The Power of Small Companions

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Armory of the Forgotten Hero! We got a lot happening in this chapter but an earlier than expected release due to some interesting circumstances. Regardless I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and don't forget to check out my book, Plains Riders, on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. And anyone interested in collabing a One Piece x Yu-Gi-Oh GX story, contact redfang19. Now I think I've covered everything else and with no review questions this week, let's dive on in!

Castle in the Country of Sikul

The atmosphere around the castle of Sikul was definitely one of excitement as one person after another cheered upon seeing that the Hunting Hero, Kizuna Kazayama, had finally returned to her home safely. Even if she had only been absent for a few weeks it was clear how anxious everyone had been based on the number of people now crowding around and completely obscuring the short girl. "Everyone really seems to admire Kizuna," noted Rishia happily as she, Naofumi and Darius stood back to observe the scene unfolding before them. Though the happiness died down a bit when Kizuna revealed she'd been trapped in the Infinite Labyrinth.

"They locked our hero in the Infinite Labyrinth!" Raged a man with long brown hair and a mustache. He was also dressed in black robes that resembled those of a priest or at least a royal official. "This is not just a serious offense it's an outright act of hostility!"

"We'll be lodging an official complaint with Mikakage immediately!" Said one of the other officials, a man with slicked back black hair.

"Yeah you go do that," agreed Kizuna, "but also, I'd like to call a meeting to order and could someone fetch Ethnobalt?"

"Of course," said a man with dirty blond hair, a beard and mustache, "but could you also tell us how you escaped the Infinite Labyrinth? Legend says it should be impossible."

"I had some help from these two," said Kizuna, "this is Naofumi and Rishia. They got me out of the labyrinth and their friend there, Darius, helped us break through to the Dragon's Hourglass in Mikakage's capital."

"WE CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR SAVING OUR HERO!" The gathered officials said as they crowded around the trio. There was a lot of handshaking and backslapping with Risha and Darius putting on their best smiles saying 'you're welcome' while Naofumi barely hid his discomfort doing the same.

"I should also mention this now," said Kizuna, "Naofumi and Darius are cardinal heroes from another world." The atmosphere changed instantly then as silence fell over the crowd. Several of the officials backed up with their happy expressions now being replaced with ones of suspicion.

"Lady Kizuna," said the man with dark hair, "surely you haven't forgotten. Those two are enemies of this world. Quickly, we need to call-."

"Don't even think about it," said the Hunting Hero as she moved between the officials and the otherworld trio, "didn't I just finish telling you, these guys got me out of a real jam. I wouldn't be here right now if not for them."

"But Lady Kizuna," said the blond-headed official, "they could be here to destroy our world-."

"That's not the case," she said back sternly, "this is why I'm calling for a meeting. There are some things we need to straighten out immediately and apparently a few reminders are in order too. So right now these guys are our guests and I won't forgive anyone who's rude to them." She turned and signaled to Naofumi and the others then. "Come on guys, I'll show you the way to the meeting room."

The princess and two heroes exchanged glances among each other before shrugging and following after the Hunting Hero. The walk to the meeting area only took a few minutes with the officials following behind at a distance, still sending uneasy glances their way. "I knew it was a bad idea for Kizuna to outright tell them who we were," grumbled the Shield Hero.

"Maybe, maybe not," the Armory Hero whispered back, "the big question is gonna be how much the officials are willing to go along with their hero. They clearly trust her a great deal, so let's hope that trumps their distrust of us."

"It would be nice to avoid a fight after everything we've been through to get here," agreed Rishia as they entered the apparent meeting hall. It appeared to double as a grand hall given the presence of a large main flight of stairs that split off into two other staircases along with passages leading off in two other directions. A large oval table had been set up with seven chairs around it. Kizuna sat as close to the middle as she could, intentionally staying on the same side as Naofumi and the others while the blond-haired official sat down with the dark-haired man and another, bald man with a long white beard. Silence would follow for several moments then as they waited for someone to speak.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Darius decided to speak with the first thing that came to mind. "So random question," said the Armory Hero to his companions, "is it weird that I once low-key shipped Yami Yugi with Guardian Eatos?"

"What the fuck kind of conversation starter is that?" Asked Naofumi with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, everyone's just acting so uptight right now," said Darius innocently, "and it's a question I've actually been meaning to ask for a while."

"Of course everyone's uptight this is a delicate situation," the Shield Hero pointed out, "and besides, Dark Magician Girl goes with Yugi way better than any other female monster."

"I don't know," said Kizuna, "I'll agree that Dark Magician Girl is the best pairing for little Yugi, but Yami Yugi seems like he'd benefit from a more majestic monster girl."

"Like who, Queen's Knight or the Mystic Elf?" Asked Naofumi, "sure Guardian Eatos was used to beat him but she's from that Atlantis filler arc with the seal of 'Orichalcamalos!'"

"It's Orichalcos and you know it," said Darius, "and yeah a lot of the arc sucked but at least they tried for a bit of character development."

"Yeah before looping right back around to the power of friendship," said Naofumi, "maybe if they had made it a love affair between Atem, Eatos, Yugi and Dark Magician Girl then it would've been more interesting."

"I'm pretty sure that would've been an absolute mess," commented Kizuna with an 'are you serious' look on her face. The three then burst out laughing at the idea while Rishia and the other officials just looked on in confusion, which was better than suspicion at the very least.

