An important note to preface for this chapter and for the future of this story. Various elements and concepts were drafted and put together in the year of 2017. As such, there will be things that do not necessarily reflect current outlooks and events that have happened in the years since then. Backstory elements in regards to Takeshi are set to not be altered unless it is absolutely in my best interest. I would prefer to avoid any retcons if at all possible. Plus, the intention of Hero was always meant to be in a reality sort of similar to our own with deviations.
I will remark that, in all likelihood, this has been the chapter with the highest number of rewrites done to it. You saw one part that I literally had to turn into a spin-off because the length had ballooned out of control and I thought I had done too much to scrap it out completely. Then there were some scenes that had to get rewritten and adjusted because of behind the scenes reasons.
And then came Three Hopes. I was already planning to at least give a vague mention of something related to Fódlan in this chapter anyway, so… yeah. Three Hopes presented new problems that are, thankfully, resolvable. And I was sincerely hoping we'd at least go another few years without another mainline FE game. FEH makes the franchise a ton of money, and we can just wait.
…and then Engage was announced. …excuse me a moment. *walks off screen, screams a bit, then walks back over* I was kind of upset. It basically takes several concepts of Hero and actually puts them into a Fire Emblem game. Heck, Alear almost looks like a fusion of Takeshi and Hana to me and even KKD sort of sees it! *sighs* …Engage is a problem that I am not tackling anytime soon. I already reworked bits of this chapter to include some nods to Three Houses, so I'm not gonna worry about Engage until the future… if at all.
Anyway… onto a thing I'm gonna bring up as a prelude for this chapter. There will be mention of stuff related to RWBY within this chapter. I am going to acknowledge that the fate of the show and of Rooster Teeth in general has been… shaky… at best these past several months. However, the flashback sequence has been set in place for a while now, and I don't wanna need to think of a new explanation for it again. …you'll see in due time.
This chapter has been interesting to work on and, in spite of the wait, I remain committed to eventually finishing Hero. Not sure when it'll end, but it will eventually receive a proper conclusion.
Also, something important, as of the 11th of December of this year, KKD and I have been friends for ten years. I just want to say this completely sincerely… thank you. You are, without a doubt in my mind, the best friend I've ever made throughout my entire life. I lean on you, I depend on you, and we are such a great tag-team when it comes to writing. I even recall that, for one assignment I wrote for class that had to do with a friend, I ended up picking to try to write from KKD's point of view because of how in sync we tend to be. My teacher honestly thought it was really sweet that I had someone I rely on so much and said it was a friendship to be treasured. And she was right. The brief time that I had to spend without KKD around for support was a time of my life that I really don't look back at too fondly (and may have caused some other problems later on down the road, but that's neither here nor there), and getting him back felt like a gift from a divine source.
…am I being a little dramatic? Maybe. Am I also being as sincere as I think I can be? Yeah. Ten years is nothing to scoff at, and I hope that it'll last for many more years to come. I will probably be saying a little more after the chapter.
Nevertheless, let's get this show on the road. Hero has been waiting for a while, and it is high time we get back to it.
Fire Emblem belongs to Nintendo, Intelligent Systems, etc. Kamen Rider belongs to Toei, Bandai, etc. All OCs belong to their owners. Special thanks to Kilala_4, TheSamigirl101, EternalXilven, and Spirit of Creativity for some inspirations for this chapter.
Previously on Kamen Rider Hero…
Neo-Hero: I won't let you hurt her!
Hero: Oh be quiet!
Kamui: Are you... alright?
Takeshi: I think I should be asking you that.
KR: Kamui: Takeshi...?
Hero: I can't hesitate when there's something at risk that's important. I just have to act...
Kamui: Dragalia is the bond of trust between people and dragons. And, even if we're separated, the dragalia will always keep us tied together.
Tiki-chan: I'm sure things will work out.
Takeshi: I hope so...
Takeshi slowly sat up, letting out a small yawn, and rubbing his eyes a little bit. He looked around, then saw that he had been sent into the next world. He slowly stood up and then his eyes shifted around. He began to rub his head a little bit, before he spotted Tiki-chan floating nearby.
"Are you okay? You sounded like you were screaming a bit…" Tiki-chan spoke, clearly concerned.
"...I… think so? I think I saw visions of… something…" Takeshi informed.
"Of what?"
"...other heroes, I guess? It's already becoming a blurry mess…" Takeshi admitted. He rubbed his head a little bit before exhaling, "There is one part I can say was clear. I saw what looked to be some sort of a united world and then it… broke. I for sure saw a heart-shaped moon, so I know that was Kingdom Hearts."
"...does your world have Keyblade wielders or something?" Tiki-chan soon questioned.
"I wish…" Takeshi commented.
"Well… it at least simplifies what I'll need to explain to you to at least sort of make sense of why you had that vision… they say that after the worlds broke apart, even in spite of that, there's this shared energy that exists around every world. It surrounds us, penetrates us…"
"It binds the universe together," the two said in unison.
"I'm surprised you know that…" Tiki-chan admitted, "That energy isn't supposed to exist in worlds that act as counter-balances."
"Famous line from a movie in my reality. …and I guess an alternate dimension in this reality? …I don't know anymore," Takeshi responded.
"Anyway, that energy exists between all worlds that do not act as a counter-balance, such as the world you're from, and because that energy exists around everything, it sort of created this universal grid of energy. They say that if you travel through worlds for a long enough time, eventually, your mind can peer into that grid. It can show you anything if you know where to look… the past, the present, the future even. The grid of energy is just a hard thing to ignore or force out of your sight once you can peer into it," Tiki-chan spoke, looking a bit nervously, "...I saw it once."
"Really?"
"Yeah. At some point, before you were recruited, I was sent through it once to see if I could get any kind of hint about who would get the Kamen Rider powers. The only thing I can even vaguely recall from it was seeing someone with blue hair. …which… well…"
"...huh," Takeshi remarked, looking towards his blue hair.
"The more you travel through worlds, the more likely you'll eventually start to see… something. It usually happens while you're sleeping…"
"So the mystery woman shoved me through while I was still sleeping?!"
"...yeah. Why?"
"She hasn't sent me into a world asleep before!" Takeshi complained.
"Uh… yeah she has. A lot. I think there have only been… two or three times you were sent in awake," Tiki-chan reminded.
"...oh yeah. Uh…" Takeshi responded, scratching the back of his head, "Uh… I'll admit… I'm drawing a bit of a blank."
"...what do you mean?"
"Well… some of the memories of the other worlds have gotten a little bit hazy… just a little…" Takeshi informed, "I can still remember the Riders and some of the events there, but there are a lot of details that I'm drawing a blank on."
"...really?" Tiki-chan asked, floating nearby him.
"Yeah. I think the world that's become the foggiest so far is actually Roy's and I don't know why…" Takeshi admitted.
"That's… probably for the best…" Tiki-chan stated, "Do you know when this started?"
"Was around when she shoved me through one time that some of it got a bit blurry to me. Maybe it was because I landed face first or something?" Takeshi guessed, before a concerned look came to his face, "...this wouldn't be a side effect of that grid, would it?"
"No. Memory loss has never happened unless it is associated with what you see in the visions," Tiki-chan quickly assured, "But… just curious… what do you remember about that world?"
"The most I remember about Roy's world is that I was in some cave, fell unconscious around when we met Roy, and I helped him fight off something to get to something he needed…" Takeshi elaborated, "I don't know why that's the world that's the most blurred for me, but it is. Some of the other worlds have blurred a bit, but Roy's is the one that's blurred the most to me."
"Once again, probably for the best…"
Kowashitai daijisou ni kakaeta watashi o zenbu (I'm breaking down all the walls I've built up around my lonely heart now) *Takeshi held his phone in his hand before he was seemingly absorbed into it.*
Kimi ga kono kodoku o itami o iyasu no (You're the one that takes it all away, my solitude and all my pain) *His phone was now attached onto his wrist and his Driver was in position.*
Reincarnation Realization *The Kamen Ride Hero card slipped out and into the phone insertion.*
Reincarnation kiete shimaitai (I want to disappear…) *Takeshi now stood on the ground as Kamen Rider Hero.*
Kamen Rider Hero
Nemuranai machi no zawameki aisouwarai no yuutsu (I walk alone through the city of lights, I see the same fake smiles every night) *Takeshi was now back in the real world and had his phone in his hand, playing Fire Emblem Heroes.*
Honne nante itsuka doko ka mienai furi (Cause everyone hides...they run and they hide from their real feelings.) *The game then had all of the characters seemingly vanish. Takeshi then took his phone and put it into position*
Dare datte fuan nante sonna (And everyone's got their stresses too, yeah I know) *Hero was seen punching and kicking various Risen foes, knocking them away, before he turned to see the fractured stained glassed windows of the nine worlds.*
Iwarenakutemo wakatteru (But I already get that's the status quo. I'm breaking down…) *Kamen Rider Marth, Ike, Robin, Micaiah, Roy and Lucina all stood and seemed fractured as well. Hero stood in the center of the six, glancing towards the three without representation.*
Kowashitai daijisou ni kakaeta tsuyogari nante (All the masks that I wear to hide my lonely heart now) *He took the six cards and loaded them into his card scanner, now being armed with the Fire Emblem itself. The cloaked woman walked over to him and simply smiled.*
Demo sunao ni narenai (But what if I'm just lying to myself?) *Takeshi stared at his phone for a moment before he was joined by Tiki-chan, who was initially in her distance form then in her normal form, who then smiled at him*
Mayottemo nayan demo kimi ga motomeru nara (If even now, you still want me when I am hurt, wandering lost in the rain) *Takeshi and the green orb both stood between the worlds, looking towards the six Riders and three silhouetted figures.
Semete kono kodoku o itami o kowashite (The at least help me destroy it all… My solitude, and all my pain) *Takeshi now stood as Kamen Rider Hero and reached out to them, trying to save them.*
Reincarnation Realization *Takeshi was now back in his base and held out the Kamen Rider Hero card.*
Reincarnation umarekawaritai (I want to be reborn) *He then turned towards the reader and gave a simple smile, showing off the Hero card.*
Emblem 16: Echoes of the Next World
Takeshi and Tiki-chan looked towards the horizon in front of them. The area around them was a nice forest that had a lush amount of grass and a nice clearing. It didn't seem like there would be civilization for miles, regardless of where they went.
"Well… that rules out Tokyo. So, process of elimination, we're in whatever Celia's world is," Takeshi remarked.
"Celica."
"Right, right. Slip of tongue, sorry," Takeshi quickly apologized. He looked around a little bit, then gazed down to the HeroPhone to see something, "It's time we go forward."
"How?"
