Virtue of the Shield Hero

by Allen Blaster

According to Newton's Third Law, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Unfortunately, Naofumi and co will find this to be especially true after returning from their Otherworld trip. Rest of Summary inside. The third installment is here. Multiple pairings. Covers Season Three Territory and beyond. Arc 10: Chapters Thirteen: Part One: Death Match

120. 57: Parallels of Life and Pain

Tojot, thanks for nitpicking that particular detail about Chris's Santa hat. My memory failed me, and I have now fixed the mistake. Thank you for being brave enough to point out that error. And I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

People are probably wondering why I haven't given an opinion on Season two yet. I'm choosing to wait till the end before I give any verdict, since they've done things differently in a significant manner. I like some things and not some other things. I'll wait till the end before I give my thoughts on it.

If anything, right now, I'm more worried about people trying to copy paste everything in season two for a story, and having those people cause headaches for people like me when they undoubtedly butcher the setting even further than they did in the first season with all the fanon they'll make up to railroad the latest stuff to have the anime plotline try to make sense despite changes they introduced before indicating VERY different things needing to happen and… well, that'd be a long rant if I went into details.

Did I ever mention how annoyed I was by these copy paste stories when I was trying to find something good to read starting out in this fandom? I hope I'm not the only one out there. This place really needs more creativity. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

---

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Parallels of Life and Pain

---

Itsuki started first, explaining what'd happened to him since they'd been separated between worlds.

Naofumi learned that Kyo had thrown the Bow Hero deep into some kind of book-filled Labyrinth solely because of how annoying he'd been during their fight. At first, Itsuki thought it'd be impossible to escape since he was only level 1 and the monsters outside were far too strong for him to damage. And he hadn't been sure if he'd be able to sneak his way through the Labyrinth without grabbing their attention either.

Then, Itsuki discovered that fire wasn't allowed in the place. So he took a gamble in trying to use fire repeatedly to get kicked out of the place.

On hearing him say that, Rishia's eyes widened in surprise. "Was the place you were in called the Ancient Library Labyrinth?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" Itsuki replied, sounding surprised.

"Sir Naofumi, that rumor we heard." Rishia turned to face the Shield Hero.

"Yeah, the one about the group of idiots who were kicked out of that library and got imprisoned by a tribe of rabbits for breaking the rules." Naofumi gave Itsuki a deadpan look. "So that was you?"

…

The Bow Hero chuckled as he rubbed the side of his neck nervously. "To be perfectly fair, we were only level one. We didn't really have too many options."

"... We?" Naofumi asked, a hopeful look appearing in his eyes.

"Yeah, Aksel and Maya are here with me too." Itsuki finally revealed, making Rishia's eyes sparkle while Naofumi's became downcast.

"Oh thank goodness! Are they close?!" The green-haired girl asked excitedly.

"They're currently outside the castle, hunting monsters with some of our soldiers. They've been doing that almost nonstop since I brought them here. I've never seen a pair so motivated to raise their levels before." The silver haired boy with Itsuki began to speak at last. His face still shone with overwhelming joy and relief, but he hadn't yet moved to greet Kizuna.

Itsuki nodded his head at his words. In the corner of his HUD, he saw as he received a notification that Maya and Aksel had leveled up once again, indicating his friends had successfully killed another monster. He was no longer getting any experience thanks to both Kizuna and Naofumi being near him.

"Greetings, by the way. My name is Ethnobalt." The boy introduced himself. "I'm also known as the Boat Hero of this world."

"Naofumi." The Shield Hero shook his hand. He thought his name over in his mind for a moment. "You wouldn't happen to be a monster that transforms into a human, would you?"

"Oh? Yes, I am indeed. Glass and L'Arc have spoken of me then, I presume?" The Boat Hero asked curiously.

"I don't think Glass did. But L'Arc and Therese, definitely. They mentioned you a few times at Cal Mira, and a couple times after that before we came here." Naofumi explained how his daughter was like him. A monster that could also transform and take on a human appearance.

Ethnobalt smiled. "That, along with the name you have given me, must mean you're the Shield Hero of your world." Naofumi's eyebrow quirked up, and he looked at Itsuki for an explanation but Ethnobalt spoke again. "L'Arc and Therese told me about you and Itsuki the last time they were here. They mentioned that it was because of you two and another hero named Ren that they'd changed their minds about hunting down the Heroes of other worlds."

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense." Naofumi nodded. "Are they here too, by any chance?"

Ethnobalt shook his head. "I'm afraid not. We haven't heard from them since they departed on a journey to train in another world with Glass. Though, I surmise that world turned out to be yours based on what Itsuki here has told me."

Naofumi nodded. Ethnobalt sighed. "And then, there's also the matter of Kyo, which Itsuki told me about before your arrival as well. I still struggle to understand or believe why he'd turn on our world like this… but I can't deny that somebody placed Itsuki in an impossible area with the intention to kill."

"I told Kizuna about him too, and she didn't believe me and Rishia either. She said she'd rather have it verified by L'Arc and Glass before she made a decision." Naofumi nodded again, this time in annoyance. "You can wait to hear it from them yourself if you need to."

"..." Ethnobalt looked at his staff in contemplation for a moment, and then at Naofumi and Rishia again. "I would thank you for safely guiding Kizuna home, Naofumi, Rishia, but I am not sure if words alone would ever be able to express in full the sheer level of mine and everyone else's gratitude. We might be able to host a feast later, but for now could you perhaps tell me how you were able to find her and bring her back?"

Naofumi did so. Starting with how Kyo had separated them as they were traveling between worlds just like Itsuki. He explained how Rishia and him had been thrown in a place called the Infinite Labyrinth. He then explained how Kizuna had saved them from monsters, how they learned that she was L'Arc and Glass's missing friend, and how they worked together to escape around a week ago.

"I… I was wondering why Chris suddenly began acting up back then. When I picked up Itsuki and he told me about what'd happened, I'd assumed Chris was trying to tell me that Glass was back somewhere in the world. Though it wouldn't explain his excitement." Ethnobalt looked from Naofumi to Kizuna, who now had the Penguin monster resting on her shoulder as she talked to others.

It had a very happy smile on its face as it cuddled with her hair. Again, it was weird how expressive it was. Yet, it was also cute in a way.

"What do you mean by acting up?" Naofumi asked.

"Chris is a shikigami that I created for Glass and Kizuna years ago. I decided to do it because Kizuna can't fight other people and a shikigami would be the perfect bodyguard to help in such situations. It also has the benefit of being able to find either of the pair it is connected to, even if they're on the opposite sides of the world." Ethnobalt explained.

"When Kizuna disappeared though, neither Chris or I was ever able to determine where she was. Though knowing she has been in the Infinite Labyrinth all this time, it makes sense. The dimensional anomalies in that place would have made locating her impossible…" Ethnobalt shook his head. "I'm sorry for interrupting, please continue."

Naofumi did so. Though he wanted to ask about these familiars later. If they could find someone anywhere in the world…

Itsuki shuffled around a little bit during that part of the talk, but he hadn't said anything.

Weird.

Anyway, the Shield Hero left out his depressive episodes. It was obvious that Ethnobalt was intently focused on Kizuna so he talked about what they'd done after escaping the Labyrinth.

However, that didn't stop him from also mentioning how Rishia had proven her worth in various ways, whether it was from fighting monsters or learning to read and roughly speak one of the languages of this world. He did that more for Itsuki's sake though rather than the monster/human hero in front of him.

"You've already learned how to speak one of this world's languages?" Itsuki asked Rishia in surprise.

The girl blushed, but had a small smile on her face. "U-Um, a little bit. I figured I'd be useless otherwise, so…"

Itsuki kept looking from Naofumi to Rishia, his eyes growing wider in wonder and fascination at how well she'd handled herself compared to him.

Seizing the opportunity that the lull in the conversation had made, Naofumi leaned over to Itsuki to whisper in his ear. "Needless to say, I wouldn't be here right now without her help. You really know how to pick them, now you just need to stop beating around the bush and confess your feelings to her already."

"Fue?" Rishia and Ethnobalt tilted their heads curiously at Naofumi whispering only to Itsuki.

The Bow Hero flushed crimson red in embarrassment. "I, um, I'm glad that Rishia was able to do so much while she was with you. Thank you for protecting her, Naofumi." Itsuki tried to say without too much embarrassment leaking into his voice as he bowed his head.

Naofumi sighed. This stubborn kid. He knew better than to push it though, so he leaned back away from the Bow Hero.

"Anyway, that's good." The Bow Hero coughed into his hand before turning around to face Rishia again. "Maybe you can help Aksel and Maya out then? They still can't understand anything that's said to them. So the soldiers with them have to communicate via signs."

"Oh, yeah! I'd love to do that!" Rishia replied happily as her face shone with excitement.

It really was too adorable. Itsuki's face flushed even more red. "So, how did you end up from that book Labyrinth to here? Weren't you supposed to be a prisoner or something?" Naofumi put the conversation back on track.

"That would be because of me." Ethnobalt spoke out again. "You see, besides being the Boat Hero, I am also the leader of the Librarian rabbit tribe that imprisoned Itsuki."

The young man then proceeded to explain how a few days ago, he'd been alerted that somebody had broken the rules of the Ancient Library Labyrinth, which all librarian rabbits held a connection too. He'd left to address it when time appeared in his schedule to see what punishments he'd have to give out on those who'd disrespected the place. He'd expected it to be just a random group of tourists or something who'd had too much to drink, as this had happened before plenty of times.

"When I got there though, I met Itsuki and realized that he was one of the heroes that L'Arc had befriended. I also learned that he hadn't entered through the entrance, but had been placed deep inside the labyrinth in an area even I would have had trouble finding.

