are about to make contact Shade closes his eyes, at this point some lasers hit him but he keeps running.

"Is he about to…?" Magilou hums as she watches.

"Shade…" Renne's eyes are glued, unable to look away.

"He's doing it…" Vita says quietly as she looks away from the scene.

"NO STOP IT! PLEASE!" The Grandmaster yells out, screaming over the intercom at Shade.

"You both, NEED TO MOVE ON!" Shade opens his eyes and sees Jewel right in front of him, Shade focuses everything into his right hand as he starts throwing a punch right at his heart. In that moment blue energy wraps around his hand small sparks can be seen coming out of it, both of them throw their punches but as Jewel's fist gets close Shade ducks low allowing it to miss him and at the same time he hits his mark on Jewel's chest, piercing right through it. 'I'm sorry, kiddo…'

Jewel's body goes limp, but Shade catches him and lays him down gently and with care. Green blood is leaking out of the hole and is all over Shade's arm, he looks down at it to see some remnants of the energy there, he clutches his fist in frustration.

"Well, he won, knew he could do it, not like I cared if he won or not." Magilou says going back to having her arms behind her head.

"Shade won… but did he?" Renne looked at Shade's fist and could tell he wasn't happy even from where she stood.

"He can be at rest now… Master?" Vita looks over to see the orb disappear and reappear next to Shade, she quickly starts a spell to get herself, Renne and Magilou in there as well.

Shade's PoV

I lift my head up as I see a light shine in front of me, there I see the orb appear and float towards me and then behind it, I see Vita, Renne and Magilou appear. 'They were watching this?'

I heard the monster groan, glancing down I saw tears come from his eyes. "J-Jewel…" The orb shifted into what I assumed the woman looked like before she was torn apart by Zero, she's still a hologram and can't touch anything, but she leans down next to who I now know as Jewel and stares at his face.

"So, his name is Jewel… I bet he was a good kid." Jewel looks over at his mother and reaches out, his hand goes through her own hand and I hear her let out another cry. I reach forward and hold his hand, looking up I meet her face and gesture for her to place her hand where mine is at.

"Jewel… It's going to be okay, mommy will always love you, I'll always be here for you." Her sobs get louder, and she gets lower and stares at his face, allowing him to only see her. "I'm sorry I kept you here, kept you suffering, please forgive me! I love you!" she tries to hug him, but she only passes right through him, this makes her sob harder and I could only watch. 'I did this… I had to do this.'

I look down to see Jewel's eyes trying to close, yet he keeps them open, he looks at his mother one last time. "All the precious time we shared, please never forget it Jewel, I won't either. So don't be scared to reach out to the light, I know you will be fine. Just go on…" And with those words, Jewel closes his eyes one last time, a smile on his face.

I look up to see Vita looking away, no doubt crying, Renne looks down with a depressed look on her face and Magilou just looks away, her expression blank. "Shade…" I hear my voice come from her, looking back I see her looking at me.

"Can you help bury him for me, also… Thank you for bringing him peace, for so long I wanted to let him rest, but I couldn't bear to lose him! I couldn't bring myself to kill my own son, all I could do was put you in the same room as him, and even then I didn't think you could do it!" She breaks down, her hologram disappears and so does her cries.

"I-I'll show you where to bury him, Shade." Vita walks forward, her eyes bloodshot already.

"I'm sorry, but I had to do it. I can't leave a child in this state, I'll be gone after this, so you don't have to deal with me." I slowly get up, as I do, I grab a hold of Jewel and carry him.

"You can leave in the morning, trust me. I'll talk to her after this. Also, I would like to say thank you, Jewel was like a little brother back then, I'm glad he can rest now in Aidios arms…" Vita says, she smiles and looks at Jewel's face, brushing some of the hair aside.

"Are you okay, Shade?" Renne asks as she walks up with Magilou at her side, Magilou stays silent, her expression is still blank and unreadable.

I let out a sigh as I looked at Renne. "I'm fine, just wasn't expecting this to happen. Vita, where do you want him?" Vita wipes her eyes and teleports us to a room inside the Ark, one I haven't seen yet.

"This is where we planned to put our dead, just lay him on that table and the process will start on its own. Now if you excuse me, I need alone time." Vita looks away and teleports as I lay Jewel's body down. His body is then lifted by the table and goes into a separate room on its own.

"You alright Magilou? I noticed you are quiet which never happens." I lightly joked to lighten the mood.

"Oh, I'm fine. I just knew if I started talking I would say something I shouldn't, besides I'm not used to dealing with emotional moments like that." Magilou does her normal pose and looks over at me, giving me a small smile. "But you did good, Shade."

I take off my mask and smile at Magilou. "I still don't get you, but thanks. Now I'm going to go lie down and see if Loewe is close or ready to begin with his plan." As I turned away I felt Renne's hand grab my own.

"Jewel was an experiment done by Zero, I could have been taken by Zero if Loewe didn't stop them, could I have been like him? Would you have kille-" I got low and pulled Renne in for a hug.

"There's no reason to think of what could have been, only the here and now and what's to come. So let's stop Zero so no more people will have to suffer like Jewel did." I tell her in a low reassuring voice.

Renne hugs me back and I hear a faint response from her. "Thank you…" 'Right, I forget that this Renne hasn't been through the stuff that made her tough as nails like the Renne I knew did, she's lost so much so watching what happened would put anyone in this mood.'

I slowly let go and stood back up, keeping my smile trained on Renne. Magilou is the first to leave the room, followed by myself then Renne, but as I walk I sensed something below me. "Huh?!" I try to escape, both Renne and Magilou look shocked and try to grab me but next thing I know I'm transported back to where that woman keeps her body and that I was by myself.

"Not done with me yet, so what's going on now?" I turned to look at the pod, my voice filled with annoyance and some venom, but all I got was silence. "Well?" I crossed my arms and stared unmoving at the pod.

"You must be wondering why, why did I let you fight him, why did I try to stop you, why did I keep him alive for so long… Truth be told, I'm not sure myself, which is surprising." An orb appears next to the pod, I simply move my stare at it.

"I kept him alive because he's my son, but I also wanted to ease his suffering for that same fact. I wanted to let my child rest but I couldn't bear to lose him. Then you came along and I knew of your abilities, so with what will I had I made you face him but even that soon faded and the thought of losing him came back, so I tried to stop you…" She paused, a part of me knew why she did it, was it sudden and felt fast? Yes, but that wasn't his place to say, not yet.

"I apologize for making you do such a thing, so as I said before you have my suppor-" I had enough of whatever crap she was saying, it was on repeat at this point and half of it made no sense, but looking at her in that pod it made some sense why she's all over the place, but I had to step in.

"Shut it, you think I did it for you? Your support? Screw that shit! I did it for him, for Jewel even before I knew who he was, because I don't want people to suffer like that!" All the anger, the annoyance, the bullshit she keeps repeating over and over again. I have had enough of it all.

"I'll be honest, you don't have what it takes to lead anyone to a new world. You're all over the place, your mood switches up as quick as someone can speak, some of your decisions were reckless and just dumb as hell." I went straight to the point, if I'm kicked out afterwards I would not care, it would only be a small setback for me.

"I-I…You're right, but I think we're done here, you can leave in the morning, but one word of advice if you did somehow get back to your own world." Her tone is one of a defeated person, but one that is also done with me. "The one known as Enforcer No. 0. Campanella The Fool, do not trust him at any cost. For even I was tricked in the end… that is all, Vita is still allowed to help you if need be but for now, please let us hope to never speak again." I sense something open below me and I fall through a portal.

I fell and landed on something, but I could tell I was in the area I was in with the girls, then I saw Renne running up and hugging me. "Shade!" She stepped up on something to hug me, then as I was hugging back I looked down to see Magilou's hat, then her below me. 'Oh, that's why the landing was soft.'

"Can you both get off of ME!" Renne let's go and we both move aside to let Magilou get back up. "Well, could have warned us you would be falling from the ceiling, or even leaving us in the first place!" Magilou fixes her hat as she yells, I let out a small smile but then I see Vita out of the corner of my eye.

I sighed and walked up towards her. "Vita, I assume you heard what was talked about?" She nodded, her expression was downcast.

"I knew she wasn't acting in her right mind, at best she has maybe another week or so before she loses herself all together. And yes I will help if I see things going our way, but my priority is the Ark." Vita states, her tone was mixed with sadness and anger as she talked to me. "In the morning you may leave as she told you, I will see you off when the time comes, for now you can use some of the facilities here to keep your equipment in check." She turned to walk away, for a moment I wanted to ask her one last thing but that can wait until tomorrow.

Turning to the girls, I sighed. "Well, you can guess how things went, what time is it now?" Magilou sighed as Renne stepped forward.

"It's around 10AM, maybe you should rest a little after that fight?" I simply shook my head.

"Much to do still, but thank you for worrying, I do want to eat something, so for now let's just do our own thing until tonight." Magilou nods and walks off, to where I have no idea.

"I think I'll go do maintenance on my weapon, get it cleaned up. But Shade, if you need to talk I'm here, so is Magilou." Renne says while looking up at me, I smile and pat her head.

"I'm fine, this was nothing for me." I rubbed her head a bit more before I stopped and pulled away. "I think I'll go and eat something, then also check up on my weapons." Renne nods and gives me one last smile before walking down one of the hallways. I wonder if she even knows where these facilities are?

Letting out a sigh I made my way to the cafeteria, my head was full of thoughts, mostly about what I was told about Zero, but also everything else. I had no choice in the end but to kill him, but I had to resort to that to do it…

I ate in total silence, only my mind keeping me company. At some points I was planning for tomorrow and at other points I began having doubts about tomorrow or wondering about home, wondering about Tio. I pulled out the picture of us together, the old us, before that incident happened… 'One day I will tell her and the rest about my past, what I am and what I've done… what will she think? Or maybe I should keep quiet about that, it may do more harm than good.'

Despite the photo being on me the entire time, it also regenerates along with my clothing and anything else that's on me. This photo helps me stay on track, like I can hear the advice she would tell me or the simple talks we would have. I let out the shaky breath I was holding while putting the photo back in my pocket, I stood up as I noticed the time. "It's noon? I was eating for over an hour, so I guess I should get moving… thank you Tio, as long as I have that photo I know you'll always be there in some way to help me out." With those words said, I began looking around for where I could do some weapon maintenance.

After some walking around I heard a loud noise come from a room not far in front of me which was followed by a loud cheer. "I DID IT!" I stopped in my tracks, wondering if I should bother to see what Magilou did this time. But she then burst out the door with a large grin on her face.

"Oh, Shade! Guess what I did~" For a moment I wanted to just keep my mouth shut and walk away, but maybe whatever she did was useful and could help us in battles, either way I doubt I could escape knowing whatever it was.

I sighed and walked closer. "As long as it's not something dumb." Her grin got bigger.

"You know how I wanted to make my staff control fire? Well…" Magilou then pulls out her staff and with a flick the tip is set ablaze. "But that's not all! For I the great Magilou never has a single trick, but many!" She then points the staff down the hallway and I watch as fire shoots out like a flamethrower. 'What the hell did she do to that thing?'