Takeshi pressed an app on the phone, which made it give off a small dragon roar before a revving sound played. After a moment, his motorcycle appeared next to him.
"One ride. Thank you, ManakeRaider," Takeshi spoke as he got onboard the motorcycle and saw a tablet screen was attached around where the handle bars were, "Huh… so I got an autopilot mode like Neo-Hero and his Machine Tactician…"
"...what are those names…?" Tiki-chan asked, soon sitting down on the motorcycle.
"Oh. I just made them up. Thought they sounded cool," Takeshi admitted as he put on a helmet that was magically generated for him. Tiki-chan soon found a place for herself to stay on that seemed to magically attract her, "Ready?"
"...as ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," the fairy shrugged.
Takeshi tapped the tablet, engaging the autopilot, and then set the destination for as close to the nearest city as he could locate on a map. The ManakeRaider revved up and then sped off, with a magical energy from the exhaust.
Takeshi and Tiki-chan both couldn't help but cheer a little bit as they sped along, with the motorcycle continuing to move on the path. The motorcycle adjusted a bit to move around some terrain, but it was mostly clear.
"So, how do you think people are gonna react to this?" Takeshi couldn't help but ask.
"Should just see it as a mount of some sort!" Tiki-chan quickly responded.
Takeshi nodded as they continued along, but a thought soon crossed his mind, "Hey… question."
"What up?"
"Why do you think mystery woman wants this world gone? Celica's story is basically neighboring to Marth's…" Takeshi asked.
"Probably because this has more influences from Echoes. Your world originally just saw Gaiden because some details got lost, only to reappear when the remake was done."
"So Echoes is the true version?"
"Maybe. It's likely, but I don't 100% know for sure."
Takeshi just exhaled a little bit before the motorcycle came to a stop nearby the entrance to some sort of a kingdom. It didn't look like anything that Takeshi recognized off of the top of his head, so he set the helmet aside and walked towards the entrance. He eventually arrived by some guards, who clearly were waiting for someone.
"Halt for a moment, please," a guard spoke, looking Takeshi over for a moment. He then turned around, "Captain, the archaeologist that was said to be arriving by dragon is here."
'...well… that's not the strangest thing I've been so far…' Takeshi thought before he saw Alm walk over towards him, "Hi."
"Greetings, good sir. It is an honor to finally meet you," Alm politely greeted.
'...would sooner expect that from Celica since… priest, but, alright… sure…' Takeshi thought, "Nice to meet you, highness."
"Oh, no. I stepped down from that ages ago. I'm merely the Captain of the Royal Guard," Alm spoke.
"And a pawn of the royalty, like any other fool who is in my way," a woman's voice suddenly called out.
"...the heck…?" Takeshi muttered.
"I am the hero who arrives on the scene. I am the divine Mila's voice, that strikes at injustice. I am the thief that makes the impossible… possible…" the voice spoke out.
'Is she… an outlaw?' Takeshi thought, getting his phone ready for action.
The figure then landed on the ground and turned around. She was indeed a Rider, with her helmet matching V3's and her belt somewhat resembling the Double Typhoon. Her armor and shoes were instantly recognizable to Takeshi, as was the orangey hair that flowed over her helmet.
"The Orange Rose, Kamen Rider Celica, has arrived!" she proudly proclaimed, letting her cape flow in a gentle breeze.
"There she is, get her!" one of the guards yelled. The small group of guards hurried on over towards the Kamen Rider.
"Oh divine Mila, get them out of my way," Kamen Rider Celica spoke, making her left hand glow with a magical energy that flowed outwards as a kind of powder of sorts. The magic quickly made all of the guards pass out.
'Well… not sure whose side she's on now... but... as much as I hate to jinx it, it could be worse…' Takeshi thought, readying himself for a fight.
"I'll protect you!" Alm spoke out as he hurried forward. His belt was already around his waist, resembling Riderman's belt. He moved his hand forward and then slammed the side of the belt, causing his Rider form to generate over it, "Henshin!"
Takeshi observed Alm's Rider form a bit, seeing that the suit mostly looked like that of Kamen Rider J's, but with Alm's armor and hair. It was fairly simple, but very Showa-y.
"We meet again… Orange Rose…" Kamen Rider Alm growled.
"Well met, pawn," Kamen Rider Celica responded, "I have a task to perform. So, if you'd mind getting out of my way…"
Kamen Rider Alm yelled as he drew his sword and swung at her, only for the orange-haired Rider to use her magic to generate a shield to protect herself. The teal-haired Rider kept on swinging in spite of the shield.
"...unstoppable force and immovable object?" Tiki-chan whispered.
"Perhaps…" Takeshi sighed, "...I mean… I know they were on opposite sides, but this is a bit… much…"
Kamen Rider Alm managed to enchant his blade a bit, slicing through Kamen Rider Celica's barrier, which made the Rider bounce backwards to evade.
"Turn yourself in and make this easy, Orange Rose!" Kamen Rider Alm shouted out.
"Nah. I have a job to do," Kamen Rider Celica retorted, turning to where Takeshi was.
"You shall not hurt him! I will lay down my life in service to this kingdom and it's people!" Kamen Rider Alm roared, dashing forward and managing to land a punch at Kamen Rider Celica.
Takeshi and Tiki-chan both winced a little at the impact, but Kamen Rider Celica was able to rise back up without missing a beat.
"You can't get the best of me…" Kamen Rider Celica boldly proclaimed, dashing forward and punching at Kamen Rider Alm with magically enchanted fists, "I have the divine Mila by my side!"
"Mila's light shouldn't help someone like you!"
"...did they break up or something…?" Takeshi soon mumbled.
Kamen Rider Celica growled before she kicked herself away from the other Rider, "...how dare you…"
Kamen Rider Alm hurried forward, armed with nothing but his sword.
"Divine Mila… strike at him…" Kamen Rider Celica coldly spoke, generating an electrical blast right at Kamen Rider Alm that made him stagger. She let out a small scoff in irritation before she began to walk away, "Don't besmirch her divinity with your mouth, pawn. I've had enough of you for today."
Takeshi got a little worried as the Rider approached him, but she then turned away from him.
"But know this, sir… when The Orange Rose makes a promise to get what she wants… she will get it," Kamen Rider Celica boldly remarked before she used magic to make a high jump into the sky and then jump across roofs.
"Are you alright?" Kamen Rider Alm asked Takeshi.
"I'm not hurt," he informed, "But… who was that?"
"She calls herself a Kamen Rider, but she is not worthy of the title. Most people her call her The Orange Rose," the Rider explained before he reverted back, "I'm gonna see if I can track her. Stay close."
Takeshi nodded and followed after Alm.
Takeshi and Alm kept on the lookout for the Rider as they moved through the capital city of the kingdom. Unbeknownst to them, she was nearby and using an invisibility spell to cover her tracks.
The Rider managed to land behind an alleyway and, after a moment, mumbled something to herself, "Divine Mila, grant me your protection…"
She briefly glowed before her body reverted back…
"She could be hiding anywhere. The Orange Rose is a conniving piece of scum that stops at nothing until she gets what she wants," Alm warned.
Takeshi just nodded a little, yet had a baffled look on his face as he thought about that comment, 'He's saying that about his future wife. Hindsight is going to deliver him some nasty low blows in the future if this sticks…'
The two soon arrived to see a figure who was simply in the middle of a small prayer, looking like she had been tending to a garden beforehand. Alm's body began to ease up as he walked towards her, while Takeshi seemed a bit confused.
"It is good to see you again," the woman spoke, only to see a bit of a wound that Alm had, "You're hurt."
"Eh, it'll heal," Alm responded.
"Nonsense. Oh holy Mila, please heal his wound…" the woman spoke, making herself known to be some sort of a priestess, soon causing magic to heal the injury.
'...well… that's concerning…' Takeshi thought as he recognized the priestess' orange hair.
"Thank you. Oh, uh, this is the person I was told I needed to escort today," Alm spoke, motioning towards Takeshi before he saw Takeshi's body language, "...everything alright?"
"...are you not worried at all…?" Takeshi asked.
"There's not a need to worry. The divine Mila shall guide you safely to wherever it is you need to go," the priestess spoke in a calm tone.
"...have we met before?" Takeshi added on, clearly noticing the overlap.
"I do not believe so. My name is Celia," she spoke with a smile.
Takeshi's eyes narrowed a bit, noticing that Alm didn't even seem to react with an ounce of worry towards the figure that was very obviously Celica in a lackluster disguise of a fairly casual set of clothes that still conveyed her faith, a ponytail, and a pair of glasses. He eventually forced a smile and shook her hand. After a moment, Alm waved and began to guide Takeshi onwards.
"May the holy Mila guide you ever more," Celia spoke.
Takeshi and Alm soon arrived closer to the castle, with Takeshi's mind replaying the battle between the future romantic couple and how differently they acted when Alm was around 'Celia'.
"...so… you know her…?" Takeshi soon spoke up.
"Hmm?"
"Celia."
"Celic-" Tiki-chan began to speak, almost as if by reflex, only to quickly cover up her mouth.
"Oh. Yeah. Known her about… two, three years, I wanna say…" Alm informed, having not heard Tiki-chan's near slip-up.
"Uh-huh…"
"Everyone around here loves Celia. She's a very great and caring person," Alm spoke.
"...so, a lot of people know her?" Takeshi asked, earning a nod.
"...wow…" Tiki-chan exhaled.
Takeshi, internally, rolled his eyes a bit. Once Alm got into a conversation with one of his guards about looking out for The Orange Rose/Kamen Rider Celica, he could clearly tell that the simple disguise that Celica had on was working. Takeshi soon brought his palms to his face and sighed heavily, '...this world is so dumb…'
The bluenette soon arrived at what looked like some sort of a castle treasury that had some candles and windows to let light in, along with what looked to be some sort of old artifacts.
"So…" Takeshi began to speak, turning towards Alm, "Refresh my memory on my job. The excitement sorta made me forget."
"Of course. So, your job is to use your archeology expertise to get some information from an old book that was recently discovered from some ruins to see if there is any historical value to it," Alm proceeded to explain.
"Of course, of course. Sorry. Orange Rose girl made my focus get lost," Takeshi apologized.
"I shall leave you to your work," Alm responded as he headed to guard the entrance to the room.
Takeshi and Tiki-chan headed over to the book, with Takeshi slipping on some white gloves to try to be as careful with the book as he could. He slowly turned through some of the pages, but he tilted his head as he read it.
"Okay… this is an alphabet that I can recognize… but… I can't read it…" Takeshi told Tiki-chan, turning a few pages, "...can you help?"
Tiki-chan nodded and scanned through the pages for a moment. She soon seemed to realize something after a moment.
"You got it?"
"...it's Almyran," Tiki-chan realized, "It was written in the language of Almyra."