"I still find it strange that neither me nor my brethren sensed the intrusion… but after that, I calmed down my fellow tribesmen and ordered Itsuki and his allies to be freed." Ethnobalt finished.

"Lucky." Naofumi directed a flat stare at the Bow Hero.

"Not really," Itsuki scratched the back of his neck. "I've had to deal with a lot of suspicion since getting here. Even if L'Arc and the others changed their minds, the people here are still skeptical about Heroes from another world."

"They do know that we decided to try and find a way to save their world too, right?" Naofumi pointed out.

"Ah... … so… so that is true, then?" Ethnobalt breathed out. Though he appeared calm, his eyes sparkled with hope.

"Yeah, it's kind of another reason why I helped Kizuna so much. We told L'Arc we'd do whatever we could to save both of our worlds." Naofumi said as if it was obvious. "After hearing about that dumb legend of yours, we've been trying to gather what knowledge we can of the Waves back in our world. We haven't had any luck so far, but we're looking wherever we can for information that could help both of us out."

"I, I see…" Ethnobalt shook his head. "This changes things. If we could find L'Arc and have him say that to the people, that would go a long way in getting rid of their skepticism towards you. It would be a tremendous help."

"Bringing Kizuna back isn't enough?" Naofumi asked in disbelief.

"Kizuna is our Hero and the people love her. But L'Arc, he is-" Ethnobalt began to reply.

Kizuna suddenly shrieked in delight. "Oh my gods! Ethnobalt! You're here too!"

The girl literally flew through the air as she slammed into the Boat Hero, nearly knocking him over. He squeaked in surprise and Naofumi, Rishia, and Itsuki stepped back in shock as the platform beneath the rabbitman teetered and tottered. Yet Kizuna laughed happily as she rubbed her face against his cheek. "I missed you so much! It's sooooo good to see you again, Ethnobalt!"

"Pen! Pen!" Chris reflected his master's happiness on her shoulder.

"I-I'm happy to see you too Kizuna!" Ethnobalt eventually started laughing. "But could you please get off before you send us tumbling to the floor?!"

Naofumi and Itsuki breathed out a sigh of relief. Kizuna's speed had really taken them all off guard there.

Kizuna continued to laugh as she let go of the Boat Hero and dropped to her feet. Ethnobalt adjusted his robes, but smiled genuinely with tears in his eyes. "It is truly good to see you again. We'd feared this day would never come."

"Well don't worry! I'm here now, and I'm not ever disappearing like that again!" Kizuna put her hands on her hips and stood tall and proud before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

"Alright."

Naofumi suddenly felt a strangely familiar chill travel down his spine. Itsuki began to squirm in place awkwardly while looking around in confusion. Whatever it was, he was sensing it too.

"F-Fueh?" Rishia also began to look nervous at the Bow Hero's reaction.

"Um... Kizuna?" Ethnobalt asked the girl nervously.

...

"Bunny."

...

She opened her eyes after saying it, her globes shining with determination.

A deathly silence set in over the previously murmuring room. A large drop of sweat traveled down the Boat Hero's forehead.

"Bunny." Kizuna repeated firmly and took a step forward.

Stifled chuckles and snickering began to break out from the crowd behind her that was previously patiently standing there and waiting for Kizuna to finish speaking to the Boat Hero.

"K-Kizuna, I know we haven't seen each other in years but you know I don't like to transform in front of others-" The Boat Hero floated backwards a bit.

"Bunny." Kizuna took another step forward, her foot driving itself into the floor and making one of the marble tiles crack. Waves of power began to emanate from her figure. Naofumi, Itsuki and Rishia cautiously stepped away from her.

The crowd of people continued to make a brave effort in suppressing their mirth, some of them sliding down on the floor and punching it with one hand while holding the other over their mouths. Tears were starting to leak from their eyes.

…

Ethnobalt closed his eyes and let out a very, very, very deep sigh before knocking the base of his staff against the floor twice.

Within a blink of an eye, Ethnobalt's shape changed in a bright flash of magical light, not unlike the one that usually accompanied Filo or Fitoria's transformation.

In place of the robed young man now stood a pudgy, fluffy, man-sized rabbit with fuzzy fur as white and pristine as fresh snow. His tiny red eyes blinked repeatedly, still shining with kindness and intelligence despite their bestial shape. Ethnobalt continued to stand on his hind legs in this form, which made him slightly taller than what he was like as a human. The reason for it was the pair of soft, long, fleshy ears that twitched around on top of his head, turning this way and that as they scanned the room for noises. His little button shaped nose sniffed at the air cautiously, making his whiskers twitch around in a way that could only be described as sickeningly adorable. And to complete the ensemble, his robe had transformed into a cute tie that was now wrapped around his neck.

Only two words came to Naofumi's mind.

Big Chungus.

Naofumi pondered on this. Kizuna had first arrived to this world when she was what... ten years old? Twelve years old? Was Sickle allied with the librarian rabbits at that point already? If not, then they probably had done so shortly afterward, since from what they were described as, the librarian rabbits sounded like the reasonable sort with a lot of common sense to Naofumi. Ones who would not waste time when the world was being besieged by an evil dragon. And if Kizuna met Ethnobalt for the first time back then and saw him in this form as a little girl from Japan...

"Itsuki, Rishia, cover your ears." The Shield Hero warned them.

"F-Fueh? Why-" Before the green-haired girl could protest, the Bow Hero hastily grabbed her hands and put them over her ears before covering his own.

Just in time, as it turned out.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Kizuna let out a painfully long, ear-splitting and high pitched squeal of delight that would have made any Voice Gengar who heard it resign on the spot and succumb to alcoholism afterward from the knowledge that it would never be able to match it, let alone top it.

The well dressed hunting hero bounced over to the bunny man who let out another tired sigh of exasperation and held his hands out in a well-practiced motion, catching the girl this time in his embrace while she squirmed around, rubbing herself all over his incredibly soft and cuddly body.

The resolve of the crowd of people watching this unfold finally broke and the Dragon Hourglass entrance hall broke out into uproarious laughter.

Naofumi closed his eyes and thought back on Melty and what she was usually like around Filo and Filolials in general.

Yup, everything checked out. He did not dare to take his hands off his ears yet though.

Eventually, Kizuna jumped down from Ethnobalt, and with a poof of light, he transformed back into his human form. He looked slightly embarrassed, but he was smiling at her. "I hadn't realized how much I missed you doing that." He admitted. "Just, don't do it too often, please."

"No promises!" Kizuna smiled widely, though tears hung in the corners of her eyes as she hugged the human rabbit boy again. "Really though, I missed you… I really missed all of my friends so much! You have no idea how happy doing that just made me!"

The Boat Hero accepted the hug, and they rested their heads on each other's shoulders.

Naofumi smiled a little this time. Here was a good wholesome moment he could appreciate.

"Fueh…" Rishia smiled wholesomely too. Itsuki saw the look on her face and it made him blush in embarrassment again as he thought about the hug they'd shared just minutes ago.

…

Ethnobalt sighed in relief. But eventually, for the first time, his eyes narrowed as he moved Kizuna back to arms length. "Something is going to have to be done. The Mirror's Country has gone too far by hiding you from us for all this time. Our world would be a much different place if you'd been there to help at the start!"

"Oh, Naofumi and Rishia already told you about that, huh? But yea, I'll want to personally lead our forces in destroying them when the time comes." Kizuna said, her smile dropping as a serious look crossed her face. But it was quickly replaced by a smile once again. "Though, that can wait till after we locate Naofumi's wife friend and daughter! They take first priority before that!"

"Oh, you're married?" Ethnobalt asked the Shield Hero in surprise.

Naofumi opened his mouth to explain, but Itsuki cut him off. "He might as well be. I told you about him and Raphtalia before, didn't I?"

Naofumi glared at the Bow Hero while Itsuki smirked back cockily as if daring Naofumi to do something about this.

Naofumi leaned in and whispered into Rishia's ear. "When you two get married, I'm so going to perform the ceremony myself, so I can laugh in Itsuki's face."

"F-FUEH!?" Rishia whimpered in surprise. Itsuki looked confused and nervous about what Naofumi had whispered to the girl to make her so red. Naofumi only smirked and cockily winked back, as if daring Itsuki to find out what he told his 'best friend.'

"Ah, yes, I remember now." Ethnobalt cut off the fun as he nodded thoughtfully. "Looks like our work isn't done yet then. I should go around and consult my sources again. Perhaps something new has come up."

"Ack, wait, I almost forgot!" The Hunting Hero cut him off. "We should go meet King Berg first! It's been so long since I last saw him! I bet he's going to be super ecstatic to see me! You're going to love him guys! He's super chill and friendly! Oh, I've really wanted to see him again for such a long time!" Kizuna said happily while turning towards Naofumi and Rishia.

Berg. Why did that name sound so familiar?

…

…

…

A long pause filled the room. Naofumi's question faded from his mind as he and Itsuki sensed the tense atmosphere around them.

"What… what's wrong?" Kizuna asked worriedly, noticing the looks on everyone's faces.

Many of the various ministers, attendants, and government officials looked quietly at each other. Some with concern, others with sadness.

Ethnobalt swallowed heavily as his grip on his staff tightened. He didn't like how he was suddenly thrust into this position. But someone had to tell it. And it might as well be him.

"Kizuna… the King was already quite old when you disappeared…"

The Hunting Tools Hero's eyes, which shone like two blazing stars before… turned completely hollow in an instant. Ethnobalt opened his mouth again, suddenly finding it very difficult to speak with each new word coming out feeling heavier than the last.