"Um, Lady Kizuna," said the bald man, "you mentioned having important matters to discuss."

"Well I was waiting to see if Glass, Ethnobalt and the others were here," replied the Hunting Hero, "but I'm guessing they're not since a messenger hasn't shown up to announce when they would arrive."

"Ethnobalt has been summoned," said the blond official, "you can see him after we're finished here. But we've had no contact with Glass or the young master since they ventured to the other world. We weren't even aware they'd returned until now."

"Then that just means we'll have to work on finding her too," said Kizuna before glancing at Darius and Naofumi, "and don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't attack you or anything. Glass and I are really good friends, after all."

"I'm just wondering why they have to fight in the first place," said Rishia, "I thought a Cardinal Hero's mission was to hold off the Waves of Catastrophe." Kizuna sighed as she leaned back in her chair before glancing at the officials.

"You may as well tell them," said the Hunting Hero, "I know it's hard to believe but these guys have absolutely no idea about the legend. They were even surprised to learn that there were heroes in other worlds."

"But that can't be," said the dark-haired official, "they came close to killing all of you during the last Wave!"

"We were the ones who declared it a fight to the death," Kizuna pointed out, "of course they were fighting their hardest to kill us, that's what we were doing. The very least we can do is explain the reason why we thought it had to be that way." The officials all exchanged glances before the blond one began.

"There is a legend," he said, "that in addition to the Holy Hero's roles of protecting people during a time of crisis, it was also said that the four heroes act as 'linchpins' to prevent catastrophes. If a world lost all four of its heroes during a Wave, that world would be destroyed."

"There's a problem with that, though," the Armory Hero noticed, "why invade another world to take out its heroes when we're all dealing with the Waves? How does one's destruction ensure the survival of the other?"

"It has to do with what causes the Waves in the first place," explained the Official, "they are a phenomenon which appears as a result of two opposing worlds on collision attempting to fuse with each other. The world which is 'victorious' during the Waves is said to survive and expand as a result."

"But," said the Bald Official, "if a victor isn't determined between the worlds, both will be destroyed as a result of the fusion."

"Heh," said Naofumi as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, "that explains just about everything. The reason why the four Cardinal Heroes can't leave their world but Vassal Heroes can invade others. The true battle of the Waves is between worlds and not just against monsters."

"It also explains why the Spirit Tortoise creating a barrier would protect the world from the Waves," said Rishia, "it prevents them from fusing. And why such a heavy cost was considered acceptable."

"When the entire world's at stake it definitely pays to have plenty of safeguards," agreed Darius, "yet I somehow doubt creating a barrier to protect this world is what Kyo Ethnina had in mind when he stole that energy from our world."

"What I don't get is what causes the worlds to fuse in the first place," said Kizuna, "and why one world losing ensures the survival of the other when they're on a collision course. I would think the worlds would just fuse either way."

"I'm afraid we don't really have an answer for that," said the dark-haired official, "this is all the information we've been able to uncover even after extensive research."

"Then we're just going to have to keep looking," said the Hunting Hero, "until then, Glass and the others need to stop attacking Naofumi's world."

"But Lady Kizuna," said the Blond Official, "we can't just completely disregard the legend. If we don't fight-."

"And if we do an entire world gets destroyed just so we can live," said Kizuna as she slammed her hands down on the table, "I won't accept that. We're all supposed to be heroes here and heroes 'save' lives!"

"Heroes also have to make hard choices," reminded Naofumi, "we're all weebs here I know we've read a few stories like that, where there are no good choices left, just varying degrees of bad choices. What we're dealing with sounds a lot like survival of the fittest and that makes plenty of sense, it's just how nature is a lot of the time even when it seems irrational. I hate to say it but what if there is no other way? We could wind up wasting all of our time looking for an alternative that doesn't exist, in which case it'd just be quicker if we fought it out and decided the victor."

"So that's it, you're just gonna give up," said Kizuna, "you're right when you say we're weebs and I have read stories like that. I've also read and watched a lot of stories like Gurren Lagann, where the seemingly impossible is made possible. If you've seen it then you know who you sound like already. You sound like Rossiu, and his way wound up being the wrong one."

"And you're supposed to be who, Kamina," Naofumi said back, "he wound up dying if I recall."

"Yeah but then Simon basically became a clone of Kamina," Darius pointed out, "and his will wound up carrying them all to victory in the end."

"Okay, yes, but this isn't Gurren Lagann," said the Shield Hero, "We've gotten by on more practical solutions in our world. You're telling me you think there's really an alternative out there, Darius?"

"There technically was," the Armory Hero reminded him, "it nearly killed us multiple times, if you'll recall, and is the reason we're here in the first place. I'm also pretty sure I heard that bastard, Kyo, mention another sacred beast was around. And given that there's still a lot Fitoria hasn't told us or couldn't tell us and various oddities like Kizuna not being able to hurt people despite the apparent need to fend off invading heroes, there's just a lot of stuff that doesn't add up. One way or the other we need a lot more information about, well, everything. And don't sit there and pretend like you actually want to fight L'arc and Therese to the death."

"It's not a matter of preference," said Naofumi, "I just think we have to consider the possibility that it might be impossible."

"And what exactly is 'impossible' in magical worlds like these," said Kizuna as she stood up and produced her weapon, "Before we came here it was considered technically impossible to be transported from one world to another, or to cast magic, or to wield shapeshifting weapons. Yet here we are, hopping back and forth between worlds and fighting monsters the size of buildings with magical transforming weapons. The Infinite Labyrinth was also considered impossible to escape too but once again, here we are."