"...that's Fódlan-related, right?" Takeshi nervously asked.
Tiki-chan nodded, which made Takeshi turn around and not look at the book. The small fairy let out a small sigh before she began to read over the contents that were visible to her. She read it over for a little bit, while Takeshi simply had his back turned away from her. A couple of minutes passed with the two in silence before…
"...it's just a diary," Tiki-chan eventually spoke.
"...really? How are you sure?" Takeshi asked as he turned around.
"The little legible text here is proof of that," Tiki-chan started, floating towards it, "Mahal kita magpakailanman."
"...translation, please?" Takeshi asked with a sweat drop.
"It is someone saying 'I love you, eternally' about their significant other. It's also just them talking about this other person in ways that are just romantic and stuff. There's… really no historical info," Tiki-chan elaborated.
Takeshi turned around to see the pages and then saw the amount of damage the book had. It had clearly been buried for ages, several pages were faded to the point the ink was totally gone, and only a few pages were in full contact.
"...who did it belong to?" Takeshi soon asked.
"...your guess is about as good as mine. The name on this thing is too faded and damaged to make anything out of," the fairy admitted.
"Well… at least no spoilers for me?"
"Not like there'd be much I could tell you anyway…"
"Really now?"
"Honestly? Fódlan is our biggest gray area. We only really know that it had existed and that there were twin professors, but how history played out, who were the major players, who lived their lives… nothing. It's even further back in time than the time of Jugdral, which was our previous frame of reference for the oldest point of history," Tiki-chan proceeded to add on.
"Genealogy of the Holy War. …kinda surprised that clung on after that happened," Takeshi admitted.
"There's rumors that the hero of that era has an armor like a Kamen Rider's, but we have no frame of reference, plus it IS still attached to everything else that is connected, so…"
Takeshi just nodded his head a little, though seemed a little worried about that.
"The only thing that seemed to look like a name that I could make out said 'Mari'... or… 'Mary'. I really couldn't fully read it…" Tiki-chan sighed.
Takeshi nodded, making a few notes about this info on his phone for sake of reference.
Soon, Takeshi and Tiki-chan were brought before the throne room of the castle with the book in tow. Takeshi glanced towards Alm, who was acting as his escort, before he backed off to leave Takeshi with the royals.
"Good day," a voice spoke, making Takeshi give a respectful bow to be cautious.
"Good day, your highnesses. I have come with information about the task that you so graciously assigned to me," Takeshi spoke respectfully.
"You may rise. Relax a little bit, too," a woman's voice spoke.
Takeshi nodded and then rose up, but he was a little surprised to see the source of the voice.
"...Rinea?" Tiki-chan spoke in shock, "...and Berkut? They never got to the throne!"
"So, tell us what you uncovered," Berkut instructed.
"Of course. Uh, being honest… not a whole lot. The book was basically somebody's diary. The info for sure that I could gleam was that it was Almyran in nature and that, whoever wrote it, was saying they loved a person eternally…" Takeshi proceeded to explain.
Rinea nodded, soon accepting the book from Takeshi. She gently dusted it off and smiled a little at it.
"If I may… may I ask a question?"
"You did," Berkut said bluntly.
Rinea giggled a bit at Berkut's joke, which made Berkut smile a bit, "In all seriousness, go ahead."
"Why is it you're so curious about the past that was Fódlan? It had to have happened… eons ago… so… what's the curiosity?"
This made the queen take a moment to inhale and then exhale. She looked towards a gloved hand she had, slowly pulling it off to reveal what could best be described as some sort of a birthmark that looked vaguely in the shape of a deer of some sort, then did the same with her other one to reveal one that almost looked like some sort of a rising bird.
"In the times of Fódlan, marks like these would be known as Crests. They could grant people all kinds of unique abilities, but they eventually fell out of use. Some people may still carry their visage, but they'd just be birthmarks at best. These don't grant me any kind of powers or the like," Rinea began to explain, soon putting the gloves back on, "And it made me so curious to learn about the past. I know I come from a lineage that became royalty, but… I want to know even more. I just… wish to know what they were like. What kind of people they were. How they lived their lives. Maybe even find out what my ancestors were like…"
"Well... I'll be honest, I don't know what to say about this or how... this is new to my research, but I promise to do everything I can to help you learn more."
Rinea simply nodded her head a little before she returned to her husband's side.
"That is all. You are dismissed," Berkut added.
Takeshi gave a small bow before he headed towards the exit. Alm soon followed him and the two were on their way towards a resting place.
"I know my little brother can be intense, but he means well," Alm spoke.
"...brother?" Takeshi blinked in confusion.
"Yeah. Berkut may be my younger brother, but he had the better aptitude to be the ruler. I willingly let him get to the throne," Alm elaborated.
"I see…"
A day had gone by, and Takeshi had been brought some old relics to try to make some heads or tails of, only for him to not be able to turn up anything. He was about to move the relics somewhere else, when he spotted something thrown in his way.
"Huh?" he spoke, picking up what looked like a piece of paper that simply had an orange rose.
"Well, hello there," Kamen Rider Celica's voice spoke up, making Takeshi turn towards her, "Why don't we make this simple? Put the box down, come with me, and we can make it easy."
Takeshi backed up a bit, though he did set the box aside, only for Alm to come charging in and slashing at her.
"You will not hurt anyone doing tasks for the royalty!" Alm proclaimed.
The Rider just gave an annoyed scoff before she dashed forward and managed to get ahold of the relics. The relics glowed a bit before they were turned into dust, much to Alm's visible horror.
"One problem down, one to go…" the orange-haired Rider spoke, before she disappeared.
Another few days had gone by with Kamen Rider Celica being a bit of a pain, from multiple attempts to sabotage research, stealing items, successfully getting rid of some things, and continuing to bother Takeshi. All the while, Alm was still chatting and being friendly with 'Celia'.
'Alm… you are such an idiot…' Takeshi thought.
Alm and Takeshi arrived back at the barracks to check on the guards as they were in the midst of recovering from some of the sleeping spells that the Rider had used on them.
"She clearly has some means to keep an eye on us…" a guard figured.
"What? Like a spy or something? No way, not possible," Alm commented.
"Hmm… it's almost like she could be someone you know. Maybe… she has a disguise…" Takeshi eventually spoke in a clearly irritated tone, trying his best to remain calm, "Maybe… oh… I don't know… you should ask Celia what she may know…?"
"...are you trying to imply that The Orange Rose is Celia?" Alm soon asked.
Takeshi exhaled a little bit in calmness… only for Alm and all the guards to crack up laughing in response to that.
"Celia? The Orange Rose? HA! Good one!" a guard spoke.
"Celia is the total opposite of that stupid criminal!" another guard added.
"Celia is the sweetest person that I've ever met. There is absolutely no way she could be that person," Alm commented.
"...ok… sure…" was all Takeshi could externally speak. Internally, Takeshi was screaming a little bit at the general denseness of the guards that were around him, 'These guys sure don't get what's going on. Time to figure out what I need to do to play peacekeeper. Who knows? Maybe she'll be convinced to act when another Rider joins in.'
"Wow… these people are so dumb…" Tiki-chan exhaled.
Alm blinked a bit, then looked towards where the fairy was for a moment, "Oh, hang on. I see a fly. I got it."
"Wait, wha-AHHH!" Tiki-chan began to speak, then flew out of the way of Alm's hands, "I AM NOT A FLY, YOU IDIOT!"
"Buzzing kind of loudly…" Alm spoke, continuing to try to whack the fairy.
"HELP ME~~~~~!" she pleaded, quickly flying behind Takeshi.
"Oh, don't worry," Alm commented, with the fairy hiding in Takeshi's hood as best she could.
"No, it's gone," Takeshi lied.
"Okay, good," Alm smiled.
"...I'm getting a bit tired, so I'm gonna head back home for the night," Takeshi told the guards.
"Okay. May Mila's grace guide you safely home and allow you easy rest," Alm bid.
Takeshi left without another word, in a bit of a hurry. Once he was a little bit out of sight from anyone, he looked towards his partner and could see that Tiki-chan was shivering a little bit, clearly scared and upset about Alm thinking that she was a fly.
"You ok, Tiki-chan? You're not hurt, are you?" Takeshi ended up asking.
"Physically, no. Emotionally, yes. I can't believe I was compared to a stupid fly…"
"Hey, hey. Don't let that get to ya. You're amazing! Always have been, always will."
"Oh, you're making me blush…" Tiki-chan admitted, blushing and giggling while messing with a lock of her hair.
Takeshi smiled a bit at her. After a moment, he kept on walking, "...those marks that Rinea has keep coming to mind. I don't know why…"
"I will say… the birthmark thing reminded me of… something. I think the Tiki that's with Marth and company has a mark kinda like one of those, but I can't remember for certain…"
"I mean… she does kinda look like that Sothis girl, and if they are something hereditary…" Takeshi guessed.
Tiki-chan gave a small nod, then started to float nearby Takeshi again.
"Well… our best guess to get anywhere further is to go talk to 'Celia' and see where it leads us…" Takeshi soon remarked.
"...I can't believe that your slip of tongue thing is actually the stupid alias she's using…" Tiki-chan complained.
"Neither can I," Takeshi admitted before he chuckled a little.
The bluenette eventually arrived by the house of 'Celia', his transformation device at the ready just in case he needed to fight his way out. He let out a sigh before knocking on the door.
"Hello?" 'Celia' spoke as she opened up the door and then saw Takeshi, "Oh. Hello."
"Hi. Do you think that you and I can talk… in private?" Takeshi soon asked.
'Celia' simply smiled, almost grinned, as she guided Takeshi to the inside of her home. Takeshi exhaled a little bit, having his phone ready just in case, as 'Celia' guided him a bit further and away from a window. Once they were alone, she magically closed the door.
"...Celia? That is the best disguise name you could come up with? That is literally one letter off of your actual name…" Takeshi told her, "The fact that nobody has figured out you're Celica… I don't know what it says more about, the stupidity of these people or your use of magic. …or maybe both."
"Glad to see that you're in a similar mindset as me," the priestess responded as she took off the glasses and let the ponytail down.
"Oh, it's Celica. Who would've guessed?" Tiki-chan sarcastically spoke, earning a small snicker from Takeshi.
"Well, well, well… it's rare that a target presents itself to me, ripe for the taking," Celica proceeded to remark, then gently giggling, "You're a lot smarter than you seem, especially for an archeologist."
"Yeah, hi there princess," Takeshi soon remarked.
The wind in Celica's sails almost instantly died down and she grew more visibly worried.
"Relax. I haven't told anyone."
"...then I suspect that you want information in exchange for continued silence?" Celica soon asked.