"When...when the news of what happened during your last voyage reached him, he was beside himself with worry. He spent all of the political clout that he'd amassed during his life, reached out to every connection he had, called in every favor to help find you, but it was like you fell off the face of earth. The stress of it all coupled with his great age..." The boat hero struggled to say it outright.

"His health began to rapidly wither away and he passed away only a few months after you disappeared. The crown prince from back then is the current king Berg of Sickle." Ethnobalt concluded grimly. "I'm sorry."

…

…

Kizuna said nothing, but her ashen face spoke more than any words could.

…

Without a warning, she suddenly whipped out her fishing rod and rushed out towards the exit. "Wait- Kizuna-" Ethnobalt reached out after her, but she'd already grappled her way out the doors and was out of sight by the time he reached them. "D-Damn it! Everyone, we need to find her!" Ethnobalt shouted.

The attendants immediately rushed out and complied. Ethnobalt looked at Itsuki and Naofumi with a look of regret. "I'm sorry to cut our conversation short like this. Itsuki should be able to show you both around the palace and you can rest in his room until we can make more proper living arrangements for the two of you. Please excuse me."

"Whoa, whoa, hold on, you're asking us to just sit around and wait after what just happened?" Itsuki asked incredulously. "No way! Let us help!"

"Ah… truly?" Ethnobalt looked surprised. "I admit that this would be most helpful but I feel it inappropriate to ask you of such a thing after you just got reunited with your friends, I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on and that you need rest." He spoke to Naofumi and Rishia.

"Nonsense." Itsuki waved him off. "We can do that later and I already told you that we're here to help. Rishia, Naofumi, are you with me?"

"O-of course!" The girl nodded enthusiastically.

"Obviously." Naofumi quirked his eyebrow, like he was confused about this being even worth asking about. "I'm not dead tired quite yet."

"Ah... I'm glad." Ethnobalt put his free hand on his chest. "Perhaps something good did come out from that accursed book's story if it helped L' Arc, Glass, and Therese to find such reliable allies. Please hop on."

Ethnobalt changed the weapon form of his Boat, and it turned into a platform with enough space for a few people. Itsuki and Rishia promptly climbed onboard but Naofumi shook his head.

"Between Itsuki's eyes and Rishia's life force sense mumbo jumbo, there's more than enough people to scan the area from above. I'll have better luck looking around for Kizuna on the ground." Naofumi explained.

Ethnobalt gave him a parting nod. "Very well. Try searching around the castle first. We'll check her room here, and then her home nearby." He handed Naofumi an ofuda, and the Shield Hero quirked his eyebrow. "That is a communications ofuda. It is linked to mine. All you need to do is focus your magic power and you'll be able to communicate with me as if I was next to you. Let me know if you manage to find her!"

Really?! That was actually kind of cool! "Got it, same to you three." Naofumi told them.

With that, the group spread out to look for the Hunting Tools Hero.

---

A few hours passed, and they were met with no success.

Naofumi first tried looking around the castle for signs of where the lolibaba girl had gone, but didn't have any luck. Nobody had seen her, somehow. And due to him being unfamiliar, he was eventually asked about who he was.

When the people there had learned his identity, they'd begun to look at him with suspicion just like the people back in Melromarc. Unable, and not wanting to deal with that right now, Naofumi moved on to searching the town instead. He alerted Ethnobalt and the others via the ofuda, but they hadn't found any sign of her either.

The town was a bit similar to the style of Europe just like Melromarc's buildings. But there were hints of Japanese influence here and there still. Naofumi failed to find any trace of Kizuna here too and moved on to another nearby town that acted like a satellite city for the town around the castle.

He was really starting to get worried and wondered if he'd ever find the Hunting Tools Hero when he came across two familiar figures.

"Sir Naofumi?! Is that you?!" Aksel asked in surprise.

"The Shield Hero!" Maya said happily. The two members of Itsuki's party quickly approached.

"Finally, someone besides Maya that I can talk to!" Aksel yelled excitedly.

A soldier dressed kind of like a samurai ran behind the pair, signing at them like crazy to slow down. A naginata was attached to his back.

Maya in particular looked a little different. Naofumi wasn't sure what it was at first. Then, he realized she was wearing a kimono instead of her normal outfit. It was mainly blue, which really complimented her brown eyes and black hair. It was held together with dark ribbons that matched Aksel's hair color.

Oh man, seeing her like this, he started to picture Raphtalia in a kimono all over again and it was only because of the seriousness of the situation he was in now that he held off from it.

"Sorry, I have no time to talk. Me and Itsuki are looking for someone." Naofumi quickly cut their questions off before they could say what they wanted to say originally.

"But… awwww…" Aksel looked disappointed. It was so rough not being able to speak to anyone besides Itsuki or Maya.

Naofumi at least noted the tank was dressed in an outfit frighteningly similar to the one he was currently wearing. But at the very least, his weapon of choice was still an axe, and Maya still had sheathes for her daggers on her side.

Wait, those weren't daggers. Those were kunai. Guess she was trying something new.

"Oh, who are you looking for that's so important?" Maya asked curiously, with a bit of sadness in her voice.

Naofumi quickly explained the situation. After giving a short description of Kizuna, Aksel's eyes widened. "Wait, doesn't that kind of sound like the person we saw flying through the trees a while ago?" He asked Maya.

"Maybe. It'd explain the weird fishing pole she was using." Maya nodded. "And why she was going so fast."

Surprise lit up Naofumi's features, followed by relief. "Which way did she go?"

"That way." Aksel pointed towards the shore nearby. "At least, I think that's where she was headed. It was a couple hours ago, and besides this guy shouting behind us, we didn't think much about it."

The soldier continued signing like crazy, then yelled. "Damn it! Why did I have to be assigned to watch over these stupid foreigners?!"

"See, we can't understand one word he says." Aksel shrugged. Naofumi, thanks to his shield, had understood perfectly.

…

Naofumi nearly facepalmed.

"Alright, thanks a lot you two! I promise I'll fill you in on the rest later, if Itsuki doesn't do it by then!" Naofumi rushed off towards the ocean.

…

"Strange, to think the Shield Hero was here." Aksel said in amazement.

"That's a great thing!" Maya said happily. "We won't have to go searching for him now!"

"Right…" Aksel looked down at Maya, and then blushed. "You really are growing quickly, huh."

"Well silly, we're already at level 35! I'd expect that to be the case!" Maya slapped Aksel on the back.

"Are the growing pains getting to you?" Aksel asked worriedly.

She gave him a playful smirk. "A little, but I believe I'll manage.

"After all, every inch just means I'm that much closer to kissing you again." The raccoon girl winked.

"..." Aksel nearly felt tempted to just kiss her on the spot. And kept from doing so only because of how strange it'd be to have a grown man to deeply kiss a teenager in front of the soldier behind them.

Maya looked serious though. "If anything, the real pain is coming from going through puberty again. You have no idea just how much I want to jump you right now. I was an adult when I hit this level before. What gives?!"

Aksel sweat dropped. "W-Well it's not like demis grow instantaneously. And we've been leveling up super quickly here. Perhaps your body just needs another day or two to catch up to your level." Aksel shook his head rapidly, still reeling from her comment. "L-Let's go kill more monsters and hurry the process along!"

He turned and signed to the guy behind them that they were going to resume the hunt, but the soldier didn't seem to understand. With a shrug, Aksel and Maya ran off towards the forest once again.

"I… guess I'll get the resupply I tried to tell them about before." The soldier sighed to himself.

He seriously wasn't getting paid enough for this crap.

Meanwhile, Naofumi was racing towards the ocean. He saw nobody at first, so he ran along the beachline. Looking around for any docks sticking out over the water.

…

Eventually, after a couple of miles, he rounded a corner, and his run finally slowed to a walk.

A series of wood docks stretched out a few dozen feet over the water. A familiar figure sat at the end of one of them with her fishing rod held in her hands.

Her line was cast out in the water. As he approached, she hooked a fish and reeled it in.

It was a large thing, nearly twice Kizuna's size. It snapped at her with sharp teeth as it burst out of the water.

The girl hardly acknowledged it though as she changed her weapon into a large tuna knife and dissected the fish monster in midair.

Its face was forever trapped in a state of surprise as it disconnected from its body, which was also split into many meaty pieces. The head of the fish, as well as its bones and organs were separated and cleaned out simultaneously before dropping into the water. The meat fell into a large container beside Kizuna.

Without a sound, Kizuna cast her line out again.

Naofumi briefly took the ofuda Ethnobalt had given him out. Considering telling the rabbit man that he'd finally found her… but then, it didn't feel right to call for backup. So he put it away and slowly approached from behind.

"You know that littering in your home right after getting back isn't very nice, right?" Naofumi asked as he sat down next to her.

…

…

Kizuna didn't speak to him, and her hair hid the top of her face, keeping Naofumi from seeing her eyes.

It was strange. In all the time he'd known her, he'd never seen the girl this quiet. She normally would have talked and talked and talked on top of her talking. Even when she was fishing. Especially when pointing out something involving her fishing.

It was heavily disconcerting.

The two sat in silence for a while. During that time, Kizuna reeled in three more fish. One was like the first. Two, however, looked like plain herring. She also gave them the same treatment of dissecting them midair.

It almost wasn't fair how easy she made it look.

Looking down, Naofumi saw other monsters in the water deep below where Kizuna sat. As the scraps moved in front of them, they clustered around them in a blood frenzy despite the scraps being their former comrades.

'Note to self. Do NOT go swimming in the oceans here.'

With his high defense, he'd probably be safe.

Everyone else, not so much.

The thoughts failed to distract him for long though. He looked at Kizuna again, thinking about what she'd told him only recently.