"It was also thought impossible to have a fifth cardinal hero," Rishia pointed out, "but the Armory Hero was created through the combined efforts of all four heroes and now one appears whenever our world is imbalanced. So I'm sure if we all look together we'll be able to find a way to save both worlds." The Shield Hero looked between his allies and the Hunting Hero before sighing.

"You guys are incorrigible," he said before resting his chin on his hand, "fine, let's go find a drill and pierce the Heavens, or something like that." Rishia and Kizuna couldn't help but let out a little cheer at this while Darius gave a thumbs up. Whether or not it was a step in the right, they didn't know, but it was certainly progress in a better direction.

Morning of the Next Day: The Study of Ethnobalt

"So how is everyone today," asked Darius, stretching a bit as they stopped in front of the door they'd been directed to by a servant, "it's been a little bit since we've had to do a late night break in."

"You say that like it's something we used to do regularly," commented Naofumi, "I can probably count with the fingers on one hand the number of times we had to break into a place like that."

"You might want to keep counting," said the Armory Hero, "because I suspect we'll be having to do another break in pretty soon."

"It doesn't matter whether we have to break into somewhere or not," replied the Shield Hero, "what matters is that we find Raphtalia and the others." Naturally everyone was in agreement on that as the door to Ethnobalt's room opened to reveal Kizuna was already inside.

"Hey everyone," she said in her usual upbeat tone, "sorry if I kept you waiting. Come in and say hi!" The group did so and upon entering were confronted with what Darius could only describe as a mage right out of a Final Fantasy game. He had short white hair with red eyes and was adorned in a large white robe with black and gold coloring running up either side of it.

He also wore a large cape with a similar color pattern and a type of blue and gold sash around his neck. A gold headband with red jewels adorned his forehead and the gold staff in his right hand ended in an almost heart-shaped head. Though what Darius found most interesting was the black and white floating platform with a blue jewel he was standing on. 'Vassal Boat,' thought the Armory Hero as the information scrolled across his HUD, 'is that like Fitoria's Vassal Carriage?'

"So this is the person you mentioned," asked Naofumi, "the one who's good at finding people?"

"You overestimate me," said the White-haired man, "I couldn't find you, after all, Kizuna."

"And I think you're downplaying," replied the Hunting Hero, "it just goes to show how special a place the Infinite Labyrinth was. If Ethnobalt here couldn't find me then no one could."

"Which is why I must thank you, Holy Weapon Holder from another world," said Ethnobalt as he directed his gaze to Naofumi before sweeping it over everyone else, "and naturally the rest of you as well. Our country owes you much for bringing Kizuna back." He reached out and shook Rishia and Darius's hands before moving to the Shield Hero. 'Hmm,' thought the Armory Hero, 'that Vassal Weapon isn't the only similarity he seems to have with Fitoria.'

"It's just because we all have the same goal right now," said Naofumi as he shook hands with Ethnobalt before his eyes widened. Clearly he'd picked up on the same thing as Darius, and then some. "You're not human, are you? Are you a monster?" Ethnobalt was clearly surprised by this, but only for a moment.

"I suppose I wasn't expecting anything less from you," said the man before his body suddenly transformed, into that of a human-sized rabbit standing on its hind legs. All that remained of his outfit was the blue sash around his neck. "You are correct, I am a descendant of a race of monsters that has protected this world for generations."

"Wow, it's rare for you to show this form to people you just met," said Kizuna before whispering to Rishia, "he hates people calling this form 'cute'."

"That's not the only reason, Kizuna," sighed Ethnobalt, hearing her regardless thanks to his big ears. "But the odd things is, I don't feel anything bad from any of them. We can discuss that another time, though, right now we have a problem to discuss. Tell me, who is it specifically that you want me to find?"

"Our companions," explained Darius, "mine are a strong and beautiful Weasel Girl and a Dragon Boy who's a handful."

"It's about the same for me," said Naofumi, "I have a master/slave contract with a Raccoon Girl and a Bird Girl. We haven't been able to find them anywhere so far and we're worried something bad might've happened to them."

"I see," mused the Giant Rabbit as he laid out a number of items on his desk like tarot cards, paper with magic circles and even magic stones, "there are a few ways to search for specific people, but the difficulty is that you and your companions are from another world. There might be different laws governing how we'd locate them."

"We don't just have people from their world to search for," said Kizuna, "I also want to find Glass. She doesn't know I'm back and given what Naofumi's told me she might be chasing Kyo right now."

"You're not alone in this," replied Ethnobalt, "I also want to let her know that you've returned to us safely. She's been worried about you ever since you departed to find more answers about the Waves, which reminds me." He reached underneath his scarf, possibly into his fur, and produced a card with a drawing that seemed to resemble some kind of penguin on it. "Glass was holding onto this at first but entrusted it to me after they went in pursuit of Kyo."

"Oh, thank you so much," Kizuna practically exclaimed as she accepted the card. The card then began to glow before producing a small blast of smoke. In its place was a blue, penguin-like bird with a round head.

"Pen, pen, pen!" Said the Little Monster as it jumped into Kizuna's arm.

"CHRIS!" She cheered as it rubbed her cheek, "oh I'm so happy to see you again!"