I could only watch as she pulled back and with a flick the flame went away. "I the great and amazing Magilou can control the flames of passion~! You may clap and cheer all you want!" She smiles at me as she puts up the staff and rests her hand on her hip.

"Exactly, what room is this?" I turned to the room she came out of, wondering what was in there to change her staff to this extent.

"Don't ignore me! Clap I say! CLAP!... Anyway I don't know what's in there but I found it and made it work for what I wanted." I walked into the room as she followed behind me, inside I could see a few machines that remind me of something you'll see in a factory line but with screens on them and a few tables around the room.

"So, one of these changed your staff to shoot out fire? I do have to admit, it will help us a lot, but just don't cook anyone alive." I pat Magilou on the back as she poses in a smug fashion.

"See, I am amazing!" I walked up and tapped on the screen which turned on, after a few more taps I was able to gather that these machines will make, alter and duplicate most items.

"Hmm, this could prove useful to us, they did say we are allowed to use the stuff here…" I looked away from the screen and back at Magilou. "Good find, but I have no idea what to make with this besides a sword or something…"

"Not like I care what you do with it." I perked up at what she said, like I just figured something out about her.

"What do you care about then?" I asked her, and she didn't even need to think for an answer.

"I don't care about anything… And I don't care that I don't." My eyes widened as she said this, not because it came as a surprise, but because while her lips said one thing, her eyes said another. I didn't want to, but I looked into her eyes for only a moment and all I could tell was that she was lonely, angry and sad.

"So you don't care about me, Renne, Rinwell or anyone else?" She placed her hands behind her head and looked away as she answered.

"Well you're my only way home so who you hang around with doesn't concern me, but at least it gives me a good show~!" She said in her normal over the top tone, I frowned at her words as I could tell it was a lie, that her words were a lie to herself more than anything.

Where was the girl that said I cracked a wall, that asked if I meant what I said by calling her a friend? The girl that slept with Renne to comfort her, that almost acted like a big sister? Despite her words I could tell she cared as her actions spoke louder than any of the nonsense she would spout out.

I let out a sigh and turned away. "You keep telling yourself that, but just know I'll be here for you as a friend, and I know Renne will be as well." I walked towards one of the tables as Magilou just stood there in silence, without even a word she walked out of the room and down the hall. 'One day I'll break that wall…'

As I got to the table is when I noticed that I didn't have my weapons on me. 'Huh?! Wait, where did they go…?' I then remembered that I placed them on a table in that room before fighting Jewel. "Fuck! Vita you there?! I need my weapons back!" Nothing happened at first, a minute later a flash of light happened on the table and my weapons showed up, either Vita or what's her name teleported them over here. "Thank you!" I let out another sigh, then went to clean and inspect my weapons.

I spent a good hour cleaning the scythe which had some dry blood on it and some small cleaning of the handguns, making sure that they were in working order and I even inspected my mask a little and cleaned it off along with the sword I was carrying. After that I checked what I could make using this fabricator, mostly simple and basic stuff which I couldn't use, or it would break, but I did see what resources I could bring up which was mostly normal besides a few odd things. "Noctilucous Ore? Very blue… Divinium looks evil, Protodermis… Oh, this one looks promising, Luminous ore." What it says is that this ore is quite rare and can hold energy within, but nothing could ever be done with that energy normally, but it seems those with magical abilities can use said energy.

"Let's do a test run, a dagger will work I suppose…" Within a couple of minutes a blue dagger showed up from the Fabricator, I grabbed the dagger and swung a few times, then I tried putting energy into the blade and swung again. Nothing happened, I tried releasing the energy like I would do with my handguns but nothing happened again, so I tried stabbing the table which only broke the blade.

"Yep, nothing came out at all. Kinda wish I could have used it… Wait, maybe there is something I could do with it!" 'If I remember right there was a book in the witch village about making magical items, maybe I could do something like that… wait they may have that book here?' After looking through the list of items they had I was able to find a copy of the book and saw what I needed and what I could use, which some did use Luminous.

I could only make simple stuff with the Fabricator, so I had to bring the ore itself along with a secondary ore in their ingot form, the secondary one being Titanium, I also brought some materials that the book said to use. After getting what I needed, I began looking for a forge, which was in the next room over.

"Alright, it's around 1PM right now, with how small this should be I might get done within an hour or two." I took off my coat and began heating up the forge while I prepped. Once it was good and hot I first melted the ingots which was more tricky due to how this ore is, plus I added my own blood to the mix to make them stronger but also heavier. After that I got the cast for what I wanted, which was a pendant.

I lost track of time as I worked and before I knew it I had made the pendant, it was in the shape of a butterfly, the inner area was of the blue Luminous that shined bright while the outer area and the chain was the Titanium. "Now, one last thing…" I held it close as I brought out my demonic energy, the Luminous started absorbing it but I didn't stop until I felt myself getting tired.

"T-There… I think Rinwell can use this now…" I wrapped it up then cleaned up the forge, after that was done I saw that it was 6PM. 'Oh… guess I was working longer than I expected, I might as well go eat to get my energy back! Oh, I should ask Relon what I could make him, it's only right I do the same for him.'

So I grabbed my weapons and made my way to the cafeteria, where I saw Renne eating alone looking bored and tired. "You alright, Renne?" I asked as I got closer.

"Magilou and her staff…" I nodded knowing that Magilou no doubt got Renne involved in testing it out somehow.

I then grabbed some food for myself and sat down across from her. "Are you ready for tomorrow?" Renne looked up from her food that she was now playing with.

"You're going to let me help? I don't think Loewe will like that." I smile as I watch her take a bite of her food.

"True, Loewe will have a say, but I know you'll be fine out there, however I don'-" She slammed her hands on the table, causing me to stop what I was saying.

"I get it! I won't kill, we've been over this already. Besides, you're going to go in first, aren't you?" Renne crosses her arms and stares at me with a knowing look. 'She already knew my plan, huh?'

"Yes, I won't die, so I can take down any mechs and turrets which will help the main forces. Speaking of, I should contact Loewe and let him know we're coming." Renne looked away, she seemed annoyed by what I had said.

"So, you're just going to get shot, blown up and hurt just so people you don't know can live?" I nodded as soon as she was done, which only got her more annoyed.

"Renne, I can't die, so it only makes sense for me to do this plus there's the fact that I've done frontline assaults before and most of the people that will join Loewe have only defended themselves from attacks, honestly if I don't then we will fail." Renne once again looked away from me, she then looked down at her lap and while I couldn't see her hand, I could sense her ball them up into fists.

"You don't understand, do you?" I tilted my head, confused as I didn't know what she meant. "Fine, I'll say it! I CARE ABOUT YOU!" Renne slams on the table as she leans towards me, getting into my face or as close as she could get.

"H-Huh!? Well, I'm happy Renne but what does tha-" I saw it coming, sensed it even, and yet I allowed her to slap me in the face, which did sting more than I expected.

"You are a dumbass! I don't want to see you hurt, you idiot, I don't want to see my friend bleed, I don't want to see them in pain, I don't want them to suffer! Even if you say it's okay, that it's all right because you can't die…! That doesn't mean I or others will forget what it looked like!" She yelled out with tears in her eyes as she stared at me.

I couldn't respond to her as I knew she was right, just like with Rinwell she saw me take down the wolves and hurt myself and could hardly look at me… I'm sure Tio would have looked away a few times when I was getting hurt. 'This entire time I saw my immortality as a tool to use, so I can get things done, sometimes it was a curse as well… yet I never once thought of the people that saw me lose arms, legs, gallons of blood and my head and how they felt about it.'

"Y… You're right, Renne. For a long time, this was just how I did things, just going in head first. It was how I was trained, it was the best option to save lives, it simply made things easier, and it made the pain I suffered worth it… Yet not once did I think of what other people thought about me getting hurt, not even once…" I looked at Renne with a kind smile and determined eyes. "I was a dumbass, while I can't promise I won't be doing that again, I can say I will refrain from making it my go-to solution. I don't want to worry you after all!" I smiled and gave her a pat on the head, which caused her to pull away and sit back down.

"W-Who said you can pat my head!? Anyway, glad you understand as from the few encounters we've had together, you've always gone in head first while Magilou and I were forced into support for you. So it made it easy to tell what plan you came up with for tomorrow." She wiped the remains of her tears and took another bite of her food.

"Guess I'm easy to read, at least for you. But I am happy you care for me and maybe Magilou as well, but I'm not shocked as I'm not the only one that's easy to read~" Renne blushes then looks away from me while grumbling, she then quickly ate the rest of her food and got up.

"I'm going to bed now, good night!" She left the room in a hurry before I could even say anything back, it seems she didn't like my teasing.

With a sigh I ate what I had left then pulled out my ENIGMA, but I couldn't get a signal from this room so I started walking around to get one. Due to the way this place is made I could not get one at all until I found the room they keep the communication equipment at. 'Should I contact Relon as well? No I have no idea where he's at now but I should after our battle tomorrow.'

Same time 3rd POV

Loewe watched the reactor and its guards move about from afar as the night cloaked his presence, his eyes scanning the land and its defenses. Behind him are some men he took with him to help him scout out the area and what they are dealing with, one of them being a spiky disheveled gold-blond haired man.

"He's there… I can feel it." The man stood next to Loewe as he stared at the reactor with a piercing gaze.

"Yeah, they know we're coming tomorrow, so they pulled everything from the area back… If we could get help from Bashton along when Shade gets here we may have a chance." Loewe closes his eyes and lets out a sigh.

"You've kept on talking about this Shade guy, is he that strong?" The man asked, not for the intention of knowing who has their backs, but so he may get a new sparring partner to test his strength against.

"From what I could gather, yes he is and Relon is also strong. However, I have not heard from him since he left, so we could be on our own, Walter." The man, now known as Walter, let out a huff of annoyance.

"I won't be shocked if we are, but at least we'll go down swinging!" Walter cracks his knuckles with a grin.

Just then, one of the other men nearby quickly ran over to Loewe and Walter. "Sir, Shade is on the line!" The man hands Loewe the radio he was holding, Loewe smiled at Walter, that just smirked back.

"Shade, I'm here. What's the situation over there?" Loewe walked away and towards the rest of his men as he talked.

"Well, there was a lot here, but also not that much. Tomorrow morning we're heading towards you to help and should get there before noon, are you ready on your end?" Loewe smiled at the fact Shade was coming back, plus sounds like everything is fine on his end, so Renne was safe.

"Just about, by the time you get here we should be good to go. I'll give you the details of the plan once you get here, but tell me did you get any form of help there?" Loewe didn't know anything about that place, just the fact it was there and yet never bothered reaching out left him uneasy about it all.

"Kinda, if we get to the final fight we'll have some backup… But I won't count on anything before that, but I did learn a lot that will help when we fight Zero." Shade sounded confident, which caused Loewe to also gain some confidence in tomorrow and in beating Zero.

"Good, I know both you and Relon are in this world for a reason. So I have faith in you both to stop Zero, I will be supporting you both the best I can!" Loewe heard Shade chuckle on the other end, then a sigh.

"I'll ask for details about the plan tomorrow, but for now I will try to get as much rest as I can. Good night, Loewe." His voice now sounded sad, pained in a way. Loewe frowned, but it wasn't his place to pry.