"Your friends are worried about you, you know?" Naofumi spoke out again, but she didn't respond to that either.

…

They continued to stay silent for a time after that. Though, Kizuna did not cast out her line again. Whether because the container next to her was full, or something else, Naofumi didn't ask. He merely waited, seeing if Kizuna would talk first.

…

Eventually, she stood up, took a shiny lure that'd been attached to the string of her rod off, and grabbed the container next to her before walking off. Naofumi followed behind her at a distance until he figured out where Kizuna was going.

Away from the ocean, on top of a hill with trees around it was a four story house. It had an east wing to it that also had four floors, as well as room for an attic at the top.

As they walked up a path from the docks to it, Naofumi marveled at its size.

It was far bigger than his home in Lurolona. It was possibly bigger than his and the other hero's homes combined.

As the pair approached, Kizuna held her hand over the gem of her weapon and with a faint flash of light, an old, slightly rusted key appeared in her hands.

The girl looked down at it for a moment and then hesitantly inserted it into the door's lock with a shaking hand. After a single twist, the front door opened with a soft click and a quiet creak as Kizuna stepped inside.

Just as she was about to close the door on Naofumi, he forced his foot between it and the door frame.

"Go away. I want to be alone." The girl finally spoke out, her face still cast in shadow.

"No." Naofumi curtly replied and shook his head seriously. "I think you've been alone for long enough. Too long if you ask me."

"..." Kizuna looked away and let go of the door, allowing Naofumi to follow her inside.

The front parlor was so spacious, that not even the two couches, two love chairs, a long coffee table, and several nightstands were able to take up all the space in front of the large fancy fireplace. The atmosphere seemed to match the feeling of emptiness permeating the house's owner.

"What's with the size of this place?" Naofumi couldn't help but ask.

"I made it like that so all my friends would be able to come over and mingle if they wanted to." Kizuna explained in a hoarse voice. At least she was talking again.

Naofumi found himself moving through the open space. Staring at the well polished wooden floors, the stone walls, the china resting above the fireplace mantle.

It looked really good. His home couldn't even compare.

Kizuna's hand rubbed over the back of a chair. "Even though I was away for so long, there's less dust than I thought there'd be… … Glass must have kept this place clean while I was away. She was always diligent when it came to those kinds of things…" Kizuna's voice continued to sound melancholic as she spoke.

Naofumi's attention was drawn to a nightstand with a picture frame on it. After all the time he'd spent in his world, it was strange to see something that'd only be found among nobility or royalty. Naofumi walked over and looked at it. It was a rare privilege few could afford.

Kizuna was at the forefront of an excellently drawn group portrait, holding a fish over twice her size in her arms with the biggest smile on her face. Directly behind her was L'Arc, Glass, and Therese. On one side was Ethnobalt, holding the same staff he'd seen earlier. But he didn't recognize anyone else in the picture.

There was a guy holding a peace sign over a girl's shoulder. There was also a lady with bulky arms behind Glass and Ethnobalt. Another guy by the look of it was holding two peace signs beside Ethnobalt. But they were dressed in merchant garbs, and their hair was done up in a bun behind their head, so it was hard to tell if it was a guy or a girl that he was looking at.

Seeing the picture filled him with conflicted feelings. He couldn't help but wonder: 'Will I ever have something like this with my friends back in my world?'

…

"That was the fishing trip I took with my friends." Kizuna appeared beside Naofumi, startling him.

"What?" He asked.

"After we defeated the Demon Dragon, I invited all of my friends on a fishing trip with me to celebrate our victory." She sadly smiled as she looked it over. "Not all of them could make it, because of the things that needed handling now that the world was safe. But I know King Berg wanted to join, even though he still had a country to run, and he was sick at the time too…"

"Still, when I carried that fish into the throne room for him to see, he looked so proud. And proclaimed we'd feast on it that night. It was one of the best meals I'd ever had…"

…

"How close were you to the King?" Naofumi asked.

Kizuna's shoulders trembled at that. Seeing the action, Naofumi felt guilty, but then steeled himself and placed a hand on her shoulder.

The action made Kizuna stop, and look up at him, finally showing her face and the tears hidden in her eyes. "I told you how close I am to Raphtalia and Filo. And why them not being around makes me so sad." Naofumi said in a straight tone of voice as he looked down at her. "I don't know enough to guess what your relationship with the King was. But I have a feeling that it must have been important for you to be taking the news of his passing so hard."

"I don't know if I can be of any help. But I definitely won't be able to share your pain like you did for me if you keep it bottled up." Naofumi said evenly, not letting go of her shoulder even after he'd finished speaking.

…

Kizuna went back to staring at the picture, but she made no move to push Naofumi's hand off.

He eventually let go, looking down at her as she thought to herself.

There was nothing but the distant sound of the ocean lapping at the beach outside.

…

"He was like a father to me." Kizuna eventually whispered.

…

"... ah." Naofumi said no more than that.

Kizuna gradually explained. Back in her world, she was the second of three siblings. They'd had loving parents, but they were always working overtime for their companies, so she never got to spend much time with her real father.

"After being summoned to this world… he kind of took his place." Kizuna said quietly.

Naofumi waited for her to say more, but when more wasn't forthcoming, he asked another question. "What was he like?"

"... Strange, in the beginning. Though, everyone was strange to me at first." Kizuna shrugged, smiling with melancholy.

"A human that can transform into a giant rabbit would be pretty strange." Naofumi admitted.

Kizuna laughed weakly at that. "Yes, Ethnobalt is too precious in that form." She agreed. "But he hates it when I call him cute. Which sucks because he's so cute, and… And the King, well… he also seemed pretty strange to me, being an old man already when we met and all that."

"He seemed surprised when he'd summoned a twelve-year-old to help save his world. He was definitely surprised when the first thing that twelve-year-old wanted to do was go fishing." Kizuna laughed a little to herself, but it felt forced, and she tried to offset it with a joke. "I'm kind of glad we didn't do that first. You saw what kind of fish we have here?"

"Yeah, I did." Naofumi smiled a little. "They probably would have treated you like a shrimp."

"It wouldn't have been that bad!" The girl raised her voice a bit in protest but Naofumi just stared down at her. "Okay, maybe it wouldn't have been that good either. But I could have still handled myself with their help!"

"Heh. Sure." Naofumi rolled his eyes, and Kizuna pouted at him.

Eventually, the Hunting Tools Hero continued her story.

"The King… he was surprised that the Hunting Tools had chosen me. I was only a child back then, barely a preteen…" Kizuna looked at Naofumi, and the look of sadness in her eyes kept him from commenting that she still looked like a child now. "I know my real dad loved me, but… but King Berg, he was… he was the first proper Father I'd had in my life who was always there for me.

"He didn't send me out to fight the Demon Dragon and its forces right away. He was horrified at the prospect of sending a child on such a grim and dangerous task. So instead, in the months after I'd been summoned, he allowed me to stay in the castle. He trained me in the use of ofuda. He and L'Arc helped to teach me how to use my weapon and even gave me the idea of propelling myself across a battlefield using my fishing pole like a grappling hook. And when I wasn't training, he made sure that I wasn't alone and that I was happy."

"He was the one who helped me meet Glass and many of my other friends… I met Glass while visiting a neighboring country with King Berg and L'Arc. She'd been fighting monsters out in the fields on her own for the first time as the Vassal Fans Hero, and we hit it off right away. I hadn't even left that field by the time she'd chosen to join me."

It was nothing like how Naofumi met Raphtalia. But, it was sweet, in a way.

"And with them, I gradually got to go out and see more and more of my new world. I got to meet so many new people. And when the Demon Dragon began moving against the rest of humanity in force, they both assisted me in defeating him as well as everyone else." Naofumi realized as she gestured, the picture frame he'd found wasn't the only one in the room.

There were more hanging on the walls. Resting on other nightstands. As he walked around following her, she pointed out various individuals in the frames. Mentioning something about them or how they met. There were dozens of them.

One picture in particular made Naofumi freeze as he glanced over it, feeling his anger bubbling up. The reason for it being that it depicted the Book Hero on it. Though it didn't seem like a portrait or something that had been planned to be taken in advance.

It depicted Kyo and Ethnobalt standing next to a large table that had a bunch of paper sheets covered in complex-looking calculations and drawings strewn around it.

The Boat Hero was pointing something out on one of the drafts with his staff, his mouth held open as if he was saying something. The Book Hero meanwhile was leaning over the table with both of his hands firmly placed on it and looking at the spot that Ethnobalt was pointing at with a focused expression, like he was deeply in thought about whatever it was that the boat hero was pointing out.

Above and behind them, some sort of massive construct could be seen. It was in the process of being built, judging by the crowd of people around it that looked like they were assembling it and testing its functions.

"Ah, that's from when Kyo and Ethnobalt were building 'The Invincible'. A new type of airship for Ethnobalt to copy, to try and do something about his low attack power." Kizuna noticed Naofumi staring at the display. "It didn't work unfortunately, but it's defense ended up being through the roof. It can take volleys and volleys of cannon fire and spell barrages and even crash into the ground at full speed without falling apart in the process. I'm pretty sure it's still Ethnobalt's most powerful weapon form."

Naofumi nodded stiffly, not trusting himself to say anything that wouldn't ruin Kizuna's already awful mood.

She'd truly had a journey as a Hero long before Naofumi had been summoned to his world.

Yet, her voice grew more sad with each sentence as they went over the rest of the pictures. Most of which he wouldn't be able to recall as there were simply too many friends of Kizuna's to keep track of.

And it wasn't until they paused before one last frame at the bottom of the staircase to the second floor that Naofumi saw the purpose for her constant rambling.