"Pretty much. Sound fair?"
"Considering the information getting out would ruin my life… you have a deal, archeologist."
"Well, I'll start off by telling you something I feel is important," Takeshi began as he quickly got out his Hero Ride Card, "Not an archeologist. I'm like you."
"...eh?"
"Torisugari no Kamen Rider da... oboetoke," Takeshi commented. Celica stared at him for a moment before she seemed to wince, "...what?"
"Well… my point for trying to take you now is useless…" Celica exhaled, "I guess I'll start by saying I'm sorry for trying to take you away from the capital. The less people poking around the past, the better."
"...apology accepted, I guess."
"That feels too easy…" Tiki-chan whispered, "But, I guess I see it…"
"...uh… who's that?" Celica asked, motioning towards Tiki-chan.
"My helper."
"...alright… sure…"
There was a little bit of quiet as Celica was settling in on the idea of the fairy there.
"Why 'The Orange Rose'?" Takeshi eventually asked.
"Oh. It was in some fairy tale that was supposedly brought from another world. It was some phantom thief known as 'The Blue Rose' who could always get away with a robbery, regardless of what it was they were after. Since I'm something of a vigilante, and a certain someone refuses to call me a Kamen Rider, I just chose some other alias," Celica explained.
"...alright then. Uh…" Takeshi spoke, glancing around before he happened to spot the ring she had, "What's up with that?"
"It's basically a magical foci," Celica informed as she showed the golden ring, "It's kinda like how spellcasters use tomes and other items to be able to cast."
"I… don't think I've ever seen it before," Takeshi admitted.
"I don't think I have either…" Tiki-chan added.
"I'll be honest, I couldn't tell you where it came from. I don't remember. I've just… had it," Celica continued, proceeding to put it on, "While I can use my Rider powers without it, it just helps me generate it faster."
"I guess that makes sense. But can you show it?"
She took a few steps back, then began to gently speak. It took about three minutes for her belt to finally generate around her waist, before it disappeared after another minute.
"Huh. That's neat," Takeshi remarked.
"Why not use a book like other people?" Tiki-chan couldn't help but ask.
"A tome would be too complicated to carry around in battle. Somebody could take it and then I'd be up a creek. The ring is too small for anybody to really notice and it's genuinely inconspicuous," Celica remarked.
"Fair…"
"Wasn't there a Rider from the other world that had rings to use magic?" Tiki-chan asked, turning to Takeshi.
"Yes," Celica responded without a moment of delay, "He seemed pretty powerful."
"...hold on. You met Haruto?" Takeshi gawked.
"...red jewels, mostly black and silver otherwise, right?" Celica checked, earning a nod, "Then yes. We fought together once. I don't remember a whole lot about it, but something had summoned me to a field with a bunch of other Riders and that spellcaster was around."
"Do you know anything about that?" Takeshi soon asked Tiki-chan.
"Not really…" Tiki-chan exhaled.
"I couldn't tell you much either since I was just there fighting some monsters alongside an army of Kamen Riders," Celica proceeded to explain, "I'm surprised you weren't there."
All Takeshi could do was shrug his shoulders a little bit in response to that before his eyes went to the ring again, which Celica seemed to notice happened.
"I'm able to fight without this thing, it just generally helps," Celica admitted, "The pawn is able to transform and fight without any rings."
"...you mean Alm?" Takeshi checked.
"Yes. He's a pawn," Celica bluntly spoke.
"...uh…"
"He and all those guards are nothing but pawns on a chessboard that are being toyed around with by the king. But that blue one is the biggest and dumbest pawn of them all…"
"...okay, what is the damage between you and him?" Takeshi asked.
"...that is not something I will reveal easily, boy. You want that info? You're gonna have to pay a hefty price for it," Celica told him, crossing her arms.
"Ok. Fine. I'll back down for now. But just think for now… the longer you keep secrets, the more it eats away at you."
All this did was make Celica roll her eyes a bit. She then sat down and got out a cup of tea, then her eyes went back to the duo in front of her.
"I mean… I agree with you that he's not very bright because he mistook me to be a fly! Even though he should've heard me speaking!" Tiki-chan proclaimed.
"Oh. Uh… mi~ght be a side effect of magic affecting the pawn's senses…" Celica admitted, setting the cup of tea aside.
"...how?" Takeshi questioned.
"Mess with a person with magic enough times, it can sort of cause their reactions to other magic to go haywire. So, fairy here can't be seen by ordinary people and I'm guessing Riders are the only ones who can see her?"
"Pretty much."
"I'm gonna guess all the magic I used is mixing in with that innate magic fairy here has, and changed his perception of her," Celica guessed.
"...I have a name, you know," Tiki-chan informed.
"You are a fairy."
"She's my friend," Takeshi soon spoke up.
"...must be nice to have those," Celica stated before she got up, "I have matters to attend to, boy. We can talk again later. Leave. Now."
Takeshi stared at her a little, only to see her begin to generate magic, which made him leave before she could finish chanting.
"So, Alm's an idiot, and Celica is rude…" Tiki-chan soon commented.
"...boy, this world is a mess…" Takeshi sighed.
"Well, we're no closer to getting the cards to work or finding out what any problems are. …just gonna have to put up with it…" Tiki-chan continued, only to groan heavily a bit.
"There has to be some way we can figure out the cause of this, but I keep coming up with blanks or running into dead ends with each idea…" Takeshi proceeded to admit, scratching the back of his head a little.
A few days had gone by. Takeshi, guarded by Alm and the rest of the guards, was now at an excavation site. A few other archaeologists were already there and alongside some recovered items. The items didn't look like much, being some fairly old and rusty weapons, along with a few flags that were of countries from back in Fódlan.
"Why is it that you called us here?" Alm soon asked.
"The Orange Rose has sent a calling card…" one person informed, holding out a paper with the orange rose.
Alm nodded in response, turning towards the guards, "Let's get this stuff away from here and fast."
Kamen Rider Celica arrived overhead and could see the people working to move the items away from the area
"Divine Mila, grant me a moment more…" Kamen Rider Celica spoke, with a small aura generated from her ring that transformed into the form of some sort of a clock. She then moved it backwards a little bit, which caused the flow of time to go backwards a little bit…
"The Orange Rose has sent a calling card…"
Alm nodded in response, turning towards the guards, "Let's get this stuff away from here and fast."
"...do you feel deja vu…?" Takeshi whispered.
"Yeah…" Tiki-chan nodded.
"Hold it right there!"
Everybody looked around in a panic, except for Takeshi and Tiki-chan, as they heard somebody land at the ground.
"I am the hero who arrives on the scene. I am the divine Mila's voice, that strikes at injustice. I am the thief that makes the impossible… possible… The Orange Rose, Kamen Rider Celica, has arrived!" she proudly proclaimed.
Takeshi just exhaled a little bit, Tiki-chan soon doing the same, before they saw Alm step forward.
"Your terror ends here, Orange Rose. I will lay down my life… to stop you!" Alm proclaimed, "Henshin!"
Alm quickly transformed into his Rider form and hurried forward, "Men, get the treasures away from here and protect the people here!"
"Divine Mila, don't let them move…" Kamen Rider Celica spoke, with all the guards getting put to sleep.
"Stop invoking the goddess' name with your filthy mouth!" Kamen Rider Alm shouted as he lunged towards her.
The orange haired Rider was seemingly motionless, before she whispered and then a magical barrier generated right in front of her and gave her an opening to kick him away.
"...okay… he's gonna lose…" Takeshi exhaled.
"What should we do?" Tiki-chan asked.
Before the two could start to move again, the scene froze and then was moving again.
"...okay… he's gonna lose…" Takeshi exhaled.
"What should… we…" Tiki-chan began to ask, "...okay, there's the deja vu again…"
Takeshi nodded, then watched as Kamen Rider Celica had pulled off another trick and was able to get to the artifacts. She scanned them over a little, then found some things and used her magic to make them turn to dust.
"Okay… how would she have known it that quickly?" Takeshi asked.
"It's like she's able to predict the future…" Tiki-chan spoke.
"Or… she's rewinding time!" Takeshi spoke.
"...you're right!"
"Mila's Turnwheel…" Takeshi realized, "That ring must let her generate it somehow."
The two then saw Alm slowly get back up, having been reverted back, and then saw Kamen Rider Celica was nowhere to be found…
A couple of hours had passed before Takeshi had arrived back at Celica's place and was allowed in. The orange haired woman began to sip some tea and relax after a job well done, clearly not caring about how frustrated Takeshi looked.
"How was your day?" Celica teasingly asked before she giggled a bit mischievously.
Takeshi then took out a small flag that had a unique looking symbol on it, which made Celica look a bit surprised, "They told me it was worthless, so they let me have it."
"It depicts some sort of Crest," Tiki-chan added.
Celica took the flag, looked it over, then used her magic to make it dust, "...what do you want to know?"
"What is your problem with people trying to dig this stuff up?! I get you not wanting people to know you're royalty, or at least former royalty, but why do you care about what people working for the royals are doing?"
"You're just digging around for things that were lost. Why should we focus on the past? What matters is the present and the future," Celica commented.
"There's a saying in my world. Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Why not at least learn from the past?" Takeshi countered.
"Think about it like this. If these Crests weren't a problem, then why are they not around anymore?" Celica ended up asking.
Takeshi was about to speak, only to realize she had a point. He then sighed a bit, "Okay. Sure. But… still… you and Alm may be able to reach an understanding or-"
"Suggest that again, and I will fight you. No amount of bribery would save you," she threatened.
Takeshi put his hands up defensively in worry. Celica seemed to accept this as him not pursuing it further, so she leaned back a bit.
"...okay, but why don't you trust him?"
"He's a pawn. Plain and simple."
"There's gotta be more to it than that!"
"Boy, don't question my thoughts. I've been in this world a lot longer than you have, passing through or not. I'm in my early 30s. What are you? 14? 15?"
"Actually, I'm 26. Not that far younger than you, and I know more than you think."
All this did was make Celica roll her eyes a bit. She clearly didn't seem to care, taking a moment to sip her tea.
"Would your goddess approve of you stealing and destroying things? Causing harm to innocent people who are caught in the crossfire? Hating people who are just doing what's right?" Takeshi eventually questioned.
She soon put the tea cup down and began to glare at Takeshi, "First of all… I do not hurt civilians. I incapacitate them. I do no harm to them. Second of all, the things I get rid of are worthless to the people here. Third of all, if that last bit is in reference to that stupid pawn, he can't do the right thing! Never has been able to, never will be able to!"
"...then why are you friends with him?" Takeshi retorted.
Celica's expression just grew more frustrated, yet there was an air that she was forcing herself to be mad, "Celia… is friends with him. I am not."