"Okay, so you guys have Pokemon here," Darius couldn't help but quip, "any chance you got an Eevee or something along those lines?"

"It doesn't work quite like that," laughed Kizuna, "Chris here is a Shikigami. Glass and I made him back when I first came to this world."

"Chris here started going crazy about four days ago," explained Ethnobalt, "I imagine that was about the time that you escaped the Labyrinth."

"It was," affirmed the Hunting Hero, "and now that I'm here, we can use him to search for Glass."

"That's wonderful news," said Rishia happily before an important question came to mind, "but how will we find Raphtalia and the others?"

"Easy," replied Kizuna, "Darius and Naofumi will make their own Shikigami!"

"Okay," said the Armory Hero, "I'm all for making a cute 'not Pokemon' for locating our companions but how is it a Shikigami is able to find someone in the first place?"

"A Shikigami is an existence conceived between two beings," explained Ethnobalt, "in this case two people. Chris, for example, was created from a medium related to both Glass and Kizuna and thus has an invisible connection to them."

"So they can pretty much sense where they are at any time," surmised Naofumi, "but what exactly would be the mediums for our Shikigami?"

"Well the blood of the owner is usually used as the medium," explained Kizuna, "and then you'd need something from the other person to act as a catalyst, like a strand of hair."

"Raphtalia's hair," mused the Shield Hero before holding up his cardinal weapon. The Armory Hero did the same with his right band as a list of materials appeared on his HUD. To everyone else it probably looked like they were just staring at their arms, but the two heroes were scrolling through numerous bits and pieces they'd absorbed into their weapons since the start of their journey. "Here it is."

The cardinal weapons glowed for a moment then, summoning small floating orbs containing Raphtalia and Rifana's hair. "You both absorbed your companion's hair into your weapons," said Rishia, slightly surprised.

"I absorbed all kinds of things into my shield when I first started out," explained Naofumi, "Darius adopted the practice too once he learned about it. I'll admit it seems a little weird, but it's proven exceptionally helpful having a multitude of abilities to chose from."

"Which reminds me," said Darius, "have you absorbed Rishia or Éclair's hair yet? Wonder what kind of abilities that would give ya? Maybe absorbing Grilaroc's hair would help us with Hengen Musou."

"FUE!" Exclaimed the princess as she grabbed her braids protectively, "I'd like my hair to stay where it is, thank you!" Everyone laughed for a bit at this before Ethnobalt got them back on track.

"The ritual will require a bit more space," he said, transforming back to his human form before leading them out into another large area similar to the grand hall where they'd had a meeting not too long ago. He banged his staff on the ground twice then, creating two golden magic circles which Darius and Naofumi stood inside, letting the hairs in their possession float into the center of each circle. "Now let us begin the ritual for creating a Shikigami."

The two heroes then took the offered knives and slit their thumbs, allowing a few drops of blood to join with the hairs. "I wish for something to protect them and give them power," chanted Ethnobalt, "the creation of that which serves as servant and as a fragment of their magic. Let a servant that gives protection be born!" The orbs in the center grew much brighter then as something took shape within them, kicking up a surprising amount of wind.

"Is this normal?!" Rishia had to raise her voice over the noise.

"Y-Yes," replied Ethnobalt who still looked quite surprised, "but they usually don't manifest so quickly. Who in the world do these catalysts belong too?!" The two heroes didn't really know how to answer that as they looked at their weapons and noted 'Shikigami' had been added to their weapon series. A blast of smoke occurred then as a pair of small shapes went leaping forth, landing on the two heroes and knocking them to the ground.

"Rafuu! Rin-Rin!" Naofumi and Darius took a look at what had run into them, and the consensus was unanimous, even if the Shield Hero wouldn't immediately admit it: they were cute. Naofumi's Shikigami very much resembled a raccoon, one that had the coloration of a red panda and slightly larger proportions of a tanuki. In much the same way, Darius's Shikigami had the characteristics of a weasel crossed with a binturong or bearcat with yellow fur. Though most striking of all, they had the eyes of their companions.

"These are, Shikigami," asked Naofumi, wondering if everything had gone like it was supposed too?

"And do they always jump on their owners when first summoned," asked Darius, scratching the ears of his apparent familiar.

"I wouldn't say always," replied Kizuna, "but the process definitely worked. You both now have your own Shikigami!"

"I was honestly worried there for a moment," admitted Ethnobalt, "it's rare for a ritual to fail but it's not necessarily common for it to go so fast either."

"But it's still good news," said Kizuna, "since it worked that means the person the catalyst belonged too is still alive!"

"That's wonderful," said Rishia, "this means that Raphtalia and Rifana are safe!"

"To at least one degree or another," said Darius as he and Naofumi both stood up. The Armory Hero's Shikigami moved to hang off his shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world while Naofumi held his up with his left arm while it clung to his chest. "Unfortunately, that doesn't mean they'll stay that way."

"Darius is right," said Naofumi, "and we still need to figure out a way to locate Johann and Filo too. Still, I'd like to thank you for your help, Ethnobalt."

"Think nothing of it," replied the Rabbit Man, "I'm more than happy to help you locate your friends."

"So once we locate our friends, how will we get to them," asked Rishia, "can we use Return Dragon Vein like we did last time?"

"I doubt it," said Kizuna, "we broke through the trap that so-called genius set for us last time, but now they'll have all the hourglasses watched or even blocked off. Fortunately, Ethnobalt here has a way more amazing way to get around."