She'd saved it for last. While he'd appeared in part in some of the other pictures, this one showed a powerful old man sitting on his throne. He had a trimmed gray beard on his face, and eyes that even in the picture flashed with a piercing mischievousness that seemed all too familiar and somehow unfitting for one that should have been King.

Kizuna was sitting in his lap, and she looked to be laughing happily at something he'd said.

"I remember days when I thought he'd be busy with his duties and stuff. Back then, the country hadn't been very strong because he was trying to decide who'd be his heir, and a battle for succession was going on between his sons and the others in the government." Kizuna spoke quietly, almost reverently.

"But if I ever wanted to see him, he'd push it aside to pay attention to me…" Kizuna sniffled, and wiped an arm across her cheek. "He… felt guilty, I think. About basically stealing a child from another world to turn them into his own personal soldier. Other heroes had been summoned on the younger side before but it was a rare case, he wasn't expecting something like that. So he tried his best to make up for it, even with all the problems he was trying to handle.

"He… he sounds like a good guy." Naofumi felt bad that he couldn't come up with much more than that. His thoughts lingered toward Queen Mirellia for some reason.

Kizuna smiled a little. "Did the world that you were born in have Christmas, Naofumi?" She suddenly asked.

The Shield Hero nodded confidently. "Yea, it did. Same for the worlds of my three friends too. It seems like it's one of the universal constants like country names and general world geography."

"It always was my favorite holiday because it was the one time of the year when all of my family and friends were able to get together and have fun. But the people of this world don't celebrate it. So when the first winter of my stay here came, I felt really lonely and bummed out. And when the king asked me what was wrong, I told him about it and..."

---

"Ho Ho Ho! Kizuna… Merry Christmas."

The girl yawned as she opened her eyes while entering the throne room, which widened in surprise upon what she saw.

The first thing she noticed was that the throne room was brightly decorated. Red and green stars glowing bright with magic floated around the room. An odd looking tree that was nothing like a fir was similarly decorated and was standing up on the opposite end of the room with items resting underneath it.

This was already odd but it went even crazier from there.

The King sat on his throne, dressed in a red and white robe that was akin to a Santa outfit. He didn't really have the fat to look like the jolly old guy. But the white beard that was attached over his normal gray beard looked ludicrous!

L'Arc and Therese flanked him. They appeared to have tried to dress as elves, but L'Arc looked very uncomfortable in the tight outfit. After all, elves were meant to be small. Therese was smiling widely though.

Kyo was standing away to the side of them, wearing a top hat and a long green woolly scarf over a thick black winter coat. It looked like he was trying his hardest to become a part of the background, judging by his twitching right eye underneath his signature spectacles.

Glass was also there. She wasn't ridiculously dressed like the others but she did wear a kimono with red and green color themes on it, and the young teenage girl looked bashful while she held a box wrapped in a sheet of colorful oriental patterned paper in her arms.

Oh, and then Kizuna finally noticed Ethnobalt! What she saw finally made her burst out into laughter.

The poor boy was in his rabbit form, but was on all fours instead of his hind two legs. He had a wool jacket over his back made from a monster's hide. And large antlers were resting on his head. It looked like he'd tried to pull off a reindeer look based on her description. It was so cute and adorable that Kizuna couldn't stop laughing.

"Why'd you have to make me do this? I look ridiculous." Ethnobalt loudly sighed in embarrassment.

"Nonsense, you look adorable." Therese chided him sweetly.

"I hate being called adorable." Ethnobalt sighed even louder than before.

L'Arc smiled broadly as he used his scythe to point out the badly wrapped presents underneath the very un-christmas tree. "These are all from me little sis! I hope you'll like them!"

"We can tell. You never were quite good with your hands." Glass jabbed from the side, though she was smiling a little upon seeing Kizuna.

"Bah, humbug." Kyo muttered from his dark corner of the room while looking at the colorful lights around him in disgust.

Glass continued to stand next to L'Arc, slowly turning red but trying to appear calm about the ridiculousness of it all. Especially Ethnobalt being dressed up in a ridiculous reindeer outfit.

"You guys, you didn't have to do all this for me." Kizuna finally managed to say after her laughter subsided somewhat, though she still giggled every time her eyes fell on Ethnobalt.

"Nonsense. Of course we had to!" King Berg stood up as he proudly proclaimed it.

Kizuna continued to giggle, even as tears appeared in the corners of her eyes. She quickly wiped them away though, as she then rushed forward and hugged the old king tightly around his waist. "I love it! Thank you so much!"

King Berg's laugh turned into a chuckle, and his hand rubbed the top of her head. "Of course, my dear. Let us forget the troubles that have been ailing us for now. For today, we make this a day we'll remember for years to come!"

She got so many presents that day that she couldn't recall most of them. L'Arc's presents turned out to be various sweets which she shared with everyone. Therese had knit her a scarf embedded with small tiny gems along the sides. A few that couldn't make it due to important things going on in the world had also sent her gifts.

Ethnobalt's gift had to be the coolest by far but besides that, two of them really stood out to her.

First was the present that Glass gave her, which turned out to be Kizuna's signature outfit. She was so happy upon receiving it that she hugged Glass while thanking her profusely for it.

Glass's calm façade finally broke and was replaced with complete and utter embarrassment, causing everyone to laugh.

The second gift however...

"A... book?" Kizuna asked awkwardly.

"Mhmm. Do you like it?" The white haired young man asked smugly. "Some say that a book is the perfect gift, you know?"

"Well, uh yea, it's just that..." Kizuna looked down at the item in question that she was holding in front of her. "I...I can't really understand Sickle's written language yet."

"Oh dear!" The young man gasped while holding his right hand over the side of his face. "I am soooo sorry hunting hero-sama, I just thought that you've been in our world for months already and must have learned at least a little bit of it by now. How embarrassing!"

While Kizuna continued to turn redder, the spirit person teenager suddenly spoke out. "It's okay! I can teach you later if you want!"

"I can help too!" Therese joined in.

"Hmm, yea Kyo's kind of got a point, it's about time we did something about that." L' Arc nodded thoughtfully. "Smart thinking, dude!"

"Thank you everyone! You're the best!" Kizuna beamed before turning back to the book hero. "Once I learn how, I'll be sure to read this book Kyo! I bet it's really good! Thank you for the gift!"

"Ah...yes, yes of course. You're welcome." The book hero replied awkwardly while stepping back and allowing the hunting hero to go over the rest of her gifts.

It'd been one of the best days she'd ever spent in this new world.

---

Kizuna looked to the side at a bookshelf, where the book Kyo had given her was resting.

It'd turned out to be an encyclopedia that contained all sorts of details about the various fish and fish monsters that could be found in this world. Learning how to read with Glass and the others had been more than worth it, and it had shown in hindsight how thoughtful the Book Hero's gift was.

Though it was still a bummer that it had no pictures inside it. Visual descriptions could only go so far.

Naofumi frowned after hearing that part of the story, but he kept quiet. He listened as Kizuna continued.

"Back then, it was so dumb. I thought I'd die from second-hand embarrassment…" The small girl shook her head as she smiled fondly. Her hand pulled out an ofuda. A penguin was drawn on the front of it. "But… it was the best Christmas that I ever had in my life."

…

Naofumi said nothing to that. And eventually, Kizuna spoke again. "And it was the day when Ethnobalt made Chris for me and Glass too."

"Really?" Naofumi asked in surprise. It'd been that long ago?

"Mhm. It's why I wanted to name him Chris, actually." Kizuna looked at Naofumi with a smile. "You know, Chris, Christmas?"

"... Heh. I should have guessed." Naofumi chuckled. Her naming scheme didn't sound far off from his own.

They stayed silent after that for a moment.

…

"You know. That place outside was the fishing spot he showed me." Kizuna suddenly said. "King Berg, I mean. When he realized just how serious I was about fishing. One time, he took me here and said it was the best fishing spot in the kingdom." Kizuna's eyes sparkled in reminiscence.

"I've found other good fishing spots during my travels with better fish to catch than here since then. But that place… it's special. That's why I wanted my own house to be here."

Naofumi looked out the nearby window, and saw the ocean shore outside. It really was a breathtaking view. Just like… just like the one at his own home.

They really weren't that different than he'd thought.

"I… I just wish that I could have been there." Kizuna hiccupped as tears leaked from her eyes. "I wish I could have been by his side. That he'd know I was okay before he passed on, but…" Kizuna put her hands to her face as she softly cried. "... but I was too late. I was… too late."

Naofumi didn't say anything to that. He simply reached out and hugged Kizuna, allowing the girl to cry into his chest.

She'd finally addressed the root of her grief. And her guilt was on full display. Naofumi raised a hand to the back of her head and rubbed it as she sobbed.

Nothing was heard besides the distant sounds of the waves, and the tearful sounds from the hunting tools hero.

…

After some time, she finally calmed down enough to wipe her eyes with her hands. "Thank you. I… I'm sorry for acting rude earlier."

"It's okay. I'm sorry I can't do anything more." Naofumi let go of her and looked out at the ocean outside again. The closest sense of loss he had to that was his little brother. And he was still alive.

"By the way… how did you see me earlier?" Kizuna asked sadly.

"What are you talking about? You were sitting on the edge of the docks in plain sight." Naofumi replied in confusion.

"Huh, I… oh. I guess I forgot my hiding skill doesn't hide me from party members." Kizuna said as if to herself. In the corner of her HUD, she saw she was still a part of Naofumi's party. "I know it kept Ethnobalt from finding me earlier."

The rabbit guy had said he'd search around Kizuna's home. It made sense now why he nor Itsuki had found her before Naofumi did. Though if it didn't hide Kizuna from party members, how had Rishia not noticed her?