"...I don't believe that."
Celica turned away from Takeshi, her hair covering her expression. Takeshi sighed as he realized he couldn't reason with her any further and headed out. Once she was alone, Celica just let out a small sigh as she looked at her reflection from her tea.
Celica once lived within a village far away from the capital city. Alm was one of her neighbors and the two kids were both happy together.
"Hey, Alm? Promise me that you'll protect me?" Celica asked.
"Sure thing!" Alm said with a proud smile.
Celica looked down to her ring, the foci for her divine magic, and all the pain it brought her.
"Hand over the girl with the magic ring and you all get to live!"
Celica gasped in fear, realizing it was her, only for someone to shove her towards the villain. She couldn't see who it was who did it, but the next thing she saw was a terrified Alm.
"Alm! Don't leave me!" Celica pleaded, reaching out to him, only for the boy to run off in fear. The girl began to tear up as he just kept running, "You said you'd protect me!"
The villain laughed as he grabbed the girl and hurried away.
"AL~~~~~M!"
"...protect me? Heh. He… couldn't…" Celica spoke, forcing herself to be mad for a bit. She soon let out a sigh as tears began to roll down from her eyes, "...why didn't he protect me…?"
The tears kept rolling down, with Celica covering her face as they did.
"Best guess at this point… something happened in their past before they split up when they were kids… and she's just not over whatever happened," Tiki-chan speculated.
"Once again, this world is a mess… I'd much rather just fight something for a bit. I'm having a headache from this soap opera drama…" Takeshi told her.
"Same here…" Tiki-chan exhaled.
The following day, Takeshi had arrived to see that Alm was approaching the home of 'Celia'. He just hung back, watching the two as they walked and talked a little bit about various things. He wasn't paying attention to much of what they were saying, yet he kept his eyes on them.
"Is everything okay, Celia?" Alm eventually asked.
'Celia' let out a small sigh as she was slowly reaching for her glasses, "...Alm? I have something I want to tell you… but if I do… you have to promise you won't get angry at me. Do you… do you… well…?"
"Promise?"
"...yeah. That."
"I promise."
Before she could continue to speak, there was suddenly a loud explosion. The group looked around to see that a house had caught fire and guards were trying to help people get out of the burning building.
"What is happening?!" Alm yelled.
"Fire!" a guard told him.
"Commander Alm! Hurry!" one guard yelled as he ran towards the flames.
Alm gave a nod, then turned towards 'Celia', "Get somewhere safe!"
'Celia' nodded a bit as Alm hurried forward. Takeshi walked forward towards her and then saw her exhale as she pulled off her disguise.
"Celica…?"
"I have nothing to do with that!" Celica nearly yelled.
"That's… not what I was gonna say. You said you don't harm civilians and I believe you. I'm just gonna say… do what you think is right. Rider wa… kussezu," Takeshi told her before he hurried off as well.
Celica watched him for a moment, then, after looking around, ducked into an alleyway. She took a moment to catch her breath before she adjusted herself a bit.
"Divine Mila, grant me strength…" Celica spoke as she placed the ring over her right ring finger, which caused a belt to appear around her waist, "...henshin!"
She slammed the side of her belt, generating her Rider form. Her ring gave off a small glow before she jumped up to the rooftops.
"Henshin!" Alm proclaimed, quickly transforming.
"Henshin!" Takeshi shouted.
=KAMEN RIDE: …HERO!=
Both Riders came to a stop in front of the building, with Kamen Rider Alm focusing on helping the injured that were getting out a bit further away. Hero also worked to get people away as quickly as he could, needing to duck when something else seemed to explode all of a sudden.
"Seriously, what is happening?!" Kamen Rider Alm spoke.
Kamen Rider Celica landed next to him and stepped forward, "I wish I knew…"
This made the guard Rider stare at her for a moment in silence… only for him to lunge towards her and go on the attack, with Kamen Rider Celica quickly casting barriers to protect herself.
"...you have GOT to be kidding me…" Hero spoke in exasperation.
"I am trying to help you, you stubborn idiot!" Kamen Rider Celica shouted.
"What a load of garbage! You probably caused this fire!" Kamen Rider Alm angrily spoke, "I will lay down my life… if it means you're finally stopped!"
Hero was about to say something, when another blast went off and the fire got worse. He just exhaled a bit, then looked towards the building, "I'm just gonna have to leave them to work that out, much as I don't want to. I'm not THAT good with most folks, anyway, but the civilians need help now. That's what a Rider does.."
The Rider then hurried into the building, while the other two were still clashing.
"Listen to me for two minutes!" Kamen Rider Celica shouted, generating another barrier.
"Why should I listen to someone who's been a thorn to the entire kingdom for YEARS?!" Kamen Rider Alm yelled as he swung at her again.
Kamen Rider Celica ended up exhaling, realizing he had a point there, before she evaded an attack.
"Face it, you're just an enemy!" Kamen Rider Alm yelled, "And you deserve none of Mila's blessings!"
This made the other Rider growl as she managed to grab Kamen Rider Alm's sword and then shove him back.
"Guess you don't really know me…" Kamen Rider Celica spoke, with her rising in frustration, "Divine Mila… grant me my strongest…"
Energy began to generate at her hands. It then condensed into a pair of daggers, which she quickly grabbed.
"Round two, pawn…" she spoke.
Hero focused on getting as many people out as he possibly could, with just about all of them out after a bit of running. The explosions had stopped, but the flames were still going. He thought it over a bit before an idea hit him.
Hero quickly got out another card, giving a brief smile at it, "...lend me your strength."
=KAMEN RIDE: …KAMUI!=
The form soon appeared over his body and he took a moment to get a feel for his motions before loading in another card.
=ATTACK RIDE: …SUIRYU IMPULSE!=
Hero-Kamui took a breath, the images of the techniques of the Rider he was in the form of going through his mind, before he swung his fists forward, causing water to go flowing forward to stop the flames. He then did a few kicks in the air, doing the same behind him.
"Gonna have to be fast…" he spoke, going on the move in the form as quickly as he could.
Back outside, Kamen Rider Celica and Kamen Rider Alm were still in combat. The former appeared to have the upper hand with her smaller weapon, but the latter was able to at least tank and parry the attacks at a decent rate.
"Surrender now and pay for the crimes you've caused and Mila may forgive you!" Kamen Rider Alm told her, earning a rapid series of slashes from the daggers.
"You know nothing about me! I lost everything, more than once! All that has been by my side for these years is Mila's light! I won't let you say another word about me not deserving it!" Kamen Rider Celica shouted in anger, slashing at Kamen Rider Alm with the daggers.
"Mila's light wouldn't grace a thief and a criminal!"
"THEN CONSIDER WHY I CAN USE MAGIC, YOU IDIOT!" Kamen Rider Celica roared, merging her daggers into a sword and slashing at him.
This made Kamen Rider Alm actually pause as he thought about it, with the orange haired Rider just panting a bit from her anger.
Suddenly, something seemed to strike Kamen Rider Celica's body from out of nowhere. Her sword fell, disappearing in a flash of magic, and she could feel her body starting to go limp.
"...huh? Hey, are you okay?" Kamen Rider Alm said in concern.
"Divine Mila… protect me…" the orange haired Rider uttered before she reverted back to her regular form and she fell totally unconscious. The guards quickly moved towards her, leaving Kamen Rider Alm to stand for a moment.
"...what… happened…?" he couldn't help but wonder, with the magic providing a bit of a cover over Celica's true identity as she was sprawled out on the ground.
Hero-Kamui eventually got to the top of the building and saw some flames still going. He quickly spotted a window, then loaded in another card.
=ATTACK RIDE: …SUIRYU NO TSUBASA!=
Wings generated on his back, allowing him to get up into the air and then see what remained of the fire.
=FINAL ATTACK RIDE: …KA-KA-KA-KAMUI!=
"Suiryu no… HOKO~~~!" he shouted out, unleashing a torrent of water that extinguished the remaining fires, yet, miraculously, didn't destroy any of the buildings. The Rider kept in the air for a moment, getting his breath calmed.
"So… what's that form feel like?" Tiki-chan soon asked.
"Huh?" Hero-Kamui blinked.
"Well… A, you don't wear any footwear, and B, you gain full on dragon-like limbs. You feeling okay?" Tiki-chan elaborated.
"Honestly? I don't feel very different from any other alternate Rider form I can assume. Even walking just feels normal," Hero-Kamui admitted.
"Alright. Just curious is all."
Takeshi soon reverted back and hurried back outside to see the guards were helping the civilians, while Alm was just staring a little bit.
"Where'd the other Rider go?" Takeshi quickly asked, "Er… Orange Rose?"
"I… beat her… somehow…" Alm told the bluenette, "I… really do not know how I did, but I did. She collapsed on the spot, but her body disappeared."
"...what do you mean 'disappeared'?"
"Just… poof. She was completely out of it, so I have absolutely no idea who or what could've done it," Alm added on.
Takeshi exhaled, then narrowed his eyes, "So… did her untransformed state seem familiar to you at all? In any way?"
"...n-no? Why?"
"...just wondering…"
"You're crazy if you think that thief is Celia," Alm told Takeshi.
Takeshi said nothing before he turned and started to walk away, "I got something I need to investigate on my own. I'll be back… eventually, I guess."
"Okay. I'll let the queen and king know," Alm responded.
After Takeshi got out of Alm's earshot, he let out a heavy groan of frustration as he kept walking.
"I will never understand how anybody can be that stupid…" Takeshi said to his partner.
"Welcome to the mind of a different time, I guess," Tiki-chan offered with a shrug.
Takeshi just let out a heavy sigh and started to roam around.
He and Tiki-chan were eventually alone in the forest with no sign of anyone else around.
"I don't know where we could even begin to try to find her…" Takeshi exhaled.
"Neither do I. …best guess is that we just… hope someone can unintentionally lead us to her. So now… we just need to wait…" Tiki-chan added.
This made Takeshi sigh heavily, soon rubbing his forehead, then he and Tiki-chan began to go forward. After a bit of aimless walking, Takeshi just let out a heavy sigh before he pulled out his phone and tried to find something to entertain himself. He eventually found something that made him give a relaxed smile, which Tiki-chan quickly noticed.
"Whatcha looking at?" Tiki-chan asked, sitting down on Takeshi's shoulder.
"Memories with my friends," Takeshi informed as he put in his earbuds, "One of my friends likes to record his life. Uh… he went through a really bad day once and there was this convention that was going on that… well… we all went to…"
"Hey, aibou. It's a small world after all," the voice behind the camera said to Takeshi.
"Huh?" Takeshi blinked, turning around, "Oh, hey!"
"...you two?" a person in front of them asked.
"Guys?" another two people behind them remarked.