"Does it have something to do with him being the Vassal Boat Wielder," Darius asked offhandedly.

"Oh, you've heard of that, have you?" Asked Ethnobalt, "did Kizuna mention it?"

"It's one of my abilities," explained the Armory Hero, "I can identify weapons to one degree or another, though it seems to take longer with cardinal weapons and more vehicular-like weapons."

"Interesting," said the Vassal Boat Wielder, "still, the true capabilities of this Vassal Weapon are best demonstrated elsewhere, please follow me." The group did so and walked for a few minutes, exiting the castle and proceeding out to a forested area. There, Ethnobalt finally hopped off of the platform he'd been floating on. Without any seeming prompting, the platform grew and changed shape until it was very much the size and shape of a ship, a tea-pot shaped ship with a white top and a black bottom that was decorated in gold trim with four sets of giant blue feathers sprouting out of the back and sides.

"It…. it's floating," said Rishia in amazement at the sight before them.

"I'm not sure I could actually replicate something that big," mused Darius as he continued to analyze the Vassal Weapon, "but I just realized something."

"Yeah," agreed Naofumi, "we're actually about to ride on a Final Fantasy style airship."

"Final what," said Rishia and Ethnobalt in confusion. But the three weebs just laughed before boarding the ship. Interestingly, the deck of the ship seemed to have marble flooring as opposed to wood flooring and in its center was a type of black control console and a holographic map which was being displayed by what looked like a black and gold coffin.

"Alright Chris," said Kizuna as she set her Shikigami down on the console, "show me where Glass is." The Blue Penguin nodded before rubbing its hands together and pointing to a specific spot on the holographic globe.

"You do the same, Rina, find Rifana," instructed Darius as his own familiar leapt off his shoulder and pointed to the same location as Chris was.

"Rina," asked Naofumi with a raised eyebrow, "you've named your Shikigami already?"

"You mean you haven't," replied the Armory Hero with a raised eyebrow, "I'll admit mine was pretty simplistic given that it's Rifana's name without a few letters. And because she says 'rin-rin'."

"You're right," said the Shield Hero as he looked at his own Shikigami, "that is more simplistic than most of your naming schemes, but it'll work fine here. Alright Raph-chan, find Raphtalia." The raccoon familiar nodded before hopping down and pointing at, once again, the same spot as Chris and Rina.

"Raph-chan," mused Kizuna, "you realize that means her name with an honorific would be Raph-chan-chan, right?"

"It's not like anyone from my world is going to use such an honorific," said Naofumi with a sigh, "anyway, tell me about where they're pointing."

"The good news is they all seem to be in the same place," observed Ethnobalt from his station at the controls, "the bad news is that country is the Label country."

"Label," repeated Darius, "if this country is the Sickle country and named after the Vassal Scythe Wielder, shit."

"That's right," affirmed Kizuna, "it's the country of the Book Hero and it's allied with Mikakage, the ones who threw me in the Infinite Labyrinth. That Kazuki-guy is from there, too."

"Just how many enemies does your country have," asked Naofumi.

"More than we'd like," sighed Kizuna, "the worlds on edge right now with the Waves going on and one wrong move could start a war."

"All the more reason to find our friends," said Darius, "they'd clearly be considered some kind of odd exotic species at best and foreign spies at worst. Moreover, it'd probably be bad if they caught the Fan and Scythe heroes running around in their country."

"If they haven't already," said the Hunting Hero, "but I imagine you'd all want to go even if it might be a trap."

"The possibility of a trap wouldn't stop you from going after Glass, would it," the Shield Hero pointed out.

"Not in the slightest," said Kizuna with her arms crossed, "so with that settled it looks like we're ready to go, Ethnobalt."

"Then I'll warp us as close as I can," said the Vassal Boat Wielder.

"Amazing, this ship is capable of using portals," said Rishia in awe at the vehicle's abilities.

"Something similar to that," replied Ethnobalt, "the ship rides along the connections between dragon hourglasses. This means we don't have to worry about registering at one first nor do we have to appear right in front of it."

"It would be bad if we dropped this big boat in the middle of the enemy's headquarters," said Rishia with a nervous laugh.

"Still, it's an improvement over the run of the mill dragon vein trick," said Darius, "makes me wonder how the laws of this world affect our own teleportation abilities?"

"It'd be an interesting experiment to conduct for later," said Ethnobalt, "though I should mention I won't be able to go in the enemy's territory with you as I'm not that suited for combat."

"That's fine," said Naofumi, "just getting us close is already more than enough." Rishia and Darius affirmed this with a nod.

"I'm merely glad I can be of use to Lady Kizuna once more," said Ethnobalt with a smile before holding his hand over the control console. A familiar feeling surrounded them as a gold glow signaled their teleportation. When it stopped, they were outside of another Japanese style town. Ethnobalt dropped them off and teleported away, saying he'd wait for word from them to return.

Next came infiltrating the town which was surprisingly easy. Apparently word hadn't spread to this particular country about Kizuna's escape or their break in at the dragon's hourglass in Mikakage's capital. "It looks like Mikakage in a lot of respects," observed Naofumi, "but there are some modern implements here." Indeed it was somewhat strange for the two Cardinal Heroes to see streetlamps after months of getting used to torch lamps.

"So the good news is our friends here know the location of our companions," said Darius, indicating their Shikigami, "but right now they're all pointing in the same direction and can't really tell us if they're even in this particular town. Maybe we should get a map of the local area for more specific directions."