"I'll make sure to brief you about everything tomorrow… Good night, Shade." Like that, the chat ended, Loewe handed the radio back to the person that gave it to him as he went back to Walter.

"So, he's coming?" Walter asked while sitting on a fallen tree as he stared at the reactor.

"Yes… Hmm?" Loewe looked closer at the base and swore he saw someone he recognized, grabbing his binoculars he zoomed in as far as he could and saw them. Joshua Astray and Estelle Bright and her dad, Cassius Bright. 'So, they are here… Meaning tomorrow will be even tougher for all of us.'

"While you were chatting I saw Zin, Agate and that mech girl, plus a few others that are high on the take-down list. It's going to be a large battle tomorrow!" Walter smiled as he stood up, the aura of his bloodlust was so strong you could possibly see it.

"We should head back, before we are spotted." Loewe took one last glance at the base and saw Cassius stop moving, he then turned to look right at Loewe despite being a good distance away.

Walter nodded and both him and Loewe quickly left with their men and headed back to Milsante where many were having one last small party, not knowing if they will live past tomorrow or not. Loewe let them have this, but couldn't bring himself to join in, not when he will be dealing with the strongest people tomorrow.

Same time Shade's POV

I just got back to where the bedrooms are and sensed both Renne and Magilou in their room, glad to see they are resting. I went into my room and laid in the bed, trying to get comfortable but as most times, sleep did not take me.

For once I feel at peace, despite being in this world I've learned a great many things from the people around me, which will no doubt help me once I'm back home. I was ready for tomorrow, to take a step closer to getting home and freeing this world.

Time passed as I waited in bed, slowly it got close to when I would have to wake the girls. There was some form of doubt for what will come in the next few hours, that reactor will go down and what happens next I'll just have to see for myself.

The time came to get moving and this time everyone was up on their own, we all made our way to get something to eat then after that we walked towards where the exit is and where the bike was at. "If we avoid everything we should get there by ten, enough time to prepare…" I looked ahead and saw Vita standing by the bike.

"I wish you all well for the battle ahead and if you do make it to the end, well I shall look forward to fighting with you." Vita seemed to be in higher spirits now, but there is still a coldness to her still.

"There's something I wanted to ask, I doubt I'll get an answer however. What is her name?" Vita seemed to be caught off guard by my question.

"Hmph, you are right in that I won't tell you. Only she will tell you when she wants to." Vita crosses her arms and I see the exit open up behind her. "Now, go show us that you can save this world!" With those parting words she teleports away.

"No pressure, am I right?" Magilou says while sitting in the side car with Renne. I let out a sigh as I glanced down the long hallway one last time.

"Yeah, no pressure at all. Anyway, let's get going now!" Despite the situation, I was ready to face Zero and his troops. I was ready to save this world and get back to my own world, so I got on the bike and started it and took off towards Milsante.

The trip was quiet, I'd half expected an ambush at one point since they know we are coming but lucky for us there wasn't any, both from Zero and other monsters. It was now around 9:30 by the time we saw Milsante come into view. 'Renne, I know you don't want to see me hurt, but I must do what I must in order to save the most people.'

As we got to the gates we saw Loewe waiting on us. "You're early!" The smile on his face was clear as day.

"Better to be early then late, besides like I would miss the chance to see what plans you made before we begin!" I rode into the town as the gates opened.

"So you're an early type, huh? I feel bad for the girl you'll spend your life with~" Magilou comments as Renne and her got off the bike.

"What does that even mean?" Renne asked with a tilt to her head.

"Well you see, when a guy starts ha-" I slapped my hand over her mouth as I looked at Renne.

"Don't question the things she says, most of it is nonsense and annoying!" I yell that last part into Magilou's ear as I let go.

"Rude! It's only right I answer the questions of the youth when they ask me!" Magilou glares at me as Renne looks confused. Then there was laughing behind us, turning around I saw Loewe with a man with spiky disheveled gold-blond hair.

"Shade, this is Walter. He's my right-hand man and the strongest fighter I know." Walter walks forward and stares me down, he's slightly taller than me, so he's looking down at me.

"So, you're Walter. Glad to meet you." I reached out to shake his hand, which he shook with an iron grip, one that I matched in terms of strength.

"HAHA! You got a good grip there kid, yeah you'll be fine out there!" Walter grins as he steps back.

"So, with us, that makes three main fighters." Loewe commented as Renne stepped up to him.

"Make that four! I'm coming with, and nothing you say will convince me otherwise!" Renne yells out right into Loewe's face.

Loewe just stares at her while everyone else is quiet, then he smiles. "Alright, but if you mind, I want you to stay close to me during the battle." Loewe looks up at me and I nod to agree with him.

Renne looks at me, then back at Loewe. "Well, that's fine, I suppose…" Renne for a moment looked conflicted.

"It's alright Renne, besides I'll be too busy to watch your back out there, Loewe can do that with ease." I smile at her, which cheers her up a little.

"So, guess that's four main fighters…" Walter looks over at Magilou. "What about her?" I glance over at Magilou who's been quiet so far.

"Hmm? Oh me, well I'll be back up, duh. I'm not really the fighting type, you know." Magilou smiles as Walter looks back at me.

"Glad I don't have to deal with her." He smiles while crossing his arms, I only shrug in response.

"Hmm… I don't think this will be enough, they have a lot of strong fighters as well. Walter will be dealing with Zin, I'll be facing Joshua and his partner Estelle, maybe even Cassius. That leaves a good few remaining that I doubt will let us pass. Shade I can already tell your plan is to shut down the reactor and with your skill I know you can do it."

"Huh, wait hold on Joshua and Estelle are there?" I asked him very quickly.

"Yes, I assume you know them from your world. Should I list off any other names just in case?" I looked away for a moment to think about it. If I'm right, I have an idea of who else will be there.

"Sure, it will help. You can give it to me as we go through the plan, should we head inside, so we can get this started?" Loewe nodded as Walter brought his fists together.

"Just don't expect much from me~!" Magilou sings as she walks towards the main building.

"Will she be with you, Shade?" Renne looks up at me with a slightly worried expression.

"I don't think so, she will be better as a support here." Renne nods as we all walk towards the main building.

We gathered around the large table where we had a map of the area where the reactor was, on it was where the gates were, turrets, important areas inside and best places to take cover outside the walls. One thing I noted was the fact there were only six large scale turrets that had both cannons and machine guns on them and the base was a large circle, so only three or four of them would be a main issue.

However, the plan Loewe and Walter came up with involved a frontal assault with a few men with snipers and rocket launchers covering from the rear, this action alone will cause a number of deaths before they hit the wall. Loewe did plan to move ahead of them with Walter to take down the turrets, but leaving the main forces to attack on their own while they took care of the turrets would be a terrible choice, and yet from the looks of things it was the only one they had…

After Loewe briefed me on this, I stood behind with him as Walter, Renne and Magilou left the main building. "Right, that list. Let me write down the names that I know of…" Loewe grabs a pen and paper and starts writing.

"Let me go ahead of you all." I said while staring down at him.

"... What?" Loewe stopped writing and looked up at me with a serious expression.

"I promised Renne I won't throw my body into the fight, which is what this plan sounds like for the most part… But what I am good at is getting into places without being seen or heard, so…" Loewe's eyes lit up as he understood my meaning.

"You'll get in and take down the turrets and anything else that will get in our way!? Are you sure about this?" Loewe looks directly at me as I nod.

"I'll move now and start taking stuff down, maybe I'll use explosives to do so. Keep the plan as normal and let Renne know." Just as I began walking away, I felt his hand on my shoulder.

"Here's the list of names, also I wanted to ask you something about your world." I stopped and turned to face him as I grabbed the list he made. "You knew about Walter, like you heard about him before. You seemed to have an idea about a lot of people, so tell me, what was I like in your world?" I looked away, not knowing if I should tell him that he had died.

"Well… You and Joshua were close, but after an incident, you and him joined Ouroboros." His eyes widen slightly as I mention Joshua.

"I see, I've heard of Ouroboros, but he and I never joined it here. What were we in that organization?" I looked right at him as I crossed my arms.

"Enforcers. You were number 2 and Joshua was 13, your title was Bladelord while his was Black Fang… Renne and Walter were Enforcers as well." Loewe smiled at this, like he knew what I was going to say.

"I see, I expected as much. So we were Enforcers, huh? I kinda like the sound of that." He turns to walk away, but before he leaves the room, he turns to look at me. "And I quite like the title of Bladelord." With that, he walks out of the room. 'I wonder what he plans to do with that stuff? Guess it doesn't matter much to me, but for now I should get going.'

I left the bike where it was and quickly left Milsante and headed towards the reactor which shouldn't be too far away, while on the way I read the list of names that Loewe gave me which sadly was unfinished as the last name only has two letters filled in.

"Let's see… Joshua, Estelle, Tita, Agate, Cassius, Zin, Scherazard and An. I don't know who An is, but I will soon see." It feels like there will be more, but I have to remain on guard.

Within no time I saw the reactor just ahead of me, so doing what I do best, I put on my mask and stopped running, carefully making my way towards the walls without being seen by the turrets. The area around had a few hills and dead trees, so I used them to move about, once I got to the walls I jumped and grabbed onto the ledge and peeked over. 'Get the turrets down is my primary objective, but if I can shut down the reactor before the fight begins, that might save everyone on both ends. Either way, it's 10:30 AM right now, I don't have much time, so I better get moving!'

Making sure the coast was clear I jumped over and landed on the ground, looking around the base I can tell they were ready for Loewe's assault. I saw them ready their mechs and prep most of their soldiers at the west gate, some were standing guard at the east in case of an attack from there. 'I expect no less if Cassius runs this place.'

Quickly I hid behind some equipment as soldiers moved past without knowing I was even there, however the lack of cover will make getting around tougher, but I can see my goal from here. The reactor was sitting in the middle and going straight up, but there are pipes heading east from here, no doubt heading to Roer. And not far away was the entrance which led to the underground area, glancing down I could sense the layout underneath me, so I knew the main part of this base was below.

Slowly I made my way by using whatever I could to hide, for some reason I had a natural ability to not have a presence so most people couldn't detect me. But still I could still be seen by the naked eye especially during the daylight.

However it seemed I needed to find another way in as the entrance is guarded and there's no way I can get by without being seen or taking down a few people. But a base this large should have more ways than one in, they always do.

Looking around I saw a small entrance against the wall, a small hatch. I smiled and made my way over with ease and took the hatch off, looking in I saw it lead to some vents and downward, so I hopped in and put the hatch back so it looked like nothing was wrong. 'Shit, it's dusty in here… and also hot as hell!'

After some moving around I was able to find another hatch and opened it up, I sensed no one was around so I hopped out and quickly looked around to see if I could gather where I was at. However nothing was marked and this was only a hallway so my goal could be anywhere around here.

"You both will stand guard here." I turned to my left as I heard a voice of a man echo off the walls. "The battle is about to begin, and if somehow they get even a single soldier here I want you to bring them down!" I grinned a little as I listened in. 'That must be the way to the core to shut down the reactor, good to know but I still need to look around… At least it's dark in here.'

I stuck to the shadows and moved away from the voices, for a few minutes I looked around and that's when I found it. The main control room, which didn't have any doors but was just a large room which had around seven soldiers in there. I Checked the time I saw it was five minutes until eleven. 'It's now or never!'