…

Naofumi's thoughts drifted to his little brother again. And then, he finally realized why his thoughts were going in that particular direction lately, which caused him to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" The girl asked in an offended voice.

"Sorry, I just realized that you remind me a bit of my younger brother." Naofumi continued to chuckle. No wonder it hadn't taken the two of them long to grow this close.

"He had a lot of expectations placed on him, but despite that, he was still nice and carefree and made friends with others pretty easily. Well, besides when he was in his rebellious phase." Naofumi rolled his eyes. "I hope you already went through that though. If you decided to give yourself a mohawk and cuss every time you open your mouth, I'd have no idea what to do with you."

"I did nothing like that!" Kizuna giggled.

"Ha, whatever." Naofumi rolled his eyes.

"You know, you saying that is kind of funny though, because you remind me of my older sister too." Kizuna suddenly said mischievously.

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean?" Naofumi replied in a flat voice.

Kizuna giggled again. "Well, she always looked super serious and frowny all the time when we were growing up. It was really easy to annoy her too." The girl then jabbed the Shield Hero's side with her elbow as she said it, causing him to frown. "See, you totally nailed it!"

"Haha, very funny." Naofumi rolled his eyes.

"But… she was also super reliable." Kizuna then added. "Like, whenever me or my other sister were feeling down, she was always there for us. Even if she didn't look like it, I eventually learned that she was a real softie on the inside. And that she really cared for us and all those around her, even if she didn't show it all the time. And… when she was sad, she appreciated it when we were there for her too."

"You remind me of her because of that." She smiled up at Naofumi. "It's like I have my family with me again."

…

"Heh, you know what, same here." Naofumi couldn't deny it.

Kizuna wasn't special to him in the way that Raphtalia or Filo were. But, if he were to put a label on this, he'd agree.

The two wouldn't have been out of place being brother and sister.

They didn't always get along. They had their disagreements and their arguments and annoyed each other, well, her more than him. But at the end of the day, they could put aside their differences to help each other out no matter what it was.

Naofumi did frown though as he thought about Kyo again. He nearly felt tempted to bring it up since they were now closer than they were that first day, but then decided against it.

He couldn't be the one to bring it up. Ethnobalt, maybe. But he was on the fence with the subject too. If Kizuna was going to decide anything in that regard, L'Arc and Glass had to be the ones to tell her. Not him.

"Alright, let's head back." Kizuna said.

"Are you sure you're ok? If you're forcing yourself, then I can tell everyone you're fine but need a day or two to rest if you need it." Naofumi said in a worried tone.

…

Kizuna was silent for a moment as she pondered Naofumi's offer. "To be honest… no. I'm not all fine… but like you, I'm good enough for now. You said it best earlier, I've been alone for too long. I don't want to be alone anymore." She turned to him and gave him a small smile. He could easily tell it was genuine and not forced.

Naofumi marveled at the parallels between the two of them. He couldn't help but wonder if he would have developed the way Kizuna had if they'd traded positions in life.

"After all, we still need to find Raphtalia and Filo! We came here to get help for that, and Ethnobalt is perfect for the job! Plus, the anticipation to meet up with L'Arc, Glass, and Therese is going to kill me as it is!"

Naofumi shook his head. "We could just wait for the Wave and meet them that way…" Though, Ost had recommended them to not linger in this world if they could. Naofumi sighed. "Or, you could stay here to meet with Glass. I'm sure me and Itsuki could handle searching for our friends by ourselves now that we're reunited and-"

"No, I already said it! I'm going with you and that's final!" Kizuna stamped her foot down and pouted at him. "As fun as it'd be to catch up with Ethnobalt and my other friends here, I want to see Glass and the others as soon as possible! And besides, you helped me escape from the Infinite Labyrinth and then the country soon after! I owe it to you to help you reunite with your family!" She said heatedly.

"Gosh, fine, I get it, you can come." Naofumi pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Just make sure you don't go overboard with the fake cheer. If you're still feeling sad, you can talk to me and I'll help the best I can. And I'm sure some of the people who you talked to will as well. Ethnobalt in particular seemed very concerned when we parted ways." To think that Naofumi had been the one stuck in a slump before.

"Yea, it was wrong of me to run off on him like that." The Hunting Hero nodded sadly. "It wasn't his fault that he had to be the bearer of bad news. I must apologize to him when we get back. Ah, speaking of apologies…" Kizuna breathed in deeply, then threw down the ofuda she was holding in front of her.

"Pen! Pen Pen!" Chris appeared from it in a burst of smoke, surprising Naofumi. Had she stored her familiar away inside of the sheet of paper?!

That made him want to call it a summon ofuda. And honestly, he wouldn't be off the mark calling it that.

These strips of paper really were useful. Too bad his world didn't have this magic system in place.

"Yes, I know. I'm sorry for putting you away like that. I wasn't in the best state of mind." Kizuna said soothingly to the angry faced familiar. It wasn't long though before a look of forgiveness came over Chris and he jumped into Kizuna's arms, hugging her again.

Kizuna's familiar really was expressive. A few more tears leaked from Kizuna's eyes as it almost felt like Glass was hugging her at that moment and she tightly embraced him back.

She set Chris down, and the two heroes walked out of her home. Naofumi pulled out his ofuda and prepared to tell Ethnobalt where he and Kizuna were at.

Only a few feet in front of it though, Chris grabbed the edge of Kizuna's dress, pointing a flipper in a direction away from the ocean. "Pen! Pen Pen!"

"What's he doing?" Naofumi asked.

"I… I'm not sure." Kizuna bent down to look at him.

"Pen! Pen!"

"Glass… is that way?" Kizuna said in surprise.

"Pen!" Chris waved his flippers happily.

Kizuna turned to Naofumi. "That must mean that she isn't trapped in a Labyrinth like I was!"

"Or Itsuki, for that matter." Naofumi said, putting a hand to his chin in thought.

That was good news for them. If Glass wasn't trapped in some random labyrinth, then she might be able to return soon, and…

Kizuna realized which direction Chris was pointing in, and she frowned deeply. "Unless she's inside Sickle or another country… that's the direction of the Katana's country."

"Does that place hate you too?" Naofumi asked.

"Well, no, not exactly. Our countries were always on neutral terms before my imprisonment." Kizuna frowned deeply. "But while learning about the ongoing rumors, I also overheard some things about recent history and it's… complicated."

She gave Naofumi a summarized rundown of their history and then the recent events that she'd learned about.

Basically, the past Katana Hero, Kenshiro, was a reliable ally to Kizuna and her friends in their struggle against the Demon Dragon, even if he wasn't strictly a part of her group for reasons she chose not to disclose for now. That also made the Katana country that he represented part of the alliance led by Sickle that opposed the monster legion.

Unfortunately, as she'd learned during their stay in the inn and the Adventurer's Guild in that town, Kenshiro had been killed in a Wave a while back. Kenshiro had been trying to save the other Holy Heroes from a powerful Wave Boss since he'd been put in charge of their training. But he sustained major injuries before L'Arc and Glass managed to reach them and kill the Boss monster, and the Katana Hero died soon after the battle was over.

Ever since then, the relationship between Sickle and the Katana's country had rapidly deteriorated. The Katana's government had placed blame on L'Arc for not reaching their hero sooner. And some even claimed L'Arc had planned it on purpose to weaken the Katana's nation so Sickle could take them over.

As for their current stance, that country was allied with the Mirror's Country.

"So if they are in the Katana's country and not some other one… we're going to have to deal with more enemies." Naofumi guessed.

"Yes. It appears to be that way." Kizuna nodded solemnly.

"Well, at least we'll have Itsuki and his party with us. Out of all the Heroes from my world, he is the cleverest and has the highest attack stat so that should help us a lot." Naofumi pondered out loud.

"Really, so he's like the opposite of you?" Kizuna cracked a wry smile.

"One more jab at the craziness of my plans and I'm leaving you at the castle." Naofumi responded dryly. "But seriously though, he still has good defense. But his stat build is like, 70% attack and 30% defense. So he's not a squishy wizard, but he's definitely no paladin." Naofumi elaborated.

Kizuna laughed as she got the reference. Naofumi smiled too, and then his eyes fell on Chris again. The penguin familiar was laughing alongside his master. He thought about what Kizuna had said, and what he'd heard from Ethnobalt.

"Kizuna… this may sound odd, but what exactly is needed to make a shikigami?" Naofumi asked.

"Hmm? Well for Chris, it was a drop of my blood and Glass's old katana from before she became the Fan Hero along with some monster materials we'd gathered together on our journey." Kizuna responded casually before cocking her head. "Why do you ask?"

…

Kizuna looked from Naofumi to Chris, and then back to Naofumi's hopeful eyes. And she made the connection on her own.

"Ah, that's not a bad idea at all actually… Come on, let's reunite with Ethnobalt then! I'm sure he can make one for you, and then we'll know where Glass and your wife friend or daughter are at!" Kizuna said happily.

It felt like a massive weight was taken off Naofumi's shoulders. He nearly shook with relief as he finally called Ethnobalt, asking for the Boat Hero to pick them up.

---

It fortunately didn't take the Boat Hero long to reach them, as he and the Bow Hero had been nearby, searching the forest from the sky when Naofumi used the ofuda. Kizuna and Naofumi were picked up from the Boat Hero, who was now flying them back to the dragon hourglass building along with Itsuki and Rishia.

"Kizuna, thank goodness. I'm so sorry that I had to ruin our reunion like that. Perhaps it would have been better if I kept quiet." Ethnobalt lowered his head in shame.