"That might prove helpful," agreed Kizuna, "we might be able to find one at a local Inn or a Vagabond Association."

"Before we even bother spending money on a map," said Naofumi as he brought up his HUD, "it'd probably be just as quick to-." His eyes widened then as he looked at his screen. "Kizuna, a Shikigami can track either one of the people who made it, right?"

"Huh, of course," said the Hunting Hero, "that's why Glass held onto Chris, he could track me down anywhere in the world."

"Could a Shikigami even track the blood of the owner," the Shield Hero further inquired, a note of urgency in his voice.

"I think so, I've never tried before," said the Hunting Hero, a little unnerved by her comrade's sudden interest in tracking blood.

"Alright, Raph-chan," he said as he looked the Shikigami in the eye, "right now forget about finding Raphtalia. I need you to find my blood right now, blood I used in a ritual." The raccoon familiar nodded in understanding before jumping over to Rishia and putting its paw right below her collarbone. "Yes, good, now see if you can find another one like that."

The Shikigami did as requested and bolted down the street, in the opposite direction they'd been going. "Naofumi what is it?!" Rishia exclaimed as they chased after the Shield Hero who'd broken into a run.

"Does he do this sort of thing a lot," Kizuna asked as they cut through the crowd.

"You mean fail to explain things like a sensible person would," replied the Armory Hero, "on occasion. But if I had to guess, he's looking for the blood he used on a slave crest and since Raph-chan wasn't pointing in this direction before, then Filo must be nearby."

"That must be what he saw when he was looking at that HUD thing," added Rishia as they finally caught up to Naofumi. He'd stopped outside a larger building with numerous signs on the roof and awnings. Whatever show was happening, though, it appeared to be over.

"We're closed for today," announced a man from inside the building, "come back and see the celestial maiden tomorrow!"

"Celestial Maiden," said Kizuna in confusion as they tried to get a better look inside. Though some odd snippets of conversation were also coming from the crowd.

"Is that really singing? It's certainly a different language, she sounds more like she's crying than singing." Those and other comments came from the crowd, but it was Rishia who confirmed their fears.

"Everyone look," she said while pointing to a painted poster, "it's Filo!" Sure enough, even if they couldn't read the writing the drawing was unmistakable: a small girl with long blond hair and bird wings. As far as any of them knew, no such race existed in Glass's world.

"No! Help me! Raphtalia, Rishia, Master!" Yelled the all too familiar voice of the Filolial girl as they finally got a look inside to see her being dragged away by the apparent showrunner. She had a chain on her leg and her wrists were bound, but in spite of that she was fighting with all of her might. But it was a losing battle as the journey to this world had had the same effect on her as it had the rest of the Shield and Armory Hero's groups, she'd lost her strength in a level down.

"Filo," said Naofumi through gritted teeth as his Wrath Shield manifested on his arm.

"Right behind you," said Darius as his Greed and Sloth bands manifested. It was only thanks to the intervention of Rishia and Kizuna that they didn't immediately tear the whole place down.

"Naofumi wait, now's not the time!" Exclaimed Rishia as she grabbed and pulled with all of her strength against the Shield Hero's arm.

"Rishia's right," said Kizuna, mirroring Rishia by yanking on Darius's arm, "if we cause a fuss now things might get even worse!"

"That asshole needs to die," snarled the Shield Hero, "let me go now or I'll-."

"We can rescue Filo later," begged Rishia, "we can go in undercover of night and get her out. That way we won't risk hurting other people!" This statement, and both girls determined glares, seemed to do the trick as the two cardinal heroes stopped, their cursed weapons now disappearing for the time being.

"You're right," admitted Naofumi after taking a deep breath, "our priority is getting Filo back unharmed."

"I can't make any promises about what'll happen if we do run into the asshole responsible, though," added Darius.

"We should keep talk like that to ourselves for now," said Kizuna, "hopefully no one overheard all of that, so let's get going."

Later That Night: Mansion of a Nobleman

The group asked around town while they were waiting for the sun to set and learned that the one holding Filo was a moronic son of a noble who liked showcasing rare and interesting finds as a hobby. Expectedly, his track record with treatment of the animals wasn't great. "Well it doesn't seem like a trap so far," noted Kizuna as the four of them crouched on a nearby rooftop, "it would be a somewhat elaborate setup to pull off, though maybe not for a guy like Kyo."

"I don't give a shit," said Naofumi, "we're going in there to get Filo and if we have to torture that guy until he talks then that's what we have to do."

"Makes me glad I brought a couple of maiming weapons with me," added Darius.

"Maybe we should at least try some questioning first before moving to torture," suggested Kizuna, "if you guys kill him on accident then we'll have a harder time finding Filo."

"Don't worry," said Rishia, "Naofumi and I can heal him as many times as we need too. He won't die until he's told us everything." The trio then leap off the roof and into a walled off area with a backdoor.

"Jeez, you guys can be really scary when you want to be," said the Hunting Hero with a sigh before following after them. "Before we go any further, at least let me use one of my skills."

"One of your skills," questioned Naofumi, "you have something that can hide all of us?"

"Of course," replied Kizuna as she partially drew her weapon, "I am the Hunting Hero, after all. Now here goes: Invisible Hunter." A type of aura seemed to surround them then as they proceeded past the cages of the animals outside. Oddly, none of them woke up or even seemed to notice their passing.