I moved forward and grabbed the nearest soldier and choked him out before anyone else noticed. Looking up I saw one of them arm the turrets and step back with a laugh. "They will all die~"

I stood up and sighed loudly. "You know, you could be less generic in terms of being a bad guy." The remaining six soldiers turned to look at me, but before they had a chance to respond I launched forward and punched the closest two, knocking them out.

"Sounds the alarm! Grh!" I threw one of their guns at the guy by the turrets, the remaining ones tried to aim their guns at me but I quickly took the rest down by either throwing something or with my fists.

"These guys… are poorly trained." Making sure I was clear I rushed to the terminal and turned off the turrets in full, and after a few seconds I heard explosions come from above. "Perfect timing!"

"Halt!" I let out a sigh as I turned around and saw someone walking down the hallway towards me, slowly the figure stepped into the light and I saw it was Cassius Bright.

"Shit, I thought you would be with the rest of your men?" There was a large terminal between us so I didn't have to worry about a sudden attack from him, unless he could cut right through it.

"I trust in my men to take down a few poorly trained grunts, however…" He looks at the men that are unconscious on the floor. "Seems you are an exception."

I put my hand on my hip as I also looked down at them. "They reacted slowly to my attack, didn't hear me at all and failed to even alert anyone else before going down. But to me I was slow to act, I was rusty with my takedowns as I could have done it without anyone seeing or hearing me." I smiled under my mask, then Cassius let out a sigh.

"Zero told me about you, that I should be careful. Yet I see a child that plays up his own skills, so allow me to show you true skill!" Cassius pulls out a Tachi and holds it at his side.

"Fine by me, I don't have time to waste so let's make this quick!" I pull out my sword and hold it out while keeping my eyes on him. 'He's a Divine Blade, Helix is the form he mastered if I remember right… Well the one I heard of anyway, this guy could do something unexpected, either way I don't have time to waste on him!'

We slowly moved around the terminal, reading each other's moves to see who would strike first. As I got to the other side I saw a gate control so I quickly pressed it to open all the gates, Cassuis in that moment swung and took out the terminal completely which got rid of the barrier between us.

"What, didn't like that?" I teased as I held my sword close.

"Once we win this battle we won't have need for this base or that terminal, it was only in the way!" He launched forward and swung multiple times, each one I blocked and during the last one I pushed him back.

We continued to circle each other, it seems he wasn't affected much by my defense. "That's all you got? I bet I could run circles around you!" I gave a single laugh as he glared at me.

Once again he launched forward and swung, there was more force behind his swings and yet they were the same speed. Still I blocked and pushed him back at the last one. 'This sword won't last much from his attack, but I could use that!'

"Getting angry? Didn't think that would happen!" I let out another laugh as we went back to circling each other.

"You are a cocky one, but that will make your fall even sweeter!" He sheathed his sword and leaned forward, within a second I felt him coming at me so dodged to the side, then again as I felt him coming back from behind me. 'So this is what it's like going up against Gale!'

"That one made me sweat, but I think you should have been faster!" Cassius remained quiet and for the next minute we circled each other as I dodged or blocked any attack. 'Almost there, just one more. He's getting really angry now!'

He launched forward again but this time he held his sword above his head, lucky for me my blade was about to break. I copied him and held it above my head and together we swung and our blades clashed, then we swung from the other direction and again our blades clashed. And then with a spin we swung upwards, our blades meeting but as it happened mine broke into pieces.

"GOT YOU!" I rushed forward before he could fall back or take advantage of my missing weapon, I grabbed his right wrist and his left shoulder and jumped over him. In doing so I pulled him along and brought him to the ground, he dropped his weapon as I also twisted his wrist.

I let out a sigh as I stood above him. "That was a hell of a fight, but if I fought the one that I heard about I know I would be where you are." I grabbed his weapon and threw it across the room.

Since he was down I started making my way to join the battle, but before I could leave I heard him call out to me. "W-Wait!" I stopped and turned to look at him.

"T-The… Core, take it down and this battle will end!" My eyes widened at his words, quickly I looked into his pleading eyes and saw the real Cassius Bright, the sweet man that I heard about.

"You're… fighting his influence!?" He could only nod, he then pointed down the hall.

"T-Take it down, please!" He then quickly grabs his head as his face distorts in pain.

I pulled out my handguns and quickly ran towards where the core should be at, there should be people here protecting it so I need to take them down as quickly as I could!

Few minutes earlier 3rd POV

The turrets not long after becoming active were suddenly down, within that moment all the troops on the walls looked at them in confusion before gunfire started from the area ahead of them. "HERE THEY COME!" "KILL THEM ALL!" Each one of them shouted out a war cry.

Loewe and Renne were hanging back with their main forces as the fight was now focused on range. "He did it! Now we just need to open that gate up!" Loewe smiled as Renne looked up at him.

"I'm glad he did it, but no doubt they sent someone to check it out." Renne ducked as a bullet hit the rock she was behind, she looked concerned about everything going on and keeping her focus on Loewe.

Walter on the other hand was dodging and running up to those outside the walls, using them as shields or just punching them hard enough to send them flying away with no doubt internal injuries. "Keep moving up! We need to get that gate open!"

Magilou was somewhere in the back, keeping away from the fighting, as she could do nothing. "Jeez, what did I get myself into!? I could really use a nap, a bath, dinner, hell anything other than this!"

Just then the main gate opened up as well as any other gate leading into the base, causing even more confusion among the defending troops. Loewe continued to smile as he turned to face Renne.

"Stick close to me, we're about to charge in!" Renne nodded and looked over the rock, gunfire was less focused on where they were and now towards Walter and his men, who were already at the gate.

Quickly the gate was stormed, and the fighting was now mostly close quarters inside the gate, even Magilou joined in but was one of the last ones to run inside. However, the resistance became greater as they faced the strongest at the base.

Walter was face-to-face with Zin who was wearing the standard uniform but added a small bit of eastern flair to it. Loewe and Renne were staring at Joshua and Estelle, Joshua only having a scarf with the normal uniform, while Estelle simply wore the normal uniform without modifications.

Magilou however, while only taking out a few soldiers, ended up facing something unexpected. "Oh, come on!?" She was staring at Agate who had a red bandana with the normal outfit, but also next to him was a saber unit with what sounded like a girl inside, both were ready to face Magilou.

"You're the girl that's with Shade, you should have a decent fight in you!" Agate pointed his blade at her as the Saber aimed its weapons.

"I heard the Saber unit that was placed with Commander Claire was taken down, trust me you won't do that again!" The girl in the Saber unit called out as Magilou could only look on in horror.

"You gotta be kidding me… Fine! If you want to take on the great and fearsome Magilou, then bring it on!" Magilou readied her staff to somehow fight them both.

Zin laughed as he looked at the state of Walter. "You think you could defeat me in this sorry state? Your choice, but today I will show you that I am the better of us two!" Zin got into his stance as Walter got into his.

"I'll be the one walking away from this fight! So don't get cocky and trip up!" Walter cried out while he tightened the leather glove on his right hand.

Joshua and Loewe stared at each other, not a single one said a word, as none needed to be said. "Who's the twerp? Bringing babies to war now~?" Estelle mocked them both, which caused Joshua to snicker.

"Hey, just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I can't put up a fight, you ugly twin-tailed loser!" This time it was Loewe that snickered.

"Y-You bitch!" Estelle brought her bo staff out and got ready to fight, Joshua then took a step forward.

"Loewe, you sure this is the side you want to fight with?" Joshua's eyes were almost lifeless, the only thing keeping them from fading was the person in front of him.

"Joshua, I'm sorry. But for Renne, Shade, Relon and everyone else…" Loewe brought his sword out and got into position to fight. "I Loewe the Bladelord will not give up now! Not in this world and not in you!" Renne looked over and got her own weapon out and ready to fight.

"Then you'll be leaving here as a corpse." Joshua pulled out his twin swords and stared down Loewe, his eyes now void of any life.

All at once, the battles began, as each side's forces also fought with all they had. The battle of the Grenville Reactor has begun in full!

Present time Shade's POV

I ran as fast as I could towards the core, the sounds of battle outside and my footsteps were the only thing I could hear, despite the base not being big it sure did go deep underground. There was a ramp and stairs that circled it's way downward, since I was in a rush I decided to just run down the ramp part of it.

As I went lower, the sounds of battle got quieter, then nothing was heard from above. Yet I heard voices from below, their echoes bouncing off the walls, as nothing else was down this far. 'They must have just got here if they walked down, after all, I did hear them when I busted in here.'

Finally, I got to the bottom and saw them blocking a large door. There were only two of them, but that could be enough to keep me at bay. "Well, hello ladies." I looked at the one on the left, she had dark skin and long silver hair, she wore a black bodysuit and was holding a whip. The other had light brown hair with a yellow ribbon in it, she wore what seemed to be the standard uniform, and she was holding a tachi similar to Cassius's.

"So, you got this far that quickly? I assume you were already within our headquarters before the battle even began." The silver haired woman said as she took a step forward. "My name is Scherazard and this is Anelace, together we won't let you pass." She cracks her whip as Anelace steps up next to her. 'So that's who An is, I heard a lot about her.'

"I will stop you, even at the cost of my life!" Anelace pointed her blade right at me as I could only sigh.

"Man, I heard you were all about cute things and 'Cuteness is Justice' stuff, guess working for Zero you won't have time for cute stuff." I commented, and as I did, I saw Scherazard look away with a grin.

"H-Hey! How did you know about that, tell me, or I will gut you!" Anelace has a large blush on her face as she waves her sword around. 'Hmm? They seem pretty normal for the most part, aside from the gutting part… I wonder if Zero just puts more influence over those he might see as powerful?'

"I'm from another world, so someone told me, if it helps I like cute things as well, haha…" Anelace calms down and goes back to pointing her sword at me.

"Whatever! It's time to end this, come on, Schera!" Scherazard had stopped laughing and now only glared at me.

I held up my handguns at them and within that moment they attacked, Anelace quickly closed the distance while at the same time Scherazard tried to use her whip to quickly bind my left hand, but I was able to jump back before either could attack me.

The area around wasn't the best for range combat, so I was at a disadvantage, and yet I wasn't worried as they couldn't hold me off, they just weren't strong enough. "Sorry, but I don't got time to play around!"

Rushing forward I shot around them to get them to back off, Scherazard quickly countered and tried to once again bind my arm but this time I let her bind my hand only so I could pull the whip from her hand. The weapon came flying out of her grasp as I pulled and at the same time I elbowed her in the stomach which knocked her to the ground. Anelace tried to attack from behind, but I blocked her blade with my gun and then kicked her in the stomach.

Both girls were on the floor in pain, unable to continue fighting. "Sorry, if he's right, then this battle will be over soon… hopefully." I turned to face the door and saw it needed a key card to open, ignoring it I put away my guns and punched my way in, which only took a dozen or so punches using a lot of force.

As the door was busted open I walked in and saw something I didn't even know how to fully describe, there was a terminal and behind it was a large see-through tube that went two different ways. The way towards Roer and downwards, further into the ground that is no doubt sucking what life was left in the planet.