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault. I'm the one who's sorry for running away." Kizuna smiled weakly as she said it. Though Naofumi could tell she was hiding her sadness at that moment.

It reminded him of himself. It didn't make him feel good remembering those times.

"Where were you hiding anyways?" Itsuki decided to change the subject. "You weren't at your house the first time me and Rishia checked."

"Oh, I was at my usual spot at the docks near my home." The short girl replied.

"Seriously?" Itsuki muttered in surprise. "I didn't see anything there either though..."

"I… I'd wondered if it was you, but neither Ethnobalt or Itsuki could see you, so I thought I was imagining things." Rishia murmured quietly.

"Well, I might have noticed Ethnobalt flying around, and um… used a skill to hide myself from view." Kizuna muttered awkwardly.

…

The way Itsuki stared at her with a gaping mouth, Naofumi couldn't help but chuckle. It must have been a good skill if it'd hid her from even the Bow Hero's sharp eyes.

Naofumi eventually explained that everything was ok, not going into specifics on what they'd discussed. Ethnobalt was wise enough not to pry at that time, but said he'd be willing to take Kizuna to the King's grave when she was ready to do so.

Kizuna was honest enough to admit that she wasn't ready to go right now by herself, and that her worry for her friends was the first thing she wanted to deal with.

Naofumi eventually brought up Chris pointing to where Glass was. And asked Ethnobalt if he could make a familiar for Naofumi too so he'd be able to find where Raphtalia or Filo were at.

"That… isn't a bad idea, actually." Ethnobalt said to himself. "There are several ways to find someone in this world, but with the individuals involved being from a different world with different rules, they take far longer, and don't work near as well as they should.

"But a shikigami's senses are impossible to fool. As long as the two people from whom it was made are located in the same plane as it, the shikigami will be able to find them, even if they originate from another world entirely."

As Ethnobalt continued to explain the minute mechanics of the familiars, the Shield Hero's thoughts began to drift somewhere else. Now that Naofumi thought about it, Ethnobalt reminded him of Fitoria. He couldn't really explain why it was. He didn't drop into the third person like she did at times. But there was just… something. Was it something to do with his transformation earlier, or was it just the aura that surrounded him?

"So you'll make one for me then?" Naofumi asked. He didn't mean to, but his voice came out desperate.

"Of course! It's the least I can do after you found Kizuna not once, but twice! In fact, I was beginning preparations for the required ceremony for Itsuki before you showed up."

"Itsuki? What did you need a shikigami for- oh. Ohhhh." Rishia began to blush.

"Ah, I see what's going on here." Kizuna grinned almost genuinely this time as she began to elbow the green haired girl who was busy hiding her face in her hands. "See, Rishia? What did I tell ya?"

Itsuki stiffened in his spot. Naofumi looked at him.

"Well, I… I was really worried about you, Rishia, and, well, we weren't sure where you were, and…"

…

Naofumi slowly started to smirk as Rishia's head and hands turned a few shades redder.

"Wipe that look off your face Naofumi! It was only so that I could find her! And it's not like I had any of your belongings on hand!" Itsuki yelled at Naofumi as his face turned bright red from embarrassment as well.

"Heh, I would like to see the familiar that would have been made for the two of you. Maybe I could have even called it your love child or something." Naofumi teased the two of them.

Both of them simultaneously achieved the impossible. Their faces went a shade that was even deeper and both shook so much from embarrassment that they nearly fell off the floating platform at the same time.

"A shikigami is conceived in between the existence of two people. Because of this, it is often referred to as a child. So Chris would be considered Glass and Kizuna's child." Ethnobalt pointed out amusedly.

"Pen!"

Whoa, Glass certainly moved quick when they were young.

Hearing that only made things worse. Rishia was a blubbering mess, and Itsuki wasn't much better.

"I-I-I'm so calling your familiar that now y-you jerk!" Itsuki responded heatedly with a very noticeable stutter.

"I don't mind. At least I can accept my love for Raphtalia." Naofumi shrugged as he stared at the two guilty individuals.

Was he laying it on too thick? Rishia was on the verge of passing out. And Itsuki was shaking uncontrollably, whether from rage, embarrassment, or something else was hard to tell.

Oh well. It felt a bit weird to ride a flying boat in the air, but it wasn't their first time doing this. The group made good time and eventually made it back to the Dragon Hourglass.

After the relief of seeing Kizuna again, and after Ethnobalt issued out orders, most of the room was cleared out to make space for them in front of the dragon hourglass.

Most of the people smiled, but a few of the government officials stared suspiciously at Naofumi and Itsuki on their way out. Kizuna noticed that, and asked Ethnobalt about it. "What's with the looks they're giving them?"

"It's… a long story." Ethnobalt admitted. "I'll explain later, okay?"

Kizuna hmphed, but left it alone as they finally began preparation for what they'd come there to do.

"Now, Naofumi, normally we'd include monster materials and items to help adjust the stat base of the shikigami, but as our purpose is to find your 'wife friend' or daughter, it would be preferable to use something that has a deep attachment to one of them." Ethnobalt explained.

"I can't do both?" Naofumi asked.

"No. Unfortunately, an individual can only have one shikigami bound to them. You will have to decide who you want to find first." Ethnobalt replied apologetically.

Wow, that was a hell of a choice for a parent to make. Either save your wife, or save your daughter, but you can't choose both.

Naofumi had wondered about making a shikigami for Filo. But ever since hearing the term 'love child' when referring to the familiars, the thought had been thrown out the window. Filo was already his and Raphtalia's love child. He couldn't have a child with his child. And… as much as it hurt to admit this to himself, if he really did have to choose between the two, he'd rather find Raphtalia first.

She'd been with him from the beginning. There was literally no one more important in the entire universe than her.

He made his choice. He only hoped that Filo had reunited with her Mother while they'd been separated. "I'll make one for Raphtalia."

Ethnobalt nodded, and waited for Naofumi to provide the necessary materials.

So in a normal situation, he could have used monster materials to give his familiar a different stat build…

Naofumi checked through what he had stored in his shield. There was the crystal ball of course, but it didn't hold any meaning for Raphtalia directly. He had some of her broken swords from Cal Mira and before, but he again didn't feel like they were the right item.

Come on! He'd been with her for months! There had to be something of hers in here he could use and-

…

Naofumi stared at the item he came across in his shield.

It'd been so long ago, he'd nearly forgotten about it. But he shouldn't have, since this very thing unlocked a shield that helped to increase her strength.

Raphtalia's hair. From when he'd given her a haircut as a child.

He took the long, auburn locks out of his shield. They still felt as rough as the day he'd cut them off, since Raphtalia had still been recovering from her time as a slave at the time. But it was hers. And the roughness of the hairs still contained the softness he'd come to cherish more than anything else in the whole world.

"Would this work?" He asked softly as he reverently held out his hand.

Ethnobalt looked the item over, and nodded his head. "You cut them off yourself, didn't you? Yes, a part of one's body offered willingly to another. This will make for a fine catalyst, one with a strong personal connection." A ball of light then surrounded the locks of hair, and Ethnobalt moved away to the foot of the stairs in front of the hourglass.

He chanted under his breath and tapped his staff against the ground. As he did so, a circle of runes began to appear on the floor. "Please, stand inside here." He gestured with his staff after his first chant ended.

Naofumi moved into the circle. The feeling of familiarity that filled him was like the same night he'd bought Raphtalia.

Ethnobalt narrowed his eyes, watching the room for a moment. Then, seeing no obvious flaws with the ritual so far, something he needed to look for since he was doing it for someone from another world, he hit the bottom of his staff against the floor again. A dome of energy immediately appeared over Naofumi and around the runes on the ground. The Boat Hero began to chant again, and the runes glowed brightly around him.

"Now, we need the blood of the summoner." Ethnobalt said calmly.

Through the dome, he handed Naofumi a small knife. The Shield Hero put a small cut on the end of his finger. It was just like with the slave crest. A small trickle of blood fell through the air, entering the ball of light and mixing with Raphtalia's hair. The feeling of the day when he met Raphtalia only grew.

The boat underneath Ethnobalt began to glow faintly, and he reached forward with his right hand. Small lights began to appear in the dome around Naofumi. "We petition for one who'll protect - who will serve.

"A vassal formed from a part of himself. A servant is born."

As Ethnobalt continued to chant, Raphtalia's hair moved inside the ball of light. Swirling and mixing with the blood that Naofumi had offered. The balls of light around Naofumi began to converge on the hair and blood.

As Ethnobalt finished speaking, the lights began to rotate faster and faster. Becoming one continuous weave.

That feeling from before. It increased considerably. Naofumi held his breath. Staring as the ball of light began to glow considerably brighter and brighter, drowning the hair in the middle from view.

Ethnobalt tilted his head. This… wasn't normal.

"What's going on?" Kizuna asked when she saw the look on his face.

"I'm not sure. It appears to be forming faster than it should be. Just… just who is this medium's owner?!" Ethnobalt called out.

"Is it because Naofumi and Raphtalia are from another world?" Itsuki asked.

Crap, Naofumi put his shield instinctively over his face as the light in front of him began to blink and shine far too brightly. The shield in his hands started to crackle as it responded to the light.

"I… I don't believe it…" Ethnobalt said in shock. "Everyone, I can't control it! Get back!" In a surprising move, he dropped his staff and backed away to the wall of the room.

"Fueh!" Rishia screamed in surprise as she, Itsuki, and Kizuna backed away as well. Chris stood protectively in front of the Hunting Tools Hero with his flippers held out to shield her from any potential harm.

They weren't able to say more as the light brightened. Naofumi glanced over his shield, trying to see what it was as his shield continued to crackle, and…

Conditions Met! Shikigami Shield Unlocked!