"Nice trick," complimented Darius, "it's like the 'Hide Sword' ability but for the whole party. I can definitely make use of this later."

"You should know that it has its limits," replied Kizuna, "it can hide our presence and footfalls, but magic can still be used to detect us. If that happens the effect wears off."

"Nothing's perfect," said the Armory Hero as they continued on to a door. It was magically locked but Naofumi's ability with magic craftsmanship allowed them to open it without forcing the lock. The group then moved along through the mansion, noting the lack of security was due to most of the guards being drunk off their asses, and sleeping in whatever room they felt like, including the hallway. Even with their footfalls quieted, the group was still forced to tiptoe around in a few places.

Fortunately, they didn't have to search aimlessly as Raph-chan led the way, still following the trail of Naofumi's blood on Filo's seal. The group eventually entered a room full of various kinds of birds, one of which got very excited upon their entry. "What kind of bird is that," asked Rishia as she approached the small white fowl. It was in a pretty basic birdcage but for some reason the bird had some kind of ofuda tag on its chest.

"That's a Humming Fairy," explained Kizuna, "they're bird monsters that can sing. This particular one is a chick."

"But Filo is a Filolial," said Rishia, "and she was much bigger than this."

"No this is her alright," said Naofumi as he looked closer at the bird, noticing some distinctive markings around its eyes, "Raph-chan is pointing to her and she noticed our presence. That should only be possible if she's a member of the party." The Humming Fairy seemed to agree by nodding its head and flapping its wings excitedly.

"But how can that be?" Questioned Rishia, "she would've had to change species."

"Maybe and maybe not," said Darius, "both Filo and Johann started off really small when they hatched but the pair grew at an exponentially fast rate thanks to bonuses from our weapons. It's possible going back to level one also regressed her growth."

"Filo," said Naofumi, relief clear in his voice, "is everything alright, are you not able to transform?"

"It's probably these tags," said Kizuna as she pointed to the paper talismans on Filo and the cage, "they're enslavement charms. Normally they're put directly on a monster to seal it."

"That might explain why I've been getting so much interference even when we're this close," surmised the Shield Hero, "Darius, cut the cage open."

"But what about the talisman on her?" Asked Rishia, not sure what would happen if they simply yanked it off.

"I'll activate her slave crest," said Naofumi, "if it works like I think it does then it should destroy the charm. Ready Darius?"

"All set over here," said the Armory Hero as he summoned a ninjato to his hand.

"Alright, here goes!" Exclaimed the Cardinal Hero as he activated the tag. Purple electricity shown brilliantly for a moment as the charm on Filo's front disintegrated. "Now Darius!" The Armory Hero needed no incentive as he used his mask and slashed with a precise move he saw Yomogi use during their travels, not only cutting the cage but also avoiding hitting the chick inside. The moment she was out of the cage, a puff of smoke revealed a familiar winged girl to them all.

"MAAAAAAASTER!" Exclaimed Filo as she leapt into Naofumi's arms, understandably bawling her eyes out. "You're here, you're really here!"

"Yes, it's alright now Filo, I'm here," said the Shield Hero soothingly while stroking her hair.

"Huh, what's all this noise," said an annoyed, and slurring voice as a scruffy looking man wearing a large black fur coat walked in, unfortunately awoken by Filo's cries of relief, "who in the world are you? A bunch of criminals here to steal my source of revenue?!"

"Funny," said Darius as he switched to his Sea Serpent's whip and began wrapping it around his arm, "where I come from kidnapping and child abuse are crimes. Even if you couldn't understand what she was saying, cries of pain are pretty universal."

"What are you going on about," said the scruffy noble as a side door opened to reveal the rest of the apparent 'guards' all walking in. Expectedly they were in various states of grogginess. "Ah good, you men, capture these fools!"

"I'll leave that asshole to you," said Darius to Naofumi as he finished shortening the Sea Serpent's Whip, "I need to vent a little." Kizuna attempted to protest but the Armory Hero had already shot forward and slammed his fist so hard into the first guard that it sent him flying back into the others. He then went to work swinging the shortened weapon among the crowd, the nerve toxin in its teeth quickly rendering them immobile. Of course, it was the lucky ones who got the whip, the not so lucky ones were met with hardened knuckles and powerful kicks.

Rina even got in on the scene by headbutting or kicking the drunkards in the heads, stomachs, knees and even their groins with a strength that belied her small size. In hardly a minute the exchange was over as the injured and immobile guards lay beaten at the Armory Hero's feet. "W-What in the world," said the now trembling noble, "who are you people?"

"I'm Filo's owner," said Naofumi as he switched his shield to that of a white lion's head crossed with a monkey, his Nue Shield. It let out a roar then which wasn't so loud to the party but seemed ear-shattering to the noble who covered his ears and closed his eyes. When he opened them, though, all was not well as he was now in a cage with horrid demonic faces laughing at him and demanding he sing. The man let out a terrified screaming, now claiming it was his father's idea to put Filo in the show, but such an excuse wouldn't fly when it was his decision to hurt her, and thus the torment continued until the man finally lost consciousness from fright.

"Well now," said Kizuna as she surveyed their handiwork, "are you two satisfied after all of that?"

"It'll have to be good enough," said Naofumi as he took a calming breath. Darius also desummoned his whip, something he was actually glad Rifana wasn't around to see before joining the others.