After turning on the terminal, I tried to see if I could turn it off, but it seems that was never a feature that was added. I turned to see the women still on the floor let out a loud sigh, after looking around for another minute I found no way to take this down by using this thing.

"Alright… Let's see how this goes." I walked towards the girls and grabbed their weapons, putting the whip on my hip and the sword on my back. I carefully stacked the girls on top of each other, Anelace was still somewhat awake, so she's the only one that was resisting.

Carefully, I held both of them with one arm, which was one of the hardest tasks due to the weight imbalance. With my free hand I aimed in the room while being as far as I could, with a single shot I was able to pierce the tube which immediately started to make a very disturbing noise. 'Let's hope it takes one!'

Quickly I started running back up to the surface while now carrying the ladies with both arms, and as I near the top I heard a large explosion from below which caused the entire area to shake. As I got to the top I continued to run until I saw the exit, as I ran outside I dropped the girls and turned around to see a beam of energy shoot into the sky and within the next second my ears popped and a wave of warm air washed over me.

Moments later the beam stopped and slowly my hearing returned, taking a deep breath I grabbed the girl's weapons and dropped them nearby. But as I heard the weapons hit the floor, I noticed how quiet it was around me…

Few minutes earlier 3rd POV

The battle was in full swing and all over the place, from an outsider perspective you could tell that Loewe's forces weren't fairing well. While the lack of base defenses aided the fighting forces, it didn't matter with the defending forces superior firepower and heavy weaponry.

There were three Sabers active in the battle, one was fighting Magilou along with the aid of Agate, somehow her ability to dodge and evade both heavy machine gun fire and Agate's sword were second to none.

"GHAAA!" Magilou jumped out the way as Agate swung down where she just stood, she landed and within the same moment she tripped and moved slightly to the left as machine gun fire went by where she was.

"How!? How can we not even land a hit!?" Agate yelled out as he tried to once again land a hit with his blade.

"I would say she's just that good, but nothing about this even looks skillful!" The voice inside the Saber called out, whoever was inside was fed up and switched to cannons. "Agate, move aside!"

Magilou quickly looked at the mech, fear covering her face. "THE HELL!" She ran towards the Saber unit as Agate tried to block her move, but she jumped over him while also hitting the top of his head with her staff.

"G-Get away!" The girl in the Saber tried to stomp on the ground but Magilou kept moving around and with Agate still trying to attack Magilou, it only made it harder to stomp on the strange girl.

"Take this, uhh… Dragon's breath!" Magilou hopped on the mech's foot and then used the fire function she had installed to sweep the area under the mech with fire, which kept Agate away as he avoided the fire. "HAHA! I am the greatest!"

Not far away, the duel between martial artists was still in full swing, Zin and Walter were moving around the battlefield as they fought. Blocking and evading each other's punches, they were even in terms of power and skill.

"Haha! You got better, Walter!" Zin punched the air as Walter moved to the side, while throwing his own punch at Zin.

"Only so I could kick your ass, Zin!" Walter grinned as he landed a hit, which caused Zin to slide back from the hit.

"If only she was here to see us, but she just had to side with you…" Zin looked up as he held his side while his face was distorted in pain.

"She would kill us both if she saw us, but either way, I'm ready to see her once I take care of you!" Walter got ready to strike again as Zin did the same.

"Come on Walter! GIVE ME ALL YOU GOT!" Zin launched forward while throwing his right arm back, putting his all into the next punch.

"I'll end this! FOR HER AND EVERYONE ELSE!" Walter launched forward while also throwing his right arm back, putting everything behind it.

Nearby Renne was running around before launching forward to strike against Estelle and her staff, despite her using a scythe which was a much more deadly weapon than the staff, she somehow was unable to break the defense of the girl to get even a hit in.

"D-Damn, for a brat, you are speedy and powerful! Stop moving so I can smack you!" Estelle jumped forward while swinging downward where Renne stood, but she simply jumped away.

"I thought you would be better than this? Some soldier you are~!" Renne mocked as she twirled her weapon around with ease.

"Says the girl that still hasn't hit me~! Not much of a fighter are you~!" Estelle mocked back as she grinned at Renne while twirling her own weapon.

"That is true, but I'm not really here to kill or anything, just buying time~!" Renne stopped moving her weapon around and just held it to her side with a grin.

"W-What 'Buying time' what the hell does that mean!" Estelle yelled out as she glanced around the battlefield, now aware that someone wasn't around.

Behind them, a pair of blades clashed as Loewe and Joshua ran around, each one trying their best to outdo the other. Joshua's speed and agility were great, but Loewe was just as fast, but he couldn't get a single hit besides hitting Joshua's blades.

"Bladelord? Who gave you that edgy name, Loewe?" Joshua held his blades in an X in front of him as he stared at Loewe with a cold look.

"A friend, besides I like it, so let me give you one…" Loewe smiled as he pointed his blade at Joshua. "Joshua, my blood brother! That's what I'll call you, so please… stop fighting and wake up!" Joshua's eyes widened slightly and his lips twitched.

"I know my place! So just lay down and die, 'Bladelord' or else I'll make your death painful!" Joshua launched forward and struck Loewe's blade as he had blocked the attack.

"I will never give up on you, not even death will stop me! I will knock some sense into you and everyone else around here, you hear me… JOSHUA!" Loewe started putting more force behind his attacks, which caused Joshua to fall back more. 'Shade, I'm counting on yo-'

At that moment a rumbling began which caused most of the fighting to stop as everyone looked around in confusion, suddenly those on Zero's side fell to their knees as they held their heads in pain. The Saber units went into their crouched mode and those like Zin and Agate could hardly stand up, but yet those on Loewe's side were just fine.

Loewe's eyes widened as he looked around, then he started running while screaming as loud as he could. "HOLD YOUR FIRE! HOLD YOUR FIRE!" Just then he looked over to see Cassius on the ground nearby the entrance to the main part of the base with a smile while also holding his head.

Then a man carrying two women ran out of the base as a burst of energy shot upwards to the sky causing a shockwave that made everyone go deaf for a moment as a loud bang sounded out, dust went everywhere and as people's hearing returned to them, they looked around confused.

Present time Shade's POV

Looking around, I saw that the fighting had stopped, many were on the ground holding their heads in pain. As I looked around I saw it was only Zero's forces that were in pain, slowly a smile spread across my face. 'Did… Did that work?!'

I quickly looked and spotted Renne, Magilou and Loewe were fine. Walter was on the ground next to a large man, but he was alive. I saw Joshua and Estelle were alive, and many others were as well, but I saw a good few dead among them.

"Shade!" Magilou ran towards me with tears in her eyes, yet she seemed fine. "I almost became a meat rug, a shishkebab, a bullet sponge!" Magilou then stopped and stood up straighter. "But I lived, but don't expect me to do that ever again!"

"Glad you're alive, no promises." I smiled as I walked past her while patting her head, happy that she was fine.

Loewe quickly ran up with Renne at his side, both were smiling but something else was there for Loewe, something behind that smile. "Shade, was that the reactor?" I nodded as Renne came up to my side, patting her head. I looked over at those still clutching their heads.

"Are they… free?" I asked, but it wasn't Loewe that answered.

"Yes, we are." Turning around, I saw Cassius walk up, holding his head with his uninjured hand but yet a smile on his face. "Just as I had hoped." Loewe had stepped forward to meet the man as he got closer.

"General Bright, you knew what would happen?" Loewe asked but keeping his weapon in his hand, ready just in case.

Before he could answer, there was crying happening from many that were just released from Zero's influence. Looking over, I saw a girl with blonde hair jump out of a Saber unit and embrace a red haired man.

"I-I… I KILLED THEM!" Her cries were loud, and the man hugged her tightly, trying to calm the poor girl down. "I KILLED MOMMY AND DADDY!" it wasn't just her that was breaking down.

Many were losing themselves from the actions they have done, the deaths on their hands. I heard a man's voice from nearby, and I saw Walter looking at who I assume is Zin. "I killed her… I killed the Master… Walter, please kill me!" Zin yelled out to Walter, who just stared blankly.

"GET IT TOGETHER!" Walter then punched the man, knocking him back down, and then sat on him. "You can't die yet! Not when you have to atone for everything!" Walter yelled in his face while grabbing the collar of Zin's uniform.

I looked back at Cassius and Loewe, a worried look on my face, which was covered by my mask. "This isn't good, what do we do?" Cassius then looked at Loewe, who nodded, understanding the intention.

Both walked towards the middle of the area then stopped. "EVERYONE!" Cassius's voice rang out loudly, getting most people's attention. "As of this moment, the battle is over, everyone here will join forces!" Loewe stepped next to him and yelled out.

"Gather those that are injured or under distress, please do not harm anyone!" Many from Loewe's forces nodded and began moving around quickly, some were slow to act, no doubt confused or simply not wanting to help those that just killed their comrades, friends, family.

Many started moving around, even some from Cassius's forces who were still able to act after being freed. I saw Joshua and Estelle holding each other, which Loewe also saw, which Renne took notice of.

"Loewe, shouldn't you go see them?" Renne asked, looking concerned for both him and those he was looking at.

"Yeah, but I have to deal with-" Loewe stopped as a hand landed on his shoulder.

"I'll deal with the injured, go check on them for me. Please." Cassius smiled as he glanced at Estelle, his smile slowly turned into a frown.

Loewe looked at him and nodded, he shook Cassius's hand before running off to the group with Renne going with him, but not before smiling at me. The surrounding cries around me died down, but now it was quiet sobs.

"How did you know?" I turned to look at Cassius, who looked over the area, scanning it for anywhere that needed his attention.

"When we were subjected to Zero's influence, my will power held firm. However, he used more power for people like me, Zin and Joshua. Still I was taken over, but if I tried hard enough I could escape his control at least somewhat, which you saw after you bested me." I let out a simple chuckle at his words.

"I didn't beat you, you were fighting him during our duel, weren't you?" He smiled as he turned away.

"Yes, but still you did well. I trusted you could do something, which I was right, also thank you for saving them as well." He looked over Anelace and Scherazard who had been just sitting on the ground, holding the areas that I had dealt damage too.

Just then a soldier under Cassius ran over, the look on his face was a mixture of sadness yet determination. "Sir, I have counted the casualties for both sides…" The soldier looked at me and gulped.

"Proceed!" Cassius turned to look at the young man, going from smiling to a blank face.

"Our side suffered twenty-four deaths, their side suffered thirty-two deaths. Those injured on both are high and those unable to act are being moved to a safe location… their weapons are taken away just in case." Cassius nodded and gave the man a salute.

"Good work! Go help where it's needed!" The soldier saluted back and then ran off.

"Where do you want me to help?" I asked while glancing around the area.

"Ask Loewe, you aren't under my command after all. But if I'm right, there's something going on in Bashton, or it already happened…" Cassius looked out the east gate with a frown. "Commander Claire and her unit had left Bashton not long after you fought them, and an airship went over the base and towards the south-east late last night. It came from where Bashton is." My eyes widened as I looked towards the direction where Bashton was.

I ran forward to where Loewe was and quickly got his attention, currently he was sitting on the ground next to Joshua who had Estelle in his lap, the girl had passed out. Renne was standing next to Loewe and the first to notice me coming.