"...what are the odds you'd be that close in line together?" Tiki-chan asked.
"I know…" Takeshi chuckled a bit, "It was… kinda magical we all happened to be there at the same time."
"So, was this not where you lived?"
"Nope. So it really was good luck that this happened," Takeshi admitted, "I mean, I was planning to try to meet up with the person recording this because, as I said, he had a really bad day, but I wasn't expecting him to be at that convention."
The two walked a bit as Takeshi kept watching the video and then couldn't help but smile a bit, "Oh, I remember this vividly."
"And now that I can see you face to face… gonna tell you something," the person with the camera said to a person in gender neutral clothing, "White Rose is best ship."
"...just stop."
"White Rose is the be~st, White Rose is the be~st," the camera person sang as he jumped around a little, earning some chuckles from the others in the group.
This kept up for a few more seconds before it jump cut to the person who the camera belonged to being chased by the person in gender neutral clothing. It was clearly comedic, as the two weren't seriously running and weren't too far away from the camera.
"Yea~h… this was something both the filmer and the other person had said would happen if they met IRL…"
"What's that person's name?" Tiki-chan asked, looking to the neutral clothed person.
"Uh… that's complicated. So, that person is planning to transition and hasn't exactly settled on a new name yet," Takeshi commented, "Oh, uh, transitioning is-"
"I get it," Tiki-chan assured.
"Okay, good," Takeshi nodded before he moved the video along. He couldn't help but chuckle a little at it, "I miss them all…"
Back over at the capital, Alm wasn't too sure what to think as he walked around. No other fires had started and he didn't know what to really do before he found himself going towards the home of 'Celia'.
He soon knocked on the door, only for it to open up on its own. Alm stepped in and saw that 'Celia' was absolutely nowhere to be found. His face grew more and more pale as he quickly darted around.
"Celia?" Alm spoke in worry, growing more and more concerned as he couldn't find her. After a bit, he hurried off in a bit of a panic.
Takeshi and Tiki-chan were still somewhat searching around, but both were clearly more focused on watching the video at the moment for a bit of a mental break.
"Okay, so, here's the Q&A part. My friend, who made this, admitted it took a while to edit because of how loud it was and how much it needed to be adjusted," Takeshi explained.
The group of friends were in a line for the Q&A and were awaiting their turn as someone else was speaking.
"How would the RWBY cast react to meeting Ryuko Matoi from Kill la Kill?"
"...who is that?" the camera person soon asked the past Takeshi.
"I'll tell you later," he responded.
"There is someone out there in the multiverse with a more revealing outfit than her… and that is stunning to me…" Takeshi commented.
"...who?"
"I'll tell you later. Anyway, watch this," Takeshi spoke.
"This is for both the cast and the characters they voice. How likely will it be for White Rose, the ship of Ruby and Weiss, becoming canon? And how do you think the characters would react?" the person holding the camera proceeded to ask.
This caused the entire crowd to begin to cheer in excitement, with some people squeeing, while the cast members simply chuckled a bit.
"OF COURSE YOU WOULD ASK THAT QUESTION!" the gender-neutral person exclaimed from behind, making some people laugh.
"...on that first part, you're just gonna have to keep watching to find out."
"Read, the information hasn't reached your world… whenever this happened," Tiki-chan commented.
"...that is so weird to think about…" Takeshi admitted in an honest tone, "Okay, so, we passed the camera backwards for a bit so that we would be able to record each of our questions. This next one is mine."
"What do you think the Heartless from Kingdom Hearts would look like if they appeared in Remnant?" the past version of Takeshi asked.
The crowd gave an 'ooh' at that question and the people at the panel began to think of how to respond.
"Once again, it shocks me that you know about those things. I get that it could just be a game or something in your world, but… that is just such a huge load of information that nobody's fully been able to untangle regardless of who, where, and when they're from," Tiki-chan commented.
"Just the fact that that knowledge is so widespread, yet somehow feels isolated to the locals, is so mind blowing to me. Although, if we do encounter any, then there are two things I'll say. 1. I'm going to want to see if I'm worthy of getting a Keyblade myself. 2. As much as I like and respect him and his show, I'm really going to need to have a word with that dimension hopper. I mean… I already have a note to myself to smack him for what he did to the Fire Emblem worlds."
"You'd probably need to get in line. I'd imagine at least… half the populace of these worlds would want to beat him up too…" Tiki-chan added before the two turned their attention back to the video.
"Will another RWBY character be joining the roster of Blazblue Cross Tag Battle?" the next person in the group asked.
"You'll need to wait and see," one staff member proceeded to inform, "We have been in talks with ArcSystems about it, but we can't confirm or deny anything."
The person nodded in response before the camera was moved backwards to the next person in line, the one in the neutral clothing.
"Hi. I wanted to ask… will we get another home console RWBY game?"
The crowd 'ooh'ed a bit at that question.
"Still hasn't happened yet, which is a bit annoying… but whatever," Takeshi shrugged, "Albeit, ironically, the person who asked that… not a fan of it anymore."
"That's kinda funny," Tiki-chan said with a small laugh.
The last person in the friend group walked up and spoke, "What is one thing you would change about the show if you could?"
The people talked a bit and then there was a note on screen that said -I had to lower this in editing because it hurt my ears from how loud it was. You're welcome.-
Takeshi just snickered a little at this, as did Tiki-chan, before they both laughed a little.
"Okay… after all the drama from Alm and Celica, I needed a good laugh," Tiki-chan commented.
"Same here," Takeshi spoke with a smile.
Tiki-chan just giggled a bit more, then saw Takeshi just glancing down at his phone for a bit.
"Honestly… I can't wait to get home. Much fun as this has been… I want to see my friends again," Takeshi spoke, "They're all great people and, well, I kinda feel like the glue that holds them together. Just… a feeling, y'know?"
Tiki-chan nodded a bit, though sighed a little as well. Before they kept going, Takeshi pulled back and hid behind a tree. Tiki-chan spotted this and soon hid alongside him.
Elsewhere, far away from where Takeshi and Tiki-chan were, Celica slowly began to regain consciousness, with her eyes opening to see that she was in some kind of a cathedral and her arms were chained to something.
"Well… not the prison cell that I was expecting…" Celica said to herself. She mumbled a bit, only for a small spark to zap her, "A~nd no magic. …alright…"
There was then a bit of laughter, which made Celica look upwards to see somebody approaching.
"Hello there, Orange Rose. I see you're finally awake. Allow me to introduce myself… I am Jedah, the acting agent for the will of Grand Duma."
"Oh, I've heard of you," Celica said with a roll of her eyes, "When I get out of here-"
"Oh, of course you can leave."
"...huh?" Celica said in genuine confusion.
"But not without a new little accessory to replace your silly old one," Jedah spoke as he took away the ring from Celica's right hand. He then placed a different one on her left ring finger, this one being black with a silver jewel in it, but otherwise looked the same as the one Celica had on previously.
"My ring!" Celica yelled, only for dark magic to start to flow out of the ring and begin to circle around her, "ACK!"
Jedah laughed, tossing the other ring away from Celica, watching as Celica was trying to fight off the dark magic that was flowing, "Grand Duma's power shall make you far stronger than ever before! Let the darkness flow through you and connect with what already is within you!"
"Never…" Celica spoke, keeping herself as focused as she possibly could, ignoring the temptations and whispers coming from the dark magic.
"Give into the darkness…"
"Not… happening…"
"You're already a villain! Just embrace that!"
Celica glared at Jedah, yet remained calm, "I am… not a villain. I do… what is right…"
"Unleash the darkness from within your heart. Be the villain you are meant to be…"
"I… will… never turn… from Mila's… light…" Celica spoke, fighting off the corruptive magic as best she could, "You… can't… vandalize my… heart…"
"Isn't there someone you want to get revenge on? Someone who has been a thorn in your side and you simply hate?" Jedah questioned.
Celica tried to ignore his words and keep the darkness from tempting her.
"Go on. Say his name…"
"Alm…" she ended up speaking, her emotions starting to get the better of her, "That… stupid… moronic… idiot… and traitor…"
The dark magic flowed around her body a bit more, her emotions unintentionally allowing it to get a grip of her.
"He can't keep… any promises… and he's… so dumb…" Celica spoke, her struggles starting to slow down, "He'll… pay…"
"Good, good…"
Celica winced a little bit as the magic kept affecting her, yet the pain was starting to fade.
"Now, stop resisting… and let the darkness in!"
Celica's eyes began to gain spirals of sorts as the dark magic was starting to mess with her mind, with a grin starting to form on her face…
Takeshi and Tiki-chan both slowly poked their heads out of cover and looked to see the cloaked figure that had been the person who was able to turn into Neo-Hero sitting by some sort of a make-shift campsite. The campsite was very simple and lacked much beyond the necessities, although Takeshi could see a small fire where something was boiling. The cloaked figure looked over whatever it was and, after a moment, he started to eat it.
"...looks like ramen…" Tiki-chan whispered.
"Wow…" Takeshi spoke, trying his best not to laugh too loudly.
The cloaked figure then put out the fire and tried to eat the food a bit, then looked away from it for a moment.
"Where would we even find this Celia anyway…?" the cloaked figure asked, seemingly to nobody in particular.
"Her name is Celica! How do you keep getting it wrong?" a voice asked.
"It's almost like I barely know anything about this franchise and it's a little hard to get to stick," the cloaked figure responded.
Takeshi and Tiki-chan looked forward and soon saw a small silver orb of light floating nearby, being the source of the other voice.
"He's… got his own fairy?" Takeshi whispered.
"Makes sense. I was made to support you. Only seems fair that that fellow gets their own fairy…" Tiki-chan whispered back.
Takeshi nodded a little, but tried to keep quiet.
"Also, why doesn't my phone work in this world?" the figure asked the fairy.
"It just doesn't."
"Seriously… I get this is a medieval world and all that, but… the other guy has a phone that works. Mine doesn't!" the person soon complained to the silver fairy that was floating nearby.
Takeshi squinted his eyes a bit, yet the phone that the hooded figure was holding was too far for him to properly make out the details of.
"I don't get it either, just roll with it…"
"If I miss a log-in day for Pocket Camp, I'm gonna be so upset…" the hooded figure spoke, then sighed.
Takeshi and Tiki-chan slowly inched forward and saw that the figure was mostly defenseless and not paying attention.
"...honestly, I think he might be my best attempt to get some answers…" Takeshi whispered.
"...didn't he just say he didn't know where Celica was either?" Tiki-chan asked.
"More… general answers apart from that…" Takeshi responded as he got out his card.