Equip Bonus: Shikigami Servant: Shikigami Power-Up

A loud explosion burst in front of the Shield Hero.

---

It was long believed that one's soul persisted after death. That its ability to influence the mortal world was strong right after death, but that it's ability to do so diminished as time went on.

Some of these souls would eventually move on. Traveling with others to a realm where they'd find rest.

Others would stay behind, haunting those who'd done bad by them in their lifetime. Unable, or unwilling to let go of past grudges and to find rest. But like others, their influence would gradually diminish until they were nonexistent in the minds of the world. And they wandered around, forever lost, unable to remember what kept them there. Merely haunting places that soon became abandoned because of them.

Some powerful souls would stick around, leaving a part of themselves behind in an object. Allowing special individuals like the Oracle of Q'Ten Lo to call upon them when they were in dire need of their powers. And some like the Spirit Tortoise's soul would spend time after death in this realm, watching, waiting, and eventually being revived after decades or centuries had passed when the world would soon need their assistance against the Waves once more.

But weasel demi-humans, they were different.

Ancient legends spoke of those amongst their race with the ancient blood. Who had the ability to contact the dead. To find souls wherever they were in the world. To bring souls forth even from that place of rest in times when their help was needed. Or to resist, and even protect, those souls who would otherwise be absorbed by Guardian Beasts or whomever had the power to steal the souls of the dead.

…

Rifana hadn't known if all these legends her parents had told her as a little kid were true or if the ancient blood of those special individuals had coursed through her veins in life. But ever since her untimely demise, she'd been able to test these things out for herself as she helped to protect and guide Raphtalia and her friend's lover, the Shield Hero, and assist them and their friends however she could.

Already as a weasel demi-human, her soul had the advantage of persisting far longer than a normal person's soul. Even months after her death, she still felt the same as she had when she brought Raphtalia into that dream and comforted her with both her and her parent's presence.

Even though they had little presence now, Raphtalia's parents were still watching over their little girl and her journey. And had promised to do so until the waves were over.

At least, that had been before the shift in worlds.

Rifana had lost track of Raphtalia after the transition between worlds, but she'd managed to stay with the Shield Hero.

But before that, she'd been able to do more than just comfort Raphtalia. She'd also been the one to plant the dream in Naofumi's mind of Raphtalia surrounded by light when he'd been despairing from their loss against the Spirit Tortoise and from all his guilt for lashing out at her and the others.

It wasn't much, but it was the least she could do to try and help him realize there were people that still loved him.

A real test for her powers had been while she'd been protecting the souls of Bakta and Welt, Rachel's dad, and the other villagers who'd died to the Spirit Tortoise or its familiars. She almost thought that she'd get absorbed trying to save Bakta and Welt as the Guardian Beast's soul sucking abilities were far stronger than that of its familiars, but she had not only avoided that, but she'd succeeded in saving Ren's two dead party members.

After that, she hadn't doubted it. She really did have the ancient powers of her race.

She'd left those two specifically with just enough power before she left so they could persist long enough to leave one final message to their Sword Hero and Aksel before their souls moved on to the afterlife.

During the battle with Kyo, she'd further tested her abilities when she managed to call on Keichi, the Sword Hero of the past. It'd been tough, but she'd managed to do it since one of his direct descendants, a dog girl in Ren's party, had been fighting in the room in an effort to save the current Sword Hero. She'd used Wyndia's connection to her past ancestor as well as the Sword and Ost's former connection to his soul to bring him forth with his necessary knowledge to help Naofumi out during their fight with Kyo.

Rifana had accomplished a lot while dead. Far more than what she could have accomplished in life.

But that was the problem.

She couldn't directly help as a soul. She could not lift a weapon in anyone's defense. She could not cast some spell to help out a situation. Her help was only indirect at best. And in time, even though she had the same powers as ancient weasel demi-humans, she too would find what she was capable of doing shrinking, until she either had to move on, or be yet another bystander, unable to do anything from the sidelines as she slowly forgot who she was and why she was there.

But with the ceremony going on now, Rifana finally saw her chance.

She could not only ensure that she was able to help for the rest of her life, but, at last, she'd be able to fulfill her dream in helping out the Shield Hero and Raphtalia!

Well, her dream had formerly been to marry the Shield Hero, but Raphtalia had beaten her there. First come, first serve as they say. But she'd happily accept the next best thing!

"Bye Miss Ost! Thank you for everything! I'll be sure to talk to you when I have the chance!" Rifana yelled behind her as she flew towards the ceremony.

"Take care, little one." The turtle lady's kind voice replied softly.

"Here I gooooooo!" Rifana happily dove into the mass of power forming in front of Ethnobalt and Naofumi. Combining her soul with the familiar being created, and…

---

A large puff of smoke filled the center of the room in a flash from the explosion, which did no damage to anything.

Naofumi coughed into his hand at the sudden smoke filling his lungs.

From the ball of light, a figure sprang up high in the air.

"H-Huh?" Naofumi looked up, his eyes following it as it reached the zenith of its arc.

And then, the creature fell almost too quickly on top of Naofumi, making him crash back into the ground.

"Oof…" Naofumi rubbed his head and cleared his lungs into his arm before his eyes fell on the most adorable creature in all of existence.

"RAFU!"

---

Author's Notes:

YES! YES YES YES YES YESSSSSSSSSSS! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Remember when I said I couldn't wait to introduce my favorite character? Well here you are. She has been introduced. Or, I guess reintroduced would be a better word?

You all were complaining about Rifana's death almost 80 chapters ago. Sheesh. I have been waiting for this moment so I can properly t-pose the dominance of having later light novel information in all of its glory.

Ok, time for a lore dump. Pay attention any of you writing Shield Hero fanfictions.

In case you're wondering, yes, this is canon. What I gave here about Rifana is canon. I don't quite understand all the details of it. But needless to say, she is a weasel demi-human that had access to her race's more ancient and powerful abilities. Those abilities were realized upon her death. And then, while following Naofumi and Raphtalia around as a soul, she combined with the shikigami created here to come back to life in a different form. And besides the advantages of that form, she was still able to do stuff with souls.

It's not well known because we never learned a lot of these details till LN 21 and 22. But yes, they're there, and yes, Rifana is very much alive now, albeit, in a different body. But let me say, her new form is FAR more powerful and versatile than her original body. It is also far more lovable, and far more pettable, as you'll soon discover.

IMPORTANT: If you keep Rifana alive and reach this point in your writing, no amount of railroading will change the fact that the shikigami Naofumi gets here WILL BE DIFFERENT. Let that be clear. Rifana being alive = different personality and most likely weaker shikigami for Naofumi, the reasons for which should be obvious. The same will hold true if Rifana isn't alive, but it's a different Shield Hero. It is, after all, the 'love child' of the two people it is connected to. So for those of you with different Shield Heroes that aren't copy-pastes of Naofumi, you HAVE to make the shikigami different in some way. Otherwise, you really are just copy pasting the original story with a different name on the hero.

Seriously, don't do that. Exercise some damn creativity or I'll get pissed off about yet more blatant plagiarism on the part of this fandom.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go laugh over those original complaints made all those chapters ago while you all read this omake. Have a great week y'all!

---

Hero Clips!

---

A Disturbance in the Force

---

Raphtalia had been dueling with Dou-Lon and Glass at the same time with her lightsaber when she suddenly stopped. Her tail bristled behind her, and an uneasy feeling crawled up the base of her spine.

"What is it, young Padawan?" Glass asked curiously.

"Nothing Master," Raphtalia mumbled. "It just… I feel a disturbance in the force."

"Truly? I don't sense anything amiss." Dou-Lon looked around suspiciously.

…

"... Exercise great caution, Padawan Raphtalia." Glass spoke after a moment. "The Force is often mysterious in its workings. But one should not ignore it when it flows for one over another."

Raphtalia nodded her head, still feeling troubled as they resumed their sparring.

Later, in the night, she felt it again, only, this time, it felt a lot stronger. And a lot closer.

Slipping into her Jedi robes, Raphtalia departed from her tent. Heading out into the dunes surrounding their small camp.

She walked a ways. Following the will of the force for miles. Not knowing what she'd do beforehand, but only knowing this was something she couldn't afford to run away from.

She had to face it.

Finally, as she crested over one last dune, she found it. Sitting in front of a fire. A small figure, dressed in dark robes.

Raphtalia's skin crawled at the sight of it. And when the figure looked up, she had tea-red eyes, just like hers. Only, they were tainted with the dark side. It was like her, only cuter, and as she could tell at a glance, far more threatening.

"Who… who are you?" Raphtalia asked apprehensively.

"I… I am your beginning. And I am your end.

"I am your flesh, and the flesh of your former master given form.

"I am the darkness, and I am the light in perfect harmony.

"I am you, but unlike you, I am better." The creature responded, a cruel smile twisting onto its animal like face. "I shall replace you as the one to stand by Master Naofumi's side for all eternity."

Raphtalia stared calmly at the creature as she stood up. The creature's robes shifted back, revealing a pair of lightsabers, which she pulled into her hands and ignited. The blades were both red.

"You will never take my place beside Naofumi from me." Raphtalia ignited her own blade and glared at her. It was no wonder she'd sensed such a strong disturbance earlier. As if millions of people had changed their minds from her to this doppelganger. "I'll never allow that to happen!"

"We shall see. Won't we?" The creature grinned.

With a loud "Rafu!", she jumped through the air at Raphtalia, and the half-Tanuki girl met its twin lightsabers with her own in a clash of sparks.

It was to be a clash for the ages.

---

Till Next Time

Allen