"Loewe, when did you last hear from Bashton?!" I stared down at him, both him and Joshua looked at each other than at me.

"No idea, we still hadn't made contact with them. Did something happen?" Loewe looked serious as he looked up at me.

"Damn it! I need to head there, if I'm right, then… we were betrayed by the professors!" Loewe looked shocked, Joshua looked indifferent, and Renne was angry.

"I knew they would, couldn't trust them one bit!" Renne stomped on the ground as she clenched her fists.

"I know we still have long distinct contact with other areas, so the place is still standing. But I'm not sure about the people…" Loewe said as he stood up. "If you want to go, you can, we can handle things here, and I'll get in contact once things have calmed down." Renne looked between us with a shocked look.

"Yeah, I need to see if they are alive at the very least, plus I asked one of them to do something for me, so I need to see if it's still there." I turned around to see where Magilou was, only to see her alone by the wall, looking bored. "I'll grab Magilou and head back, I think only I could handle her anyway."

I turned back to look at Renne who was staring at the floor, even Loewe was looking at her. "I'll… I'll stay here, these people need help and I want to help them!" Renne yelled out, then in a low voice, almost a whisper, she said. "And I don't want to go back…"

I reached out and patted her head as Loewe placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'll be back, don't worry, Renne. You do what you need to do here, plus I expect people here need someone like you to help them." A few tears went down her cheeks as she lunged forward to give me a hug.

"So, we're moving out again?" Magilou said, as she walked up, it seemed she could tell what was going on.

"Yeah, back to Bashton to check it out." I said before looking down at Renne. "Cheer up, people will need someone with a smile to help them out… Like that blonde girl over there, she seems to be about your age as well." Renne looked over at the girl who's still embracing the red haired man that was rubbing the poor girl's back.

"S-Sure, but please… be safe." Renne hugged me one last time, she then glanced at Loewe before running off to help the girl and any others that needed.

"Your bike is still at Milsante, I'll let them know that you're coming their way, plus I need to tell them we won…" Loewe looked over at where the corpses were being put, a sad expression on his face.

"Good, Magilou, are you ready to run?" I turned to see her click her tongue while glaring at me.

"Are you for real? I almost got killed and was lucky enough to live somehow, and now you want me to run all the way back!?" Magilou stomped on the ground in annoyance, she crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks. 'This is her first battle, not everyone can be fine afterward… Do I have time to turn back once I get the bike?'

"I-I'll take you there!" I sensed them walking up, but didn't know who it was. Anelace spoke up, still injured but able to move around and fight. "I can drive a car there, and even to Bashton if need be!"

"Anelace? That will be helpful, but are you sure you can, there might be some fights at Bashton and I don't want you to push yourself." I saw her grip her weapon that was on her hip.

"I can ask Cassius to take a handful of men if need be, if Bashton is in danger it will need some protection!" Anelace had a look of determination, she wasn't backing down on going.

"Having only troops from your side will cause some unease, so I'll get two or three of my men to follow suit." Loewe said as he walked closer to Anelace.

"Alright, we'll meet at the gate then?" Anelace asked which both I and Loewe nodded. "Then I'll be back here in five with some men! I'll look forward to working with you, Shade, Magilou!" She turned and ran, somehow full of energy, like she didn't take a kick to the chest earlier.

"Well Magilou, happy now?" Magilou smiled and nodded, but didn't say a single word. She then turned and walked towards the gate and waited as she leaned against the wall.

"I saw some of her fight, she faced a Saber unit and Agate at the same time. The fact that she isn't hurt is a miracle, but still for someone that isn't used to the battlefield, she did very well." Loewe commented as he patted my shoulder.

"Even now, I still can't get a beat on her, but that's how she works…" Loewe let out a small chuckle as he walked towards a few people that were under his command, at the same time I saw Anelace running away from Cassius with a few men behind her as well.

I walked towards the gate and stood next to Magilou, in mere moments I saw a large jeep that could fit a small squad in it. Anelace was in the passenger seat and I could sense another three in the car aside from her. At the same time, I saw three of Loewe troops running over as well, Loewe just walking up behind them.

"I could only get three to accept, Milsante was notified and still no word from Bashton. Shade, it's all up to you to find out what's going on there!" Loewe saluted both me and those in the car, it didn't fit his nature to do that action.

Anelace jumped out and saluted back at Loewe before turning to me with a grin. "I'm ready, oh, I was only able to get three men to join with. I hope that's good enough…" She looked down and then back at me.

I took off my mask and placed it on my hip as I walked up with Magilou behind me. Those from Loewe's side got in the car and as there was a mounted turret, one of them got on it. "That's fine, once we get to Milsante I'll grab my bike, and we'll drive towards Bashton together." I stated as Magilou got in the back, Anelace smiled and nodded as we both got in the car.

Inside was a tight fit, but it wouldn't be for long, as we quickly got closer to Milsante. Magilou was pressed against me and others inside were pressed together as well, but while those from Cassius's side had a sadden look on their faces, those that regret the actions they had done. Those from Loewe, the two that were inside, could only glare at them. 'I doubt they will try anything, but better keep an eye on them…'

Suddenly a bad feeling washed over me, like something wasn't right, either at Bashton or somewhere else. A sense of unease washed over me as we got to Milsante which had the gates open for us, but I could sense those that stayed behind to guard the place were keeping their eyes on the car.

Both me and Magilou jumped out while the rest stayed inside, some looked at me with smiles, some with a tense look. The car stayed where it was as it waited on me to lead the way there, but as Magilou jumped into the side-car, I sensed someone else leave the car.

"Can I ride with you?" I glanced over to see Anelace walk up, she was only looking at me as everyone glared at her.

"I am not sharing or moving!" Magilou called out as she reached into the bags that were on the bike and pulled out a face mask. "I'm going to nap on the way there, so take your time~!" Like that, Magilou wore the mask and then got comfortable in the sidecar.

"The hell did she get that? Anyway, yeah, if you want, but you'll have to sit behind me if that's alright with you?" I glanced around and still saw glares from every single person, all pointed right at Anelace.

"That's fine, I wanted to chat about things as well…" Her hands came together slowly as she sighed sadly.

Before I could respond I sensed someone run over, quickly I step between this person and Anelace. It was a woman that was far older than himself, her eyes held fury that could shake anyone to their core.

"WHERE'S MY SON! DID YOU KILL HIM, YOU BITCH!?" The woman tried to get past me with all her might, but I held her back and saw a few other people running up behind her. They grabbed her and started to pull her away, yet the woman struggled. "PLEASE…! Is he dead…?"

"No, he isn't dead, Patty. Mark is alive and well!" The man that was on the turret yelled out, the woman stopped her struggle and let out a sigh of relief. Yet many others still glared at Anelace and the car, as those they did know were killed, both in the last battle and many others before that.

"I'm sorry…" Anelace whispered as she looked down, I gently laid my hand on her shoulder and brought her closer to the bike and we both got on. Magilou during the entire scene didn't even flinch, no doubt in deep sleep or just didn't care to look.

Without a word I took off as the car drove behind me, it would be a few hours to get there without stopping. It would be late afternoon by the time we got there using this path, there was a second path that Zero's men used, but it seemed that something had happened to it.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I glanced back to Anelace that seemed to be deep in thought, her arms were wrapped around me to keep her balance, so I was able to feel when she fiddled with her hands.

She looked up quickly as my question pulled her back to reality. "Huh? Oh, yeah… You said you are from another world, did you know me from there?" Her voice was quiet and calm, yet with a hint of sadness underneath it.

"No, I only heard about you from others. Let's just say I heard a lot of good things about you, you earned my respect…" I remember the story that Estelle told me, about how Anelace held her own against a Dominion Knight, how she died saving many.

"I see, so you don't hate 'me' then?" Anelace asked with a faint smile on her face, and it seems my words have cheered her up a little.

"No, I don't hate anyone here besides Zero. I want to save everyone, even you." I said gently to her as we made steady pace on the road, her arms tighten around me as I heard a muffled noise, that of crying.

"Thank you…" There was no need for any more words, just like many others that were under Zero's influence she was filled with guilt, sorrow and who knows what else for what she had done. Simply put, she needed a friend and someone that didn't want her dead.

She forced herself this far without breaking down, which was more than most that were freed. Yet, she forced herself to step up to fix some of her sins, to help those that needed it. This version of her also earned my respect and hopefully one day, she and everyone else will find a way to move forward.

We were in silence for a good bit, almost at Raquel by the time a thought popped into my head. "Hey, Anelace?" All I got was a hum in response. "Did you hear anything about Relon or those that were stationed at Bashton?" I felt her head raise and tilt in thought.

"Hmm… Nothing about Relon, but those at Bashton left after they fought with you. I think they went to Trista." She answered yet she herself seemed unsure.

"Did those that left stop by at the base with the injured? Wait, isn't there another road that leads to Bashton?" I looked back at her to see her looking slightly confused.

"Injured? They didn't have anything with them… but as for the road, they said they took it down, so we couldn't take it anyway." Now I was confused as they did have injuries, I know as I hurt quite a few along with Pater-Mater. So where were they?

"I see, so is there anything else I should know about Zero?" Changing topics, I decided to get info before we got to Bashton.

"Well, Crossbell and Trista have more troops, weaponry and tougher to attack. With Roer, I don't know, never been there, but I heard bad things to those that do go there. They do experiments there, modifications, prisoners that go there no doubt die very quickly…" Anelace listed off stuff she knew as I listened, some I knew about, others were new but overall… It sounded like hell.

"Anything aside from the bases?" I saw Raquel coming into view, the memories of what was here came to mind.

"There are a few outposts like what Bashton had, weirdly enough there's one far east that's past the roots and in some old ruins. No one knows why it's there, but it's on our maps still, plus the only way to get there is by air…ship…" My eyes widened as Anelace stopped talking.

"You don't think?" I asked as I looked back at her.

"It was headed in the right direction, the base is in Longlai, so it's quite possible!" At that moment I pressed harder on the gas as Anelace held on tighter, Magilou was unmoving and the car behind us also sped up. I needed to get to Bashton quickly!

The sun just started going down as we neared Bashton, already I could see smoke in the distance, yet it wasn't raging. As we entered the village area, we saw people staying either in their homes or just in the doorway, not wanting to get involved. Yet they looked confused, seeing myself and the car that Zero's troops would use on the same side must have been a sight to see.

Quickly I woke Magilou up and got off the bike as Anelace also got off, the troops rushed out of the car, and we saw the doors leading to the base were open and smoke was leaving from them along with a few random areas that probably led into the base, both large and small.

"Uh, oh, we're here…" Magilou saw the smoke and sighed, she got off the bike and pulled out her staff. "Great, so it's on fire! So we're rushing in?" I nodded as I turned to look at Anelace, while putting on my mask.

"So, what's the plan here?" I saw the troops already aiming at the entrance in case something came out to attack.

"The three of us will head in and clear it out, they will hang back until we know what's inside. Sounds good?" She explained it like a commander, like she was still under Zero's influence, but the last part sounded more like herself.

"Alright, works for me. Let's hope there's someone alive in there!" I pulled out my handguns as Anelace held her blade out, together the three of us entered the base.