"We should probably get going now," said the Armory Hero, "even if Kizuna's skill remained active it probably didn't muffle the sound of that ass whooping just now."

"No kidding," said the Hunting Hero as she opened a nearby window and peered out to see some people wandering the streets with lit lamps. By the time anyone came to search the mansion, though, the heroes and their party members were already long gone.

Nighttime: The Forest Outside of Town

"Gotta admit," said Kizuna, "I didn't know your shield could do something like that. And I didn't know you two could be so vicious, either and I've actually fought you before."

"Not sure if L'arc mentioned what I said to him at Cal Mira," replied Darius, "but our world is something of a mess itself. I lost count of the number of bandit assholes I've killed, and we've taken down more than one corrupt noble. So unsurprisingly we have little tolerance for people who behave in a similar manner, especially when they hurt our friends."

"Guess I should be happy you didn't turn the place into a bloodbath," admitted the Hunting Hero.

"And Naofumi's shield kind of broke the mind of that noble's son after he confessed everything," said Rishia, "though I think it didn't work on us because we've got a much higher resistance to intimidation effects."

"I'm still not sure I buy what he said about his dad finding Filo unconscious," said Kizuna with her arms crossed.

"It was just as likely Kyo who gave her too him," said Naofumi, "either way it's just one more reason to take that piece of shit down."

"Just hurting a cute little one like her is already more than enough reason for me," said Kizuna, "though something's still bothering me. Why is it her race was changed to that of a Humming Fairy?"

"You mentioned Filolials don't exist in this world," said the Shield Hero, "what likely happened is she was assigned as close a race as possible to a Filolial since this world's rules are different. Though being a future Filolial Queen she seems to have retained her ability to transform."

"Might also explain why Rina and Raph-chan have some slight differences from what they would be in our world," added Darius while petting said Shikigami. He honestly found the activity soothing as did Naofumi, even if he wouldn't admit it, because their Shikigami's fur had a similar feel to their companion's actual hair, which wasn't so surprising given the source of their creation.

"Ah it's a lot to take in after everything else today," said Kizuna, "let's head to sleep for now and figure out the rest tomorrow." This seemed a good idea to everyone as they put out the fire and got to sleep with one person staying up to watch. Though it was more like two people as Filo insisted on sleeping curled up with Naofumi. As for Darius, he was plenty happy that they'd found Filo, but it also made him worry all the more about Johann and the others. 'Where are all of you,' he thought while trying to keep down his anxiety, 'where are you?'

The Next Day: Back In Town

"No, this is my master," said Filo as she clung to Naofumi while they walked. She'd been this way since they'd woken up and seemed to be a bit concerned about Raph-chan riding on the Shield Hero's shoulder.

"Well she doesn't seem frightened anymore but she's not leaving Naofumi's side any time soon," noted Kizuna.

"I don't blame her, she was probably very scared," said Rishia.

"Who are these two furry things anyway, Master," asked Filo, "they smile like Big-Sis Raphtalia and Rifana."

"The two of them are known as Shikigami," explained the Shield Hero, "we made them just yesterday using strands of Raphtalia and Rifana's hair. I call her Raph-chan and Darius's is named Rina."

"Rafuu! Rin-rin!" Cheered the two Shikigami happily. The good news was that despite Filo's clinginess it seemed Raph-chan wouldn't get jealous easily.

"That reminds me, we were never properly introduced after Cal Mira," said the Hunting Hero to Filo, "I'm Kizuna Kazayama, and this is my Shikigami, Chris!" The penguin familiar chirped an affirmative while waving from atop his owner's head.

"Oh, well since you're helping Master now, I think that means I can call you Big-Sis Kizuna!" Said Filo with a smile.

"Please do," said Kizuna with a goofy smile, "Big-Sis Kizuna. She's a good girl isn't she, Naofumi?"

"I think it would be fine if she just called you Kizuna-chan," joked the Shield Hero, getting a frown out of the shorter hero. All other conversation fell off, though, when they approached one of the message boards detailing recent news. "That's right, the news might've already spread about Filo. You'd best hide for now." The bird girl did as instructed fitting nicely into Naofumi's collar thanks to still being the size of a chick.

"What does the news say," asked Rishia, being just as illiterate about this world's language as the other heroes and their party members.

"Like we suspected there's a report about Filo," read the Hunting Hero, "but the good news is it was fairly dark, and everything happened too fast for those drunks to really remember any identifying features of us."

"Guess that's one problem we won't have to worry too much about as long as Filo isn't seen," said Darius.

"Yeah but this other report looks worse," said Kizuna, "apparently someone stole the Vassal Katana. They located the perpetrators whereabouts but have so far been unable to successfully capture them."

"It sounds like a problem but not something that has much to do with….," the Shield Hero's eyes suddenly widened as he noticed something in his HUD, "what, what's going on?"

"What is it Naofumi?" Asked Rishia, having learned to recognize the look of almost panic in her party leader's eyes as a bad sign.

"Raphtalia's slave crest," he replied while still staring in horror, "and her stats. They all just, disappeared!"

If you want to know the true measure of a weeb, give them anime power. In all seriousness, though, the situation keeps going like a rollercoaster for our heroes with every bit of good news being met shortly afterward with bad news. What could this latest development mean? We shall find out in the next chapter, in the meantime feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. And be sure to check out my book, Plains Riders, on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited! Stop in next time as our hero's search leads them to more than a few familiar faces. 'Til then.