The cloaked figure exhaled a little, packing up the little camp that he had into a subspace of sorts. Before he could do anything else, though…
=HERO!=
He let out a loud gasp and narrowly avoided an attack from an oncoming Kamen Rider Hero. The cloaked figure tried to calm his nerves as Hero stood up.
"Look, I don't want to waste anyone else's time. Things have been going on a lot longer than I probably know, so do us a favor and henshin so we can make this a fair fight."
The figure scrambled to get his weapon and get the cards out, smiling as he finally saw his own card and got it ready.
"Henshin!"
=KAMEN RIDE: …NEO-HERO!=
"Okay, now we're ready," Hero smiled, jumping up and down a little bit, "Rider wa kussezu!"
Neo-Hero stood there for a moment before he said something, "Sekai o mamoru wa hīrō no shimei! (Protecting the world is a hero's task!)"
Hero let off a small snicker at that remark.
"...what?"
"...Goseiger, really?"
"It sounds cool!" Neo-Hero countered.
"Yeah, I guess. If a little obvious…" Hero stated.
Neo-Hero exhaled and then opened fire on Hero, with the other Rider effortlessly managing to get around some of the attacks.
"Hold still!" Neo-Hero yelled, firing some shots towards Hero.
"Make me!" Hero boldly proclaimed as he kept on the evasion.
Some shots did manage to connect with Hero, allowing Neo-Hero a bit to get some distance between them and keep up the shots. Hero did get knocked back a bit, yet was still able to stand.
"Had enough? The newer powers should beat out the older ones!" Neo-Hero spoke, though he clearly wasn't very confident in what he was saying based on the way he delivered that.
Hearing this made Hero start to laugh a little bit as an idea hit him.
"...what's so funny…?"
"Right… you haven't seen my newest power," Hero grinned under his helmet, quickly evading another attack. With a relaxed motion, he quickly got out the Form Ride card, loaded it in, and activated it.
=FORM RIDE: ….DRACONIC ARMOR!=
His motorcycle revved up to his side and then energy flowed over Hero, changing him into his Draconic Armor form. He then inserted another card and activated it.
=ATTACK RIDE: …DRACONIC SLASHER!=
"Saa, koke kara ga… highlight da," Hero spoke as he pointed his sword forward, '...where the heck did I think of that from? That doesn't sound like anything a Rider has ever said.'
"...stage…" was all Neo-Hero was able to say, clearly a little worried.
Hero gave off a small chuckle before he dashed over and starting swinging at Neo-Hero. The other Rider was very clearly not used to the close combat style and got swatted back like nothing, with Hero giving him a roundhouse kick that knocked him flat on his back.
"Wooh! How does it feel to be on the receiving end of the ambush? Not so nice, is it?!"
Neo-Hero looked over his card holder for a bit for any kind of ideas to give him an edge before he happened onto one card that was newly added, with a message that simply read 'Good luck' in English. He smiled a bit, then rose a bit more assuredly.
"Any~thing you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you…" Neo-Hero sung out.
"No you can't," Hero smugly responded.
"Yes I can."
"No you can't."
"Yes… I…" Neo-Hero spoke as he loaded in a card.
=FORM RIDE: …=
"Can!"
=PEGASIGN ARMOR!=
Energy then flew over him, with his motorcycle revving up and sending energy over as well. His legs gained additional armor that seemed to end in what looked to be hooves, his back gained a pair of wings, a chest piece of a horse attached onto the front of his form, then he pulled down his goggles to be over his eyes, and his gun began to glow a bit. The gun's top part then rotated sideways and unfolded to resemble an arrow, making it now seem more like a crossbow.
=ATTACK RIDE: …CROSSBOW MODE!=
"Oh… oh no…" Hero mumbled.
"Sonna tokoro de owarasenai! (I'm not going to let it end here!)" Neo-Hero shouted out, continuing to fire towards Hero, who quickly deflected the attacks with his sword.
Hero just sighed as he mulled over some things he knew about the other Rider, keeping up his dodging, as new thoughts began to occur to him.
'Wait… why do so many things about this guy sound so familiar…?' Hero thought, evading an attack and then cutting through another, '...he always summons Robin and Olivia, he clearly cares about Kamui like I do, he referenced a Pokemon song… and is using a bow…'
Neo-Hero fired off more attacks, which the other Rider just got out of the way of in spite of some smoke getting kicked up as a result. In spite of this, Neo-Hero kept firing a little, but did start missing a fair bit more.
"Stormtrooper aim…" Hero mumbled before he glanced down to his phone, "Alright… let's see…"
More blasts came his way, but the Rider evaded the blasts for a bit before he finally found a song that would be fitting. The smoke from the blasts covered him up as he started it up.
"Question…"
(Insert Song: Ace Attorney 6 Spirit of Justice OST, Athena Cykes ~ Courtroom Révolutionnaire)
"Did you learn about Fire Emblem because of Smash?" Hero spoke.
"Wh-what?" Neo-Hero gawked, genuinely confused, only for Hero to close the gap between them and slash at him.
"Answer. The. Question!" Hero shouted, slashing at Neo-Hero with each word.
"...yes. I did. I hadn't heard of them before Smash…" Neo-Hero responded.
"Good. Next question. You're clearly a Pokémon fan based on something else I heard you say… so… what starter is the one you've used the most?" Hero asked.
Neo-Hero tilted his head a bit in genuine confusion before he got kicked in the chest by Hero, "...Turtwig."
'...well… I know three people who have used it more than once. That at least narrows it down by one…' Hero thought. He dodged more blasts, then turned towards Neo-Hero, "Did you take lessons from Stormtroopers or something?"
"Stop moving around then!"
"Make me!"
Neo-Hero kept up the fire, but Hero just dodged around it a bit. Hero gave off a small laugh, which made Neo-Hero quickly load up his crossbow and fire it.
=KAMEN RIDE: …ROBIN! OLIVIA! KAMUI!=
The three summoned duplicates of the Riders hurried forward and tried to attack Hero, but he ducked and rolled out of the way. He eventually got atop a tree, which meant that the summoned duplicates couldn't reach him without magic.
"You seem to rely on them a lot, like they're the only ones you know. New question. Have you ever played a Fire Emblem game before?" Hero questioned.
The wind from Neo-Hero's sails lowered a bit as he briefly lowered his crossbow, his body language implying he was a bit embarrassed, "...does Tokyo Mirage Sessions count?"
"...guess that's why you summoned Itsuki…" Hero sighed, "...that world is gonna be something…"
"Don't insult that game!" Neo-Hero suddenly yelled, making his summoned copy of Kamen Rider Robin unleash an Arcfire.
Hero dodged out of the way, rolled along the ground, then stood back up, "Well… inspiration then. Have you ever played a Sonic game?"
"I seriously don't get what you're doing…"
"Question! Please!" Hero called out.
"...yes."
"Thank you," Hero responded, evading attacks from the summoned Riders.
"Will you stop the questions before you spark a war or something?!" Neo-Hero complained, keeping up the attacks.
"Oh, The Megas? Good inspiration! Favorite Megaman spin-off?"
"...Star Force."
"Ooh. Neat," Hero smiled, ducking under an attack, 'Uh… I know one of my friends likes Battle Network, but which one was it? …gonna need another to narrow it a bit…'
"What was your very first phone game?" Hero soon questioned, quickly dodging under the summons and slicing them away.
"...what are you even playing at?" Neo-Hero just asked, getting more and more irritated.
"Not an answer," Hero mockingly spoke.
"...Yo-Kai Watch Wibble Wobble! Not like I can play it anymore!" Neo-Hero eventually proclaimed.
'Well… that narrows it down to two. Gotta see if I can narrow it down further…' Hero thought, moving out of some of the attacks from the other Rider.
"What is even the point of this?!" Neo-Hero yelled in frustration.
(Change Insert Song. New Insert Song: PLvsAA OST - 2-09 - Pursuit ~ Cornered, English Court Suite)
Hero just chuckled a little bit, evading more of the shots, "Next… is Kamui your favorite Fire Emblem character? Or at least, protagonist?"
"Yeah! Obviously! I wanted to protect her from you!" Neo-Hero proclaimed, "Anyone who says that she's a waste of space in Smash is rude and stupid!"
'Uh… that is passionate. Uh… did that other friend like her too? Crud, can't remember…'
"What are you even trying to do?" Tiki-chan soon whispered to Hero, briefly poking up from her hiding spot.
"I got a plan," Hero whispered back, with the fairy just sighing and going back to hiding.
"Calm down a little bit, he's clearly trying to rile you up!" Neo-Hero's fairy spoke, getting out from her hiding spot.
"I'm trying…" Neo-Hero responded, with the fairy then hiding again.
(Pause Insert Song)
Alm was looking around the streets, clearly worried for his friend's safety, 'Don't worry, Celia… I'll find you. I won't lose anyone ever again…'
He kept up looking, his thoughts focused on finding that missing friend.
(Resume Insert Song)
Hero managed to smack some more attacks out of the air with his sword
"You don't know how to drive, huh?" Hero proceeded to ask, in a tone clearly intended to egg Neo-Hero on.
Neo-Hero just yelled in frustration, firing as many shots at Hero as he possibly could, "NO, I DON'T! DRIVING IS SCARY, CONFUSING, COMPLICATED, AND I DO NOT WANT TO LEARN!"
The shots finally connect with Hero, sending him rolling along the ground. He was able to rise up again, but this was the connection that he ended up needing.
(End Insert Song)
"...I know who he is…" Hero said in realization. He dodged out of the way of another attack, "...oh, I'm… gonna have a lot of things to say after this…"
"I've had enough of you!" Neo-Hero shouted as he loaded in another card.
=FINAL ATTACK RIDE: …=
Hero got up, seeing energy generating at Neo-Hero's gun that was starting to form into the shape of a pegasus of some sort.
'I gotta say something… something I know he would recognize…' Hero thought before an idea hit him. He walked a little bit closer to Neo-Hero, then took a moment to clear his throat. Then, as a sign of peace, he reverted back to normal and just stood in a calm and collected way.
Neo-Hero didn't say anything as the energy continued to charge. Then…
"Hey, aibou. It's a small world after all," Takeshi spoke.
The line made Neo-Hero stop completely in his tracks, with his anger almost instantly evaporating as if it was never there. The attack charging at his weapon ended up fizzling out before he pulled out his cards and reverted back into the hooded figure.
"...n-n-no way…" he spoke, trembling a little bit.
'And if I know him as well as I do…' Takeshi thought as the hooded figure pulled the hood off of his head to reveal a head of blonde hair, teal eyes, and a face that Takeshi would know like the back of his hand, "Hi Kota."
Hearing this made the younger person gasp, then rub his eyes a little bit. He slowly stepped forward, with Takeshi remaining as calm as he could be.