Once inside the smoke seemed to be random fires that came from Archaisms, projects and other parts of the base. But as soon as we saw what was on fire, we saw what made the fire.

"Archaisms!" Anelace shouted as a few small ones ran up and started firing at them.

Quickly I shot them all and with one hit they all went down, but more came forward and so we began cleaving a way while making sure none came from behind. The elevators were down, so the stairs were what we took, so far we hadn't seen a single survivor and yet with this many Archaisms running around we hadn't seen a single body.

Then we got to the level where communications were at and saw a few dead bodies, mostly those that were soldiers. But as we got closer to the door I sensed people alive inside it, I put my guns away which Anelace followed suit and then Magilou.

"It's Shade! You still alive there?" I yelled out and a few moments later the door opened, and two soldiers ran out with guns drawn.

"It's you!? And… HUH?!" One looked at Anelace confused, wondering why she was here, and yet the one next to him was calm as he lowered his gun.

"So, guess you won that fight? Sorry we couldn't contact you, but with everything going on we were focused on living." He tilted his head towards the room, motioning them inside.

We went inside and saw a good many alive, but only those two soldiers were left. The rest were scientists that couldn't fight at all, but there was one I recognized. "Oscar, you're alive. What happened here?"

Oscar looked like he shit his pants, but he walked up slowly as it seemed our presence alone had calmed everyone down a little. "Shade, thank the Goddess you're here! It was them, the professors!" Clicking my tongue in anger I looked back at Anelace.

"Seems our theory is getting warm, Anelace you have any info about them?" Anelace was looking at the people that could only stare at her, some in fear and most with suspicion.

"Huh, no and I know Cassius didn't know either. No doubt Zero, Lloyd and Rean knew." I nodded as Magilou sat down in an open chair while swinging her legs forwards and backwards.

"Oscar, where did they go?" I looked back at Oscar to see him looking down at the ground.

"I'm sorry, I was working with him and yet I didn't see it coming, he made all the Archaisms and yet I also programmed them…" He was on the verge of tears, so I slapped him across the face.

"Oscar! Now's not the time to take blame for a nut job's actions, tell me where did they go!?" He stared at me in shock before nodding quickly.

"They took an airship! To Longlai, I saw them before they left. Schmidt looked upset, but I didn't see what Novartis was up to…"

"Did they say anything? Any idea why they went there?" Oscar looked down again, but this time he was trying to remember and looked to be in deep thought.

"Mmmm… Wait, yes, that's right…" He looked up at me with fear in his eyes. "Novartis said something, just as he was leaving. It was about testing on the 'other worlder' you don't think it's…" Before he could even finish I heard a chair hit the ground, looking over I saw Magilou standing with her chair on the ground.

"Shade, that's!" I looked back at Oscar and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Is there another airship!?" He looked between her and myself before nodding.

"Yes, we have one left, but its systems are still being worked on… Wait the AI, that's it!" He ran away and grabbed something that was in some type of pile, then came back with Pater-mater's AI core. "If I add this to the ship, it should work, hopefully."

"Anelace, ready to head out?" I turned around and pulled out my guns as she pulled out her tachi.

"Yes, I'll contact those outside to let them know what's going on!" She pulled out an orbment and used it to call those outside, Magilou quickly walked to my side.

"Oscar, you're coming with me." I told him as he placed the core in his bag.

"They men outside are moving in, they will make their way here to get everyone out. Shade… I won't be going with you to Longlai, but I'll get you to the airship!" Anelace smiled at me, smiling under my mask, I placed one gun at my hip, so I could bump fists with her.

"We'll make sure to make it back alive! But for now let's get to the airship." I pulled out my gun again and turned to see Oscar was ready, so the four of us left the room and were led down the stairs.

We passed by the soldiers and were now back on the ground level, it seemed most of the Archaisms were down already so the way there was quick. Magilou and I were in front with Anelace in the back while Oscar was in the middle of us all. Soon we came across more Archaisms but I had no time for fighting so I rushed forward and took them down before they could even turn to face us.

Up ahead was a door that as we got closer I could tell what was inside as I felt a large space, opening it up and saw a hanger with a single airship left and the way to get it out was on the ceiling. However the airship was one I had never seen before, but then I sensed it moved, not the ship but something that was hiding.

"Shit, watch out!" I stopped in place as a large Archaism started up and rolled forward, it had cannons, machine guns and lots of armor on it.

Oscar ducked behind something as Anelace rushed up next to me ready to fight, Magilou also got ready but she kept glancing at me. "Yeah, no I don't have time for more battles like this!" I put my handguns away and pulled out my scythe, before the large Archaism could begin firing I dashed forward and sliced through the mid section but only took about half of it.

As it turned to look at me the mid section collapsed into itself and the weight balance caused it to tip over and tear the rest of the mid section off, with a single strike the entire upper half which housed most of the guns was now on the floor as fire started from its wounds.

"Well, that was anticlimactic." Magilou commented as she put away her staff.

"I don't sense anything else here, Oscar get the ship ready. Also would my bike fit on it?" I looked over at the ship and while it was big enough, I wasn't sure how much room was meant for storage.

"Wow…! Oh, right yeah it will fit, there's a lower section that has a ramp to drive a car or bike into it. The airship is a troop carrier that can move a squad and vehicle with it to a battlefield!" Oscar sounded proud about the specs of the airship.

"Good, Magilou, can you help Oscar while I get the bike?" Magilou nodded and walked with Oscar to the airship.

Anelace walked up weapon in hand still as she looked around. "There's no more here?" She looked confused and for a moment I was wondering what she meant.

"Oh, yeah. I can sense everything around me, there's no more Archaisms in this room or on the way here." I started walking out of the hanger as Anelace followed, we both walked back to the entrance.

"That's cool, makes sense how you were able to sneak into the base!" As we walked forward I saw some of our troops walking our way and clearing out any room they found.

Anelace looked at me and nodded as she ran up to them, seeing this I ran past them and soon made it to the bike. Outside I was those in the village talking with troops that were out here and the other scientists, it seems they are calm and happy but still a few were on edge. I jumped on the bike and drove it inside and all the way towards the hanger.

I passed by Anelace who gave me a thumbs up with a smile, which I returned in kind and made it into the hanger. I saw the airship was in a new spot, one that made it easier to load supplies into it and to take off from the opening that has yet to open in the ceiling.

Looking at the airship I saw it had a ramp at the back just as Oscar said, but also a side door for the lower hall. As I looked higher I saw the cockpit and a door that led to the small deck that was on it, in the front was two main guns and that was it for weapons. Slowly I drove up the ramp that was down and saw Magilou, sitting on a step that led up into the cockpit.

"Is the ship ready?" Oscar then called out from above before Magilou could speak.

"Almost! I just need to make sure it can understand us, but once that's done it should work!" I got off the bike and saw cords on the ground to keep the bike in place as the airship was in flight, so I connected it firmly to the bike as Magilou just watched.

"Bored? You've seemed off since we left that Ark place, something on your mind?" Magilou looked up and tilted her head.

"Nope, just tired is all. Plus I'm wondering what will happen once we take off, you think Rinwell is dead?" I stopped moving and looked towards her, not with shock, nor with anger, but with pity.

"Worried about her? I'm sure she's fine." I stood up and walked towards her.

"Nope, just wondering." She was swinging her legs as I sat next to her.

"Bullshit." I leaned forward and clasped my hands together. "You can tell yourself that you don't care, that you are just here, so you can go home. But you showed me a snippet of the truth, what lies underneath that mask you wear." I took off my mask and looked her into the eyes. "I'm not sure what you have been through in life, but I don't need to know it for me to tell you this. Renne, Rinwell and myself care in some way about you. At the very least, you could reciprocate that or else you truly will be alone." I stood up and climbed my way into the cockpit without looking back at her to see what my words did.

"Oscar, are you done?" I saw him underneath a small panel trying to connect a few cords together.

"Oh, Shade. It still won't respond, so now I'm seeing if I hooked it up right." He crawled out and looked at the panel which was on, but nothing was happening.

"What systems needed to be worked on anyway?" Oscar sighed as he looked to his left.

"The ship can turn just fine, but the sensor to it from the cockpit isn't working, nor are the radar and weapon systems. But if the AI worked, then it would be able to use them, but why isn't it working!" He banged on the panel with both fists as tears went down his cheeks.

"Pater-Mater, you awake? If so Renne is fine and made a few friends I believe, but right now some of my friends are in danger, so I need to get to them fast, wanna give me a lift?" There was a noise and the entire airship came online, much to the shock of Oscar.

"Huh!?" He could only look as everything came online and even double-checked everything to make sure it was right. "Guess it needed a friendly voice, well it seems good to go now…" Oscar let out a sigh as he looked at the floor.

"You did good, go get some rest." He looked dead tired and stressed out, who knows how long they were in that one room for.

"By the way, how did you make it out of the hangar when the professors left?" That simple thought crossed my mind when I was driving back, but I had a faint idea of what his answer would be.

"They didn't activate until half an hour after they left, there was even a warning five minutes beforehand… I think Schmidt was the one to give us a heads-up." I reached out and patted his shoulder.

"Thought so, at the very least he's not a monster. Now go Oscar, we'll be taking off now, oh and can you get that hanger door opened?" Oscar smiled and patted my shoulder in return before running out of the cockpit with a simple "Yep!"

As he left I saw Magilou climb up and walk out onto the deck, not once looking my way and keeping her face out of my sight, so I was unable to know what she was feeling. I heard a beep from behind me and simply looked at the steering wheel that Pater-Mater is connected to. "Don't worry about her, that's my problem to deal with. For now our destination is Longlai, Calvard. I'll give further instructions once we get closer."

He beeped in response in a happy tone as a loud metal noise echoed throughout the hangar, the doors above us are opening up, and soon we'll be in the air and in a few hours in Calvard.

The airship slowly took off and was able to get out of the hangar, looking out of the cockpit I could see the clear skies and the roots that took hold of the earth below. Seeing as this will be a long trip, I should check what this ship has.

I searched the cockpit, the area below and any small container that was there and found nothing of note. Just in case, I moved the supplies I had on the bike and into the containers in case I needed to ditch the bike during this operation.

I could sense Magilou standing on the deck looking out towards the front and stood there for the entire time she's been out there, either she was just looking out at the world or thinking about my words.

Climbing back into the cockpit I sat down in the chair and leaned back, looking out I saw the sky slowly darken and the sight became more grim. Roots before were in some areas and smaller ones would be everywhere else, but now all I see is roots and began to wonder why Relon would come all the way out here.

"Pater-Mater, beep once for yes and twice for no. Should I go talk to her now?" There was a small silence, yet a single beep rang out.

"Hmmm… wonder if she will yell at me." I said mostly to myself, but I got a beep in response, looking at the console I smirked.

"Yeah, that's how I expected it to be. Better get it done now before we get there…" I stood up and sighed and made my way towards the door. Magilou has since moved towards the back and has sat down and had her knees close to her chest.

As I walked out, the wind blew gently past me, it was warm yet nice. I walked closer to Magilou who didn't even look up at me, she didn't even acknowledge me being there. While I started to sit down next to her, suddenly she spoke. "You are so annoying, you know that?"