"You're… okay…" the younger person spoke, tears starting to form in his eyes.
All Takeshi did was smile a bit before the younger person ran over to him and pulled him into a hug. Takeshi watched as he was crying a bit, then returned the hug and simply smiled a bit…
This chapter is dedicated in loving memory of Dragalia Lost
(September 28th, 2018 - November 30th, 2022)
*As the instrumentals slowly began, Takeshi stared at the dark room with the inactive portal.*
Embrace the dark you call a home, *Takeshi held out the Hero card and was joined by Tiki-chan.*
Gaze upon an empty, white throne *They looked to the portal, which was inactive and then slowly showed Kamen Rider Celica's image*
A legacy of lies, *The two were being watched by something in the shadows*
A familiar disguise *Takeshi turned and then saw the mysterious woman before he was again shoved into the portal.*
Sing with me a song of conquest and fate *Takeshi, now Kamen Rider Hero, was standing in between various worlds and seeing the fractures to all nine of them.*
The black pillar cracks beneath its weight *He could see the nine Riders all facing away from him before they faded as if they weren't even there.*
Night breaks through the day, hard as a stone *Hero and Tiki-chan stood in a dark room in confusion before they slowly walked out of it*
Lost in thoughts all alone *The two simply continued forward.*
Tiki-chan was floating around, clearly still in total disbelief of what she had witnessed back in the main story. She stammered a little bit, genuinely confused and baffled.
-We are experiencing technical difficulties. Please hold.-
After a moment, the visuals returned.
"Well… uh… I wasn't supposed to make my proper debut until the next chapter, but, uh… since my compatriot is currently… uh… not available, I guess is the right way to put it, I'm gonna have to step up," the silver fairy spoke up as she floated closer towards the viewers. Her form slowly revealed itself. Her outfit was a light blue and white version of the outfit worn by Notte from Dragalia Lost, albeit she was totally barefoot. Her facial features, hair color, and eyes were all totally familiar though.
"My name is Kiki," the fairy smiled. She floated around a little bit and then giggled, "As you can no doubt tell, I'm supposed to be visually based on Kamui. They wanted to give me a name similar to the other fairy, so I got 'Kiki'. It is a cute name."
Kiki floated a bit towards the screen, "Alright. So, let's get into the discussion. We are gonna be saving our main Riders of Echoes no Sekai until next time because of reasons, so we get to talk about the new skill my buddy showed off!"
An image was pulled up to reveal Neo-Hero's new form, "Ta-da~! Presenting, Kamen Rider Neo-Hero, Pegasign Armor!"
There was some clapping from off-screen, making the fairy cheer a bit, "Yeah! Woohoo!"
She giggled a bit, then moved forward, "Admittedly, the design of this form has gone through multiple revisions for reasons. The horse legs were originally going to be new shoulder pads, but there were always plans to have wings, so the horse legs essentially became additional, almost Battelizer like, attachments to Neo-Hero's actual legs. This allowed the wings to still be around, and then for an armor to sort of get to be around the chest region. And now, he can be cool!"
Kiki moved around a bit and then pulled up the name of the form, "The name of this form has always intended to be said as 'Pega-Sign', but the original spelling of the form was going to be 'Pegasin' with no G. Was changed to make the pronunciation of it more obvious. Plus, we also got recommended that because it would look less like it was unintentionally saying something about sins."
There was a slight bit of chuckles from off-screen. The fairy just smiled and then moved along.
"Now, for the change to the gun. Neo-Hero pulls down his goggles to help with his aiming, since it's a bit more complicated. Part of the gun turns and then becomes a crossbow's tip to become more bow like. It's just a fun little detail so as to allow Neo-Hero to also have a new weapon."
Kiki giggled a little and then floated around a bit, when she saw a note card from off-screen, "Oh, ok. Just a moment…"
She scanned it over a bit, then gave a thumbs up.
"While I don't know what this is supposed to mean, I know that 'a great power shall be unleashed when dragon and pegasus come together'. Though, again, don't know what that means," Kiki said with a shrug of her shoulders.
She was then given a nod from off-screen, "Alrighty! Join us back here next time for the next bit."
There was a bit of silence as Kiki thought about how to wrap it up, then…
"Bye-bye~~!" Kiki waved.
Thank you for ten years of friendship, KKD.
Here's to another ten.
-Pikatwig
Jikai, Kamen Rider Hero
Tiki-chan and Kiki: You two know each-other?!
Kota: I'm so sorry…
Takeshi: We gotta hurry!
Alm: Celica, this isn't you!
Celica: My heart… is darkness…
Hero: I'm on my way!
Neo-Hero: I think… the next world is in more danger…
Emblem 17: Echoes of Reunions
Well… here we are. After a little around two years, another chapter is done and dusted. It's so shocking to look back at the start of the story and see that the gap between chapters 1 and 2 was so short and then look at some of the gaps between other chapters.
I will go ahead and say this now, Celica is just under mind control. I noticed the relatively low number of Riders who actually have alternate forms and was trying to figure out how to give one to one of the remaining two major ones, and Celica at least had something for me to draw from.
Another comment is that, while Celica is primarily a sword and magic user while in her Rider form, the daggers are something different and are magically generated. Visually, they're basically the daggers used by Yor from SpyXFamily. I don't know what made that idea come to me, but, that's the case.
Onto the characters. I will openly admit that I was struggling to find the right way to include Celica and Alm. The first element I did decide on was to make use of the honest mistake I had made about mistaking Celica's name to be 'Celia' and I thought it was kinda funny. I will say, I am a bit worried about the characterization of the two of them, but I do have the excuse of an AU.
And another aside, I was gonna try to find a way to include a nod to the Darkstalkers character with Jedah, but I couldn't find a way to make the reference fit in a good way. Ah well.
The stuff connected to Fodlan ended up being here because I decided to at least include a few nods to it and this ended up being a bit of a perfect spot. People joke that Marianne is related to Rinea and Berkut, and this is playing with that idea in a way. Also, for sake of reference, the marks she has are based on Marianne's Crest of the Beast and Byleth's Crest of Flames. Again, they have absolutely NO power in any way, shape, or form. They are just birthmarks.
The bit that's in Almyran is basically pulled from a comic dub done by YouTubers TheSamigirl101 and EternalXilven. That dialogue in this chapter was the dialogue used by them in a comic dub.
And… yeah… I kinda totally forgot that Berkut wasn't Alm's brother. That was a genuine blank on my part. And I will say that I also forgot about Jedah's existence, so… thank you to Spirit of Creativity for reminding me.
Now, for the flashback stuff. That bit has been planned for years and was given the context of being a video for Takeshi to sort of explain it in-universe. I did need to cut down on the length because, more or less, it is an RTX and the people being asked would've been RWBY staff and VAs, and I didn't want to put words in their mouth other than vague ones that sound like something they would say.
Speaking of that scene, let's get to this next bit.
I will admit that trying to come up with alias names for Takeshi's friend group proved to be a bit of a challenge since I wanted to at least make sure the names sounded Japanese enough. …and then behind the scenes forced me to scrap an entire name from ever coming up in this chapter out of an overabundance of caution. Anyway, the person who asked the BBTag question's alias will be Zane. Admittedly, like this chapter as a whole, this was concepted before we knew Neo would be added to the game and the events in the recording would take place before her announcement. Again, this story is in April of 2019 and then Neo's reveal was August of 2019.
The next one is the person who is transitioning and the one I had to go back to the drawing board for a name for… over and over again. The original name had to get scrapped because of reasons I am not sharing. This person was the one who asked about the home console RWBY game. Pre-transition, the character's name is Yuto, and following that, it is Yuno. The scene with this character takes place at a point prior to a name being used in-universe, hence why Takeshi doesn't say it. …said question also aged well given RWBY Arrowfell.
The last person of the group of five will be known as 'Tatsu'. Admittedly, no particular logic to this one other than me reading other fanfics and eventually just picking a random Japanese name. It works.
I figured I'd at least give the three of them aliases to reference them. While they aren't gonna come up a whole lot in the plot, because of how things play out, I did decide I'd at least let them have names to use while in reference to them.
The flashback/video thing kinda had to happen to establish the line that Takeshi says to Neo-Hero to confirm that they know each-other. I had that line in mind for actual years, and even wrote it down on an actual piece of paper so I wouldn't forget. Let that say something.
I will mention that the bit where Pocket Camp got mentioned was originally going to be Yo-Kai Watch Wibble Wobble. However, outside of Japan, that game has been shut down for a long time now. The only reason it came up in a different form was to help Takeshi with his narrowing down.
Also, about the dedication… considering some lore stuff from Dragalia is gonna be important going forward, plus my own sadness and connection to the game… I kinda had to include it. Before I'm asked about JDF's passing, me and KKD are planning another dedication in something else. Though, if the news had broken while Legacy of Heroes was being worked on, there would've for sure been a flashback to Tommy becoming the Black Dino Thunder Ranger. I was contemplating going back to add that in, but that thing is already long enough as is.
Oh, and "The Blue Rose" that Celica got inspired by is actually from Dragalia Lost. It just randomly came to mind while I was writing to give her another alias. It worked out, I guess.
Now, for Celica's ring. Admittedly, it is pulled from Fire Emblem Engage. It is basically the ring she is shown to be in from the official artwork. I just thought it would be a cute nod, and I had been meaning to find a way to include Mila's Turnwheel in some way that wasn't very intrusive, so that ended up being the manner of which that was included.
And, BOY, was it a good thing that got split off. This chapter would've been at least 90 pages had I not done that. *exhales a little bit* I'm not the best at length.
Anyway… time for another thing. The day this is going up, at least in my time zone as I am typing this, marks the 10th anniversary of me and KKD meeting and becoming friends. It was at 10:54 PM in my timezone that he left a review that led to us PMing at 11:01 PM. And from that… a friendship that has lasted ten years. I would never have expected somebody to be in my life for that long that wasn't biologically related. There's been many ups and downs in my life, but through so many things, KKD has been by my side and has been supporting me. He's been happy with me, he's been there to support me when I'm hurt, he's been there when I needed him the most.
I will admit that I am getting a little misty-eyed typing this right now because it's just… amazing. To think that a very simple idea, my own idea of a Sonic/Den-O crossover, would lead to me meeting the greatest friend in the world. I don't know where I would be right now without KKD there to support me, and I wouldn't replace the last ten years of friendship with him for anything. You could offer me whatever, this friendship is too valuable for any trade.
KKD, I know you'll be reading this. Just… thank you. You're like a big brother to me and the bond we have is brothers from different mothers in a way. I honestly do want to try to find a way to meet you IRL one day. I have no idea when that could ever happen, but it is on my bucket list. Just… want to say that.
Arigatou, nii-san.
Just Live More.