It was an annoyed, dull tone that was matched by what I could call a half glare looking up at me. I paused and decided to remain standing up, so I leaned against the metal. "Maybe, but this seems like a nice spot to chill until we get there." I stated simply.

She almost got up to no doubt get away, but she locked eyes with me and only looked away while remaining on the floor. "Expecting me to break down in a sad backstory? A song and dance about my life? Or maybe just say I was joking?" She said in a more sarcastic tone.

"Don't know, I'm just here." She turned to look at me and then stood up, I felt her small hand press on my chest and push me against the wall. 'She's stronger than I expected!'

"Why do you care so much?! You care about the people here, about people not even from this world! Look at us, we're heading to Longlai just to save them!? Why do you try so hard for people that have done nothing for you!?" She gripped my coat and all I did was stare at her.

"For two years I fought in a war that, in all honesty, I had no reason to fight." She blinked, clearly confused. "I only went to help because that's what I thought was right, there was town's folk I knew that had suffered and that was enough… But all I got for my efforts and helping was pain, I lost friends as they sacrificed themselves to make sure I lived, as they died in combat, as they were betrayed." I gently held her arm.

My tone was dull as memories from my past came up to the surface, from those that said goodbye to me, to those I saw die on the field, to those I was too late to save. "So why? Why do I do such things, why do I still care when all it does is hurt me? It's simple, because if I stop caring, then what's the point of living?"

She had let go and took a step back, her mouth was slightly agape, either in confusion or in shock from my words. "If I stop caring then I'll be a monster, it will ruin those that put their faith, their trust in me. So I still care for people, for you, so I can carry on their will, and so I can continue to be myself!"

She looked down, for a moment I thought she was crying, but she instead let out a loud sigh. "So if I don't care, then I'm a monster?" It was a legitimate question this time.

"That's up for you to decide, to me, you're just Magilou. I don't need to know your past, or your intentions. Just as long as you show that in some way you care, then that's enough for me." I patted her shoulder and turned to leave.

But before I could reach for the door, I heard her voice. "Grrr! Fine, get ready for the tale of the great Magilou!" I stopped and looked at her. "When I was but a child, I was a loner, didn't have friends or much reason to make them. But even then I was a child of chaos! Causing mayhem to all before me, even at home my family dreaded my outburst of magic!" She was very dramatic and moving all over the deck, finally she settled by the railing.

She crossed her arms and sighed. "So yeah, for most of my life, I just didn't care. And I still don't really. But messing with Rinwell was fun, having Renne next to me at night and having her in my lap made it seem like I was an older sister. Then there's you, what can I say really? You forced me to fight, forced me to tag along, and forced me to care! Honestly, I should hate you, but you bring too much entertainment for me to hate you." She then stretched her back and arms.

"Now then, let us ride into battle and bring victory! The face Rinwell will make will be priceless, she'll call me her hero!" Magilou raises her hands in a dramatic way, and then they slumped. "Like that will happen, so what is the plan, chief?" 'That was… something, but it will work for now.'

She looked at me with a grin, it seems she's back to normal. "Alright, here is what we'll do." I walked over and leaned on the railing. "Longlai isn't large but still a pretty sizable town, so there's plenty of spots where this outpost could be. However, there won't be many locations to land, so we'll have to find an area outside the town, so you'll stay with the ship and be a guard while I go in with the bike."

"Wait, so for once I'll be doing nothing?" She looked over with a raised eye-brow.

"Yeah, I don't know the situation yet but either way leaving the ship unguarded will only cause us problems. So I'll move in with the bike, park it and then move on foot after that I'll see what happens. Relon isn't a guy I can see going down so easily, but even he can't protect all those on his side, I need to get into contact with him." I pulled out my ENIGMA and made sure it was still able to be used to call Relon, but I wasn't in range yet.

"Alright, makes sense. But what if you have to save more people there?" She asked casually like it was just a passing thought.

"Relon has those swords, but even then I'm sure he could drive the bike, so everything should be good on that part. There's still the issue of who will be here, it's far out of range of the reactors, so it could very well be a special unit from Zero himself." I pocketed my ENIGMA and turned around. 'Chances are very few will be here from the reactors, they can't leave them undefended in case of an attack. So a small unit yet powerful enough to stop Relon and Rinwell, so I should expect elite troops and in case Relon is hiding they will be on the lookout…'

Suddenly I looked up and saw dark clouds far into the distance, those one would see before it started raining. "Are those… rain clouds?" I asked aloud as I got as close as I could to get a better view.

"Rain? Here I thought this world lost that feature, but guess it still happens." Magilou got next to me, so she could get a good view as well.

"The reactor blasted energy into the air when it was destroyed, so this could be an effect of that…" Looking closer, I noticed the mountains as well and a small gap in roots. "It's above Longlai, so it could be raining there now or will rain once we get there."

"Well, I'll be in the cockpit, as I'm not getting wet today!" She opened the door and walked inside.

Slowly, we got closer as the sun fully set, leaving the entire area in a blanket of darkness that blended in with the black roots that covered the landscape. After a few more moments, I walked inside to prepare for this operation. Magilou sat in the pilot seat and propped her feet up on the dash, but a loud beep made her stop.

I jumped down and made sure my bike was prepped and ready to take off. "Pater-Mater, look for a small area within the roots to land, don't land within the town itself!" I yelled up and heard a beep in response.

After a couple of minutes I felt the ship slow down, then come to a stop before descending. Once I felt the ship land, I heard something hit the hull of the ship, then it happened again. "It's raining now, also we landed!" Magilou called out in a lazy manner.

"Alright, keep an eye out, and I'll be back with our friends." I opened up the ramp door and got on the bike, putting on my mask and putting a cover on the sidecar, so water won't get in, I turned on the bike and set off.

The path was covered in roots, but there was enough room to drive through, the town was pitch black and the rain only made visibility worse. While I have never been to Longlai, I have heard much about it, but the location never seemed like a good spot for an outpost, so why here?

I slowed down as I got closer, just a little bit outside the town was a ruined shed that had its walls ripped off, yet the roof was intact, and it was empty. Parking the bike in there, I got off and moved into the outskirts of the town, in which quickly I sensed movement.

Hiding in the shadows, I watched as troops wearing full black body armor and even helmets where they had red glowing eyes. "Not here either, move on to the next area." One of them said, while the others nodded.

They moved on, and then I moved further into town, the rain made some areas flood from what I could see, mostly along the river banks that had ruined bridges all over it. Looking up towards the tallest building which was still pretty intact, I saw a sniper scouting the area. 'Taking him out shouldn't cause much of a fuss, plus if I use his weapon and from his position I could try to find Relon and see just how many troops are around.'

The distance between this building and my bike wasn't long, so I could have Relon make his way here if need be. As I climbed up slowly, the rain only got worse, and I could barely hear the soldier on the roof, so there's no way he could hear me. I snuck up from behind and wrapped my arm around his neck and squeezed, with my free hand I grabbed his weapon and within seconds he passed out.

After making sure he wouldn't roll off the roof I knelt down and aimed the rifle which had night vision but the quality was poor, so I could hardly make out the details of anything. Scanning the area I saw the location which seemed to be their base around here as it had lights on, but looking closer it was more like a temp base that was set up recently and it was on the outskirts.

"Where are you Relon…" Scanning the area closer in town, from the inside of buildings, to in the pits around. I looked for him, even around the mountain side where he could very well be at the peak. Then I see something move that was off, through the heavy rain, two faint silhouettes begin to inch closer and closer into clarity. On one sword, Relon and who I can only surmise as Munechika from what I heard and on the other, two individuals. All four were clearly beaten. Dropping into an alley, the other male and clear familiar pan around their surroundings. 'Where's Rinwell and Hootle? Don't tell me, no Relon would have made this entire place a living hell if that was the case.'

Looking around where he was I saw no patrols, so I called him up as I kept my sights on him "Yeah? Kinda busy fleeing for our lives at the moment!"

"Oh, my bad Relon. Just thought you needed some help there." I looked closer at the other two that he was with, both didn't look familiar but why would they be here?

"Help? Where- Too exhausted to ask questions. Guide us to you." I tilted my head to the left. Not once did I have to guide people, much less those that could barely do anything like them. 'Alright, from what I can gather he has no idea how to sneak around. Guess it's my turn to teach him a few things.'

With a grin I looked to where it seemed like a safe bet for him to move, then I looked back at him. "Then shut up and listen, you're in my world now so you better follow what I tell you, got it bud?"

Meanwhile…

Upon the dim whirling sound of cable, Rean Schwarzer and Lloyd Bannings stand within the ascending elevator.

"The supposed Senate Hunter and his witch have been roaming all along the border according to recent reports sent in by scouts as well as Laura."

"So I have heard, but they haven't done as much as that Shade fellow and his companions."

"Just because they haven't affected us much yet, doesn't mean they won't in the near future. We are only days away from ruination. We can't let something as minor as these weaklings stand in the way of Lord Zero."

"That's why we laid the perfect trap for them, all thanks to those professors. As for Shade, our lord still wants to get him on our side…" Lloyd looks away with disgust.

"What I cannot help but be reminded of is the Senate Hunter's mobility. The capabilities of flight belong to few but allows for much. I dislike the idea as much as you but it would do if Lord Zero requested this Senate Hunter as well. Their skills in our recent clash speaks much. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Why bother getting them when as you said, we are mere days away. So pests like them should be caged or just dealt with rather than put on a leash."

"I suppose. The more numbers we have serving Lord Zero, the better. Regardless, they're problems that need to be solved. Here's to hoping our plans for them work."

"Here's to hope… We're here" Lloyd looks straight ahead as the elevator dings.

Stepping out into a dimly lit room with dark ascents spanning the surroundings, both move forward to kneel. Atop a small flight of stairs seated with a bored expression lies the root of all evil across the world itself.

"Speak." His voice echoed around the room, his mere words sent chills down their spines.

"The group of the Senate Hunter and witch have been sighted within Longlai, Calvard. The battalion of Victor and Laura Arseid alongside Tio Plato are en route to exterminate those that oppose you." Rean listed off what was sent to deal with the outworlder.

"Now tell me, will they succeed?"

"We are confident in their abilities, no doubt the Senate Hunter and his companions will be killed with ease." Lloyd smirks before Zero's next words wipes that away.

"And if the other outworlder joins in?"

"We have several of our skilled trackers, a group of long-range hunters, and a select number of lieutenants en route should such a thing occur sir." Rean says with confidence which then gets wiped away by Zero's next words.

"Then you are foolish to underestimate him, or do you want to be like Commander Claire?"

Stiffening for only a moment, both respond. "No, sir! We shall succeed for your glory!" "If you wish we shall go to make sure of our victory!" Both called out at the same time, each with a bit of fear in their eyes.

"No need, I have already sent one of my best to deal with it. For now just prepare the reactors for the coming battles."

"Yes, sir! We shall not fail!" Rean bows again.

"We shall make sure the promise day will come!" Lloyd bows as well.

"I would hope so, now leave." His expression changed from a dull look, to a small grin that went a little too far.

Many things, many things… Not much to say other than things are heating up. There's a lot of things in this chapter, many new faces shown.

Now as I write this at 2:20Am and wrapping up book 3 of 86. Yeah I'm tired and yet full of wonder energy! (Help)

Now then… see you next time~